Page 117 of Lost Girl

“Mean what?”

“What you said in the note,” he explains, dropping his gaze on me.

I’m already staring at him, baffled at what he's saying. “What note?”

“The note you left on the pillow.”

Note? “I didn’t leave a note.”

The heat of his hand disappears as he releases me, leaving me bereft. “Wow…" He scoffs a laugh, shaking his head. "Regret saying it that much?”

Saying what?

“Tavi, I’m serious," I insist, slightly panicking at the immediate change in his demeanor. "I didn’t leave a note. When I woke up from that episode, I was standing before the palace doors, banging them down. Tinksley answered, and I was so fear-stricken, so consumed and horrified by what I'd seen that I did what I thought would save me. I asked her for her help. She took me in, talked to me, and helped me cross like I begged.”

Tavi nods and refocuses his gaze through the quiet village. “How long did it take you to realize that was a bad idea?”

“When we got to my flat. I just had this looming feeling of doom, but I pushed it aside, was trying to convince myself I’d done the right thing. Wasn’t until she left me, and I saw the notice on my door that I realized what I’d done.”

“I betting on you don’t remember writing it mid-episode, but that answers my question regardless. It wasn’t even you," he laughs. "It was all a product of your subconscious.”

Despite the fact I didn’t write a note, that’s not what disturbs me. What the hell was written in it and why he seems so worked up about it is. “What did the note say?” I ask tentatively, hating the way his jaw ticks at my question.

“Nothing.”

“Tell me.” I'm pressing, and I don't even care.

But he shakes his head resolutely. “It’s not important.”

“Hey, look at me.” Grabbing his face in nothing flat, I force him to look at me, and the hurt I see there breaks my heart all over again. “Don’t do this, don’t be mad at me. I’m so fucking sorry you couldn't possibly understand. I paid the price, okay? Greatly. Forget what all of London thinks about me. Being without you was just… I have no words for it other than excruciating. Tell me what the note said, love,please.”

Tavi presses his lips together, visibly contemplating whether he should share or not. After a beat or so, he sighs, voice raspy as he says, “It said you loved me.”

A note… That I didn’t write.

And it said I loved him?

“Well," I pause, steeling myself, my heart hammering like a wild stampede. "Whoever wrote it isn’t wrong. I do love you.”

Brown eyes flash, dubiously enough that I'm nodding vigorously, silently begging him to see the validity in my eyes. And he must because his arm entraps me a mere blink later, pulling me into him.

“Say it again,” he demands in that husky timbre, provoking a deep swallow as his hands run up my back, then a shiver as his lips drop to my ear.

“W-which part?”

“The part where you said you loved me.”

The need in his request, God...

“I love you…” I breathe, and immediately, I feel his elated smile.

“Again.”

“I love you.”

No sooner do the words leave my mouth before he's pressing me flush against his hard planes, almost lifting me off my feet in the process. “Does this mean I can officially say you’re mine?”

“I think I’ve been yours from the day you found me,” I admit, and I truly do believe it, too.

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