A/N: I couldn't keep our favorite couple apart for long. Despite what they may have thought, they are meant to be. It just took some time apart for them to realize it. And now with this chapter, there's officially only three chapters and the epilogue left.
Kelly rolled over in bed, smiling when he felt Gabby next to him and memories of the previous evening came flooding back. They still had a lot to talk about and work through, but her reaction had been more than he could have hoped for.
"Good morning," Gabby whispered sleepily, her eyes still closed.
"Good morning," Kelly replied, smiling. He kissed the top of her head. "Did you sleep well?" he asked.
"Mhmm," Gabby replied, snuggling into his side. "But I'm hungry."
Kelly laughed. They'd fallen asleep shortly after having sex last night, both of them too tired to get up and find something to eat. "Want some eggs?"
"That sounds amazing," Gabby murmured, although she made no move to get up.
"Honey, you need to let me get up if you want food," Kelly prodded gently.
Gabby shook her head. "If I get up, this dream will end and you'll disappear," she said softly. "And I'm not ready for that."
"Gabby, I'm real; I promise," Kelly assured her gently. "This isn't a dream. I'm here, in Puerto Rico, in your bed. I'm not going anywhere." He leaned over and kissed her. "If this were a dream, I wouldn't be able to do that."
Gabby sighed but pushed the covers back and rolled over to get out of bed. "Shit!" she exclaimed, picking up her phone and looking at the time. "I'm supposed to be at the clinic in 30 minutes."
"Go shower and I'll start breakfast," Kelly told her. "I'm sure they'll understand if you're a little late."
Gabby quickly showered, washing away the sweat and grime from yesterday. She quickly got dressed and towel dried her hair, pulling it up into a bun as she walked towards the kitchen. "That smells amazing," she called.
Kelly looked up from where he stood at the stove and smiled at her. "It's almost ready."
Gabby took a seat at the table, watching Kelly as he cooked. It reminded her of all the times Kelly had cooked for her when she was too sick to stand the smells of cooking but could still keep food down. Back then everything had seemed so easy. Was it really possible for things to be that easy again?
"When do you have to leave?" Gabby asked quietly once they'd started eating.
Kelly shrugged. "I took a month of furlough."
Gabby looked up from her food in surprise. "A month? Really?"
Kelly nodded. "I'm here as long as you want me," he promised her. "I didn't know what would happen once I got here, so I figured I'd plan for a month."
Gabby finished eating and took her and Kelly's plates to the sink, rinsing them off. Kelly was here for a month. He'd come with the intention of staying until it was time for her to return to Chicago. He'd come because he missed her. Because he loved her.
Gabby finished rinsing the plates before turning back to Kelly. "I have to go," she told him apologetically, wishing she didn't have to. "But can we talk tonight when I get back?"
Kelly stood up. "I thought I'd go with you," he informed her. "As long as that's okay, of course," he rushed to add. "I just figured I'd do what I can to be useful while I'm here."
A smile spread across Gabby's face. "Okay." She grabbed her bag from where she'd set it on the floor next to the door when she'd arrived home last night and threw it over her shoulder. She and Kelly walked out of the house and Gabby locked the door behind them before they began walking towards the clinic a few blocks away.
"I'm glad you're here," Gabby said suddenly after they'd walked in silence for a while. She had been thinking about the invite she'd extended to Matt after her trip to Chicago, and how he'd never taken her up on it. Yet Kelly was here, uninvited, because he wanted to be here. Because she was here.
"I'm glad I'm here, too," Kelly replied simply.
That day at the clinic was a busy one. It was a Friday so the clinic was open for vaccinations and checkups, which meant that repairs were on hold for the day. Kelly was tasked with helping restock supplies and running errands while Gabby assisted with the checkups and vaccinations. He smiled as he watched her with the patients. She was good at this, and it was clear that she enjoyed it.
"She's good, isn't she?" Antonio asked as he walked over to where Kelly stood waiting for the next task to be assigned. The two hadn't had a chance to talk yet, as Antonio had been helping check patients in and had been busy already when Kelly and Gabby had arrived that morning.
Kelly nodded. "She seems happy," he remarked. "I can tell she enjoys it." He was glad that she was happy, but if he were honest, he couldn't help but worry that she enjoyed it here so much that she wouldn't want to leave.
"Clinic days are the only time I've seen her smile since she's been here," Antonio informed him. "She loves interacting with the people, especially the children. She enjoys helping out with repairs and other recover efforts, too, but this is what she's passionate about." He turned from watching his sister and looked at Kelly. "How did last night go?"
"Besides making her think someone broke in and then trying to burn down your house? It seemed to go okay," Kelly replied. "But we still have a lot to talk through. We didn't exactly talk much last night."
Antonio held up his hands, shaking his head. "I don't need to hear any more," he informed Kelly, not wanting to think about his baby sister having sex. "I can stay at my friend's again tonight to give you two some more time without me in the way."
"That would be great," Kelly replied gratefully. "Thanks, Antonio. For everything. I couldn't have pulled this trip off without you."
Antonio shrugged. "If it makes her happy again, it's worth it," he replied.
Gabby came over then, interrupting their conversation. "Hey, 'Tonio," she greeted her brother, kissing him on the cheek before turning to Kelly. "We just finished up with the last patient," she informed him. "We can head home now if you want."
Antonio raised his eyebrows. "It's barely three and you're already heading out?" he asked teasingly.
Gabby shot him a glare. "Watch it, tonto," she warned him.
Antonio laughed. "Go on, get out of here. I'm staying at Ian's again tonight, so I'll see you tomorrow."
"So, what did you think?" Gabby asked Kelly as they walked back to her house.
"It was great," Kelly replied. "I felt pretty useless today since I don't speak Spanish, though," he laughed. "But the work you do here…it's amazing, Gabby."
Gabby flushed at the compliment. "Clinic days are only twice a week. The rest of the week is spent doing recovery work and helping with the rebuilding. They're not quite as exciting."
"Did you miss it?" Kelly asked hesitantly. "When you were back in Chicago, did you miss this?"
Gabby thought for a moment before replying. "Sometimes. This place will always hold a special place in my heart. But Chicago is home, and I love working at 51."
Kelly was relieved at that answer. He hoped that meant she'd be ready to go home when her three months was up.
When they reached the house, Gabby unlocked the door and walked in, dropping her bag near the door before flopping onto the couch. "I'm exhausted," she admitted. "Today was busy, even for a clinic day."
Kelly sat down next to her, tugging her feet into his lap and rubbing them. "Judging by the dark circles under your eyes, you haven't exactly been sleeping well. That probably doesn't help," he observed.
"I haven't," Gabby admitted. "Sleep hasn't exactly come easily since I've been here." She glanced over at Kelly. "At least, not until last night."
"Are you glad you came?" Kelly asked.
Gabby sighed. "Yes and no," she replied. "I'll always love it here. But, it's been hard, too." She was silent for a moment before continuing softly. "I missed you. I threw myself into my work, trying to stay busy so I didn't think about you, but it didn't work. No matter how busy I was, I still missed you."
"You could have called," Kelly stated gently, not wanting to make it seem as though he was angry over her not calling.
"I know," Gabby sighed. "I should have. I just…I wanted the time apart for us to think and to figure things out."
"And did you? Figure things out," Kelly clarified.
"Some," Gabby told him. "I realized some things while I was here."
"Oh?" Kelly asked, not wanting to push.
"I realized that I was scared; losing Brooklyn was hard, and I was afraid that one day I'd wake up and everything would change; that you would suddenly realize that there was no reason to be with me anymore," Gabby admitted, looking down at her lap.
"That's never going to happen, Gabby," Kelly assured her. "I'm with you because I want to be, because I love you. I'm in love with you, Gabriella Dawson. And nothing and no one will ever change that."
"Everything just happened so fast," Gabby said. "One minute we were having a one night stand, then the next we were pregnant. Then suddenly there was no baby anymore. It scared me. You'd just broken up with Stella when we slept together, and I know you'd loved her…"
It dawned on Kelly then exactly why Gabby was so scared. "Gabby, baby, things were over between me and Stella long before it actually ended. I just hadn't wanted to admit it to myself. Honestly, things were over between us pretty much as soon as she left Chicago."
He sighed. "With Stella, it was different. We just kind of fell into it. She was there for me through everything with Anna, and then again when Benny died. I just assumed that's how things were supposed to be; that maybe the intense, passionate love that I saw other people have wasn't how it was for everyone. But then you walked into my life again, and it was like this it was meant to be. I finally understood what love was; what real love was. It's like there was this hole inside of me just waiting on the perfect piece, and no matter how hard I tried to make other pieces fit, they didn't. But then you were there, and you were that perfect piece.
"I've never felt like this before," Kelly continued. "Not with Renee, not with Anna, not with Stella. When you left…I couldn't think about anything other than you. It was bad. Boden actually called me into his office a couple of weeks after you'd left and gave me a lecture about needing to keep my head in the game and leave my personal issues at the door," he chuckled. "Gabriela Dawson, there is no one else for me. You're it. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone else. And I have no intention of ever letting you go.
Gabby bit her lip as she listened to Kelly talk, fighting against the tears that were threatening to spill, but losing the battle at his last sentence. "Why me?" she whispered.
"Because you're beautiful and caring and strong and you drive me absolutely crazy sometimes with your stubbornness, but I wouldn't change a thing about you," Kelly informed her, reaching out to wipe away a tear from her cheek.
"I love you, Kelly." It was the first time Gabby had said that since she'd told him that she was going to Puerto Rico.