So this is the end I hope you all enjoyed it! Not sure how my slightly dark one-shot turned into a six chapter story. I blame all those who posted a review for more chapters. You know who you are! :)
He'd ended up in her bed every night that week.
Tonight though the obligatory five minutes had already passed and she'd been stroking his chest affectionately and every so often she'd feel him place a soft kiss on her temple. She'd turned her head to look at him and her eyes were once again drawn straight to his lips. She doesn't resist the pull this time. She moves and kisses him firmly. He instantly kisses her back and she finds herself smiling into his mouth.
That overwhelming desire to ask him to stay is back. She wants to feel what it would be like to wake up next to him. She's still unsure of what his answer will be. Knows asking him could risk everything they'd repaired over the last week.
"Stay?" She asks him. Closes her eyes, expects the worst.
A few beats pass and he hasn't answered her. She turns head towards him, opens her eyes and she can see his internal struggle.
"I can't." He tells her, his tone soft and filled with anguish.
"Why?" She asks him, she can hear the agony in her own voice. She'd really believed they'd made progress. She can feel the familiar prickle of tears forming in her eyes and she moves to get up, she wants to get away from him.
He holds on to her. Moves over her quickly to pin her between him and the bed.
"If I stay, I'm gonna want more of you." He sighs looks away from her eyes then continues. "If I stay I'm going to tell you that I love you." He shakes his head. "If I can't have that, then I can't stay." He explains his voice is slightly cracked but his demand is firm, he isn't willing to negotiate.
A massive wave of relief hits her immediately, it's almost a tsunami, but instead of bringing in destruction it's washing it away. She gasps in a breath, closes her eyes for a few seconds to allow the relief to reach every inch of her and she feels her entire body relax into the bed.
"Stay." She tells him firmly, and it's not a question this time. She's trying to convey a million emotions into a single solitary word.
She smiles at him.
He smiles back.
He is still there when she wakes up in the morning and she's certain they can keep doing this.