Disclaimer: (Insert clever disclaimer you've all read a million times.)
AN: Metaphorically licking my wounds after my last piece, which I really didn't like…
What Love Should Be
They were cuddled under that same tree, by the edge of the lake. It was the tree that had, for the longest time, been known as his tree. But now, after four months of steady dating, five months since their first meeting in secret, it was their tree. At least, it was between the two of them.
In the mid-April chill that still accompanied the evening, a single cloak gave them the excuse to snuggle closer. It would never be known why they were so drawn to the night, why the darkness gave them such a thrill, but that's how it was, and that's how they liked it.
He kissed her, and wondered again just how addicted to her he had become.
"I love you," he murmured, voice low and soft and warm.
She sighed, and he knew before she answered, what she would say.
"I know," she whispered, and he could feel her heart quiver. "I'm sorry."
So many times before, this same exchange had occurred, and so many times before, he had let it pass. But there was something about the night that seemed to breathe, "Ask her."
And so he did.
"Why?" his voice was cautiously curious, perhaps hurt, but not demanding, nor angry. "Why don't you?"
She wouldn't answer for a long time, and he could see her profiled face studying the water. For a brief moment, he wondered if she honestly didn't have an answer. But then, at the last possible second, like the moment of panic just before a free-fall, she spoke.
"I can't love you," she began slowly, as though she was trying very hard not to get the words wrong, "because there are so many reasons why we shouldn't work."
He didn't stop her, even though she might have wanted him to, so she had to continue.
"I'm the good girl, and there isn't a single rule that you haven't broken."
He grinned, thinking back on all of the adventures he'd embarked on.
"I'm a control freak, and you crave chaos."
He noted this true, but still kept smiling.
"I have nothing to lose, and you have nothing else to gain."
He shook his head slightly, and thought to contradict her, but stayed silent instead.
"I like spending time alone, and you thrive on being the center of attention."
He rolled his eyes, feeling more than a bit indignant.
"I want that fairy tale ending, and you don't even like to read!"
She looked at him, a slightly pleading look in her eye. She didn't want to hurt him, but she didn't want to lose control. "My mind is just telling me that everything about this is wrong."
She looked away then, and was silent. He struggled to comprehend just how to say what he had been noticing about her for quite awhile, and then, smiling just a bit, he said, "I think I've realized the problem."
He didn't want to make light of the situation, because she was very obviously serious, but he couldn't help but feel giddy whenever she was around.
She turned to look at him. Meeting her gaze, he said, "You have no faith in this."
She opened her mouth to protest, but he continued. "You have no faith in me. You think that I wouldn't leave all of this behind? You believe that we aren't strong enough to work this through? If you honestly think that, then of course we won't work!
"You have no faith in yourself. You learned, long ago, that you're smart enough to solve lots of things. You're so mathematical sometimes, so used to doing only what can't be proved wrong. But now, you've come across one thing that doesn't have a definite answer. So instead of listening to your heart, you're trying to come to a specific conclusion!"
She looked ashamed now, and slightly puzzled that he was still smiling. And then, even more to her amazement, he turned his head up to the sky, and laughed.
"Lily, you're being a perfectionist! Love shouldn't be this thing that you analyze and analyze, thinking it over and over until you want to give up! Love shouldn't be about what you automatically assume won't fit! Love shouldn't be about what's right!"
He turned back to her, a nearly-desperate glint in his eye. "Love should be about what you want to happen! It should be what you dream about, and then you need to work for it! Love should be totally, completely wrong until it comes full circle, and suddenly, it's perfect!"
He kissed her again. "Love should be impulsive. And, quite frankly, I know that I am in love with you."
He waited a moment, and then spoke again. "Love should be about giving up once in awhile. So give up all of your irrational reasoning, Lily. You don't always have to be certain. For once, don't listen to your brain."
Again it was quiet. She mulled over his words in her head, considering them, trying to figure them out. But then she caught herself. Impulsive.
She smiled too, then, and they were both smiling at each other. Alarms screamed in her head, and an education full of hating James Potter whined in the background. But she knew that her heart fluttered at his touch, and she knew what she thought about every morning when she first awoke. And she made her decision just before she kissed him.
A decision that, although she had no way of knowing it, would last a lifetime.
Months later, he knelt before her, a diamond ring in his hand. There was no premeditated speech, no How Things Should Be, and she wouldn't have wanted it that way.
All inhibition, all things that she had so believed in, told her to say no. But that one thing that she had never quite listened to, for all of those years, told her to say yes.
So she did. And she was positive that all along her heart had been right.
AN: Yay! I honestly think that, besides Very Nearly Certain, this might have been one of my favorite pieces to write! For once, it wasn't, like, angsty and hateful. I wish it had been a bit longer, but I don't know.
Review to give me your opinions and/or feedback! Thanks!
-WWFF