This is the best thing I've ever written (Spoiler, for newest chapter)
"As you smiled into the kiss, a fleeting joy settled over you, but it quickly faltered. A bitterness you couldn't quite shake crept in—the reminder that this wasn't the usual Ford you knew. How tomorrow, everything would go back to normal. The walls he kept up would return, the focus on his work, the distance. This moment, this tenderness—it felt like it was just a plot to appease you. Maybe he realized you could only endure so many of his snaps, so much neglect. Maybe this was his way of extending his "warranty." You realized that now.
You were the only one who knew how to stroke his ego, to make him feel the way he wanted, and sure, he might love you, but you knew the truth. He was a man of science first and yours second. That thought stung, cutting through the sweetness of the kiss.
But then again, today, he was being so kind, so gentle. He was playing along with your games, spending the day with you, and even calling you a goddess. He was offering you his time, his attention—things you rarely got in such abundance. And wasn't that enough? It would be enough to extend his "warranty," wouldn't it?
You pulled away from the kiss, your smile slowly returning as you looked up at him. How could you stay upset at him? You couldn't. Not when he gazed down at you with so much love in his eyes, a warmth that made you forget, if only for a while.
In that moment, as you walked back to your cabin together, you made the decision to leave those bitter thoughts behind—leave them out on the porch in the cold where they belonged,
at least for today."
