A/N: I returned from the dead to write this.

Chapter 9 – The Ending

The soft fabric of her sweater that was captured tightly in his hands, the warm hint of her shampoo that wafted up to his nose – oh, Gabriel was having a hard time concentrating on anything going on surrounding him.

Luckily, his mind could still perform the basic function of swaying his partner back and forth to the beat of the music in his living room. His main focus was trying to remember not to give into temptation. It would be so easy, so easy, to lift his hand from Riley's waist and place it under the line of her jaw, tilt her chin up to meet his, and erase any distance that existed between them.

However, Gabriel wasn't keen on doing anything that would result in his arm being twisted behind his back and having any of his favorite body parts removed, so he was content in resting his head against hers, reveling in this small bubble of a moment they'd created. He was firmly affixing it into his memory when he felt her move.

For a second, he thought Riley was uncharacteristically snuggling further into him. Her grip seemed looser around his neck, and she her head was now close enough to his neck that he could feel the slow puffs of her breathing pool there, a sensation that was giving him goosebumps. But then, after a beat, she moved again and was slumping against his chest.

"Ri-?" Gabriel cleared his throat and tried again. "Riley, you good?"

A soft hum escaped her lips, now almost resting against his shoulder. Gabriel smiled.

"Are you actually falling asleep on me?" he asked and shook her a little, a low rumble of laughter in his chest.

"What?" she asked, almost crankily, and he could feel Riley tense up. Save for when she was completely relaxed, the agent was always on alert. Gabriel smirked to himself, knowing he'd actually caught her in a moment of vulnerability, when she rose away from his chest, removing her arms from his neck and pushing back on his biceps. She didn't completely move away though. Her blinking eyes betrayed her when she replied, "I'm not sleeping."

"You sure? Something tells me you're about to run for the bedroom."

"Oh, and whose bedroom?"

Gabriel felt his ears tinge pink at that one. "I meant your own, Riley. You just have to take everything I say out of context."

"It's not my fault you can't express yourself properly," she fought back, and it was a wonder she wasn't referring to something else. Although, when he noted that she glanced a look at his lips, Gabriel almost thought she might be.

"Oh, if I wanted to express myself properly," he said, leaning just into her personal space, "I would." Her lips were tantalizingly close, but he willed his body not to move an inch further. He saw the flash of surprise in her eyes, followed immediately by an almost unnoticeable drop of her jaw, her bottom lip hanging a small distance from the top.

Riley opened her mouth to save her dignity, having noticed that he noticed, but was rudely interrupted when Nelson walked over, obliviously clinging to the two partners and leaning on them as if he'd never learned to stand on his own.

Nelson hiccupped and lolled his head upwards to look at Gabriel, Santa hat sagging in front of his face. "That was a great party," he slurred. At the mention of the party in past-tense, he looked around to see only a handful of people still in his apartment. Gabriel's eyes widened. Just how long had they been dancing for?

Riley seemed to notice this as well and straightened up, backing away from Gabriel. The loss of warmth from her detachment was not lost on him. He frowned a moment before nodding to Nelson. "Alright, Nelson, let's clean up here.

"I jus wanna sleep," Nelson complained. He looked as though his body wasn't going to stay upright much longer, but Gabriel guessed that with a few glasses of water, he'd be just fine. His friend from the office was a bit of a lightweight, anyway.

"I believe in you," Gabriel encouraged.

"I can help, too," Riley offered. Gabriel might've taken her up on that offer, except for that he took one look at her and immediately notice her eyes were still half-lidded, fighting off the succumb to sleep as well.

"No, no. You really look like you're about to fall asleep," Gabriel said, shutting her down.

"How come she gets let off?" Nelson whined.

"I like her - more," Gabriel replied, almost forgetting the second part. He was studiously avoiding his partner's gaze.

"Not fair," Nelson frowned. His face, easy to show what he was feeling, displayed such an emotion that made it appear that he remembered something devious. He huffed out a laugh with a suspicious look on his face. "Alright, no problem. I'll let you show her to the door."

Nelson gestured with his arm widely.

"Okay," Gabriel said slowly, narrowing his eyes. "Well, you still left your things here, so I'll just…"

"I'm coming, too," Riley volunteered, eager to escape the look Nelson was giving her.

As they left, Gabriel saw Jameson come around to find Nelson. When Jameson saw the look on his friend's face, he hit his arm. "Quit it. You look like one of those mall-Santas that holds kids on their laps too long," he shuddered. Nelson looked affronted.

They'd escaped any view of their colleagues and found Riley's things, taking the long way around Nelson and finding the door. Gabriel stopped Riley for a moment to talk, her hand on the knob.

"Hey. I have this idea," he started. "We have tomorrow off…"

Riley cocked her head to the side and asked, "Go on?"

"We're going on a walk after dinner. Dress warm," Gabriel said cryptically. He stepped back so that she could swing the door open. She turned to face him with a questioning look on her face. "Don't look so wary," he smirked. "It's part of your Christmas present."

She furrowed her brows with a smile, still a little suspicious, but nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

He smiled in return.

"Just so you know," she added, "I've thought about your present, but it'll take a few days for it to be finalized." Her hand was still on the door knob, and she was still lingering in the doorway. She knew she should move her feet and get out, get away from the intoxicating presence of Gabriel that seemed to be especially strong tonight.

Gabriel replied, "You don't have to get me anything."

"Neither do you."Riley was excited at the prospect of her idea. She knew a few people handy with technology, and she'd already recovered his father's broken watch from the drawer it was tucked in while Nelson had been distracting Gabriel. A fixed watch would surely lift his spirits.

"True. But it's worth it. Wait until you see." His hand was also on the door, near her hand on the knob. They were both lingering, neither of them doing it on purpose.

Well, maybe a little.

Riley hummed, excited and a little nervous and whatever he'd planned in the last few hours that they'd spent together, drunk. "I'm sure."

Her partner was seconds from replying with a particularly witty retort when, from across the room, Nelson shouted, "HA!"

Gabriel winced and only hoped it was not directed at the two of them. He was, sadly, wrong.

He looked over once he heard the stumbling steps of his friend who attempted to straighten himself out once he was half a room closer to them (and was somewhat successful). He looked around at the few party-goers left. "Ho, ho, ho, look who's under the mistletoe," he tipsily giggled, and Gabriel would've been more annoyed had he not turned to look at his partner.

His partner, who was staring straight above them. He followed her gaze to the mistletoe that had somehow managed to sneak right back to the spot where Nelson had been seen taping it up before. In that second, Gabriel felt he could have thrown Nelson to the ground faster than he could have finished the last giggle coming out of his mouth.

He hated the part of him that was silently thanking the ancient whomevers that decided this particular plant would be a good excuse to kiss someone under. It was the same part of him that caused the hot feeling in his ears that was almost certainly reflected in his partner. She looked at him first, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights, but something flickered in her face, and she turned towards Nelson with a scowl.

"Nelson, there's no way," Riley told him. There was the smallest waver in her voice, but Gabriel didn't dare believe that gave him the slightest bit of permission to give into the yuletide tradition. Instead of getting angry, though, she gave an unexpected smirk, insisting, "Some PDAs are not worth it, especially not in front of the whole office."

"Not worth it?" Gabriel feigned offense.


Riley found it within her to smirk, "Nope."

"Very convincing," he challenged. "You just wouldn't be able to handle it."

Riley scoffed, but whatever response she had died in her throat when Gabriel stepped closer. She didn't hear Nelson's hoot over the sound of her heart pounding. His smirk hadn't died yet, though, and he searched her eyes for something before coming just one step closer.

His hand framed one side of her jaw and cupped it so that her face was angled toward his. His settling fingertips created goosebumps where they landed and she felt her feet stuck in place when his other hand pushed a few strands of her hair aside while landing in the same place on the opposite side of her face.

He was inches from her face, breathing the same air, and her lips tingled unexpectedly with anticipation. Of its own will, her hand clung to the fabric on his forearm, but she didn't know whether she was pushing him away or pulling him closer. Gabriel hovered before meeting her lips which, also of their own accord, had parted slightly. Riley really, desperately hoped that he couldn't feel the pulse thrumming in her neck, just below where his fingers landed.

She was preparing for something, but hadn't expected him to whisper against her mouth, "Told you."

Gabriel brought her face closer but landed a soft kiss on her cheek, very near to the corner of her mouth. She scoffed, but didn't seem to be able to make any intelligible noises due to the tickle of his stubble against her cheek when he moved away and released her.

"Tease," Nelson smirked, and Riley snapped her head at him, momentarily forgetting he was there.

When she looked back at Gabriel, he was staring at her still, a mixture of teasing and fondness on his face. She tried to glare at him, but his eyes only darted down to look at her unintentional pout, and back up to her eyes.

Riley felt a strange wave of heat emanating from somewhere in her chest. She needed to get out of this apartment.

"Goodnight," she frowned, hand back on the door knob. He was still grinning, and it was incredibly irritating. Riley almost felt it was getting hard not to return the smile, and turned away to enter the hallway.

"Wait!" Gabriel called to her after a beat, smirk gone.

Riley didn't trust her voice, and only raised an eyebrow back at him.

"Don't forget tomorrow," he reminded her.

She nodded and headed straight back to her apartment, forcing her feet out of his proximity as fast as they would go.

Riley arrived at Gabriel's doorstep the following day after dinner, as promised, and knocked in his door. She'd spend their time apart quite productively. She'd been thrilled to say that her brother called to say that he was coming to surprise her and couldn't wait to tell her any longer.

Riley has been nearly overwhelmed with joy and relief that she hadn't known she'd needed. It filled some weird void inside her that had been telling her it was wrong to spend time alone on the holidays. She supposed she had Gabriel anyway, at least. "But wait," she'd asked. "I thought you were visiting mom?"

"I am," her brother had paused. "I wanted to tell you, we had a change of plans."

"What do you mean?"

"Well...," he'd started to explain while Riley tried to quell the anxiety stuck in her throat as she prepared for what was coming. "She wants to see you."

Riley had stayed silent while her brother explained that her mother had changed, was doing much better.

"Please, just give it a chance," he'd begged. "She really does miss you, and believe me, it'll be nice to finally be able to spend our time together, all of us, if this works."

Riley nodded before remembering that he couldn't see her. "I suppose."

"Just try," her brother had insisted. "We'll only be here a few days, so it goes awry, we'll be out of your hair. And you know I'll be right there the whole time." He sighed. "Riley, it would make her very happy. And me, too."

Riley had found a small smile had made it way to her lips. "Okay. I'm mostly allowing this because I'm very homesick for my favorite brother, and that overpowers any nervousness towards seeing a certain estranged mother of mine."

"I'm your only brother," he laughed.

"And also my favorite. Nothing's wrong with that," she said as her mouth fully formed a smile.

"No, not at all."

"See you in a few days," Riley told him, and had ended the phone call.

Her thoughts that day were mostly on obsessively cleaning the apartment, worrying that her air-fresheners weren't covering up the smell that had originally come with the apartment, and picking out an outfit that hopefully gave off an I-hope-I-can-sort-out-my-relationship-with-my-estranged-mother-whom-i-haven't-spoken-to-in-several-years vibe.

In fact, her thoughts, as well as any anxiety about Gabriel had been greatly overshadowed and had turned into distant whispers until the moment she'd knocked her knuckles against his door and looked at the knob, waiting for it to turn.

She instantly flashed back to that moment the previous night when her hand had been on the handle and Gabriel's lips had been so near to hers. Without thinking, her mind played the moment over a second time with a different. The opening of the door made her jump.

She was a bit concerned by the fact that her mind had gone to such a place, especially before she was to hang with Gabriel.

Especially since there was no alcohol in her to excuse her behavior.

"Ready?" he asked.

Riley nodded. "Where are we going, really?"

"Ooh, perceptive," he said, raising his eyebrows. Gabriel gave away nothing more.

Riley waited, but her partner just walked past her and down the hall.

He changed the subject but Riley wouldn't give in, asking for clues and trying to figure it out along the way. Gabriel only waited until she started recognizing where they were headed, but still then, she looked unsure, unwilling to believe the intended destination was actually where he was leading her.

They came to a stop outside the ice rink and Riley just looked up at him. He nudged her forward, towards the doors. "C'mon."

She said nothing until they got inside and he paid for her skates. Strangely, there was no one else around.

"Why here?" Riley wondered aloud.

"You said you always used to go ice skating as a tradition," he explained. If she wasn't mistaken, he looked like he was waiting for her confirmation. She nodded, and Gabriel continued, "I know it's not the same since you're stuck with me, but I figured maybe it would be fun anyway."

She mistook the look on his face earlier, and now realized he was nervous. This look was different from other times he'd had anxiety in the past, and Riley found herself deeply engrossed in staring back into his eyes at that moment.

The moment was exemplified by the sudden darkening of the ice rink. It was instantly replaced with the brightening of Christmas lights that she hadn't noticed were strung up all around the facility, the glow reflecting off the ice as if it were a golden frozen lake.

She was speechless.

Gabriel stood up, the laces on his skates tied and ready. He glanced at her hands frozen in the midst of tying her own skates, and knelt down in front of her to finish the job.

Riley looked away from the ice and stared dumbly down at Gabriel. He avoided her gaze until her skates were finished, but she stilled his hands when the last knot was tied.

Gabriel looked up at her, eyes searching hers, gauging her reaction. Had her brain been working properly, she would've apologized and said something more intelligent than "Let's skate."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Gabriel seemed to take this response in equal regard as to any normal person would've responded (with a profound amount of thank-yous, or at least some better sort of a verbal response), and grinned with dimples showing. He turned her hand over in his and stood, helping her up at the same time. She didn't dwell on how close together they were standing, as he soon turned and led her out onto the ice.

She smiled as soon as her skates glided on the smooth surface and tugged Gabriel along with her, her normal persona coming back. Riley went backwards as he skated after her. Memories of her childhood came back as they skated round after round. She decided not to worry that their gloved hands were still linked, or that, upon realizing, when she released his hand, his found hers again soon after.

Gabriel was almost as skilled as she was, and she didn't question whether he knew how to ice skate or downloaded some sort of instructions in his head. He only slipped a few times, and even dragged her down after when she laughed at him. The question of how experience he was was answered when Riley had to help him get off the ice and back into a standing position. After the first time, he linked their arms closer and wrapped his hand around hers still.

Riley didn't know how long they'd been on the ice, making conversation and showing off the moves they were capable of, when she told him, "I've got to say, this is the nicest present anyone's ever given me."

"This? Ah, it's nothing," Gabriel said, brushing it off. He separated from her though and took both of her hands, using their momentum to twirl them around in a circle.

"Are you kidding? You emptied an ice rink and made me relive the good times of my childhood," she insisted. They were slowing down in their turn, but she turned serious for a moment. "I'm not close to a lot of people, and no one really knows me that well, or cares for the that matter, to do something like this, okay?"

Gabriel was staring at her like she'd hung the moon, so Riley felt the need to ruin the moment and add, "Not saying that you care, or anything-"

"You know I do," Gabriel half-smirked, apparently not keen on holding eye contact either.

Riley ducked her head at his admission, somehow ready to confide in him, too. "I never thanked you, by the way, for yesterday."

Gabriel only raised an eyebrow, so she continued. "You invited me to a party to distract me from my loneliness and lack of family. God, this sounds so mushy, but I really appreciate that too."

"Aw, you're going soft on me," he replied, happily accepting the punch to his arm. With one of her arms separated from his, he tugged on the other and led them slowly forward again. "I'm just glad you won't be alone the next few days."

She hummed, remembering his mutual excitement when she'd mentioned her brother's phone call. Riley remembered something else as well, and cleared her throat. "I, uh, also want to thank you for the kiss. Not the kiss itself, just…that you went for my cheek, instead of….you know. Uh…"

Apparently, that was as eloquent as she was going to get.

Gabriel still hadn't looked her way, but she heard the most unexpected of nervous laughs coming from him. Something in his voice let her know that the confident front he put up was only that. "Well, I didn't want to embarrass you in front of our coworkers, you know."

So, she thought, maybe it'd affected him too.

"Embarrass me?" she prompted in disbelief.

"Yeah," he shrugged. "The way I did it was kinder. You reacted less."

Riley was reeling, and stopped their movements by skidding in front of him, pushing a hand back on his chest – almost challenging him to take it further. "Excuse me?"

He was completely aware by now that she was irked, but kept a nonplussed expression on his face. "I wouldn't have wanted you to get swept up in the moment, you know, in public. Our first kiss wouldn't have been like that."

It was Riley's turn to raise her eyebrows, and Gabriel's turn to pause, horrified at what he realized had come out of his mouth. "Wait-"

But Riley wouldn't give him the chance to explain, the teasing advantage now on her side. But for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to put much teasing behind her voice at all when she asked, "You imagined our first kiss?"

She'd meant it to sound much more like she was making fun of his daydreams. Instead, Riley found herself wanting to know the answer. His face was flushed, whether from his admission or their physical activity, she didn't know. When Gabriel's eyes drifted downwards toward her mouth, Riley remembered that her hand was still affixed to his chest, and she removed it.

That brought his eyes back to her face, widening to match hers.

"Yes. No. Maybe," he mumbled, and looked away again. "I don't know, doesn't that usually happen when you get close to someone?" he tried.

"Not always," she whispered, although, perhaps her mind had wandered towards that subject in the deepest of her dreams. The ones she was always disappointed to wake up from. In her mind, she supposed she'd never imagined their first kiss in room full of people, either. Like hell she was going to tell him that, though.

"Okay, look," he huffed. "I don't have a lot of people in my life that I'm very close to either. We spend the most time together, so my mind has occasionally wandered. It's not that hard to believe. Especially when you keep giving me that look."

"What look?"

"That look. The one that wonder if you haven't thought the same thing," he challenged.

Riley cursed internally and looked up from his lips. "I have not."

It didn't sound convincing to either of them.

"Okay, it's crossed my mind before. But it's like you said, that can happen when you grow attached to someone," she tried. She hoped Gabriel wasn't looking right through her.

"You said "Not always," though," he retorted.

"I'm just saying that when you're fond of someone-"

"Fond."

"Oh, grow up, Gabriel," Riley said, hating the feel of the blush creeping up her neck.

"I'm being completely adult," Gabriel said, and she could hear the teasing seeping back into his words. "It's completely adult of me to have completely adult feelings about my adult partner."

Riley was about the tease him back, but she stopped herself as soon as she realized what he'd said. Gabriel's smile disappeared as he seemed to realize as well.

"I just mean-," he started, about to defend his words, but he couldn't finish the sentence. As if realizing something, he stared past her head, brows furrowed. "I?"

"Yes?" Riley prompted, waiting. He wouldn't snap out of it though, and she shoved one of his shoulders with her gloved hand until his eyes refocused. The Christmas lights dimmed for a moment and blinked back to life.

Gabriel's hand shot out to cover her hand with his own. His earlier thought was finished with, "I can't believe I finally said that out loud."

With that, it felt like someone had released a thousand butterflies in her chest. With the realization that Gabriel wasn't going to take his admission back, Riley was overwhelmed with the concept that there was a sliver of a chance that he wanted something more with her, something that feared she wanted just as badly.

She was realizing so much, it seemed, but there was one thing she need to know before all else. Riley looked up at him, searching his eyes, and in an unexpected moment of clarity, asked, "What did you mean, exactly, when you said that it wasn't how a first kiss should've gone?"

Gabriel glanced down at her lips for only a second before they returned to her eyes. "A first kiss," he began, "should be a private moment. If I'd kissed you there, Nelson wouldn't have let us hear the end of it. It would've been meaningless. And not like how either of us would want," he finished.

"Either of us?" Riley asked, brow furrowed, and fell victim to the blue eyes falling into hers, unconsciously being drawn closer to him on her skates.

"If I kissed you like I wanted…," he whispered, and only then did she realize there was only an inch of space between their chests, and it was quickly dwindling as his hand tugged her forward one last time. Gabriel dropped her hand and brought it up to cup her face. Riley was enraptured by the feeling of his touch against her skin; the contrast between the warmth of where they were touching and the cold air quickly growing addicting. Finishing his thought after wrapping an arm around her waist to keep them in place, he said, "…it would definitely be more like this."

He inched closer to her, but her waist was lowering on its own. Gabriel was tilting her back, angling her body towards the ice but halting once she started to think he would drop her. His mouth kept moving forward though, and she nearly let out a noise when his lips captured hers. Even warmer than his hands, his mouth drew in her bottom lip and her mind was swimming. The hand holding on to her waist accidentally pulled the fabric loose as they both lost themselves, and a cold gloved finger happened to touch the bare skin there. She opened her mouth to gasp at the contrast in temperature, but Gabriel quickly filled the new space with his tongue, and the noise died in her throat.

A similar noise emitted from her partner soon after when her tongue started reciprocating some of the terribly indecent things his was doing to her mouth. He'd said he liked a challenge, and it was proved true.

Not to be outdone, he softened his movements, kissing her softly and with an almost unbearably sweetness. Riley was unprepared for the moan that accompanied the absolutely delightful sensation of having her mouth ravished by Gabriel. She broke apart for a moment, dizzy with the need for air.

Riley somehow found her voice, albeit a bit deeper than she expected, and murmured, "Yeah, alright. I'll give you that one."

"Yeah?" Gabriel sounded breathless himself.

"Yeah."

"I'm glad we agree," Gabriel hummed, lips skirting over hers again. It lasted only a moment, before he added, "I have to confess something."

Riley could hardly be worried, nor take him very seriously, when she could still taste him on her lips. "What's that?"

"I think our second kiss will be even better," he hummed, and Riley felt the reverberation through his chest.

He nudged his nose against hers and gently lowered his mouth once more, and with that, Gabriel continued to prove himself right.

Riley's chest warmed with a feeling that would lighten her heart for the end of time. With the knowledge that she was loved by so many people that she hadn't thought cared, Riley felt her eyes burn with tears that she refused to let fall. There was a lot of hope for a bright future in the days to come.

It was the best Christmas present she could ever ask for.

The End.

A/N: I FINALLY FINISHED IT! AFTER LIKE, TWO YEARS! Oooooh my god, two years. I'm so, so, so sorry that it took me so long to finish. I don't know how to excuse this huge time-lapse other than life got busy, I gained the most amazing best friend I've ever had in my life, and went through a bit of a self-crisis. I'm so appreciative of you guys for sticking with this story (if you still have)! You have my deepest apologies and my most enthusiastic thanks. I love you all.

Thank you to all that have reviewed this story, and especially those who prompted me to keep writing. You inspired me, and I never stopped thinking about how I wanted to write the last chapter. Shout-out to KathleenMurphy12979431, TearsInTheDust, danny132015, Guest 1, kittiesgalore101, Guest 2, amydfuller9, AngelBlue, bk-1205, Dom-inator, Guest 3, Guest 4, Biichi-gi, , and Anna.

You all give me life, and I'm sorry it took me so long to finish. I appreciate you all more than you know.