Party 'til you pass out / When the party's over

2.12

I got off the barstool and followed him back through the restaurant, stepping into the bright sunlight outside. It was a long way into the afternoon already, and the sun was warm and inviting. Oliver and I decided to go buy some groceries for dinner and head back home to take out the dogs for a long walk. All that time, we just talked randomly like we had always been able to before, until we were out in the hills and the wide sight of green and rocks made me fall quiet. I stopped walking and looked around, a soft May breeze catching my hair. It smelled like warm grass and upcoming summer, and I closed my eyes and enjoyed the familiar smell and the silent sound of nature in the wind.

'Ali?' Oliver's voice sounded from a distance, and I inhaled deeply again before opening my eyes. 'Are you okay?,' he asked while he came back to me. I nodded.

'I just... I guess I really missed being out here,' I muttered, looking around again. My eyes fell on the faint outlines of the house way back, half hidden behind a hill and some trees. 'I always thought that London was my home, but... Most of the time, I caught myself longing back to these hills when I was getting homesick on my travels around the world.' I was still looking back, but Oliver put his finger under my chin and made me look up at him.

'Home is where the heart is,' he muttered, staring into my eyes. 'And my heart has stayed with you.' I narrowed my eyes at the Deathbeds reference he made. He chuckled, then kissed me softly. For a moment all there existed was us, until Oskar jumped up against us and Oliver pulled away, laughing.

'For fuck's sake, Ozzie!' He picked the dog up and kissed him on his head. 'You jealous fuck.' I laughed and shook my head, walking down the hill. Oliver put Oskar down, and the dog ran away towards Luna, who was waiting impatiently a few yards along the path. 'Idiots,' he muttered under his breath. He came up to me and quietly took my hand in his, intertwining our fingers together. I looked up at him in surprise, but he just smiled and kissed the back of my hand before walking along without another word. We stayed silent for a long while, just enjoying the sun, being outdoors and each other's uncomplicated company for the first time in years again.

*

'Oh my God,' I muttered under my breath while watching Oliver press excessive moisture out of the tofu. He looked up at me.

'What?,' he just asked. I chuckled and shook my head.

'Nothing, I just realized something.' He threw me another look and continued pressing the tofu. 'You know, I have tried to make this dish myself a few times, but the tofu never turned out to be as crispy as yours.' He smiled at that but said nothing until he was done.

'Let me guess,' he started, wiping his hands on the kitchen towel. 'You never drained the tofu.' I softly shook my head and we both started laughing. 'Come on, Alison! That's like, tofu one-o-one!' He looked at me with an unbelieving look in his eyes.

'Obviously, but I just never realized.'

'How often have you seen me do this before?!,' Oliver still laughed.

'A lot of times, I guess I just... forgot about it after all that time,' I said, my words quieting down as his laugh did too at the realization of my words. 'It's - it's been a while.' Oliver pouted his lips and nodded.

'It is.' He came up to me and came to stand in between my legs while I still sat on the barstool at the kitchen island. His fingers softly put some hair behind my ear, his eyes studying my face. 'How long will it take before we are over that?'

'Over what?,' I whispered, my breath caught in my throat from sudden emotion.

'The time we've been apart.' I shrugged at that.

'I think we have to accept that it will always be a part of our story.'

'Fair enough. As long as our story has a happy ending,' he said.