"Tastes better this way," he said as he passed her a mug full of the heated beverage. The ring on her hand, so large and impossible to miss, was, even by his standards, somewhat over the top. It had mainly been gotten for her because of her complete refusal to get it, almost as if she didn't deserve something that was worth so much money.
He remembered thinking at the time, like some kind of love struck moron he'd usually scoff at, that he thought she deserved everything, anything. A lot had happened since then, but he knew there was a part of him that wanted that feeling back. Somehow, and he didn't know how, he felt more like himself with Heather than he had with Jeanne. If he was honest, it's because at the start at least, with Jeanne he'd been playing a part. He'd never done that with Heather. It was with that in mind, and with a sip of hot chocolate for courage, that he looked across, meeting her gaze, and swallowed his pride to say five simple words.