Trying For You

Chapter Forty Three

RILEE POV

Quinn swung our linked hands as we walked down the street and towards the park. She'd woken up feeling a little down after our visit to the orphanage and needed to take a walk. I suppose my girl was also nervous due to the possibility of meeting Ava soon, and having lunch with Miranda in a few hours. They finally decided to have a chat.

I looked around the people who were up and about their day. Some rushing to work and others taking walks just as we were. An elderly couple caught my attention on the other side of the street, the man holding onto his wife's hand as he led her to a bench. I smiled thinking about the future and the possibility of that being Quinn and I one day.

That could be us, old and in love. I could very well see myself spending forever with her, as each other's wife. The kinda life that included kids and dogs running around. I could see myself watching on as she took care of our backyard, our little ones playing around her while I either helped or sat reading. I wanted that, I craved that. Only with her.

"What's got you smiling so hard? It better be me you're thinking about." Her voice had a teasing tone to it.

"I'm always thinking about you." I countered, turning my head to see her as we continued to walk, now at the park.

Quinn sported a small smile as she looked back at me. She stopped us and grabbed both of my hands, letting our bodies face each other. "Thank you, angel. Thank you for making everything better, for making everything.....shine again. Thank you for trying for me and not giving up but giving into me. And I guess I should apologise for breaking the promise about not calling you anything other than Ry. But you see, I like to think of you as my own personal angel who came into my life to piece it back together. Because that's what you did, you made me whole again."

I could feel the rim of my eyes fill with water as I gazed up at this girl. She looked at me with those eyes, unwavering, and her dimpled smile unfaltering. She meant what she said, every word uttered were true and that's how I knew it was time.

"Quinn, I lo-"

"I love you." Her words were rushed out, cutting off the ones I was about to say. "No, not just love because I've loved you since we've been only friends. Ry, I'm in love with you. I'm so in love with you it makes me feel this weird thing in my stomach." Her eyes squinted as she momentarily broke eye contact, then met my eyes again. "It's like puzzles but not like the way everyone speaks about fitting like puzzle pieces but like..." She sighed in frustration.

I gently guided her to the nearby bench and sat as close as possible. Making sure to keep her rough hand in mine, I used my free one to lightly touch her cheek. "I can't tell you when I started to fall for you. I think it happened little by little, one puzzle piece at a time. The first time I saw your eyes, the first crooked smile you gave me to the first laugh I heard. I fell a little more when you opened my door that one karaoke night, then when you gave me half of your food. I kept falling when you insisted on planning our first date or when you look at me. The way you always pay attention to the little things about me. There's a lot more reasons why I keep falling for you Quinn, it didn't happen in one instant. But I can tell you the exact moment I knew I had fallen completely in love with you." I spoke softly with a smile, soft enough as though it was a secret between the both of us.

"When?" She spoke in the same tone, the smile on her lips showing me just how much she liked what she heard.

"Our first date. I remember looking at you and just," I shrugged with a small laugh. "I felt it. The calm, my soul itself being so happy to be with you. There was no rush, no quickly beating heart or fluttering stomach. I just knew it. The puzzle was finally finished and the only thing I saw when I looked at it, was you." I finished confessing how this sweet girl made me feel and it felt so damn good.

"You explained that puzzle thing way better than I did." Quinn murmured, wiping her eyes as she sniffed. "You're in love with me too?" I nodded and leaned closer. "Are you sure?" Her nose scrunched up, another thing I fell for.

"I'm so sure. I love you so much." I mumbled against her lips.

"I love you too." She kissed me then.

QUINN POV

Lily sat on one end of the couch while I sat at the other end. We'd been sitting for a few minutes in silence since Ry left to go into work. I contemplated asking her to stay but I didn't want to be overly dependent on her for everything. I grinned a little as I recalled telling her how I felt and her saying it back.

She loves me too.

I felt like the luckiest girl alive and that's what I was. Lucky. I had Ry. My sisters were alive and I would finally have them both when we found Ava. I missed them.

"I missed you." I murmured out, the only sound in the apartment.

Silence answered me but I didn't care. I just wanted her to know and now she did.

"I remember you, you know?" As Ry said, Lily was soft spoken, whispering really.

I turned to her, squinting slightly at the glare that came through the windows. "You do?"

Her eyes remained glued to her hands in her lap. "I used to have nightmares, still do but they're not as bad now. In them you're always leaving me in that bookshelf."

That made my heart break, shattering into a million tiny pieces. "I tried to come back but I-I...I don't...I'm sorry, Lily." I had to look away.

Without reacting she went on. "I also see us playing in a garden sometimes. Those aren't nightmares, I welcome those dreams. I felt something shift when I saw you at my aunts' house the day we met, but I ignored it."

"I have those garden dreams too." I told her, rubbing the side of my face. I thought she should know that.

I counted the following seconds of silence. I desperately wanted to close the distance and hug her, to hold my baby sister for the first time in eleven years. Yet, I didn't because Ry made sure I knew she didn't like being touched.

"I missed you too, Quinny." I heard her voice crack with emotion.

I couldn't wait. "Can I hug you?"

She didn't hesitate to nod her head so I rushed to her. Wrapping my arms around her shoulders, her head laid on my shoulder. I think we both started crying at the same time, because my body shook with both our sobs and I could feel her tears seeping through my Henley shirt.

We didn't let go for a long time, comfortable with hugging and letting ourselves calm down.

***

You can cook?" I peeped over Lily's shoulder as she read a recipe in one of Ry's cook books. She looked a bit uncomfortable so I stepped back.

"Um, no. I'm afraid of fire but I like reading through them." She kept her eyes down.

I bit my lip and nodded even though she wasn't looking at me. "I can't really cook either. I can make really good Mac and cheese after a few attempts." I grinned proudly.

Lily laughed.

It was the first laugh I'd heard from her in eleven years and though the sound was different, it felt familiar.

"Maybe order in then?" She suggested.

"Sounds good. Ry might be tired when she gets home so that's a good idea. Wanna play some video games while we wait?"

I placed the order and Lily began to set up the game. We sat side by side, playing Call of duty until my girlfriend came home.

"Babe, I'm back!" She slightly yelled.

"Food's on the counter, angel." I called back, still focused on my game.

"Well, isn't this a nice sight." She sounded closer, right behind the couch. I felt her hand thread through my hair before she pulled back. "Having fun, M?"

"Mhm hmm." Lily answered, too engrossed to say much else.

I heard Ry chuckle before leaving us alone.

-E