She was surprised to see him standing outside her apartment door, his arm poised to knock.

"Hey," he said softly, lowering his arm somewhat sheepishly. "Can we talk?"

She swallowed hard and opened the door wider to let him in. "I was actually on my way to see you," she confessed.

"Yeah?" He shrugged out of his jacket and hung it on a peg on her coat rack.

"Yeah. Um, have a seat," she said, gesturing to her couch. "Do you want anything to drink or something?"

"No, I'm fine," he said, an uneasy flutter starting his stomach. "And, uh…I think I'll stand."

"Well…suit yourself, then." She nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and crossed her arms. "So, um…what did you want to talk about?"

Tony didn't say anything for a moment. He stared at his feet, trying to gather up both the courage as well as the right things to say before opening his mouth. Finally, he looked up and into her eyes. "I know you probably think kissing me a while ago was a mistake."

She didn't have to say anything; the red tinge in her cheeks told him that he was right. She smiled a funny little half-smile at him, her eyes apologetic. "Well…can you blame me?"

"No, I understand why you feel that way. Listen, I know I'm not exactly…" He broke off, turning away from her and exhaling noisily. This was harder than he'd ever imagined. "I haven't really shown that I can be committed to a woman, and I guess that's one of the reasons why you think that. Right?"

Kate nodded and stepped closer to him. "Look, Tony – "

"Please, just let me finish?" he said pleadingly.

"Okay," she whispered almost fearfully, unsure of where this conversation was heading.

"You can't deny that we had something, Kate."

"I – " She threw her hands up in exasperation, trying to blink back tears. "Tony, that was lust and you know it."

He couldn't believe this. He hadn't known how she'd react to his confession, but he had hoped that it would've been positive. He hadn't even let himself consider something like this, in fear of jinxing the whole thing or something.

"It wasn't just lust, Kate," he said softly, dejectedly. He decided to just let it all out. He was in way too deep already. "I've done some thinking and… I think this could be different. We could be different. We can make this work, if we just try. I know it. I've never felt this way before. I mean… God, Kate, have you ever seen me this serious before, about a woman? About you?" He slowly made his way to her and gently brought her face up, forcing her to look at him. "Come on, Kate. I know you felt something, too."

Her eyes filled with tears once more. She didn't reply, and instead looked away from him.

Tony's heart just about broke into a thousand tiny pieces. "Fine, Kate," he said quietly. "Be that way. God, couldn't you, for just once in your life, take a chance?" With one last look at her, he turned and headed for the door.

She watched him put on his jacket, his movements angry and tense. She knew she had to make a decision, and fast:

Take a chance and risk getting hurt again, or not taking a chance and wondering for the rest of her life about what could've been?

He tried to slow his actions, still fervently hoping that she would come to her senses and call his name. But as he placed his hand on the cold doorknob, he still heard nothing. Lowering his head, he turned the knob and…

"Wait, Tony," Kate blurted out, running towards her apartment door and grabbing his arm. He turned around, and tears began to spill out, falling and wetting his jacket. "You're right. I did feel it. But we…" She gestured wildly with her hands. "I don't want to get hurt again," she whispered almost inaudibly.

He softened and hesitantly pulled her into his arms. She fell into them, sobbing shakily, clutching him tightly, and they stood like that for long minutes.

Finally she looked up at him, her face still wet with tears. "I've done my best, all these years, to stay strong – to protect myself and never let a man see me vulnerable. I don't want to get hurt again," she repeated softly.

Tony took her face in his hands and brushed away her tears with his thumbs. She smiled slightly at the uncharacteristic, sensitive Tony she was seeing.

"I can't say what will happen in the future," he told her, caressing her cheek. "But I will tell you this. If you decide to give us a shot, I will do my best to make this work. I don't want to hurt you any more than you want to get hurt. I know you're scared, and believe me, so am I. This will be the first relationship I'm going to work hard at. I'm giving you my heart, and I hope that you trust me enough to give me yours."

Sniffling, she smiled at him. "That was beautiful. I had no idea you had it in you."

He smirked. "There are a lot of things you have yet to learn about me, Kate. So…?" His eyes were hopeful.

Come on, give me a shot. Let me in, Kate.

"Do you want to stay? We could watch a DVD or something," she said in reply to his unspoken question, taking his hands in hers.

"Sounds good. But about that 'or something'…" he said, raising an eyebrow at her.

"What about it?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning in closer to his face.

"Let's take it slow. I don't want to hurt you, remember?" He brushed his lips against hers and gave her a chaste kiss.

Kate's eyes welled up again. "Wow, you're really serious about this, aren't you?"

"I am. Did I tell you about how I broke it off with Amber a while ago?"

"Who's this Amber?"

"Oh, you know…"

"Flavor of the week?"

"Not anymore."

"Good answer, DiNozzo."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

She had fallen asleep sometime during the movie, and had curled up against him. He stroked her hair and admired how beautiful and peaceful she looked asleep.

She was his. And he was hers.


Heehee, I had you guys going, didn't I? I never said it was Kate who rang Tony's doorbell. wink Oh, and I have no idea who Amber is. I just made her up.

Special thanks to the following, who have reviewed LTC at least once (props to those who have reviewed once per chapter): EquestrianBabe, shirik, freitazal, WBH21C, WiseDreamer, RitzBitz, stuckinabook09, sinj, Angelii, Candice, DinozzoFan, Spikey the Neon BlowFish, and killkikyopeople. Thank you too to those who are going to review this last chapter of LTC. Your reviews keep me going.