The L Word

*You all asked, so here it is! Bonus post :) Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend full of love!*

My jaw dropped as I stared off in to the distance. Jonah was immersed in a conversation with his peers, completely unaware that I was standing across the venue staring at him. Kadie and I stood in silence. I slowly closed my mouth as I admired him from afar. He was wearing a fitted navy suit with a skinny black tie. His brown hair was slightly parted to the side in a very Jonah-esque manner. He began laughing, bellowing over, with a dimple on his cheek. I couldn't help but smile.

My brain waves must have been really strong, because suddenly Jonah turned around facing my direction. He looked right past me, admiring how beautiful the room was. His eyes met mine briefly before he turned back towards his friends again. A split second later he snapped his head back towards me. As if he couldn't believe what he'd just seen. His grin was gone. Jonah put his drink down on the table next to him and weaved his way through the hall towards me.

“Good luck” Kadie whispered in my ear before she walked away. I felt my body internally shaking the closer Jonah was getting. My cheeks were flushed and my eyes were just on the verge of tearing up.

Keep it together, Lynn! I inhaled a deep breath to calm my nerves just as Jonah approached me. He slowed his pace before coming to a stop. Without saying a word he wrapped his arms around me. And I did the same. It felt as if the world had stopped spinning. Like, Jonah and I were the only two people in the room.

Jonah released his grip from around my body and slowly pulled away. It took him a minute to finally find his words.

“How did you know?”

“I didn't.” I softly caressed the skin on Jonah's neck where my hands were resting. “Kadie wanted me to come tonight. We had no idea”.

Jonah's expression changed when he suddenly remembered that Kadie worked for Darlington.

“If I'd known-” He suddenly stopped and walked over to a table. He leaned forward to snag a flower from the centerpiece and walked back towards me. He handed me the rose. It was yellow with pink edges. “Will you be my Valentine?” Jonah smirked.

I couldn't help but laugh. I tried to take the rose from Jonah's hand when he grabbed my hand instead and pulled me towards him. Our bodies were pressed up against each other. His hands on my lower back and mine on his chest. I looked up at Jonah, noticing his new California tan. It complimented his brown hair and hazel eyes so well.

“No” I said playfully while flashing Jonah a smile.

He smiled back briefly before furrowing his brows. “I've missed you terribly” He leaned down and kissed me slowly. I felt my knees going weak.

“Okay, seriously, you two need to get a room” Kadie walked by with her clipboard in hand. She winked at me as she walked behind Jonah.

Jonah held my hand as we walked over to his group of friends he had been talking to earlier.

“Lynn, you remember most of these guys, right?” They were all writers from the show. I first met them when Jonah gave me the tour of his job. And a few times after that when we would occasionally bump into them while we were out.

The event was about to start so everyone grabbed a seat. Eva came out onto the stage and made her announcement. She talked about how thrilled she was about her new client and plans for the future of both companies. Shortly after, the CEO of the network came out to share some of his words as well.

Once the speeches were over dinner was served. I mean, technically, it couldn't even qualify as “dinner”. I'm pretty sure my stomach was grumbling even after finishing my meal. It definitely wasn't enough.

As the waiters were taking away our plates Jonah leaned over to whisper in my ear, “I have to go” he softly kissed my cheek and stood up.

“But, wai-” before I could even question him he cut me off

“Do me a favor. Grab your things and come to my apartment in an hour.”

I was getting up from my chair when Jonah's friend came up and started talking to him. I waited for a few minutes but the more time passed the more people started to crowd around him. He turned back to look at me and mouthed, “I'm sorry”.

I grabbed my clutch and tried to find Kadie and Sarah. They were both sitting at a table filled with Darlington employees.

“Well, well, well” Sarah and Kadie jokingly chanted as I approached them.

“Where's Jonah” Kadie asked.

“I don't know, he just got up and said he had to leave. He wants me to meet him at his apartment later”

Sarah chimed in “Well, that isn't shady! He didn't say where he's going?”

“Nope” I pursed my lips and then continued, “Any way, I'm gonna go grab some things from the apartment before I head over.”

“Perfect! Adam was planning on coming over after work to celebrate V-day. So, it's a good thing you won't be there” Kadie smiled and Sarah and I grimaced.

We said our goodbyes and I headed back to my apartment. I was running around like a mad man making sure I got all the essentials. I slipped off my dress and changed out of my mismatched underwear into some lacy lingerie.

Before putting my dress back on I sprayed a cloud of perfume in the air and started running through it. I did it a couple of more times. I'm sure if anyone had been watching they could have easily used this moment to prove I was crazy. I pulled my dress back on and grabbed my bag.

I texted Jonah to let him know I was on my way but he texted back telling me to wait a while longer. I sat on my bed defeated. What could he possibly be doing that was more important? I walked back into my room and laid down on my bed. I stared up at the ceiling. There was a faint knock on my window. It was snowing, so I figured it was ice pellets hitting the glass. But then, the knock got louder and louder.

Being the scaredy cat I am I grabbed my heaviest anatomy book and slowly crept up to the window. I pulled back my curtain and looked outside. There, in the snow, stood Jonah. He was bundled up in a beanie, scarf, gloves and a coat.

“Grab your shit, Juliet, let's go!” Jonah shouted. I laughed as I grabbed my things before heading down stairs to meet Jonah outside. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders to keep me warm.

“I thought I was going to meet you at your place?”

“You didn't think I was going to make you walk there, in this cold, all by yourself did you?” He held me close as we walked down to the main intersection to hail a cab.

When we pulled up to Jonah's place I opened the front door. The apartment was empty with just a few furniture pieces that had been left behind when Jonah moved. The lights were turned off but the apartment was lit by candles. There was a sheet laid out in the living room with Chinese food containers, a bucket of ice with champagne, and a huge bouquet of flowers.

I covered my mouth with my hands. I was at a loss of words. Jonah came up behind me wrapping his hands around my waist and nestling his mouth on my neck.

“Is this what you were doing the whole time?” I turned my head to face Jonah.

He smiled. “I didn't think I was going to see you tonight. I was waiting for tomorrow. This is the best I could do last minute.”

“This is amazing, Jonah, you really didn-”

“Shh” he held his hand up and walked me inside. He took my bag off my shoulder and put it down on the ground. Jonah picked me up in his arms and sat me on the kitchen counter. He leaned his arms on the counter with his body in between my legs.

“I didn't know you still had this place” I rubbed Jonah's shoulders gently

“Yeah, I never sold it. Thought It'd be nice to have a place when I come into town. Plus, my sister stays here every now and then when she has to come into town. So it worked out.” He shrugged.

“I ran into Casey” I whispered.

“You did?” Jonah whispered back with a smile, letting me know that he knew.

I nodded “She told me you were moving back.” I balled up my fist to make a pretend microphone, “Can you confirm these allegations made about you, Jonah Cohen?” I pushed my fist forward towards Jonah.

“I can not confirm or deny such rumors. I have no comment at this time” He shielded his eyes as if a swarm of camera flashes were going off in his face.

We both laughed. It felt nice to have him back. Someone who understood and reciprocated my goofiness.

“Well?” I waited for him to answer.

“It's a little complicated right now. I'm pretty much in charge of everything at the Late Night show now. It's cutting into time I need to create a new show. Our CEO has given me a deadline for it, but at the same time he keeps adding more things to my plate.”

My face fell flat and defeated. Jonah could tell I was upset. He picked up my chin in his hand.

“Hey” he said soothingly, “I'm always here. I told you I want you, Lynn. I don't care about the distance.”

I knew I couldn't give Jonah the response he wanted. As badly as I wanted him, I knew our current arrangements weren't going to work out. Instead, I stayed quiet and smiled.

I gave Jonah a quick kiss. “Grab all the blankets you have and bring them here.”

Jonah rolled his eyes, hesitating to leave, but came back a few minutes later with a pile of blankets. We laid a few of the blankets down for us to lay on. Jonah grabbed a couple of chairs and placed them on either side of us with a blanket draping over them to create a fort.

“Jonah, there was something I didn't get to tell you before” I was leaning on my elbow facing him. He was laying on his back with one hand behind his head and the other on his chest.

“What is it?”

I mustered up the courage to say it without crying, “You told me not to say it until I meant it.”

Jonah suddenly realized what I was about to say and sat up.

“And the truth is, I didn't realize it until you left. I had been hurt so many times that I was afraid to admit it. But, there's no body else I feel this way about except for you. I love you, Jonah”

We stared at each other for a moment. My stomach was twisting into a million knots. Even though Jonah had already told me he loved me, I was still anxious for his reply. Instead, he got up and walked around the apartment blowing out the candles until the room was only lit by the moonlight reflecting off of the white snow.

Jonah walked back over to me and took his shirt off before laying down. His hand traced my jawline, moving down to my neck and eventually pushing off my dress strap. His body hovered over mine. He lowered his mouth to the base of my neck, breathing on it before he kissed it. Again and again, slowly working his way up. He stopped when we were eye to eye. He cupped both his hands around my face and whispered, “I love you, too”