Title: Kiss Me (On this Cold, December Night)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~5,400
Characters: Roy/Jade and Lian with splashes of Wally/Artemis and Dick/Zatanna
Summary: He would've never pegged Jade as the type to like Christmas as much as she does, or at least as much as the decorations and the tacky Christmas sweater she's wearing suggests she does. It's kind of… cute, actually. [Roy and Jade celebrating Christmas Eve on five different years.]
A/N: This is my fic for the Secret Santa exchange at yj-exchanged on tumblr. Happy Holidays, shesomething! I really loved writing domestic, fluffy goodness for the couple – I just hope it wasn't too fluffy or lengthy for your preferences (: And if it is, I apologize!
Kiss Me (On this Cold, December Night)
Washington, D.C.
December 24, 2014 | 23:16 EST
None of this should be strange.
Not the snow outside or the decorations around the apartment or Jade in the kitchen, busying herself with who knows what. Snow in the middle of winter on the East Coast is to be expected, and, well, he and Jade are married, after all. You'd expect them to be together on tonight of all nights.
No, none of this should've felt out of place.
But it still does.
Their apartment is a hole, basically. It's cheap and falling apart and was only intended to be used for emergencies, which this isn't, but here they are. It's stupid to put too much care into a place that looks (and often is) abandoned, especially since it's doubtful that they'll be here for much longer, but she does, anyway, because she's Jade and she does whatever the hell she wants. He didn't even bother asking where she'd gotten the decorations when she showed up one night with a box full of them. He just told her that he didn't plan on putting anything up himself, then watched her place candles and pinecones and garland along the mantle and ornaments and lights and a star on a small tree, which is now sitting by the window on top of the only table in the apartment. He was actually too surprised at the time (and actually still is) to even try to make fun of her need to decorate in the first place.
So, yeah, looking at all of the decorations hung around the shitty apartment does nothing to make it actually feel like the holidays.
That's not even him being a Scrooge. He doesn't feel much of anything nowadays, not even for the woman he supposedly loves. He thinks—knows, actually—that he must still be in love with her, even if he knows almost nothing about her or where she goes when she disappears for weeks at a time. Otherwise he wouldn't feel so bitter whenever she does it.
"Are you thirsty?" Jade asks.
He looks up from the paperback he's not even reading and finds her looking at him, one eyebrow arched. He shrugs, which she must take as a yes because she pulls out two glasses from one of the overhead cupboards.
"It's fucking freezing in here," he mutters. "I can't feel my toes in my shoes."
"Quit complaining."
He shakes his head, tossing the book aside to draw the duvet around his shoulder. It does nothing to help warm him up, but whatever. He's sitting in front of the lit fireplace and they've already sealed the windows and lit all of the candles (the power's out because why the hell wouldn't it be?). It's pretty much as warm in here as it'll get tonight.
Jade walks over with a glass in each hand and he smirks as he tugs at the hem of her Christmas sweater. It's exactly the kind people wear around the holidays—red and white and knitted with snowflakes and reindeer and abstract designs—and he didn't even know she'd owned it until she put it on this morning. Honestly, he would've never pegged Jade as the type to like Christmas as much as she does, or at least as much as the decorations and the tacky Christmas sweater she's wearing suggests she does. It's kind of… cute, actually.
She nudges his knee with her foot and he lifts the duvet, shudders against the cold it lets in as she gets settled beside him.
"What're we drinking?"
"Tea with vodka," she replies. He arches an eyebrow but still takes a sip when she does. Sure enough, that's what he can taste (more so vodka than tea, but…). They should probably be drinking something warmer considering how cold it is, but whatever.
They drink in silence for a few minutes, listening to the crackle of the fire. It's so cold inside that they can see their breath, and when her hand brushes against his side, he actually flinches because he can feel how cold her fingers are through two layers of clothing. Jade is hardly a good person, but she still deserves a better Christmas than this, right?
"It's fucking cold."
Jade's whole body shivers when she says this and she hugs her knees to her chest with one arm, taking another gulp of her drink, and he finds himself just staring at her. It's his first time seeing her like this, looking so small and vulnerable and human, curled up and shivering. It makes him feel… strange.
He's never felt compelled to take care of her, never had a reason to feel pity or sympathy for her and never had to be sensitive of her feelings. It's Jade. She's hardly the kind of person that can't take care of herself and she'd probably just tease the hell out of him if he tried showing his concern. Actually, he's convinced she's one of those girls that get offended if you worry about them, as if it meant that you're being misogynistic rather than genuinely concerned. (Yeah, he's sure as hell been on the receiving end of that lecture more than enough times thanks to Artemis and Dinah.) But still, as much as he knows that he doesn't need to take care of Jade, he can't help but feel protective of her right now.
"You're staring."
"What?"
She tilts her head a little, smirking. "You were staring. I know most girls find that somehow romantic, but I just find it concerning."
"Concerning," he repeats, one eyebrow raised. "And all this time, I thought you couldn't care less about me."
She chuckles but doesn't say anything else, just tips her head back as she downs the rest of her drink. He sips his own and watches as she licks her lips clean, then sets the glass onto the hardwood and gives him this look that… well, somehow makes him think of something other than how cold it is in this apartment.
"I'm fucking freezing," she tells him, though she hardly sounds concerned.
"We've established that." She meets his eyes and takes his glass and he shifts, braces a hand against the floor and slides the other over her knee, squeezing lightly. He presses a kiss to her a neck, just because he wants to, and feels it when she hums and then swallows the rest of his drink. "And what am I supposed to do about it?" he mumbles into her skin.
"Basics of survival, Red—body heat to keep warm." He smirks. Of course he knew that's what her answer would be. "Although, I'm told it works best without clothes."
He kisses her rather than saying anything else, taking the glass from her hand and sliding it aside, and there's nothing particularly gentle about their kiss because there's nothing particularly gentle about them, ever, except for maybe the way he slowly presses her onto her back against the hardwood. He takes his time with her, teases her and makes her practically growl his name, and as it turns midnight, he doesn't wish her a Merry Christmas—just sinks into her and pushes his tongue passed her lips as her nails dig into his bicep.
... ...
Central City, Missouri
December 24, 2017 | 20:53 CST
Christmas is in Central City this year, because Mary invited them and basically wouldn't let them refuse.
Not that they would've said no in the first place, but whatever. Artemis and Paula are here, too, because they've been spending holidays with the Wests ever since Artemis and Wally got together. And though Jade probably won't admit it, he knows she wanted to be with her sister and mother for the holidays, too. It's not like they have anywhere else to be. The only other people they would've spent tonight with would've been Oliver and Dinah since they invited him, Jade and Lian to move into the Queen Estate almost a year ago, and Oliver and Dinah had already told them a few weeks ago that they planned to spend Christmas with the Wests. Barry and Iris are also here with the twins, and so are Bart, Jay and Joan.
A year ago, when everything was kind of all over the place and he was just trying to figure out how to be a dad and Wally had still been missing, Roy never could've predicted that he'd end up spending tonight—or any night, really—with such an odd combination of people. But at the same time, it makes perfect sense.
Weird.
He's outside with Wally right now, shoveling snow from the driveway (they're all spending the night here and probably could just wait to do this tomorrow morning, but Mrs. West asked them to do it, anyway, "just in case!") and he's kind of freezing his ass off, but it's not so bad. He's bundled up enough and the labor is helping to keep him pretty warm, so.
"So," Wally says, making Roy look at him. "You and Jade… how's that going?"
"Fine, I guess. She's been more relaxed since we moved to Star City."
"She gave up crime for good?"
Roy smiles a little and nods. He knows Jade better than she likes to pretend he does, which is crazy, but whatever.
He knows her. As much as she loves the thrill of what she does (which he sure as hell understands), obviously she'd prefer to have a life where she didn't have to steal and take shady jobs for shady people to get by, especially ever since Lian came into the picture. So when Oliver and Dinah offered her a clean slate, a chance to live with her husband and daughter in and not have to worry about how to get money or food at the end of each day, in exchange for giving up Cheshire for good, Roy somehow knew Jade wouldn't dishonor her promise.
Don't get him wrong or anything. Jade is still Jade in all the ways that count, but she's also a mother and a very good one at that and he'll be damned if anyone tries to assume otherwise. Things between the two of them have also been a lot better now that he's got his act together and doesn't have the clone guilt keeping him from being there for his family. He and Jade renewed their wedding vows back in September, with an actual ceremony and their friends around them and Lian as their flower girl. The month before, he resumed hero work as Red Arrow and Jade joined the League as Huntress, and they found out that they make a pretty good team. So, yeah, things are pretty great right now.
He's finally happy again, and he thinks (is pretty sure) that Jade is happy, too.
Anyway.
The house is warm and noisy and smells like gingerbread when he and Wally make their way back inside. Everyone's crowded in the living room with Barry, Bart, Jay and Oliver singing Christmas carols loudly and probably entirely off key. They've got about another three hours until midnight, and if this goes on until then?
Well, he's glad he thought to pack some Tylenol.
"If this goes on all night, I'm definitely going to need another glass of wine—maybe even my own bottle."
He smirks, leans back against the wall as Jade comes to stand beside him. Sure enough, the glass in her hand is nearly empty. He'd ask (jokingly, of course) if she'd traded their daughter to get her hands on that wine, except he can see Lian in Paula's arms across the room and, yeah, he wouldn't have put it passed Paula to just take the girl from anyone. She absolutely loves carrying her granddaughter, which is great and all, but then she almost refuses to give Lian away after. Like, it's become an actual argument more than you'd think.
(Now he knows where Jade and Artemis get their stubbornness from.)
"As long as you share," he tells her.
"I don't think so, Harper."
He chuckles. "You're a Harper, too. In fact, you have been for the last five years."
She rolls her eyes and mutters, "Shut up," but she's also fighting a smile, so whatever. She's not actually annoyed with him.
"Hey," he says so she'll look at him. "I love you."
Her eyes widen slightly. No, they're typically not ones for affection like that, or at all, really, unless it's with Lian. It's just not them, because they're not total saps and they're pretty screwed up, too, so they have weird ways of showing their emotions or whatever. It works because they know, generally, what the other's thinking without having to be told.
But they have been married for five years now and he thinks that's kind of a big deal for them. He knew he loved her when they first got married, even if the rest of his head was totally fucked up and he wasn't sure of anything else at the time. He also knows he hasn't stopped loving her since then. He got seriously distracted, yeah, and lost sight of that, but no matter how much his friends tried, it was only Jade (and Lian) that was able to snap him back. He's not stupid enough to think that doesn't mean anything. He knows Jade loves him, too, because why else would she have come back? That honestly says it all. The only three people Jade ever left and loved enough to come back to are in this room right now.
And, no, he's not about to become a hopeless romantic or something. Those are the kinds of couples they make fun of and she may actually start to hate him if he turned into Prince Charming or whatever. She knows he loves her.
It's just that she still deserves to hear him say the words every once in a while, you know?
"Don't get all soft on me now, Harper."
He kisses her because he knows that's her way of saying that she loves him, too, and he's okay with that. But then later on when it turns midnight, she places her hand against his cheek and he can feel her ring against his skin as she kisses him slowly and kind of gently and breathes, "You know I love you, right?" against his lips.
And, yeah, it's pretty amazing to hear her say the words, too.
... ...
South Lake Tahoe, California
December 24, 2024 | 17:24 PST
They go up to the snow for a week because Lian's been asking for a White Christmas since, like, August (even though she doesn't know it's called that) and Ollie has a vacation home in Tahoe, so why not? Paula went to Florida with the Wests and Oliver and Dinah are on a cruise, so it's just him, Jade and Lian plus Artemis and Wally and their kids, Jayden and Ellie.
It's great. He likes spending time with everyone, but it's nice to have a simpler Christmas like this every once in a while, you know?
Anyway.
Roy's not overly fond of freezing his ass off, but this isn't like all those years ago when they didn't have a choice. Actually, it gets kind of warm and stuffy in the house with the heater on, so the cold air is refreshing. They've been in Tahoe for two days now and this is the first they've been out in the snow. Their first day here, they stayed inside the house, unpacked and enjoyed the warmth, and then yesterday they were at the outlets and then went out to dinner and didn't get back until almost midnight. Lian's sleeping pattern is totally screwed up right now, but whatever. She might as well enjoy her break while she can before she gets older and teachers start giving her a ton of homework to do on her own vacation time.
They walked about half a mile from the house to this little clearing they drove by earlier and it's pretty awesome. It's got a bit of a slope and they've got the area to themselves, and the snow is pretty soft, too, so they have to worry too much about the kids tumbling and hitting her head on something hard.
So far they've made snow angels and taken the sleds down the hill more times than he can remember, and right now they're finishing up some snowmen.
Or, well, Wally's finishing up his snowmen.
Artemis and Jade made one together, then sat on the snow and started talking and have been for the last half hour, and Roy's just been watching Lian, Jayden and Ellie working on their own snowman. It's pretty good, too. It's shaped nicely and it's bigger than Ellie (which actually isn't saying much since she's two years old and barely three feet tall), and it's got twig arms and a smiley face made of rocks. Ellie giggles like crazy when Jayden hoists her up to stick on his carrot nose. And yes, Wally bought carrots from the store just for this.
They take a few pictures of the kids and their snowman, and while they're getting a few of just Ellie and the snowman, Roy catches Jayden whispering something to Lian to make them both giggle. They crouch down and pack some snow together into snowballs and Roy smirks as they toss them right at the back of Wally's head.
Roy laughs.
"Hey!" Wally exclaims, turning to face them as he shakes out his hair.
Ellie's giggling like crazy again in her mother's arms as Artemis calls out, "Nice shot!"
"Oh, you guys are going to pay!"
Lian and Jayden laugh even harder and run off in two different directions. Of course Jayden's got Wally's speed, so he's a few feet away within seconds, and Wally darts after him. Lian has her back to him as she bends down and scoops together another snowball, but then she turns as she chucks it right in Roy's direction and he ducks out of the way in time so that it hits his shoulder instead of the middle of his face like it would've (because of course the girl's got perfect aim; look at her parents). Roy smirks and takes a step towards her, and she's laughing as she backs away from him, and he somehow he just knows from her expression that she's not sure whether to run away or scrape together some more snowballs.
Then another snowball hits his cheek and he turns his head, arches an eyebrow when he sees that it was Jade.
"Mommy, run!" Lian squeals.
Jade smirks a little and does exactly that, letting Roy catch her after like, twenty seconds, wrapping his arms around her from behind. Lian giggles and starts throwing more snowballs at Roy, then Jayden and Ellie join in and start tossing snowballs at their parents, and Jade tips her head back against his shoulder as she laughs.
Their snowball fight only lasts a little bit longer after that, because then Ellie can't stop yawning and is practically falling asleep while standing, and they could just tell that Jayden and Lian were starting to get tired. So they walk back to the house and Wally and Jade help the kids out of their snowsuits and into a hot bath while he helps Artemis with dinner: creamy chicken soup with dinner rolls, small sandwiches and potato skins. They don't want to turn on the heater just yet, either, so they eat in the living room underneath some blankets around the coffee table. And when it's time for dessert, they make hot chocolate and then huddle in front of the fireplace and use skewers to toast marshmallows for their s'mores.
He grabs a quick shower after dessert, walks back into the living room afterward and pauses a little at what he sees.
Jade and Lian are under a blanket on the loveseat, Lian curled against Jade's side and already asleep. Jade has a hand in their daughter's hair, absently combing her fingers through it while sipping from the mug in her other hand.
"Hey," he says softly when reaches them. "Want me to carry her into the room?"
Jade shakes her head. "Give it a few minutes. She just fell asleep."
So he nods, drinks some of her tea when she offers it to him and then settles onto the floor, leaning back against the arm of the couch.
(He falls asleep slumped against the couch like this and there're kinks in his muscles when he wakes up, but Lian is so excited and totally adorable the entire time she's opening her presents that he hardly notices. Plus, Jade gives him a massage later when Artemis and Wally take the kids to play in the backyard, so he can't really complain about anything.)
... ...
Gotham City, New Jersey
December 24, 2033 | 19:49 EDT
She's still his baby, honestly, even if she's eighteen now and living in a dorm room rather than under his roof (and yes, that still bothers him a little, too). Obviously he wants Lian to be happy, and he can't ignore that Damian plays a big part in that, so no, Roy's not against their relationship or anything.
They're just way too young to be tossing around the word love after six months of dating.
They're serious, though, and Roy can tell. Maybe they've only been dating for a few months, but they've been best friends since they were little and he's watched the two of them grow up to like each other more and more until… well, they're a couple now, so. Damian's a bit of a punk and everyone knows this, but he's funny as hell and clever and he can be serious when he needs to be. Roy's never worried about him corrupting his daughter because Lian's stubborn as hell like her mother and isn't easily influenced, and also because Roy knew that Damian has always genuinely cared for her. They're good together. He treats her like gold and even though they've been with other people before each other, he's never once put her second to anyone else. And even though they live across the country from each other, he hasn't once stepped out on her. A dad can tell these sorts of things.
So, yes, he's okay with them being together. He just doesn't need to see them making out. Not that they do. They're good about keeping things short and sweet in public since Damian's a Wayne and has cameras on him almost all the time, but still.
Roy glances around in time to see Lian skate up to Damian and press a kiss to his cheek and he can't really help but scowl.
"Stop pouting before you trip over your own lip."
"I'm not pouting," he argues, and maybe that sounded childish, but whatever.
Jade laughs and he grumbles at how amused she sounds, but lets her slip her hand into the crook of his arm as they leave the ice rink and then pulls off his mittens to pay for the latte and warmed chocolate croissant she orders from the stand. And yes, he's wearing mittens, because Lian went through this artsy phase a few years ago and knitted him a pair with a scarf to match, so of course he kept them. Jade's wearing hers, too, plus a wool hat, which he says she looks adorable in to get back at her pouting comment from earlier.
She rolls her eyes. "You don't need to make fun of me just because you're upset. Your daughter just wants to spend Christmas Eve with her boyfriend."
"It's not like this is their first Christmas Eve together."
"It is as a couple," she points out. He rolls his eyes again. "Just let it go, Roy. Remember our first Christmas Eve together?"
He can't help but grin. "Do you mean the first one after our wedding, when we were in two different parts of Europe?" he asks, tucking his hand into her back pocket and pulling her closer, until her body is pressing against his. "Or the first Christmas Eve we were actually together in that shitty apartment in Washington?"
"Both," she replies. "Her first Christmas Eve with the boy she'll spend the rest of her life with is a lot better than ours was. That's nothing to pout about."
"They're not spending the rest of their lives together," he grumbles. She tilts her head, raising her eyebrows. "You're not going to let me be in denial about this, aren't you?"
"Not a chance."
He smirks and steals a bite of her croissant.
They find a small table to sit down at near the ice rink, except there's only one chair, so Jade sits on his lap and he chuckles whenever she whispers a hilarious comment about every other person that walks by. People give them weird looks, but whatever. They always do this. He can also see Lian and Damian at the center of the ice from where they're sitting, and okay, he smiles when Damian catches her around her waist and she tosses her head back as she laughs. She just looks so much like Jade whenever she does that and he loves it.
Then they're both just looking around while she sips on her latte, and Roy lifts his hand in a wave when he meets Dick's eyes from across the way.
He knows from talks around the Watchtower that Dick and Zatanna have been a bit overwhelmed lately. Gotham's annual Countdown to Christmas Festival always falls into the hands of a different philanthropic family each year and this year was theirs, so the two of them have been pretty busy putting everything together. The place looks amazing, though, and he'll be sure to tell them if he ever gets the chance tonight. Right now they're standing sort of behind the stage that's set up, huddled and talking while looking around the place, and at first he thinks they might be discussing some technical problem going on behind the scenes. But then Zatanna breaks into this smile and lifts her arm, holding mistletoe above their heads, and Dick chuckles before sliding a hand over the small of her back and slanting his lips over hers. Roy just grins and looks away, not wanting to intrude on their moment.
"I'm still hungry," Jade tells him once she's finished her croissant. She sets her empty cup and pastry bag onto the table and unzips the front pocket of his jacket, reaching in before he can really stop her, and he knows what she's found as soon as she meets his eyes, raising her eyebrows.
She pulls the velvet box out and he says, "Um…"
"Roy," she prompts.
"It's one of your presents." He shrugs a shoulder. "I brought it in case we ended up staying until midnight, so you'd have something to open."
"You're sort of cliché," she says, elbowing his stomach gently, and he knows that means she's actually kind of touched about it. Her thumb stalls on the lid, so he nods and she pops the box open, revealing the necklace inside—a pendant in the silhouette of a cat made of jade and rhinestones, looped around a thin, white gold chain. "Okay, you're really cliché."
But there's a smile on her face and her eyes are shining, so he thinks cliché is kind of a good thing right now.
He doesn't usually buy her jewelry. Not because he doesn't want to spend the money, but Jade's picky when it comes to her style and most of the time it's just easier for her to tell him what she wants and he'll just pay for it. He's glad he made a good call with this one, though.
"Are you… Do I have to put this on myself?"
He chuckles and takes the box from her, and she holds her hair out of the way as he slips it around her throat, clasping it into place, and her lips taste like chocolate when she presses them against his.
... ...
Star City, California
December 24, 2039 | 22:48 PST
Today's been their lazy day and he honestly loves it.
It's the first Christmas Eve in forever that it's just the two of them, and, as much as he would've loved to spend it with his wife and daughter, it's been kind of awesome. He and Jade literally only left their bedroom twice, both times to bring something back from the kitchen to eat, and the only other time they've gotten out of bed beside that was when they took a bath together a little earlier. They didn't have rose petals or candles or anything else cliché like that, but they drank wine and soaked in the hot water and talked about random stuff until the water cooled. Actually, they mostly talked about the wedding, because their daughter's getting married a week from now and obviously they're going to end up on the topic.
"No, Bruce and Selina are staying with Dinah and Oliver, remember?" Jade's telling Lian over the line, her cell pressed against her ear and her free hand holding a flute of champagne by the stem. "Yes, Grandma's sleeping here and so are your Aunt Artemis and Uncle Wally and your cousins."
Roy raises an eyebrow and Jade shakes her head, sipping her champagne.
"Honey, you need a break." Roy hears a very faint huff from the other end of the line and suppresses a chuckle. "Just enjoy the holidays for a few hours, alright?"
Jade hangs up the phone after they've exchanged their goodbyes, sets it on the nightstand on her side of the bed and takes a bigger sip of her champagne. Roy does chuckle this time, holds the box of chocolates they've been tearing into towards her and watches her pick a piece at random and pop it into her mouth.
Then she swallows, licks her lips and tells him, "I love her, but she's been very…"
"Neurotic?" he guesses. She laughs. "It'll be over soon."
"She gets that from you, you know," Jade tells him, crossing a leg over the other. Her red slip is somewhere on the floor, because he'd pulled it off of her twice already when his kisses started getting lower and she was moaning, tugging her fingers through his hair, and she just didn't put it back on. "You still need me to loosen you up sometimes."
"That's why we're together, isn't it? You loosen me up and I…" He laughs a little, shaking his head. "Well, I'll get back to you on that last part."
She chuckles softly, pushes her fingers into his hair and brings their lips together. He's lost count of how many times they've kissed today, and maybe it sounds stupid or whatever, but he swears that each one feels even better than the last.
He thinks his favorite part of today hasn't been the laziness or the champagne and chocolates or even snowfall from this morning that pretty much snowed them into the house and gave them the perfect excuse not to go anywhere or do anything for the entire day. His favorite part has honestly been spending the day with Jade. Yes, they've had sex on and off all day and obviously that's been great, but it's not just that, either. Earlier, when he was watching CNN and Jade was trying to get through this paperback Dinah told her about, she actually fell asleep for a bit, curled against his side with a hand resting over his chest, and he's always loved watching her sleep, but not in a creepy way or anything. She just looks totally relaxed when she's asleep. And even before this, they found this old black-and-white Vietnamese film playing and she explained what was happening in each scene and actually translated the dialogue for some parts when she thought it was a good line or whatever. Apparently it was one she and Artemis watched as kids a lot and she knows it all by heart.
It's been years and years since he and Jade first got together, yet sometimes there are these moments when he wonders how he ended up loving her as much as he does. Because he does, more than anything else in the world (well, other than their daughter, obviously) and it doesn't even freak him out anymore. He doesn't have any doubt or lingering fear that something's going to take her away from him like he always thought in the beginning, or that she'll get tired of him or just be unsatisfied and then leave like she had done before.
She loves him and he knows it. It's really that simple.
He meets her eyes and never once breaks their stare, even as he takes the glass from her hand and sets it on the nightstand behind her and then grasps her chin with his fingers, until her eyes fluttered closed the second their lips are pressed together.
They're partially underneath the duvet when he sinks into her, her hand clasped over the back of his neck as the other scrapes against the sheets, legs tightening around his hips as she arches against him and breathes his name. And afterward, when he's on his back and she's on top of him and he's tracing his fingers up her spine, she kisses his neck softly.
"I love you," she says against his skin.
He flattens his palm over her back, pressing her as close as physically possible, and feels his lips tug into a smile.
"I love you, too."