Work Text:
Harry POV
When he tells you that he loves you, he says it like he means it every time. It’s not a line he tosses at you as you head out the door. It’s not a salve to smooth over an argument. It’s not whispered in your ear only after sex. Every time he says it, he looks you in the eye. I love you. Firm, steadying, certain. As if he’s stating a fact. But when he first said those words, it scared you. Now that you’ve gotten his love, how will you eventually lose it? He looks up from his book, I love you. He turns to you while at a stoplight, I love you. What have you done to earn this man’s love? But that’s the thing about the love you share, it isn’t transactional. He doesn’t believe in give and take. He believes in orbiting, like wings on a rotor, always attached but never enmeshed. You wondered if he loves you out of pity, but pity inevitably runs out. No, he simply is devoted to you. He loves you.
Kim POV
When he tells you that he loves you, he says it like he means it every time. In the morning, on the job, at night before you’re tired enough to nod off. He says it so often you feel like you’re overflowing. Every time, with the fervor he said it the first time. The devotion, the worship of it all. The way his eyes light up when he sees you, and you know the words are on his lips without him even saying it. When he looks at you, what does he see? A savior? But not once did you hand-hold him out of his problems. You watched him recover, watched him struggle out of the shadow of the man he once was. Of all that’s changed, his love for you is as earnest as it was the first month, the first year. You wondered if he loves you out of passion, but passion inevitably fades. No, he simply adores you. He loves you.