Page 131 of As the World Falls

“Babe,” I whisper, softly nudging her awake.

Her eyes slowly blink open. “Are we back?” she yawns.

“Yes. Let’s get inside.” I get out of the car and open her door, helping her out of the car. She leans into me, still sleepy, as we walk inside the house.

I think the craziness of the last few days was finally catching up to her, and I was becoming increasingly nervous as we headed up the stairs to the bedroom. I hated this feeling. It was foreign to me, yet it has been consistent since having her in my life.

“Wait,” I stop her before she opens the door.

“What is it?” she asks, her voice soft.

“Before you go in there, just remember…I love you, and I think I’ve been in love with you since I first saw you.”

“James,” she smiles, a slight touch of concern in her tone. “What’s wrong?”

I brush her hair over her shoulder. “Nothing is wrong, my Cecilia. I just wanted to tell you that.”

“Okay…well, I love you too.” She turns toward the door again and opens it, walking inside. She stops only a few feet in, as Iexpected her to. I stop at her side, watching her eyes roam the room as she takes everything in.

I needed new bedding for the bed from the first place we stopped at today. She had picked a dark green satin set I couldn’t wait to see her sprawled out on. Then I claimed I wanted some live plants to liven up my office at work and let her pick out the ones she liked, except here they are, one in the corner of the room and one sitting on my dresser.

There was a new chaise lounge chair that I didn’t claim to need but saw her jump onto at the furniture store, laughing as she said she’d always wanted a chair like it. It was a deep purple velvet, sitting right beside the new plant. She'd mumbled something about a new rug on the floor, wondering if it’d fit in her apartment, and although I knew it wouldn’t fit there, I knew it’d fit in here. So here it is, a large multicolor abstract rug with various deep shades of purples, greens, blues, and touches of yellows running through it. It was vivid and nothing I’d ever pick myself, but she liked it. Everything she’d picked out seemed to be deep jewel tones, which made me feel a little better, and the theme at least stayed mostly in control.

Then there was the bookshelf she picked, filled with all her historical romance books, which I had Tobias drop off while we were out. I then added some of my newly acquired crystal pieces to some of the shelves.

She walks over, picking up one of the many cool blue crystals adorning the shelves. “What…what is all of this?”

“This is our bedroom…if you want it to be.” Her gaze slowly drags up to mine, swimming with shock and uncertainty.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m going to just be blunt with you because I don’t know how not to be,” I admit. “I want you to live with me. I want this to beourroom. I want you to come here every night—to me—everynight. I’ve never known life like this with you, and now, God help me; I can’t go another night without it. I need you here with me.”

She swallows hard, her eyes becoming glassy. “All of this was for me today?”

I nod. “I wanted it to feel like your place too. We can do more shopping for the rest of the house too. You can get rid of anything you want or bring anything you want over. You can do anything you want, really.”

She looks down at the crystal in her hand, a watery chuckle escaping her. “As long as you have your crystals?”

I look down at it, smirking. “That one is called Celestite. It’s a new personal favorite of mine.”

Her eyes widen as she glances back at the shelf, which holds five other large pieces, all sparkling back at her. “You have so many,” she says.

“Because they remind me of you. Of your eyes, specifically. I saw them and couldn’t not have them. The same way I looked into your eyes and couldn’t not get lost in the damn things.”

A fresh tear falls from her. “You have the most beautiful, unique eyes I’ve ever seen, and here you are going on about mine,” she scoffs, wiping her tears away.

My hand finds her cheek, caressing it softly as she leans into it. “It’s not just the color of your eyes, my Cecilia. It’s how it feels to have both of them looking back at me and knowing you love what you see.”

She sets the crystal back onto the shelf and throws herself into my arms, her soft sobs breaking free. I fall to my knees, holding her to me. “This is crazy,” she laughs through tears, her muffled voice on my shoulder.

“You know, I’ve faintly heard a voice say those words in the back of my mind for many years now,” I joke. “I usually just ignore it.”

Her laugh grows louder, making my heart feel bigger. “Okay,” she murmurs.

“Okay?”

“Okay, I’ll stay.”

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