They were in a pretty dark on-call room. Through an opened window the wind reached howling and Amelia was almost sure the rain was falling outside. She took a deep breath. She felt like crying, but she absolutely didn't want to. Not in front of him! It would have made everything harder.
"I can't do this. This is a mistake."
She stood with her hands in her pockets towards the man she had been successfully avoiding all day long. Amelia Shepherd, the brilliant neurosurgeon, was a runner. When emotions got involved, she flew. She loved people and having them around, but she was so scared that sometimes she thought she was better off alone.
"What is?", asked Owen gently. "What is a mistake, Amelia?"
"We don't work." Her voice was steady and a little bitter. She didn't really believe the words, but they were necessary.
He took a deep breath shaking his head. "Why would you say that?"
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out, so she just stood there, still and speechless, staring at him.
"You can talk to me", he started slowly walking towards her, but she stopped him by lifting her hand.
"I think I'm falling in love with you", She felt helpless and wanted to throw something when he smiled at the admission. "Don't... I'm falling in love with you, Owen Hunt, and you know what? Everyone around me either gets hurt or dies, and I really don't want you to suffer. You deserve someone better than me in your life."
She could see he was about the protest and she instinctively took a step back. "Just keep looking. There's an amazing woman out there who's waiting for you. She'll be your person and you'll be great together. You'll get to be happy because you are this amazing, wonderful man and you deserve it."
"Amelia-" he tried to get closer to her, flinching when her arm shot up angrily.
"Damn it, Owen, listen to me! You deserve all the happiness in the world and I can't give you that. So we don't work. I'm sorry."
He knew she was only pretending to be cold. He'd been listening carefully and yet the only thing he'd really wanted to do was kiss her senseless until she stopped talking. She was wrong and even though he wanted to prove that with actions, he couldn't, not yet. "There's only one amazing woman I want", he made the statement, remaining deadly calm as he pointed at her. "It's you, Amelia. When I'm with you, I feel like every step I've taken in my life has lead me to you."
She opened her mouth, but he interrupted her before she could speak. "I know it sounds silly and cheesy, I know that", he breathed out a laugh. "But I don't care, because you're the one I've been looking for. You're this brilliant neurosurgeon who defeats death every day. I mean... we all save lives... but you, Amelia, you're special. Everything about you is special. You put every inch of your soul into your job and I love you for that. You light up when there's a new, impossible case... and fight with all your strength to find a way for life to continue, because you know it's worth it."
He risked taking a step toward her, relieved when she didn't shy away. "Even though you've been through hell and back, you're still in love with life and its beauty... and that truly amazes me. You've survived an incredible amount of pain, you're so strong, Amelia. Maybe you think you're fragile and doomed to screw things up, but, hell, you're not! We've both been in the dark, I get that... but we can both find the light… together. You say we don't work, but we do! You understand me, you're there for me when I need you... you made me smile when I'd almost forgotten how to. You are what I never knew I needed. You made me fall in love with life all over again. And you're my happily ever after… iyou/i, Amelia, make me so damn happy! So you can't stand there and say we don't work because we do. "
She stared at him dumbfounded, not realizing that at some point she'd started crying. Hot, salty tears stained her cheeks making her feel so stupid, but she couldn't hide them, she didn't even try. "I don't… you just don't get it, do you? I'm trying to do the right thing and you're making it harder."
"I don't care what you think you're doing, Amelia", he breathed out a slow sigh, taking another hesitant step. "To love is to be hurt. It wouldn't be love otherwise."
"I don't want to be the reason you get hurt-", she sucked in a sharp breath, unable to move as he moved towards her.
He approached her silently. Slowly, he tucked her hair back behind her ear so he could cup the sides of her face while making eye contact. "You won't be."
He kissed away her tears, and her tears were the glare of the rain that was falling outside. He kissed her again doing it with the awareness that they could last forever. He then pulled back just enough to look at the wonderful woman in his arms.
"I think I'm falling for you, too", he admitted.
She laughed softly and it was the perfect echo of the rain pouring outside.