Hard to let go. The past cant just stay in the past. [tw]

He let him go to her to hold her neck, frowning a little as the nephilim looked at him. “Was that so hard?” He asked, tilting his head before he got up from his chair. He pulled a rolled up piece of cloth and threw it to Gerard so he could wrap her neck. “Are you willing to stay with me?” He asked as he walked over to them to grab the nephilim by his chin and force him to look up at him. He shifted between his eyes, needing a clear confirmation. “Uphold your promise?” He added, running his thumb along his cheekbone as he looked at him with a rather intense look in his eyes.

The whisper made him smile broadly as he let him look down, letting go and sighing deeply. This was all he had been thinking about in the whole time he had been gone and nothing was going to stand in his way. He frowned at the mention of conditions but decided to hear him out anyway. He frowned a little at the first condition but nodded. The second one seemed doable as well, though the thought of the valkyrie being there too made him a little annoyed. As long as she would look at Gerard and want nothing to do with him, Eden would accept it. “Fine. I agree to your condition. But you belong fully to me. In every regard. Understood?” He asked as serious as he could, looking at Eliza before back at Gerard. “And Xalvador will mind his own business. I dont want to have to beat him up like last time,” he added, grabbing Gerard to get him on his feet. He wasnt going to waste more time on these petty games, because he was getting what he wanted.

“Sure call him,” he allowed him but then the second question made him frown. He shook his head and looked at Gerard. “That wont do. You’ll have to do that some other day,” he said with a serious expression on his face. He was not going to let him run off like that till he was certain that the nephilim was true to his words. So there was some trust to be build. “You can call her and say you’ll be gone. But not more than that, I cant trust you yet,” he said, crossing his arms before he looked Gerard up and down. He called a car and let Gerard call Xalvador meanwhile. Once he was done, he stepped closer to the nephilim and grabbed a hold of his shirt before he lifted it up to look at his chest. “Did you really love her?” He asked as he looked at his chest, not really seemingly caring if it was too cold. The old him wouldnt have been this careless but it could be changed if the nephilim played his cards right.

He looked up at his face at his answer and sighed as he saw the tears. He let go of his shirt and lifted his hand to dry off his tears like he had done back in the day. “It matters to you,” he remarked, shifting between his eyes. Sure, Eden knew nothing of the feeling of remorse or empathy, but he wasnt stupid. The car arrived and he opened the door for him to enter, to then follow himself. He made a deep sigh and adjusted himself. It had been so long. “If it means so much to you, I’ll let you break up with her before I make you do anything. But I expect that you fully submit to me once she’s out of the picture,” he said, reaching out to touch his cheek. His skin was still soft like it had been back then. But then again, he wasnt exactly expecting him to age as if he had been human.

He had expected him to ask about his disappearence back then. He retracted his hand and made a small shrug as he folded his hands. “Business just wasnt good here. And even if I told you, you wouldnt have understood. You would probably have tried to go with me,” he said before he looked at Gerard with serious eyes. He could understand the frustration, but he didnt seem to really mind if the nephilim needed to blow out some steam. It had after all been ten years more or less. “I dont know what happened to you. But it was necessary for you to grow. For you to become a man and not just be the little lost boy I scooped up from that bar that night,” he explained, looking at Gerard. “I hadnt expected to care for you, but I did. So all I needed was for you to grow up and become your own,” he further explained, shifting between Gerard’s eyes. “I always wanted you to be my partner. But it just couldnt be that way ten years ago,” he said with a sigh, looking out the window for a minute. “You’d understand at some point if I had let you stay with that girl. How young seems to be not just age but also mentality,” he spoke rather casually, stopping as he wondered if Gerard had something to say, maybe a protest or voicing another frustration about the past.

Eden looked rather puzzled at the mention of some man. He clearly had no idea what Gerard was speaking about. Even when he was hinting heavily towards something, Eden seemed to have no memory of doing anything in the likes. “So you thought I sent someone to rape you? When I could’ve easily just touched you myself?” He asked, narrowing his eyes. Hadnt Gerard understood to which degree Eden felt like he owned him? That the vampyre wouldnt ever let anyone and that really meant anyone, ever lay a hand on him like that? Eden scoffed and shook his head. “You’ve been villainizing me for all these years for something I didnt do?” He asked with a frown on his brows. “What, you thought those nights on my bed were I made you feel like you were loved and safe was for nothing? That I would throw all that away? For what? Huh? Knowing that someone else had laid their dirty hands on my property?” He asked, looking disgusted at the mere thought. He opened the windows like Gerard asked but he kept his eyes on him. “Why would I do that to you Gerard?” He asked like he was genuinely curious to hear what the nephilim thought.

He had kept his calm for so long, but as it seemed that Gerard fully believed that it was all his doing, he grit his teeth in anger. “If I wanted to tear you down, that wouldnt have been the way,” he almost hissed , clutching his hands a little. It was very unlike Eden to not be able to control himself but Gerard was a soft spot, love or not. All this talk of intrusive thoughts and the warning Gerard gave him just clicked something inside Eden. He grabbed his shirt by the collar and looked at him with a deep frown on his brow. “If you kill yourself, the deal is off. So you keep that in mind if your thoughts get ahead of you,” he warned him, but then he let go and looked to the driver. He told him to change course and gave him the address for Gerard’s studio. Maybe it was for the better if be cut the ties he had to the young valkyrie. “I suggest you tell her the truth,” Eden said as they arrived, looking at Gerard. “I’ll be back in an hour. Just remember what’s at stake,” he reminded him, folding his hands as he sighed deeply.

Tessa was quite out of it, Leona was sitting in the sofa in the studio, flipping through her book while keeping an eye on te young one. She was both confused and maybe a little disappointed. The young valkyrie was just pacing back and forth, unable to get herself to calm down, wondering what had happened to Gerard. She kept hoping that he would come through the door with Xalvador and everything would be fine.

Eden didnt answer that, but simply just looked away.

As soon as Gerard stepped into the studio, both of them looked at him, Leona’s expression confused while Tessa was just full of worry. She went to him but stopped a bit from him as she seemed to realize what was going on. Her eyes stung as she felt them fill with tears, looking at his hand reaching out for her. “Okay...” she whispered a little confused, taking his hand to follow him. She didnt know to sit or stand but as he got up again, she chose to stand. His whisper made her expression turn sad as her eyes were pleading with him, saying; dont do this. Dont say these words now. But she wasnt dumb. She was speechless or more looking for what words she wanted to say. She felt both confused and angry and sad. Wanting to lash out and scream and break down crying at the same time. How she hated Eden and everything about him.
“Dont break up with me please,” she whispered a little strained after a long silence between them. She grabbed his hand and held it tight. She kissed it and felt her own tears make their escape as she shook her head. “I dont care if I’m in danger, I want to be with you,” she said, lifting her other hand to cup his face. She shifted between his eyes feeling her heart break for every beat it made. “I chose you as my first and last. I dont want anyone else. I only want you,” she said, crying as she shook her head. She took his hand and placed it over her chest. “The night when you asked me to be your girlfriend sealed it for me. I couldnt belong to anyone else. I dont want to belong to anyone but you,” she pleaded but she realized that nothing she said could change his mind. That was maybe the final straw that made her heart feel like it was shattering. Her expression turned numb for just a second before she started sobbing uncontrollably, moving away from him as she started crying, covering her face with her hands.