"Can you believe it's been almost a year?" Ricardo asks, spinning his latest recovery chip between his fingers. "I... I never imagined I'd make it this far. Now we've lived in Pennsylvania for the better part of a year, I've been through rehab, and now I own my own wrestling school. And we have three beautiful children. It's wild. I never imagined this was even possible in my life."
Alicia hums and curls her fingers around his jaw, making him look up at her. "Yeah," she says. "I knew it was possible for you. You just needed enough people to believe in you, to have your back. You just needed a good support system. And now you have it, with people willing to help you and keep you strong."
"I'm so lucky to have found you," he says, wrapping an arm around her and drawing her closer. "You, Sofia, everyone at the rehab facility, the school. The kids. I'd be lost without you all."
"Feeling's mutual," Alicia tells him, her touch drifting down his chest. "I was in a rough place when we started to get closer to each other also, I was fighting addiction too, my career was spiraling, I was lonely and hurt. And now look at me. I have my fashion lines, I live in a beautiful home in Pennsylvania, I have my children, I have a handsome, loyal husband. It's amazing how happy I am."
"Me too," Ricardo murmurs, kissing her. "I never thought I'd be this happy. I was always so lonely and hurting. And yeah, I still have rough days, but even then I know you're standing there, waiting to support me, and hold me, and comfort me."
"Always," Alicia promises, brushing some of the hair out of his eyes. "And forever. I promise you."
He sighs as she touches him, pressing kisses to his face, his forehead, his cheeks, his lips. "I promise too," he manages to say as she settles, digs her knees into his hips, breathes heavily. "Alicia..."
Their fingers lace together and she smiles down at him. "I love you," she sighs.
"I love you too," he tells her, leaning back against the pillows and watching the faint light creeping through the drapes brush against her glistening skin, making her look ethereal as she gazes down at him adoringly. "So much."