Chapter 2

It wasn't until later, much later, Mulder was able to find some alone time. He had forgotten that the Scully household had a back porch, which was actually pretty nice, considering it was on a base.

Mulder stepped out onto the porch, closing the glass doors behind him. All he had was his suit, nothing too warm, but the cool air was nice. He took in a few deep breaths, trying not to think too much. The moon hit the snow beautifully- it was like a movie almost, but better- because it was real. He wished more things were real.

Mulder continued to stare out at the snow, not noticing Scully. She had a hot cup of cider in her hands, but she too had no jacket. Mulder smiled at her as he stood up straight, Scully held up the cup of cider, offering it to him, he took a sip.

"thanks."

The two stood on the porch now. Both silent. Scully had finished the drink and set it on the thin layer of snow over the porch.

"It's beautiful out here," Mulder took in a deep breath. Scully nodded, "I know."

Mulder smiled at her as she twitched a little from the cold, "come here." Scully slid both her arms around him, resting her head on his chest. Mulder ran his hands up and down her back, hoping to radiate some more heat for her. They both looked off in the distance, at the snow, at the other homes. Scully closed her eyes, due to Mulder's constant breathing and heartbeat, it was like a melody was slowly putting her to sleep.

Mulder leaned his head down, kissing the top of her head. She smiled again, looking up at him.

"Aren't you glad you came with me?" Scully smirked.

"I don't know… that movie you got me was pretty interesting…" Mulder teased. Scully let out a little giggle, then looked up at Mulder once more. She let him softly kiss her- it was a friendship kiss, a kiss you give someone you truly care about.

Again, Scully rested her head on his chest.

"I don't know, mom, I have a funny feeling about Mulder." Bill said as he moved away from the glass doors he was eavesdropping through, and sat back on the couch.

"Fox is a good man- your father trusted him- what don't you like about him?" Maggie wondered as her, Tara, the baby in its carriage, and Bill sat around talking.

"Yeah. Mulder's always been very good to your sister, he's always been polite to me and even you," Tara defended him too. But Bill shook his head.

"He's not right for Dana, he forces her to do things she doesn't want to do- he shouldn't do that."

"Bill, if she really didn't want to do those things- she'd have a different partner," Tara said like it was obvious.

"You know Dana, Bill, she wouldn't put up with Mulder if she didn't care about him," Maggie agreed with Tara.

"Look, I'll I'm saying is I don't want Dana being taken advantage of. If I see Mulder giving her a hard time- that's it. I'm not going to just sit around and act like I don't see it!" Bill stood up and stomped to the kitchen. Tara shook her head, checking to make sure the baby was still asleep, Maggie wasn't sure what to do about the whole situation.

Mulder and Scully had come back into the house now. Everyone sat around the tree again, talking, updating each other on their lives. Mulder couldn't help but notice Bill's 'cone of silence'. Bill hadn't said a word since Mulder had gone out on the porch.

Scully was sitting next to Mulder again. Mulder wasn't used to all the touching, but Scully seemed to be comfortable with it. She kept her hand mostly on his knee, and when it wasn't there, it was playing with her necklace again.

Mulder figured all that didn't help Bill's hatred for him. It was only now that he realized Bill was forced to give him that speech, maybe by Maggie, but most probably by Tara. It was a nice gesture- but it only added to the tension.

"So, Mulder, how has your love life been?" Maggie asked Mulder- he was a little startled, no questions had been directly aimed at him.

"Um, well, its zero," Mulder smiled.

"That seems to be the universal stage for single people in this room," Maggie smirked at her daughter. Dana looked away blushing, "mommm." Mulder smiled as he lightly placed his hand on her back.

Mulder could have timed it easily, he knew Bill would be getting up out of his seat at that point and stomping out into another room. As much as he tried to deal with Bill, it wasn't recently until he realized how immature Bill really was.

Mulder decided not to be afraid of this night. Not to hide how he felt for Dana because of Bill. This was an enjoyable night, and he wasn't going to sit around and let wonderful moments with Dana be ruined.

Once Dana placed her hand on his knee again, Mulder put his hand on top of hers. He let his fingers and her fingers fold into each other. He let his reactions do what they were going to do. He rubbed his thumb against her hand, and she let him. That was good enough for Mulder. It just showed him that she wasn't afraid of Bill, and that he shouldn't be either.

TBC