Only it was real. The horror he'd known over the past three years was finally over, and he was back with the only person who had ever made him feel loved.
Now the question remained—what did they do now?
Andrew stuck his hand in his pocket, remembering Dawn's necklace as his fingers curled around the chain. He pulled it back out, dangling the silver key in front of her. "I think you dropped this," he said, a wry smile on his face.
Dawn chuckled. "I guess I did. Have you had it with you all this time?"
"Yeah," Andrew replied with a nod. "I didn't think I'd have the chance to give it back to you, though."
"You do now," Dawn told him as she turned, pushing her hair to the side. Andrew came up behind her and draped the chain around her neck before clasping it, mimicking his own actions from three years before. "Déjà vu," Dawn said with a nervous chuckle as she reached up and took the charm in her hand. It felt right having it back, and she realized now how much she'd missed feeling the subtle weight of it.
"I never forgot the night I gave this to you," Andrew said. "It was—and still is—the most amazing night of my life."
Dawn turned around to face him again. "I never forgot it either. You showed me so much that night, Andrew."
Andrew looked into her eyes, the nervousness he felt in the pit of his stomach something he didn't think he'd still be able to feel after the past three years of his life. But something about being with Dawn made all of that melt away until all he could think of was her. "I won't mess it up this time," He vowed, taking her face in his hand as he did, his fingers threaded through her hair.
Dawn's hand rested on his hip. "I know you won't."
"You've got a lot of faith in me."
"I always have."
Dawn was looking at him so intently now, and Andrew felt his nervousness grow. Having Dawn back now, after all this time, was almost too good to be true. He'd spent so many dark nights dreaming of this moment, of being able to touch her again, and now that he could he kept expecting to wake up the way he always had before. But this was real, not a dream. Dawn still loved him, still wanted him, and he was hers again.
With that knowledge came the fear he would mess it all up again. He'd been tempting fate with her once, but twice? Was it asking for too much that a man like him get a second chance with a woman like Dawn? How long could it possibly last before he hurt her again?
Almost as soon as his mind turned down that road, Andrew pushed the thoughts away. It had been thinking like that that had gotten him into trouble in the first place. He knew now his worries that he'd ruin everything with Dawn had turned into a self-fulfilling prophecy, and he wasn't going to let it happen again. She was by far the best thing that had ever happened to him, and he wasn't going to be fool enough to throw it away a second time. If Dawn decided she wanted rid of him after this, she was probably going to have to kill him. There was no other way he was leaving her.
As if to seal the promise he'd just made in his head, Andrew brought Dawn closer to him and kissed her, pouring into the act three years of longing and desire. Dawn had always enjoyed kissing Andrew, but now… He'd changed in the years they'd been apart, and much of his old hesitancy was gone. He held nothing back when he touched her now, and it was all Dawn could do to keep her knees from buckling.
Andrew must've caught on to her predicament, because suddenly he was literally sweeping her off her feet. He lifted her into his arms, having no trouble these days carrying her. The act made Dawn's stomach flip with an extra shot of desire, and she held on to him as he brought her into the bedroom and laid her out on the bed.
Before he joined her, Andrew pulled his shirt off over his head, remembering through the passion-filled haze he was in that it was still bloodstained. Dawn's eyes immediately zeroed in on his chest, since up to then, she'd only gotten to feel the now-chiseled muscles of it, and Andrew watched as her pink tongue darted out to moisten her lips.
For the first time with her, Andrew wasn't ashamed of his body, and asked her with a small smile, "Like what you see?"
Dawn nodded, then reached out her arms to him. "Wanna touch."
Andrew joined Dawn in the bed then and allowed her to roll them over so she was leaning over him. Her long, silky hair brushed against his skin as she traced the lines of his chest with her nimble fingers, and Andrew moaned at the sensation. Dawn was still the only person who could make him feel loved from a touch, and he was thankful that was something he was getting to feel again.
"You've got scars you didn't have before," Dawn observed, her pointer finger trailing down a long, white line on the side of his chest.
"It's been a rough three years," Andrew admitted softly. "A few of those, I didn't think I'd be around long enough afterwards for there to be a scar."
Dawn responded by ducking her head, pressing gentle kisses against the scar she'd just touched. She moved from there to the others, kissing them all, and Andrew felt his throat constrict, the tenderness of her actions pulling at his emotions. When she was finished, Dawn moved back up his body again, placing another kiss against his lips. Then, she kissed away the tears at the corner of his eyes.
"I love you," Dawn told him softly, her voice almost a whisper. "I'm not letting you go again."
"I'm not going again," Andrew assured her.
They broke apart just long enough to shed their clothes, neither of them wanting a barrier anymore. They needed the contact, needed to touch skin to skin. It had been far too long since they'd last shared this connection.
Andrew held Dawn in his arms, his eyes closed as he savored the feel of her for a moment. His erection was pressing into her hip, but he didn't rush things, didn't push them towards what would be the inevitable conclusion. He needed this as much as he needed anything else, the healing Dawn's touch could afford him.
Their hands roamed each other's bodies, relearning once-familiar territory as they shared deep, penetrating kisses. Heavy silence filled the room, what they both felt in that moment more than what could be expressed in words.
When their desire finally became too much, they moved in still-silent unison, rolling over so Andrew was on top of Dawn, settled between her legs. Their eyes locked, and shared look of love connecting them, before Dawn reached down and took hold of his cock to guide it inside of her body.
Andrew shuddered and pushed forward more, his eyes closing as he braced himself against the warm, welcoming heat surrounding him. Dawn gasped and brought her hands up to circle around his biceps, gripping the hard muscles tightly.
Once he'd gotten control of himself, Andrew began to move, pushing in and out of her slowly. The silver of the necklace he'd put back on her glittered against her breastbone, and he was reminded of their first time together, and what she'd made him feel that night—what he was feeling again now, back in her arms.
His movements grew quicker, less controlled, and Dawn writhed and panted beneath him, her nails digging into his arms as her body began to tremble with the beginning of her orgasm. Andrew angled his thrusts to hit where she most needed him, remembering just how to set her off, and soon Dawn was crying out in pleasure as she convulsed around him. Andrew let the feel of her milking his cock pull him over as well, and he came inside of her with a shout of heartfelt relief.
Andrew collapsed to the side of her and gathered Dawn into his arms, peppering her hairline with shaky kisses. Dawn held him close to her, still trembling with both the aftershocks and the intensity of emotion she was feeling at the moment.
"I love you," Andrew told her when he could speak again, though the words didn't seem like enough. He wasn't sure there was a way for him to express to her everything she was to him, everything she made him feel.
But he didn't have to. Dawn looked up, pressed her palm to his cheek, and told him, "I know."
Andrew kissed Dawn again, then let her settle against his chest, holding her as he listened to the sounds of a new morning beginning outside their window.
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