The Next Step

by FortheLoveofJackie

After 7 years of hiding their feelings and burying their deep desires for one and other, Tony and Angela have finally confessed their love. But, after a disastrous first date trying to keep the family in the dark about their newly expressed love for each other, Tony and Angela question if they are truly meant to be or will the love they feel for each other be enough.

1. It's Time I Said, I Love You!

Prologue

It had been 7 long years of flirting, fantasizing, and burying their deepest desires for each other. Too afraid to possibly lose what they had together, they refused to make the leap that could take them to something magical yet unknown and uncertain.
They were best friends, they knew more about each other than any other person on the planet. They shared their lives, their home, their families, and their deepest feelings except one, the most important feeling of all, until the night of the carnival!

Angela took the biggest chance of her lifetime. Bigger than getting a divorce, bigger than hiring a male housekeeper and even bigger than opening her own Agency after getting fired from her position as President of Wallace and McQuaid. After seven years of holding it all in, she was ready to tell Tony how she truly felt about him, it was "Time to say I Love You."

The evening had not gone as smoothly and romantic as she had dreamed of but in the end, the result was worth the heartache.

Tucked away in a dark corner of The Tunnel of Love, Tony finally came to the realization that this could be the defining moment where he could possibly lose Angela forever after she abruptly handed him his anniversary present, a beautiful gold watch tenderly inscribed with the words, "It's Time I Said I Love You," if he didn't make a move.

Agonizing over risking it all or losing it all, Tony scrambled to find the words..."Cause I love you," he hollered at her when pressed as to why he couldn't risk losing her.

Shocked by his own admission but relieved to finally be free of his most treasured secret, Tony reassured Angela that despite loving her for a longtime, he was scared to risk losing what they had but if loving her meant losing it, he was willing to take the risk for love.

Their long pending declaration of love was tenderly sealed with a passionate kiss as the lights in the Tunnel of Love went dark and Tony and Angela were left to relish in the joy of their newly declared love for each other. A few tender moments to keep their love between them just as their relationship had always been "their relationship."