Metanoia | Chris Evans

5.5

She doesn't turn around when she hears bare feet pad onto the wood of the dock from the house, continuing to watch the slight breeze causing ripples across the water in the distance as the cool liquid laps at her feet as they dangle over the edge, her hands wrapped around a warm mug that she absently sips from every so often. Dodger scrambles up to greet the newcomer while Aslan, who has been lying next to her for a while now, lifts his head and gently wags his tail in greeting before settling down again.

"Coffee's inside - should still be warm." She offers up the information as she lifts her own cup to drink from.

"I know." He answers, going quiet again as she feels his gaze studying her.

"Sleep well?"

"Yeah, fine."

"That's good." She continues the small talk, not really paying much attention as her mind wanders. "You looked like you needed a lie in so I already took the boys for their walk earlier."

"Thanks." She hears him sigh before he appears next to her, sitting on the other side of Aslan and watching the water with her for a moment before turning his head to face her. "Are we ever going to talk about it?"

She shrugs. "What's there to talk about. It happened - again." She blinks, glancing down at her mostly empty cup before putting it to the side and fully paying attention to Chris as he start talking.

"I've given you some time and space to process everything, and if you need more time then I'll wait - but I don't want to wait forever."

"I'm sorry - I guess I'm still having some issues accepting that this is a thing that can happen, that I can have this." She reaches over the dog between them, sending him a tight smile when he moves to grasp her hand back, his thumb almost immediately rubbing circles against her skin. "I've always struggled with the idea of asking people to wait, to go away knowing that there's someone counting the days for me to come home that I can't disappoint."

"There's always been someone waiting for you to come home. Always have and always will." He states, squeezing her hand.

"I know," She can't help but smile at his response even though she already knew about it. "But, it feels different now. We're different now."

"From where I stand, nothing's changed." He ducks his head to meet her gaze before swapping the hand he's holding hers with so that he can reach over the dog to balance himself against the dock as he leans over and presses kisses to her reddening cheek, drag his lips over the soft skin between each one so they're always in contact.

She squirms before turning her face, taking in the spark in his eyes and content smile before nodding as she brushes the fingertips of her free hand across his stubble. "Okay."

"Yeah?" He raises an eyebrow, his gaze moving from her eyes to her lips and back again.

She bites her lip before nodding. "Yeah."

She cups his face as he smiles happily, sealing their acceptance in the best way she knows how to, with the one things she's been replaying on her mind since it happened all over again - a kiss.