The Heart Wants What It Wants: The Sequel

14

She hadn't realised she'd been staring at him for so long until he turned his head and locked eyes with her.  She glanced away and wished she could just tell him what she now knew.

They'd come this far, hadn't they?  Despite everything, somehow they were here, and nothing had changed.  

She swallowed and tried to ignore the nervous pounding of her heart.  It was time to be brave.

"There's something wrong with me."

He shifted beside her, and as she started to speak again, her lips closed at the sight of him.  His head now hung and he stared at the deck of the boat.  Her hand yearned to touch his back but she was too petrified to move.  This was scary territory.

After a moment of silence, he raised his head and glanced at her sideways.  His arm blocked the lower half of his face from view, so there was nowhere to look but directly into the windows to his tormented soul.

"Hermione, do you still love me?"

She'd barely heard him over the wind and the sounds of the engine, but there was no need to ask him to repeat it.  Her heart had heard him.

It felt so good to answer truthfully, and without shame or consequences.  

"I've never stopped.  I'll always love you."

"Then just let me in and we'll figure it out together."

Without thinking, she buried her forehead against his arm and looped her hand through it.  She gripped his bicep tightly and closed her eyes, finally giving in to what she'd been fighting for what felt like a tortured eternity.  

When his lips pressed a kiss to her head, a smile came instead of tears.  And when his head rested against hers, a peaceful feeling settled over them.  But she knew there was more that needed to be done.

"Did you say you see a therapist?"

His head lifted.  He lowered his lips to her ears so that she could hear him better.

"Best thing I ever did - second only to asking you to dinner that first night.  I can get you an appointment if you want."

"I think that would be good."

He leaned back and pulled her into him.  For the rest of the cruise, he held her tightly and caressed her back.  Once they'd returned their lifejackets and were back on solid ground again, walking back to his car, he was back to keeping a cautionary distance again.  She sensed he was merely trying not to be pushy, and nothing sinister.

So she reached out for his hand.

He'd never held her hand with such reverence before.  The strokes of his thumb against the back of her hand felt like coming home.

This time, he opened her car door for her, and only then did he relinquish his grip.  Her eyes tracked his movements as he strode around the front of the car, and her heart began thumping wildly as he slid in next to her.  When the door closed and shut out the world around them, their eyes slowly met and locked.

"I missed that," she admitted.  "You opening my door.  I thought I didn't need it but it's nice."

The look he fixed on her caused something in the air to shift.  His eyes dipped as her tongue moistened her lips, and she braced herself for a fiery kiss.  But there was no explosion, only serenity.

Her eyes never blinked as his arm moved forward, inching ever closer. His hand slid along her jaw, his thumb caressing with slow and deliberate touches while her heart pounded in anticipation. His nose skimmed hers, his lips hovering. She could feel his warm breath and opened her lips to take it in.

If it were possible, she couldn't think of a moment she'd trade this one for. Better than even the passion they'd shared, this was a reuniting, a reaffirming, and a healing of what should've never been broken.

When his lips and hers finally meshed, it was the kiss that should've happened first.  

By the time she was pulling back to look into his eyes, her eyes were heavy and her grin was wide. He smiled back and chuckled as she straightened in her seat.

Just then, a thump jolted them from their reverie. Both jumped and tore their eyes away to the windshield. A bird had dropped a present.

"Looks like a pterodactyl just shat on your car," she blurted.

A snort erupted and then a laugh - one of those full-belly laughs that shook your whole body. When he started laughing too, it was like music to her ears. She'd never heard him laugh like that before. She grew quiet to listen, though her smile remained.

"Christ, I'd forgotten about that," he calmed, blowing out a deep breath with one last chuckle.

All was quiet again, and she basked in the warmth of his fond gaze for a moment before he spoke again.

"So what now?"