This is my entry for @rainxox0's writing contest. Enjoy!
p.s. I tried hurt/comfort, idk how well the comfort came ahah, I had fun with it though.
Your blood froze at the familiar voice calling out your name.
"Ghostbur I told you to leave me alone," You said coldly, but you already knew that the voice was not Ghostbur’s. This voice was harsh and sturdy and controlled. Regardless, you refused to turn around.
"Y/n..." the vistor's voice was softer this time, and your heart wavered. But you refused to let yourself get hurt again; so, as much as it hurt, you gathered your supplies and started the trek back to your home in the woods.
"Y/n please. Just hear me out, this one time." He was insistent. Following you through the winding path to your small, lonely cabin.
"I'm not talking to you."
"I just want to apologize. I know I've hurt you and I just wanted to say sorry."
You froze to a halt, your heart twisting at his words. His voice sounded sincere, but you knew better than anyone else how sincere he could make a lie sound. Broken promises that were once whispered on cold dark nights now flitted through your mind like the ghost of what might've been. "I love you"s and "stay here"s; the memories flooded your head, and with them the pain and heartache that had followed in their absence.
"Sorry? You want to say sorry?" You turned to face him at last. He looked exactly as you remembered him, save for the streak of white in his hair, and– as much as you hated it– h e was still the most beautiful person you had ever seen. You hated the way his presence put you at ease and the way he played with your heart. "All the apologies in the world could never make me forgive you, Wilbur" Most of all you hated how familiar it felt for his name to pass through your lips.
“I know. Y/n, I know that, and I want to make it up to you.”
“And how do you plan on doing that? Because the way I see it, nothing could ever make up for what you did.”
“Just tell me what I’ve done wrong. Please, Y/n. I’ll do anything to fix it.”
“You want me to tell you what you did? Fine. How about how you used me? How you used my loyalty? How despite everything, no matter when I disagreed or when I was afraid I stood by your side, but you couldn’t even do a fraction of that for me? How you left me when I needed you most? How you let me believe I had a chance with you?”
“A chance? Y/n? I don’t- Y/n, what are you talking about?”
“I would've done anything for you! I was willing to sacrifice everything for you! And you let me! I worked, and I plotted, and I fought, and I died for L’manburg! Because you loved it! Because it was your country! Your unfinished symphony! Only for you to blow it all up! I gave up everything! Even you! Because I loved you! ”
Your shouts echoed through the empty forest as you struggled to catch your breath.
Wilbur took a tentative step forward. When he saw that you hadn’t immediately pulled back, he took another step forward. “Oh y/n….”
As the distance between the two of you closed to merely inches, you were reminded of every time you promised each other after. After the war. After the election. After the revolution. It was always for after and in the time following Wilbur’s death, you found yourself wondering if after was ever going to come. But here you stood, facing the man, alive once again, after everything.
Wilbur’s hand hovered over your shoulder before gently resting upon it. When you managed to raise your eyes to meet his, you were surprised to see that his careful mask had been dropped, replaced by a tender expression you hadn’t seen in so long.
“Y/n…” He whispered your name softly, “L’manberg might have been my symphony, but you, Y/n. You were always my muse.”
You jerked your head up in surprise, meeting his eyes. “Your muse?” You asked quietly. You were now so close together that his breath tickled your cheeks.
“You were my muse, Y/n. You are my muse. Everything I have ever done; it was because of you. It was for you.”
“For you. L’manberg… everything. It was so that we could build a future. Together.”
“Together.” You whispered breathlessly.
“I know I hurt you, Y/n. I know it was inexcusable” His voice was quiet, level. “I shouldn’t have left you like that. I know an eternity of apologizing won’t ever make up for it, so let me start now at least.”
“Y/n, I love you.” Your eyes scanned his for any sign of a lie. “All this time it was you that kept me going. That gave me hope.. Y/n, I can’t do this without you so I promise, I will never leave your side ever again. I will spend eternity making it up to you if that’s what it takes.”
“I don’t know Wilbur… after everything that’s happened, I don’t know… ”
“Tell me that you don’t feel anything for me. Look me in the eyes and tell me that you don’t love me anymore, and I will never bother you again. But Y/n, if there is even the slightest chance that we could make this work, I don’t want to let it slip through my fingers again. I don’t want to let you slip through my fingers ever again.”
“I love you too, Wilbur Soot.” Your voice was so quiet, and you weren’t sure what you were more afraid of: that he didn’t hear it or that he did.
“Then stay with me? Please…"
You studied his face, full of desperation, and you knew he was willing to try. He was willing to give it his all, and that was enough.
“Okay.” You said quietly. Then again with more conviction, “Okay.”
And when he finally embraced you, you knew, maybe- just maybe– everything might just turn out okay after all.
