It had been a long day with basically nothing to do. No new cases had shown up and Mulder was taking her report for the last case to Skinner. And, as having nothing to do made her tired, she decided to straighten up the small mess the office found itself in. She was almost done when Mulder came back, finding her sitting on the floor, a strand of hair falling over her face, her legs to her left. She looked beautiful.
"Hey, I thought you said we had nothing to do."
She raised her eyes to look at him.
"Well, we didn't, but I found something to keep me busy."
"Let me help you, then."
He sat beside her and tried to understand the pattern she was following to organize those papers. After some seconds he started putting them in the correct piles.
"So, any plans for the holidays?"
"Yeah… Spending Christmas with the Scullys and being questioned about not having a husband, a date or something to that effect. Besides that, nothing too interesting."
"I thought you liked celebrating Christmas with your family."
"No. I do like spending time with them. It's just that they're always trying to find me someone. I think they think I'll be lonely forever…" She paused a little and her eyes rested on his "And sometimes I'm afraid to find out they're right."
He looked into her eyes and saw she really meant the last sentence. She could be tough when she wanted to, but now she looked so vulnerable. He moved his hand through her hair and put the lock falling over her face behind her ear.
"Well, if there's no other possibility either for you or for me, we can always be together."
She saw some truth in his eyes and was afraid to believe it, so she tried to pretend that shiver down her spine hadn't happened and replied sarcastically, lightening the mood a little.
"The world will end if that happens."
He smiled at her because he saw she didn't mean it, and they were in silence for some minutes. They finally finished what they were doing and went home, each with their own thoughts about that conversation.
Some days later, there they were together, watching the countdown to the new millennium through that hospital television. He looked at her and saw she was smiling at the couple kissing on the TV. She had never looked brighter, never looked more beautiful. It was then that he decided what to do.
She didn't realize his gaze or what was about to happen until he was too close to say no. And why would she say no? She allowed his lips touch hers softly, tenderly, making her heart skip a beat. She closed her eyes and just felt it. Could it be just another dream? Just as she thought of it, their lips broke apart and she opened her eyes again, finding his eyes on hers, analyzing her.
He was unsure of her reaction and kept asking himself if he had made a mistake. But if so, why did he feel like doing it again? She smiled and almost all his questions were answered.
"The world didn't end." He said, waiting for the last confirmation he needed.
Still amazed by what they had just done, she couldn't say anything but "No, it didn't", but she saw in his eyes that he understood her. And he saw in her eyes she felt the same way about him as he felt about her.
He put his left arm around her shoulder and they walked away in silence. Though no words were said after that, they knew they would never truly be lonely.