Yankeegirl and Anne have got the right idea--a short, warm-n-fuzzy story is just what I need to cheer up. Thanks for the inspiration, guys!

"Universe" notes: This story takes place immediately following "The Air that I Breathe". For those who haven’t read it (and don’t want to bother), Jim is in Nevada on an internship and Trixie impulsively flies out from New York to see him.

The title comes from the song "Stay" by Lisa Loeb.

And I was also going to send Chapter 21 of GBTC too, but (GASP!) something went wrong with the file and it will NOT open. Thank heavens I printed it out, but this means I need to re-type it, so I’ll be posting it tomorrow. Fezzik the Cyber-Giant from Greenland must have eaten it, what can I say?

by Mary

 

Jim opened his eyes as the early morning sun streamed into the room, smiling a little as he thought about the amazing dream he had the night before--Trixie showed up, he proposed, she said yes, and then...

His heart caught as he heard the unmistakable ssscreeech! of the shower turning off in his bathroom, his smile turning into a grin as he remembered. It was no dream.

He slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as Trixie entered the room wearing his robe and doing that weird, graspy, fingers-through-the-hair thing that girls always did with their wet hair. "Thought I was dreaming for a minute there, but here you are," he said, taking her hand and pulling her down until she was half laying, half sitting across his lap. He put his arms around her and wondered why the same soap he used every morning smelled so incredibly different coming from her skin.

"Here I am," Trixie agreed, sliding her arms around him and closing her eyes. "But it feels like a dream." She had missed him so badly and needed him so much--it was going to be hard to return to school. "God, I don’t want to leave," she murmured, tucking her head in-between his neck and shoulder. She wondered if she concentrated hard enough she could soak up enough of him to last until Thanksgiving.

"Then don’t leave. Can’t your teachers just fax you copies of their lectures and let you test online?" he joked, feeling a stab as he let himself imagine that she could finish out the semester here, with him.

"Oh yeah, I’m sure they’d understand completely," Trixie retorted, kissing his neck and ear as he lowered them back down onto the pillows.

"You look great in this, but I think you’d look a lot better out of it, don’t you?" Jim said, starting to untie her robe.

Trixie wanted nothing more than to surrender to the moment, but a glance at the clock radio on Jim’s nightstand forced her to face reality. "Don’t tempt me--I have to be at the airport in an hour," she said sadly.

Jim froze. "What do you mean? You don’t have to be back to school until Monday, do you?" He doubted he’d ever be ready for her to leave, but an hour wasn’t bearable.

"I know, but I couldn’t afford the Sunday return," Trixie admitted.

Jim hugged her. "Is that it? We can just call the airline and get you on another flight. I’ll put it on my credit card."

Trixie frowned. "I can’t let you do that," she protested.

"Why not?"

"Because. Because it was my idea to do this and I wouldn’t feel right about it. That’s why." Trixie was adamant.

Jim groaned. "Trix, we’re going to get married. Who cares who’s paying for it?" He pulled her close and kissed her. "Besides, it may have been your idea to come here, but it’s my idea for you to stay longer, right?"

"Oh Jim, I don’t know..." Up until now, Trixie had managed to curb Jim’s generosity where she was concerned--she told him when they first became a couple that it would make her feel strange and awkward if he bought her extravagant gifts that she could never reciprocate and he’d reluctantly agreed. He admired her independent spirit, but sometimes it was hard not to give in to the temptation. Like now...

"Trixie, this isn’t a laptop or a diamond bracelet. Why are you being so stubborn?" He was aware that he was coming as close to whining as he ever got and he couldn’t care less. He needed her with him--the thought of her going away again was painful enough, but in an hour? No.

Trixie sighed and began to pull herself up. If she was going to stick to her guns she couldn’t very well sprawl across the body she could never get enough of. A pair of strong arms pulled her back down.

"Please Trixie. Please let me do this. I’m so damn homesick."

"So rent a Woody Allen film if you want to see New York so badly," Trixie murmured teasingly, secretly affected by the note in his voice.

"Not for New York, smart aleck." He tried to sound cavalier and failed miserably. He released her and sat back up, frustrated. "I wish you would stop treating me like I’m Richie Rich."

"Who?"

"You know--the comic book Richie Rich. He’s this wealthy kid who’s desperately in love with Wendy, who is..."

"Poor," Trixie finished flatly.

"Who has less money than he does," Jim corrected firmly. "But Richie doesn’t care because Wendy likes him for who he is. He understands that all the money in the world can’t buy what’s really important in life." He traced the curve of her chin with his finger. "It so happens that I have this really generous Dad, who I wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for you, by the way. And he insisted on giving me this credit card for school expenses. He’s the rich one, not me."

Trixie couldn’t resist teasing him when he was acting so seriously. "Well, I don’t think extending my plane ticket falls under that category, so..."

"The hell it doesn’t--this has a direct bearing on my sanity. If you leave in an hour, I’m going to go insane and then I’ll flunk out and it will be all your fault. So if you can live with it, then fine; I’ll get dressed and take you to the airport," he teased back, feeling a small flare of hope that she was changing her mind. She was stubborn, but so was he!

Trixie sighed noisily. "Jim..." The rest of her argument went unfinished as his lips came crashing down onto hers, catching her by surprise. Her mouth opened under his, her hands sliding up over his shoulders and circling his neck as her bones turned into water. The kiss went on for so long she was dizzy and weak by the time he lifted his mouth long enough to say one word. Stay.

"Is this how it’s going to be when we’re married? You’ll get me to do anything you want with your wicked ways? I don’t know about this!"

Jim’s heart soared as he realized she was giving in. "Does this mean you’ll stay?" he said, burying his face in her hair and softly kissing her neck.

I thought, "hey, I can leave, I can leave."
but now I know that I was wrong, ‘cause I missed you.

"Yes," Trixie whispered, losing herself to the moment. It’s hard to think about ethical considerations when heat roars through your blood, renaming your body until the only name it will answer to doesn’t exist in written language. When you love somebody so much that you would die for them in a heartbeat. "I’ll stay. Richie!" she couldn’t resist adding, melting into him until it was hard to tell where she ended and he began.