Second Chance (Anthony Rizzo)

(31) Yours, Mine, Ours

Anthony

I stand outside of Jessica's door trying to think what to say to her. She told me to come over but wouldn't say why or for what. I had prepared for the worse, I made my own undoing so I couldn't complain if she made the decision that's best for her and it's not me. I should have told her before we went on that first date what she means to me and she would have ever doubted my love for a second. But it's too little too late to be worrying about that.

The door suddenly flies open and I jump a little. Jess stands there with a cute little fancy hat on a sexy red romper. She had a sad smile on her face as she looked at me.

"Can I have a hug" I ask as her smiles grows a little.

"Of course baby, come here" she says as she opens up her arms.

I rush in there like a little kid late for his school bus. I encase myself around her never letting her go. "I'm so sorry Jessie, I'll never lie to you again" I promise.

"I trust you. But there is something I want... no I need from you" she claims.

"Anything. Name it" I promise

"I want to see the apartment. Because I know that's why you never let me come over. Because it was our apartment. I would like to see it" she insists.

"Yes, of course. Of course. Come on" I say as I grab her hand.

We jump in my car and drive into the city. We go inside my apartment and she stops in the doorway. That one of a kind full smile finds its way on her face as she looks around. Her eyes searching every inch of this place.

She had designed the whole living room to make it the way we dreamed it up to be, picked out the color scheme and the pictures on the wall and where everything went. I kept it all the exact same way she had it because only like this does it feel like home. I know she made this and therefore it was special.

"Woah. This is impressive" she claims as she finally walks in. I keep her hand in mine as I show her around.

"It was all you. You said my place was boring and unexpressive when you first moved in with me so I let you take over. We were about to move into a house but you still spent a lot of time in here designing so I felt like I had a place to come home to" I explain.

"These pictures of us" she asks pointing to a bunch of pictures on the wall in the shape of a heart.

"Of course. This is us horse back riding and us in a children's museum going down one of the slides" I explain.

"Why were we in a children's museum" she giggles.

"Because we wanted to" I smirk making her laugh.

"What's your favorite one" she asks.

"All of them" I smile. "Every moment with you, then and now, they're my favorite. That's never changed."

"Well I'm Kinda jealous you've been keeping all of this to yourself. Your place is amazing" she claims.

"You mean our place" I correct.

"But this... this isn't me anymore. I wish like hell it was-" she tries.

"I don't" I interrupt. "I love you, Jessica. This you standing next to me right now. And this place will always be ours no matter where you are and what you are to me" insist.

"How" she asks.

"Come with me" I insist as I pull her behind me again. I take her to the bedroom where she really worked her magic.

Before she even goes in I hear a gasp from behind me and I smile. We walk in and her eyes immediately got to the ceiling. She had painted it all black and put little twinkle lights up there to be like the stars. Like I said, she always loved the stars and I loved that about her. I could have change the living room around and gotten away with it but this, this screams her.

"I did this" she asks.

"You did, and I know for a fact that if you had the choice you would do it again. Because no matter what you forget you will always be this girl who loves the stars and all the things we will never really understand. And I will always love that girl. Love you" I say.

She smiles as big as I've ever seen her smile. Her arms fly around my neck as she pulls me into a strong kiss and I happily kiss her back. My fingers get tangled in her hair and it feels like the first time in a long time everything was as it should be.

"Stay with me" I whisper on her lips.

"Oh no, I want to stay with my overbearing parents who don't know how to act around me instead of my boyfriend of about three years now who is also my work partner. I could never" she jokes as I just shake my head.

"Everything is exactly as you left it which you won't remember but I have a good feeling you'll make yourself right at home again" I insist.

"I feel at home when I'm with you" she says as she pulls me down.

"Yeah" I smirk.

"Yeah" she smiles.

I let out a sigh of relief as I get lost in her ocean eyes. After everything we went through, after I wasn't always 100% truthful with her, I'm happy that she still thinks of me as someone she can always come home to.

"Can you tell me something, and not lie to me to protect me" she asks.

"No more lies. Everything is on the table" I promise.

"Why did you propose to me? You know, what made you want to be with me for the rest of time" she asks.

I just smile because I love being able to talk about this now. "So many things. In a way, everything. And it wasn't your long brown hair or your brain that knew way too much for your own good. It was your heart that caught me, the way you gave your everything to the foundation like you do now. How you loved me harder than most people would because a love like that can get you hurt. But it's never stopped you" I insist.

"So would you still want to be with me forever, is that still a part of the plan" she wonders.

I reach over and grab the ring box from my bedside table. I open it up to reveal the ring and she gasps. "That's what I wanted" she questions as I laugh.

"I figured you would have a difference of opinion now but yes, it was. And I plan on altering it a bit and asking you again sometime in the future. But now that you know..." I trail off.

"The answers is always yes" she promises.

"I want to do this right. Adjust the ring a little and make it special, but it'll be in your finger soon" I promise.

"Uh huh, just like you were going to show me the apartment soon" she teases.

"Hey, you're here aren't you" I laugh.

"I am. And I'm staying" she promises.