A/N: You know you're an X-Files fan when… you tape an "X" to your window out of boredom.

On with the story! But yeah, I formally had a formatting error, which made the first chapter run together and might've made it confusing. I greatly apologize and the problem has in fact been fixed.

Disclaimer: Do we still need these? I don't own X-Files or associated characters.


Mulder lay across her bed, thumbing through a history textbook, pretending he was studying. Scully always saw through it though and threw a balled up piece of paper at him, hitting Fox square in the face. She giggled, and got up from the floor where she was sitting and jumped on the bed with him.

"Did you hear?" She asked excitedly.

"Yeah." He mumbled.

"What?"

"Yes. I heard." He said, not taking his eyes off the textbook.

"Oh my God, can you believe it?" It was more of a statement than a question. Mulder shrugged his shoulders.

"I'm probably as shocked as he was that you said yes."

The room went quiet. Cold and quiet. Not a good combination. Mulder looked up and saw a confused yet strangely angry look on Scully's face. Mulder contemplated how his best friend could all of a sudden hate him in a span of about 30 seconds. He mused on this for a while before he realized that Scully looked like she was getting more and more upset.

"Scully…"

"Get out, Mulder." She said, her face flushed. She turned her back and sat down at her desk. Fox sighed.

"Scully, I didn't-"

"GET OUT!"

Fox quickly gathered his things and left the room, swearing that he could hear a faint whimpering.

******

SEPTEMBER 18, 2009

Colt had decided to not come and instead worked on the ranch. Just as well, Mulder felt that it would be better if he went it alone. He pulled his black Honda off the highway and into the downtown district and parked it in front of the only diner in town. He knew this was Scully's favorite place to eat in the whole town and if she had a date, she'd bring him here. He shut off the engine and waited, considering whether or not to get out of the car or drive away.

The door opened and Mulder stepped outside. It was a nice, brisk day, the fresh smell of autumn filling the air. He nonchalantly walked over to the door of the diner and peered in, hoping to catch a glimpse of Scully. His eye detected a flash of red and he shifted his gaze. There in the third booth on the left, Scully sat with Ryan. They were talking and laughing as they ate fries.

Mulder felt deflated. He wanted to burst through the door and take her away from Ryan's grubby little fingers. But it would be completely unreasonable. So then, why was he still itching to do it?

Mulder walked back to his car and got in, turning the radio on and settling on a talk radio station. He waited there for a long time and saw Ryan and Dana walk out of the diner. They weren't hand in hand, but they were both smiling these wide grins. They got into Ryan's car, a beat up Mercury coup, and drove away. Mulder turned his car on and tailed them, taking care to avoid being noticed.

A few minutes into it, he got a phone call. He quickly connected his headset and answered it. "Mulder."

"Mulder, what the hell are you doing?"

Mulder froze. "Who is this?"

"Dude, its Colt. Are you following Scully?"

"No. Of course not."

A horn honked that made Mulder jump in his seat. He looked in the rearview mirror and saw Colt's red pickup truck driving right behind him.

"Pull over man." Colt said. Mulder obliged and Colt pulled up right next to him. The back of the truck was filled with plywood. Colt jumped out and flicked his cigarette away. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

Mulder rubbed his face. "I don't know."

"You need to relax. This isn't healthy. I didn't really think you were actually going to stalk them."

"I'm not stalking them."

"Mulder, you're in your car on a Friday night, chasing down your best friend because she's out on a date. That's pretty much the definition of stalking."

Mulder was quiet. "You got another one of those?" He said pointing at the new cigarette hanging out of Colt's mouth.

"Go home Mulder." Colt said walking away. "And pray that Scully didn't see you obviously tailing her." He yelled out before jumping in his pickup. Colt peeled out and sped away down the highway, leaving Mulder alone on the side of the road with his thoughts.

"Yeah," he finally said, speaking to no one in particular. "This was a stupid idea."

*****

Mulder lay in his bed that night, tossing and turning restlessly. He kept looking over at a small-framed picture by his desk. It was of him and Scully, taken when they were ten in her backyard, pointing at the sky. He turned his lamp on and walked over to his desk where his cell phone was. He contemplated calling Scully but decided against it. He tossed the phone back on his desk and sat on the edge of his bed, trying to figure out why in the world this was bothering him so much.

A/N: Thanks for everybody who read and especially those that review, they are always appreciated.

Anyway, what happened on Scully and Ryan's date? Will Scully and Mulder ever reconcile? Why does Mulder have a bad feeling? Why was Colt hauling plywood on a Friday night? All this and more, next time!