Wow, I just realised that my story is the longest one in the Green Mile-section. And I don't even know, when it's going to end :P I apologize for grammar mistake – summer has finally arrived in Denmark. It's 90 degrees here and my brain is melting!

Chapter 22 – A truthful morning

Before he was even fully awake, he was pleasingly aware of her warm body resting against his own. She was curled up like a kitten next to him, their legs entangled and the soft curve of her naked back gently pressing against his chest and stomach every time she breathed in. The feeling gave ham a heady sensation throughout his entire body, as if he had just scored the decisive touchdown in the game of his life.

Slowly he opened his eyes. His bedroom was bathed in the faint light of early twilight and through the billowing curtains he could hear the birds chirping. The hands on his alarm clock were resolutely ticking their way towards five thirty. Carefully, not to wake up Ellie just yet, he reached out and turned the alarm off, before it started ringing.

She stirred in her sleep and stretched herself out lazily, when he kissed her cheek. With both arms around her, he pulled her in tight and buried his face in the warm crook of her neck.

Ellie chuckled sleepily. "Hi."

"Hi yourself," he mumbled back huskily. Ellie enclosed the hand he had wrapped around her waist with hers and snuggled up to him.

"Is it really morning already?"

"Mmm…" he responded, faintly cognizant of the fact that it became harder and harder to ignore her shapely backside being pressed up against him, the more he slipped out of the sleep's hazy embrace. "Ten hours of work awaits, ain't we the lucky ones…"

Ellie yawned. "Oh, we should have gone to bed earlier last night."

"We were in bed early," Brutus reminded her, kissing her jaw. "But, you know, it doesn't help a great deal, if you don't sleep."

Ellie chortled. "No kidding?"

She turned in his embrace, so they were face to face. Popping herself up on one elbow, she reached out and brushed her hand down his chest, where the bruise had faded from purple into a colour palette of blue, green and yellow.

"Does it still hurt?"

He shook his head, not able to take his eyes of her. Even with her not-quite-awake-yet look and her hair a wavy mess, her lips begged him to kiss them and her twilight eyes were shining brighter than ever.

She smiled. "What?"

"You're the most perfect girl, I've ever know," he said quietly and before he kissed her, he saw her cheeks flushed pink like a sky at dawn.

"Your lack of female acquaintances is worrying."

"I was a quarterback once," Brutus said with a teasingly smirk. "I didn't lack a thing…"

"I'm not sure I want to hear the rest," Ellie said with a laugh and her palm moved across his chest to the old scar; her tender touch caused shivers of delight to move done his spine. "So, tell me what that due to a girl?"

"No, a bar fight." When she gave him an encouragingly look, he said: "It ain't a pretty story."

The corner of her lips turned upwards. "I'm not squeamish."

That was probably the last thing he would accuse her of.

"We had had a horrible game," he began "We had lost to our arch-enemies with just a single point because of a stupid mistake, so we decide to go drown our sorrows in whatever we could find at the local bar. But things got a bit out of control: Some of the boys blamed one poor guy our loss. They were quite drunk and it went too far. One of them smashed a bottle and I stepped in between. So…"

Ellie, who could sense where the story would end, winced on Brutus' behalf. "God, it must have hurt like mad."

Brutus shrugged. "I remember it there to be blood everywhere, but to be honest, I was a bit smashed myself… Unless that turns you off, then I did it completely deliberately without thinking of my own safety."

She gave him a warningly slap on his shoulder and he grinned and pulled her in for a deep kiss.

A floorboard creaked down the hallway, followed by a soft thud on the door and a whimper. Ellie raised her head, but Brutus, who knew the sound beyond recognition, groaned. "Go away, Bear."

The dog suddenly reminded him that the real world was waiting outside his bedroom and the thought alone was tremendously unappealing. He didn't want to leave this – leave her. A part of him even had a foolish fear, that the perfect moment would poop like a soap bubble as soon as he stepped outside…

"Aw, Brutus, how can you?" Ellie asked with a soft laugh, when Bear gave another unsatisfied cry and bumped his head against the door again. Brutus sighed heavily and removed the covers.

"He prop'bly has to pee. I'll be right back."

Ellie rolled onto her stomach and with his pillow crumpled up under her chin, she watched him put on his boxers. Brutus smirked at her.

"What are you smilin' 'bout?"

She hadn't even realised she had been smiling.

"I can't believe that marrying a cheating scumbag," she said warmly, "would turn out to be the best decision I ever made. I should send him a thank-you note."

"Don't forget Alice, now you're at it," Brutus said, half-jokingly and half seriously with his hand on the door handle. But it was true, wasn't it? If Alice hadn't killed her husband and brother-in-law, the left side of his bed were Ellie was now smiling at him, would be empty; she would still have been at the hospital and they would never have meet. Who could have known that the last two wonderful days, could be the result of something as bleak as a double-homicide and a divorce?

Brutus opened the door and grabbed the 150 pound canine by his collar, when he tried to squeeze past him.

"Oh no, forget it," he said, bundling the unwilling dog downstairs. "She's mine."

Bear had been infatuated with Ellie the moment she stepped out of the car. Thankfully, Ellie thought he was 'utterly adorable', even we he had nearly knocked her over in excitement and subsequently was glued to her side for the rest of the evening, until Brutus threw him out of the bedroom. He had acted annoyed about Bear's behaviour, but secretly, he was a bit relieved, that his dog (which meant more to him, that he would ever admit) had approved of her.

The morning was chilly, when they stepped outside. The sun wouldn't be up for another hour or so and the September sky was slowly fading from dark blue to almost silver. Brutus sat down on the steps on his back porch and watched Bear walk his round on the lawn and occasionally glare to Brutus' side to check if the coast was clear, so he could rush back up the stairs again.

"You were desperate for a pee, remember?" Brutus reminded him and with a snort, Bear gave up and disappeared behind the tree line that marked the border of Brutus' property.

Moments later he heard Ellie's soft steps on the porch. She squatted down behind ham and folded her arms around his torso in a loving embrace. Brutus closed his eyes, when she nuzzled his neck and kissed his bare shoulder and he slowly realised, that perfection perhaps was a lot stronger than a soap bubble.

"Is it always so quiet out here?" she whispered after a while, when the only sound that had broken the silence, was Bear rummaging in the bushes.

"If you don't count seedtime and harvest, pretty much, yeah," he responded, referring to the acres of fields surrounding his house as far as the eye could see; they used to be his, but he had sold the land several years ago to the neighbouring farms.

"Isn't it awfully lonely so far away from everything?"

"Not when you're here…"

"I'm glad you appreciate me lying for you," she said warmly and Brutus grinned. She had called her landlady from the prison with Brutus standing guard in the doorway. Oh, no, Mrs. Potter you don't have to. My superior insisted; with so much trouble in the infirmary, I won't be able to get out of here until midnight… Yes, trouble again… She had shot Brutus a significant look and he had a feeling it had been the same excuse she had given Mrs. Potter the night before, when he dropped her off. He lives only a couple of miles away and I can sleep in his guest room…

"I'll call her next time," he promised her, holding her arms close to his chest. "Tell 'er that I can't do without you in my bed…"

"Oh, don't you dare!"

oOo

Brutus made breakfast, while Ellie took a quick shower upstairs. When she stepped out of the bathroom, the air oozed with the smell of scrambled eggs, bacon and toasted bread; she wasn't surprise to find Bear in the kitchen, staring up at the hissing frying pan on the stovetop.

"What'd you want to drink?" Brutus asked, rooting around in the cupboard. "Coffee, tea, water…?"

"Tea's fine. Do you need help?"

"Nah, I'm almost done," Brutus said, shooing Bear away from the stove, so he could turn it off. Ellie looked around in the kitchen. They had been eating in here last night, but it had been late, so it was the first time she saw it in daylight. It was surprisingly big and – just like the rest of the house – minimally appointed. No knick-knack except a picture between the two biggest windows. Ellie moved closer.

It was an old portrait of a couple, around Ellie's age. The woman was pretty with thick dark hair, a warm smile and dimples. The man looked slightly familiar and it hit Ellie, that he had the same broad shouldered figure and strong jaw like Brutus.

"There," Brutus said, putting their filled plates down on the table. "Bon appétit."

They sat down with Bear curled up at their feet.

"Is that your parents?" Ellie asked, motioning towards the frame while they were eating.

"Yup."

"God, you look like your dad," Ellie said. "How is he feeling, by the way? Is he still sick?"

When he didn't answer, Ellie raised her head to face him. Brutus was moving the rest of his eggs around on the plate, looking sheepishly.

"I… should probably tell you something," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "My dad's heart is strong as an ox's, always has. It was something I made up."

"… What?" Ellie said, flabbergasted. "Why?"

Brutus cleared his throat uneasily. "Because I had to have a believable explanation to why I was acting so blunt around you. The real reason was that I was already head over heels in love with you at that time, but I couldn't exactly tell you that, now could I? "

"So you lied you father sick?" Ellie asked confused, not sure whether to laugh or be upset.

Brutus blushed. "I was desperate. I thought that if I just kept my distance to you, I would… stop being in love with you, but the idea backfired completely: Whatever I did, I couldn't get you out of my head and worse: I was hurting you and that was the last thing I wanted, so I had to make up a story, so you wouldn't know about my feelings."

He took in a deep breath and looked at her apprehensively. Ellie glared back at him, still not sure how to respond to the sudden truth. She should probably be mad – or at least a bit offended. But then she remembered that Brutus wasn't the only one with secrets… Her and Paul still hadn't told anyone about John Coffey, the glowing insects and the miraculously disappearing bladder infection. And she wasn't sure they ever would.

And how could she be mad at something, who had just admitted, they were 'head over heels' in love with her. No one had ever told her that.

"I'm sorry," Brutus said quietly. "And I don't blame you for being mad at me; that's the least I've deserved."

"I'm not mad," Ellie responded. "To be honest, I'm slightly relieved."

Brutus looked surprised.

"I knew, I guess," she said. "Well, not the part about your father, but I knew you weren't particularly honest with me, when you swore, your behaviour had nothing to do with me; I have been going around fearing, that I had done something unconsciously to put you off."

"Of course you haven't," Brutus assured her fondly. "I was the only one acting like a jerk."

Ellie kept her smile hidden and pushed her chair back. Brutus suddenly looked worryingly, as though he was afraid she was about to flee the house, so she caught him completely off guard, when she walked around the table and kissed him.

"I can't believe you gave your father a fatal illness," she said and reached for the teapot, "just because you were to shy to ask me out. I guess I should be glad that you didn't lied him dead; that would have been awfully awkward if I ever had to meet him."

Brutus smiled bashfully, when she poured herself a cup of tea.

"And just so you know it," Ellie continued matter-of-factly. "I would have gone out with you on the spot. If you had asked me that day in the execution room."

Truth was she would probably have said yes if he asked her out on her very first day. Not that she had had any romantic feelings for him then, but she had taking a liking to him the moment she first laid eyes on him.

"I bet you're jus' telling me that, so I can go around irking for the rest of the day," Brutus said and rose from his seat.

"Perhaps just a little bit."

He put his arms around her and kissed her on the temple. "I'm sorry," he said again.

"It's okay. We are here now. And you father is miraculously not ill anymore, so I guess this morning turned out to be pretty good after all."

"You're not gonna let me forget this anytime soon, are you?"

Ellie chuckled. "No…"

oOo

It was with lightened heart, that Brutus could walk upstairs after breakfast and get dressed. It hadn't been how he had planed to tell her, but he was glad it was out; now that he didn't had to go around fearing that she would reveal his lie at any second, he could concentrate on work. And perhaps more pleasant thoughts, like the fact that she had considered meeting his parents one day…

The sun was up and the beams reflected in the golden buttons of his uniform jacket, when he took it of the hanger. He adjusted his tie and buttoned up. When he raised his head again, he was surprised to see her reflection standing in the doorway behind him.

"Something wrong?"

She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "You know – I've always had a soft spot for men in uniforms…"

Brutus gave her reflection a cocky smile. "Is that so?"

She nodded solemnly, as he approached her. "Police men, soldiers, fire fighters…" She stroked the broad front of his uniform jacket and raised her head; her eyes were twinkling. "But I guess a prison guard isn't so bad after all…"

He kissed her softly.

"Yes," she said, returning his smile. "I do believe I could get used to a prison guard…"