She threw her phone on the bed, frustrated. "Why do they care who I'm sleeping with!"
He turned down MTV, walked into the bedroom. "Babe?"
She looked over to him, her mouth in a tight, stern line. She looked adorable.
"Why is the status of our relationship such public fascination?!, it's private!" She flung herself back on the bed.
He knew better than to laugh.
Didn't make it any less difficult to not do just that.
"Mustang ," he walked over to the bed, grabbed one of her thighs to rub. "You know how they are."
She pushed the hair out of her face, looked up into his gorgeous eyes. "Why can't they just leave us alone?"
Her quiet, sad voice disarmed him.
Like everything else about her usually did.
He lay down next to her on his side, placed his thigh in between both of hers. He kissed her forehead, her nose, her mouth.
"I'm sorry if being with me has -"
"You shut your mouth this instant, Damon." She grabbed his face, kissed him firmly. "I am not, and will not be sorry for being with you. I'm not, Damon."
"I heard you, Emily. You denied our relationship."
She growled in frustration, looked up at him forlornly.
"Because this is us, baby," she said softly. "You don't - you can't," she paused, tried to calm her frantic emotions. I have to make him see was an echoing chant inside her. "Do you love me, Damon?"
He looked down at her, a look of confusion marring his features. "You know the answer to that, Mustang ."
"I need you to say it."
He put his forehead against hers, closed his eyes.
Did he love her?
What a question.
He ached when she wasn't with him. His lung capacity shrank to half without her near. He was his best self, was able to see clearer, breathe better. She was the answer to every prayer that he had never dared to utter. She was his peace, his sanity.
If this wasn't love - if this need, this want, this physical ache when she wasn't in his arms - if this wasn't love, then what was?
"I love you," he whispered. "I want you. I need you."
She looked up at him, smiled. She cupped his face in her hands, kissed him softly on the mouth.
"I love you so much, baby," she said. "That's why - I hate when they ask about us. Like we're some three-ring circus. Like we're a passing fancy," she growled, irritated all over again. "We are so much more than that! I hate that they put you down, like all your success is because you're good-looking. You worked to get where you are, and they-they treat you like you're just arm candy! Like you're not smart, like you're not a champion in your own right! And me," she huffed, gesturing wildly with her hands. "They act like I'm some paragon of virtue, like it's beneath me to even consider being with you, because hey, former gold medalist in Gymnastics . They treat me like a saint, while you're some pariah., Damon. It just rude and they don't know anything they make things up ."
"They don't understand us. They can't," she continued. That's why I denied our relationship. Not because I'm ashamed - never that, baby. I'm so proud to be yours. There are no words to tell you," she said, pulling him closer. "But until they understand that, until they get that what we have is special, private, ours," she looked deeply into his eyes. "They ain't getting anything from me. Not. One.. Thing."
He couldn't help it.
He got hard.
She glanced downward, then up at him. "Seriously?"
He laughed, kissed her passionately. "No woman - outside my family - no woman has done that. Defended me like you just did. It's hot."
She giggled, loving every bit of this man next to her. No one had inspired this tiger inside of her, that seemed to only come out in competition. She didn't know what fate had in store for them, didn't understand what good deed she did to deserve him in her life, but she was glad.
"I just want to love you," she whispered.
"Do it," he whispered, picking her up and draping her over his body. He kissed her tenderly. "Love me. Want me. Need me. I'm yours for the taking, baby…"