A/N: I know it has been literally YEARS since I last updated this story, but since I hate it when authors leave their stories unfinished, I decided to give this story somewhat of an ending. I wrote two additional chapters to conclude the story. I hope the ending is OK with you all.

Chapter 15

After a couple of minutes of holding Claire in his arms Alex realized that she finally stopped sobbing. However, he didn't let her go. Holding her felt so wonderful that he was afraid that if he let go, she would run away. But when he finally did let go, she didn't run away. She hardly moved. He wiped a tear from her right cheek and ran his fingers through her hair. She shivered as she looked into his eyes. Her mind was still telling her that this was Alex Ryan and she should be careful, but her heart was telling her to trust it and trust Alex. She took half a step closer to him so that their faces were now only inches apart. For a couple of seconds they just looked at each other, their hearts beating faster than they had ever beaten.

Even though they both wanted this for so long, neither of them used to even dream that this would happen. There was still a lot that they needed to discuss, but they both felt that this was not the time. For now, they just wanted to be with each other, no questions asked.

"Are you sure you're not drunk?" Claire finally asked, making the atmosphere a little less uncomfortable.

"I swear." He smiled. "I am not drunk. I meant every word I said. I don't know how it happened or why it had to happen the way it did, but I do know that I love you."

Hearing him say that again Claire felt like she was the happiest woman alive. Sure, there were still some issues that they needed to sort out, but they didn't seem to matter now. All that mattered was that they were together.

It was hard to tell who made the first move, but after just a couple of seconds their lips were locked together and they were lost in each other once again. Alex couldn't believe that he had kissed Claire before and forgot all about it. She tasted so good. He couldn't quite put his finger on what she tasted of, but it was the most amazing taste ever. How come he never did that before? If he only knew…

Claire remembered exactly the way Alex tasted that infamous night after his drunken love confession. This time he tasted even better. And she had waited for such a long time to be able to taste his lips. Even though she had never admitted it before, she had longed to kiss him for years. And now that she knew he felt the same way about her, everything was just perfect. Exactly the way it was supposed to be.

When they suddenly broke apart for air, Claire looked at him with a more serious look on her face.

"What is it?" he asked concerned.

"If you don't remember that tomorrow morning, I'm going to kill you." She said jokingly, but he knew that she wasn't kidding. But he also knew that there was no way he was not going to remember all of it the next day. He was never going to forget that kiss and the way they were right this particular moment. He knew he would remember this for the rest of his life.

"I won't forget." He assured her. "I never could." He smiled. "You and me together like this is all I ever wanted, Claire. All I ever wanted." He added and started caressing her face with his right hand. She shivered when she felt his touch on his cheeks. No one had ever touched her like this and she never wanted anyone but Alex to be with her like that.

"Alex, we…" she tried to say something, but he placed his finger on her lips.

"Shhh, don't say anything, Claire." He begged. "Don't say anything, don't even think. Just…" and with that he kissed her again, hungrier and more passionate than ever.

***

The next morning Claire woke up to the sound of someone breathing in bed beside her. She was used to waking up alone, so this felt a little strange to her. Strange, but at the same time wonderful and right. She remembered the last time she woke up next to Alex and it felt so totally different now. The other night all she could think about was how she could let it happen and how to get away from him, and now all she could think about was that she wanted to wake up next to Alex for the rest of her life.

She smiled to herself as she snuggled back into his arms. She was being careful as she didn't want to wake him up, but after a while she realized that he was no longer asleep.

Alex opened his eyes and looked around a little shocked.

"Oh my God, what am I doing here?" he asked looking at her nervously. "What happened last night?" he asked.

For a second Claire looked at him terrified, but after looking at him for a longer while she knew that he was just screwing with her.

"You pig!" she laughed as she hit him with the pillow.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it." He giggled.

"Stupid." she said again as Alex's had had another close encounter with the pillow.

"You silly girl." He teased her. "How could you think that I would forget? That was one amazing night, huh?" he grinned as he kissed her neck.

"Well, I've had better." This time she decided to tease him a little bit. He turned away from her looking offended. "Don't worry, you'll get there." She continued to tease him and burst into laughter. "You are so cute when your pride is hurt." She smiled as she kissed the back of his head. He turned around and kissed her on the lips.

"You are cruel, Claire McLeod." He said still kissing her.

"I know." She grinned. "But you deserved it." she looked at him meaningfully as she nestled into his arms, right where she now knew she belonged.

"I know." He agreed, taking her hand in his. "But I promise I will be good from now on."

"You'd better be." She said firmly as she gently squeezed his hand. "And don't you ever dare tell me that you love me when you're drunk."

"I promise from now on I will only tell you that I love you when I'm absolutely sober. Or a little drunk." He said after a while and they started laughing.

***

When Tess came into the kitchen, Meg, Jodi and Becky were already having breakfast, but it was easy to notice that her sister was missing.

"Where is Claire?" Tess inquired.

"We don't know." Becky answered. "But we figured she had a rough day yesterday so we decided to let her sleep in."

"Yeah." Meg agreed. "She deserves a break every now and then."

"Did any of you see Alex?" Tess asked, realizing that neither of them knew about Alex's visit last night.

"No." Becky answered. "Why would we?"

"Alex came over last night." Tess explained. "He wanted to talk to Claire and I waited for him to leave, but I fell asleep."

"Do you think she killed him?" Jodi asked deadly serious, but Tess, Becky and Meg couldn't help but laugh.

"You and your ideas." Meg reprimanded her daughter.

"What? She's a scary woman." Jodi insisted and all four of them started laughing again. "I think we should check." She added and headed for the stairs.

"Jodi!" Meg tried to stop her, but Jodi was fast and climbed the stairs almost immediately. Tess and Becky followed and Meg couldn't help but go with them.

When they reached Claire's bedroom, they realized that the door was slightly ajar, so they decided to take a peak. Tess leaned over the door and almost jumped after she got to see what was inside Claire's bedroom.

"Oh my God!" she said looking frightened.

"What? There's blood everywhere?" Jodi continued with her murder ideas. "I knew it!"

"Oh shut up, Jodi." Becky laughed and playfully poked her on the arm.

Of course all of them could not wait to see what shocked Tess so much in Claire's room. They pushed the door to her room a little bit more open and discovered that Claire and Alex were in bed together. They all smiled at this beautiful sight.

"OK, that's it, we're coming back to the kitchen." Meg decided after they've been staring for about 30 seconds. "This is not nice." She said and looked at the girls meaningfully. "Come on, downstairs." She said again and the rest followed her into the kitchen.

"Hey, are you sure he was breathing?" Jodi wouldn't give up and all of them burst into laughter.

"They looked so cute together, didn't they?" Tess smiled in a dreamy voice.

"Yes, they did." Meg agreed. "I just hope he remembers everything this time."

"Yeah." Tess said and grinned. "He'd better or I'm gonna kick his ass."