Liberation [completed]

1 Year-Asher

I watch the door closely. It's been a year and yet I still miss her after a day's work. Today of all days, I'd have loved for us to have spent the day together in bed. But Mia, being Mia, had to work. Her passion for her future matched mine and from that I could understand why she worked so hard. Yet, it always angered me how much she was willing to push herself. Mia was great at making it seem like she had everything put together on the outside, yet, in the year that I've been with her, I've learnt to never trust that. She could be hurting inside and she would still put on a good face. Even with me, she rarely let the mask drop. It wasn't a bad thing, I was good at detecting the small signs.

Things have improved significantly in the year, after the Hamptons trip, our relationship was stronger than ever. We were both working on ourselves yet doing it together. Mia was more expressive of her feelings for me. She was growing more confident and she fought for what she wanted. Now that she could pay for herself, she was more stubborn on footing some of the bills. She had managed to convince me to let her pay for her phone bills and her cloths. She was working on getting me to let her pay half of the bills, but I wasn't going to budge. At least I didn't see myself budging in the near future.

I feel the wind get knocked out of me, when I see her exit the store with her radiant smile. She smiled more now. Her smile was amazing, it had the power to lift my spirits after a long day at work. The fact that I was the cause for that smile made it even more powerful. I feel myself grinning back at her. I let my eyes travel over her body like it was the first time I was looking at her. I had to force myself to stay by the car and not close the gap between us. She looked so hot in her jeans and top. She had bought that outfit all on her own with her salary and for some reason this looked nicer than all the cloths I got for her. Well, the dresses I got her were sexy and only made her look even more beautiful. I watch as the redness fills her cheeks and she walks over to me. She had a package in her hands and she seemed to want to protect it. I look at it curiously and then back at her.

"Hi" Mia says chirpy and filled with life. Thank god I had the weekend with her.

"Hello, what's in the box?" I ask nodding at the direction of the package she was holding but not breaking the eye contact we had.

Mia breaks it looking down at it excitedly, she answers me by opening the box slowly and carefully. "Happy one year." She says extending the box to me.

I peer inside and see three cupcakes, possibly of my favourite flavours. The icing on each cupcake said "I" and a heart and "U" on them. I smirk at the cheesiness of it all but decided against commenting on it cause what I had planned was just as cheesy if not more.

"They had some left overs, so I took them" She explains to me.

"Hmmm," I sigh, taking the box from her hand and placing it on the hood of the car, simultaneously I reach to wrap my arm around her and pull her into me. Mia falls into me and hugs me around the neck. Her head was already looking up at me expectantly. I grin down at her wanting the same thing. But in that moment, delayed gratification seemed appealing. Instead of kissing Mia on the lips like she wanted, I press my lips against her forehead. "I love the cupcakes, thank you" I tell her before standing us both up and turning to get into the car. I take the cupcakes with me and smirk at the sight of Mia's frown.

"No kiss?" She asks when we're on the move.

"Nope" I reply simply and confidently.

"Okay" Mia replies ignorantly. I knew she expected me to turn to her from her tone but I resist. We have played this game enough times to know who was better. 

Me.

During the ride back, Mia slides over to me from her side- the side the initially used to be mine- and cuddles up to me. She usually did this and fell asleep on me during the drive back. She needed this to get her through the rest of the night. It was her power nap. I loved when she did this. Her head either rested on my shoulder or on my lap whichever she preferred. Today she was stretched out over the length of the back seat with her head on my lap. I watch her sleep in the least creepiest way I could manage while also looking out at New York's peak hour traffic. She looked so peaceful and beautiful. Every time I get reminded of how lucky I got. I still had no clue how this could ever happen to me, but there was an answer to that too: Fate.