The impulse to reach out and touch her began to be too strong for him to resist. He knew she had just left a relationship, but he needed to touch her, to let things be like they once were, and he guessed that maybe she needed it too. Slowly he pushed her hair away from her face and, with his thumb, gently caressed her cheek. Her lips parted into an even smile, her eyes sparkling with excitement; just the way they always used to, he thought to himself.
"Whatever happened to us Ric?" She asked. His heart skipped a beat. She meant it, really meant it. For an instant his whole world stopped and all there was was him and Diane, eternally together bound by love.
"I don't know, but I'd like it… back." That's it, he'd said it and now nothing could ever go wrong because he'd actually admitted it and there was a chance that she wanted it too. She looked at him with a puzzled expression for a few moments before she allowed what he said to sink in. It hadn't been a dream, nor had she miss-heard him. He had really said it.
"We were so perfect," she finally commented, looking deeply into his chocolate brown eyes. It was neither misleading nor seducing, just a comment and that's how she wanted it to be, as she was still unsure.
"Yeah, but then I was stupid enough to propose," he added. Her heart twinged, she hadn't meant to hurt him, if she'd have truly thought about it then perhaps she wouldn't have done. Perhaps things would have been completely different, but they weren't and she couldn't go back and undo that.
"It wasn't a stupid idea, Ric," she said, hoping it would console him but she could still see the pain in his eyes. It was obvious that he'd never truly get over their original parting. "I just wasn't ready for that," she tried again. She would never have lied to him though; it just wasn't something she'd ever been able to do.
"Now are you ready?" he asked taking her hand. He looked lovingly into her eyes, just as he used to. He spoke softly with a tone of real care and compassion, just as he used to, and most of all he smiled like he used to. She hadn't seen him smile with such real emotion in a long time and, she noticed, she missed it. Yet, despite all of this the question alarmed her greatly; though she had missed all of those things she knew she couldn't launch herself straight into marriage. Everything about him made her heart race and her body shake, he made things in her head confused. She had quashed these feelings for so long just to be with Owen, and yet she knew she was not ready.
"For what?" she asked, her voice trembling ever so slightly.
"For us," he whispered, stroking the palm of her hand gently with his thumb as he remained holding her hand. Her heart began pounding instantly and butterflies fluttered around in her stomach. The word us was another thing she had missed. She had heard it from Owen of course, but it sounded different from his tender lips. He had not mentioned it in a long time. Not just the word or the meaning, had she missed, nor the feeling but the actual physical side of the word, the powerful force behind just two letters.
"Yeah actually… I am." She whispered, running her hand along his soft cheeks.
