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not beta'd

storyline - Sultry (last chapter)

prompt - craft

Skinny dipping in the dark feels like something I'd have done drunk and as a teenager. It's so much better like this, though.

Edward's mouth is hot against my neck. I cling to him, horny and a little nervous because we can't see what's in the water around us. He moves against me, his hands grasping tighter and tighter.

"I want you inside me," I whisper, holding his face to mine.

"Not here… too cold…" he mumbles, slipping his tongue in to my mouth. We make out for awhile.

Then something splashes further out in the lake and we scramble out, panicked and snickering.

"You used to do this as a kid?" I ask, only mildly hysterical.

Edward tosses me a towel. "Yeah. It was different back then, somehow."

"Childhood's crazy, man."

We dry off and once we're dressed, walk back to his grandparent's house.

It's been a long day.

Not bad, but emotional. I've seen Edward run through the gamut of emotions over the past year, from deceptively calm to blubbering drunk to angry and distant. Some days it was like it was all he could do to get out of bed, and other days he craved so much physical release that by the time we'd fall asleep I was sore.

Nothing prepares me for the quiet stoicism of today, though. I don't know what I expected at Masen's memorial – tears, maybe?

Maybe he hasn't any left.

Maybe he feels like he needs to be strong for his parents, and the rest of the family.

Or maybe after a year he's able to deal a little better. I don't know; I've never lost anyone I was that close to.

Edward's pretty in touch with himself, but I want to make sure he's not turning his feelings off or ignoring them. I tell him as much.

He shakes his head. "No. I just… try to process it as it comes to mind. I can't let it overwhelm me. You saw Tanya… she's still having such a hard time coping and I can't be that person. It'll eat me alive." He pauses, sitting next to me on the bed. "It doesn't make me a bad..."

"No, it definitely does not," I agree, pushing his hair from his face. It's shaggy, still wet from the lake.

"Are you glad you came?" he asks. He's asked before.

"Yes. It's been good for me. I hope…"

Pulling me up, he steps closer and takes my shirt off. "What?"

"I hope I can come back."

He freezes. "You know I'm in this for good, right? I don't do this with just anyone. You're…"

Now I'm the one to prod. "What? I'm what?"

"You're it for me."

My eyes feel warm, my chest feels warm, and my cheeks feel warm. He makes me this way. I wipe at my face and look down. I need a second.

"Hey." He wraps his arms around me. "I want you to come back with me some time. My grandma already loves you; she'd love nothing better than to have us here."

There is a point in every relationship when things go from the joyful day to day to the promise of a future together. I'd sensed the shift, but hadn't felt ready to verbalize it because I didn't want to rush things. I enjoy what Edward and I have. But to hear him break it down like that, to know now beyond the shadow of a doubt that he wants to craft a life together with me?

"I am so grateful you were brought to me," I say, taking his shirt off. I want the feeling of skin to skin, shared body heat.

"I'm grateful for you, too," he says. Easy going and slow, the rest of our clothes come off, interrupted by kisses and caresses. We make love with a sweet frenzy; it's too hard to go slow when there's so much passion in our hearts.

Long after he has fallen under, I lay and stare sleepily at the shadows the trees outside cast on the wall. Edward's hair tickles my breast as I hold him close, and his even breathing starts to lull me to sleep, as well.

I'm glad he fought for this, and that we chanced it. It could have easily gone bad, but it didn't, and I cannot regret how we got here. I would have been all right alone. But it's so much better with him.

thank you so much for reading this, and for trusting me to tell the story the way i thought best. you guys are incredibly insightful and kind in leaving me your thoughts. i appreciate it like, whoah! also, thanks for understanding that i can't really respond these days. i feel like a lame-o, sucking up reviews and hardly ever answering, but know i am deeply appreciative that you take the time. one day i'll have the time again too!

tomorrow starts a new WitFit storyline...