A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

Chapter XXI: Shoot to Thrill

"Fuck!" the intruder yelled, covering his face from my beating. I barely gave him a chance to speak let alone get anywhere near me. "Hannah, stop! It's me!"

I froze where I stood as Angus' face....his beautiful, terrified, and flushed face came into focus. He set a suitcase down and stared at me in disbelief. Dropping my racquet I ran to him and tackled him in a hug. He accepted my embrace, holding me tightly with concern. 

"Jesus Christ, what was that for, love?"

I buried my face in his hair and started crying, the adrenaline still hot like fire. "I heard someone in the house, I got scared!" Then I stepped back to look at him. I was almost miffed. "What the hell are you doing home a week early?" I snapped. 

Poor Angus looked almost hurt. Aside from my ambush, I mean. "Tour ended," he said. "We were given the okay to head home an' some of the crew wanted to stay an' some of us..." He gave me a serious look and wrapped his arms around me. "wanted to get home to their gorgeous girlfriends."

I hung my head. "I'm sorry," I said wiping my eyes. I hugged him again and he smoothed my damp hair back with his hand. "I'm glad you're home."

"Me too," he whispered kissing my hair. "I'll tell ya', no intruder's gettin' past you." I couldn't help but laugh and he joined in. "That really fuckin' hurt, ya' know."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I said kissing his cheek, accidentally wetting it with my tears. Angus pointed at his other cheek.

"Ya' hit me here too." I kissed where he pointed. "An' here." I kissed his nose. "An' I think ya' got me worst of all right about here." He pointed at his lips. I gave him a quick peck and he smiled. "Thanks, love. Now lead me to that bed an' don't bother wakin' me up for months."

**********

Love filled my heart as I watched him. His long hair was sprawled every which way on the pillows, some of it covering his face. He was snoring lightly, a small trail of drool dampening the pillowcase. During the night he had been tossing and turning and finally found comfort in a contorted, pretzel like position. 

He wasn't waking up for a while. 

Stomach rumbling I crept out of bed and down the stairs, not bothering to pick up the racquet and suitcase we abandoned on the bedroom floor. I put the kettle on and grabbed a couple eggs from the fridge, cracking them into a bowl. With a little milk and a little salt, I poured the eggs into a pan and hummed while I waited. 

I wasn't a very good hummer, which was okay since nobody was listening. The kettle went off, sounding much worse than I ever could. I quickly poured the tea and grabbed a spatula for the eggs. I wondered if the smell would wake Angus up and I'd hear him stumble down the stairs. But nothing. 

Plating the eggs and grabbing a cup, I headed upstairs to our bedroom. Angus looked exactly the same as when I left, except the drool spot getting bigger. I set the plate and cup down on his nightstand before leaving for the kitchen to grab mine. I came back holding a breakfast tray and still, Angus was asleep. Taking a spot on the bed I dug in. 

With Angus sleeping so soundly I worried his food might get cold. Nothing our new microwave couldn't fix but there was nothing like a freshly hot meal to start your day.

Not to mention cold tea was my nemesis. 

I sipped my tea and peeked through the cracks in the window blinds. There was a tree shaking against the pane. A bird hopped on the branch right in my view and preened himself before taking off. I looked over at Angus. 

Still asleep. 

I shivered. Soon it would be time to break out the electric blanket. Snuggling further into the covers I froze when Angus finally stirred, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. When his eyes finally focused on me he sighed. "Mornin'."

"Good morning," I said. I pushed the breakfast tray in his direction and pointed at the nightstand. "I made you breakfast."

"Oh," he said sitting up. "An' what have we here..." He moved his meal to the tray and tried the tea. "Very nice, love. Just like always." He tasted the eggs next and hummed. "Not bad. Little cold but that's my fault."

I leaned against him while he ate his breakfast, sipping my tea. 

Waiting patiently.

**********

Later that day Angus tapped me on the shoulder while I read my book on the sofa. I looked up to see him waving an envelope. "I know you didn't forget," he said with a cheeky grin. "An' neither did I." The envelope fell from his fingers and landed on my lap. He took a seat next to me, bringing his knees to his chest like a kid. 

"Is this the surprise?" I asked. 

"Yeah," he said. "You can open it, unless you wanna guess first." I felt around the outside of the envelope for anything out of the ordinary. Something was inside. Something flat.

"Two new sapphire credit cards?" I asked jokingly. 

"Are ya' kiddin'? We're still payin' off the first one!" I giggled. "Guess again."

"Hmm....is it....tickets to Madonna?"

"Mmm....close, but no. You're in the same...you're in the same ballpark, kinda." I narrowed my eyes. 

"These aren't tickets to a cricket match, are they?" He smiled.

"Nah, not that."

"Good. I'm not a sport watcher." I felt around a bit more. Nothing was coming to mind and I huffed. "That's it, I'm opening it." I tore the envelope open and ripped the contents out. In my hands were two plane tickets to-

"Scotland?" I asked. He clasped his hands together and looked down. 

"Yeah. Ya' know ya' said you wanted to go...an' me birthday is comin' up....thought I'd take ya'...."

We almost fell off the couch after I hugged him. A holiday in Scotland, just the two of us. Suddenly the hints made sense. He was keeping his promise to me. And he was born there, hence his birthday clue. 

"Ya' sure ya' wanna go still?" he asked. "Jus'....planes an' all...on the go..."

"I'll get there if I have to be airlifted," I said. He laughed. "If an ambulance drives us around the entire time, or a hearse..." I nuzzled into his warmth and sighed. "Thank you."

"Anythin' for you," he said. It was quiet for a while until he muttered, "Can't believe I'm turnin' thirty..."