It had been an average night in the life of Blake Moran—typing memos, sending emails, ironing pockets squares, freaking out about the state of the treaty and the world in general—until Stephanie McCord appeared on his doorstep, on the verge of tears. She clung to him like he was an anchor in a stormy sea.

"I'm really scared," she admitted into his shirt. "Everything's just so messed up, you know?"

It had been an average night in the life of Stephanie McCord—typing memos, sending emails, scavenging for leftovers in the fridge, pretending like she had a plan and direction for her life—until she heard her mother talking about how hopeless everything seemed. So she ran to the only person in the whole world who seemed to get it. He clung to her like she was the only piece of hope left in a world of despair.

"I know," he whispered into her hair. "I'm scared too."

"Thanks for dealing with my freaking out," Stevie said, hiding her blush by taking a sip of tea out of the mug he had given her.

Blake shrugged, hiding his blush by turning to the stove to shut off the burner. "I was freaking out just as much. It's nice to not be alone."

"That's what real friends are for."

"About that—"

"You freaked out, didn't you?" Stevie smiled knowingly.

"No. Well, yes. I mean, I've freaked out more about other things. Not that you're not important enough to freak out over. Sorry, I tend to ramble in front of McCords." He let out an exasperated sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair. "What I'm trying to say, you've dated more people in the past five years than I've dated in my life. And maybe they all haven't been great ideas—"

Stevie snorted, "Most of them."

"—but I admire that you have the courage to follow your heart. Since we talked about what we would do if the world were ending, I realized that everything I've done in my life is for some hypothetical future I think I can control. Everything I haven't done is because I'm afraid. I don't want to live that way, especially if the world might be ending. I really want to fall in love someday. And I realize that can't happen unless I take risks." Blake stopped. He wasn't really sure where he was going with this. And he wasn't sure where they were going with this, whatever "this" was. "I want something real. Whether it's friends or something else. And for it to be real, I need to take risks."

Stevie set down her mug and leaned over the counter, her face inches from his. "So take a risk."

Blake closed the gap, his lips on hers.

Her lips were soft and hot as if they were melting into his. This was different from the two quick, tentative kisses they had shared before. This was filled with fear and fire. Blake gently cupped her jaw with his hand, tilting her head to deepen the kiss.

Stevie's phone buzzed, startling both of them apart.

"It's my mom," she explained, still a little breathless. "I should probably be going home." She went back towards the entrance and was halfway through getting her jacket on before Blake managed to snap himself out of his shocked state.

"I'm sorry, that was inappropriate. A complete lapse of judgement on my part," he said. "We can't do this."

"Why not?" Stevie exploded. "I'm so tired of hearing about what we can't do. For all we know, the world is ending. I might not be able to die without regrets, but I don't want to add anymore."

"What if you'll end up regretting this?"

"I'll regret it more if I don't."

"Stevie, are you sure you want to do this? Are you sure this is real and not just 'I-don't-want-to-die-alone' dating?" Blake asked timidly.

"I want it to be," she replied, pulling the other sleeve of her jacket on. "Not just an 'emotional-non-booty-call.' And definitely not just a regular booty call."

"Okay."

"Are you freaking out right now?"

"A little," Blake admitted with a shy smile. In a moment of bravery, he dropped a peck to the crown of her head. "Text me if you need anything, okay?"

"Thanks," Stevie whispered and went on her way. The sensation of the kiss to her forehead and butterflies in her stomach followed her all the way down to the platform and to her front steps. As she was taking off her shoes, her phone buzzed again. The screen lit up with Blake's name and underneath it read, "Dinner at my place on Wednesday around 7?"

"Sounds perfect," she typed and hit the send button.

Okay I have a lot of feelings about literally everything that happened in that episode, and this is one of them. This just kind of happened this evening. I was tempted to post it under fillers, but I get the feeling it has the life of its own. I'm marking it as complete, but don't be surprised if bonus chapters pop up.

As always, please leave a review! It means a lot to me and helps me as a writer. Thanks!