A/N: Glad to see so many of you still enjoying these ficlets, even when they're not all Literati - thanks so much for the reviewage! :) Now, this one... yeah, I'm not sure if anybody will care too much about it, but I wanted to write it, so I did ;)

(For disclaimer, etc. - see 1)

7. How Long Must You Wait? - 20th August 2036

Of course, Jaime Belville had dreams, just like everybody else. Career-wise, she couldn't say she wasn't fulfilling at least some of those dreams. Romantically, well, the ultimate goal had become something of a fantasy as the years went by.

She really never did think Jack Mariano would look at her as anything more than his best friend's little sister, just a pseudo-cousin type, like so many others in their sprawling family tree of both blood and non-blood members. She never could've known it would turn out this way.

Her apartment never saw much company and when it did it was usually one of her siblings, maybe a friend or two that dropped in for coffee or whatever. Jaime was kind of a loner, not in a creepy way but just in a comfortable with her own company way, if she had to find a way to describe it. She wasn't big on dating either, though she had been out with guys before. A dinner here, drinks there, maybe a movie sometime. No man that took her out and brought her home ever made it past the front door. Jack was different.

He seemed surprised when he asked her out last week - their twenty-first date in six months, which was pretty impressive for people who lived so far apart - and she invited him over to her place, offering to cook dinner. He floundered in answering, but eventually agreed.

So, here they were, dinner eaten, conversation enjoyed, and compliments paid. A strange and slightly uncomfortable silence had fallen over the table, when suddenly Jaime took a firm hold of her own confidence and asked Jack to dance.

"Here?" he had asked, looking left and right as if checking he was still in her apartment, like he thought.

"No, in the ballroom at Netherfield Park." Jaime rolled her eyes, laughing when she saw his mouth drop open in surprise. "I'm sorry. Nerves bring out my sarcastic side."

Jack's eyes were so soft, his smile so endearing as he nodded his head. "I remember," he told her, getting up from his seat and offering her his hand.

Jaime had taken it without pause and let him pull her to her feet. She went easily into his arms, like the most natural thing in the world, and they swayed together to the soft music from the stereo that had been nothing but background noise until that moment. If Jack noticed the romantic theme amongst each carefully curated track, he never said a word, as they slow danced their way through two or three songs. Jaime was pretty sure she would happily let this moment go on for hours, sure it couldn't be improved upon, except maybe in one way.

"This is nice," said Jack, his words vibrating through his chest and seemingly through every part of Jaime's body that was resting against him.

"You know, I remember when you guys all went to prom," she said, making herself pick her head up and look at him properly. "Martha was a bundle of nerves and excitement about the whole thing. She was so determined to bowl Alex over with this amazing dress, but she felt really bad about the fact you didn't have a date."

"It really didn't bother me much," Jack told her, shrugging his shoulders.

Jaime sighed. "You have no idea how many times I almost offered to go with you," she said, blushing even now at the memory from her childhood years. "I kept on thinking, just maybe you would be desperate enough to say yes..."

"Jaime, I wasn't... I mean, it wouldn't have been..."

"It's okay," she assured him with a bright smile reserved especially for him. "It wasn't your fault I felt that way, and it's not as if you ever... I mean, you didn't reject me or anything, and even if I had told you how I felt and you did turn me down, who could blame you? You were eighteen by then, about to go to college and then out into the world. I was only fifteen, just a kid in high school. That wasn't our time."

"I guess not," Jack agreed, "but hey, we found our time now, right?" he said, one hand moving up to push her hair back from her face.

Jaime swallowed hard. "I like to think so," she said, more softly than she meant to. "It's been a long time coming."

When he leaned down to kiss her then, she went up on her toes to meet him, arms tightening around his neck, keeping him close as she deepened the moment between them.

This was what she wanted, what she had always wanted. So much for reality not living up to the fantasy, in the case of her dating Jack, he really was everything she dreamed he would be. The fact he could now look at her and see an ideal partner too was beyond thrilling. It was as if finally, the stars had aligned, fate had a plan. It was their time, just like Jack had said. Jaime was just so very sure.

"So," she said, breathlessly, as they finally pulled apart a little. "I, uh... sounds like the playlist ended," she noted, head tiling towards the speakers a moment.

"Probably a little weird to keep on dancing when the music has stopped." Jack laughed, almost nervously, Jaime thought, or maybe she was just projecting. "You want to sit down or...?"

"Or," she said fast, picking up where he left off, "we could go someplace more comfortable?"

Jaime winced a little at her own words. Not that she regretted the offer she had made to him. That part she was sure about, it was just the way she worded it sounded so awful when she heard it. She was better with visual art. Words were Jack's strong suit, not hers. Well, usually, anyway.

"Jaime, I don't... I mean, you know I would... It's not that I don't..."

She couldn't bear to hear and see him struggle, couldn't stand the idea of trying to explain herself any better than she had before. It seemed so much easier just to act. Pushing herself forward and up again, she crushed her mouth against his own, certain that he couldn't mistake her intentions, couldn't think for a second that she was unsure about what she was doing.

Tripping backwards, she pulled Jack along with her, determined as she was to make it to the bedroom somehow. Just when she was wondering how they hadn't reached the door by now, her back hit the wall with a painful thud. Startled as she was, Jaime was amazed she hadn't injured one of them, but thankfully no.

"Wow, this is going so well," she said, that nervous sarcasm back full-force.

"Maybe this just isn't the time?" Jack suggested, looking a little pained.

Jaime felt the tears begin to form in her eyes and fought them for all she was worth.

"Are you kidding?" she asked, glancing up at him through lashes that were fast getting damp. "You realise how long I've been waiting for this moment, right? And I don't just mean with you."

Jack sighed at that remark and turned his face away. Of course, he understood. Jaime had told him plainly, six months ago now, when she first revealed her feelings for him, that her status was decidedly virginal yet. She had been waiting, perhaps pointlessly, she had considered, for this guy, for this moment, and now, was he really going to turn her down?

"Jaime, it's not that I don't want to," he said gently, meeting her eyes. "You are just amazing and beautiful, and these past few months, I don't even know what it is that changed, but I do wanna be with you, in every way," he promised her, making Jaime wonder what the problem was if that were the case, but she just couldn't find her voice enough to ask. "It's just that you're... you've waited so long and, well, frankly, that's a lot of pressure on me, you know?"

It was strange but Jaime really hadn't thought to look at it that way. Oddly enough, she didn't feel all that stressed about the fact she might make a fool of herself in her first time, that she might not measure up to the women he had taken to bed before now. She knew Jack so well, trusted him so implicitly, as much as she had pre-game nerves, for lack of a better term, she felt okay about what was potentially about to happen. It really hadn't occurred to her that there were all kinds of pressure on Jack to deliver a perfect moment, a perfect night, to the girl who had been dreaming of this for almost half her life.

"I'm sorry," she said then as she gave it a moment's thought. "I didn't think, I just... well, for what it's worth, there really is no pressure," she promised, hand coming up to his cheek as she smiled up at him. "Jack, I... I love you. I've always loved you and if you..."

"I do," he told her easily, returning her smile. "Come on, you know I love you too," he swore, turning his head to kiss her hand.

Jaime felt her eyes fall shut, savouring everything about the moment, the words he said, his lips against her palm. Every part of her was warm and buzzing from that alone. Heaven only knew how much better it could get if they went through with what she had planned tonight, but if Jack wasn't certain he wanted to, she was aware it would be as bad for her to push him as it would be if the circumstances were reversed.

"You know, it's weird," he said, her eyes popping open to meet his gaze then. "Even though I have... well, there have been other women in my life," he said, a little awkwardly, "it never worked out. It was never like the stories, like the songs, like the movies," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Life isn't, usually," Jaime noted, breath catching as Jack moved in a little closer, his body pressed against her own once again.

"Except for when it is," he told her, leaning down to capture her mouth.

Though her head was spinning, her knees about to buckle too, Jaime knew where she was now. Three paces left and then back through the door. Jack went with her this time, willingly, no hesitation at all.

It was just exactly how it was supposed to be.