my take of the lovely @bronzealchemy ‘s gideon series!! :)
note: a special someone ends up being on the cover of a contraceptive pill LMFAOO
spoilers for caleb's main story!!
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To lose Caleb was an unstoppable, agonizing force that you knew you wouldn’t survive by facing it alone. When he, Gideon, approached you at the funeral it was like a switch. A connection born by the longing for a presence that now would be rotting six feet under.
Whether such a bond was found from a void to fill or just simply love, it didn’t matter. You were two people who had their best friend ripped away from them; who found solace and distraction in the comfort of one another.
His laughter when you made a corny joke, his smile after finishing a grueling workout, his embrace that had that lingering musk of sweat- It was never the same. Would never compare to your Caleb. There was never the teasing remarks, the puppy eyes or the soft displays of vulnerability that he had always reserved just for you and you alone. But, even despite that, Gideon still grew on you. It was a slow burn, the way you started yearning for the other man’s touch. How you craved it more than you lingered on the ghost touches of a dead man.
He appeared in your dreams, slowly replacing the man you gleefully declared at just 8 years old you were going to marry. With him centred in your life, the world started to shine a little brighter after the sudden blackout of Caleb’s death. Gideon gave you a safe haven that made you feel like you could finally breathe after being deprived of oxygen.
When the hesitation and shyness wore off, you started thinking: That wherever Caleb was in that beautiful afterlife (he was bound to have found himself in), he would be happy for you. Whenever it wasn’t just the two of you alone, Gideon was the one attached to his hip. He was someone everyone would always joke was Caleb’s ‘bromance’. Gideon was his best friend, so he must’ve trusted and respected him greatly after all. He must've been someone he trusted with you.
Within the span of a few months, you found yourself at the edge of tears as you watched the nervous heap of a gym-rat get down on one knee and confess his deepest desires after a candlelit dinner under the stars.
Gideon had told you of how he always kept you at the back of his mind, in a special place where all your mannerisms and quirks were cemented deep within his memory. It was such a tantalising story, told with such fondness that made his cheeks glow with a small flush and dilated pupils from the sight of you.
Any and all rationality within you at that moment was gone, swallowed by a need to feel that devotion and adoration again. Even with an unmoving voice that made the pits of your stomach drop with guilt, screaming at you that this is betrayal, you couldn’t bare the thought of being alone again.
In honour of your relationship, and a tribute to the person who united you two together, it was quickly decided that you would spend your honeymoon in Skyhaven. Within that view of the endless sky and the drop of Linkon below, you willingly gave yourself to him again and again and again, as he did to you.
“I think this chemist has the biggest variety of ‘Plan B’ I’ve ever seen in my life.” Your husband snorted against your neck, lightly hugging you from behind and caressing the fabric attached to your hips. Looking at the mirrors behind the shelf, you bit back a smile at the image of Gideon so comfortably lounging on the expanse of your collarbone, still sleepy from having to wake up early but wanting to accompany you. “I swear, is that a celebrity on one of the bottles?”
It was, another one of those popular artists on the cover of a renowned pharmacy brand. Looking right at the consumer with a stare like he was the one who put you in that situation. “Whaddya think, hm? Should you try- what’s it called..” Gideon carefully moved away from your embrace to inspect the bottle closer. “‘Rafayel’s emergency relief.. with proceeds of this product going directly to young single mothers.. Ingredients ethically sourced..” The thought of a random artist being the face of mercy for panicked couples around the city made you scoff in both amusement and audacity, turning right on your heel to inspect some more products.
Only to crash right into a random customer who was walking in your direction. You bumped centre into their chest, silently cursing at yourself for the lack of spacial awareness. “I’m so sorry-” Stumbling back, looking up to meet their (probably confused) expression, the face that gazed back into yours had every nerve ending short-circuit.
“Just couldn’t wait to see me drop dead, huh?”
Caleb. Your Caleb. Seeing him with those same violet eyes, now without that shimmering light, you thought you were seeing a corpse.
Caleb, alive and well (..except for that one arm) yet ready to collapse onto the floor if he kept your gaze a second longer. Behind you, you heard a shudder of boxes and bottles crash onto the floor, the silence of such an aftermath polluting the air with hostile tension. Slowly, those eyes- almost twitching and looking like they were about to burst out of the eyesockets- locked onto your husband. Not even acknowledging your presence anymore.
What happened next was a sequence of blurred events that, in your haze of delirium and confusion, you barely recalled as:
A snarl of sorts seemed to seethe out of the boy you used to love so deeply, still love. He wore the same sort of expression you’d only ever recalled a few select times in the past- ones that appeared whenever he had what Josephine called, an ‘episode’.
“You touched her.” Caleb repeated, as if Gideon didn’t hear him the first time.
The room felt suffocating, and you along with the surrounding shelves seemed to have their weight pulled down to the ground. Lights began flickering, a nearby worker yelled someone incoherent, alarms were pulled-
visualisation of what happened (pretend i wrote some amazing fight scene):
amandla
stormborns
origamiaround
yousharknotpass
tangentwithtanner
gamechangershow
