Bobby practically sped back to the apartment, not wanting to waste another moment. The bar was good, much less tiring on him, and the tips weren't anything small to complain about. Turned out girls still liked him as much as they did in high school. Only difference was he actually got paid for it and it didn't matter much to him, not when the love of his life was waiting for him.

In short, life was good.

He bounded up the stairs and found you by the door, your arms crossed on your chest as you shrugged. "No one's home."

"Perfect," Bobby replied in a sigh as he walked straight to you, his hands painfully impatient to find the comfort of your cheeks and your hips and your hair and all that he loved, which was quite easily everything.

He stood close to you, not sure whether he wanted to stand and just take a moment to look at you in the very second he was happier than he'd ever been in a while or to just kiss you. He chose both.

He wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you into a kiss that you easily accepted with no reluctance. Your hands pulled on his hoodie so he was as close to you as he could've been. Your lips were so vivid in his memories, but this kiss meant and revealed so much more than what his memory supplied him. Between kisses, he pulled away slightly just to keep track of your eyes, the way they shined in a way that could only mean love, and he couldn't help but smile and only be driven to kiss you much more desperately each time further than the last.

"I love you," he mumbled against your lips. "I'm sorry. I love you."

"Me too," you replied in a sigh as you leaned against the door. "Don't leave again."

"I won't," Bobby promised. "I need you. I barely survived without you."

You wrapped your arms around his back and hugged him, burying your face into the crook of his neck. Initiating affection was usually his doing, but this was something you felt you needed to do and had needed to do for ages. To tell him that you loved him desperately and that as tightly as you wrapped your arms around him, you'd be willing to hang on for him. He didn't need to feel any hesitation because you would be there.

"When you said you hated me, you didn't mean it, right?" you asked, your breath on his neck, your lips on his skin.

"Not a single word," Bobby replied, bringing your face in his hands. "If you can trust me, trust that everything I've said is a lie."

You nodded and sighed with that blank sort of Ahri expression, only it said a lot more than nothing. It said everything. You set your palm on his cheek, and while it was cold, it was a calm to all of the heat in his life. It stabilized him when everything seemed so hectic.

"I just want you to be you again," you replied quietly, your eyes on his. Bobby hoped you had found in them what you were searching and hoping to find.

"Help me," Bobby replied as he closed his eyes and thought about the cold in your hands, the warmth in your voice, the everything in you. "I can't do it without you."

You smiled when he reopened his eyes and you even chuckled a little. "Now that's the Bobby I know. Completely in love with me. Shameless in every word."

Bobby smiled and cocked his head to the side as he tenderly combed a hand through your hair. "It's my purpose in life."

///

Your back hit the bed, enveloped by pillows and sheets and the folds in Bobby's fingers and palms. You'd never felt so loved so much in your life.

You moved his hand to your lips and kissed each finger, each knuckle, and reminded him that every part of him was loved, even the parts that seemed so insignificant. That was what it was all about. Healing him while loving him.

He pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it aside, his bangs messed by the urgency. You laughed and ran your fingers through it, letting the tips of them slide down his jaw. He was love. Without him, it was impossible to feel it at all.

"I missed you," you whispered, the constant thought following every one of his actions. You felt as though you needed to remind him of it constantly, so he knew how important and essential he was in your life and in your happiness. He thought your life could go on without him, but he couldn't have been more wrong.

"I missed you more," he mumbled, his voice rough as he kissed you, his fingers sliding up your jaw to cradle the back of your head, threaded in your hair.

"No, that's not possible," you whispered, so softly it couldn't be heard without knowing it was so true in your thoughts.

///

You woke up the following morning tucked into Bobby's chest, his fingers combed in your hair as he cradled your head close to him. It was only now that you realized how long it had been since you'd woken up feeling safe and happy. You smiled tiredly as you brushed his bangs from his eyes and observed the serenity in his expression. It felt good to be held by him again and to hold him just as tenderly.

Bobby sensed you wake up -- he could always sense even the slightest change in your movents -- and he automatically held you tighter to his chest so you knew he had no hesitation to let go anytime soon. He felt, if anything, he was the one who had to compensate for lost love. Although it seemed you had been trying more than him in this entire fair, he prided himself in the belief that in this relationship, he was the one who loved more and wanted to make sure you knew it at every second. Of course you could debate otherwise, but it was agreed to disagree.

He rested his chin on the crown of your head and snuck a palm under your shirt -- his shirt -- to rub up and down the warmth of your back.

"I missed this," he mumbled tiredly.

"Me too," you replied into his chest as you sighed contentedly at his warm palms, now wrapped in fists as he dragged his knuckles down the pebbles of your spine. "Never leave me again. I'm not built for it."

"Trust me, I'll be the best boyfriend from now on," Bobby replied as he kept his eyes closed, soaking in the affection you were giving him. It was a rarity when you dated, but now it seemed you were giving it so freely and without hesitation. He smiled. "In a month you'll complain I'm too clingy and you'll know I love you more."

"You better be clingy," you replied as you began to fall asleep again. With the night you and Bobby had, there wasn't... much sleep involved. You yawned lightly and felt content with the fact that even your legs were tangled in his. "I need you all to myself. You're mine."

Bobby laughed airily as he opened his eyes and looked down at you, just to catch your expression. "I like when you get possessive. It makes me feel important."

You rolled your eyes and lifted yourself from his chest so you were sitting up, the sheets pooled at your waist. Your hair cascaded messily around you and of course Bobby just had to fix it for you, though he wasn't doing a very good job at it because he made sure not to take too much away from what he considered to be a beauty that'd be a crime to erase. He noticed the change in your expression -- your eyes more awake and focused on his. "What is it?"

"I just missed you," you replied with an unguardedly relieved sigh. "You're a great boyfriend, terrible ex-boyfriend."

"Good thing I'm never going to be your ex-boyfriend again," Bobby replied. He sighed, shaking his head tiredly as he sunk into the pillows. "I really was terrible, wasn't I? Is there a chance you'll forget that anytime soon?"

You shrugged as you got up. "I don't know. You'll have to make it up to me. It was a dark, dark time without you."

Bobby frowned from the comment, but was immediately compensated when he watched you limp to the mirror, his shirt crinkled at your back as you tied up your hair. It was a sight he wouldn't mind seeing for the rest of his lifetime and into the next.

He helplessly cocked his head to the side and ran a hand through his hair, knowing it was beyond a quick brush through. "What are you getting dressed for? Come back to bed."

You stopped tying your hair and let it fall back down your back as you turned around and