p class="p1"It was not the ideal night to be class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"The July air was thick and muggy and the evening was cloudy. There was probably only an hour or two left of daylight. But their small house had no air conditioning and Dana Scully was getting class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"She dug their longest extension cord out of the closet and dragged their biggest fan onto the porch. The porch bench and table set was one of her favorite purchases since they stopped running. It was long enough for three people to sit on it or for Mulder to stretch his entire body across it, which he often did. The table was low, like a coffee table, and doubled perfectly as a foot rest./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Scully set herself up with the fan pointed directly at the bench, but far enough away that it wouldn't rustle her pages, and a giant glass of iced tea. She had set a goal of reading most of the American classics, and was making her way through Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth."/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Birds sang far in the distance, but other than the sound of the fan whirring, it was almost silent. That was the marvelous thing about this house - seclusion. Sometimes it got lonely, but for the most part, the lack of excitement was refreshing. At least for Scully. She knew Mulder got bored faster than her, and he had entertained the idea of moving closer to the city, but being technically still wanted by the FBI made that class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"If they wanted to find him, they would have. Scully has gone back to working at hospitals 2 years ago and she no longer worried about getting tracked via her credit cards. Mulder only used the cash she withdrew, but everyone knew that where Scully could be found, so could Mulder. As long as he didn't work at the agency, no one saw him as much of a threat class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Scully was still hoping there was another version of a career Mulder might want, but she wasn't rushing him. They'd worked on the road during the last half of their journey - minimum wage restaurant jobs for her and cash-only construction work for Mulder. They'd made it work, as they always did. Living under the radar in the age of early internet wasn't very expensive, luckily./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"She sighed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. The air felt even more humid than it had 20 minutes ago. She was trying to remember if it was supposed to rain when the front door class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Hey," Mulder said, plopping down beside her with a book in hand. She didn't remember the title, just that she had rolled her eyes when he called it the "magnum opus regarding Mothman." He'd found it in a box when they were doing a purge for Goodwill last class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Hey," she murmured back, looking up to shoot him a quick smile. He grinned and tapped her thigh. Like clockwork, she swung herself 90 degrees so that her back was against the arm of the bench and her legs were in his lap. He rubbed her ankles lightly and then opened his well-worn class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"This is all she'd wanted. The simple, quiet life, after all the hell they'd gone through. She'd had the hardest days of her life with him by her side and felt the rawest, most vulnerable she'd ever feel. Half the time, she wanted to give up. But she kept pushing, and so did he. And it was worth it all for moments like class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Scully picked up her iced tea and took a long gulp before passing it to Mulder. He made a small grunt of thanks, took a big sip, and handed it back. The whirring of the fan was joined by the flipping of pages. She was an efficient reader, but Mulder sped through pages at twice her speed, still comprehending every word. It was a skill she'd been jealous of when she first met class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"With a soft, almost silent start, rain began to fall from the sky. She sighed and sat class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Guess it's time to go inside," she said sadly. Mulder nodded and got up to turn the fan off and bring it inside before the rain began to blow into the covered porch area. Scully set her book down and gazed out at the rain as it swelled to a steady pour. As far as her eyes could see, it was just rain. The beauty of it caught her by surprise and she felt drawn to class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"A few steps from the bench, she took a running leap and catapulted herself over the steps like a child. She ran onto the grass and a few yards out from the house, exercising the freedom she'd lost for so class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Mulder noticed that she wasn't right behind him and returned to the porch to see Scully twirling through the rain, her green t-shirt and denim shorts soaked. He could hear her laughing from the porch and it almost made him cry. He didn't remember the last time she looked so damn class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"He ran out to join her and caught a huge grin on her class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Mulder!," she yelled. "This feels amazing! I don't think I've ever done this!"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"He chuckled. "You're very good at it."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"She grabbed his hand. "Dance with me!"/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"They started off goofy, leaping and spinning like unbalanced toddlers. Then he pulled her close, in a slow dance that was almost a hug. He kissed her forehead./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""I'm sorry," he whispered./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"She sighed. "We said we were done with that. What's past is past."/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""I know," he murmured. "But allow me one more chance to to acknowledge all the moments like this you gave up."/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"She looked up at him. "But I didn't give them up. I just put them on hold. We still have this" - she gestured at the property - "and plenty of time to make up for whatever we missed."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"He smiled. "How do you always know what to say?"/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"She grinned and he saw every tooth. That was a rare Scully class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Because you almost never do," she said. She extracted her hands from his and began to run, knowing she'd earned his wrath. He shook his head and chased her across the grass, further away from the house and towards the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"She turned back and shrieked as he got closer. Mulder caught her, tickling her mercilessly and kissing her neck. He scooped her up into his arms and planted a passionate kiss on her lips. She kissed back, running her hands through his wet hair./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Doc, are we going to get hypothermia if we stay out here?," Mulder asked between class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"She groaned. "Yes," she admitted. "We should probably take this inside."/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Mulder carried her all the way back to the house, setting her done before the ascended the porch steps. He stopped a step below her and took hold of her wrist, pulling her gently to face him. They were the same height this class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""I love you, Dana Katherine Scully."/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"She smiled and cupped his cheek. "I love you too, Fox William Mulder."/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"The July air was thick and muggy and the evening was cloudy. There was probably only an hour or two left of daylight. But their small house had no air conditioning and Dana Scully was getting class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"She dug their longest extension cord out of the closet and dragged their biggest fan onto the porch. The porch bench and table set was one of her favorite purchases since they stopped running. It was long enough for three people to sit on it or for Mulder to stretch his entire body across it, which he often did. The table was low, like a coffee table, and doubled perfectly as a foot rest./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Scully set herself up with the fan pointed directly at the bench, but far enough away that it wouldn't rustle her pages, and a giant glass of iced tea. She had set a goal of reading most of the American classics, and was making her way through Edith Wharton's "The House of Mirth."/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Birds sang far in the distance, but other than the sound of the fan whirring, it was almost silent. That was the marvelous thing about this house - seclusion. Sometimes it got lonely, but for the most part, the lack of excitement was refreshing. At least for Scully. She knew Mulder got bored faster than her, and he had entertained the idea of moving closer to the city, but being technically still wanted by the FBI made that class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"If they wanted to find him, they would have. Scully has gone back to working at hospitals 2 years ago and she no longer worried about getting tracked via her credit cards. Mulder only used the cash she withdrew, but everyone knew that where Scully could be found, so could Mulder. As long as he didn't work at the agency, no one saw him as much of a threat class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Scully was still hoping there was another version of a career Mulder might want, but she wasn't rushing him. They'd worked on the road during the last half of their journey - minimum wage restaurant jobs for her and cash-only construction work for Mulder. They'd made it work, as they always did. Living under the radar in the age of early internet wasn't very expensive, luckily./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"She sighed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. The air felt even more humid than it had 20 minutes ago. She was trying to remember if it was supposed to rain when the front door class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Hey," Mulder said, plopping down beside her with a book in hand. She didn't remember the title, just that she had rolled her eyes when he called it the "magnum opus regarding Mothman." He'd found it in a box when they were doing a purge for Goodwill last class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Hey," she murmured back, looking up to shoot him a quick smile. He grinned and tapped her thigh. Like clockwork, she swung herself 90 degrees so that her back was against the arm of the bench and her legs were in his lap. He rubbed her ankles lightly and then opened his well-worn class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"This is all she'd wanted. The simple, quiet life, after all the hell they'd gone through. She'd had the hardest days of her life with him by her side and felt the rawest, most vulnerable she'd ever feel. Half the time, she wanted to give up. But she kept pushing, and so did he. And it was worth it all for moments like class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Scully picked up her iced tea and took a long gulp before passing it to Mulder. He made a small grunt of thanks, took a big sip, and handed it back. The whirring of the fan was joined by the flipping of pages. She was an efficient reader, but Mulder sped through pages at twice her speed, still comprehending every word. It was a skill she'd been jealous of when she first met class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"With a soft, almost silent start, rain began to fall from the sky. She sighed and sat class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Guess it's time to go inside," she said sadly. Mulder nodded and got up to turn the fan off and bring it inside before the rain began to blow into the covered porch area. Scully set her book down and gazed out at the rain as it swelled to a steady pour. As far as her eyes could see, it was just rain. The beauty of it caught her by surprise and she felt drawn to class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"A few steps from the bench, she took a running leap and catapulted herself over the steps like a child. She ran onto the grass and a few yards out from the house, exercising the freedom she'd lost for so class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Mulder noticed that she wasn't right behind him and returned to the porch to see Scully twirling through the rain, her green t-shirt and denim shorts soaked. He could hear her laughing from the porch and it almost made him cry. He didn't remember the last time she looked so damn class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"He ran out to join her and caught a huge grin on her class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Mulder!," she yelled. "This feels amazing! I don't think I've ever done this!"span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"He chuckled. "You're very good at it."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"She grabbed his hand. "Dance with me!"/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"They started off goofy, leaping and spinning like unbalanced toddlers. Then he pulled her close, in a slow dance that was almost a hug. He kissed her forehead./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""I'm sorry," he whispered./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"She sighed. "We said we were done with that. What's past is past."/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""I know," he murmured. "But allow me one more chance to to acknowledge all the moments like this you gave up."/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"She looked up at him. "But I didn't give them up. I just put them on hold. We still have this" - she gestured at the property - "and plenty of time to make up for whatever we missed."span class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"He smiled. "How do you always know what to say?"/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"She grinned and he saw every tooth. That was a rare Scully class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Because you almost never do," she said. She extracted her hands from his and began to run, knowing she'd earned his wrath. He shook his head and chased her across the grass, further away from the house and towards the class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"She turned back and shrieked as he got closer. Mulder caught her, tickling her mercilessly and kissing her neck. He scooped her up into his arms and planted a passionate kiss on her lips. She kissed back, running her hands through his wet hair./p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""Doc, are we going to get hypothermia if we stay out here?," Mulder asked between class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"She groaned. "Yes," she admitted. "We should probably take this inside."/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"Mulder carried her all the way back to the house, setting her done before the ascended the porch steps. He stopped a step below her and took hold of her wrist, pulling her gently to face him. They were the same height this class="Apple-converted-space" /span/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1""I love you, Dana Katherine Scully."/p
p class="p2" /p
p class="p1"She smiled and cupped his cheek. "I love you too, Fox William Mulder."/p