"So what're you doing tonight?" Dean asked, as the two of us woke up the following morning. I was so happy that we could spend now but the thought of it having a time limit wasn't fair. Why had I told him I loved him back? It wouldn't be fair to him if I just up and left to go to South America. I could barely think straight now.

"Um, it's up to you. I have a somewhat brief shift at the hospital but then I'm all yours," I replied, deciding to focus on the time being.

"Good because I'm cooking you dinner," Dean replied.

I was surprised at his response. It seemed a little out of character for him so I said, "You cook?" I raised my eyebrows questioningly.

"I can," he replied, playfully defensive.

I smiled, "Well it's a date then." I then kissed him and then started getting out of bed.

"Hey, where are you going?" he exclaimed.

I giggled, "I've got to go to work, silly. How else am I supposed to get home in time for you to cook for me?"

"Yeah alright," Dean replied, letting go of my wrist. I went into the bathroom and then shut the door. It was an overwhelming mix of feelings of happiness and worry, anxiety, and sadness. This was not my favorite place to be.

After things started to slow down at work, I found Bradley reading in the intern lounge all alone, curled up in one of the chairs.

"Hey, what're you doing in here?" I asked.

"Just reading. I got bored," He shrugged. "What's up?"

"Can I talk to you about something actually?" I asked, curiously.

"If I say no, you'll tell me anyways," Bradley teased.

"Hey!" I exclaimed, nudging him playfully.

"Yeah, sure, what's on your mind?" Bradley asked, finally.

I sighed, "So Dean told me he loved me last night."

"Well that's great!" Bradley exclaimed.

"Sort of. The thing is, Dr. Stevens submitted me to this resident program that'd be… well kind of in the middle of nowhere village in South America and uh, I got in," I explained, anxiously.

"Congratulations! Wait a second, you're not actually thinking of turning it down because of Dean right?" Bradley asked.

"What if it were you in my place? What if it were Jessica?" I asked, desperately.

"She'd understand that I couldn't pass up such a good opportunity no matter how much we loved each other. You need to talk to him, Jen," Bradley said.

I sighed, "I know but it's just, we know a lot about each other. We talked when he was here at the hospital and saying 'I love you' is a big thing for him. I just don't know what to say. Would it completely break him?"

"Look, you'll never know until you try. Jennie, you can't pass up an opportunity like this. Just talk to him," Bradley advised.

I nodded, "Yeah. Oh but he's cooking for me tonight."

"He cooks?" Bradley asked.

"That was my exact response. He's, amazing, Bradley. How am I supposed to give that up?" I asked.

"Just talk to him. He might understand and I'm not saying that you two can wait for each other or anything but… I see the way he looks at you. He really does care."

"Yeah, I know." This decision was getting harder and harder to make. In getting involved with Dean, I had almost forgotten about the program that Dr. Stevens had submitted me to. If that was all I thought about, would I have even though about Dean in the first place? I had been so career driven but now it seemed like my heart was making all the decisions.

"Hey, I'm home," I said, coming into the house. I shut the door and put my keys in the little bowl on the side table near the door. I pulled off my jacket and kicked my shoes off before going into the kitchen. The house smelled really good.

"Hey, you," Dean said as I got into the kitchen. "Here just try this." He held out a wooden spoon that he had coated in past sauce. "It's hot, so be careful." I blew on the spoon and then took a taste. It was delicious! "You look surprised."

"No, it's great! I mean, seeing as you're out on the road a lot I guess I'm a little surprised that you two cook for yourselves," I admitted, blushing a little.

"Sammy helped, I have to admit," Dean said.

"Oh yeah? Where is he anyways?" I asked, curiously.

"Oh he met a girl at a bar," Dean replied, shrugging. I chuckled. It seemed a little out of character for Sam.

"Hm, I thought that was your job," I said.

"Well I already have a girl so I have no need for that," Dean said.

I smiled, "Yes you do already have a girl." I then kissed him. It felt so good to be with Dean but I also felt so guilty.

He smiled into the kiss before pulling away, "Okay sit down. Dinner is ready and if you continue to distract me then I'm going to burn it."

I giggled, "Yeah okay."

Dinner was great. Dean and I just sat and talked and laughed. The laughing was the best part. I could barely even remember the actual subject matter that we talked about, we'd just laugh. We had fun together and I was head over heels for him. He was only making this next part harder than it should be. Before Dean, I would've accepted in a heartbeat. But I knew the answer to the nagging question. I had changed a lot with Dean.

"Hey Dean, can I talk to you?" I asked, suddenly.

"Yeah, what about?" he asked.

I sighed, "Look, I know that you saying you love me is a really big thing for you and I love you too. Uh, Dr. Stevens submitted me for this resident program for a year in South America."

"Oh yeah?" Dean asked.

"Well that was right before we met and I had no idea that you and I were ever going to become something. Hell, I just thought you were an attractive guy in the ER that'd hit on me and I'd never see again. I never planned on… falling in love with you. God, I really need to tone the telenovela thing down. Damn it. But we've waited for a while and we finally heard back from the program and uh, I uh, I got in, actually," I replied.

"Well that's great!" Dean exclaimed but I could see it in his face that he knew what it meant for us.

"Here's the thing, though. I would uh, I'd leave Sunday," I said, biting my lip.

"Oh," Dean said.

"Yeah," I replied.

"So what about us?" Dean asked. "I mean… what? We try it long distance or…?

"I want to but that's a year apart. I can barely go being apart from you for a week but a whole year? I don't know, Dean. Not only that but it'd be in a rural village in the middle of the jungle meaning we'd really have no means of communication," I said, reluctantly.

"Are you saying you want to break up?" Dean asked.

"NO! I mean, I don't want to break up but it would be cruel for me to ask you to wait for me. Plus, I mean, it's a year. That's a long time. And if I like it enough and they like me enough… they'll invite me back for another year or maybe even hire me for a position… I don't know. Things are just… very open right now. Do you think we could even do it?" I asked back.

He sighed, "I don't know, Jennie. It would be wrong of me to ask you to not go. I think you should go. It sounds like a great opportunity for you and I know it's the kind of thing you love to do. You remember when we had that conversation about you doing Doctors without Borders or something?"

"Haha, yeah, it was in the middle of a scrabble game and of course it was just a ploy to get me off my game," I laughed.

"What can I say?" he shrugged innocently. I giggled. After me constantly beating him at scrabble, he'd always come up with tactics to try and get me off my game. "You should go," Dean nodded.

I smiled, "You think?"

"I know. We'll spend our last days together and then we'll wait. If something happens when you're gone, then okay, something'll happen but if you don't find anyone better, then we'll talk when you get back," Dean said.

"So we'll wait for each other unless someone else comes along?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied.

I smiled, "Okay. Sure. And Dean?"

"Yes?" I asked.

"Thank you for being so understanding," I replied.

"It's because I love you," he replied.

"I love you too," I said, happily.

Dean leaned in and then kissed me. Things between us started heating up and we went into the living room. The living room floor then became our bed. Our sex was probably hotter than the fire that was burning in the fireplace. At the end, Dean and I just lay next to each other, wrapped in the blankets on the floor. I didn't want to leave him, but I knew I had to. And he was being amazing about it too. It was just bad timing I guess.