See, what happened was, I rode in a limo last night, and then my brain came up with this, so I wrote it, and that's all I have to say about that. I'm dedicating this lil piece of fluff to Jochi just bc I love her.

She's still a little angry with him. Less so than when he first came back, and considerably less so since he spent every night this past week doing a whole lot of groveling, though a good portion of that was more mutually satisfying than anything. She wants to not be angry with him, and she's tried very hard to forgive him for the whole thing entirely, but there's still that little voice in her head nagging her to hold onto the grudge until she can be certain he won't ever pull something like this again.

It's not entirely unreasonable, especially knowing what she knows now. She wants to share her news with him so badly, but she needs the commitment first. There would be absolutely nothing worse than getting a couple of years down the road only to realize he only stuck around in the first place was because he felt like he had to. It would ruin her. Ruin her far worse than it would if he just up and left right now.

So she keeps her secret as best as she can. She's gotten good at keeping things from him after all these years. Ironically, it wasn't until they got together that she realized how good she was at keeping things from him. But this is the last time. If she can just get the confirmation she needs, she'll be able to tell him, and she swears to herself she'll never keep another thing from him again. The only problem is, she doesn't have any idea what kind of confirmation she's looking for exactly. She just sort of figures she'll know when she gets it.

He's stuck to her side like glue since coming home. Part of her is slightly annoyed because suffocating her isn't really giving her time to sort anything out, but the other part of her, the part of her that knows she's only completely at ease when he's within arm's length, doesn't want to say anything that will drive him even the slightest bit away. She'd much rather be suffocated than alone, so she lets him hover and follow her around the office like a lost little puppy for a while.

On Friday, when they're having lunch on their little bench just in front of the building, he looks at her over a bite of salad and says, "I have a surprise for you."

"Oh?" she arches an eyebrow, not sure yet if she should expect something good or bad. With him, it's really always a toss-up.

"I felt bad we never got to go away for the weekend, and I know things are busy around here, so we can't go far, but I booked us a night in a nice hotel in Dallas tomorrow. We can drive up in the morning, do whatever you want for the day, spend the night, eat a nice brunch on Sunday, and then head home."

She stares at him, the corner of her mouth beginning to lift in a little smile, but he's not done.

"I made sure they had mints on the pillows and everything. If you don't want to, that's fine. I know you're still angry with me, though you're trying very hard not to be, so if it's too much too soon, I won't blame you. I didn't ask first because I didn't want you to have to worry about anything. Just know the offer is there."

"Thank you," she says softly, taking his hand and squeezing it. "Give me a little while to think about it?"

He nods, "Of course."

She doesn't need time to think about it. She decided before he was done speaking, but she figures letting him squirm a little wouldn't hurt. So she doesn't bring it up again, purposely ignoring him any time he tries to wiggle an answer out of her.

They head home for the night around sunset, and she tells him she's driving, so he fishes the keys out of his pocket and places them in her palm, hooking his pinky finger around hers in the elevator and taking advantage of the privacy to press a kiss to her hair. She smiles to herself.

As they drive home, she watches him stare out the passenger seat window, uncharacteristically quiet for their commute. He's been like that the past few days. She knows it's because he's feeling guilty. There probably isn't a single thing she wouldn't do to be able to bear even a portion of that guilt for him, but it isn't fair to herself to just let him get off scot-free every time he pulls something like he did. It will only make her resent him in the long run.

She steals several glances at him, hoping she'll get to see the moment he realizes they're driving to the Airstream and not to her house where they've spent the last five nights since he came back. As it turns out, she does and grins at the slightly confused look on his face when he turns to ask her what she's doing.

"I don't know how early you're planning on leaving in the morning, but I've had a long week and plan on sleeping in. I'm not getting up at 7:00 just to watch you drive for three hours to Dallas. You can leave me asleep in the bed, and I'll wake up when I wake up, got it?"

He smiles widely at her, leans over, and plants a kiss right on her lips before falling back down onto the seat. She doesn't even try to scold him for momentarily distracting her from her driving.

"You only have one change of clothes in the Airstream," he points out sensibly.

"I guess you'll just have to take me shopping then, won't you?" she shoots right back.

"I can do that."

When she wakes up in the morning she is, in fact, alone in bed and somewhere in the middle of the interstate. It's bright outside the windshield and she smiles to herself at the sight of the back of his head, golden in the sunlight. Quietly, she slips out from underneath the covers and pads over to him. She slides her arms over his shoulders, kissing his cheek and then resting her head next to his.

"Good morning," she whispers in his ear.

"Morning," he replies eagerly and, using one of his hands to bring hers to his lips, kisses her knuckles in response without taking his eyes off of the road. "I take it you got all the sleep you needed?"

"I did."

"I made tea, but it's probably cold by now."

"S'okay," she half yawns, kissing the corner of his mouth before detangling herself from him and stretching. "Gonna grab something to eat. I'll be right back."

After grabbing some of her yogurt from the fridge and a spoon from the drawer, she joins him in the front of the Airstream, sliding into the passenger seat and folding her legs under her. He glances quickly in her direction and smirks.

"What?" she asks, taking a bite of her breakfast.

"I like the outfit."

She looks down, having momentarily forgotten what she was wearing, at his button-up and a pair of white knee-high socks.

"Thanks," she shakes her head at him. "I wore it special with you in mind."

He chuckles at that but says nothing else, allowing her to finish her yogurt in silence.

"How far are we?" she asks once she's through.

"Just under an hour now, if you wanna get ready."

"I'll wait a bit," she decides, enjoying watching him drive on the open road.

This had been a wonderful idea, she thinks while staring at his side profile. Devoid of any interruptions or urgent work matters, she finds that it's much easier to forget how upset and lonely she'd felt only a little over a week ago.

They get to their hotel a little before noon. There's a fairly easy check-in, especially considering they really have no luggage to bring up with them. She smiles at the mints on the pillows and kisses him fully, drawing his arms around her waist at the foot of the bed.

"I'm glad we're doing this," she mumbles against his lips after a minute or so.

"Me too," he agrees and moves to brush a strand of hair from her face sweetly. "I've got something to show you."

"What?" she asks, glancing quickly around the room as though whatever it is might've been there all along and she hadn't known.

He laughs at her, "Not here. Downstairs."

Taking her hand, he leads her back to the elevator, and then into the lobby of the hotel, giddy with excitement the whole way. She sees it as soon as the front door is in view.

"Jane!" she gasps, turning to face him with a little bit of deja vu. "You rented us a limo?"

"I rented you a limo," he corrects. "I was hoping you'd be kind enough to allow me to tag along."

She shakes her head at him. He really never does cease to amaze her even after all this time.

"Well, it wouldn't be very much fun all on my own."

"That's sort of what I was banking on," he admits.

She drags him outside to their ride, his smile nearly reaching his eyes as he greets the driver.

"Where are we going?" she asks him.

"Well," he breathes out, "like I said, I rented it for you. We can go wherever you want to go."

She considers him for a moment, waiting for him to say he was kidding and in fact has the whole day planned for them. He doesn't.

"You did promise to take me shopping," she offers.

"That I did," he nods. "I hear Highland Park Village has some nice shops. Shall we?"

"Let's," she nods.

He relays this to the driver, then opens the door for her and gestures for her to slide in, which she does, and he immediately follows.

Highland Park Village, as it turns out, is a shopping plaza of luxury stores ranging from Anthropologie to Valentino and everything in between. It's a bit much, she thinks to herself, but he seems so excited to spoil her that she can hardly deny him the opportunity. She does feel quite ritzy flitting in and out of these stores with her arm through his and a pair of Tom Ford sunglasses perched on her head that he'd insisted on buying upon their arrival because he wanted to have lunch outside and it was just too bright to properly enjoy the meal otherwise. By the time the sun starts to set, they're a collective ten pounds heavier, and only one of the seven bags they're carrying contains an item she'd purchased for him.

They opt out of dinner at the plaza, having eaten quite a large lunch not too long ago, and instead decide to ask their driver to find them a nice little place with good ice cream. After enjoying two scoops each, they slide back into the limo, her head resting on his shoulder with a contented sigh

"Where to now?" he asks her, fingers brushing through her hair.

She ponders this for a second.

"Can we just...drive around for a while?" she asks eventually, having realized there's only one thing she hasn't gotten yet today that she's in dire need of.

"Sure," he says, then presses the little button that lifts the window between them and the driver so that he can communicate this to the other man.

Once the window closes back up, she looks at him and bites her lip.

"He can't see or hear us with that thing closed right?"

"No," he assures her, though his tone betrays his curiosity at the question.

"Good," she nods.

Then she sits up, turns around, and slides one of her legs over his. In one swift move, she's straddling his lap, arms linked around his neck, watching his eyes go wide.

"Now this is definitely not legal."

She raises her eyebrows, challenging him, "Is that a complaint?"

"No!" he nearly squeaks. "Definitely not. You know me and the law. We never have gotten along. It was you I was concerned about."

"Well," she smirks, leaning down and pressing an open-mouthed kiss to his jaw that makes him hiss softly against her cheek. "It's no fun playing by the rules all the time. You have to find a little wiggle room every now and then."

"I've been telling you that for years."

His hands find her hips and grab on tightly.

"So you're finally rubbing off on me," she shrugs, flicks her tongue against the hollow of his neck

"Took long enough," he manages with a bit of a grunt.

"On the contrary, darling, I think it took just the right amount of time."

She sinks fully onto him and he groans

"I love you," he says in an exhale.

She wraps a few of his curls around her fingers, "I love you more."

"I highly doubt that, dear."

"Wanna bet?" she whispers with her lips pressed just against his ear.

"Always," he growls, then turns and captures her mouth with his.

Yeah, she thinks as his tongue slides into her mouth and the pads of his fingers dig into her skin through her new silk sundress. This was a very, very good idea.