He was waiting.
Waiting for the door to open, waiting for her to consider his confession, for her to realize her feelings for him (he knew that they were there, somewhere), waiting for her to return to him, where she truly belonged, waiting for something, waiting for anything.
He had never imagined that it would reach this state, a blindfolded man brought to the edge of a steep cliff, the distance of a mere step making all the difference between life and death. Their love would be lost with Lisbon's flight. All memories of him would dwindle away to be replaced by Marcus. A new home. A new life. A new family.
The mere thought that he had been so close to losing her without revealing his feelings, it made him shudder.
He had made it in the end. If he had tarried merely a moment longer...
He had laid bare his heart to her, expressed what he had pushed down, the feelings he had caged for nearly a decade, and her words...
Her words were like the sharpest dagger slicing through his very humanity.
"It's too late, Jane."
It's never too late, he wanted to tell her. Never too late for love. Her words had destroyed him, but there was still the slightest sliver of hope in his heart.
Perhaps she would think of their years spent together, that singular connection they shared. The way he was always going to save her. The way she made him a better person.
Maybe, just maybe that would be enough to bring her back to him.
He clung to this fragile hope like a lifeline.
And maybe he was selfish for wanting her back after all this time, for trying to take away what she had with Pike.
For loving her too much to let her go.
But that didn't matter. Because he just needed her to come back to him.
Drowning in his thoughts, he didn't bother to look up when the door opened and shut behind someone - if it was another TSA agent coming to ask him questions again, he wasn't going to answer. He wasn't interested in what they had to say.
But suddenly, he caught the scent of wisteria- that couldn't be right, he always associated that fragrance with...her.
From the corner of his eye, he spotted a flash of green as the stranger in the room sat down across the table he was seated at.
When he could finally bring himself to turn, his heart swelled.
I knew you'd come back, he wanted to say. I knew you would realize.
But that was a lie. He hadn't known, and it had torn him apart inside.
"Did you mean what you said?"
"Every word."
Every word, Teresa. Every word and more.
I love you.