Every Rose Has It's Thorn

Every Rose Has It's Thorn Chapter 22

Word Count 1,595

Night turned to day, and days, weeks. The flaxen glow of the sun rising in the east was lost to Loki, for the only light which caught his worn eye was the gentle phosphorescence of the moon late into the night. It had no eyes to observe nor ears to lend as listener except silence and serenity to watch on in empathy. Such light, such luminescence, surrounded by endless darkness. The moon could never escape the black scape to which it was born. 

Maybe this was why Colson identified with it.

All thoughts of watching her life drain into warm blood would vanish... and dissipate into the softness of her lip between his teeth.

Life without Y/N posed impossible for him.

An inexplicable heat rose to Colson's cheeks and the nape of his neck, fire taking the form of sweat building in his palms - but he suppressed the growing anxiety, as he had always done.

"Y/N is, of course, exquisite in both mind and body", mused the Colson darkly, "so much so that I did not think twice before... 'slipping into her', if you will."

The smugness faded from Colson's features, replaced by the foreign furrows of fear. In fact, he could dare say this was an emotion he hadn't felt since he was a mischievous child, and for the most part of his life after that. He characterized it as a shadow that none could see nor hear, yet induced violent turns in his stomach and caused his heart to thump rapidly as the insidious shadow overtook his senses, regardless of whether or not he was willing. It forced from within him a weakness invisible to others; a piece of his soul prone to the monsters beneath his bed Mother had often mentioned in one of her elaborate tales. That pure, unparalleled sensation of harrowing dread where nothing was as it seemed; a world where he was alone with none but enemies to keep him company. 

A lump formulated in his throat. Swallowing proved difficult; his mouth was parched, thirst unbearable. Resolution trembling, words caught between his teeth. At these times, Colson thanked the pride inside him that forbade him from crumbling before a man who was clearly beneath him.

Colson cursed inwardly as he started to shake with emotion. He was fully aware it wasn't really Y/N that had emitted that sound, but it had been so long since he had seen her smile, let alone laugh in any form of content. Through all the confusion, he swore with his life that he would hold on to this image, this exquisite mirage in which her lips would part and set free a note of sweet joy.

Colson awoke with a jolt. Beads of sweat left glistening trails along his throbbing temples. As he fisted the sheets beneath him, he realized with disgust that they were soaked with the liquid heat of his back. He could have compared the sensation to a thousand daggers simultaneously plunging through his skull, which Colson decided was an accurate depiction of the feeling of someone trying to pierce the veil of his mind in order to gain unwarranted access. 

At the absurdity of his own thoughts, he would have laughed if only he weren't in agony. 

Like all nights, he lay on his back and stared aimlessly at the ceiling and waited for the pain to gradually disappear.

It never did, of course. 

So he would allow his eyes to close, and conjure the image of that sweet laugh until the nightmares plagued him no more.

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Flashback Y/N POV

"My love..." His breath ghosted the shell of my ear, words sultry, drawn out, and low. I met his gaze immediately and was lost in those gleaming pools, blue as the bright sky in which soaring herons roamed free and proud. Fondly, I let my fingers trail from the rough hairs on his jaw to the gold on his chin, coming to cup his face in my hand as he leaned into my touch. The black of his eyes, never leaving mine, blew wide with desire as the pad of my thumb brushed the top of his lips. In that moment they seemed incredibly soft, almost like cotton beneath my gentle touch. Heat danced across my knuckles from the quickened breaths of my husband who was searching my eyes so hungrily, I felt it would be cruel to deny him what he so clearly and desperately wanted.