"And I love hearing it," he murmured earnestly, resting his forehead against hers (because that couldn't be too unseemly in public, right?). And he nodded a bit when she said going it alone wasn't impossible - but she was right, it was so much easier with someone at your side. Especially someone who loved you like she loved him, and he wanted to be that for her, badly.

"Which means you getting yours back - I hope," he said softly, because while he wasn't vain enough to think that her life revolved around his - and it shouldn't - he knew by now (or had at least guessed) that she had been waiting a long time to start a life together with someone - and that someone was him. And he wanted the same thing, he wanted to pick up his life - because it had seemed pretty good - and move on, start a new one, together with her. "The faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting." But he wanted to be done waiting, and he was sure she did, too.