Day 73

"So when exactly do we get to the makeup sex?"

She laughed and shook her head at him. It was so like him to ask about that, but she wasn't without thinking it too. Ever since he'd walked in the door, the sexual tension was off the charts, lingering between them like a mist. The physical side of their relationship never lacked, so being here and not touching him, it was slowly killing her inside, but she wasn't sure if they were there yet.

"Not tonight."

"Are you serious?" his jaw dropped a little. "I mean, this is a momentous occasion, I think we—"

"Did you sleep with anyone while we were broken up?" she blurted out, and she instantly regretted it because she really, really didn't want to know. Why would she ask that? If he had, it was his business, and she couldn't fault him for it. They weren't on a break like Ross and Rachel, they were actual factual broken up, and what he did in that time was his own business. "I'm sorry, you don't have to answer that, it's none of my business."

"Stephanie, no," he told her, "I didn't sleep with anyone while we were broken up. It was, however, the longest drought I've had for the past nine years, if you catch my drift."

"I still shouldn't have asked," she covered her face, but then felt him gently taking her hands away from her face. "What we did, it's like the Vegas things, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. So it's like what happened when we were broken up, stays when we were broken up."

"You can ask me anything about my time away from you, I won't hold anything back. I did meet a couple girls, but they were too young or too loud or too stupid or too not you," he told her, "and that's what held me back. You were the first one to cave and call me, but I was days, maybe hours away from doing it myself."

"Yeah?"

"Stephanie, we have problems, we're not perfect, but we work, and we work well. WE do great things when we're together, and it's always been you," he admitted so sincerely that she nearly stopped breathing. The genuineness of his eyes startled her. "Breaking up was the stupidest thing I've ever done."

"Me too."

"We should have talked instead of taking the easy way out."

"We should have," she agreed.

"And if you want to take this slow, if you want me to take you out on a date or something first, I'm more than willing to do that."

She didn't want that. She wanted him and she leaned across the couch to get at him. He smiled into her kiss, not because she was giving in, but because she was Stephanie, and she was getting what she wanted. She straddled his lap and felt his hands travel up her hips before resting gently on her waist. His hands were familiar with every part of her, but it'd been months since they'd been together, so it almost felt like they were exploring her for the first time.

She leaned her head to the side, giving him full access to her neck, and he feathered kisses all along her skin, causing her to moan softly. "What changed your mind?"

"Date," she whispered.

"You didn't want me to take you on a date?" he chuckled. "Wow, this is easier than I thought. Who knew you just put out like that…"

She laughed and faced him again, "I mean that dating sounds so…not us. We aren't dating, we're together, like we've always been, just with a few adjustments, and what's the point in acting like we need to get to know each other again? We've been together for nine years, we know each other."

"I thought we were new people now, changed people." She shook her head, her hair swishing her face so much that he had to push it out of the way in order to see her eyes.

"We're not new people?"

"No, we're just changing us," she told him. "We're still the same, as individuals, I think we're too old to change how we are completely. You'll always be a workaholic, and I'll always be a bigger workaholic that makes you look like a lazy bitch."

"Wow, we really do just fall into our old ways, don't we?" he didn't care though, and he cupped her face in his hands tenderly. "I'm not back a couple hours and you're already bossing me around."

"You had no direction for a couple months, I'm sure," she teased. "You were wandering aimlessly, right?"

"Right," he nodded, appeasing her just to see her grin. "I do still have Fozzy stuff though, but I'm going to try and lighten the load, at least for the next little while, while we work on things."

"Don't cancel anything you've already scheduled," she told him, and he raised his eyebrow. He'd been under the impression that she wanted him to lighten the load immediately. She shook her head as if reading his thoughts. "Keep what you have, just like I will with the company, and when things die down, as they usually do, we'll coordinate then."

"So does that mean you want us to like…be separate?" Now he was a little put off. Maybe she wanted to be together, but not really together, was she not inviting him back home? Were they going to go slow while not going slow? He didn't understand. He thought the entire point of this was to be together again.

"No, no, no, I want you back immediately. In fact, I'm taking the next few days off, we're going to California and we're getting those boxes and bringing them back home. I haven't tripped over your shoes in weeks."

"So…"

"I'm saying that we can't just back out of things when we're already committed, wow, did I just describe our relationship or what?" she laughed at her own realization. "I'm saying we work it out for now and in the long run, we work on what's best for both of us. I guess I have a competent staff who can run things while I'm gone."

"You guess?" he laughed because Stephanie did not think she had a competent staff, but only because she liked to be hands-on with everything, and she was a perfectionist (not that he could get her on that one because he was one too). Her staff was definitely more than competent, but not to Stephanie. She ruled with an iron fist, but also with a compassion, which was a strange combination that only this incredible woman could pull off.

"And I don't need to do everything for Fozzy, I have Rich who can pick up some of the slack, and I don't have to take every opportunity. We're doing well with how we're doing."

"So coming home then?"

"Of course, wild horses and all that," he nodded. "If you're willing to skip a Raw, we can go on Monday and get our things, only if that's okay with you." She nodded that it was. "Okay, well, if you'll give me a few minutes, I can let my other girlfriend know that she needs to vamoose."

"Stop," she pushed against him. "Oh, for the record, I didn't sleep with anyone either. I mean, sure, men were banging down my door, but I turned them all away and said not good enough."

"And I'm worthy? Awesome."

"Yeah, awesome," she echoed, leaning in to kiss him again. They hadn't yet reached a fervor with their kisses, so it slow and languid and exploratory. She sighed against him and pulled away only slightly to rest her forehead against his.

"Do you want to get married?" he asked her, and her eyes widened.

"What?" she was in shock. "Did you just propose?"

"No, I like to think I'd be better than that," he laughed, "but it needs to be a discussion, don't you think?"

"I thought it was a discussion we had three years ago," she reminded him of the conversation from long ago where they decided that marriage wasn't something they needed.

"We did, but that was the old us, we're the new us now, and I don't know, I figured, what if we did it? What if we just…not now, I'm not saying let's go get married, and I know we were fine with it, but maybe it's something we might want."

"Is it something you want?" she asked. "Have I been ignoring all the signals? Is that a reason why you left?" Now she was worried that perhaps she'd subconsciously pushed Chris away, making him think she would never marry him, but that wasn't the case. She would have, wait, she would have? But marriage was something they'd talked about and rebuked, but she would have? Well, sure, of course she would have, she loved him.

"No, it's not a reason why I left, don't be silly, we've been on the same page for that, but now it feels different, more permanent somehow."

"More permanent than nine years?"

"Yes because we spent time apart and look where we are," he pressed his hand back and forth between the two of them, not-so-subtly copping a feel in the process. "Maybe that means something. Maybe when we work out the kinks, it's a thought."

"It used to scare me, marriage and all that, and the pressure of my parents always got to me in a weird way. I just didn't want to do things their way, and marriage was one of those things, and I thought that we didn't need it, but…I'm open to it."

Over the past three years, marriage wasn't on the table, so she never gave it serious thought. Now it was right there, on the table, waiting to be carved up, and it was a little daunting, but exhilarating at the same time. If you'd told her two days ago she'd be in Chris's lap, discussing marriage, she might have started crying over how sad she was, but now she felt light.

He grinned, "Yeah?" He was probably lying about how he didn't think about it and that they were on the same page, she could see it in his face that he was probably lying about it, but he loved her enough to lie so she let this one slide.

"Yeah, I mean, I wouldn't say no if you asked."

"Good to know, good to know. We're moving forward, look at us, being so mature and everything, thinking about a future. And you know I don't care if we got married when we're 75, we both know commitment."

"We just need to work on the dedication," she told him, "so we're kind of sort of getting married in an indeterminate amount of time?"

"It would seem so." Even without the actual commitment of marriage or a proposal or a date or anything, it still felt very final for the both of them. It was almost silly, really, feeling committed after already being together for nine years, but they never did anything the right way, so why this? If this is what it took to be final, this is what it took. Everything they'd ever done together was in their own way, why not this?

"I should call my mom, wait, no, I shouldn't call her because she'll start thinking of color schemes, and next thing you know, I'm in a 20,000 dollar dress in a Victorian mansion with ice sculptures of our faces on every table."

"You can call your mom later," he kissed her again, deeper this time, his intent loud and clear. She pushed down against him, grinding slightly into him, which earner her a frustrated growl that there were so many layers between the two of them. He pulled her tighter against him, his hands tangling in her hair as she tilted her head slightly to give her a better angle at his mouth. "So do I get that makeup sex now?" he asked, his lips still brushing against hers with every word.

"Take me upstairs."