The Final Chapter! Thanks for reviewing and we hope you enjoyed it :)
The pair skated for a bit longer beforereturning the rented skates and heading to the park. Hand in hand, surrounded by a comfortable silence, they walked through the grass. When the sun began to set, Abby squeezed Connor's hand. "Thank you for taking me out on a date, Connor."
Connor paused as he looked at her. "No Abby, don't thank me just yet. We aren't done, remember?"
Abby chuckled, "I know. But still, thanks." Sadness shimmered in her eyes. "No one has bothered to take me out on a proper date before," She admitted quietly.
It took a bit for her words to sink in and when they did he was shocked. It enraged him to think that no one had treated Abby the way she deserved to be treated before, but Connor knew that an outburst wouldn't help her. Instead of venting his emotions, Connor brought her hand to his mouth and kissed the back of it softly. "They have no idea what they missed out on," he told her softly as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and guided her along the path. Touched by his gesture and words, Abby smiled up at him and placed her arm around his waist.
They were both silent for most of the rest of their walk, except when they stopped to grab some take-out after leaving the park, just enjoying each other's company. Once they picked up the car at the roller rink though and got into it, the atmosphere changed a bit. Abby flipped on the radio and before they knew it they were both bobbing their heads and singing loudly to an upbeat song that was playing, too happy and giddy from their wonderful day to hold it in. The pulled up at the flat before the song ended, but stayed in the car a minute longer to finish their silly dance. When the music did end, they tumbled from the car laughing hysterically as they made their way into the building.
Connor immediately scurried over to the couch but, to his disappointment, Abby didn't move to join him. "Erm… Abby?" he questioned as she darted into the kitchen. "Aren't you forgetting something?"
Abby grinned at him, "How could I forget, Con? But after the skating and the walk and our terrific dance routine in the car, I'm starving. I'll just put the food onto some plates and maybe cut up some fruit and put on a tea and we can cuddle while we consume it, yeah?"
The mention of food made his stomach growl a bit and he realized he was starving too, so he quickly agreed. "Want some help?" he offered.
"No, Con. Wait for me. I'll just be a moment," she replied.
True to her word, she appeared about two minutes later with a cup of tea and a tray full of cut up fruit and two plates of Chinese take-out that she put on the coffee table before sitting down, squeezing in between Connor and the arm of the sofa so that she'd have a place to rest her teacup. Connor grinned at her and grabbed a piece of kiwi, popping it into his mouth before wrapping his arms firmly around her. Abby smiled back and placed her arms around his neck, burying her face against his skin. She shuffled so she sat sideways with her legs draped across him, content to let him hold her.
They'd cuddled a wee bit during movie nights before, but it was different this time. They both knew that the other person wasn't leaning on them just because they were tired. They wanted to feel each other's touch. Abby looked up when Connor let go of her with one hand to caress her face a bit, his thumb brushing across her eyelashes. "You're so beautiful, Abs," he whispered to her.
She bit her lip a bit shyly, her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink. "Connor," she whispered back, "Is this how it really can be?"
Connor smiled, "Well, we can always be together and know it Abs, but I guess we'll have to get up off the couch at some point. I don't think Lester would appreciate us skipping out on dino-hunting because we were busy cuddling."
She giggled, "I didn't mean it like that, I meant… Oh, I dunno, just everything. I feel safe with you right now, Connor. I never thought I'd feel safe with someone like this, never imagined I could totally trust that someone wasn't going to hurt me in the end."
Connor kissed her forehead. "Oh, Abs," he sighed, "It has been a pretty perfect day, yeah? I can't promise every day will be like today, but I can promise that some will be and they'll make it worth it. We'll go on many more dates, yeah? And we'll have each other to cuddle with and talk to after the hard days."
Abby nodded and buried her face against him again, thinking quietly and enjoying the relaxing motion of his hand as he rubbed her back. He was also placing multiple kisses against her hair and shoulder. After a long bit she pulled back and nodded toward the tray. "Pass me some mango?"
Connor grinned and nodded, but instead of holding out the tray to her, he grabbed the piece, his eyes teasing her as he ordered, "Open up then, Abs." She giggled and obeyed as he fed it to her. His eyes shone happily and he immediately reached for a second piece, continuing to feed her as she laughed until Rex appeared and decided that the rest of the food should be his. They were in too good a mood to protest, so Abby simply shoved the fruit tray toward him a bit and went back to cuddling with Connor polishing off the Chinese food instead. When they were done eating, she fell completely silent while he whispered stuff to her, little things about how much fun he'd had, how lucky he was, etc, but she found it harder to pay attention to him as her eyelids grew tired. Finally she yawned. "Connor, I think I should go to bed now. I'm getting really tired and we have to work tomorrow."
He nodded, "Yeah, Abs, it's fine, because this isn't the end, right?"
She grinned and untangled herself from him. "No, just the start for us."
"Right," he stood with her and they looked at each other a bit shyly. "Abby, on most dates this'd be the part where I walked you home, but since you live here, can I just walk you to your bedroom door?"
Abby laughed and nodded, "If you want, Con, but you know it's like, eight steps away, right?"
"I bet it's closer to twelve actually," he teased her as he took her hand.
They counted nine steps total and Abby gave him a pointed look that clearly said 'I told you so'.
"Still, it was more than eight," he argued back even though she hadn't actually said anything.
Abby chuckled and then turned serious again, "Goodnight, Con, see you in the morning, yeah?"
He nodded and then took a deep breath and kissed her quickly on the lips before pulling away and shoving his hands nervously into his pockets. He looked at her with big puppy dog eyes that begged her to not tell him off. Abby grinned, thrilled that he'd made that move first. Her heart beating fast she quickly curled her hand around the back of his neck and reciprocated, kissing him slowly until his hand came out of his pockets again and settled on her hips. The kiss was still sweet and short, perfect for a first date, Abby thought, as they pulled away. She saw the longing look in Connor's eyes still and placed one more kiss on his cheek before leaving him to go get ready for bed.
Connor stood there for a few moments with a grin on his face before whispering quietly to her closed door, "Next date I'll tell you I love you." Then he dashed up the stairs to call Duncan and tell him that he'd been right all along.
The pair arrived at the ARC the next day and were greeted by the rest of the team in the hub. Lester had called a meeting and chatter filled the room which didn't die down when Lester appeared. The Head of the ARC needed to clear his throat loudly to catch everyone's attention. Only Abby and Sarah were still whispering.
"Miss Maitland, Miss Page, it would be an honour if you could [ay at least a little bit of attention If you can't do that, then please, at least let the rest of us in on your conversation," Lester said, with sarcasm filling his voice.
To his annoyance, Abby actually began to talk. "Sure, I was just telling Sarah what a lovely date I had with Connor last night."
Between muttered 'finally's' and 'about-times' from their team mates and a snort from Lester, Abby caught Connor's gaze and winked at him and he returned her gesture with a broad smile.
