Chaos Incarnate

You stepped closer until you could feel the tension through the space between you.

“I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see you again.”

“Me too.” His tone softened, almost breaking. “I’m glad we were both wrong. I’ve missed you so goddamn much.”

You felt like you couldn’t breathe enough. Your hand slid up, over the fabric of his shirt, brushing over the covered dog tags at his collar. Under your fingers you felt something else, heavier. Metal. Oddly shaped. Your brow furrowed and your eyes dropped.

He caught the curiosity in your gaze, reached up, and pulled the chain from under his shirt. The dog tags fell free with a faint clink. Hanging beside them was a small, shining key. The light found it, glinting against his chest.

“The key,” he said quietly. His thumb traced it slowly with reverence, like it was something holy. “To the gate at the lab. The one my life was supposed to end on the other side of… You saved me from that.” His voice faltered for a moment. “I found it in my pocket after they took you to the field hospital. I carried it… carried you with me every day since. Through hell and everything that happened, I never let go.”

Your own tears finally broke loose, hot against your cheeks. There was nothing left your words could do. One hand caught in the fabric of his collar and you pulled him in close until your breath caught his. The space between you vanished.

Your mouth met his in a kiss that stole the air out of you. It wasn’t meant to be gentle. It was more like grasping for everything the last year had taken from both of you. Grief, longing, survival, stripped down to raw need and released in one fierce rush. His hand at the small of your back, steadying, pulling you closer into him. His stubble grazed your skin with each press of lips.

You felt his heart beating in his chest, fast and unguarded, your fingers caressing the metal key hanging from his chain. He guided you backward, until your shoulders met the door, the solid press of it grounding you in the gravity of him. His hand shifted to your hip, fingers gripping you tight, anchoring you both.

You inhaled shakily, your lips brushing his as the momentum eased. His forehead dropped to yours, the two of you suspended in the hush. You stayed there, eyes closed, sharing the air between you. For a brief moment, the world had stopped demanding anything from either of you.

“Worth it.” he whispered, the hint of a smirk played on one side of his mouth.

Outside, voices drifted past the door, too close. You both froze briefly, then exhaled a quiet, startled laugh that broke the tension like a match in the dark. You kissed him again, softer this time, savoring, holding it long enough to memorize the feel of him before he finally drew back.

“I’ve spent months dreaming of this, you know.” he said, his voice rough. “I’m not losing you again.”

The universe had bent just enough to give you this moment, and you’d wished it’d never end. His hand still at your waist, steady and certain, holding you as though letting go would undo the peace you’d finally found in each other.

You leaned into him, pressing your cheek to his chest, taking in his presence. You could hear his heart beneath as he held you, the beat of it strong and as steady as he was. The scent of him, something familiar beneath it all, wrapped around you like memory.

For a long time neither of you spoke. Everything outside that door could’ve fallen away and you wouldn’t have noticed or even cared.

You thought of the key between your fingers, the way it had crossed fire and ruin just to hang between you. Every mile, every night, every loss that must have led him back to you.

When you finally lifted your head, his eyes were already on you. You stood together, two people this war had tried and failed to keep apart. For the first time in longer than you could remember, everything made sense. Realizing you were exactly where you were supposed to be.

"honey, shit-" you chuckle into his lips at his whine, hands coming up to rest at his sides, stabilising him when his knees inevitably buckle. when your tongue flattens against his bottom lip and his arms wrap around your waist, you pull back, meet jack's gaze as he chases your touch.

"what, can't keep up?" he rolls his eyes playfully, tips his head forward to kiss you again with a mumbled "shush" that gets lost against your tongue and in the aborted laugh that stays in your chest. you've been to his apartment plenty of times, know your way around, know the edges and corners that he smoothed down and stripped of furniture so he wouldn't always have to rely on his prosthesis - so you have no troubles blindly nudging him backwards until you're in his living room, right in front of the sofa.

"careful, handsome," you warn between breathless pecks and can feel his smile as he lets himself fall back. you're quick to follow suit and straddle him with your thighs bracketing his thick ones. it's been a long shift for him, obvious to you with the small limp that he develops over those stressful nights, and you lean back to find the edge of the prosthesis' socket, then the liner, through his scrubs. it's not the first time you've helped take it off, far from it, so you move nimbly and dislodge it before arching your back further and cautiously removing it from his pant leg.

jack groans in relief, follows you with a soft hold on your waist to keep you from falling, desperate for your touch, and lets his already spit-slick lips trail down your jaw to the side of your neck. his voice is breathy and soft when he speaks against your skin, urges you back into him with calloused hands.

"c'mere, please, c'mere."

and who are you to deny him?

with a sweet chuckle, you lean into his touch, kiss him oh so gently until he preens at your affection. when you adjust your position slightly, straightening your back out once and rolling your shoulders, jack can't help but stare up at you. the way you tower over him from his point of view, sunk into the cushions you had made sure he bought because they were much comfier than the ones that came with the sofa, looking down at him with the most gentle, loving eyes he's ever had directed at him. he can't help it. really can't.

"love how tall you are," he mutters into the next kiss you grace him with, one hand on the curve of your ass, the other warm against your cheek as he keeps you in place for him. your smile only widens at his words, jaw falling slack when jack's tongue laps at the seam of your lips to gain entrance, one that you happily grant so you can taste the breakfast coffee he had drank with you at the café near the hospital.

"hmm, that so?" you muse between kisses, diving back in as your hands come to rest on his shoulders, then his chest, palms flattening to feel the erratic beating of his heart. he nods against you.

"don't have to lean down," he hums, nuzzles his nose against yours, "to kiss you. so comfortable." your canine grazes over the tip of his tongue, your own hooking behind his teeth to pull him closer, deeper than he already is, and he groans out a sigh. paws at your shirt so you can get rid of it which you gladly do.

"you're leaning up right now, love."

his laugh is short and sweet, and he shakes his head at your teasing, amused tone.

"oh hush and come here."

author's note: totally not inspired by the fact that i'm 5'9 just like my partner and it's super pleasant to kiss because nobody has to lean up or down. also, i haven't watched the pitt, this old man has just bewitched me lol. also, i saw someone complain about so many x readers featuring shorter characters sooooo

stay safe and healthy <3

the first thing you do is prepare dinner. his plane lands in the late afternoon and the drive back to your small house takes a good hour - not accounting for the traffic, obviously - and since you want to pick him up and surprise him at the airport you won't be able to fully cook the casserole you know he loves and always asks for when he's home. preparing it is, then.

washing and cutting the broccoli is easy, so is grating some parmesan to go along with the shredded mozzarella on top of the layers. the minced beef and the rose sauce you already put in the fridge is covered with some foil so it stays fresh until the evening when you'll finish it all up. the pasta is partially boiled so it can be perfectly al dente after being in the oven together with the rest.

when you realise that you should probably head out in about an hour, you take your sweet time having a good, hot shower, picking out a cute, comfortable outfit (one of his sweaters included, of course!), and change the bed sheets to that one set he splurged on because it feels most comfortable against the skin where scars decorate it and leave it more sensitive than the rest of his body.

hell, it was a good choice for the 75$, because as soon as you touch the rayon mix you already want to sink into it instead of struggling to stuff the blanket inside. but you manage.

after airing out the bathroom to get rid of the excess steam and condensation on the mirror, you turn up the radiator ever so slightly so it's a comfortable temperature in the room. lewis hates all the airport grime on his body, and the showers at his base were lackluster at best, so a nice, long bath with your favourite unscented candles will be perfect to further relax him.

you smile to yourself at the realisation that you'll have your husband at home, forever, in just an hour or two.

god, lewis is exhausted, just wants to grab the nearest taxi to make it home because he sure as hell isn't gonna rent a car and drive the rest. he just really, really wants to be home with you, his partner, the one that brought him through countless months far away, through injuries that should've killed him, through lonely nights where he thought he might just never make it back.

he's so exhausted, in fact, that he doesn't even notice you, doesn't hear you at first when you softly shout his name, only looks up when he sees someone jog over to him and put a hand on his arm.

"wh- honey-" he barely gets out in a huff before you're hugging him and he wraps his own arms around your body, tight enough to make your breath catch in your chest, but you don't care. "didn't tell me you would-"

"i love you. i missed you so much," you muffle into his shoulder, and lewis lets out a laugh wet with tears that he refuses to let fall at seeing you again. "had to pick you up, see you as soon as possible," you continue, amused at his bewilderment, and he grins at the sheen of moisture shimmering in your eyes as well.

finally, that crooked, toothy grin again, right in front of you.

lewis' hands travel up your sides, to your shoulders, to your cheeks to cup your face and make you meet his gaze. it takes him a few seconds to admire you, all soft and cosy for him, in his arms for good now that he's out of the military's claws and just in yours now. willingly, where he'll always rather be than out in some tent in an active warzone.

with a small tug, he pulls you into his arms again, feels both you and himself melt at the warmth that immediately seeps into his tired body.

"missed you too, fuck, so bad."

the drive home is comfortably quiet, with lewis finally being able to rest properly and not have to focus on anything besides the fact that his hand is on your thigh and his eyes can close and that you're there to bring him back to your home. your hand brushes his whenever you hit a red light, fingers toying with his ring finger where he's yet to put the wedding band back on ("i don't wanna lose it anywhere, it stays on my chain to have you close to my heart." he's cheesy, but it's okay, you love him).

"do you wanna order something to eat?" you scoff at his question, offended to think that you wouldn't spoil him.

"you're just as stupid as when you thought i wouldn't marry you," you muse, look towards him for a second before letting your eyes focus back on the road. "got that casserole you like already prepped so i just have to put it all together an in the oven. the heater is on in the bathroom, those soft towels you like are laid out on the radiator so they're not cold, and i changed the sheets so you can have everything as fresh and clean as possible." a sigh falls from his lips.

"you spoil me, love."

"hell yeah i do."

with his duffel and backpack discarded by the bed, clothes thrown somewhere he'll pick them up later, and your hands massaging shampoo in his hair, lewis is in heaven, body mostly submerged in warm, bubbly water. he had seen your stare catch on a few newer scars when he removed his shirt, luckily nothing as bad as the big one just below his ribcage from a year back, but still enough to make you sigh softly before nudging him towards the tub so he can undress fully and you can quickly start the oven.

a groan falls from his lips when your nails rake over the skin of his head just right, shoulders sagging even more than they already did once he got your hands on him, but one of his arms comes up, doesn't care that you flinch away so your clothes don't get water dripped on them.

"c'mere," he breathes, palms your jaw, pulls you down into a kiss that has you sigh at just the contact of his lips on yours again, finally again. he moves slow, lazy, deep when his tongue flattens against yours and languidly dips into your mouth to hear your breath hitch.

you're almost tempted to get into the bath with him when he moans into you, but you barely manage to gather enough control to pull away. lewis huffs at the loss of contact, has the audacity to look up at you with a small pout on his lips, and you can't help but smile to yourself.

"tomorrow, handsome."

bathed, relaxed, and fed after he devoured two fully stacked plates of your casserole - he had genuinely moaned as soon as the first fork made it into his mouth - lewis sinks into the cushions of your living room couch, closes his eyes and allows himself to breathe. you're very much inclined to just let him rest here, but you know his neck must be sore after sitting on a plane for so long, his body just as much after the last few months of not sleeping in a proper bed.

you press a sweet, lingering kiss to his temple, making a small smile form on his face, and coax him up to follow you.

"come on, love, your back will thank you if you come to bed with me." he perks up, an eyebrow raised before he even opens his eyes to stare at you lovingly (and with a hint of hunger that can't be quenched with the meal you prepared as well). you simply raise an eyebrow right back at him. he relents.

"bossy."

"you love it."

"i love you."

you grin, help him stand up, the last few months finally catching up with him now that he can relax in the comfort of your shared home. you help him to the bedroom, help him down onto the mattress, grab two bottles of water for your nightstands as he gets comfy and hums contentedly as soon as the fabric meets the bare parts of his skin.

he's already half asleep by the time you come back, but he still cracks one eye open, extends an arm towards you so you can slide into his embrace. you don't even think about hesitating.

"i love you so damn much." his voice rumbles through your head where it's resting on his chest, and you smile, burrow further into his hold until you're half on top of him. he's slurring his words already, a sure way to know he's almost gone to dream land.

"i love you too, lew. rest, i got you."

sleep grabs an easy hold of you as well, with the knowledge of having your husband safe and sound, for certain now.

"you're home."

author's note: i'm italian and i'm simple. i see a hungry, tired man, i'm making a fat pasta casserole

stay safe and healthy <3