“Kill me?” finishes Ned, with a raised eyebrow and a sarcastic expression.
Yeah, okay. Fair point.
“What is this place?” I ask, as I look around in bewilderment. There are cobwebs and dust in the corners. Did Ned just finishing cleaning this place up, and that’s what’s left? Or are they part of the spooky and dramatic theme?
Ned stubs out his cigarette. “An abandoned chateau. It was a vampire themed hotel for a while.” Ned shrugs awkwardly. “It tickled my funny bone.”
Suddenly, my mind comes back online and I rush up to him as all my frantic feelings blaze back to life.
“Thank goodness you are not asleep!”
Ned blinks. Then his gaze flicks down to the roses that I am somehow still holding. A beautiful pink blush tinges his cheeks.
My Ned. He is here. Right here and standing in front of me. Alive and not sleeping. I found him and I got here in time. It is the most wonderful thing ever.
“Umm…Gray, could you please give us a minute?” Ned stammers to the demon standing next to me. The one I had completely forgotten about.
Gray’s dark eyes slowly flick back and forth between us. “You are shy?”
“Yes,” says Ned inexplicably. I have no idea what we are talking about.
The demon huffs. “Make up sex is delicious.”
Oh, my god. Suddenly, I’m looking at my feet while my cheeks burst into fire. That’s why Gray is lingering? I really hope Ned doesn’t think I’m presuming anything is going to happen.
“He’s gone,” says Ned gently.
I’m still dying of embarrassment here, so I blindly thrust the roses at him. It gives me something to do while I pull myself together, and I do want him to have them.
Ned takes them graciously. I risk a peek and I’m just in time to see a beautiful smile teasing at his lips as he admires the flowers.
“I don’t have a vase,” he says.
“That’s okay,” I shrug.
Then I’m smiling too. Words are stupid. I think it is marvelous that we didn’t need the right ones to say, ‘I’m sorry,’ and ‘I forgive you.’ But I want to be crystal clear for this next bit, so I’m going to attempt to use the right words, in the right order.
“Please come home and be my boyfriend!” I blurt loudly.
A thousand emotions flow across Ned’s face. His eyes are practically aflame with them. He wants to, he really wants to. I can read that much at least, and it is making my heart want to burst with joy.
“There are a thousand reasons why I should say no,” he whispers.
There probably are. But life, and more especially, happiness, is far too fleeting to be worried about things like logic. We can overcome the downsides, I’m sure of it. I have to hope that the main reason he left and ran away to an abandoned chateau, was because he believed I didn’t want him. Now he knows that I do, everything else can be worked out.
All I have to do is to not allow Ned to convince himself our problems are insurmountable. He is a stubborn ass once he makes his mind up.
“A thousand reasons,” he repeats sadly, as if trying to convince himself.
“If I kiss you, and keep kissing you, you won’t be able to say any of them,” I say quickly. It really can be as easy and simple as that.
Ned’s beautiful eyes widen. He stares at me. His pink tongue pokes out and runs along his bottom lip. Then he nods, and that is all I need to see.
I close the short distance between us and lift him up into my arms. He squeaks, but then my lips are over his and his yelp of surprise turns into a moan of pleasure. His legs wrap around my waist, and his arms around my neck. The bunch of roses are squishing into the side of my head.
It is perfect. Just like he is.
I have my Ned, and my children, and it is everything I need.
