A/N: Another one! Semi AU. Enjoy.
The Beginning of Forever
He'd met her at a seminar for some fundraising event at the agency. He'd approached her afterward to have a word with her alone- though the talk had been a huge success, not many people had walked up to her, not many people had the guts to, after all- she was a bestselling author and forensic anthropologist and- he came to stand in front of her, closer than his intention or politeness dictated- breathtaking to boot. They'd exchanged introductions, they'd bickered, they'd argued, but they hadn't been able to stop- in the end he'd told her he was too hungry to function any longer (why didn't they serve pigs in a blanket at this thing instead of tiny snackets that looked like shriveled baby's fingers) and was she coming already or not- this last bit he'd thrown over his shoulder while walking away. Puzzled and frustrated but helplessly intrigued by this enigma of a man she'd just met, she'd followed.
At the end of the evening, he'd kissed her. He couldn't help himself. She was standing there, and she was looking at him with those blue eyes, and she was beautiful- and he had known from the moment he met her. He hadn't been able to stop at a kiss- neither of them had. He felt something that shouldn't be possible in that one moment that ended all too soon, but when he pulled away to look in her eyes, he knew that she was feeling it too. Neither of them exchanged a word as he drove her home. The moment his lips touched hers, his mouth was devouring hers with the same passion with which she was holding on to him. It was beyond perfect. The feeling was indescribable. It was incredible. Invite me upstairs, please. He still wasn't sure if he'd spoken the words out loud. But then she'd said yes, and that was the last word spoken between them for a long while. That same day, he'd made love to her. It was perfect. It was indescribable. It was incredible.
That night, he'd told her he loved her. With the dawn, she'd run.
That morning, so had he. Ten times around the block and then as far as he could go, in the opposite direction- about ten miles, if he'd thought to estimate, and then again on the way back. When he got back, it was pouring like crazy. She was standing outside his door, soaked in rain and tears. He walked towards her slowly, even though he'd never wanted to be closer to something in his life- he didn't want to scare her away again. He reached out when he was close enough to touch her.
'I shouldn't have said it-'
'I shouldn't have run.'
Drowning in those blue eyes he looked down into again, he felt like he could breathe for the first time since she'd left. And because he was a gambler (recovering, as he'd told her), because she was worth the risk, because she reminded him he had too much to lose, and because he couldn't lose her, he went on,
'I shouldn't have said it, but I meant it.'
'I know.'
And then he kissed her, and she kissed him back, and it was perfect.
