Rey stared at the number in her phone, the number she had not entered, her heart racing, her breath coming in short little gasps. She was going to hyperventilate if she wasn't careful, she thought.

She looked over at the coffee table in front of her, where the paperwork for her large animal internship was sitting. The internship she was supposed to start in January. There was a list of veterinary hospitals within 500 miles of Ft. Collins looking for help, and she would be able to give her first, second, and third choices on the application. She had narrowed in on one particular hospital, but this morning… this morning, everything had changed. Not only was she not sure she would even be able to do the internship in January, but now she had to do what she had been holding off doing for so long.

She had to call that number.

She looked at her phone again. She wasn't sure when he had put the number in. He hadn't entered it attached to his full name. It was simply under "Poe." She had discovered it almost as soon as she got home just over a month ago, but she had been far too scared to ever use it. She had decided to wait, give them breathing space, let him get back to his life while she prepared for her final semester of school.

She had watched the one interview he had given about the crash. It had been with a reporter he had interviewed with before on NPR, someone she knew he was comfortable with and who he trusted. He had talked about the crash with a lot of detail, and he had mentioned several of the people from the plane, both those that had died and the majority who had lived. He had talked about her and her abilities, helping those injured and handling the wilderness with expertise. There was a fondness in his expression and his voice, but it wasn't much different than the way he talked about the other survivors. While she felt his gratitude and his appreciation through his words, it seemed… impersonal.

He was an actor, she had to remind herself. Of course, he wouldn't allow his deeper emotions to come through in an interview that would be seen world-wide. So, she waited.

But he never called.

She thought about just writing him a letter, hoping his staff would know her name and send it on directly to him immediately, but she wasn't sure what she wanted to write. "Thank you for your support"? "Thank you for being my friend"? "I will never forget you"? "I miss you"?

"I love you"?

But after this morning, there was no other option. She needed to talk to him directly. Immediately. Taking a deep breath, she moved her thumb to press the "call" button.

A loud knock on the front door made her jump and drop the phone. Good God, she was tense! Laughing at herself, she picked up the phone and set it on the table next to the paperwork, then got up to head toward the door. She was home alone today, a Saturday, as Finn and Rose had decided to take a drive out to Blue Tail Lake, just the two of them; they were both so busy it wasn't often they got to spend time alone together doing something fun.

She tugged the hem of her sleeveless blouse down, smoothing her hand over the soft material, pausing ever so slightly over her abdomen, then stepped up to look out the door's small window.

Her heart stopped for a brief moment and she felt her breath catch in her throat. He was here, as if she had conjured him by staring at his name in her phone. He didn't look much different than he had when she had first seen him on the tarmac in Jackson: ball cap, sunglasses, five-o-clock shadow, a flannel shirt over a t-shirt. He was looking away, down the street, and she pulled back quickly before he could see her, taking deep breaths. The last thing she needed was to have a panic attack. She closed her eyes. This was not some superstar celebrity standing at her door, she told herself. It was just Poe.

The man she loved.

Before he could knock again, she took another deep breath and opened the door. They stared at each other for a long time, saying nothing, and Rey took that moment to peruse his familiar face. He obviously hadn't shaved that morning, and though he looked super casual in jeans and hiking boots, she had a feeling he had dressed this way to 'fit in' and therefore had less of a chance of being recognized.

He reached up to remove his sunglasses. "Hi," he said softly.

"Hi," Rey responded, her voice breathy. She cleared her throat. "I was literally just about to call you."

His expression brightened. "You were?" he said. There was no mistaking the excitement her words created.

She nodded, then stepped back. "Come in."

He strode in, removing his hat as he did so, and she closed her eyes once more as she caught a whiff of his cologne. Good Lord, he smelled good when he wasn't wearing some expensive scent, but now he smelled divine.

As he walked into her living room, he glanced around. "This is a nice little house," he said. He looked back at her. "Are Finn and Rose here?"

Rey shook her head. "No, they went up to the lake."

"Why aren't you with them?"

"They needed some alone time," she explained. "Besides, I was busy," she added, motioning toward the coffee table.

Poe set down the hat and glasses in his hands on that coffee table, his eyes scanning the papers laying there. He focused on one of the sheets, and Rey immediately regretted bringing attention to them. He picked it up. "What's this?"

No sense in hiding anything. "A list of vet hospitals that I can intern at in January. If they're a good fit, they'll hire me on as an associate after six months."

He looked up at her, his eyes bright. "This one is Bee's vet, in Jackson."

She nodded. That's the one she had wanted to choose, if only because she was already in love with the area. She shrugged. "I most likely won't be doing the internship right away now, anyway."

He looked surprised. "What? Why?"

She hesitated. It's now or never. "It's actually why I was going to call you…"

Her phone started ringing and once more she jumped, startled. "Geez," she muttered as she made her way over to the phone. Poe didn't move out of her way, and she brushed against him as she reached for the phone. He was watching her intently, and she stepped back, looking at the screen. It was Finn.

"Hey," she said as she connected. "You have reception."

"Hey, yeah," Finn responded. "Barely. Just wanted to let you know we're going to stop and have dinner at that little diner up here," he said. "So, don't wait on us to eat tonight. Is that okay?"

"Of course, it's okay," she told him. Despite the fact that he and Rose were a couple, they always tried their best to include Rey in whatever they were doing. While Rey appreciated their efforts, it oftentimes made her feel guilty, too. She was more than happy when they allowed themselves to just enjoy each other. She glanced at Poe, who was still watching her with an almost severe expression. "You two take your time and stop worrying about me."

"All right," Finn said. "See you later, Peanut. Love you."

"I love you, too," she answered before the connection dropped. She tossed the phone lightly down on the table, glancing up at Poe once more. "Finn," she said unnecessarily, knowing he had probably seen her friend's name before she picked up the phone.

He nodded, then took a deep breath of his own. "Why did you leave?" he asked suddenly.

She stepped back, folding her arms in front of her defensively. "I thought it was best for both of us," she said. "I knew I didn't want to be a part of the media stuff, and you had a lot to do, so…"

He licked his lips, then pulled the bottom one into his mouth, biting it softly. Rey had to look away, the memory of that mouth on her body hitting hard. "Look," he continued. "I know that cameras and reporters and attention make you nervous, but we can work around that. Especially if you move to Jackson. I'm hardly ever recognized there and when I am it's a pretty mild reaction. No paparazzi."

Rey stared at him. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying… What we had… what we have… it's real. You know that, right?" He looked frustrated for a moment, running his fingers through his hair. "I love you." The words came out fast, but they were firm, and the look in his eye as he watched for her reaction was powerful.

Rey sucked in a breath, feeling dizzy. "I… I…" She was literally speechless.

He brought his hands up in a placating gesture. "Look, I know it may seem sudden. That to you it was just a bit of fantasy lived out in some real-life adventure story, but I know it's real. I think I knew it the moment I first saw you on the plane. It's not the result of a life-and-death experience speaking. I've been waiting for you my whole life, and if you're not sure or you can't reconcile my career with the man you got to know in the wilderness, then give me a chance to… court you. To help you fall in love with me. Please?"

His little speech had come out rushed, his eyes never leaving hers as he spoke. There was no pretense in his words or body language. This wasn't the superstar she had been crushing on for years. This was Poe, the man who had become a friend and a partner and…

"I love you, too," she whispered.

He straightened, his eyes bright and a smile slowly spreading on his face.

"And it's not your fame or the public attention that kept me from reaching out to you these past weeks," she continued. "It's that I was positive I was just a pleasant distraction to you, that I would just become a fond memory." She shook her head. "There's no way someone like you could fall in love with someone like me."

"Someone like you?" he scoffed. "What? Beautiful? Sexy? Smart? Tough? Caring?"

"Stop," she huffed a laugh.

His eyebrows rose. "I can go on."

"No," she smiled. "You really think this could work?"

"Why not?" he asked. "Even if you don't get the internship in Jackson, I have the means to travel wherever you are until you graduate, then we'll decide where to go from there."

The internship. Rey's smile faded. "About that," she said. "Like I said, I may not be able to do that internship right away."

His own smile dissolved. "Okay, why?"

Rey took a deep breath.

"I'm pregnant."

XXXXXX

Come on! You knew that was coming, didn't you?