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It felt so good to be here in Liv's arms again, kissing her. Major had forgotten how much he loved to kiss her, how sweet her mouth tasted. Who needed Utopium when you could have this?

Slowly, one lingering kiss at a time, they were moving through her apartment toward her room. Major was in no hurry. He wanted to make this last, take his time.

Liv broke away at last. "What are we doing?" she asked breathlessly.

It was the old Major, her Major, who answered. "Well, it's hard to put a label on it just yet, but I'll get back to you in a minute." He kissed her again, loving the way she couldn't help but kiss him back. She had missed this as much as he had.

Finding a convenient wall at hand, Major pressed her gently against it and kissed the side of her neck, finding the spot unerringly. He knew all her spots. He couldn't wait to explore each one of them again.

But Liv was finding her way back to reality. "We should stop." He ignored her, kissing her ear, her head tilting aside to let him keep going, even as she continued, "We don't know enough about how zombie is transferred. All this kissing."

"I've been kissed by blonde Liv before. Still human," he breathed, reaching for her mouth again. He didn't want to stop. He had missed this, needed this, too much.

Liv put her hand over his mouth, pushing his head away. "But that wasn't as prolonged and there were no tongues involved." He reluctantly stopped trying to kiss her, but he held her there against him, not wanting to let her go. "Do you have any open sores in your mouth?" she asked.

"Sexy."

"How hard have you been brushing your teeth?"

"So hard." She wasn't really going to stop, was she?

She was. "That's it. Kissing moratorium until we're sure I didn't just turn you into a zombie."

But this was as close as he had been to happy as long as he could remember, and he wasn't giving it up so easily. "So we're going the Pretty Woman no kissing on the mouth route? I'm down."

Liv rolled her eyes. "Oh, my god, horny boys are the worst. When all your blood returns to the normal locations in your body, you're gonna care whether that makeout session's left you living, or living dead."

He supposed she had a point.

She stepped away, reaching a hand up to brush his hair back, the gesture so familiar and comforting that he closed his eyes, feeling a wave of exhaustion roll over him. "Besides," Liv said, "you look like you're barely on your feet. Better hold on to your energy, anyway." Her eyes studied his face. "You look awful. Major? What's been going on?"

"I—" He started to tell her about Ravi's experiment with the Utopium, but this wasn't Ravi's fault, and he didn't want her blaming Ravi for his failings. "Utopium."

"Utopium? Oh, Major."

He had been so afraid to tell her—to tell her any of it, really, how poorly he was coping with losing her and losing his whole life, and the terrible things he had done to make it seem bearable, afraid to see in her eyes that she despised him. But there was none of that there. Only sadness and love. She put her arms around him again and held him close, and for a minute he thought maybe everything was going to be all right.

Maybe it was more than a minute, because suddenly she was pushing at his shoulders. "Major. Don't fall asleep on me."

"So comfy."

"You're ridiculous." She disentangled herself from his arms and took his hand. "Come on, let's get you some rest."

"Yeah, I guess. If we have to." He yawned, then gave her the smile he knew she couldn't resist. "Cuddles?"

Liv narrowed her eyes, but she was smiling, too. "Couch."

"No, couch, really? Come on. Snuggles. I'll behave."

"Yes, well, maybe I can trust you … but I'm not sure I trust myself." Her thumb stroked the back of his hand. "Let's get you some sleep, and we'll talk more in the morning."

He felt like crap when he woke up on her couch, but better crap than he'd felt like in weeks. Except that his arm hurt. Opening his eyes, he saw Liv sitting next to him, a stethoscope in her ears, and she was … taking his blood pressure? Not sexy. Not sexy at all.

She ripped off the blood pressure cuff as Major rolled over and stretched. "How are you feeling?"

"Great. Who doesn't enjoy waking up to a beautiful woman cutting off his circulation?"

"Pulse seems normal. Color's okay. BP's 116 over 77." Doctor Liv. He loved Doctor Liv. Even pale and blonde, she was beautiful. "No alarm bells yet, but the truest test …" She reached for the steaming cup of rich dark beverage next to her and handed it to him. "Coffee."

He took a deep swallow, grimacing at the taste, and Liv immediately reached for the tray next to her.

"Is that look of disgust because you need cream and sugar, or do you need habanero?"

Major looked at her, then into the cup of disappointing liquid. "It's because you're still incapable of turning hot water and coffee grounds into a palatable beverage." She frowned at him, clearly not appreciating him taking her concerns lightly. Honestly, he had forgotten while he was sleeping what she was worried about, and had thought all this concern was regarding the Utopium. Which, he realized, he still hadn't told her much about. But he wasn't about to ruin this moment with that depressing topic. "Liv, relax," he told her, "I'd know if I turned into a zombie. I didn't."

"We got lucky," she said, unconvinced. Then she realized what she'd said.

"That's not how I remember it."

"I'll rephrase. We dodged a bullet." She looked away, her brow furrowing in thought. "You know what I keep asking myself?"

Major sat up. "Why? Why didn't the Seahawks just give the ball to Marshawn?"

She ignored him, the way she used to when she tried to be serious and he tried not to let her. God, he had missed this. Missed her. Missed them. "How stupid must we be? Unless there's a cure, we have no future as a couple."

Oh, no, she didn't. They'd already been down this road, and it had sucked. Hard. He wasn't going another step in that direction, not when the road back was wide open, with no traffic and prepaid tolls. "You sure about that?"

"Well, think about it. You've always wanted kids, that could never happen. No sex—and I know you're not ready to write that off."

He reached for her hand. "I seem to recall a couple of items on the menu that don't involve exchange of fluids."

She really wasn't going to let him sexy or cute her out of her head. "Well, I could be holding your arm walking down an icy sidewalk. I slip, I reach out for you, I scratch you. Instant zombie."

Major sat forward. "So far, it sounds to me like all of our problems could be solved with condoms and rock salt."

Liv put a hand on his shoulder. "You came over here because you needed help. We were best friends. Let's be that again."

She turned away as her phone buzzed, and Major watched her, feeling that indescribable warmth that came with being with Liv, being in love with Liv. This was what had been missing all this time. He wasn't letting it go again without a fight, even if it was Liv he had to fight.

"It's Ravi," she said. "Got a body. Sorry. I'll check in with you later. Okay? Friends."

He smiled. "Friends." And more. She just had to get used to the idea again. He could wait. He still had to tell her everything about the Utopium, to decide how much, or if, to tell her about Vaughn du Clark. But that could wait, too. As long as they were Major and Liv again, everything would be all right eventually. Major settled back against the couch cushions, feeling better already.