Is This The End?

Chapter 15

I stopped next to her and bent over to catch my breath. She didn't look tired at all. She just laughed at the expression on my face and how I was struggling to catch my breath as I looked up at her.

Before I even got a chance to recover she ran up to me and shoved me to the sand. I fell down, coughing a bit, as she jumped on top of me.

I laughed, struggling to breathe as she giggled over me.

"Stop, please. I can't breathe," I said lightheartedly while laughing.

She didn't say anything in response. She just dropped her body down on top of mine and hugged me tightly.

I hugged her back and her head fell into the crook of my neck. I could feel her smile against my skin.

"Stop, that tickles," I said, trying to contain my laughter.

"Oh, really?" she responded in a teasing tone.

"Yes," I said, playing into her teasing.

"What about that?" she asked, placing her lips against the one spot on my neck that she knew was incredibly sensitive.

I gasped, trying not to speak or make any other noises.

"That's what I thought," she said, smirking against my neck.

She moved up to my lips and enticed me into a deeply passionate kiss. She hovered there for a while before moving back down to my neck.

I knew exactly what she wanted, but I also knew that if we did this, it would be the last time we ever got to. Maybe, it was best not to since time was limited, but I also wanted there to be a last time for us.

"Wait, stop," I said, pushing her upwards slightly.

"What's wrong?" she asked me, worried.

"Nothing. I just need a second," I said, trying to catch my breath.

She didn't say anything back, but she did look at me with a concerned expression.

"I'm okay. I promise," I said, smiling, once I had finally caught my breath.

Before she could respond, I flipped us over so that I was on top of her. I didn't give her a chance to be surprised, I just resumed kissing her.

She pulled back after a while.

"Are you sure you're okay to do this? You seemed a bit weird before," she asked, still concerned.

"Yes, this is not our first time doing this," I said, trying to make a joke. She didn't think it was funny though.

"Shhh. It's okay. I was just out of breath. I'm fine," I looked down at her while I spoke.

She initially returned a look of sympathy, but finally she gave in to me.

"Okay. I was just checking," she said.

I smiled at her and began kissing her again, moving down to her neck to get revenge for before.

I heard her breath hitch in her throat. For some reason, it reminded me that we only had a couple more hours together, but I wanted to be happy during them.

"I'm not doing this on the sand," she stated, interrupting my bittersweet thoughts.

"Oh," I said, grabbing a blanket and placing it down. "Is that better?"

"Yes," she said, grabbing the back of my neck and resuming our kiss.

I smiled and just tried to let myself be in the moment with her as our kiss deepened. I just let it all unfold the way it was meant to be. I wanted this to be special for her and something that she would remember when I was gone.

A couple of hours later I checked my phone to see that it was 11:51 pm. We didn't have much time left. Emelia and I had been cuddling for a while, just talking and being in each other's presence after we finished our... previous activities.

Emelia was laying against my chest as we were sitting watching the ocean. She was running her thumb along my hand, talking about something from her childhood. I was listening silently, knowing that in about 20 minutes I would have to send her back to the housing unit and I would never see her again.

I wasn't really sure how I was going to send her back. My best plan at the time was to fake being violently sick so that she would have to go back to the house to get help for me. During that time, The Center officials would likely come for me and by the time Emelia returned, I'd be gone.

The Center would probably tell my housemates that I went missing or had an accident. It didn't really matter what they said, but they would likely say something that would give my housemates closure. I wasn't going to tell Emelia about my plan because I didn't need her to know. It was better if I just let her move on and assume that I had died because of an accident.

I had only minutes to spend with Emelia and I was going to make the most of them. I made sure that I just listened to Emelia speak as I ingrained the sound of her voice in my ear drums. I made sure to memorize every curve of her face and to analyze every way that her lips moved when she spoke. She was truly gorgeous.

It was amazing to think about how so much had changed in a year. I was so scared and closed off before, but Emelia had changed a lot of that. I never would have thought that I'd be in a safe and happy relationship with Emelia if someone would have told me that the day that she arrived. I had finally reached a point in my life where I truly and totally loved someone. There was complete trust and devotion.

My eyes began to well with happy tears as I thought about everything, and even more so at the girl in my arms.

"What's wrong," Emelia asked, noticing the tears in my eyes.

"Nothing's wrong," I said, shaking my head.

I turned to face Emelia before I spoke again.

"I'm just... I'm really happy to be here. I'm not sure how to express it properly, but I really am happy. I never thought that things would turn out the way they did, but I'm so glad that I gave you a chance," I said, averting my eyes.

I looked back to Emelia after I finished speaking, waiting for a reaction.

She smiled at first, but then I watched her face drop a bit. Whenever we had a moment of happiness I always saw her face drop for a split second. I never understood why, but I definitely had my guesses. Most of them consisted of her fear of intimacy, but I was never sure.

"Me too," she said, with the smile returning to her face.

I smiled back at her without saying anything.

"Wait, I need to grab something from my bag," she said, turning around to search through her bag.

"Okay," I said, pulling out my phone to check the time. It was 11:58 pm.

I noticed that there were also some social media notifications, so I went to check those as well.

Eventually, I heard Emelia go still. I assumed that she had found whatever she was looking for and turned around to face her with a smile on my face.

"What are you looki-" I cut off when I saw what she had in her hand.

She was standing about 2 feet away pulling a gun out of that case she carried around with her. She pointed the gun directly at my head. I sat in disbelief for seconds before gasping. I wasn't breathing until that gasp.