A.N.: sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. My sister got married, and I was quite busy all weekend.
...
Two weeks had passed since she left, and her words kept on echoing in his head. I'm no longer going to let the military stand in the way of what I want in life. I just hope that the risk proves to be worth it in the end. He thought he knew the message she was trying to send, but what if he was wrong? They had both waited for so long. Eight years had gone by, and their relationship had formed into a solid friendship instead of the new romance it once had been. He had come to terms with her moving on. In doing so, he had given up on the thought of them being together again. He just wasn't sure he could handle getting his hopes up to find out he was wrong and she didn't want him back.
He found himself driving past her old house once again. It looked so deserted. A 'for rent' sign occupied the front yard, but by the look of it, there still wasn't any bidders. Why did she have to go? It was then that he felt the tears starting to roll down his cheek. He wanted to stay strong but couldn't help it. He mourned the relationship that he now had lost twice.
At the end of the road, he threw the car into reverse and whipped a u-turn. He drove west until he crossed the Colorado/Utah border. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew this was crazy. Surely, he should of at least called someone to tell them where he was going, but he let all logic go out the window. He took a deep breathe and kept driving west through Utah. Hopefully, by morning, he would be in Nevada.
...
She collapsed onto the couch. The day couldn't have ended any sooner. She liked her new position at Area 51, but it just wasn't the same. The people weren't the same. On the small end table next to her sat a beloved picture of herself with three of the people she would have rather been with on that particular day.
The clock on the entertainment center said 1830. She couldn't help but smile. He would be watching The Simpsons right about now. Oh what the heck! She grabbed the remote and turned it on. He hadn't called, and she felt that at least this would connect her to him in a small way.
...
The sun was just peeking through the horizon when his car made his way into Nevada. He knew that it would be futile to try to go to her apartment at this time of the day. In all the years he had worked with her, she had never called in sick. She would be heading to work soon. What he didn't know was that the Daedalus crew had been given a long week of down time while they waited for desperately needed parts.
He pulled into a small coffee shop just inside of her town. His heart skipped a beat when he saw a bike that looked like hers parked outside. He just sighed and shook his head. For the past two weeks, everything was reminding him of her. He saw things like this all over the place.
As he finished paying at the counter and grabbed his coffee, his eyes caught the sight of someone familiar sitting in the back of the shop. He felt paralyzed; he couldn't move an inch. The other customers must have thought he was nuts, but he couldn't help but stare. Slowly, she looks up to see him standing there. Their eyes catch, and before he knew it, he was standing right in front of her, as aw-struck as ever.
"Carter."
"Sir. What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at work."
"Pa-shaw. I came to see you. What are you doing here? I thought for sure that you'd be knee deep in calculations by this time of day."
"We were given a long weekend."
"And you're actually taking it?"
She couldn't help but smile. He had a way of doing that to her.
"I was going to. I need the time away right now. I mean, Area 51 is great and all, but it just doesn't feel like home yet."
"Then that settles it. You're spending the day with me. That is, unless you already have other plans..."
"No!"
She said that 'no' a little too fast. She thought that she maybe even sounded a little desperate, but she didn't care at that point. Why does he have to be just so damn charming? He smiled at her, and she smiled back. They both had things they wanted to say, but neither of them dared to utter a word of it. The moment was perfect, and they both knew that deep in their hearts, the conversation coming up would change their worlds as they both knew it, for good or for bad.
He took her hand and led her out of the coffee shop. They left her bike behind as they drove away in his car together. For the first time in a long time, things were beginning to feel right between them again.