Title: Those bloody questions!
Chapter 8: All's well that ends well…
Author: Ann
Rating: (G to NC-17): G
Spoilers/Warnings: None
Summary: Ranger tells Stephanie how he feels

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine except Aurelia, I just play with them

Final chapter and a short one (sorry about that, hope you still like it). Please review!

"So, yes, you want me to never leave you?" I almost whispered these words. This was the most important question. This was it. Yes meant that he was serious about trying a relationship. But no…

More questions!

I held my breath. This was it, if he said no, all would be lost. Then it would be friendship only. But if he said yes, then he was essentially saying he wanted to be with me, that he loved me. He looked at me, and time seemed to stand still. I realised that my question put him in a very difficult situation. I mean, there is a lot between exploring a relationship and saying you never want to leave each other. I mean, thinking about it, I basically asked him to marry me! Oh shit, he could only say no! What was I thinking, why did I talk before I thought this through. Damn, damn, damn! I realised that I had been lost in the private whirlwinds that are my thoughts and refocused on Ranger.

"Babe." What! What did that mean? And why did it look like he was thinking about smiling? I tried to look as pissed off as I felt. It didn't seem to work, since Ranger was now definitely smiling.

"Come on, answer my question!" I was getting upset. I had almost poured my heart out and he was laughing?

"Are you saying that you are in love with me?" Oh, the devil! He asked me to show all my cards and he hadn't really given me anything.

"What if I am?" He looked thoughtful for a moment. Then a 2000 watt smile showed on his face.

"That would be the best news I heard in a very long time." My heart jumped. Yes! Time to get him to admit to his feelings a little bit more definite than this word game.

"And how do you feel about me? Are you falling in love with me?" All time seemed to stop

"Yes…, yes I am…" The breath that I was unaware of holding rushed out of me and I felt a huge smile forming on my face.

"You do? You are falling in love with me too?" Oh my, I sounded like a stupid 17 year old!

"Come here." I almost ran the last meter to the bed and our lips met in a long and deep kiss. This felt really good! After a while, could be minutes could be hours, we broke apart and looked deeply into each others' eyes. There was still a lot left unsaid, but this felt really right. The beginning was here, and we would all just have to see how things developed. Just as we wanted to kiss again, Lily made herself heard. We froze as if we were caught, but then had to laugh. Ranger picked up the kitten again and said:

"We better go down again, before Aurelia comes up to save you." I just smiled at him. He grabbed my hand and together we walked down, ready to announce to the world that we were together. Or maybe just his family for now…

The end.

I'm thinking about whether or not I should make a sequel to this. Any comments?