Instead of the hard ground I thought I would hit, I felt the warmth of a strong, solid body surround me. Arms supporting me as we moved to a seat on the balcony. I couldn't resist and burrowed towards the warmth. I could feel the sigh leave my lips. I hadn't felt this safe in a very long time if I was honest with myself. The lull that the warmth and contentment created almost took me under but then it all came to a halt when my mind caught up.

The illusion of comfort was broken so I slowly opened my eyes. I took in my surroundings; the cool night air, the stars reflecting on the windows to Meg's room, the warm body beneath my face as I was laying against his thigh; his hand was lightly resting on my shoulder and I could feel him tense beneath me.

I knew I couldn't just do nothing but lay against him, but I just wasn't ready for this moment to happen.

Okay, well that was an outright lie. I have been wanting this over the past ten years, but now it was real and Erik was actually next to me and it was almost too much to bare. I could feel my heart pounding; it was just I didn't know how to begin.

Taking a minute to mentally prepare myself, I stretched my limbs seeing what damage I did with my fall but was pleasantly surprised when nothing felt even a little sore. Unable to prolong the inevitable, I sat up from where I was propped against Erik. I still couldn't bring myself to look him in the eyes. Not yet anyway.

His hand followed me as I sat up, now a light touch around my shoulders. I would say comforting if I wasn't in the middle of one of the biggest mental freak outs of my life. I took a steadying breath, thinking back to all the relaxation techniques I tried over the years. But none of them were ever made for a situation like this, no therapist had created a method for getting through seeing your lover, after over ten years apart, who happened to live in the past.

He leaned closer to me and I froze. This was something I never thought would happen again and wrapping my mind around it was difficult. My reaction made him stop as well, and then after a moment's hesitation, he pulled completely away. Standing up he strode across the small balcony and I instantly wanted him to come back. I already missed the warmth his body was providing.

I could feel the tears falling down my checks. I reached up and wiped them away, I didn't even realize I had started to cry. Someone had to break the silence and I knew it had to be me. If I didn't he would think I was rejecting him. I knew he was already thinking something along those lines. It might have been a long time since we were together but if anything would stay the same it would be his inability to know that I wanted him more than he could ever know.

"Erik," I stood up and made my way over to him. "My love." Seeing the tense line of his shoulders made me stop behind him.

Okay Lorraine, stop being a chicken shit. You're an adult, you can do this. So just do it, grow up woman.

"Seriously, this is a quite a lot to take in. Erik. Do you know how long I've wanted this exact meeting to happen? How long I've been wishing and praying for a way to come back to everything I was forced to leave behind. Going through every day, always one foot stuck in the past while trying to make it through another 24 hours." I stepped closer, and wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face in his back to keep from blabbering on. I breathed in deeply, the distinct masculine smell of him comforting me as I waited for him to say something.

He shifted his body so that he was turned towards me, able to look down at me. I finally looked up into his eyes and immediately felt warmth spread through my body. In the moments we stood there the years that kept us apart felt far shorter than they really were as we took in each other's presence.

The lights in Meg's room had almost gone out and what was left was the light the moon provided for us. Yet I could see he was done up in his prestine phantom get-up, white mask stark against his skin making him look tanner than he really was. His eyes shining in the dimness of our surroundings. Other than a few more lines around his eyes, he looked exactly as he did that night so long ago when he first revealed himself to me in my dressing room.

He opened his mouth to say something, stopped and smiled. Still I didn't say anything else I just waited for him. He raised his hands up and placed them on either side of my face, the gloves he wore were warm against my skin.

He laughed, although there was little humor in the noise. "How long you've waited? Do you honestly think you are alone in how you are feeling Lorraine? I thought you were smarter than that. I've had to carry on just the same. Trying to move forward but always, always waiting for you around each turn life threw at me. I know you didn't want to go, you had no say in you leaving. But it affected more than just you that's for damn sure, love. I have had to live on everyday thinking about you. Your touch, your voice, your scent, your smile, everything has haunted me about you. It became almost unbearable. So again I ask you, do you think you were alone in your feelings? Because the truth is you were not."

I couldn't reply, taking some time to let his words process. I knew I was crying, the emotion behind his speech deeply affecting me. His gloved hands shifted to wipe the tears off my face.

"Love. I didn't want to hurt you, making you cry was not my intent." His face fell as he spoke.

I smiled up at him, hoping it didn't look as forced as it felt. I wanted to comfort him. "Erik, you didn't hurt me. Just moved me. I couldn't be happier to be right here, before you. It is something we both, from what I am figuring out, never thought would happen."

Before he could say anything I continued, "But it has, and a lot of time has passed since we last saw each other. We are not the same people we were then. I am not the same girl that left you, time has changed me since we were together."

I pulled away from him, moving backwards towards the door to go back to the house. I almost wanted to go inside to stop this now before we said or did something we would regret. We were different people now, for all I knew he could be saying these things and have another woman waiting for him. He could just be saying these things because he knew it would be what I wanted to hear, the darkest part of mind wanted me to know. I turned away from him, stealing myself for whatever was to happen now.

"Please, Erik. Please think about this before we go on. All this time wasted being apart, why would-" I was interrupted by him moving quickly to me, pushing me until my back hit the wall behind us.

My heart pounded in my chest as he covered my body with his own. The cool brick behind me a heady contrast to the warm, muscular man before me. He bracketed his hands against the wall on either side of my face and before I could processs anything fully his lips were crashing down against mine.

My world narrowed down to nothing but him. He was overriding my ability to think, I couldn't focus on anything else. His firm body writhing against me, his lips leaving mine to leave a red hot trail down to my neck. His groan rumbling against my throat, a gasp leaving me without my consent.

I was burning up under his ministrations, my body waking up to the touch I had been missing for so long. Pulling him flush against me, my hands fisted into the back of his jacket. If anything this spurred him on, his kisses becoming deeper and almost forceful.

And it was driving me insane. Every little thrust, every shift of him against me was more than I could have wished for. "Lorraine." His voice, deepend with emotion, wrapped around me.

"Erik, please. Don't stop. I need it. I need you." He pulled back, his eyes meeting mine for a brief moment and I couldn't hold back.

I surged forward, kissing him with all I had. The slide of his tongue against mine made my knees tremble, the warmth spreading like fire throughout my body.

It could have been minutes, it could have been hours that we spent standing there wrapped around each other. And we would have continued had the doors next to us not flung open, pulling us from each other.

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A/N: Hey everyone! So all of a sudden I had an insane rush of inspiration to write. So we all know that that means this chapter is super unbetaed and if there are any mistakes I'm very sorry. I just wanted to get this out to everyone who has been holding out for an update. I know I'm very sporatic with new chapters. Life is a crazy thing sometimes, hopefully the next chapter doesn't take as long as this one did and we continue my loves. I wanted this to be the emotional return Lorraine and Erik were destined for, but they are also in love and haven't seen each other in YEARS. I mean realistically would you be able to keep your hands off of Erik were you in her place? I know I sure as hell wouldn't. Any way hope you all enjoy this chapter it was a fun one to write, I know things were cut short but you know gotta keep us on our toes.

And leave your comments please! I honestly get the biggest smile everytime I see a new review. It spurs me into these random bursts of chapters! I swear I read every one I get and if I could I would frame them for when I need inspo. Comments keep this story alive!

Warm regards, Mrs. Butler121709 :D