Jacopo had never been slow. He’d sailed through school with high grades and had gone on to pass each stage of higher education with dogged consistency. He may never have been the top of his class, but he’d never dropped as low as the middle either.

That was, until Birch. Her thought process was so hard to follow that he felt like he was five steps behind whenever she opened her mouth.

At first, he’d wished she’d say something. Anything. Disappointment, resentment and anger would all have been easier to hear than that endless silence, broken only by his pounding heart and the squabble of voices in his head. Maybe he shouldn’t have mentioned this, or maybe he should have gone into more detail on that, said less, said more, worded it differently. Birch made a disappointed-sounding noise which felt like something was squeezing his heart. Unable to look her in the face - afraid of what he might see there - Jacopo stared at the ground, his hands in his hair. At least she’d still let him visit the kids, probably, although he couldn’t blame her if -

She took hold of his face. Her touch was gentle, but Jacopo responded instantly, moving as if compelled by a stronger show of force. He finally lifted his face to meet her green gaze and felt his heart stop for a moment when she leant over to kiss him. His brain and senses shut down, oblivious to the world beyond her lips. She moved her head before he had a chance to react properly and pulled him into a warm embrace. Only then did she speak. Jacopo, who had just begun to regain his wits, lost them all over again at her words. She pulled back a little, pinching his chin.

“No,” he said after a moment. It was the biggest word he could get out, and even that felt somewhat choked. “Yes. I…”

Birch kissed him again, lightly, then straightened up and took a step back. She’d already moved on, but Jacopo was still stuck somewhere near the beginning. Jaw slack, he shook his head mutely in response to her questions. It took a moment for his brain to catch up and realise the intention behind her questions. He laughed, then: a short, slightly strangled burst of mirth.

“Of course you’re going to get her back,” he said, rubbing his forehead, not doubting her for a second. Nothing in the world could stand in the way of Birch’s willpower and determination. “Of course you are.”

In education, there was a difference between knowing something and understanding it. Jacopo couldn’t begin to understand why Birch liked him, but he knew that she did. He stood up, wrapped his arms around her and swept her up in a bone-crushing bear-hug which lifted her off her feet. He set her down after a moment, bringing his hands up to her neck so that his thumbs.

“Can we talk about Bethany later?” He slid his hands down to her waist and leant in to kiss her on the neck. “I can’t keep up. One reason to love you at a time, please.”

He pulled her in closer, his lips finding hers.