Sunshine Kisses

‘Dad, why are you making my girl cry?’ Having finally extracted himself from his mother, Erik pulled her towards him and placed a gentle kiss on her hairline.

She was grateful for the interruption. How did one even respond to a speech like that?

After a briefer goodbye to Peter than his wife, his words continued to play in Abby’s head as she nestled into Erik’s side on the train.

‘What did my dad say to you?’ he asked as they began rolling through the golden countryside.

Abby shrugged. It felt too personal a moment to relay fully. ‘Just that he’s happy we’re finally together, really. What did your mum say that had you blushing?’

Erik dragged his bottom lip between his teeth, suddenly very interested in the scenery beyond the window. ‘That I shouldn’t wait too long to make an honest woman of you. I’m so glad she isn’t coming on way too strong on day three of our relationship.’

‘Ah,’ Abby said, her heart jumping into her throat. She could have let it go, but she knew where this was going for her. Wanted him to know too. ‘I know it’s early,’ she began, her voice careful, ‘too early, really to be talking about this. But this relationship also isn’t exactly normal.’ She smiled nervously as Erik’s head whipped back towards her. ‘I meant what I said in your hotel room. I’m in this for the long haul. It feels like we wasted so much time because we were scared to acknowledge where this was going. I don’t want to be scared anymore. So yes, when we’re ready, I want us to have all those other things.’

Erik’s eyes clouded over with emotion, and when he leaned in to kiss her—slow and deep and perhaps slightly inappropriately for a moderately crowded train car—she determined it was good. A loud cough carried over the aisle, making them break apart with an embarrassed laugh.

‘You want to have my babies, Sunshine?’ Erik teased softly, his fingers still tangled in her hair.

‘If you want,’ she whispered. ‘People seem very invested in those babies.’

‘I’m invested in those babies,’ he rasped, scraping his nails lightly over her scalp and grinning as her eyes rolled back. ‘I was going to save this for—’ He stopped suddenly and shook his head, cheeks going pink. ‘Nevermind. You know how I said your locket didn’t have a key? That may have been a small untruth.’ He retrieved his wallet and dug in the coin pouch for a second before pulling out a tiny gold key. ‘Do you remember your cousin’s wedding when we were seven? You wore a little pink dress and we danced in the garden and—and you made me wait at the end of the aisle while you practised walking down towards me. When we went to school on Monday, we had to write a few sentences about our weekend. I couldn’t bring myself to hand it in, and I kept that little scrap of paper for years,’ he handed her the key, ‘until I put it in that locket last week.’

Heart pounding, Abby looked down and delicately inserted the key in the lock. The charm clicked open and a tiny scroll tumbled into her lap. She unfurled it to find the messy, blocky scrawl of a young Erik:

I went to a wedding with Abby’s family. She was the prettiest girl there.

I’m going to marry her one day.

Lips trembling, Abby smiled up at him. ‘Why do I keep ending up crying in your arms?’

‘Because that’s always where you belong, tears or not.’ Erik wiped the offending drops from her cheeks, so much love radiating from his face. ‘But I’m working on making sure they’re always the good kind.’

‘If we hadn’t already been chastised, you’d be getting kissed so hard right now,’ she said softly.

Erik leaned in close and whispered, ‘I don’t care,’ before pressing his lips to hers once more.

‘Sarah, we’re home!’ Abby yelled as she stepped through the front door.

Erik dragged himself over the threshold behind her. ‘If you’re going to insist on travelling with this many books, we’re moving into a building with a lift when we get a place together,’ he panted, heaving their bags down the hall towards her bedroom.

Abby’s laugh echoed through the flat as she approached Sarah’s door. ‘You didn’t have to carry all of them.’

‘Yes, I did.’ His resigned sigh floated back down the hall.

Her flatmate’s closed door had a scrap of paper taped to it, and Abby’s smile grew as she took in the familiar writing and continued on to Erik. The last time he’d been in her bedroom, they’d both been dating other people, and unspoken boundaries had been firmly in place. He had looked around quickly, said he liked it, and retreated to the safety of shared public space. But seeing him stand in the middle of her room, it hit her how perfectly he fit. How much of him was in the space, however unintentionally. Currently, his attention was occupied by the large cork board covered in selfies, awkward photos before school dances, stubs from concert and movie tickets, and notes they’d passed in class. It topped a glass-fronted cabinet stuffed with bizarre trinkets and statues he’d helped her pick out over countless holidays, as well as gifts he’d brought back from work trips. There were three stuffed animals on her bed. All had been won by him.

Erik turned when Abby’s sandals clicked onto the hardwood floor. ‘You know, this shrine makes me feel slightly less of an obsessive creep for pining after you all these—oh,’ he breathed as he took her in.

She’d loosened the tie of her dress after finding Sarah’s note, letting the red fabric part to reveal her white slip. The hotel had charged an exorbitant dry cleaning fee. The way Erik was staring at her made it feel worth every penny. ‘Where’s Sarah?’ he asked, voice low.

‘She left a note on her bedroom door,’ Abby said, holding it out to him. She had already memorised it.

Dearest Abigail,

I feel I’ve been a bad daughter and not seen my parents in far too long, so I’ve gone to stay with them for a few days. See you and Erik for brunch on Sunday?

All my love,

Your bestest friend ever (Erik got a promotion; I should too, no?)