Chapter 5
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"I don't let nobody see me wishin' he was mine"
― Taylor Swift
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So, don't say "Yes", run away now,
I'll meet you when you're out of the church at the back door.
Don't wait or say a single vow,
You need to hear me out,
And they said, "Speak now."
-Taylor Swift
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The Former Mulder Family Residence
Martha's Vineyard
...
"Mulder for Christ's sake, hold still", Scully scolded, cradling her squirming partner's chin between her hands as she checked his eyes for concussion with a trained eye and tiny flashlight, ignoring his constant protestations.
Mulder tried to wriggle his way out of her firm grasp. "It's no big deal, Scully. I've taken worse blows to the head then this", he assured her firmly (despite the fact that she probably knew his medical history better than he knew it himself) but secretly kinda liked her fussing over him, he always had.
Fifteen minutes earlier, Scully had grabbed the first aid kit from the trunk of her car. (Don't ask why she had one so readily, she had been Fox Mulder's FBI partner for over six years for crying out loud. The damn thing was rarely out of use!).
As soon as she had re-entered the house, the heartfelt emotional woman who had poured her soul out at the alter was long gone.
Dana Scully had had gone headfirst into doctor-mode, ushering The Gunmen (who had, albeit with quite a bit of cajoling, managed to get Mulder into bed) out of her partner's downstairs childhood bedroom.
"Well, What's the verdict, Doc. Do you think I'll live", Mulder asked her teasingly, his voice dripping with playful sarcasm despite his head injury.
"I don't think any more complications are going to arise but I still think we should get you a head scan at the nearest hospital", Scully decided, sure that her partner had landed himself with quite the concussion.
He hadn't experience any nausea just yet but had complained of a headache and had been out cold for about ten minutes before she had arrived.
Scully still hadn't approached the topic of what Mulder had said at the ceremony that had landed him concussed, single again and sporting a black eye.
She wasn't ready to know the truth and judging by his wooziness, he wasn't ready to tell her.
Mulder pouted slightly, his eyes dancing with an almost crazed expression (or someone would have thought if they were anyone but Scully. She knew that this was a typical ill or injured version of her partner)
"But Scully, you know I don't trust doctors", he replied with a hint of a whine, smiling up from the bed at the concern on his best friend's face as she decided what to do with him.
His head was spinning a little and he could feel his ears pounding. Scully's hair looked like a auburn blur around her face. A pretty blur, he'd admit. But a blur all the same.
Damn, he was dizzy.
Scully rolled her eyes and pushed away her first aid tools, satisfied with her diagnosis. "Don't be ridiculous, Mulder. I'm a doctor and you trust me just fine."
Mulder wriggled his eyebrows teasingly, his hazel eyes still looking a little foggy and 'out of it'. "Yes but you're my doctor", he jested, voice wobbling slightly even though he still put a slightly possessive emphasis on the 'my'.
Scully knew his mind was hella-wonky right now but could help a slight smile. Even though she wasn't in any way sure of Mulder's feelings right now (despite there having to have been a reason that the wedding had been cancelled and Diana had punched Mulder's lights out). She didn't think she'd mind being his, just so long as he was hers...
"And as your personal physician, I say that you get your ass into the passenger seat of my car and I take you to the hospital for a brain scan", Scully replied, smirking affectionately.
Mulder grinned mischievously, well used to her pulling the doctor card on him when she insisted on him getting more extensive medical examinations then she could manage at either of their homes. "And as your only living and breathing patient, I consider it my duty to tell you that you have an awful bedside manner, Doctor Scully."
"Shut up, Mulder."
XXXXXXXXXXXX
3 hours later
Pulling on his tie until it slipped off, Scully unbuttoned and pushed Mulder's dress shirt off of his shoulders tossing it on to the chair beside the double bed.
They were back in his childhood room again after several long hours waiting in the local emergency room.
"Wow, Scully. Hold your horses. If you're gonna make the chase six years long, you gotta take your time reaping the reward", Mulder told her, sporting a goofy, pain med induced grin. "I don't know how you ex-Navy brats are, but us Indian guides are taught never to pillage and plunder on the first date."
He would have seemed totally groggy if it wasn't for the sparkle in his eyes, like a little kid on a caffeine high just about bound for a sugar coma.
Scully rolled her eyes. She always finds herself informing any doctors they encounter that Mulder is an extreme lightweight when it comes to pain reliving medicine, but they never seem to listen, judging his dosage by his height and weight rather than the insistence of his long term FBI partner and personal doctor.
"Mulder, if you getting injured, us spending hours in the emergency room and me having to babysit you for the rest of the night when you're high on pain meds counts as a date then we've been dating for over six years", she replied firmly, her affectionate tone almost, but not quite, hidden.
"Good point, my dearest partner", Mulder agreed before flopping dramatically back on the bed and starting to sing. "Let's get it on. Ohhhh, oh c'mon baby. Let's get it on..."
"You're concussed, Mulder! The only thing you're getting on right now is a pair of pyjamas bottoms", Scully told him, her eyebrows raised in her signature 'I'm-Dana-The-Ice-Queen-Scully-And-I-Take-Shit-From-No-One' expression.
He sighed in defeat, pouting slightly, but reluctantly, and with the help of Scully, changed into his pyjamas bottoms, forgoing a shirt.
Scully settled down in the chair next to his bed, smiling slightly as she watched him climb under the blankets. She may seem a little frustrated with Mulder's medicine intoxicated self but she sure as hell was glad he wasn't married.
A few minutes later, he looked up. "You're not going to be able to sleep there, are you?", Mulder asked sceptically, raising an eyebrows at his friend who was sitting in what he knew to be a rather uncomfortable armchair.
Scully shrugged. "I've spent the night in worse and besides" she pointed out, pulling up the covers up above his shoulder. "I'm not planning on sleeping anyway."
Scully shrugged. "I've spent the night in worse and besides" she pointed out, pulling up the covers up above his shoulder. "I'm not planning on sleeping anyway."
Mulder looked up at her teasingly, sarcastically feigning shock. "How permiscous of you, Doctor Scully. What would your mother say...You're not planning on sleeping! And here I am in my state", he said, mock gasping, his eyebrows raised suggestively. "What would good old Hippocrates say?"
Scully sighed, face palming lightly. She was definitely a seasoned veteran when it came to her partner's reaction to pain meds...even when he was totally sombre, Mulder was one for the innuendos! But this was a whole new high (excuse the pun), even for him.
"Mulder, You're sick and I'm just here to watch you to make sure you don't do yourself anymore damage."
He giggled, he flat out giggled. Jeeze, they had definitely given him more hands she thought.
Scully sighed deeply. This will be a long night...
"Oh okay, have fun", Mulder stated, sounding as far from lucid as a person could be as he settled down on the pillows. For a second they fell silent, Mulder tossing and turning in an attempt to get comfortable and Scully looking on with a soft smile. "Hey, Scully. I can't sleep."
She rolled her eyes, chuckling slightly. If she was ever to imagine her best friend as a youngster, it wouldn't be a million miles away from how he was tripping on pain relievers. "Try counting UFOs", she suggested in a tongue in cheek sort of way.
Mulder let out a bark of laughter. High or not, he wasn't going ignore his partner's discomfort when there was something he could do about it, just as he wouldn't miss a chance to tease her, no matter the circumstances. "Nope. That won't work. I know you're uncomfortable over there and my chivalrous impulses are keeping me awake. Will you snuggle up with me. We can curl up like little baby cats for real this time"
"You're batshit crazy, Mulder. You almost got married today!"
There it was. One of the many elephants in the room.
He pouted, with a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders. "Yes, but I love you". As if, in his pain killer induced haze, it were just that simple.
Scully wanted to believe him, she really did. But it was all too similar to the last time he utter those three little words to her in a hospital room after a trip to the Bermuda Triangle where a 1930s version of herself had allegedly 'saved the world'. "Okay, Mulder. Whatever you say."
"Despite your non-committal answer, this time I know you love me too."
"That sure of yourself, huh?"
"Well, you did tell me a few hours ago in front of half of the FBI, conforming everyone, including Diana's, 'Mr and Mrs Spooky' suspicions", he told her with a wink, hardly seeming fazed that the aforementioned event had his almost wife punching his lights out at the alter. Too bad.
"Case closed, my dear Scully. Apparently they were right all along about us and after your confession they all know it."
"Don't remind me", she deadpanned. Despite the fact that, no matter how Mulder may or may not feel about her (when he is in his right frame of mind), she wouldn't regret what she did today. She wouldn't regret telling him and she wouldn't regret saving him from that snake that was Diana Fowley.
Mulder chortled quietly, seeing through his best friend's often times tough exterior. Despite everything that happened today and despite the aching in his head and the ringing in his ears, he couldn't help feel a sense of elation, like a balloon swelling up inside of him. "But it's all I can think about. Dana Scully loves me!"
Scully cracked a smile, smoothing back Mulder's slightly sweaty brown hair out of his face, torn between finding this whole conversation ridiculous or finding it adorable. "Alright bud, let's talk about it in the morning when you're sane"
"Aww you think I'm sane, that's adorable Scully...I knew you love me"
"Well, I meant when your back to your usual level of sanity."
Mulder shook his head slightly, before returning to the original conversation. "So now are you going to get in the bed?", he asked her, raising an eyebrow. "I won't sleep if you don't and then you'll have to listen to me rant and rave all night. "
Scully felt herself begin to relent. Would it be that bad if she shared Mulder's bed tonight? They had in the past on countless occasions when the other was either injured or after going through something a little more traumatic then usual.
She supposed tonight wouldn't be any different even if things had shifted, at least slightly, between them. "Fine", she agrees, crawling into bed beside him, pulling at the ends of her dress as she climbed under the covers.
She settled herself on the pillows, immediately reaching across to check Mulder for signs of a fever with her hand.
Having won his battle to get Scully in the bed, Mulder begin to let the tendrils of drowsiness from the medication pull him under as he settled his head against her chest and upper torso. "Love you, Scullybug"
Scully swatted him lightly on the ear, gently running her fingers through his hair, satisfied that he had a little bit of a temperature but nothing serious to be worried about. "That's Scully to you, Fox Face", she said, completely ignoring the statement itself.
He was, after all, as high as a kite.
"Come on. You know you're dying to tell me too?", Mulder mumbled sleepily, against her collarbone.
"Tell you what exactly?", Scully asked, knowing full well what he was on about.
"I won't sleep if you don't", Mulder assured her, even though they both knew he was nearly more than half conked out already.
At this point Scully was almost certain he wouldn't remember in the morning anyway even if she, previously anyway, wanted to wait until they could talk about this like adults. "Alright, I love you, jeeze"
Mulder let out a drowsy chuckle, his voice still sounding pretty darn gleeful despite his near unconscious state. "Dana Scully loves me!"
XXXXXXXXXXXX
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The Former Mulder Family Residence
Martha's Vineyard
The Following Morning.
...
"For the holy love of fuck", Mulder mumbled, his face drowning in the fabric of his pillowcase. The first things he noticed before he had even opened his eyes were his splitting headache and how he was leaned against his already awake and sitting up in bed partner. "Remind me Scully. Was I hit by a taxi, a hearse, a UFO and a flock of flying elephants yesterday by any chance ."
Scully chuckled, glad to see him awake and acting somewhat like himself after a whole night of staying up to make sure he would be okay. "Not this time, buddy. I'm afraid you were just the victim of Diana Fowley's pissed off left hook and an impromptu appointment with the concrete patio tiles outside."
Mulder groaned, scooting over on the mattress until his head was nestled in her lap, much like it had been when they had taken a detour into the woods for a case when they were supposed to be at a team building seminar.
(And going by the events of the last twenty four hours, they could really use some work on their communication skills).
"Oh well, I don't think this marriage thing was for me anyway".
Scully smirked, stiffing a yawn. "Me neither", she confessed in a vaguely amused tone, laying back against the headboard. "Much too official. And I've always liked my surname."
Mulder let out a loud bark of laughter, rolling over on his back so he could look up at her. "Fancy not being married to me by any chance, Scully?"
Scully rolled her eyes, drowsily. The effects of having stayed up for the majority of the night were beginning to catch up with her. "I think that's one of the weirdest questions you a have ever asked me, Mulder?"
He reached up, brushing the dark circles under her eyes with his thumb and tucking a stray lock of red hair behind her ear. "You look tired,", he stated softly, ignoring his own ailments in light of his partner's obvious exhaustion. "I thought I was the insomniac of this dynamic duo", he teased, hoping to cheer her up even slightly.
After all, he knew she had been worried about him.
Scully smiled sleepily, running a hand though his slightly mess bedhead. "Don't worry", she told him with a yawn, stretching out a little. "That title is still all yours. I just wanted to make sure that you'd be okay".
At this Mulder sat up until they were so close their noses were almost touching. He could have teased her about worrying for him or brushed it off because he has had concussions before and had been fine afterwards.
But he didn't. This time he was touched by how much the woman in front of him cared for him and he was struck, yet again, by how much he cared for her.
Resting his hand against her neck, he pecked her lightly on the forehead, staying within their usual boundaries. "Thank you".
Scully ducked her head, cracking a half smile at his watchful eye (it seemed as though he were drawing her in with his eyes, the beautiful hazel orbs they were). "Don't mention it, Mulder. I've stayed awake with you before when you were sick or injured, the same as you have for me. It's what best friends do."
Mulder held her gaze for a moment, trying to gauge her thoughts.
Did she want him to pry further? He thoughts so...her bright blue eyes were hopeful and challenging, reminding him of their first argument after he had given her the lowdown on the Bellefleur case when they were first assigned to work together.
Little did they now back then that they would still be together, six years later no less, still arguing and looking for the truth.
Mulder couldn't help but wonder if Scully had known that he truly didn't want to get married yesterday and interrupted the ceremony for that reason? (He had after all, gotten burned by others before...) He silenced the voice in his head that offered that conclusion.
No, Scully wouldn't do that. She was the one person in his life who never toyed with his emotions. If she said something, she meant it. But wouldn't that mean...Were his memories of Scully's half joking and half serious confessions real or just hallucinations from the pain meds?
He needed the truth, so he pressed her further.
"Just friends?"
Scully sighed deeply, bringing a hand up to rest on his shoulder. She knew that if she didn't say it now, she never would and she and Mulder would spend the rest of their lives dancing around each other.
She gently ran her hand down his arm, lacing their fingers together. She usually had enough strengthen to deal with things but right now, she needed his courage.
"You were always more than just my friend, Mulder. I meant what I said yesterday, I've loved you for far longer than I even realized and it took almost losing you to someone else for me to woman up enough to tell you", she told him honestly. "Look, I get it if you don't feel the same way. I just...couldn't let you get married without knowing."
Mulder grinned goofily in disbelief, running both his thumbs across her cheekbones in small circles. "Not feel the same way? You, Dana Scully, are the most intelligent person I know by a long mile and yet you question whether I feel the same way?", he replied incredoulously, lightly prodding her on the tip of the nose."But I guess you always were a skeptic, huh?
Scully shrugged in admission, she couldn't argue with him on that.
Mulder pressed further, happy to give her all the evidence that she could possible want and more..."I've loved you since you walked into our basement. Hell I've been so crazy about you it almost drove me insane at times. I've just always thought you were way out of my league, that you deserved a better, sweeter, more boring and more likable to cranky older Naval brothers kind of guy who had half of my emotional baggage."
Scully rolled her eyes. "Mulder after I met you, I tried dating guys who were just like that but they all had one fatal and unforgivable flaw..."
"Which was?"
"I was bored to tears when I was with them. They weren't you and for that reason alone it would never have worked out. I've never met anyone with the same passion, stubborn belief and strength as you. You challenge me and frustrate me and drive me up with walls with the conclusions you come to in ways no one else ever has or will. In the midst of all the pain, anger, frustration and loss we went through together, I still wouldn't change a day."
Mulder smiled lovingly, finding himself begin to duck down a little until their faces were at the same level. "Scully, I love you", he whispered, bumping her nose against his own. "I like really really love you", he sealed his promise with a quick forceful kiss to his partner's lips. He leaned back a few seconds later, pleased with himself.
Despite his smug grin, Scully felt a smile break out on her own face, her lips tugging upwards as she brought her hands up to gently cup Mulder's face, pulling him towards her once again. "Ditto, partner", she told him. "I always will."
...
And you say, let's run away now.
I'll meet you when I'm out of my tux at the back door
Baby, I didn't say my vows
So glad you were around when they said speak now.
~Taylor Swift, Speak Now
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