A/N: Okay…please be as nice as possible. This is my first Eleventh Hour story and I'm kinda nervous about it (but the nervousness pales in comparison to my excitement XD) Anyshway…I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: You know the drill…I own nothing but the plot (damn :P )
R & J
Rachel Young slammed the door of her hotel room and sat down heavily on the end of the bed. She was dead tired and had very little patience left. It had been a very stressful day of waiting, worrying, and then chasing some psychotic moron. Her fatigue caught up with her and Rachel suddenly felt grimy and went to take a shower.
Stepping out of the shower, Rachel felt clean, refreshed, and in desperate need of sleep, but her bodyguard duties came first. After putting on an old T-shirt and some flannel pyjama pants, she walked over to the door separating her and Hood's rooms and knocked. When there was no response Rachel opened the door slowly, gun in hand. The room was dark as she slid in, keeping her back to the wall. The sound of heavy breathing made her tense up.
Upon hearing the sound of rustling bed-sheets and realising where the noise was coming from, Rachel realised that Hood must have already fallen asleep. She let out the breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding.
After checking the rest of the hotel room for potential threats, Rachel turned to go back to her own room, but stumbled on something in the dark. Feeling around, she picked up the offending object and turned on the bedside lamp. In her hands she held an old and battered copy of Romeo and Juliet. She looked over at Hood, fast asleep. He looked sweet, almost childlike, in his sleep. All his barriers, the ones he used to separate himself from the outside world, from her, disappeared while he slept. Rachel smiled fondly. Hood really was a great guy.
Sure, he had his quirks and he defiantly took some time to get used to, and even then there were people who just couldn't handle him. Rachel herself had been close to killing the man before their first week of working together was even over. She had gotten over it and had actually grown quite attached to Hood.
A blush crept onto Rachel's cheeks as she thought about it. Giving her head a shake to clear the unwanted thoughts, she placed the book on the bedside table and looked down at Hood again. Unable to stop herself, Rachel stepped closer to the bed and brushed a gentle hand through his curly brown hair.
"Goodnight Hood." She whispered and turned off the lamp, before returning to her room and closing the adjoining door.
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Jacob's eyes snapped open as soon as he heard the door click shut, and he sighed. He had been getting worried that Rachel wasn't going to leave. Hood realised he should have answered when she had knocked, but it was too late now.
He sat up and watched the crack of light that seeped under the door until it disappeared, telling him that Rachel had turned out her light and would soon be asleep, if she weren't already.
Hood swung his feet out of bed, grabbed the book off the bedside table and crept to the door. Pausing for a moment, Hood made sure he couldn't hear anything from Rachel's room, before he grabbed his jacket and shoes and walked out into the hall, closing the door only after making sure he had both room key and panic button. Hood put on his shoes and shrugged on his jacket, then tiptoed down to the elevators.
As he waited for the elevator, Hood recalled the feeling of Rachel's hand running through his hair and how gently, almost tenderly, she had whispered goodnight, and he smiled.
He was beginning to think this harebrained scheme of his just might work.
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Rachel felt as though she had just dozed off, when she was woken by a tapping on the window. Slipping out of bed, she grabbed her gun and stood, back to the wall, next to the curtained window. Moving the curtain aside with her left hand, Rachel craned her neck to see who was outside. What she saw was not what she expected.
Hood was standing down on the sidewalk, looking intently up at her window. As she watched, he bent down to pick something up, threw it up at the window, and Rachel saw a small pebble hit her window and bounce off.
Looking back at the digital clock on her bedside table, Rachel saw the glowing time and groaned.
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Hood was getting ready to throw another pebble at Rachel's window, when it suddenly opened and Rachel stuck her head out.
"Hood, what are you doing out there? It's one in the freaking morning!"
His plan had been to wake Rachel, wait for her to open the window, and then recite some of Romeo's lines from the infamous balcony scene. He thought it would be a very romantic, and different, way to tell her how he felt. But as Hood looked up at the angry face of the woman he had fallen for, he lost his nerve.
"Well?" Rachel prompted, getting even more annoyed.
"Umm…well, you see," Hood stalled while he tried to think of an excuse.
"I was, uhh…reading Romeo + Juliet," He said, holding up the well-worn book. "and I find that acting out a scene helps me to, err…understand the plot better." He grinned sheepishly, hoping she bought it.
"And you couldn't throw rocks at your own window, why?" she asked.
Hoods eyes lit up as he realised his plan could possibly still be salvaged.
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Rachel drummed her fingers as she waited for Hood to answer her question. What he said next made Rachel feel like her heart had stopped.
"It's just not the same without a beautiful woman at the window."
It wasn't just his words that had surprised Rachel, but also the utter sincerity she could hear behind them. She hoped Hood couldn't see her face because she was positive it was beet-red.
"Hood, get back to bed…now!" Rachel ordered, thankful her voice was still even, then shut the window.
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Hood's heart sank as he trudged into the elevator and punched the button for their floor. After hearing Rachel bark at him to get back to bed, he had assumed that one of three things had happened.
She had completely missed what he had said. (Unlikely)
She had heard him, but thought he was kidding. (Highly improbable)
She didn't feel the same way about him. (Most likely)
Hood sighed heavily. He knew he shouldn't have gotten his hopes up. He had known it was a longshot, but he had still hoped that after all the crap they had been through together, after all the glances, all the "accidental" touches, that the feeling might be mutual.
"I guess I was wrong." Muttered Hood sadly.
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Rachel sat on the end of her bed, trying to sort out her feelings in her chaotic, and slightly sleep-deprived, mind. By the time she heard Hood's footsteps approaching down the hall, she had made up her mind. She jumped up and dashed to the door, wrenching it open before she could chicken out.
"Hood." Rachel called to him, but he didn't acknowledge her. As he tried to go past her, she grabbed his wrists, stopping him and turning him to face her, although he still wouldn't look at her.
"Hood," Rachel said again. "About what you said outside…" Hood suddenly looked up at her and Rachel was taken aback at the anguish she could see in his hazel eyes.
"Rachel, I am so sorry." Hood began apologising. "What I said was really stupid and impulsive. I don't know what…" He was cut off as Rachel put a finger against his lips.
"Stop apologising. What you said was the single most sweetest thing a man has ever said to me." She said, smiling shyly.
"Really?" asked Hood, surprised, and Rachel nodded.
They stood there silently for a moment, Rachel still holding Hood's wrists, when he leaned over, suddenly, and pressed his lips against hers. Rachel was stunned. It was the last thing she had expected Hood to do. When he pulled back a moment later and saw her shocked face, his heart sank and he swore inwardly, thinking her had screwed things up again.
"Oh god. I'm so sorry Rachel…" At the sound of her name, Rachel snapped out of her shocked state.
"Hood." He didn't hear her and continued apologising.
"That was such a stupid move. I really don't know what came over me…"
"Hood." Rachel tried again, and again Hood didn't hear her.
"I had no right to do that, Now I've probably wrecked everything…"
"JACOB!" He looked at her, surprised to hear her call him by his first name. Seeing she finally had his attention, Rachel smiled.
"Shut up." She said, then swung her arms around his neck and planted her lips firmly against his. Hood was stunned for a moment before he got over it and kissed her back, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer.
After almost three minutes, they finally broke apart, faces flushed.
"Why did you say what you did outside?" Rachel asked, unable to keep curiosity at bay any longer. Hood looked down at her silently for a moment.
"I love you." He said nonchalantly, with a small shrug. Rachel blushed and a small smile curled the edges of her lips.
"Really?" She asked and Hood nodded.
"I have for some time now." Rachel's smile widened.
"I – love you too." She said quietly and a grin quickly spread across Hood's before he kissed her again.