CHAPTER TWO

The next time she awoke she felt her body was well rested, and she opened her eyes slowly and hummed, frowning a little as she readjusted to the lights in the hospital, compared to the darkness behind her eye lids.

She slowly turned her head to look around and saw Mulder then, asleep in the chair by her bed.

He was in different clothes, a dark grey sweater and some jeans. There was no blanket for him or anything, he was just there, asleep.

She blinked a few times and tried to push herself up in the bed. That's when she saw him move out of the corner of her eye, and the next thing she knew he was sitting up, alert and with her hand in his..

"Hey." He said softly. His eyes were a little brighter hazel than before but not much, yet he looked relieved. "You're awake." He smiled a little and nodded.

She looked up at him and then down at their hands, his large warm hand was holding hers again, like he always did when she was in hospital. All the times that he had been there for her, when she had been sick throughout the years, and now, nothing was any different.

Who was she kidding. It was, so very different now...

"Yeah, how long have I been asleep?" She asked with a little frown and managed to sit up a little bit. Mulder moved off the chair to stand and moved the pillow up behind her so she could lay back on it. He sat back down again and let go of her hand for a moment to pull his chair closer.

"About nine hours." He said softly, and rubbed his face with his free hand, tiredly.

"You got changed." She observed, looking at his jeans then up to his face again. He saw her do just that and her voice was very faint and a little croaky, like it was so often nowadays. He let out a soft chuckle and nodded.

She was adorable.

"Yeah, I did. I went the store to buy them. You like?" He teased a little, but she wasn't smiling, she looked a little concerned.

His smile dropped and he looked at her again, worried. "What?"

"You haven't gone home?" She asked him, astounded.

He shook his head slowly and glanced down at the bed.

"Nope."

"Oh.." She responded softly, raising her eyebrows, but before she could ask him why not, and tell him he was crazy and that he should have just gone home to get changed, rather than buying a whole new wardrobe, the Doctor entered and walked up to her.

"Agent Scully, how are you feeling?" She asked, serious yet also looking relieved that she was awake.

Mulder sat back in his chair and let go of her hand after the Doctor arrived.

He watched her silently as she spoke to her, most of what they talked about he didn't fully understand, but he had already spoken to the Doctor enough while Scully was sleeping, to know that she was a lot better now. She told her that if she felt up to it, she could go home in six hours, as she double checked on her wrist watch.

The only thing she added at the end, was that she shouldn't go home alone.

Mulder watched the Doctor leaving and he was still quiet, just looking at Scully and watching her every move and facial expression.

She was so beautiful, so painfully beautiful. He could just watch her forever.

She turned to him suddenly and he cleared his throat and blinked, glancing away for a second, pretending he was never gazing at her in the first place..

"So, its good news right?" He asked with a smile.

"Yeah." She said very quietly, almost impossible to hear. She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts.

"She's right Scully, you shouldn't go home alone. There's still that slight risk that you may seize again.. and of course, I'm happy to drive you home." He offered quickly, as the words rolled off his tongue, he had been thinking about how to tell her and offer to go home with her for hours before he fell asleep, and it hadn't come out exactly how he had intended.

"Right." She said very quietly again, still seemingly lost.

He watched her and sighed heavily, he knew that she was torn. She always liked to be independent, and he knew this was hard for her, considering their break up, but he wished that she would just let him look after her..

"Great." He said simply after an awkward moment, then stood up. "You'll erm, have to tell me where your apartment is, as I have no idea." He said lightly, not bitter, it was a fact. He had no idea.

"Ok.." She whispered.

He stood and frowned with slight concern, he wasn't sure if she was sick still or if she was just being weird..

"Scully?"

"It's ok Mulder. We can go back home."

He nodded and pushed his hands in his pockets, but then froze when he went through that sentence again in his head.

He frowned heavily and looked at her, and she looked directly at him too now, her face serious.

"Sure, you just need to tell me your address.." He repeated, his palms starting to sweat slightly, as she couldn't be talking about what he thought she was talking about..

"No, Mulder. The house, we can go back to the house." She said seriously, as clear as day, and Mulder had to remind himself to breathe. "It's probably safer there, it's more secluded." She reasoned lightly after, glossing over it.

He tried not to lose it.

How many years had he wanted her to say those words to him? That she was coming home?!

But was she coming home..?

No. He needed to calm down. She was not coming home, as such. But it was something.

She was actually telling him that it was fine for him to take her back to the house, and look after her.

It wasn't those exact words, in fact she didn't say that at all, but he knew from the tone of her voice and the look in her eyes, that was exactly what she meant.

He looked at her for a long while and felt his body shaking slightly, with a mixture of happiness and disbelief.

He wasn't going to mess this up.

Not this time..

"Ok." He managed eventually, a wide smile erupting on his lips, he couldn't help it. He thought he saw her smile a little too, and even blush, but she hid it well and looked down at her lap. He finally moved his feet towards the door and turned back to her, his heart racing one hundred miles an hour. He needed to change the subject, act normal.

"I'm just gonna get a coffee.." He started, and bit his bottom lip with anticipation, "do you want a drink..?"

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