Disclaimer : The Harry Potter characters in this story belong to J.K. Rowling. Many thanks to her for letting them roam about in the world I created for a bit.
As always, thank you sooooooooooo much for your reviews.
CHAPTER 8 – You and Me
Before Ron was even two steps up the stairs on his way to us the toilet, he was once again lost in his own thoughts. He only slightly registered the fact that it was odd that Mark had said it was the next to the last door at the end of the hall when there was only one door at there. He groaned at how messed up his life had become in less than forty-eight hours.
It took him about half a second to realize that this room wasn't the loo and even less than that to notice that Hermione was standing just inside the door, topless and in the process of removing her jeans. Both of the former lovers froze in shock and stared into one another eyes.
Ron's eyes quickly went wide when he realized that his body was having the same reaction it'd had five years ago at the sight of Hermione topless. 'Oh, god, not now!' He quickly looked down as if staring at the bulge that had formed in the front of his trousers could rid him of the embarrassing reaction. He looked up again to notice that apparently Hermione had followed his line of sight because she was staring wide-eyed at the front of his jeans.
That sight only furthered to arouse him, making his current situation even more uncomfortable. He cleared his throat and when she made eye contact with him once again, he managed a sheepish grin before he said, "Hey."
Ron was shocked when she answered, "Hey yourself." Her voice was deep and lust filled.
He was even further shocked when Hermione began to saunter toward him, swaying her hips quite seductively from side to side. Her jeans were still resting low on her hips and her thumbs were hitched in the belt loops. 'God, she is so sexy!' was the only thought that went through Ron's mind as she came to a stop right in front of him.
She raised her face to look up at him with pleading eyes and said, "Excuse me."
'Huh?' Ron was taken back. Her voice had gone from deep and sexy to sounding like a little girl's. Ron jumped when he felt a tug at the back of his T-shirt.
"Excuse me!"
Suddenly he was lying flat on his stomach on the floor at the top of the stairs apparently tripping on the last step when he was startled. He sat up quickly and noticed that Emma was three stairs down from him, hands on her hips, giving the same disapproving look that he had received more times than he could count from her mother. His arousal caused by the images in his mind quickly dissipated.
"You're slow just like Danny," she huffed as she walked up the remaining steps and around him. Just as she was disappearing into a room near the top of the steps, Ron heard her mutter something about boys.
For a moment, he stifled a chuckle. 'Great, now I've got two women in my life that I can manage to hack off just by doing something stupid.' This thought wiped the slight smirk from his face and the chuckle quickly disappeared. He really didn't have any women in his life, not yet at least.
Ron frantically scrubbed his face with the palms of his hands trying desperately to rub his mind completely back to reality. It had been more than two years since he'd had one of those episodes where his mind lapsed into a very vivid daydream. Madam Pomfrey had told him that these "visions," if you could really call them that, were stress induced and were most likely just a side effect of the brain tentacles from the Department of Mysteries.
The matriarch had told him that much like the physical scars on his arms, these episodes would one day be completely gone; however, it would take them much longer. Before they had been visions of death and torture and despair. He had never had an episode like the one he had just had while ascending the stairs. Boy, his life was really fucked up at the moment.
He sighed loudly and then muttered, "Sleep. You need sleep!"
He rubbed his face once more, stood and then made his way toward the loo. It was apparently the room next to the room in which the men had left the two women alone. His heart clinched as he thought of how much pain Hermione must be in and how confused she was. He couldn't even begin to imagine how he would be handling things if it was him in that room with her. 'Thank goodness for Ginny. I've got to remember to buy her something really nice when we all get back home.'
Ron had just approached the door to the bathroom and was about to enter when he heard the knob rattle on the door to the room that Hermione and Ginny were in. He froze. Part of him was hoping that it was his sister emerging from the room. The other part was wishing that it would be Hermione to exit.
His heart broke as he watched Hermione leave the room. Her eyes were red and extremely puffy, and her nose was red as if it had been blown several times. She stopped when she realized that he was standing in the hallway watching the door expectantly. Immediately her eyes filled with tears again and he watched one trickle down her cheek before she took a shuddering breath and attempted to compose herself.
"Hello," she said softly as she quickly looked down at the floor.
Ron closed his eyes for a moment to quickly compose himself as well. He needed to tap into that Gryffindor courage as well as his Auror strength so that he could approach Hermione. She looked so lost and fragile. All he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and never let her go, but he knew that action would only startle her and would most likely ruin any chance he had at a much needed one-on-one conversation.
"Hey," he said softly as he walked toward her. She was still looking at the floor, but that didn't stop him from noticing that the lone tear remained sitting on her cheek. Before he could stop himself, he had ran the pad of his thumb over her cheek to wipe it away. She gasped and jumped back slightly.
"Sorry." He apologized quickly in hopes to rectify his stupid actions.
She gave a half smile and said, "No, it's okay. I'm sorry for jumping. I… I just wasn't expecting…"
"I think we need to talk. Just you and me."
Hermione who had been, once again, looking at the floor snapped her attention up to Ron. He hadn't planned on being so blunt. Thankfully his mouth had acted without consulting his brain, because by the small smile she gave him, it was what needed to be said.
"Yeah, but…" She broke off and once again looked at the floor. Ron studied her a moment and recognized the same things in her that he knew he was feeling. She was not only physically wiped-out, but emotionally as well. He figured that her "but" was going to be followed by something along the lines that she was really tired. He didn't know why she had decided not to continue. Maybe she didn't want to be rude. Maybe she didn't want to hurt his feelings. All Ron knew was that what they had to say to each other could wait a few hours.
"I know what you mean," he said with a smile forming. "I'm pretty beat myself, so maybe we could see each other tomorrow." Ron was happy that she was finally showing the first hints of a genuine smile. He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt as though something had washed over him and that they were destined to be all right. "Although, I am a bit disappointed that both Harry and Ginny have had their turn with you."
Ron watched as Hermione's small smile was starting to falter. He figured that she probably thought that he was truly hurt, and his Hermione hated hurting other people if she could help it. He was beginning to wish that he hadn't tried an attempt at their playful banter, or perhaps, had tried a better attempt, when he saw a light flash behind her eyes and her smile broadened.
Playfully she smacked his arm. "Honestly, Ronald. It's not fair to tease. I've had one hell of a day."
That was it. Everything seemed to fall into place. He quickly pulled her into a hug and was ecstatic when she returned the hug with just as much enthusiasm. He kissed her temple and whispered, "I've missed you, love, but we can talk tomorrow. You go get yourself some sleep."
He felt her nod her head in agreement then he reluctantly released his hold on her. "I have a lecture tomorrow afternoon that I have to attend, but if you want to come by in the morning, the house will be empty. Mark will be at work and Daniel and Emma will be at pre-school from eight to noon."
"I'll be here around nine o'clock then."
She gave him one last smile and a nod before she started down the hall and disappeared behind the door at the other end. Ron was still watching the door when his sister's voice brought his attention back.
"We've got a problem, Ron."
Ron sighed deeply. Of course they had a problem. There was always a problem. He shook his head in disgust as he cursed the Fates yet again. Would anything ever just go smoothly for him?
'----------
Hermione sat in front of her vanity mirror staring at the dark circles under her eyes. She looked a complete fright, but that was expected. Her life had been completely turned upside down in the past twenty-four hours.
When she had crawled into bed last night after hours of crying and attempting to process all the information that had been given to her, she thought that sleep would come easy. After all, she was completely drained, and indeed she had fallen right to sleep.
However, the sleep was far from peaceful because she kept having quite inappropriate dreams about the man she had learned was the father of her children. It was basically the same dream she had been having on and off for years about a red headed man making love to her. Last night, however, the dream went further than it normally did and the red headed man was Ronald Weasley.
Hermione ran a brush through her hair and quickly pulled it into a ponytail. Part of her wanted to spend obscene amounts of time on her hair and makeup so that she was looked stunning for Ron when he came to have their talk. The other part of her thought that she shouldn't even bother with trying to look appealing, because that would only give the poor man false hope.
She still hadn't made a final decision as to whether to believe everything she had been told yet, and as she had discussed with Ron's sister last night, she wasn't even sure if she wanted these memories back. What if they really weren't her memories, but were just a ploy to get her back to London. She wasn't ready to just willingly hand her life over to people that were complete strangers to her.
She was willing to accept the fact that magic actually existed. She was even willing to believe that she had magical abilities and so did the twins. That actually would explain some of the very odd things that had occurred over the last five years. However, she really wasn't ready to believe that she would just willingly allow someone to take her memories from her and turn her life into a farce shipping her off to a foreign country to live with complete strangers.
Hermione glanced at the alarm clock sitting on the table next to the bed and noted that Ron would be there any minute. She sighed at not having enough time to mentally prepare herself for his visit. She had gotten up late and had just barely gotten the kids to the school in time only to return home and find Mark still sitting at the kitchen table in his pajamas stating that he had no plans on going to work and leaving her home alone. It took her thirty minutes and finally an admission that she wouldn't be alone, to get Mark's arse up and out the door.
That left her fifteen minutes to get herself ready, and she had spent the last ten of those minutes staring into the mirror lost in her thoughts. Hermione took one last look in the mirror and hastily decided that she didn't want to look like death for her guest. After all, whether this man was really from her past or not, she was definitely attracted to Ron. She started quickly sifting through her makeup bag and began applying a light coat of foundation, neutral-colored eye shadow, and some lip-gloss.
She heard a knock on the door and took one final look in the mirror. She was far from glamorous looking, but at least now she was more presentable. She tossed her makeup back into its bag and headed down the stairs.
When she opened the back door, she was greeted by a wide, warm smile coming from a very rested looking Ronald Weasley. She couldn't explain it, but she suddenly felt very perturbed that he looked like he had been able to sleep well and she hadn't.
As he walked through the door and into the kitchen, Hermione teased, "I hate you, you know."
Ron quickly turned around and his wide smile had been replaced by a look of a little boy who had just watched his puppy get run over. He started sputtering completely incoherent sounds and was starting to turn a sickly shade of green, so Hermione decided that maybe she shouldn't make him suffer too much.
She walked passed him and headed toward the living room. "You look just too damn chipper this morning, and I didn't sleep worth shite last night."
He let out a laugh and she didn't even have to turn around to look at him to know that he was smiling that same brilliant smile that he had given her many times the evening they had gone for coffee. 'My goodness, was it really only two nights ago? It seems like it was another lifetime ago.'
"Well, for your information, I slept like shite last night as well. That's one of the little perks of magic…Glamour Charms. You should've seen me twenty minutes ago."
Hermione smiled and giggled a bit, and then the anxiety of the situation hit her. She took a seat at one end of the sofa and waited for Ron to sit on the other end before she spoke. "So, where should this conversation start?"
Ron gave a nervous laugh. "Why wouldn't you want your memories back?"
Hermione felt her eyes go wide. 'Well he definitely gets right to the point, doesn't he?' She looked down at her hands and started worrying with her fingernails. She had partially hoped that Ginny wouldn't share that particular piece of their conversation with the two men.
"Well…" Hermione took a deep breath. If she didn't want to make this situation worse than it already was, she needed to be completely honest. "I'm scared."
"Of what? What's so scary about knowing where you really came from and who you really are?"
"This situation is just so unreal. I'm scared that I'm going to end up getting hurt."
Even though she was still looking at her hands, she could see Ron's face pale. His voice quivered slightly when he asked, "Are you scared of me?"
She quickly looked at him and then the tears finally began to make their appearance in her eyes. Her voice was shaky when she said, "Yes and no."
Her heart broke when she saw through her own tears that his eyes had become filled with unshed tears as well. He didn't speak; he just sat there staring at her with pleading eyes .
"It's the unknown, Ron, that I'm scared of. Everything is so unbelievable but believable at the same time. But all that keeps going through my head is why would I willingly let someone do this to me."
Ron was shaking his head. "Hermione…"
She quickly broke him off and she said, "And if you really cared about me as much as Harry and Ginny said you did, why you let someone do this do me."
Ron gasped. "Oh, god, Hermione, I…I…" He was shaking his head and the tears were still sitting in his eyes. Suddenly he closed his eyes and one large tear ran down each cheek. He took one long, drawn out, deep breath and let it out slowly. He quickly wiped his cheeks and looked at her once again.
"Can I show you something? Something that will hopefully make you understand."
Hermione simply nodded her head in the affirmative and then watched as he stood, removed something small and square from his pocket and them sat back down. He placed the small thing that looked suspiciously like a box on the coffee table and tapped it with his wand while muttering something that Hermione didn't understand. She was shocked when the box grew to more than ten times its original size.
When Ron opened the lid to the box, her curiosity got the best of her and she stretched so she could see what was hidden inside. She didn't have to crane her neck too much to see, because Ron removed the item and sat it on the table next to the box. Hermione was completely fascinated with the basin that sat before her and the shimmering liquid that appeared to be inside it. "What is it?"
"This is called a Pensive. It allows a person to remove memories and place them in her for storage or for viewing by themselves or others."
"Does that have my memories in it?"
Ron smiled slightly and said, "No." He reached inside his shirt and pulled out a long gold chain that looked to have a vial attached to the end of it. "You're memories are in here. I've carried them around my neck every since the day they were taken from you. It will take a special type of Pensive to use to return your memories." He tucked the vial back inside his shirt and placed his wand to his temple. "I'm going to use this Pensive to show you one of my memories."
Hermione watched in awe as Ron muttered once again something that she had decided must have been a spell and pulled a smokey, silvery tendril from his temple slowly before placing it into the basin in front of them. He quickly stowed his wand away and closed his eyes, shaking his head slightly.
Hermione's concerned look didn't go unnoticed, because when he looked at her once again, he said, "Only the second time I've ever extracted a memory from myself. Makes you a little dizzy at first." He eased her nerves slightly as he smiled and scooted a little closer to her.
Hermione looked once again into the basin and watched as the contents were now swirling around slightly. "How does it work?"
"Just lean forward and look it. But you have to look very close, close enough that your nose just barely touches the surface. Don't worry, you'll be okay."
Hermione startled a bit when she felt Ron wrap his hand around one of hers but she didn't pull away. She nodded at him, closed her eyes and took her three calming breaths then opened her eyes and leaned forward. Just as she thought that her nose should surely be touching the liquid by now, she was suddenly falling. She was on the verge of screaming when she was suddenly standing in a field of tall grass.
Startled she began to look around quickly, trying to take in her surroundings so that she could discern where she was. She noticed that that countryside was beautiful, like something she'd never seen before. In front of her stood a large tree near a rather small pound. She could see a young man with red hair sitting with his back against the tree, tossing stones into the water.
"That's me."
Hermione screamed then turned quickly to see Ron standing next to her. Her heart racing all she could say was "Huh?"
"Sitting by the tree. That's me almost five years ago. This was my thinking, well actually brooding, spot. Up there…" Hermione turned to look where Ron was pointing only to find a rather odd looking building. "…is the Burrow. That was my childhood home. It's not much but it's home."
"Why are you showing me this memory?"
Ron simply grabbed her hand and intertwined their fingers. "Come on, I'll show you."
Hermione tried not to concentrate too much on the feel of her hand in his or on the feelings that were coursing through her just from his simple touch. He led her to the tree where his younger self was sitting and stopped but didn't release her hand. "Can't he, I mean you, see us?" she whispered.
Ron shook his head and in a normal voice said, "No, and they can't hear us either."
"They?"
Ron nodded back toward the way they had just walked and Hermione followed his eyes to see what he was looking at. She gasped and squeezed his hand a little tighter when she saw a younger version of herself coming down the hill toward them.
"You see," Ron began, "about thirty minutes ago there was a meeting in my mum's kitchen and an announcement was made about then plan to remove your memories." Ron stopped speaking and looked at Hermione with one finger pressed to his lips. He whispered, "Now just watch."
'----------
Hermione sat down in the grass next to Ron and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. She looked up at Ron who hadn't taken his eyes off the water of the pond. She adverted her gaze to the water as well and said, "You left awfully quick."
"Yeah, well, I couldn't really stand to listen anymore." Ron's voice was forced and laced with pain.
"Ron,"
"No, Hermione, don't. I…I can't hear it right now."
Hermione sighed and leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder. Ron, as though it was instinctive, wrapped his arm around her shoulder and hugged her close, still never taking his eyes from the water. They sat in silence for a few moments before tears were running down Ron's cheeks.
"Hermione, I've just got you. I can't lose you now. I can't sit back and let them take you away from me." He now appeared to be trying to hold back an all-out sob.
"Oh, Ron." Hermione whispered before she threw her arms around his neck and was pulled into his lap. They both sat crying and holding each other for some time before Hermione pulled away slightly.
"Ron, you know it's the only way. I'll be safe and when this is all over we'll be together again."
"But what if…"
"No, what ifs, Ron. It's been decided and I'm going to do this. If I stay, I'm going to be a liability and I'm not going to be the reason you get yourself killed."
Ron opened his mouth, surely to retort, but Hermione cut in once again.
"Don't argue Ron. You know if I stayed, you would do anything you could to protect me and that would just put you in danger. I've already lost my parents in this war; I am not losing the only other person I've ever loved as much, especially if I could've prevented it."
"But Hermione what if…"
Hermione quickly put her fingers to Ron's lips and whispered, "Please, Ron, I need to know that you support me in this. I need to know that you believe, because if you doubt that this will work, then I'll doubt and that could only end up with us both dead."
Ron swallowed hard and took a deep breath. He gently ran his fingers through her hair and then lightly down her cheek. "I'm behind you one hundred percent if that is what you want." Hermione simply nodded her head, again with tears running down her cheeks. "I love you, Hermione Granger."
Ron leaned in and pressed his lips to hers for a gentle kiss that quickly turned desperate.
'---------
Ron watched himself kissing the younger Hermione and felt his chest tighten. He knew that he should have protested more, but she had been right. If she would have stayed, she would've been a target and Ron would've thrown himself in the line of fire, so to speak, to keep her safe and that would've only ended up getting them all killed.
When he saw that the kiss was turning desperate and remembered where this memory was leading he once again spoke to the older Hermione standing next to him. "I think we've seen enough."
Hermione jumped and turned to look at Ron. His heart melted when he saw the tears flowing from her eyes, but she shook her head to agree that she'd seen enough. Ron wiped the tears from her face and suddenly they were sitting back on the sofa.
Ron put his wand to the Pensive, removed the memory, replaced it into his head, placed the Pensive in the box, shrank it once again and placed it back into his pocket. As he sat back down, he noticed that Hermione had her face buried in her hands. "Are you okay?"
Hermione responded with a hushed, "Yes," but didn't remove her hands from her face. Ron wondered if maybe that particular memory wasn't the best one to show her; however, she had wanted to know why he'd let someone take her memories from her.
Ron moved to sit next to Hermione and pulled her into a hug, much like the Ron in his memory had done that day under the tree. He placed a chaste kiss to the top of her head before he gently began to stroke her hair. He was shocked when her voice cut through the silence.
"Thank you."
Ron pulled back and looked down at her with quite a confused expression on his face. "Excuse me?"
Hermione, too, pulled back so that she could look him in the eyes. "Thank you for showing me that. After I learned about our relationship last night, I blamed you for this happening to me. I couldn't begin to understand why you would have willingly let me be put in this situation. I also cursed your existence a few times as well for leaving me a single mom in a strange country." Ron was about to protest that he had no clue that she was pregnant, when Hermione quickly continued. "I'm glad I got to see how you reacted, how much you really did care." She paused a moment and looked down. "I've always been quite stubborn, haven't I?"
Ron couldn't help the laugh that escaped him. He smiled and nodded and said, "Yes, you've always been quite stubborn. And bossy as well."
Hermione smiled before she laid her cheek against his chest. Ron had expected her to pull completely away from him, but he was pleasantly pleased that she didn't. He started the soothing touches down her hair and across her shoulders, reveling in the feel of her in his eyes again.
Once again, she broke the silence.
"I knew." She sat up a pulled slightly out of his arms so that she could turn her body toward him and look directly at him again. "When I kissed you, I felt it and I knew that we were connected in some way. My body was telling me that it knew your touch; that it craved your touch."
She gently ran her fingers over his brow and down his cheek. Ron closed his eyes to relish the feel of her touch. He had longed to feel those fingers caressing his skin again. He slowly opened his eyes to lock eyes with her.
"I need to feel that again." She gently grasped the back of his neck and pulled his mouth to hers.
As their lips met, Ron's eyes fell closed and lights exploded behind his lids. He wasted no time in pulling her into his lap. He knew that he had come her to talk to her; to try to convince her to allow them to return her memories to her. He knew that he really should stop his actions immediately and tell Hermione more about herself and more about him and why he need her to come back to him, but he was too lost in the feelings she was creating in him.
He ran his tongue lightly over her lower lip and they parted for him, beckoning him to deepen the kiss. He immediately complied. It was only a matter of seconds before their tongues were battling for dominance. It aroused Ron even more knowing that she was feeling as desperate as he was.
When she pulled away to breath, he moved his assault to her neck, remembering how much of a weak spot it had been for her the other night when they had begun a similar dance in her backyard. He was so lost in her moans and whimpers and the slight movement of her hips on his lap that he didn't even register that she had unbuttoned his shirt until he felt her hands on his bare chest.
He quickly pulled away to stare up into her eyes. They weren't only pleading with him to do the things that he'd only dreamed about doing for the past five years, her eyes were telling him the one thing he had longed to hear her say since finding her again two nights ago. For now, it was enough to see the love in her eyes; the words could come later.
She ran her fingernails over his chest and then lightly grazed her fingers over the vial lying against it. Hastily she resituated herself so that her right leg went over his knees and she was now straddling his lap. He pulled her mouth back down to his in a crushing kiss. She returned the kiss with equal fervor, but pulled away quickly.
Ron was just about to apologize for being so bold, when his words were lost as she pulled her T-shirt over her head and tossed it unceremoniously to the floor. A smile was just forming across his kiss-swollen lips when she undid the front clasp of her bra and let it fall off her shoulders and onto the floor.
"Beautiful," he said breathlessly before capturing one of her rosy, hardened nipples into his mouth. He was rewarded for his actions when she threw her head back in ecstasy and her hips started bucking against his arousal. He gripped her arse and ground himself into her as he assaulted the other nipple.
"Oh, god," she moaned. "Ron, please."
That was all the invitation that he needed. In one swift movement, he had flipped their positions so that she was now lying on the sofa and he was nestled between her legs. He worked frantically on the button and zip of her jeans and she helped him push them and her knickers down her hips. He rose up onto his knees and moved so that he could completely remove the last of her clothing.
He stopped to admire her body, noticing a blush starting to creep up her neck under his appraising glare. She was more gorgeous than he had remembered. He felt his hardened cock twitch in anticipation. "Absolutely beautiful," he whispered.
With one leg pinned between the sofa and his body, Ron watched as Hermione placed the other foot on the floor and then sat up, claiming his mouth in a searing kiss as she worked to remove his pants. Once she got them undone and pushed slightly down his hips, she shocked him by shoving her hand inside his boxers and grasping his aching cock.
This time it was Ron who threw his head back in ecstasy. His arousal was beyond painful and now it was being teased by Hermione's tentative caresses. He couldn't take anymore. He gently pulled her hand out of his shorts, pushed her away and stood, quickly pushing his jeans and boxers down his legs and stepping out of them before he pounced back on her, capturing her lips in the most heated kiss they had ever shared.
She quickly wrapped her legs around his waist and was attempting to pull him into her heat. He could feel how eager and ready she was and was about ready to slide home when a thought suddenly occurred to him. He jumped back up to his feet quickly and bent to retrieve his jeans from the floor.
His action was met with Hermione's trembling voice. "Ron?"
He turned to see that she had a look on her face that was a mixture of rejection and embarrassment. He quickly pulled his wand out of his pocket, mutter the incantation that he needed, threw his wand to the floor and then once again pounced but this time on a very confused Hermione.
He began kissing her once again, but when she didn't respond he pulled back to see a questioning look on her face. He smiled and answered her unasked question. "Contraception Charm. You know, a spell to stop, well you know."
Ron watched as realization flashed across her face. She smiled coyly at him and said, "Yeah, we don't want to forget that…again."
Ron returned the smile then attacked her mouth again with his. Quickly he was once again nestled between her legs and she was nudging him along with her foot against his arse. He broke the kiss only to reach between their bodies and position himself at her entrance. She caressed his face once again and nodded slightly.
They both gasped at the feeling as he entered her tightness. With his eyes closed, he stilled his movements for a moment to savor the feeling of once again being inside the woman he loved. He opened his eyes and watched her without moving until she did the same. With all his weight on one arm, he ran his other hand down Hermione's cheek and softly said, "You know, you and me, we're pretty good together." He waggled his eyebrows a bit and she blushed. He turned serious again and made the declaration his body had been aching to make since right around midnight two nights again, "I love you, Hermione Granger."
He watched as she took a sharp breath but then smiled at him. He was about to panic when he saw tears beginning to form in her eyes, but her words washed those feelings away.
"I…I love you too."
He crushed his lips to hers again and then their bodies were moving together and he knew that no matter where he was regionally, at that moment, he was home.
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