"Oh, god, I love you." Silence. He halted his tender, yet passionate ministrations at her neck, eyes wide in shock. Her cheeks flushed scarlet with unspoken embarrassment, mortified that she blurted out her feelings so carelessly. Her eyes darted around the room, searching for an escape, looking anywhere but at him. She had rendered him speechless with her admission. No mean feat, assuredly. He was covering her body with his own, prohibiting any means of escape that she may have realised. Finally, he spoke.

"Wh-What?"

She sighed heavily. Damn it. She swore that she would never say it. Never. And here she was, proclaiming her love for him, of all people. If she wasn't so preoccupied with the turn the night had taken, she would gloat in the fact that he had not "predicted" this. She spluttered slightly as she replied,

"I- nothing, I-I didn't"

It had been going so well. So, so well. He made her laugh, (although simultaneously want to punch him.) He was passionate and tender and caring, and great in bed, (although that was to be expected.) And she had to go and ruin it with that stupid three word sentence. The sentence she despised and fled from at every turn.

"You, you said you loved me.."

She made to get up and leave, fight or flight mode initiated. But he had her pinned to the bed, and possible though it was for her to hoist him off of her, a small voice in the depths of her mind told her not to struggle. A voice which strangely resembled that of her mother's.

"Look at me", he whispered, caressing her face lightly. He smiled slightly as she refused, stubbornly staring in the opposite direction. It was not that he had not wanted her to say it. On the contrary, he felt his heart soar as she uttered those words. Never again did he think that he would feel such love for another human being. But here it was, out in the open, confirmation that she felt exactly the same way about him, as he did her. And although he knew that he should feel regretful, guilty for betraying the memory of his wife and daughter, he didn't. She was his second chance, his reason for being. And he wasn't going to mess it up. He knew that she deserved so much better than him. Yet she had chosen him, and he vowed that he would do everything in his power to make sure that she reaped the rewards of all that she was owed. His grin widened as she began to backtrack on her hasty statement.

"It-it was nothing. Just the heat of the moment. Forget I said anything."

Damn it. He was just lying there, grinning like a Cheshire cat. Lying on top of her. Still quite aroused, judging by the feel of things. Why the hell was he smiling? The situation wasn't amusing or heartening in the slightest. And yet there he was, looking for all the world as though he had won the lottery.

"You're laughing at me. This isn't funny, and your laughing at me"

Uh-oh. Time to tone it down. This was not going the way he had envisioned. She was angry now, more than likely because she had meant it more than he thought, and now it seemed as though he was making fun of her.

"I'm not laughing at you.." he began, before she made to get up. "No, wait. I'm not laughing at you. I'm smiling because I'm happy. And I'm happy because you said you loved me. And, well, because honestly, I love you too"

Wait. He loved her too? This, this couldn't be happening. She never expected him to say it. Never. Regardless of the fact that Red John was gone, and he had committed to her in every other sense. It just wasn't going to happen. And she had told herself that it didn't matter, because she didn't love him either. But she had said it, and now he had reciprocated it, and godammit, why did it have to be so confusing?

"Wh-What?"

He beamed at her, finally able to look her in the eye, as, during her confusion her eyes had sought his. Oh this was to be expected. She instigated it, and now that she had a reply, she was lost.

"Funnily enough, I think we've already been at this point in the conversation. So I'll just rehash it for you, shall I? You said you loved me, I was not shocked, contrary to what you may be thinking, I said I loved you too, and now you're confused, because you never expected me to say it back. Right?"

She gaped at him, open-mouthed.

"Judging by your expression, I would venture a guess and say that I am right. Therefore, you love me and I love you. And that's all that matters."