Mad Woman✓

31. Cornelia Street

"We bless the rains on Cornelia Street, memorise the creaks in the floor.. Back when we were card sharks, playing games, I thought you were leading me on"

A/N

A bit of a shorter chapter, but I kinda really like it ((: 

   JOE

The wind is cold and harsh and snowflakes fly into my face and in my eyes.

Everywhere I look, I see a layer of dirty sticky snow. I breathe in the winter air, the smell of snow and rain and I smile.

"We're here", I say, "It's good to be back."

Taylor comes to stand beside me and she grabs my arm tightly. She leans her head on my shoulder and I press a kiss on her hair.

"I really love New York City", she nods.

We are standing in front of her house - the house we went to that night after we saw each other again in John's dive bar. After I drove as fast as I possibly could with my 2001 red Honda Civic.

To Cornelia Street.

I laugh softly to myself.

Look where we are now, I think, And it was worth it. She is worth it.

Taylor takes the keys from her coat pocket and opens the big wooden door.

The scent of her perfume, mixed with the scent of freshly washed sheets meets my nostrils and I smile. We really are home.

As we step inside, we're greeted by the nice warmth of the house. I put my crutch down and help Taylor haul our suitcases and bags inside from the car.

She goes to pay the driver as I walk through the large hallway and into the kitchen.

I laugh out loud, seeing the kitchen island. God, we were so.. different back then.. I was this reckless, hopeless romantic and Taylor was wistful, only there for the pleasure... Or at least, I thought so. I am pretty sure now that she had a crush on me from the night we met.

Two hands run over my shoulder and then down to my waist and she wraps her arms around me, her head resting on my shoulder blade.

We both stand there, looking at the kitchen, remembering all of it.. "When the cleaning lady walked in and we hid in the bushes and we kissed", she said, "I thought I was gonna die of excitement. And then you told me I could trust you.. I swear, I thought I was gonna cry right there."

"You told me about things being dangerous", I say, turning around and looking her in the eyes, "That you didn't trust people.. And I said you seemed to trust me.."

"And I said "You're fine, you're Joe".. I saw it in your eyes", she says softly, "You were head over heels for me. Those words drove you crazy."

"Well, I wouldn't put it like that", I chuckle, "But yeah, pretty much."

I pull her into me and rest my chin on top of her head.

"Look where we've come from there on", she says, her voice soft, "There's no more 'dangerous guys'.. I am head over heels for you.. I love you, I love you so much and.. We're back home. And I am happy, so happy.... For the first time, I am truly, thoroughly.. happy."

I say nothing, just hold her tightly and close my eyes as I breathe her in.

There is no doubt she can hear my heart beating so fast, proving how much I love her too, how happy I am too.

"I'm gonna let you go and shower now", she says, "Because otherwise, I will cry because I love you so much and all I feel right now is love and devotion and I don't feel like crying."

She lets go of me and takes a step back, her hands still in mine.

"I love you", I tell her, "So incredibly much." And we are smiling like crazy people, so widely the corners of my mouth must be close to my ears.

We both have tears of happiness in our eyes when she lets go of my hands and walks up the stairs.

I run my hands through my hair and I chuckle.. It's like I am seventeen, a boy who's fallen for a girl for the first time in his life..

And I think that maybe that is what is actuallyactually happening to me right now, that I have actually fallen in love for the first time.

Never have I ever loved someone so deeply, so genuinely, so non-judgementally, so truly.

I laugh again, and I can't stop and I am just standing here in the middle of the empty kitchen, my hands on my knees as I laugh so hard.

And I can't stop, my cheeks are hurting but I am feeling so human right now, so real.

The past few months felt like a fever dream. Like, I know happened, I remember it all.. but it does not feel real.

I haven't really thought of it, but it is crazy.. All that we have been through, everything we lived through..

Taylor being shot, them kidnapping me...

If it had not happened to me, and someone would tell this story to me.. It would just be folklore to me.

Not real. Like a dream.

But now, I am completely awake. I have never felt more awake..

Slowly, I manage to stop laughing, just smiling now.

I chuckle once more before running up the stairs. She is in the bedroom and she is wearing a T-shirt of mine and she is putting her phone on the charger and I walk up to her.

I cup her face in my hands and lift her face so she looks at me.

Her eyes find mine and they are so electric blue, and she is so beautiful and I love her. And I will love her, forevermore.

"Taylor", I say, "Will you marry me?"