Page 184 of We Drank the Dawn

“I was so defiant.”

“Yes, you were. You still are.”

Her hands finally slipped onto my chest then weaved through the back of my hair. “You have no idea what happened to my heart when the little boy on the playground spent his entire recess trying to help me catch it.”

“What happened?”

“I fell in love.”

I rolled my eyes. “We were what? Seven?”

“It doesn’t matter. I fell in love with you, Peter.” Her throat grew tight. “It was everything to me.”

I touched her face, my fingers running over the slope of her cheek. “Your passion is the most beautiful thing about you.” I dragged my hand down to her heart. “Everyone around you can feel it, and when the light in you flickers out…everyone feels that, too.” I shook my head, regret welling up in me again. I put her through an era of darkness—the one thing I never wanted for her.

“I feel like you should’ve given up on me a long time ago.” My throat tightened suddenly, too. “After all the fear, all the times I could’ve acted and I didn’t, all the times I let⁠—”

She put her finger over my lips. “Shhh. Don’t spiral.”

I stopped.

“The sun isn’t always in the sky, Peter.” She choked up as her shoulders lifted in a shrug. “If we don’t sit with each other until morning, who will? It’s our job to hold each other through the hard seasons of life. We need each other. For a time, I forgot that. But I won’t again. I’m here and I always will be.”

I puffed a breath of disbelief. She would keep being so much more than I deserved, wouldn’t she? She’d keep upping the ante, forcing me to run faster and be better until my very dying breath. Not keeping records, just loving as steadfastly as the sun rose and fell.

Silently, I made a promise to myself.

No more fear.

“I spent too long not showing up because of fear. And even though I might always struggle with fear, I promise I will show up for you. With all of my flaws, I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere either.” I slipped my hand around her jaw and the back of her neck, directing her face toward mine with a gentle squeeze. “I love you, Sarah. I love you so much.”

“And I love you, Peter.”

I eased down and swept my lips over hers, our kiss gentle and packed with promises.

Just as I began to urge her mouth to open, she pulled back once more. “You know…”

I stifled a groan of frustration, resorting to kissing her neck again, unable to stop myself as torrents of desire pulsed through my body. I was beyond ready to communicate without words.

“It’s sunrise right now.” She motioned to the right window. “There’s little holes in the blinds, and it’s making dots of light on your face.”

Alright, I had to put a stop to this. Drawing a sharp breath, I pulled us eye-to-eye. “Sarah?”

She froze, listening.

“Stop talking.”

A cackling laugh bubbled from her chest as her arms and legs laced around my body, finally yanking my weight against her. A throaty sound emanated from my chest as she arched, pulling me in and meeting my eager lips with her own.

Sarah hummed, opening for me so I could kiss her the way she liked—deeply, fully. I tilted my head, leaning in and pressing down—closer, heavier. My hands skimmed over her body, then my own—removing the last bits of fabric between us. And we fell together just as we had a thousand times before. As if we’d never been apart. As if we’d always moved in unison.

And while the sun, apparently, seeped through the blinds, I loved her in the dark.

With everything I had.

And everything I didn’t.

Sometime later, we lay there, sweaty and sated, holding each other. The covers had been kicked to the floor, and the room was quiet, still. Sarah’s bare body had fully surrendered to me, and the aftermath of our long-awaited unity was indescribable peace.