Eleanor

We lay together in his bed as the sun comes up, curtains drawn.

Silk is against my back, a comforter on top of the two of us, his finger intertwined with one of mine. We stare at the ceiling.

"Why do you love me?" I whisper.

"Is that like asking why the sky is blue?" He mused.

"They know why the sky is blue."

"Oh."

I look over at him. His blonde hair spreads against the silk black sheets, her dark eyes on the ceiling as if seeing some great movie on it.

"So?" I prompt him.

He glanced over at me, before looking back up. "I told you it's a choice. And in the same sense, I suppose it's not. Every day, I become aware, and I think...I can't wait to love Eleanor today."

I squeeze his finger a bit.

"It's something I look forward to. It's the only thing I look forward to, really."

I watch him. The ceiling isn't nearly as interesting. He's so pretty. His features a delicate, and beautiful. He meets my eyes, turning over as well, facing me.

He smiles, looking over my face, playing with my finger idly.

"And you? Do you wake up and think of me?" He whispers.

I look away. Contemplate lying. But he pours his love into me in droves. I don't want him to go empty. As hard as it is, I want to return some of that affection.

And so I nod gently, and offer him a small smile. His face lights up, with just this small admission of affection.

My heart aches.

"I love you, you know that don't you?" I whisper, closing my eyes. I don't want to see whatever expression he makes when I reveal this to him.

He raises a hand, stroking the side of my face. "I know you have great affection for me Eleanor. I know you love me. It is why I don't take your standoffish appearance to heart."

He pressed a kiss to my forehead. "I know you. And we have forever. You and I. We have eternity. Like it or not."

I open my eyes. "Do you like it?"

He gives pause, his lips pursing, dark brown eyes glances away. "I like every moment with you, Eleanor. But I sorely wish...you had not been cursed."

Right. He considers a curse. It is. I don't deny it, honestly. I understand why he didn't want this for me. But he would've been torrented alone.

Even with Liam. He needed someone.

He needed me. He asks me again, why I did this? Was I lied to, was I deceived or had he given the wrong impression of the way he loved that made me covet it?

In truth, the fact I'm alive right now, is my greatest testament of love.

I couldn't leave him alone.

Not forever. No like this. Not after seeing the loneliness in his eyes, when he would come into my shop, eyes glancing over stories some of which I'm sure he inspired.

"I don't know," Is what I say instead though, and I press a kiss to his lips, and he's forgetting about his query, for now.

His long, light lashes kiss his cheeks as he closing them for a moment, opening them once more.

"I can't wait to open my eyes, and see you once more. I can hardly close them from the excitement of them." He kissed my nose.

I wrinkle it and chuckles, and calls me a cutie, brushed my cheek.

My stomach rolls in anticipation.

"Tomorrow, we must do something fun," I say. "Let us go see a...movie."

Alastair nods. "Yes...let's."

I swallow. "Do you...regret your love for god? Since you consider that he abandoned you?"

He opens his eyes, and his dark brown eyes stare into mine.

"I never regret what I've loved before. Perhaps God stood me up. But...when I loved Him it was sweet."

And that's my parting thought, that no matter what happens between now and eternity, at least he won't regret me.