You, every time.

Word counting: 1362
Author's note: the rest of the chapters will return to just Maeve's perspective as before. The song above I think fits this scene perfectly. Happy reading!

Monday the 6th of March

It was the eight o'clock evening rush and Maeve hadn't had a moment of rest. She had been out the back filling up the stuffed croissants, but Jade had asked her to come out front for half an hour whilst she filled the rest of the French pastries. Both of them needed a break but they weren't going to get it any time soon. Thankfully, the small shop seemed to have cleared somewhat. Maeve grabbed a pasty bag and pushed the last pan au chocolat into it with the tongs.
"That will be four pound thirty five, sir," she told the dark-haired man in front of her. When he smiled at her and handed over the money,his brown eyes reminded her of Johnny's. The feeling that settled in her chest hurt more than she could ever explain to anyone.
The man left, as did the two couples on the back table within the next ten minutes, which cleared out the rest of the bakery. Maeve steadied herself against the counter and took a deep breath, wiping the sweat from her brow. Hastily, she redid her pony tail.
"Jade!" She called out to back, "we've got a clean store, I'm going out the front to get some fresh air,"
Jade stuck her head round the kitchen, "you go ahead, I'm just going to clean up, it's likes the inside of a coke addict's nose back here with all this white powder," Maeve laughed and made her way to the door. The bell gave a gentle ring as she left.

The winter weather were still rolling through the beginning of March, so cold wind whipped at her shoulders and the sky was fully ripened in its darkness. The windows of the bakery glowed a soft gold and illuminated the area outside, but not by much.
"Have I told you how good you look in that apron my love," a gruff voice said behind her, causing her heart rate to spike - it was Mr Clarkenwell, the regular who always told her how pretty she was.
"I've told you before Mr Clarkenwell," she said, not turning to look at him, "I'm not interested in you," on the final part of her statement, she turned on her heels to look the man in the eye. Her heart stopped beating. Her breath hitched in her throat. Maeve's stomach did somersault after somersault.
"Are you sure about that?" Johnny asked in his normal voice this time. He was wearing his work clothes, although she remembered that he had been fired nit so long ago, so perhaps he had been at an interview. His red tie was significantly loosened and he had lost his blazer, leaving him in just his white shirt. The sleeves were lazily rolled up and his hair was slightly ruffled.
"Johnny," she croaked, the words getting trapped in her throat.
"How have you been?" He walked a little closer to her, but stopped a metre short of her form.
"It's only been five days," she reminded him.
"Shittiest five days of my life so far, don't know about you," he smiled a sad smile.
"I was in a house fire, Johnny," Maeve reminded him.
"Oh sorry, I forgot about that," he replied awkwardly. A silence sat in the air for a few moments and Maeve inspected her shoes before looking up at him.
"And this, this was far shittier than that ever was," she returned his smile slightly and Johnny almost looked relieved to see it again.
"I'm sorry I was so blind, Vee," he murmured, "I'm sorry I've been... well a dick really."
Maeve shook her head, "it's okay, really it is," even as she said this her heart was sinking - this didn't feel like a confession, more like he was coming to apologise. Maeve didn't want an apology.
"No. No it's not okay. I- I spoke to my brother," he seemed to be getting more confident with every word but he still stayed rooted to the spot, "I spoke to my brother and he knocked some fucking sense into me. He told me to figure out if I loved you. And I'm going to be honest with you Vee, when you told me, I wasn't sure if I felt the same," Maeve felt the knot in the pit of her stomach twist, "but then I got home. And the phone rang. I let it go to voicemail and it was a man called James, he wanted to meet you for a drink,"
Maeve reached out her hands, quickly trying to find the words to apologise: "Johnny I'm so sorry I gave him the home line because I didn't know my mobile number by heart and-"
"No it's okay, Vee. I'm not looking for an apology. You have every right to give your number to anyone you choose. But the moment I heard his stupid voice, I imagined you going on a date with him. Then I imagined you falling in love with him, and bringing him to meet me and Adam and my parents and yours. Then I saw you in a white dress walking down the aisle towards him and it made me feel sick to stomach. And that told me everything I needed to know. I can't sit by and watch you fall in love with anyone else, I couldn't bear it." He walked towards her and reached out and took her hands in his. His skin against hers was everything she had been craving, "and if I had to choose between my life with you and my life without you... it's you, Maeve. It's you, every time."
And he kissed her.

Maeve had never felt a kiss like this before. It was like their souls were as intertwined as their bodies were. He ran his fingers all through her hair and then straight down her back, their torsos were flush to one another so they could be no closer than they were in the moment. Johnny slowly ran his tongue over her lips, asking for permission which she eagerly granted. Maeve gripped onto his bicep with one hand and ran her fingers down his chest with the other. He was warm, so warm. The smell of him was engulfing her, the musk of his cologne and everything else including his taste - it was overwhelming. The kiss broke but their foreheads remained pressed together, breaths intermingling.
"So," Maeve gasped out, "you don't just want sex?"
Johnny looked down, embarrassed, "I wish every word of what I said before could be erased from your mind. God was I really so stupid to think I could stop myself from falling in love with you?" Before Maeve could reply to those sensational words, he was kissing her again. She was swept up in his arms and spun around, toes leaving the ground. Maeve grinned against his lips, a smile filled with everything she had always wanted.
"I love you, Johnny Goodman," she murmured into his mouth as they broke apart again.
"I love you too, Vee, more than you will ever know," he pressed a small kiss to her nose as the girl giggled quietly.

"So does this mean you're going to make me lock up tonight?" Maeve turned, abruptly breaking away from Johnny to see Jade hanging out of the bakery door and sending her a playful grin.
"Jade, I'm sorry, I-" Maeve began but she interrupted.
"Don't worry about it, I like a romantic comedy as much as the next twenty-something woman," Maeve shook her head at the girl and felt a blush pepper her cheeks, "you get him girl," she called as she walked back inside, "just don't start doing it up against the glass, I know what Londoners can be like,"
Once she was back inside, Maeve turned to Johnny and he pulled her in and began kissing her again.
"You really can't get enough can you?" She murmured into his lips. He smiled a teasing smile and pressed his mouth up against the shell of her ear:
"Let me take you home and show you just how much I need you hm?" He said in a low voice which caused her to shiver with anticipation. Maeve nodded and interlocked his fingers with her own.