Author's Note: So here's the next chapter. I wanted to say thank you to everyone who has reviewed, I really appreciate it.
At night is when he allowed himself to think of her, when it was dark and he was left alone with his thoughts. That's when he closed his eyes and remembered what it was like to kiss her; to slide his hand up and tuck her hair behind her ear. Tony knew … he knew he'd never get her taste out of his mouth. No matter how hard he tried. And all it did was make him miss her more. Make him want her more.
And that was why, this afternoon, he was outside Michelle's apartment, staring up at her door. He had enough of thinking about her while he lay in bed, so he went to her before the need set in.
She heard a knock at the door, at first startling her out of her painting the walls. She figured it could be Danny coming in another drunken state to yell at her, she really wasn't in the mood. But the knock was lighter, more inviting than his.
She peered slightly out the window to see a handsome looking Tony with a single rose in his hand. He looked amazing in his nice jacket and laid back attire.
She ran a hand through her hair and took in her disheveled appearance in the mirror. She knew she had looked better; of course she had also looked far worse, but still Tony was at her door and she wished she had the luxury of a change of clothing; something sexy and a little daring, something to make Tony's mouth drop open.
"Hey," She said while opening the door. He smiled and handed her the rose.
"Hey…I was thinking we could go for a walk by the pier." He tried to sound as inviting as he could and in the meanwhile he was trying to understand by looking her in the eyes, if she could have liked that idea.
"So, what do you say?" He finally asked nervous to know her answer and before she could say a single world, he added: "And if you're thinking about saying no, I can promise I'll buy you a giant ice cream!" He laughed.
The only thing Michelle could do was smile. She loved the way he got all embarrassed.
"A giant ice cream huh? How can I say no?" She smiled. "Just give me five minutes to change my clothes."
"There's no need to, you're perfect." He suddenly said, without even thinking about it, while his hand rested on her arm to stop her.
Tony didn't realize what he just did, until the surprised look on Michelle's face and her pinky cheeks hit him. She wasn't used to having compliments like that.
The only thing Michelle could do was stare at him while all the butterflies freely wandered all over her stomach. Did she just imagine it, or did Tony just tell her she was perfect?
"Ok." She finally said, trying to think about something to say. "Then I'll just go and take my purse. Be right back!" She smiled, noticing Tony's hand still lying on her arm.
"Ok." He smiled, letting her arm go.
Michelle had just turned her back on him, when she said: "Oh, for the records, you're perfect too…" She barely turned her head to meet his eyes; then went to look for her purse.
They started to walk down her street when Tony reached up to wipe her cheek.
"You have a little paint here." He laughed.
"Oh yeah, I'm just redoing some of my walls." She said with a little embarrassment.
He saw the red tint appear on her face so he leaned in and kissed her cheek.
They walked all along the pier.To anyone paying attention they looked like a newlywed couple walking along the sidewalks, looking into the various windows, arms wrapped snuggly around one another and stopping frequently to share a sweet kiss, innocent enough for public display, their body language screaming 'we're in love and the rest of the world doesn't currently exist'. They found a small bench overlooking the ocean to sit on.
"How's the ice cream?" He asked.
"Mmm, really good. You know I think we should make at habit out of this." She told him.
"Yeah we should." He said with a grin.
Michelle smiled at him warmly and snuggled in close, wrapping one arm around his back and letting the other hand rest over the center of his chest, her head resting comfortably in the space below his shoulder, both of them holding one another and smiling. He noticed she was starting to shiver and stopped, turning her to face him and pulling her in close, wrapping his arms around her and rubbing his hands over her back after putting his jacket around her.
"Ok my turn. Um let's see…favorite food?" He asked.
"Mmm, it would have to be frozen pizzas." She answered.
"Frozen pizza…really?" He laughed.
"Yeah after my mom died my dad could not cook. We lived off of frozen pizzas forever." She laughed, not mentioning she picked up his non-cooking abilities as well.
"I'm sorry…about your mom." He said sympathetically, taking note of the sadness that swept over her face when he said it.
She looked over at him with slightly distant eyes, telling him she didn't want to talk about it. He put his hand under her chin and faced it to his own.
The stillness between them seemed to suffocate him. The silence between them only succeeded in increasing a desperate itch that raced from his heart to his gut.
His hands twitched when he saw Michelle look briefly at his mouth; just like she'd done at CTU.
She wasn't going to move, and he knew it.
So he did it for her.
Their breaths caught simultaneously when his lips collided with hers. A groan rumbled in his throat when her tongue slipped over his teeth before meeting his own.
Months of pent-up emotions, from frustration, desperation and hidden love, to underlying lust, rushed forward in an invisible lightning strike to both their bodies but the kiss so sweet and loving that she almost blurted the three words out in reaction to it. It startled her a bit and she pulled out of the kiss.
He looked at her and breathed her name softly. He tilted his head to lean in again but was stopped by the ringing of both their cell phones.
Tony groaned and gave an annoyed look before putting the phone to his ear.
"Tony its Ryan, we need you back at CTU. We just got a hit on one of your cases and we need you here while Michelle heads the field team. I have someone calling her now." Ryan said in his no-nonsense tone.
Tony looked over at her, the worry and anger already settling in to his stomach. They had to find someone else, they had to.
Let me know what you think. Next chapter will be filled with action.