length: 1222 words
warnings: none
requested: yes, but i also wanted to write it anyway :)
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Monday
Lying back on your soft bed, you gazed out at the view of the city before reaching for your phone. Scrolling through your messages, you found Jeff's contact and pressed it. The last time the two of you had spoken was a year ago, a year after you left him in Buffalo to work in Sydney. Obviously you still followed everything he did even after you stopped contacting each other. You watched games whenever you could and still followed him and the Sabres on instagram. But really you just wanted to see how he was doing, whether he had moved on from you because you still couldn't go a day without thinking about him.
Deciding to call him, you gingerly raised the phone to your ear and listened to the monotonous beeping. "Please pick up," you whispered to yourself and almost instantly the incessant sound stopped and Jeff's voice filled your ear.
"Hi, (y/n)," he yawned into the phone but you could hear the smile behind it. There were just some things you couldn't ever forget.
"I'm so sorry for waking you up," you apologised, subconsciously running your fingers through your hair in nervousness.
"It's okay, (y/n), but can I ask why you're calling?"
"I just wanted to tell you that I'm moving back to Buffalo," you rushed out. How would he react? What if he had moved on? All these questions flew around your head while you waited for his response.
"Really?," he gasped out, unable to believe that you were finally coming home and hopefully coming back to him.
"Yes really, Jeff," you giggled and just like that the spark was back.
The two of you talked for hours, catching up on each other's lives and basking in your recovered connection. But you both knew what question you really wanted to ask. Jeff was the one that had the courage to ask first.
"Are you, you know, with anyone at the moment?" he whispered tentatively, afraid of what your answer could be but at the same time desperate to know.
"No," you replied softly, "I've been on some dates but no one was ever like you and I can't forget you. Are you?"
"God no, (y/n). I would rather be alone forever than be with someone that's not you. I still love you so much," his voice cracked slightly.
"I still love you, Jeff. I never stopped loving you. I'm so sorry that I left you."
"Don't ever be sorry for that. You were following your dream and from what I've heard, it was worth it. I told you then and I'm telling you now that I never wanted to get in the way of that. I never wanted to hold you back."
"I read your letter every single day," you cried quietly into the phone, overwhelmed by emotion.
"I still spray the pillow with your perfume," he chuckled in response and you smiled. He still knew how to make you feel better, even after two long years.
You continued to talk for several more hours until the yawns were more and more frequent and you both decided that you should sleep.
"I'm going to pick you up from the airport," Jeff said sleepily, "just text me all the details."
"Okay. Goodnight, Jeff."
"I love you," he smiled into the phone.
"I love you," you mirrored him before ending the call. It was like the two of you had never even been apart.
Thursday
Three days later, you were lugging your heavy suitcase through the airport and wishing you hadn't bought so many new clothes in Australia. Suddenly, your phone started ringing in your pocket and you fumbled for it before accepting the call.
"Hi, Jeff," you breathed out, grinning.
"Turn to your left," he ordered you cheerfully before hanging up abruptly.
Following through with his command, you spun on your heel, turning to the left. And there stood Jeff twenty metres away from you.
Letting out a small cry of joy, you dropped your luggage and ran towards him at full speed. When you finally reached him you jumped up, wrapping your legs around his waist while he stumbled slightly before balancing and placing his hands under your thighs.
"I missed you so much," you smiled into his neck.
"I missed you too, (y/n). There wasn't a day that went by when I didn't think about you," he breathed out, a few stray tears running down his cheeks. "I can't believe you're really here."
"I can't believe it either. I wasn't sure I would ever see you again," you whispered as he set you down gently.
"I would've come and found you," Jeff wiped away his tears.
A few hours later the two of you arrived back at his house and nothing had changed. There was still the rug you had picked when you moved in. There was still the dumb photo of you and Jeff after you had been paintballing; you were grinning wildly and there was paint haphazardly splattered on your clothing. There was still the faded yellow post-it note on the fridge which said 'I love you' in your neat cursive writing with a small heart drawn next to it. Everything was just as you had left it. However, the biggest surprise came after dinner.
You and Jeff were swaying slowly, arms wrapped around each other while soft music played from the speakers and the candles flickered, just like the night before you left.
"There's something I want to do," Jeff said quietly and you looked up at him. "I, uh, know you just got back and we haven't had a lot of time to talk but I've wanted to do this for a very long time. Since before you left actually but I never found the right time and it's one of the things I regret the most. But now you're back and I really can't wait any longer. I love you more than anything in the world. My heart still races when I look at you and I want nothing more than to be with you forever. If someone asked me several years ago whether I believed in fate and soulmates I probably would've laughed but now I know. I know that you're my soulmate and that we're meant to be together, no matter what. You're perfect for me. And that's why I need to ask you this," he stopped his speech to disentangle himself from you arms and he dug around in his pocket before getting down on one knee. You gasped quietly, tears springing to your eyes before you grinned at him and he smiled back up at you, eyes filled with love. "(y/n)," he started and slowly opened the box that was held in his hands, "will you marry me?"
"Yes, yes, yes!" you cried while nodding rapidly. "I really really want to marry you, Jeff."
He laughed and stood up, brushing away a few tears of his own before removing the ring and sliding it onto your finger. "(y/n) Skinner does have a nice ring to it," he whispered and placed his hands around your waist and leaned in, your faces centimetres apart.
"Yes, it does," you breathed out and closed the distance, pressing your lips gently to his.
