"Do you trust me?"
She had come, dark, through the doorway, pushing her way in from the rain. Her hair was a mess and her coat tucked around her jaw and lips. He stood there, one hand at his side and the other extended toward the door he hadn't had to open. Dumbfounded, he stared, and she pulled down the collar of her jacket.
"Do you?"
He hadn't seen her in three months. She'd stormed at him and disappeared, left for underground, and all he'd heard were whispers of her whereabouts and her indulgences. She was beautiful still, but wild, and the rain was streaming down her cheeks like tears, black with makeup.
"I..." he stammered, unsettled and a little afraid. "I don't understand."
She undid the three loose buttons on her coat and let it fall to the floor, around her feet, in the doorway. Underneath her shoulders and arms were bare. She wore a simple black dress but he had always loved her shoulders. "It's a simple fucking question," she said, her lips wet. "Do you trust me?"
He backed up a step and looked down at his hands, now twisting together several inches from his bellybutton. "I... yeah. I do, I mean, you've never given me reason not to."
He looked up at her, his soft blue eyes wide. She looked back and for a moment the hardness in her face broke as a smile slipped through. It was over quickly but her cheeks were more flushed than before. She pursed her lips. "Promise?"
Her voice was low and quiet. Something in him snapped and he threw his arms around her and pulled her close.
"I missed you, Ivy."
She whimpered and pressed her face into his neck, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "God, I missed you, too."