Hey guys!

And I'm finally back. Here's a small one-shot for you. Hope all of you like it!

xxxxx...

Dark Wings...

One – Shot: Of Best Friends and Lines Crossed

Author: Dark Wings Of Imagination

Beta: Ryl

Genre: Friendship/Hurt & Comfort/Romance

Summary: "The knock on the door took Mac out of his stupor, and made him wonder whom could that be […] Once he opened the door he was more than surprised to see Jo standing there."

The snow covered streets of New York gave the city even more beauty than it already had. The sparkle of bright colored lamps contrasted perfectly with all other items of decoration, making it impossible to not want to stop and stare at them for a while. The holiday season had finally arrived and there wasn't a single place in the city you couldn't see or feel its presence.

As Jo Danville walked down the streets of the city that never sleeps, admiring its beauty, she just couldn't ignore the feeling that something was out of place. And it bothered her to no end. This was her favorite time of year, she should be happy, or at least not as down as she was. When she left home that morning, she actually thought the city's environment would do her some good, but as she feared, it did not.

Although she hated to admit it, she knew exactly what it was. She knew what was missing. She just wished she didn't miss him that much.

Ever since Mac told her to stay out of his personal business, their friendship had become weaker and weaker as time went by. Yes, he apologized for the way he talked to her, but it was expected, he is Mac Taylor for Christ's sake, politeness is his middle name. And his apology was more him being his normal polite self than an actually wanting to fix things between them.

There was nothing Jo wanted more than to restore their relationship. She was willing to do anything to get things back to how they used to be, but apparently Mac wasn't half as interested in it as she was. She sure missed her friend immensely but she had already crossed more lines than she should have, and she was not going to do that again. She knew she shouldn't have done the first time, yet she still did and just look where it got her! No way was she going to make the same mistake twice.

When it was time, she hoped, things would eventually work out between them.

…

The silence in the room was deafening and the lonely figure sitting on the couch was as immobile as a dead body. Mac Taylor just did not know what to do anymore.

He had almost lost his life and in consequence of that, he lost part of his memory – he would have difficulties remembering the names of the simplest day to day objects, colors and other infuriatingly simple things. But the worst things was that he pushed his best friend away because she had noticed something was off about him and he really didn't want her to find out about his situation. Just a few minutes earlier, he had lost the only other thing that kept him sane – well, kind of. Less than ten minutes ago his relationship with Christine came to an end.

What was worst, though, is that he didn't feel a gut wrenching sadness that should be drowning him in self pity, if anything, he was relieved – don't get him wrong, he would forever be grateful for everything Christine did for him, for everything she went through with him. But they just weren't meant to be. Though that tiny little pang of loss was ever present, but who for he did not know.

Perhaps, they could have really been something, but he just wasn't willing to fight for it because deep down he knew that he had never loved Christine, at least not in the way he should. The reason he couldn't seem to love her in the way she deserved was because – and he hated to admit such a thing that he finds hard to come to terms with himself is that – he was in love with someone else. His heart yearned for another, another that he had also pushed away.

His best friend. Jo Danville.

…

When Jo stepped inside her apartment later that day she simply didn't have any more strength to fight down all of the feelings inside her and once inside her bedroom, for the first time in years, she finally allowed herself to break down. The kind of break down that made her entire body wrack with sobs, blurring her vision so that she had to slide down the wall to sit in a mess of limbs on the floor.

The tears cascaded like a waterfall down her face, and although many happenings caused the overflow of feelings – and she eventried to fool herself to believe otherwise – she knew that the mess she was in, right in this moment, had a name.

Mac Taylor.

Yes, he was her boss and best friend – at least she would like to believe they still were – but he was also the man she fell in love with. But the most pain flowed from the fact that he didn't belong to her, he had someone else and she had to admit that it killed her, if only a little each day, as she watched him go home and right into Christine's arms.

What hurt her more, though, was how their friendship had began to decay. Slowly, but definitely. And as their friendship began to fall apart, so did she.

It sure hurt her to be nothing more than a friend, but she much rather hurt and have him as friend for all of eternity, than live a single day without him at all.

And this notion was all the motivation she needed.

…

The knock on the door took Mac out of his stupor, and made him wonder whom it could possibly be – he had even hoped for a split second that maybe Christine had decided to come back and give him one last chance, but that thought was gone as quickly as it came. Once he opened the door, he was more than surprised – in a good way, and even happier he was seeing her rather than his blonde ex – to see Jo standing there.

His thrill quickly faded once he looked at her face and saw traces of tears.

"Jo is everything alright?" He asked in a vain attempt to know what had happened, little did he know that he was the main cause.

"We need to talk. Can I come in?" She replied, clearly avoiding his question though neither mentioned it.

"Sure"

He stepped to the side so that she could come in. He wasn't happy that she didn't tell him right away what was going on, maybe it was best for now so he decided to drop it for the time being, she would let it out soon, he knew.

Sitting across from each other made it easier for their eyes to meet and once they did, Mac realized just then how much he had truly missed his friend and, on a sadder note, how her once bright caramel orbs had lost the familiar glint he loved so much.

The intensity of Mac's gaze made her shift uncomfortably on her seat and she averted her eyes as if under scrutiny. She inhaled a deep breath before breaking the distressing silence which had settled heavily in the room.

"I'm sorry to come over here without warning you first, but I just really needed to talk to you before I talk myself out of it with a billion reasons again."

"That's quite alright, Jo. It wasn't like I had anywhere else to be anyway and in fact I do agree we need to talk." He said dismissing her apologies, wanting nothing more really than to thank her for coming over.

"I'm sorry Mac," Jo began and upon noticing his confused face she added "I'm sorry I overstepped my limits, but I don't regret what I did, and if I needed to, I'd do it again. I need you to understand, though, that I only stuck my nose in your personal matters because I care about you and I was worried about you. Clearly there was, and I still think, there is something out of place with you, and not knowing what it was worried me. So, yeah, really I just wanted to apologize for getting into your personal business and everything. I really had no right to do that."

When Jo finished speaking she exhaled a long breath, feeling a whole weight of things that she had been holding in and never being bold enough to tell him. She just wished that it could at least give them back what they once had with each other. That's all.

As her words sank in, Mac took notion on just how scared she was. He couldn't help the sinking feeling in his heart at hearing the hurt in her voice all the while she spoke. As she sat there waiting for any kind of response or reaction from him, he decided it was way past the due date that they got things right between them. Better late than never.

"Thank you, Jo" he said after a moment thought.

He was certain by the look on her the face that it wasn't the answer she expected and that she had no idea where he was going with it.

"Thank you for being the most amazing and most stubborn friend I've ever had. But most of all thank you for never giving up on me, even when I treated you in a way that you never deserved. If anything, I'm the one who should be apologizing for the way I acted that day, I was way out of line."

Once he had finished speaking, the tears that had being welling up in her eyes were now slowly and quietly falling down her cheeks. Noticing them Mac reached out his hand to wipe them away, something she appreciated very much and couldn't help but to lean into his touch if not just a little.

"I feel like a cry baby these days. Sorry, I have got myself into such a state, what a mess." Jo apologized quietly.

Once his hand had left her face, she furiously rubbed at her cheeks, willing the tears away. Silently cursing her emotional side at its determination to keep appearing today. She let out a small and embarrassed laugh at herself but sobered quickly when Mac took her hands in his own warm ones.

"You have nothing to be sorry for," He began. "You were right that there is something out of place with me and I think you have a right to know. As a consequence of the shot I took, I now have something that is known as Anomic Aphasia. It causes me to have difficulties remembering names of day-to-day objects. Simple and pathetic things that just…" He pauses and lets out a small sigh. "It's ridiculous. But I have been taking care of it and it's a lot better than it was before which I guess is a plus."

After finishing his confession, it felt as if the sky had been lifted off his shoulders. But the look of gratitude on Jo's was just… priceless.

"I know how hard it must have been for you to admit that, but I appreciate it very much that you trust me enough to share it with me. It really means a lot to me, more than you know." She says quietly, squeezing his hand gently.

With their hands still linked, Mac thought that now was the time to ask her why she was she looking so devastated when she got there, her answer, though, certainly surprised him. The soft whisper of "I missed you." was more than he had expected. But a part of him soared with happiness to know that they shared the same feeling.

Looking down at her, he replied with "I missed you, too" and it was so gently whispered that if the room hadn't been silent around them, she would have missed it.

As their gazes found each other once more that night they felt the air around them shift and were suddenly aware of their faces being in such a close proximity to each other than they remembered. It was without a shadow of doubt the beginning of a kiss that both had longed for but, just when their lips were about to touch, Jo pulled away suddenly and before he could react she was already on her feet and making her way towards the door.

"Jo, what was it?" Mac asked as he followed her.

When she didn't react or make any signs of recognition, he reached out to gently touch her shoulder and turn her – pulling her out of whatever trance she was in.

"I-We can't do this. I mean, we were about to kiss each other just a few seconds ago, but w-we can't." She choked out, while desperately trying to escape his grip to clear her thoughts.

"What do you mean we can't?" His brow furrowed into a frown and she instinctively wanted to reach out to him at his crest-fallen expression. She managed not to, albeit with great difficult.

"What do I mean? Mac, you're dating Christine, for God's sake, you really expected me to allow you to kiss me?" She almost shouted, indignantly, as if it was the most outrageous thing. Though the wanting and pain was still evident in her voice.

Of course, he thought, he hadn't told her yet about his break up with the blonde woman.

"Christine and I broke up." He interrupted her with an earnest assurance, it sounded almost like a plea.

"What?"

The look of surprise on her face would be comical if it wasn't for the given situation right now.

"We broke up." He repeated again as he took a step closer to her, breaking the boundary of personal space.

She smiled up at him and for the first time that night he saw that sparkle in her eyes that he loves so much.

He glances down at her lips and sees her tongue dart out to wet them, he takes this chance and leans down to whisper "There's nothing stopping me now.." against her lips, before they both surge forward and their lips meet in a gentle but passionate kiss that's been a long time coming.