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"Why are you looking at me like that?" Valentina laughed, bumping her shoulder against Sebastian's as they walked together, their path illuminated only by the streetlights overhead.
"Like what?" He asked, returning the favour by bumping his own shoulder against hers.
"Like I'm the most beautiful person you've ever seen," she answered, watching him out of the corner of her eye. "Like suddenly everything makes sense to you— like it's all falling into place."
"Maybe because you are the most beautiful person I've ever seen," he responded. "Second only to our son, of course. Maybe everything does suddenly make sense to me. Maybe everything is falling into place."
"Yeah?" She hummed. "How come?"
"Because of you," he said, looking straight ahead now— towards the corner they were approaching. They were just one block away from their apartment. "Everything makes sense to me when you're around, but at the same time I'm so confused. I guess that's what happens when you fall in love with someone, huh?"
Valentina stopped walking despite the chill that was starting to seep into her bones, and just stared at him, mouth open around an unspoken question. All she could do was look at him, to watch his back as he took a few steps forward before stopping himself, turning around to face her, a soft, amused sort of smile on his lips. He looked so beautiful here, to her— he always did, but right now, in this moment, standing in the middle of the street with only a nearby streetlight to see him by, just seconds after he claimed to have fallen in love with her, he looked ethereal. He looked like he might have been a dream. If he was, she never wanted to wake up.
"You're— when you fall in love with someone?"
"Don't tell me you're surprised," he chuckled, coming back to stand before her, shrugging out of his suit jacket and wrapping it across her shoulders. "Val, I've been slowly but surely fall in love with you from the moment you told me you were pregnant— hell, maybe even before that. Maybe this whole thing started back when we first met, back in the club." He brought his hand up to rest on her cheek, letting his forehead fall against hers. "The moment I laid eyes on you, I thought you were the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. I'd watched your show, of course, but seeing you on the screen was nothing like seeing you in person, but I was put off because I thought you had a thing with Will— but then you smiled at me, and I thought 'to hell with it'. I was taking the risk, and I'm glad I did, because Val... Val, I can't imagine my life without you in it— you or Diego. I'm also one-hundred percent certain that even if you hadn't gotten pregnant, I would've done everything in my power to meet you again— to get to know you like I know you now, because this— this is the happiest I've ever been. So yes, when you fall in love with someone. That's what happens when I fall in love with you."
"I knew for certain that I was in love with you the first time you held Diego," she blurted. "I knew I had feelings for you before then, but I never knew just how deeply they ran until I saw you holding our son— Seb, you looked so happy, and my heart just... it just soared. You make me so happy, Sebastian. That's what happens when I fall in love with you."
He kissed her. But it wasn't like the one what felt like a lifetime ago— this was different. It wasn't powered by lust, or want. This one, this one was fuelled by love, by need. This kiss translated everything they left unsaid, it left nothing unsaid. Right here, in this moment, they were simply two people in love with each other— two people that would always be in love with each other.
