O'Neill sat in his truck on the SGC parking lot. He'd been sat completely still for twenty minutes, his fingers lightly tapping against the steering wheel as he contemplated his next course of action.

He reminded himself for the sixteenth time that visiting an injured Carter had never been illegal.

Bringing her flowers would be a thoughtful and kind thing to do. It didn't necessarily mean anything. After all, women gave other women flowers, didn't they? Children bought flowers for their mothers on mother's day. The giving of flowers was not an obvious indication of a deep desire to begin a relationship.

But he'd never bought her flowers before.

So flowers were a bad idea...

He'd gone round with a pizza and some movies before.

And a chaperone in the guise of Teal'c.

He winced at the memory.

Carter came to visit you alone, he reminded himself.

She did think you were about to die.

Slight difference in the situations then, perhaps.

He sighed. "I love her," he said aloud, "And I think she loves me. Likes me, anyway. Maybe."

He paused. The crux of the matter was, he thought, the fact that he always found it tremendously easy to be effortlessly cool around women he was attracted to. It was when he found himself immersed in much deeper emotions than pure physical attraction and friendly liking that he found he had all the decisiveness and charm of a startled rabbit caught in the headlamps of an oncoming car.

He'd always wonder how the hell he'd ever managed to get Sara to marry him, because whenever they'd met up he'd invariably opened his mouth and inserted his foot straight into it. And it was so much worse with Carter, because, well... she was Carter. They worked together. She knew parts of him better than Sara ever had. She was his friend.

And she is so much smarter than I am.

He glanced at the car clock. He'd been thinking for thirty minutes and if he didn't drive off soon the security guards were going to get really suspicious about exactly what he was doing in his vehicle. He turned the key in the ignition and pulled away, still with no clear idea of exactly where he was going.

It wasn't until he passed the turning for his own home that he realised he was unthinkingly driving to Carter's house. He considered pulling over and turning around, but the traffic was heavy and besides, he'd spent plenty of time with Teal'c and Daniel on base over the past two days. He was simply fulfilling his duties as a good friend by going to see how she was.

So he pulled over at the pizza place and ordered a take-out and bought some flowers at a gas station, too. Just in case.

The tub of Ben and Jerry's had transpired to have been a casualty of Cassie's last visit home. She was considering risking a trip to the local supermarket when–

Brriinnggg!

She gulped nervously and the cursed herself for being so ridiculous. If Pete had come back she would simply tell him, politely and firmly, to leave.

She padded over to the door, wondering if her face was still red from the few tears she had shed after her ex-fiancé had left. She wasn't really sure who she had been crying for, herself or Pete, but the aching sadness had passed, consumed by her sobs.

She opened the door.

Jack O'Neill, a slightly wilting bunch of flowers (that looked fresh from a gas station forecourt) between his teeth and two pizza boxes and a DVD balanced precariously in his arms was reaching out to ring the doorbell again.

"Ar. Tho oo ar in en."

She felt the smile stretch from ear to ear, and took the flowers from his mouth.

"So you are in then," he repeated, mirroring her grin. His smile faded a little as he took in the finer details of her face. "Are you okay?"

She felt a blush creep into her already reddened cheeks. "I'm fine," she said, a little too forcefully, "Pete came round to pick some stuff up. That's all."

His smile drained. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"

"No, no. He left a while ago now..."

"And you were upset about him going?" he asked shrewdly.

She found she couldn't look away from him, her eyes trapped by his. "Not exactly. Just... oh, I don't know." I realised how lonely I am without someone. Again.

"Do you want me to leave you the pizza and head home?"

There was an infinitesimal pause. "No. I'd love to eat junk food with you," she said, the smile edging back. She moved aside to let him past, giving the flowers another critical examination. "Are these for me?"

He gave her a grey look. "No. They're for Teal'c." When she looked surprised he felt moved to add more softly, "Of course they're for you."

She chuckled at his joke and guided him through to her kitchen. He put the pizza boxes down as she searched for a vase. "Did I see a DVD earlier?" she queried as the filled the only available vase with water.

"Yeah. Uh. It was in my truck. Teal'c left it in there."

She put the flowers into the water, wiped her damp hands absently on her jeans and stood beside him, picking up the DVD box.

"The Lord of the Rings trilogy?"

He coughed. "Unfortunately. I think this trilogy may be replacing Star Wars when it comes to... uh... T's obsessive tendencies."

"I've never seen them. I loved the books when I was younger but I never got around to watching the films."

"Well, I'll leave it with you then while you're recovering."

She swallowed, her mouth suddenly paper dry. "We could start watching them now. If you like. Make a start on these pizzas...?"

He smiled again, the gentle and almost boyish smile she so rarely saw, these days. "Sounds great."

He was too close, smiling in that way, she was too aware of her body and far too aware of his, of her burgeoning blush, of the lightest dusting of stubble across his top lip...

He leaned forward to kiss her, but changed his mind as her eyes widened in shock and pulled back awkwardly, just as she leaned forward to meet him.

Her blush deepened with embarrassment and he looked at his feet for a moment. Nothing was ever simple when it came to Carter!

"Uh..." he gulped, working up the courage to finish his sentence, "Um... can I try that again?"

She went rigid with shock this time, thankfully allowing him to successfully brush her lips with his own. Regaining control of her body she touched his wrists and he stepped closer, until she was so near to him she could feel his warmth; should he choose to put his arms around her, she would be in his embrace.

And then he did put his arms around her, his kiss deepening from the chaste touch of lips on lips to the encapsulation of her entire mouth, his tongue gently brushing against hers. She in turn responded passionately, sliding her arms underneath his and putting her palms against his back as if to reassure herself that he was here, this was real...

And this was wonderful.