First Date Again

He must have seen her shadow because he turned to look at her while holding one of her kids shirts in his hands. As she watched his hands slowly and carefully folded the shirt before adding it to the pile already on top of the dryer. When she asked him what he was doing he just shrugged as he picked up another shirt, this time one of hers.

"I was always taught to do something if I saw it needed to be done. I took these out of the dryer and rather than let them sit here I decided to fold them for you. If you have any spare light bulbs I'll change that dead one there when I'm done with this."

"Is he for real?" She asked herself. "He takes me out for a motorcycle ride and treats me as though I was made of porcelain. Then he starts doing things around here without being asked to. He just can't be real."

Instead of just standing there she turned and almost ran to the kitchen for a spare bulb. When she got back to where he was standing it was in time to watch him fold the last piece of clothing and set it gently on the pile. Turning from his work to see her standing there he smiled before reaching out and taking the bulb from her. Carefully he walked over to where the light was burned out. Balancing with one foot resting on a broken bike he reached over his head and carefully replaced the dead bulb. When he was done he did what she had been hoping he wouldn't do, he pulled the chain and lit up the basement. Now he could see the mess her husband had made of the place. Everything he didn't know what to do with, everything that got broken he had tossed down here while promising to fix it. He never had fixed them and now they were piled everywhere.

Chris didn't say anything, he just slowly looked around with a bemused smile on his face before turning to her.

"It uh looks like you could use some help with this. If you want I can help clean this up."

At first she just stood there looking at him. Was he asking her what she thought he was? Was he asking her if she wanted him to stay or was he just asking if she wanted help cleaning out the basement? She could feel something wet on her face as she thought this.

"Terry, uh, I don't,"

"Hey Chris relax. Don't worry, as soon as the clothes are dry I'll be on my way. I just wanted to know if you want me to come back and help out here. Today was great, really it was but I know I'm not your type. I wish I was but I know I'm too rough for someone like you. I'm not the kind of guy you want around you or the kids. After what you've been through you would just spend your time worrying when I was going to hurt one of you."

When he said this he stood straight and looked her in the eye, but when he finished and she didn't answer right away he slowly turned. She watched as he slowly turned away from her, his shoulders slumped slightly as he shook his head a little. She knew he meant what he had said. Once again he was worried for and about her and it gave her a strange feeling to see and hear this. All he knew about her was what he had seen in work or read in the papers during her divorce and what he had seen today at the river. She knew he didn't want to walk away from her, she could see it in the way he was standing. She wasn't just a casual fuck for him. She now knew enough about him to know he didn't play that way and still he was willing to leave because he didn't want her to feel threatened. Now she truly did feel the tears. She felt them as they ran down her face blurring her vision as she stepped towards him and the stairs.

At first she had planned on running back upstairs and hiding. She wanted to hide from herself as much as from his hurt look. Instead she found herself slipping her arms around his waist and pressing her face against his back. She stood there holding him as the dryer whirred in the corner.

"Terry, I, I don't know how to say this so please don't interrupt me. Just let me say it." She waited until she felt him nod before continuing. "Somehow you've gotten this picture in your mind. A picture of me. You think that I'm someone who needs to be protected, protected from you and maybe even the world. You feel that because of what I've gone through I'm like a piece of glass, ready to shatter at any moment. Well I'm not! Damn it Terry I'm as strong as you are. Oh yeah I've been through hell, I'll be the first to admit that. Yes I'm scared, I'm scared of a lot of things." As she was saying this the volume of her voice was slowly rising. Letting go of him she stood straight and turning him to face her went on. "Yes Terry I'm scared. I'm scared of getting hurt, by you or someone else. I'm scared of my kids getting hurt. They went through just as much hell as I did. I'm scared because I don't know what's going to happen and I'm scared because I don't want to see you get hurt by me."

When she was finished she just stood there with her tears running down her face. Saying that had been the hardest thing she had done since standing in front of the court room as her husband had shown the pictures he had taken of her over the years. At first Terry didn't say or do anything. He just stood there, his image blurred by her tears. Without warning he raised his hand to her face and wiped away her tears with his fingertips. Before she knew it, before she realized he had moved he had again taken her in his arms. Gently, easily he lifted her to cradle her against his chest as though she was a small child. Stepping carefully he carried here over to then up the stairs. He didn't stop at the top as she had expected, he kept going into the living room. Carefully he eased himself down to sit on her couch, her weight now resting in his lap.

Cradled in his arms as they sat there in the waning daylight she felt safe in her house for the first time. Leaning her head against his chest she felt her eyelids drooping as she relaxed. She heard him whisper something into her hair and smiled. Somehow she knew he wasn't going anywhere. Somehow she knew that his presence was going to warm both her heart and her house from now on. Oh she knew he would leave, but only to go back to move out of his place. She smiled thinking this and was still smiling when she fell asleep in his arms.