When Lilly woke, she wasn't so sure it had been real.

She had certainly had dreams that felt real before—they never went this well though. And Scotty, better known for his passion, his energy, his brooding, his fire, had seemed so gentle, had led her through her own home so comfortably, had held her so tenderly. Was holding her so tenderly.

She realized the warmth that seemed to be radiating from inside her was coming from him, still curled around her back, his arm draped over her stomach. They hadn't moved. The last time she had slept so well…well, it had been in the exact same position. But now, there was no panic, no desire to slip away, no guilt. He had wanted her here, and she had wanted him. Now she didn't want to leave. More than anything, she wanted to lie there in his arms and avoid all of the mess that was bound to follow, the explanations, the discussions. But the building tension in her gut and a quick look at the clock convinced her it couldn't be. She would just have to get this over with.

Begrudgingly, Lilly once again took the dutiful route and slipped out from underneath Scotty's arm sliding her pillow in her place, hoping to give her still sleeping partner a few extra minutes of rest as she prepared for what lay ahead.

She had to pull herself out of the room when she looked back to see him nuzzle into her cotton and down substitute. Never had she ever wanted to be a pillow more.

Scotty had felt her leave but didn't know whether it had been minutes or hours when he felt her side of the bed dip slowly with her return. He slowly opened his eyes to see Lilly sitting just inches away, looking at him with a little smile. So it was real. She was still wearing her pajamas from the night before, but she looked more refreshed, calmer, and much more comfortable with the fact they were so close. Scotty let himself hope that the day could continue with the same ease.

"Hey," He managed to push out, his voice still groggy with sleep.

"Hey." Her smile grew until it reached the shimmer in her eyes. "I think Boss is going to have to be okay with us being more than a little late."

"An' why's that?" He gave a lopsided grin, and propped himself up on an elbow, thrilled that she was teasing, that they were approaching some version of their normal banter all while he looked up at her from her—their—bed.

"Because it's almost 11," continuing though her smile faltered just enough for him to catch it. "And we still haven't had our breakfast."

Though both parts of her reply were making his heart race, he chose to focus on the much less terrifying possibility of the Lieutenant's anger. "Shit. 11?" He pulled himself all the way up and ran his hands through his hair, an action that Lilly was startled to find herself wanting to take over. "He hasn't called?" He looked around for his phone. "Has anybody called?"

"No one." Lilly took time to consider that it was odd that no one had checked in, especially considering this was the first time she overslept in, well, ever. "I guess Boss must have implied they were to leave us alone."

"Yeah. Makes sense." Scotty felt some of his tension ease away with the possibility that once again, Boss seemed to know what was best. "So I guess he really doesn't mind that we're gonna be more than a little late?" He grinned again, trying to bring some of the levity back into the mix, knowing they were going to need it considering the breakfast that lay ahead.

"Yeah." Lilly smiled, her happiness at this conversation, the easiest they had had in a week bubbling over despite her desperate fear of how the day would continue. But Lilly was brave. She was a fighter. And now that she saw how they had strung this rickety bridge across their rift for the night, she knew she could get through a little heart to heart. Even if she would have rather tried arresting a 300-pound, high-on-meth convict by herself. But she trudged on. "In that case, we might as well take the rest of the morning. I put some coffee on…I figured we could have breakfast—brunch—here instead. Save some time."

The conversation hadn't gone perfectly. It was a little awkward, a little forced. But it felt so much better than where they had been. Even sitting closer than they ever had intentionally, worried about work, knowing what lay ahead, it felt right.

Especially when Scotty smiled and nodded, answering, "Yeah, that'd be great."

She left him to use the bathroom as she turned to the kitchen, checking on the coffee she had started before she took the time to clean up a little. She checked the fridge, silently thanking herself for having gone shopping at least relatively recently. Pulling out some eggs, butter, bread, whatever she saw, and starting to cook, she didn't even notice when Scotty came up to the counter.

"I never thought of you as a cook." As soon as the words were out, they felt heavy to him, harsh, unwarranted, and Scotty inwardly cursed how he was already screwing up. Why couldn't they just go back to bed? Why did talking things out have to involve words? Why did it have to happen in the first place?

Lilly looked up, somewhat startled by his presence, but not his words. So gentle, they weren't much more than an observation, a shred of a clue that Scotty had maybe spent time thinking about her outside of what they did on the job. Her reply came unthinkingly, as if the recent deconstruction of her barriers was leaving holes in her guard, letting streams of her pour through to him.

"I'm not," she said with a slight smile and a tilt of the pan as if to show the simplicity of what she was doing. As she turned the burner down and poured a mug of coffee for him, she felt the need to continue, "but…you're on your own enough, you've got to learn how to at least feed yourself."

Her light tone was belied by the pain in her eyes, and Scotty had pieced enough together over the years to know just how often Lilly had been on her own.

He sat in silence, sipping his coffee, not knowing how to respond or even if he should, not wanting to risk prying, risk fragmenting what little they had achieved, not when he already knew he would have to soon. There was no more putting it off. He needed to be the one to let her know she wouldn't have to be on her own any more. He was going to tell Lilly Rush he loved her, consequences be damned. Though those damn consequences had him dreading each passing moment. His thoughts were broken when Lilly set a full plate in front of him, and he realized just how hungry he was.

Making sure to catch her eye, he tried to force all of the things he was feeling into his very sincere response to the food before him. "Looks great, Lil."

His goofy, heartfelt smile was making her feel a little loopy and she couldn't help but smile back.

Author's Note: I'm not super pleased with this chapter, but I sincerely owed you an update! We're getting into the big reveal here...and the final chapters. To those of you who are still reading, thank you. I truly appreciate your support for my little story.