From the corner of my eye, I watched her click out of her seatbelt. "Nervous?"
I couldn't help but smile at the sight of her, still... even with what we were about to face looming quickly on the horizon. She was in her comfy clothes—a pair of leggings and a large sweatshirt—and her hair was tied back away from her face, half of it hanging down around her neck. It had felt like so long since I'd seen her (even though it had been little more than a month) that I couldn't really bear to look away, which had made the ride back home from the airport interesting, to say the least.
It was a wonder we hadn't gotten into an accident with the amount of times I'd caught myself looking at her. She'd filled me in about her class this morning, the way she'd been running around all week trying to find something to wear to the Grammy's (with no success), and she'd told me how exhausting her flight had been, as she was sat next to a young woman, maybe a few years older than us, who was more interested in chatting than she was in watching a film or reading a book.
How could I not watch her as she spoke, as her enthusiasm for what she was saying—the stories she was telling—exuded out of her entire being? But the closer we got to the house, the quieter she became. And then I was glancing over to check and see if she was alright.
Mads let out a shaky breath as she stared at my house, but her lips tilted a bit at the corners. "What gave me away?"
I smirked. "I couldn't shut you up for the first half of the ride. But you haven't said two words for the last twenty minutes."
She didn't even laugh. "Let's get this over with."
Mads pushed the door open, but I stopped her with a hand on her arm.
I could see the apprehension in her eyes, feel it twist around in my gut. I felt horrible for doing this to her—for having to bring her here under these circumstances. She'd tried to be calm about it when I told her the other day—tried to act like she was fine with it. Said she would have to face my sister sooner or later, and it was better to do it sooner. But the closer we got to the house, the tenser I could feel her becoming beside me. For Mads to be that quiet by the end of the ride... I knew she was very quietly panicking.
And I could see that panic written all over her face now.
"It's going to be fine," I said, lifting her hand and bringing it to my lips. "I'm on your side, remember?"
The corner of her mouth quirked up for a moment, but only a moment. She slid her hand from mine a second later, and got out of the car without another word.
I followed suit. And as I met her at the trunk, where we'd stowed her bags at the airport, I couldn't help but recall Gemma's reaction to all this earlier in the week. Couldn't help but linger on her words in my mind.
"You're not serious," she had said when I'd told her that Mads would be coming out for the weekend as well.
I'd winced, and wished I'd chosen to talk to her about this from the comfort of home, rather than wait for her to call me and catch me while I was out and about for the day. Luckily, I was heading back to my car after a meeting.
I'd glanced both ways before crossing a street in downtown L.A. "Very serious."
Gemma huffed, and before she could say anything else, I added, "And I expect you to be nice to her, Gem, even though I know you don't like her."
Rather than answer, she huffed again.
"Please," I'd said. "I know you're unhappy that we're back together, but I love you both, and I think this weekend will help you to see that things really are alright. They're better than alright, they're... really good right now. Better than ever, actually. And she's already nervous about seeing you because she knows how you feel, and I just—please don't be nasty to her. Please."
Gemma scoffed. "I would never be nasty to her." There was a pause, and I heard the "but" in her voice before she could say it. "But..."
I rolled my eyes.
"I wanted to spend time with you because I missed your birthday, and—"
"And we will," I was quick to say.
"Yeah. With her there," Gemma said. "Even though you know how I feel about her."
"What do you want me to do, Gem, hm? I'm sorry that I'm infringing on our time together, but I think this will be good for you two. I think it'll give you both the chance to clear the air."
"It just—it would've been nice if you could've given me a little more notice that we'd be ambushed by your girlfriend."
"I invited her!" I exclaimed, stopping myself before I could say any more, yell any more. "Look, I—I'm sorry. I really am. But I'm not at the same time. Because no matter how you feel about this situation, Madelyn means everything to me. And I hoped that would mean something to you, too, but if you'd rather spend the weekend ignoring her, I guess I understand."
She'd been quiet then. So, I'd felt the need to reiterate, "All I ask, is that you're not outright mean to her. That's the last thing she needs. The last thing I need."
"Fine." Gemma had sighed, then. "I'll be on my best behavior."
It wasn't reassuring, but all I'd said was, "Thank you, Gem. It means the world to me."
I could almost see her rolling her eyes as she'd said, "I know, I know."
Now, Mads reached for her suitcase, and I held it away from her, smirking as I said, "Seriously?" and closed the trunk.
Mads' grin didn't last long. "Right," she said, hitching her purse further up onto her shoulder. "Right, uh... thanks."
Her gaze fixed on the house again, as if she were afraid Gemma would be hanging out of one of the windows breathing fire in our direction. I used my free hand to squeeze hers.
"Hey," I said softly, pulling her to me and pressing a kiss to her temple. She tried to smile. "It really is going to be okay."
Mads nodded and breathed in simultaneously, her eyes shifting back towards the house. "I know, I—I know."
She did her best to smile for me, to show me that she was alright, that she would be fine, and when she started heading for the door, her hand still tucked into mine, I followed closely behind.
"Gem?" I called into the house, feeling the need to break the ice as I closed the door behind me, grabbing Madelyn's small suitcase and wheeling it further into the room. "We're home."
Mads had gone stock-still once she reached the counter, once she'd set her purse down. She didn't sit on a stool, but used one for support as she glanced around the kitchen to each of the hallway entrances, as if she were waiting for that dragon to appear and incinerate her with one fiery breath.
No one came.
Thinking maybe Gem had gone out for a bit, I touched Mads' shoulder. "Want to just take everything upstairs now?"
She smiled a little, nodded. "Yeah," she said, her voice still tight. "Good idea."
Her blue eyes still shifted every which way as we walked through the kitchen together, my hand in hers, my other pulling her suitcase along behind me.
"I figure we'll go shopping for something tomorrow, then," I said, trying to ease the tension I could feel in her fingers with my words and a few soft squeezes. "I know Glenne said she was willing to help, and I'm sure she'll be better than me at giving advice where dresses are concerned, so I was thinking—"
Mads stopped beside me as we reached the stairwell, and her eyes looked past me into the living room, widening as they took in the scene, and alarming me thoroughly in the process.
"Gem," I said when I turned around. My sister pulled her earphones out as she looked at us, her face totally impassive. "We didn't know you were here."
Gemma tried to smile, but didn't move from the couch. "I told you I would be."
I could almost feel the throbbing of Mads' pulse in my fingers.
"Right, well... I called your name when we got here a minute ago, but I guess you couldn't hear me." I tried to smile, nodding to the headphone she was now toying with in her lap, just over the keyboard of her laptop. I was more nervous than I should've been considering the fact that I had to keep my cool and mediate between the two of them.
Gemma did nothing but press a smile and nod—nothing more to help me ease the tension that had so rapidly filled this rather large room. It was sweltering in here all of a sudden.
I looked at Mads, who looked up at me with wide, fearful eyes.
"Mads got in right on time," I said, squeezing her fingers again. She tried to smile. "But we hit a spot of traffic on the way back."
Mads surprised me when she said, smiling gently, "Hi Gemma." It came out sounding as if she were talking to a wild animal, and she didn't know whether she could trust it not to attack.
Gemma picked at her nails. "Hello."
Silence.
"How are you?" Mads asked then, and if I didn't know better, I would've believed that she was unaffected, not hurt by my sister's indifference. She was trying desperately hard not to be, and her voice—light and cheery—betrayed very little. But she was squeezing my hand so hard now, I was sure she was beating herself up inside.
Gemma at least had the decency to meet her eye this time, but the conspicuous absence of her smile was enough to tell us both that she was not pleased to be having this conversation. "I'm well, thanks."
Silence again.
Mads nodded a couple of times beside me, and when I met her eye, she gave me a closed-mouth smile. I didn't really know what to say to do damage control, not without starting an all-out brawl, right here, right now, too early on into the weekend, so all I did was turn to Gemma and say, "We're just going to take Madelyn's stuff upstairs. You good?"
Gemma smiled widely, then. "Fine. Just finishing up some work."
She looked back down at her computer before I even had the chance to say, "Okay." And I studied her for a moment, watching as her eyes scanned the screen, and willed her to try harder, to be nicer, to at least attempt to converse.
But for the moment, with Mads waiting beside me, her fingers stiff in mine, I thought it best to just get her upstairs. Separate the two of them now that the initial confrontation was over.
Mads was quiet all the way to my room, and though it hadn't been the first time she'd been up here—there was that night the weekend she'd come to surprise me, where all we'd done was sleep holding onto each other—this felt just as exciting. If not more exciting.
We were together again.
"Should I stay in here?" she surprised me by asking. I whipped around to face her, not even sure what she meant. But as she stood there, just over the threshold, her brows drawn together, I understood: she meant in my room. "I mean, with Gemma here, and things being so awkward already..." She trailed off, her fingers laced together in front of her, twisting around and around themselves as she worried.
"What? No," I said quickly, and closed my eyes, my frustration mounting. "I mean... yes. Yes, of course you should. What does one thing have to do with the other?"
Mads didn't step closer to me, didn't meet my eye. "Well, I just thought—I mean... she's clearly not happy with me being here, and we already know she's not happy that we're together again, so I don't want to make her feel like—"
"Mads, I'm gonna stop you right there," I said, stepping toward her, leaving her small suitcase standing in the center of my room. I took her face in my hands, looked into her eyes. "I love you," I said forcefully.
"I—I know," she said, her voice wavering.
"Let me finish." I slid my thumb along her jaw. "I know that this is hard for you. I know this is exactly the kind of thing you fear most," I said, watching her gaze fall between us and her bottom lip jut out—she was trying not to cry. I tilted her chin up until she met my eye again. "I know how much it means to you that everyone approves of us—especially where our families are concerned, but Madelyn, I won't let you let this fear take over. I won't stand by and watch while you let it dictate how we go about things. That's not what we're going to do anymore, alright?"
Her eyes were glimmering now, the tears well and truly ready to spill over.
I smiled, because even fearful, even nervous, even hurting, she still looked at me with all the trust in the world in her eyes.
"This time, we're going to focus on how we feel, on what we decide. Not how everyone else feels or their opinions, and that includes my sister. She can hem and haw all she wants, but she hasn't yet changed how I feel about you, and she's not going to. So, you'll be staying in here with me, and fuck what she thinks about it."
Despite the tears in her eyes, Mads had started smiling, too. And it made my heart speed up.
"Okay?" I asked.
Her lips were still pressed together as her hands found my waist, as she stood up on her tip-toes and touched her lips to mine. I held her firm, tried to transfer all the certainty I felt over to her, and as her lips lingered on mine, as they opened and closed against my mouth, I felt that certainty become hers.
But I also felt the change in our kiss—the deepening of it. Enjoyed the way her tongue lingered in my mouth, making soft strokes that set everything inside me aflame. My hands were on her waist by the time she pulled away—hers were around my neck, having just thoroughly ruffled my hair. She looked incredibly pleased with herself. Or maybe just incredibly turned on.
Maybe I was seeing what I wanted to see.
But Mads didn't let me labor over it long—she touched the tip of her tongue to the tip of my nose in a quick swipe and giggled. "Did that answer your question?"
I tightened my grip on her. "It only left me with more, if I'm honest."
I wasn't seeing things. She pressed her chest against mine, and looked up at me through her lashes, the circle of blue in her eyes just that bit narrower than it had been moments ago. "Ask away."
My heart had already picked up its pace, excited by the change in the air between us—charged with desire. "Are you really insinuating you'd be willing to have sex now, even after all that nonsense about not wanting to upset my sister about just sleeping in here?"
"Well, I mean, not right now," Mads said, still smirking up at me, even as her cheeks went pink. "But I'm thinking if we're going to do this—we've got to do it right, don't we?"
I grinned down at her, chuckling as her smile widened. "There's my girl."
By the time we ended up back downstairs, cheeks flushed, clothes a little rumpled, wide, excited smiles on our faces for what we were both anticipating tonight, Gemma was in the kitchen searching my fridge.
"You don't have much to cook," she said, closing the door of it as she looked at me—as her eyes scanned my hair before heading over to Madelyn, whose lips, I was pleased to find, were still tantalizingly plump—and still smiling.
Gemma averted her gaze. "I wanted to make us something, but..." She lifted a hand, gesturing to the aforementioned empty fridge, and didn't say anything more.
"Yeah, I, uh..." I ran a hand through my hair—from Gemma's gaze of distaste, I was sure that it was still standing on end from my little makeout session with Mads. "I didn't have a chance to get to the supermarket before you both got in."
Gemma nodded, her eyes still anywhere but on me, and especially not on Mads. "Well... did you plan to feed us while we were here, or were you thinking we'd be better off fending for ourselves?"
She was smirking as she met my eye again.
For a moment, I was sure everything would be alright. "I don't know if you've heard of it, but there's this thing called 'take away' that's all about—"
"Alright, shove it," Gemma said, crossing her arms as she glanced around the kitchen. "I could go for a burger or something, but if you want something else, that'd be alright."
I looked at Mads, who was still standing quietly behind me. She didn't look nervous anymore—just... aware. "Any ideas?"
"A burger always sounds good," Mads said, the corners of her lips turning up even more.
Gemma's gaze was on the counter, one hand gripping the edge of it as her lips pressed together into a thin line—almost as if she was keeping words she wanted to say, but knew she couldn't, tightly locked up.
"Burgers it is, then," I said. "I'll call for them."
Leaving them for a moment felt wrong, even though I was only heading to the other side of the kitchen where I'd left my phone on the counter. I was expecting silence—expecting the tension to build and build between them until it reached me, brought me to a point where I couldn't stand it anymore, and made them talk to each other.
What I didn't expect was Madelyn's voice, soft, but confident, saying, "Gemma, would you mind—could I talk to you for a minute?"
Turned away from them, my back straightened, my fingers hovered over the number for a nearby restaurant, and I didn't breathe as I waited for my sister's answer.
It took too long to come, but when it did, my shoulders only tightened more.
"I suppose," she said.
I turned around, then.
They were both looking at me—Mads, smiling gently, seemingly at ease, and Gem, arms crossed again, a hardness to her gaze.
"We'll just be in the living room," Mads said, her voice level, still calm.
Gemma didn't say a word.
I still hadn't breathed. "Oh—okay." With one last look, Gemma headed for the doorway, and Mads nodded and smiled at me behind her, one last reassurance that everything would be fine. "I'll just... be in here. Ordering the food."
They didn't turn around again before disappearing around the corner. And my phone was clutched in my hand as I waited for the hopefully low thrum of voices to travel down the hallway towards me.
And there they were. Soft, feminine—it was Madelyn talking. And I wished she'd told me she was planning to talk to Gem alone, wished she'd run it by me. There was a knot of discomfort burning in my stomach, as if I were the one under the gun, as if I were the one in the thick of this awkward situation. In a way, I was, but not in the way Mads was. She was the reason for Gemma's disapproval. She was the reason that Gem was upset to be here, and she knew it. That knot of discomfort was there for her—for my girl, because she didn't deserve to be that reason. Ever.
But at the same time, there was a small part of me, buried somewhere in my chest, that was cheering—that was proud of her. Glad that our little talk upstairs about her fears had seemed to have an effect.
I just hoped it would turn out to be a positive one.
I couldn't call and place the order now. I was too distracted. But I didn't know whether I should listen at the door either. That felt wrong. If they wanted me to hear what they were saying, they would've stayed in here. So far, there were no raised voices, and I didn't think this would turn into a screaming match, but I also didn't know for sure that it wouldn't. Gemma was pretty upset about this whole situation, and I didn't know what would come out of her mouth.
I needed to know.
Despite my better judgment, I crept to the doorway, pausing for only a moment to remove my boots so that they wouldn't give me away completely.
"... but I didn't want you to think that I'm with him again for any other reason than the fact that I love him," Mads was saying, "And I respect the way you're feeling about all this, but I wanted you to hear it from me. To be able to look into my eyes, and hopefully see that what I'm saying is true."
There were a few moments of silence then, and I had to quiet my breaths, afraid they might hear that I was just beyond the corner, listening to every word.
"You have to understand," Gemma said then, and she sounded more than patient as she said it. "I feel for you—for what you went through. Really, I do. But you didn't see him afterwards. You didn't see what the break-up did to him because you weren't there. I was. I saw how the time apart from you affected him, the way he'd hoped and hoped that you would be getting back together soon. The ridiculous amount of heartbreak he felt when you put him off again."
I squeezed my eyes shut, hating to think of it myself. Hating that she was using that against us, when I was so clearly happy now—now that all of that was in the past. I didn't have any doubts about it, so it was annoying to know that she did.
"I understand that, but I—"
"I mean, how do I know you won't do that again?" Gemma asked, her voice growing harsher by the second. "How are any of us to know that you won't just up and change your mind about this—about him in another month? What do we have other than your word, which up till now, hasn't been all that reassuring."
"I beg to differ," Mads surprised me by saying, sounding just as calm, just as confident—just as kind-hearted as she always was. "I was in a bad way for a while, and there were things I should've told Harry—things he deserved to hear for a long time, I know that, and I've tried my best to make amends for it. But before all that, and since all of it, I've been nothing but upfront. And when I put him off again," she said, using Gemma's words against her, "it was only after he insisted that he didn't want to end things, which I had every intention of doing."
Gemma stayed quiet for a few moments, and I didn't know if she even knew that part of the equation. "He—he what?"
Clearly, she didn't. Mum hadn't told her that little tidbit.
Mads explained calmly. "When he came home to you saying that we were still on hold, it was only because he wanted to be. I told him I wanted to end things when he came to see me. Harry didn't want to do that, and if I was honest with myself, neither did I." Gemma was still quiet, and I tried to picture her face—wondered if it was full of doubt, or whether there was a spark of enlightenment in her eyes. "I felt like I needed more time for a number of reasons, but I knew it was wrong to keep him waiting any longer, so when I explained to him that I didn't want to do that to him again, he insisted he would wait."
"It was only afterwards," Mads said when Gemma didn't reply, "that things started to go wrong. And yes, I made many mistakes. And it took me a long time to own up to them, but I have. Harry and I have talked about everything at length, including what we both went through. He understands what brought me to that point, and amazingly, has forgiven me for the pain I caused him. To me, that's what matters most. But your opinion also matters to me, Gemma. And while I understand that you're wary—I probably would be too, to be honest—I also want to do whatever I can to make amends with you as well. However I can."
She didn't even say that I'd fucked up. She didn't throw me under the bus to make herself look better. And I needed Gemma to know the truth.
But Mads went on before I could.
"Things aren't going to change again. Not on my end, anyway. All that I've been through—while it was terrible—if there was one good thing that came out of it, it's that I gained a lot of perspective. I learned a lot about myself, about him, about our relationship—I won't leave him again. For anything. I've learned my lesson. My world is no good without him. He changed it from the moment he walked into my life, and I don't ever want to know my life without him again."
Gemma stayed quiet. I couldn't breathe. My heart was pounding too fast for that.
It was like she was speaking the words my heart wanted to say, but didn't know how to articulate. It was as if she had seen right into me, to the very core of me. But really, what she was saying was at the core of her, too. Her feelings matched mine. And to hear her verbalize them this way—in defense of herself and our relationship—to hear the meaning behind them and feel the weight of them in my chest... I hadn't thought it possible, but I'd never been more in love with her.
"I know you think my word's useless, but it's all I have now. And I promise you—swear to you, it's good, Gemma."
A breath slid between my lips that had me relax somewhat against the wall behind me, my head falling back to rest on it. I closed my eyes, feeling like I'd just run a marathon, and I'd received the biggest reward in the world for finishing it—another version of Madelyn's honesty. Another look at what she really felt for me.
There was no way Gemma could look past it.
I knew I never could.
"Okay," Gemma said quietly, and Mads waited. I could see the look of anticipation on her face in my mind's eye.
But Gemma didn't say any more, which left Mads with nothing but a long pause before she said, "Okay." And the word sounded unsure again. More uncertain than anything else she'd said before it.
"You can come in now, Harry," Gemma said, but I could hear the amusement in her voice.
I let out a breath, and feeling guilty, turned the corner.
I looked right at Madelyn, hoping to convey to her how much what she'd said—the fact that she'd made it a point to say it at all—had meant to me.
The two women were sitting on the couch a safe distance apart, but facing each other. Gemma was smiling a little, too.
"That went better than I thought it would," I said, leaning against the wall beside me with a smile I couldn't help.
"You didn't order our food, did you?" Mads said, which made me laugh. There was relief in the question, too—at least she wasn't totally uneasy about Gemma's less-than-impressed reaction.
"Erm," I scratched the back of my head, still reeling from the seriousness of what Mads had said. I don't ever want to know my life without him again. My heart was still pounding unevenly. "No. Not yet."
Gemma laughed, and met Mads' eye. "Typical."
The two shared a smile that did more to my heart than even Mads' words alone had, and it made me remember that there was something I wanted to say, something my sister had to know.
"I went against my word," I said to Gemma. She only looked at me. I looked at Mads. "When Mads wanted to end things, after I'd said no, that I would continue to wait, I went against my word. I slept with someone else. And maybe that wouldn't have been so bad if I'd told her afterwards. If I'd faced it. But I didn't."
Both women stayed quiet. I met Gemma's eye again. I could see in her gaze that she hadn't realized this part either.
"I let her believe that things would be the same—that how the first year had gone would be how the next bit of time apart would go, too. And I fucked up. I slept with someone, and didn't tell her. She saw the pictures. She waited for an explanation that didn't come. And it drove her right into Rob's arms."
"Harry," Mads started to say, and I could already hear it—already hear her telling me that I didn't have to do this, that I didn't need to defend what she'd said, or try to make it sound any better than it was.
But I did have to do it. Because it was a part of the whole truth. An important part.
"No," I said, looking at her for a moment before meeting my sister's eye again. "No, Gem needs to know that. I don't know if Mum told you that part."
Gemma looked guilty. "It was... glossed over, I suppose."
"Yeah, well... I think it's just as important as everything else, don't you?"
Gemma pressed her lips together, looked at Mads for a moment before meeting my eye again. All of this was sinking in, and maybe she would need more time to fully understand, but I wanted her to know that I was with Mads. That we were a united front here. That her disapproval didn't change that, and in fact, maybe wasn't totally warranted.
"I know I was hurting for a long time," I said, "but we both were, and it wasn't all Madelyn's fault. I just... need you to understand that as well as everything else. Make sure you heard it from me."
Lips still pressed together, Gemma's eyes were on the floor as she nodded. "Okay," she said again, meeting my eye before glancing at Mads. "Thank you. Both of you, for sharing all that."
Mads tried to smile, but I could tell she was seeing in Gemma what I could still see—a bit of shock, tinged with what still looked like uncertainty.
Gemma sighed. "I don't know about you both, but I'm starving," she said, using her knuckles to propel her from the couch. She smiled at Mads. "How do you like your burgers? You're not one of those who eats it totally pink inside, are you?"
Mads giggled. "Not totally."
"Medium, then?"
"Medium," Mads agreed, a hint of nerves back in the set of her too-straight shoulders, the sound of her too-shaky laugh.
Gemma turned to me. "I know how you take it. Shall I place the order since you felt that eavesdropping was a better use of your time?"
She was already walking towards me, towards the hallway to head into the kitchen, and I didn't think it right to stop her. "Be my guest. Here," I said, handing her my phone. "The number's right there."
I looked at Mads once Gemma disappeared down the hallway, and breathed in what felt like the first full breath I'd taken since the moment they'd left the kitchen.
Mads released one just as full as her eyes widened at me, as her shoulders fell from around her ears. I didn't realize how much tension she'd been holding in her body until all of it disappeared at once.
"Well..." I started to say, stepping towards her. "I wasn't expecting that."
"I know," Mads said, standing herself now. "I thought she was taking it well, but her reaction wasn't totally reassuring."
"It'll take some time for her to process and come round to it, but that's not what I meant," I said as she finished straightening her top. There was a confused tilt to her brow that had me smiling. "I meant that I wasn't expecting you to initiate all that in the first place."
Mads shrugged, her eyes going wide as she released another long breath. "I didn't plan it. At least, not for right then. I figured I'd have to talk to her at some point. But once we were standing there, each of us waiting on you to make the awkwardness go away, it felt like the only thing I could do. Not just because I was uncomfortable, but because I was desperate to make things right again, desperate for her to understand just how much you mean to me, that I would never—"
I cut her off with my lips. She didn't need to explain anymore. She didn't need to qualify it. I knew. I understood. I felt the very same things she was feeling, and the intensity of those feelings was overwhelming, shocking, slightly terrifying. My world is no good without him, she'd said. And Jesus, if the last few years had been any indication, my world was no good without her either.
By the time I pulled away, her hands were clutching my arms, mine were on her neck, holding her head steady, and her eyes were glossed over.
She licked her lips, slowly coming back to herself. "What was that for?"
I was sure that things would change with Gemma now—that there was no way she wouldn't come around. Still, I didn't know what the future held for us, but I knew what I wanted it to hold. I wanted it all. Happiness, love, sadness, stresses, strife—I wanted it all and I wanted it with her. It was something I'd always known, but it had always seemed so distant—so far ahead of us.
Now, hearing all that she'd just said—the conviction with which she'd said it—it felt not only possible, but not far away. A life together. A life where we'd never have to be separated again. A life filled with love and laughter, and eventually, a family with whom to share that love and laughter. Even with the difficulties I knew we'd face, as everyone in this world does, I wanted it. I wanted it terribly.
"Everything," I murmured, looking into the earnest blue of her eyes. "Because I love you. Because I'm proud of you. Because you took Gemma on despite your fears, without batting an eye. Because you gave her plenty to think about." I curled her hair around her ear. "Because you're wonderful and strong and thoughtful. Because you're impulsive and rash and totally at the mercy of your emotions."
She wrinkled her nose.
"Because you love with everything you have," I said, "And because you've entrusted that love to me." Her eyes were shining again, and I smiled. "I can't think of anything more at the moment, but if you need more clarification, I'd be happy to give it to you at a later date."
Mads giggled, then, the tears pooling in her eyes. "A later date?" she asked, a knowing smile on her face.
"Yep," I said, feeling her strong, steady heartbeat beneath my fingers on her back. I smiled at her, seeing that life ahead of us even more clearly now than I had ten minutes ago. "Cause we've got all the time in the world."
___
Author's Note:
Well...it was a BIT of resolution for the whole Gemma thing, right? I don't think either Mads or Harry were particularly thrilled with her reaction, but it was better than nothing. And now--THE GRAMMY'S. Cause we all know our boy is gonna make it there, don't we? It's just a matter of time :)
I really hope you liked this one, babes! It was nice writing something where Mads kind of wrangled her fears and did something about them, you know? I've been trying to show her growth slowly and realistically, so I hope that's been coming across for you. Let me know! Please don't forget to vote, comment, message me, tweet me--however you choose to get in touch, I'd love to hear from you :)
While I haven't gotten to respond to comments in a while, I have been reading them, and I'm REALLY looking forward to getting back to you! So, to everyone who has taken the time to leave their thoughts on these last few chapters, THANK YOU. And to everyone new reading and voting, THANK YOU SO MUCH. I hope you're enjoying Mads and Harry's story as much as I enjoy writing it!
We've had a wonderful few Harry-filled weeks (I've literally been watching his SNL bits over and over again when I can lmao), and I'm SO excited to see him on the Graham Norton show tonight! I won't be able to watch as it airs, but to everyone who is, ENJOY IT!!! This is just the beginning, and I'm sure I don't speak for myself when I say I'm not ready for this, but I've also never been more ready for anything else, haha! Anyway, love you babes. I hope you've had a great week, and that you have an even better weekend! Until next Friday. xx