She lifted her head and snapped, “Shut up, Nicky.”

He aimed a hand and cupped her face.

“You gotta know, baby, you own me too.”

She melted into him again, pressing her cheek to his palm.

He leaned to her, touching his mouth to hers.

“Now go to sleep,” he ordered when he was done.

She bent in, brushed her mouth along his jaw and then settled back into him.

Liv snuggled close.

Nick held her as she did.

And they fell asleep.

* * * * *

9:25 – Sunday Night

They were belted into the plane, prepared for landing, and Olivia had fallen to the side, her head on his shoulder. Their forearms were up on the armrest and they were holding hands.

“Can we do that again?” Nick heard her ask.

He turned his head and kissed the top of hers.

“Yeah,” he answered and shared, “Take you to the mountains, maybe next month.”

“That’d be nice,” she murmured, tightening her fingers in his hand.

He didn’t reply, just watched the flight attendant going about her business.

“I wanna be safe.”

He again turned his head, this time to look down at her as she lifted hers from his shoulder and looked up at him.

“I wanna be free,” she went on.

“I’ll get you there,” he promised.

“No, I mean, I…it’s…” She shook her head but kept at it. “It’s not your job. I need to sort it out. I don’t know how I’m gonna manage that…the last time I tried to leave the family, it didn’t go too well—”

Nick cut her off, “Babe, it is my job.”

Her gaze grew confused. “It’s my life, Nick.”

“Not anymore.”

She continued to look confused with the addition of mildly annoyed. “So now that you’ve decided where we’re heading, my life is yours?”

She’d had enough of her life being anyone’s.

But she was sort of right.

“No,” he answered. “Now that we’re on the same page about where we’re heading, that future is ours. It’s not just you anymore, Liv. And it’s not just me. It’s us. That future, our future, is about the both of us. I want you to be safe and free and have your own life, but if I’m not wrong, we’re both agreed that life is gonna have me in it. If that’s the case, it’s my job to look out for you. There’ll be times and ways you’ll look out for me. But now, with this, with what happened the last time you tried, I want you safe while I pull it off. So this time, it’s my turn.”

“You’re not wrong,” she said softly, something new he liked a helluva lot shining from her eyes. “We’re both agreed.”

He grinned. “I know.”

She grinned back, it was small but it came easy.