Relaxed and still very much alone on one of the world's most beautiful beaches, they walked peacefully towards the end that Mark promised to pick them up at as some of the world's whitest sand particles collected between their toes. When they eventually neared Hill Inlet, Christina felt Adam's fingers suddenly squeeze hers as he pulled her to stop and dropped his bag down onto the sand. She just stood there looking up at him and, before she could realize what was happening, she felt her entire body melting under a heat hotter than the Australian sun as he brought his lips down to meet hers. The kiss he poured into her mouth was surprising and mesmerizing... soft, sweet and drenched in love. Christina felt herself literally wavering unsteadily on her feet as Adam pulled back from her; his hand wiping away wisps of her hair as he smiled at her slightly flushed lips.
"Why is it that every time I kiss you it feels like the first time?" Christina breathed giddily.
Adam smiled down at her as he twirled some of her salty hair in his fingers. "Well which 'first time' do you mean?" he asked softly, Christina's eyes locking to his dimples as he smirked. "First work kiss almost obliged by producers?" He breathed as he dropped his face down and brought their lips back together again, pressing his lips into hers and kissing her as softly and sweetly, before he pulled back slightly to hover his mouth above hers.
"Or the first time I kissed you when nobody wasn't paying me to just to increase ratings?" He whispered as he kissed her again, this time deeper and harder as he felt Christina's hands gripping his arms to hold herself steady as his lips moved with hers, this time finding her tongue and sucking on it softly, just as he had done so many years ago.
"Or was it the time I kissed you at your house when we got back together?" he asked gently as he pulled back again, his eyes flashing with warmth as they looked at each other, both remembering what had happened nearly two years ago, when...
Adam felt everything turn black as something overcame him that he just couldn't control. His fingers curled around her hip and squeezed it lustfully as he pulled her pelvis into his, lifting her whole body slightly as he bent down to meet the face that was already rising to find his. He slid his other hand up to Christina's face as he softly placed his lips on hers, moaning softly as the sweetest sensation in the world closed over his mouth. He moved his other hand up from Christina's hip to clasp her lower back again, pulling her even tighter into his body as their mouths parted in unison and their tongues finally met. The moan that Christina released into Adam's mouth drove him crazy, and he slipped his tongue deeper inside her mouth, sliding it against hers in a sensuous and loving kiss that was slow, deliberate, and sexy as fuck. And time stopped, utterly abandoned, as Christina and Adam stood there pressed against the wall, making soft moans as their tongues swirled lusciously, his hand pressing her body hard into his.
And now, two years later, they stood there on a deserted beach with tongues swirling just as sexily and hungrily as they had that time, hands fisting hair as they relived that decadent kiss over and over, Adam holding up Christina's unsteady body as his mouth lapped at hers.
Eventually he pulled back and Christina just stood there panting below him, her eyes wide and dilating. "Holy crap, Adam," she said, her voice shaky. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," he answered quickly, swallowing hard, before he took a little step back from her and ran a hand through his hair. "Actually, no, it's - it's something." He blew through his lips nervously.
Christina felt her stomach suddenly clench hard and fast as she stood there looking back at him. "What is it?" she asked.
"I..." Adam cleared his throat. "I wanted to talk you about something."
Christina felt her chest tightening to meet her stomach as she looked back at Adam who was just looking down at the sand, his eyes focusing on a small crab that had appeared and was resting patiently at their feet, as if it was keen to hear what he had to say as well. "Yes?" Christina whispered, hating the fact that her first instinct was always to fear the worst when Adam turned uncharacteristically serious like this, despite the fact that he'd nearly just kissed her face off. It was a self-preserving reaction she'd learned to live with over the past couple of years; the product of living with a man who had left a beautiful brunette for her, that Christina had always felt a bit inferior to. Christina's love for Adam was so strong, so absolute, that she'd come to accept the flip side of such certainty... the deep-rooted worry that she might one day lose him. She had actually hoped that Claire's marriage to her friend Ben only a few weeks ago might have obliterated her irrational phobia for good, but as she stood there now, all her insecurities came flooding back.
"What is it, Adam?" Christina asked, her throat a little tight. The tan on her face faded into paleness with every moment that her boyfriend stood there awkwardly shifting from foot to foot, his face far too pensive for comfort. He was starting to turn white, his left hand balling into a nervous fist by his side as his right hand pressed itself against his right pocket.
"Christina..." he began huskily, his voice carrying a slightly choked tone as he looked back at her, the only other sound that surrounded them the soft lapping of the distant waves. "I just w-wanted to tell you something - something important." Christina just nodded softly as he continued, her eyes locked tightly to his. Adam cleared his throat again. "Christina, we are in such a beautiful place right now... and because we're here, I just wanted to tell you how - how happy I am. With you."
Christina felt the tension in her stomach quickly release as her heart lifted, Adam's eyes warming and his face relaxing as he continued, his gaze never leaving hers.
"These past couple of years have been so... incredible," he continued. "And I'm not talking about our successful careers, or the Emmy nom, or the People's Choice."
Christina couldn't help but smile as Adam stepped forward and slid his hands down to clasp hers. She couldn't be more proud of him.
"I'm talking about you," he said softly as he held both her hands in his, their fingers rubbing together. Christina felt butterflies brewing in her stomach as she looked up at him, totally thrown by his surprise declaration. "Christina, I - I've been waiting what feels like my whole life to achieve those major awards and all that's finally happened. My god, it's seriously been the most awesome time ever, and you know that it would never have been the same if you weren't there." He swallowed tightly and looked down at their intertwined hands. "But the thing is... at the exact same time that all this awesome stuff has happened, I want you to know that, the - the only thing that's really mattered to me through all this... the only thing that's been on my mind before I go to bed each night and when I wake up in the morning, is - is you."
Tears surfaced behind Christina's eyes as she absorbed the heartfelt words Adam was pouring out to her, too moved to even speak. "I want you to know, Christina," he continued, his eyes burrowing into hers, "that you're better than any of it. I feel like I could win an Oscar and it still wouldn't compare to how I feel when I'm with you. I feel like it's the best thing that's happened out of all this... the only part of it all that I'm not prepared to lose."
Tears began silently rolling down Christina's cheeks as Adam lifted his hand that still held hers to brush them away, his own eyes beginning to glisten. "I feel like you know me better than I even know myself... You show me who I am. I've never felt more myself than when I'm with you, and I feel less like myself when you're not there. And I like who I am when I'm with you."
He continued to wipe away Christina's tears, but they just kept spilling onto his fingertips as he continued, his voice shaky but his heart strong.
"And I wanted t-to bring you here, Christina... to the other side of the world, to tell you this in a place like this." His eyes flicked around to their empty but breathtaking surroundings. "I feel like people are always watching us," he said softly as his hand fell back down to clasp hers again. "They're always paying attention to what we're doing... So I wanted to take you to the most beautiful, remote, alone place I could think of to tell you this. For it to just be us... Well, unless you count the little guy with his eye on my girl." Adam's head tipped down towards the tiny crab that was still at their feet, which made Christina laugh a little.
"Plus..." As Adam's serious tone returned, Christina lifted her head back up to meet his gaze again. "You saved my life on a beach once... so they're kind of special to me."
Christina felt her head shake a little with confusion.
Saved his life on a beach?
She just stood there looking up at him, the salty air blowing through their hair, her cheeks wet with tears, Adam's eyes pooled with emotion.
Suddenly it all seemed so familiar.
Christina's brow creased as it all came crashing back.
"I need to tell you how I feel. I can't stand not telling you any more..."
"The truth is that I love you, Adam. You have to know it... you must know it."
"Adam..." she whispered as the bittersweet memory of her words to him two years ago, eight days before his wedding, repeated in her mind as clear as they had the first time.
" - You saved my life that day," Adam said softly but firmly as he caressed her hands. "I thought I was happy back then," he continued as Christina just stood there dumfounded. "And part me of was, I guess. But now I know that that was only because I didn't know what this felt like." He squeezed her hands in his. "Because even though we'd already been together before, at that point... I feel like I couldn't love you any more than I do right now." His eyes blazed with emotion. "And I feel like if you hadn't said what you said to me that day, I wouldn't be even half as happy as I am. So I guess what I'm trying to say is...
Christina's heart nearly exploded right out of her chest, her breath sucking in hard as she saw Adam suddenly drop his body down to one knee. He still held one of his hands in hers as he used the other to fish something out of his pocket. All the air inside Christina's body came to a standstill as she stood there looking down at him, the rest of her almost shaking uncontrollably.
"Christina, I already feel like I have it all when I'm with you," Adam breathed through a choked voice as he looked up at her, his eyes wet with emotion. "But I still want more... I want to show you how much I love you. How much you mean to me."
Tears poured right out of Christina's eyes onto the sand, wetting it like raindrops as she watched the image she never thought she'd see... Adam holding out a small velvet box in front of her and gently pulling the lid open. She felt her chest bursting with suppressed sobs as a stunning, perfect diamond was revealed, reflecting in the most beautiful eyes she'd ever known as he looked up at her.
"You changed my life, Christina..." Adam said breathlessly, his voice rich with hope. "And I never want to lose you again. Will you marry me?"
And then the sobs that couldn't be caged any longer unleashed and flooded the air as Christina threw her arms around Adam's neck, almost toppling him over as he lifted his body up and pulled her featherweight frame right up off her feet as he hugged her.
"Yes!" Christina shouted through her tears as she buried her face in his neck. "Oh my god, yes!" she repeated as she pulled herself back and grabbed his face with her hands, pressing her lips into his as passionately and lovingly as she could, their salty tears mixing and bleeding into their fused lips as they stood there and kissed and kissed and kissed.
***
"I can't stop staring at it." Christina stretched her arm out and tilted her hand left and right to catch the brilliant-cut diamond's tiny crevices in the moonlight.
"I'm just glad it fits... not all your other rings are the same size you know, I thought the designer was gonna get a hernia trying to work it all out," Adam said as he eyed off the ring, glad again for his choice. Seeing it on her finger made him realize how perfect the design was for her. How perfect she looked with his ring on her finger.
They lay there contentedly together on the upper deck of their private boat, which was anchored for the night with the twinkling lights on the shoreline visible in the distance. They'd done this every night since arriving in the Whitsunday Islands; whittling away the hours after dinner lying under the stars with nothing but each other, a few glasses of wine, and some vintage music. They'd turned the boat's stereo dial to the local classic hits channel; the only station they seemed to get this far from shore, and right now Ray Charles was gently belting out Georgia On My Mind.
"It's perfect," Christina said softly as the smile returned to her face as she tried to tear her eyes away from her ring, her cheeks sore from smiling. "You're perfect." She turned her head to look at him as Adam gazed back at her with a half-smile. "I have to know though," Christina started, her face twisting a little with embarrassment. "Did you have this on you when we..." her voice just trailed off as she raised an eyebrow. Adam just looked back at her, confused. "Adam!" Christina exclaimed softly, giving him a small whack on the arm. "You know what I mean... did you have the ring in your swimmers or something when you and I... you know... in the water?"
Adam's cheeks opened into a smile. He still had no idea how Christina could be so open to doing the sorts of things they'd done, yet still be so shy to talk about them. "Of course not," he answered, giving her a horrified look. "Fuck, losing a diamond ring in the Coral Sea was not my idea of a romantic proposal."
"Coral Sea, uh?" Christina asked, her face cheeky. "Some nerd's been doing their research."
"... Says the shark expert," Adam quipped, their smiling faces tipped up towards a sky full of stars.
"So where did you put it then?" Christina asked, genuinely curious.
Adam didn't hesitate to answer. "In my other shorts... on the beach."
Christina's eyebrows rose so high they almost hit her hairline as she looked across at him again. "You left it on the beach?" she asked, as if that was the most shocking thing she'd ever heard.
"Of course," Adam replied. "Where else would I leave it?"
Christina sat her body up and looked down at him. "What if someone had stolen it?"
Adam reached his hand out and grabbed Christina's upper arm at lightning speed, pulling her down so she was almost lying on top of him. She screamed a little in surprise, but didn't resist. "There was no one around, Ms. Aguilera Levine. Who do you think would have stolen it? Claws?"
Christina just looked down at him, their noses almost touching. "Claws?"
"The crab," Adam answered, his face morphed into his I'm-about-to-make-a-dumb-joke face. "The witness to my totally awkward, nervous as fuck proposal. Since you think everything in Australia's out to kill us, I named him Claws. Like Jaws, the man-eating shark. Claws, the Christina-eating crab."
Christina just giggled at his dorkiness as she rolled her eyes and flopped her head down onto his chest, his arms pulling her body into a tight hug.
"Your proposal wasn't awkward... it was amazing," she said softly into his skin, depositing a few soft kisses there as she felt him squeeze her body in response. She still couldn't believe it had actually happened.
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If Walls Could Talk (Adamtina)
Fanfictionwhen you love someone but it goes to waste
