You & me

Killian couldn’t help but smile the way she reacted to him, and a short laughter left him as she giggled and thanked him. “You’re welcome,” he mumbled to her and slowly went back to his seat, though he kept an eye on how she removed her high heels. He picked up his glass as she toasted. He had yet not gotten to sit down, but to him it didn’t matter that much. While standing, he lifted his glass and toasted back to her before he took his sip. He didn’t wish to comment on what she was drinking, because even though they had decided, everything could change from one moment to the other. When he had taken a sip from his glass he sat down and started eating. He didn’t believe it was much colder than from before, but maybe a little. Though he kept his tastebuds busy, he certainly found it distracting to have just been in such a heated little moment. “It’s still delicious,” he hummed to her.

A comfortable silence fell over the table as they went back to eating, just for a moment, before Killian broke it. “Thank you” she said with a small smile, she was happy that they could share these moments. Even if it had meant to be as a strategic setting, because news was always better to take, when you had a nice dinner in your stomach. She never really understood why, but it had been true in so many circumstances, that she felt that she might not need other proof than what she had experienced herself. Besides, who didn’t like that someone cooked for them, especially when it also tasted good?
“How are your next couple of weeks going to look?” she asked, just so she could figure out when to schedule the appointment when they got that far. She was sure that they could work around it, so he didn’t need to leave work for too long, or maybe make sure it was on a day that he didn’t need to go to the office.

He looked at her as she asked how his next couple of weeks were going to look. At first, he believed it was just a normal question, and he was about to tell her that it was going to be busy and filled with meetings, but the truth was, that he could send someone in his own place. “Empty,” he said looking at her with a saying look. He reached his hand across the table towards her, for her to take if she wanted to, “You’ll just tell me when you’ll need me,” he told her, keeping his eyes lock at hers, “I’ll make sure to have the whole day off and the next,” he assured her giving her a light smile. Even though she was probably going to tell him something along the lines that he didn’t need to set that much time off to it, he believed that it was the least he could do. He wouldn’t even complain if she asked for more. She might after all not feel very well after, and he certainly wanted to be there for her if she wanted him to be there. Who knew, maybe she just wanted Bruce?

She narrowed her eyes after blinking a couple of times. Empty? That didn’t sound right, but she quickly understood that he wanted to make sure that she could just book whenever she felt like it was easiest for her. It warmed her heart, and a small smile formed over her lips. “Thank you” she whispered, nodding a little as her eyes glided down to the fork that was piercing a potato. She sometimes still caught herself thinking just how lucky she was. It wasn’t even more than a year ago that she had been a captive of a man that was anything but sane. In particular, the whole last year had brought so much pain and suffering, that it almost felt surreal that she could sit and enjoy a meal like this. Having a family to come home to. And even though she had found Jack and they had tried to be a couple for a time, it had never been like this. In a way, she was quite sure that he would never truly be able to forgive her for the betrayal that she had done.
“I’ll call the doctor tomorrow then, and schedule an appointment” she nodded, not really understanding why she became so emotional about it all of a sudden. No, it was the right choice, now wasn’t the time to bring another person into their life. She knew that. And yet, it was still hard to say goodbye to something that could have become their child, given time.

He could see the confusion spread on her face, but as quickly as the confusion had hit her, as quickly it disappeared. “Don’t thank me. It’s the least I could do,” he spoke gently. Killian wouldn’t be lying, if he said that he would do anything for her, and he knew that she knew, now maybe more than ever. She knew exactly why. But he knew, that even if she wasn’t on his collarbone, there was something so very specific about their relationship, that made him want to do anything for her. Cliché.
“Alright,” he spoke calmly, and looked at her for a moment. “It’s okay. We got an eternity before us,” he reminded her, knowing that she was probably thinking twice about the opinion. “But if you do change your mind, I’ll support you all the way,” he said and had his forearms resting on the table with the utensils in each hand. “Whatever you choose is going to be the right thing,” he assured her. Nothing was going to be wrong.

She chuckled shaking her head, she didn’t think it was a small thing, neither that it was the least he could do. For her, it was quite a big thing, because she knew just how much his company meant to him, and that the loss of Cassian had stirred a lot of emotions, at least when it came to the work part. Hopefully Norah could step up and show everyone around her, that she actually meant it this time, that she actually wanted to make a difference.
Atarah looked up as he told her, that he would support her with whatever she chose to do. The small smile fluttered over her lips as she looked down and took a bite, having to process how this felt like. Sucking it in and believing in it. Because even though she had met others, that she had been with others that also meant that she had other children that the ones that she had gotten with Killian. She had never believed that she would be able to feel like this again, it almost was enough to make her tear up, clearing her throat she looked back up she could feel that she didn’t manage fully to get her storm of emotions under control. “It means a lot to me” she told him letting out a small breath. “But like you said, we have an eternity before us, and there will be a better time and place for this” she knew that she wouldn’t change her mind when it came keeping the child.

While she took in his words, he continued eating a bit, but looked up at her as she cleared her throat. He pulled a soft smile, noticing how emotional she felt. Without her even saying anything, he knew that it meant a lot to her, but it was still nice to hear being said out loud. “Yes,” he spoke softly, blinking slowly. “And we can get some time to just be us,” he added.
He licked his lips a little. “I have been thinking,” he cleared his throat and furrowed his brows a little, clearly thinking about whatever it was again, “If you want to paint again, I can surely make space for it,” he offered, without thinking much of it or doing much effort he made a miniature room appear in front of her plate, letting it change as he spoke, “I could make better use of my study so I could make this wall to a wall filled with different paints, maybe even sort it by type; oil and acrylic,” he moved his hands around a little while he spoke. “An easel there and storage for clear canvases here,” he leaned a little back in his stool and let his hand circle once around the room and some of the old paintings she had made appeared throughout the walls as wonderful decoration, almost telling a story, “And the walls are tall enough for quite the amount of paintings,” he held his breath for a moment, “But, you know, if you’d rather tech the home up a bit more that’s also fine, I-” he exhaled completely, “I just want you to really feel at home,” he explained.

The more he spoke, the bigger her smile grew; for someone that old, he could almost become a teenage boy when he wanted to do something good for the people he cared about.
Putting down the utensils, she put both her arms on the dining table, and then, in a fluid motion, she leaned forward and put her hands with their palms upward, indicating that he should take them. “Killian”, she whispered, as her eyes glided over the many paintings of hers that it seemed like he had saved, which warmed her heart in a way that she couldn’t really explain. “I love it here, and I don’t need all sorts of fancy things to feel at home; I just need you”, she tried to reassure him, even though she might be able to put some of her own touch in the home, it wasn’t really needed for her to feel like she belonged here. “Don’t worry, we’ll figure it out, and I’ll make sure to put my own finishing touches on how I would like the house to look”, she chuckled, taking one of his hands and placed against her cheek. With a small breath that left her, she closed her eyes and took in the warmth that his hand provided her.