"Really?" She turned to look at him. "I thought you'd be more confident by now."
"Confidence and certainty aren't the same thing." Sebastian traced patterns on her shoulder, his touch light. "I'm confident that I love you. I'm confident that you love me. But certain that it will last? Certain that I won't ruin it somehow?" He shook his head. "That kind of certainty takes time."
"How much time?"
"I don't know. A lifetime, maybe."
"That's a very long time."
"It is." He pressed a kiss to her hair. "But I can't think of a better way to spend it."
Harriet was quiet for a moment. Then she shifted, propping herself up on one elbow to look at him.
"I'm going to try," she said. "To be less guarded. Less defensive. To let you in properly, without all the walls I usually keep."
"You don't have to change who you are."
"I'm not changing who I am. I'm choosing who I want to become." She touched his face, her fingers gentle. "I spent seven years being angry and closed-off and alone. I don't want to spend seven more the same way."
"What do you want?"
"This." She gestured at the room, at him, at the space they had created together. "Partnership. Honesty. Someone who sees me clearly and loves me anyway."
"You have that."
"I know. I'm still getting used to it."
Sebastian pulled her down and kissed her, trying to pour everything he felt into the gesture, love and hope and the fierce determination to be worthy of her trust.
"We'll get used to it together," he murmured against her lips.
"Is that a promise?"
"It's the most solemn promise I've ever made."
She smiled, and the last of her walls crumbled, and they fell asleep in each other's arms while the rain washed the world clean outside.
***
Sebastian woke first.
The rain had stopped, and pale morning light was filtering through the curtains, casting soft shadows across the bed. Harriet was curled against his side, her hair spread across the pillow, her breathing slow and steady.
He lay there, watching her sleep, overwhelmed by the reality of it.
Seven years. Seven years of wanting, and she was here. She had chosen him. She loved him. He got to wake up like this tomorrow, and the day after, and every day for the rest of their lives.
The thought should have been terrifying. Instead, it felt like coming home.
Harriet stirred, her eyes fluttering open. For a moment, she looked confused and then memory seemed to return, and she smiled.
"You're doing it again," she murmured.
"Doing what?"
"Looking at me like I'm the answer to everything."
"You are."
