Jane saw the driver holding the card with her name printed neatly on it. She assumed it was her name, at least. The sign said "Caraway", like the seeds, which was a mistake she often encountered. She approached the man, who asked if she was "Miss Jane".

Jane nodded, and he smiled, taking her pull case from her and leading her out. Ten minutes later she was installed in the car and headed toward Charlie, hopefully. She had never been to England before, though she had been to Paris with her grandparents, so she looked around with interest. She was too tired to really pay attention, though, and too nervous.

She had to believe that Charlie wanted to see her, right? He wrote that beautiful album, filled with songs about them, about her. Why would he do that if he didn't still love her? And when she'd sent him away last March, he'd said he still loved her.

Hadn't he?

The truth was that Jane didn't remember that meeting very well. She'd been seeing Dr. Hebert since January, and the medications she was on had really affected her memory. She wasn't exactly sure that it was March when he'd come, now that she thought about it. Everything about that time was kind of a blur.

Things had kind of balanced out around May as far as her mood swings and meds. That's when Jane had finally been able to sleep through the night again, and stop having nightmares and crying all the time.

She knew her parents had been really frightened for her. Her mother had wanted to come with her to England, in fact, or at least have Camilla come with her. It had taken a lot of convincing for her parents to let her come alone. Bear had even volunteered, which had made Jane laugh, and it was seeing her laugh which had probably convinced her mother to let her make the trip alone.

Jane must've fallen asleep after all, because the next thing she knew the driver, Miles, was saying, "Miss? We've arrived."

They were on a nice residential street with some very lovely and imposing houses on it. Charlie's house, predictably, had a wall all the way around it, with a gate.

Miles rolled his window down and pressed the bell. Jane hoped Charlie was home. After a few moments, a woman's voice spoke over the speaker.

"Yes?"

"Driver for Miss Jane Carroway," Miles said in a very official voice.

"Oh." The woman sounded surprised, and Jane's heart sank. She wanted to tell Miles to just back out and take her back to the airport, but it was a busy street, and he couldn't really back out. "Just a minute, please," she continued, so Jane and Miles sat and waited.

The gate slid open, and Miles drove through, pulling right up to the front door, which had one of those overhanging porch things, like hotels did, so passengers could get out and go up to the front door without getting wet.

As Miles got out and opened Jane's door for her and retrieved her bag from the trunk, the front door to the house opened, and Charlie and a girl came out, making Jane want to die of shame and embarrassment. But if he had his new girlfriend here, surely he wouldn't just let his old girlfriend pull up to the front door?

Jane saw Charlie thank Miles and hand him some money, which Jane had fully intended to do, and Miles was wishing Jane a nice day and driving away before she could even thank him properly. And now the girl was waving to Charlie, saying, "See you later," including Jane in her wave as she loped away. She pulled a red bicycle out of the bushes, quickly followed Miles out of the gate before it closed, and she was gone, leaving Jane and Charlie standing alone in front of his house. The elapsed time from when Jane pulled up in front of his house couldn't have been more than forty-five seconds.

Charlie gestured toward the door, inviting Jane in. Jane, feeling a little dizzy, entered.

"Um, would you like some tea or something?" he asked as soon as she was seated.

She nodded, and he took off for what she assumed was the kitchen. He seemed grateful for the task. She looked around the room. It was really nice, large, with pretty splashes of color on the walls and lots of books filling the huge book cases.

He returned with two mugs on a tray, along with some cookies, which Jane began eating without delay.

Charlie watched her eat, wishing he'd put more biscuits on the plate. She looked so thin, as if she were recovering from some long-term illness. Her hair lay lifeless and flat on her delicate skull. Only her eyes looked the same, huge and luminous.

She picked up her tea and took a sip. "This is really good," she said.

"Oh, thanks," he said. "My mum gets it for me."

Jane bit her lips together and took a deep breath. "Um, I'm sorry about just showing up unannounced," she began.

"No, it's fine, it's fine," Charlie said, nodding.

"I made your, uh, company, leave," Jane said apologetically. "She didn't have to do that. I don't have to stay--"

"Huh? What?" Charlie asked in confusion. "Oh. Oh! That wasn't company, that was Anna! That was just my sister," he said, laughing.

"Oh," Jane said, her relief evident. "Why did she leave, then?"

"She thought we could use some privacy, I suppose," Charlie said, shrugging.

"Why did you come, Jane?" he continued curiously. "I mean, not that I mind or anything, it's lovely to see you..."

"I came because--" Jane took another deep breath. "I came to--" she tried again. "Fuck," she finally said.

Charlie laughed.

Jane smiled. "I heard your new album," she said. "In fact, I listened to it all the way here on the plane."

"Well, that's not why you came, then, is it?" he replied. "Because that would mean you heard it after you already made the decision?" He looked at her questioningly.

"I came because I think I made a mistake," she said softly. "I came to see if--to see if--you still want me? If you still want to--love me?" She looked at him, equal parts hopeful and afraid, a look that was so quintessentially Jane that it would've made him laugh again if she hadn't been so serious.

Charlie let out his breath, a huge sound in the silent room. He nodded, afraid to speak. She was so serious, she deserved for him to treat her question seriously, even though it was so laughable to him.

"Jane." He ran his hand through his hair, and she saw that he was still wearing the bracelet she'd given him. This made her tired, hopeful heart soar. "I've never stopped loving you. Never. The only thing that's kept me sane these last months has been writing those songs and knowing that you'd hear them, honestly. I've been an absolute wanker to everyone around me. It's a miracle my family's even speaking to me at this point." He smiled at her, but it was a tremulous one, vulnerable, and so different from the Charles McAllister that the world saw.

Jane saw this and rose to go sit next to him, everything she'd kept locked down and put away all these last painful, lonely, awful months coming to the surface at last. They put their arms around each other as she leaned into him, as he pulled her feather-light body close to his, eyes closed tightly with relief.

"Ah, Jane, thank god, thank god," he murmured, stroking her hair.

Jane took a deep breath that had tears on the end of it, and she just let them out, releasing all of her torment onto him, trusting him.

And he received.

Eventually she raised her head to kiss him, fitting her mouth to his as she let out a sound of relief. It quickly grew into something more, of need, of want, but when Charlie lifted her, all too easily, to lay her back on the couch, she stiffened, opening her eyes to look at him.

"What?" he asked, concerned.

"Do we have to?" she asked.

"Of course we don't have to," he answered, smoothing her fine hair off her forehead. "What a question. If you need time, then you shall have time, darling Jane, as much as you need, okay?"

She nodded, reassured. "I'm just so skinny right now, so ugl--" she bit off the word, but not fast enough.

Charlie sat back, looking at her. "Jane," he said, and she could hear the profound disappointment in the one syllable.

She rolled her eyes.

Fuck.

"Please understand that I'm not trying to change your mind with what I'm going to say, okay?" he said gently. "I have a perfectly good hand that I've been using for months, and I can continue to use for as long as circumstances warrant."

They both smiled.

"I just want to know how long you're going to punish me," and he leaned in to give her a very nice kiss, "because you're unhappy with the packaging that contains the lovely girl I'm desperately in love with? Hm?" And he kissed her again, insinuating his tongue between her lips, tilting her head back slightly with the pressure, making her feel so good she couldn't contain the moan that escaped her. "Jane? Beautiful, glorious Jane?" He kissed her again and again, making her feel like she was melting into the couch.

"Jesus, Jane, you're killing me," Charlie murmured, moving his mouth to her neck. "Please note how I'm carefully keeping my hands on top of your clothes and in the designated 'safe' areas," he said softly, which made her laugh. Hearing her laugh made Charlie so happy he stopped kissing her neck for a moment so he could laugh himself.

"That's my second favorite sound of yours," he said, lifting his head to look at her as she gazed steadily back at him.

"God, look at those eyes," he said, dropping his head onto her. "Someone should write a song about them," he said, and she could hear him smiling.

"Charlie?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's your bedroom?"

So he picked her up, and she wrapped her long legs around his waist, and he carried her upstairs to his room. They kissed nearly the entire way. And when they got there he laid her down on his bed and removed his trousers and shirt while she smiled up at him.

He got in the bed with her, and kissed her. "You're so sweet, Jane, god, so sweet," he said as he kissed her and stroked her and helped her take off her clothes. He blinked with concern when he saw how thin she was, and she was worried that he would be turned off, but he showed her that he wasn't, by his actions, and by how hard he was.

He cupped her breast with his hand, rubbing the center of it with his thumb, which was hard and calloused after months of playing his guitar, and the sensation made Jane gasp with pleasure. Charlie smiled at the sound and he kissed her on the mouth that had produced the lovely noise. She arched her back into his palm and practically purred, and grasped him firmly, pulling him toward her.

He touched her, feeling how slippery and warm she was, and had no thought but to get inside her as quickly as possible.

But.

He stuttered to a stop, hovering.

"Charlie? What's wrong?" Jane murmured.

"Uh, how long has it been since you've had one of those shots?" he asked.

Oh fuck.

"Oh god, Charlie, you're right," Jane said, horrified at what they'd almost done. "It never even crossed my mind!"

Charlie rolled off her with a sigh.

"Bugger."

Jane laughed, and so did Charlie.

"I might have some very old condoms around here somewhere," he said, opening a drawer next to the bed. "Aha!"

"That doesn't sound promising," Jane said drily. "Don't they expire or something?"

"Yeah, but not for five years or something," Charlie said reassuringly.

"Really?" Jane asked.

Charlie rolled close to her. "Look, I'm not like most fellows, you know? I don't want you to get pregnant even more than you don't, if you get what I'm saying?"

He kissed her, and she kissed him back, sighing into his mouth, getting things going again. He tore open the wrapper, and Jane watched curiously as he took it out. She took it from him and rolled it on him, flicking her eyes up to his to make sure she'd done it correctly.

Then, finally, he was pushing into her, and after all their months apart, it was almost like the first time again, and Jane felt pulled, stretched, as he filled her, and she moaned into his mouth, making Charlie feel so satisfied and happy to be with her.

"Ah, god, Jane, I love you, so much," he said softly. "I know that this is a strange time to say that to you, I do."

She put her arms around his neck.

"I love you too, Charlie," she whispered, kissing him. "And it's never a strange time, okay?"

And he thrust gently into her, over and over, loving the feel of her thighs as they wrapped around him.

"Charlie, Charlie," he heard her call softly as she came, and the sound of her voice brought him to her, and she heard him call her, too.

"Jane, Jane. I love you, Jane."