Love At First Lie | Herophine Fic

Here And Now

HERO

"Hero..." she breathes. She - Jo - is standing right in front of me. This can't be happening. Am I dreaming all over again? A much tamer dream, granted. But still, she's here. Her piercing blues bore into my greens and that's proof enough that what's happening right now is real. Very fucking real. Just as real as everything we've shared previously.

Without thinking, I close the gap between us and wrap my arms tightly around her. She's here. She's in my arms, where she belongs. Equally as quickly, her arms embrace me, holding me tightly. I hold her as close as humanly possible. I don't want any space between us. It's been... too long since I held her. Since I saw her. Since... Anything.

"Oh my God," I sigh, burying my head into the crook of her neck. Deeply, I inhale her scent, refamiliarising myself with what I've yearned for since that fucking car drove away and left her. Abandoning her.

"You're - you're here," she stutters and instantly, I realise she's crying. I tighten my hold on her, leaning my head further into her neck as she reaches onto her tiptoes. I don't care that we're in the middle of Hyde Park. I don't care that people are brushing or pushing past either of us. All I care about is that I've found her. Somehow, the universe still has a place for her in my life. She's my missing piece but being here now, I'm whole again.

"I'm here, baby. I'm here. God..." Jo doesn't say anything but I feel another sob fall from her as she rests in my arms.

"It's been..."

"Too long. I know," I finish for her. It really has been too long. It took me stepping out of my comfort zone to find the person who makes me the happiest by simply being them. Then to have her ripped away, ripped a part of me too. But now she's here, that part has slotted right back into place. There's no darkness now, only light. Her light.

"I've missed you, so fucking much," gently, I pull away and place my hands on her cheeks. My thumbs carefully stroke back and forth, wiping away her falling tears as I lean down and place my lips on hers. I feel her sink into my hold and her full swollen lips accept mine. It's been so long that I'd forgotten how they felt against mine. But this right here is the perfect reminder.

I thought I'd lost her. All because of those fucking producers and their unreasonable desire for good TV. Because let's face it, that's the only reason they did what they did. To get the shots needed to patch the end of our story on the show in the editing room as they see fit. But I don't allow myself to delve into that place. Instead, I shift my focus onto what's happening in the here and now.

Cautiously, Jo separates our lips and peers up at me. Her eyes remain watery but tears no longer fall.

"I missed you too," she whispers, covering my hands with hers. But in the corners of her lips, I watch as they creep into a soft, content smile.

"So, I definitely need to ask, what are you doing here?" It strikes me as unbelievably odd that of all the places we find one another, it's here. Hyde Park. At this time of year, one of the busiest places in the whole of London. The odds of us finding each other here really are a million to one. Stacked against us. But as awful as those odds are for me and Jo, we've beat them.

Her smile curls into a bright and wider one at my question. She knows as well as I do the chances of this are practically nonexistent. But yet, here we are.

"I -" before she has a chance to string a response together, her name is called by someone. Someone else who's Australian by the sounds of it. Our heads turn towards the sound, pulling us out and popping the little bubble we'd created in the madness of Winter Wonderland.