Prompt: Henry knows that Elizabeth is the one when he realizes he considers home wherever she is.
Henry had not grown up with money. He didn't have friends with money. He didn't have family with money. He was not familiar with the comfortably well-off lifestyle that his girlfriend of nine months, Elizabeth Adams, had apparently been living her whole life. Truthfully, he'd been surprised to learn that she came from such a well to-do family. She didn't seem like the type; she wore the same pair of boyfriend jeans as often as she could manage it, and he'd teased her about her favorite and most comfortable sweatshirt more than once. She didn't own anything that was flashy, and her overall personality was down to earth and humble. Learning that she'd managed all of that with less than humble beginnings only made Henry admire it about her even more. It showed strength of character, and that was important to Henry.
However, while Elizabeth herself showed no signs of her status, they'd been dating for some time and now, at spring break, she'd invited him to come home with her. It had been a big step for her; he could see it in the way she'd asked, and he wouldn't have dreamed of saying no when it was clearly such an important thing for her. She'd only recently admitted to him that her parents had passed away when she was a teenager, and so for her to be opening up another chapter of her life to him was not something he was going to screw up in any way. He was determined of that. Yet, as they drove along a tree-lined driveway that led to a house which Henry could have fit at least two of his childhood homes in, he had to admit he was intimidated. She'd assured him it wouldn't be a big deal; the aunt that she lived with wasn't even going to be there, and her brother would be leaving within the first couple of days for a skiing trip with his friends. They would largely be spending the week the same way they would have at UVA, just in a different setting. However, the setting was exactly what was unnerving Henry. He had never been exposed to anything quite like this, and he couldn't help but wonder in spite of himself what his dad would have to say about the whole thing.
"Here we are," Elizabeth said. "We'll unpack later; let's go see the horses."
He'd never seen her so excited. She was normally quite guarded, and seeing her like this was refreshing. As he got out and followed her across the grass, he tried not to gawk at the house or the impeccably maintained grounds around it. Elizabeth, meanwhile, seemed perfectly at home, and Henry tried to focus on that. Seeing her so happy made him feel warm inside, and he loved that he was able to witness that.
"Hi, beautiful," she was saying to the horse in the first stall by the time he reached her. She seemed so comfortable around them, and while they made Henry slightly nervous, he was strangely calmed by Elizabeth's ease.
He watched and listened as she animatedly told him about each of the horses in the stable, explaining their names and how old they were and which ones were good for which kind of riding. Her blue eyes were alight with joy and her blonde ponytail swished as she turned from the horse to Henry and back again rapidly while she gestured in emphasis. She looked so beautiful, afternoon sunlight shining on her skin and lighting up the lightest shades of her hair. He was captivated by her, as he always was, but somehow in those moments even more so than usual. He just remained silent, smiling at her as she explained it all to him, rambling on about trail rides and jumps and dressage and horseshoes. This was a new side of her, and Henry had very quickly decided that he adored it. This, he thought, might be his favorite side of Elizabeth. When she'd finished making her rounds to each stall, she ended up close to him again, on the opposite side from where she'd started, and she finally stopped talking long enough for him to get a word in edgewise, not that he'd been trying. He smiled, still didn't speak, and reached out to take her hand, pulling her close to him. There, framed in the doorway of the stable, he kissed her gently. She smiled against him and his hand rested on her hip, just at the waistband of her favorite jeans.
"You are incredible," he said softly, and she laughed. She pulled back to look at him, smiling up at him as her familiar ocean eyes met his.
"I'm so glad you're here," she said, and just like that Henry didn't feel so out of place anymore. It hit him suddenly, and hard, and he swallowed against the feeling that crept into him. It was as if, with everything that she was, every wonder that she incited within him, Elizabeth had become something more than he'd realized she was. She'd become home. With her at his side, Henry had suddenly realized, he felt like he was home, no matter where he was. He thought, in that moment, that he could have been anywhere in the world but as long as she was looking at him like that, he'd feel like he was right where he belonged.
"Are you okay?" she asked. He smiled brightly at her.
"Never better," he answered truthfully, because Henry McCord was quite certain he'd just kissed the woman he was going to marry and spend the rest of his life with.
"Okay," she answered with a smile. "You're looking at me weird."
Henry shook his head and kissed her forehead.
"It just makes me happy to see you so happy," he told her, and she couldn't help but smile at that.
"Well," she began, "you're about to see me even happier because we're going riding!"
Henry was unsure about that, but he just nodded; right then, he would have followed her to the ends of the earth, be it on foot, in a plane, or even on horseback.