Thank you all for the kind reception to part 1! After that finale, we definitely could use some more fluff and flirting and part 2 has all of that. Hope you all enjoy!

The next morning, it's not the familiar buzzing of her alarm that wakes Hailey up.

It's an arm.

Jay's arm.

Her eyes shoot open and she realizes that somehow, they have both migrated from their spots on the opposite ends of the bed and have met in the middle. It is not uncharacteristic of her to move around in her sleep, but she assumed her body would have been more aware of its movements given the fact she was sharing a bed with her partner.

But then again, given their current position, apparently not.

Hailey is laying on her back, her head gently leaning against Jay's shoulder. He is now laying on his right side and she somehow managed to tangle her right leg in between both of his. His head is cocked towards her and she is sure at some point, his chin was resting against the top of her head. What scares her most, though, is not how he has protectively laid his left arm across her torso, but rather how her arm gently rests against his to hold his arm in place against her.

It seems now that her body is finally frozen and she is not sure what to do next. She wants to remove herself from his grasp before he notices, but she is unsure of how to do that without waking him up. Sucking in a low breath, she gently removes her leg from in between his, keeping her eyes on him to make sure he doesn't wake up.

When he doesn't stir at that movement, she attempts to remove his arm from her chest, but immediately freezes when she feels him start to move next to her.

"What are you doing?" He murmurs sleepily, eyes still closed, and with their close proximity, she can feel his breath on her neck.

"I'm gonna go make coffee," she lies. "Go back to sleep, your alarm didn't go off yet."

His eyes slowly open and it only takes him a second to notice their position, his eyes going wide.

"How did we..?" He asks slowly, his voice trailing off as he scans their still intertwined bodies.

Hailey takes advantage of his state of confusion and scoots back on the bed, his arm falling off her gently, and as soon as he notices what she is doing, he retracts his arm quickly.

"We must have just moved in our sleep," Hailey says nervously. "That or you thought I was getting shot."

She makes the joke in an attempt to diffuse the situation, but then it hits her that perhaps he had a nightmare and he really did think someone was getting shot and it was his first instinct to throw his arm over her and she immediately feels even worse.

"I didn't mean anything by that. I-"

"You're good," he cuts her off, his head still turned towards her, but his eyes are looking all over the room, trying to find anything to focus on but his partner.

"I'm gonna…" she quickly sits up and throws her feet over the bed, never so desperate to get out of bed and start her day. "I'm gonna go take a shower."

"I thought you were gonna make coffee," he sits up slowly and watches her scramble out of bed.

"I, uh...I changed my mind. I'll make coffee while you shower."

As she slips into the safety of the bathroom, she slams the door a little too loud, turning around to lean against the door. She wants to let out a sigh or a groan or honestly, a scream, but she knows her partner is still on the other side of the wall.

Her partner.

Her partner who was in her bed who she basically just cuddled with for who knows how much of the night.

It was an accident, right? They both knew that. It was the result of tossing and turning and two adults in too small of a bed. Nothing more.

But still, for a split second, before the fear and the embarrassment set in, when she saw the way he protectively held her while she slept, it almost felt normal.

It almost felt right.

Like, maybe, one day they would wake up in a similar manner and she would not retreat to the other side of the bed in fear, but she would wake him up slowly with a series of lazy kisses that became hurried and rushed and led to more.

That's the thought that brings the inevitable groan because she does not understand why this is so damn hard. If it's supposed to happen, why hasn't it? And if it's not supposed to, then why are the feelings so damn hard to shake?

Because she thinks she is fine if they just stay partners and she knows she is okay if they try to be more but this blurry in between is what is killing her.

She knows how she feels. She knows that she sees him as more than just a partner. And for a while, she thought he felt the same. But with how important he is to her, she needs to do more than think. She needs to know.

And for his sake, he needs to know too. He has been hurt before, by a partner no less, so she does not want to get into something unless he is one hundred percent sure.

But by the look of confusion and fear that masked his face this morning, he is not one hundred percent sure.

She gets in the shower quickly, hoping the hot water will give her something to focus on besides how things between her and Jay are never going to progress beyond where they are currently.

She scrubs her skin vigorously, white skin turning raw in an attempt to purge the feelings from her body.

She washes her body and she washes her hair, but not shockingly, she is unable to wash the feelings away.

As she steps out of the shower, she reaches for a towel and dries herself off quickly, wringing the water out of her hair with a second towel when it finally hits her.

She didn't bring any clothes with her into the bathroom.

In her hurry to escape Jay and the awkwardness of this morning, she did not bring a change of clothes with her. On a normal morning, when it is just her, there would be no reason to, but now, she has to walk back into her bedroom in just a towel and pray that her partner is in the kitchen eating breakfast.

Damn, she really should have let him stay with Will.

She presses her ear against the bathroom door and hears nothing. Maybe, hopefully, Jay is in the kitchen, making coffee or grumpily eating cereal again and it will give her enough time to make a quick dash into the bedroom, grab the first shirt and jeans she sees, and retreat back into the bathroom without getting caught.

Adjusting her towel and holding it tight against her body, she sucks in a low breath and quickly opens the door.

And as the door swings open and she sees Jay standing behind her bed on the other side of the room, his head shooting up when he hears her, she thinks she really really should have let him stay with Will.

"I thought…." she starts awkwardly, trying to ignore the way his eyes scan her towel-clad body. "I thought you were in the kitchen. I forgot…"

He pieces together what she is trying to get out and quickly nods, now staring at the bed. If it were any other situation, she would tease him about his attempt to be a gentleman, but right now, she is too anxious and wearing far too little clothing to say a word. It is only as she slows down and takes a breath, trying to stop her heart from beating out of her chest, that she notices what he was doing.

"Were you making my bed?"

"Yeah, I…" He rubs the back of his neck and he looks about as nervous as she feels. "I figured since I slept here it was the least I could do."

She gives a small nod and whispers "thanks," knowing that if she tries to say anything else, she will surely make a fool of herself.

"I'm gonna…" He throws a pillow on the bed haphazardly and takes a step away from the bed, backpedaling towards the door that leads to the living room. "I'm gonna go make coffee."

She does not move and does not speak as he leaves and even after he closes the door and she is standing in the privacy of her room, she remains a statue.

How is it in the matter of a few hours that things had gone from fine to bad to worse? Hailey likes to think of herself as a good person, but right now, this all feels like punishment for some unknown sin she committed.

She quickly finds jeans and a t-shirt and tries to busy herself with getting dressed, but the simple motions are not enough to stop her from wondering how awkward the entire work day is going to be.

It takes quite a lot of hyping herself up for her to open the door to the living room and slip out into the open, shooting Jay a nervous smile as she does so.

"Shower is all yours if you want it."

He looks up from his spot behind the kitchen counter where he is currently pulling out a K-cup from the coffee maker. She notices that there is already a mug with steam coming off of it a few inches to his left and an involuntary smile grows on her lips at the gesture.

"Thanks," he says. "I'll be quick. I already ate, so we can head out after I get changed."

She nods and makes her way into the kitchen, walking right past the island and straight to the fridge, hoping she can busy herself with trying to find breakfast just long enough for him to leave for the bathroom.

But, of course, he lingers.

She pulls out an individual yogurt packet and moves to grab a spoon, keeping her back to his while they are on opposite sides of the kitchen. "Hey, look I'm sorry about earlier."

"Which part?"

She sighs and turns around, surprised to find him already leaning against the kitchen island and looking at her. She boosts herself up on the counter to sit next to the sink, ripping off the seal on the yogurt once she is settled.

"I meant the whole towel thing, but I guess everything."

She keeps it vague because it feels safer, but by the way he bites his lip as he nods, she knows he has a pretty good idea what she is referring to.

"Hailey, it's fine," he says softly. "Like you said, we're both adults. And I don't want things to be awkward between us all day, so let's just accept that it all happened and move on, okay?"

She lowers her spoon and looks at him, scanning his face for any hint of hesitation, but there is none there.

"Okay," she hums quietly. "Sounds like a plan."

"Good," Jay smiles.

There is a pause, and she thinks he is going to take this as his opportunity to go get ready, but as he walks to the other side of the kitchen island, he turns to her again with a knowing smirk on his face.

"Although, tonight, you might want to put a little more effort into not cuddling with me."

She laughs, and even though she can still feel the remnants of the anxiety in her belly, this makes her feel a little better. The teasing and the joking, it's so simply them and it's his way of saying that they are good.

"Pretty sure you are the one who was trying to cuddle with me, Halstead."

He scoffs at the idea, but she can still see a smile creeping up on his face. "Well, you're the one who invited me into your bed. I think this all goes back to you."

"Yeah and you didn't seem to have too big of an issue sleeping in my bed," she teases. "Honestly, I think you made up the whole thing about them fixing the water at your apartment just so you could stay here."

"Oh trust me, I am much smoother than that," he says with a wink before turning around and finally retreating into the bathroom to finish getting ready for the day.

That little smirk and the devilish tone in his voice is enough to make something in her belly flip for what feels like the hundredth time today. And even though just twenty minutes ago while she was in the shower she convinced herself that things would never work out between her and Jay, right now, she is not so sure that's the truth.

True to his word, they put everything from that morning behind them and do not bring up any of the many embarrassing events again during the day. While she thought things were going to be awkward between the two of them, it's the opposite in fact. After their little conversation in the kitchen, they both seem to be a little bolder, making more jokes that resemble flirting and letting their glances last a little longer than the day before.

She convinces herself that she is reading into it. It's her feelings being all over the place as a result of the emotional rollercoaster that resulted after waking up in his arms. It's her seeing something that she wants to see and once he has gone back to his apartment and they have a safe distance from each other, everything will go back to normal.

That night is the first time the whole week that they get out of work at a decent hour. It's around 6:30 as they step off of the elevator and head down the hall towards her apartment. They are in the middle of a conversation about some random workplace bet Adam and Kevin had been fighting about that day when Hailey spots two large brown paper bags sitting outside her door.

"Ugh, the delivery guy probably dropped them off at the wrong apartment," she groans. "There's a guy named Harold down the hall and I have gotten way too many of his Amazon packages."

"No, there for us," Jay says casually as he leans over to grab the bags from in front of her door.

"So, now you are ordering things to my apartment?" She asks as she unlocks the door. "You're getting way too comfortable here."

"It's food," he ignores her teasing, chuckling as they step into the apartment.

"Jay, I have food here."

"I know." He makes his way over to place the two bags on the kitchen island before turning to face her. "But I'm making you dinner."

She almost drops her coat on the floor at his words.

"You're what?" She asks as she hangs up her jacket, trying to hide the obvious surprise.

"Try not to act so shocked," Jay says with a laugh as he starts unloading the bags. "I'm a full-grown adult, Hailey. I know how to cook."

"It's not that," Hailey shakes her head and walks over to the kitchen, leaning against the island as she watches him remove vegetables and other ingredients from the bags. "Why exactly are you making me dinner?"

He sighs, temporarily pausing from unpacking the bags as he looks over at her. "Because you didn't have to let me crash here for these couple of days. So, I wanted to say thank you."

She smiles at the sweet gesture and that same something that was flipping in her belly before is doing full-on summersaults now.

"That's sweet," she whispers. "But you didn't have to do this. Like I said, we're partners. You crashing at my place for a few days isn't a big deal."

He shrugs before continuing to unload the groceries. "Maybe I just want to impress you with my cooking skills then."

She snorts at his cockiness, taking a seat at the kitchen island as she watches him start to organize his ingredients. "Yeah, that or give me food poisoning."

"I'll have you know I'm a very good cook."

"Jay," she cocks her head to the right, peering up at him. "I've been to your apartment. It's takeout and beer. You're not fooling me."

"I know how to cook," he argues. "I just don't have a lot of time and it doesn't make sense to make a big mess if it's just me."

"But I'm worth the mess?" She voices it in such a way that it comes across as teasing, but maybe there is a hint of seriousness in her question.

"Yeah," he slows down just enough to shoot her a sweet smile before busying himself with their dinner again. "Besides, the mess is in your kitchen, so what do I care?"

"You're the absolute worst, you know that?" Hailey laughs as she hops out of her chair. "I'm gonna go get changed. You try not to blow up my kitchen."

Mockingly, he scrunches up his face and sticks his tongue out at her, making her laugh even louder as she slips into the quiet of her bedroom. She replaces her jeans with a pair of black leggings, opting to keep on her gray v-neck t-shirt from the day before returning to the kitchen.

His back is towards her and he is standing over the sink, the water running and a few potatoes on the counter next to him. She can't help but chuckle as she hoists herself up to sit on top of the kitchen island, her body facing his back, because this all feels far too domestic for two partners.

Her soft laughter catches his attention and he throws his head over his shoulder, smiling when he sees where she has planted herself.

"You know, I was actually going to use that counter to cook."

She scoots over to the left so she is sitting near the edge of the counter. "There, now you have enough room."

He shakes his head, turning around to turn off the water and grabbing the potatoes he washed, and bringing them over to the kitchen island. He reaches past her for a towel, drying his hands before using the towel to hit her gently.

"Hey," she says as she tries to grab at the towel, failing miserably.

"That's what you get," he mutters once he stops trying to hit her, throwing the towel aside.

"What?" She questions. "It's my kitchen. I get to sit where I want."

"And right there is the most convenient place?" He chuckles as he reaches for a knife and starts cutting the freshly washed potatoes.

Hailey shrugs. "Someone has to make sure you don't get yourself into trouble. This seems like a pretty good place to do it."

"Hailey, I know how to cook," he glances up at her quickly, rolling his eyes before he steadies his focus again on the cutting board.

"You gonna tell me where you learned to cook?" She asks. "Or is this just another one of those things that you are naturally good at?"

That second question earns her a little Jay Halstead smile. It is clear he is trying to suppress it as he continues to stare at the potatoes, but the effect of her words is obvious to her.

"My mom," he tells her. "On Sundays, we used to do family dinners after church, and Will and I would help her out."

"Did you like it?"

"I did," Jay hums. "Will, strangely enough, isn't that good a cook. Great doctor, can't cook to save his life. So, eventually, it became my thing with my mom."

Hailey smiles at the story, trying to imagine a younger Jay in the kitchen, looking up to his mom with those green eyes, emulating her every move.

"That's sweet," Hailey says, catching his eyes when he glances up to look at her. When she sees him smiling, she can feel her own face scrunch up in a smile.

"You probably know all about cooking little Miss "I worked at an authentic Greek diner.'" Jay chuckles as he finishes cutting the last potato, making his way across the kitchen to put the knife in the sink.

"Oh, hell no." Hailey scoffs. "There's a reason I worked the register."

"That bad huh?" He asks. "Where do you keep your baking pans?"

"Bottom drawer on the right," she points to the cabinet and nods when he finds the right one. "My mom tried hard to get me to be able to cook, but it all went in one ear and out the other. Totally wasn't my thing. Baking I could kinda do, but cooking was a hard no."

He raises an eyebrow as he crosses the kitchen, glass baking dish in hand. "So, what you're saying is, you are gonna bake for me some time?"

She laughs lightly. "Depends how you do with dinner."

"Oh, I'm gonna do just fine with dinner. So, you better start figuring out what you are gonna make for me," he says with a confident smile that has her rolling her eyes.

"Speaking of...what in the world are you cooking?"

"Greek chicken," he says and as she eyes him suspiciously, she watches his confident smile falter.

"What...is it not an actual Greek dish? I just found it online while we were having lunch and figured it was the only thing I actually had enough time to make on such short notice. I would have made some Irish dish that my mom taught me but those take longer and-"

"Jay," she cuts off his ramblings and he looks up at her, nervously. "Thank you."

"Right," he gives a quick nod before busying himself with unwrapping the chicken from its packaging. "You're not gonna judge me super harshly if this isn't exactly like you had in the diner right? Because I almost avoided making anything Greek for that very reason."

His nervous ramblings and the shy little smile on his face make Hailey laugh and she just shakes her head. "I was gonna judge you no matter what you made, so it's all good."

"Right," Jay chuckles. "Should have figured that."

"The real question is," Hailey leans towards him, flashing him a toothy smile. "Did you get any olives for your recipe?"

He makes a "duh" face at her, finishing putting the chicken in the pan and then holding up a finger to tell her to wait a minute. He goes over to the sink to wash his hands before coming back over and grabbing a jar, presenting it to her with a proud smile.

"Kalamata olives?" She questions, taking the jar from him to inspect it. "Smart man."

"Did I do well?" He asks, but the smirk on his face tells her that he already knows the answer to that question.

She hums. "Yeah. These are the good ones. I used to eat them right out of the jar as a kid. My mom would need extras when she used them to cook."

"Yeah, well, you're not doing that today," he says, reaching to take the jar away from her, but she is quicker, holding the unopened jar out of his reach.

"Why not? There's tons," she reasons. "You don't need all of these."

"Give those back," he chuckles. "I need them to cook."

Hailey shoots him a cocky grin, holding the jar high above her head and leaning away from him. His face lights up at the challenge, and he jokingly jumps to reach for the jar, even though he still has a few inches on her, despite the added height from the counter.

She leans back a little farther to keep it away from him and tries to grab at the jar, both of them laughing like idiots.

"Give it back."

"Never," she tells him in between her giggles.

It is not until he leans forward a little too much and her free hand accidentally grazes against his chest in her attempt to keep him away from the jar that she realizes how close they actually are. She stops playing the game of keep away for a moment, her outstretched arm frozen in the air, steadying her focus on him, on his face just inches from hers.

He is just staring at her, glancing between her eyes and her lips and she thinks for a second that he is going to kiss her now and she is going to drop this glass jar on the floor. She can feel his breath against her cheeks and his body lightly is pressed against her legs and it hits her that this is the closest they have ever been, with the exception of how they woke up this morning.

Time goes slow as they both watch each other and it feels like two children playing chicken, seeing who is going to make the first move. She swears she can feel one of his hands gently rest on her knee and maybe she is imagining things, but his breathing has started to pick up.

But just then, the oven beeps, signaling it is done preheating, and it is just enough to pull them out of their little bubble and bring them back to reality. He takes a step back and slows his breathing and she lowers the jar, handing it to him sheepishly.

"Don't worry," he says after a few long, awkward silence-filled seconds. "I'll save you a couple to eat."

She flashes him a nervous smile and watches as he continues to cook dinner, the kitchen much quieter than it was just minutes ago.

Eventually, she hops down from the counter to start washing the dishes he is producing and he tries to argue with her that he will do it later, but the argument dies on his lips with the look she shoots at him. Maybe he gets that arguing with her is futile or maybe he gets that she just needs this distraction.

They were mere centimeters away from kissing and maybe if the oven hadn't dinged, they would have. But, just like every time in the past, the universe didn't let that scenario play out and they were both too scared to take the next step.

She is not sure why, though, so she focuses on just scrubbing the dishes instead.

"Hey," he calls out to her after he puts the chicken in the oven and as she finishes up drying the last of the dishes. "I saved you some olives."

She sets down the plate she was drying, a smile on her face as he holds out the jar, and it almost feels like a peace offering to let her know that they are still good.

"You like olives?" She asks as she takes the jar from him, her fingers grazing against his as she grasps the glass.

He shakes his head. "Honestly, not sure if I've ever had one."

She scoffs in surprise. "You're a full-grown adult. How have you never had an olive?"

He chuckles, shaking his head as he moves past her to grab some paper towels and the disinfectant spray.

"I've probably had them, I just don't remember," he says, wiping down the counter he used to cook. "The recipe said that they were optional, so you're lucky I like you enough that I bought those. Don't make me regret it by teasing me."

She ignores his comment, happily making her way over to the stool by the kitchen island, plopping herself down, jar of olives in hand. Silently, she watches him finish cleaning up as she pops an olive in her mouth.

Things between them, they make no sense. One minute it's awkward, the next it's simple. One minute she is sure that nothing is ever going to happen between them, the next, she knows that what's growing between them is inevitable.

He's so comfortable here in her space and it's like second nature for him to take care of her, to make her laugh, to do things to make her smile. And all the things with their jobs and their pasts and whatever their relationship is currently might make no sense, but he does. It makes her think that maybe she has been too hyper-focused on if it will work and why hasn't it worked when maybe she should just focus on enjoying the simple moments with him.

So, she pops another olive in her mouth with a happy hum, content to just let this moment be.

The meal he makes them is good. It's more than good, but Hailey's ego inhibits her from giving Jay too many compliments. She teasingly tells him that she is surprised she didn't get food poisoning at the first bite and that he did not burn down her kitchen, but after a series of eye rolls and groans, she turns serious and tells him it's good and she's impressed with his meal.

Dinner is normal. It's filled with laughing and teasing and stories like so many other dinners that have been shared between the partners and it's enough to make her forget about all the awkward moments that they've shared today.

After dinner, they watch a movie. While they lounge on the couch, Jay starts complaining that since he made dinner, Hailey should bake something for dessert, to which she quips back that one, it's too late to bake and she does not have any ingredients, and two, he barely even likes sweets, he just wants to annoy her.

The smile he sends her is filled with boyish charm and it's all the confirmation she needs about the reason behind his complaining.

There is no conversation if he is going to go to sleep with her again that night and part of her is thankful he just assumes he is welcome in her bed because it saves her from what she is sure would be an incredibly awkward conversation.

Getting into bed is a little less awkward tonight, but honestly, not much. Jay still waits until she practically tells him to get into bed to settle beside her and he still is hugging the edge of the bed as they lay down.

"You gonna stay on your side tonight?" Hailey takes a chance and makes a joke, hoping it will calm them both down.

"Yes, I'll stay over here," he says like an annoyed child being scolded by their parents. "You gonna stay over there?"

"Yes. I stay on my side, you stay on yours. Plain and simple."

"Should we put a pillow between us or something-"

"Go to sleep, Jay."

He rolls his eyes at her annoyed attitude, laying down on his back and turning his head away from her. She sits up to turn off her bedside lamp and lays down on her side, her back facing him, hoping that she will sleep a little better and a little farther away from him than she did the night before.

For the second day in a row, she wakes up before her alarm. She lets out a soft, sardonic laugh as she slowly opens her eyes and takes in the scene in front of her, part of her regretting ignoring Jay's offer to put a pillow between them because here they are, yet again, tangled up together.

It's almost the same position they found themselves in yesterday, his arm draped against her, their legs wrapped around each other, but this time, her head is completely nuzzled into the space between his neck and his shoulder.

Much like yesterday, he does not seem to be awake yet, so for a moment, she does not move. It might be wrong and it might be the result of an accident, but it feels warm and it feels nice and if she closes her eyes and forgets everything, it feels right.

She likes waking up in his arms and it makes her think that she would not mind if she woke up in his arms for real some morning in the future.

Gently, she pulls back and props herself up on her elbow, watching her sleeping partner. Out of all the times that she has thought that maybe she might have feelings for him, right now, with him next to her in bed, it is hitting her the hardest.

She has feelings for him and she wants this to be real.

And maybe she is tired of waiting for the stars to align perfectly and for the universe to give them their moment. Because, if the past few years are any indication, things are never going to slow down enough for that, so maybe if she wants this, she needs to make it happen.

She has never seen him look this peaceful and it makes her smile because he's her strong, bold partner out in public, but here, he is soft and he is calm. She studies the wrinkles on his face she has never been close enough to see and counts the freckles that decorate his skin that she secretly loves.

Her eyes roam his face and land on his lips and she thinks it would be so easy to kiss him. Kiss him good morning in the quiet of her bedroom and let the soft gesture be the thing that flips their worlds upside down. She could cup his face and hold him close and kiss him slow and finally take the leap.

But maybe she shouldn't. He's asleep and perhaps attacking him with an unwelcome kiss is not the way to take that leap. Maybe he wouldn't want her to do it or maybe it would make things awkward. Maybe it's crossing a line that should not be crossed in order to preserve their partnership, in order to preserve them.

She lays down again, tucking her arm underneath her, her eyes never leaving his face. She is so focused on his lips that she almost does not catch his eyes slowly start to open and she can already start to feel the heat rise in her cheeks when he realizes what she was doing.

He waits a moment, his eyes just watching her, waiting for her to make a move, but she stays still.

"Well, if you don't do it, I will."

Before she can even process his words, his lips are on hers. He leans forward just enough that he can press a soft kiss to her lips, his hand that was protectively holding her now brushing against her jaw.

It's over almost as quickly as it begins and when he leans back, there is a dopey smile on his face, but nervousness in his eyes.

It takes her a moment to find her voice, her mind still reeling from his actions. "Well, that's one way to say good morning."

"Is it a bad way?" He murmurs.

She shakes her head, her gaze never leaving his. "Not a bad way at all."

He lets his arm snake around her body to pull her a little closer and when she tilts her head up, there is a knowing smirk on his face.

"What?"

"We're cuddling again," he comments, scanning his eyes up and down at their current position, his arm holding her, their legs intertwined under the covers.

"Yeah, well someone clearly couldn't stay on his side of the bed."

He pinches at her back and she lets out a small laugh, resulting in a triumphant smile from Jay. "You're the one who invited me into your bed."

"Yeah, well, you're the one who kissed me," she counters, and his smug smile drops and is replaced by a soft, tender one.

"Yeah, I did," he whispers. "In case it's not abundantly obvious, I have feelings for you. Have for a while."

She hums. "Never would have noticed."

He attempts to kick her under the blankets and she can't hold back the little laugh that bubbles out of her chest, letting her hand trace the stubble of his jaw as he rolls his eyes.

"Just so you know, I have feelings for you too."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she hums softly in confirmation.

"So, you wouldn't kick me out of your bed if I kissed you again?" He lets his voice trail off and the sweet, hopeful look on his face is like nothing she has ever seen before, but it's something she would like to see again.

"Something tells me this isn't your last night in my bed."

The words are barely out of her mouth before he is kissing her again, his lips silencing the giggles that erupt at his enthusiasm.

It feels like her whole world has shifted, even though she has not gotten out of bed for the day. For so long, she was so scared that it would not happen or that it should not happen, but now, securely wrapped in his arms, kissing him in the way that she only let herself dream about, it feels right.

No matter how many missed opportunities there were or how many times she swore the universe did not want this for them, it feels good and it feels right, like all of those misses and almosts were leading up to this.

They are late for work that morning, but neither of them cares. Not when they finally know what it's like to feel the other's lips pressed against theirs in the morning light or how it feels to know that the thing that they both wanted for so long is finally here and it's not going anywhere.

She is right in that it's not his last night in her bed. Far from it.

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