"You look beautiful in this picture, what are you talking about?" Hunter teased.
I scoffed. "Are you kidding me? The wind made my hair cover half my face and I'm not even smiling!"
We had decided to take a trip to Washington DC on our weekend off. So far, I had (reluctantly) posed for roughly 987 pictures and mentally slapped Hunter several more times for not listening to my navigational directions. This trip was the first we went on together without the guys. And maybe, just maybe, no one would recognize Hunter and we could enjoy a nice weekend alone.
As we were coming up on the Washington monument, we found ourselves amongst the city of cute couples. There were people kissing, holding hands, embracing each other like there was no tomorrow... I made a face.
Hunter chuckled beside me. "Don't worry honey," he poked my side. "Everyone knows that we're the cutest couple by default, no matter where we go."
I looked up into his brilliant smile and I could feel myself being washed away again. His eyes were the color of the sea, teeth just white enough to cover the evidence of long coffee fueled nights, his skin soft and smooth with a few bumps along the way. To me, he is perfect.
I saw his eyebrow twitch upwards. "Babe?" Hunter asked. "You still there?"
I felt my face break out into an uncontrollable smile. "Oh yes, I'm fine," I beamed. "I realized just how lucky I am to have you. There's all these faces around us, mostly caught up in another person's face, but I can't tell them apart. They just all look like cute couples on a cool fall day surrounded by lovely autumn colors. But we, we are special. We are that couple who everyone else wants to be. We're annoyingly cute and we have way too much fun together. I like what makes us different. What makes us a couple."
Hunter stood very still with a look of shock. Slowly, his eyes rounded and his cheeks flushed. That smile that I love so much appeared again and made his smile lines show and his eyes squint until they were almost closed.
He laughed and scooped me up into his arms and spun me around in a circle. I placed my hands on his cheeks and stared at his beauty. His eyes darted to my lips and back again. He gently put me down, keeping his hands wrapped around my waist.
"I can't believe you're mine," he whispered. I bit my lip and blushed.
"How could I not?" I murmured back.
Then, right there in front of the Smithsonian, Hunter kissed me. His warm lips gave me an overwhelming sensation, lifting my spirits higher and higher until I felt as if I were in heaven. His grip on me tightened, and in an instant he had dipped me. I laughed through our combined lips. Here was my dream, right in front of me.
He righted me and ruffled my hair slightly. He grinned down and said with a wink, "Now that I've proved to you just how wonderful our love is, shall we go back to taking cheesy pictures next to monuments that are not nearly as pretty as you?"
"Only if you write a song about me tonight."
Hunter gave a deep throated laugh and interlaced his fingers with mine. "I've already started a few."