My Guardian Angel

Chapter 5: I'd imagine you do.

"W-why... w-why were y-you out there?" I found myself stuttering, due to my nerves.

The woman just smiled back at me as she soon wrapped her arms around my body. I sank into her embrace, immediately enjoying the unexpected affection, and feeling all of the air within me escaping.

She sighed before pulling away, her hands sliding down my arms, stopping at my hands. Intertwining her fingers with mine, she leaned in to kiss my cheek, softly.

She then stepped back in order to gaze into my eyes. I returned her gaze, perplexed.

"Sorry..." She breathed, her eyes half-lidded as some form of sorrow had flashed within them. "I don't expect you to understand... I'm... I-"

Surprising myself, along with her, I tugged the woman into another embrace. Holding her close, I rubbed my hand in a circular motion on her back.

"Alone? You're lonely..."

The woman's eyes widened at my words before softening.

"How'd you guess that?" Her voice became lighter, a small smile creeping on her delicate features.

"Well... I know what lonely looks like."

As she pulled away, she cradled my face in her gentle hands and gazed knowingly and deeply into my deep-ocean eyes, as if she could see right through me.

"I'd imagine you do..."

***

With Katherine hovering over me, her arms acting like a shield, she looked at me with such warmth in her eyes though we were surrounded by cold.

"You really are clumsy." I teased, though I had fallen as well. I don't remember the ice being this cold. Perhaps, back then I was distracted by a more prominent subject.

"You fell too," she noted.

"Because you pulled my arm." Did she forget?

Smirking, she caressed my cheek lovingly. I unconsciously leaned into her touch, closing my eyes for a moment, just simply enjoying the moment. It had occurred to me. There was no one there, only the two of us, which meant we were free to throw any and all facades away, at least for today.

Looking into my eyes, her eyes held a kind of softness only an angel could induce.

"I love you," She breathed, her thumb gently rubbing over my flushed cheek. The sincerity in her voice... you couldn't argue with it. She really did love me. She loved me more than I thought anyone could ever love me. Before, I would have thought I didn't deserve this amount of affection, the amount she was offering me, as if I would ruin it somehow- ruin the purity of her love in my tainted world. But...

"I love you more." But, I loved her just as much, if not more. She was everything to me. I wouldn't let anything happen to her or this... what we had.

"Impossible." She chuckled, rubbing our noses together. "I love you most."

My lips parted before closing into a smile. Why would I argue with an angel who loves me this much?

"You're left speechless." I suppose I was.

"You're just so beautiful and genuine... what did I ever do to deserve you?"

Katherine smiled as she pondered for a long moment. She playfully contorted her expression as if she were in deep thought.

"Hey!" I giggled. "Do you really have to think this hard on your response?"