Songs that I listened to while writing this chapter:

Baptized by Daughtry

Dangerous Woman by Ariana Grande

Storm by Lifehouse

Raining on Sunday by Keith Urban

Love Me Like You Do by Ellie Goulding

Three Weeks Later
End of March 2013

Emily was walking back to the office from the coffee shop, a smile on her face as she thought again about the red rose on her desk that had been delivered to her that day. It never failed to surprise her how much Lee had picked up on the fact she preferred little gestures to grand ones. Any other guy would have sent a dozen. He sent one with a note that made her heart almost burst from the loving things he'd said. She missed him like crazy; he'd gone to visit Barney and his team in New Orleans for a few days while going to see his family doctor about his injuries. He had yet to get a doctor in New York, but he was working on it. Nigel had offered to cover for her if she wanted to go with him, but Emily wanted Lee to have some guy time with his friends. She'd meet the rest of the team another time. Apparently, they had made a bunch of bets that Lee found out about, and he'd given them hell for it. Emily felt flattered that they all were rooting for her, though.

She was still thinking about his note when she almost flattened someone on the street.

"Oh! I'm so sorry," Emily said, reaching to catch the person's arm to save them from tripping. Then she felt her heart sink.

Lacy.

"Hello," Lacy said stiffly, pulling her arm back and shooting daggers from her eyes at Emily.

"H-How are you?" Emily asked.

"I'm fine," she answered. "How's my fiancé?" Emily felt her blood start to boil slowly. How dare she imply that Emily stole Lee from her?

"He's amazing," Emily told her, jutting her chin out. "I don't know how you could ever have cheated on him four times."

Lacy looked like she was going to argue, but what could she say? That she'd only done it three times? It'd be a lie. Doing it once was bad enough. She swallowed and glared at Emily.

"He was emotionally cheating on me with you for a long time," Lacy shot back. "He's not innocent in our break up."

"At least he didn't fake a pregnancy to keep the relationship going when he knew it was over."

Lacy pressed her lips together before making a humorous sound in her throat. She tossed her hair and put a hand on her hip.

"You stole him from me, and I'll never forgive you for that," she hissed. "You were our wedding planner!"

"I didn't have to steal something that was already thrown away," Emily corrected, her voice even. Before Lacy could open her mouth, someone was shouting her name. They both turned to see Tyler jogging towards them.

"Oh, hi," he said, seeing that it was Emily. He looked nervous suddenly.

"Do you really have the audacity to tell me off on the street for getting with your ex after you broke up because you cheated on him with his own brother while planning your wedding?" Emily said to Lacy. "Either you're that cruel or you really do just have your head so far up your own arse that you don't know right from wrong."

"Bitch," Lacy spat.

"Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa," Tyler said, stepping between them and holding up his hands. "Lace, we gotta go."

"I hate you," Lacy said to Emily. "Without you, none of this would have happened!"

"You might need a surgeon to remove your head from your ass," Emily commented, unable to help herself. Tyler had to grab Lacy to stop her from launching onto Emily, and he dragged her away. Emily was shaking from the interaction and barely made it back to the office without tripping over her own feet.

"I'm not supposed to say anything," Andy said with a smile as she passed her in the hallway, "but you have a visitor in your office."

"Uh huh," Emily said, not fully paying attention. She walked by Andy and went down to her office where she pushed the door open. She turned to close the door when hands cupped her waist from behind and made her yelp in surprise.

"Wow," Lee said, laughing a little. "I really thought Andy wouldn't be able to help herself and would have told you I was here."

"Lee," Emily practically gasped before bursting into tears. She pressed her hands against her mouth to try and stop while he instantly looked concerned.

"What's wrong?" he asked. "I'm not that ugly, am I?"

"Oh God," she choked with a small laugh at his attempt at humor.

"Were you expecting someone else? Did we break up without me knowing?"

"No, it's not you," she said, reaching to rest her hand on his shoulder. "I...I ran into Lacy. Just now."

"Oh shit," he said. "I'm sorry."

"You don't even know what happened..."

"I don't need to. I know her. Let me guess, she blames you for us breaking up?"

"Something like that."

"I hope you know that's not the case," he said, wiping away her tears gently with his fingers. "I mean, yes I was struggling and was trying to keep making it work with her regardless, but it was ultimately her final betrayal that killed it. It didn't matter that I was having conflicting feelings about you or not, she still would have done what she did, and it would have been over."

"I know. I just...I can't help but feel I contributed to it."

"Don't forget the two affairs she had before you came into the picture," he reminded her.

"She's awful."

"And I see it now," he advised. He pulled her into a close embrace. "You helped me see it. Don't tell Barney I said that, though. He's been trying to make me see it for a long time. He doesn't like his thunder being stolen." She laughed a little, her cheek against his shoulder. She felt herself stop shaking after a bit. Lee had that way about him that could just calm her down so easily.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, pushing back finally and looking at him. "I thought you were in New Orleans."

"I was. Now I'm here," he answered, smiling at her. "I missed you."

"I missed you too."

He cupped her face gently, and she closed her eyes as he kissed her tenderly. She had missed him so much. She kissed him back faster and urgently, and he pulled her in tighter to him while sliding a hand onto her skin by her waist. She tilted her head back when he moved to kiss her neck.

"Emi-...whoa," Andy said, having nudged the almost closed door open and was now halted in the doorway while Emily and Lee both froze. She turned her head to look at Andy while Lee kept his face hidden behind hers as best as possible.

"Yes?" Emily asked with as much dignity in her voice as possible, ignoring the fact that her boyfriend still had his hand on the middle of her back under her shirt with it riding up and exposing her skin.

"Sorry," Andy said, trying to hide her smirk. "I just was coming to tell you that we got a lead on my client's dress and are expected down there in twenty minutes."

"Okay," Emily said. "Thank you."

"I'll see you in thirty," Andy said with a wink, pulling the door closed behind her. Emily could feel Lee laughing against her skin quietly.

"That wasn't embarrassing at all," Emily commented.

"Nobody in here knows how to knock, do they?" he asked, looking at her as she turned her head to look at him again.

"Unfortunately not."

"I'm sorry for making you look unprofessional."

"I wouldn't doubt that Andy and Kyle were unprofessional in here at some point when they were together," Emily reasoned. "And possibly Jane and Kevin." Lee chuckled and kissed her cheek softly.

"I will see you later," he promised.

"What are we doing?" she asked, feeling her heart skip a beat slightly.

"Well," he said, tracing her arm with his finger. "My doctor gave me a clean bill of health to do a bit more than just sit on my arse, so..."

"So," she echoed, knowing what that meant. She shivered in anticipation. She'd only been daydreaming about it for weeks now.

"We'll see what happens," he said playfully, and she made a face while giving him a slight shove in frustration, making him laugh.

"Don't tease me," she warned.

"Alright, alright," he caved, kissing her and then holding his face in front of hers very closely. "Don't wear your old lady underpants tonight."

"I do not have such a thing!" she exclaimed, faking outrage.

"Everyone's got one," he said. "Hell, even I do."

"Oh my God," she groaned, starting to laugh. "That's a terrible image to have."

"If I pull them up high enough, they reach my chest," he went on, teasing.

"Lee!" She burst out laughing, unable to help herself. "Stop it!"

"Are you saying you can't love me because of my laundry day underpants?"

"Oh, is that what you're calling them now? Wouldn't they be old man underpants?"

"You're not answering the question," he said, pressing her against the door and running his hands up and down her sides.

"I guess if you can love me with my terrible bed head, then I suppose I can love you in your old man underpants," she conceded.

"You suppose, huh?" he said, kissing her softly. "I bet you're wearing them now, aren't you?"

"Who says I'm wearing any at all?" she asked, lifting a brow at him.

"Oh, don't do that," he groaned as she bit her lip and smiled coyly at him. "I can't leave now without knowing for sure." Emily was giggling nervously/excitedly as he kissed her again, deeper this time. She felt his thumbs slide just under the top edge of her jeans before she stopped him.

"You're just gonna have to wonder for the rest of the day," she replied. He gave another groan, and she kissed him again. Banging on the door against her back made them stop, and she mentally cursed Andrea for needing her to go with her right now.

"Don't mock my underpants ever again," she said to him, sliding out from his embrace and grabbing her bag.

"Duly noted," he replied, and she saw the look in his eyes that made her slightly weak in the knees.

"I'll see you later," she said, kissing his cheek. He said nothing as she slipped out of her office, smiling hard core.

"You two didn't..." Andy started upon seeing her.

"No," Emily retorted. "I don't do that at work."

"Right."

"Let's hurry this up," Emily ordered as they went outside and hailed a cab. "I have a date tonight."

...

Lee was thinking about Emily all that afternoon as he got ready. Soapy watched him clean and change his clothes three times, finally settling on a light blue dress shirt and dark jeans. He felt like a teenager all over again, trying to make this perfect. He made her favorite dinner and then put a protesting cat into the guest room and closed the door.

At ten to six, he answered the door expecting to see her and found someone else instead.

"Tyler," he said dumbly, not knowing what else to say.

"Hey," Tyler said back. His hands were in his pockets, and he looked terrible. "Look, mate, I just wanted to apologize."

"Now is not the time," Lee retorted. He didn't want this right now. He didn't want to feel angry tonight.

"I know," Tyler said before catching sight of the table behind Lee. "Oh, wait, are you having a date?"

"What gave it away?" Lee asked sarcastically.

"You can't hate me," Tyler went on, pointing a finger at him. "You clearly moved on very quickly, so you weren't gonna marry Lacy anyway."

"I was trying to make it work," Lee argued, "because I thought she was having my child, which she lied about if you recall, so I wanted to give it my all one last time. I have tried with her so many times. I've forgiven her so many times and worked to get past everything she did to me. I couldn't work through it this time. She'd gone too far, and yes, I realized I was in love with someone else, but that's only because I finally discovered that the person I thought I loved didn't love me or respect me at all."

"You're my brother," Tyler tried.

"And you're mine," Lee cut him off. "Yet you slept with my fiancée anyway." He watched his brother breathe without saying anything, and he felt a bit heart broken knowing there really wasn't a way past this.

"So this is it?" Tyler asked. "We're just...done?"

"For now," Lee answered. "Maybe in a few years I'll be over it."

"I'm sorry," Tyler said, surprising him. His brother never apologized.

"Me too," Lee replied. The sound of footsteps made them both look to see Emily walking slowly towards them, a guarded look on her face. Lee's heart jolted at the sight of her in the dress she'd worn to Thanksgiving at Jane's. She had black leggings on as well.

"Hey," Tyler said to her with a small smile. "Sorry about earlier, Emily."

"It's okay," she said back.

"I'm leaving," Tyler added, jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "I just came to...to say goodbye."

"I see."

Tyler turned back to face Lee, a sad expression on his face.

"I really am sorry, brother," he said again. Then he looked back at Emily. "Take care of him."

"I will," she promised. He smiled again briefly before walking away. Lee stood there watching until he disappeared. Then he felt Emily's hands slide up his chest to hold his shoulders.

"Hey," he said to her.

"Hey. You okay?"

"I am now," he answered, putting his hands on her waist. She smiled against his lips as he kissed her lightly. Then he pulled her inside, and he did his very best to forget all about Tyler and Lacy. It wasn't hard since he only had eyes for Emily.

...

Jane was standing in the doorway of the baby's room hardly daring to think that she was allowed to decorate it. Any time she'd thought about it in the past, it had gotten ripped away from her. Now, she was almost scared to in case it jinxed everything.

"What's wrong?" Kevin asked, pausing as he approached her with a box in his hands.

"Maybe it's too soon," she answered.

"Too soon? Jane, we're having a baby in roughly three months. I think we can get the room ready."

"What if it jinxes it?" Jane asked, giving him a scared look. Kevin's face showed understanding, and he set down the box and went over to hug her tightly.

"The doctor said everything is going really well," Kevin reminded her. "I think it's okay to think that everything will be good."

"I'm scared," she whispered, clutching his shoulders in her fingers.

"Me too, but I'm also being positive," he replied. He moved back and smoothed a hand across her cheek. "We're gonna have this baby, he or she is gonna grow up being smothered and spoiled, and then when they're an adult, they'll hate us for some reason we'll never understand, and we'll ask ourselves why we decided to have a kid who posts mean things about us on Facebook and changed their name because they hated the one we gave them."

Jane had started laughing about three quarters of the way in to this tirade, and he smiled at her, happy to have made her laugh.

"You make it sound so easy," she commented.

"It is," he promised. "Don't let fear take over. We've come this far, and I feel really good about the next three months."

"Well, if you can do it, then I guess I can try," she conceded.

"Atta girl," he said with a smile before bending to pick up his box again.

"What's in there?" she asked, peeking.

"Some of my things from when I was little," Kevin answered. He took the box into the room, and Jane followed him.

"Like what?"

"Like Mr. Woofy," Kevin answered, pulling out a stuffed puppy.

"Awwww," Jane said, taking it from him and holding it to her face while looking over it at him with a goofy expression.

"I know," he said. "I was just as cute then as I am now."

Jane smiled as he put the box in the corner. She handed him his stuffed puppy after, and he set it on top of the bookshelf. She could see it. She could see their child growing up in this room. It was going to happen.

She couldn't lose faith now.

...

Emily tried to remember feeling at such ease before. Lee just had that way of making her feel like everything was going to be alright. She'd made him laugh so hard during dinner that he nearly choked. He'd gotten even by flicking water at her face constantly while doing dishes. Now, they were locked in a wrestle on the couch because he'd shown her he still had her horrible morning photo and wouldn't give her the phone to delete it.

"Okay, okay, truce!" she yelped as he managed to twist her around onto her stomach.

"Did you sleep through my classes or what?" he asked, sounding amused.

"I don't think you want me kneeing you in the misters right now," she commented.

"Fair point," he said, chuckling. "But there's a step you're forgetting to do before you can do to that one since you currently can't knee me there."

Emily thought hard. She remembered certain things he taught, but a lot of the time she'd been focused on him touching her.

"I don't remember," she confessed.

"What?!" he exclaimed. "Em, that's not good. And here I thought you could protect yourself."

"I'm sorry," she said, trying to turn her head to look at him. "All I can remember is how I felt with you sitting on me like this."

"And what was that?" he asked, eyes twinkling now.

"Like there was an elephant on me."

"Are you calling me fat? Damn, you really know how to turn me on, baby," he said, and she started to laugh as he began pinching and tickling her sides. Then he got off of her only to have her leap on his back and take him down on the living room floor. He wrestled with her and flipped her off onto her back easily. She rolled to avoid him as he tried to catch her again.

"No!" she shrieked, laughing as he caught her ankle and dragged her down towards him. It made her dress ride up to her waist. He sat on her stomach after dodging her flailing arms and caught her wrists.

"I really think we need to redo all those lessons," he said. "I can't have you unable to keep yourself safe out there."

"Did you stop to think that maybe I'm just taking it easy on you?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Are you?" he asked. She realized he was genuinely concerned, and she sobered up a little.

"Of course," she answered seriously. "Lee, you don't have to worry about me."

"I will always worry about you," he said honestly. "You worry about the people you love."

"I love you too," she replied. She felt her heart rate pick up as he lowered himself to kiss her, pressing her wrists down on the floor on either side of her head. Then he slid her arms up over her head while catching her fingers with his and holding for a moment before letting go and taking one hand to hold the left side of her head, still kissing her. Emily reached to wrap her arms around his neck as they intensified the kiss. She heard him groan in his throat a little as it went on.

One thing was for sure: she'd definitely left the old lady underpants at home tonight.

...

This was happening. This was really happening. Lee restrained himself as best as he could the more he kissed her, but it was getting difficult to do. However, he wasn't about to do this on the living room floor.

"Hang on," he said, his voice sounding strangled, which feeling like this would do to him.

"What's wrong?" Emily asked, looking worried.

"I'm not doing this here," he answered, sitting up.

"Is your tushy made of glass?" she inquired, and it took him a second before he knew what she was referring to, and he started to laugh.

"No, but yours is," he retorted. She exclaimed and tried to smack him, causing him to haul her up into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his waist and started kissing him again. He walked down the hall to his room, elbowing off lights as he went and trying to keep his balance. When he got to his room finally (there were some pauses along the way for make out purposes), he fell down onto his back, bringing her down on top of him. She was removing his shirt while kissing him deeper. He helped her take it off and was going to kiss her again when he saw her looking at his scars.

"Hey," he said, seeing that she was starting to look anxious. "Don't look at those right now."

"You've been hurt so much," she whispered, touching them gently.

"And survived them too," he reminded her. She pressed her fingers on the most recent bullet hole. He knew she was discovering how close it was to his heart.

"Lee," she started.

"Don't," he cut her off, catching her face with his hand and making her look at him. "I'm okay. That's what matters right now."

"Sorry," she said. "I just got thinking about it."

"Do you want to stop?" he asked, understanding that his scars had been a great mood killer. He didn't want to push her.

"No," she answered, shaking her head. "I'm good."

"You sure?"

"Yes," she said more confidently. She sank down to kiss him again. He held her close, feeling her heart beat against his. This was happening. He couldn't believe it was finally happening.

He made her gasp as he flipped her onto her back and landed on her, kissing her harder and faster. He ran his hands all over her, reveling in her response to his touch and loving hers in return. His favorite part was kissing her mouth, though. It always had been, and it always would be.

But the rest was a very close second.

The Next Morning

Emily opened her eyes to the sunlight and briefly felt disoriented as to where she was. Then she saw Lee's shirt hanging off the lamp where it had landed and remembered very quickly. She turned her head to look for him, but he wasn't there. She sat up slowly, holding the sheets against her. If it weren't for the sound of the coffee maker in the kitchen, she'd have worried he was gone. But that was silly. It was his apartment. Where would he go? And why would he leave her? He'd only shown her how much he loved her twice last night.

She flushed upon remembering.

Loud meows could be heard through the wall, and she frowned until she heard Lee walk to the guest room in the hallway and open the door.

"Alright, alright," he said. "I'm sorry I locked you up last night. Don't piss in my shoes over it." A resounding, aggravated meow came in response. Soapy.

Emily started to laugh quietly, picturing the cat's angry expression. She felt a little grateful Lee had put her away because she didn't think she'd like to have a cat watching her be intimate with its owner.

"She's awake," Lee said, making her look and see him in the doorway. He was in his jeans and shirtless. She noticed a chain around his neck. She wasn't sure why she'd never noticed it on him before other than the fact he always wore it under his shirt. She briefly recalled feeling it against her in the dark but hadn't registered what it was then.

"Mmm, c'mere," she said, reaching for him. He obliged, letting her pull him down so she could kiss him again. He rested his arms across her shoulders and looked down at her once she finished.

"You sleep okay?" he asked.

"Definitely."

"Good." He smiled. She reached to play with his chain in her fingers.

"What's this?" she asked.

"The last thing my father gave me," he answered. Emily felt surprised. She'd never heard him talk about his father, and she realized she'd never asked him about his father.

"Is he...?"

"Yea. Afghanistan. His last tour. Mum wanted him to quit, but he had something to prove when I signed up. He wanted to show he could still do it. It turned out to be what got him killed."

"I'm sorry."

"I don't really remember him much," Lee admitted. "He was always at war somewhere when I was growing up. When I signed up, he gave me this St. Christopher's medal as a way of having protection on me at all times. He was a bit superstitious."

"But you don't take it off," she pointed out, and he smiled ruefully.

"I've had too many close calls to even think about taking it off," he admitted.

"And yet you make fun of Barney's lucky ring," she said.

"Mine's prettier."

"I agree, and it suits you," she said.

"I'm glad you think so."

"Was Soapy really mad at you?" Emily asked, shifting a little. He moved so that he was on his back, and she turned over to lay half on him with her arm across his chest. His fingers ran across her arm slowly, back and forth.

"She'll get over it," he replied. Emily laughed, and he chuckled as well. Then she was moving on top of him and pulling the sheet over her shoulders as she rested on his chest.

"You don't have any plans today, do you?" she asked. "Since it's Saturday and all."

"I've got a haircut at 10," he told her. She looked at his closely shaved head before looking back at his eyes.

"I'm really sorry to have to be the one to tell you this," she said, "but you don't have much in that department." Her sentence ended in a laughing shriek as he pinched her playfully on her sides. Then she was kissing him.

"I have nothing but a full day with my love planned," he said during a pause.

"Is she coming soon, or...?"

"Look it here, you," he said, catching her hands and rolling her over onto her back, getting them all twisted up in the sheets. "What happened to the 'I don't laugh, make jokes, or smile' version of Emily, huh?"

"You killed her," Emily answered.

"I saved her, more like," Lee corrected.

"Mmmm, I think you killed her in her prime. She can't be serious anymore. It's all ha ha and hee hee," she said, starting to actually laugh again when he slapped a palm to his face and shook his head before moving to tickle her under her arms. "Stop it!"

She rolled them again so she was back on top, making the sheets even tighter. Then, something landed on her back, but she couldn't move to see what it was.

A questioning chirp made them both laugh.

"Soapy, sod off," Lee ordered. The cat did no such thing. Instead, she curled in a ball on Emily's back.

"Oh, she's getting payback now," Emily commented, looking at Lee. He reached around and prodded Soapy enough times that she got up and moved down to sit on the back of Emily's legs, just out of his reach.

"Alright," he said. "Bear with me."

"What are you gonna d-" she started before getting cut off by his sudden flipping her over. Soapy let out a yowl as she got tangled in the sheets now, and Lee rolled them one last time in order to free them and entrap the cat. Emily was laughing hard as Soapy thrashed and made angry noises. Lee gathered up the sheet and carried her out in the makeshift sheet sack before dumping her out on the hallway floor to free her and shutting the bedroom door before she could run back in.

"Problem solved," he said simply.

"Well, you have another problem," she told him, sinking back down on his bed and raising her arms over her head.

"What's that?"

"You left something turned on."

"Did I?" he asked lightly. "I better deal with that then." He crawled back beside her and caught her lips with his.

It was even better the third time.

...

By evening, Lee was feeling like if this was his life now, he could die a happy man. Emily was sitting on the couch with her legs draped across his lap and leaning against pillows. He was working his fingers along the soles of her feet, careful to not tickle her and get kicked in the face. He'd discovered he had to apply a certain amount of pressure in order to avoid that and give an actual massage.

"What's Safe?" she asked, looking at the movies on TV.

"Oh, I think it's just another one of those movies where the main character beats up and kills a lot of people," he answered.

"But it looks like he's trying to save a young girl from a Russian mob or something," she pointed out. "So there's a point to all the beating up and killing."

"I'm giving you the option to pick a movie, and you're not gonna pick a rom com?" he asked.

"Who said I was a rom com kind of girl?"

"You plan weddings," he said, raising a brow.

"That is so weddingism of you."

"What?" he asked, laughing.

"Don't assume that just because I spend every day planning happily ever afters that I actually want to watch them on TV all the time."

"You don't want to watch...I dunno, The Wedding Planner?" he asked in an exaggerated voice, gesturing. She rolled her eyes.

"Does it look like I want to watch a documentary?"

He laughed again. "So you'd rather watch someone get their face kicked in?"

"I'm good with a happy medium," she replied. "What about Inception?"

"Do I need to watch it five times before I finally understand it?"

"Will you actually be watching the movie or will you be too busy staring at my chest?"

"Fair enough."

She put it on, and he waited as she moved to lean against him, wrapping his arms around her once she was settled. He couldn't remember the last time he'd done this with any girl. Lacy wasn't a fan of movies, and she didn't like cuddling for very long.

"This is nice," Emily said as he moved to kiss the spot next to her ear.

"I agree." He intertwined his fingers with hers and smiled to himself. This was perfect.

He was home.