The room had started to darken when he woke again, shadows creeping across the floor; Scotty threw a quick glance towards the alarm clock on his nightstand, discovering it was five thirty. He was feeling better after six hours of sleep but still quite tired, his mind somewhat fuzzy; there was a presence with him in the bed and he saw familiar blonde hair, for a moment felt slightly confused until his brain caught into something and started to rapidly produce memories, each more incredible than the one before.

Holy crap.

He was overtaken with a massive wave of tenderness and happiness upon realizing why Lilly was in bed with him, although some worries were still there in the mix too; she was in deep sleep, mostly covered by the bedspread, a creamy shoulder and one long, gorgeous leg visible. It made him think back to Louie and Anna's wedding some months back, the day when he had, for the first time ever, seen Lilly Rush wear a skirt, the sight rendering him unable to think for a moment. The beautiful green dress had revealed far more of her flawless ivory skin than he had ever even hoped to see; now he'd seen all of her and it was a sight he would never get enough of, just yearning to kiss her all over. At the end of that night, the bridal bouquet had landed at her feet and Lilly had picked it up, flushing deeply; the memory made him smile, made him wonder if that had perhaps been some kind of a sign.

Scotty didn't want to move, knowing she needed as much sleep as she could get; lately his partner had again been looking tired, drawn, bearing a slight resemblance to the way she'd been after the Jacobi case and her shooting. He had worried, still did, knowing Lilly had been under a tremendous amount of pressure in her personal life, while simultaneously continuing to put in the same stellar effort at work as she always did, solving a case after case, finding justice for more and more people whose lives had been packed away into a storage room box at the cold cases section. So many times he had wanted to beg her to take a break, perhaps even try to talk her into taking a break with him; most likely she would have declined any such plans, but now things were entirely different and Scotty wondered if he might actually stand a chance, might manage to take Lilly away for a while. Boss would definitely support that, since he had seen the same worry in the older man's eyes as well, several times; John Stillman pretty much considered her a daughter, probably indeed was more of a father to her at this point than her biological dad was, as Paul Cooper had returned to her life only recently after a long absence.

She moved slightly and Scotty tensed, suddenly terrified she would take one look at him and immediately regret everything, bolt and never speak to him again; Lilly lifted her head a little, her incredible blue eyes sleepy when they found his, and then the most gorgeous smile broke onto her face, lighting up the entire room and taking his worries away in a nanosecond.

"Hi, beautiful," he said quietly, pressing a kiss onto her forehead; he was pretty sure he'd never felt as relieved in his entire damn life, apart from all the times she had fought her way out of some horrible situation after first scaring him to death. He really needed to negotiate with her so nothing like that happened again, as he simply wouldn't be able to deal with that crushing despair of not knowing if she was okay, not anymore.

"Hi", she whispered in response, her eyes huge and wide now, brimming with tears as she studied him. "I thought… I thought I only dreamed it all."

Scotty wasted no time finding her lips in a deep, incredible kiss, trying his best to convince her she most certainly hadn't been dreaming, feeling his own eyes burning fiercely too. Lilly moaned, grasping onto him with slender fingers, moving more over him and trying to get even closer, her hair flowing over them like a satin waterfall; she tossed one leg over his hips, rubbing herself against him and now it was his turn to moan, hardening into her.

She tore her mouth from his to be able to breathe, pulling in a few lungfuls, her eyes almost wild and so intense as she watched him for a moment, then kissed him again, advancing down to his chest and abs, lower; Scotty felt his eyes roll back into his head as she took him into her mouth, caressing and sucking him in a way that rapidly threatened to push him over the edge.

"Jesus, Lil…" he managed to choke out, hiding one hand into her hair and grasping the bedspread tightly with the other. "Ángel, please… I need to be inside you."

She released him, moving back up and offering a lustful, passionate kiss that conveyed so much emotion; he took hold of her hips, listened to her whimpering softly as she sank down onto him. Slack-jawed and in complete awe, he could only stare at the breathtaking vision in front of him; with her blonde hair, dark blue eyes, thoroughly kissed lips and incredible body she looked every bit like an angel indeed, and his fingers tightened on her hips, probably bruising her light skin but Lilly didn't seem to mind, her movements speeding up, pleasure clearly evident on her gorgeous face.

"Oh God," she moaned, her nails pressing into his chest, her eyes closing. "I… coming… feels so good…"

He was nearly gone too, but wanted to witness the incredible moment of her reaching completion; lifting one hand from her hip, he brushed his forefinger against her clit, gently rubbing it. Her eyes opened again, a slightly shocked expression forming in them and then she was there, his name leaving her lips in a broken, shaky scream. Scotty pulled her down for a kiss, rolling them over for a few more hard thrusts before following her into bliss, growling and gasping his release into her neck, repeating her name like it was the one and only word he was capable of.

She pressed kisses all over his face as they slowly calmed, the searing lust receding and leaving behind a fuzzy tiredness along with realizing something; he groaned, managed to slightly lift his head after some effort, to move mostly off her.

"Um… Lil, we didn't use… uh… protection."

"Don't worry," she muttered, her eyes closed, her hand tenderly caressing his chest. "I'm on the pill… kind of just forgot all about it earlier."

"Okay." He kissed her forehead, made a face at the uncomfortable sensation in his stomach. "Christ, I'm starvin'."

Lilly laughed, the sound and vibrations of it resonating through him, making him grin; he brushed his fingers against her temple, studying the area closely to see if there was a bump. "How's your head?"

"Still a bit sore," she sighed, lifting her own hand to meet his, grimacing as she pressed down on her temple gently. "But a lot less than yesterday."

"Good." Scotty pushed away the less than nice memory of her having been in danger again, really not wanting to think about it; she seemed to read his mind, finding his lips in a comforting kiss.

"So… dinner?"

"Mmm." He kept kissing her, trying to remember if there was anything in the fridge he could perhaps try cooking, but his mental inventory came up empty. "I think we'll need to order in; what are you on the mood for, gorgeous?"

"Well." She smiled at him lazily, running the backs of her fingers over his chest, then replacing them with her lips. "Maybe some Cuban and Puerto Rican? I'm thinking it tastes very, very good, absolutely delicious in fact."

Scotty laughed, tugging her head up and crushing his mouth onto hers, just completely blown away by this amazing woman. "Unfortunately this Cuban and Puerto Rican is runnin' on nothin' but fumes right now, so I will need a refuel; pizza okay? I haven't had time to go food shoppin' lately, otherwise I'd definitely cook for you."

"Pizza sounds great." Lilly stretched on the bed, very effectively drawing his eyes onto her breathtaking body. "I'd love a shower; can I grab a shirt from you?"

He was busy running his gaze along her curves and long legs, his brain only managing to latch onto her question after she repeated it; she giggled at his momentary confusion and the sound was definitely the most adorable one he'd ever heard.

"Shirt, right." Scotty shook his head at himself, managing to stand, reaching for his boxers and glancing at her one more time. "Christ, you are gorgeous, Rush."

"Right back at you, Valens," she mumbled, sitting up, her cheeks flushing as her eyes moved along his body in turn; he gave her a grin, tugged his boxers on and moved to the chest of drawers in the corner of the bedroom. After a moment's rummaging he tugged out a faded, blue Philadelphia Eagles t-shirt; it was soft and well-worn, one of his favorites, and he already knew it would look amazing on Lilly based on its color. Grabbing a towel from another drawer, he handed both to her, getting the familiar blinding smile as a thank you; she was really treating him now, recharging him with her smiles, and he remembered the sensation that had shot through him in the living room when she had first agreed to his request. He'd been so sure she'd either laugh at him or look completely weirded out, but neither had happened, and seeing her incredible smile again after a long break had been exactly what he had needed to feel better; then she had kissed him and that had lifted his well-being into completely new spheres.

"Take your time," he whispered, kissing the top of her head gently. "I'll order and put some coffee on too."

She nodded, grasping onto him right before he turned, pulling him down for another kiss, deep and intense; he caressed her slender arms, momentarily forgetting all about his hunger for food, just focusing on her lips and on the fact that this was now his reality. God, how damn lucky could one guy be? He was halfway towards falling back into bed with her again, when his stomach reminded him of its current, rather dismal emptiness with a loud rumble and a moment later hers responded, making them both laugh.

"Yep, we definitely need refuelin'." Scotty shook his head against her, kissed her cheek and forced himself to step away, grasping another t-shirt from a chair and pulling it on. She muttered something affirmative, getting up; he used the bathroom quickly first and then made his way to the kitchen, trying very hard to push images of Lilly in the shower from his mind, as they both really needed to eat now.


He'd been her partner for long enough to know exactly what she liked on her pizza, placing the order and starting a pot of coffee, managing to find some toast and cheese and prepping quick grilled sandwiches to tide them over until the delivery arrived. He was just done when she walked into the kitchen, and for a moment Scotty just stared at the vision in front of him again; the shirt was just made for her, reaching her mid-thighs, the color highlighting her eyes in a stunning fashion, her blonde hair resting on her shoulders like a silk curtain.

"Wow," he sighed, finding it impossible to tear his eyes from her. "I think my shirt has found a new owner; it's never looked that good on me."

"Really?" Lilly stepped to him, wrapping her arms around his neck, giving him another smile. "Thank you; I love it."

"All yours." He fumbled behind him until he found one of the plates, handed her the sandwich. "The pizzas will be a while, so have this first, okay?"

"Yum." She sank her teeth into the golden brown toast with relish. "You cooked for me after all, huh?"

Scotty chuckled, taking a bite of his own snack, proceeding to fill two coffee mugs; she remained close to him, giving a small, hesitant smile when he glanced over.

"We, uh… we really need to…"

"Talk? Yeah, I know." He sighed a little, knowing this magical bubble of theirs could only last for so long until reality invaded, and there were so many things that needed to be sorted out before this weekend was over. Handing her one of the mugs, he grasped the other, along with his own plate, gently guided her to the living room and onto the couch, reaching down to grab two small buttons from the floor; Lilly offered a little grin, her cheeks pinking as she obviously remembered tearing his shirt open earlier, the buttons flying everywhere. She spotted the remaining three and brought them over, muttering a quiet apology; he shook his head, sitting down and pulling her securely to his side.

"Trust me, bella, that's the last thing in the world you need to be apologizin' for."

She smiled, taking a sip of her coffee. "Speaking of apologizing, I should call Boss; he's probably livid about yesterday. I'm gonna tell him it was all me; I asked you to come help me, made you go on a wild goose chase with me to find Christina, so I'll face any possible repercussions alone."

"I doubt there will be any; Boss is pretty lenient when it comes to family stuff." He turned his head, let his lips graze her forehead. "How are you feelin' about this, Lil? About us?"

His voice probably betrayed his nervousness, his terror that she would just leave, decide she didn't want this after all; Scotty wasn't viewing the world through rose-colored glasses, knew perfectly well that their relationship changing might be problematic for them as partners, especially problematic if she ended up taking the FBI job as he really couldn't even think about her being in another city, even one that was just a couple of hours away. He was aware that Lilly hadn't had the best success in relationships, had been mostly the one left behind, and while he already knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would never leave her, he also knew all the past heartbreaks and pain had left their marks on her, and they needed to take their time, let things advance at their own pace.

"I like this," she whispered, turning slightly to be able to snuggle even more into him, pulling her gorgeous legs up onto the couch. "I like being with you like this; it's new but it's a good new."

"Very good new," he agreed, his fingers caressing the sculpture of her knee in fascination. "But still, I… I'm sorry about yesterday; practically attackin' you on the street definitely wasn't the way I… well, the way to bring my feelings into the open."

Lilly chuckled, leaned to press a few little pecks onto his jawline. "Feelings, huh?"

Scotty sensed his face growing slightly hot, again terrified he had jumped straight into it, freaking her out; one look at the teasing smile drifting over her face told him otherwise and he swallowed, gathered his courage.

"Lilly Rush," he breathed out, moving his hand from her knee to frame one side of her face. "I definitely have feelings for you."

He wasn't quite sure how to start defining those feelings; even love didn't seem like a strong enough word for what was between them, for what had formed over the years. He had dreamed of being here with her for so long, probably subconsciously since the beginning, but it had seemed like such an impossible dream to ever reach, and so he had just stamped everything down, forced himself into pure professionalism, tried to make things work with other women; for the most part he had managed, not that he'd exactly been very successful in the relationships department either. And he had slipped, every time Lilly was in danger, when some deranged killer had threatened to take her from him; his panic and terror had definitely been far beyond just worry for a partner, and he was certain everyone with half an eye had been able to see it perfectly well.

She was looking more serious now, her gaze a dark, dark blue, intense and emotional; for a moment he was scared again until she seemed to visibly relax and he could literally see her eyes lighten, stared at them in astonishment.

"I definitely have feelings for you too, Scotty Valens," she told him quietly, granting him another one of her stunning smiles, and he had to kiss it immediately, pressing his lips onto hers with a deep, desperate longing. He could sense she was also perhaps having similar difficulties defining what exactly those feelings were, but all he wanted was to explore them with her, to study this fascinating, contradicting woman in much, much more detail than he'd been able to previously, to strengthen the incredible bond between them further if that was even possible anymore. Their bond was already unbreakable, had suffered slightly in the turbulent moments they'd been forced to go through, but nothing, nothing, could ever fray it to the point of destruction.

"Well, thank God for that," he muttered against her, making her laugh softly, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "Thank God for that."