"...yeah, it's simple...I'd have to find the cameras, but if they aren't wi-fi, then we have nothing...it'd take maybe ten minutes...okay, I'll be right there."
Quinn slowly stretched, the quiet sound of Huck's voice in the next room waking her. Just as she sat up, Huck walked in. "I didn't mean to wake you," he said.
"You didn't, your absence did, I think." She yawned.
"I've got to run to the office, I won't be gone long. Will you be okay?"
"Of course, go. Tell everyone I said hi." She smiled a drowsy smile, and he couldn't help but lightly kiss her. Sparks seemed to fly from her lips to her toes.
"I'll be back soon." He walked out, and she stretched again. Carefully, she stretched out her hurt arm, trying not to disturb her stitches, but she found she could move it without hurting herself. She remembered- she was supposed to have them removed tomorrow!
Slowly, she ambled into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. As it brewed, she want back to her room and dug out her turquoise sundress. It had spaghetti straps and was a tad low cut, and ended with frills just above her knees. It was one of her favorites. She smelled the coffee as she went back to the kitchen, and poured a cup. She stirred in the cream and sugar, picked up the newspaper from the counter, and walked out to the back, sitting in one of the lawn chairs. It was nice to sit out in the sun, drinking coffee and skimming the paper.
Sooner than she thought, she heard the back door open, and Huck came out.
"What are you so happy about?" She giggled as he practically bounced over to her.
"I have a surprise for you."
"What? Huck, you don't-"
"No, I don't want to hear it! Come on!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her back inside, and she set her cup on the counter. Huck pulled a hand towel from a drawer. "I need to...put this over your eyes. If that's okay."
"Uhm...okay?"
"Are you sure?"
"I trust you." Huck smiled, and tied the towel over her eyes. "So, now that I can't see, what is it?" Huck smiled, and gave her a quick kiss before taking her hand, leading her out to the car and helped her sit, buckling her in. He drove off, and she got a bit worried. "I may not be able to see, but I can tell you're speeding. Ease up, Huck."
"Sorry, I'm just excited." He slowed down. Finally, she felt the car stop. He came around, opening her door, and helped her out. "Okay, right...here. Ready?"
"I think so?" He untied the towel, and the sunlight blinded her. She blinked a few times before she knew what she was looking at. It was the house. The house they had looked at the days before. Huck stepped in front of her, dangling two keys on a key ring. "You got the house?"
"I got our house!" Huck grinned. "The realtor called while I was still at the office, he pushed it through. The owner had moved to California and had to sell it as soon as he could...its ours."
"Huck...this is...I mean...are you sure? I mean, you want me to..." she still felt awkward.
"Quinn, if I wasn't sure, I wouldn't have done all of this. Oh..." he reached in his pocket, pulling out a box the size of his palm. "I got this for you."
"Oh, Huck, I can't accept-"
"Quinn, please."
She sighed and smiled at him before lifting the lid. Inside was a necklace, a thin golden chain with a single white diamond sparkling from it. "Oh, Huck..."
"It reminded me of you," he said, taking it from the box, which he put back in his pocket. She turned around, pulling her hair out of the way as he clasped it around her neck. He turned her and looked at her, smiling. "You're beautiful."
She touched the diamond, still taken aback by his gesture.
"Do you want to go inside?" She nodded, and he took her hand and led her into the house - their house - and led her right back out the back door. Once again, he shocked her.
A big red blanket was spread out in the yard, a wicker picnic basket sat in the middle. Tears fell down Quinn's cheeks as she saw just how much he had wanted to make her happy.
"Quinn?" Huck was looking at her, concerned.
"No, no, no, this is...I'm not crying...I am crying, but not like...oh Huck..." she threw her good arm around his neck, and his hands wrapped around her waist, picking her up and twirling her around. She giggled as he set her back down. "I don't think I've seen you so happy."
"I haven't been this happy in a long time, Quinn." He pulled her down to sit beside him and opened the basket. He handed her...a bag of gummy worms.
"Huck!" She laughed. "You remembered! Oh, and these are my favorite, too!"
He laughed, pulling out sandwiches from the deli next to the office - he remembered what she always had gotten. He had watched her even then, before he knew how deeply he cared.
They ate their sandwiches quietly, Quinn still trying to soak in the fact that this was his...theirs. She didn't feel like she had any right to say "ours", because they hadn't actually talked about what they were...they hadn't defined the limits of their relationship. When Huck talked about the house, it sounded like he was saying 'forever', but she didn't feel like she deserved to be included. She kept her mouth shut, though; she knew it wouldn't make sense to Huck and only push him away, and he was so happy...she loved seeing him happy. He never really smiled before, and now he was smiling all the time. He was always hard as stone, and now he was a giant teddy bear. He was a completely different person, yet still the same man she fell for.
"You're thinking too hard again," Huck interrupted into her thoughts.
She sighed, smiling. "You know me too well."
"Not as well as I'd like…" He leaned forward, bringing his hand around her neck, his fingers in her hair as he kissed her. Her world swiftly fell away, and she kissed him back deeply. His other hand came across her back, and she let herself fall slowly into the grass, their lips never leaving each other. Her bad arm fell to the side as she wrapped her good one over his shoulder, pulling him closer, on top of her. She could feel every part of her body on fire, and she opened her mouth, letting his tongue dance across her teeth. His hand caressed her thigh, and she sighed breathlessly. His lips moved to her cheek, down to her neck, lightly nipping before returning to her lips.
Then, pain ripped through her arm. She yelped, and Huck jumped back. "Quinn?"
"I'm fine...I just...my arm...got caught...in the sling…" She was trying to catch her breath as Huck hovered over her.
"Is it your stitches, did they tear?"
"I don't...know…"
"Here, let me sit you up…" He put a hand around her back and helped her back to her sitting position. Gently, he lifted the sling over her head and off of her arm. "Are the bandages supposed to stay on?"
"They don't have to...I left them on so the stitches wouldn't get irritated by my clothes…" Quinn said, still breathless.
"I'm going to take this off, we need to see if it ripped." Quinn nodded, and Huck gently peeled back the tape and gauze. As Quinn looked down and saw where Charlie's drill had ripped her open, the world seemed to collapse on top of her. Her heart hammered in her ears, and there was no longer enough oxygen. "They're fine, it would be best to let it breathe...Quinn?" He realized something was wrong. "Quinn? What's wrong?" Her eyes were blank, she couldn't see him anymore. Suddenly she was back on the cold ground, Charlie standing over her, revving the drill and laughing as he plunged it into her flesh, her blood splattering his face…
"Quinn!" Huck yelled, and she snapped back. "That's it, come back to me. You're okay, Quinn. I'm right here. Breathe." Her eyes locked with his, and she focused on his voice. "Just breathe. You're safe. Breathe." She nodded, a tear escaping from her eye that he quickly wiped away. "It's okay, you're okay. I've got you." She could no longer hear her heart in her ears, but still felt it thumping against her chest. She could breathe again.
"Huck, I…" she whispered.
He hushed her. "You had another panic attack. It's fine, you're going to be okay." His hand caressed her cheek. "Quinn...I think you need to talk to your doctor about seeing a specialist. They can help you with this. After what you went through, I expected you might develop PTSD. You're having flashbacks, aren't you?" She nodded. "It's okay. We'll handle this. I've got you." He pulled her into his lap, and she leaned her head onto his shoulder.
He didn't want to admit that he was scared for her. When he had been having flashbacks from being waterboarded, it had taken all of his strength not to do anything stupid. He had wanted to die just to stop the flashbacks and the pain and the panic every time it rained. He never wanted Quinn to feel that kind of hopelessness. Holding her like this, cradled in his arms, in his lap, she was like a child, a child he would give his life to protect.
Quinn closed her eyes, breathing in the smell of Huck, and it calmed her. She focused on the feeling of his arms around her, strong and steady. She matched her breathing to his. She placed her hand on his chest, feeling his heart beating under her fingers, and she swore hers beat with his. His fingers brushed her cheek, brushing her hair from her eyes as she opened them. He was looking at her as though he was holding a fragile flower.
"I'm fine now. I'm good," she said.
"You're so beautiful, Quinn." His hand caressed her jawbone. "Do you want to get going? If I do some packing today, I can have the movers come while I take you back to the hospital tomorrow to get your stitches out." Quinn nodded, and he helped her stand. Huck folded up the blanket and shoved it in the basket, laying it on the kitchen counter as they walked through the house, locked the door, and got in the car.
"Sorry I freaked out back there. You know that I'm not usually squeamish. They didn't call me 'Baby Huck' for no reason. Anyways, sorry."
"Quinn, you have no reason to be sorry. You've been hurt, you don't heal overnight, not physically, not mentally. It's going to take time, it's going to take a lot of time but I'm going to be right here, I'm going to help you. I will get you through this." He placed his hand on her knee, using the other to steer. "I'm here, Quinn."
She placed her hand over his, twining her fingers with his. "I know."
When they finally got inside, Huck stood in the middle of the kitchen. He was silent for a long time before he spoke. "I have no idea where to begin."
"Well, I'm all packed!" Quinn laughed, thinking of the fact that she only had three boxes sitting at the end of the bed. "How about we start in the kitchen? I could climb up and hand you things from the cabinets and you could put them in boxes. And label the boxes so we know what's in them."
"No, you...you can go sit down. I got this."
"Huck, let me help, I'm fine."
"Quinn."
"Huck!"
A knock at the front door. Another knock, and a voice. "You two stop having sex and answer the door now, damnit."
"Abby?" Quinn ran to the door and opened it.
"Surprise!" Abby stood in front, wearing jeans and a beat-up tee, with an enormous stack of broken down boxes and a roll of clear tape worn on her wrist like a bracelet. Olivia stood behind her in casual clothes, but more Olivia-like and less grunge.
Olivia held up two large bottles. "I brought wine!"
"Oh guys!" Quinn felt tears coming up, but she forced them back down. She had taken for granted before that OPA was her family. They both gave her a hug before going to the kitchen with her. Abby and Huck immediately began bickering over who would put together the boxes, and so Quinn helped Olivia pour the wine into four glasses.
"So, how are you?" Olivia asked Quinn.
"I'm...healing. Slowly." She looked at Huck. "Huck's been...amazing."
"I've never seen him like this before. He's happy. You make him happy, Quinn."
"He makes me happy, too." She smiled.
"For what it's worth, you guys are a very cute couple."
"Oh, we're not...I mean….I don't think….it's not...we haven't talked about…"Quinn stammered, not even sure how to end a sentence.
"Huck!" Olivia called across the room. "Are you and Quinn a couple or aren't you?"
"Don't answer that, Huck," Abby said. "You're going to get teased either way."
Huck refused to turn around, noone could see the heat rushing to his face as he took cups and glasses from the cupboard and placed them on the counter, where Abby would grab them, wrap them in newspaper and stick them in a box.
Quinn elbowed Olivia lightly. Olivia leaned in to whisper in Quinn's ear. "I know how it is to be in a relationship and not even know if it is one. You don't want that. You can do it, Quinn." Quinn rolled her eyes.
"I don't want to figure it out right now. I know how I feel about him, but I don't want...I don't know how to describe it. But I'm working on trying not to push him away. I don't deserve everything he's done for me...I mean, look!" She pointed to the diamond necklace around her neck.
"Quinn, he's buying you jewelry, he's serious."
Abby tore a piece of tape with her teeth before she spoke up. "You should have seen Huck this morning. He comes running out of his office yelling 'We got the house, we got the house!' It was the most animated I think I've ever seen him."
"It wasn't exactly like that," Huck said, glancing at Quinn as he took down a stack of plates. Quinn smiled.
"Huck, we should have a mini-party after we get everything settled in at the house, it's the least we can do to thank these two for helping!"
"I'm in!" Abby said.
Huck nodded, but mentally, he was ecstatic. It was the first time Quinn had referred to them as 'we' and even though it was just a little thing, it made him happy.
Quinn started taking things from the countertop and placing them in boxes, ignoring Huck's disapproving look as she lifted the coffee maker with her one good arm. She wasn't one to sit back and watch people work.
Slowly, the kitchen emptied, and they moved to the living room, although not much remained; Huck had sent all of Kim's personal things and pictures with Javi. He had no wish to keep them, and Javi needed as much as he could to remember his mother.
By the time the sun had gone down, the second bottle of wine was almost gone, and the house was in boxes, which were stacked and labelled in the living room.
"Wow," Quinn said, putting her hand on her hip. "Four people did all that?"
"Three and a half," Abby said. "You only used one hand."
"Well, I only need one hand for this." Quinn lifted her middle finger, and Abby smacked it playfully.
Soon after, Olivia and Abby left, and Quinn was feeling the full effects of the wine warming her body, leaving her drowsy. "Let's get to bed. We've got a big day tomorrow," Huck said, and Quinn nodded. She went to her room, pulling out an oversized tee shirt that was big enough to be considered a nightgown. She threw her sling and clothes on top of her box, and slid into the shirt just as Huck came in. She slid into bed, and Huck laid down beside her, and they wrapped their arms around each other before slipping into sleep.
...
The sun streaming through the window woke Huck, and he carefully stretched, trying not to disturb Quinn. She had kicked the covers off of her at some point, and the shirt she had been wearing had hitched up, showing nearly all of her thigh, which was pressed against him.
Huck felt himself respond to her body. He wanted her so badly, but he didn't want to rush things. He didn't want it to be like last time, humping in a parking garage or in front of a smear of blood on the floor. He wanted to show her that he was serious, that this, whatever they were, meant something to him. He didn't want to be the person he used to be, the monster that B613 left him. Quinn revered his clock, somehow, made him back into the man he used to be, back when he was simply a military boyfriend, no drill, no toolbox. He knew that dark part of him, the part the enjoyed killing, it was still there, and always would be. But it no longer dominated him.
Still, he couldn't help wanting her. When they were at the house, kissing in the backyard, he wasn't sure he could have stopped himself. She was seemingly a drug to him. He couldn't resist her, and he didn't want to try. But, he still wanted to give her time. He didn't even think she was ready for anything more - during those months, Charlie hadn't just beat her, he had raped her. She was still struggling to deal with the more recent torture. If just seeing her wounds now could trigger a panic attack, he knew that sex wasn't even on the table. He was okay with that, no matter what his body wanted; he would wait forever to keep her happy.
Quinn's eyes blinked open, and she saw him staring at her. Her hand immediately went to her face, her eyes, in her hair. "What, was I snoring? Is my hair a mess?"
"No, you're perfect." Huck took her hand, bringing it to his lips. "What time is your appointment today?"
"Eleven. Oh god, is it really today?" She stretched, and then sat up, looking at her arm. She had kept the gauze off, and the wounds looked better than they had the previous day. Huck watched her face carefully as she pulled up her sleeve, looking closely at both wounds. She sensed him watching her and looked at him. "I'm fine, Huck. It's all good. I get these things out today, they're irritating as hell. Maybe then I can actually use my arm without feeling like the stitches will rip open my skin."
"We'll see. For now, how about I run out and grab us some breakfast and coffee from the place on the corner?"
"Mmm. Coffee sounds good." She smiled, and Huck kissed her forehead.
"Be back in five minutes," he said, and as he left, she got up, stretching her legs.
Today was it. Today, the stitches would come out, she and Huck were moving into what was essentially her dream house, and she was so happy. Pulling on a pair of pants, she couldn't help but be excited. Her life had been completely taken apart, and then changed so dramatically that she could barely recognize herself. She pulled on a blue v-necked tee and grabbed her brush, pulling it through her hair. Then, she put it back in the box, folded the top, and carried it under her good arm to the living room with the other boxes.
Just as she put the last box down, Huck walked in. "Quinn!" he said, seeing that she had moved her boxes. "You could have hurt yourself, you shouldn't have done that."
"I'm fine, Huck, I can carry a box. Besides, you're going to let me help once I get these stitches out."
"No."
"You can't stop me, Huck, I need to heal, I need to do something, I can't just sit around like an ornament. Please."
Huck sighed. She was getting frustrated, and he admitted she was right. He was being overprotective, but he didn't want to see her hurt any more than she had already been. But, she was a grown woman, and he had to back off. "Fine. But promise you'll take it slow, leave the heavy lifting to me until you get the strength back in your arm."
"I promise. I won't try to toss a sofa at you or anything." She elbowed him after he set the two coffees and bag of food on the table.
"I'd have to toss you in the pool," he teased.
"You wouldn't dare!"
Huck shrugged with a smile. He held up a box. "I got bagels. Bacon, egg, and cheese."
"Perfect, I'm starving." Quinn happily sipped at her coffee.
…
"They're here, Huck!" Quinn called. Huck was checking the house, making sure they had boxed up everything while Quinn watched for the moving van.
"Damnit, they're late, we should have left by now. Wait for me in the car while I give these guys instructions." Huck ran out the front door. Quinn walked out to the car, fiddling with her necklace in anticipation. A minute later, Huck jumped in practically sped off.
"Huck, we're fine, we're not going to be late, calm down," she said, amused.
"Sorry, I just got stressed out, I didn't want you to be late." Huck slowed to a more legal speed. He reached over, taking her hand as he drove. She squeezed it, and he smiled.
Finally, they were walking back into the hospital. Quinn checked herself in at the desk, and they put a bracelet around her wrist. She sat down next to Huck and grabbed his hand again, chuckling at his tapping foot. "What are you so on edge about?"
Huck looked up at her. "I just want to know you're okay."
"I'm fine, Huck. It's just a few stitches." She leaned her head on his shoulder.
"I know, but...will you please tell them about your panic attacks? They can help you, Quinn."
She was silent, stroking his thumb with hers. "I will. I'm just…" she sighed. "I don't want to talk about what happened right now. This is a good day and I don't want to ruin it. I'm happy, I'm excited, and I just don't want to go down that road today."
"I understand. I don't think they'll do anything like that today. But I want you to get help."
"It's cute how much you care."
"I do care, Quinn. Please don't trivialize this." His voice barely broke, and she knew she was in the wrong. She sat up, turning to face him, keeping her hand in his.
"I will get help. I promise. I'm just scared. But I promise you I will ask today." She squeezed his hand again. "I know you care. It's hard for me to accept your help, everything you've given me."
Huck opened his mouth to speak, but a nurse called Quinn's name. "Do you want me to stay here?" he asked.
"No, please." She pulled him alongside her.
The nurse checked her wristband before leading them down the hallway into a room. Huck helped Quinn up onto the exam table, and stood beside her instead of sitting in the chair in the corner. He didn't want to let go of her hand.
"I'm going to take your vitals first, Miss Perkins, so if I could have your arm…" she strapped a blood pressure cuff on Quinn's good arm, and was silent while she pumped away. "A little high, but it's in normal range, so you're fine." Quinn saw Huck give her a look, but she ignored it while the nurse pressed the stethoscope against her back, listening to her lungs. "Your lungs are clear. You can remove the sling now. The doctor will be right in."
"Thank you," Quinn said before the nurse shut the door, and then let out a breath as she tossed the sling behind her. "I've had more than enough of being poked and prodded."
Huck swiveled to stand in front of her. "Just think of what will happen after you put up with today. No more prodding, no more stitches. You got to go home to our new house."
"That does sound nice." Quinn smiled, and leaned in to peck Huck's cheek, and giggled as his face lit up at her kiss. He smirked at her, turning her face to kiss her lips, softly, once, twice.
"Maybe we can get in the pool after we're done unpacking for the day," he suggested.
"That would be great, especially since I could use both arms to splash you now!" Quinn laughed, but her mind thought back to their encounter in the pool after the splashing, and a shiver went down her spine to heat her core at the thought that this time, there would be noone to interrupt them. She bit her lip at the thought.
A knock on the door, and the doctor came in as Huck stepped back to his position next to Quinn. "Miss Perkins, you remember me, I'm Dr. Mitchell. How are you today?"
"I'm very good, thank you."
"Good, that's great. So, I'm going to be taking your stitches out today, they've been in for 14 days now, so you should be nice and healed." He pulled over a tray of instruments, putting on a pair of gloves. "First I'm going to clean the area, and then I'll take the stitches out. It's relatively painless, you may feel some uncomfortable pulling or tugging. Now, afterwards, especially since your wounds involved muscle damage, you're going to want to avoid injuring your arm again, because the repaired tissues are still going to be weak, about five to ten percent of their normal strength, so just be careful, but you can use your arm as you normally would, just no strenuous exercises, things like that. Vitamin E oil rubbed into the skin can help the skin heal once the edges are closed. Are you ready to get started?"
Quinn nodded, and Dr. Mitchell applied an antiseptic to a cotton square and dabbed at her arm, and then again at her shoulder after she rolled her sleeve out of the way. "Okay, as I said, you're going to feel some tugging…" Quinn winced as Dr. Mitchell began working on her arm, and Huck turned her head to face him.
"Just look at me," he whispered, and she nodded, staring back into his eyes. She loved the color of his eyes. Hers were brown, too, but his were the exact color of chocolate. She remembered being so intimidated by his glare, his eyes hard, but now they were soft, almost like melted chocolate. The intensity with which he was looking back at her was almost overwhelming, her heart was fluttering in her chest. She ached to feel his lips again, but was frozen by the fact that the doctor was ripping stitches out of her arm.
Soon, she would be alone in their new house with him. It was and exciting, yet intimidating thought. They still hadn't really talked and defined their relationship, and she knew Olivia was right last night. She didn't want to not know. She knew she didn't want to have sex, not until she knew what it was they were doing. But knowing she was going back to the house would mean being alone with him, no interruptions, no excuses, and if he kissed her, she wasn't sure she had the will to resist.
The doctor started on her shoulder, and Huck's eyes stayed locked with hers. He squeezed her hand, and she squeezed back. He smiled. She was obviously uncomfortable, occasionally flinching, but her eyes wouldn't leave his. He was surprised at how intimate this felt between them, but he loved that she was, in a way, leaning on him.
Finally, Dr. Mitchell was done. "Like I said, take it easy on the arm for a while. I've got instructions here on how to care for it, what signs you need to come back, things like that. Use the sling if you need to rest your arm." He threw his gloves in the trash and turned back to her. "Are you having any other problems?"
Quinn glanced at Huck, who nodded to her. She took a deep breath. "Yes...I'm, Uhm...I'm having panic attacks...flashbacks...nightmares...memories..."
"Any suicidal thoughts?"
"No."
"Well, after a traumatic event, it is not uncommon to develop post-traumatic stress disorder. I would like for you to see someone, when you go to the front desk, have them make you an appointment with Dr. Wexler, she's a psychiatrist and she is wonderful with people who have experienced trauma. You've been very brave though all of this, and even braver to ask for help. Not all people ask for help when they need it. Is there anything else I can do for you?"
"No, thank you so much," Quinn said, shaking his hand.
"You take care," he said before leaving.
Huck helped her step down. "I'm proud of you, Quinn."
"I'm glad I did it." She put the instructions in her pocket. "I just used my arm. Holy crap, I just used my arm. I can use my damn arm!"
Huck laughed. "Come on, before they cart you off and lock you in a padded room."
Quinn giggled, letting him lead her back to the front desk. "Uhm, I'm supposed to make an appointment with Dr. Wexler?"
The receptionist clicked around on the computer. "It looks like we actually just had a cancellation tomorrow at 1:00. Can you make that?" Quinn looked at Huck, and he nodded. "Okay, tomorrow at 1:00." She handed Quinn a card. "I wrote the time on there, and the office number and crisis hotline number are both on there if you need."
"Thanks." Quinn pocketed the card.
When they walked out of the doors, Quinn raised both arms above her head. "Finally!" She grabbed Huck's hand. "Lets go to the house!"
...
They pulled in the driveway just as the movers were hauling a mattress in the front door. Quinn stood, looking at the house. "Is this real? Do we really live here?"
Huck took Quinn's hand. "Yes, it's ours."
"Hey! This is the last of it!" One of the guys yelled as they heaved the mattress inside.
"I should go pay these guys. Try going in through the gate, since they're blocking the door." Huck walked up, and so Quinn went to the side of the house, opening the gate and closing it behind her. She walked over to the pool and sat down, taking her shoes off and dangling her feet in. The sun felt warm on her skin and she closed her eyes, trying to sink in the fact that this was now home.
"Hey," Huck said from the back door. She stood up, grabbing her shoes and running up to him. "We're all unloaded. Ready to unpack?"
"Yes!" She giggled. "Where do you want to start?"
"Well, probably our bedroom, since we need to at least be able to sleep. They didn't take the frame apart, so the bed itself is already set up. I had them put Kim's bed in one of the guest rooms, I figured you wouldn't want to sleep on it anyways."
"You're sure, Huck? You want to share a room...a bed...with me?" She wasn't meaning to act like she didn't want to, but in that moment she was still fully aware that they hadn't defined their relationship.
"If you're comfortable with it. I assumed, and I'm sorry...we've just been sleeping with each other every night and-"
"No, Huck, I'm more than comfortable with it. I don't know if I would be able to sleep without you," she admitted, climbing the stairs.
"Me too," he said. They stepped into the bedroom together. "Do you think it's okay against this wall?"
"Yeah, it's fine. We can always rearrange if we change our minds. Are these boxes all bedroom?" she asked, looking at the labels.
"They should be - they said they put the boxes in whatever room they were labeled for."
"Well that makes things a lot easier…..Ah! Sheets! This bottom one." Huck lifted off the top box, and Quinn gingerly used both arms and grabbed the other box, slowly lifting it up. Huck turned around just as she bent and put it down on the floor. "I did it! I did it! My arm works! I can use my arm!" She danced a beat, and Huck laughed, ripping the tape from the box of sheets.
After they had made the bed, they started putting clothes in the closet and dresser. It felt odd to be putting her bras and underwear away right in front of Huck, but she had to keep reminding herself that they've had sex before, he's seen her physically vulnearble more times than she could count, he even tortured her...seeing her underwear isn't that big of a deal. As she finished hanging up her clothes, Huck put the bedside tables and lamps where they belonged, and slid his gun in the drawer of one of the tables.
"Well...one room down...kitchen next?" Huck nodded in agreement, and they were soon passing dishes from the boxes and into the cabinets, food into the pantry, and the refrigerated food from a large cooler into the fridge. Quinn sighed with relief when she lifted out the coffee maker. "I could hug this thing." Huck laughed at her, and she stuck her tongue out, setting it on the counter and plugging it in.
"Quinn, it's almost six. Are you hungry?"
"Sure, I can cook up some mac and cheese, I'm craving some comfort food."
"That sounds perfect. I think I saw hot dogs in the fridge?" Quinn nodded, and Huck stepped outside to turn on the grill. Quinn smiled to herself as she grabbed a pan from the cabinet, filling it with water. She was home. She was here, with Huck, in their home. It was still very surreal to her but, just like holding Huck's hand, it felt right.
Arms wrapped around her waist from behind, and she squealed in delight. Huck's lips gently kissed her neck, and a flood of fire rushed between her legs; his neck kisses were the biggest turn on. "Huck…." she whispered, trying to make her mind work, "the water….I need to...put the macaroni in…" One last kiss, and she was free. As she poured the pasta and stirred it, she tried to catch her breath. When she turned around again, Huck had gone to throw the hot dogs on the grill. She leaned against the counter. How could one person consume her so thoroughly?
Soon, dinner was done, and they were sitting at the table of their dining room, eating together. Quinn's mind was speeding again. They had to talk. She needed to know what they were doing together. But every time she started to speak, her voice failed her and her hand shoved food in instead. Huck cleared the dishes from the table and began washing them, and Quinn crept outside, dipping her legs into the pool again. Why was it so hard to talk to him about her feelings about him?
Maybe there was something wrong with her. Maybe after everything, she couldn't make herself trust someone, even Huck. Maybe Charlie broke her. Was she broken? She kicked the water in frustration.
"Quinn? What's wrong?" Huck came up, sitting down beside her.
She sighed. "Am I broken?" she whispered.
"Quinn…" Huck paused. He wasn't sure what to say, but he could tell she was hurting. "Maybe. You were just tortured near to death, you spent three months being beaten, and before that you were a prisoner of B613. I only went through one of those things, and it broke me. So yes, maybe you are broken. But Quinn, you fixed me. As much as I can be fixed, you fixed me. I'm different, you've made me different. I don't know how, but I will fix you too, even if I have to spend the rest of my life trying, because I love you. And you don't give up on the people you love."
"You...love me?" Quinn's voice sounded small and fragile, and when she looked up at him, she looked very much like a little girl. A little girl who needed him.
Huck's hands caressed her cheeks, and he looked deep into her brown eyes. "I love you, Quinn Perkins."
"I love you, too, Huck." Quinn whispered. "I've been so afraid to say it, but I love you."
Their lips met, and their world melted away.
…
A/N: Yup. That just happened. Take a minute. Breathe.
I'm really enjoying, after all those chapters of running and hiding and fear and violence, to just give them time to find each other. Those first chapters were all fighting outside things, but now we've seen them almost fighting themselves in a way. It's going to be slow, but we're building up to something new. Obviously now that they've admitted this, there runs the potential for some smutty scenes (No they didn't have sex after that kiss, that'll be clear in the next chapter). If you have a problem with smut….well, I don't know what to tell you. I don't feel like I'm in charge of the story anymore, I feel more like the translator, and I'm powerless to really have control of it. I have my main ideas that we're getting to, but the details, I'm just the messenger.
These characters have really affected me in real life, too. I had to stop writing today because writing for Quinn actually made me insanely hyper. I'm still doing my best to stay true to the original characters voices, but my versions have taken on a life of their own, but I hope you can hear their voices as you read. I'm still really enjoying this and I hope you are too!