It was amazing how just a few words could change the whole feeling of a situation. When he spoke, when he called her perfect, when he said she was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen, she felt herself relax above him, the tension twisting her stomach into knots disappearing. It was the way he said it, the look on his face as he did that made her believe it. And he wasn't one to say things to humor her or to get his way, he was a good man who loved her and what he said, he meant. Her eyes met with his as he urged her face up, her cheeks finally flushing as they should and her lips curving into a nervous but not scared smile. "I'm not scared," she said it softly, confidently even though she was a little scared of doing it wrong. "I just want to be what you wanted."

And because of his words, it made her easy to lean back down, bare chest pressing to his as she kissed him, tenderly, her fingers slipping up to comb through his hair as her other hand slipped between them to rest on his chest, just missing the scar there.