Runaways

Date night appeared to be a permanent fixture in Lydia and Paul's lives. For the past week they’d gotten together, be it in her apartment or his, cooked dinner and spent the next few hours just talking. While it was wonderful to spend so much time together, Lydia was half afraid she’d run out of recipes by the end of the month.

Tonight they were making a potato and cheese soup. It was a cold and rainy day, the kind that made your very bones ache, and they both thought a soup was necessary. If for no other reason than to no longer feel soaked to the bone from the chill.

It was beginning to feel like an ice bath.

"We're putting in how much?" Paul questioned while staring down at the large block of cheese with a quirked brow. Surely he'd heard wrong.

Lydia laughed at his expression and took the cheese block from him to start cutting it up into smaller pieces over the cook pot. "The whole thing."

"That's not too much?"

She grinned while saying, "No. It'll be perfect. I made this with Jet once and she talked me into putting in a block and a half. Now that was too much."

Clogged arteries immediately came to Paul's mind. Among other things. "How many times have you made this?"

"A lot," she laughed. "This is one of my favorites." Lydia had made this more times than she cared to count over the years. Because not only did it taste amazing, but it was easy to make and perfect for days like this. The only downside was it took longer than you'd think it would to cook and you constantly had to stir it to keep the bottom of the pot from burning, because you wanted as much of it as you could possibly get.

“What do you want to do while we wait for this to cook?”

“Well, unless you want to set a timer to get up and stir it every five minutes, we’re staying right here.”

Paul grinned widely at her reply. She was becoming more bold and sassy around him lately and he loved it. It showed just how comfortable she was becoming around him. And that was something he wasn’t completely sure would be possible. “Kitchen it is.” A bright smile was all he received in return.

With a chuckle he continued to watch her finish cutting up the cheese block. She did it with a quick precision that reminded him of a professional chef. Perhaps she’d simply been doing it long enough to achieve such ease.

After finishing up and placing the knife in the sink, Lydia turned her attention back to Paul. He was leaning against the counter with a small smile on his face, obviously watching her work. For once she didn’t feel unsure of herself from being watched, but rather pleased he was paying such close attention with no ill will. It was a strange but pleasant thing to get used to.

When he was sure she was done, he leaned forward to gently grip her hips and rest his forehead against her own. “Can I kiss you?” He wasn’t sure where the sudden urge had come from but he planned on acting on it for quite a while if she allowed it.

Though they’d kissed a few times before, he always asked. It was something she appreciated and found to be a nice change of pace. “Okay.”

He smiled at her surprised tone and connected their lips in a gentle purse. They always started off this way and the little smile he felt was worth it every time. Gentle pursing became a slow and languid overlapping that still managed to leave them both breathless. He gradually let go of her hips to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her closer, her own hands carefully gripping at the hair resting against the nape of his neck. Slow and sweet had once again become passionate and more than a little enthusiastic.

All too soon Lydia pulled away with a shocked gasp and quickly wiggled out of his arms, causing a brief moment of panic on his part, before she went over to the stove to quickly stir the soup. When Paul realized it was simply because they forgot about dinner, he breathed a sigh of relief. For a moment there he was sure he’d done something to make her uncomfortable.

“Sorry,” she squeaked while stirring the soup. “It suddenly popped into my head.”

“It’s okay,” he quickly reassured. As long as she was pulling away to salvage dinner and not because he overstepped, he was okay with it ending their kiss. He was even more okay with it when Lydia set the timer, surged forward to fuse their lips together and wind her fingers into his hair.

Their passion certainly hadn’t been lost during that brief pause.

The next time the kiss broke, it was because of the timer going off. But this time they were panting and reluctant to detangle themselves from each other. It certainly was hard to argue that there wasn't a spark between them. And what a growing spark it was.

Once out of his embrace Lydia clumsily stumbled over to the stove, be it from lack of oxygen or the insensitivity of Paul's kisses, and quickly began stirring the soup after turning off the timer.

While Paul was happy to lean against the counter and attempt to catch his breath. He definitely needed a moment to calm down. It’d been a while since a kiss, or rather kisses, had affected him in such a way. But he enjoyed it. Made him feel young again.

A few minutes later she asked between gasps for breath, "How's that for something to do while we wait?" A breathless laugh and a wide grin was her only answer.

After calming down they continued to focus on dinner and sometime before it was ready they began exchanging little kisses here and there, never going further as to not become distracted again. It appeared the cold weather was making them more affectionate than usual. And it was greatly appreciated by both parties.

Dinner was poured into the largest bowls Lydia owned and the couple migrated over to the couch, sitting on opposite ends and stretching out just enough to intertwine their legs. After their little makeout in the kitchen, some form of continuous physical contact felt necessary. And much to Paul’s delight, almost all of it was initiated by Lydia. He knew she wasn’t used to such physical affection and was often made uncomfortable by it. But the days she not only initiated it but continued to do so happily felt like progress. Some days he even likened the feeling to Christmas morning.

Once multiple bowls were consumed and both were too comfy to so much as put their dishes in the sink, Lydia felt comfortable enough to talk about something that had been weighing on her mind lately.

“Would it be too soon to tell you my birthday is coming up?”

Paul smiled a little at her consideration and reached down to gently squeeze her ankle in reassurance while he replied, “No. When is it?”

“Next week,” She said a bit shyly before clarifying, “On Thursday.”

He nodded and asked, “Were you worried about the gift thing?”

“A little. I wasn’t sure if it was too soon in our relationship.”

He couldn’t help but grin at the word ‘relationship’. It continued to thrill him to no end when verbal reminders of them being together popped up and he wasn’t entirely sure it would ever go away. Truthfully he never wanted it to. “Your first birthday with me isn’t something you have to worry over. I can do small gifts. But your second birthday?” His grinned turned into that of a Cheshire cat. “I will go all out.”

It took a moment for his words to process and even then it left her more than a little shocked. He really planned on staying with her that long? “Second...birthday?”

The look of purse shock on her face broke his heart a little bit. It seemed it hadn’t quite settled in for her just how long he planned on being around. “Oh Sweetheart,” he murmured, moving forward with a bit of difficulty considering how tangled up their legs were, and gently grasped her hand to kiss the back of it. “I want many birthdays and anniversaries. I plan on staying for as long as you’ll have me.”

Tears immediately gathered in Lydia’s eyes and slowly rolled down her cheeks. In truth, she never knew just how long this relationship would last and seldom acknowledged just how long or short it could be. The possibility of heartbreak via Paul was too much to think about. But to hear him say such sweet words actually eased some of her fears. She quickly surged forward, all but knocking him into the arm of the couch, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and buried her face in his neck.

Paul grunted from the force of them colliding and pulled her closer as soon as she’d wound herself around him. This was not the reaction he was expecting. And he certainly hoped those were happy tears. “I didn’t mean to make you cry, Sweetheart.”

She shook her head and slowly pulled away, gently cupping his cheeks while she assured him, “They’re happy tears.” Lydia connected their lips in a quick kiss and pulled away long enough to say, “Thank you” before kissing him again. It was salty and wet from her tears, as well as a bit sloppy but it was wonderful all the same. The emotion they both poured into the kiss made it worthwhile.