Mistakes Were Made (Avengers/James Rhodes)

18. New Home

I landed the Quinjet in the yard. The ramp lowered as I grabbed our bags. Rhodey waited for me at the bottom at the ramp. I followed suit and led him to the house. I let Rhodey go first up the ramp, even opening the door for him.

I closed the door behind me. "I'll put our stuff in the room. Feel free to wander around."

I dumped our bags into the room, making sure they were out of the way. Before leaving, I sent a text to Dad to tell him we made it. I tucked it back into my pocket and went to find Rhodey. I found him in the living room.

"What do you think?" I asked.

Rhodey glanced at me. "It's nice."

"And?" I asked.

"It's far from the city," Rhodey answered. "Are we going to take the Quinjet every time?"

"Most likely," I replied. "Why?"

Rhodey shrugged. "It just takes an hour to get here and I have physical most days."

I waved my hand, heading for the door. "It'll be fine. I'll be outside with the horses."

"There are horses here?"

I threw a smile over my face. "Yeah. You can come join me if you want."

I went out to the barn and greeted the three horses we had. Nick had people come in every day to feed the horses but since Rhodey and I were moving in, they weren't needed.

I stopped at the first stall, greeting Quinnett, an all-black horse. She greeted me by pressing her nose against my outreached hand. I gently pet her nose, smiling. Quinnett was my favorite horse. She had a very quirky personality and favored me over anyone else.

"Hey," Rhodey greeted, causing me to jump.

I looked over to him. "Hey. Do you want to meet the horses?"

"Yeah, though I must admit I can't ride them," Rhodey replied, rolling closer.

"That's alright," I replied, looking back at Quinnett. "This is Quinnett. She's my favorite horse and she claimed me as her favorite as well." I walked over to the next stall. "Then there's Tinker, the white horse over here. He got his name because when he was a colt, he helped his previous owners with mechanical stuff." I went to the last horse. "And this is Granite. She's really shy."

Rhodey came up and reached out. Granite reached out and sniffed his hand before rubbing her snout against his hand. Rhodey smiled and started petting her.

"I think she likes you," I murmured, trying not to scare her.

Rhodey gently pet Granite. "I like her too."

"What do you want for dinner?" I asked as Rhodey pulled his hand away.

"I'll eat anything you make," Rhodey replied, looking up at me.

I smiled and started for the house. I walked slower than usual so Rhodey could keep up. Once inside, I started making enchiladas. Rhodey helped with what he could. We finished cooking and sat at the table.

"This is really good," Rhodey complimented. "You did a really good job."

"I had a lot of time alone so I had to learn how to cook," I replied.

Rhodey smiled a little, humor alight in his eyes. "I'm sure the first years were a disaster. I can imagine the fire department had to be called a few times."

I smiled, shaking my head. "That only happened once and that's a different story."

Rhodey swallowed his bite quickly. "You had the fire department called on you?"

I laughed. "Yeah. It's classified though so don't bother asking or pushing for more."

Rhodey watched me for a second before looking down at his plate. We finished dinner and I started cleaning the dishes. Rhodey went off somewhere. I finished up and found Rhodey by one of the floor to ceiling windows. He was watching the rain outside.

I came up to him and sat in his lap. Rhodey wrapped his arms around me, kissing my temple. I sighed as I rubbed Rhodey's arm. This was where I wanted to be. With Rhodey.

"You've never said you loved me," Rhodey murmured, still staring out the window. "Whenever I say I love you, you never say it back. Why don't you say it back?"

"I'm scared that you won't continue to love me," I replied. "That one day you'll stop because I'm not your type or I'm too young. That I'm not - not good enough. That's why I haven't said it yet."

"Do you?" Rhodey asked. "Do you love me?"

I sighed, breathing in. I did, I really did. I had loved Rhodey for a long time and I couldn't imagine what I would do without him. I had admitted it to myself before but not allowed.

"I do," I muttered almost inaudibly. Louder, I replied, "I do, Rhodey. I always have. I'm just scared to say so. I'm scared that you'll leave. I'm scared that I'm not the best person for you, that you'll find someone better. Or you'll want someone better."

Rhodey finally looked at me. "You're not perfect, Charlie. No one is. But I love you the way you are. I don't want anyone but you. You've been by my side for a long time. I love you."

I rested my head against his chest. "I do too."