Author's note: This is one of those little interlude chapters, but I couldn't resist it. Hope you can see why…

Merci beaucoup for reading, reviewing, following and favouriting.

Chapter 25 - The One

Eighteen hours earlier

Tex stared at his reflection in the mirror on his bedroom wall, something he wasn't generally in the habit of doing. After a minute, he shook his head with a slight smile. Nothing it was going to tell him that he didn't already know.

"What you doing, Kansas?" Nina was leaning against the doorframe, smiling, wearing one of his t-shirts and by the looks of it, absolutely nothing else. Her hair was tied up in a knot on top of her head, and he could smell toothpaste. He let his eyes travel up those long legs, skim over the curves that were partly concealed by the t-shirt, and up to her face, settling on those green/brown eyes.

"Magic eyes." He said quietly.

"What was that?" She closed the door and climbed into bed. "Come on, get over here, it's late. Kat's already asleep." She pulled up the covers and pulled off the t-shirt.

He smiled and dropped his threadbare pyjama pants to the floor before doing as he was told. As he settled into bed beside her, Nina leaned in for a kiss, and he obliged, his hand cupping the back of her neck, before pulling back slightly.

"Callaghan..." He began.

"What is it, Kansas?" She picked up his serious tone and looked slightly concerned.

"A little while ago, you said you weren't planning on going anywhere. That true?"

"Of course." She looked even more worried, and he remembered to smile.

"It's just, if that's true," He said, "And it's true for me, believe me, then I was thinking..." He looked right into her eyes, "Callaghan, you turned me upside down and inside out when you came along. I know for sure there's nobody else for me, you're it. You're the one. So I thought, if you wanted, we could make that official…" He took a deep breath, "Nina Callaghan, will you marry me?"

He watched Nina's expression move from surprise to radiant joy, before she said, "Yes, yes of course I will!" She paused, "I mean, I probably won't get a better offer..." She raised an eyebrow, grinning, and he laughed and grabbed her, kissing her breathless.

"I love you." He said, when he finally let her go.

"I love you." She smiled, "Can we do it soon, this marriage thing?"

"Callaghan, if I thought the judge would entertain it, I'd marry you right here in this bed, right now."

"Interesting..." Nina pretended to consider it, before wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him again, pressing tightly into his body. "I'm not sure we should have an audience for this part though…"

And he chuckled, gathering her up in his arms, savouring scars and tattoos and soft, warm skin, all belonging to the most interesting, funny, kickass woman he'd ever met, the woman who'd just agreed to be his wife, and he let himself grin like an idiot for a second before kissing her again.

"Kansas," She said later, much later, laying in his arms as his hands lazily moved over her skin, "You know you're it for me too, right? The one?" She looked almost worried as she looked up at him.

"I do, darlin', I do." He reassured her.

She smiled. "Okay, good. Just checking. Because I really, really want to marry you. Just so you know."

He kissed her forehead. "Well then, that makes two of us."