A/N: We can dream.
Inspired by OC promo. Two chapters. Cross-Posted to AO3.
Review or I'll be high key bummed.
It had been a long 24 hours.
Long and dark.
But then the lights turned back on, and when he knocked, she realized the lights had turned back on elsewhere, too.
"It's over," he breathed into her hair. "He's dead. It's over."
"I'm so glad you're okay… That Bernie's okay," she replied, squeezing his middle and inhaling his scent.
"All thanks to you and your team."
"You saved the city," she said, looking up at him.
"Well, to be fair I also caused all of the issues," he said, giving a shy smile that made her laugh.
"Come in, wine has been poured," she smiled, dropping her arms from around him and letting her fingers trail his muscled abs.
The pair sat on the couch and talked.
For hours.
About everything.
They laughed and cried. Got mad and sad and reminisced about the good and bad times.
Held each other's hands and played with one another's fingers.
Found closure and spoke honestly for the first time since the warehouse so many years ago.
And when 1am hit, their goodbye was timid and long, and left them both with a burning desire and a void of sadness regarding what could have, and should have, happened.
The clock read 2am when she finally finished washing her face and getting ready for bed.
She'd just walked out of her room to do a final lock check on her front door when a soft knock startled her.
Approaching the door slowly, she glanced through the peep hole, breathing out a silent sigh of relief when she saw a familiar bald head.
"Hi," she said as she pulled open the door.
Her hair was now in a loose bun and her pajamas consisted of no bra, covered with an oversized t-shirt and the softest looking pair of leggings he'd ever seen.
"You're not drugged again are you," she teased, and he let out a soft laugh as he raked his eyes up her body, over the curves of her legs and hips; the mound of her breasts and peaks of her nipples, to her freckle-covered and brown-eyed face.
"I love you," he said simply, on an exhale of a breath.
His words hit her like a surprise wave on the beach, and she realized, as she caught her breath, that his cheeks were rosy, like he'd been outside for the 45 minutes since he'd left, and his eyes were red and watery.
"I almost died today, for like the 5th time in my career. And just like the previous four times… I only thought of you. How you'd react when you got the news. If you'd cry or rejoice that you didn't have to put up with my ass. If you'd miss me and how… how you'd never really know what you meant to me cause I was too much of a pussy to tell you," he said, taking a step forward that she matched with one backwards.
"So I'm here. And I'm telling you… I love you," he repeated as they walked deeper into her apartment and he blindly shut and locked the door, keeping his eyes trained in hers.
"I've loved you from the moment I met you. When I saw you in the pouring rain in that damn ball cap. When you'd look like hell from hours at the office, fighting for victims and survivors. When you'd get so mad at me and tell me to screw off… I loved you."
Her eyes were filled now, and her body kept walking backwards in its own accord until she was against her living room wall and he stood just three feet in front of her.
"I loved you when I'd wake up in the hospital from my near death experiences to see you holding my hand… when you saved Kathy and my son… when Gitano almost killed you. I loved you when you ditched me for computer crimes and then went undercover… when I thought you hated me. I loved you when I left you… when I knew you hated me."
He paused to take one step forward, his large stride putting one just two feet apart from the other.
"I loved you so fucking much when I heard you make Sarge… then Lieu and then Captain? I cried like a baby. When you got this award and I finally decided to come home and get my head out of my ass."
His next step forward put them a foot apart, and the scent of the outdoors mixed with his cologne filled her nostrils and made a bigger tear lump form in her throat.
"I loved you when my wife made me write that stupid letter… and clearly she did that for a reason," he shook his head. "I loved you when you accepted my kids, me, back like no time had passed. When it seemed like all I could think about was me.. fuck that's when I loved you the most."
He was inches from her now, tears escaping down his cheeks. "I've loved you for half my life, and I plan on spending the rest of it proving to you that I'm serious… that I love you and that… that I'm worthy of your love in return," he shook his head. "And not just yours, Noah's too."
His hands were locked into hers now and his forehead pressed against hers. "I loved you then. I love you now. And I'll love you forever. You're my world, Liv… and I… I'm done hiding that."
They remained like that, frozen in time for what seemed like hours and was in reality, 30 minutes.
Crying, holding… processing.
It was her voice that broke the silence and the slow movement of her head upwards that brought them back to reality.
"I love you too," was all she was able to get out before their lips and bodies crashed simultaneously.
She was against the wall, in the air before she knew what was happening.
Like second nature, her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck, while his instinctively fell to cup her plump and perfect ass, holding her upright as his muscles flexed against her.
Their minds tried, and failed, to keep up with the speed of their lips, and when his began to trail down the corner of her mouth to her jawline and neck, she finally spoke again.
"Bedroom... door at the end of the hallway."
TBC
