I Was Saved... by the Jerkface

Memories

I was silent for about a minute or two, the seconds ticking by like molasses. I knew I needed to find some sort of answer to Blake's request, but I couldn't find it in me to speak. It was inconceivable. Impossible! How would it ever work?

"Annabelle?" Blake asked, seeming to squirm more and more with every silent second that passed. "Say something, please."

My mouth opened on reflex, but still nothing came out. I was still trying to process it. Could it really happen?

"Baby please, you're killing me here. Say something, anything," Blake begged, and the torture in his eyes was enough to spur my vocal chords into action.

"Sorry," I blurted - it was the first thing that came to mind. "I just..." I trailed off, and was quiet again.

"You don't want to," Blake stated matter-of-factly. He put on a wonderfully deceiving poker face, but I knew better. He was hurt at the thought of my refusal.

"No!" I shouted, making him flinch. I spun on my butt to face him and put my hand on his knee. I didn't know why I did that, maybe to stop him from going anywhere. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you think that. I just... I don't know..." It was as if I couldn't find the right words. "How? When?"

It seemed like a huge weight was lifted off Blake's shoulders, because he let out a breath of relief. "I know it's a lot, sweetie. I know, and I'm sorry, but... I think what I realized was that yes, I do want to go home. But I don't want to go without you."

A small smile was fighting to bring up the corners of my mouth despite the gravity of the conversation we were having. "Really?" I asked dreamily.

"Hell yeah, girl. You didn't think I would leave you, did you?" he asked skeptically, raising one eyebrow.

"Well, the way you said it... I guess I just assumed that you were dead set on going..." I whispered, self-conscious all of a sudden. Yes, I had been distrustful of him, but with a bomb like that dropped on me who wouldn't be!

"I know. I wasn't thinking that day, and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Annabelle. I didn't mean for it to come out that way. I think I just realized in the last two days or so that I couldn't leave you. I could never leave you." He finished with the last sentence coming out as a low whisper. I closed my eyes briefly in bliss. Were these words really coming out of his mouth?

My eyes fluttered open when I felt the warmth of his body drawing nearer to me, and when my vision focused I saw that our faces were inches away, the tips of our noses almost touching. I didn't say a word, because I got the feeling he was thinking about something very deeply. He was staring into my eyes intently, and for some reason it wasn't that uncomfortable for me. In fact I loved having the chance of simply staring at him for a few minutes.

After he'd thoroughly thought his way through whatever was going on in his head, he reached his hand up and cupped my cheek. I couldn't help myself - I closed my eyes and sighed in peaceful happiness, my mouth smiling of its own accord.

"I'm sorry I scared you like that," Blake whispered, his breath tickling my face. We were that close. I could feel the heat from his palm seeping through my skin and warming my face. I desperately needed heat, too, because my nose was starting to go numb.

Suddenly, his hand was withdrawn and I whimpered in protest as I opened my eyes to see what was going on. Blake looked hesitant for a moment before standing up. He reached a hand down, and I didn't ask where we were going. I just knew that as long as I was with him, I would be happy.

Well, there I have it. There's my answer, I thought quietly in my head. I didn't like to think of leaving New York, my home, my life, but if I didn't have Blake then I would never be happy. I think the last few days without him were a prime example.