“Can you come home and stay in your old room? I promise to leave you be, and I know you don’t need protection anymore. We can take all those restrictions away for you… but I can’t bear to think of you crying out for me at night and I’m not there for you. It’s killing me. Can you let me do this one thing for you? I know you don’t need me, you can do this on your own, but let me share the load. You don’t have to weather this storm on your own anymore.”

I look up into those beautiful dark eyes that are so soft now compared to when we first met. The compassion he lets me see and the love he wants to share with me makes it hard to think clearly.

“Do you promise no nakedness between us?” He nods. “Will you date me and then kiss me good night at the bedroom door?” Again, he nods with the hint of a smile on his face starting to build. “And you will only come to me if I call for you, because I want to try to get to a point that these nightmares are gone completely, and that is going to mean pushing through the pain for a while.” His grin is bigger, and the nod is more enthusiastic now because he knows he’s got me.

“And lastly, you have to promise to continue writing me stupid little love notes every morning for breakfast, but you can ditch the stupid names.” I can feel the smile on my face, knowing I will find peace here, but I’m also proud of myself for staying true to my healing.

“Oh, you know they are just going to get cheesier now, don’t you?” He drops his head and touches his lips to mine.

“I wouldn’t want it any other way.” I rise on my toes and wrap my arms around his neck. “Thank you for loving me when no one else would.”

“I didn’t have a choice, Harper. The moment you walked into my life, it hit me that I wasn’t lost, but that I had been waiting for you. And then I finally understood why the universe had been saving me just for you.” His words wrap another imaginary ribbon around my heart, continuing to heal to it.

One ribbon at a time.

* * *

“I can’t believe you have been back living with Forrest for two weeks now and you still haven’t slept together.” Felisha laughs at me. We’re both drinking champagne in The Ritz Bar after sealing a deal today that we have been working on for months.

“Well, technically, we sleep together every night still, just not in the way you mean. Who would have thought, me, the queen of sex and one-night stands, would be sleeping with a man in my bed with clothes on and just cuddling.” I hold up my glass to hers to clink together. “Here’s to progress and the building of the world’s biggest orgasm when we finally do get naked. Because holy shit, it’s getting harder every time he touches me.”