52 The Ring

"What are you-" Regan gushed, the air knocking out of her lungs as Vixen pushed her onto the bed harshly.

He leaned in close to her, his face brushing past hers as he reached for the box behind her.

"W-what are you doing!" She stuttered, her cheeks heating up from his sudden approach, "it's called personal-"

"Here," Vixen smiled, shoving the box back into Regan's arms.

She looked down into the seemingly empty box and back up to Vixen, confusion splattered on her face. "Why are you giving me an empty box?"

"Look inside," Vixen pressed, sitting down on the bed beside her.

"I did it!" Regan snapped, her jaw clenching, "Haven't you joked enough today? What's with this now?"

Vixen stared at her blankly, annoyance growing in his eyes, "Look inside the box you dummy!" he scolded, snatching the box back from her and while maintaining a harsh stare on her, ran his hands around the box until they bumped into something tightly pressed into a corner. He yanked out a smaller box and threw the bigger box to the floor.

"Where did that come from?!" Regan's eyes widened as she saw the tiny box in Vixen's hand.

"It's always been there, you were just to blind to see it," Vixen shrugged.

"Shut up," Regan spat, striking him softly. "What is that?" She asked, her eyes skirting to the box in Vixen's hand.

"A bonus that I threw in while looking for things to give you," Vixen replied, fiddling with the little box.

"Geez," Regan hissed, clicking her tongue as she plucked the box out of his hand, "how generous of you."

She looked down at the tiny box in her palm and ran her finger against its side, her fingers tingling as brushed against the soft velvety surface. She inspected the metal golden line wrapped around the box, a bit down the middle, the color fitting nicely, with the deep black of the box.

'It's funny…' she thought to herself, 'if I didn't know better, I would think this was the same thing Damien gave me on m-' Her thoughts trailed off and her hand trembled as she guessed the contents of the box. Slowly she opened the top of the box and sucked in her breath, feeling her heart drop to the floor.

"Ah…" a gasp slowly rolled off her tongue as she gapped at the contents of the box. A ring sat in the middle of the box, nestled into a velvet colored styrofoam-like object at the bottom of the box. The silver band was slick around the bottom and then widened out as it reached the mounting of the largest jewel, tiny red accent stones were embedded into its side. Then at the very top, three intricately cut golden gems sat on top of the band, two equal-sized stones laid on opposite sides of the biggest stone in the middle. They shone brightly, perfectly cut to fit each of their bearings.

Vixen's words were cut off as Regan threw her arms around him, pulling him into a hug.

"Regan..?" He asked, taken aback at her sudden hug.

Regan tightened her grip around him, bringing him closer to her as her tears started to form once more. Her arms trembled as she shut her eyes, giving in to the tightening in her lungs and letting out the trapped tears.

"Wait..are you? Why are you crying?" Vixen stiffened as she heard her soft sniffles doubling over into a full bawl.

Regan didn't answer. She couldn't answer. She didn't know why but the tears just kept coming as she felt the warmth of his body against hers and the picture of the ring stayed plastered in her mind. She didn't know something as simple as a ring could give her this rush of emotions but it was the second time now, and it was even more of a waterfall now. She didn't know what to do or say so she had just burst into tears instead.

Vixen sat there stiffly unsure of what to do as she continued to weep. Did he do the right thing… Did he mess up? What was he supposed to do now? What was he supposed to say? Should he have just left the issue alone? Thoughts washed over him, overwhelming his ability to function. This was a bad idea, wasn't it? He should have jus-

"T-thank y-you," Regan sobbed, her voice barely able to form the words, "thank you...s-o much!"

It was like everything shattered at that moment and the hands he had sworn to never comfort anyone rose up again and wrapped around her for the second time that day.

"You're welcome," Vixen replied, with a slight smile on his face. She may not have been the one he had hugged with his life before or the one he had sworn to protect but… he didn't hate this either.