The final chapter: Thanks for reading and reviewing everyone!

Jess was just pulling the potatoes out of the oven for a second time when the doorbell rang and she knew it'd be Connor by the way it kept ringing over and over and over again. She ran towards it, calling to Becker, "I'll get it!"

"Sure, just take over my flat why don't you?" Becker retorted as he let her answer the door. Then he smiled to himself, thinking that he wouldn't really mind so much if she did.

"How's it going?" Connor asked with a grin as she opened the door.

Jess smiled back at him, "Really well. There was a few if-y moments, but overall it's great." She lowered her voice even though she knew that Becker was still busy with the dishes and whispered to Connor, "He said I make him happy!"

Connor chuckled a bit, "Of course you do Jess, you make everyone happy for that matter; you're always cheerful. Still, the fact that you got Becker to say that really says something in itself."

Jess nodded, "So did you bring the stuff?"

Connor nodded and handed her a plastic bag, "I had to ask Abby what the curling iron looked like. She doesn't believe me that Becker's gonna let you curl his hair. I'm a little doubtful myself for that matter, even if he does have a thing for ringlets. Are you sure he agreed to this Jess?"

Jess nodded, "Yes, but…"

"But what?"

"I have to do something for him too."

"What?"

"I don't know, he won't tell me."

Connor's eyes widened a bit and a grin spread over his face. He burst out laughing, "Oh gosh, Jess, you have gotten yourself into a mess, haven't you?"

"Yep, but I can't back out now so at least I can enjoy my part of the deal. Now, You, skedaddle. I've got a dinner to get back to." Jess laughed as she gave him a shove out the door, but she quickly kissed his cheek before he left to show that she was grateful he brought the items for her.

Connor waved at her as he walked away, and Jess could see he was still laughing.

She turned and headed back into the house where she found Becker waiting for her, the kitchen all cleaned, "Did he bring it?"

"Yep," Jess replied as she quickly stuffed the potatoes and put them back in the oven.

"I can't believe I'm going to let you do this," Becker told her.

"Me neither and I do wish you'd tell me why you're letting me," Jess said with a laugh.

Becker looked at her in mock confusion, "Don't you remember, Jessica? You said you'd do anything."

Jess grabbed the dish towel that Becker had just been using a moment before and swatted at him with it playfully. Becker just grinned at her without saying a word.

When Jess had finished the potatoes and dished the meal out, Becker took the plates from her and nodded towards the hallway, "C'mon, I don't wanna eat in the kitchen."

Jess frowned, unsure where he was going, as she hadn't noticed anything else down the hall but the front door. To her surprise, he stopped in front of a closet door and motioned for her to open it. Jess did so, puzzled, and found a staircase.

"Wow," she said, looking at Becker with a laugh, "Paranoid much? You have a secret staircase?"

Becker chuckled, "Well I didn't build the place, but I rather liked the feature. I think it used to be a normal door, but the previous owners replaced it with a closet door. I'm not sure why. Anyway, go ahead."

Jess moved ahead of him and up the stairs and found herself in a large room, that she couldn't quite tell what it was. He seemed to be using it as part games room, part dining room, part living room, part storage closet and part armoury and yet there was no real divider anywhere. Becker noticed her expression and chuckled, "I couldn't make up my mind what to do with the place."

"So I see, what do you call this room?"

"The Extra Room," Becker laughed.

Jess smiled, "Fits."

Becker put the plates of food down on the table, "I like this room, it seems cozy and private for some reason. Maybe it's the low ceiling and large window. I sit here often when I want to think." He gestured to a comfy looking chair that Jess hadn't noticed before because of the amount of other items in the room.

"It's like a pirate's cove or something," Jess laughed, "Or a grandmother's attic."

Becker frowned, "The Pirate thing… It's definitely the pirate thing."

Jess giggled as they sat down to eat.

"This is really good, Jess," Becker commented as he dug into the meal.

Her face lit up, "Oh, I'm so glad you liked it, I've been worrying I'd mess it up ever since I offered to cook for you."

He smiled at her, "So, did you want to curl my hair before or after the movie?"

She looked at him in surprise, "I thought I was going to do it while we watched it, you know, that efficiency thing. I like to be efficient."

Becker chuckled, "You're too efficient, Jess. If we do one thing at a time, it means I get to keep you here longer."

Jess blushed a bit, "Yeah, good point. Let's do it first. The sooner I get your hair curled, the sooner you'll tell me what I have to do, right?"

"Right," Becker agreed.

Then he turned the conversation to work while they finished eating.

Half an hour later, Jess was ready to curl Becker's hair. She'd plugged in the curling iron and was just about to reach for it when Becker grabbed it to give her. He dropped it as quickly as he had picked it up.

"Ow! Jess! That thing is burning!"

Jess giggled as she picked it up, "Of course it is."

She reached for a strand of his hair and Becker jerked away from him, "Jessica Parker, are you crazy? You want to put that thing by my head? It's hot!"

Jess froze, "Well, what did you expect?"

Becker shrugged, "I don't know, but how about something not hot. Can't you do it without the heat?"

Jess shook her head, "Not unless you want to sleep in curlers all night… This is the quickest solution."

Becker sighed, "If you burn me…"

"What?" Jess asked, "What'll you do if I burn you?"

Becker frowned, "I dunno yet. Just, do be careful, Jess."

Jess nodded, "I will, but don't forget that I have something hot in my hand, so you stay still."

"Hmmph."

Curling Becker's hair was actually quite a bit tougher than Jess thought. It was barely long enough to wrap around the curling iron, but after what felt like hours to Becker, she managed.

"Ta-da!" She announced with a grin, coming around his chair to view the finished product. Then she burst into giggles.

"B-B-Becker," she gasped out, "You look…" she couldn't finish her sentence both for lack of words and because she was giggling too much.

Becker frowned sternly at her, but the expression combined with the curls made Jess laugh even harder. Finally she managed to gasp out, "Gotta get that photo now."

She managed to snap a picture and then turned the camera screen to Becker so he could see it but he quickly turned away, "Nope, I don't want to see it Jess. I am not going to look."

Jess frowned, "Oh, you have too."

"That wasn't part of the deal."

Jess hesitated but then frowned, "I think it was. You said I could show it to whoever I wanted, and I want to show it to you."

"You can put it in front of my face," Becker said, "But you can't force me to open my eyes." He shut them tightly.

Jess frowned as she wondered how she could get him to look, but then she decided it was fine. She'd just email him the picture later or something without telling him what the file before he opened it.

"Fine," she said, putting the camera away, "You win, for now. And it's your turn to tell me what I have to do."

Becker opened one eye half way, and then opened them both fully when he saw that she was telling the truth about the picture not being in front of his face. He had a feeling this was going to come back to haunt him at some point very soon.

He didn't say anything for a moment, as Jess looked at him expectantly, "Well," she asked.

"Come here," He said, motioning her a bit closer to his chair. Jess stepped forward and then gasped as Becker caught her hand and pulled her down so that she was sitting sideways in his lap, his arms wrapping around her waist.

He watched her blush as he stared at her and smiled. "Why are you so cute?" he asked her, and then grinned when she turned an even deeper shade of red.

"Becker, what is it that I'm gonna do? You have to tell me now."

Becker shook his head, "Help me get rid of the curls first,"

"You're kidding? After all that work? That was not part of the deal, Hilary."

"I know, but I also know that I look ridiculous and I don't want to tell you until I'm normal again. Anyway, you got your photograph now."

Jess frowned, "Okay, I'll help you, but you have to look in a mirror first."

"And then you'll help me get rid of them?"

Jess nodded, sighing, "I s'pose. But I still think they're funny."

"Yeah, I gathered that," Becker chuckled kissing her cheek. Jess shivered with pleasure, and turned red again when she saw that he'd noticed. "Alright," he said, "I'll look in the mirror, but when we're done that, I want you back sitting in my lap again. I like holding you."

He saw Jess' draw drop in surprise and then her eyes lit up, "Yeah, okay it's a deal. I don't mind that, actually I like it when you hold me too, you're really strong and I feel safe, not that I'm not safe right now anyways, because I am, so I don't need a guard or anything and please don't try to shoot anything, but I'm more aware that I feel safe when you hold me." She stopped rambling when she felt Becker tighten his grip on her and saw him smile.

"Good," he told her, "I don't really want to let go of you, but the curls come first."

"I still think you should have to keep them in longer."

Becker screwed up his face, "If you like curls so much we can curl your hair again." His face lit up hopefully at the thought, but Jess just laughed and pushed her way up from his arms.

"Come on," she said. "To the mirror."

In spite of himself, even Becker had to laugh when she finally convinced him to look at this reflection. He did look rather ridiculous. Jess helped him comb them out, but his hair remained slightly wavier than normal. Jess smiled, "I like it like that, it's lovely."

Becker didn't respond, he was thinking more along the lines of how much better he looked in the mirror with Jess at his side. He noticed that his face was reflecting how he felt; he definitely looked happier when Jess was around. He took her hand in his and led her back downstairs and to his living room where he planned on watching the movie with her. He sat down on the sofa, but pulled her back into his arms and on his lap.

"Okay," he said finally as he watched her, "You wanna know what I want from you?"

Jess nodded, but bit her lip nervously. Becker let go of her waist with one hand, and brought it up to stroke a stray piece of her hair behind her ear.

"Well," Becker said, "you don't really have to do this of course, I'll think of something else if you can't, but what I really, really, really want for you to do is worth anything to me, it's much bigger than a little silly picture. I'm hoping you'd agree…" he hesitated and then continued quickly, "I want you to be my girlfriend."

He felt Jess suddenly throw her arms around his neck and bury her face into his shoulder. He felt her nod, "I'd love that!" Then suddenly he felt her giggle.

"What?" he demanded. "What's so funny?"

Jess shook her head, "I… You know I would've agreed to that ages ago, right? You didn't have to curl your hair to get that out of me. You could've just asked!"

Becker chuckled, "Yeah, I knew that, but this way was better, I got drive you crazy guessing and I got to watch you giggle at my hair. Totally worth it."

Jess blushed and Becker leaned forward suddenly to kiss her, slowly at first, but then more passionately. Jess suddenly broke it off, "Oh drat!"

Becker stared at her, "What could possibly be wrong?"

Jess grinned, "Sorry I just remembered something, I think I just lost a bet to Connor. I think I'm going to be cooking for him a lot this month."

Becker laughed, "Then I expect a lot of dinner invitations to your flat."

Jess smiled, leaning into him again and letting her lips brush against his as she answered. "Good," she whispered against him, "He said he'd help me, so I guess we can both learn to cook together."

Becker groaned, thinking that getting cooking lessons from Connor, along with the picture, would give Connor rights to tease Becker for the rest of the century, but then Jess' lips were pressing down into his again and he decided that it really didn't matter at all.