One of the Good Ones ✓

Are We There Yet?

I lay next to him, my bare chest heaving. "I really missed you." I say, rolling over to face him.

"I missed you too. I'm sorry, for not letting you tell your side, for taking Tara's word at face value."

"I know. I forgive you." I say, placing a kiss on his chest. We sit in the companionable silence for a bit, my hand tracing patterns across his chest while his trails up and down my spine.

"I promise I'm going to make this up to you."

✨✨✨

Two days later, Chris was banging on my door. "What could possibly be going wrong at... 5am?! Chris! Some of us like sleep. I know you're one of those people so what gives?"

"You have 30 minutes to get ready and pack a bag before we have to go." He says, coming in and placing a kiss on my cheek.

"What do you mean we have to go?" But Chris was already heading to my bedroom. "Chris. What is going on?"

"I told you the other day I was going to make it up to you. I already had planned to do this later, but now is just as good a time as any." He replies before heading into my closet and grabbing a carry-on.

"Can I at least know where we're going so I know how to pack?"

"Pack a mixture of warm and cold weather clothing."

"Ok, like sweaters, a parka? You grew up with two sisters and a mom, how the hell aren't you better at this?" I ask with a laugh.

"Ha ha. Get packed." He says, kissing me before heading out to the kitchen where I hear him talking to Moose in that baby voice he uses. I smile fondly before hurrying about my closet to get things packed.

"How long should I pack for?" I call out from my doorway.

"A long weekend." He answers.

"You're very helpful."

"Do you want to ruin the surprise or are you just going to trust me?"

"Trust is a very tricky thing Chris. It's easily broken and once it is, it's a bitch to earn it back."

"Are you saying that I broke your trust Lexi?" he asks, looking truly vulnerable for the first time since I've known him.

I sigh. "No... maybe... I don't know. All I know is I haven't been believed before Chris. I've been laughed out of a police station when I went to seek protection. I thought you would be different." I say that last part softly.

"I am different Lexi. It's not a good excuse but I trust Tara to tell me the truth. We've been friends for years, and I thought that when she told me something, there'd be no reason for her to lie. Clearly, I need to readjust my expectations of her. But you need to know that I'd never intentionally cause you pain."

I furiously wipe the tears from my cheeks that were falling. "I know."

"What?"

"I know. With some very few exceptions, that I am not a part of, you would never try to do that."

"Are we going to be ok?"

I send him a small smile. "Yeah, we are." He helps me grab my bag and Moose's things and we lock up my house. "Now, can you please tell me where we're going?" I beg.

"Once we drop Moose off with Scott, I'll fill you in, slightly." He laughs as we pull out of my driveway. Moose had his head out the window, which I thought was ridiculous as it was freezing cold outside still.

We pull into Scott's 15 minutes later and Chris tells me to stay in the car as he hurries to get Moose inside and out of the cold. His cheeks and nose are bright red when he got back in the car. "Is it cold?" I ask with a laugh.

"You're so funny. Let's go."

"Will you tell me where exactly it is that we're going?"

"We're going on a trip."

"Yeah, I figured that part out well enough on my own thanks." He chuckles at my frustration. "Seriously, Chris. Where are we going?"

"The airport."

"And from there, where are we going?"

"You'll see when we get there."

"Ok, fine. I'll stop asking. You keep your secrets."

We pull up to the Boston Logan airport and pull into the short-term parking lot. We go in and he gets our tickets from the counter before leading me to security. "And the reason you picked the early morning flight is because?"

"We could get through the airport without a mass of people, and paps, following us." He says before handing my ticket, ID and his to the poor guy stuck working the early shift for TSA.

"I'm still not allowed to know where we're going?"

"No." he says as we move through security quickly. I will give him this, the airport was dead, and it made getting to the gate easier. I take a look at the screen above the flight attendant station and clamp a hand over my mouth to keep from squealing and alerting everyone who was already there, to our presence.

"Shut up! You're not!" When he smiles in confirmation I launch myself into his arms. "You're taking me to Disney?"

"You told me it was something you wanted to experience like it was your first time." I giggle a little. "Ok, that was poorly worded, but you know what I meant."

"I did. Thank you!" I say, peppering his face with kisses.

"You deserve the world, Michaels. It's time someone shows you that."