Amelia takes a deep breath as she sits in the passenger's seat, eyes lock outside. It has been two days since she broke off the engagement, reconciled with her one true love and hid as much as she could from her mom. Her dad called her to tell her she will not be disturbed by her mom and they will wait for her to come home herself. She's grateful that her dad kept his words of handling her mom but she knows she needs to face her mom sooner than later. Her hand is taken into warm, comforting ones and she looks to see Maxie's warm amber eyes and comforting smile.
"Hey, no matter what happens don't let go okay?" Maxie gives her hand a squeeze. "I'm with you every step of the way." A kiss on the back of her hand, enough to soothe her nerves as she nods determinedly. Amelia leans in to press a gentle kiss against Maxie before resting their foreheads together.
"Together." She whispers getting a nod in return. Taking another deep breath, she steadies her nerves and gets out of the car. She walks around the car, Maxie takes her hand as they face the doors.
"Ready?" Maxie inquires and all she can do is nod as she feels her feet start moving. When they step inside, every single head turns to them and Amelia can feel her heart beating wildly in her chest. Without glancing at anyone, Amelia keeps walking towards her mom's office with Maxie walking beside her. She contemplates whether she should knock or not when the decision is made for her when the door swings open and she is greeted by her dad's face. He gives her a smile before his eyes looks down on the intertwined hands and moves back up to meet her eyes. Without another word, he stands to the side letting them in and she is met by her mom's disapproving look.
"Amelia." She stands in front of her mom's desk and barely contains a flinch. "What the hell are you doing?" Her mom demands. Amelia stands her ground, her hand tightening its grip on Maxie's. "Do you have any idea how much humiliation you brought to our family with your stunt at the engagement party?" Her mom adds glaring at her then at Maxie. "And you! Don't you have any shame?" The older woman demands and Amelia is ready to jump in to defend Maxie.
"I love your daughter Mrs Porter." Maxie announces, she feels the comforting squeeze the girl gives her. "I won't apologize for what happened at the engagement party. I would do it all over again." Amelia stares lovingly at the other girl, admiring her strength and she can't help but smile lovingly at her. Her attention is brought back to her mom when she hears the older woman scoff.
"Love. You think love can build business partnerships? Win over investors?" Her mom challenges shaking her head.
"Mom please." Amelia pleads, her eyes lock on her mom's. "I know you hate Maxie because of her mom but I love her. I don't want to marry someone I don't even know, let alone love." This time she's the one squeezing Maxie's hand in comfort. "I'm sorry mom but I can't do what you want me to do." She finishes, hoping her voice did not falter. She sees her mom's jaw clenching tightly before the woman sighs in defeat.
"I'm not giving you my blessing." Her mom starts and Amelia opens her mouth to argue but her mom cuts her off. "But I won't stop you from pursuing this nonsense." The words brings relief to Amelia and she breathes out. "If whatever this is fails, don't expect me to give you any sympathy." Her mom finishes waving them off. Amelia knows better than to push so she drags Maxie out of her mom's office but not before hugging her dad. As soon as they step out of the building, Amelia lets out a sigh of relief as she looks at the girl she is finally free to love.
"I don't know what just happened but I'm-" she cuts off Maxie as she flings herself at the girl and pressing their lips together. "We can finally be together." Maxie whispers against her lips and Amelia grins widely as she nods her head.
"No more hiding." She says breathlessly. "I love you Maxie." The smile that slowly takes over her girlfriend's face makes the sun shine brighter, the sky bluer and her heart beat just a bit faster at the amount of love she has for the girl.
"I love you too." Maxie replies and kissing her once again.
Maxie walks hand-in-hand with Amelia. She immediately sees the knowing smile on Lori's face as they near the bar. She can't help but roll her eyes fondly at her friend's wink.
"I'm surprised you are gracing us with your presence." Is her friend's remark as they stop in front of her. "Thought you'd take the day off and be busy with Amelia." Maxie is well aware of the innuendo and can't help glaring at her friend.
"Hi Lori." Maxie greets. "Just dropping by to see if the bar is still standing without me." She smirks at the rolling of Lori's eyes. She playfully looks around as if examining the place before smirking at the older girl.
"Well as you can see, the bar is still standing. No thanks to you." Lori quips throwing a dish towel at her. "But seriously though, I'm happy you two finally got your act together. I hope this is permanent." Lori sincerely tells them both prompting Maxie to look at the girl beside her with a loving smile.
"I'm not planning on letting her go at all." She declares getting a light blush from the brown haired girl. The two of them share a moment, just looking at each other with pure love in their eyes before the moment is broken by a gagging noise coming from Lori's direction.
"God that was cheesy." The older woman gags jokingly. "I'm guessing you're not gonna work today?" Maxie shakes her head no receiving an overly dramatic sigh from her friend. "Go. We'll survive without you." Lori waves them off dismissively as she starts to clean some glasses. Maxie detangles her fingers from Amelia's, going around the bar and surprising the older girl with a hug.
"Thank you Lori." She whispers tightening her hug which is reciprocated by Lori.
"Always kiddo. Just want you to be happy. You deserve it." She hears Lori whisper back before they pull away. "You both deserve it." Lori says to her and Amelia this time. "Now go before I change my mind." Maxie grins before taking Amelia's hand into her own once again.
"See you!" Maxie shouts as she leads Amelia out of the bar. Maxie will not deny it but she is excited to take Amelia back home and spend the rest of the day with her girlfriend. They didn't need to rush into anything nor do they need to hide from anyone. This time, Maxie can spend as much time with Amelia as she wants and she has a feeling she would like to spend the rest of her life with Amelia.
As they walk hand-in-hand through the streets, Maxie can't help but feel exhilarated and at peace. She can finally be with the person she loves.
"Hey." She heard Amelia say making her turn to the girl to see her with a bright smile. "You look really happy." Amelia tells her and Maxie can't help but chuckle.
"That's because I am happy." She explains keeping her eyes on her girlfriend. "I finally am free to be with you." She adds kissing her girlfriend's hand. When she looks back at Amelia she sees those green eyes filled with love and feels a gentle hand on her cheek. Maxie can't help but melt at the touch. She sees Amelia leaning in and can't help but meet her halfway. The moment her lips touches Amelia's everything fades. Only the feeling of those soft lips present in her mind. She doesn't even care if they're in public. It's Amelia who breaks the contact of their lips, it takes Maxie a few seconds to open her eyes and when she does, she's greeted by a beautiful smile.
"Let's go home?" Amelia asks. Maxie can't help but smile at the thought that her wonderful girlfriend is calling her apartment home. She nods and starts leading them the way.
If anyone had told Amelia that she'd be sitting on the kitchen stool of the person she loves (truly loves) before she met Maxie, she would have scoff at them and rolled her eyes. Since she was a child, she's heard her mother talk about arranged marriages. She resigned to her fate but then this raven-haired girl swoops in and she finds herself fighting the path laid out for her by her parents. Amelia can't help but look at her girlfriend with love and adoration as she prepares them dinner while Licht is waiting by her feet.
"Be ready to be more in love with me as you eat my world class spaghetti bolognese." Maxie's announcement snaps her out of her Maxie-filled daze and she can't help but chuckle at her girlfriend.
"Are you bribing me with food?" She challenges, raising her eyebrow at the raven-haired girl who shrugs as a plate appears in front of her.
"Between you and me, I hears a way to a person's heart is through their stomach." Maxie tells her as she sat beside her and really who was Amelia to argue over that fact.
"Uhuh. If you say so." She concedes and sees a carefree grin take over those lips. They start eating the pasta and Amelia can't help but moan at how delicious it is. Glancing over her girlfriend, she almost laughs at the expression.
"You should never make that sound." Maxie exclaims making her smirk. Deciding to tease the other girl, she leans in putting a hand on her thigh.
"Why? I'm just sounding off my appreciation." She whispers and hears Maxie gulp. She doesn't let the girl make a reply before she's pulling away and continuing eating her pasta.
"Tease." She hears Maxie mutter under her breath making her chuckle lowly. She expected Maxie to just continue eating her own pasta but she didn't really expect Maxie's breath against her ear. "Maybe after dinner, I can show you how much I appreciate you." The words are enough to make her shudder. She turns to see amber eyes almost turn black.
"Can't wait." She whispers closing the distance between them. The moment is broken when a cat's meow is heard around the kitchen and they both look down to see Licht looking at them with bored eyes.
"I think Licht wants his food now." Amelia voices out chuckling before looking back at Maxie who is chuckling as well.
"I think so too." Maxie states. "He has to wait until we're done eating though." The girl adds and Amelia looks back down at the cat still with a bored expression. Shrugging, she finishes her pasta and puts her plate on the sink. Maxie appears beside her kissing her soundly.
"Go feed Licht." Amelia commands softly hearing the cat sound his discomfort. Maxie simply nods her head and leaves to feed Licht as Amelia starts washing the dishes. It suddenly hits her how domestic this all feels. It hits her harder when she feels strong, familiar arms wrap around her waist as she closes the dishwasher. A small kiss press on her neck and she can't help but melt into the person hugging her.
"Hi." She turns her head at the greeting. "Stay the night?" Maxie asks timidly. Amelia can't help but think it's adorable that she can't help but kiss her.
"I wouldn't want to be anywhere else." She answers kissing her again because she can and she can't resist the pull Maxie has on her. Not that she wants to.
Later that night as she lays on Maxie's chest after being showed how much she's appreciated, she starts to think she can get used to this. This being with the person she loves, in bed, being all domestic. She's tracing patterns on the girl's flat stomach while listening to her heart beat when she hears Maxie.
"I'm sorry. What was that?" She looks up to meet amber eyes looking into her. She was lost in her thoughts that she completely missed what Maxie said.
"Move in with me." Maxie tells her again and it makes her freeze as she sees those golden eyes suddenly shy and vulnerable. "I mean if you want to that is. But if not, I'm completely okay with that. It's just that earlier when we were having dinner this thought came up when I looked at you sitting there and then when you're doing the dishes and it just feels right. Like you belong here in my apartment." Amelia knows Maxie well enough to know that the girl almost never rambles but seeing her ramble now, it makes her adorable. "I mean you really don't have to." Maxie adds and Amelia realized she hasn't answered. Snapping out of her own thoughts she kisses Maxie to stop her from saying anything more.
"I would love to." She answers against those lips before pulling away just enough to get a proper look at Maxie's face. She sees the daze look and a smile taking over Maxie's lips and she can't help but smile back.
"Really?" She can't help giggling at the girl's question and the excitement in those amber eyes.
"Yes really. I had the same thoughts as well. I love how domestic this all feels like." She explains with a smile before laying back down. "I just didn't want to assume. It is a big step in our relationship." She adds getting a soft smile from her girlfriend.
"It is but then again we belong together." Maxie takes her hand and laces their fingers together. "I want to sleep next to you, kiss you good night, come home to you after a long day at work, miss while I'm at work." At that she chuckles as she plays with Maxie's fingers. "I want you to be the first sight I see when I wake up." She smiles at that looking up.
"I want them all too." She replies and the smile that she gets is enough to make her swoon and fall even more in love with the raven-haired beauty.