So see, there was a plan! Joking aside, it seems this revelation worked out well and I am glad because I was afraid how you would welcome it.

They needed time, and perhaps some prompting, to come to terms with the recent facts and then the rest.

Guest: I know they seemed off, but at the same time they have evolved as characters in this story.

CookieSprinkles: :-)

Well, I guess now you all want them to move on, don't you?

It snowed that night, kind of unusual and certainly unexpected after a few days of warm and nice weather. Gillian slept through it, the first good night of deep, resting and uninterrupted sleep she'd had in a week. And when she woke up in the morning and the bright light of a world covered in white invaded her room, she got out of bed so quickly that she nearly tripped on her way to the window.

Even knowing it must have been freezing outside, Gillian wished she could open the barred window and breathe in the icy smell of fresh snow. She loved the snow, that silent quiet that it seemed to bring with it, the soft way in which it blanketed everything. She particularly loved it that morning, unable not to see the profound symbolism in the white layer covering the world. She was starting all over: she had a brand new blank canvas to fill and someone to help her do it.

Every day she had spent there, Gillian had lazied on in the bed refusing to get up, knowing that there wasn't much waiting for her outside of her room aside from a probing therapist. That morning however, she was up and running with determination and quick movements, packing the few things she had and getting ready to leave. The only reason why she hadn't done that the day before, after seeing Cal, was that Dr Scully had insisted on going by the book with regards to being discharged. Gillian had been under the impression that the therapist didn't really think she needed to think about it, even more that she was as eager as she was to see her leave, but she appreciated the need to follow the rules.

Besides, after rekindling her relationship with Cal, she had known she could have used a little extra time to come to terms with the monumental change in her life…for the second time. Not that she had any doubts, and from what she had seen and heard neither did Cal, but they both knew things were about to be different, even more so than the first time they had been together. They were aware of the fact that the encore was going to be different, not necessarily easier or more complicated but just different: they were different, they had learned new things about themselves and each other while apart and there was a lot they had to discuss. But they also knew they had time, that there was no need to rush. That was why they had enjoyed sitting there on the windowsill, holding each other, talking silly things and sharing deep truths, with little to no regard for whatever schedule with other patients Dr Scully might have had.

They had no idea what time it was when the doctor had finally knocked on the door to see what was going on, and they didn't really care. By then, they had already made their own plans for Cal to come and pick her up the day after, and he had left knowing that Gillian had to be the one discussing her breakthrough with her therapist.

Gillian had so little to take home with her that she was packed before the orderly came knocking at her door to let her know it was breakfast time. She smiled at the elderly man as he nodded in appreciation at her attire and bag, understanding he wasn't going to see her again and being clearly happy about it. When she sat at the table to consume her last meal there, Gillian saw more glances coming her way: some were neutral, mostly from other patients, but every staffer around there seemed to be pleased to know she was leaving. So much for patient-doctor confidentiality! She thought, thinking that word of her special session from the day before must have gotten around.

Not that she cared, certainly not a couple of hours later as she stood outside the hospital with her discharging papers tucked away in the pocket and the small duffle bag in her hands, waiting for Cal.

His car appeared on the white verizon not long after she had gotten outside, and the smile on her face immediately widened. At the very beginning, Gillian had actually thought she was being hypocritical: she had been the one avoiding him, running away and hiding in the clinic, and yet she was also the one dying to leave the place and what it meant behind her as if she had been forced there by someone other than herself in the first place. But wasn't that what healign was about after all? Recognising your own mistakes and being willing to admit you made them?

Then, when Cal parked as close as possible to her and got out of the car, walking towards her wrapped up in his warmest coat, she thought that quite frankly she didn't care how they had ended up there once again.

"'Morning," he said softly the moment he was close enough, smirking to himself when she stepped closer and dove in his arms. "Feeling ok, love?"

"Never been better," Gillian mumbled with her face on his chest, then she pulled back a little wrapping her arms around his waist. "I missed you."

Cal smiled, not knowing and not caring if she meant just since the day before or more. Instead, he just returned the gesture and engulfed her in his arms, breathing in the way she smelled and finding astonishing the fact that nothing seemed to have changed with regards to that.

"Ready to go?" He asked then, softly brushing his beard on her cheek as he pulled back and enjoying the tickled chuckle she let out in response, smiling as she nodded slowly. "Should we go then, before Dr Scully serves a generous round of 'I told you so'?"

"Too late," Gillian smirked, then briefly told him about her last encounter with the therapist.

"Sorry to say love, but better you than me!" Cal smirked as he picked up her bag. "She was relentless."

Gillian chuckled and took hold of his free hand as they walked back to the car. Once there, Cal opened the back seat and put her bag there, then walked around to the driver seat and opened the door. He paused then, expecting to hear and see her doing the same but instead she was looking at the building she was finally leaving. His jaw clenched, not for the first time since the day before feeling a bit tense and wondering if they weren't rushing things, but then Gillian turned around and he saw the serene smile on her face and relaxed.

"Let's go," she said, then got into the car with no further hesitation.

Cal nodded to himself before doing the same, recognising she probably had given the place some kind of silent and private farewell. They drove off and Gillian didn't turn around again, instead looking right ahead as he left the hospital behind. Cal drove, his primary attention on the road but all the secondary one devoted to her next to him. She was ok, more than ok and he could tell because everything about her screamed that: but he was still nervous, mostly because he still couldn't believe that she was there, that it was them again.

As if she had been reading his mind, which was probably true, Gillian turned toward him and smiled openly, gently resting her hand on his leg. Cal held the steering wheel with his left hand and used the other to cover hers, squeezing gently until he eventually needed two hands again to manoeuvre the car. It was a nice silence, the one they shared, relaxing and not at all awkward, which was why he finally started to relax and accept the fact that things were back on the right track.

"Are we driving through there?"

Gillian's question broke the silence after a while, tearing Cal's eyes away from the road ahead to focus on her. He wanted to convince himself that she did not mean what he thought she did, but she was looking back at him with bitter determination in her eyes and it was clear that he was not mistaken. No, they weren't driving through there, he had spent some time checking the route to make sure they wouldn't and no, he had not expected her to bring it up. Even less, he had not expected her to want to go through there, as he understood that was what her seemingly casual query was implying.

His first instinct was to say no, to try to lie and tell her that it wasn't on their way at all; but he didn't want to start their renewed relationship with a lie, and even less he wanted her to think he didn't trust her own judgement. Gillian seemed to understand his internal conundrum because she gave him an apologetic smile, but her eyes stayed steady and Cal knew he had to comply. Then he nodded at her and as soon as he could he turned the car around. They had already passed the intersection so he had to go back a little, feeling his palms getting sweaty as they approached the location of the accident. Once there, Cal pulled on the side of the road close to the turn and switched off the engine, leaning back on his seat and watching Gillian, waiting for her next move.

She looked outside the window and through the windshield for a while, impassable, then opened the door and got out. Cal was all for letting her do that but not on her own, so he got out too and immediately walked up next to her, following closely as she headed for the sharp turn. She didn't show any sign of hesitation, no reaction whatsoever not even when she stood close enough to what had been the point of impact, staring at the scraped trees in silence.

Cal stood but a step behind her, ready for anything, feeling the desperate need to drag her away from there despite understanding that perhaps that was the last part of her healing journey. He had had a good chunk of the previous day and the entire night to come to terms with everything she had said to him the day before, to process things on his own and try to get over the fact that at some point she truly had thought she had let him down, and he knew that moment was about her and nobody else. So he waited in silence, stepping back after a while when he realised she was rightfully taking her time with it.

After a while, probably half an hour considering how cold his hands were, Gillian finally shook herself out of it and turned around, giving her back to the tree and whatever she had been thinking about. She looked at Cal with a shy smile and nodded, then headed back to the car with him in tow. When they were nearly there, Gillian held out a hand and he took it, following as she went back to the passenger side and leaned with her back on the car, pulling him close.

"I'm ok, Cal."

"I know," he sighed softly. "I can see it."

And I'm not going to apologise for seeing it, his silent stare seemed to add, but Gillian shrugged as to say she didn't mind. Then she brought her hands up to his chest, needing to feel him close in more ways than one, marvelling at the warmth of his body even if they were standing out there in the cold. She let out a small sigh and rested her head on his chest, inhaling him deeply as he scooted a little closer and rested his hands on her hips, protecting her from the cold and a place that had done something to her.

"What happened to my car?" Gillian asked then, slowly losing herself in his embrace.

"Towed," he said, his head now resting on top of hers. "It's been sitting at the impound since the accident."

"I'll pay you back." Cal hummed in response, more interested in caressing the back of her head with one hand. "Isn't this the part where you say don't worry about it?" She chuckled then.

"Do you want me to say it?" He asked with the same amused tone, but then looked down at her a bit more seriously. "I don't care love, but I have no intention to create something out of nothing."

"Of course not, I don't want that either." Gillian pulled back a little and gently grabbed hold of his face with one hand, making sure he looked at her and paid attention. "And I don't want you to keep walking on eggshells around me. Or us."

"Not what I was doing love," he urged to reassure, shaking his head slowly. "I am not going to blow this by being too afraid to enjoy it, trust me." Gillian smiled and let go of his face, a face that started to inch closer to her as he kept talking. "I just don't think it's worth discussing over a few bucks, certainly not when I have something else in mind."

The broad smile on Gillian's lips didn't last long, covered within seconds by his mouth. He probed gently, not because he thought that she wasn't going for it but simply because he needed to savour the moment and make it matter. They hadn't kissed the day before, finding each other again with words and smaller gestures had been more important and urgent, but neither of them could wait any longer and that seemed to Cal to be the perfect moment. A silly exchange, her exorcising the place of the accident and the both of them leaving the whole week behind: if that didn't call for their first kiss in months then nothing would.

Their lips were cold out there but it took only a few seconds of touching each other for things to change, for him to part them and let her tongue find its way home to him. They kissed slowly, lingering on every little inch of it, Gillian angling her neck to make sure he could reach deep within her mouth and explore it all. It didn't feel like it had been months since the last time, everything was so familiar between them with disarming ease, a natural reaction bursting through on the side of the road. It was sweet, soft, charged with wanting to give rather than to get, their hands locked on each other's neck to make sure neither would pull away a moment too soon than necessary.

Cal was the first one to be out of breath, breaking from her just a moment and still running his tongue on her bottom lip, playfully sucking at it when he heard her sigh out in relief. He didn't go far, Gillian stretched her neck forward and captured his mouth again, nearly pushing the both of them away from the car with the impetus of the second kiss, until they both realised that as nice as that was they could do much better than making out on the side of the road.

Still, Cal hugged her tight again burying his face in her hair, holding onto her desperately for a few seconds before mumbling something in the flesh of her neck.

"What?"

"Your car," he repeated as he pulled back, absently bringing loose locks of her hair behind her ears. "It's totalled, by the way. You might as well just get a new one." Gillian groaned loudly, clearly not looking forward to that, and Cal chuckled. "Don't worry love, I'll help you."

She nodded in agreement, she could of course choose and buy a car on her own but the prospect of doing it with him was just so much better. Then she leaned in for a quick kiss on his cheek before turning around to open the door and get in the car. Cal smirked, recognising it was getting way too cold out there really, then walked around and got in too. He sat and put the seatbelt on then went for the keys in the ignition, but then stopped for a second and looked at her on the passenger seat.

"Where to, Gill?"

It might have sounded like a stupid question, but the thought hit him all of a sudden and judging by Gillian's expression she hadn't thought that through either. Then she looked ahead for a brief moment before looking at him again, her smile conveying what she was about to say even before she spoke.

"Take me home, Cal," she said simply, and he nodded.

He drove off and the rest of the drive was silent, with neither of them saying another word until Cal pulled in his driveway and they both smiled at Emily darting out of the house to run towards them with a big smile on her face.