Private Finished So long as you don't torture me with the past

Lochlann had two thoughts while kissing Addy.

The first one was this: he wanted to kiss her without tears one day. He wanted to make her so happy that he could give her such a kiss that it would erase the ones like this, the ones where kissing her reminded him of the salt of the ocean spray.

The second thought was this: Addy spoke the same language he did.

He understood when she gripped his shirt and his jacket that it wasn't a grip of lust. He understood that she was saying I am here and stay here, and it's true, at one point he thought longingly of the edge where he could plummet and take off running into the bottom of the lake.

But the thought was gone faster than it came because they were together.

At one point, the tension in his shoulders relaxed and Lochlann pulled her closer to him, kissing her, saying I am here with his body and his mouth.

But he did want to kiss her without tears one day.

When she stopped and pulled away, Lochlann rested his head ontop of hers and remembered just how good it felt to have her tucked against him like this. Lochlann had come back to the island before she did, but it didn't feel like it was home until now.

He closed his eyes.

He was exhausted.

"I would like that," he said. "I work random nights, but I am almost always there on Wednesdays. I can make you a damn good whisky sour."

He was reluctant to let her go but he couldn't hold on forever.

He said, quietly, "Thank you, Addy."

He didn't want to run anymore.

"Do you...ever want to come over for breakfast?" he asked. He realized it was a weird question so he elaborated. "The bar serves sailors, mostly, so they do a mean breakfast. Your brother can come, too."

He wanted to meet the person that meant so much to her.

"Yeah, since I rent the apartment above the bar, I usually at least open or close. Sometimes at the same time," he laughed, since the night shift did end up turning into the breakfast shift. Truthfully, Lochlann had been having a hard time sleeping so he had been taking the shift himself.

He thought about meeting her brother and Lochlann did consider her warning. He wasn't exactly known for getting along with other guys, but he was important to Addy, so he would do his best to try. Lochlann had an older brother who routiely kicked his ass just to remind Lochlann of his place in the family order, so its not like he had to worry about that with Alaude. He was human like Addy, after all, or at least, he wasn't a water horse.

Besides, Lochlann wasn't sure if anyone could scare him more than Guin.

Boy, was he in for a surprise.

"oh!" Lochlann said, and he reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone. It was the same phone he had when they first met, although now significantly more battered and a little bit weather-worn.

He handed it to her, knowing it would be faster than struggling with it.

"It's still the same," he told her. "You would think after two years I'd be better with this damn thing. And I guess, I am, just still slow with adding numbers."

He was reluctant to take a step away from her, but he was starting to get that unsettled feeling from standing still for too long. Lochlann picked up the cigarette butt from the ground and placed it in the can instead.

He wanted to run around this roof top screaming with glee.

He thought that, maybe, he would go into the ocean tonight.

Not to hunt. Not to feel better.

But to run through the sea foam and feel it kick up his legs and splash along his body and know that the he had brought so many damn things to the water, but Addy had survived, and Addy was back, and for the first time in a very, very long time, Lochlann was excited about the future.

"I'm really glad you're home, Addy," he said again, but this time the smile was back.

The door to the roof opened and the man working at the counter waved him over, so Lochlann held his finger up asking for a moment and then turned to apologize to Addy.

"I guess I'd better go clean up," he said, and he leaned forward, kissed the center of his forehead. This wasn't good bye. "I'll see you later, Addy. Thank you."