He should have known weeks ago. It should have been obvious. Why hadn't it been obvious? She was tired more often, slept longer than usual, had a loss of appetite, loss of focus- so many signs that he beat himself up over for not picking up on. He suddenly
rememberedthe first time he should've suspected something was wrong.

Time away from Phyllis was always difficult, but today was different. A 6 day business trip for Brash and Sassy was finally coming to an end and he couldn't wait to get home to his beautiful fiancé.

He wasn't supposed to be home until tomorrow afternoon,but Cane and Victoria agreed to wrap up any unfinished business.

After an 8 hour flight and an hour drive, he was happy to be home. He grabbed the house keys out of one of his many bags and quietly he snuck into the house and dropped them onto the floor.

He peeked around the corner expecting to see Phyllis on the couch maybewatching TV, but his smile quickly disappeared when there was no sign of her.

He became confused and called out her name, "Phyllis?" No response. Maybe she was out running errands he thought. After all, she wasn't expecting him until tomorrow.

He picked up his bags from the floor, headed upstairs, and walked towards their bedroom. He pushed open the door with his foot and was stunned by what he saw.

There, lying on his side of the bed, she laid. A smile swept across his face as he studied her whileshe slept. Her arms encircled her small frame and the covers were pulled up to her neck.

He debated letting her sleep, but the lack of physical contact for 6 days was much too long for him. He set the bags down in front of their dresser and tiptoed

over to the bed.

He climbed on the opposite side and before she could feel the bed dip, he wrapped his arms around her and nuzzled into her neck from behind placing sweet kisses on her collarbone.

A startled Phyllis opened her eyes and wriggledto free from his grip, but Billy kept his hold on her and embraced her even tighter.

She whipped her head around, relieved to see that it was Billy. "Oh, it's you" she spoke.

"Oh, it's me" he mocked her. "Were you expecting someone else? Should I be jealous?" He asked jokingly.

"Absolutely not." Phyllis replied, a smile tugging at her lips. She shifted her body and was now laying on her side, facing him.

He lifted his hand from her waist and rested it on the side of her face allowing his thumb to run back and forth across her cheekbone.

"I missed you." She whispered, scooting inches closer to him, their chests now pressed together.

They fit together like two perfectly made puzzle pieces, and they could feel one another's heart beat in each other's body, never feeling more in sync than in

this moment.

He started into her emerald eyes, gratefully thinking about how lucky he was to get to come home to such an amazing woman every night.

This is something he's never felt before. Sure, he'd been in love with Victoria but when they were together, the fighting and

the lack of trust overpowered the love until there was nothing left to destroy.

She never fully accepted Billy for who he was. There was always something about him that Victoria aimed to change.

But with Phyllis, the love was unconditional. She didn't need him to change in order to he happy- she didn't want him to. They both accepted each other 100% for who they are, flaws and imperfections included and this only made their love grow.

Billy leaned in towards her, rested his forehead against hers for a while, and then planted a very passionate kiss on her.

She was intoxicating to him, he simply couldn't get enough. Her laugh, her kisses, her walk, her scent, even the way she looked at him when she was angry. Everything about her made him fall in love all over again, day after day.

Phyllis broke the kiss, but pecked him once more on the lips and allowed it to linger. "And I definitely missed that"

"I think I may have missed you more" Billy said allowing his fingertips to graze over the soft skin on her side.

He would start at the shoulder, trace down the slope of her waist, back up her hip, and across her thigh. He repeated the movement, up anddown, up and down, until he stopped and placed his hand on the small of her back.

"But I can show you better than I can tell you" he said deviously as he gently climbed on top of her kissing her lips, then her neck, then leaving a trail of them from

her chest to her belly button.

"Billyyyy" she groaned as she tilted her head back and ran her hands through his dark hair. Billy didn't look up, too entranced by the sweet taste of her skin.

He lifted his lips from her stomach, still hovering above. "What?", his breath rolled

across her skin and sent a wave of chills through her body.

"It's 5 o'clock in the evening" she said softly.

"Perfect, we can spend the rest of the night catching up on what we missed out on. That also brings me to my next question, what are you doing sleeping at 5 in the afternoon? Please tell me this was just a nap"

Phyllis slowly shrugged her shoulders.

Billy laughed at her innocent look. "Phyllis... you did not just wake up, did you?"

"I was tired" she plead. "It was a long night." She looked away and then looked back at him again.

Billy raised his eyebrows and lifted her chin with his finger. "And may I ask why?"

Phyllis giggled in response to his reaction. "I was up all night wishing my handsome fiancé would give me a call"

He switched positions and turned over onto his back, his arm around her neck and her head resting familiarly on his now bare chest.

"Sorry I kept you up, business calls." He kissed her lightly on the top of her head. "Are you sure that's all it is? You're okay?"Hequestioned with a concerning look.

"I'm okay Billy" she reassured him. "Even better now that you're here with me." She threw her leg overtop of him, now straddling his hips and reached down to unbutton his pants.

"Now what were those plans you mentioned earlier, something about staying up all night?"