Sunday night, long after she should have been asleep, Leanne laid in bed staring at the ceiling. With a heavy sigh, she rolled onto her side and flung her arm across Ethan's waist. He slipped his arm underneath her and dragged her across the bed until her body was pressed against his. She laid her head on his chest and hummed in pleasure when he started trailing his fingertips over her bare hip. Snuggling closer, she whispered, "I'm really glad you're staying."
"Me too."
Leanne shifted so that she was laying more on top of Ethan rather than next to him and propped her chin on his chest in order to see his face as she asked, "Really? Because there was a time when you wanted to get as far away from here as possible."
"That was a while ago," noted Ethan.
"You mean before us."
"Yeah."
"Yeah," Leanne repeated softly. She hesitated for a moment before telling him, "You don't have to stay just for me."
"I'm not," Ethan stated emphatically as he pushed Leanne's tangled hair away from her face. "I'm staying because I'm happy here. With you and my job at Angels and the friends I've made."
"Even Campbell?"
"Even Campbell. Most of the time."
Leanne chuckled half-heartedly at Ethan's attempt at a joke, but quickly grew somber. "Soooo," she began tentatively. "You don't want to redeploy anymore?"
"It's not that simple, sweetheart. I'm not actively seeking redeployment anymore, but I did a lot of good over there and I would be willing to go back if asked."
"You were asked."
"Ha!" Ethan scoffed. "The job offer wasn't real. My C.O. was trying to manipulate me into feeding his drug habit."
Reaching up to gently stroke his cheek, Leanne murmured, "Oh, babe, I'm so sorry."
Ethan covered her hand with his and turned his face to press a kiss against her palm. "Don't be. It's fine. Once I caught on, he offered to make the job real, but I turned him down."
"Why would you do that?"
"I told you, I'm happy here. I'm not looking for a reason to leave Angels, so I don't need to accept some pity offer." Ethan had barely finished speaking when Leanne pulled her hand away from his and lifted herself off of his chest. In one swift move, she swung one leg over his hips to straddle his waist. Stunned, he asked, "What are you doing?"
With a coy smile, Leanne replied, "I'm just showing you how glad I am that you're staying." She gave him a quick kiss, then started kissing her way down his body as she moved backwards toward the foot of the bed. Between kisses, she said, "And, hopefully, I'm keeping you happy, so you won't want to leave anytime soon."
"You don't have to do that," Ethan muttered weakly.
"I really, really want to."