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‘It usually doesn’t take you this long, you know…’
Lucy’s voice is soft and sweet. A singsongy whisper in the half dark of the bedroom, a little hint of teasing framing her words, masking the seriousness he knows is behind it. He knows her too well to not pick up on subtle nuances like that. She’s chipping away at his defenses, in that Lucy Chen way of hers that he’s been unable to resist basically since the day they met.
He tried to. He yelled and pushed back. Ordered her to shut up if she hit home too hard. He can’t do that anymore. But the instinct is there. Has been since the phone call. And he has that sinking feeling, a gnawing, awful thing in the pit of his stomach that he can’t seem to shake. And he knows he has to. Because he’s ruining things. He’s ruining the best thing that happened to him since… ever.
Usually, after what they’ve just spent hours doing, he’s in a state of bliss, completely sated and unable to do any kind of thinking at all. But somehow, he can’t shut it off. His thoughts are spinning, and she startles him out of it.
‘Take me this long?’ he repeats, not sure what she’s talking about. ‘To do what?’
‘You know… to make sense of it. When you’re feeling things that make you uncomfortable.’
He’s not sure what to say. He wants to deny. Deflect. But he knows she won’t buy it. She never has and she won’t start now.
She shifts next to him, pulling at the sheets that are covering them as she leans up, propping herself up on his pillow. ‘You’ll tell me eventually, right? When you’ve figured it out?’
‘Figure what out?’ Yep, deflecting mode activated. He hates the way his voice sounds. And she doesn’t even flinch. She just keeps staring at him like that. With all that…
Love.
He knows it’s love. And it makes the feeling in his gut worse, because he wants it. No, he needs it. He can’t imagine not having it anymore. And not just any kind of love. Not just the fact that it’s somebody loving him. No. It’s her. Her kind of love. Now he has let himself feel it, he can’t lose it. The thought alone terrifies him, and maybe that’s… Maybe that’s what this is all about. And he doesn’t know how to say it without sounding like a pathetic, insecure, immature mess.
So, he didn’t. He decided to act like it all day, instead.
And it was their first Valentine's Day. And he almost ruined it by being a jerk to her all day. The only reason it wasn’t a complete bust is because she’d been adamant to not let his attitude get to her. He even made her apologize for something he should have been thanking her for. And he is sorry. He should have told her so, but he can’t bring himself to.
He tried to show her. He tried to tell her without using words. He showed her he was five orgasms worth of sorry and grateful. But he knows she deserves the words too. She deserves more than this, and he doesn’t even know why she’s still here. Why she hasn’t thrown the necklace back in his face and told him to go fuck himself. Why she’s still looking at him like he hung the freaking moon. She’s so gorgeous. So kind. She’s fucking everything. And he can barely look at her, because he isn’t worthy of any of it.
‘I’m sorry.’ He can’t even get the words out properly. It’s a weak-ass attempt and he doesn’t get why he is this way with her. With her of all people. He’s been in two committed relationships since his marriage fell apart, and he never acted this… appalling.
‘Excuse me, you’re what now? I don’t think I heard that right, can you repeat it, but slowly?’ she jokes lightheartedly. Like it’s not a big deal at all that he gave her the cold shoulder all day long.
‘I am,’ he says. Louder, this time. His anger flaring up again, only it’s not directed at her this time. It shouldn’t have been in the first place. ‘I’m sorry. I’ve been an ass all day and… I shouldn’t have… I…’
‘So, what else is new?’ she helps him out, shrugging. ‘I can handle that temper of yours. Besides, you already made up for it. Multiple times.’
‘No. Uh-uh. This is not okay, Lucy. This is not the way we’re doing this.’
‘Tim…’ Her hand moves over his stomach, a sweet reassuring touch, but he’s already pulling his arm out from underneath her, jostling her. She sits up when he does, the sheets falling away from her body. And she’s naked and beautiful and completely here with him. Here with him. Present and open. His name is right there on her body. And he hates himself even more, because now, for the first time today, she looks worried. Which is saying something considering the shit show he made of it. Why couldn’t he just get over himself sooner? Why does he have to turn into his father with the one person in his life that has never ever done anything than be good to him?
‘I don’t know what I’m doing here. I don’t want this,’ he says, and he’s not hearing it, how it comes out, until he sees her blinking rapidly and hears her sucking in a breath.
‘You don’t?’
Fuck. Fuckfuckingfuckfuck. He’s only making things worse. She pulls the sheets towards her, covering herself, leaving him exposed. He reaches out, touching her wrist that’s pulled up to her chest, where she clutches the sheets. ‘Not us. I want us, obviously. I just… I’m messing everything up and I don’t want to. But I don’t know how to stop.’
‘You can begin by talking to me. What’s going on? It can’t just be the Metro-thing. Because if it is, Tim, then you really –’
‘It’s not. It’s… I don’t even know. It’s so much. I – You’re right, I can’t make sense of it.’
‘Then don’t. Just get it out. We can make sense of it together.’
‘I…’ He chokes on the words that aren’t coming, rubs his face in frustration, then gets out of bed, leaving her there in the middle of it, looking like… a vision. A vision of beauty with his sheets just barely covering her breasts now. Her legs bare and folded to her side. Her hair wild, her lips swollen, her skin that glowy flushed color that makes him want to bite and suck and kiss, her eyes wide and oozing warmth. His instincts are screaming at him to just get back in the fucking bed with her, now he still has that option. Then his mind jumps to her getting out of bed in the middle of the night. ‘If I hadn’t been there,’ he starts, ‘you would have come to that guy’s rescue all alone, wouldn’t you?’
She stares at him, her lips opening without forming an actual word, like she has to think about it.
‘You would have gone in without any back-up. Without anyone even knowing.’
‘I – I guess… Why?’
‘You wouldn’t have called me? Anything could have happened, Lucy. And you were just going to run off…’
‘Tim, I can handle myself.’
‘I know that. It’s not about you being able to handle that sort of thing, I know you can. But you… How would you feel? If I did that?’
‘Okay,’ she says, sitting up on her knees and moving towards the edge of the bed, towards him, bringing the sheets more as a courtesy than anything else, since they’re not covering much of anything anymore. ‘I won’t do that again. I’ll tell you.’
‘You were surprised I got up. You were going to tell me not to. How the fuck would you even think I would be okay with you running into the night, into whatever situation that was unfolding without knowing shit about it… How –’ He cuts himself off and turns away, because he can’t even finish the thought. Then he turns back to her. ‘Why did that guy even call you?’
‘You know why. He was in trouble. He needed out.’
‘And he calls you? Out of all the people you guys trained with? He has to call you? He has to call my girlfriend to come find him in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night, to bail him out?’
‘Okay now, wait a minute,’ she says, holding her hand out.
But he can’t slow down anymore. ‘He put you in danger!’ He’s not even thinking rationally anymore. Everything is just pouring out of him. No chance to filter or hold back. ‘I never even heard you mention him once. I didn’t know you were still in touch with any of those people. I had no fucking clue you were that chubby with them that you would jump out of your own bed…’ That she was sleeping in with him. That she would have just left him in. ‘… to risk your life to help them out.’
‘Risking my life is my job, Tim. The job you trained me for.’
‘Not like that, it isn’t.’
She lets out a sigh of disbelief. An angry – sexy – breath of frustration. And he’s suddenly realizing he’s standing here yelling at her buck ass naked. He turns to his drawers, pulling one open, searching for a pair of sweatpants.
‘So?’ he asks, back still turned to her, stepping into the pants. ‘How many people have your number like that?’
She’s silent as he snaps the elastic band in place on his hips.
‘Just him, huh?’ He hasn’t turned around yet. He shuts the drawer.
‘Are you kidding me right now?’ He hears the rustle of sheets, her footsteps around the bed. He hears her gathering her clothes and he knows she’s leaving. Any minute now, she’s gone. ‘You fucking idiot,’ she mutters and he clenches his fists, waiting for her to reach the door and he has got to stop her. He can’t let her walk out.
But he also can’t move. He can’t speak. He’s frozen to the spot, because he has never done this. Not with Isabel. Not with Rachel or Ashley. Who have all left him.
Not with any other girlfriend he had before he met Isabel.
And now he’s doing it to her, the only one who has never ever put anything before him since he’s known her. And he trusts her. He knows she’s not with that guy. He doesn’t even believe for a second she wants to be. But… she gets up in the middle of the night for him. She leaves their bed for him. And she has a special name for him.
No-No he heard her call out to him. Which must be short for Noah.
And Noah calls her baby. And they have some backstory with them having a family together. Three kids. Just like Tim wants to have with her. And Tim vividly remembers creating a backstory for their UC persona’s. Remembers how into it she was. How into it he was.
Then she saves No-No’s ass. And No-No gets all hot for her. Because how can he not? Then they joke. They have their little inside jokes, that looks a lot like cute, flirty banter. Tim’s not part of it. He’s not privy to the inside of the joke and he has never been outside of anything in her life before. He is supposed to be the guy she has inside jokes with.
Was his name Gerald?
And he has to stand there and see the guy effortlessly flirt with her right in front of him. He sees their little pretend fight that makes her laugh in that special way that’s only reserved for people she’s really comfortable with. Jackson. Him. And apparently this guy that he’s seeing for the first time in his life and has never heard of before. And Lucy is never that comfortable around people she doesn’t know. Especially guys. She wouldn’t go out with Emmett before checking with Tim. Tim was the one who hooked her up with Sanford.
Then the Hot Pants thing happens. Tim still doesn’t know what it means exactly, but it’s not that hard to guess. And he can’t even blame the guy. It’s Lucy for god’s sake. How could anyone be around her and not fall hard? You can’t, is the thing. If it were possible not to, Tim would have succeeded, because he tried. He fought like hell not to, and he is nothing if not strong willed.
So, he gets it, that whole vibe he’s witnessing. But he doesn’t like it. It annoys him to see this guy do all these things Tim was never allowed to. He wasn’t allowed to do the easy flirting, silly joking, touchy stuff with her. He couldn’t even allow himself to look at her, or think of her that way. And this guy can, and he’s blatantly doing it in front of him.
And Tim knows Lucy is his now. He really does. There’s no real threat here. Lucy wouldn’t act on it. He’s not even contemplating she would want to. He hears her say: ‘helps he was in my bed’ and the way she says it… that little smile that goes with it. Like she’s proud to have him, a little smug, even. Like she wants to broadcast to whoever wants to hear that they’re sleeping together. He knows that the guy saying: ‘Oh, that Bradford’ can only mean that Lucy has been talking about him. A lot. Even while she was angry with him and in a relationship with someone else. He knows what that means. That she’s his just like he’s hers. Completely.
So, he has no clue why he feels like his insides are being torn apart. Except for the fact that this guy is suddenly stepping into territory that has been only Tim’s before. That suddenly Tim is the one on the outside. Listening to the two of them catch up while he goes to bed. Because he can’t bring himself to sit around and watch it.
He used to be the guy Lucy would run to if he called in the middle of the night. He would have been the one annoying her boyfriend because he had some kind of connection with her that the other guy did not and would never have.
But he never actually did those things. Call her and whisk her away in the middle of the night. And he never flirted with her like that. He never came in after a mission to have drinks and talk and unwind with her. The one time he almost did, ended in tragedy and almost ruined them.
He knows he has her now. But he still feels the sting of not having her for so long. For always doing the right thing, and keeping it professional and not giving in to what he really wanted. And now he has her in this new way, and he realizes he’s losing things he had before. Things that he treasured. Her riding with him. Having her there next to him, always.
He doesn’t want to switch back. He wouldn’t trade having what he has with her now. But he wants all of it, all of her. He can’t lose her, so he has to snap out of it an keep her from reaching the door. He needs to do whatever he needs to do, even if it’s getting down on his knees to beg Lucy for forgiveness and befriending No-No and making him his best bud.
But he’s not sure how to. Because he ruined Valentine’s Day. He upset her. Insulted her. Acted like a jealous juvenile asshole. And he’s still waiting for her to walk out. Because she will the moment she gets dressed, there’s no question about it. She has every right to. If he were any other guy, he would tell her to get the fuck out, away from him. Right now.
He has to make this right.
Then she moves. And right before he can swirl around and grab her, she’s pressed up against him. Her arms around him, her cheek pressed to his back, right between his shoulder blades. Her body plastered to his. ‘You stupid man,’ she says. ’Will you just take a fucking breath?’
There’s a crazy sound tearing out of him. Sort of like a sob. He’s not even sure what it is.
‘Can’t you see how in love I am with you? You are my entire world.’ She presses her lips to his back and moves her hand up over his chest to cover his frantically beating heart.
‘You’re not leaving?’ He grabs her hand, wrapping it up in his entirely.
‘I asked you to get it out. I’m not going to punish you for it when you do.’
‘You shouldn’t have to put up with this. You shouldn’t let me off the hook.’
“We’re not breaking up on Valentine’s Day, Tim. Or ever.’
‘I’m so sorry, Lucy. I’m sorry.’ He turns to face her, scared of what he’ll find looking back at him. He can’t stand seeing her hurt, or disappointed, or sad. But the only thing waiting for him is her pretty face, smiling reassuringly and he needs to do better. He needs to for her.
He wraps one arm around her waist and lifts her, his other hand coming up in her hair. She has put on an old and worn T-shirt from him that she loves to sleep in when she stays over. It rides up, stuck between his arm and her body. She wears nothing underneath. ‘I love you. I love you so much, Lucy. I wanted to make this day so special for you, and it went all wrong and I…’
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. He had planned to make her feel loved and cherished and every bit as special as she is to him. He’d wanted to wake her up gently, with sleepy cuddles and kisses. Turn it into a lazy morning lovemaking session. Make her breakfast. Give her the gift he got her. The necklace he had spent over an hour to pick. He had gone over all the options, before deciding on something simple. A little circle she could wear with anything, even under her uniform. It represented endless love, the clerk had told him, no beginning, no end.
‘It’s not all wrong,’ she insists. ‘I love my necklace. We had a nice dinner. You picked the perfect restaurant for us. And I still can’t feel my legs properly, so something went right after dinner, too.’ She giggles when she says the last bit and he walks her back to the bed, carefully placing her on the middle of it, supporting his weight with one knee pressed to the matrass between hers. ‘The only thing wrong with it, is that you couldn’t enjoy any of it…’ she says with a hint of sorrow.
‘I enjoyed it. I always enjoy you… You are the best thing to ever exist in this world, Lucy. And that’s what I should have said when I found out about Metro. Because the truth is, nobody has ever done anything like that for me. It was the first thing I thought when I heard about what you did.’
She presses her palm to his cheek and he kisses it, covering her hand with his. ‘Then what was it that made you spiral like you just did? Have you been sitting on this all day?’
‘I… It’s all so…’
‘Tell me, Tim. Just try. I won’t judge.’
He knows she won’t. Because she never has. Not even in the beginning, when she didn’t know anything about him, except for him being a nasty jerk, putting her through all kinds of cruel tests, trying to scare her into washing out. She didn’t judge when he was in a bad place mentally, showing clear signs of having a questionable moral compass that put her in actual danger. She could have narced on him, could have gotten him under investigation, but she hadn’t even considered anything else than helping him deal with what he was going through. She had saved him long before he ever had to pull her from a barrel. First in a literal sense from being shot. Then in every other way possible.
He doesn’t even know where to begin to put into words all that he’s thinking, but there she is, watching him process patiently, and somehow he manages to make the first words come out, then the next and suddenly it’s all pouring out of him. All of these crazy thoughts and feelings he didn’t even realize he was having and that somehow translated into being angry up until now.
He feels ashamed voicing all of it. He tries to stop himself several times, looking away from her, pulling away from her. But the minute he tries, she’s there with soft looks and soothing touches that he doesn’t feel like he deserves, but at the same time finds himself unable to resist. When he’s done, he feels drained, sitting on the edge of the bed with his face in his hands.
She’s right by his side, one hand resting on his thigh, the other one wrapped around his upper arm, with her cheek pressed against his bicep like she won’t accept even an inch of space between them. ‘I love you,’ she whispers in a sweet voice.
‘Love you, too.’ He drops his hands and slightly turns to look at her.
‘I’m so sorry I didn’t see I made you feel this way.’
‘No, Lucy, that’s not on you. Don’t apologize to me. I’m the one in the wrong.’
She looks up at him, pressing her chin into his arm and he’s flooded with love for her.
‘You’re amazing,’ he says, his hand coming up into her hair as he caresses her cheek with his thumb. ‘You’re the brightest light I’ve ever seen and you go around spreading it like a freaking solar storm. I’m so sorry for not knowing how to handle it when it’s shining on me. I’d be lost without it, Lucy. You shouldn’t have to apologize for it, ever.’
She smiles. A gorgeous, happy smile that reaches her eyes and brightens her face. Hell, it brightens the entire dimly lit room. She presses her lips to his arm and he kisses the top of her head, lingering to breathe in the scent of her hair.
‘I’m not sure what happened, here,’ he whispers into her hair. ‘But I will figure it out and work on it, okay? You shouldn’t have to deal with this bullshit.’
'It’s not bullshit, Tim,’ she says, pulling back just enough to look at him.
‘It is. And I need to get a handle on it. I don’t think I’ve been like this in other relationships and I’m not sure why I’m doing it to you. Maybe it’s because you were my rookie. Like maybe me looking out for you, feeling responsible for your safety is imprinted in my brain and it’s coming out in this possessive, overbearing way. Maybe I’m more like my dad than I’d like to admit. Or maybe Isabel was right, I don’t know.’
He's not sure if it’s him mentioning his ex-wife or his father that makes her jump to attention, but he can feel her tense beside him. He knows all her tells and the little line appearing between her eyebrows, combined with the pursing of her lips is a dead giveaway for her connecting things in her mind and being two steps ahead of him within seconds. He’s not sure what she’s coming up with, but he feels the need to reassure her quickly.
‘But whatever it is, I’m sure as hell not gonna let it get to the point where it’s going to be your problem. I promise you, I –’
‘Isabel left in the middle of the night...’ Lucy’s voice is only a whisper. So soft he wonders if he heard her right. ‘Tim, that’s why… Oh my god, I’m so sorry for not seeing this. You told me, and I didn’t even…’
He stares back at her. She looks bewildered, huge eyes brimming with tears, fingers pressed to her lips. She’s beautiful and he wants to hug her close, tuck her into his side and pull her under the covers to hide away with her. He’s not sure what he feels like hiding for. ‘It’s okay,’ he says, trying to ease her worry away. ‘It’s a long time ago.’
‘No, but don’t you see? Me getting up like that… it triggered all of what you’ve been feeling.’
He swallows. ‘I know you’re not Isabel. You’re not her and you would never…’
‘I know you know it here,’ she says, reaching out to gently touch his temple. ‘Your head knows. But these things run deep. I should have realized…’
‘Lucy, it’s not your burden to carry. You shouldn’t have to–’
‘You felt like I could have disappeared on you. I would never walk out on you, Tim.’
He swallows. He’s not sure what to say, because everyone else has walked away, and he knows Lucy is nothing like anyone he has ever met, but…
‘Say it,’ she urges him, and he looks at her confused. ‘Don’t bottle it up. Tell me what you’re thinking. I said I would never leave you and you shut down on me.’
‘I didn’t. I just… I feel so petty. This whole thing… feeling left out or… whatever it is… I’m a grown-ass man and I’m acting like an immature brat and I don’t get why you’re so understanding about it.’
‘Tim, first of all, your feelings matter. Okay? You’re not being petty or immature. But I do think this comes from how you felt as a child. Part of you still feels unwanted. Unloved. Unworthy. And it’s a feeling that’s been solidified for you in all your relationships. But that’s not us. We’re different.’
‘I know, but… what if I’m the problem?’
‘Why would you even say that?’
‘It’s… look…’ He turns to her and she moves closer, practically in his lap with one leg draped over his and her foot tucked away in the inside of his knee. She’s still here, inching closer, even now he’s showing her all of this… ugliness that’s part of him. He searches her face for signs of rejection, but there are none and he doesn’t get it. ‘I’m not easy to be around. I’m aware of that…’
She snorts, burying her laughter against his shoulder.
‘What? It’s not funny. I’m serious here.’
‘You’re not easy? Thanks for the heads up.’ She lifts her face, looking up at him like he just told her the best joke on earth. ‘I kind of figured that out on day one, probably somewhere between “Where are we, boot?!” and “Now I’m dead”.’
‘It’s not funny,’ he repeats dead serious.
‘It kind of is, though. Tim, come on… It’s me. I know all about how un-easy you can be. I can sense your mood a mile away and I have some experience handling it. I wouldn’t have survived my first month as your rookie if I hadn’t been able to deal with it.’
‘Yeah, but this isn’t work. I’m not your TO, I’m not in your chain of command even. We’re equals here, and I can’t… I won’t risk losing you just because I’m too blind to see what I’m doing to you.’
‘What you’re doing to me?’ she asks. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I didn’t see it with Isabel. Not until it was too late. I had myself convinced it was her addiction that broke us, but things weren’t right long before and I didn’t see it. So, when I found out about what you did to get me on Metro, I realized you can lie to my face and I won’t even notice. It scares me that I –’
‘Tim, I would never. I will never lie to you. I would never cheat on you, or keep something important from you. I just didn’t want to take credit for something you so obviously deserved all on your own. I knew you would diminish it if I told you. I didn’t get you that job. I made Fuji aware of a job opening and she took it. That was all I had to do with it. I didn’t make you apply for the position. I didn’t make Grey give you that raving review. You got it because you are the best man for the job, and you know it. Seriously now: that fragile male ego thing really doesn’t suit you when you’re walking around looking like a real-life action hero all day.’
‘It’s not an ego-thing,’ he says, filing the action hero comment away for later. ‘It’s really not. But I’m not used to anyone looking out for me like that.’
‘So, you can sacrifice your career for me. Not once, but twice. But I can’t help you out even a little? You took that stupid desk job without even blinking and I just… I couldn’t sit by and watch you waste away at that desk, alright? It’s not only a disservice to you, but also to this city. To the work you’re made to do. And to all of us who would have missed out on seeing you in your metro gear.’
‘What is it with you and that metro gear? It’s nothing special.’
‘No. But you are. And if you have a problem with me looking out for you, then you’d better gear up for a lot of fights, ‘cause I will not stop doing it. You’d do the same for me.’
‘Okay.’
‘Wait…’ She gives him a smug little smile. ‘Is this actual permission to get into your business?’
‘Lucy, come on. Don’t pretend like you care if you have my permission or not.’
‘Yeah, you’re right. I don’t.’
He sighs. ‘Okay… So apparently, I’m crap at showing my appreciation, but I do appreciate what you did. What you always do for me. It’s just hard for me to feel like I deserve it, but the truth is I wouldn’t even know what to do without it.’
‘Good thing you won’t have to find out. You deserve everything. You deserve the world.’
‘Can you promise me one thing, though? Promise me you’ll tell me how you feel. Always. If I’m not seeing it, seeing you clearly, you have to talk to me. Fill me in.’
‘I will. I promise I will.’
‘You have to. Because… you know… When Isabel got better, she told me she always felt like it was impossible to live up to my standards, and I never even realized I was setting them. So I tried not to. You know… with Rachel and Ashley. I think I didn’t, but still, they…’ He chokes a little on the last word. ‘But that doesn’t matter. What matters is you. I want, I need us to work. I know it’s still new, and you want to take it slow, and I get that. Last thing I want is to pressure you, but the thing is: I’ve known since the first time we kissed that you are it for me. I have dealt with everyone else leaving me. But I just know I won’t be able to come back from losing you.’
She’s stunned, and he could kick himself, because he knows she’s not ready and he just keeps making things worse today. Then she smiles. Her sweet, easy Lucy-smile.
‘Tim… You’re amazing. I love your standards. I have them too, you know. Ever since I met you, you have set the bar for every guy in my life and they all fall short. Then, the more I got to know you, the more you raised that bar. Maybe you have high standards, but I have them too. Remember how mad you were at me when I called you out for not taking a stand against Stanton?’
‘Wasn’t mad,’ he mumbles.
‘Okay,’ she says, rolling her eyes. ‘How upset you were. But the point is, when Jackson came to me, the first thing I thought of – the only thing I could think of frankly – was telling him to go to you for help, because I knew you’d fix it.’
‘And then I didn’t.’
‘Yeah. You had let me down and you hated it and you listened. I love how you always want to do better. You always hear what I’m saying. Even when you don’t want to, or even have to. I don’t know about you and Isabel, how you were with her. But to me, Tim… to me you’re everything. You’re my favorite person in the world. And you chose me, over anyone else. Over the job I know you love more than anything in the world. You make me feel like the luckiest girl in the world.’
He pulls her in, and she melts into his embrace, burying her face in his neck and pressing her lips against the underside of his jaw. He feels his chest untightening, and relaxes into her, feeling like for the first time all day he can actually breathe.
‘I love you,’ he whispers in her hair. ‘I need us to last, Lucy. Because someday I’ll be going back to that jewelers store to buy you a ring.’
She looks at him, her eyes wide, a soft smile spreading slowly across her face, urging him on.
‘I’m going to ask you to marry me and it will be the last time I’ll ever ask that question. Unless your answer is “not yet”. I’ll ask you over and over again if you want me to. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to have babies with you. I want to tell our grandkids about our two first dates someday. I want it all with you.’
She kisses him, and they lose themselves in the kiss completely. He pulls her with him as he lies down, covering her entire face in kisses, making her giggle beneath him. He looks at her awestruck as she caresses his cheek.
‘You know,’ she says, ‘as far as Valentine’s Days go, you’ve set the bar pretty high, making me promises like that.’
‘You just wait and see,’ he replies. ‘I'm only getting started.’