Weak Without Him

"I...I..."

"I can get the truth out of any woman. She stressed the point that you were happy being single. I couldn't take happiness away from you."

I swallowed, and he continued.

"What? You don't want the fucking truth? Well it's raw, Je

I had said those things about Fi

"What about Nancy, Fi

He walked toward me, pi

"You're still demonizing me. Will you ever stop?"

My voice caught, and he moved to the view of the mountains. Fi

"That Friday, Nancy wanted to go shopping. I joined her. She forced me into a jewelry shop to look at bracelets, necklaces, and rings. Engagement rings, more specifically. She tried them on and gushed about carats and her dream wedding, but the whole time she was talking, all I could think about was you, because Je

"Something came over me as I listened to Nancy ramble on about making all of her monetary dreams come true. As I watched her, I asked myself what the fuck I was doing. Sometimes it takes the brain a while to catch up with the heart.

"As she continued on, I interrupted Nancy and told her it was over. The engagement ring gleamed on her finger. As I stormed out, I called Charlie to pick her up, then ran through the streets and hailed a cab. Once I got home, I drove V faster than I ever had to Luke's house. I knew then I had to have you. That this couldn't be happening, not when I finally felt something as extraordinary as love. Something that I truly didn't believe existed in my darkness. If I stood around fucking off, I would have lost you forever, and I had lost too much already."

How could I think I knew someone so well, but really didn't know him at all? Behind his steely gaze was a burning love, adoration, and care... for me. The pieces all fit together. How he busted into Luke's house in a frenzy, the way he laughed at me in the hot tub. Fi

"So, Miss Downs, quit making me out to be a bloody arsehole. While I can hang with the lot of them, the only person I ever wanted, and will ever want as long as my heart beats, is you."

He tucked a piece of fallen hair behind my ear, his fingertips grazing down my neck, and whispered, "I may be a bastard, but I am no cheater."

Emotions flooded me. Almost so strong I couldn't control the coursing heat that swept through my body. Fi

"Love is like color," Fi

"What do you mean?"

"Plants aren't really green, but rather a combination of colors our brains create. They are red, yellow, and orange. Love is like color because it's not always what it seems. Our hearts and minds spin the details. We make situations and people how we want them to be, just as the colors we see. Just as the sky is blue, but is it really blue, or just a reflection of oxygen molecules? I told you once that I knew what love was. I've found it more than once in life, and sometimes I feel like I don't deserve a second chance. Sometimes I find myself questioning your feelings. So we will revisit my question again, Miss Downs. Do you know what love is?"

My breath caught listening to his words. Love was kisses. Love was electrifying and good sex that left you begging for more. Love was cuddles, and snuggles, and a single moment of serendipity. Love was shaggy fuckable hair and J.B.F lips, or the way Fi

The realization set in that love really was Fi

He turned and looked at me. In his gaze, I felt his burning passion of want, need, and desire. Our lips touched, but before we got lost in the moment, he pulled away.

"What is love to you?"

"You," I whispered, and a smile covered his face.

"You'll be the end of me, Miss Downs. You will be the fucking end of me."

"You were the begi

Fi

"I'm in love with you and can't live without you. I need you to know that I love you, Je

Those three words: the ones that could move mountains. The ones that could make a heart stop beating or make another one quicken. Those three words left me speechless, but somehow I found words.

"You make me feel things I've never felt before. I feel like I've loved you forever. Fi

He smiled, interlocked his fingers with mine, and kissed me. The passion swirled between us, and I wanted nothing more than that. When we finally pulled away from each other, Fi

"Mr. Felton, sometimes you take my breath away."

"Good." He ran his fingers through my hair and before I turned to walk away, Fi