Wearing her oldest jeans, a t-shirt she'd pilfered from one of Adam's boxes, and her hair done up in a bandana, Kim sat in Adam's Dad's House - their house, she had to keep reminding herself - struggling not to wince at all the work left to do. The lease at the old apartment had come up and they'd moved right in but there was still so much work to do on the house to make it theirs; they were living in a limbo of boxes, half-painted walls, and old junk that had to be sorted out and either donated or shipped to Disco Bob down in Florida.
Despite the mess Kim sighed a little in contentment and leaned back in her chair, the paperwork she'd been sorting through lying forgotten on the table, set aside to ask Adam or Bob about later. Sunlight was streaming in through the windows and Kim allowed her eyes to flutter shut, tilting her face towards it. Adam hadn't overstated things when he'd pitched the idea of this house to her as the perfect safe place for Makayla, perfect for raising her, perfect for them.
Kim stood from the table and wandered down the hall, pausing at the doorway to the room they were slowly transforming into her perfect bedroom for Makayla, before continuing to the master at the end of the hall. The master she and Adam were still arguing about; the way she saw it, he'd bought the house so he should get the master while she took the other spare, Adam, ever-selfless, was insisting she take it.
Kim walked in and sat on the edge of the bed, but as her eyes fell on the open doorway of the walk-in robe, she found her attention straying to the safe inside. It wasn't anything special, sitting on the floor shoved in the back corner and Kim half-remembered Bob mentioning using it to hold the gun he kept, but now she wondered if there might be any other treasures hidden inside. She slipped off the bed and walked towards it, settling on the ground in front of it and putting in the code she'd found the other day.
The door opened with a click and without looking first, Kim reached inside, fingers closing around a small, velvet box.
Kim wasn't sure how long she'd sat there before there was a quiet, disbelieving chuckle to indicate that she was no longer alone. She twisted from where she still sat in front of the safe to find Adam watching her from the bedroom doorway.
"I almost forgot I put that in there."
He jutted his chin at the little velvet box still cradled in her hands, and she looked back down at it, eyes tracing over her old engagement ring.
"I almost got rid of it after…" Adam trailed off and cleared his throat. "Well, after everything, but my dad convinced me to put it in there instead. Seemed to think I might regret not keeping it."
Now Kim had to clear her throat, a lump of emotion making it hard to speak suddenly. "I'm glad," she managed to say. "I always loved this ring."
"Yeah? So I should hang onto it for a little longer?" he asked, the question innocuous enough but there was something hopeful beneath the words.
Kim carefully closed the box before leaning in and placing it reverently back into the safe, closing the door gently. Then she stood up and walked slowly towards him, Adam watching every step she took until she was right in front of him.
His arms came around her instinctively when she rose up on her toes and placed her hands on his chest, and for a moment she couldn't help but marvel at how safe she felt like that.
"Keep it for a little longer, Adam," she breathed, the words grazing his cheek as she closed the distance and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. They both lingered, their heads tilted towards each other, and once again hope swirled around them. They might not be there yet, she might not be there yet, but one day soon she thought she might be ready to wear that ring again. She just had to hope that Adam would be there to put it on her finger when she was.
I actually wrote and posted this fic on tumblr like two months ago but life being life has prevented me from posting it either here or since. Just a short little one to fill a prompt that someone submitted to me to celebrate 1k followers on tumblr. Hope you like it :D