Axiom Ch. 07

He played his turn. "Honestly, it feels like we've known each other for so much longer."

"It does, doesn't it?" She bit her lip and looked up at him. "Who would've thought? One plagiarized document..." she shook her head in wonder as she played her tiles. "I guess we owe Gavin an invitation."

He kept silent for a few moments, staring at the board as he meticulously arranged his tiles on it. "This is a little late, but better late than never, I suppose." He knew that she'd told everyone about how they met - she still thought that the encounter in his office was the first of their meetings. "That thing about the Heyland file...that wasn't really the first time I noticed you."

Gwyneth's hand froze in mid-air over the board as she stared at him in confusion, trying to understand how he was rewriting such a crucial part of their history.

"I saw you at Costa's," his eyes met hers, the usually pale blue irises almost dark with intent. "You helped pay for someone who didn't have small change. I was behind you in line and I thought you were pretty. Really liked your smile. God, I'll never forget that smile."

The surprise was evident on her face. She blew out a breath and played her turn, unable to stop the bemused smile from licking across her lips. "Why didn't you just tell me? I can't believe you let me believe a fake story for two years. Two whole years!"

"I'm so sorry," he sounded genuinely apologetic, "I don't know why I did that in the first place. I've always wanted to tell you, but never really found the right time to. Not an excuse, I know. I'm sorry, I hope I haven't disappointed you."

"Relax, I'm not mad." She sniffed a small laugh and reached out to take his hand. "Two years," she emphasized playfully. "Two years!" He looked so guilt stricken and she could see him leaning forward, wanting to make amends -

"Ah-ah-ah - shh. I was just teasing, don't worry about it. I mean it when I say I'm not mad. Oh, silly - you have no idea just how much I love you."

He clapped a hand over hers, his face suddenly turning serious. "I do, Gwyneth, I do. And I know that I'm the luckiest man alive to have you by my side. Thank you," he reached up to gently stroke her cheek, "thank you for loving me."

She blinked up at him, utterly humbled by his devotion to her. "Thanks for loving me too," she mumbled back, her eyes shining. She straightened up and cleared her throat in a businesslike manner, ready to slip back into the competition.

"Alright, big boy. Your move."

Aidan was no dimwit when it came to Scrabble - he knew how to strategically play his tiles, cramping up the spaces so that Gwyneth had difficulties building words. She was practically fuming when he played QUAGGA for 63 points, cashing in on the triple word and double letter bonuses. Later on, he almost choked on his tea when she added the S to the same word for STYPTIC - earning her 22 for QUAGGAS, 21 for STYPTIC and 50 bonus for using all tiles.

"That's...93 points," he sputtered. Now she was left with a twenty point lead, and a cursory glance at Aidan's rack showed that he didn't have many tiles left. His own method of tightly-packed playing may have just backfired - now he had very little space to place out his words.

"Mmhmm," she smirked in satisfaction. "And the best part is that the X hasn't come out in play, which means that you have it on your rack right now." She scanned the board for any possible playing options. "Yeah, I honestly doubt you'll be able to play an X-word, so..." She leaned back and chuckled, confident about her imminent victory.

Aidan stared long and hard at the board, flicking his eyes over the tiles in his rack as he tried to compute every possible move. She was right - he only had four tiles left and the X was a big headache...but then it clicked. She saw the answer dawn upon him and he gave one of his deep, growly laughs that she found so irresistibly sexy. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end - she knew that he was up to something.

The triple letter score tile above her STYPTIC's 'I' was her undoing. With a gleam in his eye, Aidan played AXIOM for 30 points. The X alone gave the word 24 points - and with that, he secured a narrow but clear 10 point win. The smile on her face was wiped off completely.

"No way," she was almost mute with disbelief. "That was blind luck!"

"That was talent in its purest form, my darling."

She slumped back in her chair and continued to stare at the sucker punch that dealt her defeat, unable to stop feeling dissatisfied. Of all the luck...that dirty little bugger. She knew that he was looking at her and was determined to avoid his gaze, almost certain that he'd be smirking at her in triumph. As much as she loved him, she was competitive by nature and she knew that he was, too. It was only when she felt his fingers brushing against her temples to tuck her hair behind her ear that she looked up at him.

He wasn't wearing his usual smug expression, in fact there was something about the way he looked at her that made her melt on the inside. Whenever he looked at her like that she felt like she was the only person who existed in this world, like his whole existence relied on her happiness, like she meant more to him than anything in the world possibly could. He placed a hand behind her neck and reeled her in for a slow, breath-stealing kiss, draining all the adrenaline out of her body. The exhilaration from the game was fading away, replaced by the hazy bliss from his caresses. She could do this forever - just be lulled into oblivion by his affections, lose track of time and space in his presence.

"I love you," he murmured into the skin below her ear.

"I love you too," she curled a lock of his hair around her finger.

"Should I have let you win?"

She smiled and mouthed back a 'no', shaking her head. Gwyneth was about to resume the exploration of his lips when the front door burst open with a loud crash, and the scruffy head of her youngest brother poked out like a submarine periscope. "Hey, they're about to serve dinner soon, you guys coming in?"

"Yup." Aidan gave her a quick kiss and stood up, offering her his hand. She darted a last look at the finished Scrabble game on the table as she curled her fingers around his and he pulled her to her feet. They shuffled back into the house together, embracing the blast of noise and warmth that was buzzing about.

30 points.

Fucking axiom.

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butterfly #1: I think about you every night so I can keep you alive, even if it's only in my memories.

butterfly #2: It's been 5 years since you left us, but I still can't bear to be in a hospital.