Sam lay with her head on Nick's bare chest, letting the gentle rise and fall caused by his breathing even deepen her relaxation at that point. She was utterly exhausted, but content to just be lying there with Nick, not sleeping but also not doing anything else at all. It was actually the first time that they were just lying there, not doing anything. All the other times they had been around each other as of late they had been fighting, and when that ceased, their fighting was replaced with intoxicating sex that proved that distance really does make the heart grow fonder. Sam couldn't help but smile at how quickly her life had changed; at first, she had thought seeing Nick again was a bad thing but now she knew it was for the best. She had been afraid he had lost all feelings for her and that they would never have anything ever again. Only time would tell exactly what they were going to have with each other, but right there and then things couldn't get much better.
"I can hear you thinking," Nick said, breaking the comfortable silence that had fallen over them for the last twenty minutes.
Sam smiled wider as he lazily played with her hair. "Oh yeah?"
"Yepp," Nick replied. "You're thinking about how badly you want to make me some pancakes. And coffee. And eggs and bacon."
Sam couldn't contain her laughter. "You might wanna work on your mind reading skills pal," she said. "That's probably the farthest thing from my mind right now."
Nick wrapped his arms around her tightly and kissed the top of her head. "Then you're gonna have to help me out here," he said.
Sam sighed and snuggled deeper into his embrace. "I was just thinking that I've envisioned seeing you again a million times, and I never thought it was going to end up going this well. Obviously it was hell at first, but it was worth it to get to here, don't you think?" she asked as she adjusted sso she had her head on the pillow next to his and could look at him.
Nick nodded with a smile. "This was definitely worth the concussion," he said.
"I wish that part didn't have to have happened," she said, still feeling guilty.
"I'm fine," he replied. "Plus, it made you in to stay and take care of me, which lead to this in general, so all in all everything was worth it. I just wish you didn't have to have gone through as much as you did to finally get back to what you deserved and what you wanted."
"What do you want?" she asked, cuddling closer to him by putting her hand on his leg.
"You," Nick replied.
Sam smiled. "I mean in general, about everything, like in life."
"You," Nick repeated. "I'm thoroughly convinced that I could have no job, no house, no car, and no money, but if I had you, I would still be completely happy. You're the only thing that I want because you're the only thing that I absolutely need to be happy."
"Well, you're not going to have me if you don't have a job, house, car or money," she joked, eliciting another smile from him. "I just don't want to barge back into your life and make you feel like I'm trying to change you or anything about you."
Nick shook his head. "I would never feel that way. I want you in my life to the fullest extent. My life improves by having you in it; you're the one that had a relationship and everything outside of here. I'm changing you more than you're changing me, and if you don't want that then-"
"Do you know why I was dating Jeff for so long?" Sam asked abruptly, cutting him off. Surprised by her odd question, Nick merely shook his head at her in response. "He had Klinefelter's syndrome."
"I don't know what that is," he said.
"It means that he's been sterile since birth," she answered. "So obviously he can't have kids. I dated him for so long because he was a really nice guy, successful, and was an absolute sweet heart, but at the same time knew that it would only ever be just dating. As messed up as it sounds, I was comforted by the fact that I would never have a family with him because I knew I wouldn't want to because he wasn't you. I always found myself comparing him to you and it wasn't fair to him, that's why I ended it. He had no idea, I never told him about you at all. I hated doing it, but I always wished that he was more like you until I eventually felt so guilty and had to end it because I knew the future I wanted wasn't the future I could have with him."
Nick wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. "I'm sorry," he said. "It is my fault," he added, anticipating her reply. "You should have had all of that for the last fourteen years, and you had it all taken away from you because of me."
Sam shook her head. "If, for argument's sake, that's true, then I don't care because I'm getting it all back."
"Are you sure?" Nick asked softly.
"This is going to be really hard," Sam replied honestly. "We're going to have to keep working at this every day but it's going to be worth it because we both know how perfect it can get. We've been through tough times together, and we've gone through tougher times without each other. But this is what I want, to go through whatever else life has in store with you. Whatever happens to me in the future, I want it to be with you."
"Are you scared?" he asked.
"No," she responded. "I'm nervous and excited, but not scared. Are you?"
Nick shook his head. "The only thing you do is make me happy. I'll die before I let myself or anything else mess this up again."
Sam smiled and kissed him on the forehead. "Good, now how about those pancakes?"
She slid out of bed and threw on Nick's previously discarded boxers and his t-shirt before heading out into the kitchen to get breakfast started. She had just gotten the coffee started and was about to turn around to get going on the pancakes when she was stopped by Nick coming up from behind her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her backwards until she was flush against his chest.
"I love you," he said quietly in her ear, resting his chin on her shoulder.
Sam leaned back against him, resting her hands on his. "I love you too," she replied, unable to hold back a smile.
They remained standing together, disregarding their coffee and pancake plans. They both knew that things would never get back to the way things were fourteen years ago, but they were both okay with that because they knew that being together was always going to be better than being apart. It was going to be a lot of work and a lot of things still needed to happen, but it would all occur in good time when the timing was right. A lot of things had changed in those fourteen years, but the one thing that had remained the same and would always remain the same was their love for each other, and they both knew that that was enough to get them through anything life threw in front of them.
Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! =)