vylentcrymz
in
epico
22/25
Epico - A Sorta Fairytale: Chapter Twenty-Two
Authors: CJ [vylentcrymz], Emilie [thisisironic] and Stacy [seemedsobright].
Rating: R
Pairings: Dominic Monaghan/Emilie de Ravin, Ian Somerhalder/Maggie Grace, Orlando Bloom/Evangeline Lilly
Summary: Love. Friendship. Growth. Sex. Change. Drama. But mostly just sex. Sure, we have a plot… somewhere around here (now where did I put that thing?), but when broken down into its simplest form, Epico = SEX!
Disclaimer: We don't own these people. They're real, sure, but none of these events have or ever will transpire. No offense is meant and we're making no profit from this. Title taken from the song A Sorta Fairytale by Tori Amos.
Please remember: Feedback is to us as sex is to Magsian, Domilie, and Orlilly. As in, very important, and something that needs to be done 24/7.
Author's Note: We're back, guys! So sorry for the long wait but a lot have things have happened and changed within LJ-land and RL-land. Jen [savvy_elf], our 4th author, sadly departed for greener pastures. However, if any of you are fans of The Justice League then go check out her new project the_jlu which should be starting up soon. Good luck, Jen! And now on with the new chapter you've all been waiting for.
Previous Chapters
---
It was twilight when Dom got home, that weird place halfway between night and day when the sun glowed orange and filled the room with an eerie, dusky color. Emilie was in the living room, feeling the ceiling fan blow the humid air around her. She'd tucked herself in the corner of the couch, arms hugging her stomach and cheeks still wet with tears.
He was whistling as he opened the door, plastic grocery bags rustling as he made his way into the kitchen. After a moment he poked his head through the doorway leading into the living room and his giddy smile made Emilie's heart ache.
"Hello hello, my lovely baby mummy! Cider's ready to get popped open, I just put the champagne glasses in the freezer so we'll be ready to celebrate in a few--" He broke off when she turned her head and the light made her tearstained cheeks glisten. His expression faltered, his smile dimmed. "Em? Everything, um, alright?"
Emilie shivered, despite the warm and sticky evening. Her eyes met Dom's and he returned her gaze fearfully, waiting for her to reassure him, but her lip quivered and her face crumpled and her only response was a gut-wrenching sob.Dom rushed across the room and knelt by the couch, pulling her into his arms and murmuring against her hair and rubbing her back until she could breathe again.
"I took... I took a second test," she whispered, and she knew that Dom understood precisely what had happened by the way his entire body seemed to sag. Her hands fisted the material of his t-shirt and she went on anyway, needing to say the words, needing to explain. "Maggie wanted to just... I don't know. We wanted to get excited about it together, and make it official, and she brought me a test, and while we were waiting for the results we were talking about how happy you were and how much we wanted to be parents now and then it was negative and--"
"Shh, Em," Dom soothed in a hoarse voice. "It's alright. It's alright."
"I wanted a baby," she breathed. "I wanted to be a parent with you."
"I know, luv, I wanted it, too. I wanted it so badly." Dom let her wrap her arms around him and pull him onto the couch and press her head against his chest. His cheek rested on her head and she didn't say anything when she felt his tears soak into her hair.
The cider grew warm in the kitchen while they sat on the couch, completely silent, for hours. When it was pitch black outside and the house was too still, too silent, Dom stood, carrying Emilie to their bedroom. They changed clothes without looking at each other and crawled beneath the covers of their bed, their arms wrapping automatically around each other so that they each had something to hold onto as they fell into fitful sleep.
---
Orlando hadn't told her where they were going. He just showed up on the first morning of her four days of respite from shooting, knocking on her bedroom window until she woke up and went to open the front door for him.
"Pack your bags, princess," he'd simply told her. "We're going on a little trip."
There was a limo parked in front of her house, and once she had a small suitcase packed with necessities it whisked them away. To where, Orlando wouldn't say. The entire car ride, he made it a point to keep her eyes on anything but the windows, knowing exactly what it took to keep her distracted.
When they arrived at their destination, however, Evi made no attempt to act like she didn't want to know where they were. Before she could get out of the limo, however, Orlando stopped her.
"Have to preserve the element of surprise," he murmured, kissing her between her eyes. "How long do you think you could keep your eyes closed?"
"If you promise to reward me for good behavior, I'll try to keep them closed for as long as you need," Evi whispered, because it felt like the kind of situation where things needed to be quiet and intimate. "But why?"
"Do you trust me?" She nodded and he smiled against her forehead. "Then no questions."
It wasn't until five minutes later that Evi was required to open her eyes. A woman behind a desk with a nametag that informed Evi that she was Freida Acosta of American Airlines was flashing her a bright, fake smile and asking for I.D.
And here Evi had been thinking that he was just taking her to the bed and breakfast on the other side of the island. Surprised and dazed, Evi handed it over and turned to Orlando with an ear-to-ear smile on her face. "Where--?"
The woman handed over the printed tickets but before she could give the usual, "Have a great flight to--!" Orlando stopped her, holding a finger in front of his mouth, eyes twinkling. She nodded and winked and Orlando snuck his hand under Evi's as his other one grabbed her carry-on bag.
"Where are we--?"
He shushed her and laughed at the expression on her face. "You don't do well with surprises, do you?"
She couldn't help but smile, "You're having fun keeping me in the dark, aren't you?"
"Quite a lot of fun, actually."
They got through security and to the gate just in time to hear a voice announce over the intercom: "Attention passengers, we will now begin boarding Flight 224 bound for Los Angeles, with continuing service to New York City."
He grinned and kissed the corner of her mouth, oblivious to the stares of the other passengers. "Look, I wasn't going to let you spend your time off all alone. I've got to do a few promo interview things in New York, but I'll have tons of free time over the next four days to spend with you. Sound like a good plan?"
She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him quickly. "Sounds like a great plan, actually."
---
"Emilie? You there?"
Realizing she had effectively been ignoring her agent for the past fifteen minutes, Emilie tried to tune herself back into the conversation and push away all unwelcome thoughts of babies and children and their tiny little hands and the way they--
Damnit! Mentally slapping herself, she gripped the phone tighter and attempted to concentrate. "Rachel, I'm sorry, can we do this another time? Shooting's been so insane and I just-"
"You didn't hear a word I just said did you?" At Emilie's silence, Rachel laughed. "Wow, you really are distracted today. Okay, one more time: Remember that audition you went to a month or two ago for the remake of The Hills Have Eyes?"
"Where I had to scream a lot?"
"That's the one. You must have screamed the pants off of 'em, because they're offering you the part. Brenda."
Emilie's eyes widened as a million thoughts made themselves known in her head. "I got the part? I... I got the part?!"
"Congratulations, Em! You deserve a big budget horror flick like this once in a while. And I have it on good authority that you're going to be joined by some fantastic actors." Rachel paused for a moment, the sounds of paper being shuffled replacing her voice, before she began to speak again. "Kathleen Quinlan, Ted Levine, Robert Joy and Desmond Askew are all signed up according to my notes."
"Desmond's signed up?" Emilie smiled at the name, familiar to her from Roswell, but then the part of her brain overruled by Lost kicked in and she panicked. "When does it start shooting? I still have Claire scenes to shoot!"
"Don't worry, Lost will have finished filming by the time they need you in Morocco. Although you're going to be doing physical stuff so I'd advise you to look into training."
"Physical stuff?"
"Okay, what I'm about to say... Em, I love you, so don't reach through the phone and strangle me to death but you're not exactly a tall person. You're more on the petite side of things," Rachel said cautiously. "If you're going to need to swing an axe and fend off mutant freaks, then you'll need to get some practice in."
Emilie nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I'll look into that."
Two hours later Emilie stood behind her trailer with a large axe she'd managed to procure from the props department. Even carrying it had been a difficult task and she'd been forced to drag it behind her, feeling like a caveman with a club.
She swung it experimentally and jumped as the large metal head came into contact with her trailer door, leaving behind a noticeable dent.
"Oops," she muttered, getting a firm grip on the handle before slowly starting to raise it, like she would a golf club. It felt good to hold such a powerful weapon in her hands, knowing that with one move she could destroy anything in her path. Flashes of negative pregnancy tests entered her head and she began to feel her blood start to boil.
Dom rounded the corner on his way to see his woman and stopped in his tracks at the sight of said woman wielding the biggest axe he'd ever seen in his life. "Em?" He took a cautious step forward. "You okay?"
Dom's voice was drowned out by the shrill scream Emilie let loose as she swung the axe over her head and brought it down, keeping her grip on the handle tight and cutting clean through the thick branch she'd scrounged up for practice. She stood up and wiped the sweat from her forehead, her pleased expression dissipating when she realized Dom was watching her with a terrified expression.
"Um, Dom?"
Eyes widening as she addressed him, he hastily jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "I have to go. Business to attend to, you know how it goes. Eating and... Other equally joyful and pleasant things. I'll see you later, luv."
"Dom, wait, I was just practicing!"
"Practicing?!" Dom suppressed a whimper, dropping his voice to a rough whisper. "Practicing for what?"
"For a job!" She said excitedly. "I'm going to kill weirdos in the desert, isn't that amazing?"
"That's... wonderful." Dom plastered a fake smile on his face and slowly started to step backwards - far away from his possibly homicidal girlfriend - being sure not to make any sudden moves that could put his life in danger.
When Emilie began - and much to her surprise without much difficulty - to swing the axe up to rest on her shoulder, Dom shot off in the other direction, hands cupped around his mouth to warn everybody he could of the impending doom.
"Evacuate the island! Evacuate the island! Emilie de Ravin has an axe, approach with caution! Save yourselves!"
She looked up, startled at his yelling, and promptly dropped the axe to run after him. "Dom, stop! Dominic!"
He was as far as Josh's trailer when he finally stopped, Emilie bumping into his back with a loud oof and making him spin to catch her. She was a little out of breath at their collison and Dom took in the beautiful sight of her bright eyes and flushed cheeks.
"I was practicing for a movie!" She managed to explain, holding onto his upper arms for balance and trying to ignore the hidden corded muscles beneath her fingertips. Her tone softened as they made eye contact; "I get to re-make The Hills Have Eyes this summer."
"For a movie?"
Emilie nodded slowly. "I haven't turned into a psycho killer, I promise."
"Oh, well, good," he said absently. "That's good, innit?"
"Dom, it was just for-"
"I thought--" He shrugged, cutting her off. "S'not everyday I see you wielding an axe, luv, give me a break!"
"I know," she smiled a little at him. "It was cute, seeing you run for your life."
"Can't blame me!" His voice cracked as he threw his hands in the air. "God forbid you're carrying around that bloody thing and someone calls you the 'm' word. There'd be a massacre!"
She laughed a little, lightly smacking him in the chest. "I'm not that violent! But my character is, apparently. I just wanted to try it out, see if I could master it before I go off and do it for real."
"You were looking a bit intense, luv."
"Yeah, well..." She trailed off, her little negative pep talk returning to her mind. "You know what they say, violence is an excellent form of stress relief. Even if they haven't said it, I'm saying it now."
"It'd be perfectly understandable if you did, with all that's..." Dom stopped, but it was already too late. The levity of just a moment ago shattered and they were left with what they'd been hiding for days. He sighed, frustrated for bringing it up and frustrated that it'd take him this long to. "Em."
She wiped at her cheek before looking up, probably thinking he couldn't see her doing so, but he did. His stomach turned over. "Yeah?"
Dom lifted his hand, slowly at first--not really afraid but still wondering if she was okay with it--and cupped her face, stroking her cheek. "You alright, luv?"
"I'm..." Her hand rested on his chest and her expression melted. "How're you?"
"No changing the subject," he whispered, voice hoarse, completely serious. His eyes bored into her. "We've been changing the subject ever since...ever since, Em. We can't do that anymore, we need to--we need to talk about it."
"What's there to talk about? I thought I was pregnant and I wasn't." Her tone was so even and controlled that Dom winced. "It happens to people all the time, it's not like something tragic happened."
Dom brought his other hand up to her face, holding her, keeping her close. "I was going to tell you I wanted to name the baby Billy. On the way home from the store, it came up in my head. Thought we'd have a good laugh over that."
Emilie laughed but as she did, tears escaped her eyes, streaking down her cheek until Dom brushed them away. "What if it was a girl? Would we still name her Billy?"
"Kid's already going to be pretty bloody unique, being ours, might as well give her a good name to go along with it, yeah?" He was laughing and crying too as he continued. "How about Emilie Jr.?"
"Girls don't have junior in their names."
"I've always wondered about that, why are boys so special?"
Emilie kissed him then, her hands holding onto his arms tightly and her lips moving across his, warmth moving from her body to his. When it ended, she rested her forehead against his. "You got me."
---
They managed to make it through JFK Airport without encountering more than a handful of enthusiastic fans; most of them were too surprised to see them wandering hand-in-hand through the airport, sans security, to even approach them. Orlando rented a car and navigated them both through the streets of New York to their hotel. It wasn't too crowded, which was to their benefit, and they entered the lobby to check in. Leaning against the counter beside him, Evi began to list all the places in New York it would be fun to visit and Orlando smiled; his eyes were concentrating on his signature yet in his mind he could just see the grin on her face and the wave of her hands as she spoke.
Just as Evi was expressing a desire to catch a Broadway show, another voice joined hers; someone had just entered the hotel lobby and was politely asking whoever was with her for a bottle of water. At first he didn't really notice, since Evi always had his full attention, yet as the woman got closer and closer to the desk it became painfully obvious to him who it was.
Evi rested a hand on his arm when she noticed he'd stopped writing and was frozen in place. "'Lando? You okay?"
"Evangeline, it's-"
"Orlando?" He turned around slowly, feeling himself tense up when the identity of the woman behind him was confirmed. Kate Bosworth smiled at him from behind a pair of large, dark sunglasses. Her hair was shorter and blonder - almost platinum - and she'd gotten thinner since he last saw her. Her smile was tentative but it was a smile nonetheless. "I thought it was you. How are you?"
He blinked, suddenly unsure whether this was a parallel universe. "Excuse me?"
Evi put her hand on the small of his back, a small but comforting gesture.
Kate faltered, reading the anger on his face, then continued in a softer voice, "I asked how you were. I haven't seen you since-"
"Yeah, it's been awhile, hasn't it?" Orlando cut her off and turned around suddenly, picking up the pen and finishing his signature with harsh efficiency. The woman behind the counter looked surprised by the way he shoved the paper back at her, but quickly regained her professionalism and handed him two key cards.
"Thank you, Mr. Bloom. Your suite is on the eleventh floor, room 1164. If you need anything just ring the front desk." She smiled hesitantly at her and relaxed when he returned the gesture, albeit stiffly.
"Mind holding onto these, princess?" Orlando handed Evi the keys and picked up their suitcases. He nodded to the right."Elevator's that way."
"Orlando, wait," Kate said when the two began to walk away, taking a few steps after them. "Can't we have a moment? I feel like we should talk about--"
"About what, precisely, Kate?" Orlando turned around slowly to face her. He kept his voice low and glanced briefly at the people around them, making sure only Kate and Evi were close enough to hear him. "Would you care to discuss the fact that our relationship ended when I found you fucking another man in your bed?"
Evi put a hand on his arm, squeezing gently as though to warn him to rein in his emotions. He took a deep breath and looked at her, his eyes conveying an apology.
Kate chewed her lower lip for a moment before removing the sunglasses, her unique eyes full of regret and sadness as they rested on him. "You have no idea how sorry I am. God, please believe me when I say I never wanted us to end like that."
Orlando stood up straight, barely registering Evi's hand as it slipped into his and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Why should I believe you?"
"Because it's the truth."
"You've lied before, you'll do it again. Have you any idea how much you hurt me? I thought we were..." He trailed off, running his free hand through his hair. "It was made clear to me that I cared a bit more about our relationship than you did."
"Don't give me that bullshit, Orlando." Kate's whisper was vehement, as though she were shouting at him as silently as possible. There were curious eyes all around them, yet both of them were straining to keep this a private conversation. "I lied and I cheated and I'm sorry for that, and I will admit that what I did was wrong. I should've told you I was unhappy with us, I should've told you that I couldn't be with you anymore." She paused, closing her eyes for a moment but then reopening them, looking directly into his. "But unless you see a time machine around here that's a mistake that we'll just have to live with."
"A mistake you'll have to live with," Orlando corrected her, his grip on Evi's hand a little tighter than he'd intended, but she didn't say anything.
Kate sighed, almost resigned. At the end of the day, it all came down to that; she was the cheater. Orlando's attitude was more than understandable. But still, in those hazel-blue eyes was a determination to clean up their messy breakup.
"Despite the fact that I'm obviously a heartless, cheating bitch, all I wanted to know was that you moved on and you got to be happy because..." For a split second it seemed as if she was going to step closer, but then logic kicked in and she realized she couldn't do that anymore. "I still care about you, Orlando."
"I didn't think it was possible for you to c--"
"What I don't need is some wronged puppy-dog routine because I know you're more mature than that," she cut him off in an voice ready to waver. "I know you don't believe me, but I am sorry. And I'm...I hope--"
Kate paused and, so quickly it was barely visible, glanced over at Evi. Clearing her throat, she corrected herself, "I'm glad that you're happy."
Before Orlando could think of anything to say in response, a woman near the elevator, most likely Kate's assistant or friend, called her name. She quietly told them to wait a moment before turning backt to face him.
Finally, after a few moments of silence, Kate resigned herself to a nod. "I have to go."
"Yeah, looks like you do." The venom in his voice was lacking, but he was still tense, still reluctant to completely meet her eyes.
She sighed and nodded again, "Okay, I'll...I hope you guys have a good time here, I'm sorry for interrupting."
When she finally turned and left, Evi wasted no time in turning to Orlando, holding his arm comfortingly. "Hey. Are you okay?"
His eyes followed Kate as she retreated until she disappeared into an elevator, and it was then that his body relaxed into Evi's touch and he looked down into her eyes, warm and loving. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Yeah, I think I am."
"Sure I don't need to kick any asses, take any names?" Evi teased lightly.
Orlando smiled. "The only arse you need to worry about is your own, and getting it into our hotel room as soon as possible." He put one arm around her shoulder and directed her toward the elevator, murmuring against her ear. "We've got four days of vacation to enjoy, and the only things I'm going to let bother me are questions like, do I want to make love to you on the bed first, or in the shower?"
---
The morning breeze was soft and cool against Dom's warm skin, gently stirring him from a deep sleep. Clearing his throat, he lifted a heavy hand to his eyes to wipe away the sleep. Groaning a little, sore in every part of his body from the night before, he looked down to see Emilie's cheek resting on his chest, breath coasting over his stomach and her hand, tucked under the sheet, resting on his thigh. It should be considered illegal how beautiful she was, practically a living piece of art.
As long as he kept seeing this every morning, he'd be happy for the rest of his life.
When, slowly but surely, Emilie woke--her eyes opening and looking up at him--his stomach tightened. The feeling wasn’t new, sometimes he could just hear her voice and stars would explode behind his eyes and his fingers would tingle at the tips.
“Mmm, morning.” She stirred slightly and pressed her warm lips against the hollow of his throat. Dom sucked in a breath, earning a coquettish spark in her liquid blue eyes.
“Good morning to you too, luv,” he whispered, his fingers running through her hair and thumb stroking her temple in small, slow circles.
Looking at Emilie, with her hair slightly rumpled, sticking up in the wrong direction on one side and the other flat from being pressed against his body the entire night, Dom spoke in a husky voice. "C'mere."
Leisurely, Emilie lifted herself up onto her hands and slid up so her face was even with Dom’s, making sure to trail her body against his the entire time. Dom sucked in another breath at the contact and she let out a small, breathy laugh. Pressing a kiss to his chin, she never tore her eyes away from his.
His tongue darted out to lick his lips and he held onto her for dear life. “I love you,” he whispered, moving so that they were both on their sides and he could lean in and kiss her. “Cor, I love you so much."
"I never would've guessed," she teased.
Dom laughed, but after a moment let a small bit of vulnerability show in his eyes. "I think there's supposed to be something you should be saying right now, luv."
"I love you, too."
"And?"
Emilie smirked. "You're the best sex I've ever had?"
"That's the one!"
Rolling her eyes, she made herself comfortable. "You're a piece of work."
Dom didn't argue with her, letting a few moments pass, comfortable and happy and everything all at once. "Hey, Em?"
"Yeah?"
"You remember the first time we met?"
She smiled and kissed his chin before burying her face into his neck. "Yeah, you stepped on my foot."
"Didn't mean to, kept apologizing over and over and over."
"You offered to buy me a prosthetic foot if the damage you did to mine was irreparable."
Dom grinned from ear to ear, arm encircling her waist and pulling her closer. "You laughed at me."
She grinned against his throat, butterfly kisses placed on his skin lovingly. "Can you blame me?"
"Not one bit," he laughed into her hair. "What'd you think of me, besides how amazingly sexy I was?"
Emilie hummed, lips touching his pulse point. "Thought you were sweet."
"Yeah?" He sounded surprised but pleased.
"A little overwhelming, but sweet," she continued, fingers trailing up and down his familiar arm. "I felt bad though, I didn't know what the name was of the hobbit you played. I thought you were Pippin."
"Good thing I talked about it endlessly or that would've been an awkward moment." Dom didn't seem bothered by it, pulling back and sighing against her forehead.
"You made me watch it, remember?" He could feel her still smiling and breathed out in relief. The world was a good place when Emilie smiled, it meant that everything wasn't going horribly wrong. "It was one of those moments where I let myself be completely fascinated by you."
He kissed her forehead, "I am a rather fascinating individual, aren't I?"
Emilie laughed, "If I didn't love you so much I'd fault you for having such a humongous ego."
"Mmm, all I heard was the word humongous. Which, yeah, I am, thank you."
She thwacked him harmlessly, "You're so bad."
"And you're so good." He nuzzled his face in her hair briefly. "Balances it out, don't you think?"
She sighed, not intending to ever move out of the caccoon of warmth that was his arms. "Yep."
A long time passed with nothing but silence--save for their even, synchronized breathing--and neither would have it any other way. This was them, this was Dom and Emilie in the morning, stripped of sarcasm, jokes, everything. They could talk, sleep, shag, read the morning paper or even talk about why giraffes have such long necks; anything and everything.
If they got to have this for the rest of their lives, they'd have no complaints.
Dom kissed Emilie's forehead again, lips lingering on her skin as his eyes drifted shut momentarily, breathing her in. She smelled of summer and ocean; warm, perfect, and undeniably inviting.
"Marry me."
She looked up, eyes wide and mouth agape. A second of stuttering and all she could muster was a weak "Dom?"
Dom smiled down at her, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand and taking in the sight of how fantastically blue her eyes were; burning the image in his mind to never forget. His thumb ghosted over her temple and she leaned against his hand instinctively. "I want to marry you, luv. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
Emilie shut her eyes, collecting herself before speaking. Her cheeks were flushed red and her eyes were shimmering when she finally looked at him again, overwhelmed.
"Don't." He shook his head, sliding down until his head was level with hers. He cupped her face in his hand. "No logic, that's the rule. When it's this, when it's us, Emilie, it doesn't matter if we've been dating for six months or six years. What matters is that I love you and, because I'm the luckiest man in the world, you love me. Waking up next to you...I want to do that for the rest of my life. I--"
He paused, bringing tears to her eyes when he started to get emotional himself. "I want to have children with you, to start a family. It might not have happened for us before but you need to know I want to keep trying until we do. I want to be there in the delivery room, to give you a hand to break, to be the person you swear at..."
Emilie laughed, her hand resting on his, holding on for dear life. "You know I love you, Dom, bu--"
"This doesn't have to be a proposal if you don't want it to be," he said immediately before she could go any further, kissing her nose. "I don't have a ring and I didn't list every single sodding thing I love about you, this is far from how I imagined I'd propose. One day I will, though, for real. But for now, Emilie, you need to know--"
"I do, Dom," her voice was thick with emotion as she assured him, repeating herself over and over, each time a little more breathless. "I want all of that too, I do, but we can't rush into this, we can't--"
"We won't, not today," Dom assured her. "Tomorrow, next week, two years from now; maybe then. What I'm trying to tell you is that it will happen, I won't let it not. This is a promise, alright?"
"A promise," she repeated, smiling tearfully. "I like the sound of that."
Dom kissed her, eager and passionate and everything in between. When they broke away, reluctantly, he had her face in his hands and his eyes locked with hers, never intending to look away. "It's going to be perfect when it happens you know that, right?"
She nodded, tears finally falling and leaving wet trails down her cheeks. Yet she couldn't be happier. Her arms encircled his neck and she moved so that he was on his back and she was on top of him. Her lips touched his cheek, his chin, his lips, his neck, each one more reverent than the last. Dom held onto her arms tightly, sucking in a breath before finally stopping her from going any further, making her look back up at him.
"Just to..." he blinked, dazed. "Just to get a preview of how amazing it's going to be when I ask you for real: Will you marry me?"
Emilie leaned in slowly, until their lips were a breath apart, and smiled. "Yes."
Never had one word made Dom so fucking happy.
TBC...
Authors: CJ [vylentcrymz], Emilie [thisisironic] and Stacy [seemedsobright].
Rating: R
Pairings: Dominic Monaghan/Emilie de Ravin, Ian Somerhalder/Maggie Grace, Orlando Bloom/Evangeline Lilly
Summary: Love. Friendship. Growth. Sex. Change. Drama. But mostly just sex. Sure, we have a plot… somewhere around here (now where did I put that thing?), but when broken down into its simplest form, Epico = SEX!
Disclaimer: We don't own these people. They're real, sure, but none of these events have or ever will transpire. No offense is meant and we're making no profit from this. Title taken from the song A Sorta Fairytale by Tori Amos.
Please remember: Feedback is to us as sex is to Magsian, Domilie, and Orlilly. As in, very important, and something that needs to be done 24/7.
Author's Note: We're back, guys! So sorry for the long wait but a lot have things have happened and changed within LJ-land and RL-land. Jen [savvy_elf], our 4th author, sadly departed for greener pastures. However, if any of you are fans of The Justice League then go check out her new project the_jlu which should be starting up soon. Good luck, Jen! And now on with the new chapter you've all been waiting for.
Previous Chapters
---
It was twilight when Dom got home, that weird place halfway between night and day when the sun glowed orange and filled the room with an eerie, dusky color. Emilie was in the living room, feeling the ceiling fan blow the humid air around her. She'd tucked herself in the corner of the couch, arms hugging her stomach and cheeks still wet with tears.
He was whistling as he opened the door, plastic grocery bags rustling as he made his way into the kitchen. After a moment he poked his head through the doorway leading into the living room and his giddy smile made Emilie's heart ache.
"Hello hello, my lovely baby mummy! Cider's ready to get popped open, I just put the champagne glasses in the freezer so we'll be ready to celebrate in a few--" He broke off when she turned her head and the light made her tearstained cheeks glisten. His expression faltered, his smile dimmed. "Em? Everything, um, alright?"
Emilie shivered, despite the warm and sticky evening. Her eyes met Dom's and he returned her gaze fearfully, waiting for her to reassure him, but her lip quivered and her face crumpled and her only response was a gut-wrenching sob.Dom rushed across the room and knelt by the couch, pulling her into his arms and murmuring against her hair and rubbing her back until she could breathe again.
"I took... I took a second test," she whispered, and she knew that Dom understood precisely what had happened by the way his entire body seemed to sag. Her hands fisted the material of his t-shirt and she went on anyway, needing to say the words, needing to explain. "Maggie wanted to just... I don't know. We wanted to get excited about it together, and make it official, and she brought me a test, and while we were waiting for the results we were talking about how happy you were and how much we wanted to be parents now and then it was negative and--"
"Shh, Em," Dom soothed in a hoarse voice. "It's alright. It's alright."
"I wanted a baby," she breathed. "I wanted to be a parent with you."
"I know, luv, I wanted it, too. I wanted it so badly." Dom let her wrap her arms around him and pull him onto the couch and press her head against his chest. His cheek rested on her head and she didn't say anything when she felt his tears soak into her hair.
The cider grew warm in the kitchen while they sat on the couch, completely silent, for hours. When it was pitch black outside and the house was too still, too silent, Dom stood, carrying Emilie to their bedroom. They changed clothes without looking at each other and crawled beneath the covers of their bed, their arms wrapping automatically around each other so that they each had something to hold onto as they fell into fitful sleep.
---
Orlando hadn't told her where they were going. He just showed up on the first morning of her four days of respite from shooting, knocking on her bedroom window until she woke up and went to open the front door for him.
"Pack your bags, princess," he'd simply told her. "We're going on a little trip."
There was a limo parked in front of her house, and once she had a small suitcase packed with necessities it whisked them away. To where, Orlando wouldn't say. The entire car ride, he made it a point to keep her eyes on anything but the windows, knowing exactly what it took to keep her distracted.
When they arrived at their destination, however, Evi made no attempt to act like she didn't want to know where they were. Before she could get out of the limo, however, Orlando stopped her.
"Have to preserve the element of surprise," he murmured, kissing her between her eyes. "How long do you think you could keep your eyes closed?"
"If you promise to reward me for good behavior, I'll try to keep them closed for as long as you need," Evi whispered, because it felt like the kind of situation where things needed to be quiet and intimate. "But why?"
"Do you trust me?" She nodded and he smiled against her forehead. "Then no questions."
It wasn't until five minutes later that Evi was required to open her eyes. A woman behind a desk with a nametag that informed Evi that she was Freida Acosta of American Airlines was flashing her a bright, fake smile and asking for I.D.
And here Evi had been thinking that he was just taking her to the bed and breakfast on the other side of the island. Surprised and dazed, Evi handed it over and turned to Orlando with an ear-to-ear smile on her face. "Where--?"
The woman handed over the printed tickets but before she could give the usual, "Have a great flight to--!" Orlando stopped her, holding a finger in front of his mouth, eyes twinkling. She nodded and winked and Orlando snuck his hand under Evi's as his other one grabbed her carry-on bag.
"Where are we--?"
He shushed her and laughed at the expression on her face. "You don't do well with surprises, do you?"
She couldn't help but smile, "You're having fun keeping me in the dark, aren't you?"
"Quite a lot of fun, actually."
They got through security and to the gate just in time to hear a voice announce over the intercom: "Attention passengers, we will now begin boarding Flight 224 bound for Los Angeles, with continuing service to New York City."
He grinned and kissed the corner of her mouth, oblivious to the stares of the other passengers. "Look, I wasn't going to let you spend your time off all alone. I've got to do a few promo interview things in New York, but I'll have tons of free time over the next four days to spend with you. Sound like a good plan?"
She wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him quickly. "Sounds like a great plan, actually."
---
"Emilie? You there?"
Realizing she had effectively been ignoring her agent for the past fifteen minutes, Emilie tried to tune herself back into the conversation and push away all unwelcome thoughts of babies and children and their tiny little hands and the way they--
Damnit! Mentally slapping herself, she gripped the phone tighter and attempted to concentrate. "Rachel, I'm sorry, can we do this another time? Shooting's been so insane and I just-"
"You didn't hear a word I just said did you?" At Emilie's silence, Rachel laughed. "Wow, you really are distracted today. Okay, one more time: Remember that audition you went to a month or two ago for the remake of The Hills Have Eyes?"
"Where I had to scream a lot?"
"That's the one. You must have screamed the pants off of 'em, because they're offering you the part. Brenda."
Emilie's eyes widened as a million thoughts made themselves known in her head. "I got the part? I... I got the part?!"
"Congratulations, Em! You deserve a big budget horror flick like this once in a while. And I have it on good authority that you're going to be joined by some fantastic actors." Rachel paused for a moment, the sounds of paper being shuffled replacing her voice, before she began to speak again. "Kathleen Quinlan, Ted Levine, Robert Joy and Desmond Askew are all signed up according to my notes."
"Desmond's signed up?" Emilie smiled at the name, familiar to her from Roswell, but then the part of her brain overruled by Lost kicked in and she panicked. "When does it start shooting? I still have Claire scenes to shoot!"
"Don't worry, Lost will have finished filming by the time they need you in Morocco. Although you're going to be doing physical stuff so I'd advise you to look into training."
"Physical stuff?"
"Okay, what I'm about to say... Em, I love you, so don't reach through the phone and strangle me to death but you're not exactly a tall person. You're more on the petite side of things," Rachel said cautiously. "If you're going to need to swing an axe and fend off mutant freaks, then you'll need to get some practice in."
Emilie nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I'll look into that."
Two hours later Emilie stood behind her trailer with a large axe she'd managed to procure from the props department. Even carrying it had been a difficult task and she'd been forced to drag it behind her, feeling like a caveman with a club.
She swung it experimentally and jumped as the large metal head came into contact with her trailer door, leaving behind a noticeable dent.
"Oops," she muttered, getting a firm grip on the handle before slowly starting to raise it, like she would a golf club. It felt good to hold such a powerful weapon in her hands, knowing that with one move she could destroy anything in her path. Flashes of negative pregnancy tests entered her head and she began to feel her blood start to boil.
Dom rounded the corner on his way to see his woman and stopped in his tracks at the sight of said woman wielding the biggest axe he'd ever seen in his life. "Em?" He took a cautious step forward. "You okay?"
Dom's voice was drowned out by the shrill scream Emilie let loose as she swung the axe over her head and brought it down, keeping her grip on the handle tight and cutting clean through the thick branch she'd scrounged up for practice. She stood up and wiped the sweat from her forehead, her pleased expression dissipating when she realized Dom was watching her with a terrified expression.
"Um, Dom?"
Eyes widening as she addressed him, he hastily jabbed a thumb over his shoulder. "I have to go. Business to attend to, you know how it goes. Eating and... Other equally joyful and pleasant things. I'll see you later, luv."
"Dom, wait, I was just practicing!"
"Practicing?!" Dom suppressed a whimper, dropping his voice to a rough whisper. "Practicing for what?"
"For a job!" She said excitedly. "I'm going to kill weirdos in the desert, isn't that amazing?"
"That's... wonderful." Dom plastered a fake smile on his face and slowly started to step backwards - far away from his possibly homicidal girlfriend - being sure not to make any sudden moves that could put his life in danger.
When Emilie began - and much to her surprise without much difficulty - to swing the axe up to rest on her shoulder, Dom shot off in the other direction, hands cupped around his mouth to warn everybody he could of the impending doom.
"Evacuate the island! Evacuate the island! Emilie de Ravin has an axe, approach with caution! Save yourselves!"
She looked up, startled at his yelling, and promptly dropped the axe to run after him. "Dom, stop! Dominic!"
He was as far as Josh's trailer when he finally stopped, Emilie bumping into his back with a loud oof and making him spin to catch her. She was a little out of breath at their collison and Dom took in the beautiful sight of her bright eyes and flushed cheeks.
"I was practicing for a movie!" She managed to explain, holding onto his upper arms for balance and trying to ignore the hidden corded muscles beneath her fingertips. Her tone softened as they made eye contact; "I get to re-make The Hills Have Eyes this summer."
"For a movie?"
Emilie nodded slowly. "I haven't turned into a psycho killer, I promise."
"Oh, well, good," he said absently. "That's good, innit?"
"Dom, it was just for-"
"I thought--" He shrugged, cutting her off. "S'not everyday I see you wielding an axe, luv, give me a break!"
"I know," she smiled a little at him. "It was cute, seeing you run for your life."
"Can't blame me!" His voice cracked as he threw his hands in the air. "God forbid you're carrying around that bloody thing and someone calls you the 'm' word. There'd be a massacre!"
She laughed a little, lightly smacking him in the chest. "I'm not that violent! But my character is, apparently. I just wanted to try it out, see if I could master it before I go off and do it for real."
"You were looking a bit intense, luv."
"Yeah, well..." She trailed off, her little negative pep talk returning to her mind. "You know what they say, violence is an excellent form of stress relief. Even if they haven't said it, I'm saying it now."
"It'd be perfectly understandable if you did, with all that's..." Dom stopped, but it was already too late. The levity of just a moment ago shattered and they were left with what they'd been hiding for days. He sighed, frustrated for bringing it up and frustrated that it'd take him this long to. "Em."
She wiped at her cheek before looking up, probably thinking he couldn't see her doing so, but he did. His stomach turned over. "Yeah?"
Dom lifted his hand, slowly at first--not really afraid but still wondering if she was okay with it--and cupped her face, stroking her cheek. "You alright, luv?"
"I'm..." Her hand rested on his chest and her expression melted. "How're you?"
"No changing the subject," he whispered, voice hoarse, completely serious. His eyes bored into her. "We've been changing the subject ever since...ever since, Em. We can't do that anymore, we need to--we need to talk about it."
"What's there to talk about? I thought I was pregnant and I wasn't." Her tone was so even and controlled that Dom winced. "It happens to people all the time, it's not like something tragic happened."
Dom brought his other hand up to her face, holding her, keeping her close. "I was going to tell you I wanted to name the baby Billy. On the way home from the store, it came up in my head. Thought we'd have a good laugh over that."
Emilie laughed but as she did, tears escaped her eyes, streaking down her cheek until Dom brushed them away. "What if it was a girl? Would we still name her Billy?"
"Kid's already going to be pretty bloody unique, being ours, might as well give her a good name to go along with it, yeah?" He was laughing and crying too as he continued. "How about Emilie Jr.?"
"Girls don't have junior in their names."
"I've always wondered about that, why are boys so special?"
Emilie kissed him then, her hands holding onto his arms tightly and her lips moving across his, warmth moving from her body to his. When it ended, she rested her forehead against his. "You got me."
---
They managed to make it through JFK Airport without encountering more than a handful of enthusiastic fans; most of them were too surprised to see them wandering hand-in-hand through the airport, sans security, to even approach them. Orlando rented a car and navigated them both through the streets of New York to their hotel. It wasn't too crowded, which was to their benefit, and they entered the lobby to check in. Leaning against the counter beside him, Evi began to list all the places in New York it would be fun to visit and Orlando smiled; his eyes were concentrating on his signature yet in his mind he could just see the grin on her face and the wave of her hands as she spoke.
Just as Evi was expressing a desire to catch a Broadway show, another voice joined hers; someone had just entered the hotel lobby and was politely asking whoever was with her for a bottle of water. At first he didn't really notice, since Evi always had his full attention, yet as the woman got closer and closer to the desk it became painfully obvious to him who it was.
Evi rested a hand on his arm when she noticed he'd stopped writing and was frozen in place. "'Lando? You okay?"
"Evangeline, it's-"
"Orlando?" He turned around slowly, feeling himself tense up when the identity of the woman behind him was confirmed. Kate Bosworth smiled at him from behind a pair of large, dark sunglasses. Her hair was shorter and blonder - almost platinum - and she'd gotten thinner since he last saw her. Her smile was tentative but it was a smile nonetheless. "I thought it was you. How are you?"
He blinked, suddenly unsure whether this was a parallel universe. "Excuse me?"
Evi put her hand on the small of his back, a small but comforting gesture.
Kate faltered, reading the anger on his face, then continued in a softer voice, "I asked how you were. I haven't seen you since-"
"Yeah, it's been awhile, hasn't it?" Orlando cut her off and turned around suddenly, picking up the pen and finishing his signature with harsh efficiency. The woman behind the counter looked surprised by the way he shoved the paper back at her, but quickly regained her professionalism and handed him two key cards.
"Thank you, Mr. Bloom. Your suite is on the eleventh floor, room 1164. If you need anything just ring the front desk." She smiled hesitantly at her and relaxed when he returned the gesture, albeit stiffly.
"Mind holding onto these, princess?" Orlando handed Evi the keys and picked up their suitcases. He nodded to the right."Elevator's that way."
"Orlando, wait," Kate said when the two began to walk away, taking a few steps after them. "Can't we have a moment? I feel like we should talk about--"
"About what, precisely, Kate?" Orlando turned around slowly to face her. He kept his voice low and glanced briefly at the people around them, making sure only Kate and Evi were close enough to hear him. "Would you care to discuss the fact that our relationship ended when I found you fucking another man in your bed?"
Evi put a hand on his arm, squeezing gently as though to warn him to rein in his emotions. He took a deep breath and looked at her, his eyes conveying an apology.
Kate chewed her lower lip for a moment before removing the sunglasses, her unique eyes full of regret and sadness as they rested on him. "You have no idea how sorry I am. God, please believe me when I say I never wanted us to end like that."
Orlando stood up straight, barely registering Evi's hand as it slipped into his and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Why should I believe you?"
"Because it's the truth."
"You've lied before, you'll do it again. Have you any idea how much you hurt me? I thought we were..." He trailed off, running his free hand through his hair. "It was made clear to me that I cared a bit more about our relationship than you did."
"Don't give me that bullshit, Orlando." Kate's whisper was vehement, as though she were shouting at him as silently as possible. There were curious eyes all around them, yet both of them were straining to keep this a private conversation. "I lied and I cheated and I'm sorry for that, and I will admit that what I did was wrong. I should've told you I was unhappy with us, I should've told you that I couldn't be with you anymore." She paused, closing her eyes for a moment but then reopening them, looking directly into his. "But unless you see a time machine around here that's a mistake that we'll just have to live with."
"A mistake you'll have to live with," Orlando corrected her, his grip on Evi's hand a little tighter than he'd intended, but she didn't say anything.
Kate sighed, almost resigned. At the end of the day, it all came down to that; she was the cheater. Orlando's attitude was more than understandable. But still, in those hazel-blue eyes was a determination to clean up their messy breakup.
"Despite the fact that I'm obviously a heartless, cheating bitch, all I wanted to know was that you moved on and you got to be happy because..." For a split second it seemed as if she was going to step closer, but then logic kicked in and she realized she couldn't do that anymore. "I still care about you, Orlando."
"I didn't think it was possible for you to c--"
"What I don't need is some wronged puppy-dog routine because I know you're more mature than that," she cut him off in an voice ready to waver. "I know you don't believe me, but I am sorry. And I'm...I hope--"
Kate paused and, so quickly it was barely visible, glanced over at Evi. Clearing her throat, she corrected herself, "I'm glad that you're happy."
Before Orlando could think of anything to say in response, a woman near the elevator, most likely Kate's assistant or friend, called her name. She quietly told them to wait a moment before turning backt to face him.
Finally, after a few moments of silence, Kate resigned herself to a nod. "I have to go."
"Yeah, looks like you do." The venom in his voice was lacking, but he was still tense, still reluctant to completely meet her eyes.
She sighed and nodded again, "Okay, I'll...I hope you guys have a good time here, I'm sorry for interrupting."
When she finally turned and left, Evi wasted no time in turning to Orlando, holding his arm comfortingly. "Hey. Are you okay?"
His eyes followed Kate as she retreated until she disappeared into an elevator, and it was then that his body relaxed into Evi's touch and he looked down into her eyes, warm and loving. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Yeah, I think I am."
"Sure I don't need to kick any asses, take any names?" Evi teased lightly.
Orlando smiled. "The only arse you need to worry about is your own, and getting it into our hotel room as soon as possible." He put one arm around her shoulder and directed her toward the elevator, murmuring against her ear. "We've got four days of vacation to enjoy, and the only things I'm going to let bother me are questions like, do I want to make love to you on the bed first, or in the shower?"
---
The morning breeze was soft and cool against Dom's warm skin, gently stirring him from a deep sleep. Clearing his throat, he lifted a heavy hand to his eyes to wipe away the sleep. Groaning a little, sore in every part of his body from the night before, he looked down to see Emilie's cheek resting on his chest, breath coasting over his stomach and her hand, tucked under the sheet, resting on his thigh. It should be considered illegal how beautiful she was, practically a living piece of art.
As long as he kept seeing this every morning, he'd be happy for the rest of his life.
When, slowly but surely, Emilie woke--her eyes opening and looking up at him--his stomach tightened. The feeling wasn’t new, sometimes he could just hear her voice and stars would explode behind his eyes and his fingers would tingle at the tips.
“Mmm, morning.” She stirred slightly and pressed her warm lips against the hollow of his throat. Dom sucked in a breath, earning a coquettish spark in her liquid blue eyes.
“Good morning to you too, luv,” he whispered, his fingers running through her hair and thumb stroking her temple in small, slow circles.
Looking at Emilie, with her hair slightly rumpled, sticking up in the wrong direction on one side and the other flat from being pressed against his body the entire night, Dom spoke in a husky voice. "C'mere."
Leisurely, Emilie lifted herself up onto her hands and slid up so her face was even with Dom’s, making sure to trail her body against his the entire time. Dom sucked in another breath at the contact and she let out a small, breathy laugh. Pressing a kiss to his chin, she never tore her eyes away from his.
His tongue darted out to lick his lips and he held onto her for dear life. “I love you,” he whispered, moving so that they were both on their sides and he could lean in and kiss her. “Cor, I love you so much."
"I never would've guessed," she teased.
Dom laughed, but after a moment let a small bit of vulnerability show in his eyes. "I think there's supposed to be something you should be saying right now, luv."
"I love you, too."
"And?"
Emilie smirked. "You're the best sex I've ever had?"
"That's the one!"
Rolling her eyes, she made herself comfortable. "You're a piece of work."
Dom didn't argue with her, letting a few moments pass, comfortable and happy and everything all at once. "Hey, Em?"
"Yeah?"
"You remember the first time we met?"
She smiled and kissed his chin before burying her face into his neck. "Yeah, you stepped on my foot."
"Didn't mean to, kept apologizing over and over and over."
"You offered to buy me a prosthetic foot if the damage you did to mine was irreparable."
Dom grinned from ear to ear, arm encircling her waist and pulling her closer. "You laughed at me."
She grinned against his throat, butterfly kisses placed on his skin lovingly. "Can you blame me?"
"Not one bit," he laughed into her hair. "What'd you think of me, besides how amazingly sexy I was?"
Emilie hummed, lips touching his pulse point. "Thought you were sweet."
"Yeah?" He sounded surprised but pleased.
"A little overwhelming, but sweet," she continued, fingers trailing up and down his familiar arm. "I felt bad though, I didn't know what the name was of the hobbit you played. I thought you were Pippin."
"Good thing I talked about it endlessly or that would've been an awkward moment." Dom didn't seem bothered by it, pulling back and sighing against her forehead.
"You made me watch it, remember?" He could feel her still smiling and breathed out in relief. The world was a good place when Emilie smiled, it meant that everything wasn't going horribly wrong. "It was one of those moments where I let myself be completely fascinated by you."
He kissed her forehead, "I am a rather fascinating individual, aren't I?"
Emilie laughed, "If I didn't love you so much I'd fault you for having such a humongous ego."
"Mmm, all I heard was the word humongous. Which, yeah, I am, thank you."
She thwacked him harmlessly, "You're so bad."
"And you're so good." He nuzzled his face in her hair briefly. "Balances it out, don't you think?"
She sighed, not intending to ever move out of the caccoon of warmth that was his arms. "Yep."
A long time passed with nothing but silence--save for their even, synchronized breathing--and neither would have it any other way. This was them, this was Dom and Emilie in the morning, stripped of sarcasm, jokes, everything. They could talk, sleep, shag, read the morning paper or even talk about why giraffes have such long necks; anything and everything.
If they got to have this for the rest of their lives, they'd have no complaints.
Dom kissed Emilie's forehead again, lips lingering on her skin as his eyes drifted shut momentarily, breathing her in. She smelled of summer and ocean; warm, perfect, and undeniably inviting.
"Marry me."
She looked up, eyes wide and mouth agape. A second of stuttering and all she could muster was a weak "Dom?"
Dom smiled down at her, stroking her cheek with the back of his hand and taking in the sight of how fantastically blue her eyes were; burning the image in his mind to never forget. His thumb ghosted over her temple and she leaned against his hand instinctively. "I want to marry you, luv. I want to spend the rest of my life with you."
Emilie shut her eyes, collecting herself before speaking. Her cheeks were flushed red and her eyes were shimmering when she finally looked at him again, overwhelmed.
"Don't." He shook his head, sliding down until his head was level with hers. He cupped her face in his hand. "No logic, that's the rule. When it's this, when it's us, Emilie, it doesn't matter if we've been dating for six months or six years. What matters is that I love you and, because I'm the luckiest man in the world, you love me. Waking up next to you...I want to do that for the rest of my life. I--"
He paused, bringing tears to her eyes when he started to get emotional himself. "I want to have children with you, to start a family. It might not have happened for us before but you need to know I want to keep trying until we do. I want to be there in the delivery room, to give you a hand to break, to be the person you swear at..."
Emilie laughed, her hand resting on his, holding on for dear life. "You know I love you, Dom, bu--"
"This doesn't have to be a proposal if you don't want it to be," he said immediately before she could go any further, kissing her nose. "I don't have a ring and I didn't list every single sodding thing I love about you, this is far from how I imagined I'd propose. One day I will, though, for real. But for now, Emilie, you need to know--"
"I do, Dom," her voice was thick with emotion as she assured him, repeating herself over and over, each time a little more breathless. "I want all of that too, I do, but we can't rush into this, we can't--"
"We won't, not today," Dom assured her. "Tomorrow, next week, two years from now; maybe then. What I'm trying to tell you is that it will happen, I won't let it not. This is a promise, alright?"
"A promise," she repeated, smiling tearfully. "I like the sound of that."
Dom kissed her, eager and passionate and everything in between. When they broke away, reluctantly, he had her face in his hands and his eyes locked with hers, never intending to look away. "It's going to be perfect when it happens you know that, right?"
She nodded, tears finally falling and leaving wet trails down her cheeks. Yet she couldn't be happier. Her arms encircled his neck and she moved so that he was on his back and she was on top of him. Her lips touched his cheek, his chin, his lips, his neck, each one more reverent than the last. Dom held onto her arms tightly, sucking in a breath before finally stopping her from going any further, making her look back up at him.
"Just to..." he blinked, dazed. "Just to get a preview of how amazing it's going to be when I ask you for real: Will you marry me?"
Emilie leaned in slowly, until their lips were a breath apart, and smiled. "Yes."
Never had one word made Dom so fucking happy.
TBC...