Okay.

[ Gideon whispers, the closest she's ever been to obedient. Crux would be proud, except no he fucking wouldn't. Fortunately, this isn't about him.

Gideon doesn't want to go, either. She wants to stay on this beach. She wants to crawl back into the sea. She wants to feel the warmth of blood on her hands, and the thought of that makes her sick.

She wants Paul to tell her he loves her, again. She wants God to hear that. She wants him to know what he's missing.

In the end, Paul helps her out, one more time. It doesn't matter. A balm, a relief. Gideon stays in his arms a long, long while, listening to the sound of the waves and trying to get warm, before she says: ]

Yeah, well. It's time for me to live up to my family name. [ A lopsided grin, like a bandage. ] And he's gotta face full life consequences.

[ Said like that, Gideon almost believes she's making the right choice. ]

I'll come back afterwards, though. Don't worry.

[ Even though she knows he will. It's an I love you, all over again. The weird thing about those words is that there's so many ways to say them. ]