A/N: So, this is the second story I publish within two days, and that's a new record for my current me. This one's a little different than my usual stories, though; I wrote this together with the lovely Theresa (teaandcookies1000, go on, read her stories!). We both had a lot of fun writing this, because at first we didn't take it seriously but we ended up writing, in our opinion, a very sweet and tender fic. I hope you feel the same way!

Also, did I mention this is M-rated? Not a strong rating... okay, according to Theresa, yes it is. Well it's M-rated in any case, so if you don't like that kind of stuff, don't read!

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, Theresa doesn't own anything either. Sadly.

'The real thing'

She knew that sex, to her, wasn't emotionally interesting. The only partner who had sparked some romance in the bedroom was Greg. She knew for sure her opinion of him wasn't neutral because their time together had been her first. Didn't everybody think that the first time was romantic and sweet?

She laid down on her back on top of the bed, her legs already spread. Marcus smiled and lowered himself on her, kissing her lips and caressing her breasts. She only barely managed to stifle an almost bored sigh when his lips moved down to her neck. He was in love with her and she didn't want to break his heart, but she didn't return the feeling at all. She liked him, sure, but anything more than that was non-existent within her.

He looked up at her and smiled again, linking their lips as he slipped inside her. She sighed and tried to focus on the feeling of him moving inside of her, trying to move her to that high he could never take her to. And if he was there, she would usually fake it just to make it better for him.

God, she was a horrible person.

She ran her hands through his hair and kissed his neck, and he picked up the speed. Still, she felt nothing.

She felt even more when she was on her own, and that wasn't a good thing. What if she thought about something else? Or rather… someone else. She realized the reason she always managed to feel good when she did it herself. She always thought about one person and one person only.

She closed her eyes and swallowed. She would hurt Marcus if this went wrong, and it probably would.

She focused her thoughts. Within a few seconds, she didn't see Marcus working above her. All she saw were blonde curls and green eyes, a blinding smile and perfect teeth. She gasped softly and grabbed his forearms. Just for a second the man making love to her wasn't Marcus but Jane… and in this short amount of time she realized. She realized that he was all she wanted.

Her belly warmed and she was getting light-headed. Without opening her eyes, she pulled him down and kissed his lips, whispering words of love against them. She felt her cheeks getting pink and she was getting breathless, pulling away from his lips only to take a breath. His arms wrapped around her chest and pulled her even closer. Suddenly it was there, and the entire world crumbled around her and she flew into the sky. She lost all conscious thought except for Jane's lips on her neck and him still moving inside her.

Oh he felt so good inside her and she really asked herself why they hadn't done this earlier?! Screw the regulations! Screw Jane! She would do everything to feel this again, every day for the rest of their lives.

As she came down, she noticed he was close too, his movements erratic. As she felt he came too, she came again, not as strongly as before but it still felt wonderful.

"Oh Patrick…" she sighed. He stopped. Gripped her arms gently.

"Teresa?"

"Yes, hon-...?" Wait. She stilled. That wasn't Jane's voice… that was Marcus'. Her eyes shot open. All she saw was hurt in his eyes. It took a while until he pushed away from her and when he did, he instantly sat at the edge of the bed, his back turned towards her.

"What… what did you just say?"

Words were forming in her head but none of these letters came out. Instead all she could do was stare at his back and let her mouth fall open like a fish' on the shore.

"How long has this been going on, Teresa?" he asked her after long minutes. She sat up and desperately pulled her knees to her chest.

"It was the first time. I swear."

He turned towards her. "Why didn't you just go with him." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

And with that, he got up, got dressed and left the room before she could say anything more. She fell back against the pillow with a loud thud that accompanied the feeling of her heart breaking in two pieces. She could always give half of her heart to both the men fighting for her now, but she knew she couldn't be loyal to both. She turned around and buried her face into her pillow, letting go of all the tears she hadn't released when she should have.

She should have told him years ago. She should have held onto him longer when they saw each other again after two years. She should have told him then.

Instead, she was just as big as coward as he was, hiding her emotions simply because she was afraid of what was between them - it was real. It was frightening. It was beautiful. But she didn't know what to do with the feeling. Now that she thought about it, it had all been her fault somehow. If she hadn't talked to him like she'd done that day on the plane maybe he'd have said something. Maybe he wouldn't have watched her slowly floating farther and farther away from her. He thought that it was what really fulfilled her and what made her happy. He must've thought about the words a lot.

"You think you know what is good for my life, but you haven't been part of my life for two years!"

No wonder he had just done nothing, had let her be 'happy' when he thought that he was too far away from her...

She had messed it all up! It was her fault that she was in this misery now.

But was now the time to tell him? No. She couldn't make the first move. If he wasn't ready, she would ruin everything that was left between them. She needed a few days to let everything that had happened in her head tonight sink in. Then, perhaps she could make better decisions.

~...~

The day after she couldn't focus on anything. It didn't come as a surprise to herself that she left work earlier than usual, which of course alerted Jane. When she was sitting on her couch at home, her thoughts kept on returning to him.

She should simply call him. He was her best friend after all. Best friends could discuss anything together… couldn't they?

She was shaking when she reached for her phone. Jane was still on the first speed dial and she pressed it, hesitantly lifting it to her ear. It only rang two times before he picked up.

"Teresa?"

"Y-yes… I… can you come over… or can I come over?"

"Uhm… of course, Teresa. I'll be there in about seven minutes."

He hung up the phone and she let out a deep sigh, shuddering because of her tiny little sobs.

~...~

It was no surprise to her that he arrived exactly seven minutes later. When she opened the door she knew immediately that he could see what had happened. Yet he remained in his position, though she could see his hands were itching to touch her.

"Did you fight?"

"I… uh…"

She looked down at her feet and wanted to close the door. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

"He didn't hurt you, did he?"

"Jane, I…" She looked up into his eyes. She found nothing but concern and worry which quickly turned into realization. He stepped towards her and wrapped his arms tightly around her. As she buried her head against his chest, she couldn't stop the tears anymore from flowing. She had been such a fool! She had only realized it fully when she felt his arms protecting her. It were the only arms she ever wanted to be in.

He was looking down at her, his arms tightening even more around her. He gently made her look at him, as soon as she did he slowly bowed down and linked their lips. Lovingly. Lightly. His kiss went so slow that soon, she was moving to deepen it. His hands roamed her body, searching and asking. She sobbed against his lips.

His arms pulled her even closer, until she herself couldn't pull away from him. Her knees gave up and he lifted her with his arms around her waist. When they could manage to pull apart, he put his forehead to hers. He had a small smile on his lips and he was panting. Yet the worry was still there, lingering in his eyes.

"I thought of you," she blurted out, her voice barely more than a whisper. "When… when Marcus and I…"

She needn't say more. He understood it all. But still, she couldn't stop herself from continuing with talking.

"It just made it easier because… because he's a nice man and I like him but I don't love him… and it didn't feel right to have…. " she took a deep breath and continued "...to have sex with someone I don't love. Not now. Not when I finally realized that I… that I love you. When I thought about you while… that… it felt wonderful and I know it was wrong, and I hurt Marcus and I… but it felt so good."

He stared at her for a few long seconds, then just nodded and kissed her again. This time, it was a passionate one, one that made her insides quiver with anticipation and her head foggy. She noticed he was lifting her again, but she was too confused to think about where he was taking her. Only when she felt the soft covers of her bed touching her back did her eyes fly open and head pull back.

Jane simply smiled, leaned over her and kissed her again. Soon, his lips left hers to kiss her nose, place a peck on both her closed eyelids. He made his way to her neck and sucking gently there, making her let out an unexpected moan.

"I'll show you what it will be really like with us, Teresa," he breathed against her skin, making her shiver. Parts of her awoke and reacted to his words, parts Marcus never managed to interest. Now that she thought about it, no man had ever managed to make her feel like this - not while she was still fully clothed, at least.

He kissed her collarbone.

"Because it's not just sex with us."

He pulled down the collar of her shirt and kissed lower and lower, until he reached the valley between her breasts.

"I think you know too that it will be far more than that."

He kissed the swell of one breast while the hand he wasn't leaning on stroked its way down her side until it was resting on her hip.

"It will be us, making love."

Making love. That was what had been missing all this time. She was so warm and felt so loved already she was about to explode.

He sat down beside her legs and wrapped his arms around her. He pulled her up so she was sitting. As he looked into her eyes, he pulled up the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head, throwing it to the side. His eyes darted to her breasts, now bare before him, and she saw his pupils dilate.

"It will be me, showing you that I'm in love with you."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and fell back, pulling him with her so that he was half on top of her. His arm reached out to pull her legs closer until the top one was wrapped around his hips. He smiled and kissed her again.

His words. His kisses. His love and attention. They were all enough to arouse her beyond words, so close just from being inside his arms, and he wasn't even inside her yet.

"It will be you, showing me you love me back."

She ran her hands through his curls as she linked their lips again, not even thinking about taking a breath first. All she wanted right now was him, against her, around her, inside her. HIM.

He managed to tear his lips from hers to continue his exploration of her body. Now that her breasts were exposed, he had enough of her to discover. He started licking, first gentle but when she arched her back, pushing her breasts into his face, he sucked, in just the way. She was feeling lightheaded and already felt the orgasm building in her belly.

"Oh Patrick," she breathed and looked down at him. He was looking at her while he was kissing her breasts, a smile not on his lips but in his eyes, it made fireworks explode behind her eyelids. She gripped his curls tightly with both hands while she came. He came up to kiss her and then pulled back but didn't move anymore. When she came down, she opened her eyes and looked at him.

He had never looked more beautiful to her than he did now.

"I love you," he whispered and smiled. She kissed those smiling lips, feeling the smile becoming a grin underneath her lips. "Oh, I love you so, Teresa."

She bit her lower lip. She traced his lips with her left index finger.

"I love you, too."

He smiled so brightly, she thought he was definitely hurting his cheeks now. He leaned down and buried his face in her neck, his arms around her chest. She could feel his smile against her skin and she closed her eyes and smiled, too. This was finally happening. After years of wanting it, fantasizing about it in the most horrible ways, they were finally here. Together. In each other's arms.

She felt tears forming in her eyes but she knew they were of happiness. She felt so good here, where she had needed to be all her life. She never wanted to leave this bed and him ever again.

He lifted his head again after minutes of cuddling. His cheeks were slightly red and the corners of his lips tilted.

"Now, where were we," he whispered, a slight rasp in his voice. At this point, it either had to be caused by love or lust - she hoped it was both.

She couldn't stop the chuckle from escaping her mouth, causing him to chuckle too. The sound was so beautiful to her. She knew she would never forget it. Even if she did, she now knew what would trigger it, so she could hear it whenever she wanted to.

He didn't spend a lot of time on finesse after that. He simply tucked his fingers in the waistband of her shorts and panties and slipped them down her legs in one fluent movement. He resumed kissing her breasts, her skin hot all over. He moved down her body, a trail of kisses setting her skin even more aflame. As he kissed her where she needed him the most, she cried out and grabbed handfuls of the sheets beside her.

He licked her close to her orgasm without trouble, knowing exactly where to touch her. He knew precisely how to move two fingers inside her to hit the perfect spot. He was so gentle with her, handling her with love and care but not shying away from showing her exactly how well he knew her. When she came again, her mind once again dissolving into fireworks, she faintly noticed him moving away from her. She started sobbing with the force of her orgasm and reached for him, but he wasn't there, and her high was quickly replaced with panic. She lifted her head but it was soon gently pressed down back into the pillow, his soft lips on hers reassuring her.

When she reached out to touch his arms she noticed his shirt was gone. Her eyes opened and it fell on his naked chest, then drifted down to the rest of his now deliriously naked body. So, so beautiful, she could hardly take a breath. She wanted this forever, this beautiful sight in front of her, for the rest of her life. And by the way he looked into her eyes, she knew she would get just this, and nothing less.

He spread her legs with one hand, opening her flesh gently as he lead himself to her. She was breathless, gasping for breath and he wasn't even inside her yet. Her eyes shut closed as she felt the first inches of him slid inside her, but he stilled and it made her look at him.

"Look at me, Teresa. See that it's me making love to you."

His voice, full of passion and lust, made her look at him. And it was him, not simply a projection of her most primal fantasies but actually him, in the flesh.

"Oh god," she breathed and gripped his upper arms. It was too much, the pleasure almost making her explode, she was sobbing, tears streaming down her cheeks. He kissed her cheeks to rid them of the tears, and started moving inside her. He slipped inch for inch into her until he was buried as deep as he could go. He was touching places no man had ever touched, physically and emotionally.

"Patrick," she gasped, and he was there, kissing her, still letting her know he was there. Their kisses were open mouthed and frantic, fueled by the lust that had been there for a long time. She cried out when he started moving inside her, heightening the sensations to an insane level. She was sure she confessed her love for him a million times as he made love to her but she wasn't sure. All she could focus on were his eyes fixed on her, watching her every move. The pupils dilated so much that she couldn't even see the green anymore.

He stilled his movements. He wrapped his arms around her chest and flipped them over, still embedded firmly inside her. She was laying on top of him now, and she was shaking with the realization of what she could do in this position. She kissed his lips softly, lips trembling, and then pushed off his chest. She tried to move on top of him but she soon found out that her arms just wouldn't support her and he picked up on it, too.

"Just take me," she whispered into his ear. "I don't… care about control… just take me, I'm yours, take me… Patrick."

And he did, gently pushing her onto her back again and he started moving inside her. His movements designed to bring both of them release, and he delivered, panting her name into her ear within minutes. She had lost count of her orgasms at that point, she was simply a quivering mess underneath him, receiving his love and attention.

When he came too, spending inside her, he collapsed on top of her, only noticing a few moments later that he might be suffocating her.

They lay tangled up against the other, not knowing where one started and the other ended.

She looked up at him, a smile gracing her lips.

Yes. She wanted this for the rest of her life. The real thing.

A/N: So, let me/us know! It would be super appreciated!