Consequences

Chapter 16

A few weeks later

Ian's POV

As I walk into the kitchen, I see Lucy washing the dishes and I can't help but smile. The way it feels so natural to see her around the house, as if she'd always been here, is just a confirmation that this, here, by my side, is where she belongs.

"Good morning." Lucy says once she realizes I'm here.

"Good morning beautiful." I reply as I wrap my arms around her from behind and kiss her neck making her giggle.

"Ian, stop. I'm going to be late." She says while using a cloth to dry her hands.

"Ok, I'll stop." I say and she turns around to face me, "But only if you say yes."

"To what?" she asks, confused.

"Going on a date with me tonight."

"I guess I could do that." She smirks.

"Great! I'll pick you up at 7. Wear something fancy." I tell her.

"You know this your house, right?"

"Yup. But if I'm going to this, I'm going to do this right." I say and she laughs.

"Ok. I hate to do this but I really have to go now. Love you." She says and gives me a kiss before getting her bag, phone and keys from the table.

"Love you too. Don't be late."

"I won't." she replies before opening the door and leaving the house.

Although we've been going out as much as we can, I had yet to ask her out on a proper date. I've been waiting to do it for weeks but decided to give her some time to get better. Lucy is my priority and back at the beginning of our relationship, she had to focus on her herself, on getting over her demons and finding a way to deal with what happened. Now that she's been better, it's the perfect time to do it.

Indeed she's still not over it, and I would never expect her to be in such a short amount of time, but you can clearly see the progress she's made. From the nightmares, that aren't as common as before, to the way she genuinely smiles and laughs a lot more than before, she's clearly finding her way to deal with everything and I'm incredibly proud of her.

I've been planning tonight for a while and I can only hope nothing goes wrong. It was kinda hard to decide what to do because most things would imply people seeing us together and I'm sure Lucy doesn't want to go public yet and neither do I, to be honest. Therefore, we're having a candlelight dinner in a private garden. I wanted to do something else, like a movie, but quickly realized that we wouldn't have time before we had to leave for what would be the last surprise of the night and we can't be late for that.

When I realize it's getting late and that I still have a few things to do and people to talk to, I get ready as fast as I can and grab an apple before leaving the house.

Lucy's POV
Hours later

As soon as I get out of the car and realize it's almost 7 PM, I thank God that I only have to change clothes as my makeup and hair have been taken care of for today's interviews. I open the front door and go to the bedroom as fast as I can, already thinking about what I'm going to wear. By the time I open the closet I have 2 options: a black double layer bandeau jumpsuit or a red dress, both with black heels and, after looking at both of them for a while, I end up choosing the jumpsuit. At 7 o'clock sharp, someone knocks on the door so I quickly put my phone on a black and white striped clutch and go downstairs.

"You look absolutely stunning!" Ian says as soon as I open the door.

"Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself, Harding." I reply. This, tonight, is what I've been waiting for for years and seeing him in front of me, wearing that button-down shirt and those black pants, makes it all real and I can't help but smile like a fool.