Fix Up

by Stephanie Witter

  I grin and stop at a red light. I glance at her and see her eyes big with questions. “We’re visiting a few apartments today before going back to the dorms. You don’t need to study anymore; it’s counter productive at this point.”

  Her mouth opens, but no sound comes out. She whips her head back on the road in front of us, hiding herself from me. But I know her. She’s probably freaking out and having doubts, so I let her sort through her thoughts.

  The light turns green, and I drive off toward a small building on the outskirt of campus. It’d be perfect for us. Close enough to college for her to get there on foot if necessary and yet not that far from my new job. I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that I’m just shy of graduating from college and already have a job. Now I’m trying to convince my girlfriend to move in with me. A year ago I was still fucking my way through college girls, drinking more than I’m comfortable saying and completely estranged from my own emotions other than anger and sadness.

  “You’re not kidding, are you?”

  I chuckle and put a hand on Skye’s leg, softly caressing her inner thigh over the denim covering her creamy skin. “No, I’m not. I want you with me every day, every night. We love each other, Skye. It’s not puppy love, it’s the real kind. I’m tired of letting you hold back. I’m ready to jump right in, and I want you there with me.” I turn to the left and finally see the building the realtor told me about. In fact, I can see a man with files in his hands waiting. It’s probably him that I had on the phone two days ago. I park the car, turn it off and face Skye. “What do you say?”

  She gapes some more, her eyes still wide as saucers. She finally gathers herself and nervously chuckles. While I’m showing an assured front, I’m everything but. It’s one thing wanting something and being sure that it’s the right thing, it’s entirely something else to convince my very skittish girlfriend whom took me back only days ago. Yeah, so maybe I went in the deep end after all.

  My palms start to sweat as my blood runs cold in my veins.

  “We’ve known each other only for a few months, Duke.”

  “I know that, but it’s just an apartment. I’m not proposing. I’m just asking for you to live with me, Skye. I’m graduating, which means that we won’t see each other as much as we used to. Living together gives us the opportunity to really be together. And we wouldn’t have anywhere to run away to if we fight.”

  She bites on her lip, and my eyes zero in on it. I clear my throat and look away toward the realtor checking his watch, probably getting annoyed. We’re already almost ten minutes late.

  “I don’t know, Duke. It’s huge.”

  I grab her hands in mine and entwine our fingers. My darker complexion next to her pale one has me mesmerized. Her thin fingers look tiny compared to mine, and yet we fit perfectly. I feel it everywhere, and I’m not afraid to push anymore, not afraid of myself and what I could do to her, to us. Now I see our future looking at us in the face, and it’s not out of reach.

  “You’re right, it is huge and probably crazy because we’re just back together, but it feels right. Don’t you feel it?”

  She squeezes my hands and glances at the buildings around us, probably wondering which one we’re supposed to see. “I’m afraid. What if we get stuck in a routine that would break us apart?”

  “I can’t guarantee you anything, Skye. Maybe it’ll be hard to adjust and live together, maybe we’re not going to last a lifetime, but honestly I’m done questioning everything and anything. All I want is to enjoy my life with you, making plans for our future starting with renting an apartment together. Let’s go step by step and see how things go.”

  “I don’t want to do anything that could bring us more trouble.” She sighs. “It could get ugly between us.”

  I chuckle and lean closer to her face, taking in the beautiful shades in her eyes and how open she is with me, not trying to brush me off just because she has doubts. I nip at her lips and pull back before I get caught up in us.

  “And it could get so fucking beautiful. Close your eyes and picture it.” She closes her eyes and her face immediately relaxes. My heart speeds up some more when I see her closer to caving. “Picture a small one bedroom apartment. You’re studying in the small living-room when I walk through the door, back from work. How do you feel?”

  As pussy whipped as it sounds, I’m not breathing anymore. I don’t know what I’d do if she refuses. It’ll crush me and make me doubt things again because as pushy as I am right now, I need all of her, not just the pieces she’s letting me see. I want her, broken, healing, happy or sad. I don’t give a fuck. I just want that girl who has my heart and even more of me.

  “Happy,” she whispers, her hands shaking in mine. “I feel happy, Duke.”

  Air leaves my lungs in a rush. “You know what’s right then. Don’t think about the what ifs and don’t think about what others will think.” I pull back one of my hands, freeing hers in the process. I put my hand on her fast beating heart. “You know in here what’s right. Listen to it.”

  She nods softly, almost imperceptibly. “Let’s find an apartment.”

  I laugh and jump out of the car suddenly, run to the other side and open the door to haul her out. She collides against me, and I wrap my arms around her and snuggle my face in the crook of her neck. I run a few kisses there, and I smile when I feel the shivers coursing through her.

  Who knew that one day I’d have everything I ever dreamed of and more? I’m the luckiest bastard, even with all the shit that went down before.

  I’m moving in with my girl.

  *

  SKYE

  “He told me that you’re moving in together,” Alana tells me as we look at Duke laughing and talking with a couple of guys. Everybody looks pretty enthusiastic because it’s another part of their life that they’re about to start, but to start something new, it also means to say goodbye to something else. Saying goodbye is always bittersweet.

  Duke with his black ceremony attire is breathtaking, and I have a hard time looking away. His dazzling smile is mesmerizing everybody. “It’s a big step. I … I hope that it’s not too soon.”

  She puts an arm around my shoulders. I stiffen and then relax. At first when I met up with Duke’s family minutes before the ceremony, I was afraid that they’d be cold to me after what I put Duke through, but they weren’t. They welcomed me with big smiles and the warmth of a true family. They don’t blame me, and I think I have Duke to thank for that.

  “It is fast, but you’re both young. It’s the moment to take a chance and just live.” She squeezes my shoulder with a chuckle, her dark eyes happy to see her brother laugh with Derek. “Don’t overthink this.”

  I take a deep breath and smile at Duke when he looks back at us, back at me. I feel my cheeks getting hotter as his dark eyes roam my body. Even with the distance and people walking by breaking our eye contact, I know what he’s thinking about. I giggle and look away. His parents are not far from Alana and me talking with Derek’s mother and who I think is Derek’s younger brother. With just a glance I can see that he’s a handful at not even seventeen. He’s seriously bad boy material. I shake my head.

  Alana pulls away with a nod and another arm embraces me. I don’t stiffen because I know who it is without even checking. My smile broadens on my face, and I snuggle against his warm body.

  “You’re beautiful, you know that?” he whispers in my ear as Alana walks away toward the parental unit with a mocking smile at seeing how Duke is always touching me and whispering things in my ears. He was the same a couple of hours ago when he walked me to his family.

  “I think you made it quite clear that you like this dress when you saw me.” When we met outside the dorms and he saw me in the navy blue knee-length little dress, he pressed me against his tall and firm body and gave me one hell of a kiss that left us both breathless and … yeah, horny too. Since we’re back together, we can’t stop touching each other, kissing each other and looking at each other. I think
we’re both afraid that one of us or life could come between us again. We never know what can happen after all.

  He laughs, his hands moving up and down my back. I wrap my arms around his waist and breathe him in. We stay like this for a full minute, just enjoying this little moment of peace when everywhere around us it’s chaos between the families congratulating the graduating students, the friends saying goodbye, pictures being taken and laughter breaking all around us.

  “I love you so much, Skye. I’m pretty sure I’ll never stop fighting for us, for you.”

  “Even if I break your heart again?”

  He takes a deep breath, his body shaking and I know it has nothing to do with the light breeze shaking the trees a few feet to our left. “Being apart from you is what breaks my heart the most.” He puts a finger under my chin and brings my head higher to lock eyes with his. “You’re my missing piece, Skye. Without you I can’t be whole.”

  My heart is beating fast in my chest at his words and at the sincerity I read in his intense eyes. I run my fingers against his cheek and down his goattee before bringing my hand into his hair behind his neck. “And you’re my eternity too.”

  He smiles and kisses me, making my heart and body soar to life. With him, I believe in life, in my happiness. With him, I can finally say that I’m happy I didn’t die. With him, I know I can expect happiness and nothing less.

  Epilogue

  3 years later …

  SKYE

  I close the last box and tape it in a huff. I swear I thought I would never see the end of it. I glance around the small one bedroom apartment I’ve shared with Duke for the last three years and seeing all these boxes littering every and all surfaces in the apartment makes me sigh. We still have to haul them to the truck tomorrow. I can just feel the ache in my back already. It’s going to be daunting. But at the same time, it’s so exciting to move to another place, and this time a house. A real one. My smile comes back.

  “I’m finished with the kitchen. You?”

  “All done.”

  Duke walks to me and extends a hand to haul me back to my feet. His big dazzling smile still gets to me, making my heart speed up. Even three years later I still feel that intensity between us, and it has never lessened over the last few years.

  “Good. Come sit on the couch with me for a minute.” He tugs on my hand and leads me to our old couch that is going to stay in this apartment. I’m pretty sure that if we tried to move it it’d collapse.

  I sit next to him, my hands on his powerful thighs while his hands are shaking on my upper arms. Once upon a time seeing him so nervous, barely able to lock eyes with me, I’d have imagined the worst, but not anymore. We’ve never been in such a good place before. Living together is the easiest thing I’ve ever done, and our love for each other keeps on getting stronger. We’ve encountered our rough patches of course, but we’ve talked it out every time. When one of us is feeling low or if there’s something wrong, we open up and talk instead of letting things fester and push us apart. In fact, over the last few years, we’ve kept on pulling each other closer together.

  He runs his hands up and down my arms a few times, clearing his throat once, as if to find the strength to say the thing on his mind. Nerves make my heart lurch in my chest.

  “Duke? What’s going on?”

  He shakes his head and pulls back. He runs a hand in his hair and brings a hand in his pocket. I know he does this sometimes when he craves a cigarette, but it’s been years since he last had some on him.

  “It’s just that I should have done something special, more romantic or …” He growls and shakes his head again.

  “Something more romantic? I don’t see how packing to move out of an apartment can ever be romantic.”

  He grabs my left hand and takes out a small black box from his pocket. My eyes focus on that small box swallowed in Duke’s hand. My mouth is dry all of a sudden when I realize what he’s doing. I lock my eyes back with his and find the dark orbs intense on my face, worries, excitement and nerves battle there, just on the surface. His palm against my hand is clammy, just like mine is now.

  “I know I have no romantic fiber in my body. I know being surrounded by piles of boxes and being all sweaty in our old clothes isn’t the best, but somehow it fits us. We’ve never followed the rules when it comes to dating, to being a couple. We’ve always been quite singular, and yet we’ve found our footing.” He takes a deep breath, his eyes blazing with love, a deep love that is still making me whole everyday. “My love for you can’t be measured. It’s powerful, intense and pretty crazy at times. It’s stronger than ever and inspires me to always do better, be better, and all I want is to make plans for our future together. I’m not looking back on the past, but I always picture our next step. Always together and in love.” He brings my left hand to his mouth and softly kisses my ring finger, brushing his goatee against my skin. My flesh breaks in to goosebumps. “I want that next step, and I really hope you do too. Will you marry me, Skye?”

  He opens the small box, and there, just waiting for my finger, is the most perfect ring. Simply made of platinum and a small princess cut diamond, I can’t even believe it’s mine. I nod, my eyes stinging with happy tears.

  “Yes, Duke. Of course, yes.” I laugh weakly. I’m shaking from my toes to my head, my vision getting all blurry as the happiness becomes too hard to keep inside of me.

  He takes a deep breath, as if he couldn’t breathe properly before I answered. He smiles and slowly puts the ring on my finger, holding my hand almost reverently. We’re both watching it on my small finger, looking perfect there. I can’t believe this.

  He leans down to my hand and kisses my palm before his hands travel up my arms to cup my face. His smile touches his eyes. There, looking back at me and reflecting how I feel, only happiness can be found.

  “I love you, Skye. You fixed me up, and right now you have made me insanely happy.”

  I run a hand in his unruly jet black hair while my other hand is flat on his chest, feeling his fast and strong heartbeats. “We both fixed each other up. I love you so much, so, so much that it should scare me. But it doesn’t anymore.”

  He leans closer to me, and when his full lips touch mine, sparks take over my body. I hope it’ll never stop.

  ***

  2 years later…

  DUKE

  −−−Thank fuck, it’s Friday. I swear this week was never-ending. I love my job and that new promotion makes it even more interesting, but it’s like everybody just wanted to mess up. I tug on my hair and finally park my car just in front of mine and my wife’s house. Fuck my wife. Skye is my wife.

  I smile again and immediately relax. It’s been a little over a year since we got married, and I still feel a rush every time I refer to her as my wife. Maybe it’s a male thing, I don’t know, but she’s my wife, and I love her even more than that day I proposed in our small apartment.

  At the curb Skye’s small car is already parked. I quickly climb out of the car and walk to the house, a spring in my step. I’ve missed her this afternoon. We had lunch together and yet the few hours spent apart felt like days. I’m craving her kisses, her soft eyes and husky voice. I’m dying to feel her curves against my body. I’m also dying to make love to my wife. I’m still the same horny bastard with her, even after 5 years together. I chuckle to myself as I let myself in.

  Our house is quite simple. It’s a three bedroom, two bath, two story with a small backyard, but it’s ours. Truly ours. We bought it just a few weeks before our wedding and immediately fell in love with it. Also, knowing that she agreed to buy a three bedroom house makes me just that much happier because that means at some point we’re going to get this house full, adding more love to our life together.

  “Skye?”

  “In the kitchen!”

  I walk in the living-room, put the files I brought home and my keys on the coffee table. I straighten up, take off my tie and unbutton a couple of buttons of my pressed shirt. I shake off
my suit jacket and walk to the kitchen. The house is already smelling fantastic.

  There in the kitchen stirring something is Skye, my beautiful wife. Today, she’s wearing black slacks and a light grey v-neck sweater empathizing her soft curves and tiny waist. She turns around and smiles at me, but it’s a little tensed. She’s been like this these days, and while I’m dying to grill her, I know that she’ll open up when she’s ready. Though, she was especially nervous at lunch, apparently it’s worse now.

  I frown a little, but quickly school my face so as to not get her even more nervous. “You’ve been home for a while?”

  She nods and goes on her tip toes, offering me her perfect mouth. I lean down and immediately deepen the kiss. When my tongue brushes hers, I let out a groan as my hands tighten on her hips, pushing her into me and against my hardening cock. She softly moans, but breaks the kiss.

  “I came back an hour or so ago.”

  She pats my left pec and focuses again on the meal she is cooking. When she doesn’t push away her wild curls getting in her face, I know she’s hiding something if not herself from me.

  I tug on my hair, silently praying that our weekend isn’t going to be ruined for some reason or another. After the last week I just want some good time with my beautiful wife. I put my hands on her tensed shoulders, and I bring my head to the crook of her neck.

  “What’s going on? And don’t tell me nothing, Skye. I’m getting worried now.”

  She turns off the burner and turns around in my arms, facing me, her eyes locked on mine as a small genuine smile graces her full lips. Some of my worries fly out the window when I see her face.

  She grabs one of my hands and brings it to her flat stomach. “I’m pregnant with our baby, Duke.”

  Pregnant. Our baby.

  Dizziness almost brings me to my knees. I make sure to not pull my hand away from her stomach, but I brace myself on the island with the other one. On the nape of my neck, my hair stands up. My blood runs faster in my veins. My mouth is open wide.