It's Been A Long Time... [Desperate Measures Sequel]

ThirtyThree.

He watched me intensely as he awaited my answer. Oh, I really wanted this, this is all I wanted and it has been for a long time. As I looked into his eyes I could tell he was being genuine. I didn't know what the right answer was, this was all I wanted but had I wanted it so much that I had forgotten everything else? 

I slowly removed my shaking hand from the keys before I carefully placed my hands around the back of his neck and let myself be held by him, I held his hands go around my waist and his face in the crook of my neck and he held me tightly. It really did feel like I was home, it just felt so right at this moment in time. There was nothing I wanted more than to just stay in this moment in time. His strong hands holding me close to him, a smile, an actual smile on my lips which hadn't been there for a long time and love radiating from the both of us. 

Right then and there, here together was the moment I knew we were meant to be together. 

My fingers played in his hair as his fingers brushed along my exposed skin where I was on my tip toes stretching my body to be close to him. I smiled as I let him hold me tightly. 

There was so much that needed to be said, so much we needed to talk about, but none of that mattered right now. We didn't need to talk, no words needed to leave our lips as I gripped his shirt as I breathed out like I had been holding my breath forever. 

This was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, this was the man I wanted to keep me safe, this was the man I wanted to share everything with. 

He pulled away first, only to look at my face, his right hand coming up and touching my cheek, a gentle stroke of my face as he smiled at me. "Honestly Natasha, I love you."

I returned the smile as I ran my right hand through his hair, my left hand still on his shoulder. "I love you," I spoke freely, only speaking the truth. "Please, don't come here and promise me all this if you are going to leave again and just hurt me again."

Dean's fingers stroked my face gently before he shook his head, "I'll never hurt you again. I won't let anyone else hurt you again either." 

Looking into his eyes I knew he was looking deep into my soul, he knew so much about me, yet he knew so little, as I did about him. There was something though, something about the way he made me feel, something about the way we made each other feel. We were two halves, together we were a whole and I didn't ever want to be without him again. 

I'd been through so much in my life, everything had been a mess, it was a mess up until five minutes ago when nothing made sense until Dean touched me and proclaimed his love for me. Then I knew why I had been through so much, just to get to this moment, to find the person who was going to make my life complete. 

I reached forward and touched his face before I leaned forward, our eyes closing when our lips met. His lips were chapped yet it just added to the feeling when his lips were against mine. His right hand ran through my hair as he pulled away from the sweet and sensual kiss. 

"I'm not going anywhere," he whispered as our foreheads leaned against each other. Our breathing heavy and coming out in pants from the hot kiss we had just shared. 

Reaching for his hand I laced my fingers through his as we both stood up straightening ourselves. Staring into his eyes I let a smile cross my lips, I couldn't believe how lucky I was. It might have taken a bit longer than I hoped but finally, we were on the same page.