Two Years Later

"I'm glad you made the choice you did," I offered with a warm smile.

"It should have been a more difficult decision considering," she said, shaking her head slightly. "But when push came to shove, it wasn't."

I reached for again and this time refused to let her slip away. I held Olivia in my arms and kissed her gently. She returned it in kind and then sighed afterward as we broke apart.

"Tell me the rest of it," I said, letting her go because I knew it would be easier for her to continue that way. Olivia needed to tell me about how she felt in the morning when she woke up and I wasn't there. I didn't want to hear this part because I knew it would be painful for her, but I was the one who caused it. Besides, I loved Olivia and that meant being there for her and sharing everything, even her pain.

"I woke up feeling completely content for the first time in my life," she said slowly. "It lasted only a few moments because it didn't take long to realize you were gone." I tried to apologize yet again, but she placed her fingers over my lips, silencing me.

"I got up and went into the shower, crying rather embarrassingly," she added. "I stayed there for quite some time, but eventually I had to leave so I got out, got dressed and tried to get control of my emotions." Despite the pain she was obviously remembering she suddenly smiled.

"By the way, the next time you rip my shirt from me, you better be sure I have another one available to put on the next morning," she said, sounding more than a little annoyed. "I had to pin the pieces together as best I could and put the shirt on backwards before I snuck out of the hotel."

"I make no promises," I joked.

"Jerk!" she snapped before adding, "And did you have to rip my second favorite lounge around top?"

"Second favorite?" I asked. She grabbed the collar of my sweatshirt she was wearing and held it up enough for me to realize which was her favorite. I smiled contently. That didn't stop me from teasing her some more.

"Maybe you should label the ones that I can rip and the one I can't?" I asked.

"Maybe I will," she suddenly laughed.

"Feel better?" I asked after she was done. I knew the laughter was just a release from all the emotions she was feeling.

"Yes," she said, knowing I understood. She then sighed and went back to her story.

"I finished piecing together my top and dressing as best I could before moving to the end table to pick up David's ring," she said somberly. "Despite your leaving I knew I had to break my engagement off and return the ring to him. I wasn't looking forward to doing it and honestly, it went just as badly as I expected."

"Sorry," I said, earning a sad shrug.

"It had to be done," she replied. "If anyone is to blame, it's me. I shouldn't have agreed to marry him in the first place, but it just seemed the natural next step in my life. In the end, it's all for the better. I didn't love him, not really so it would have ended badly eventually."

I didn't comment. Frankly, there was nothing I could say to make it better for her so instead I lent my support by placing a hand on her shoulder. She reached up and squeezed it.

"As I reached for the ring I finally saw your note and I picked it up instead," she said, her eyes welling up in tears for the first time. "I read it through twice before I let myself react. At first, I was so relieved that I actually cried again. After that? Well oddly enough, I wasn't mad at you when I woke up and you were gone, but after I saw the note? I was fit to be tied. I said more curses in the next few minutes than I'd every used in my life before this morning."

"I can imagine," I laughed.

"Imagine?" she snorted. "If I think about how I felt this morning much longer you're going to hear them all over again!"

"We can't have that!" I laughed, pulling her into another kiss. She rested her head on my shoulder as she told me the rest.

"I went home after the hotel, but only long enough to call someone to cover my hours this weekend, change, grab some clothes and throw them into an overnight bag and get reservations on a plane."

"I stopped by David's on my way to the airport to give him back his ring," she said, clearly not wanting to dwell on that any longer than she needed to at this point. "I spent half the flight getting madder and madder at you for leaving and the other half being afraid that despite your note, you really didn't want me in your life."

"I do," I said, kissing her head.

"I figured that out when I overheard the end of what you were telling you brother and sisters," she said, wiping her tear streaked eyes on my shirt. "Remind me to apologize to your mother later. I was a little to blunt when I first arrived."

"Don't worry about it," I smiled. "She's used to it. It's a family trait we all picked up from my father."

"You're poor mother." I couldn't help it. I laughed. That made her frown and add, "By the way, I'm still mad at you for leaving this morning."

"Be mad tomorrow. Tonight is a time for celebrating."

"Your graduation?" she teased.

"Our love." That brought her up short for a moment, but then she smiled once more.

"And what makes you think I love you?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. She was clearly joking, but still...

"It's not 'think' really," I said a little more seriously. "It's hope. You see, I love you very much. You're not loving me back would put a damper on the plans I'm making for the rest of our lives."

"The rest of our lives?" she asked.

"And then some!" I retorted. She smiled again and shook her head.

"And how exactly are those plans going to deal with the fact that we live so far away from each other? Or that I'm six years older than you?"

"Five years," I corrected. "And don't bother me with the minor details. I'm just coming up with the big picture plans. The little stuff we can work out when the time comes."

"Big picture plans?" she asked.

"You know, marriage, kids eventually and living happily ever after."

"Oh, those big picture plans," she said, nestling her face deeper into my shoulder.

"Yes, those," I said more gently, hugging her tight briefly before adding, "Of course, I can stop making them if you don't love me since there would be no point." She lifted her head from my shoulder and looked at me with a loving smile.

"I can't believe I'm going to say this less than forty eight hours after seeing you in over two years, but feel free to plan away," she said, kissing me. Her expression was more serious when we broke apart. "Neil, logical or not, I do love you. I love you very much, and I have from the moment you gave me this sweatshirt." Her hand brushed the collar lovingly once more before we kissed again, only this time it lasted a long time.

I'm not sure when it might have ended if we were left to ourselves, but with my family that wasn't going to happen.

"Well, are you two going to spend all night out there necking or do I get to meet the woman everyone inside is talking about? The one who seems to hold my younger son's heart?" my father called from the deck.

"Oh, this is going to be fun," I sighed as we pulled back from each other reluctantly. Olivia laughed.

"Don't worry," she teased, just loud enough for me to hear. "I'm sure that we'll find some time this weekend to be alone so I can play with your ears."

"Well," I replied, rubbing the bridge of my nose briefly. "I can only hope." Of course, as I said this I let my free hand slip down her back. I brushed it against her ass. Olivia understood me better than anyone else in the world. She knew my action wasn't innocent in any sense of the word. I could tell because I knew her just as well. Okay, her blushing rather badly helped. That didn't stop her from replying.

"Oh, you can do more than hope," she smiled sexily, despite her embarrassment.

"Well?" my father cried from the deck.

"Olivia!" my brother called loudly. He was obviously with my father. Hell, probably my whole family was on the deck waiting. Hopefully it would be just my immediately family, but I wasn't willing to bet on it. "Don't you want to make a good first impression on your future father-in-law?" Olivia looked at me and shook her head in amazement.

"Hey, you were the one who said you liked my family," I laughed briefly. She took a step or two toward the deck, but I pulled her back and looked deep into her eyes. "Not that he's wrong."

Olivia shook her head, but didn't deny it. Instead, we shared one last kiss and I took her hand and led her to the deck, my family and our future together.