Be it the sun shining in from the thin sliver of curtain that hadn't quite managed to shut it out or the light snores of the person ensnaring her from behind, either way, Angela Montenegro woke up feeling more refreshed and willing to take on the day ahead than she ever could remember. For a second she wasn't sure of her surroundings as her eyes slowly opened and drank in the bedroom before her. As if on cue, the man behind her pulled her closely towards him and as his neatly shaven beard bristled against the smooth skin of her neck, last night's memories suddenly came flooding back to her and she could do nothing to refrain the smile that had began to dance its way across her delicate face.
"It's you." The confession didn't appear much more than a confused accusation to him as the words flowed from her lips. She held her gaze downwards, afraid to look him in the eyes in case she bottled out of her semi prepared speech.
"Angie…I don't understand, what's me?" The scientist looked perplexed as he took a step closer to the desk she was using to hold her trembling frame upright. Silently he dared to take another step closer, knowing he was perhaps invading her personal space but seemingly unwilling to accept that it mattered right now as the woman he had not only fallen for but damn right tripped, stumbled and plummeted into love with, continued to find her slip on pumps more fascinating than anything else in the room.
She repeated it for the second time. "It's you." This time her brilliant cocoa eyes reached up to hold his own gaze. "It's you who leaves me those notes every morning in that handwriting that god knows how, but only I can read…" She continued by speaking much faster than was normal as she could feel any bravery slowly dissipate with each word that she unlocked and allowed to roam free. "It's you who takes me an aspirin and water even though I've never mentioned that I was feeling unwell, you notice. It's you who looks at me and makes me feel every emotion at once. It's you who I dream about most and even if I forget the dream, it's like your presence is still there in my mind. It's you who's made me unafraid to accept who I am and make me want to be a better person every day and shit I know that's corny but it's true…" Jack was trying to follow every sentence so very carefully as if it were a slide under his microscope disappearing quickly and when she had seemingly paused he could feel his hands shaking in his own pockets.
"And it's you who I love and for some reason loves me back or at least I hope still does..." With the last confession, although she had tried her hardest to fight against them, the tears had begun their downward journey and were currently spilling down her nose and caressing her pursed lips. Her gaze had once again returned to the floor and she contemplated skipping out on his reaction altogether, knowing how easy it would be to run once again and forget this ever happened. But this was Hodgins. Her Hodgins. Only now he actually wasn't hers and it had slowly been gnawing at her inside until it enveloped her in a coma of regret and pain and she could no longer bear to see him across the lab and know he was untouchable but so very close. At last, Angela had begun to feel the repercussions of her actions. She had started to feel the sheer intensity of her own consequences and it was numbing. She didn't want to be numb anymore.
Lifting her hands to her eyes to try and wipe away the valley that had started off clear but was now murky as it smeared with her eyeliner, she stole a glance at the man in front. That's all it took for Jack. In that second he realised she meant every word and this was it. She wasn't going anywhere. This was Angela's promise that this was as close to forever as it would be and he wasn't going to waste another minute not touching her. In one swift movement he had her against his own form and in his toned arms slotting into place as if the two were sculpted to fit so symmetrically that the thought of fate crossed his mind. One of his hands found the back of her head as she buried her face into his neck to once again smell the earthy and familiar scent that was Jack and be reminded as to how pathetic their break up had been in the first place or at least her part in it. The other, snaked its way around her waist and held her so tightly she knew that this was the way it was supposed to be.
Not one to believe in fairy tales, Angela had known of the 'happily ever after' that each girl was supposed to get but all too familiar with disappointment, that it had always been safer to accept the 'conveniently ever now' that she had grown accustomed to and expected of nearly every lover she had taken. But this was Jack and fuck this was not convenient. This was painful, this was intense, this was at once stopping her breathing and keeping her alive, this was months of pent up passion, this was heart breaking and heart soothing, this was panic and anxiety and his highest and this was love. Everything she had once hid from was right in front of her, cradling her fears and accepting her flaws and damn he was now whispering into her hair that it was ok and that he loved her and always would.
"It's gonna be ok baby," Jack spoke softly as he pulled back slightly and wiped the remaining tears from the beauty in front. Angela couldn't help but smile at him as he cupped her face and placed a chaste kiss on the side of her moist cheek. His beard tickling her and calming her down together. He matched her smile as his eyes danced with a thousand questions and promises that he would hold back for now as this was happiness and he wanted to bask in the sheer brilliance that life would so minutely dish out to those fortunate enough to receive just a piece of it.
He was suddenly glad of the privacy of their intimate moment, everyone else aside Brennan had departed at least an hour ago and it was only by chance that he had come into Angela's office in the first place to retrieve a file that was needed in order for him to submit his last report of the day and now here he was, with her again. They stood together for a few minutes, Angela resting her head on his shoulder whilst he rubbed lazy circles across her back trying to process how they had just gotten to this moment and hoping that it would last an eternity. But it did not and it did not matter for he had carefully pulled her face towards his and captured her lips and taken them prisoner with his own as the emotion they both still felt and were unsure how to convey drove their bodies for them and created a performance that only they knew the meaning of. As the kiss ended Jack could feel Angela's smile against his. This to him, was perfection, this was home and this was right.
They left the Jeffersonian together, walking hand in hand. An action that although seemed a regular deed for most couples but to them promised so much more, it assured hope and faith in new beginnings. Jack shut the door next to the driver's seat and looked to his love with a glint in his sparkling blue eyes. "Where to m'lady?" Angela couldn't suppress the throaty chuckle that formed in her throat. "Home Jack, take me home." They shared a broad smile as he turned on the ignition and started driving the all too familiar route back to his estate.