Gabriel's POV Season 2

S2 Chapter 10, Happy Ending Path- "The show must go on"

 I sigh, then I take a deep breath. I must take them all out of me at all cost.
"Tell her the Gabriel she knew... HER Gabriel is dead. I died the moment that she broke my heart years ago. Tell her that she is dead to me too"
"NOOOOOOOO" her piercing scream echoes in the silence and I am glad that she hears what I have to say. Mixed feelings of sadness and anger start to overwhelm me, but I must continue and give an end to this madness
"she died the minute that she destroyed my wedding day, the moment that she jeopardized the lives of my future wife and my unborn baby"
"Gabriel" she grabbed the phone from the nurse. Her voice is a trembling whisper. She is crying, I can hear her sobs.
"please come and take me away from here, give me another chance"
"another chance to do what? You have no place in my life or in my heart" I am going to hang up when I hear her
"please don't hang up, I need you please, I am so sorry for everything, please forgive me"
"I can't. And I must go, we have made this conversation countless times, it is pointless. Take care of yourself and don't try to communicate with me again. We're done talking"
Only when I hang up, I realize that my face is wet, was I crying? I look at my watch. Fuck, I will barely make it. I run out of my car, straight to the studio. The show has begun. I finally make it on time. Only when I stand in front of the stage's door, I realize what I am going to do, and my heart is beating like crazy. I hope I won't humiliate myself. It is a live show there is no going back. I hear the music of Claire's song. It is time to show up. I raise my eyes as if I ask for God's help and I go inside.
Claire is standing in the middle of the stage with her back turned to me. She can't see me because it is dark. I take my place next to her and only when I start singing, she turns to me with her eyes full of surprise. What happened baby? Where is your instinct that knows when I am close to you?
As the time passes, I think I made it. The audience seems happy and they ask for a kiss at the end.
"we can't turn your funs down angel, right?"
I grab her by her waist, lean her backwards and give them the satisfaction of a theatrical and very passionate kiss. The show host comes to us and asks questions. I don't take my hand of her waist. It is where it belongs. He asks us if we are back together. I look at Claire
"were we ever separated angel?"
Claire smiles and shows her hands.
"are we officially back together? Because I don't see any ring on my fingers"
Oh, so that's the way you want to play? She understands immediately by my look that it wasn't funny, and she corrects her answer. Hmm, good girl. Colin shows up to talk about the song and wish to Claire. He hugs her and kisses her on the cheeks.
"Hey man, take your hands off my woman"
I hug him, and we laugh.
"Good job man, I didn't know you will end up so good" he smiles mischievously.
Probably Claire asks herself when we became friends, so I lean towards her and whisper to her ear
"long story"
After the show I am waiting Claire outside the studio. I am leaning my back against the car, she comes and nestles in my arms like the old times.
"time to go home?" she asks me. Oh, baby if only you knew what I have prepared for you.
"you mean OUR home?"
She nods.
"Oh, no angel. I can't as long as you don't wear a ring on your finger. We are not officially back together remember?" yeah I can play that game too!
"mmm, well then I can be your lover, it is fine with me" she says as she bites her bottom lip seductively and fixes my tie.
Fucking hell, if only you knew the effect you have on me. Get a grip Gabriel.
"I find you very bold for a pregnant woman" she smiles, and I open the door of the car and help her sit.
"So where are we going?"
"I thought after everything we went through maybe we can go somewhere to have fun and relax"
"like what? A fun park?"
"not exactly. I booked an escape room for us"
She seems a little scared when she hears it.
"Don't worry angel, nothing scary and nothing that would put you in danger or exhaust you, actually it is more like a fairytale room, you will like it, I am sure"
She relaxes and nods. She doesn't know that I have made a new escape room from scratch based on her favorite fairytale (swan lake). I have a friend that constructs sets for movies and he helped me make my vision come true.
We arrive at the place, I open Claire's door and take her hand to help her get outside of the car. I put my other hand around her waist while I guide her to the "escape room". When we are inside the owner welcomes us and explains how it works, then he separates us and give us special clothes to wear. Claire wears an amazing haute couture dress that I bought for her with black feathers. She is stunning. I wear my black tuxedo and I am going to the operating room where I can watch her through the monitor. We have cameras everywhere. Claire follows the instructions and starts searching for clues. First, she finds a treasure box where I have hidden all the letters that I wrote her the time that we were apart. She starts reading them and realizes that it is not a game. I remember every single word that I wrote, and I repeat inside me as she reads. I wrote her how dark my life becomes every time that she leaves me. How lonely, miserable and incomplete I feel. How in vane I searched for something that wouldn't remind me of her just to take my mind of things for a while, but I couldn't find everything because she lives in my heart, in my mind, in my soul. I wrote her how sorry I am about what happened, and I hope that we will manage to close this chapter and move on.
Claire finishes reading the letters and she is clearly moved. She has tears in her eyes and then I realize that I have too. It happens automatically in the thought of her leaving me again. My heart is too weak to stand another abandonment. She takes the letters and throws them in the fire burning in the fireplace. She follows the ceremony of forgiveness that she found in the instructions that I left with the letters. Burning the letters is a part of the process. It symbolizes that we burn all the bad moments. I hear her saying to herself that she would love to keep them because they are indication of my feelings for her. Angel don't worry, you have me, you don't need these sad letters.
She keeps playing and finds the way to the next room. She enters it and discovers a white room fool of photos from our happiest moments hanging from balloons coming from the ceiling. At the bottom of each photo I wrote what I loved about that moment. In the middle of the room there is a letter and a big box. She opens the letter first and she reads it. I wrote her that for me she is both my black and white swan. She owns my heart and she can make me miserable or the happiest man alive with her decisions. So, I ask her if she wants to continue being my black swan or she will be my white one. She opens the box and finds the other haute couture dress that I bought for her with white feathers this time. She goes behind the divide screen and changes her dress. Good girl, now I must run to the last room that she will visit next. It is a room with a royal throne and a beautiful birthday cake. She opens the door and runs to my arms. She is crying but they are tears of happiness.
"baby, you didn't have to go through all this. I have already decided to come back"
"I know but I have already planned it a long time ago and I wanted to show you one more time what you mean to me" she smiles and then she notices the cake.
"oh, perfect. The game made me hungry. Can we cut the cake?"
"of course, it is all yours"
She makes a wish, blows the candles and cuts the cake. She finds a small box inside the cake and brings it outside. She opens the box and finds the claddagh ring that I bought for her.
"what's this?"
I bent down on my knees, I ask for the ring and then I propose to her for second time.
"Now that you decided to become my white swan do you want this to last forever?"
"I have already answered to this question. Nothing has changed. Of course, I do"
She smiles as she observes her ring.
"it is quite strange, I have never seen anything like this"
"it is a claddagh ring. It represents love, loyalty, and friendship"
(the hands represent friendship, the heart represents love, and the crown represents loyalty)
"it is beautiful baby. You know, I really admire you for all the thought that you put to this day. Thank you so much"
She hugs me and kisses me passionately.
"Can we go home now to show you how much I appreciate all your effort?"
"That's what I was waiting to hear all night, angel"