The Strip

Part 13

Rebecca POV:

She avoids you.

For two weeks she hardly speaks to you.

You knew it was going to happen, but you can't help yourself from staying up until five in the morning every night thereafter, hoping that she'd ask you to meet her at the diner.

She doesn't, but you wait for her regardless.

You message her in the mornings, pretending you've been asleep all night and are greeting her as you greet the sun. You imagine her smile when she wakes, her golden hair highlighted in the morning rays.

Every time you open your eyes to empty sheets, the world remains dark.

You clutch at your mother's pendant, trying to remember the words when it feels like Freen will never return.

'someone who fits you'

You know in your heart that Freen does.

So, you wait.

And then...

She's standing in front of your door.

You watch her through the peephole as she wrings her hands, tugs on her watch, and clutches at her hair, unable to decide whether to come or go.

"Freen."

She gasps in a breath, staring at you with shock and fear, and hope in her eyes.

You smirk when she says "hi," looking as nervous and confused and adorable as ever.

You nearly forget yourself in her eyes, and finally move aside so she can enter.

She startles you when she comes back to kiss you hello, a sigh of relief rushing past your lips when she retreats.

You watch her as she moves about your apartment with familiarity, seeing the traces of light illuminating everything she touches. Bringing colour back into your world. She fits just like everything else in your place. She makes it feel like a home.

"I missed you," she says when she catches your stare.

Your heart leaps into your throat. Your words can't make it out when you feel so overwhelmed by her presence.

You're also terrified you'll wake up from this dream.

"I missed you," she repeats, closer to you, open to you, wanting you to know she's sincere. Her fingers twirl through your hair, the only tether to reality that takes hold of your heart.

'I love you' is at the tip of your tongue, so you bite down, unable to voice the words - not tonight.

You have so many questions. You want to ask her to stay tonight; to stay forever; to stop running, but you can't and you won't because you won't force her to do anything. You'll be okay until she's ready.

"Can we go to bed?" She asks, and the tension in your shoulders immediately disappears, your body slackening with the promise of sleep and her staying.

You're amazed by how beautiful she is in the moonlight. The way her hair almost glows. The sight of her overwhelms you, the 'i love you' bubbling and burning your tongue, so you close your eyes and settle into the soft embrace of her, the soft smell of her, the softness of the moment and you start to lose your battle with consciousness.

It's been two weeks since you've slept properly, and you know it has everything to do with the blonde beside you.

Your kiss is soft - it's special - accepting of her demons, of her as she is and the battle she still faces, and promising that you'll be right in her corner. It's accepting that she's opening up, and welcoming her to be just how she is.