Home by saulalovin
A Cold Case fic

Pairing: Scotty Valens and Lilly Rush
Summary: She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.
Disclaimer: Cold Case and everything affiliated to it? Not mine.
Spoilers: Post-ep for "Willkommen" (03x18), but spoilers start from "Dog Day Afternoons" (03x14). Oh, heck, all the way up to "The Woods" (02x23), really.
Author's Note: Hope y'all like this. My apologies if I go a bit – or a lot – OOC. It's actually quite…plotless. Mostly just fluff – which isn't all that bad, right? Reviews and constructive criticism are highly appreciated.

There was a knock at her door, and Lilly Rush looked up from her seat on her couch, the hand that was stroking Olivia stilling. It was late, and she wondered who it was and what possible reason he or she could have to come over this late.

She lightly set her cat on the floor and headed towards her front door. A smile spread across her face as she pulled away from the peephole, and she opened the door.

Scotty Valens stood at her doorstep, his hands stuck in his coat pockets and an almost shy, boyish grin on his face. "Hey, Lil."

"Come in, Scotty." She opened the door wider to let him in. "So…what's up?"

"I was actually thinking of an excuse to come over," he confessed. "I was hoping you'd leave something at the bar so I could drop it off."

"Even though we have work tomorrow, and you could just give it to me then," she said, amused.

"It could've been too important to wait," he said defensively, "like your purse or something."

"So did I leave anything behind?" she teased.

There was a pause, and he finally answered, looking sheepish. "No."

She laughed. "Well, now that you're here, do you want to have a cup of coffee before you go?"

"That'd be good. But before that…" He pulled her to him, and their arms went around each other. Her breath caught, the way it always did whenever they were pressed up against each other, as he lowered his face to hers and brushed her lips with his. She responded to his kiss eagerly, running her fingers through his hair. After a long while they pulled away, their foreheads touching.

"So," she said huskily, "that's why you needed a reason to come over?"

"Yeah. I missed you," he said, rubbing her cheek lovingly with his thumb. "Was it a good enough reason?"

"Hmm…acceptable, I guess." She loved that he had missed her, because she felt the same way about him. Her blue eyes twinkled with humor as Scotty pretended to be hurt. "I missed you too, Valens."

"I knew that. I just wanted to hear you say it." He dodged her whack to his arm, laughing, and kissed her again.

"You suck, Scotty," she said, smiling. "Coffee?"

"Yeah, okay." He followed her into the kitchen and pulled out two cups from one of the cupboards.

Lilly flicked her coffeemaker on and watched as Scotty easily reached around her to pull two teaspoons from a drawer. He was bringing out the cream and sugar when he felt her looking at him, and he looked up. "Lil, you're kind of freaking me out."

She leaned against the counter, a funny half-smile on her face. "I'm sorry, it's just that… You're so at home here."

He put the creamer down, a hesitant look on his face. "That's a…good thing, right?"

"Definitely." She lowered her eyes to the counter, idly tracing its pattern with her right index finger, the smile still on her face. The fact that Scotty was so comfortable in her house and knew his way around meant a lot to her.

Entering this relationship had been a gamble for both of them. Neither had wanted to get involved with a coworker. Lilly knew she carried a lot of emotional baggage, and she was still trying to get rid of most of them. Scotty wasn't without his own issues, and he was struggling to deal with them as well.

It had been hard to make sure they were getting in this for the right reasons. Not because of convenience, or out of lust and need, but because they genuinely wanted to be with the other. They had taken it slow, allowing her to work through her problems with trust and giving them a chance to rebuild their friendship.

She had really missed their friendship and the easy banter they had used to share. Both had taken a beating from all the times they had pushed each other away, and by the fact that Scotty had gotten together with her sister, even after she had warned him not to.

They had promised each other that they would always talk. And up until recently, they had done just that. Then Ray had come back, and Ana had come up in the 1998 female smugglers case, and things had gotten strained. She had rode off with Ray, he came over to her place, and Scotty had completely shut down on her whenever she tried to talk to him about Ana.

Working on the 1980 case involving Steve Jablonski had been difficult because she had had to interview John Harding. He had brought back all the painful memories and images from her encounter with George last spring, and she hated how vulnerable and helpless it had made her feel.

With her and Scotty barely speaking, the last thing she had expected was to find him sitting on the front steps of her home, waiting for her. She remembered just being so relieved to see him that she temporarily ignored the fact that they had to sort through a lot of things. She had just wanted – needed – to be held, and he had understood that.

He understood her. She could hardly believe that, because there were times when she didn't understand herself. He always knew what to say and what to do. That night, all he had done was hold her and occasionally whisper comforting words in her ear, and she had felt so much love and care from him.

They had also stayed out there until early morning, talking, working out the snag their relationship had caught. Since then they had certainly bounced back, and now…

Now, she knew for sure that she loved him. There was no doubt in her mind about the depth of her feelings for him, and she was equally sure about the way he felt about her.

She wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

"Earth to Lil." Scotty grinned, waving a hand in front of her face.

Lilly started, and blinked quickly. She gave him a slightly embarrassed smile. "Sorry, I was just…thinking."

"About me, hopefully," he joked, pouring hot coffee into her cup.

"Actually…yeah, about you." She put a hand on the forearm holding the coffeepot, and he set it down, looking at her concernedly.

"Me? Lil, what's going on?" he asked, confused.

She reached up and cupped his cheek with her hand. Smiling tenderly at him, she kissed him on the lips. Even though he had no idea what was going on, he kissed her back, his hands on her waist.

She stopped kissing him long enough to say, "Marry me, Scotty."

He captured her lips impatiently with his and grunted out a "yeah, okay". Suddenly he pulled away from her, his forehead knitted. "Wait, sorry, what did you just say?"

"I asked you to marry me, and you said yes."

"I did, but… Lil, are you sure?" He held her face in his hands, searching her bright blue eyes intently.

"Never been surer of anything in my entire life," she whispered, loving the feel of his hands on her skin.

"Let's get married then," he said, the corners of his mouth lifting into a huge smile.

She felt her eyes well up. She hated crying, but right now, it was okay. "Stay with me?" she asked, cocking her head slightly towards her bedroom.

He gave her a sweet smile, gently brushing away a tear that had begun its trek down her cheek, and kissed her. "Always," he promised softly.

That night, lying in bed with Scotty holding her, she allowed a happy, content smile to play across her face. She hadn't believed in forever since meeting George in that attic. But she was certain that this, what she and Scotty shared…it was going to rise up above everything.

"Love you, Lil," she heard him say sleepily.

"I love you too, Scotty." And with that, she fell sound asleep.