You've barely made it two streets since leaving Helena standing in the driveway, with Pete casting worried glances at you, when you realise what you're doing, what she's doing. You remember the look on her face when you were driving away and how her smile had fallen when she thought you couldn't see her anymore. You recall how surprised she was when you hugged her, but immediatly embraced you herself instead of freezing up the way she'd done when it was Pete hugging her, all those months ago. You can still feel the hitch in her breath, the way her chest moved against yours, the way she seemed to freeze for a moment before letting you go. And then she opened the door and her hand trailed after you, as though she couldn't bear not touching you, couldn't stand the thought of letting you go.
Pete may have been casting worried glances at you since you got in the car, but he hasn't commented on the tears in your eyes and you're so very grateful for that, but at the same time he seems so surprised that you've even gotten in the car, that she's let you go. He opens his mouth to say something, perhaps that he's sorry, perhaps that she's not worth feeling this way over her if she just gives up on you like that, but you can't stand it anymore. You tell him to pull over and are out of the car even before it's fully stopped moving, running back towards that driveway, back towards her.
When you hurl yourself forwards, around the corner, you see her, still standing there. She looks up in confusion at the figure sprinting towards her and you watch realization dawn on her face. She looks so full of disbelief, so broken, your heart breaks all over again. You come to a stop in front of her, winded as you are after putting everything you've got in getting back to her as fast as possible, and try to catch your breath. She looks at you, still not seeming to believe the fact you're standing right in front of her, sans car this time, her eyes skipping over your body before settling on your face again, desperate, like she's drinking in the sight of you after being convinced she wouldn't ever see you again, and for all you know, she may have been thinking that just now.
But here, at this very moment, her eyes, her entire face is filled with hope. And though you still haven't quite caught your breath yet, you can't stand not touching her for a moment longer. You grab her by her shirt, so soft between your fingers, and pull her towards you. Her mouth crashes against yours in a desperate kiss, lips bruising, teeth clashing, her tongue pushing its way past your lips (not that she's met with any resistance) and you can feel her tears (or are they your own?) wetting your face even as you're both smiling into this kiss. And you don't want it to end, ever, so you wind your arms around her and pull her closer even, as she pushes her fingers through your hair, and you feel like perhaps this is the happiest you have felt in as long as you can remember.
Minutes pass like this, but to you it might have been seconds, or hours, and you don't really care right now because all you want is to stay like this, kissing her, touching her, after all this time. Finally. You feel at peace, and like you could die from happiness, or from the fullness in your chest, but you don't care, as long as she keeps holding you like this. Then you hear the car pull up, and an embarrassed cough from the other side, and that's when you stop kissing her for a moment and look up. But you don't let her go, if it's possible you pull her even closer, and she melts into you, her head tucked under your chin.
And yes, you've always known she was smaller than you, but you've never really been aware of it the way you are now, have never really thought how good it would feel to have her against you so closely. You're pulled out of the haze that's taken over your brain when you realize Nate, Helena's boyfriend is standing right there, his daughter half hidden behind him. Pete has by now stepped out of the car and seems ready to defend you, with words if not with actions, and you feel like you should be pulling away from her, but your body simply won't allow it. Besides, it doesn't seem as though Helena's planning on letting you go any time soon.
It's then that you realize what's off about this scenario: Nate is smiling, as is Adelaide, and shouldn't he be angry, or heartbroken, or at least a little bit sad or jealous? Shouldn't she feel betrayed? But then Helena turns her face to look at him, and his smile seems to soften a little bit, though now it's laced with humour as well, and he simply says 'I figured she was the one you were talking about, the one you left behind.' You feel more than see Helena nod against your chest, and even as you're turning to her to ask what's going on, she murmurs she'll explain later, and that's more than enough for you at the moment. Because you know now that there will be a later.
Adelaide's face falls for a bit then, and she asks in a small voice if this means Helena will leave them now, and that's the first time she loosens her grip on you. You let her go, to watch her kneel down in front of the girl who's so much like her daughter, in mind if not on body, and you hear her explain that yes, she will be leaving, but that doesn't mean that they won't see each other again: Univille is only a two-hour drive away, so she'll try to come by once a week to help her with her homework and train her kenpo 'Because let's face it, your father is quite rubbish at it' (at this Adelaide laughs and agrees, and Nate acts insulted) and then the girl is all smiles again. You see how they could be good for each other: the girl who lost her mother and the woman who lost her daughter. They know they'll never take that place, but that doesn't mean they can't help each other heal.
Then Helena's pressed against you again, her fingers tangled in yours, and you feel her smile against your neck as she murmurs 'Let's go home'. She'll need to pick up the stuff that she wants to take back to the b&b next time she's at Nate and Adelaide's home, and she'll need to quit her job at the police station, but there's time for that later, you think, as the both of you go to sit in the backseat of the car (because there's no way the two of you will be separated for a whole two hours when you can cling to each other instead). As the three of you drive away, Nate and Adelaide waving at you from the driveway with smiles on their faces, you can see Pete trying to dry his eyes before you can see there are tears in them. You just smile and pull Helena closer to you, and think about how you haven't stopped smiling in the last ten minutes as opposed to the past year (which, to be fear, has been kind of miserable) and how it's all because of the woman pressed up against you, playing with your fingers. You turn your head to kiss her again, content in the knowledge that Helena's coming back to you, to her family, to her home.