This follows the "Are you having an affair?"-conversation from 1x07. Something short and sweet.
I do hope you enjoy. :)
And when he envelops her in a tight hug, she knows for sure. She knows. Because she knows him. Her still shivering hand finds residence at the nape of his neck, gently pulling at his hair. She buries her head in the crook of his neck, and breathes him in. After a little while, they loosen their grip on each other, and they look up, never ceasing to hold the other close. He brings a hand up to cup her cheek and caress her soft skin with his thumb, but she averts her gaze and brings it to the floor.
Barely above a whisper, she says: "I… I'm so sorry," her fingers fidgeting against the clammy back of his shirt. He places his hand on her chin and brings it up again, for her sad eyes to meet his own. He frowns deeply, shaking his head, "What do you have to apologize for? I'm the one who should feel guilty, for keeping you in the dark like this."
"No, I completely understand. You couldn't tell me. Of course I don't like it, but there are things about my job I can't tell you either," she says, continually shaking her head while her thumb traces his jawline. "I should be the one apologizing, for even considering the thought of you having an affair."
He sighs, and looks up at her eyes, those beautiful, loving eyes temporarily struck with immense guilt mixed with sadness. And then he remembers looking in those same eyes all those years ago.
"Come sit with me for a minute," he says, taking her by the hand and urging her to follow him to the couch. He sits down, pats his upper leg, and pulls her to him, until she's sitting half on the couch, half on his lap, right where she's supposed to be.
He wraps his arms around her while her head comes to rest on his chest. "Do you remember when we'd been together for only a few months, and you had those weekly meetings with your study group?"
She huffs then, and looks at him as if he'd just uttered the most incoherent gibberish you would normally expect from a five-month-old baby. "Uhm, yes? I do," she says, clearly not understanding where he's going with this.
He pokes her stomach, "Hey, I'm going somewhere with this, okay?" He smiles and continues, "There was this guy in your study group, Michael Jackford, whom I was blatantly jealous of. And then I confronted you about him, asking if you two were seeing each other." Her attention all on him, she sits up straight, still leaning against his shoulder and the back of the couch. She turns her head to him, to fully see him – she wants to see him when they're having talks like this, wants to be able to listen to him without any distractions.
"Do you remember what you said to me then?"
She closes her eyes, a hint of a smile appearing on her lips. "I said that no, I wasn't. Not as long as I have you."
Wrapping his arms around her again, much tighter this time, he places a soft kiss on top of her head, his lips lingering in her golden locks.
And she smiles then, and so does he, and she knows, she knows that it counts for him as much as it still counts for her.