Chapter 4

Rafe had no idea how he would give Alison the good news, he only knew he couldn't wait to tell her. The door opened and there she was. His Alison. Her blonde hair falling softly around her shoulders, blue eyes shining. God, how he loved her.

"Hi there." Rafe grinned.

"Hey. I told you I would be right back." Alison said as she met his gaze. She could get lost in his eyes forever.

"Yeah, you did."

They stood locked in the gaze for what seemed like an eternity. They both spoke at once.

"Rafe, I have to tell....."

"Alison, there's something I need to tell..."

They laughed nervously.

"You go ahead." Alison laughed.

"No, you go...ladies first." Rafe smiled.

"Well, ok....so I wanted to tell you where I went just now." she began, pacing in front of the door.

"Alison, you don't have to tell...."

"Rafe, wait. I want to. I need to be honest with you."

"Ok then....honest is good."

Alison looked up at him, smiled and continued to pace, "Earlier when I was sitting on the couch I did some, you know, serious thinking." She grew quiet for a minute reflecting on all that had transpired in past few weeks and days. And especially in the past few hours.

Rafe sat across the room watching her.

"I went to church." she stated matter of factly.

"Church?" he asked, "Why"

"You know, I realized that your time here is almost up." she said with her back to him.

"Yes, it is....and?"

She knew if she didn't just say it that she would never get it out. " I went and asked if you could stay." she blurted out at last. " I don't want you to go.....I love you, Rafe." When she turned around he was standing directly behind her.

"Alison?"

She looked up at him expectantly.

"I had a visitor while you were gone." he said.

"A visitor? Oh, Rafe, Jamal didn't..."

"Relax, Alison. It wasn't Jamal."

"Who then? Lucy?"

"No...it was my boss, Alison."

She broke down and began to cry with her head against his chest. "No, Rafe!! You can't go! Not yet....I mean, what am I going to do without you?"

"Alison, listen to me, honey. Look at me."

She raised her head up and met his eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere." he said slowly, "Ever." he added with emphasis.

She seemed confused and remained silent.

"Alison? Did you hear me? My boss has given me permission to stay in Port Charles. Forever! Well, maybe not forever but at least for the next 50 or 60...."

His words were muffled by her lips crushing his. She was shaking, as was he, to the very core of her being. Rafe broke the kiss, at last, and grinned, "Does this mean you're happy?"

"Happy? Rafe, don't you see? This means we have the rest of our lives together now." she marveled, "I can't believe he actually took the time to listen to me."

"You weren't the only one talking, Alison. I've been talking for weeks now, but in a way I felt I was being selfish. I only wanted to stay because I love you so much......I wanted to stay for my happiness because being without you became an option I didn't even want to consider. I never dreamt you could ever or would ever love me back. I didn't dare hope for it. All I wanted was for you to be happy. And I would've been happy watching you day in and day out regardless of who you were with.

"Rafe, how can you even think that!?! You are THE most unselfish person I've ever known. You knew you loved me but you were willing to sacrifice your own love for me so that I could be happy. To be honest with you, I believe I've loved you for a while but, after everything that happened with Jamal and Caleb and Valerie, I pushed what I was feeling for you into the back of my mind. I tried to make it work with Jamal, but the spark and the love we once shared was no longer there. Valerie made sure of that. But through it all, you were there........being my friend and asking for nothing but friendship in return. Giving me a shoulder to cry on, talking to me, giving me advice on how to work it out with Jamal. You loved me but you were putting ME first. That's not selfishness, Rafe. That's love. More love than I've ever known."

Their lips met again and all heaven rejoiced. For life would be good, for an angel and his perfect mate were given the very best gift of all. Time.