The questions come in thick and fast but I tune them all out. I hold Tia closer to me and start to walk through the crowds. I don’t even look at anyone else, they are all insignificant to me, and much to my surprise they just let us passed. I was kind of expecting them to stand in the way to block our exit.
“What are we doing?” Tia asks me quietly. “What the hell just happened?”
“We are going home as planned. They have gotten what they want form us, so now we are free to go.”
“We are?” She glances behind us. “Hmm maybe you’re right. I don’t know how you did that. I was in an immediate panic the moment Rae cornered me in the bathroom, you were so cool and calm.”
“I don’t know how I did that,” I chuckle. “It was just instinctive I guess. They have told their own story about me for long enough. I didn’t give them much but I’m sure it will be enough for them to leave us alone for now.”
“They will post those pictures tomorrow. We might be headline news if nothing else is going on.”
“The story about my mom blew over. This will too. They can’t be interested forever.”
We reach her front door and she pulls out her key. “When did you get to be so wise?”
I laugh and shake my head. “I guess during the six months you abandoned me.”
“How good that we’ve finally got to a place where we can joke about it.”
I kiss her the moment we get through the door, kicking it closed behind us. I cannot wait to get my hands on her, I am insatiable for her. I don’t know if that will ever end. She’s always been my drug and now I can get a fix whenever I want to. I must be the luckiest son of a bitch around.
“Come on,” I mutter against her lips. “Let’s get to bed. It’s been a long old day.”
We strip each other down as we walk towards the bedroom, getting increasingly lost in one another’s bodies. This is my happy place, where I want to be forever. I am never going to let this woman go again.
“You’re mine,” I growl into her mouth. “You belong to me, you know that, don’t you?”
“I know.” She nods encouragingly. “And you belong to me as well.”
It just feels right, it’s perfect. Her and I. I couldn’t be happier. As we tumble into the bed together I cling to her, love absolutely filling me up. No one has ever made me feel like this before, I knew that from the very first moment I saw her that she was going to turn my life upside down. And she has, in the best way.
***
“Oh God,” Tia groans, waking me up from the deepest night of sleep I’ve had in a very long time. “Look.”
I prize my eyes apart but I can’t immediately read what’s on her phone screen. My eyes are blurry and it’s too bright. “What is it?” I mumble. “Has the world come to an end? Are we in the middle of World War Three?”
“No.” She tuts at me. “Nothing like that. It’s the story about us.”
That bolts me upright. I almost forgot about that! It excites me though, even if I am a little nervous too. “Give me the phone. Let me see. Have they been nice about us or awful?”
I run my eyes over the screen and relax in to a smile. It’s all pretty good as far as I can see. It doesn’t seem like anyone has anything particularly bad to say about us. It’s a love story the media likes.
“It’s good,” I say to Tia. “What are you worrying about?
“I don’t know; it just makes me nervous to be in the public eye.”
“You’re always in the public eye,” I laugh back. “What are you worried about?”
“Not like this though. This is my relationship. What about the comments?
I shake my head and pull the phone away from her. “Don’t ever read comments. That’s like, fame one oh one. You shouldn’t ever look at what people say. That’s giving power to the keyboard warriors. I mean, people are much more likely to write something negative than positive.”
“Urgh, that really worries me.” She rolls her eyes. “I don’t like that. We have been through enough. We don’t need other people making us feel like shit about being together.”
“That is exactly why we don’t need to look on the Internet.”
“What, ever again?” Her eyes widen in horror. “We have to stay away from the Internet forever?”
“Not forever. Just for a while until all of this blows over.”
“And when will that be?” She pouts out her bottom lip. “I want it to be over now.”
“Who the hell knows? I’m sure it won’t be too long. You don’t need to worry too much.”