A Little Bit Married

Sucker for You

"Do you think he will be okay?" Gray asked as the car backed out of the driveway. His eyes were looking past me to the house, and I smiled, my heart warm with just how much affection he was truly capable of.

I reached my hand to his, pushing his fingers apart to cover the spaces between. His eyes slowly met mine, and I gave him a smile, my thumb running along the inside of his palm.

"He will be fine," I said, my voice low. "He has a family now."

Gray bit down on his lips, then slowly leaned back, his hand holding mine tight. He looked down to our hands for the longest time, his lips slightly parted, like he was seeing it for the first time. Like he was seeing the moon after watching the sun setting into a moonless night all his life.

"I want this," he said, his voice as low as mine. "I really really want this, Angeline."

I smiled again, gently tugging at his fingers. "I am just holding your hand, Gray."

"I know," he said, a snicker escaping him. "I guess I am just a sucker for you."

I let out a shaky breath, my eyes falling to our hands, too. "It isn't so bad, is it?"

"No. It's the best thing that's happened to me."

I met his eyes, and they looked like clear waters. Clear enough for me to see his soul right beneath. To see his heart peeking from under his sleeve.

"Do you mean that?"

He chuckled. "You look like you believe it already. Angeline."

He leaned, then slowly pulled my hand up, his eyes holding mine. I watched him kiss the back of my hand, warmth spreading through me.

This was the sort of love I had dreamed of as a girl. The type that made me come alive. The type that felt like a sequence of dreams.

"You have a tiny scar here," he said, pointing to the spot between my thumb and index.

I gave a small laugh and shrugged. "I was hurling apples as a seven year old and got injured. Does it look bad?"

He smiled, running his thumb on it. "So you were a stubborn kid, huh?"

"That's not the worst of them," I said with a laugh, my head slowly shaking.

"Show me," he said, leaning closer, his eyes a little dazed as they ran between my eyes and my lips. "Show me each one of those scars. Let me learn you."

My lips pursed slightly, and I lightly clenched my fingers. "Some of them are really ugly."

"I want to see them," he said, tearing his gaze away from me to look down at the scar on my hand. His lips gently curled up in a smile as he watched the scar, like he was a proud parent watching his kid learning life on their own.

Except he wasn't a parent but a husband. And he was watching me through my scars, reliving the moments before we met. Rewriting them so all of my life would include him.

"Don't hide a thing from me, Angeline. I want you with all the scars you have lived through. I want you with all the flaws you are trying to hide."

I blinked, my chest slightly heaving, emotions thick in my heart. "Is this how you are when you are in love?"

He laughed, then slowly shook his head as his eyes met mine. "This is how I am when I am in love with you."

I covered the distance, my hand resting on the right side of his face. His breaths caressed my skin, my forehead touching his lightly, the vortices swirling thick in the tiny confines of the unconventionally large car.

Everything would see tiny with the amount of things he could make me feel. Even the mansion we just left.

"This screams guilt, love. This screams of you hiding things you know I want to see. Parts of your skin thay I want to run my hands on."

"Maybe," I whispered, my eyes looking up only to brush his lashes. "Maybe I just needed to know that you would want me the same."

His hand slowly cupped my cheek, his thumb running against my skin. "You would still be my Angeline. My wife. Why would the scars you carry make any difference?"

I swallowed, tears choking me, my eyes closed as I struggled to breathe, or to get the words out. Before this, I had been unaware of how triggered I could get by scars. I had forgotten how much pain I had pushed aside and buried in my mind till... till a man who could love me through it showed up.

"Are you crying?" Gray asked, his voice filled with concern as he tried to move away.

"No," I said, wrapping my hands around his shoulders, pulling him to me tight, my eyes closed, the tears running down in shameless streaks down my face, my body shaking lightly.

"I am sorry," Gray said as he held me close, his voice uncertain and worried. "I am sorry if I..."

"No," I said, shaking my head, holding him tighter. "Thank you very much, Gray. Thank you."

"Angeline."

I sighed, burying my face in the crook of his neck. "I didn't realize just... just how much I really was covering. I didn't realize just how much I was hiding, umtil... I didn't even know, I just..." I shook my head. "I guess I am a sucker for you too, Gray. I guess you know all of my buttons and..." I sighed. "I don't mind letting you know all of my scars, too."

He ran his hands up and down my back as he leaned in to kiss the side of my face that was available to him.

"You are perfect, Angeline. I promise you. I promise."

I nodded, holding him tighter, my eyes closed. The tears slowly subsided, but I held him all the same, just because he belonged to me.