A.N. Although this doesn't seem like the end, it sort of culminates what I wanted to say with the story. It is the end. However, I will deliver the Epilogue next week, and that'll be all. Hope you like it.

And please, just so to cheer me up, will you review?

Thanks!

Chapter 21.The day after the first night.

The morning surprised them embraced and naked under the sheets. He woke up first and rested his eyes on her beautiful body for a long moment. The emotion of the incredible turn his life had given had him on the verge of tears. She was the most wonderful thing that had ever happened to him, and he couldn't avoid a sudden urge to touch her cheeks gently with the pads of his fingers… her skin felt smooth and warm. He could stay that way for centuries, delighting his eyes with the sight of her, serene, almost magical, her long-dark hair spread on the pillow. The soft scent of her perfume lingered though the space between them on the bed, and with so many sensations that came to celebrate his life, his heart was filled with joy.

Though, the memory of the last time he had woken up with her the same way came unexpectedly to bother him. His soul somehow darkened, troubled with the idea that nothing would have really changed, that their night together would have been a deceiving spark his unfathomable wishes had come to life… that he would notice again her discontent at being with him when she awakened.

He wanted to prolong the illusion a little more, so he struggled to keep quiet, not moving a muscle, and even holding his breath without realizing it. But it was all in vain, because she opened her eyes almost immediately.

The first thing she saw was his deep blue eyes, staring at her expectantly. She shot him a wonderful smile, loving and sincere.

It all made sense to Woody again.

He breathed the air he had been neglecting his lungs to get, his formerly glassy eyes transformed into a look of adoration, and he felt relieved.

Jordan couldn't help but feel confused. "What?" she murmured a little worried.

"Nothing," he answered, and kissed her lightly on the cheeks, forehead and lips.
They spent a few moments enjoying more subtle kisses, a trail he left in his way from her face down to her belly, under the sheets. Then he poked his head from under the sheets and looked at her, entranced.

"I want to wake up like this every day, Jordan," he declared, smiling.

"Like what?" She replied smiling back at him, amused.

He trapped her on an emotional hug. His chest -feeling jubilant- sensed her exquisiteness. "With you, lying naked on my bed. I want you with me forever!"

She couldn't bear the temptation to kiss him on the mouth, a bit more than sweet and softly. She closed her eyes to fully enjoy the pleasure of feeling his great and safe hands all over her bare skin. When they finally broke the kiss off, she opened her eyes and stared at him with a very serious expression. "Are you asking me to move in with you?"

He knew it was maybe too soon for her to accept it, but it seemed only natural to him. However, he squeezed her against him, as if trying to discourage her from any thought of escaping him. He wouldn't allow her running away from him anymore.
"Or if you prefer, I can move in with you, I don't care ... as long as we're together. Are you surprised?"

She was still serious, "And Lu?"

"What about her?" He answered confused, getting up and sitting by her side, uneasily.

"I mean ... she and you ..." Jordan didn't know how to pose the question. Without getting up yet, she averted her gaze, suffocated. She made sure the sheets were covering completely her naked body, perhaps trying not to look vulnerable, but the mere implication of the question assured otherwise.

It troubled him her uneasiness, because after having spent a wonderful evening and an even more magnificent night together, everything should be more than clear to her. "She was listening when I told you that I love you, when you were at the pet shop. Later that night, when you went to the hospital to check up on Richmond, I wanted to explain her, but ... I had nothing to say, really. What could I tell her that wouldn't inflict more damage on her? That I longed to be with you when I was with her? I know I hurt her, and, uh, well…" He shook his head, ashamed. "She wouldn't listen to me. I think it was for the best ..."

For a moment, an awkward silence enveloped them, but he wasn't willing to lose her that easily due his stupidity, so he gathered his courage and continued, "Jordan, I love you, I really do. And I want you to be with me every single day of my life. I don't want to keep pretending we're nothing more than friends… it just doesn't satisfy me anymore. Being with you is all I ever wanted, and – I think we've come to terms with everything that tore us apart… Do you even want that? Us moving forward?" He sighed in despair. "Tell me I'm not crazy."

"No, you're not." She cast him one loving gaze, though she was still lost among the multitude of conflicting emotions and ideas that whirled inside her. "But I'm not sure of anything yet. However, I would be a hypocrite if I told you that I don't want to be with you… Let me think about this," she asked, serious and hesitant.

"Oh no, Jordan! Work with me here! We have to sort things out! I can't go back to the way things were, nothing moving, everything so ambiguous." He replied almost panicked. Then, a thought assaulted his mind so he spitted it out, unable to hide a suspicious tone, "Is there someone else? The Professor – and you?... or maybe Pollack…." His terrified scrutinizing stare all over her, his last words came out stifled.

She sat up beside him, without worrying about covering her nudity anymore, and wrapped him with a look of angst. She caressed his cheek lovingly with the back of her right hand, and without announcement, she leaned toward him and attacked him with an avid kiss. That was a kiss full of meaning, it tasted like anxiety and reassurance, it struggled to reach out the very depth of their uncertainties and confront them, it expressed love and sadness, it was her materialized soul. He answered immediately to those extreme emotions with the fervor of a drowning man clinging to a helping hand. It meant for him what life was all about… Jordan.

She let it go after a few moments of pouring her soul into that kiss, her face had a disturbed expression, and it was probably because of what she had realized. "We've hurt each other immensely." She sighed anguished and stared at him piercingly in his blue questioning eyes. "I love You." She pressed her index finger against his chest to emphasize her statement. "That's all that matters, isn't it?"

He closed his eyes, leaned over and kissed her bare shoulder, put his head on the recently kissed shoulder and Jordan leaned her head in his, as she started to pat his back, lovingly. Their sweet embrace comforted them for a few invaluable seconds. Their insecurities were slowly loosing ground.

When he finally looked up to her, the most joyful face of naughty girl greeted him. She blurted out, playfully, "My apartment is bigger than yours, and I'd rather…"

He made a face of pure relieve. He didn't let her finish firmly gripping the base of her neck with his open palm and tugging her to him, silencing her with another kiss. It started off as a sweet caress, but it rapidly escalated to something more than passionate.

Still mired in this trance, Jordan's phone started ringing, and Woody found it terribly frustrating. It recalled him of another occasion, the phone interrupting them when they were about to kiss at the morgue's roof at LA, so long ago.

He let go of her just for a second to tell her determinedly, "Don't answer it."

She agreed, laughing softly against his mouth and shaking her head, amused.

He continued kissing her, however, the damn phone kept on furiously ringing, and the thrill of the kiss diluted, until it felt too demanding that she shrugged her shoulders as surrendering to the facts, and broke the kiss off. "it might be important."

Much to Woody's hatred, she reached out the noisy thing about to fall off the bedside table, and answered it.

Just then, someone knocked on the door repeatedly. Woody recognized Lily's voice calling "Jordan ... Jordaaan. Jordan!"

Meanwhile, Jordan was still on the phone fully concentrated on what looked like a very serious call, so she waved her hand beckoning him to open the door. He looked at her shaking his head bewildered, and came out of the bed making her notice his nakedness. Jordan made an impatience gesture, and she persisted motioning him to get the door open as Lily's urgent banging didn't seem to subdue. So Woody resigned, knowing that the spell was broken, there wouldn't be more time alone with Jordan ... at least for this morning.

He put his pants on quickly while Jordan dressed with a silk gown that she took off her suitcase, and while she was still tying the knot of the gown, he finally opened the door.

"Jordan," Lily greeted when the door opened, but at the sight of a torso naked, barefooted Woody in front of her, she went momentarily speechless.

"Hi Lily, Jordan is busy with a phone call, do you want to come inside?" He stepped aside and smiled at her with an expression of a little boy caught in mischief.

Recovered from the shock, she walked in throwing him a wicked grin over her shoulder. "Was about time! This is wonderful! You two naughty kids have to tell me everything!"

Jordan hung up then, her face completely different from that of just a minute ago; she was serious and tough, even alarmed and alert. She stared at them and let out earnestly, "I have to go now. Lily, I'm sorry, I can't stay."

Her words were like a blow of freezing air.

Woody gripped her arm firmly and leaned toward her, almost angry, demanding, "What is it, Jordan? What could it be that important?"

She looked up to him -her eyes had a disturbed shine. "JD was killed." She scratched her neck nervously with her free hand, biting her lips, truly upset. "I have to go to Washington. Forgive me Woody, I wasn't planning on this ..."

He took a moment to process the news, his mind running extra speed. Yet his heart knew what to do right away, so he said without hesitation, "Don't worry." He embraced her lovingly. "I'm not leaving you alone, I'm going with you."

Lily shot them a look of horror. She folded her arms against her chest as if she was trying to protect herself from an unseen danger.

Jordan was crying silently, her head resting against Woody's strong chest.

"Are you sure?" She finally whispered in a broken voice.

"Of course! You're all I have. This is a difficult moment to you, so I'm obliged, even if you don't want me to." He forced him to be a strong and a reliable man for her – her saving rock amid the fury of a fast river. Even though he felt consumed by low and petty emotions -jealousy and rage- every time the Aussie was mentioned, and though he didn't know what to make of Jordan's sorrow, he was sure of one simple thing. He loved her, and he would do anything to cut her pain, make her burden disappear.

"Thanks." She smiled sadly at him.

"And what should I do?" Lily cried out distressed.

Jordan only managed to stammer an apology, "Sorry ..."

But Woody interrupted her immediately. "You still have time to think things through, Lily. You opened my eyes," he glanced significantly toward Jordan. "Maybe - you're in the same situation ... Bug only wants you happy."

Lily answered with a silent expression of astonishment and regret. Given the urgency of events, she only could resign leaving the couple alone, and walked away to confront her own dilemma.