"Yeah, Marie, of course I do. I support you. I just don't know if you should be comfortable with him being in that store."

Angelica Schuyler was trying, and failing, to cook dinner. She was a pre-med junior, and was trying to surprise her boyfriend of six months with a homemade dinner before he stopped by.

And failing.

She was also on the phone with her lifetime best friend Marie, who had it on good word that her boyfriend was not where he was supposed to be. The ever good friend, she was trying to support her decisions while looking for the butter.

Neck deep in the fridge, with her phone resting in the juncture between her neck and shoulder, she resumed talking into the pudding.

"Well, he was either buying it for you or for someone else, and I don't know if I support either option."

Aha! Found the butter. She turned over the pot of boiling water to look for a knife, and ceremoniously dropped the entire stick in.

"Shit!"

Honestly, she was almost trusted to cut up human beings, could a stick of butter really get the better of her?

"No, not you, Marie. I didn't say he was a piece of shit, I just-you know what, just forget it. I'm ordering a pizza."

She literally threw in the towel. Angelica normally did not fail, but this was just too much. She was irritated with Marie's dumb boyfriend, disappointed in her for defending him, and too excited to see Thomas to get riled up. So yes, spaghetti would defeat her. Today.

Done cleaning up, she lay on the couch in her best pajamas, a meat lover's pizza an hour and 20 minutes out-his favorite.

While she was occupied, Marie had decided to change topics into more complicated waters.

"No, you know I've never cooked for any of my other boyfriends." Marie was straying into undiscovered waters, and Angelica was a little nervous her friend was going to figure out what she herself had discovered just two days ago.

"I don't know what's different about Thomas, okay?" She wanted to pick at the fibers in her couch, but seeing as she adamantly told him off for it, she decided against playing the part of a hypocrite. "I just know I really like him, and I love seeing him smile."

A knock. Could the pizza be here so soon? Gathering her wallet, she walked over to the door getting increasingly frustrated with Marie.

"Okay fine, you caught me." She sighed. Twenty more feet to the door. "I more than like him."

Unlocked.

"Okay, yes!" She shouted. "His smile is not the only thing I love! Are you quite happy?"

She swung the door open to see the subject of her very conversation, his mouth ever so slightly open.

At the resuming silence that followed, Angelica meekly (for the first time in her life) muttered, "I have to go."

#

"You were not supposed to hear that."

Thomas, for his part, recovered quickly.

"It is not just you who is surprised."

Angelica's arm dropped and her phone fell somewhere to the floor. She winced at the sound it made. She looked at him for a little, then sighed resigned and swung the door open wide.

"Do come in."

Thomas smiled with all his teeth. Her favorite smile; the one she was so in love with.

"Anything for you."

#

The two seemed to have come to a mutual agreement.

Thomas pretended Angelica never said a word, and if he spontaneously remembered, Angelica would punch his lights out.

This was agreed upon at the door. But after he had strode in, all smug smiles and confidence, Angelica refused to give him a proper hug until his head shrunk a little. As soon as she turned around to lead him farther into her humble abode, though, he scooped her up into his arms.

"Thomas!" She laughed. She did not know why she bothered to resist; he was insistent on touching her for as long as possible. And it had been too long.

"Angelica." He whispered into the shell of her ear. His long arms were wrapped around her middle and she could feel that smile burning into the back of her neck. She welcomed the embrace and leaned back into his comforting warmth, giving up all pretenses of hostility. How she missed him.

"Have I ever told you how much I love your laugh?"

That was, until he inevitably opened up his mouth.

She tensed up in his embrace, and stiffly removed his arms from around her. Continuing to walk towards her room, she ignored his telling groan.

"We are not talking about that."

He followed her, leaving his bags at the door, and even walking past a curiously used kitchenette. Upon entering her room, he stopped at the sight of her in the middle of her bed.

She was sitting with her legs crossed Indian style, clutching a pillow and looking around like she was itching to tidy things up. She had run into a wall, because of course, her living space was already immaculate.

Thomas came up to the side of her bed and gingerly sat down in her eyeline. He took the pillow from her, and grabbed both of her hands. She steeled herself, and looked up, daring him to ridicule her. It made his heart warm with a feeling he had already identified.

"I love you."

She winced. They had never said these words to each other before, they had only been dating for six months. Angelica was flooded with worry, denial, and an unmistakable flutter of relief.

"Thomas," she started sadly. He cut her off.

"I have known for a while. Is that the worst thing in the world?" He sounded nervous? Worried? No, hurt.

Angelica tore her hands out of his, and he looked down. Definitely hurt. She abruptly cupped his face and brought it back up to her eyeline.

"Of course not," she breathed. "It is precisely the opposite."

He looked hesitant to believe her, and whispered, "Then what is the problem?"

She knew exactly what the problem was. She had never felt this way before, and completely out of character, did not know what to do about it. It felt both too soon and not soon enough. Her love for his eyes, his laugh, his mind, his smile, burned both too strong and nowhere near strong enough. Her need for his presence was a living, tangible thing. She did not know how she would survive if he ever walked away from her, and that thought itself wove her stomach into knots. It scared her. All of it.

"I love you, too." As though he did not already know. But the way she said it did not inspire confidence. Before he could speak, she clarified. "I have love for you that you could not possibly possess for me. I love you so much that I feel," she paused and finally looked elsewhere, "as though I would die if you never said my name again."

Silence. Angelica had just committed her worst fear, and Thomas did not even have the courage to agree with her. Involuntarily, her eyes watered. She did not want to end like this though; if he did not feel the same (how could he?) she could not be the only one to speak.

"Say something at least."

Thomas tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear and moved his face within an inch of hers.

"Angelica."

And then they were kissing. Oh, Angelica thought. Thomas said everything in his kiss, and she understood.

Of course I love you the same way, it said. I have been in love with you since I first laid eyes on you. How could you have not known?

He pushed the pillow off of her bed and pushed until she was laying on her back without breaking the kiss. In everything they did, they were in perfect tandem. He pushed, she pulled. She bit, he licked. Kissing was no different.

I would say nothing but your name if I could.

She worried his bottom lip. When her mouth opened, he pushed his tongue in, searching to taste her. Their tongues wrestled, and her hands smoothed down his front to rest on his firm chest. He pulled away from her mouth to give her neck some attention, and she tipped her head back in a welcome gesture. His hands themselves smoothed up the sides of her dress, and his right rested on her hip as his left sunk lower to clutch her rear. Unconsciously, her legs spread a little wider.

I would touch nothing else but you if you would allow it.

Thomas was moving down her body, and everywhere his kiss touched left a burning trail in its wake. He rucked her dress up to her bra and dipped his tongue into her belly button. She did not think she had ever felt something so heavenly.

Or needed someone so badly.

"Thomas." a whine. But he seemed to understand. Complying, however, was a different matter.

"Angelica." he teased. His hands firmly circled everywhere but where she needed them to be, and Angelica was overcome with the need to retaliate. She dragged him back up her body and connected abdomen with hers. They were both still clothed, but there was no mistaking his desire for her. He let out a low hiss and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Thomas." This time, it was a challenge.

Instead of answering, he climbed off of her just long enough to unbutton his shirt and slide it off. This was fastly becoming a competition. One Angelica had no intention of losing.

She got up onto her knees facing him, and casually pulled her dress over her head. She revealed her matching underwear. He was an idiot if he thought she didn't have plans for later that night anyway. He closed his eyes again in attempt to compose himself; they hadn't seen each other in two months after all.

He unzipped his jeans and threw them somewhere on the floor, then growled as she slowly started backing further onto the bed. No words were spoken between them but the other person's name, and he intended to keep it that way.

"Angelica." He rumbled. When she only blinked innocently at him, he grabbed a leg and pulled her beneath him again. Yes. So much more skin on skin, but still not enough. She joined their lips once again, and after each of them had enough teasing, her legs locked around his waist-lining them up perfectly.

They both groaned at the contact.

Just as Thomas was rapidly losing his head and ready to complete the act, the doorbell rang. The world rammed back into place, and both of them just looked at each other until another ring echoed through the house.

"The pizza." Angelica finally broke the silence. "A surprise."

Thomas buried his head in her neck and refused to let her go. "I'm quite enjoying this surprise."

Angelica hushed him and slowly peeled herself away from his grasp. She donned his shirt and quickly ran out of the room saying, "Enough for the both of us!"

Thomas could not reply, or move for that matter, because he was still very much riled up. The sight of her in his shirt did not help matters.

The smell of meat wafted through the air, and he groaned again. Probably the last one in a while, he thought sadly.

When he voiced this thought as he joined her in the living room, Angelica's tinkling laugh filled his ears. She kissed the top of his nose.

"Smile, honey. I love it when you do."

Thomas just rolled his eyes and sat down to eat.