Reina [HS]

38.

TW: verbal abuse and minor violence

"Are you sure this is okay?" I asked Elizabeth warily, glancing down to our intertwined fingers.

It was a Thursday night and we were walking home from the restaurant after having dinner with Cash and Caleb.

My flight had landed yesterday afternoon, marking two and a half weeks since we had last seen each other. I was honestly itching to get back to her, I had counted down the days and the nights until I could touch her and hold her again, she was constantly on my mind.

But now I was finally here, with her, and I couldn't fucking keep my hands to myself. We were in public the whole evening and during dinner I had managed to keep it subtle, having a hand on her thigh under the table or stealing kisses on the cheek when I felt like no one was watching.

However, when we stepped out of the restaurant I didn't even register what I was doing, reaching for her hand and lacing our fingers together. Realisation only hit me seconds later when I saw Elizabeth's shocked expression, making me pull away with a sheepish look on my face.

It's not like we wanted to keep it a secret, people probably already started putting two and two together anyway... However, we had never been so obvious before. We never held hands or kissed in public, it was kind of a silent agreement between the two of us, not wanting to make our situation clear as day for the whole world.

I still wasn't exactly sure how she felt about it, but I knew one thing. She hated being the centre of attention.

I was at a point in my life where I didn't really give a fuck what people thought about me anymore, I got used to the shitshow over the years so to me it was nothing new... I would've already screamed from the top of my lungs to all of their faces that she was mine if it was up to me, but for Elizabeth it was different.

That's why I didn't want to push her, I wanted to let her take the lead and make the first move whenever she was ready. I technically ruined that plan the second I grabbed her hand out on the street though, but once I realised what I was doing, I tried to make it right.

I let go of her, wanting her to decide and after about two seconds of hesitation, she reached for my fingers with a small smile on her lips, making my heart skip a beat in bliss.

Walking hand in hand with her in a busy street of New York brought me an awful lot of happiness and contentment. I felt so fucking proud of her and I wanted to show her off to everyone, I wanted them to know who had my heart.

It was a feeling I didn't quite have with any of my previous partners, sure I found them all beautiful, but they were basking in the attention and I didn't like that. It made me feel like they were with me because they enjoyed all the eyes on them and not because they actually liked me. With Elizabeth, I could feel her love radiating off of her, she didn't care about anything else except me and that meant the world to me.