Kingdom Come Undone

Lit From Within

A/N: Hello, everyone! :) So happy to be back and be with you all. Let's see... updates? 1. I officiated my cousin's wedding last month. That was fun. 2. I watched the opening show of Taylor Swift's tour over Instagram Live with 35k other people. 3. Had Spring Break and spent 12+ hours playing Detroit Become Human on PS5. 4. Celebrated 7 friends different birthdays. All in all just experienced a ton of love.

I hope you all have been able to find love in all the big and small places around you. Thanks for coming back. Enjoy this chapter. It'll feel like an IMMENSE amount of fluff, but I promise, the breadcrumbs are there! Let me know if you pick up on any! :)

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She woke me up Sunday morning. I knew it was her from smell alone but was emphasized by the tender touches and short, simple kisses left in her wake. Being near her again made my body feel alive. Made my heart race uncontrollably. Because she was back. She was mine. She was –

"Beautiful." Alison whispered next to my ear as her hand snaked along my ribcage. "Wake up, my love." I turned my head to kiss the side of her face, wrapping my arms around her waist aggressively in excitement. "Emmy!" She squealed as I rolled us back and forth.

"I missed you. I missed you. I missed you."

Alison paused, moving her right hand to my chest as her left held her above me. "Oh, you have no idea." She leaned in for our first kiss in almost 48 hours. I sighed as she took gentle control, kissing me tenderly. My palms opened to grip her waist firmly, sliding my right hand down to gently cup her ass through her sweatpants. Her lips cascaded up my jawline, nipping along her way. "Never let me leave you two again."

I let out a breathy chuckle, keeping my hands securely latched against her. "You know you have to go back for closing right?"

"Come with me." She whimpered. "Both of you. Too much happens when I leave." Alison kissed me one last time before settling against my chest. "I love you too much."

"I love you too, Ali. But we're okay. See?" I kissed the top of her head repeatedly.

"Jake's still asleep next door. I gave him a kiss and then came on over here to see you." She nestled further against me as though we weren't already close enough.

"Wait. What time is it? You're not – "

Her hand held the side of my neck. "Shh... I cancelled my flight back and took the earliest train they had this morning. Three seemed like too late to get back today when I could just be here with the two of you."

"And Hanna?"

"She understands. I just – I don't want to miss out on any more time."

I could tell by the way Alison clutched her arm around my waist that she was anxious. Looking barely downward, her eyes were closed tightly, clinging onto every second she had. "Babe? I understand how you're feeling, but we're not going to let you stop living the rest of your life. There are going to be events and times and circumstances where one of us can't be here. There are going to be times that Jake, I don't know, goes to a sleep over or that I go visit my parents during a time you can't make it. And yes, we're going to miss things. It's inevitable." Her sigh wrecked me. The way it escaped her chest like there was so much more to say. "Can you talk to me about it?"

"I just can't imagine all that I've missed. I wasn't here when J was sick or when he called you Mom. And who knows what else?" She kissed just above my breast through my shirt, resting her head on her hands to look at me directly. "It's like – there I was in Philly, right? My hometown. In a place that Carter and I fought to buy right before we got married. Surrounded by the feeling of memories I fucking love. And with one of my best friends. It should have been memorable. It should have been so... what's the world where like it feels like a release of the good?"