His hands trailed down to her thighs as she sat up a little further in his lap and looked at him with an apologetic expression.

"Lizzie, I'm failing to see the problem here."

She heaved a sigh and tried to slide off of him, but his hands held her legs firmly. "Red, I..I'm..oh hell", she leaned in and put her head on his shoulder. She didn't know how to begin the conversation that could potentially ruin everything. He squeezed her thighs lightly once more, then reached around her and hooked her bra straps back together; he kept his arms around her back and pulled her tightly against him. She sniffed, but still didn't say anything. She felt defeated.

After a few moments, she opened her mouth to say something when they both heard loud knocking coming from their hotel room door. She mumbled against his neck, "What the hell?"

Red shrugged and began running his fingers up and down her bare back lightly, "Just ignore it, they'll go away."

The knocking continued for a few minutes, and when they didn't answer they heard a voice that caused both of them to groan at the same time; it was Jen's crazy Uncle Jay. They heard his voice as it carried clearly through the hotel door, the room, and the sliding glass door, "I know you guys are in there. We're all going out ta have dinner ta celebrate the weddin' and want you ta come. Y'all like family Liz."

She sat up reluctantly and rolled her eyes, "Is he serious?"

Red huffed a quiet laugh, "Sounds like it. You better go answer before he knocks the door down and finds us in this entirely compromising position." He smiled lasciviously at her, but she could see trepidation in his eyes; probably stemming from her hesitance to talk to him about what was bothering her.

She leaned down and kissed him, putting into her kiss what she couldn't or wouldn't say with words. The knocking persisted though, so she pulled back and slid from his lap without looking him in the eye. As she got out and started to descend the stairs, she turned back to him, "Are you coming?"

He grimaced, "I'll be there momentarily." The look he was giving her clearly conveyed the reason he couldn't follow her, and she couldn't hold back the blush that rose over her cheeks as she walked inside.

"Lizzzz, I'm about ta get the manager or somethin' ta let me in. I know y'all are in there."

She grabbed one of the hotel's white fluffy robes, wrapped it around herself and opened the door before Jay could make an even bigger ass of himself. She pasted on a fake smile, "Hey Jay, I'm not feeling too well, go on ahead without us."

Jay gave her a wide grin, showing off his missing incisor as he said, "Nonsense, I insist you come, my wife is dying to talk with your fiancé. We need a chance ta interrogate him for ya too."

Liz cringed internally at the thought of Jay having any kind of conversation with Red; Red would eat him alive. She shook her head, "Really Jay, we're not-"

Jay's voice took on a whining tone as he said, "Liz, I've known ya since you were knee-high to a grasshopper. We haven't seen ya for years, all I'm askin' for is one dinner to catch up."

She closed her eyes momentarily, then said in defeat, "Ok, ok, fine I'll let Ray know. Are we just eating in the restaurant downstairs?"

Jay smiled again and pulled her in a crushing hug, "Yes, downstairs in a half hour. I can't wait!" He let her go then turned and walked down the hall quickly. His suit pants were too large for him and hung down his ass comically. She knew that Jen was embarrassed about Jay, but he was family, and there wasn't anything to be done about it.

She closed the door slowly, then turned to see Red pick up a towel from the table and bend over to dry off his dripping shorts; he was getting water all over the carpet. "Red, you're getting everything wet. You need to take those shorts off."

He stopped while still bent over, and all she could see was the top of his head and the water on his back shining from the light coming from the sliding glass door. He slowly righted himself with a look on his face that she could only describe as comically surprised and devilish at the same time, "Are you suggesting I remove them now...in front of you?"

Liz coughed involuntarily, angry at herself for walking right into that. She to a step closer and said sarcastically, "I don't know Red, what do you think?"

He tilted his head, then while still looking at her, moved his hands to begin untying the drawstring of his shorts. He wasn't a shy person, and she knew he would do it if she didn't put a stop to it. She was frozen in place, torn between wanting to stop him and wanting to see if he would shed them right in front of her. He finished with the string, then put his hands on the waistband and began to tug them down slowly while still staring at her with an inscrutable expression; this moment seemed important to their relationship for a reason that Liz couldn't quite pinpoint.

Just as the shorts traveled low enough to begin to show things that she didn't think she'd ever see of Red's in her lifetime, the damn phone began to ring. It scared her so bad that she literally jumped up and down and let out a little scream. She had been so focused on what Red had been doing that she'd been lost in her own little world. She put a hand to her racing heart and saw Red smirk as he pulled his shorts back up and walked to his suitcase as if she'd confirmed something for him with his little test; she began to swear internally at whoever was on the other end of the phone.

Liz walked over to it and answered with an annoyed, "Hello?"

"Liz! I just wanted ta let ya know that we're all already down here waitin' on ya." Of course it was Jay. This was the second time in a matter of minutes that he effectively cock-blocked anything she and Red might have done.

She took a calming breath and said through gritted teeth, "We'll be down there as soon as possible. Thanks for letting me know Jay." Then she hung up without giving him a chance to answer; she felt angry and more than a little cheated.

She turned to Red as he finished up at his suitcase, "Jay wants us to go down and have dinner with his family, is that ok?" She avoided looking at him directly.

"I don't think we have much choice in the matter, Lizzie, the man effectively ordered us to come down. Like I told you before, I can always eat, so I don't have a problem with it." He didn't know Jay like she did.

"Ok, well they're ready for us, so go do what you need to do." He nodded, then as he passed her reached out and squeezed her shoulder lightly before disappearing into the bathroom and closing the door. She heaved a deep sigh and began to get ready herself. She knew that she had to have that conversation with Red eventually, but it seemed like whatever higher power above refused to give her the chance. If she had to suffer through a meal with Jay just so she could talk with Red, then she would do it.

OOOOOO

Red and Liz walked in silence towards the elevator bank. She studied him out of the corner out her eye and admired how good he looked. He was dressed in his all grey three-piece suit; which was her favorite. She was dressed in a knee-length dark purple dress with black heels and her hair in an elegant twist in the back. She had noticed Red eying her appreciatively as they left the room, but she felt like they were on shaky ground and back to square one; losing all the closeness they'd gained on this trip.

As they rode down to the first floor in the elevator, Liz stepped closer to him and took his arm. He looked at her and gave her a small smile, then moved his opposite hand over and patted her hand. They still hadn't spoken a word to each other since leaving the room.

They walked in the restaurant and stood at the entrance looking for Jay. Just as she began to turn to ask the host where the Iverson family was sitting, they heard Jay's loud voice reverberate through the quiet restaurant, "Liz! Over here!" Liz wanted to put her head in her hands in embarrassment, but instead forced herself to look around and spot the table full of people standing and waving their arms.

She heard Red chuckle next to her, "Those people are absolutely ridiculous, but hilarious. This is going to be fun."

She shook her head and let him lead her towards the table. When they reached it, Jays' wife Becky, a short and overweight blond-haired woman, stood up and hugged Liz tightly then stepped back and said, "Thank you so much for coming to eat with us. I was so excited when Jay told me that you asked if you could join us."

Liz opened her mouth to correct her, but saw Red shake his head infinitesimally beside her, so she shut her mouth and said, "Oh you know, it's just been so long, I thought we needed to catch up." She turned to Red and said, "This is my fiance Raymond, you can call him Ray...Ray, this is Becky; she's Jen's aunt. Becky stepped forward and pulled Red in a tight hug as well, she saw him grimace, but he quickly masked it and said in a fake jovial tone, "It's nice to finally meet you." Becky stepped back and patted his cheeks, then turned to the table full of children and gestured to them, "These are our kids: Jack, Jon, Jim, Jesse, Jovee, and Jill." She leaned closer and said quietly, "We like "J" names obviously."

Red nodded and said, "Well it's a pleasure to meet all of you."

Jay stepped forward and clapped Red on the back, "I'm Jay, nice ta finally meet the man ta snag Liz; we was beginnin' ta think she was destined to be alone after Tom left."

Red narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw; she knew he was on the verge of saying something to defend her that wouldn't be easily forgiven. She reached over and ran her hand over his lower back and smiled at Jay, "It hasn't been that long since Tom, Jay."

Jay moved his hand in a dismissive wave, "Still, you need a man in your life." Red visibly tensed beside her; it was kind of sweet that he felt like he needed to protect her.

She pulled Red against her and squeezed his side to let him know that he needed to calm down. She felt him take a deep breath as Liz said, "Well why don't we eat? I'm starving."

Jay nodded and shooed his wife back into the booth, then slid in after her. Liz saw that there was barely enough room for her and Red, but they would have to make it work. She slid in next to the youngest, Jovee, and smiled at her as Red sat down next to Liz; she could feel the tension rolling off him.

The waiter came over and took their drink orders, then said he would be back shortly. Jay smiled at Liz from across the table, "So how long have y'all been dating? I was surprised to hear you were engaged when I hadn't even heard you were dating anyone."

Red sat back and put his arm around her waist as Liz said, "Oh we've been friends for a few years, but only started dating a few months ago."

Becky whistled, "Wow, don't you think that's moving too fast?"

Liz shook her head, "We were already good friends before we started dating." She turned and looked at him with loving eyes, "And I love him, isn't that what matters?"

Jay snorted, "Yeah well love don't matter after a few years. He's so much older than ya that ya-"

Liz cut him off in anger, "No, don't go there." She finally felt the anger that Red was still obviously feeling.

Becky smiled, "Well it's something you have to think about, honey. When he's seventy, you're only going to be in your late forties. Is that something-"

Liz cut her off and stood up, "You know what? I think we're done here, I'm feeling too sick to eat. It was nice to see you guys again." She moved out of the way so Red could stand up, then grabbed him by his lapels and pulled him towards her and kissed him passionately. She pulled away after a few seconds then grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the restaurant without another word. She could hear Becky and Jay yelling for them to come back, but she ignored them as she marched towards the elevators with Red in tow. She jabbed the call button repeatedly, still in a huff, and when the doors opened she pulled him in and waited impatiently for the doors to close.

As soon as they closed, she pushed him against the wall, reminiscent of when he'd done that to her the day before. He raised a lazy eyebrow at her as she said close to his face, "You want to know what's been bothering me lately, and what I wanted to talk to you about in the hot tub?" He moved his arms and wrapped them around her lower back, pulling her body flush with his and nodded. Their lips were inches apart as she looked him in the eye and said, "I'm in love with you Raymond Reddington. I don't know when it happened, or how you wormed your way into my heart, but I choose you. I want to marry you, make love to you, travel the world with you, have children with you and be with only you. No more game playing, no more distance, and no more pushing each other away. Jen told me that life is too short to wait for things to happen, and I agree with her wholeheartedly; I'm tired of waiting.

She took a deep breath as he slowly reached over and pushed the stop button on the elevator, which seemed to take hours; she didn't dare look at him, scared that she'd just ruined everything.

He didn't say anything as she felt the elevator stop. She stood there and studied his vest, waiting for him to push her away and tell her that he didn't feel that way about her.

When he finally did speak, his voice was low and had a slight rasp to it, "Yes."

She furrowed her eyebrows and looked at him in confusion, "Yes, what?"

He gave her a small smile, "I believe you asked me to marry you, and I'm saying yes."

AN: *whistles innocently while walking away* Sorry for the cliffie, but if you all want me to continue with this fic then I need to set up the next chapter. Does marriage sound completely ridiculous to you guys? I'd love to hear your thoughts (remember this is set a few years in the future). Thanks soooo much for all the love for this fic, it means the world to me. *hugs you all*