Chapter 62 - Each Time. Every Time.

Present Day:

The rain had soaked Long Yat-sen as he ran through the connecting sidewalks.

Pedestrians passed by holding umbrellas, gawking at him as he searched every face, hoping to find the one person he was looking for.

Shao Lin was small, so it was easy for her to blend, to hide. But he was tall, and their height difference was wider now than when they were younger. He could see her.

He found her up ahead, her pace slowing, almost as if she was giving up. He wanted to call her name, but he feared it would encourage her to pick up her speed again if he did.

Her pace kept slowing until she came to an abrupt halt. And she stood there, letting the rain pour over her.

Long Yat-sen came from behind her, slowly. "Xiaolin—" he breathed.

She turned around entirely. "You're him aren't you?" she questioned. Her eyes were wide, wild and wet, a mix of rain and tears.

He swallowed. He knew what Shao Lin was talking about. Long Yat-sen gave her a slight nod.

Shao Lin looked at him, turned and walked away, but not from him. Instead, she went to the side of a building and slid to the ground. Long Yat-sen went to squat in front of her.

"What do you remember?" he asked.

"Parts. Fragments," she answered. "I remember a boy…and a girl. A girl too." She looked at him, as she didn't believe it. "Xia?"

Long Yat-sen nodded. He was half-scared and half-relieved that she remembered.

It was perhaps the darkest moment of her life. He didn't know her whole story, but he knew that her grandfather fixed the fence to teach her a lesson about disobedience. She was forced to climb it, knowing it was dangerous. It was her father that found her.

Some part of him believed that Niu Wen had been so cruel to her. Shao Lin may have tried to forget those years—all of it. The trauma, the pain, the pressure until she began anew. Even if it meant erasing him, too.

"The withered rose petals…" she began again. "In the closet. They're from me, aren't they?"

He gave another slow nod.

She began to cry even harder. "I thought it was from someone else…but then I thought of the time I gave it one to someone. The second time. The first time. It didn't hit me right away. Not until I said I loved you—"

Long Yat-sen didn't hesitate to seal her mouth with his lips.

He laid his palms on the surface of the bricked wall as he kissed her. He couldn't wait any longer. Every word that came out of her mouth felt like a song Long Yat-sen longed to hear, and he didn't want her to cry anymore.

Shao Lin kissed him back, soft and gently, grabbing him by the collar to pull him near.

Long Yat-sen released her, his eyes low-lidded, staring into her brown ones.

She surveyed him. Her lips were parted.

"I'm glad you remember, Xiaolin," he began, "because I never forgot you." He leaned in to press her harder, their mouths clashing again.

Shao Lin responded by kissing him, biting him, feeling him, unnerving him. He pulled her beneath him, kissing his way from her neck, her jaw to her ear. His hand slid to hers, entwining their fingers. He brought their entwined hands together and showed her. "Look at our hands, Xiaolin," he breathed. "The rings we wear. The memories we've made. The moments we share. You know everything about me as I know you."

Shao Lin looked up at him with her full attention. Her mouth was agape.

"You saved me, Lin. More than you know. And I love you, Lin. I'm in love with you. Even long before I asked you to marry me."

Shao Lin's eyes welled, and she stared at him eye-wide as if she could not believe it.

The rain had slowed and stopped, and she wondered if she heard it right. "You love me?" she asked.

Long Yat-sen smiled at her. "I love you so much that I was willing to let you go if it made you happy. I love you so much that I would have waited longer for you. I love you. I just love you," he said breathlessly.

Shao Lin gasped, grabbing his face in her hands, looking at him lovingly. "I fell for you each time, Yat-sen," she told him. "I picked you every time. I loved you even when I didn't know it."

Long Yat-sen was certain Shao Lin's feelings for Zhong Bai ran deep before, which is why he never interfered. He was convinced that she was better off without him, but her words told him something else.

She fell for him. Each time. Even when she'd forgotten him, it did not stop her from falling over and over again.

Long Yat-sen felt as if his heart had clenched. He didn't know Shao Lin loved him that deeply or if it was even possible.

He smiled heartedly, feeling warm throughout, despite their slick wetness and the chilly air.

"Do you want to go home?" He asked her.

Shao Lin nodded.

She stood up as Long Yat-sen extended a hand for her to take. The love confession had blurted out of her, not expecting her night to come out like this. And Long Yat-sen had loved her too.

But Long Yat-sen had been proving it over and over again since they met when he respected her boundaries when he came for her in a situation where she cried for help when he offered her anything and everything she wanted as long as it made her happy.

Long Yat-sen looked at her, and he had never seen a smile so bright.

He thought that Shao Lin looked like the sun, while he and everyone else he knew were more like the night.

Once they made their way back home. Everything was quiet, save for their ragged breathing.

Long Yat-sen gazed at Shao Lin. Their eyes met.

He gently grabbed her face, kissing her parted lips.

His hands went to the hem of her soaked-clad shirt. He pulled it over her shoulders, her head.

Shao Lin did the same. She unbuttoned his shirt, pulling it over his biceps. She then took the time to admire his form, the heat of his skin.

Long Yat-sen's mouth went to her breast, sucking rain wildly from the tip. Shao Lin tilted her head back, grasping his wet hair.

Long Yat-sen lifted her to the sink of the bathroom, colliding their mouths. Shao Lin's fingers went to his pants. She unfastened his belt and chucked it. Long Yat-sen parted from her body to remove his pants, the tip of his cock gleaming. Shao Lin stared at what throbbed in front of her.

Tonight they'd go slow. Tonight they would begin gently. Tonight, they would take their time to learn each other and express their needs, feelings, and wants, all at once.

Long Yat-sen pulled the pants she wore from her legs, kissing her thighs as he tugged them from her ankles. He tugged her underwear too.

He then lifted her again, wrapping her legs around his waist, taking them inside the shower.