Hero & Witch Pt. 05.3: Heroine Falls

"The view from the room at my hotel was terrible. How much did this cost you?"

She smiled to herself. "Not as much as you'd think."

"Thank you," he told her in earnest.

"For what?"

"I guess...everything."

"Everything is a lot."

"Well, you're everything to me," his words came honestly and reactively, not giving himself time to parse whether it was a good idea to say something that strong. She gave him a sideways view of almost taking it seriously, but was prepared to laugh it off. He'd made the mistake of speaking his feelings too soon with women before Sabrina at least once, he was about to correct it when he realized the differences between her and whom came before her - they tended to be more honest with each other, and she knew his thoughts well-enough anyway. Refusing to consider it a mistake, he took her hand and kissed the back of it, supporting his statement.

Blush crept into the redhead's cheeks, a nice compliment to her hair, and a rare one since she wasn't often surprised.

"I have to say, as of recently," she kissed the back of his in kind. "I'd need to thank you too."

She felt the smile of his kisses creep up her arm, ready to move past her shoulder when a knock on the door interrupted them.

"Room service."

He sighed and gave her one more kiss before picking up his sweatpants from the floor to get the door.

"Hey,"

"Evening sir. Thanks for wearing pants this time."

Sabrina waved at the bellhop she'd seen throughout the week, and for a third time that day. Jon thanked him and tipped generously as he pulled the cart inside.

They shared each other's meals, agreeing his burger tasted better than her club sandwich.

"I'm tempted to make a cliché, hamburger-eating American joke."

"Go ahead. Americans like good food. It's not like America doesn't get everything the rest of the world has, authentic or not."

"You got me there," she dipped a few fries into ketchup.

"What would you be ordering in Ireland?"

Sabrina paused for a moment.

"I'll have to see when I get there."

Jon looked up to meet her face.

"There's a family wedding coming up, which could double as a big family reunion. I'm expected to go the day after tomorrow."

"Alone?" he inquired.

"I'm not sure you're ready for my family. If I'd belonged to any other family, I wouldn't hesitate."

"Intense, huh?"

"Probably will be. My cousin is getting married; sort of a crowning achievement considering the who and the lifestyle she's had before."

Jon felt like he could infer what she didn't say, how her family probably looked at her the same, and to bring this guy to a wedding out of the blue might imply more than she meant to.

Jon reached into his overnight bag for his cellphone, and walked to the window to look at the dimming sky.

"Bevy...uh..Peter. Yeah, it's Jon. Look, I won't be on the jet flying all of us back. Yeah, I'm extending my time out here a little while. About a week. Yes, I'm Jon Task. No, I haven't been abducted by bodysnatchers. Ok, yeah. Got it. Yeah, you can text me if anything big comes up at work. See you later, Peter. Yeah, have a safe flight back. Thanks."

Sabrina looked over in surprise, wondering why she didn't stop him in the middle of his call, wondering if he should erase the call from both the caller and receiver's mind. Jon tossed his cellphone back in his bag, walking back to the bed with confidence, smiling a curious smile in her eyes.

"I'm not missing the chance to meet a coven of a family that can produce a witch like Sabrina Marks."

She eyed the growing smile on his face carefully.

"Hello Scryer," he whispered against her lips, enjoying the blushing, moaning reaction to her pet remembering what he should've forgotten. The hero took his hypnotic damsel and conqueror for another round of engagement while their dinner grew cold.