Hi all! I'm finally back and another chapter is up. I really thought that this would be the chapter in which our duo finally gets free but once again my writing got the best of me. When I started writing, the words just flowed and I got carried away, so unfortunately, you'll have to wait for the great escape a little more - a chapter or maybe two;) And now relax and have a nice reading.

Chapter 31

The next morning came and soon Juliet started to wake up. She slept the whole night through very well but she wasn't quite ready to let the sleep leave her yet. She yawned and wanted to stretch but it turned out she couldn't – she was blocked by something. She was surprised at first and opened her eyes, instantly figuring out that something was none other than her partner. He was lying behind her, holding her tight against his chest. The woman smiled at that. Immediately she decided that getting up could wait a bit more as she wanted to stay with him as long as she could. She closed her eyes and let her mind relax, applying the technique she used during her yoga sessions. It didn't last long though as suddenly she heard Magnum's sleepy voice.

"Morning, Higgy."

A shiver ran down her spine when she felt his hot breath on her neck.

She smiled and replied. "Good morning, Thomas."

"Did you sleep well?" He asked her.

"Actually yes." Came out her answer. What she didn't tell him was the fact that it was the best well-slept night in a really long time.

"I never thought I'd spent Christmas Day in such a high-end place like this."

Juliet chuckled at her partner's words.

"You know that Robin's Nest is quite a high-end place too, right?"

"Yeah…"

"And it's even better because there aren't any armed men that guard you all the time and don't let you leave the building." She added.

"Well, now that you've mentioned it…" Magnum said with a smirk.

He didn't have to wait long for her reaction because when Higgins heard that, she instantly turned to him, wearing a stern look on her face as she had a feeling where this was going.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked, squinting her eyes at him.

"Hmm, those two Cerberus dogs of yours act very similarly to those men and they're armed too." He explained.

"Oh, really? Are they going to throw their toys at you?" She got back at him.

He laughed at that. "No, but their teeth are sharp enough to hurt me pretty badly and it happened a couple of times that they didn't let me leave the house." He told her.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for that." Juliet said but his face told her that somehow he didn't believe her.

"No, really, Magnum. I'm utterly sorry for everything those cute dogs did to you." She added, trying to hide her smile but failing miserably.

"Oh, I really like your sense of humor." Thomas spoke.

"Really?" She asked surprised. There was a sparkle of joy in her eyes. "Is there anything else you really like about me?"

"Hmm, let me think." He replied, pretending to wonder and taking too much time.

"Well?"

"There must be something that I really like about you…" He started and was smacked on his arm at once.

"Hey! Be gentle." He protested.

"We went through this, remember?" She stated.

"All right, I'll tell you." He finally gave up.

"So, what is it?"

"I really like your arms and hands when you have to be tough and you fight the bad guys so effectively." Magnum said and started to gently trace his fingers down her arm to her hand. "I really like your eyes which squint at me and seem to x-ray me every time I try to hide something from you."

Juliet chuckled at that but then she became serious when she noticed that he really meant what he had just said.

Magnum's hand moved to her face and was now slowly caressing her cheek. She instantly closed her eyes, gladly leaning into his delicate touch. She let her mind block off all the bad things that happened to them lately and focus solely on her partner's sensual touch and feelings it evoked.

Thomas noticed Higgins' reaction. He knew that once he started telling her this, there would be no turning back. He felt that she deserved to know the truth.

"I really like your gentle smile which appears on your face whenever we close a case and you realize that we managed to help someone who really needed it." He murmured and then he focused on her soft lips.

The moment she felt his finger touch her lower lip, her heart started pounding. She slightly opened her lips so he could have better access. He kept brushing her lips inch by inch and he was doing that deliberately as slowly as possible.

Then his hand suddenly froze and he took it away. That confused Juliet a lot and at once she opened her eyes to see what happened.

"Higgy… I need to tell you something." Magnum stated and she could tell that whatever was on his mind, must have been quite difficult for him.

"Okay."

"That day when you saved my life by performing CPR on me… you asked what I had remembered."

When she heard his words, she instantly got back to that fateful day and all the events that happened then, flashed in front of her eyes. And then she realized what he had already said at the end. She felt all the blood rush out of her head and she was really glad she was lying in bed and not standing because she wasn't quite sure if she wasn't going to faint.

Magnum continued. "Well, I wasn't totally honest with you. I think I remember hearing you say that you loved me."

Silence fell over the two of them. For Thomas it seemed to last for ages, he was so anxious about his partner's response and he waited with great anticipation.

"Yes, I said that." Higgins finally admitted, her voice quiet and slightly shaking. "And it wasn't because I was in shock that you had just died. I said it from my heart because it's true." She clarified and observed his face very closely to see his reaction.

It took him a moment but when it finally dawned on him, a broad smile appeared on his face.

"Good, because I wanted to tell you that I love you too. I love everything about you, even those things that seem to be annoying at times." Magnum told her with a smirk.

Now Juliet's heart was racing like a dog off its leash and free to run. Hearing her partner's words made her jump with joy and feel like she was floating in the air. Although they both had already admitted that they really meant a lot to each other, they never mentioned love before. Well, apart from that time Magnum mentioned. It was a big step for both of them but despite that, Juliet couldn't help but give a try at some teasing him a bit.

"Annoying, huh? Which is?"

"Oh, you have to admit that you being right all the time may be quite annoying." He told her with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Hey, I'm not right all the time." She protested strongly.

"Can you repeat that when I'll get my phone back? I'd really like to record that. I'd play that for you in case you forgot it." He stated.

"I wouldn't count on it, because I know when I'm right…" Juliet murmured and very slowly her head started to get closer to him. "And I can tell you that at this moment I'm definitely right when I say that I love you too." She stopped inches from him and was now barely touching his lips.

Magnum smiled at her. "In that case, Higgy, you can be right all the time." He told her, and not wasting any second more, he closed the short distance between them and captured her lips with his. They both closed their eyes, savoring the moment of love and great passion. For a short moment they forgot about those unpleasant past events and focused on the here and now, showing to each other all those feelings that were pent-up for so long now.

They were both so wrapped up in each other that at first they didn't notice the sound that was coming from behind the door. When it became louder, Higgins suddenly broke the kiss and froze in Thomas' arms.

"Magnum, did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" He asked, still a little dazed after their encounter.

They both froze, trying to hear any noise but for a few seconds there was none. The woman thought she had been wrong and her mind was playing tricks on her but then there it was again. Someone was definitely approaching and since they were hearing a one-way conversation, they drew a conclusion that this person was talking on the phone. Then there was a knock on the door and they heard Nick's voice.

"Juliet, Magnum, are you up?" The man knew that the way he acted would seem weird to the pair and definitely suspicious to the rest of the men working for the boss, but he really got to like the PIs and instead of marching into the room, he wanted to give them some privacy, at least as much as he could.

"Yeah, we're up." Came Magnum's brief answer.

"Good. Mr Burns wants you to join him for breakfast."

"What if we don't want to see him?" Magnum asked ironically.

"Well, I wouldn't do that if I were you, you know?" Nick replied on the other side of the door. "I'll come to get you in forty minutes." He said and with that he walked away.

"Urgh." Magnum muttered. "Do you think they take a special course in perfect timing?"

Higgins laughed out loud at her partner's reaction.

"Oh, come on, Magnum, time to get up."

"Yeah." He murmured. He wasn't very happy that Juliet would leave his side but in the end he crawled lazily out of bed.

Then, after taking quick showers, they put on the clothes which they found in the closet and half an hour later they were finally ready for breakfast with Burns and for meeting their fate. When they were waiting for Nick to show up to escort them downstairs, Thomas noticed something was wrong with his partner – Juliet was standing by the window, looking far ahead. She was silent for some time now and evidently something was on her mind. He could only guess that what made her seem to be miles away was caused by what was going to happen very soon. He hated it when she was anxious and he felt so helpless, like he really couldn't do anything about it. This time however, he decided that he'd try to make her feel at least a bit better. At first, he didn't know how to start, all he knew was that he should be careful.

"Higgy, is everything all right?" He asked quietly, waiting for her answer, but it wasn't coming for a few seconds which to Magnum seemed to last for an eternity.

"You know that nothing is all right." Her words came out as a mere whisper that could be barely heard.

He swallowed hard. He understood her so well.

"Juliet, look at me, please." He pleaded. He really needed to see her face.

It took her a moment before she finally turned and faced him. What he saw then, worried him greatly – the woman he loved so much and who was always so strong and self-assured, now was full of anxiety and fear. Magnum did the first thing that came to his mind and which he thought would be the best in this situation – he opened his arms and a second later Higgins buried herself in them.

"Listen, Higgy, I know that the situation is serious here but think about it this way – we've already been in a lot of positions that were equally serious and every time we've managed to come out of them alive." Thomas told her.

"And this one won't be any different. Do you know why?" He asked.

Juliet met his eyes and shook her head.

"Because I'm not planning on leaving you, partner, especially now that I finally know that you love me back."

His words made her smile and she couldn't resist giving him a quick loving kiss on the lips. Despite her affectionate gesture, he felt something was still bothering her.

"What's wrong?"

She wasn't surprised by that, he knew her so well that he could easily sense her mood.

"He'll want to hurt you."

Magnum swallowed hard. He was aware of the fact that she was right as Burns told them this himself but he had to be strong for his partner.

"In that case, I can promise you that I won't go down without fighting." He told her solemnly and Juliet realized that he really meant it.

"Yeah, I'll fight too." She stated with a determined expression on her face.

"Good, this is what I love about you – this fire within you and your strong determination."

They kissed tenderly and remained in each other's arms. Their conversation helped them a lot – they were much calmer now because they knew that whatever awaited them, they would go through this together.

I hope you liked it. So far, I've written three pages of the next chapter and a couple of scenes from some future ones. That's what I do when I get stuck with something - I write for the future chapters. Sometimes it's a small part, sometimes it's a whole chapter, which I'll use even a few months later. So, if you write yourselves and you feel that it's not going the way you'd like or that you feel overwhelmed by a particular scene, try the trick I use, maybe it'll help you.

Enough of my talking. It's a beautiful sunny day here in Poland so I'm going for a walk:) See you next time! Don't forget to review.