Nothing happened with Teddy that night. I think we were both too exhausted to try anything. I woke up in his arms the next morning, feeling completely refreshed. Nothing in the world ever helped me sleep better than having him share my bed. It was warm, comfortable, and I felt completely safe.

He made breakfast that morning. Again, I argued with him about at least letting me do the dishes, and again, I ended up losing. I sat at the table, pouting, while he cleaned up.

He chuckled as he glanced over at me. "I've never seen a woman complain so much about a man doing the dishes before."

"I've never met a man so stubborn about doing every single chore," I grumbled.

"Hey, I owe you one," he said, shrugging. "I haven't slept that well in forever."

"Yeah, me too," I admitted. My mood lightened a little remembering it. "So, are you just planning to hang around the house today?"

"Actually, I'm heading back to my place for a little. I need some clothes if I'm going to be staying over and it's probably better if I grab everything at once instead of hiking back there every day," he explained. "I'm only planning on staying for a few nights, but that might change depending on how safe I think you are."

"I'm sure it's fine," I insisted. "I mean, you cut the man's face open. I'm not sure about you, but that would probably make me think twice about coming back again."

"If it was me, I wouldn't even think twice about it. I'd come back in a heartbeat," he murmured. "The guy's a creepy prick who can't take a clue, but I kind of get where he's coming from. I'm not sure it'd be easy for me to give you up either. Mind you, I wouldn't do anything like what he did, but it would be tough for me to let you go."

We stayed silent after that. I thought about what he'd said. He wouldn't be able to let me go easily, huh? I watched his back as he rinsed off the dishes. I guess I could understand what he meant by that.

When he finished, we got ready to go. We made sure the house was locked securely before we left. Like always, I watched as he trekked off into the woods. This time, from the safety of my car. When he was out of sight I started it up and headed off to work.

Of course, I told Tilly everything that happened when I got to work. Well, "everything" might have been a bit of a stretch. I left out the little detail about the knife fight. I did tell her about Greg following me home though, and that Teddy ran him off. It was probably good I didn't tell her everything. She practically went into hysterics just hearing what I did tell her.

"You have to call the cops!" She said frantically.

"Tilly, no. I'm not even sure it's worth the trouble," I said, shaking my head.

"Not worth the trouble?! Linny, he attacked you! Or practically did at least. What's to stop him from doing it again?"

It's not that I didn't see what she was saying, and it's not like it would have been hard for them to catch him either. Greg wasn't exactly James Bond when it came to flying under the radar. Hell, I accidentally caught him cheating after just a couple weeks. If I made a report, there was no doubt in my mind that he'd be in the police station by tomorrow.

That said, I really didn't want to get the cops involved if I could avoid it. Teddy had definitely left more than a scratch on Greg's cheek. I was worried about him getting in trouble for it. Even if I claimed he was defending me, it was a he-said-she-said at best, and Greg was the one with the cut. I didn't want to risk Teddy getting in trouble over it.

"Look, even if I called them, there's probably nothing they could do," I tried explaining to her. "There's no evidence he was there or that he assaulted me. It's my word against his. They'd probably do what they did last time and say they'll patrol more but that's the most they can do. I'd rather not deal with all the paperwork and stress."

"But, Linny..." Tilly trailed off. She knew I was right, but I could tell that didn't stop her from worrying about me.

"Don't worry, I'm safe," I promised her. "Teddy's actually staying over for the next few nights to keep an eye on things." A worry suddenly popped into my head. "Oh! Should I have asked you about that first? It is your house after all. Is it okay if he stays a few days?"

"Are you kidding? Move him in for all I care!" She let out a huge sigh of relief. "It might not be police protection, but from what you've told me, that boyfriend of yours sounds pretty tough. It's better than you being home alone at least."

"Yeah, Teddy can be... pretty intimidating when he wants to be. Hopefully, Greg took that to heart this time."

"Moving on to a lighter subject," she mumbled, shaking her head. "You just reminded me. When do I get to meet him exactly?"

"Who?"

"John Stamos," she teased. "Your boyfriend! Who else? You two have been together for a little while now, yet somehow, I've never seen him come here. With all this trouble you're having right now, I'm surprised he hasn't dropped in already to check on you. When's he coming by?"

I chuckled. "He probably wants to, but I don't think he will."

She frowned. "Why not?"

"Well, the biggest reason being that he doesn't have a car," I explained. "Like I said, he lives out near me, so that's a bit of a hike. Plus, he's mostly a survivalist. He doesn't really have a lot of extra money. Even if he came, I think he'd feel bad about taking up space without buying anything."

"Oh, that's nonsense," she grumbled. "He's your boyfriend. He doesn't need to buy a thing. He can drop by and see you anytime he likes. Tell him the coffee's on me."

"I'll let him know later," I chuckled. "For now, we have customers."

I gestured towards the family that had just walked in. Tilly sighed and gave me another small, worried smile before going to seat them.

The rest of the day went pretty normally. Greg didn't show up even once. It was the first relaxing day I'd had at work in a while. It felt even better knowing I had Teddy to look forward to when I got home.

Tilly's words echoed in my head the entire shift. Move him in for all I care. I'm pretty sure she was half-joking when she said it, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't sound tempting.

I thought about those small, domestic moments of ours that I loved so much. Kissing hello and goodbye, arguing over whose turn it was to cook, sitting by the fire and sipping tea at night. Such simple and sweet gestures, but they made me so happy. How much better would they be if they never had to end? If every second of my day could be filled with them?

Teddy said before that my place was nicer than his. Being a "survivalist," I'm sure he didn't have that much stuff to move. He probably wouldn't mind the idea himself. What if he just stayed?

I shook off the thought immediately. That was crazy. We'd been dating, what? Maybe a month? It was way too soon. I knew he was only pushing to stay right now because he was worried about me.

Don't get me wrong, our relationship was good. We cared about each other, got along great, and I was really enjoying having him around all the time. But it was still too new to think about something like moving in. Hell, I wasn't even sure if I could say "I love you" yet, let alone "Do you want to live together?"

However, that realization still didn't stop me from getting excited when it was finally time to clock out and go home to him. What did dampen my excitement was the fact that I had to keep looking over my shoulder as I did.

I peeked around the parking lot carefully as I left. No Greg. So far. I hurried to my car and locked the doors as soon as I was inside. That should have made me feel safe, but it didn't.

I kept glancing nervously at my rearview and side mirrors as I drove home. It wasn't like I thought he could chase the car, but I still worried that he might somehow be following me. Every car that passed me made my heart race with fear. I kept glancing at the drivers, worrying one might be him.

My body was tense and rigid for the entire drive. However, it finally started to relax as I pulled up the driveway. Teddy was already waiting outside for me by the time I got home. I was so happy to see him.

At least, I was before I got a good look at him. As I got closer, I couldn't help noticing how red the exposed parts of his face were. He smiled like nothing was wrong, but I didn't buy it. I pulled off my gloves and reached up to touch his face. Ice cold. I frowned.

"Teddy, you're half-frozen. How long have you been out here?"

"About two hours," he admitted.

"Teddy!"

"Hey, I didn't know what time you were getting home," he said defensively. "You have a schedule, but sometimes you get home early. After what happened last time? No way in hell I'm going anywhere this close to your shift ending."

"Why not just wait inside for me?" I asked, crossing my arms. "You know, the place with the warm fire and no windchill?"

"I didn't want to take any chances," he mumbled. He looked at the ground and scratched his head. "Linny, do you realize I'd only been gone about ten minutes when you got home yesterday? Just ten. That's all it took for him to get to you. And, judging by the way I found you two, he'd probably already been there for a few minutes by the time I got back.

Do you know how scary it was for me to realize that? That all it would take is just a few minutes of me not being there for something to happen to you? What would've happened if I was in the shower just now? Or cooking in the kitchen? Or taking care of the fireplace? How long would it take him to get to you while I was distracted for just a second?

That thought is absolutely terrifying to me. And after what happened yesterday? I'm not taking any chances. I'd much rather freeze for a couple of hours than lose you."

My heart hurt a little as he said this. I didn't want him to worry about me like that. I didn't want him to spend every second he wasn't watching me panicking about my safety. It wasn't like I could tell him he was being ridiculous though.

After all, he said so himself, he'd only been gone maybe ten minutes or so when Greg snuck in. I remembered putting the kettle on right before that whole mess started and turning it off while Teddy had Greg pinned to the floor. How long could that have been? Five minutes? Ten? It didn't take long for a situation like that to escalate out of control.

And that was when things were calm. Now Greg knew he'd be in danger if Teddy caught him. I doubted there would be another long, drawn-out confession of his love that I could use to buy time.

I might be walking from my car to the house one day only to have Greg run up and drag me away. I certainly wouldn't be the first girl something like that had happened to. It happens every day. How could I possibly tell Teddy he was wrong to worry in that case?

An idea suddenly came to mind. I dug around my pocket and pulled out my cell phone. I held it out to him. He looked down at it, confused.

"Why don't you take my phone?" I suggested.

"What? No," Teddy shook his head vigorously. "Linny, you need that. What if he-"

"Look, I never use it at work and I have people to watch out for me there. I can't use it when I'm driving and you're already waiting outside for me by the time I get home. Any time I would need to use it, I doubt I'd actually have the time to get it out and call for help anyway," I explained. "This way, I can call you when I'm leaving work so you know to expect me. I still hate that you're waiting outside in the cold, but a fifteen-minute wait is a lot better than a two-hour one. So please, for my peace of mind, take it."

I held it out again. He grabbed it gingerly and looked down at it. He sighed and gave me a weak smile.

"I guess it is nice to know when you'll be back," he admitted. "Helps me know when to start dinner. Plus, I could call your work to check on you too."

"How about I call you on my lunch breaks?"

"That sounds like a great idea."

"Good, then let's go inside and get you warmed up. I wasn't kidding about the half-frozen thing." I glared at him a bit. "Honestly, what were you thinking? Two hours outside in the cold. In Alaska of all places! What kind of a stupid idea is that? How much help do you really think you'll be if you're a popsicle?"

He chuckled in response and threw his arm around my shoulder. I couldn't help smiling as he did. Teddy. Stupid, irresponsible, sweet Teddy. I think any woman would feel safe having a guy like him around.

It wasn't necessarily his size and it certainly wasn't the terrifying person he turned into on occasion. Instead, something about Teddy himself just made me feel safe. It was a feeling he gave me. The feeling that I was something special to him. That he felt I was something worth protecting. Like he really would do whatever he needed to keep me safe.

Dinner was pretty routine by this point. So was sitting by the fire and sipping tea at night. Only, this time, I wasn't quite so afraid about sharing the bed with him. When the fire had almost died out I took our mugs to the kitchen and put them in the sink. I couldn't help smiling as I went back to the living room.

Teddy hadn't moved from his chair. He knew we were going to bed, he could have gotten up and headed there already. Was he waiting for me to invite him again?

"Hey," I called to him. "You're not coming to bed?"

"Oh, I am, I am," he said, scrambling up and coming over. He looked nervous. "I was just waiting for you. That's all."

"Why?" I asked playfully. "Did you forget where the bedroom was or something? I mean, I know this place is huge, but it shouldn't be that hard to find."

He rolled his eyes and walked to the bedroom. We both slept in our clothes last night. I think neither of us was comfortable with the idea of getting changed around each other. Especially considering that Teddy didn't have anything to change into. However, I didn't think I'd be able to do it again. Mental and physical exhaustion forced me to sleep yesterday, but I couldn't deny that sleeping in day clothes was really uncomfortable.

He went to the same side of the bed he slept on yesterday. He watched me curiously as I dug around in my closet.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, I'm just going to change for bed."

I could see his eyes go wide. I gave him a mischievous smile and walked towards him. He watched me nervously. I blew him a kiss and opened the door to the bathroom. His body relaxed at this, but his face did seem to fall a little.

"What? Disappointed?" I teased.

"No," he grumbled, climbing into bed.

"Either way, feel free to get comfortable. I'm not sure how you usually sleep, but as long as you have clothes on, it's fine," I reassured him.

He shrugged vaguely. "I have thermal underwear under my clothes. I usually just sleep in those. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, that fine," I called, going into the bathroom. "Feel free to change while I'm in here."

As I closed the door, I glanced down at the sleep clothes I'd picked. I wouldn't really call them "sexy." After all, I still wasn't sure that was the impression I wanted to give. They could comfortably be called "cute" though. A matching pair of long black pajama pants and a long-sleeved top decorated with red stars. It looked nice on me at least.

Changing only really took me a second, but I waited an extra minute or two. I didn't just want to walk in on him or anything. When I felt it was safe, I opened the door. Teddy was already in bed. He'd piled his other clothes into the corner of the room. He smiled when he saw me.

"Cute."

"That's what I was going for," I laughed.

I walked around to my side of the bed and crawled in. I knew Teddy wasn't naked. Hell, thermal underwear were practically bodysuits, but knowing he was in them still made me a little nervous. Underwear is underwear, right?

My nerves certainly didn't calm when he put his arm around and pulled me close. I let him, but I could feel myself blushing. He leaned in and kissed the top of my head.

"Comfortable?" He asked. I nodded vaguely. "Good."

We laid there silently for a while. Slowly, my heart started to return to its normal pace and I could feel the blush leave my cheeks. Teddy sighed and rubbed my back gently.

"I wasn't kidding this morning," he murmured. "Last night really was some of the best sleep I've ever had. I'd nearly forgotten how nice it was to sleep with somebody. Especially someone you care about."

"Yeah, me too."

I snuggled closer to him. He smiled at me gently. Strong arms, warm body, comfort. Teddy. It really was nice to have him here right now. Part of me was almost grateful to Greg for pulling that stunt. Almost.

Teddy continued to rub my back, lulling me to sleep. It worked. I could feel myself starting to drift off. I heard him sigh again as I did.

"I could watch you like this forever," he almost whispered. "As long as I live, I'll never let anything hurt you. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe, Linny. I promise."

I was too tired to actually respond to him. I wasn't even sure if he really meant for me to hear it, but I was glad I did. It made me feel even safer somehow. Because as long as it was Teddy, I knew he'd keep his promise.