We Fell In Love In October - Wintumn Flufftober

Love Confession

"Particularly Winter who is one of our most outstanding members of staff. And I'm not just saying that because he is the love of my life, I'm saying that because he is all of the children's favorite as well. Ask your own son."

Winter froze in his tracks, having just passed the office as those four words floated out the door. Anything she said after those four words was completely lost on him as his mind reeled. He was sure he had misheard,  he never expected to hear her say that outside of his dreams. He came back to reality as the complaining mother burst out of the office, scoffing as she saw Winter standing there. He stayed just a minute longer and listened closely as the two women kept talking. He needed to see if Autumn would backtrack. She didn't. She told Marjorie not to get all giddy over it, but that was just Autumn. Public displays of emotion were not her thing; she was probably just as surprised that she said it as Winter was hearing. And he knew for sure that if she knew he'd overheard she'd feel even worse.

But he just couldn't walk away. When Autumn admitted she was happy, in her own peculiar way by not shutting down Marjorie's gift basket idea entirely, his heart began to flutter. She loved him. She loved him. He could barely believe it. Of course, he felt the same way. He knew it was love after they spent their first weekend together. He'd spent these last month's together fighting his urge to blurt it out every time he saw her. They'd only been together for five months and they'd only just told everyone about their relationship three months ago, he was sure it was too soon; that if he had said it she'd go running for the hills. But now she'd let it slip and in front of Marjorie no less. He knew he was going to have to tell her soon, otherwise he ran the risk of their first true "I love you" playing out the same way their first Valentine's gift did. With an audience of one very sappy manager.

The rest of the day dragged on as he was barely able to focus on his work but instead focused on how best to finally admit his true feelings to Autumn. Thankfully it was an easier day in the nursery and he was on the early shift so he only had a few hours left in his shift after he overheard her. By the time he left for the day he had a plan and plenty of time to execute it before Autumn would be home; this would be the only time he was glad his girlfriend's shift was scheduled to end so much later than his.

On his way home he stopped by the shops to pick up everything he would need for the evening. It was so last minute he knew that he would be able to make a night at home just as romantic as any outing he would be able to plan, so that was what he was going to do. When he got home he set to work.

After he seasoned the steaks and set them to marinate for a couple hours, he decided to tidy the house a little bit. Autumn had so much going on between her brother coming back and board meetings with her father and Winter knew how much the "mess" was stressing her out. He couldn't imagine what she'd think if she ever saw the state of his flat; thankfully that was never a problem, they always ended up back at her place. Once the house was spotless, he lit two candles in the center of the dining room table and picked out the perfect album for them to listen to.

He was just about to put the steaks in the pan when he heard Autumn's car pulling into the driveway. When she walked through the door, she was greeted by Winter offering her a glass of wine.

"Welcome home, my darling." Winter gave her a quick kiss as he took her coat and purse from her. "Dinner is very nearly ready. Why don't you go get comfortable and by the time you come back we can eat?"

"Thank you, my sweet."

Autumn was very clearly surprised as she walked through the now spotless hallway. She heard the hum of the dryer going as she made her way upstairs to change out of her work clothes. Winter wasn't wearing anything special, just his usual jeans and hoodie, so she changed into her favorite joggers and borrowed one of Winter's jumpers for the evening. He never minded and the fact that they smelled like him always made her more comfortable. She sipped her wine as she removed her makeup and let her hair down, the sure sign that she was truly relaxed.

When she finally made her way downstairs her eyes went wide as she saw the table set so immaculately. The lights in the dining room were dimmed to accentuate the glow from the candles and there was soft music playing in the background. Even though they were just at home she suddenly felt incredibly underdressed. As Winter placed their food on the table he looked up to see Autumn turning to leave.

"My love, where are you going?"

"Just to change, I'll only be a minute."

"No, please." Winter made his way over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. "You look perfect, Autumn."

He kissed her quickly before leading her over to the table. She was shocked that he had done all of this for her. On top of doing all the cooking and cleaning he had remembered exactly how she liked her steak done, her favorite brand of wine, her favorite instrumental album, he remembered everything. Autumn had never been with a man who cared for her like this. The whole day she had thought and over thought about the words she let slip in the office. She worried she was feeling too much too soon, that she was getting carried away, that there was no way a man like Winter could love her the way she loved him. But she couldn't help it. She had fallen for him hard and she had fallen for him fast. All she could do was hope that he would catch her. She tried to hide the tears welling in her eyes, but it was no use.

"Winter I-"

"Wait, Autumn."

Having seen the tears in her eyes, Winter worried that he'd done something wrong. That he had misheard, misread every moment spent between them. But he'd already gathered the courage to tell her, he wasn't going to let the chance pass him by even if it was in vain.

"I need to tell you something."

She looked up at him, raising her eyebrows to give him the floor. Winter took in a deep breath, it was now or never.

"Autumn, I love you."

"You...love me?"

"Yes, I love you. I'm in love...with you. I've loved you ever since I first kissed you. There isn't a second that goes by that I'm not thinking about you. I love your laugh, I love your smile, I love that you would kill me if I ever told anyone that you knew how to laugh or smile. I love you, Autumn."

"Winter, I-"

Before Autumn had a chance to respond, Winter pulled her into a searing kiss. All of the emotion that had been building in him since he stood outside that office door finally came flooding out as he held her close, not wanting to let go. She reciprocated every movement, every emotion as her mind was finally quieted. There were no more doubts. They were in love. She pulled away, but only long enough to breathlessly finish what she had tried twice now to say.

"Winter, I'm in love with you."