19 ── you
WAS IT possible for Harper and Elijah to have fallen so deeply in love in such a short amount of time?
Yes, it was.
The intensity of their feelings was undeniable, and though it came quickly, it was a love that had burned bright and hot, filling the spaces between them with a warmth neither of them had expected.
It was a love that seemed to bloom in the most unexpected of places, in the most unlikely of circumstances. It was beautiful, yet painful, because of the stark awareness they both shared—that time was not on their side. The depth of their connection made everything else seem less important, but it also made the knowledge of Harper's fate feel more urgent, more heartbreaking. They both cherished every moment, knowing how fleeting their time together truly was.
The night had fallen around them, and the sky was a deep shade of purple, dotted with a thousand stars. They sat side by side at the edge of a cliff, overlooking the world below, as the sun had set, leaving only the gentle glow of twilight. The quiet around them felt intimate, as if they were in a world of their own, disconnected from everything else, but fully aware of the connection they shared. Harper's gaze was fixed on the horizon, but her thoughts were far away, tangled in the web of emotions she had been trying to make sense of ever since she met Elijah.
"What did it feel like?" Harper asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper. She turned her eyes toward him, her heart racing as she spoke the words she had been holding inside for so long. It was a question that had been plaguing her for days, and now, sitting here with Elijah, the only person she could imagine sharing it with, it felt almost impossible to ask.
Elijah turned to look at her, his expression thoughtful, as if trying to understand the question, to figure out what she was truly asking. "What did?" he replied, his brow furrowing in slight confusion.
Harper closed her eyes, bracing herself for the next words she would speak, the weight of them heavy on her chest. "Dying," she murmured, her voice barely audible, as though speaking the word out loud would make it more real. She had promised herself she would never ask such a question, because doing so would mean she was accepting her fate, accepting that death was coming for her. But here she was, asking anyway, as if in some way, she hoped that the answer might make everything less terrifying.
"Dying?" Elijah's voice cracked in surprise, his eyes widening as the word hung in the air between them. It wasn't something they had ever really spoken about before, not in such a direct way. Harper opened her eyes, meeting his gaze, seeing the confusion, and the concern, in his eyes.
"Does it hurt?" Her question was soft, filled with a kind of vulnerability that she rarely allowed herself to show. She didn't know why she asked. Perhaps she wanted to understand, perhaps she needed to know if the pain was something she could endure, or if it would be a kind of peace she could accept.
Elijah's chest tightened, his heart aching with the agony of her question. How could he answer that? He had never died—he had lived through centuries of suffering, but death was something he had only ever witnessed from the outside. How could he explain what it felt like to die when he himself was still breathing, still alive?
"Harper, my dear," Elijah began, his voice low and full of sorrow, "I'm not sure if I can answer that." He reached out, gently cupping her hand that rested on his chest, his thumb brushing over her skin in a soothing motion. "I cannot speak for what it feels like to die, because I have never experienced it, not in the way you're asking. What I know is that death... is different for everyone. It is not a single thing, not one feeling that can be described with words. It is a process, a journey that varies with each person."
Harper's heart fluttered, but she didn't pull her hand away. Instead, she ran her thumb along his cheek, feeling the warmth of his skin beneath her fingertips. "Tell me how you felt," she whispered, her voice almost pleading, as though she could find some sort of comfort in his experience, even if it wasn't the same as hers.
Elijah took a deep breath, his eyes closing for a moment as he recalled the memory of his own death, a memory that had long since faded into the past. He had died countless times, but none of those deaths had been his final one. They had all been temporary, a part of his immortality, something he could never truly escape. Still, he remembered the feeling of falling, of losing himself in the darkness, and of the terrible, soul-wrenching sensation of separation from his body.
"Dying, for me, felt like falling into a void," he said softly, his voice distant as he spoke. "It was like the world around me dissolved, leaving only the feeling of my soul slipping away from my body. But, because I was not truly dying, it didn't feel like death in its truest form. It felt like... an incomplete death. It was like I was in the space between life and death, but not truly crossing over. So, Harper, my dear, I apologize, but I cannot give you the answer you seek. I cannot say what death truly feels like because I have never experienced it in its full capacity."
Harper nodded slowly, understanding his words, even as a part of her still yearned for something more. She shook her head gently, her lips curving into a soft smile. "I disagree, Elijah," she said quietly, her voice filled with warmth and understanding. "I think that's enough of an answer. Even though you're still here, alive and breathing, I can feel it, I can sense it... the feeling is still there, right here." She brought her hand down to his chest, her fingers brushing against his heartbear. "I think that's enough."
Elijah's gaze softened as he looked at her, his heart aching with the depth of the connection they shared. He had lived so many lifetimes and had known so many people, but none of them had ever made him feel the way Harper did. She had a way of seeing him, of understanding him, in a way that no one ever had before. Her presence in his life had changed him and had made him question things he had long since given up on.
Harper's next words were soft, yet filled with a quiet intensity. "I think what I really wanted to ask was... do you fear it?" She looked up at him, her eyes searching his face, as though waiting for a truth that she couldn't yet put into words.
Elijah placed his hand gently over hers, feeling the steady rhythm of her heartbeat beneath his palm. "I have never been afraid of it," he said, his voice steady but tinged with an emotion he hadn't expected. "For a long time, I thought death was something I wanted. I thought it would bring an end to my endless existence, an end to the pain, to the loneliness. But that was before I met you."
Harper's breath caught in her throat as Elijah's hand lifted, cupping her cheek tenderly. His touch was so gentle, so full of care, that it made her heart race. "What changed that?" she asked softly, her voice barely a whisper.
"You," he replied, his words simple yet profound. "You, Harper, have changed everything for me. You've shown me that life, even with all its pain, is worth living. You've made me believe in something more than just an end."
Harper held her breath, her heart fluttering in her chest as she looked into his eyes. She could see the truth in his words, and she knew that they both shared something far deeper than either of them had ever imagined. They were connected, not just by circumstance or fate, but by something far more powerful—something that had bound them together, even in the face of uncertainty.
They both knew what they felt, but neither had yet said it aloud. Their love was not something that needed to be spoken, not something that required confirmation. It was already there, a silent understanding between them.
Elijah leaned forward then, the quiet intensity between them palpable. Harper knew what was coming, and yet, she didn't pull away. She welcomed it, as his lips brushed against hers in a tender, electric kiss. It was their first kiss, and yet it felt as though it was the culmination of everything they had both been feeling, everything they had both been holding inside.
The kiss was soft at first, tentative, but soon it deepened, both of them pouring all the emotion they had into it. Their lips tingled, their skin crawled with delight, and for that moment, nothing else in the world mattered. It was just the two of them, wrapped in each other's arms, sharing a kiss that felt as beautiful as it was painful. It was the beginning of something neither of them had been prepared for, but both of them had longed for, even if they hadn't realized it.
As they pulled away, their foreheads resting together, neither of them spoke. They didn't need to. The kiss had said everything that words couldn't express. The love they felt for each other, the longing, the fear, the joy—it was all there, shared in that one perfect moment.
an: i remember when i first wrote this, i was a freaken sobbing mess. - ;(
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