I don’t know what to do or say now that she’s right in front of me. So I just hold out my hand and she places hers in mine without any hesitation. It feels like slipping between silk sheets. Perfect, and right, and everything I want it to be.

“Hi,” I whisper.

“Hi, to you, too,” she replies with a smirk tugging the corner of her beautiful, soft lips.

I tug her hand and she squeals, “Spike!” as she falls in to my lap. Hearing her say my name solidifies every thought I’ve had over the last few weeks. I quickly wrap both arms around her and secure her in place. I’m never going to let her go. I have no intention of letting her back away from me now.

“I’m going to hurt you!” she cries, laughing and wriggling to shift her weight off me.

“No, you’re not. Just let me hold you, Lottie.” I tighten my grip around her tiny frame and breathe her in. “Let me see you for just a minute. It’s been so long. Too long,” I whisper and she settles, looking into my eyes.

I study her face. Her freckles are the same. Her eyes, framed with long lashes, sparkle and shine like diamonds under the brightest sky. I place my hand on the side of her face, my thumb resting on the soft skin of her cheek.

“I’ve missed you,” I breathe out. “God, have I missed you, Lottie.”

I want to laugh. I want to cry, and most of all I want to kiss her like her life depends on it and never let her go.

“I missed you too,” she says softly, her arms settling around my neck. “So much.”

The rest of the world falls away to insignificance and it’s just me and her, like it always was. When I have her in my arms like this, the world is right again and anything seems possible. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.

She tucks her head into my shoulder and I bury my face into her hair. I feel a sob push up through her throat and a tear slides from her cheek across my collarbone.

“Hey, don’t cry. Please don’t cry, Lottie.”

“I’m fine,” she insists unconvincingly before wiping her eyes with my t-shirt.

“Lottie!” I laugh. “Still as ladylike as ever. Some things never change.”

She frowns at me, but she still has a playful look in her eyes. She drops the frown and tilts her head to the side. “And some things never will change, Spike.”

It’s then, when I look into her tear filled blue eyes, when I see the honesty and pure love, that I realize everything will be okay. It might not be the way we planned our lives, but no matter what life throws at us, we were meant to be together. We have each other, and for us, that’s what matters the most.

I sweep the hair from her face with my index finger and trace it gently down her cheek before running my hand around the back of her neck. I silently convey how I feel right in this moment, and I know she sees it in my eyes. I pull her gently toward me, angling her face so I have clear access to her lips. I’ve craved her kiss since the last time our lips touched and I’m equally eager and nervous. I want this kiss to be the start of forever. We’ve barely spoken two words since she arrived and I’m presuming she feels the same way as I do. No. I know she wants this.

When our tender skin touches, we ignite, a catalyst to each other, and I know for sure that she wants this too.

Her body melts into mine. Our lips move slow and easy and my head spins with happiness.

Whoops and hollers come from the doorway where Denham, Arianna, Mom and Tara are still standing, watching us with smiles as wide as the ocean. An ocean Lottie has crossed and come back again, to me.

“I was wrong, Lotts,” I murmur against her mouth. She pulls back and frowns, but before she can speak, I stop her by pressing my finger softly to her lips. “You thought we were Lovestrong.” She nods slowly, and my heart constricts at the worried expression in her eyes. I hate that I’ve given her good reason to doubt my love for her. “We are, baby. We are Lovestrong. We always were, and if I have my way, we always will be. I love you, Charlotte Miller, and now I have you in my arms, I’m never going to let you go.”

She smiles big and says, “Good. I’d hate to have to leave again. London is fucking cold.”

Everyone laughs, reminding me yet again that we are not alone. But I don’t care. Everyone that is and has ever been important to me is in this room. For the first time since the accident, I truly believe that it might all just work out okay. “I love you, Lottie. You’re my sunshine after the rain. The only girl I ever want by my side.”

“I’ll always stand by your side, Spike. I’m yours.”

Chapter 18

After saying goodbye to Tara, Ari reluctantly let me stay over here with Spike for the evening, but only because I promised to have breakfast with her and fill her in on everything that happened while I was away. Spike asked me to stay with him tonight, and even though I think there’s still some air to clear between us, I wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to just be with him. I had craved this for so long, even though I hadn’t considered the logistics of it all, when it came down to it, it really wasn’t difficult. Just different.

I lie in the dark, wrapped in warm arms and snuggled in to Spike’s chest. He’s obviously been working out and strengthening his upper body while I was away, and although it’s strange to lie here with the plethora of equipment surrounding us to make his life easier, there isn’t anywhere else I’d rather be. From the very second we were told he may not walk again, I was prepared, without question, to do whatever it took to support him, so none of this is unexpected to me.

I run my fingers lightly up and down his chest, marveling at how easy it is for us to be like this. I’ve been back barely a day, and already we have fallen back in to the way we were before the accident. I never thought we could be like this so fast. On the flight home I was prepared to work hard; I was prepared to fight. I’m not naïve enough to think it’ll always be easy, but now that Spike has accepted the way things are, I’m not fighting against him. I’m standing by his side and we will fight together.

“Can’t sleep either, huh?” Spike asks, pulling me tighter to his side.

“I don’t want to sleep just yet.” I’m feeding my senses with everything Spike.

He kisses me on the top of my head before nuzzling and breathing into my hair with a groan. “I guess we need to talk … about things.”

“Things?” I question reluctantly. I don’t want this bubble to burst.

“Yeah. I don’t know how this is going to work, Lotts. There’s so many obstacles and I” He sighs and I can feel the battle he’s having with himself.

“Spike.” I prop myself up on my elbow and although I can’t see his eyes in the dark, I can make out his silhouette in the moonlight. “I love you. There is no obstacle big enough for me to not want to be with you. I left for two weeks, it felt like an eternity, but there wasn’t one day, or one hour that went by that you weren’t in my thoughts. I know you think you’re holding me back somehow by us being together, and I don’t know what it’s going to take to get you see that you’re holding me back by pushing me away.”

He reaches over and flicks on the light beside the bed, before taking my hand in his and running his thumb over my knuckles. “I’m sorry, Lottie. I’m sorry for pushing you away and I’m sorry for all the awful things I said to you. If I could take it all back, I would. I just … I thought I was doing the right thing by setting you free. It hurt more than being told I would never walk again.”

“I know.”

“I need you to know that I never stopped loving you, Lottie.” His eyes bore into mine, reminding me of the love I never truly stopped believing in. “I wanted to keep you by my side. But I didn’t want to be selfish. I never thought you’d leave and go as far as London, and when you did, you took my heart with you.” The lines around his eyes become more prominent as the pain of our separation tightens his expression.