Chapter 369 The Man In Her Eyes

"Better."

One word from her and everything calmed down. Just one embrace from her and his mind went to a standstill. Everything... just went placid, like how a rainbow appeared after a heavy pour. It was almost... a relief.

Feeling the vibration of his body against hers, her lips curled up while her eyes softened. She closed her eyes to rest them for a bit, calming her ragged breathing. When she reopened her eyes, her subtle smile reappeared.

"I thought you're a genius since you always act like you are Mister know-it-all." Her voice was shaky. "I'm scared, Abel… and I will not lie that you… who and what you are, scared the hell out of me."

Aries slowly drew away from him to see him eye to eye. Her eyes softened, even more, catching a tear rolling down his cheek.

"But… you should embrace me as tight or as gentle as you used to until I'm not scared anymore." Nodding encouragingly, feeling a liquid on her thumb as she caressed his cheek.

"The same with not having to beg me," she breathed out. "You don't need to go on your knees or cry. All you have to do is say, 'stay' or 'live for me' and I will stay and live for you. No questions asked."

Her chest moved in and out heavily, swallowing down the built-up tension in her throat. Tears filled her eyes once more until her vision was blurry, but she could see him. She could feel him and she knew those little tears he was shedding were new to him.

"Don't give me that look again, Abel." Aries moved her fingers until she was touching the corner of his eyes. "How can I leave or hate you when you look more in pain than I am? How can I hurt you when you're already hurting? And how can I not accept you when you had accepted me as a whole?"

? "This world is unforgiving, I know. But I am not the world, Abel. I'm yours, only... and in me, you have a place. A good one, a beautiful one, the best one I can offer. I thought that was the reason you told me that." She smiled, wiping his tears, which she never thought she would ever do in her life. Abel would shed blood, but never tears. But for her... he had shed tears even if he didn't want to; even if he tried not to.

"If love is loving me so much you are willing to let me go, then I am in love with your love." Aries gulped once again, raising her other hand to cup his other cheek. "I'm not really sure if this love I am talking about is what actual love is, but if love is choosing to struggle with you, then I think I... love you."

"I might be wrong and this might be a sin to feel what I feel, but I'd rather be damned a hundred more times and go to hell with you, where we would dance in the eternal flames, than heaven." Aries nodded at him, staring deep into his eyes as if she could see through his dark, dark soul. "Just... don't show that disgust anymore ever again. I don't want to mirror that look in your eyes in mine. That's not the Abel I know. That's not the Abel I would like you to see in my eyes, because you are more than those hauntingly stunning wings and those dangerously alluring fangs. Those crimson pairs that look like rubies were not the things to hide underneath those lids, but worthy to display and adore."

Her lips stretched broader reassuringly as fear slowly disappeared from her eyes without a trace. His lips parted, but his voice was lost somewhere within him. All he could do was stare at her smile and bask in those accepting eyes.

'I don't remember…' he whispered to himself. '… when was the last time someone looked at me this way.' — there was not in his memory someone had ever gazed at him with acceptance.

Throughout his time, from a young, naive boy setting out to see the beauty of the world as what he had heard, to the time his expectations were shattered when reality hit him like thunder the second he was persecuted by the same people he helped and considered as friends and family. Abel never recalled the time they accepted him for who and what he was.

All he could remember was the fear in their eyes, even though they tied him, and relief when they burned him alive. This was the first. That, after fear, acceptance would follow. It wasn't in the pattern he was used to. Therefore, he didn't know what to do or say.

But what he did know was his heart was full of warmth. After thousands and thousands of years, and walking along a thorny road with his barefoot, he felt at peace and relieved from pain.

He felt alive after living many years of just breathing and existing.

Abel looked at her as if he found salvation for the first time, holding the hand that was cupping his cheek. He took a gamble of giving his heart to her, putting his life in her mercy, and she handled it with care and gave him the mercy he believe he didn't deserve.

"You have my gratitude," he expressed, looking into her soft, loving eyes. The man her eyes were mirroring wasn't as haunting as he perceived him, that he gained a habit of breaking mirrors and glasses when they reflected him. Instead, he looked… like Abel. Just him — in those eyes.

His wings that were spread wide moved, closing in, keeping just the two of them. The door that was wide open suddenly shut closed, but they both ignored the loud click as it did.

"Marry me," he proposed under his breath, seeing her even under the shade of his wings.

Aries smiled subtly and nodded. "Yes," she whispered back, closing her eyes as he leaned his face closer.

His eyes softened seeing her close her eyes when he leaned in, despite knowing a monster was there to claim her. Smiling gently, Abel closed his eyes and claimed her lips, sharing a kiss that didn't bore a lingering pain in their heart, but something that healed the wounds in the remaining pieces of their blackened hearts.

And for the first time in his life, Abel thanked God for her existence.