Page 52 of Time for You
It was almost impossible to comprehend, harder to get her brain around than the fact that she had gone and fallen for the asshole in the first place. He didn’t fit into her life plan—although to be fair, time travel in general wasn’t something that would fit neatly anywhere—but now that he was gone, she knew it would be nearly impossible to recover. Henry had kept his distance to protect them both, but it had been pointless. She couldn’t keep her heart safe from him, and now there was nothing to do but grieve.
She looked around her and Ellie’s apartment, hoping for another trace of him, but there was nothing. The pantry and fridge were probably stocked, since he’d recently started braving the grocery store with Brittany, but that was it. No other sign of the man who had quite literally dropped into her life out of nowhere, only to reorient it completely.
Daphne blinked, the tears starting to track down her cheeks. The doorknob twisted and she straightened, not wanting Ellie to immediately notice her devastation.
But then the door swung open. Henry strode through the door, tossing a backpack aside and catching her face in his hands before she even quite registered this was real, and not a hallucination. “I couldn’t,” he growled, and then he kissed her.
His lips were soft, but his jaw was rough, the stubble he must not have had time to shave prickling under her fingers. Daphne’s brain finally caught up, and she found herself kissing him back just as hard and desperately. He smelled like the outdoors, like fresh air and grass, and she tunneled her fingers into his hair to hold him close as he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“I couldn’t leave,” he murmured against her lips when they broke for air. “Not without kissing you.”
Daphne sought his lips for a slower, softer kiss. “When does the portal open?” All Ellie’s text had said was that it was soon. Maybe it wasn’t open yet, and this was just a goodbye.
“It’s closed,” Ellie said smugly.
Daphne pulled away from Henry to peer over his shoulder. “What? Henry, you didn’t go?”
“I didn’t,” he confirmed, cuffing his hand around the back of her neck to kiss her again.
“But—your family.”
Something sad flickered behind his eyes. “I’ll return to them eventually.”
“Oh good, they’re finally acting on it,” Michelle said, and Daphne had to pull away again. Michelle was next to Ellie, on her tiptoes.
“Wait, so he didn’t leave?” Brittany was behind her, arms crossed, wearing an identical smug expression to Ellie’s.
“He didn’t. He’s staying until the solstice.”
“Can you guys leave?” Daphne said, the grin on her face at complete odds with her irritated tone.
“Depends. How much of a show are we going to get? And did Ellie buy popcorn?” Brittany asked.
“I bought groceries this week, and no, I did not,” Henry said, walking purposefully over to the door. “Daphne will text when we’re ready to talk to everyone.” He shooed them out and shut the door firmly.
“This is my apartment, you know,” Ellie called through the door.
“Go hang out with someone else for an hour and then come back.”
“Okay, but don’t have sex on the countertops, please. I don’t want to eat where you’ve fucked.”
“Noted. Now go away,” Daphne yelled, doing a bad job of stifling her giggles. She half expected Henry to look scandalized, but he was chuckling, too. She turned and he tugged her in for a kiss, this time with a little less urgency but no less need.
“You really stayed for me?” she asked.
Henry kept his forehead against hers and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “I did,” he whispered.
“I got your letter. I’m sorry about your ex.”
Henry gave her a small, sad smile and moved back, enough to look her in the eye but still close enough to keep his hands on her waist. “Iwas very young. I won’t say it was for the best, but I suspect it would have been a difficult marriage if I’d gotten my way. But it left a deep impression that was hard to shake.”
Daphne touched his cheek, and he nuzzled her palm. “You’re going back, though?”
“Ellie said the portal is opening again in a few months. I’ll go then.”
The solstice. That was barely three months away, but it was more than she thought she’d get with him, so she would take it. “Is it ... opening after that?”
Henry’s face was etched with pain. “Not for another seven years.”
