“Those are his, and what the hell is this?” she asks, holding up the card.
“See, this is the fight I thought you already had. Did he not explain everything to you?” Riley asks, tossing the pants onto the bed.
“He told me you got everything taken care of for me, but thatdoesn’t explain why you gave me your last name,” She snaps, growing increasingly annoyed with the conversation.
“Damn, you’re going to be mad. It takes a while for special paper work to go through the proper channels, so, I just added you to my account. I know we never talked about our future, but I want you to have my last name someday, and it was the easiest way to add you, so, I just did it. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done anything like that without talking to you first,” Riley explains, stuffing clothes into whatever bag will fit them, trying his damndest to avoid seeing how mad she is.
“The name thing is beside the point, that is a whole other fight that we will be having. But you’re telling me the entire time I thought I was spending money I hadearned, when I was actually draining your bank account?” she shrieks, angrily throwing her things into her duffle bag.
“Not draining. I told you before, I have more money that I know what to do with. I promise, it was the fastest way to make sure you were taken care of. Now that I’m out of that hell hole, I figured we would share a name and finances someday, so I didn’t think to even bring it up, but I guess I should have,” he says
Warmth envelops her from behind as Riley’s strong arms find their way around her chest, forcing her body against his. Settled against the hard ridges of his abdomen, Liz closes her eyes and lets her head tip back to relax on his chest, breathing in the rich scent of his cologne she missed so much.
Guilt hits her like a truck being held the way she is. Guilt for moving on after her family suffered such horrendous deaths, and guilt for the man who saved her, and who clearly wants to give her the future she never thought she would want.
She has not had a moment’s peace since being freed from captivity to think about things like this. Sure, the thought hascrossed her mind in fleeting moments, but the second those thoughts creep in, she shoves them back out.
“Talk to me, princess. What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” he murmurs into her ear. The deep, sultry sound of his voice sends a shiver down her spine, causing her to arch into him. His grip tightens, only making the warmth in her lower belly grow.
“It’s nothing,” she says, twisting around in his arms to face him, bringing her arms around his waist. “I just didn’t know you wanted a future like that with me. All those times together at our lake, all the conversations we had, we never really talked about our feelings or where we saw things going, so it’s kind of a shock you feel that way,” she says, trying not to cry, thinking about how he will feel when she admits to not having the same thoughts.
“I’m sorry. It’s too soon to be talking about shit like that. It’s been what? Six months since you got out? Even less since things changed between us? I just had a lot of time to realize what I wanted while you were still wrapping your head around being free. We can slow down. You can stay in here with Mikey if that’s what you want, or I can move in here. You should have the bigger room,” he says, dropping his arms and taking a step back.
She watches in horror as he picks the bag of her clothes up from where he dropped it and works on putting them away. The wind is almost knocked out of him with the force in which she throws herself back into his arms, forcing him to drop the bag once more.
“That’s not what I want. I love you, and I love how things are. Everything has just been so frustratingly hectic that I haven’t thought about anything past getting you back, and it doesn’t help that we’ve never had the super fun relationship talk.” She places kisses on his chest, right on top of some of the still healing cuts.
“How about this, after we meet with the team, we kick themout, order food, and have that talk? I want to know I am not pushing for things you don’t want,” he says.
Liz can’t respond, the way he is so understanding of everything she tells him has her fighting back tears, she does what she can and nods her head against him. They get back to work, packing and moving things into the other room, staying busy while they wait for the rest of the team to arrive.
A calmness takes over the room as they work together to put her belongings away, tucked neatly next to Riley’s. Watching him re-fold her clothes and place them in the dresser has her mind wandering to what their life could look like. He said himself they are already in a real relationship, but does she want to take it further?
Liz can see herself growing old next to him, but she would be lying to herself if that fantasy didn’t involve leaving the military behind. It would break his heart for her to ask that of him. He has spent nearly half his life dedicated to his career, she could never ask him to quit. And what if he wants to be a dad someday? She never asked if he wanted children, and something tells her he would never willingly bring it up because of her past.
Kids are something she will never be able to give him. Still, she knows they could live a magical life together. Somewhere away from all the crazy, where they could spend their days not worrying if it’s the day one of them will be killed.
Shaking off the thoughts, she watches him. So careful and attentive, slowly making his way around the room, making sure her things are not just shoved in drawers, but placing her small trinkets out for her to enjoy. He would make an incredible husband. Hell, they are practically married already.
What would she even say if he asks? The answer is there in the back of her mind. It’s not something she would even need to think about and it terrifies her to her core. If she said yes, shewould be betraying everyone she has loved before. She would be abandoning James and Maria, leaving their family behind to create a new one. But if she said no, she would be betraying her heart, and breaking Riley’s.
Liz pushes the thoughts from her mind. She strides to their bed and takes the photo out of the drawer, placing it back in its rightful place on the table.
“That’s been here the whole time, and you’ve had it stuffed in a drawer.” His arms come around her like a warm blanket.
“I thought you hated me when you woke up, so I put it away. I planned on bringing it back home but I haven’t been back since we left,” she says, eyes fixating on the photo, on how happy they look together.
Their moment is cut short when the sounds of bickering fills the apartment. They had their time to relax and enjoy being reunited, now it’s time for Riley to tell the rest of the team everything he believes is going on and step back into the chaos that is the real world.
He grabs her face, placing three quick kisses on her lips before they stride out, hand in hand, ready to get this meeting started. Liz forces Riley to settle into the couch, clearly in pain from over exerting himself while trying to help her move her things, subtly checking each bandage for fresh blood as she does. Tyler and Alex pull chairs from the kitchen and place them around the coffee table while Liz and Mikey squish together to fit on the small sofa next to Riley.
“How ya feeling?” Alex asks, pulling files from his bag and plopping them onto the table in the middle of the group.
“Eh, I’m pretty fucking sore, but I could be a lot worse,” Riley tells him.
“You wouldn’t be sore if you would stop overdoing it every day,” Liz scolds playfully.
“Yeah, overdoing you,” Mikey teases. The four collective stares he gets has him apologizing and trying to get back on track.
