War

Chapter 22

Janis' POV

   We had entered our second year as fugitives and things have been less than fantastic. Not that the first year was a walk in the park, but this one has taken a larger toll on everyone. Steve had not brought up marriage since the first time, but anytime we've had other disagreements since then, it's been rough. Whether they're resolved or not before he ends up walking away to cool down, I have caught him looking at his compass almost every time. I never brought this up or called him out on it, but I kept feeling a fit of seething jealousy in my gut when I would see it. I loved him and didn't want to make any of our arguments worse by trying to discuss it with him, so I left it alone but I was also afraid of what it could mean. None of the disagreements were bad enough to push us apart from one another because our communication was one of our strong points.

   One evening, after a particularly hard day of missing my dad and Pepper, I sat back and had a glass of wine with everyone, convening in my and Steve's room. It was nice to relax and have a good chat for morale. At some point, I ended up placing myself in Steve's lap and Auntie Nat made a comment on it,

"You two are sickeningly sweet sometimes." She said, with a half smile and a half-fake gag. Steve and I looked at each other with cheesy grins,

"Only sometimes, the rest of the time is spicy" I joked, purposely weakening my voice on the word "spicy" to sell the bit. The group chuckled and the subject quickly changed to missing the others. Nobody knew where to begin to try and rekindle, especially with the fact that we were hiding. I had my phone playing music softly in the background while we all talked and after a lot of laughing and conversation, the other two left for the night. Steve and I poured one more glass to finish off the bottle and kept our chat going, mutually feeling like tonight was a good night. When I drank the rest of my wine, Steve took my glass and put it with his. I just sat there, checking him out and admiring him before I got up and met him where he stood. He took my hips into his hands and my arms wrapped over his neck and shoulders for a steamy kiss. It was a long and teasing kiss that made me ache tremendously. We may be around each other 24/7 these days, but I will never get tired of the man in front of me. He pulled back from the kiss and pressed his forehead to mine, lingering his fingers away from my body,

"Why can't you be my wife?" Steve wondered, taking my hands into his. I wasn't mad at the question at all. If anything, I felt that it was a really sweet way to ask.

"Who said I couldn't be your wife? You can call me your wife, you know. I have no qualms with that." I told him, dodging his real point but making my own. I spoke sensually, not wanting to break the mood that built between us. He didn't fret but was quick to correct my reasoning,

"You know what I'm talking about, Janis. I really want to know why. Maybe we could do a long engagement and just have that until you're ready." He said, trying to find a middle ground. I shook my head,

"I think we need to wait for all of that until we get everything sorted out, it's been rough on all of us," I told him. He dropped my hands and began a short pace, putting his hands in his pockets. I really didn't want this to be a fight. "Let me be the one to bring it up next time, when I'm ready I will let you know." I continued, taking the seat that I was in before. Steve pivoted in a half-circle on his feet.

"I just don't understand why it has to be that way. Why can't we have a small victory? I waited another year to ask, but I'm still not getting much to work with here." He shrugged. I leaned back in my chair and sighed,

"Yes, Steve, it's been a whole year and we're still doing the same thing we were doing last time you brought it up. What's next? Are you going to ask again next year but in a new way in an effort to appease me?" I asked, my attitude now matching his. I hated having this quarrel with him again but he was refusing to leave well enough alone.