Language of Love

Aes

    "I'm sorry," He says. I sigh and lean back in my chair.
    "What else are you lying to me about?" I ask.
    "Nothing." He says.
    "Fitz."
    "Nothing, I swear to God." He says.
    "Okay. Why didn't you tell me?" I ask.
    "I wanted you to like me for me, not how rich I am," He explains.
    "Fitz, I told you I loved you weeks, over month ago. Don't you think that would have been a good time to mention it?" I ask.
     "I guess, but I waited too long and I just forgot about it. I don't want to make excuses..." He says.
     "Okay, but even before that. I opened up to you. I told you a lot of things I've never told anybody. You didn't think the tell me then?" I say.
      "I thought about. I did. That was so dark and I didn't want sound like a horrible person who didn't care what you had been through and wanted to tell you all about this money I have." He says.
      "Okay." I say.

     He pays and we meet his mother outside. She must sense the ongoing tension, because she doesn't say a word on the way back.

    After we sit in silence for at least half an hour, his mother says something.

    "I didn't come to meet your girlfriend, Fitz." She says.
    "What?"
    "Presli is dead." She says. He reaches his hand to his mouth. I glance from him to her. I'm confused. I try to remember who Presli was. Then it hit me. Lola's twin. His sister.'
    "How-did..."
    "Her husband murdered her," She croaks, beginning to cry. I feel myself gasp. Fitz clenches his fists. This day couldn't have possibly gone much worse.
     "Are you sure?"
    "He killed self right after. There's security footage, I saw it all," She sobs.

     "I'm going for a walk," Fitz says and leaves the apartment with a slammed door. I stand up to run after him.
     "No, you don't want to see him like that. That's why he left. I've seen him like that, you haven't. He left so you didn't have to." She says.
      "I have to go. I've got to see him like that, whatever that is, at some point." I say and follow him.

    I see him on a on the ground leaning against a brick wall, away from everyone. His head rests in his hands.

    "Fitz." I say. He looks up, his eyes watery.
    "Go back inside, I'm fine." He says.
    "No."
    "Go back, you don't have to see me like this," He says.
     "No, I love you, Fitz. Every part. Even this one." I say.
     "I said go back inside, damnit!" He yells. I shake my head and pull him into a hug.

    He's tense and tries to pull out of my hug. I don't let him. His body loosens and he grips me tighter. I move us down to the ground where he presses his face to my chest. I feel the tears soak through my shirt, but I know I've soaked many of Fitz's. After a while, I feel the tears stop.

    "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to see this," He says. I hold up his face and look him in the eyes.
    "You are allowed to have emotions!" I say. He nods. "You are the love of my life! I'm okay to see every side you've got."
     "I love you," He whispers.

     He pulls me into a hug. He grips onto me tight. We decide to go inside. His mother still sits on the couch, her mascara much more smeared than it was when I left.

    "I see you two have made up," She jokes, eyes still watery.
    "Yeah," Fitz says with a hint of a smile.
    "I'm heading home tonight," She says.
    "Okay," He says. I feel the pain in his voice.
    "Before then, can I talk to you outside? Alone." She says. Fitz nods and gestures towards the door.

✿✿✿✿✿

"What's up?" Fitz asks. "Did something else happen with Pres?"
"No. Gray's the one," His mother says.
"What?"
"Well, she's pretty, she's smart, she took my criticism, so she must really like you, and she's not a gold digger. But, what really made me see it is when you left and even though she was mad at you and I told her you didn't want to her to see you like that, she still went. She said "I'll have to see him like that at some point." She's what you need, you need her. So, I'm going to give you my engagement ring. Wait a while, you haven't dated that long, but I think it's her," She says to him. Fitz takes the velvet box in his hand.
"I think it's her too," He says.
    "But it is way to early. Don't you dare give that to her anytime soon. I just wanted to give it to you in case I don't see you again," She says.

✿✿✿✿✿

That night, we go to bed. I touch his face.

"Do you need to cry?" I ask.
"Maybe... It's not so much about my sister. It's more of the fact that I hated her husband but didn't do anything," He says.
"You couldn't do anything, don't beat yourself up. If your brother thought I was horrible, would it effect how you felt about me?" I ask.
"No." He mutters, "But you aren't going to murder me, right?"
"Well, I guess we'll see, but I don't plan on," I joke.
"Just checking."

"My mom," Fitz says, "She really likes you. She told me that you were the person I needed."

I don't respond with words, but with a kiss on his lips. Once he drifts to sleep, I think about him. The man with his arms around me is a billionaire. That doesn't sound right. When I think of Fitz, I'll never think of him as a billionaire. I think of him as the caring man who doesn't care that I can't have children, who doesn't care that my mother is an alcoholic who embarrasses us monthly, the man who I'd give anything to be with. That's how I think of Fitz. My Fitz.

      One day I'll marry him, I'm sure of it.