Day Nine

She spent the whole day in bed again. She couldn't fathom losing Chimney again, and she couldn't process her feelings for him.

She wanted him. She wanted his love. She couldn't go another day without being able to tell him that.

What if, in the final timeline, if there even was a final timeline, he still died? And they'd never kissed, beyond the one in the firehouse that he wouldn't remember?

What if she never got to feel that closeness with him? What if she never got to tell him how much he'd meant to her?

She couldn't fathom it. Maybe she'd been focused on the wrong thing all along. She was getting unlimited time with Chimney, if she knew how to use it.

Day Ten

At noon, she walked into the firehouse. Chimney walked to greet her, as he always did. "Hi," he said, smile on his face.

"Do you believe in deja vu?" Maddie asked, smiling in return. She still felt anxious, she still felt the weight of everything on her shoulders, but in this moment right now, she was going to enjoy it. She was going to enjoy the look of Chimney, the smile on his face, the touch of his hand.

"How do you mean?" He asked, lips quirking in a smile.

"What if I told you that I've been living the same day in a row for over a week?" She asked. "Could you ever believe that?"

He blinked slowly, and folded his arms. "I don't know," he said. "I mean, I guess. Stranger things have happened. This universe is a pretty weird place. So...what's been happening on this day?"

"I fail," Maddie said simply. "Doug comes back and I fail."

The smile fell from Chimney's face. "What do you mean?" He asked, voice somber.

She bit her lip, and now the smile was gone from her own face. Those memories, of Chimney never waking up...she couldn't face those. "The man you think is Jason is actually Doug," she said. Chimney flinched at her words, opening his mouth to speak, but she held up a hand. "I ask you out on a date and every time Doug finds us out. I think you can guess the rest."

Chimney looked troubled. "So you know about Jason," he said slowly. "Not that I was hiding that I knew him, but...what?"

She held up her phone, the picture of Doug from that event pulled up. "This man," she said simply. "You know him as Jason. The rest of the world knows him as Doug."

"That's not possible," Chimney said, looking sick to his stomach. "Maddie, I am so, so sorry. This is all my fault."

"How is it your fault?" She asked. "I never told you what Doug looked like, I never told you not to befriend strange men. How did you two meet?"

"At Christmas," Chimney said, shaking his head. "He helped me pick out the tree and then I lost my wallet and...oh god, he is probably the one who took my wallet."

Maddie could piece together more information now. "It's not your fault," she said, wondering how she could remain so calm right now, but the past ten days had been such a peculiar brand of hell that it was getting hard to phase her. "Doug targeted you, and he manipulated you. That's what he does. That's what he's best at. Why do you think no one back home suspected anything? Because Doug is perfect at playing the charmer, the good guy, the great husband."

"I'm sorry," Chimney repeated, but Maddie reached out to place a hand on his arm.

"I have lived through hell these past ten days," she said simply. "And it made me realize one thing. I-" have feelings for you, am head over heels for you, adore you, but no, she wanted to lay it all on the table "-love you. I do. I love the way you smile when you see me, and I love your spirit and your giving heart, and I love how pure your soul is, and how you have given yourself up for me every time without a second thought, and I don't know what I'm going to wake up to tomorrow, but I know that I want to spend every second of this day that I have with you."

Chimney's jaw had dropped, and she could see the emotion on his face. "Maddie," he began, stepping closer.

"I know it's too much, and I really have zero expectations right now," Maddie insisted. "You don't have to say anything or do anything but I had to say it."

He shook his head, placing his hands on her arms. "I love you too," he said simply. "Now let's go figure this thing out. Let me talk to Bobby, he owes me one."

"No, you don't have to," she began, but he shook his head, his hand tightening on her arm.

"Yeah, I do have to," he said. "We're going to solve this, okay?"

"Okay," Maddie said, nodding her head.

Within fifteen minutes, Chimney had pulled some strings with Bobby, and they were in her car, driving to her apartment.

"Okay, the first thing we need to do is come up with a code word," Chimney said, sitting on the couch in her apartment.

"What do you mean?" Maddie asked, pacing. Just having Chimney here, just the ability to loop him in on her plan, it was everything. It was calming, it soothed her soul to have him there.

"So if this doesn't go to plan," Chimney said simply. "We've established that you are the only person carried over into the reset, and if we were to take a picture or write a letter explaining it or anything like that, it would just disappear, so we need a word or phrase that you can say to me that I will instantly believe."

"I mean, you believed me pretty quickly already," Maddie said, her lips almost curving into a smile. Chimney smiled gently in response.

"I did," he said. "But the principle still stands. Okay, something that you wouldn't know is my mother's name, Jee Yun."

"Jee Yun," Maddie repeated slowly. "So I just need to tell you that?"

Chimney rubbed his hands together, thinking. "Tell me that Jee Yun would want me to believe you," he said. "And I'll know on a deeper level that you must be right."

She nodded, unable to look away from him right now. He was standing in a patch of sunlight in front of the window, and his tan skin was glowing. His brow was furrowed, serious, concentrating, and Maddie wondered what else he was thinking about.

"We need to figure out who we're telling," he said. "Well, you. Who are you telling?"

"I have to figure out things with Athena and Stevie," she said, explaining that whole situation. "I don't know what to do, I've tried it multiple ways but somehow his dad always gets ahead of us."

Chimney nodded, and Maddie felt a lump grow in her throat. She wanted a response from earlier. He'd said he loved her as well, and that was crowding out the other thoughts. She stood up, pushing her hands nervously over her pants, smoothing them. "Chimney," she said, swallowing. She could feel all the words wanting to spill over. If I die, if the permanent timeline is my dying and you living, I want to have felt your hands on my skin. I want to have been with you.

She wondered if he could somehow read her mind, because suddenly the air in the room felt too heavy, and he was staring at her as well. He took a step, and she matched it. They were slowly walking across to each other.

Maybe it was the fact that she'd now held his lifeless body in her arms, maybe it was the fact that she now had had a forcible reminder of how fragile life was, but when Chimney reached for her, she didn't hold back.

Their lips touched, and Maddie could have cried from how good this felt, how pure, how right. His hands were cupping her face, like she was delicate, like she was precious to him. She clung to him, deepening the kiss, pressing her body ever closer to his.

He stumbled back at how urgent she was, placed his hands gently on her waist, and then pulled her down to the couch with him. Their lips didn't part, and Maddie found herself climbing on top naturally, straddling him.

And then, a slight pause. Maddie pulled back, looked him in the eyes. "Are you okay with this?" She asked. She knew she was acting differently from usual. She knew this was highly irregular, and maybe Chimney didn't want to do this, but his chest was rising and falling, and his lips were swollen, and his eyes were so smoky that she couldn't breathe.

"Definitely," he said, nodding. "Are you?"

"Hell yes," she said, and leaned down to kiss him again.

His hands were on her waist, gently resting there, but when she started to kiss his neck, they started to move upwards. He was hesitant, as if waiting for her signal, so she placed her hands on his, guiding them up her body. "Nothing is off limits right now," she panted, feeling his erection beneath her swell at the words. "I want you to touch me everywhere."

She leaned back a little, only so that she could pull at his t-shirt. "Can we take this off?" She requested, and Chimney had it off in seconds. She was finally able to feel his warmth, to touch his sculpted abs, to clasp his arms. She wanted to worship his body, take her time just feeling how alive he was, how warm, how real.

"My turn," Chimney said, his voice a gasp, and Maddie pulled back. His hands were at the hem of her shirt, and his eyes turned to her face with a question. She mimicked him from earlier, just taking the shirt off. "Maddie," he whispered, the word turning in a hiss when she went ahead and unhooked her bra as well, in one smooth motion.

She could feel his dick beneath her, and she rubbed against him in a gesture that made them both moan. His hands went to her breasts, cupping them, holding them, his thumbs scraping over her nipples. "Maddie," he repeated, and leaned forward.

She didn't know how to process his mouth sucking at her nipples. She didn't know how to process the way his tongue swept over them, or how he left her nipples puffy and sensitive and very much needy for more. She didn't know how to process how good it felt to be touched like this by a man like this. It was everything. Doug had been her first, and it had not been a great experience. Sex with Doug had been anything but gratifying and pleasurable.

This. This was what sex was meant to be. Breathless, aching, pleasurable, generous. It was meant to be partners who cared about the other's wellbeing. It was meant to be loving and careful.

It was meant to celebrate pleasure, not take it away.

She had never experienced something like this, yet her body felt ready. She'd always expected her first time having sex since Doug to be awkward and painful and scary. She'd expected to be riddled with insecurities, and terrified of fucking up, and she didn't know if it was the fact that she expected the world to reset again after tonight, but she was leaving all of her fears off the table. She had literally nothing to lose, and everything to win.

"Are you sure?" She asked, breaking away from him. "You won't remember this and I just need to know that you want this."

Chimney's head was still bent over her breast, and his fingers played with her nipple still, making her gasp in pleasure. He slowly raised his eyes to meet hers. "It doesn't matter what timeline we're in," he said easily, leaning to press a long kiss to her neck that made her whimper at the sensation. "I would say yes to you and to this moment every single time, Maddie."

He stood up, and she knelt up on the couch to meet his lips again. His arms wrapped around her, and he was lifting her, taking her to the bedroom, laying her back on the bed.

Their gazes caught, and Maddie began to undress the rest of the way, peeling off her jeans, sliding her panties off and kicking them away. She could feel his eyes on her body, on every revealed inch, and he moved to copy her, but she interrupted him, taking over. Her hands fumbled at his belt, pulled at his zipper, and finally he was stepping out of his jeans, and she was faced with his boxers. She wanted to take them off, but the adrenaline had dialed back, just a bit, just enough for her to be nervous, but Chimney seemed to sense her feelings, pulling her back to her feet, bringing her lips to his. His hands cupped her face, and brought her back into the moment. She clung to him, only wanting this moment. She wanted to always know the heat of his body, the smooth caress of his touch. Her heart was aching, knowing what tomorrow would bring, and she knew that it would break her to wake up, but right now, this was all that mattered.

She slid his boxers down, and they climbed back onto the bed. His fingers slid between her thighs, skating over the soft skin until she was moaning. They were slowly making their way north, up to the apex, but he was taking his time, keeping his eyes on her face, making sure she was still okay with this.

Maddie moaned when his fingers glided into her, her body jerking at the new sensation. He was taking it slow still, waiting, but she grew impatient, moving her hips down, and his fingers slid deeper into her. "Chimney," she managed to gasp, the words ending in a hiss. He paused, his eyes studying her face, and she wanted to cry out in frustration. "I liked it," she said, forcing the words out. "Please touch me like that more."

"I just wanted to be sure," he said, leaning down to kiss her again. She looked into his eyes, her hands coming to cup his face, and she just held him there for a moment.

"I want this," she said. "Please."

She didn't have to ask again. His fingers started to move inside her, finding the nub of pleasure that lit her whole brain up, made her whole body shake. She clung to him, pleading incoherently for something only he could give, and when her body shattered, he was the one who pulled her back together only long enough to make her break again.

She clung to him, pulling him over her, letting his weight settle on her as she held him to her. "Chimney," she whispered, holding him as close as possible. "I want you inside me," she said, her mouth barely an inch from his ear.

"I want that too," he said, his voice a muffled groan, and he got back up. "Do we need a condom?"

The moment didn't end, but it paused. "No," Maddie finally said. "If I wake up in tomorrow, I'll deal with it then."

He looked at her, face somber, and she could feel reality beginning to come back. That couldn't happen. She couldn't let it happen.

"Please," she repeated, and he nodded, moving between her legs, positioning himself.

"Are you ready?" He asked gently, and she nodded.

"More ready than I've ever been," she said, the words ending in a hiss when he plunged into her. He went slowly, and she could see the look on his face, the way he was biting as his bottom lip, trying to hold back.

She didn't want him to. She moved her hips up and forward, meeting his every movement in a way that made him moan aloud, and now the pace was picking up, now he was slamming into her, and Maddie clung to him, praying this moment didn't end.

But end it did. Chimney finally came with a gasp, pouring into her, and Maddie found herself coming back to earth. He lay next to her, his arm over her, holding her close, and she felt tears threaten. She only felt grief in this moment. The catharsis of finally holding him, finally feeling loved in this way, had left behind a deep wound at the knowledge that this would all end, that he wouldn't remember it the coming day. That Doug would come, and break their paradise.

She clung to him, the sobs overwhelming her, and she cried into his arms, unable to stop herself. She couldn't do this again. There was no way she could do this again. She hadn't gone into work, and she knew that somehow things with Stevie were wrapped into this whole timeline, she knew that it was another something she had to solve.

She couldn't face waking up the next day. Chimney started to move, as the tears slowed, but Maddie clung to him. "I can't let this end," she whispered, voice broken, and he nodded, his hand stroking her hair.

She stared at the room past his shoulder, trying to process, but as they lay there, she suddenly knew what she had to do.

"The world is going to reset," she said, and she felt him nod against her. "And I have to brace myself for that, but I'm not going to let this moment end a second before it has to."

Chimney pulled back, his eyebrows creasing in a frown. "Maddie, we haven't finished planning," he began, but she shook her head.

"We aren't going to," she said. "I know what I have to do."

He looked at her, really looked at her, and he slowly nodded.

"Do you trust me?" She asked, and he took her hands in his.

"Always," he told her. She moved forward, and their lips met.

When the world reset, Maddie was still in his arms, her belly full of chinese food, and her heart filled with love. She wasn't going to let Doug win, and no matter what happened the next day, she was going to beat him once and for all.