His Dirty Little Secret (Chris Evans)

92. Moving forward

Chris's POV
The following morning, I wake up before Meg. She's still sound asleep, mumbling a little. I smile and try to make out what she's saying. She sometimes talks in her sleep and I gotta say, I find it cute. I guess I'm bias though. I'm so happy again. I'm so lucky that she's giving me another chance. I'm not gonna fuck it up this time. Not a chance. She's the girl for me. She's the one. The one I want to spend the rest of my life with. The one I'm going to settle down with, marry, start a family with.

I decide to let her sleep for a little while longer and quietly get out of bed, throwing some clothes on. Then I head down the stairs. Her mom is already up, in the kitchen preparing breakfast for the dogs. "G'morning." I chirp with a smile. Glancing over at me, she smiles too.

"Morning, Chris. Sleep well?"

"Absolutely. Best sleep I've had since.. well, um..." I clear my throat.

"Meg's birthday, huh?" She asks knowingly, causing me to blush ever so slightly. I let out a laugh, scratching the back of my neck. "Is she still asleep?" I nod gently.

"Fast on it, mumbling nonsense." I say with a dazed smile, making her mom laugh.

"Does she still fidget?"

"Oh my god, you have no idea. It's like her limbs have spasms!" I say with a laugh. "Spooning her can be a right challenge sometimes." She laughs again.

"Yeah, she's been a fidget for as long as I remember. I think you'll have to put up with it." She jokes, making my smile widen.

"I wouldn't change her for the world." She smiles too, then exhales deeply.

"I'm actually glad she's still asleep. I wanted a chance to talk to you alone."

"As a matter of fact, me too." She raises her eyebrows.

"Oh yeah?" I nod gently.

"But please, you first."

"Well, alright. Look, Chris, I really like you. You've always seemed like a real gent, very down to earth and a wonderful fit for Megs. But you really hurt her when you broke up with her. You broke her heart, in a way that I don't think anyone else could. She loves you so very much, I'm not sure you understand quite how much."

"I do understand now. I understand because.. it's exactly how I feel about her." She smiles weakly.

"What made you realise? Other than thinking she was leaving for good." I exhale deeply, folding my arms.

"I'm gonna be honest with you - in past relationships, I've had some issues. I'm a very independent person and I really like my space. Me time. Often when girlfriends have to adapt their entire life to mine, well, it scares me. I'm afraid I'm going to lose that me time. It's caused issues. I've never really understood it because I want a wife and kids. A family. I want all of that desperately. But until Meg came along, I couldn't see it with anyone." I start smiling. "Even with all the time I spent with Meg, it never felt enough. I craved more. And when I broke up with her..." I sigh, shaking my head. "It really... it was really hard. It broke me, too. I wasn't really eating or sleeping very well. My anxiety was getting bad again and I was having panic attacks." Her eyes widen slightly.

"I'm so sorry, Chris. I didn't know that. Meg never said anything—" I smile a little and glance down.

"Well, Meg doesn't know either. I didn't want to worry her or add to all the crap she's been dealing with. She's been through enough. I just want to put all of it behind us and start our life together." She smiles.

"So you really are serious about her?" I smile widely and nod.

"I always have been, but now I realise that what I did, to try and protect her, was a stupid decision. I shouldn't have broke up with her. I'm never gonna make that mistake again. I'm never gonna hurt her again. She means the world to me." She smiles and nods.