Disclaimer: I still don't own. At least, not these characters.
A/N: And Della arrives. What happens? Are you nervous? I'm a horrible person and I realize that. I promise you guys a chapter soon and this is what happens! I'm so sorry. Finals have been literally killing me though. I have a little time now, so I'm going to post this and then go back to studying! I hope you enjoy!
Perry looked around the room and smiled. His party seemed to be going well. Standing in the entry hall he could see into the living room and kitchen. He saw Paul and Little Paul sitting on the couch in his living room talking to the two judges from San Francisco. He saw Eve and Nancy sitting at the kitchen table talking. He quickly glanced at the big grandfather clock in his living room and noticed it was noon. He frowned, but before he could think about Della not being here yet, the doorbell rang.
Perry walked over to the door and took a deep breath. He flung it open and was sure he stopped breathing. Thankfully, he was able to whisper, "Come in." He shut the door and turned around to face her. He knew he was staring, but at the moment he didn't really care. He leaned against the door and just kept staring.
Della returned Perry's stare, with a bit less intensity. She let a small smile grace her face noticing his reactions. He let his eyes run over her body and then just looked into her eyes. She stared into his eyes too, trying to read him. She could see regret, appreciation and a hint of love still present. She couldn't handle this right now, so she broke the eye contact and looked to the floor. "Hi," she whispered.
Perry collected himself a bit and cleared his throat. "Hello. How have you been?"
Della couldn't help it, she had to shake her head in amusement. She reconnected their eyes with a smile. "I think we covered all this on the phone two weeks ago."
Perry nodded his head. "Right."
They were both silent for a few minutes. Della looked around, but quickly looked back at Perry. "You do know everyone is staring at us, right?"
Perry smiled with a twinkle in his eyes. "Well, we might as well give them a show."
Della looked apprehensive. "What did you have in mind?"
"Nothing too drastic," Perry promised. "Do you trust me?"
"Always," Della responded, not really thinking about her answer. When Perry's expression changed, she realized what she had said. At the same time though, she didn't really want to change her answer. She could tell that he hadn't changed much, if any, over these three months. She also knew he would never do anything she wasn't comfortable with. What else could she say? She did trust him.
Perry nodded. "Good to know."
He quickly swept her up into a hug. She stifled a laugh and ducked her head into his shoulder as she heard a quickly concealed gasp come from the direction of the kitchen. She had missed him, and as much as she hated to admit it, she missed this.
"God, I've missed you. So much." Perry whispered into her ear before he released her.
Della pulled back from the hug and smiled. "I've missed you too." She wasn't going to reveal anymore right now and she knew Perry knew that. She also could tell he was okay with that. Admitting what she did was a step, but she couldn't not return the sentiment, especially when it was true.
Della laughed as she looked around. Everyone that had been staring quickly looked back to their respective companions, but she had caught them. She slightly shook her head, but kept looking around. "This is a really nice house."
Perry sighed. "I'm so glad somebody noticed."
Della frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I spent hours cleaning it yesterday," Perry revealed. "I was hoping someone would comment. I should've known it would be you."
Della chose to ignore the last part of his statement and focused on the first part of his statement. "Oh, please. Don't you mean your cleaning lady spent hours cleaning it? I have never known you to clean."
"Just because I didn't do it in Los Angeles doesn't mean I can't," Perry claimed with mock indignation.
"So your cleaning lady did clean it?" Della asked smiling.
"I don't have a cleaning lady," Perry told her. "I've only been here three months and I haven't found one as good as Lucy yet."
"I don't think you will," Della said. "Lucy was definitely one of a kind." She spared a glance for the house again. "I'm impressed. If you cleaned this all by yourself."
"So you believe I can clean?" Perry questioned, teasing.
Della smiled with a teasing lilt in her voice as well. "I'll have to see some other rooms before I make my final judgment."
Perry rolled his eyes. "My rooms can stand your test. Follow me, I'll give you the grand tour!"
As Della followed him to survey the rest of the house she noticed the smile present on her face. She tried to remember when she started smiling and she realized she couldn't. She was sure she hadn't been smiling on the cab ride over here, because the cab driver commented on her "long face." She hadn't been smiling when she rang the doorbell because at that point she was nervous. It must've been after she saw him, but she couldn't remember if seeing him spawned the smile or if teasing with him had spawned the smile. She was sure it didn't matter though. The fact that she was smiling and the fact that she could tease him must mean something. She wasn't sure she was ready to analyze what it meant at the moment. She decided not to think about it today. She was going to have fun at this party and agonize about it tomorrow!
What did you think? Was it everything you hoped for? LIB, I hope it restored your hope! So…if you read this, I would really appreciate it if you review! Thanks for reading though!