#FlashFictionMagic: Fireplace

“I miss your old house, but man do I love this fireplace.” In sock feet and sweatshirt, Dave plopped down on the couch beside Fern. Fern laughed as he put his arm around her and planted a kiss on her cheek. She loved the fireplace, too, but she loved this man more. It was adorable how much he liked cozying up with her.

“You miss the old house?” She settled back against the cushions. She had never really considered how Dave felt about her house; she’d been more worried about his feelings for her.

“We had a lot of good memories there,” Dave said. “But I guess it’s you living there that I really miss.”

Fern shifted in her seat. Though everything felt solid in their new relationship, built as it was on a long-established foundation, she knew there were still things they needed to work out. Her abrupt departure four years ago was one of those.

“I miss being neighbors,” she said carefully. “There was a time when I thought we’d always be neighbors.”

“Just neighbors?” Dave said with a sly grin. 

Fern knew he was joking but she couldn’t quite laugh. “Yeah,” she said softly. “That’s exactly what I thought. We’d be ‘just neighbors’ until we were eighty years old.”

Dave traced a finger down Fern’s cheek. “I didn’t know you wanted more.”

Fern could see he was sincere, but that didn’t erase the feeling of rejection she’d endured when he’d kissed her and then called it a mistake.

“I know. I just don’t get how you could not know that,” Fern said. “I thought it was pretty obvious. And when you kissed me, I thought –”

“You thought I’d figured it out,” Dave said, nodding. “That makes sense. I just… panicked.”

“No kidding,” said Fern. “I think I still have whiplash from how quickly you shifted from kissing to apologizing.”

“I absolutely loved kissing you,” Dave said. “That’s why I apologized.”

Fern did laugh now. “Do you hear what you’re saying?”

“I do,” Dave said, and he bumped his shoulder into Fern’s. “But you have to understand. You were everything to me. Literally. My babysitter, my confidante, my ride when my car was in the shop, my source of tooth fairy money at least half the time, my emergency contact, my wardrobe consultant... It didn’t seem fair to ask for anything else.”

“So you decided I could have all of the grunt work of a wife and none of the perks?” Fern raised her eyebrows.

“I didn’t think of it that way. I thought I had taken advantage of you, and it felt awful. I respect you so much, and I couldn’t believe I got so carried away.”

Fern stroked Dave’s hair. “I’ve been trying to teach you how to get carried away for ten years or more. It would have been a relief if you’d let go like that more often.”

“I didn’t know how,” Dave said. “I just knew I didn’t want to lose you. And then you left me anyway.”

Fern didn’t have to ask to know that Dave had been deeply hurt when she moved out of the neighborhood. It was written all over his face. “I didn’t mean to abandon you,” she said. “I just wanted us both to have room to find what would make us happy. I have always wanted you to be happy.”

“I’m happy now,” Dave said, kissing Fern’s cheek.

“Because of the fireplace, I know.”

“Nah, it wouldn’t be as good if you weren’t here.”

“Well, it would be a little weird for you to be hanging out with my fireplace by yourself.” Fern laughed as Dave leaned forward to kiss her lips.

“Hey,” he said after a few kisses. “That stuff about doing the work of a wife…”

“I was kidding, sweetheart,” said Fern. “We were friends. Doing things for you wasn’t a chore.”

“But the wife part. Is that… something you want?”

Fern had not realized until this moment that she’d been avoiding asking him the same question. “Now I’m the one afraid to ask for too much.”

“Fern,” Dave said, taking both her hands in his. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t give you.”

“I figured you’d be the one who might not want that,” she admitted, realizing her fear for the first time as she said it aloud.

“With you,” Dave said. “I want everything.”

Fern laid a hand on Dave’s cheek, and looked into his eyes. “Then yes,” she whispered, heart swelling. “That’s something I want.”

“Okay,” Dave whispered back, and then they were kissing again.

A bit later, Fern pulled back and said, “That wasn’t the proposal, was it?”

“No, of course not,” Dave said. “I’m going to do that right, don’t worry. I just needed a hint at what the answer would be first.”

“What did we just say about letting go every once in a while?”

“Baby steps, babe,” he said. “I’m a work in progress.”

“Definitely a piece of work, at any rate.”

Dave poked her in the side, and Fern giggled.

“If – when – we get married,” Dave said. “Will you be okay giving up the fireplace and moving back home?”

“I’m pretty sure the new owners wouldn’t appreciate that.” Fern smirked. She couldn’t help ribbing her boyfriend just a bit.

“Don’t play dumb,” Dave chided. “You know I’m talking about my house.”

“I can live without the fireplace,” Fern said. “You, however, are non-negotiable.” She rested her head on Dave’s shoulder, utterly content. “I can’t wait to come home to you.”

Dave pulled her in closer, holding her against his chest and wrapping the afghan around them. A log on the fire shifted as it burned through, sending up a spray of sparks, and Fern’s heart leapt, too.