The Making of…

Chapter 59

Forever

My phone’s alarm bleeped irritatingly in my ear as I rolled over and slammed it off, before retreating back under the duvet and curling up against Viggo’s warm body.

“Mmm… Ki you gotta get up.” He yawned.

“No, I don’t want to go… Can’t I just stay here?” I begged as he sat up and kissed the top of my head.

“I’m afraid that’s not really an option.” He murmured, “Come on, or you’ll be late.”

“Alright…” I sighed dejectedly, sitting up and swinging my legs out of bed. I opened my suitcase and grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and the hoodie I’d stolen from Viggo during our camping trip. I pulled them on as Viggo dressed in his clothes from last night and I zipped up my suitcase. I hauled it over to my trailer door as Viggo made some coffee. As he was pouring it into the mugs I walked up behind him and wrapped my arms around his waist. “I’m going to miss waking up with you.” I mumbled into his shirt.

“So will I.” He sighed, turning and handing me my mug. I sipped my coffee quietly, checking my watch – I had to be at the airport in just over an hour. That didn’t leave me much time with Viggo. As I drained my cup and washed it – putting it back in the cupboard for the last time – I thought about what I would do with myself once I got home. No filming and no Viggo. I supposed I could visit my family… That would be nice. “Are you ready to go?” Viggo asked quietly, and I shook my head, finding tears pricking at my eyes.

“I don’t want to leave you.” I sniffed as he hugged me and I buried my face in his shoulder.

“It’s ok Ki, it’s not for long, I promise.” He whispered comfortingly, he pulled back and looked at me with a gentle smile. “Cheer up; I love it when you smile.” He murmured, causing me to smile weakly. “So are you ready now?”

“I suppose…” I shrugged as he released me and took my hand as he led me to the door. I looked back, taking one last glance around what had been my home, before lifting my guitar case and backpack as Vig picked up my suitcase. We walked out the door and I rooted in my pocket for my key – I locked the door for the last time and handed the key to Viggo, who would pass it on to Peter for me. He laced his fingers through mine as we walked to his Jeep and placed my bags in the back. I climbed into the passenger seat beside him and he pulled me into a hug as we waited for Orlando and Billy to show up. “I love you.” I whispered, holding him tightly.

“I love you too.” He replied, gently stroking my hair as I heard Orlando and Billy toss their bags in the back and climb into the back seats.

“Morning guys…” Orlando mumbled as Billy moaned something about a killer hangover. I smiled a little as Viggo released me and started the engine, and I said a silent goodbye to the studios as we pulled out of the car park. The drive to the airport was over much too quickly, and as Viggo pulled into a parking space, I ran my fingers over the battered leather of the car seats and breathing in the familiar smell of the Jeep – it mostly smelled of Viggo, but I could detect hints of coffee, leather polish and the smell of horses. I made sure to log the scent in the back of my mind as I climbed out of the Jeep for the last time. I was doing a lot of things for the last time today. I went and retrieved my bags from the back in a daze, but once again Viggo took my suitcase from my hands and carried it for me as we made our way into the airport.

I knew Viggo wouldn’t be allowed to go past the check-in desks, so this was were we had to say our goodbyes. Billy and Orlando both gave Viggo a manly hug, murmuring their awkward farewells.

“See ya man.” Orlando mumbled as they both stepped back. I looked down at the ground as Viggo set my suitcase down, and then I felt his fingertips lightly brush my chin, persuading me to look up into his captivating eyes.

“It’s not forever, so don’t act like it is.” He smiled as I dropped my bags and flung my arms around his neck.

“Viggo…” I whimpered into his shoulder as tears spilled unchecked from my eyes. I didn’t make any attempt to stop them. There was no point. “I love you.”

“I love you too Ki, so much.” He whispered, and I felt him kiss the side of my forehead. He held me tighter, burying his face in my hair. “The next few weeks are going to be torture without you.”

“You’ll call, right?” I sniffed.

“Of course.” He assured me, “I’ll be on the phone to you twenty four hours a day if I can – I don’t care how big the bill will be.” I laughed weakly at his joke. “It’ll be worth it Ki, just a few weeks without each other, then we’re together again, forever.”

“Forever.” I echoed softly, gripping the fabric of his shirt tightly as over the airport intercom, our flight number was called to make sure that we had gotten past check-in.

“You have to go.” He murmured, gently releasing me. He carefully wiped away my tears and smiled comfortingly, but the smile didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Ok…” I whispered, smiling back weakly, “See you in a few weeks.” I sighed, picking up my cases and walking towards where Billy and Orlando were waiting, tears gathering in my eyes as I tried to hold them back.

“Kira!” I turned at the sound of Viggo’s voice to see him running towards me, before he gently caught my face in his hands and brought his lips down to meet mine. “I love you Kira.” He whispered tenderly, kissing me again.

“I love you too.” I replied.

“Call me when you land, ok?”

“Yeah…” I nodded, before his lips recaptured mine. I didn’t care who was staring as I dropped my cases and wrapped my arms around his neck, before the intercom buzzed again, insisting that I left his arms.

“I’m counting the days until I can see you again.” He murmured as I picked up my bags.

“Well I’m counting the hours.” I smirked.

“Minutes.”

“Seconds.”

“Milliseconds.” He retorted, reaching out to gently stroke my cheek, one last touch, before I had to go. “I’ll watch for your plane taking off.”

“You better wave then.” I smiled as I turned away. “Love you.”

“Love you too.” He smiled sadly as I walked over to the desks and handed over my details before I was waved over to the security desks. I turned back and saw Viggo standing with his hands in his pockets amongst the bustling crowds, before a large group of people moved in from of him, blocking him from my view.

“Miss?” The security officer called me, and I looked away.

“Coming…” I murmured, hauling my bags onto the rotating belt and following Orlando and Billy towards the collection point.

***

One week, one day, and six hours since I’d last seen Viggo.

I sighed and nudged a cardboard box out of my way as I made my way through the pokey kitchen of my tiny rented house. There were boxes everywhere; I still hadn’t unpacked my possessions. What was the point? I didn’t plan on staying here long. I dumped my empty coffee mug in my sink and dodged another box as I ambled out of the kitchen into the bland living room. I slumped down on the cheap, overstuffed sofa and picked up my phone from where it lay on top of another box. I flicked through the few messages and then set it back down, running a hand through my hair and then lying down on the sofa. I breathed in the comforting smell of the oversized shirt I was wearing – Viggo’s of course – as I waited for the phone to ring. He didn’t disappoint; six pm, on the dot, every night, as usual.

“Hey.” I sighed as I answered the phone on the first ring, closing my eyes as I waited for the sound of his voice.

“Hi.” Viggo breathed, “How you doing?”

“Coping.” I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me.

“Same here.” He admitted, “God I miss you Ki.”

“I miss you too Vig, so much.” I sniffed as I held back tears. I always did this, we got about three seconds in to a conversation and then I was bawling. I could visualise him now, running a hand through his adorably messy hair as he held the phone to his ear. Of course, I couldn’t picture where he was, as I had no idea what his house looked like.

“You’re ok though, right?” He asked, just like he did every night.

“Yeah… You?”

“I’m ok.” He laughed weakly. I smiled as he talked; telling me about what he had done today. The horses had arrived, he said they were all doing well, but he claimed Indy was missing me. We talked on, until it was getting late for me, although it was still early afternoon for him – but he’d worked out the time difference, and could probably hear me starting to yawn. “Ki, you’re tired.” He murmured.

“No I’m not… I want to talk to you more.” I protested.

“So do I, but I don’t want to keep you up.”

“You’re not…” I yawned, not wanting to admit that I was pretty sleepy.

“I love how you’re so stubborn.” He laughed, “I wish I could be with you right now.”

“Vig…” I sighed, “You have no idea how much I want that too.”

“How soon until you can fly over here?” He asked.

“I’ve checked, all the flights going out are fully booked until after next week.” I mumbled.

“That’s so long.” He groaned, “I need to see you Ki, I really do… I miss you.”

“I love you Vig.” I whimpered, unable to stop the single tear that tracked down my cheek.

“I love you two.” He murmured quietly, “You really should get some sleep though.”

“I know.” I sighed, wiping my tears on the sleeve of my borrowed shirt. “Will you call tomorrow?”

“Don’t I always?” He laughed a little, and I closed my eyes as I pictured his smile. “Goodnight Kira.”

“Night Vig.” I sighed as I heard the dim ‘click’ meaning he’d hung up. I stood up and stretched, walking slowly upstairs to my bedroom and dropping down onto the bed. As I pulled the covers over myself and leant over to turn off the light, my phone bleeped on my bedside table. I picked it up and curiously looked at the message, smiling as I saw it was from Viggo.

‘Sweet Dreams – I love you’

I couldn’t help but smile as I read the message and set my phone down, but the smile faded as I turned off the light and rolled over. The double bed felt horribly empty and cold without Viggo lying beside me. I snuggled deeper into his shirt, letting myself slowly drift off into a dreamless sleep.

*

One week, four days and one hour since I’d last seen Viggo.

I kicked the broken kitchen door closed moodily as I walked into the living room of my apartment. I was glad I wasn’t going to be living here permanently, as everything was beginning to fall apart… Including me. I moved a couple of boxes around, trying to busy myself and trying to keep myself from going mad. I was going crazy without Viggo around – I hadn’t realised until now how much I’d come to rely on his presence. I went and pulled back the curtains on my window and grimaced at the rain pouring down outside. It had been raining all week… How typically British. I still found myself dressing for New Zealand weather out of habit, but I was slowly adapting to the change of climate. I was still stubbornly wearing a t-shirt over my long jeans though, but I’d thrown one of Viggo’s shirts over the top. I wondered if he’d noticed how much of his clothing I’d stolen… I sighed and ran one hand through my hair and then went to check my phone. I was still keeping in touch with everyone, although it wasn’t the same as what it had been like when we were living within a few feet of each other. The days were passing slowly, I had nothing to do really – I’d visited my family a few times, and had been around all the relatives, having to tell them everything they wanted to know about my time away, and how I would be leaving again sometime soon. But how soon? Not soon enough. I’d booked a plane ticket, but my flight was two weeks away, and it would take even longer to fly all my stuff out too… But I was going to see Viggo again, that was what mattered.

I was about to head back to my bedroom to shift some boxes around, when I heard a knock on the front door. It was probably one of my brothers, I’d told them about the broken door a few days ago and they’d offered to come over and fix it sometime. I walked down the narrow hallway and opened the door.

“Hey, um the kitchen’s right over…” I trailed off as I actually turned and saw the person standing outside my door. It was a few seconds before I was able to force words past my stunned lips. “Oh my God… Viggo?” I gasped as I stared at him, dripping with rain; backpack slung casually over one shoulder, lopsided grin on his face with his hair plastered to his head as a taxi pulled away from the pavement outside. His hair was shorter; he must have had it cut…Wait, why was I noticing that, of all things?

“Hey Ki.” He smiled, as if he hadn’t just turned up on my doorstep out of the blue – this couldn’t be real.

“What- You’re- Vig- How?” I spluttered as he scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

“I didn’t want to wait.” He shrugged as I stared, unable to take my eyes off him, “Your parents are nice by the way – they said to tell you ‘Hi’.”

“My parents?” I squeaked, “You went to my parent’s house?”

“I had to find out where you lived somehow.”

“You could have called.” You could have called? Of all the things I could have said right now…

“I wanted to surprise you.” He grinned.

“Surprised me? You near enough gave me a heart attack…” I muttered, “You idiot, come on, come inside, you’re getting soaked.” I held the door open wider but he shook his head.

“Hang on Ki, I… I need to say something first.”

“Vig?” I frowned as he pulled something out of his pocket. My heart began to hammer in my chest as he got down on one knee. Oh my God he was getting down on one knee. “Vig…” I stammered as he smiled and took my hand, pulling me outside and into the rain.

“Kira Forest,” He smiled, “I love you, I love you so much that eight hours ago I jumped on a plane, flew here, located your parent’s house and turned up on your doorstep just so I could see you… Because I didn’t want to wait another two weeks.” His smile grew as my eyes widened in alarm. “And I’d do it all again… Ki, I want to spend the rest of my life with you; I don’t care where we are, as long as we’re together… Forever... Kira, will you marry me?” I only realised now that in the hand that didn’t hold mine he was holding out a tiny, dark blue velvet box. He flipped the lid open and inside there was a silver ring, or maybe it was white gold… I couldn’t tell… But it had a perfect, single white diamond set into it… Not obnoxiously big… Just perfect. My free hand flew to my mouth as my eyes settled on the ring and the enormity of what he’d just said hit me like a ton of bricks. Without fully realising it, I dropped down onto my knees in front of him, and then I had grabbed his face in my hands, and I was kissing him. He smiled against my lips and wrapped his arms around me. The feeling of being in his arms again after all this time was indescribable; it was so safe, so comforting. His lips broke away from mine as I leant my forehead against his, my fingers tangling in his soaked hair as he held me. “So…” He grinned, “Is that a yes then?” I bit my lower lip as I sat back a little.

“Actually…” I sighed, “It’s a no.” I looked up into his eyes anxiously, unsure of what his reaction would be – I definitely wasn’t expecting him to laugh.

“I knew you’d say that.” He smirked, leaning forwards to kiss me again. “I’d have been more than a little surprised if you didn’t.”

“Then why did you-”

“I figured it was worth a shot.” He shrugged, “But anyway… It’s not an engagement ring.”

“Huh?” I mumbled in surprise.

“Look at it Ki.” He smiled, holding out the little box for me to take. My arms slipped away from him as I carefully held it in my hand and lifted the ring out. I noticed something inscribed on the inside of the little silver band, a single word; ‘Forever’.

“Viggo?” I murmured in confusion as he gently swept a strand of my now-soaked hair behind my ear.

“It’s a promise ring Kira. I know you don’t want to get married, so I’m making you a promise.” His hands closed around mine comfortingly as I held the ring, “I promise to stay by your side forever, no matter what. And I promise that I will always love you, as long as you want me.” He smiled at me as I looked at him, “So what do you say? Do you think that’s something you could commit to?” His hands gently squeezed mine as I smiled.

“You had me at ‘not an engagement ring’.” I laughed weakly as he took the ring from my hand and slipped it on my finger. It fit perfectly. I closed my eyes as his lips connected with mine in a brief, gentle kiss as the rain continued to fall down around us.

“You and me Ki, Forever.” Viggo murmured softly against my lips as I nodded.

“Forever and always.” I smiled, pulling him closer and kissing him again.

[Ahh! It’s over! I can’t believe that there’s only the epilogue to go and then the ENTIRE thing will be finished! The epilogue will just about wrap everything up – but I’ve been saving some twists and turns for the very end! Keep your eyes peeled!]

Werewolf65

xx