Work Text:
He knocks tentatively on their adjoining door and it creaks open.
She’s asleep against the stark white of the motel sheets.
The sun is breaking through her window, setting low on the horizon, and the washed out curtains blow slowly in the breeze.
A cricket chirps and a radio plays somewhere down the entryway.
I tried to paint you a picture
The colors were all wrong
Black and white didn’t fit you
And all along
You were shaded with patience
Your strokes of everything
That I need just to make it
But I can see…
She has a cut on her forehead and a gash on her arm.
His heart constricts.
Her hair is damp from the shower.
He recognizes a familiar t-shirt, almost to her knees, and can’t help but focus on the way it wraps around her body.
Does it bring her comfort?
How could anything associated with him ever give her peace?
She sighs deeply in her sleep and he considers the cause - exhaustion. passion. frustration. fear. regret.
Does she regret walking into that stupid basement?
Does she regret the world she stepped into that swallowed her whole?
Can she ever forgive him for needing her the way he does?
A quick hint of smile ghosts across her features and he takes a step closer.
Lord knows I failed you time and again
But you and me are alright.
Her eyes flick open and she takes a moment to focus.
She stands slowly, sleepy, and walks towards him.
The t-shirt shifts and sways, gentle like the curtains caught in the wind, as she approaches.
We won’t say our goodbyes
You know it’s better that way
We won’t break, we won’t die
She takes his head in her hands and leans up to kiss his forehead.
Her lips are gentle but the pressure is purposeful.
She’s telling him she is okay.
He is undeserving.
I walked a minute in your shoes
They never would’ve fit
I figured there’s nothing to lose
I need to get
Some perspective on these words
Before I write them down
You’re an island and my ship
Has run aground
He breathes her in and brings his hands to her hips.
A crack in a fragile balance begins to form.
Every single day that I can breathe
You changed my philosophy
I’m never gonna let you pass me by
Her eyes search his - fear, love, passion, heat, worry, but most clearly, anticipation.
Forever anticipation.
Always waiting for what’s next.
For where he’ll lead her.
He leans down and brings his lips to hers.
So don’t say your goodbyes
You know it’s better that way
We won’t break, we won’t die
It’s just a moment of change…
As they fall back onto the bed for the first time, she wraps her arms around him and breathes him in.
He buries his face into her neck and holds back a sob.
Her hands gently move across his shoulder blades.
She leans up and whispers in his ear.
“Let go.”
They intertwine in waves, the power and control moving between them as only their trust can allow.
In their most breathless moment, hands clasped together, their pulses sync, and promises are made.
He looks down into her eyes and without speaking they hear one another with intense clarity.
“Forever Mine.”
“Forever Yours.”
