CHAPTER EIGHT
She was shaking a little as he touched her, she didn't know why.
May be it was all the emotions that had been running through her, that had finally tired her out, or maybe it was because she was still sick and needed the rest. She parted her lips and let out a soft breath as his lips kissed her closed eye lids. She could hardly move, she was just quiet, and still, except from the way her hairs on the back of her neck were starting to stand up with the sensation of his lips against her skin...
When he pulled away, she was transported back into reality, and he was rubbing her arms, as if trying to warm up a cold child with a towel after swimming. She smiled a tiny smile on the edge of her lips as she found it adorable somehow. He had succeeded in calming her down, for now. She swallowed and looked down at the bed for a moment, and for some reason, she blushed a little.
"You ok?" He asked her softly, and then moved his hands from her arms to hold hers, and held them both together, keeping them warm.
She looked down at his large hands which now covered hers, and she felt a warmth in her heart which she hadn't felt in a long time. She had always loved his hands, and how they felt against her skin. He was always so good with his hands…
"I'm better." She whispered and looked back up at his face, into his eyes for the first time really since her little breakdown. His eyes, they took her breath away for a moment. His puppy dog eyes, so full of concern. She gave him a tiny smile and tilted her head slightly, to try and reassure him. "Thank you." She said softly and sniffed one last time.
Mulder was just transfixed by everything she did.
She made him melt inside, as he looked at her face and into those blue eyes that knew everything about him. She was in his soul and would always be. He nodded and finally found his voice.
"Good." He stated and squeezed her hands gently. "Its… pretty late Scully, but do you want some food?" He offered.
She wasn't sure, but she thought she had better try to eat something.
"Sure." She said softly and nodded a little.
He seemed to be happy about that. He smiled a small smile and nodded too, seemingly relieved.
"Great. I'll bring it up to you here, ok?" He said gently and then finally moved away, off the bed and left the bedroom to go downstairs and get her some dinner.
When he came back upstairs with the casserole he had made, she looked a lot better.
He helped her sit up against the pillows and sat with her on the bed and they just chatted, about lots of things. Not just William, they took a break from that for now and tried to be like normal people. They needed that, to just relax.
He was happy that she seemed ok to be in the bed they had shared for years. He wasn't expecting her to be so at ease there, but he was of course glad about it. May be things really would be ok. May be they would be all right, and they would be able to come back together somehow.
He knew that he wasn't going anywhere, and it seemed like she wasn't either, so that calmed him down a lot.
He slept downstairs, on the couch that night, and every night, because that is what he promised her he would do..
A whole week went by and everything was going smoothly.
She was sleeping a lot, because of the seizures and she needed time to recover from the car accident.
He let her sleep and do whatever she wanted.
They were best friends, and acted as so. That would never change. He was still totally in love with her, and having her back in the house was heavenly, seeing her everywhere again and knowing she was sleeping there, not next to him, but in the same house as him, made him very happy. It wasn't just in his head this time, this was real, and it was a step forward for them, he thought. And as much as he wanted more, he never pushed her. He had decided already, he wasn't going to do that.
He had to let her make the first move..
By Friday morning, she was starting to look like herself again, and they planned to go back to work that Monday.
The day went by as usual, he worked on his laptop and read some books, while she rested on the porch and read some books herself. They had sandwiches for lunch and Mulder went off for a run that afternoon. As dusk rolled in they decided to watch a movie after dinner, and put their feet up on the coffee table.
"What do you wanna watch?" He asked her, scrolling through the channels.
She yawned and edged her head towards his shoulder slightly, without even noticing she was doing it.
"I dunno, keep scrolling.." She mumbled.
Mulder smiled a little as he felt her getting closer, and she sounded sleepy. He guessed she would fall asleep as soon as the movie started.
What was new?
"Scully?" He asked.
"Hmm?"
"You know, on Monday, are you erm..." He started, trying to get the right words out and not to say the wrong thing, though he was nervous. He tried to remain calm and not make a fool of himself, "after work do you want a lift back to yours?" He asked, casually.
She hummed and shifted a little, not sure what he was getting at.
"You trying to get rid of me?" She teased, which earned her a little chuckle from him.
"No. Of course not. I just, wanted to know." He said softly. "I mean, I assumed. You've been here all week but you're better now so… I assumed you would want to go back home." He reasoned.
She was quiet for a while and then nodded. "Yeah, I will be going back home I guess." She said softly.
He wasn't disappointed when he heard the words from her lips, he was expecting it. This heaven couldn't last forever, she had her own place and he knew she liked her own privacy.
"Whereabouts do you live?" He asked her quietly, after a long moment, and she turned her head to look up at him. He felt her, so he turned to look at her too, her cheekbones were amplified in the light of the lamp light. He was just amazed, all the time at how beautiful she was..
She looked at him and studied him for a moment.
He hadn't asked her this question, all this time. She blinked and looked down at his lips, then back up at his eyes. They always did that, even if they weren't going to kiss, it was just what they did.
"1337th Place." She said simply, as if he would know where that was.
He hummed and nodded with a little frown. He didn't know where that was, he guessed it was in Washington somewhere. In the suburbs. He didn't ask again.
"Nice area?" He asked a little awkwardly.
"Yeah, its nice." She shrugged casually.
Mulder was quiet then, he looked down at his lap and fiddled with his jeans a little with his free hand, as he suddenly felt a little weird, talking about her house. May be this is why he never asked before..
"Stop!" She said suddenly, knocking him out of his thoughts and he gasped as she grabbed his knee, which made him jump, and also... turned him on. Jesus Christ, why did she have to do that to him?!
"What?" He gulped, feeling the familiar hardening in his groin. Dammit. He hoped she didn't notice..
"I like this movie." She looked at him and grinned, playful. He let out a soft, slightly nervous laugh and turned to look at her again, meeting her cheeky grin. Finally, she let go of his knee. He let out a soft breath and calmed down a little bit.
"Great." He croaked, and turned back to the screen, as he hadn't been paying attention at all at what was on TV. He just got distracted in a big way. But now, his heart rate was slowing again and he was looking and.. "Oh.." He said with a teasing tone, as he saw the movie.
"What?" She frowned a little, amused.
"Lassie?" He asked, in amused disbelief.
Scully nodded and look at the TV again, sure of her choice. It was a nice movie.
"Yeah, Lassie..!" She exclaimed softly, yet, defensively.
"Jeez.." He teased, shaking his head and laughing his low laugh in the back of throat. She narrowed her eyes and grabbed the remote from his hand, so he couldn't change his mind, and turned it up. That made him laugh harder. She was so funny and he loved winding her up. He lived for it.
She put the remote on her side of the couch, and hid it where he couldn't see it, then settled her butt down into the sofa more and rested her back, lounging against it. She sighed and crossed her arms, comfortable as the movie started.
"It's not just Lassie, its the 'Courage of Lassie'. And Elizabeth Taylor is in it." She stated.
"Oh." Mulder said, in false assurance, with a nod at her. "Well, that makes all the difference, I apologize." He teased, clearly not apologizing at all.
She rolled her eyes and just ignored him then, but as Mulder turned to glance at her, as she was all comfy and cute on the sofa, his heart warmed as he saw a tiny smirk on her lips, and he knew then that she was enjoying his teasing just as much as he was.
He was quiet then, not wanting to push his lucky, and watched the movie with her.
Quite honestly, he could watch anything with her, anything at all, if it meant he could spend time with her.
Back when they were a couple, they used to take it in turns on movie night, and he would watch what he wanted one week, and her the next. But it always ended the same way, unless it ended in love making, which was quite often too, but usually, she would fall asleep, half way through, no matter what the movie was.
And, sure enough, after just half an hour... she was asleep.
He smiled and felt his heart warming when she rested her head against his shoulder after a few minutes, and just looked at her, watching her and studying her every detail, even the way her chest rose and fell as she slept. He was tired too, and he wanted to sleep with her, just like that. He blocked out the noise from the TV and closed his eyes, focusing on the sound of her breathing in his ears, matching his own intake of breath with her own, and then gently, very gently rested his head against hers too, and eventually, he too fell asleep, there on the sofa with her.
He didn't believe in god, or heaven, but that moment there, was his equivalent.
THE END
Please review!
Lots of love to all of you for your amazing reviews and for following this story. We all know what happens next! 'This'!
More fics based on season 11 to come xx