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“So…”
“So?”
“What are we doing?”
“Well, considering the fact that I was just inside of you, I think we're doing each other.”
Amy lets out an exasperated huff, to which Jonah can’t help but laugh.
“What? You’re gonna tell me that I’m wrong?” he asks with a teasing lilt. He adjusts himself so that they’re laying side by side on the table in the photo lab, using one arm to prop himself up so that he can look at her. Amy shifts a little so that she’s fully facing Jonah and narrows her eyes.
“I wish I could,” she says, “but you know what I mean.”
Jonah gives a small nod. Nearly instinctively, his free hand travels towards her hair, his fingers beginning to absently comb through it.
“I do.”
“And?”
He exhales. “We’re getting a fresh start, aren’t we?”
Amy glances to the side where he’s tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear and lets her mouth relax into a gentle smile. “Right. Fresh start. But what does that really mean?”
Jonah shrugs the best he can in his current position. “Forgetting all the weirdness from the past few weeks. Deciding that it doesn’t matter.”
She visibly takes a moment to consider what he’s said before responding. “So we’re not starting all the way over from the beginning.”
“Oh, of course not. How could I possibly erase two whole years of teasing and tormenting each other?” he says, voice dripping with sarcasm.
Amy laughs and rolls her eyes. “I get it, I get it. I can’t imagine anyone would meet me in my current state and decide that they need a piece of this,” she says, gesturing up and down her body.
“Hey, whoa, whoa, that’s not why I don’t want to go all the way back to the beginning,” Jonah says quickly. He stops stroking Amy’s hair and rests his hand on the side of her face. “I wouldn’t give up the teasing and tormenting for anything. Because you’ve been the best part of my day every day since I started working here. I wouldn’t want to forget any of that.”
Amy’s expression softens. “Oh, Jonah…”
“I could’ve met you in any state and I still would feel the same way about you.”
She squeezes her eyes shut and twists her mouth up in concentration. Jonah lightly brushes his thumb over her cheek, happening to catch a tear on the top of it. They lay there for a moment, Amy taking deep breaths, Jonah stroking her cheek. When she opens her eyes, they’re glassy, and he struggles to stuff down his surprise.
“I’m sorry, my hormones are going crazy and it’s been such a long time since I’ve heard something like that and I…I’ve wanted this. For a while.”
“With me or…?”
“With you.”
Jonah can’t help it; his mouth falls open. “Oh, so you-”
“Yeah, yeah, I liked you, all the high school bullshit. Don’t look so surprised, you’re acting like we’re not still in the photo lab we banged in.”
He grins. “I know. It’s just nice to have confirmation.”
“I’m assuming you hate me, then,” Amy says sarcastically as she moves to wipe away a stray tear. Jonah beats her to it, his thumb gently circling under her eye.
“Oh, yeah, totally. That’s why I kissed you first this time.”
She laughs. “Yeah, yeah, totally.”
They both go quiet, each considering the other with a new sort of curiosity. Tentatively, Amy shifts a little closer to Jonah. He responds by first moving his free arm so that it’s around her waist, then collapses so that he can fully close the gap between them. With a little bit of situating, he gets both arms around her and lets her bury her head in the crook of his neck.
“You still haven’t answered my question,” she says, voice slightly muffled.
“Which one?”
Amy lifts her head enough to be able to speak clearly. “What are we doing?”
Jonah goes quiet again.
“I mean, it’s okay if you don’t know. I don’t know. It might’ve been a rhetorical question and I just-”
“I don’t really know what we’re doing right now,” he says, “but I know what I want to do.”
“Which is?” Amy asks, voice usually small and soft.
“I want to be with you. In whatever way you can handle right now. I want to be there for you and Emma and the baby, in whatever ways you’ll let me.”
It’s her turn to go quiet. She moves again so that she’s propped up to see Jonah, but leaves his arms around her.
“Are you sure?”
“What? Ames, of course I’m sure.”
“It’s just…I come with an ex-husband. And two kids. And a lot of debt and a busy work schedule and so much stuff that you shouldn’t have to deal with.”
“But I want to deal with it.”
“Why?”
“Because. It’s you.”
She looks at him, eyes wide, as if in disbelief.
“I mean it, Ames,” Jonah insists, “Everything has its complications. But I really am willing to work with you and give you whatever you need, as long as I’m able to give it.”
It seems like her eyes are about to well up with tears again, but before they can, she breaks out into a smile. She leans over and kisses him gently, then pulls back to look at him again.
“Who knew that Jonah Simms was such a huge sap?”
He laughs, then surges forward to kiss her again.
“I’ve got layers. I’m like an onion in that way.”
“Oh, trust me, I know,” Amy says, with a sound that’s almost something like a giggle. “But…to be honest, I’m not sure what I want. Or what I can handle right now. But I like you. I like you way more than I think I should. And as long as you want to try and see where this goes, I want to as well.”
Jonah smirks. “Well, who’s the sap now, Sosa?”
“Certainly not me.”
“Mhm. Keep talking and I’m sure you’ll prove that.”
“Why keep talking when there’s like, way better things we could do with our mouths?”
“You wanna show me what kind of things?”
Amy rolls her eyes, to which Jonah laughs.
“You know, I really hate you sometimes.”
Jonah’s smile softens. “I do. And I really hate you sometimes, too.”
She smiles back, then places a hand on his face and moves to kiss him gently. Before she can do it more than once, Jonah pulls back.
“Oh! Is that the thing you were thinking we could do with our mouths?” he asks, faking surprise.
Amy narrows her eyes, but can’t stop a smile from spreading across her face. “Yeah, something like that.”
“Oh, yeah, yeah, I’m totally down.”
She laughs, in a deep and joyful way, before going back to kiss him again. And for once in his life, Jonah refrains from making any more witty comebacks.