"What are you doing for the rest of your life?"

Lulu looked over at Dillon as he sat calmly in the passenger seat next to her, almost as if his comment had been about nothing more than the weather. She felt her mouth open and shut a couple times, shocked at what he had said. "Dillon," she warned, "don't mess with me."

Smiling complacently, he reached over and rested his hand on her quivering knee. "I can say with absolute certainty that I'm not messing around here, Lu. I have every intention of spending the rest of my life with you. I know that we're not ready to get married, but I want to know that you're ready to make a commitment to me that is going to last a lot longer than some passing infatuation."

"There is nothing fleeting about this," she avowed. "I've been in love with you for as long as I have known you, Dillon. You're not just some random guy that I met in math class. At one time or another, you have meant pretty much everything to me."

"You're not just my best friend anymore," he murmured, edging closer to her. "You're also the love of my life." With those simple words, Lulu's mouth came crashing against his. Biting his bottom lip softly, she allowed her hands to wander up his back to his dark blonde hair. He moaned against her teeth, pleading for entrance between her ruby lips. "I've wanted this for so long," he whispered, drawing her body closer to him, frustrated that the console was still separating them. "I've wanted you."

"Not here," she implored between kisses, not wanting to break the undeniable connection. Dillon nodded against her as he pulled back, gathering himself enough to climb out of the luxury car. By the time he reached her door, Lulu was already out and headed inside the house. Tossing the keys on the counter in a basket, he pressed her against the pantry door and resumed kissing her deeply. "Tell me you love me," she pleaded, desperate tears in her eyes as he traced small circles on the small of her back.

"I love you," he promised, pressing back hair on both sides of her face before taking her swollen lips once again. Then, pressing tender kisses where her tears had been, he reached down and literally swept her off her feet. Carrying her up the back staircase, he prayed that for once, he could actually avoid his family. Thankfully, the Quartermaines seemed to be absent from the mansion for the afternoon. Pushing the door open with his hip, he carefully deposited her on the middle of his bed.

He could tell by the look in her soulful green eyes that she had wanted him, too. She leaned back on her elbows, relishing in him hovering over her. Kicking off her heels to the floor, she reached up and brought him down against her. "I've missed your weight on me," she mumbled as his lip darted between her lips. Pressing her into the mattress, Dillon let all of himself consume all of her. They were moving as one as she started to peel away his shirt. Running her fingers down his bare, toned back, Dillon couldn't help but shiver beneath her expert touch.

Lulu enjoyed the few moments Dillon allowed her to have control. His eyelashes brushed over her skin as he lifted her closer to him, groaning as she laid a trail of kisses up his shoulder blade and across his collarbone. Then, flipping her over, he assumed the role as leader, lifting the tail of her shirt to kiss her flat abdomen. Nipping playfully at her naval, he helped her remove her shirt and fell back onto his heels to stare at her.

Crossing her arms over herself self-consciously, Lulu looked at him sheepishly. "Don't look at me," she implored, reaching out to bring him to her again.

Dillon held out his hand and let his eyes wash over her. "I just want to look at you," he proclaimed, his voice thick with desire. "Damn, you are so beautiful." She couldn't help but smile as he helped her lose the rest of her clothes, and before either of them knew it, his were gone as well.

"I forgot how great your skin tastes," he mused as he kissed each crook and cranny of her body. Up her stomach, between her breasts, around her neck, on the inside of her wrists – Dillon didn't miss a spot. He was intent on worshipping her body like she deserved, proving to her once and for all that he truly did love all of her. Moving back up to look into her face, he searched her eyes for permission. "Are you sure you're ready for this?"

Threading her arms behind his neck, she couldn't help but grin as she nodded. "I love you, and you love me. That's all I need to know."

He pressed his forehead against hers and smiled. "I have something," he mumbled, reaching across to remove a tiny package from his nightstand drawer. Lulu closed her eyes, trying to forget the images flashing through her mind. Suddenly, she could remember the plastic applicator, seeing tears in Dillon's eyes, tying the strings on the thin paper gown the night of the abortion. It quickly became too much, causing her to flinch and turn her head. "You're remembering," he remarked knowingly, holding her tightly in his embrace.

She nodded, her chin bumping against his as tears sprung to her eyes. "I thought I could forget," she sobbed into the gentle slope of his neck. Wrapping her legs around his back, she tried to bring him as close to him as she could. She just needed to feel him, to know that he was there and wasn't going to leave her.

"This time is different," he promised. "There are no lies between us. We have finally been totally honest with each other, Lu. I'm not running from my own pain, and you're not trying to create something that isn't there. The feeling between us is as real as it gets."

"I haven't been with anyone since I had the abortion."

"I haven't either, Lu," he revealed.

"But you and Georgie..."

"We didn't have sex when we got back together," he confessed. "We kept saying we were trying to get to know each other again, and that it was too soon. The thing was, we both knew that it wasn't going to happen. I didn't want to be with her like that. After I was with you, I knew that nothing else would ever feel that right."

"I'm scared," she admitted, her voice barely audible.

"It's just me," he retorted. "There is nothing you have to be scared of here. If this is where it stops, then we'll stop. I'm not going to pressure you. I will wait as long as you need to wait. If we never sleep together again, I'll find a way to be okay with that, too. As long as I can hold you in my arms, it is going to be okay."

"You're so patient, so kind. I don't deserve it."

"You deserve it more than anyone I have ever known," he said. "So many people have failed you in your life, Lu, myself included. I had the chance to be there – I mean, really be there – for you after the abortion, and I wasn't. I will never forgive myself for that."

"You were great, Dil. You gave me something else no one could."

"And what's that?"

"You forgave me, even when I couldn't forgive myself. You made me see past the moment and reminded me that I was doing this for both of us," she said. "I was so broken, but you were determined to help me stay whole. Even when your own relationship was at risk, I knew that I was the most important person in your life. I wanted to hate you, to blame you for everything, but I couldn't. You were the only one who could make this whole mess okay for me."

Dillon smiled at her sincerity, finally seeing all of her heart open for him for the first time in a long time. "Why couldn't I have realized how much I love you months ago? I feel like we have wasted so much time."

"We had to go through all of this to get here," she mumbled, adjusting her body so that he was spooning her from behind. Leaning back against his chest, she looked up at him over her shoulder. "I wouldn't have been able to handle us this summer, not after what happened. After the abortion, I needed time to figure myself out. If we had tried it then, I would have only pushed you away."

"You did push me away," he pointed out. "But I guess you couldn't get rid of me that easily."

"You were pretty damn determined," she remembered aloud. "I'm glad that we waited, that we took our time to find our way back. This time, it really is about us. It is genuine, and you've helped me see that. I finally believe in love."

"The cynic has become a dreamer?"

She giggled and elbowed him softly. "Hardly. There is only room for one dreamer in this relationship, and you, Young Spielberg, fill that slot perfectly."

"Don't call me that when we're naked," he pleaded. "It reminds me too much of your dad, and the last thing I want to think about when I'm in bed with you is Luke."

"It could be worse."

"How's that?"

"I could berate you like Tracy," she taunted.

"Stop it," he begged, tickling her sides. She squirmed under his fingers, writhing desperately at his touch.

"I'm sorry," she squealed until Dillon relented. As he pulled back, he looked back down at her and dipped to capture her mouth. There was no going back this time. All the words they had had already been said, and now, there was nothing left but to come together as one.

An hour later, they were still in bed together. Dillon's head rested against her stomach, her fingers playing gingerly with his hair. His eyes were closed in absolute bliss. A blanket was the only thing slung across their body, their flesh still pressed against each other. He could feel her feet brushing against his thighs, so aware of her every movement. "Wow," he finally said, breaking the comfortable silence that had settled over his bedroom.

"I know," she breathed, a coy smile playing across her lips.

"Are you sure you haven't been practicing? I'm pretty sure you threw in a couple moves that I've never seen before."

She swatted the top of his head playfully before allowing him to weave their fingers together. Brushing soft kisses over her knuckles, Lulu silently thanked God for the millionth time for bringing this amazing man to her. "It was better than I remembered, that's for sure."

"This time is different."

"This time is different," she agreed. "We've been through hell and back, and I'm still in love with you. This has to be it."

He smiled and said something that shook her to her very core. It was the one thing that would forever cement how Lulu felt about him because it was the only way he knew how to explain just exactly how much he loved her. There was no doubting what it meant, every syllable carried the weight of the world. "You're my Laura."

Lulu couldn't help but cry. No one could have ever said anything more meaningful or more honest to her. She knew everything she needed to know. She wasn't sure how it was all going to work out, only that it would. For the first time in her life, she not only had faith in something, she had faith in someone else. "Dil?"

"Lu?"

"You remember the question you asked me earlier, down in the garage?"

"Of course."

"Well, I think I finally have an answer for you," she smiled.

"Oh, you do?" he asked, turning himself over so that he was once again covering her body with his. His eyes remained frozen on hers.

"I'm going to spend it with you."