A tiny chapter but this was harder to write than I thought. Taken from the end of 9-1, and HR as usual.
"I think we've given up the chance at that sort of life Harry," Ruth said in the coldness of the evening as he felt his heart shatter. "The things we've seen together. The things we've done." Ruth could feel the tears starting to fill her eyes but she was determined not to let them fall. "And here we can face all that. There, we'd have to hide it away." She took a deep breath before continuing. "We couldn't be more together than we are right now."
There was silence between them as their eyes connected and Harry instinctively knew that she had nothing left to say. So he decided to speak. "That's not true," he said quietly. "We could be more together. We could be so much more."
"Harry…"
"Let me finish," he said quietly. "You had your say, now its my turn." Ruth nodded, a hint of a smile on her lips. "I don't want this Ruth. I want more. If the only thing I have to look forward to with you is you working for me everyday… I couldn't bear it. I just… I want more with you. Yes, my proposal was very ill timed and I do regret that. But the sentiment and feeling behind it was very genuine. I don't blame you for saying no. But "we could never be more together?" That is blatantly untrue. I want to wake up next to you. I want to spend the rest of my life loving you and keeping you safe. I want to make love to you. I want you to open up to me and let me love you. Let me in. That's… its not what we have now. And you're lying to yourself if you think we couldn't have more than this. Working on the grid to stop the worst of humankind everyday. That's what we have, and I believe if you're honest with yourself, you know we could have more."
She was totally silent as she thought about his words. Harry sensed she wasn't going to say anything for a while so he took a leap of faith. He leaned in and, very briefly, brushed his lips against hers in a chaste and controlled kiss. She didn't respond at all, but he could tell that whatever she had expected, a kiss wasn't part of it. "Think about it," Harry said in a low voice. "Please."
Without waiting for a reply he turned from her and left the rooftop. He knew how much she needed to think things through, and he also knew that his presence wasn't needed while she was sorting out her thoughts. So he left Ruth alone, looking over the London skyline, her thoughts all over the place. Harry dearly hoped she'd come around to his way of thinking, given a little bit of time. But for now, all he could do was wait.
Worth continuing?