dustofstars | for endingpoint

"Yeah," she says with a relieved smile, taking the spoon and fixing a plate for herself before sitting with him, right next to him. "I didn't stick around because I wanted to do this for you," Taylor admits softly, raising her head to look at him.

"It really...it means a lot to me," he smiles at her, pausing just to hold her gaze for a moment. No one's ever done this for him before her. He takes a few bites and then just asks her how she's doing, how her day was, wanting to not think about the case he just wrapped up.

She happily talks to him about the little random things she did, and as she talks, slowly, one hand makes it to his free hand, fingers lightly moving over his wrist. She wants him to know she's okay with this, that she's good with taking these steps together.

It takes his breath away a little when she does that and he smiles, shifting his hand so he can lace their fingers together. It feels good, just to have this connection for a moment.

When they're done eating, she smiles softly and then squeezes his hand. "You look like you're about to fall asleep right here, and I don't think I can carry you. Go to sleep. I'll take care of putting everything away," Taylor promises.

He's exhausted and he doesn't even realize until she says something that his eyes are nearly half-closed. "Yeah," he sighs a little, letting his head tilt back for a moment. "Long day," he murmurs softly. For a moment he just sits there, a soft smile on his face. And then his eyes just close for a second and his head drops forward, but he catches himself, shaking it off.

"Yeah, time for bed," he chuckles, rubbing a hand over his face and standing up.

She can't help but smile and leans in to kiss his forehead. She doesn't even think about it, it just happens once they're standing, and then she pulls back, looking at him like she wonders if that was okay, like she wants to apologize, eyes wide.

He loves that, even just a light kiss, and he's quick to assure her by kissing her forehead in return. He's missed that, missed being touched by her in some way. "Thank you again. Dinner was perfect."

"You're welcome," she says with a soft smile, relaxing. "Goodnight, Kurt."

She cleans up their dinner, putting the leftovers away. She's not really that tired, so she sits on the couch to watch a movie, then winds up falling asleep under a blanket without meaning to, curled up on the couch.

In the morning when he wakes up, he feels rested, a little more relaxed, and he gets some coffee brewing. He notices the television is still on and he goes to check, smiling when he sees Taylor laying there. Kneeling in front of her, he rests his hand lightly on her cheek, kissing her forehead.

"Hey, sleepyhead."

Letting out a soft breath, she hums softly, then realizes he wouldn't be in her room waking her up as far as she knows. So, blinking open her eyes, she realizes she's on the couch and smiles sheepishly. "I guess I was more tired than I thought when I sat down here last night after you went to bed."

He smiles softly, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear. "At least it was comfortable." He stands up then, folding his arms over his chest. "Want some coffee and breakfast?"

"Please," she says with a soft nod, smiling and sitting up. "How did you sleep?" she asks him softly as she stretches, yawning.

"Good," he smiles softly, making his way to the kitchen. He pours her a cup of coffee, making it exactly the way he knows she likes it. And then he returns to the kitchen, cooking up scrambled eggs and sausage patties. Once everything's cooked, he brings out two plates so they can eat together on the couch.

She's inundated for some reason, with thoughts of kissing him, with making him whisper her name against her ear. But she shakes it off by the time he sits beside her and she thanks him for the breakfast.

"What do you like to do on your off days?" she asks him curiously. "I know we've spent a lot of time together, but...not..." She tries to find the right words. "Not when we've know we want to spend off days together, maybe."

Taylor's hoping she's not assuming too much, or encroaching on time he usually takes to decompress.

He smiles, understanding what she's trying to ask without saying too much. "I stick around here, go to the movies sometimes, head to the gym for some boxing. Sometimes I just get out of town, away from the city."

"Were....do you go when you go away?" she asks, feeling a little like she could use that break, but only if he wants it, too.

"Sometimes out to the mountains, further north." He looks over at her; since she's asking so many questions, he assumes she'd like to maybe get away for a little while.

"I could take you somewhere. The two of us."

"I didn't want to aks, in case you wanted to be alone, I....don't want to impose or..." She trails off, because she does, God, she wants to spend time with him but she doesn't know if she's hurting him or not by being around him. She knows he loves her, but she doesn't know what he really wants, so unsure of herself.

"Being with you - that's all I want," he says softly, squeezing her hand. And he wonders if he should take her back to those hot springs, if she would want that. "There's a place you and I went to a few months ago. Up in Vermont. There was a cabin and hot springs but the hot springs-" He clears his throat, shaking his head. "I know it sounds crazy but the hot springs made us...they changed us. When we were there, we thought we were married, we had these memories we'd never lived through. But after that, we fell in love."

Taylor looks at him in disbelief, almost wanting to go just to see how in the hell that even works.

"I want to go," she says definitively. "If that's what helped us the first time, I want to go."

There's a selfish part of him truly longing for this, for when they're in the hot springs and their memories will shift and she'll kiss him again. She'll love him again.

"It's just a few hours to drive up there. If you wanted to go today, stay overnight, we could," he offers.

Taylor nods, reaching out for his hand and stepping closer. "I want to. I want that, Kurt."

He just stands there for a moment, holding onto her. Then he nods with a small smile and they get a bag of things together for an overnight trip. In less than an hour, they're on the road to Vermont. The ride there is nice, with the two of them just talking and listening to music. Once they get to the cabin and unpack a little, Kurt reaches for her hand.

"Ready for the hot springs?"

She's a little nervous because she doesn't know what to expect, but Taylor nods, holding onto his hand and smiling softly. "I'm ready. Excited," she admits, because she's just so curious. Walking with him, she lets him get in first, waiting for him to tell her the water's fine.

for endingpoint

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