Work Text:
******
“I'm homesick.
This feeling that I'm feeling no it don't quit.
It's like half of me is missing, heaven knows it,
That all I wanna do is be alone with,
Your brown eyes all tangled up just holding,
Onto you tonight until morning.
Baby that's the damn truth.
If home is where the heart is,
I'm homesick for you.”
-“Homesick” by Kane Brown
******
Severide and Kidd set the date for the wedding.
That’s how it all started. That’s how he ended up truly thinking about the thing he and Severide had been avoiding since Kidd moved in. For some reason, even though he offered several times, Severide didn’t want Matt to leave. But Matt refused to live with newlyweds. They deserve their privacy and time to enjoy each other. So, this time he wasn’t going to bring it up at all. Not until he found a place and made an official decision. He had to ensure Severide couldn’t talk him out of it.
While laying down on his bed, he stared up at the ceiling and visualized his options. A house? Immediately his mind flashed to Sylvie and a future family of little blonde haired Sylvie Brett doppelgangers. He blinked in surprise. Not because of the future vision, but because all the children he pictured were girls. Up until this point, he had never not imagined having a son. Not that he had anything against girls, but his experiences with helping to raise children all involved boys. His mind went there out of habit. But not this time. Not with Sylvie.
Huh.
He thought about the pictures of Amelia that Sylvie plastered everywhere and smiled softly. Yeah, okay, he could be a girl dad. He could see a little blonde toddler with golden ringlets. She’d walk around with half of his heart and Sylvie would walk around with the rest of it. He would likely go out of his mind with worry every time he was away from them and he would love every minute of it.
Whoa. Hold on. Full stop.
They just started dating. They were barely three months in. Do not get ahead of yourself.
Okay, so no. No house. (Not yet.)
The other option was a condo or a townhouse, which he’d have to purchase. Been there, done that. He didn’t enjoy the idea of owning a building (or part of one) but no land back then but he went along in order to reach a compromise with Gabby. Worth it at the time, but he wouldn’t do it again. Whenever he did reach the point where he was ready for a family, he would have to sell the condo or the townhome for a bigger space with an actual yard. There was no point to that. It seemed too temporary to him to be a large purchase he sought out a loan to make.
So that left the actual temporary option.
Renting.
The idea of apartment hunting seemed more stressful than house hunting. House hunting was in his wheelhouse as a contractor. But apartments…
Apartments were a whole different ball game and the idea of trying to equip himself for it seemed daunting.
His bedroom door opened, cautiously, and he glanced up to find Sylvie standing in his doorway.
“Hey,” he said, his smile easing his furrowed brow.
He patted the empty spot next to him and she immediately complied. Their arms folded around each other as she curled into him. She reached up and dipped the pad of her thumb into the crease between his brows. His train of thought had returned the minute her smile was out of view.
“You looked very quiet and serious before I walked in here,” she observed, smoothing out the furrow with her touch. “Everything okay?”
He nodded, wrapping a hand around her wrist and bringing her palm to his lips. “Fine. Just thinking about my living situation.”
It was impossible to miss the excited sparkle in her eyes. “Oh my god. Is it finally time to revisit my spreadsheet? I’ve been updating it periodically just in case.” She blushed in embarrassment before clearing her throat and looking away from him. “I did not mean to tell you that last part.”
He laughed and dipped to kiss the top of her head. “You’ve been updating it?”
“Well, we all knew Severide and Kidd were getting closer and closer to somehow acknowledging their forever status. You were bound to move out sometime and I thought it would be better if I built you a safety net, just in case.”
His amusement turned to gratitude as he watched her confess and fidget. She acted as if she did something wrong, but to him it was further proof of her thoughtfulness.
“Thank you,” he replied before cupping her cheek and briefly sealing his lips against hers. Kissing Sylvie Brett would always cause a thrilling flip in his stomach. He had no doubts about that. He pulled back and rested his forehead against hers. “You were right. I do need the safety net. And yes, by all means, let’s pull out the spreadsheet.”
She beamed at him, all traces of embarrassment gone. (Thank God. She had nothing to be embarrassed about. Her spreadsheet was and always has been adorable.)
“A house again?”
He shook his head. “No. I still want to rent so an apartment seems logical.”
“Really?” She asked in surprise.
“You don’t think I should?”
“No, it’s not that! I just…always pictured you buying a place and fixing it up or something.”
He did too. He smiled warmly at her and tucked her tighter against him. It still amazed him how well she seemed to know him. “That’s exactly what I want — eventually.”
When they were both ready for it, they could fix up a place together.
“But for now I think an apartment will be all I need.”
She hummed thoughtfully and then placed a casual kiss to his neck just above the rounded collar of his t-shirt. “If that’s what you want then that’s what we’ll find. We’ll work on it in between calls tomorrow. Are you going to tell Severide?”
He scoffed. “Hell no. Not till it’s too late. He’ll try and talk me out of it otherwise.”
“Maybe don’t let me talk to him alone until then,” Sylvie replied with a soft laugh and sheepish grin. “I don’t want to accidentally spill the beans.”
“You won’t,” he assured her, chuckling quietly. “But if it will make you feel better then I will help you avoid it.”
“That’s all I ask.”
******
The four of them left from the Loft the next morning. Severide and Kidd in her jeep and Brett and Casey in his truck. Sylvie kept Stella engaged in conversation about the wedding the entire morning and avoided even glancing in Severide’s direction.
Matt had to work hard at keeping his laughter to himself. Her determination to keep his secret was admirable and amusing all at once.
“You know,” he said as they parked outside the firehouse. “Avoiding Severide completely is going to make it obvious you’re hiding something.”
“Shoot!” She exclaimed, wincing and biting her lip. “I didn’t think about that.”
He leaned across the middle console and crowded her space until she looked at him. Temptation and hunger flashed across her eyes when she realized how close they were causing his smile to widen.
They were running a little behind or else he’d indulge her.
“Don’t worry about it,” Casey declared as he gave her a chaste kiss. It wasn’t the kiss he wanted to give but it’s all they had time for at the moment. “I’ll talk to Kidd. See how she thinks Severide will take it. Maybe I should just talk to him about it.”
“He may grumble about it, but Severide will want you to do what’s best for you,” Sylvie says as she brings a hand up to idly caress his cheek. Her eyes meet his with the very earnest faithfulness that drew him to her in the first place. “Maybe those other times you offered he thought you were only offering to move out of obligation. You two can read each other pretty well. Maybe now that you’re doing it for you he’ll understand.”
“I’ve never looked at it that way before,” he replied, nodding slowly. “You might have a point.” He grabbed her hand that was on his cheek and brought her knuckles to his lips, squeezing once before dropping her hand. “We should head inside.”
“Agreed.” She planted one last kiss on him, intrusive and lingering with her arms looped around his neck. Their mouths opened and their tongues tangled. It heated up quickly. But just as it reached a fever pitch, she dropped her arms and pulled away, hopping out of his truck with a teasing twinkle in her eyes and a triumphant smile on her face.
All he could do was stare after her in a lustful fog. How could she kiss him with every bit of passion within her and then walk away like nothing happened? His blood was boiling and if they weren’t in public right now he would have snatched her back up into the truck and kissed her until she could no longer catch her breath. Until her lips were chapped and her hair was a mess. But he couldn’t. They had a shift to work and professionalism to maintain.
“See you inside, Captain,” she said, biting down on her bottom lip to try and tame her smug expression.
He watched her close the passenger side door and followed her figure as she met up with Kidd and Violet on the sidewalk. She’d done that on purpose. He was learning that she liked to rile him up.
And damn was she good at it.
It took him a moment to get himself together but a few minutes later he followed her and found her waiting for him. She slipped her hand into his as they walked toward the house. He tugged her closer as they reached the ambo, leaning down to murmur into her ear.
“Meet me in my quarters after morning brief.”
She nodded before they released each other to head inside the house. They kept a professional and respectful distance in the common spaces as part of a promise to Boden to keep the public displays of affection to a minimum while at work. But he was certain their matching giddy grins would always give them away.
Sylvie headed to the lockers and he headed to his quarters. Kidd passed by, intending to put her stuff away, but Casey quickly waved her inside.
“You need something, Captain?”
“Yes, come in and close the door.”
Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, but she did as he asked.
“I want to get your opinion on how Severide might react to something,” he began.
Stella smiled crookedly and crossed her arms over her chest. “You wanna move out, don’t you?”
He breathed a sigh of relief at her accurate guess and nodded. “It’s just time and no matter how many times I bring it up, he doesn’t see it that way.”
Stella’s stare turns thoughtful and then she shrugs. “I don’t know. Last time you brought it up, you weren’t with Brett, right?”
His brow furrowed. “Right, but what does that have to do with anything?”
Kidd laughed and rested her hand on her hip, a pointed expression on her face. “I know you guys don’t talk about your emotions a lot, but come on!”
“Come on, what?”
“Kelly just wants to know you’ve got someone watching your back. Someone to make sure you don’t work too much or get away with bullshit like hiding a head injury for weeks on end. You're his brother, Casey. He wants to know you have someone in your life to look out for you, and — correct me if I’m wrong — but Brett seems like that person for you, right?”
“Right,” he agreed easily. But his easy agreement is followed by a pensive pause. “You really think that’s all it is?”
“I know that’s what it is. The minute you tell him you’re moving in with Brett, I’m sure he’ll—“
“Whoa, wait, I’m not— Brett and I aren’t—I mean it’s only been a few months so I thought that would be…” His sentence trailed off while he blushed furiously. He sighed at his inability to speak and cleared his throat. “I’d be moving out on my own. Not with Sylvie.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
Awkward silence flooded the air between them, taking up all the space.
“Well, I’m sure Kelly will understand that just as much. I mean it’s not like you and Brett aren’t spending all your time together anyway.”
That was true. They were. They spent the night with each other more often than they were ever apart these days. He’d given her a couple of drawers in his dresser and she’d given him a corner of her closet. He had a toothbrush and a razor in her bathroom. His favorite beers in her fridge…
And so on and so on.
Their lives were more entangled than he realized.
He loved it.
“You should talk to him about it. Have one of those cigar chat talks you guys always have — whatever you call them. He’ll understand,” Kidd encouraged. “You need anything else, Captain?”
“No,” he answered. “No, that was all. Thanks, Kidd.”
“Always,” she replied with a fond smile. “Let me know if you need any help convincing him to get on board. He finds me very…persuasive.”
“Okay, that’s enough of that,” Matt quipped, quickly shutting down her innuendo. “Put your stuff away and go get some breakfast. That’s an order.”
“Copy that, Captain,” Stella said with a trace of laughter in her voice.
Matt tossed his pen down onto his desk and stared at the shelves on the wall pensively. The sound of shuffling from Severide’s quarters hit his ears and spurned him into action. He stood and decided to rip off the band aid. He should get this done before the morning brief.
He strolled into Severide’s quarters and stretched out across his bunk.
He took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair before putting it all out there.
“I’m moving out.”
Severide sat up in his desk chair and then turned to face him. “I had a feeling this was coming. Casey, we’ve talked about this. You don’t have to move out just because Stella and I--”
“Yes, I do,” Matt replied with a soft laugh. “You’re not gonna want me hanging around while you two are newlyweds. Trust me.”
“Stella’s fine with it--”
He cut off Kelly’s sentence with a lifted brow. “Of course she is. What’s she gonna say, man? You gotta kick out your best friend? She’s not gonna do that. Besides, it’s not just that the two of you deserve privacy.”
Severide huffed, shoulders slouching as he relaxed into the chair again. “It’s not?”
“No, it’s not.” Casey folded his hands behind his head and leaned back on them, crossing his legs at the ankles simultaneously. “It’s time. I feel like I need to find a home of my own. I haven’t had that in years. It’s almost like I just let myself get stuck, you know? Now that I’m moving on…”
“Now that you’re moving on you want to actually move on,” Severide finished for him. “I get it.”
“You do?” Matt asked, his skeptical stare focusing on his best friend.
“You’re happy, Casey,” Kelly declared with a knowing grin. “If moving out is the next step to maintaining that then I’m all for it. As much as I hate change, I’m learning that sometimes it’s not all that bad. Like...like you and Brett. A few years ago, the idea of the two of you would have never occurred to me but that change has been good for you. For her too. Watching the two of you grow closer has been one of those good changes. If you’re telling me that moving out is a change that will be good for you then I guess I’m okay with it.”
Casey blinked at him in shock. This conversation went very differently than all their previous ones. Exactly like Sylvie predicted it would.
“Sylvie said you’d want me to do what’s best for me. She knew that before I did,” Casey admitted with a chuckle.
“She’s always seen the best in people,” Severide added, chuckling along with Matt. “I’m glad that’s never changed.”
“Me too,” Matt concurred as his expression grew solemn. “And I hope it never does.”
“She’s been in Chicago -- what? -- seven years?” Severide asked rhetorically. The nostalgic grin on his face told Matt he already knew he was correct. “If seven years hasn’t changed her then this city’s no match for Sylvie Brett.”
Matt never agreed with Severide more than he did at that moment.
******
After the morning brief, Sylvie walked into his quarters with her iPad in hand. She distractedly tapped through different screens with one hand as she shut his door with the other. He looked up as she entered and watched her settle herself on his bed with a fond smile.
“So, I know we haven’t talked about specifics yet, but I looked through some listings during breakfast and I think we have some real possibilities already.”
Her hair was pulled back high off of her neck in a short, bouncy ponytail with the strands that normally fall around her face pinned back on the middle of her head. The hoodie she stole from him three months ago hung loosely off of her frame. Even at work, in the paramedics trousers that would look frumpy on anyone else, she looked cozy and comfortable -- as if there’s no place on Earth she’d rather be.
“Matt?” She asked, looking up from her tablet. “You with me?”
He shook himself. “Yes, sorry. I was distracted.”
“Distracted?”
He grinned sheepishly before elaborating. “By you. And--” He stopped and waved a hand in her direction. “--this look. I like it.”
She blushed and brought a hand up to her hair with a self conscious expression. “This look? This is my work look. There’s nothing special about it.”
He got up from his desk to sit down next to her on the bunk. “No, there’s definitely something special about it. Because it’s you.”
The smile she pointed at him was huge and brighter than the sun, but immediately after she rolled her eyes. “You’re biased.”
“No,” Matt disagreed. “I’m in love with you. That’s different.”
She laughed softly. “Yeah, that is different.” Turning to face him, she set the tablet aside and draped arms over his shoulders. “Like how I think there’s nothing hotter than you in red suspenders and turn out pants. Because I’m in love with you too.”
“Oh, really?” He asked, quirking a brow curiously.
“Really,” she confirmed with a sultry smile.
He smirked and snaked his arms around her waist. “I’m gonna have to find some way to use that in the future.”
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” she teased, her smile turning playful. “I’m sure you’ll think of something.”
His thumb idly glided across the soft cotton of her hoodie and his eyes met hers. She always seemed to radiate warmth and safety. For him, for her patients, for all of 51. He brought his other hand up to cup her cheek and watched as she closed her eyes, leaning into his touch.
“You were right about Severide, by the way. I talked to him about moving out and he was supportive if it meant it would be best for me. Just like you said he would be.”
Her eyes fluttered open, shining with pride. “You talked to him already?”
He nodded. “Before the brief.”
“And it went well?”
“He said not all changes were bad and if I thought this would be a good change for me then he’s all for it.”
“Because you’re his brother and he loves you,” Sylvie told him with a soft laugh. “Not that either of you would ever admit that outloud.”
“Not in those words, no,” Matt confessed with an amused glance.
“So, I guess now we really start looking, huh?” She asked as her pride transformed into excitement, eyes shining eagerly. “Like I said, I found a few possibilities this morning but now that Severide knows you can go on apartment tours! We’ll find you an apartment in no time!”
Her excitement was contagious and only added to his adoration of her. It left him wanting to show her exactly how much he adored her. He untangled himself from her hold and crossed the small space, pulling the blinds shut as he responded. “I’m sure we will, but first…”
She watched his every move as he closed the blinds on the windows and the door. He noticed she was biting her bottom lip. Something she did often if she was holding back a smile. “First?”
He didn’t bother answering her with words. There were much more enjoyable things he’d rather do with his mouth than speak.
******
For the first time, possibly ever, they weren’t interrupted by a call. The bells remained blissfully silent even while they got dressed again. Sylvie stopped while tucking in her shirt to hand Matt her iPad. He was already fully dressed again and while she finished he skimmed through the listings she’d found.
“Tell me which ones you like and I’ll reach out for tours,” she said as she tried to straighten her ponytail. The hair on the back of her head, which had been clipped tightly before they’d rolled around in his bunk, was now falling loosely across the back of her neck.
“They all look good to me,” he answered. “The more we tour, the better right? One of them is bound to be a winner.”
“That’s a lot of touring.”
He grabbed her hand and casually brought her knuckles to his lips for a quick kiss. “If you’ll come with me, then it’ll be a breeze.”
“Flatterer,” she accused with a smirk. “Good thing it works for you.”
The bells chose that moment to go off. A call for all four rigs. They sprinted out of his quarters to get to work. Severide smirked at him as they passed each other for their trucks. No doubt his best friend knew exactly what he and Sylvie had been up to just moments before.
It was a pile up. There were several victims and heavy clean up involved. It took them a while to get back to the house, but once they did Sylvie began making phone calls. By the time shift ended she’d made appointments for half of the eight listings she found. They were going to look at two when they got off shift and then two the day after.
There was no rush but there was no one better at getting the ball rolling on a real estate hunt than Sylvie Brett.
They got breakfast as soon as shift ended and discussed their plans for the day. They planned to look at one listing, take a break for lunch, and then look at the second. Sylvie seemed more excited than he was, but given how she feels about her HGTV shows he expected it.
The first apartment was too new. Too shiny, too contemporary, too minimalist. They both agreed as soon as they walked through the door. When they talked over lunch Sylvie made sure to add a building construction or last remodel date to her spreadsheet. That one adjustment eliminated two of the listings they had planned to look at later that week.
The next apartment had far too many windows. Sylvie didn’t mind the windows, but Matt did. It seemed like a small detail, but he liked balance. Sylvie’s apartment for example had the perfect amount of windows. One big window in the living room was plenty and the living room was the perfect space for large windows. The bedroom was not. Nor was the bathroom. Granted the window in the bathroom was small and placed high on the wall but he still didn’t like it.
Yet another adjustment was made to her spreadsheet and another listing was eliminated from her initial round of possibilities.
The next day, Matt really began to feel confused. There was nothing wrong with the first apartment they viewed. No large windows and it was modern without being too new. He found himself searching desperately for a flaw. He couldn’t tell you why. All he knew was that he was immensely relieved when he finally found one.
The landlord.
The landlord didn’t want his tenants changing anything in the apartment or handling any repairs themselves. Most people would have been fine with that. But not him. It would be too frustrating to have to wait for the landlord every time a repair needed to be made when he could make most repairs himself.
Sylvie told the representative from the building that he would “put a pin in it” but in his mind he’d already vetoed the listing.
“I’m just saying,” Sylvie told him as they walked away from the building hand in hand. “You’re going to have a hard time finding a landlord or property management company that will let you renovate an apartment even in small ways. And one of the bonuses of most apartments is not having to make repairs yourself. Most people see that as a benefit.”
“You’re allowed to make modifications to your place,” he pointed out as he tugged her closer and then wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“My building is a weird exception and even at my place the landlord has to approve it. I had to show her the lemon wallpaper before she’d let me put it up. I’m lucky she’s a bit quirky like me. Most people would have said no.”
“I’m glad she didn’t,” Matt confessed, dropping a kiss to the side of Sylvie’s head. “That wallpaper makes the place feel complete.”
The second apartment was just as great and came with a management company that allowed their tenants to make improvements as long as they were within reason. It even had a walk-in closet in the bedroom. When the agent from the management company left them alone, Sylvie quietly assured him it was perfect.
But he disagreed.
It fit all the qualifications he’d given Sylvie, but something about it didn’t sit well with him. It didn’t put him at ease or make him want to claim the space as his own. It looked unfamiliar and cold despite the richly stained hardwood floors and rustic tile backsplash in the kitchen.
It should have felt right.
But it didn’t.
He walked away asking for time to think it over and with a gnawing feeling of frustration in the pit of his stomach. Why couldn’t he embrace it and say yes? This place had everything he asked for and more.
It wasn’t until they walked through Sylvie’s door with a bag of Chinese take out in their hands that he realized why he couldn't bring himself to sign a lease.
It had everything he could have ever wanted…
With one exception.
He watched Sylvie unpack the food in stunned silence. His awed expression tracked her as she buzzed around her quaint kitchen, piling food onto plates and pulling down wine glasses. She chatted as she moved. To him every gesture resembled a graceful dance. A ballet of domesticity that he had the honor of being a part of anytime he wanted. Her movements, even doing mundane things, were fluid and ethereal. He fell deeper and deeper in love the more she let him in. He wanted to be a part of this dance with her every day. He wanted to wake up to her making a pot of coffee or reading the news on her iPad over breakfast. He wanted to share her single sink vanity every night as they brushed their teeth and got ready for bed.
He didn’t want the perfect place.
He wanted her place.
While he was having this epiphany, she carried on as if he wasn’t staring at her like a besotted fool. She brought up new listings, new neighborhoods they could check. Maybe he wanted a bigger space, she suggested. Perhaps once he saw other places he’d know what that last place was missing.
But he didn’t need to see other places. He already knew what it was missing.
The bedroom wasn’t decorated with posters advertising various national parks. There was no hula girl lamp on the vanity. Quirky lemon wallpaper wasn’t anywhere to be found. Not even on one single wall.
But most importantly, it didn’t have Sylvie Brett.
No apartment would feel right without her in it because home wasn’t a place anymore. Home was a person -- one very specific person.
“Matt?” She asked, finally realizing he was only half listening to her. “Are you okay?” She set down her wine glass and stepped into his space. Her hands framed his face and pulled his gaze to hers. “You seem a million miles away.”
“I don’t need to see other places,” he blurted out, pulling in a deep nervous breath.
“You’ve decided to go with that last place?” Her eyes flashed happily but then dimmed when he shook his head.
“No, I still don’t like that place.”
“Then what do you mean? Why wouldn’t you need to see other places?”
“Because I figured it out. I know what it didn’t have and now that I know that I know no other place will have it either,” he declared as a bright smile overtook his face. “No other place but your place, that is.”
Understanding dawned across her face but her grin shifted from confused to impish. She placed her hands in his and laced their fingers together before asking a follow up question. “Is it the lemon wallpaper? Because I’m sure we can find you some.”
He laughed and pulled at her hands, drawing her in until he could wrap his arms around her. With her flush against his chest, he answered. “No, it’s not the wallpaper. Though I do love it. Almost as much as I love you.”
“Then I guess I’m drawing a blank here, Matt,” she stated while wearing a coy smile. She leaned into his chest and wrapped her arms around his back. “I’m not sure what else this place has that no other place does.”
“You, Sylvie. This place has you. I realized today that I can’t live anywhere you’re not. Not anymore. A place without you in it will never feel like home,” he told her, resting his brow against hers. “My home is you. Where you are is where I belong.”
“Matt Casey,” Sylvie began with a quick kiss to his lips and an ardently adoring expression on her face. Some days he hardly believed she was actually pointing that expression at him. Today was one of those days. “Are you asking to move in with me?”
“Yeah, it seems like I am.”
“Then it seems like I’m agreeing,” she replied. Her smile became as besotted as his own and an honest to goodness giggle fell off her lips. “I wanted to ask you but I was afraid that maybe it was too much too soon or that you wanted a place of your own since you’ve been living with roommates for so long. I didn’t want to be pushy, basically, and I needed to hear it from you first.”
“You could never be pushy when it comes to something like this,” he assured her. “I was worried it would be too much too soon too, but we took so long to even tell each other how we feel and go on one date I don’t think anyone could accuse us of rushing. Bottom line, I want to be a part of your life all the time. I want to wake up to you each morning and go to bed with you every night. Whether that’s here or one of these listings -- I don’t care. I just want it to be us together.”
“Me too,” she agreed. “That’s what I want too. So, let’s do it then. Move in here. Move in with me. If it ends up being too small we can always pick out a place together but let’s go ahead and do it now. We’ll figure out the rest later. Together.”
“Together,” he repeated, leaning down to steal an intrusive kiss. When he pulled back, her pupils were dilated and her face was flushed. He had a feeling the Chinese food was going to have to wait. “That’s how I want to take on everything from now on. Deal?”
She nodded eagerly and then yanked him down for another kiss. As they kissed she walked him backward toward her bedroom. “Deal,” she muttered between kisses. “Now, let’s christen our new space.”
He laughed into their next kiss. When they separated again, the suction popped and echoed through the room. “Can we do that if we’ve already ‘christened’ this space multiple times before?”
She took advantage of the separation to pull his shirt over his head. “Those times don’t count in this instance.”
“No?” He asked as his hands moved to the bottom hem of her blouse.
She shook her head as the shirt was pulled off and tossed aside. “No.”
“And why not?” Now she was reaching for his belt.
Her hands froze as she undid the buckle and she glanced up at him with a serene smile. “Because that was before ‘my place’ was our place. Now that we share it, it feels brand new.” She leaned up onto her toes and placed several small kisses on his lips, speaking between each of them. “Everything--” Soft kiss. “--feels brand new--” Deep kiss. “--when I’m--” He held back a moan as her mouth closed around his bottom lip and sucked. She let this last kiss linger until he was practically putty in her hands. “--with you.”
If the kisses didn’t kill him then the sentiment behind them definitely did.
He backed her up until her back hit her bedroom door jamb. With his chest against hers, he pressed her into it. One hand found the back of her knee and brought her leg up and around his while his other rested on the gentle curve of her neck, his thumb caressing the line of her jaw.
“That’s because you’ve made me brand new,” he said, gazing deeply into her bright blue eyes. “You’ve given me something I didn’t think I could ever have.”
“What’s that?” She asked breathlessly, nearly panting in anticipation and need.
“Someone to belong with.” He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers. “Someone to call home.”
He watched as tears filled her eyes and a watery smile spread across her lips. Her arms tightened around him, pressing every curve of her against all of his rigid lines. She nuzzled her nose against his, barely holding her emotions at bay.
“You’re my home too, and because of you I know I’m exactly where I’m meant to be. Here in this moment with you.” She paused, her misty eyes taking on a fiery heat. “Now, Matt, this is where you take me to bed.” Another pause followed by a slow sinful grin. “Our bed.”
God, ‘our’ may be his new favorite word.
“Copy that,” he replied, dutifully scooping her up and carrying her to bed.
Their bed.
In their apartment.