2021 DANVERS MA

My eyes flutter open as I wake, landing immediately, on the ring around my finger, the stone, glinting in the morning light. I still can't fully believe how quickly things changed last night. One minute I was saying goodbye to him, and the next, I was saying yes. I smile, feeling the familiar warmth of Bo's head tucked into the back of my neck, wrapped warmly in the sheets of my bed.

My mind wanders back to the night before….

I didn't want to take any focus off of Paul and Morgan, so Bo and I left the pool house and headed upstairs to my room, where music from the reception, filtered through my bedroom window. We kissed in the dark, frantically moving in feverish excitement, shedding our clothes to the floor, and not long after, I melted into his slow, gentle rhythm. After a while, his head fell breathlessly onto my shoulder and when I felt something more than the light sweat on his forehead, I turned on my side, taking his face into my hands.

"Bo? What's wrong?"

He quickly wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

"I'm fine, Sid," he said quietly.

I studied his face, and even in the dark I could see that his blue eyes were bright with tears.
"Talk to me," I pleaded.

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

"That's just the thing, Sidney. There's nothing wrong. You have no idea how fucking happy I am right now."

I feel Bo, stirring behind me. His fingers moving in slow sweeps across my stomach.

"Good morning," I say, quietly over my shoulder.

"Morning," he mumbles sleepily.
He warmly kisses the back of my neck, moving down between my shoulder blades, then back up, just under my ear. As he moves down the side of my neck, lips widely parted, I feel his tongue sweep across my skin with each kiss and I try to control my breathing. Pressed against me, I feel him, more awake under the sheets then above them.

Suddenly there's a knock on the door and Morgan pokes her head in.

"Sidney, I'm about to take a shower—OH MY GOD! Sorry!" She starts to duck out but then pops her head back in with wide eyes. "Wait—is that Bo?!"

I laugh, sitting up.

"Hey, Morgan, " he says, not moving, but waving in her direction. "Wait a minute," he says, as he sits up. "Who ELSE would it be?"

"I don't know," she says tilting her head, "Maybe the super-hot DJ, that was eyeing her all night."

"He wasn't eyeing her ALL night, I know that."

I shake my head with a smile.

"Aww, Sidney, I think he's jealous," she teases. "I just wanted to let you know, Paul and I are leaving soon. Don't forget about brunch over at the Burnham's."

"We'll be over in a bit," I say.

She looks back at Bo. "It's been a while since I've seen you. Why haven't you always had long hair? I love it! You look like a Disney prince."

"Morgan, I love you." He smiles. "But my dick, is definitely out, under these sheets, and this is getting weird."

"Understood." She gives him a thumbs up, and a smile, before closing the door.

I laugh into my palm, feeling his arm, loop my waist, yanking me back down, into the bed. I squeal, moving my hand away. He hovers over me with bright eyes and a full watt smile.

"Now, let's talk about this fucking, DJ."

"His name is Antonio," I giggle.

"Antonio, huh?"

I sit up, pressing my fingers into his chest, and he sits back on his knees as I move forward. I lean into his face.

"Yeah," I grin. "I guess you're not the only one after me, Burnham."

He flashes a wicked grin, turning me around, pulling me into his lap. I play, like I'm trying to escape, and he pulls me back tighter into his chest.

"I'll take em ALL out, baby doll. You're all mine, now." I hear him say. He kisses the back of my neck, picking up where he left off before the interruption.

"Oh yeah?" I say, sinking into his arms.

"Mmm Hmm." He runs his warm hand between my legs, and I lay my head back on his shoulder as he plays. I'm building fast and he lifts me up and back down onto him.

"Oh my god," I nearly whimper. I missed this so much.

"Hey Sid," he purrs into my ear, "lean over and grab the headboard, we're going to be late for brunch."

My insides ache as I attempt to get dressed, and I fucking love it.

"I forgot to tell you," I say, glancing at Bo, through the mirror of my vanity, buttoning his collared shirt. "Teagan finally had her baby."

He looks up with a horrified expression and dramatically crosses the room.

"Oh shit, Sidney," he says, leaning over my shoulder, looking at me in the mirror. "Should we call a priest?"

He, of course, is referring to my sock headed, demon baby rant of 2008. I toss a makeup sponge at him and he dodges it with a laugh.

We finish getting dressed and head downstairs. Morgan and Paul are racing around trying to get the last of their luggage packed up. She lets me know they'll be over soon and we walk across the yard to Bo's house. We head to the dining room where everyone's gathered.

"Robert!" Patty squeals, jumping from her chair.

"Hey, mama!" He says, throwing his arms around her.

"When did you get into town?" Samm said, coming from behind Patty, reaching out for her hug.

"It was late last night, guys, I'm sorry." He said hugging Samm, while fist bumping Pete over her head.

I suddenly feel someone grasp my wrist and turn to meet mom's wide eyed stare.

"Mom? What is it?" I ask, startled.

She raises my hand, glancing down at the ring and back to me.

"Is this?"

I smile and she glances over my shoulder at Bo. He smiles, raising his eyebrows, in a, 'I hope you're okay with this' way.

"OH MY GOOOOD!" She screamed, grabbing me into a hug. Everyone in the room, looks up wondering what the commotion's about, just as Morgan and Paul round the corner.

"What's going on?" Morgan asks, glancing around the room.

I look at Bo. He flashes his gorgeous full watt smile out to the room.

"Last night, I asked Sid, to marry me."

Mom raises my hand to show everyone. The room explodes with excitement and chairs squeal as they stand. Bo and I spend the next twenty minutes, being pulled into hugs and repeated hugs. Patty uncontrollably cries as she hugs me for the third time. My mom hugs Bo, patting his face as she speaks to him, although I can't hear it over the excitement.

Morgan pulls me in, "Congrats, baby sister. IT'S ABOUT TIME, BO!" She yells over my shoulder.

"Don't get sassy with me ,Morgan, I've been chasing that girl for over a decade!" He laughs.

"Let's talk bridesmaid dresses, Sidney!" Samm said.

"I don't care if you guys are getting married, you're still not invited to Christmas," Aaron grinned, patting Bo on the back.

"Shut up, Aaron," Bo, laughs, "That was nine years ago."

"Well I'm still recovering."

"Grow a pair, Paxton."

"Boys!" Patty warns.

Scott hugs Bo tightly. "I'm so proud of you, son. Best move you ever made."

The smile, tugging at the corners of Bo's mouth, over his dads shoulder, runs deeper than anyone knows. Scott turns, pulling me into a hug and then leans away, looking at me for a few moments. He smiles.

"Well, Sidney…Welcome to the Burnham's."

After a while, all of us stand out in the yard, waving as Morgan and Paul, pull out of the driveway, heading out for their honeymoon.

"Oh shit!," I say, glancing up at Bo. "I have a flight out to New York in less than an hour."

"You didn't realize you'd be gaining a fiancé in between flights?" He smiles, down at me, brushing his thumb over my cheek. "You need to be more prepared for these kind of things, Sidney."

I laugh, shaking my head. "Yeah, should've planned better I guess."

"Well, it just so happens, that I did think about it, because I'm better than you," he grins. "I've cleared my schedule for a while. Pissed a lot of people off. I'm all yours, Sid. I'm following you wherever you go."

Thanks to the type of work I do, mixed with technology, It wasn't hard to pick up and leave New York. Bo and I bought a small, but gorgeous loft studio on the outskirts of L.A, but we decided to renovate. So, for the time being, we're staying at his apartment in downtown L.A. It's here, that I'm basking in glory of one of the very few things I've never gotten to share with Bo. Domestic bliss..

Bo breezes into the kitchen this morning, where I sit, typing furiously away at a second draft of a screenplay, edging towards it's deadline.

"Morning, gorgeous," he says, heading to the cabinet and pulling out a mug. I look up. He's shirtless, blonde hair tossed haphazardly around his face, his black gym shorts sit low on his waist and I lose every bit of my concentration as I watch him pour a cup of coffee.

"Hey there," I say.

I sit back in the chair, trying to channel the sudden urge I have, to run my tongue across his skin, right above his waistband. I shake my head, trying to clear the thoughts. I have too much to get done. So, instead I decide to fuck with him.

"Oh, I need to run something by you."

"What do ya got, babe?" He asks, sipping his coffee.

"I was going over the wedding registry and we need to go over specific designs for hand towels," I grin.

He lowers his coffee, with a cold stare.

"I'm kidding!" I pick up my notebook nearby, "Talked with Bo about hand towel designs," I say, pretending to scratch it from the list.

He belts out a genuine laugh. "Shut it down, bitch."

"No but seriously," I say. "I'm picking up my dress today. You've joked a zillion times about how you're going to peek at it, but I know how you are. So, DON'T."

"I'm not," he says sipping his coffee. He lowers it, and grins.

I tilt my head, as a warning.

"I'm not, Sidney!" One second. He grins.

"Stop!" I fuss.

He puts his hands up, walking over to me, "Okay, okay. Seriously, I'm not okay?"

We stare in silence. A slow grin, creeps across his lips, right as he sips his coffee, and I kick at him. He spits his coffee everywhere, laughing like crazy.

"Dammit, Sid!" He brushes at his shorts, setting his coffee down on the table and pulling me out of my chair. He wraps his arms around my waist and his face is suddenly serious as he gazes down at me. "I mean this in the nicest way possible. I really don't care what the dress looks like. Because I'm never going to see it, past those gorgeous green eyes, Sidney."

A few weeks later, Inside, has been released to the public. Even though we obviously had earlier access to it, the conversation Bo and I had in New York, the night before I officially moved to L.A, quieted my curiosity for a while.

NEW YORK

We strolled down the sidewalk of, E 60th Street and into Serendipity's. I'd been hitting up my favorites, before permanently leaving for L.A. Bo had been walking on clouds of happiness, and chattier than usual, since we left Danvers. So, I sat, sipping on my frozen hot chocolate, in the whimsical pink and white eatery, while dreamily staring at his bright eyes and his ability to eat a half pound of whip cream, off the top of his own frozen hot chocolate. He had been talking excitedly for a while about a film, he and Pete Davidson were wanting to produce. I wasn't sure if it was the film or the sugar that had him so amped up, but either way. He was having fun, so I didn't care.

"Well, speaking of work things," I said, when he took a breath. "When do I get to see, Inside?"

His expression fell, but only slightly. If anything he just seemed to grow quietly thoughtful.

"Okay, here's the deal, Sid. You are more than welcome to watch it anytime you want. But, I'm not particularly ready to watch it myself. And It might be a while, before I am."

"Really? Why's that?"

"After you were gone, I really thought you were going back to Chris and for the first time, I genuinely believed we were truly over. Like, that was it—- forever. On top of that, I can't even express to you, how Elle dealt with me breaking it off. Luckily she went back to Maine. But that was after she screamed at me, and threw everything we ever owned at me. But that was nothing compared to her, literally crying on the floor at my feet. It was bad."

He glanced down for a few quiet moments and then continued.

"Basically, I finished Inside because it was literally the only thing I had left. And I'm fucking proud of it, Sidney. But I went to some dark places in my head. I'm just not ready to visit that again for a while."

"Bo, obviously that's perfectly fine. I understand," I said. But my heart was tugging pretty violently. I hadn't really given too much thought about how things went down with him when I left. We've been in a glow of 'happy' for weeks.

He reached out, grabbing my hand across the table, tilting his head, with a soft smile.

"I love you so much, Sid."

Since it was released today, Bo has been pulled into press circuits at several studios across L.A. I know it'll be late before he makes it home. So, after I shower, I slip on a tank top and little pajama shorts, grab a big blanket, and settle onto the couch to watch it.

I think, like most everyone else, I laugh and then I cry and I laugh again. Finally got to see Socko! RIP. But, basically from his birthday segment on, I fall to absolute pieces. While I was in New York, thinking he had let me go, and wanted to be with Elle, in truth, he was genuinely alone. Trying to survive it.

It's hours later, when Bo finally gets home. Luckily all the traces of my red, puffy, cry face, has diminished, but the heartache is still fresh on the surface.

He rounds the couch, for a moment he stops, smiling down at me nestled under the blanket.

"Why are you so fucking adorable, Sidney?" he says, sitting down and pulling my feet into his lap.

"How did it go?" I ask.

"Annoying. So, business as usual," he huffs a laugh.

I watch him lay his head back on the couch, pulling his hair back and something comes over me, welling up into my chest. It's overwhelming. I sit up and crawl to him, straddling his lap. I gaze down at his blue eyes, looking up into mine with dreamy adoration.

"I love you," I said, pushing my fingers, softly through his hair.

"I love you too, Sidney." He says softly.

I brush my fingers, across his jaw and his expression begins to grow concerned, as he watches my face.

"You okay?"

I nod, leaning in and sinking my mouth onto his.

He pulls back, "What's wrong, babe?"

I smile and repeat his own words. "That's just the thing. There's nothing wrong."

He pulls me back to his mouth, kissing me deeply. It grows heated, and his fingers, dig into my waist. I feel him, hard, between my straddled legs. I jump up and slip off my shorts, while he unbuttons, and once he's out and tremendously ready, I jump, back into the straddle, and sink deeply.

"Fuck.." he rolls his eyes. I usually struggle with his size, in this position. But tonight, I'm bottoming out, and swaying my hips around him, welcoming it all in, including the pain.

He digs into my back as I move, my skin breaking into a sheen of sweat. He suddenly jumps up swinging me, mid back, onto the arm of the couch. He sinks his palms onto my knees, spreading my legs wider, grabbing my waist, and going full throttle. My busy mind blurs as I watch him over me, furrowed brows, blonde hair spilt forward, lashing around his face as he moves.

"Oh fuck, Sidney," he cries, dropping his head onto my stomach. I feel the familiar warmth in his final push, and my release come crashing in, with a strength I've never felt, my body jerks in a way it never has. I gasp in the air around me.

It's one way to tell a man, he'll never be alone again….