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Rebecca Welton isn’t a movie person. She prefers books over films, always has, but there’s some significance about a romantic comedy airport scene, at least that’s what she’s learned from watching so many with Ted over the years.
She tried.
She begged him to stay.
And he still boarded the plane.
She knows the moment that the gate door closes that she’ll never get what she truly wants.
She’ll never get Ted.
Rebecca was never going to be enough for him, even when she tried to give him everything on a silver platter.
Still, she refuses to leave until his plane does.
A plane takes off in the distance and her eyes watch as it ascends into the sky. She wonders who those people are, where they’re going, and if they had their hearts destroyed in the process of getting on board.
Seconds or minutes or an hour passes, she doesn’t know anymore. Rebecca feels unmoored, set adrift in the ocean without the person she took for granted. She never let herself think Ted would leave, she thought they had more time.
Her heart wishes she could be braver, that she could tell him why she wanted him to stay so much, that she doesn’t know who she is without him anymore.
Commotion happens behind her, a scream for medics, and her blood runs cold with worry for Ted and Beard.
She spins and sees the gate door fly open, Beard in a wheelchair, his hand over his side as he groans in pain. Her eyebrows furrow together as she watches.
Then, her entire world stops moving. Behind all the rushing people trying to attend to Beard is Ted.
They lock eyes and suddenly her feet are moving without a thought as he rushes towards her. They meet in the middle and her arms wrap around his neck, his around her waist. It’s similar to their previous hug, but it feels different. It doesn’t feel like a goodbye, like they’re leaving something lingering in the air, it feels like the start of something new.
“I never should’ve gotten on the plane,” he whispers into her hair. “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry for how I’ve treated you this week. I thought.” He inhales sharply and holds her closer to him and if she’s not mistaken, there are tears on her shoulder. “I thought that if I became a shell of a human - if I pushed you away - I wouldn’t have to come to terms with my feelings for you.” He pulls back just enough to meet her eyes and she wants to cry. Her Ted has finally returned to her, after the hollow creature he had become after his mother’s visit. “You deserve someone to choose you, Rebecca, and I’m so sorry it took Beard faking appendicitis for me to realize I wanted to be that person. I should’ve chosen you in the stands. I should’ve chosen you here. I should’ve been brave enough to realize that going home isn’t the only answer.”
She’s crying now, not the same type of tears as earlier. Relief floods her system, relief that he’s staying, relief that he seems to feel for her what she does for him. Relief that this changes nothing and everything and relief that Ted seems to be back to himself.
Ted leans forward, resting his forehead against hers. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness, for breaking your heart, but I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you if you let me.”
“Ted,” she whispers, one of her hands moving to cup his face, her thumb rubbing over his cheek, feeling the faint stubble there.
“Yes?”
“Kiss me.”
So he did. Everything in her system feels lit on fire, electricity flooding her veins and suddenly, it all makes sense. It makes sense that this is what Roy meant when he said she deserved to be struck by fucking lightning. No kiss she has ever shared with someone has felt his amazing, has felt this incredible. Nothing has lit a match inside of her like Ted Lasso has.
She doesn’t think about what they look like to the people waiting for their flights, how publicly they’re kissing, and how it could easily end up in the press the following day.
She doesn’t care.
He got off the plane.
When they part, her fingers come to her lips, her eyes shining with unshed tears. “Lightning.” She whispers.
“I love you, Rebecca Welton.”
Her eyes open, a grin coming across her features as she looks at him. “I love you too, Ted Lasso.”
Rebecca pauses, tilting her head to the side. “Wait. Did Beard really fake appendicitis to get off the plane?”
Ted lets out a chuckle. “He did. Said he was too in love with Jane to return to Kansas.”
“We can’t let that relationship continue.”
She’s been there, she knows how hard it is to leave, how desperate you feel for those fleeting moments of validation but it leaves you feeling more hollow than before.
“No. We can’t.”
“Ted,” she whispers as she steps out of his embrace, her hands reaching down to take ahold of both of his. “I promise to do everything in my power to move your family here. I know how much Richmond loves you and Henry.”
“We can worry about that later,” he whispers, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Right now, can I take you out to dinner?”
“I thought you’d never ask.”