Bass can't sleep. It's dark. Charlie's curled up against his body and asleep. But he's wide awake while his mind is repeating the same words, her words, over and over again.

It's you Bass…there is no one else I want or need.

Fuck.

The way she had looked at him while he had been holding her in his arms after she finally told him what he had craved to hear for such a long time now last night had almost fucking killed him. It had been her surrender. To him. It had been everything that she has trying to hide inside her eyes from him.

He has watched her try to deny it, to kill it and to outrun it it with all the stubbornness she's got, while she had been trying to run away from him and her and her own damn heart like only a Matheson can. She had fought him and what was happening between the both of them with every single stubborn fiber in her damn body, in the same way she fights all her fights. But he had known. He had soaked up every fucked up moment between them from the moment she had walked all the way to New Vegas to put him out of his misery.

It's you Bass…there is no one else I want or need.

He had craved for those words she finally spoke tonight, he had waited for those words. But he had also given up hope to hear those words. And he had understood. He had understood why she had tried to kill what was happening between them before it could be anything. But he had still hoped for her to be his. It's fucked up, he knows. But he has wanted her to tell him what she has told him for such a long time now.

He had felt it inside his damn bones before she had spoken her truth. Something had shifted since the day he had come home after drinking with Miles, now months ago. He still remembers that clear, autumn day.

He feels the whiskey buzz moving through his body. He had a good afternoon with his brother. He's walking home. Home. It feels fucking strange and fucking right at the same time to realize from a distance his mind has chosen that word.

He sees her sitting on their porch, looking beautiful as fuck. He grins when he notices the whiskey glass standing close to her boots. Fucking Mini Miles. His mind is about to form words that he knows will piss her off to remind her how much she is like Miles. But when he walks up the wooden steps of the porch and she looks at him, something new lingers in her eyes, making him forget all about teasing her.

'You're home.' A beautiful as hell smile moves over her face while her voice fills the autumn afternoon.

The way she looks at him while he walks up the steps of the porch almost kills him. He walks over to her while the late afternoon light plays with the blue of her eyes and the deep golden blonde of her hair. The sound of his boots on the wooden porch under him fills the space between them.

He stops in front of her. He slowly moves a lock of hair out of her face. She looks up and hell, she's taking his breath away. She keeps on looking at him, she keeps on drinking him in like Matheson's drink their whiskey It's too fucking much. He just knows he craves to feel her, to touch her and taste her and everything she is right now and giving to him freely. He gently wraps his hand around her cheek. Her skin is soft against the calloused skin of his fingers. He pulls her closer while he gently kisses her. He gets hard up because of the small honest whimper that escapes from her lips. It's the sound she made from the very first time he had surprised her with a gentle long, deep kiss. He knows her. It's when she truly lets go. He knows how much she loves it when he kisses her like this. He loves he still has this effect on her. He lifts her in his arms, her smaller body against his, while he walks them inside. They don't talk. She just soaks him up with her eyes and his whole chest fills with pride and want and need and knowing she is his. He takes his time undressing her, while she melts into his touch. He takes her with lazy but deep thrusts while the afternoon light streams into their home.

The memory fades into the darkness of the winter night. Bass watches how she talks in her sleep. He whispers something in the dark that is only meant for her to hear and he feels pride inside of his chest when she relaxes again against his chest.

They had dinner at Aaron's place tonight. He has to admit that when Aaron had invited Charlie and him over for dinner for the first time, he had been skeptical. He had thought it had been another pathetic attempt of to make him think he was included only to make him feel unwanted.

But Aaron and Priscilla had been welcoming. Probably only for Charlie's sake, but Aaron had tried to include him. And when time had moved on, some crazy weird friendship had formed between him and Aaron. Bass grins. The man has some damn good cigars too. He remembers how Charlie had found him and Aaron after their dinner while he and Aaron had been smoking their cigars. The way she had looked at him while she had casually leaned into him, knowing she was his, not afraid to show it to the world had filled his damn blood.

Knowing how much she is his, his, because she wants him and only him and the echo of her words that his mind is repeating over and over again is tearing him apart from the inside. The way she had looked at him, telling him that he was the man for her with just her eyes, and how her eyes had been filled with trust and honesty and vulnerability and certainty still haunts him, here in the dark with her sleeping next to him.

Bass slowly turns towards her. He softly nuzzles her neck. He moves his fingers over the soft skin of her bare shoulder. She mumbles something in her sleep. He tries again, his mouth close to her ear now. 'Need you baby.'

He knows she's awake when a soft smile moves over her face. That soft smile casts away some of the darkness of the winter night and the way her words keep on echoing inside his damn head. She lifts her head while he wraps her against his body. He kisses her deeply, knowing how much she wants him and enjoys the touch of his hand making a trail over her breasts and smooth belly before they find the warmth between her thighs while she softly moans into his mouth. She lets him hold her, kiss her, touch her while she lets go. Bass pins her under his body while he fills her, shielding her from the world and everything that could take her away from him with his tall body and wide chest.