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Chapter 41

** REBEL SIMMONS POV **

"Ladies and gentleman we will be departing shortly. We apologize again for the delay." The woman said nervously over the intercom.

"You sure you don't want some of my Taki chips, they're delicious." The greasy, overweight man to the right of me asked, yet again.

"No thank you." I repeated for the fifth time, annoyance filling my voice as I discreetly rolled my eyes.

"I'll take some man!" The middle aged man to the left of me who smelt like stale cigarettes exclaimed in a voice much louder than what is appropriate on a small aircraft.

He reached over me to grab a handful of the red shaped chips, spilling some on me in the process. I mentally calculated how I could get away with murdering two irritating men on a crowded plane.

How the fuck am I going to survive this 13 hour flight.

"Miss Simmons?" The flight attendant said in a sweet voice, snapping me out of my murderous schemes.

"Yes?" I said, looking up at the young flight attendant. 

"You've been upgraded to first class." She said in her high pitched voice.

Thank fucking Jesus.

I quickly grabbed my backpack and phone, and shuffled out of the crowded seats. I don't know how I was upgraded to first class, but I wasn't going to question it. I walked through the narrow aisle, hitting elbows and shoulders with my bag along the way.

I walked through the curtain, and smiled when I saw that it was completely empty. First class was luxurious to say the least. Instead of seats, there were flat beds inside of cubicles each with their own TV screen displaying the duration of the flight and geolocation. There were two beds side by side on the flight, making me extra grateful that no one was here. The beds came with long, light blue curtains for additional privacy. The flight attendant handed me some white silk pajamas and plush white slippers. I entered the private bathroom and quickly changed. Afterwards, she led me to a seat towards the corner.

"Let me know if you need anything else, ma'am." She said before she walked away.

I looked into the cubicle and was surprised to see Dante already casually laying down in the bed next to mine, dressed in similar pajamas and flipping through movies on the screen. The beds were surprisingly large enough to fit his 6'2 frame comfortably.

"You thought you could leave without saying goodbye?" He said as he sat up and smirked.

"You act as if I wasn't going to come back." I chucked as I sat down on my bed. I sunk down into what I assume was a memory foam mattress. I poked it a few times, causing Dante to laugh.

"Well, what if you didn't?" He said seriously as he removed the barricade between the beds.

"If I did decide to leave, I know you'd burn down everything in your path until you find me." I said smirking at him.

"You're damn right I would." He said as he looked at me with a playful yet serious expression on his face.

We buckled in our seatbelts as the flight took off. Once we were in the air, Dante unbuckled his seat belt before unbuckling mine. He reached over and closed the curtain before he pulled me close to his chest and held me in a tight embrace. I felt something poking me on his waistband and smiled.

"I see you found your present." I said as I brought my hand to his chest. "You like it?" I asked nervously.

"It's perfect. I'm never going anywhere without them." He said before he smiled and kissed my forehead. I smiled as his masculine scent and muscular arms embraced me. We stayed like this for a moment before the nagging question in my mind reared it's ugly head.

"Dante, why did you follow me?" I asked as I pulled away slightly to look up at his crystal grey eyes.

"Do you want my logical answer? Or my irrational answer?" He said with a smirk.

"How about both?" I said laughing. I absolutely adored this playful side of Dante.

"Logically, we have some of the worlds best assassins trying to kill us. I can't keep you safe if you're in another country." He said seriously. His playful expression completely disintegrating.

"I can take care of myself you know." I said as I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Sure you can." He said sarcastically.

"And 72 hours without your witty and brazen attitude would be rather tedious. That, and I wouldn't have been able to give you your gift." He said as he reached into the pocket of his silk pajamas. He pulled away from our embrace and brought out a red present with a white rose on top the box. It was wrapped even more poorly than mine were, making me assume that Dante wrapped it himself. I couldn't help but feel giddy at the fact that Dante did something completely out of his comfort zone... for me.

"Merry Christmas my little vixen." Dante whispered as handed it to me with a tense expression on his face while he ran his hand through his hair nervously.

I looked at him and smiled brightly before I carefully removed the rose, placing it next to me, and opened the tightly wrapped present. After I struggled to remove the layers of tape, I held a rectangular white jewelry box in my hands. I opened it and somehow, my smile grew wider. Inside held a piece of paper with Dante's messy writing.

There are no words strong enough, or lovely enough, to describe how I feel about you. You are everything to me. 

"F. Scott Fitzgerald." I said as I beamed up at Dante.

"He's much better with words than I am." Dante chuckled nervously.

I removed the note, and carefully tucked it inside my practically indestructible computer case in my backpack, keeping it safe until we were back in Venice. Inside the box was the bullet he extracted from my arm, completely cleaned and attached to a chain. I chuckled slightly at the irony of both of our gifts, and how alike and in sync our minds were. 

"I said I'd protect you with my life, Rebel. I meant every word. If you..." he said, struggling to find the words as he gently placed the necklace around my neck. "If you were to die... I'd have to live with the agony of dying twice: once when I lose you, and again when I take my last breath. It'll ruin me." He whispered as he cupped my face. His crystal grey eyes were soft and his eyebrows were furrowed.

"I want you to have this, and remember that. I'll always protect you, even at the cost of my own life. I'd happily jump in front of a bullet for you if it meant that you'd be okay." He said softly as he stared down at me, a hint of pain in his voice. 

My tiny hands clutched onto his silk pajamas and I pulled him towards me, electricity coursing in my veins as I crashed my lips onto his. The world around us vanished and time seized to exist.