The Bachelor (Jerika)

Chapter Fifty Six

Jake POV: Anger flares in my chest. "Erika's inside! That has every fucking thing to do with me!" The guard sighs. "Listen, no one is allowed there except professionals who'll be here soon. They will take care of things." I shake my head. "They'll get here way too late. I'm going inside." He grips my arms tighter. "Mr. Paul, I cannot allow you to do that. You could die." "I don't give a fuck." With that I give him a hard kick in the shin, and as he stumbles back I bolt forward running. I hear him shout behind me, but my eyes were fixed on the mansion. There was no going back. I burst the front door open and immediately feel woozy, the gas was so strong. I cover my face with my arm and begin running around. "Erika!" I scream over and over, hoping she'll hear me. There's no response. After checking every part of the first floor I head upstairs to the bedrooms, feeling dizzier by the minute. I start throwing open door after door as fast as possible; my vision beginning to blur making finding her harder and harder. I throw open the sixth door or so and I'm met with the sight of a pile of photographs scattered across a bed. I squint closer to see that they're all of Erika and I. This had to be her room. Slowly I step inside and look around, I peer into the bathroom and my heart stops. There she was sprawled out on the cold, tile floor; her delicate face pale and her mouth slightly open. "Oh my god," I say as I rush forward, gently lifting her into my arms. I carry her slowly downstairs, wincing at how limp her body is. I push open the door to reveal a huge crowd waiting right outside, they all start yelling as I collapse onto the lawn. I carefully rest Erika on my lap, and cup my hand around her still face. "Erika, wake up," I whisper. The shouts around me grow mute, the world blurs and everything disappears but her. I take a shaky breath. "Listen, I don't know what to do right now. I don't know what the hell I just did. But what I do know is you. You're all I've ever known, even when I didn't want to accept it. So please open your eyes because every second that goes by that you don't my heart shatters more and more." I sigh. "You broke my heart once before. But nothing comes close to my heartbreak now. The heartbreak of seeing my world, my universe hang in uncertainty." I stroke her cheek. "Wake up. Please." Her face remains still. "Forget about everything that happened to us. None of it matters, I just want you. I need you." As I speak I realize how terrified I am, how terrified I am of my love for her. It knew no bounds.

Suddenly I see her eyelashes flutter, and my heart skips a beat. A second later she breaks out into a cough. Someone hands me a water bottle and I lift it to her lips; she coughs some more then her eyes finally open. She blinks slowly. "Jake?" She raises her hand to my face. "Is it really you?" I breathe in relief. "Yeah. It's me." Her eyebrows furrow. "But I don't understand. I was inside the mansion and you were with Jenna and I passed out or something and we don't talk anymore-" I shake my head. "The only thing to understand is us. It should have always been us. And in a way it always has." She stays silent; clearly overwhelmed by the moment. "Erika you passed out from the carbon monoxide in your room. They said no one could go inside, but I couldn't help it. I had to get you out." Her eyes widen. "So you rescued me? You put yourself in danger for me?" She starts to tear up. "I thought you hated me, I thought I ruined everything." I wipe her tear. "No, no, I'm the one who almost ruined everything. I almost threw away everything we had." She intertwines her fingers with mine. "I never ever meant for everything to happen as it did." I shake my head. "It's okay. Maybe things had to go they way they did, maybe we had to go down the wrong path to find the right one. Maybe we wouldn't have realized the depth of what we feel for each other." I look into her eyes. "Erika, the first day we met...I thought you were perfect. Absolutely perfect." As time went on I saw your flaws, your imperfections. All of which only made you more perfect." I feel my eyes glisten. "When I think of you I can't find air to breathe. It's tormenting. It's consuming. It's beyond my vocabulary to explain it in full. But there are three words I know that may sum it up."

Erika POV: Jake takes a breath. "I love you. It's as simple as that, yet it's not. I should have said it a long time ago anyway." He pauses. "I came into this show looking for sunshine. But I found much more than that. I found my sun." I feel tears forming in my eyes. "Your beauty, the idea of you is what fascinated me at first... but that's the least of your qualities. Inside and out you are perfect to me and that's why I love you. I love you so much." I'm in shock. I can't believe that he forgave me, much less that he told he loved me in such a vulnerable, sweet way. "Jake, I've said it many times and you never accepted it. But I'll keep saying it until you believe me. I love you." I smile. "I never expected to fall for a stuck up pretty boy yet here I am.." I chuckle. "But this journey has taught me that love works that way. You find it in the most unexpected places, you find it then everything before it seem like nothing. Jake I truly, truly think you are my perfect match." He squeezes my hand. "I couldn't agree more." We smile at each other for a split second, then our lips are pressed together and cheers explode from the crowd around us. There was nothing sweeter than a reunion kiss. We pull away and look into each other's eyes until we're interrupted by a cough. I look up to see Jenna. Guilt rushes through me. "Hey guys." She smiles sadly. "It was never meant to be, huh Jake?" Jake gulps. "Jenna, I-" "No, it's fine. This whole time I had a gut feeling I was forcing something that wasn't there and I was right. You only love her. It's clear." She sighs. "Is this embarrassing? Yes, very much so. But I'm not going to pretend you guys don't belong together. Because you do." She reaches to unclip the necklace from around her neck. "Erika, I think this belongs to you." "No keep it," I say but she shakes her head. "It's never been mine to keep. It belongs to the girl the bachelor loves. And that's you." She slips it into Jake's hands. "Go on, put it on her Jake!" He nods. I feel the crowd's excitement as he hesitantly lifts it up, brushing my hair aside as he fastens it around my neck. I look down, smiling at the shimmer of the jewels.
"It's perfect."