Lee knew it wasn’t just the Mets…that was good.

Really good. If she hadn't known that by now, Tarin didn’t know what he would have done.

Sure, there had been some really low points over the last several months. But all of the good things vastly overshadowed those low points. Every time there had been a low point, Lee had been there to go through it with him.

She had never shied away from the bad things, had always had a solution to try for every problem, and just knowing she was going to be there made the bad things not so bad.

Lee kissed him and Tarin kissed her back, leaning into her hand as she laid it against his cheek.

Lee wished he’d had more happy in his life and he shrugged, leaning his forehead against hers.

“Wasn’t all bad.” he said softly, it just hadn’t been good ”And honestly, I didn’t know, so it doesn’t matter…”

It was silly to do all this talking right now though, Tarin thought and leaned in for another kiss. A thought occurred to Tarin though and he found himself grinning as they kissed before he pulled away just a little.

“Playoffs…yay!” he said with a little laugh.

They were sitting on the couch rather than standing, in each other's arms, but Lee still loved it when Tarin leaned his forehead against hers like that, and she smiled as her thumb rubbed on his cheek slightly. Lee couldn't even explain why she liked it so much. They were close when he did it, yes, but they weren't kissing. At the same time, with Tarin's forehead against hers, he was far too close for her to actually be able to see him clearly. By all rights, she should want him to either be closer (and kissing her) or farther away.

Then Tarin spoke. Lee knew that it hadn't all been bad when he was on his own in New York. Both this one and on the other side of the rift. But he thought that it didn't matter he hadn't really been happy, because he hadn't realized what he didn't have, and Lee's smile faded a bit. Maybe he hadn't realized at the time what he had been missing out on, but that didn't stop Lee from wishing that he had had more good things, more happy times in his life.

Tarin closed the small space between them before she was able to respond he was kissing her again. Lee's hand was just starting to slide from Tarin's cheek to the back of his head as she returned the kiss when Tarin pulled away to speak.

Lee laughed, possibly more than Tarin had, and she shook her head slightly. "Yes, they made the playoffs," she replied. "Now, about that celebration…" As she finished speaking, Lee leaned in to kiss Tarin again.

It really didn’t matter, Tarin thought, even as Lee’s face fell a bit. He’d been fine he’d done well enough. At some points Tarin had hung out with people. He’d dated here and there. He’d managed. Looking back now though, it was obvious to Tarin that he hadn’t been happy. There may not have been a way for him to be happy in the other world. Too much had happened there, there had been too many layers of screwed up to come back from. Too many possibilities for disaster.

Being here had made him want to try after a while. To see if it was possible for him to do something other than be alone.

Lee’s hand was still on his face and Tarin turned his head to kiss her palm as she laughed and acknowledged that the Mets were going to the playoffs, but Lee wasn’t thinking about baseball anymore.

She had moved on to the celebration part of the afternoon and Tarin was more than happy to join her as she leaned in for another kiss.

Wrapping his arms around Lee, Tarin sat back, pulling Lee into his lap right there on the couch. If this was how they were going to celebrate, they might as well get comfortable.

There really was no reason for it. Lee's hand was already on Tarin's face, so she already had the tactile sensation of the touch as well as the sensation of energy flowing through the contact. But when Tarin kissed the palm of her hand, a shiver ran through Lee's body.

God, it was amazing what little things Tarin did were able to do to her.

As she leaned in for another kiss Tarin met her part way as he wrapped his arms around her.

And pulled her up onto his lap.

A soft, surprised sound escaped from Lee as Tarin moved her. Tarin didn't do things like that often, but damn she loved it, and as she was settling into his lap, Lee leaned into Tarin, deepening the kiss as her hand slipped into his hair, her other arm wrapping around his neck.

Watching baseball with Tarin was all well and good, but this was so much better.

The little surprised sound that Lee made as she let Tarin pull her into his lap made him grin again as they kissed.

Logistics were logistics though, and kissing while wearing hats was not the easiest thing to do. So as Lee got settled (a delightful thing in and of itself), Tarin loosed his arms for just a moment so he could remove his hat and toss it onto the coffee table, then did the same with Lee’s.

Logistics out of the way, Tarin wrapped his arms back around Lee and pulled her close even as her arms wrapped around his neck and that hand moved into his hair. It didn’t matter, in the least, how many times she had done that exact thing, it still caused goosebumps to break out down his neck and over his shoulders.

The second game didn’t matter now. Not at all. Even if it had, for once baseball was the absolute last thing on Tarin’s mind.

Tarin had just pulled her onto his lap and now he was pulling his arm away from her. Lee started to get a little annoyed by that, until her fingers hit the back of Tarin's hat a moment later as her hand moved into his hair. Only for the hat to disappear a moment later, followed by her hat.

That beginning of annoyance instantly disappeared, and Lee's hand tightened in Tarin's hair.

Baseball may have been the last thing on Tarin's mind, but it was now completely out of Lee's mind. All she was really thinking about was the man whose lap she was sitting on.

After a while, Lee pulled back slightly, kissing her way along Tarin's jaw. "I love you," she murmured as she reached his ear. "Have I said that?"

The instant that his hat was gone, Lee’s hand was in his hair and Tarin’s breath caught a little as it tightened there and he leaned more into the kiss, one arm tightening around Lee’s waist to pull her closer, the other moving up to her hair.

It was up because she’d been wearing the ball cap, but he wanted it down, wanted to run his hands through it, wanted to see it down around her shoulders. Since she was in his lap, they were eye to eye and as he pulled the tie free from Lee’s hair and tossed it…somewhere they’d find later he did exactly what he’d been thinking and let his fingers tangle there at approximately the same time Lee broke the kiss.

Slight confusion sparked in Tarin’s eyes but a brief moment later they slipped shut, a low little sound escaping him as she kissed along his jaw and she spoke. Words…words were really difficult right now, but as Lee made her way to his ear, Tarin shuddered and he took a shaky breath to say, voice low and a little rough, ”Yes…but don’t stop saying it…I love you too.” he said, hoping that it all came out as words and not just a jumbled and shaky mess.

Lee's breath caught in her throat as she felt Tarin's hands pulling the elastic out of her hair. Not that that action felt that good, but Lee knew what was coming if Tarin was pulling her hair down.

A moment later as Tarin's hand did slide into her hair, Lee moaned softly and melted against Tarin as she started kissing along his jaw. And shuddered again when she heard the sound that Tarin made.

This, her reactions to Tarin, were intense. They were just kissing. They had only just started kissing, and this was how she was reacting to his touch, to even just the sounds that he was making.

Then he responded to her. God…was Tarin reacting as strongly as she was? It was true that things just seemed to continued to get better and better between them.

Based on how his voice sounded, he was.

Pressing her body even closer against his, Lee started kissing down his neck. "Never…I love you," she said between kisses. "So much."

How…how did this happen? They’d been over it again and again in similar situations, but Tarin simply didn’t understand how just a few kisses, a few simple touches, could have him feeling like his heart was going to jump right out of his chest.

Every kiss, every sound that he managed to get from Lee as his fingers ran through her hair, the words she said as she kissed down his neck, it all just intensified what he was already feeling, what he always felt when they were like this.

Lee said she loved him again, loved him so much and that she’d never stop saying it and Tarin, who had spent so much of his life trying so hard not to feel anything, almost didn’t know what to do because right that moment he was feeling everything and feeling it so deeply that he desperately hoped Lee meant what she said because he knew at this point that he’d be ruined without her.

Words wouldn’t form though, and if they’d been able to, Tarin knew he’d have never been able to find the right ones to say that in a way that made any kind of sense. Not without messing it up in that way that always seemed to just make Lee embarrassed or disbelieving. Like by the lake the night of their date on the rooftop, or countless other times…

How was he even thinking about all of this? Tarin didn’t know because his mind felt fuzzy and he was breathing heavy and, god…how was this possible?

His arm was tight around Lee’s waist and he wanted more, but he also didn’t want to let go of her, so he settled for slipping his hand under the hem of her shirt, his thumb rubbing along her ribs as he gently tugged with the hand in her hair to try andbring her head up for another kiss.

They really hadn't even done anything yet, but Lee's heart was pounding as she slowly trailed kisses down the side of Tarin's neck. Her hand still tight in his hair.

But then she felt Tarin's hand slip under her shirt, and the moment his skin touched hers, goosebumps spread out as she shivered.

It always felt good when he touched her, but this…

This was almost too much. Not only was there how good his hand felt on her side, his thumb moving against her ribs continuing to give her goosebumps, but there was also the energy moving into her, and his very touch almost seemed electric.

In an amazingly good way.

"Oh god…" Lee moaned as she felt Tarin's hand pulling her hair. Lee let Tarin's hand move her head, pulling it up for a kiss, which Lee dove right into.

That gentle tug had the desired effect and as Lee moaned and lifted her head Tarin met her halfway for the kiss.

That kiss…

In their time together, Tarin and Lee had shared some kisses. The night after the bar when Lee had told him not to stop, that day in the shop when they were supposed to get dinner, the night Lee had baked the blueberry pie…

This might not have been better than those kisses, but it was definitely going on the list. The list that played on repeat in Tarin’s head sometimes.

Tarin thought he could probably stay like this forever, but he also wanted more…needed more. God, did he make her feel half of what he felt? Tarin hoped so, leaning forward into Lee as they kissed, his other hand joining his first in her hair, holding her to him.

Tarin had pulled her head back just enough that he was able to lean in and kiss her again. And while she had happily, eagerly dove into that kiss, she wasn't the only one.

Their earlier kisses had been intense, as had even the simplest touch since those first kisses.

Those kisses were like a flashlight compared to the brightness of the sun. A shudder ran through Lee's entire body as she moaned against Tarin's mouth, her once hand tightening in his hair as her other gripped his shoulder.

Even if she had wanted to, and even if her brain was working properly she would be hard pressed to think of any reason to stop, Lee wasn't sure she could at that point.

Then she felt Tarin's second hand moving back into her hair.

Suddenly, Lee needed Tarin. She needed him closer. She needed more. Her hand finally releasing his hair, her hands stopped down to grab his shirt, pulling it up.

More skin was a start, but Lee knew it wouldn't be enough.

It was a testament to how things were going that by this point Tarin had completely forgotten that there had even been a baseball game. His attention was so focused on the hand in his hair, the body pressed against his, and that kiss that Tarin may have struggled to remember his name at this point and they were just kissing.

His hands were tangled in Lee’s hair and even as she moaned into his mouth that hand in his hair tightened and Tarin suddenly needed more. They had time…all the time in the world, but that didn’t matter because right now was all that mattered.

Lee apparently had a similar idea because her hand left his hair and suddenly he could feel cool air on his skin as Lee pulled up his shirt. To get the shirt off they’d have to break the kiss, Tarin would have to take his hands out of Lee’s hair. That was only going to happen once, so as Lee tugged at his shirt, Tarin moved his hands from her hair and went to work returning the favor.

The short time it took to accomplish that task was far too long though and as soon as they were free of the offending garments, Tarin’s hands found their way back to Lee’s hair and he got back to that whole kissing thing.

”I’m starting to rethink buttons…” he managed to mumble into the kiss. Despite the downsides, not having to stop kissing might be an even bigger benefit.

The good thing about being pressed this close to Tarin, about him holding her this tightly to him, was that she was this close to Tarin. The downside to being this close to Tarink, especially while on the couch, was that it was extremely hard to move Tarin's shirt up, never mind to get it off him.

Plus there was the fact that even if she had gotten it most of the way off, they were kissing which would stop that from being completed.

Tarin must have realized this as well, because then, unfortunately, his hands were moving out of her hair and he was pulling back from the kiss. And while those few moments were almost torturous with how far (not) apart they were, it did allow Lee to pull Tarin's shirt over his head and discard it somewhere as he did the same.

The moment that both shirts were out of the way, Lee was leaning into Tarin again as she felt his hands tangle in her hair again. God, why did that feel so good? She loved that it did, but Lee didn't understand why it felt so incredible.

Even as they were starting to kiss again, Lee heard Tarin mumbling against her lips. Something about buttons. She hadn't worn buttons in months. Whatever. That wasn't important. The kiss was important.

And so Lee deepened the kiss as a hand found its way back to Tarin's hair, her other gripping his now bare shoulder.

Lee did not appreciate his thoughts on buttons and their utility at the moment and for some reason Tarin actually really liked that.

Maybe it was because a lot of times Lee was almost completely concerned with anything and everything. She was always thinking and planning and knew exactly what was happening all the time.

Right now, she didn’t seem to care about anything. Not one single thing besides him, and Tarin absolutely reveled in the feeling as her hand found its way back into his hair. As soon as that happened, he stopped thinking about buttons entirely as the little switch in his head flipped and he stopped thinking about much of anything. At least anything beyond what he was feeling.

To that end, one hand slipped from Lee’s hair, the other staying firmly tangled there as the other slid down her back, his arm wrapping around her waist, hand coming to rest on her opposite hip and pull her even closer.

Definitely not close enough.

They were either gonna have to decide to stay here or move somewhere with more space soon.