"But I can't wait. I don't want to wait. I've waited too long for this woman, I refuse to wait one more second." - Silas Sanders

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Silas's POV

"I'm proud of you, baby," I whisper as walk into her apartment. She smiles at me. It's different though. It's new, lighter, like she's just been reborn again. I love it. There's no darkness behind her eyes again; they're clear and beautiful.

"Thank you," she whispers. Her arms wrap around my neck. Mine go around her waist and I hold her close. God, I love this woman.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about today," she whispers into my ear. I sigh. I hate that she hid it from me. It was like acid in my stomach all the times she evaded that bastard, or the way she would turn off the TV when he was on the news.

I'm not saying talking about him makes me want to skip for joy, but I just want to talk. About anything and everything. Even the painful ones. "You're not supposed to hide things from me, Caden, that's not how it works."

She sighs and pulls away from me, but I catch her arm and pull her back to me. "We're supposed to trust each other. We're supposed to tell each other everything. I laid my soul to you, told you everything even if it ripped me to pieces." She tries to look away from me but I grab her chin and pull her gaze back to me. I notice the tears that have welled in her eyes.

She blinks and one slides down her cheek. I don't hesitate to cup her face and wipe it away. "I want you to want to tell me things. I want you to want to open up to me, to trust me with your joy, sadness, pain. I want all of it. I don't think you understand that."

She sighs again and takes a shaky breath. "I'm sorry, Silas. I do trust you, I trust you with everything. It's just- this thing with Cole, it just hit me deep. Facing him again, seeing him, it was too much. I thought I was too weak to handle it. And the thought of you seeing me so... weak, it scared me. I'm sorry." Another tear escapes and I wipe it away.

And then another and another and another. I wipe them all away.

When they've finally ceased, I tilt her head to look at me. When I open to speak, she beats me to it. "I thought I was too weak to face him. I was ready to bolt out of that courthouse. And then I saw you... And what you said to me. I may have been weak, but you made me stronger. I didn't realize that until then."

Her fingers tremble as she takes my hands into hers. "You're my strength. My power, my energy, my everything. I was stupid not to realize it until now. I'm sorry for hiding it, but Cole has just always been a weight tied to my ankles, pulling me down. That rope was cut today. And you swam me back to the surface." She looks me in my eyes. Her hand come to my cheek, and it's then that I realize I had been crying. "I love you."

My heart stops beating.

My eyes have probably gone wide, I can't tell because I'm too busy staring at her. The woman I love. Who just told me she loves me. "You love me?" I say in a choked whisper.

She strokes my cheek as she whispers, "I've loved you for a while now, I'm just now saying it verbally, dummy," I cough out a laugh. She loves me. Fuck, she loves me.

"You love me," I whisper again, still trying to process those three words. She loves me, she loves me, she loves me.

She laughs out loud, the sound filling my heart to the brim, and I just stare. I love her and she loves me. "You just gonna stand there or..." I chuckle, shaking my head.

Then, in one swoop motion, I gather her into my arms, and take her to her bedroom.

"Do you have whipped cream?" I ask.

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Caden's POV

"Silas, I am not playing with you," I deadpan.

He smiles, amused. "Neither am I!"

God, he's such a liar. "Little liar. You can't stop laughing and smiling!" I accuse.

"I just love expressing my joy on my face," he quips back. I try to shake the smile that's threatening to form on my lips, but sadly, he notices. "See, you're smiling." He steps forward and his hand come forward to touch my waist, but I catch it.

"Nope, you can't get all touchy-feely without making a decision." He groans.

After releasing a deep (and dramatic) sigh, he states, "Okay, it looks like we're at an impasse. You want us to move in to your apartment and I want to move in to my penthouse. If neither of us are willing to concede, I propose a compromise."

Hm, this should be interesting. "And what may that be?"

He smiles. "We find a new place!" My dumbstruck look says it all. "No! Hell no! Silas, I am not moving again. I like my apartment. It's cozy and warm!"

Silas laughs when he sees me raising my voice again. God, for some unknown reason, he finds joy in my frustration. "Baby, I know you do. But, in my professional opinion, I would replace 'cozy and warm' with 'cramped and hot.'" My jaw drops. He is going to be killed.

I lunge forward to aim for his armpits, but he catches my pointed fingers. "Hey!" he protests, "no armpit poking, that is called cheating." He forces my fingers into one fisted hand, completely squishing my pointer fingers. "I don't care!" I try to yank my fingers back but to no avail.

"And your penthouse isn't all that great. It's wayy too big. There's so much space and it's only the two of us. It feels lonely and cold."

You may be thinking how crazy I am that I don't want to live in a multi-millionaire dollar penthouse, but, to be quite honest, there are very bad memories I associate with that penthouse. Not that I don't forgive him for those things, but still, I really don't want to move into something so spacious. I mean, what is the point to have that much if it's never going to be used!?

"Okay, that is why finding a new place is the best compromise. We can find something not too big, not too small. We can decorate it however we want. We'll have a big bedroom, a few "guest" bedrooms, a kitchen. Even a piano!"

I glare at him. Dammit, that is a good compromise. But I refuse to concede.

Silas notices that because he then says, "Okay, we'll flip a coin for it."

He waits for me to agree which I do, begrudgingly.

"Heads I win, tails you lose." A hint of a smirk plays on his lips.

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Silas's POV

We found the house. It was perfect. It was big, but cozy, furnished into a bit of a modern but homey type of vibe, and it had lots of flowers, something Caden really wanted, so of course, it had to have as many as we could buy. Which was a lot. And a piano. Can't forget that.

I'm not sure if she ever realized the coin flip trick but it's too late now. We're currently moving in, placing all of our clothes into our closet.

God, the bedroom is amazing. It has a great view of the San Francisco bridge and the bed, well, it's a bed, but it will also have its uses. The closet is a walk-in, my side on the right, her side on the left.

I notice that she has a lot of dresses. Like, a lot. I've seen her closet before and I don't recall that many dresses. They remind me a lot of the dresses she used to wear when she worked for me, in the beginning of our um, relationship. If you can even call that a relationship.

Whatever the case, I love the dresses, I love the closet, I love everything about the house. And I am going to live in it with the woman I love.

There are a few "guest" bedrooms that will most likely never be occupied other than my brothers and some of Caden's friends. I want to keep them clean though, for the future. You know, when that time comes.

I hope she wants that time to come, but I don't dwell on it too much. She doesn't want them, she doesn't want them. I'm content with just her.

I love her so much.

The ring in my pocket burns into my thigh. I don't know why I'm nervous but I am.

I don't have anything planned.

Like nothing.

I went to go to the nearby floral ship to buy her some flowers to celebrate us moving in together and buying a house when the thought just occurred to me.

I love her and she loves me and I don't see myself ever loving someone else. I want her and only her. I want us to have a family. I want to grow old with her. I want to fuss over the little baby Cadens running around the house, snitching on each other. And when the time comes, I want us to rest together. I just hope to God I'm the one to go first.

Damn. If I could see myself five years from now talking about all of this, I would have slapped myself.

And the ring. It's perfect. Absolutely perfect. It's delicate, and pretty, but not too showy. The shank is a peachy, rose gold color; the same color as the dress I bought for her at the ball. The center stone is beautiful; it shines in every light but I know it won't overpower her. It's just perfect. I took one look and knew it was the one.

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Caden enters our room, and I stand there, just staring. God, I love her.

"Hi," she says. She smiles and I just melt at that smile. I always do. "You okay?"

I nod. She doesn't even realize the thousands of words spinning around in my head, but the one that keeps repeating itself is I want to marry you, I want to marry you, I want to marry you.

She comes to me, a worried look on her face. "Are you sure?" She places a hand on my forehead. "You look pale. Do you have a fever?"

I shake my head.

"What's wrong?" She takes my hand and guides us to the bed, but I barely even notice it. I want to marry you.

I don't say anything. My heart is still beating out my chest, and the ring is still searing my thigh, and the words, God, there are no words to express what I feel for this woman.

And I don't have anything planned, for God's sake!

But I can't wait. I don't want to wait. I've waited too long for this woman, I refuse to wait one more second. "I want to marry you."

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