"Is it too soon to bring out the 'I love you's?"
Jerry Carp almost drops the binoculars in his hands. He glances over at his partner, who's staring absently out the windshield and deduces that Henry does not, in fact, mean telling Jerry that he loves him. Jerry shakes his head and puts the binoculars up to his eyes again. "Henry, you and Madeleine have been dating for two weeks. I'd give it some more time before you bring out the 'I love you's."
Henry groans in frustration and slides down in his seat. "Jerryyyyyy," he whines. "You're married. You know what it's like when you first see the woman you're going to marry."
"Oh, so you're going to marry Madeleine now, is that it?" Jerry shakes his head again and sets down the binoculars. "Gimme a snack."
Henry wordlessly passes him the beef jerky.
"Listen, Henry, you and Madeleine are a great couple. Just know I'm on your side. But it's way too soon for you to know whether or not Madeleine is the woman you're going to marry!"
Henry sits up in his seat. "Whoa, whoa, wait– you mean to tell me that you didn't know with Annie?" He squints at his partner. "Are you and Annie having problems?"
Jerry sighs heavily. "It's none of your business, Henry."
"Like hell it's none of my business. You're my partner. Madeleine and I have babysat your daughter. You owe me that much."
Jerry runs his tongue over the top row of his teeth. "You know why Annie and I got married?"
"It seems like you're a bit unsure yourself," Henry points out.
"Annie was pregnant when we got married. That's why we got married. We work well together and all, and I love my daughter, but I kind of wish I could just leave, you know?"
Henry raises his eyebrow. "No, I don't. I don't think that's how it's supposed to be. I don't think you're just supposed to 'work well together' in a marriage. It makes for a crappy marriage."
"What the hell do you know about marriage, Henry? You're single. You and Madeleine can break up at any point. There's no legal issues to go through, and no kids who are going to get caught in the middle. You don't know what it's like."
Henry shakes his head. "I just don't agree, man. I don't care if marriage is harder than it sounds, I just…why the hell did you marry a woman you didn't love?"
"I just told you, Henry. She was pregnant."
"That's not a good reason to get married."
Jerry tosses the binoculars into the back of the police cruiser. "Tell me that when you knock up Madeleine and need a solution to that."
Henry's eyes flash. "Are– why would– Listen–"
Jerry coolly raises an eyebrow. "See how it feels?"
Henry grits his teeth, trying to count to ten, but he sees a flash of movement up in front of the building. He immediately opens the door, grabs his gun, and starts getting out of the cruiser. "There's our perp."
Jerry chokes on his beef jerky and tries to hurry out of the cruiser.
Maddy sets a bowl of popcorn down on the coffee table. Henry spent an hour earlier this morning pouring over the TV guide and he and Maddie picked out a movie to watch during their lunch break.
She's wearing one of his gray collared shirts, and it fits her far too loosely. She pulls her blonde hair into a ponytail and settles back against the couch as the commercials start to play.
Henry sticks his hand into the buttery popcorn and pulls away a handful. "Have you ever seen this movie before?"
Maddy bounces excitedly on the couch. "Nope! But I've been wanting to see for years. I'm so glad it's on!" She squints at him and tilts her head. "You knew, didn't you?"
Henry shakes his head fondly. "No, not really. I myself wanted to see it."
Maddy curls into his side. "If it gets too scary," she says, "you'll know."
Henry eats some more popcorn. "This movie isn't supposed to be scary, Maddy."
She curls further into his side. "I know," she says, "but The Exorcist is on next."
Henry's eyebrows practically disappear into his hairline (which, admittedly, is already receding). "Wh– you- you want to watch that movie?"
She presses a kiss to his cheek. "Well, you see, if I get scared, then you get to hold me."
"But what happens if I get scared? I don't do demons, Maddy." He looks down at her and laces his hand through hers. His thoughts return to the idea of demons and the horror movies he watched with his high school buddies, and he shudders. "Demons are gross, and evil and just –"
Maddy bites her bottom lip and tucks her head into the crook of his neck. "Well, in that case, I can help you not get scared."
"And how do you suggest that? I couldn't watch scary movies until I was seventeen, and that was only because I lost a bet." He makes a face at the tv, debating whether it's worth it to untangle himself from his girlfriend to turn up the volume.
"I used to have the same problem, but since I only ever watched scary movies with my parents, I couldn't very well do the same thing we're doing now." She gestures at their position with her free hand. "My dad actually came up with a good idea."
"Oh?"
"Pick out something in the film that seems really scary and convince yourself that it's just makeup and costumes." Maddy smiles up at her boyfriend's look of disbelief. "It actually doesn't take away from the movie as much as you might think. But if that doesn't work, there are always other methods."
Henry furrows his brow and looks at Maddy in confusion. "Could– could you elaborate a little bit? I can think of seven alternative things to do other than watch a scary movie."
Maddy laughs, her nose wrinkling. "No, not that," she says, lightly slapping his shoulder. "I mean, choose a random topic and start talking about it. Like…your favorite subject in school, your favorite book, your favorite things to do in your free time. Stuff like that."
Henry purses his lips. "Well, The Exorcist isn't on until late."
Maddy sits up straighter, and Henry whimpers when she moves away from his side. "Wait," she says slowly, as if trying to remember the conversation from earlier, "how late?"
Henry leans forward and picks up the tv guide. "This says it doesn't start until 11:30."
Maddy groans and flops back against the couch. "That's too late."
"I can drive you back home."
Maddy shakes her head. "Nope. My dorm has an enforced curfew at midnight. I can't get in any later."
Henry shrugs. "You can stay here. I'll take the couch."
Maddy smiles softly at him and cups his cheek. "You're sweet, and I love you, but that's just– it's too soon, Henry."
Henry's mouth falls open. "Did you just say…?"
Maddy quirks an eyebrow and smirks. "Of course, Henry."
Henry grins, wraps his arm around Maddy's shoulder, and kisses her head. "I love you, too, Mad."
She kisses his cheek in response and nods to the television. "Now hush. I want to see the movie."
He might have been dating Madeleine Baker for two months, and the "I love you"s might be more frequent, and he may or may not have a ring with which to propose, but he does not know her birthday. He's filling out paperwork, hoping that one of the detectives will get bored with a case and pass it off to him, when he realizes that he does not know her birthday. He drops his pen, suddenly at a loss for how in the world he's going to figure it out without offending Maddy. What if I already missed her birthday? Logically, he knows that's not the case since Maddy has just recently turned eighteen, but still. He's worried.
Maddy comes down the stairs, prepared for their lunch date. Henry panics internally, quickly signs off on the paperwork, and stands up. "Hey, babe," she says, walking up to him and hugging him. "You ready?"
Henry grabs his lunch sack (labeled with "Babe" on it because Maddy decided that his own name wasn't descriptive enough) and nods to the bench. "I've been staring at so much paperwork that my eyes are starting to fail me."
Maddy laughs, her eyes crinkling at the edges. Her blue eyes dance with amusement as she drags him by the hand to the bench. "Okay, so yesterday, my English professor assigned us All Quiet on the Western Front, and I know that's your favorite book." She plops down on the wooden bench, opening her own sack lunch for her sandwich. As long as Henry's known her, she hasn't ever eaten a sandwich with the crust still on.
"Do you want to borrow my copy?" Henry asks, carefully scooting next to her. A few of his colleagues shoot him dirty looks – some of them are jealous that he's dating Madeleine, others are just jealous that he has a girlfriend, and the older cops think he's wasting time that could better be spent doling out justice.
Maddy takes a massive bite out of her sandwich. "Yes, please." Her voice is muffled by the bread, lettuce, and ham.
Henry chuckles, kisses her forehead, and nods his head. "Right. I'll get it to you tomorrow."
"Thanks, babe."
Henry clears his throat awkwardly, unsure how to broach a subject he should already be knowledgeable of. "Um, Mad…"
She furrows her brow and her sandwich falls a little. "What is it, Henry?"
Henry rubs the back of his neck and avoids eye contact. "When, exactly, is your birthday?"
Maddy looks confused for a minute and then she laughs. "Oh, yeah. I never told you the exact date." She takes another bite of her sandwich and swallows before answering the question. "September 3rd. You don't have to worry about my birthday just yet."
Henry relaxes and reaches for one of her hands. "Do you know just how much I love you, Mads?" he says, looking up through his eyelashes, pulling her hand to his lips.
She lets her head fall backwards and laughs. "Oh, do tell."
He kisses the back of her hand and flutters his eyelashes at her. "More than I love fishing, football, and baseball put together."
She raises her eyebrow and tries to hide the way her eyes widened. "That much?"
"You're also beating out my parents and brother for my favorite person on the planet, so there's that."
Maddy sets her sandwich down on her lunch sack and scoots closer to Henry, draping her arms around his neck. "I love you, too," she says seriously. "More than horror movies, photography, and poetry put together."
Does he care that he's in a public place where all of his coworkers can judge him? No. He leans forward. "Is it okay if I kiss you on the mouth?"
Maddy smirks and puckers her lips. "It's perfectly okay."
God, he loves her.
Maddy has to go back to Cincinnati for Christmas break. Henry offers to drive her to the airport, and she gratefully accepts. (She tried to convince him to come with her to Ohio, but the chief immediately vetoed his request for a vacation).
Before she gets out of his truck, he gently stops her from opening the truck door. At first, she thinks it's because he always opens the door for her (she's still adjusting, okay? Her last boyfriend never opened the car door for her), but based on the way he fidgets, the closest thing is a proposal.
Henry clears his throat, reaches across her, and opens the glove compartment, pulling out a long, slender box. He carefully opens it, revealing a necklace with a heart-shaped sapphire and a small strip of silver acting as a banner.
Maddy's jaw drops and she looks at Henry, almost afraid to touch the necklace for fear of dirtying it. "Oh, Henry…"
He shrugs, actively trying not to fidget. "I mean, your birthday is in September, so I- I just thought– you know, maybe you'd –"
Maddy grabs his face in both of her hands and kisses him. "Henry, I love it. Thank you so much." She gawks at the necklace some more. "You really didn't have to get me anything."
He raises an eyebrow in place of a question.
"Well, at least, you didn't have to get me anything this fancy." She presses her lips together and kisses Henry again. "I love you so much."
Henry gives her another peck on the lips. "Here, I'll put it on." He waits while Maddy twists around in the seat, lifting her long blonde hair to expose her neck. Henry takes the necklace out of the box and drapes it around her neck, carefully fastening it.
She touches the heart and leans back against Henry. "I left your gift in my dorm. I thought we'd exchange gifts when I got back."
He smiles, shakes his head, and kisses her temple. "It's alright. I just wanted to surprise you."
"And I love it," she says, resting her head on his shoulder to see his face. "And I love you." She wants to stay like this forever, never leaving the truck, but her parents are expecting her. Before she can say anything, Henry gently jostles her.
"You're going to miss your flight."
She gathers her purse and backpack while Henry gets out of the truck and opens her door. He silently passes her her luggage.
"I'm really going to miss you, Maddy." His eyes search hers, and he cups her cheek in his hand.
"It's only for ten days, and then I'll be back to bug you."
Henry laughs. "Have a safe flight."
Maddy shuffles a few steps forward, stands on her tiptoes, and gently kisses him. "I'll be back soon."
"I love you."
"I love you, too, Henry Spencer."
He watches her retreating back as she heads into the airport. He has to be at the station in twenty minutes, but right now, he just wants to run after her and beg her to stay, or see if he can get a ticket onto that plane.
As if on cue, his pager buzzes, and he checks it once Maddy's out of sight. The chief sent him a message:
IF YOU GET ON THAT PLANE I WILL FIRE YOUR ASS.
Henry shakes his head and climbs back into the truck. As he drives away, he thinks of the engagement ring hidden in his desk drawer.
He'll ask her in a few months.
