“I love you more, Valkyrie.”
39
DASH
Iwake up to Lennon’s dark hair across my bare chest and I pull her closer.
“Good morning, Valkyrie.”
She makes the cutest sound and squeezes me playfully.
“Good morning.”
I drop a kiss to the top of her head and soak up this moment as long as possible. Last night, the first time we had sex, it wasn’t exactly about making love, it was about needing her because I missed her for far too long. It was our bodies reconnecting. Later, we took it slow and made love as our souls reconnected.
But now, in the morning light, it’s time to talk about us and what this all means. We’ve been trying and mostly failing it would seem, to be as discreet as possible. Especially, after her telling Lincoln about us and him then banning her from seeing me…even though we never stopped.
She draws something on my chest as she starts to speak. “I’m sorry, Dash,” she says.
“For what?” I ask, genuinely confused about what she might be apologizing for.
“For accusing you of having something to do with the accident. For thinking for a second you could be my stalker. It’s no excuse, but all the memories of that night came rushing back the moment I saw your headlights in my rearview. It was a knee-jerk reaction as I was still climbing out of the hazy fog of my mind. I can’t ever take back what I said to you. I can’t imagine what that must’ve felt like. I’ll always be sorry I reacted instead of trusting you enough to talk through it with you,” she says as I feel something warm hit my chest.
I pull her up closer to me so I can look her in the eye.
“Lennon, I don’t blame you for saying anything you said. I’m the one who can’t fathom what losing your memories and your twin sister at the same time must be like, not to mention being unable to remember who you really were. I accept your apology. It’s done and forgotten,” I tell her.
Her gaze shifts away from mine and lands on my chest.
“I’m afraid the look of hurt and betrayal on your face is something I won’t ever forget, Dash. I did that to you when all you did was stay by my side and try to help me…and love me,” she says.
I tip her chin back up and make her face me.
“Lennon Shay Tyler. What you’ve been through is anything but typical. There isn’t a guide for regaining your memories after they were practically stolen from you in the first place, much less how to act when the most devastating ones flood you all at once. I won’t deny, it hurt, but I know why you said what you did. Thank you for apologizing, but it’s all right. The truth is out now and it’s all that matters. We can move past it…if you’ll take my hand and navigate through this life with me,” I tell her.
“How can you say I’m forgiven after all the emotions I put you through?”
“Because I love you, Lennon. You’re my Valkyrie and I knew you’d fight your way back to me, even if I acted like a fool for the last couple months,” I add.
She laughs. “Yeah, what was up with you staying away from me? I don’t understand why you thought anyone else could give me the only thing I could ever want and only you could give.”
“What’s that?” I ask.
“Your love, Dash. To be loved by you and spend the rest of my life beside you. It’s all I want.”
“That’s all I want too, Valkyrie. I want to drive through this life with you. But I don’t want to race through it, I want the slow and scenic route,” I tell her as I pull her on top of me.
Her bangs have almost grown out now, but they’re still short enough to need to stay tucked behind her ear if she expects them not to fall into her face.
“You never told me why you cut your bangs.”
She closes her eyes for a moment. “I was trying to hide. From Jackson, although I didn’t know it was him at the time. From you and from the world. But honestly, mostly from myself.”
“Why would you ever try to hide a thing, Valkyrie?” I ask.
Her lower lip trembles before she pins me with her pain-filled, watery gaze.
“I wanted to separate myself somehow, from who I was. From who I used to be before the accident. And I was ashamed…” She falls silent while touching the scar at her temple and above her eye. The same one that serves to remind us all just how quickly things can change.
