53. Bonus Chapter: Simon's POV Part 6

Simon's P.O.V.- (a couple of days before he proposed to Daphne)

When did I realize how much I love her? I suppose it was when…..

I was in a familiar, cold place- so cold and distant, yet well known. Looking at my father's bed, that recognisable hatred bubbled up inside me again. Only this time, it was different… less than before. My abhorrence of that man was dying; slowly, slowly without my realizing…

Why? What had changed? What was different than before? So different it would cause my heart to let go….. To be overtaken by a new and foreign feeling? I turned around to see a well-known figure standing in the doorway. Her bandaged hand was resting on the door frame like always, and her long brown hair was swaying gently behind her. She observed me with such kindness and compassion. She looked at me with those eyes…. And I wanted her to look at me like that forever more.

"Daphne….." My lips muttered, knowing that this was a dream- a reoccurring dream I'd had since… since the day we'd met. She didn't reply. She merely stepped nearer into the room, closer to where I was standing; her eyes not drifting off mine the entire time. She only spoke when she was mere feet away from me.

"Do you know what I see when I look at you, Simon?" She asked with such earnestness. My eyes softened upon her, just letting myself swim in the sound of her voice. She only continued when she saw that I was ready. "You've been hurt before; you know what it is to suffer. But when I look at you, I don't see a shell of a man. There's something so, so much deeper lurking underneath. When you look, your eyes go far beyond what you see, to the place where you want to be- where you long to dwell. Your hatred holds you back from what you truly desire; what you see whenever you look….." Her lips shut for a second, only to re-open a sliver. "Even if I can't give it to you, I'll still love you: today, tomorrow, and the day after that. Every day I wake, I'll still be hopelessly in love with you." "Daphne….. Daphne," my eyes went from very wide to slowly lowering. Then she smiled a me- a true, gentle smile.

"And you…. What will you do? Will you continue to stay here and look at that bed, where the man who caused you such pain died? Stay here, lingering in such agony, knowing that I'm out there in the world, loving you so? I wonder… What if on that day, instead of sending me away you took my arm and told me to stay? What if instead you didn't turn your back on everything you wanted to hold so dearly?" Daphne then reached up to caress my cheek; the back of her fingers sliding along my skin. Another smile grew on her lips.

"You love me too. That's enough, isn't it?"

All I could do was stare….. Stare at this angel, perfection personified. Her hand lowered, only to stretch out for mine, waiting patiently for mine. And her eyes…. They softened onto me with such tenderness, I thought I might die. "Don't let go of what you want to grasp with all your might. I'm here, Simon Basset; I'm here, and I'm waiting for you." Daphne…. That's when I realized…. That's when it hit me: if I let her go now, I'd spend the rest of my life searching for her. Even the tiniest fragments… Just so I could be close to her again. I'd live forever running from my father, and in pursuit of her. No, I didn't want to live like that; I didn't want my life to turn out that way. She's right; she's here now, and I have the opportunity to grab and hold onto her with all the strength I possess. I'd hold her with all I am…. meaning that I'd have to leave him behind.

I took her hand and left the room with her, dear reader.

My eyes shot open, waking me up rather suddenly. I was laying on a couch in my living room, with my face looking straight up at the white ceiling. Everything I just dreamed slipped away from my mind, flowing like water. But I remember thinking of Daphne and the essence of her lingering about me and the room. My lips opened as the back of my hand came to rest overtop my forehead. It was the same hand with the wrist which wore the charm bracelet she'd gotten me…. Glancing at it I realized I hadn't taken it off… since the day she put it on me.

For some reason I felt better, lighter than I had in a really long time, which was weird. Friederich's getting uncomfortably close to Daphne; I don't like the way he looks at her. And yet… I don't know how to describe it but I felt like for the first time in forever, my vision was clearer, sharper….. I could see clearly…. and I could see her.

I looked back at my bracelet, twirling it on my wrist with my fingers. I wonder where this profound, real sense of joy comes from? Why does she make me so indescribably happy? How is it possible for one person to mean so much to another? All the time we spent together is like a blur, and yet I remember each and every moment vividly. If I can see clearer now, it's because she makes my world a brighter place. She's like my own personal sun….. To paraphrase the immortal words of Tolstoy: I tried not to look at her, like she was the sun. Yet I still saw her without looking….

Because she was the sun.