A/N: Birthday present for my own birthday (which is on Tuesday) ahahah because in the past two years I haven't gotten anything from my online friends so it's sort of a tradition now lol. *sob*

Also I'm not saying this story isn't OOC, it actually really is. But it's a possibility and a situation I wouldn't mind seeing on-screen.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.

'One last favor'

He saw she was still glowing from one of her many dates. And he knew he should leave her alone and let her bask in the love and affection one certain Marcus Pike was giving her.

But he couldn't. He needed one last thing from her to be able to let her go, to cut all ties that connected them and give her a true opportunity to move on and be happy. He was totally and utterly selfish.

He wouldn't treat her as a friend after tonight anyway, he would be the role model coworker and leave personal and office life separated.

"Teresa?" he whispered, knowing that from this distance, she would be the only one who could hear him if there were people present in the bullpen this late at night.

She turned around, a big smile on her lips. He hoped to God she hadn't slept with Pike… he knew it would happen eventually, but not at this point. It would break him beyond repairing.

He sighed quietly. He would break her heart now.

"Can I ask you for a favor?"

She frowned at him and the smile dropped a bit, but soon her curiosity took over and she turned her chair fully.

"Yes, but I won't dress up again."

He smiled softly at her obvious trauma of him putting her in two dresses. He swallowed when he realized he wouldn't get to do it again.

"It's nothing like that, trust me." He swallowed again. How could he ask her something like this? This was the reason he didn't deserve her.

"What is it then, Jane?"

"Can I…" He sighed. In for the penny, in for the pound. "Can I kiss you?"

Her eyes widened. Her lips opened several times to say something but finding no words, she shut them again.

"Jane… what?"

"I… I asked if I could kiss you."

She hesitated but eventually got up and sat down next to him.

"Why?" she asked, her voice soft and loving. She put a hand on his arm but took it back quickly, realizing that wouldn't help this situation in any way.

"It's because… you and… Pike makes you so happy and I want you to be with him, because I want to see you happy… but I know that I would have to live with never having kissed you… and that's a thought I will never be able to live without… so I want to kiss you, only if you want it too! But I will leave you alone after this, I promise, Teresa. I will leave you and Pike alone, and I will be happy for you for the rest of your life. But I… I need this… this little… this favor. Please."

She was speechless. He could see it. Dammit, Jane, now you scared her away…

"Okay," she breathed, though he wouldn't have protested if anyone had told him it was not even audible. And even though he had been the one asking her, she was the first to lean towards him.

His breathing accelerated. Was he really going to kiss her now? After all these years of secretly being in love with her, admiring and loving her from a far distance, he would get the one thing he wanted most? His breathing accelerated so much now that he started panting which in its turn changed to something close to hyper-ventilating, and soon he felt light-headed and she stopped moving towards him. Now, her hand reached out to touch his arm again only this time, she didn't take it back.

"Are you okay?"

Always the caring friend, his Teresa. Except she wasn't his.

"Please kiss me, Teresa," he breathed, afraid she would leave him on his couch, alone, like she had done a few weeks before. He would die.

And she moved slowly towards him again until their lips were inches apart, and his breath caught in his throat when her hand cupped his cheek. Their lips touched so slowly, so tenderly and softly but so perfectly all the same that he couldn't stop the tears that escaped his eyes.

He was so much in love with her. But she would never feel the same way about him. And that thought alone made him pull away from her perfect lips to let out a tiny little sob. She instantly wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed the skin there, trying to reassure him but all he could see was her in Pike's arms, glowing with love and he was nowhere to be seen. He would lose her to another man and it hurt so much he couldn't breathe.

But he had to be honest with himself – he had lost her a long time ago. When he couldn't move on from his past and had been stuck in neutral for ten years. When he had indirectly pushed her into some unknowing bloke's arms and had pushed her away from him so much he couldn't reach her anymore.

"I… I…" he tried to say between sobs, but talking was hard now. "I… I love you so… so much but… but I ca-ca-can't. You can never… never be mine."

"Jane, I-"

"You sh-should be with Pike, because he… makes you happy and… and I can't and I want you to be happy. Pl-pl-please be happy for me."

"I can't," she whispered. He looked up, sobs still making his body shake. "I can't be happy with Pike because I don't love him. I loved the attention he had for me, but… I didn't love him. And…" She ran a hand through his curls, tears in her eyes too. It appeared that his sadness was contagious and he had just spoiled his precious angel.

"And even though you never give me a lot of attention, not the kind of attention I got from him at least… I love you. On paper, he was the perfect man, he was everything I needed except for one thing – he wasn't you. And he would never be, I may have tried to fool myself but I can't anymore. Can… can you forgive me?"

He let out a whimper and pulled her close, burying his nose in her hair. "Oh, Teresa."

And they sat like that, limbs tangled and crying against each other's necks, until the last light source in the bullpen automatically switched off and all that was left to guide them was the light within their hearts, finally burning full force now that they could be together. At long last.

A/N: #poetic. I mean yeah… I tried. I couldn't stand seeing Jane so sad in the recent episode, alone on his couch with the scarf and the sad music and the- *sob* So I thought it would only be fair if his couch got to see some love as well in its old days. You are welcome to let me know what you think, in a REVIEW, FAV or any other way you deem appropriate, but you don't HAVE to – don't feel pressured! I will still have an awesome birthday if you don't review! :) Thanks for reading and see you next time! (Which could be in a few weeks but hey I dunno)