AN: I guess the timeline of this would be sometime after IWTB, but disregarding the revival because they didn't break up and you can't convince me otherwise.

"I want to hurry home to you / put on a slow, dumb show for you / and crack you up" - Slow Show, The National

Fox Mulder pulled into the driveway, almost yanking the key out of the ignition before the car had come to a complete stop. He took a deep breath to curb his excitement and stepped out of the car, every step towards the house perfectly in sync with his quick heartbeat.

He threw open the front door and there she was. On the couch, still her in work clothes, reading a book. She was biting her lip in the sexiest way. Goddamn, he missed her. He even missed her while she was sleeping beside him. Three days had been torture.

She looked up and her blue eyes lit up like the night sky. She placed her book on the coffee table, set her glasses on top of it and smiled.

"Hi," she said softly. He stopped in tracks, marveling at her. She was so beautiful and just when he thought he had fully grasped the scope of her beauty, he blinked and she became even more stunning.

"Mulder?," she asked, standing up and walking towards him. Her soft red hair looked even redder against her white blouse. "Are you alright?"

He answered by pulling her into his arms for a tender kiss. She slipped her arms around him and his knees almost buckled at her touch.

"Mhm," he said against her lips. "I am."

She pulled away to look at him.

"I… You become even more beautiful every time I see you," he said softly, stroking her cheek. "I've be thinking about you endlessly for the past three days and somehow, you manage to defy the image I have in my mind."

She laughed and the constellations in her eyes danced.

"Endlessly?"

"Endlessly," he said, drawing the word out. He kissed her lightly on the lips. "Every waking moment. Especially at night."

She laughed against his lips and pressed her body gently into his.

"Is that right?," she whispered, kissing a line from his mouth to his ear and nuzzling her face in the crook of his neck.

"Yeah," he murmured, moving his hands to cup her ass. He gave it a light squeeze and she giggled. She took a step back and held his hand, pulling him over to the couch. He sat down beside her, loosening his tie and watching her as she tucked her legs under her knees and angled her body towards him.

"Tell me about it," she said, continuing to hold tightly onto his hand.

"Well, I thought about your eyes. How blue and beautiful they are, and how I used to say things just to get a rise out of you and see that skeptical look and wait for the twinkle of amusement. It usually started in your left eye first. How I tried so hard to be professional while standing mere inches from you, knowing you and I were breathing the same air. It never made sense, that someone as incredible as you would want to share the same air as me. The fact that you stayed past one case defied logic. It became an X File in my mind - the mystery of why the incomparable Dana Scully would want to waste her time with me. It took everything I had to fight how nervous I was around you and try not to overdo it. I felt ashamed when you turned me on just by smiling, because you deserved more respect than me automatically thinking with my dick. I fought every impulse to be an idiot and treat you like I'm sure lots of men have treated you. I wanted every interaction between us to convey the respect I had for your intelligence and tenacity. I didn't want to reduce you to an object. You were otherworldly to me, Scully. I thought I'd find definitive proof of aliens before I figured out how to kiss you the way you deserve to be kissed and then got up the courage to actually do it."

Scully's perfect lips gaped open and she put her hand on his cheek. Her hands were soft, despite spending all day wearing harsh, unforgiving plastic gloves and performing surgeries and washing them hourly with strong antibacterial soap that was practically bleach.

"Mulder, I -"

He cut her off with a passionate kiss, pulling her into his arms and running his hands under her shirt and up her bare back.

"I love you," he murmured, barely taking his lips away from hers. "I dreamed about you for twenty nine years before I ever met you or saw your face, I miss you every time I'm away from you for more than 24 hours and I'm intoxicated by every detail of you, down to the dimples on your cheeks and the tattoo on your back and every small scar on your body that is probably my fault."

She gasped softly and rested her forehead on his, looking him in the eyes.

"Mulder, I don't have a way with words quite like you do, but I've never been in awe of another human being like I am of you. I love you and I'd say it a thousand times. I'm forever yours, until the next big bang sweeps away all of humanity and I'll be yours even after we're nothing but dust."

He chuckled. "That was morbidly poetic, Scully."

She grinned. "I know." She kissed his him and undid his tie, tossing it unceremoniously onto the floor. "Maybe I can just show you how I feel? Actions speak louder than words, anyway."

She kissed her way down his neck, slowly rubbing his crotch with her knee. He let out a small, gravely moan and she tangled her fingers as best as she could in his short hair.

"Take me to bed, G-woman," he whispered. "Please."

"Well, since you asked nicely," she whispered, taking his hand and pulling him off the couch. "Come on, spooky."

XXXX

Scully woke to a much colder bed than expected. She heard utensils scrapping against pans in the kitchen and smiled. Mulder's undershirt was lying on the floor, so she slipped it over her head, pulled her hair into a low ponytail and made her way out of their bedroom.

"Uh huh, let me tell ya now," Mulder sang, terribly off-key in the most adorable way as he flipped pancakes on the stovetop. His back was to Scully and he was dancing as he cooked, blissfuly unaware that he was no longer alone. She leaned against the doorframe and watched him silently.

"Jackson 5?" She finally broke her silence and Mulder turned around not missing a beat. He pointed at her and shimmied his hips, using the spatula as a microphone.

"Oh baby, give me one more chance to show you that I love you, won't you please let me back into your heart."

He grinned his boyish grin that made Scully go weak at the knees and kept rocking out. "Ten to one you won't join in, Scully," he said with a wink.

"I want you back, yes I do now, ooooh baby," she sang, her voice cracking at the end of the verse. Mulder burst out laughing and turned the burner off. He set down his spatula and took Scully's hands in his, twirling her around the kitchen.

"Trying to live without your love is one long sleepless night," he serenaded her, holding her hips and moving them in time with his. "Let me show you girl, that I know know wrong from right."

Scully laughed, trying as hard as she could to stay in step with Mulder. They were both horrible dancers, which didn't help.

"Oh baby oh," Mulder murmured, only half-singing along to the music. He dipped Scully and she popped back up, throwing her hands around his neck. He picked her up and they spun around the kitchen sloppily until the song ended.

"Mulder, you are…"

"Incredibly sexy? A terrific dancer? A hottie?"

She snorted and slipped from his grasp, going over to the stove to inspect the pancakes. "A total dork," she said, scraping leftover batter from the bowl and licking it off her finger. She winked at him.

Mulder walked over to her and pulled her body back into his, cupping her ass. She smiled and gave him a quick peck.

"Okay, you're pretty sexy too. And a good cook."

He smiled at her. "Wanna eat?"

"Yes, please. It smells amazing."

She sat down at the table and Mulder brought over pancakes, syrup and coffee. She could never get enough of watching him putter around this small house. It was missing a few things neither of them ever dared to mention, but it was a good home. A loving home. It had seen the most miles of their relationship thus far - after spending months apart and then months on the run, they'd finally put down roots a few years ago. She never wanted those roots to be pulled out. She wanted to grow old and collect rings like a tree in this little house with Mulder.

"Mulder?"

"Yes?," he asked, sitting across from her at the table.

"You knock my socks off."

He smiled and she wondered how she ever could have felt anything but love for him.

"You knock mine off too, Scully."