"I THOUGHT YOU'D GONE," Jamie says finally, both of us still breathless from the kiss.

I'm now on his lap, one of his hands in my hair, the other at my hip.

I shake my head and lean back slightly. I know how he would assume that... as he doesn't know I'd inadvertently dropped into a time-sucking vortex with three days going by without me realising.

"I wouldn't leave," I whisper.

"No one knew where you were."

I half laugh as I look into his eyes. The redness has cleared, and the skin under his eyelids is no longer puffy, but his eyes still look lost. But as I smile, they brighten more, before a smile covers his own face.

"I was here. I was in bed."

His expression falls as he realises what I mean.

"Tess, I'm so sorry. I will always be so so sorry for what I said to you. What I did. I'm surprised you're even talking to me, to be honest. I'm surprised anyone is. And Emily being pregnant is not something I can use as an excuse. I should never have done it and I am so sorry."

"It wasn't just you. I overreacted."

I run my fingers through his hair. It's greasy but I don't care. I love running my fingers through his hair because it's so soft and it helps soothe me just as much as it soothes him,  I can tell. I kiss his forehead, his nose and then I lean down  to kiss his lips.

He kisses me back for a split second, but then he pulls away. "Listen, I-"

"No, don't." I sigh. "I overreacted. I should never have asked you to leave. I should have let you explain... Like I am now."

I kiss him one last time before resting my forehead against his.

"I don't want to lose you, Jamie."

He sighs, almost not believing the words were coming out of my mouth, but then he kisses me soundly, closing his eyes and holding me close.

"You won't lose me. I'm not going anywhere, I promise."

With those words, all the anger I'd felt towards him, anger that had been running through my mind the last three days, completely melts away. All I needed, all I wanted, was to fix what we had, and hearing those words were all I needed. From Jamie's reaction, it's what both of us needed.

"I'm not going anywhere either, Jamie. And I love you too. I love you even if you freaked out..." I joke.

He smiles.

"And besides, who am I to criticise when you've put up with way worse from me."

He frowns but his smile widens. I haven't been honest with him about hearing Archie's voice in my head, but that's not something he needs to know. It's not exactly normal to hear a voice in your head... Telling Jamie about him was balm enough, I couldn't put him through thinking I was crazy. But on top of me being honest, it prompted him to be the same, telling me about Emily. One would say that in an imperfect world, Jamie and I perfect  for each other.

"You've done more for me this year than you'll ever understand, Jamie, and there's no way I can thank you enough. The fact I've been able to love someone again, after what Archie did... how he left..."

I beam as his smile widens.

"It only makes me love you m-"

He pushes his lips to mine, cutting me off as he pulls me closer to him.

Suddenly I'm alight with desire as he pulls me back onto his lap, feeling the bulge in his trousers harden beneath me.

I need him, and he needs me. We need each other and that connection, and as his mouth moves, almost in a frenzy against mine, I give myself completely to him, pushing all other thoughts out of my mind.

We're all fingers and thumbs as I pull at his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders, and he pulls mine over my head. My skin seems to be on fire with the touch of Jamie's hands on my bare back as he stands, carrying me with him.

"What are you..." I breathe but I stop when he locks the door before sitting back down on the bed.

I'm still straddling his lap as he fumbles with the belt of his jeans, trying to move quickly as the passion takes us both over.

I yelp as he leans backwards, laughing as I only just catch myself. He's laughing too, but as he gets his button sorted, he flips us back over, making me laugh again. He pushes his nose against mine, kissing me softly and I wrap my legs gently around his waist.

He's breathing heavily, his strong chest heaving as he leans down to kiss me. His lips press firmly to mine as I use my feet to help push his trousers down as he works at the tie of my pyjama trousers. Once they're off, he kisses me in the crook of my neck, just below my ear, right where he knows I like it, before he finally presses into me, making us both sigh in relief. After three days apart, this connection is what we were both missing, and now it's been beautifully restored.

As he moves slowly, entwining our fingers, he kisses my lips again before he starts to move faster. After three days of feeling like I'd lost him, each move, each thrust brings him back to me. I feel like sex is our way back to each other, a language we both speak and understand, and after a few more minutes, moving his kisses back to that delicious spot beneath my ear, telling me he loves me, he pushes me over that edge and tumbles over with me.

He presses down on top of me as we finish, breathing heavily into the side of my neck as I feel a bead of sweat roll down the side of my forehead. My skin is alive still, and because of him I feel like I've never loved him more than in this moment.

"I love you," he whispers, rolling off me gently.

I smile as I lean in close to him, pressing my lips to his again as I move on top of him.

Before I can get my leg over his stomach, he suddenly jumps up and kicks off his trousers properly. I'd been so enraptured I hadn't realised they were still around his ankles, same as mine.

After pulling mine off properly, joining his on the floor, he crawls up me, his eyes now practically black as his pupils dilate with need. He shuffles me up the bed gently, placing me with my head between the pillows.

He leans up, gloriously naked, before he makes quick work of my bra and as he looks at me, my cheeks burn. Despite his eyes being nearly black, he's looking at me in a way every girl deserves to be looked at: like I'm his whole world.

As he leans down to kiss me against my ear, I bite my lip, curling my toes. He really does know me.

"We should probably go downstairs," I tell him with absolutely no conviction as he moves his kisses downward, to my neck, down my stomach and finally to the inside of my thigh.

"We willl..." he whispers, and I can feel his breath against me as he continues. "After I'm done showing you how much I love you."

I bite my lip and close my eyes as I push my head back into the pillows, gripping the duvet to stop myself from crying out as pushes me over that ledge once again.

I can barely see straight as I finish, flinching as every movement feels like a livewire against my skin, but as he lies down next to me, I don't care. It's my turn now.

***

WE NEVER MADE IT downstairs.

It's dark by the time the two of us are completely spent, and I've lost count of how many times we pushed each other over that delicious edge.

He's nearly asleep next to me, his breathing getting steadily slower as slumber takes him. He's holding me close as my head rests against his chest, and I'm listening to his strong heart beat, using it to help bring me to sleep too.

"I love you," he mumbles above me, and I smile as I hear it reverberate around his chest, filling me up.

I shuffle closer to him and settle on his chest with a smile on my face. I move my head up to look at him before I answer, "I love you Jamie."

I whisper it in the darkness but I know he's heard me when a smile appears on his face. I move my head back, resuming my matching of my breathing to his, content in his arms. With both of us together again, the world feels right.

The power those three little words hold is truly immense, and as my dreams take me, I find myself imagining up little versions of Jamie... Ginger curls, dazzling smiles and big, bright and beautiful blue eyes.