Chapter Text
One Year Later.....
Some promises
Take a little longer to keep.
Some hearts...
Take a little longer to believe them.
But Lucy Tara had never broken a promise.
Not the important ones.
Especially not the ones she made to her wife.
.....
Their penthouse looked as though a small hurricane had developed an unhealthy obsession with luggage.
One suitcase lay open in the middle of the bedroom.
Another rested across the bed.
Clothes covered nearly every available surface.
Lucy stood in front of the closet holding up two sweaters with complete seriousness.
"...Question."
Kate didn't even look up from neatly folding another shirt.
"Hm?"
"Which one says 'my wife definitely didn't overpack'?"
Kate glanced over her shoulder.
"They're both black."
"Exactly."
"You own fourteen identical black sweaters."
Lucy's eyes widened in mock offense.
"They're completely different."
"They're literally not."
"I feel judged."
"You are."
"I thought marriage came with unconditional support."
"It does."
Kate smiled.
"It just doesn't include lying."
Lucy sighed dramatically before throwing both sweaters into the suitcase anyway.
"There."
"Problem solved."
"You solved absolutely nothing."
"I solved my inability to choose."
Kate laughed.
"You packed six hoodies."
"I might need them."
"We're going to Paris."
"They have weather."
Kate blinked.
"...That's your defense?"
Lucy nodded confidently.
"It felt convincing."
"It really wasn't."
......
Outside—
The Dallas skyline shimmered beneath the golden afternoon sun.
Inside—
Their home looked exactly the way it had slowly become over the past year.
Warm.
Comfortable.
Loved.
Fresh lilies rested in their usual vase near the window.
Kate's sketchbook lay open on the coffee table beside a half-finished charcoal drawing she'd been working on for her next lecture.
Several paint-stained brushes soaked in a glass jar nearby.
Lucy's laptop sat forgotten on the couch, abandoned halfway through answering emails from Tara Group.
A half-empty coffee mug waited on the kitchen island.
The television quietly played a travel documentary neither of them had actually watched.
It smelled faintly of coffee.
Fresh laundry.
And peace.
Kate paused.
Her fingers lingered over one of Lucy's sweaters.
Home.
The word still amazed her.
Because there had been a time...
When she'd believed home was a destination.
A perfect future.
A life she'd imagined with someone else.
She'd spent years trying to fit herself into dreams that were never truly hers.
Only to discover...
Home wasn't a place waiting at the end of the road.
It was the person who quietly walked beside you every step of the way.
She looked up.
Lucy was still trying to convince an overfilled suitcase to close through what appeared to be negotiation.
Kate smiled.
Somehow...
This wonderfully ridiculous woman had become every meaning that word had ever held.
......
Lucy finally forced the zipper shut.
"There."
She looked absurdly proud.
Kate looked at the second suitcase.
"...Luce."
"What?"
"You still have another one."
Lucy followed her gaze.
"...Right."
A thoughtful pause.
"I was hoping that one would pack itself."
Kate laughed.
"You really are unbelievable."
"So I've been told."
"Mostly by me."
"My favorite source."
Lucy walked over and slipped her arms around Kate's waist.
"You still married me."
"I did."
"No refunds."
"I checked."
Lucy blinked.
"...You checked?"
"The contract was disappointingly clear."
Lucy grinned.
"I'll have Legal look into that."
......
Tomorrow would be their first anniversary.
One year.
Sometimes it felt impossible.
Other times...
It felt as though they'd spent a lifetime learning each other.
One ordinary day at a time.
One conversation.
One shared silence.
One laugh.
One fight.
One apology.
One hand reaching for another.
Until one day...
Choosing each other no longer required thought.
It had simply become instinct.
......
Lucy reached for the leather travel folder resting on the dresser.
Inside...
Paris.
The Bavarian Alps.
A small village outside Munich.
A lakeside hotel.
And finally...
The castle Kate had dreamed about since she was a little girl.
Lucy's smile softened.
A memory returned.
......
"I'm sorry..."
Their honeymoon.
Almost exactly one year ago.
Newly married.
Complete strangers pretending not to be.
Friends...
Who happened to wear wedding rings.
Kate had quietly folded shut the brochure showing the Bavarian Alps.
"We don't have enough time."
She had smiled politely.
"We'll come back someday."
Lucy had looked at her.
Really looked at her.
"I promise."
Kate had blinked.
"What?"
"I'll bring you back."
Lucy had smiled.
"I promise you'll see it one day."
Back then...
Lucy hadn't imagined she'd be standing beside Kate when that promise came true.
She'd believed...
One day Kate would find her way back to Cara.
That their marriage would quietly end.
That she'd simply be grateful she'd been allowed to love Kate at all.
Life...
Had smiled.
Then rewritten every plan she'd ever made.
......
Gentle arms wrapped around Lucy from behind.
She smiled before turning.
"Hi."
Kate rested her chin against Lucy's shoulder.
"You disappeared."
"I was remembering something."
"The honeymoon?"
Lucy nodded.
"The promise."
Kate looked toward the itinerary.
Then back at her.
"You remembered."
Lucy laughed softly.
"I remember everything that matters to you."
Kate's eyes glistened.
"You kept it."
"I told you I would."
Lucy shrugged.
"I'm stubborn."
"You are."
"And exceptionally attractive."
Kate laughed.
"That wasn't part of the conversation."
"I felt it deserved recognition."
"It really didn't."
"I respectfully disagree."
......
Kate stepped back.
Then instinctively adjusted the collar of her T-shirt.
Lucy noticed immediately.
A slow...
Dangerously familiar smile spread across her face.
Kate caught it.
"...Don't."
"I haven't said anything."
"You were about to."
"I wasn't."
"Luce."
Lucy bit the inside of her cheek.
Held it for exactly three seconds.
Then laughed.
"What?"
"You keep looking at my neck."
Lucy looked toward the ceiling.
"I've always appreciated your neck."
Kate groaned.
"You are impossible."
"No."
Lucy stepped closer.
"I was admiring my work."
Kate closed her eyes.
"...Lucy."
"What?"
"There are going to be people."
"I certainly hope so."
"Three airports."
"Mhm."
"My students might see me."
Lucy tried very hard to look sympathetic.
Failed.
"They'll probably just think your wife is very affectionate."
"You gave me a hickey."
"I did."
"It's visible."
"A little."
Kate stared.
Lucy immediately corrected herself.
"...Quite visible."
"I teach at a university."
"I know."
"I have a reputation."
Lucy smiled shamelessly.
"You do."
Kate waited.
Lucy leaned closer.
"It's the reputation of being married to someone hopelessly in love with you."
Kate looked away to hide the smile threatening to appear.
"You are insufferable."
"I've become confident."
"You've become a menace."
"Your menace."
Kate sighed.
"...Unfortunately."
Lucy reached up, gently brushing a loose strand of blonde hair behind Kate's ear.
Then leaned forward.
Pressing the softest kiss directly over the fading mark.
Kate inhaled sharply.
"Lucy..."
"You blush so beautifully."
"You did that on purpose."
"Every single bit of it."
Kate swatted her shoulder.
Lucy caught her wrist.
Lifted her hand.
Pressed a lingering kiss across her knuckles.
Then, because she simply couldn't resist...
She leaned in again.
Another feather-light kiss landed just below the first one.
Kate let out the smallest, scandalized gasp.
"Lucy Tara!"
Lucy looked entirely pleased with herself.
"Happy anniversary."
Kate shook her head, laughing despite herself.
"I married a menace."
Lucy smiled proudly.
"You married your menace."
"I really did."
"And?"
Kate pretended to think.
"I regret to inform you..."
Lucy's eyebrows rose.
"...that I'm still hopelessly in love with you."
Lucy smiled so softly it almost hurt to look at.
"I was hoping that would be the case."
......
There had been a time...
Lucy loved carefully.
Quietly.
Always preparing herself for goodbye.
Not anymore.
Now...
She loved Kate openly.
Fearlessly.
The way she'd always wanted to.
Because she finally knew something she'd never dared believe before.
Kate wasn't staying because of promises.
Or duty.
Or gratitude.
She was staying because she wanted to.
Every single day.
Kate reached up.
Held Lucy's face between both hands.
Then kissed her.
Slow.
Gentle.
Certain.
When they finally separated...
Neither hurried to step away.
There were no ghosts standing between them anymore.
No unfinished chapters.
No borrowed time.
Only this.
Only them.
.....
Lucy picked up the larger suitcase.
Kate reached for the smaller one.
Together they walked toward the front door.
Lucy stopped.
"Oh."
Kate smiled knowingly.
"What now?"
Lucy leaned over.
Placed one impossibly quick kiss against the exact same spot on Kate's neck.
Kate squeaked softly.
"Lucy!"
"What?"
"We're already late."
"Worth it."
Kate laughed, shaking her head.
"You never learn."
"I learned plenty."
"Oh?"
Lucy intertwined their fingers.
"I learned that my wife blushes exactly the same way every single time."
Kate nudged her shoulder.
"And somehow you still find it amusing."
"I find it adorable."
Kate looked around the apartment one last time.
The paintings decorating the walls.
The piano tucked beside the window.
The scattered travel books.
The charcoal sketches.
Lucy's abandoned laptop.
The life they'd built together.
A year ago...
She had walked into a marriage expecting it to end.
Today...
She was walking toward a future she couldn't wait to live.
Not because every question had been answered.
But because the only answer that mattered...
Was already holding her hand.
Lucy squeezed her fingers gently.
"Ready?"
Kate looked at the passports.
The itinerary.
The mountains waiting halfway across the world.
The promise that had taken a year to keep.
Then...
She looked at Lucy.
The woman who had quietly loved her when she couldn't love herself.
The woman who had never once asked her to become someone else.
The woman who had chosen her...
Long before Kate knew how to choose in return.
"As long as it's with you."
The words came effortlessly.
Lucy smiled.
"Always."
Together...
They stepped through the doorway.
Toward Paris.
Toward Bavaria.
Toward promises finally kept.
Toward countless more still waiting to be made.
A year ago...
They had begun with a promise neither of them truly believed would last.
Today...
They walked toward a future neither of them was afraid to imagine.
The destinations would change.
The seasons would change.
Life would change.
But one thing never would.
Lucy reached for Kate's hand.
Kate didn't hesitate.
She never would again.
Hand in hand...
They walked into forever.
The End.