"Hello?" he said, his voice gruff. He sat against his heels to make sure he didn't crush Lydia and ran a hand across his face as he listened to whoever had called. "Alright, we'll be back pretty soon. I'll tell her."

Arthur hung up the phone and tossed it on the bed next to him, sighing in frustration. He looked down at Lydia and just wanted to take in her looks for a moment, but the concerned look on her face told him she would ask what that phone call was about if he didn't say something.

"That was my dad," he said as he swung his leg over hers to sit on the bed beside her. "He said Arthur woke up, had a bad dream or something."

"Oh, god, I hope it isn't night terrors again," Lydia said after sitting up and bringing her knees to her chest. "Poor kid still struggles with that sometimes."

"I guess that means we gotta head back?"

"Yes, Arthur, that means we have to go back."

Lydia smirked as she got off the bed and gathered her things into the duffel bag on the floor, glancing back at Arthur suggestively as she left the room to finish packing. He chuckled as he followed her into the kitchen and followed her instructions on what food and drink to bring along.

On the way back to the house they had the radio turned up, singing – pretty badly – to classic rock. As soon as they got back Lydia was in mom mode immediately, going to the room little Arthur was in to make sure he was alright. It was only a few minutes before she was back downstairs and noticed Arthur had brought everything inside for her.

"Thank you," she said to him with a warm smile.

"What time do the twins go to school in the morning?" Arthur asked as he followed Lydia into the kitchen.

"I'll probably have to leave not long after seven. Hope you and your dad mind that I'll be up about 5am," Lydia said, turning to Arthur after putting the food they brought away. Arthur raised his eyebrows at her like she was crazy.

"I know I won't be awake then," he said, shaking his head. "But as long as no one wakes me up I'm good."

"Right, you said you'd be sleeping on the couch." Lydia smirked as she walked past him to get her bag with her clothes in it. "So, you gonna show me where I'm gonna be sleeping or what?"

"Right this way."

Arthur's bedroom wasn't much different than when Lydia lived in Amnesty Bay the first time. Which meant it was pretty plain and bare. She never understood how he could just stare at blank walls when they were teenagers – she had all sorts of posters in her bedroom that she would be ashamed of now as an adult.

"You know I couldn't possibly let you sleep on that tiny couch downstairs," Lydia said after digging her pajamas out of her bag. "You're, like, twice as big as that thing."

"You're not sleeping on it either," Arthur interjected. "You're a guest, and guests don't sleep on the couch."

"Then what do you suggest we do about this predicament?"

Lydia had a playful smile on her lips as she watched Arthur pretend to think for a moment.

"I dunno, man," Arthur said, playing dumb on purpose. "I mean, we could both sleep in here but that's a little inappropriate, don't you think?"

"Well it wouldn't be the first time," Lydia said with a sly smile, one eyebrow raised. "I mean, you go ahead and be uncomfortable all night. But I wouldn't kick you out of here or anything."

Arthur chuckled as he walked towards Lydia, but she held a hand out to stop him.

"I need to change. So, if you don't mind…" She gestured toward the door, and Arthur looked at the door, then at her with a goofy grin.

"As you said, it wouldn't be the first time," he mocked, standing his ground. Lydia just rolled her eyes and turned so she wasn't facing him anymore, nowhere near afraid of changing clothes in front of him.

"You know, you haven't changed much in eight years," Lydia commented as she was changing, glancing back at Arthur. Who was staring at her without even trying to hide it.

"Could say the same to you," he said. "Except for having those kids now, of course."

Lydia smirked when she turned to face him, putting her hands on her hips.

"If anything, those two made me a hell of a lot better person than I used to be. I probably would've ended up dead in a ditch somewhere if it wasn't for them."

Silence engulfed the room, and Lydia suddenly had no clue what to say to Arthur. She furrowed her brow at him when he started walking towards her, eventually stopping right in front of her.

"This is probably gonna make me sound ridiculous," he started, taking Lydia's hands. "But now that you're back, I wanna tell you. I… I loved you, Lydia. It took me years, and too many girlfriends to realize it, but I did. And I was going to tell you before you left for Boston. But for some reason I never could. I don't know if I thought it would make me look weak, or what. But I wish I'd told you."

Lydia looked away from Arthur, taking a deep breath to try to calm herself down. That wasn't a confession she was expecting from him. But she was glad he'd felt the same. She felt ridiculous trying not to cry, but she couldn't help it.
"Thank you," she said with a smile, "for telling me. I'm sorry." Lydia took a step back and wiped the tears from her eyes, trying to compose herself. "I feel so stupid."

Arthur pulled her into a hug and chuckled.

"Don't," he said, holding her close. "I just wish I'd told you that sooner."

Lydia nodded in agreement and stepped away from Arthur again.

"I need to get some sleep if the twins are gonna get to school on time tomorrow," she said, walking towards the bed. She wasn't entirely sure what Arthur was going to do, but she wasn't expecting to feel disappointed when Arthur left her alone.

Arthur went downstairs to clear his head for a while. Seeing Lydia again felt like getting punched in the gut – at first. In the years after she left Amnesty Bay, he admittedly had gotten into some stupid stuff at first. He never would've admitted that it was because Lydia was gone, but his father knew better. Two years after she left, it took him getting into a situation that should've gotten him killed to make his dad finally bitch him out enough to get the point across that he needed to man up and move on with his life. That's when he started helping people. At first it was little things – saving a person from drowning out at sea during a storm, rescuing a kid from a rip tide, things like that. But it wasn't long after that that people started recognizing him more for what he was doing. He started seeing himself on the news for saving a research team among the icebergs of the North Atlantic or saving a fishing vessel off the coast of Alaska. He was surprised that Lydia hadn't said anything about seeing him on the news – eventually everything about his was on the national news, and that's when he was dubbed the "Aquaman."

Close to one in the morning, Arthur finally decided to go to bed. Despite how forward he'd been earlier, he was nervous about being so close to Lydia, especially so soon after seeing her again. She probably knew he was nervous about it, too – she had a way of knowing exactly what he was thinking even with his outgoing personality. After going upstairs, he paused at the door to his bedroom, close to changing his mind and sleeping downstairs. He shook his head, wondering why he was acting like a teenager with his first girlfriend, and opened the door. He wasn't expecting Lydia to be awake, but she was reading a book by the light of the small lamp in the room.

"Finally decided to sleep in your own room, huh?" she said with a smirk when she noticed him, marking her place in her book and setting it in her lap. Arthur shrugged, unable to stop the smile forming on his lips. He moved to close the door but thought better of it.

"What happened to going to sleep because you need to be up early?" Arthur asked with a small smirk as he sat on the edge of the bed.

"I couldn't sleep," Lydia answered simply. "I'll be okay getting the twins up, though."

Lydia could tell Arthur was unsure of himself, and that rarely happened with him when they were younger. She watched him as he stood up and went to the small dresser in the opposite corner of the room. She looked away when he started changing clothes, wondering if he was purposefully messing with her because he knew she would probably end up staring at him. Instead of staring, she tried to continue reading her book, but eventually couldn't help stealing a glance. Of course he was going to be sleeping beside her with no shirt.

"Ya know, if you're trying to mess with me it won't work," Lydia said, going back to her book.

"Who said I was?" Arthur asked in a mischievous tone. Lydia could feel a blush creeping up her cheeks as he sat close to her in the bed and she tried to stay focused on her book. Why did he have to be so distracting?

"You didn't used to be so annoyingly distracting," Lydia said with a sly smile.

"Well, you just said I am, not me," Arthur quipped. When he spoke next, he was right by Lydia's ear. "But if you think I'm being distracting, then I guess I'm doing something right."

Lydia turned to look at him slowly, her nervousness growing when she realized his face was inches from hers. She looked him in the eye and smirked, a plan forming in the back of her mind. Setting her book down slowly, she turned her body to face Arthur fully. She leaned forward, like she was going to kiss him, and he fell for it easily. Just before their lips made contact, Lydia grabbed his arms and jumped on top of him, pinning him down.

"What the hell?" Arthur said as Lydia started laughing.

"I knew you were gonna fall for that," she said.

"Oh, that's how it's gonna be?"

Arthur had a determined look in his eye, and Lydia knew she probably should've been worried about that. Before she even had time to think he had her pinned down and she glared at him.

"Not fair," she said with a fake pout. "You're way stronger than me."

"You started it," Arthur retorted. He let go of Lydia's arms and she crossed her arms, still fake pouting. Arthur sat up, still straddling her, and had a cocky grin on his face. "You should know by now that I'm gonna beat you in a fight."

"You wish."

"Is that a challenge?"

"Well not right now. It's after one in the morning. I have to be up soon."

They just stared at each other, Arthur still with that cocky grin and Lydia smirking at him. She suddenly sat up and Arthur lost his balance but was able to roll back over onto the bed. He chuckled at Lydia, now sitting up beside him and she was grinning at him. Without warning he sat up and tackled her, but instead of falling back on the bed Lydia tried to dodge him and they both landed in the floor with a hard thud.

"Ow," Lydia said through laughing. Arthur was laughing, too, but he was worried he'd hurt her since he landed right on top of her.

"I hope I didn't hurt you," he said through his laughing. Lydia just shook her head as her laughing died down, and just stared at Arthur. She hadn't expected to be right back where they were before she left Amnesty Bay, but she was glad they were able to pick up where they left off.

Suddenly Arthur bent down and kissed her, making her gasp in surprise. This gave him the opportunity to kiss her even deeper, tangling one hand in her hair. She rested her hands on either side of his ribs, but she was also losing her breath quickly.

When Arthur finally broke the kiss, he immediately picked up Lydia and set her on the bed gently, climbing on top of her. When she stopped him from kissing again, he gave her a confused and slightly hurt look.

"If this goes any further," Lydia said, sounding breathless. "I don't want the same thing happening as last time. If you know what I mean."

Arthur nodded in understanding and reached over to the nightstand drawer.

"Got you covered," he said with a vicious smirk.