Author's notes: Well, this is the end! I hope y'all have as much fun reading it as I did writing it. Thanks again for your kind words! And, lately, happy birthday, Lea!
"You didn't," Ronon said in disbelief.
"It sounds like a plotline from some horrible romantic comedy," added Rodney.
"I was just looking out for her as a friend," John defended himself.
"You were bloody jealous," shot back Carson.
"I was not!"
All three men laughed.
John was getting tired of the men ganging up on him. He should have never decided to come to the mess hall to think. "What makes you guys the experts in women?" he asked petulantly.
One by one each man held up his hand with a wedding ring on it. "Face it, Sheppard. You use to be the ladies' man on base, but we've got you beat in the relationship department," Rodney said.
"Fine, point taken," John reluctantly said. It was true. While everyone, not just his friends, seemed to be moving forward in establishing relationships, he had remained stagnant in his with Teyla. "But, if she felt the same way, she would have told me."
The three men exchanged a glance. "Um, no, she wouldn't," Rodney said. To John's surprise, the other two nodded in agreement.
John looked confused.
"Didn't you know? In the Athosian culture, the women never initiate a romantic relationship with a man. It is their belief that if she waits long enough, even a man as dense as you will pick up on the idea that she is interested in you," Carson explained. "And believe me, no one has been more patient than Teyla has."
The other two laughed while John froze. She had been waiting for him? For how long? Suddenly, John needed to see Teyla. Now.
He slid the chair back, almost knocking it over it his rush to get out of there. "I gotta go. Thanks for talking," John said, already walking away.
"I give them a month before they're married," Carson said.
"Well, I get to be best man," Ronon said.
"Think again, Chewbacca," Rodney argued.
John raced down the hall, thinking of his favorite times with Teyla.
He remembered her showing him the cave with drawings from the Athosians that came before her during the first day he had met her. When he found her necklace on the ground and placed it on her neck, there was no denying he was attracted to her.
The time he had taken her to "earth", though it was a fictional representation of it, was memorable. She reacted in just the way he thought she would, delighted by shopping and wanting to experience everything she could.
The countless sparring sessions they had shared. Each time, the subtle sexual tension between them would grow and intensify. Seeing her spar, graceful yet strong, only made him appreciate her more.
He still smiled thinking about when he came back to Athos after having to leave her to go back to Earth. Her warm, surprised smile made his heart race. It seemed to him that she had missed him as much as he had missed her.
The feeling of Gatan kicking while he was still in her womb was an amazing experience. He could still feel her soft hands guiding his own to her stomach. The intimacy of the moment only ruined by the fact she began to feel dizzy and needed to stand up.
Looking back, his affection of Teyla seemed obvious. Why had it taken his friends to finally make him notice it?
It didn't matter, he decided. Now that he knew, he intended on wasting no more time.
He reached her door and paused. The reality of the situation settled. He was really going to pursue a relationship with Teyla.
Taking a deep breath, he hand his hand over the crystal. Moments later, the doors slid open. "John!" Teyla greeted, pleasantly surprised. "May I help you with something?"
Countless answers floated through his mind, but he kept those to himself. Instead he walked inside her quarters. "Where's Gatan?" he asked, ignoring her question.
"He is with Katie Brown. She wanted to show him some of the new species of herbs they found. Would you like me to summon him?" she asked.
"No! No. I mean, I needed to talk to you," John said.
He took a moment to look at the woman he loved. She was stunning. In her Athosian clothing, her hair swept back in a messy bun, John didn't think he had ever seen a more beautiful sight.
"Teyla," he started. But no words came to him.
He licked his lips. "Teyla," he tried again.
Now she looked at him curiously. "Yes?"
"Teyla, I--" Forget it, he thought. Words were overrated anyways.
He stepped in front of her and gently grabbed her face. He lowered his lips to her own. It was thrilling. As he kissed her, he caressed her face, noting how silky her skin felt. After a couple of seconds, she reached her own arms around him and continued to kiss him.
Slowly, they pulled away, their foreheads leaning against each other. "I have been waiting for that for a long time," she admitted.
He leaned back, suppressing the urge to bang his head on the wall for his ignorance. "Just out of curiosity, when did you first think that I…" he trailed off, still not able to say the words.
She smiled. "That is easy. When you were infected with the retrovirus."
The retrovirus? Not one of his favorite days, he thinks. Could she be talking about the kiss?
"No," she said, as if reading his thoughts. "It is not what you think. But rather, when you had escaped and I had found you. You could have easily wounded or killed me, but you did not. Somehow, despite your condition, you managed to protect me, even from yourself. That said more to me than anything."
"But that was so long ago," he said softly, not able to believe even from time, his feelings to her were that strong.
"There were times it was difficult to wait." The name Kanaan went unspoken. "But, I knew that eventually you would recognize your feelings."
"Yeah, well, apparently my feelings were pretty obvious to nearly everyone on base except for myself," he complained playfully.
"Do not concern yourself with it any longer," she said. "You have realized how you feel and now we are able to move forward." Before he could speak, she moved closer to him. "And, John, I also…" She covered his lips with her own, letting her actions speak for her.
This, John thought as the kiss continued, is picture perfect.