Chapter Two

Jaime sat by the little lake for a long time. The sun had risen high in the sky and begun its downward path in the west, and Steve still hadn't returned. Jaime feared he had gone for good. She wasn't sure what she'd have done if the roles were reversed. She feared she had killed something basic and necessary between them, and for what? A dumb, useless fling with a man she barely knew and liked even less. Her behavior was so out of character that she had stunned herself almost as much as Steve. She would fall to her knees and plead with Steve if it would help him decide to stay, but how could she ask his forgiveness when she couldn't forgive herself?

"Jaime?" His voice echoed the pain welling up in Jaime's heart. She ran to meet him and practically dove into his waiting arms. "Sweetheart, I'm so sorry; I should never have left you alone for the whole day. We were supposed to -"

"No," she interrupted, "you haven't done anything to be sorry for. I'm the one who did something so horrible...Steve, I love you so much, and I'm sorry I hurt you." Jaime wiped the tears from her eyes and tried to smile at him. "You are all that matters to me, and I will do anything - anything - to prove that to you."

"You don't need to prove anything to me, Jaime."

"To myself, then. I know I've killed your trust in me, and I'm willing to start back at square one and earn it back, if you'll just give me the chance to -"

"Jaime..."

"I need you, Steve." Jaime swallowed hard, then went on. "But this decision is yours to make, and I'm ready to accept whatever you think is right."

"Sweetheart, when I was out walking, I realized something. Yes, we've been back together, but there was never any agreement or any kind of commitment between us, so you didn't do anything wrong. You were free to see anyone you wanted to see."

"You're making excuses for me again, and I don't deserve that," Jaime insisted.

"No, I'm not. It's not possible to break a commitment that isn't there. Our only tie to each other has been the past we shared together."

"That's a technicality -"

"Jaime, I want to change that. I don't want to own you or put you in chains, but I want to go back to us belonging only to each other. You just told me you're willing to accept whatever I decide? Well, what I've decided is that our lives have always been intertwined for a reason. We're supposed to be together, and...Jaime, let's get married."

"What?"

"Coming so close to losing you, I realized there is no one else in the world I can even imagine spending the rest of my life with. I love you with all my heart. Let's get married, now. Tonight."

Jaime kissed him, long and hard, drawing him closer than they'd been in a long time.

"Should I take that as your answer?" Steve asked, smiling broadly.

"Take it any way you want it, as long as you take me, too."

END