Author's Note: This was really only ever meant to be a one shot so finishing it up has been weird because I did not plan ANY of this...sorry if its horrible:)

Please review! (Especially if it is horrible, tell me that.)

Jack

"Phryne is...Phryne is here?!" I gasped a breath in relief. "Mac, I thought she'd run off and gotten hurt or, or..."

"Or left forever more? No need to fret, Inspector. She's here. Drunk as a skunk and full of tears and regret, but here."

"What do you mean filled with regret?" I asked. "Does she regret me? Have I hurt her so thoroughly she finally realizes how much better she'd be without me?" I could hear the bitterness in my own voice but it didn't matter. I knew it was true. She was better off without me. She could true and well be Phryne all without having to slow down or change for me.

"Inspector, I mean this with the utmost respect, but you are a complete idiot." I looked up surprised. "That woman has been head over heels in love with you for a long time now, and just when she was getting used to the idea, and preparing herself to tell you her feelings, you lot come over and tell her you're engaged to someone else. Then that someone else asks her to be in your damned wedding and Phryne begins to imagine what life will be like watching you marry and be happy with someone Phryne likes so much she couldn't even bring herself to hate. She's been going out looking for people who remind her enough of you that she can pretend for a few moments. She's been looking for a bandage and imagine her luck when one of those people ends up being someone you could never forgive her for? She's a mess because she thinks she has ruined any last hope she has with you. She is full of regret because had she just stayed at home rather than going out looking for a vice, she would still have a sliver of hope. Inspector, you've done the impossible. You've broken Phryne Fisher's heart." A cry rose to my throat and I had to swallow down the sound, thinking of the pain I'd put her through. She had loved me. She did love me. And maybe I was too late, but I had to try.

"Mac, I've broken it off with Concetta, or she did me, in all honesty I'm not quite sure. But she saw that I was in love with Phryne and she no longer wished to marry me. I'm quite unattached and quite in love with Phryne."

"I'm very aware of that last bit and I was hoping you were too, but I wasn't certain. Seeing you now though, well, I suppose I could be persuaded to allow you and Phryne the use of my apartment after she wakes to work out your issues. I'll be at work in a few hours anyway." I nodded hurriedly. This was it. This was happening. She loved me and I loved her and I was going to declare myself. Everything was about to change and I was so utterly overjoyed at the prospect of her being mine, I couldn't bring myself to be in the least bit nervous.

Phryne

My head pounded like it had been slammed in a door. The sound of someone breathing was like a scream in my ear. I moaned and pulled the blanket I was under over my head. Where was I? Why the hell was I so hungover? I was...at Mac's? Yes I definitely remember talking to Mac. Crying to Mac? Had i been crying? Yes, I must have been...but why? Jack. Luke. Brothers. Oh Lord. I burst into tears again, curling up into a ball. A warm hand rested on my shoulder and I leaned into Mac's touch. Two arms wrapped around me and pulled me into their lap. I inhaled and froze. That wasn't Mac. That was...

I opened one eye and found myself squinting up at the very concerned face of Jack Robinson.

"Jack." I said weakly, my voice quivering.

"Phryne you should drink some water." I winced. His voice was like thunder, low, rumbling, and far, far too loud.

"Thank you." I muttered as I took the outheld glass, trying very hard not to think about the fact that I was seated in Jack's lap. I made no effort to remove myself. I drank the water and winced as the liquid rushed across the sandpaper in my throat.

"My God, Phryne, I was so worried." He said softly. "I looked everywhere for you."

"You found me." Was my meek reply.

"On accident. I came to Mac to see if she might know where you would go." I nodded, not knowing how to reply.

"Phryne I'm so sorry." Tears began welling in my eyes again and he brushed them away, his warm arm still wrapped pleasantly around me. "No, don't cry, darling."

"You're sorry?" I asked in shock. "You didn't do anything! You weren't the one who went out and acted like a common-"

"I got engaged. To a woman I wasn't in love with because I didn't think I was worthy of the love of she who held my heart." He interrupted my tirade. "Phryne can you ever forgive me?" I paused. What was happening? I blinked a few times in an attempt to clear my head.

"Concetta is..."

"Concetta and I have decided we are better off as friends. She saw that my heart belonged to another."

"Jack..."

"Phryne listen to me. I made the biggest mistake. I thought you would never have me, could never love me. And so I gave in to someone who is a dear friend. I thought I could at least make her happy and provide her with stability. But Phryne I've been so blind. How on Earth could I ever be happy without you?"

"What are you saying?" I blinked, the headache I sported clouding my mind. He couldn't possibly mean what I thought he meant. This couldn't really be happening. There was no way that he, Jack Robinson, could ever-

"I love you Phryne. You are the love of my life and I cannot live without you. I don't expect you to...fall at my feet or...or...or act however women would generally act at a time like this. I'm sure you're afraid I expect you to change and I don't. My darling I love you just the way you are and I don't expect you to suddenly be some..." He trailed off, his brow furrowed looking at me. "Phryne are you crying?"

"Its just the hangover." I lied. He grinned, clearly seeing straight through me.

"Shall I pretend I believe you?"

"Just this once, if you could." He laughed softly, a melodic sound that lifted my very heart. He pulled me tightly into his embrace and kissed the crown of my head.

"Always, my darling."

"I love you, too Jack." I murmured, my eyes closing ever so slightly. "Is this all a dream?" I wondered aloud. "Is this all a wonderful, wonderful dream? Am I to wake up in tears and heartbreak knowing what might have been?" A soft chuckle rose from him.

"Rest, my darling. And when you wake I shall prove just how real I am."

When I woke again, I woke with a smile on my face. Even in my sleep I couldn't possibly forget what had occurred. I reached out to wrap my arms around Jack and found...nothing. I sat up and looked around. I was lying in the bed in Mac's spare room (hadn't I been on her living room floor?) completely and entirely...alone. I took a deep shuddering breath. You fool Phryne, you fool. Even in your dreams you are completely incapable of accepting reality. Jack is marrying Concetta, your friend. And you did not have your dashing hero come to your aid and make you forget how rotten you felt, proclaiming his love for you, leaving the woman he proposed to not a month earlier, and forgiving you for behaving like a common whore with his brother of all people, and-

"Leave it to you Phryne Fisher. I've been keeping vigil over your sleep for hours and you go ahead and wake up the moment I step out." I spun around, my eyes instantly finding Jack leaning up against the door frame. His hair was ruffled and his suit nearly entirely undone. He was down to his pants and shirt, the top few buttons undone exposing a dusting of hair across his chest. His hands were in his pockets, his coat, waistcoat, and tie were nowhere to be found and I realized that rumpled Jack was my new favorite.

"You're real." I breathed in relief.

"I told you I'd prove it." He said, pushing off the door frame and making his way to my side. He sat on the bed beside me, leaning up against the headboard. His arms opened and enveloped me inside his embrace, pulling me up against his warm, soft chest. I nestled into his arms and let him hold me. He kissed the crown of my head.

"I don't want to alarm you, Phryne." He said softly, his voice caressing my ear like silk. "I'm not proposing. I know how you feel about that. I just want to tell you that...that I love you. More than I thought possible. And I...I want you to be mine and me to be yours. Solely, Phryne. I don't want to change you my darling but I don't think I can share you." I laughed.

"Don't think about any other men, Jack. I surely won't be. I've come to realize they were all distractions. Useful tools which kept me from settling and settling down with someone. They all just cleared the road for you. They all ledme to you."

Jack

She loved me. She wanted to be true to me and me alone. She was in my arms and she was mine. I leaned down and captured her lips in mine. It wasn't brash or passionate as I might have imagined our first romantic experiences to be, rather it was sweet and innocent. It was the start to what would become one of the greatest love stories ever told, the story of a good man and how he managed to steel the heart of a queen.

Mac

I don't know what I expected to find when I got home.

That's not true. I did. I just expected there to be a great deal less clothing.

And yet to see my friend, cuddling up with the man she so clearly loved, as he held her in his arms, and nursed her through what was bound to be her worst hangover yet, delicately kissing her brow, provoking the sweetest smiles onto her lips may have been the last clue I'd ever need to know that this was different than any so called love I'd ever seen before. This was everything I could ever have hoped for, for Phryne.

She was truly and honestly in love with a man who actually deserved her and he loved her back.

So I wouldn't tease and I wouldn't mock her because this was well and truly love.

Well I wouldn't tease her today anyway.