Catwalk….

The meeting with the Chief over, Burke leans against the railing of the catwalk taking his first opportunity of the day to relax. Ironically, this is the first day in awhile that he hasn't seen Cristina. Part of him is glad that his schedule didn't leave much time to think about her, but he did feel badly because he is pretty sure that trying to figure out what he wants to talk about probably drove her crazy most of the day.

Their relationship taught him, that every now and then he needed to pause until she caught up. He waited for her a lot, thought about her a lot and made a lot of plans of how he would talk to her but things rarely went as he planned because she was unpredictable. It still makes him laugh thinking of the day she locked the door to the on-call room that first time. He definitely had not expected that. Truth was he hadn't expected any of it. His feelings for her seemed to come out of the blue. His only intent with Cristina and the whipple was to torture another intern but somehow everything changed. Their patient, Liz. noticed that his eyes were lingering on Cristina and there was a glint in them that she'd never seen before. Liz was quick to remind him that some things were worth the risk and not all of those things involved a scalpel, that there was life outside the OR. She had given him the courage to pursue Cristina, the courage to believe that he had a chance with her.

"I didn't drink the coffee this morning." Cristina's heart feels like it's going to jump out of her chest as the words shot out of her mouth too quickly. Immediately, she regrets not trying to find Meredith before she found Burke. What is she doing chasing after him anyway?

Burke raises an eyebrow, confused about why this is the first thing she's saying after not seeing him all day, "Why not?"

"I just saw the cup. I mean I saw the cup earlier with you but I didn't have time to drink the coffee because I was paged right after you left, then the Chief reamed me out because I was late for surgery because I had to change after Mr. Gilbert threw up on me. I wasn't even late, I was in the room before they were ready to go into the OR but the Chief already bumped me giving my spot to Alex. Alex and vomit! I ended up in the pit all morning until I stole a case down there for surgery which was so much better than…"

Usually, Burke finds Cristina's rambling rants amusing but not today. Today Burke is not interested in her rambling but concerned that she seems almost frantic.

"Cristina breathe."

"Right"

"Now, what are you talking about and why are you saying it so fast?"

"Right. Sorry." She moves over to where he is standing against the rail, "What I am trying to say is…," standing so close to him she is having trouble focusing so she takes a step back, "is that…I, uh, I just read the cup."

"And?" Burke is cautiously happy that she has seen the inscription on the cup but is concerned because frantic is not the reaction he was going for.

"And the initials are wrong." There she said it, that's what she needed to tell him. Why would they be wrong? Clearly he knows her initials.

Burke is disappointed at the realization that the initials on the mug are what is upsetting her. He didn't expect her to be upset, he thought she'd be happy.

"The initials are wrong," Cristina's voice sounds breathless as she repeats herself.

"No, they're right. They're not wrong." Forcing a smile, Burke's doing his best to stay hopeful that once he clears this up that Cristina will calm down.

She doesn't know what to say. They had to be wrong. Her initials are CY, no B just CY, no middle name, no B. If they're not wrong what does it mean? It couldn't possibly mean what she's thinking.

Burke hates it when he can't figure out what Cristina's thinking. Her eyes are darting back and forth because she's nervous but she's looking at him which is always a good sign.

Bracing herself against the rail, Cristina's speech is slow and deliberate, "The cup says…"

Burke finishes her sentence "CYB"

"CYB?" Her repeat of the initials is a mix of disbelief, fear and caution in a soft almost defeated tone.

Suddenly Burke understands that Cristina isn't just uncomfortable but also unwilling to admit to herself what his intentions are so he spells it out for her "Cristina Yang Burke."

Cristina hesitates not sure whether to put into words what she thinks that means knowing that there is little else it could mean. How did she get herself into this? She starts to speak twice but stops herself before finally being able to say what's running through her mind.

"You want to marry me?"

Burke listens to Cristina say those words as if she cannot comprehend their meaning. Only she would be surprised that he would want to spend the rest of his life with her. The idea made so much sense to him when he planned it.

"Yes, I want to marry you."

Burke isn't sure what to say because he never imagined that his marriage proposal would make her so unhappy. It's not a good sign but this can't possibly be a mistake. He should have talked to one of her friends before he did this.

"Seriously?" Cristina feels like she is having difficulty putting a coherent sentence together. They've talked about this, she should not be surprised.

"Seriously" Burke felt like he was doing a death march instead of proposing. It shouldn't be this hard even with her.

Burke keeps his eyes focused on Cristina as she tries to avoid his eyes by staring out the window, getting more and more nervous with each second that passes until he can no longer stand the silence.

"Cristina?"

Normally she likes the way he says her name but not this time. Overwhelmed as she tries to find the words to talk to Burke, Cristina feels her head spinning. She can neither think nor decide whether she's excited or terrified.

"Yes."

He wished that yes was to his proposal but he knew that it was just in response to calling her name. Cristina is still not looking at him and he is beginning to realize he's been kidding himself believing this would go smoothly.

"Are you going to say anything else?" This is not exactly the way Burke expected this scenario to work out. He thought that Cristina would participate in a conversation about his proposal.

She's thinking of so many different things right now. Good times, bad times. Sometimes she couldn't believe he was still with her and now he wants to marry her, the woman that drives him crazy. Burke wants to get married. She wants to smile but she can't. Right now, all she can do is concentrate on breathing.

"Well?" Burke is running out of patience.

"I don't think I'm cut out to be a wife." Her mind is racing but even she can't believe that is what came out of her mouth. That's as bad as thanks for the coffee except there is no door to lock today. She is not ready for this.

Burke had prepared himself for this possibility but he isn't ready for it by any means, "You don't?"

He can't believe this is how it will end. Here on the same catwalk where he forced the issue of telling the Chief and making their relationship public. Here will be where it ends because this is not a compromise he is willing to make.

"No," her mouth is dry and she is amazed that she feels like crying. She'll never forgive Burke for what he's done to her. She never believed that her happiness could be so wrapped up in one person.

"So you're saying no." The words come out as more of a statement than a question and it is difficult to miss the shock and disappointment in Burke's voice.

"No." She hates this, hates that she cannot find her words. Forget words, all she needs to do is find one but it needs to be the right one.

Burke is looking at her completely frustrated. He loves a woman who drives him insane and, even worse, a woman who is saying no in five minutes to the proposal he spent months preparing for?

Thoughts flood Cristina's mind as she paces behind him on the catwalk. She loves him, she does. How did she let herself fall for him so quickly, so completely? She can't believe it, can't believe that she is ready to say yes. Her friends are never going to believe that she's doing this.

"No," She can't believe she just repeated herself again.

"I get it. You can stop saying 'no' now." Burke is beside himself now, staring out the huge window wishing he could go back in time and start this day without giving her the mug.

She knows her vocabulary shrinks quickly when she is under emotional stress. It's a flaw that she's never been able to overcome but this is ridiculous, even for her, so she starts laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" There is not a single thing in this situation that Burke finds amusing.

"I'm sorry." She is relieved that finally something that made sense came out of her mouth. Only she could screw up a marriage proposal.

Leaning on the rail with both arms Burke turns to look at Cristina. He doesn't need to say anything because she knows that look. His eyes are asking for her to give him a straight answer. She may not always be able to find the words but she can read almost every look.

Blinking and inhaling deeper than he's ever seen her do, Cristina steps closer to him placing both of her hands on his chest as she looks up at his face "I mean yes."

Finally hearing what he's been waiting for, Burke smiles as she reaches around his neck with both hands to kiss him. He breaks away from her kiss to pull a small box out of his pocket.

"Burke, are you sure?" Cristina's voice is calm now as she looks at him very seriously.

Without a word, Burke opens the small box to reveal a beautiful ring which he places on her shaking finger.

"I love you" He grasps her hand after the ring is in place.

"How long were you planning to wait here?"

"Until you were ready"

She can't help but look at her ring as her hand lays on his chest, "It's perfect."

"I can't wait to tell everyone."

"Why do we have to tell everyone?"

"Cristina," Burke is so excited he cannot imagine that there is anyone he will not tell about their engagement.

"I mean can't we just wait a little while." She is serious but mainly she is referring to not telling her mother yet, she wants to keep their happiness private for a little while so they can enjoy it.

Looking into her eyes, he recognizes his smile on her face and answers her with a kiss confident that Cristina is exactly what he wants.