The Lake
9:20am, Christmas Eve
They had walked hand in hand from the house until they reached the lake, which had frozen over. More snow had fallen during the night so everything was covered in untouched snow, the sunlight making it glisten and sparkle. Mulder was behind Scully now, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist with hers resting on top of them. They stood together in silence for a while taking in the beauty of the landscape, each feeling as though they had walked into a picture postcard. Mulder had decided when he was in the shower that he was going to tell her how he felt about her before they kissed but was nervous of what her reaction would be. He took a deep breath of clean air to relax before he spoke, knowing that their relationship was going to be drastically altered in one way or another after she heard what he was about to say.
"Scully..."
"Yes Mulder?"
"I...um..."
"What is it?"
Scully turned in Mulder's arms so they were facing each other and reached up with both arms to circle his neck. She was slightly overwhelmed by the look of love in his eyes but she looked straight back at him, hoping that he could see her love for him as clearly as she could see his. Vaguely concerned about his inability to articulate whatever he was trying to say, she stretched up on her tiptoes to place a kiss on his cheek and tightened her grip on him.
"Mulder, what is it? Tell me?"
"Scully, I...I wanted to tell you...before we...I need you to know that..."
"Mulder, I know."
"No, I don't think you do... I love you Scully. I've been in love with you for so long that I've forgotten what my life was like before you came into it. I don't even bother to try and remember - I only know that you weren't there. Not a second goes by when I don't think about you, even when I'm asleep. I worry when you're not around; nothing is the same without you. I...I know that, if I kiss you now, I'm never going to want to stop. I will want to kiss you forever. I realize that I don't deserve you and I'll understand if you don't feel the same way. I just...I needed for you to know before we start something here."
"Oh Mulder, I did. I already knew. I can see it in your eyes every time you look at me. I love you too, with all of my heart. I can't remember a time when I didn't love you - when I wasn't in love with you."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. Everything you just said, Mulder; that could have been me, talking about you. That's the way I feel about you."
"Oh, Scully. Never, not even in my wildest dreams, did I dare to imagine that you loved me like I love you. I never dared to even hope. I love you so much - you've just made my Christmas. No, you've made my year, my life."
"And you've made mine."
Mulder's arms lowered from her waist to grip her upper thighs and he lifted her off the ground so that their faces were level. They both quickly looked around for any of Scully's relatives coming to interrupt and then laughed as they realized the other had done the same thing. Their eyes connected and their laughter stopped, both very aware of what was about to happen. They closed the distance and their lips finally met, finishing the kiss that they had begun so many hours ago. The kiss was undemanding and gentle; both of their mouths slightly open and joined together perfectly. They kissed until they had to break for breath and Mulder, hugging her tightly, spun them round and round, both laughing and shouting for joy. When he finally stopped spinning and set her down on the ground, he leant down and they kissed again.
For a while, the rest of the world faded away and they both lost themselves in the other, kissing and hugging, laughing and crying tears of joy. They forgot about the events of the previous day, forgot how close Bill had come to splitting them up and just enjoyed the sensations flooding through them. After spinning in another giddy circle, Scully suddenly caught sight of her watch on her wrist and realized how much time had passed.
"We'd better get going Mulder."
"Do we have to?"
"I'm afraid so. I promised we'd be back by ten so that we could all go to the mall together."
"But I just want to stay here with you Scully. I want to kiss you and hold you until the sun goes down and longer."
"I want to stay here too but we did promise. Anyway, we can kiss and cuddle all the way back and then some."
"You're not going to be uncomfortable or embarrassed in front of your family?"
"No Mulder, I'm not. I mean, sure, they'll probably tease us both to begin with, but they'll be happy for me and I'll be kissing the man I love. I don't see anything wrong with that."
"There's nothing wrong with that at all. It's perfect. ... Scully, what about Bill?"
"What about him?"
"Well, he's not exactly going to be thrilled to see us together - really together I mean."
"He's a grown man Mulder, he'll have to accept that I'm a grown woman and I can decide what and who I want for myself - that I neither need nor want him to do it for me. Especially since he's got such bad taste that he doesn't think I should be with you. I'm not going to hide this from him. I'm not going to miss out on kissing you just because he won't like it."
"Are you sure? I mean it is Christmas and he will say something, you know he will."
"I know. Maybe I can ask mom to have another word with him."
"That's probably for the best - I don't want to ruin anyone's Christmas by having an argument with him but I agree with you. I don't want to have to forego kissing you, not now that I know how good it feels. I'm not going to let him stand in the way of having more. ... Let's get going then Angel."
"Angel?"
"Yes, I told you before - you're my Angel... Do you mind me calling you that? I won't if you don't like it."
"No, I love it. I really love it."
They started to walk away from the pond, Scully tucked tightly under Mulder's arm with both of her arms firmly wrapped around his waist. Every two or three steps they took, they stopped so that they could kiss, making their progress very slow. When they realized they were going to be late, Mulder scooped Scully up in his arms and carried her like a baby. She initially protested but soon stopped, realising that this new arrangement meant that they could kiss a lot more and still move towards the house as Mulder could keep walking while they were kissing.
9:20am, Christmas Eve
They had walked hand in hand from the house until they reached the lake, which had frozen over. More snow had fallen during the night so everything was covered in untouched snow, the sunlight making it glisten and sparkle. Mulder was behind Scully now, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist with hers resting on top of them. They stood together in silence for a while taking in the beauty of the landscape, each feeling as though they had walked into a picture postcard. Mulder had decided when he was in the shower that he was going to tell her how he felt about her before they kissed but was nervous of what her reaction would be. He took a deep breath of clean air to relax before he spoke, knowing that their relationship was going to be drastically altered in one way or another after she heard what he was about to say.
"Scully..."
"Yes Mulder?"
"I...um..."
"What is it?"
Scully turned in Mulder's arms so they were facing each other and reached up with both arms to circle his neck. She was slightly overwhelmed by the look of love in his eyes but she looked straight back at him, hoping that he could see her love for him as clearly as she could see his. Vaguely concerned about his inability to articulate whatever he was trying to say, she stretched up on her tiptoes to place a kiss on his cheek and tightened her grip on him.
"Mulder, what is it? Tell me?"
"Scully, I...I wanted to tell you...before we...I need you to know that..."
"Mulder, I know."
"No, I don't think you do... I love you Scully. I've been in love with you for so long that I've forgotten what my life was like before you came into it. I don't even bother to try and remember - I only know that you weren't there. Not a second goes by when I don't think about you, even when I'm asleep. I worry when you're not around; nothing is the same without you. I...I know that, if I kiss you now, I'm never going to want to stop. I will want to kiss you forever. I realize that I don't deserve you and I'll understand if you don't feel the same way. I just...I needed for you to know before we start something here."
"Oh Mulder, I did. I already knew. I can see it in your eyes every time you look at me. I love you too, with all of my heart. I can't remember a time when I didn't love you - when I wasn't in love with you."
"Really?"
"Yes, really. Everything you just said, Mulder; that could have been me, talking about you. That's the way I feel about you."
"Oh, Scully. Never, not even in my wildest dreams, did I dare to imagine that you loved me like I love you. I never dared to even hope. I love you so much - you've just made my Christmas. No, you've made my year, my life."
"And you've made mine."
Mulder's arms lowered from her waist to grip her upper thighs and he lifted her off the ground so that their faces were level. They both quickly looked around for any of Scully's relatives coming to interrupt and then laughed as they realized the other had done the same thing. Their eyes connected and their laughter stopped, both very aware of what was about to happen. They closed the distance and their lips finally met, finishing the kiss that they had begun so many hours ago. The kiss was undemanding and gentle; both of their mouths slightly open and joined together perfectly. They kissed until they had to break for breath and Mulder, hugging her tightly, spun them round and round, both laughing and shouting for joy. When he finally stopped spinning and set her down on the ground, he leant down and they kissed again.
For a while, the rest of the world faded away and they both lost themselves in the other, kissing and hugging, laughing and crying tears of joy. They forgot about the events of the previous day, forgot how close Bill had come to splitting them up and just enjoyed the sensations flooding through them. After spinning in another giddy circle, Scully suddenly caught sight of her watch on her wrist and realized how much time had passed.
"We'd better get going Mulder."
"Do we have to?"
"I'm afraid so. I promised we'd be back by ten so that we could all go to the mall together."
"But I just want to stay here with you Scully. I want to kiss you and hold you until the sun goes down and longer."
"I want to stay here too but we did promise. Anyway, we can kiss and cuddle all the way back and then some."
"You're not going to be uncomfortable or embarrassed in front of your family?"
"No Mulder, I'm not. I mean, sure, they'll probably tease us both to begin with, but they'll be happy for me and I'll be kissing the man I love. I don't see anything wrong with that."
"There's nothing wrong with that at all. It's perfect. ... Scully, what about Bill?"
"What about him?"
"Well, he's not exactly going to be thrilled to see us together - really together I mean."
"He's a grown man Mulder, he'll have to accept that I'm a grown woman and I can decide what and who I want for myself - that I neither need nor want him to do it for me. Especially since he's got such bad taste that he doesn't think I should be with you. I'm not going to hide this from him. I'm not going to miss out on kissing you just because he won't like it."
"Are you sure? I mean it is Christmas and he will say something, you know he will."
"I know. Maybe I can ask mom to have another word with him."
"That's probably for the best - I don't want to ruin anyone's Christmas by having an argument with him but I agree with you. I don't want to have to forego kissing you, not now that I know how good it feels. I'm not going to let him stand in the way of having more. ... Let's get going then Angel."
"Angel?"
"Yes, I told you before - you're my Angel... Do you mind me calling you that? I won't if you don't like it."
"No, I love it. I really love it."
They started to walk away from the pond, Scully tucked tightly under Mulder's arm with both of her arms firmly wrapped around his waist. Every two or three steps they took, they stopped so that they could kiss, making their progress very slow. When they realized they were going to be late, Mulder scooped Scully up in his arms and carried her like a baby. She initially protested but soon stopped, realising that this new arrangement meant that they could kiss a lot more and still move towards the house as Mulder could keep walking while they were kissing.
