At first she thought she was just imagining it. But after 3 hours of him following her silently around from exhibit to exhibit and listening to her talk on and on about the zero-resistance technology of the planes that were strung up over their heads, without once telling her to shut up, she knew something was off.

"Jeffrey?"

"Hmm?" He seemed sort of absent, lost in his own little world.

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Uh, yeah. Why?"

"I don't know..." Something was just a little different. He seemed... "Jeffrey, are you nervous about something?!"

He blinked. "Um, no. What would I be nervous about?"

"I don't know, that's why I'm asking."

"Well, believe me, I'm not nervous."

"Okay."

They were silent for a few moments, staring up at the Lockheed SR-72 hanging above their heads. She knew she really ought to just let the matter drop, but she couldn't bring herself to.

"You aren't dying or anything, are you?"

He turned his head to the side to glance down at her, smiling slightly. "No, Skye, I'm not dying."

"Good."

Then another, even more frightening thought hit her.

"Good God. You aren't trying to tell me that you're dating Jane now, or something, are you?"

He chuckled, eyes still latched onto the plane. "No, definitely not."

"That's right; her name doesn't start with an S."

This time he looked at her. "What?"

"Come on, Jeffrey... Sofia, Sarah, Sabrina, Sally... Have you really not noticed that all the girls you've dated have names staring with S?"

"Sadie."

She blinked, confused. "What?"

"Her name was Sadie, not Sally. Just think Sexy Sadie."

She stared at him.

"It's a song?"

Another blank stare.

"By the Beatles?"

She just looked at him.

"Okay, you know what, just forget it."

She nodded. "Gladly. But come on, you have to know you have a weird obsession with the letter S."

"Come on, Skye, just drop it, okay?"

"Why? Who's next? Samantha?"

She had that gleam in her eye now. If he didn't stop her soon she would spontaneously combust with mischief.

"Ooh, that's it, isn't it? You're going to make a move on Samantha!" She dropped her voice a few octaves, the teasing ringing out loud and clear. "Does Steve know?"

"Oh, come on. It's not like that and you know it."

She smiled, fake gasping and clutching an overdramatized hand to her heart. "Am I next?"

He groaned and rolled his eyes.

"You can tell me..." She was grinning now, but he suddenly didn't care that she was teasing.

"Can I?"

"Yeah."

The tone of their conversation had changed dramatically, switching from lighthearted to serious in the blink of an eye. Somehow, they both knew that this was important.

"Look, Skye, I don't really know how to say this..."

"Say what?"

"Skye, you're an amazing person, and you know that I think you're spectacular, right?"

She nodded, almost imperceptibly, surprised at how hard she had to try to fight back tears. This was it. Apparently he didn't think the earlier hints had been enough, and he was going to tell her outright, once and for all, that she needed to move on.

Well, that wasn't going to be necessary. She still had some pride left, and she certainly wasn't about to let him deliver some fine speech about how they would never work.

"Jeffrey, look, I know what you're trying to say."

"You do?" He looked rather shocked.

"Yes, and I really appreciate it. But you don't have to. I understand." She took a deep breath and forced a smile onto her face, but kept her eyes on her hands, not quite able to look him in the face. "Don't worry; I'll get over you."

"Oh, please don't do that!"

Her eyes widened, and she glanced up, confused.

"What?"

"I really wish you wouldn't 'get over me'."

He was smiling now, much to her chagrin. Just how far would he go for an ego trip?

"And why not?"

"Because it would make what I was trying to tell you rather pointless."

"Huh?" Not the most eloquent response ever, but it served its purpose because he was grinning now.

"Skye, I really like you."

"Well, I would hope so..."

"No, I mean I like like you." Was it her imagination, or was he actually blushing?

"What are you, 12?" She slid closer to him, so close she could count each freckle on his nose.

"No, I'm 18..."

"Jeffrey." She slid her hands up to the lapel of his coat, and leaned closer. "I think we're a bit beyond the elementary school crush stage..."

"Are we?"

"Yeah."

She could never remember who leaned in first, but somehow their lips met, and then it didn't matter.

She had waited for this for, well, about 2 weeks, but it was well worth the anguish. Their mouths slid together like they had been formed for that one purpose alone.

And when he broke it off gently, she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

"Are you sure I'm not just a temporary fix for your S obsession?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"How do you know?"

She was just teasing, and expected him to tease her back. So when his answer came, it knocked the wind right out of her.

"Because you're the one who started it."

(End.)

Dedication

To my parents:

Hope you don't mind that I stole your story. Think of it as an anniversary gift. :-) Here's to your last 18 years, and many, many more. I would not be doing this if it weren't for you two. Literally. :-)

Love you. xoxoxo

So, know that you know the story that brought me into existence... On to reviews!

PUCKABRINGALOVER - Thank you! Hopefully you still do!

PenderwickFan101 - Wow. Okay, you officially win the best review award. (Sadly, I have nothing to give you but a virtual high-five.) Thanks for ALL the kind words. They mean a lot.

Applesandbananas - Thank you! Keeping characters IC is very important to me, but I certainly have my slip-ups... :-)

GinervaMollyWeasleyPotter - Thanks! I have lived, breathed, and slept Skyffrey for so long that I think they're permanently engrained into my very being... :-)

Spark Writer - Haven't we all? Yeah, not very much fun... :-( Incidentally, I think it would simplify matters a great deal if we just formed a mutual admiration society. :-) We've tossed back and forth so many compliments for so long that it's only a matter of time before we run out of new things to say. Can we have a secret hand-shake? Please? :-)

Thank you all for the incredible support. I really appreciate it!

Signing off (for now),

Readwriteedit