strange and beautiful (I'll put a spell on you)

Chapter Fifteen

STORYBROOKE, Maine

73 HOURS EARLIER

She woke up with a smile at the feeling of Jefferson moving his hand along her stomach. Rebekah let out a little chuckle when his fingers skimmed across her skin. Rebekah turned her head to hide her flushed cheeks against her pillow. "What are you doing?" she mumbled.

The bed shifted and Rebekah let out a little whine when Jefferson pressed a kiss to the flat of her stomach, and up, up, up, and up until his fingers moved under her chin. She grinned at him as he moved her head to look at him. Jefferson leaned down and pressed his lips against hers in a sweet, slow, and head-spinning kiss. "Good morning." He mumbled between kisses and Rebekah giggled at the vibration against her lips.

"Good morning," she said back once Jefferson had pulled away a bit. Rebekah pushed down on the bed to lift herself up to look out the window and saw that the sun was barely rising. She then looked back to Jefferson and frowned. "Are you leaving?"

He nodded his head, sitting up as well. Jefferson grabbed a hold of her hand and brought her knuckles to his mouth and pressed a kiss to them. She frowned, wanting him to stay. Rebekah had the day off but didn't know how to ask Jefferson to spend the day with her. What if he didn't enjoy being cooped up in her apartment all day? There were days Rebekah just wished she could walk down the streets of Storybrooke hand in hand with Jefferson. She wished they could go the movies or eat at Granny's. She wished that the world could know just how happy Jefferson made her.

But more than anything, Rebekah really wanted Jefferson to meet Henry.

Henry was such an important part of her life and Rebekah could truly see Jefferson in her life forever – she wanted the people she loved to meet the man she...cared for deeply. Who was she kidding? Rebekah was in love with Jefferson and she wanted the people she loved to meet the man she loved.

"I'll be back," Jefferson told Rebekah when she looked to the window again.

She looked back to him and smiled through her sadness. "You promise?"

He nodded his head, looking just as sad as she felt. "Nothing will keep me away from you, Bex," Jefferson promised.

Rebekah opened her mouth, the words nearly spilling out, but she stopped herself at the last minute from saying those three little words. The three words and eight letters that would change everything.

I love you.

"You okay?" he asked her.

Rebekah looked away. "Yeah," she lied. But then she looked back at him, feeling brave enough to say one thing. "You make me really happy, Jefferson."

Jefferson moved forward and surprised Rebekah by kissing her. She smiled against his lips as she kissed him back, fingers playing with his hair. "Bex, I," he breathed hard but the sound of the alarm on his phone going off caused him to groan, pressing his forehead against hers as his hand moved to her face, cupping her cheek. He was still breathing hard, the feeling of his warm breath tickling her skin.

She moved her hand to rest on his wrist while he cupped her cheek and moved forward slowly, pressing a soft kiss to his lips before she pulled away from him and grabbed his phone. "Here," Rebekah said in a whisper as she handed him his phone.

He took it, biting down hard on his lower lip. "Take it easy today, okay?" Jefferson made her promise. Hours earlier, Rebekah had started to get sick, her rib aching as she hung over the toilet while puking. Jefferson had been so kind and took care of her, brushing her hair to her side and rubbing her back while whispering soothing words to her. "You still feeling queasy?"