James brings me into a hug shortly after, and I watch as they say goodbye to their granddaughter before Finn places her in the car along with our belongings. It’s been a week of pure bliss, and now it’s time to head back to reality.
When Finn pulls away from the curb, and I wave Andrea and James off as they stand on the pavement, my heart glows with happiness.
“You okay?” Finn asks as he changes gear and keeps his eyes on the road.
“Yeah, I’m good. Are you?”
For a moment, he pauses, and I look at him. “Yeah.”
The rest of the journey is mostly silent. I’m in and out of sleep after Skye kept us up last night, and I was adamant to look after her, knowing Finn would be driving a long way today.
We pull up outside my house, and the sight of it makes my heart droop a little. I love the house, but it’s not my home. It’s never been my home. We’ve been in a bubble over Christmas, and I didn’t want it to end.
I unbuckle my seatbelt and get Skye out of her car seat as Finn brings our bags into the house. I immediately turn on the heating because it’s near Baltic and place Skye down into her cot as the journey completely knocked her out.
“Home sweet home,” I say as Finn shuts the door, and I rub my hands together, patiently waiting for the heating to start working. He clears his throat, and I watch him as he swipes a hand through his messy hair. “Everything alright?”
After a few moments, he drags his green eyes to me, and I hold my breath. “We haven’t spoken about yesterday.”
I blink at him. “Yesterday?”
Finn nods gravely, eyes never leaving mine.
“What’s there to talk about? We?—”
“What’s there to talk about?” He quirks a brow and starts to pace.
The second I hear his cold laugh, it makes me shiver.
He stops pacing and turns to look at me with a hard expression. “Why don’t we talk about the fact that I love you? That I’ve always loved you and will always be in love with you.”
My chest clenches at his declaration. “Finn?—”
“That I want to be with you. That every day I spend with you only makes me love you more, and I don’t know how, but I do, and I can’t stop. Not even if I tried.”
I take slow steps towards him as his hands fly around his body as he speaks.
“And we haven’t said a single word about it, and I was trying to read you this morning, but then I just started panicking because what if you regretted it…again? God—” He cups the back of his neck and looks up at the ceiling. “I’ve never been the type of person to constantly seek validation, but my head feels like a maze sometimes. And I fear that we might not even be on the same book, let alone page, and?—”
My hands rest on his cheeks to stop him from spiraling. He glances at me as his chest heaves, and it breaks me into a thousand pieces. I lean up on my toes and kiss him softly, just like I did after our moment together yesterday.
“I love you, Finn,” I whisper against his mouth. “Always have, always will. I meant what I said yesterday. I want this. I want us to be together. I promise you we are on the same book, on the same page, on the same line. I’m done needing space. I just need you. I need us and Skye. That’s all I’ll ever need.”
Finn’s expression crumbles as his eyebrows twitch with emotion. He wraps an arm around my waist and buries his head into my neck. I listen as he takes a shuddering breath, one I know is of relief, and it makes my heart weep.
“We didn’t speak about it,” he mumbles as he shakes around me. “And I thought you changed your mind.”
My hand drags down the back of his head gently. “No,” I whisper. “I’m sorry. I just thought we didn’t need to say anything after. It was the last day with your parents, maybe I wasn’t thinking.”
Finn nudges his head into mine as he cups my cheek and kisses me again. I fall into him. Numb with pleasure and solace.
“I’ve never been this needy in my life,” he voices, cheeks tinting pink. “I don’t know what’s happening to me.”
“You need reassurance, I understand that now. I don’t want you to doubt this. To doubt what we are. To doubt who you are. I’m sorry I took so long.”
Finn sniffles. “It’s not your fault.”
“But I know what I want now, and we’re going to make it work.”
