She Lays Down [h.s.]

Nine

Mary giggles because his fingers are tickling her sides as he holds her in place. He's trying to get her to say that she loves him because he'd made a dirty joke and she rolled her eyes. She didn't really like it and thought that it was a bit childish, which prompted him to say that it's okay because she loves him.

She said 'absolutely not,' and that's what brought this upon her. He knows that she loves him, he's known it since they were sixteen and she fell asleep while they were watching The Walking Dead. She never fell asleep during that show because it freaked her out a little, but she did then and that's when he knew.

Mary squirms in his arms, her giggles increasing in volume as his hands found her most ticklish spot on her sides.

"Never!"

His assault only continues and he speaks in her ear, "I can do this all day."

This only makes her laugh harder because she loves Captain America. He's being so unfair, but it's so fun.

She won't say it though because she doesn't want to give in and tell him that she loves him even though she does and she has for a long time. She doesn't want to be the first to say I love you because she's stuck on fairy tales and how the guy's supposed to say it first.

But she's laughing so hard that it's starting to hurt and there's nothing wrong with her saying it first anyway because she knows that he already knows she loves him and she knows that he loves her too.

"Alright! Alright! I love you! I love you!"

His hands stop tickling her and he spins her around so that her hands are on his chest and his hands are on her waist.

Alec's smiling like it's the best thing that she could ever say to him.

His forehead touches hers and their noses brush. Mary closes her eyes and Alec does the same.

"I love you too."

And Mary feels like she's just won the world.

Each page turn brings a memory and, despite how much it hurts her chest to know that she's probably lost him for good, they bring a smile to her lips. The good times are still good, even if there are no more good times to be made with him.

That album is done and she knows that when she puts it back she probably won't look at it again for a very long time. The next one she looks at is from their wedding and her fingers skim over the laminated pages slowly.

She remembers that day the best because it was the best day of her life before Ember came along. Alec looked so handsome in his tuxedo and her dress was so beautiful. And the way he looked at her really made her feel like she was the only woman in the world.

He doesn't look at her like that anymore though. But she's caught Harry looking at her like that a few times and she's so tempted to just let him love her the way that she's been missing out on for years now, the way that everyone deserves to be loved. She can't though because of that stupid glimmer of hope that she has for Alec.

She thinks that she'll give him another month to prove himself. She won't tell him that he's being tested because then he won't be truthful. She just has to talk to him and convince him that they need him there a little more often than he is.

If he doesn't show her that he loves her, she'll pick up the divorce papers and make their separation final. She's tired of living like this and she's tired of being alone.

Mary looks through the other two albums that consist of pregnancy photos and photos of Ember growing up. She feels incredibly old looking through these albums because Ember's grown up so much and, to her, it still feels like she was just born yesterday. She's still her little girl and time's gone by faster than she's realized and she wants it to just slow down for a little while.