chtwenty

With a sigh, Greta gave their little cabin one last look as Eric piled her last bag in the trunk of his car. With a slam, he shut it and she turned to him sadly.
"I don't wanna go" she said.
"I know honey, me either" he said, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close. After their little "playtime" this morning they had gotten out of bed and grabbed a quick breakfast from room service. They both had showered-separately, after much pleading and begging from Eric-and finished packing up. Greta smiled when she remembered the memories from their weekend together-her first vision of the cabin, the first night they had spent together after she had been scared, their fun day at the lake and the romantic dinner out...
"Ready to go?" Eric asked, interrupting her thoughts.
"Yeah, I guess so" she said, sadly. She slipped in her side of the car and Eric watched her curiously as he got in his side and started up the car.
"Are you sure we have everything?" he asked, as they started along the road.
"Yup" she answered absently, staring out the window. At the main cabin Eric parked the car and dropped off the cabin keys before hurrying back. She stayed in the same position, her forehead leaning against the slightly open window and her hand rested on the car door, as if reaching to bring back the weekend.
"Here we go" he said, again starting up the car and beginning the long trek up the dirt road.
"WAIT!" she suddenly shouted. Eric slammed on the breaks and he instinctively reached out to hold her back in her seat.
"What, what's wrong?" he asked, once the car had stopped and he had caught his breath. "What happened?"
"We never took any pictures!" she said, her eyes wide.
"That was the emergency?" he asked, holding his hand to his chest. "I thought something big had happened, like we were going to hit an animal or something"
"Eric, this is bad!" she insisted. "We have no memories of this weekend. This weekend was so perfect and we having nothing to record it and..." she cut off as she began to cry.
"Greta, what's wrong?" he asked, concerned. She continued to cry, her hands held over her face, so he quickly put the car back in drive and pulled alongside the road. "Greta, honey..." he tried again, his heart breaking at how young she looked. With a sigh, he shut off the car and got out, walking around the front to her side. He pulled open the door and she looked up at him curiously, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Come here" he said, gently, holding out his arms. She sprang out of the front seat and propelled herself into his arms. He shut the door with his hip and leaned up against the side, pulling her close. He ran his hand over her hair as he let her cry onto his shoulder. When she finally began to stop, he brushed her hair off her forehead and kissed it lightly.
"Sweetheart, what's wrong?" he asked her, gently. She looked up at him sadly and he brushed off the few remaining tears.
"This weekend was so amazing Eric" she whispered. "And I'm afraid that we're going to go back to Salem and everything is going to be gone"
"Gone how?" he asked.
"This connection we made up here" she said. "What if we go home and it's gone?"
"It's not going to just disappear, hon" he said, reassuringly. "The love we have-it takes more that that to break it down"
"I hope so" she said, again hiding her face in his chest.
"Hey" he said, lifting her chin so she was again looking at him. "I know so...is that why you were so concerned about taking pictures? To make everything material?"
"Yeah" she said, somewhat embarrassed.
"I have all the memories I need for the rest of my life" he said. "And you do too...they're right here" he said, gently running a finger along her forehead. "And right here" he finished, taking her hand in his and placing it on his heart. She took a deep breath and smiled up at him. "Feel better?"
"Tons" she answered. "I'm sorry to overreact"
"You're not overreacting" he said. "You're just new at this...same as me"
"You're not new at all this" she said, slightly confused.
"I'm new at what we have" he said. "True love...never experienced it before" Standing on her tiptoes, she reached up to place a gentle kiss on his lips.
"I'm ready to go when you are" she said, when they pulled away.
"Wait, one small thing" he said, stopping her. "Stay here" She watched him curiously as he went to the trunk of his car and opened it. He dug around for a few minutes and then held something behind his back as he slammed it shut again.
"What do you have?" she asked, as he joined her again.
"Well, you said you wanted pictures so..." he said, holding up his camera.
"Eric! I look horrible!" she said, nervously pushing her hair back.
"You look beautiful" he insisted, and she glared at him. "Alright, you look like you were crying....just a little"
"Just give me a minute" she said, opening up her door and sliding into the seat. She pulled down the mirror and quickly fixed her hair and make-up to make it as presentable as she could.
"Ready?" he asked, when she came back out.
"Yup" she said. They positioned themselves in front of the glittering lake and Eric held out his arm, taking the picture of themselves. After the flash had gone off, Eric leaned close to her.
"I love you" he whispered.
"I love you too" she answered.
With that, the two of them started home. Greta slept most of the trip, her head resting on Eric's shoulder as he drove them home. He gently shook her awake when he parked the car outside of her apartment.
"Greta, honey, wake up" he said.
"Mmmm..." she mumbled, as she opened her eyes and yawned. "Home already?"
"Already?" he teased. "I'm the one who drove while you slept!" She stretched up and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "I think more of that can make up for it"
"Come inside and we'll see" she said, with an impish grin. They quickly grabbed all of Greta's bags and hurried inside. In the hallway, she broke into a light run and he chased her to her door, both of them giggling.
"Hurry, hurry..." he urged, as she fumbled with her keys.
"I'm going!" she said, as she finally succeeded and the lock clicked. She opened the door and pushed it open for him.
"It's nice to get out of that car...whoa!" Eric said, almost stepping on a large manila envelope that lay on the floor just inside of her door. "What's that?"
"I have no idea..." she said, quickly setting down her bags and picking it up. "It's a letter-a legal document"
"Where's it from?" he called out from her bedroom, where he was putting her bags down. She quickly flipped it over and her breath caught in her throat.
"Paris" she quickly answered, not believing her own eyes.