A/n: This is short, and kind of fluffy/sappy I don't know. But it was written in the early hours of the morning. (That much I remember...) And I put the date on the top of the paper, so I know it was written on October 8th of last year... :)

Most days Scully and I spend our lunch breaks together. When she isn't with me, I always get the feeling there's something wrong.

I resigned myself to finishing off my day with paperwork. I was, of course... curious as to where Scully was, and I stared at my silent cellphone resting on the edge of my desk. I willed it to ring. Come on Scully. Where are you?

After everything we had been through, and after her cancer... I had become far too over-protective of her. I knew that, but I couldn't change that. Sometimes when she fell asleep on my couch, I would surreptiously check for a pulse, or lean in close to feel her breath against my face. Occassionally I would grab her hand, and run my finger over the inside of her wrist finding her pulse point. I had this overwheming fear that she would leave me behind. I never really thought about her death, not until she had cancer. I never realised how alone I would be, and how little I could function without her.

I took a peek at her "area," of our office and quickly rifled through the papers on her desk. I looked up at her calendar and chuckled. I hadn't noticed it until now but she had one of those calendars with an inspirational quote for every day, how Scully-like. But the number on calendar glared menacingly at me. I realised what day it was, and my face fell. Oh God. It was the day Melissa died. I snatched up my car keys and rushed to the nearest florist.

I didn't notice the smell of the flowers, the bright colours blurred passed me as I quickly chose and bought a bunch of pink and white flowers that were right beside the counter. On my way out of the store, I noticed a single orchid, a deep pink in color. I ran my finger along the smooth green stem. The flower seemed to be smiling, it's petals opened up in a goofy grin.

--

When I arrived at the cemetery I followed the path to Melissa's grave site. I knew where it was by now. The crunching of the stones underfoot seemed to be deafening and a light wind whipped through the leaves adding to the noise of my shoes on the gravel. I felt like I was intruding, by making any noise at all.

Scully didn't acknowledge my presence at first. She turned her face away from me. I knew she was trying to hide the tears. I crouched next to her and handed her the pink orchid, she looked up at me questionally. I just nodded. It's for you Scully. The salmon pink Orchid danced on it's stem as the breeze went by and Scully raised it to her delicate nose and took in the scent. She closed her eyes for a moment, her beautiful blue eyes hidden from me. I don't think even she noticed the tear sliding down her face. She opened her eyes, smiling down at the orchid in her hand.

"Thank you, Mulder." She leant forward and unexpectadley placed her warm lips on my cheek. "Thank you," she choked out again, turning away from me. Was it me who had made her cry? I stared at the back of her head, and her soft red hair. I knew it was soft, I touched it every chance I got.

"Don't let me interupt," I told her quietly. "I'm leaving, you can talk to her." I sat for a moment, to make sure she was okay. But just as I was about to leave her hoarse-from-crying voice broke the silence that had enveloped us.

"Stay with me Mulder," we stood, and I grabbed her hand; squeezing it lightly. We looked down at Melissa's grave. My pink and white flowers next to Scully's brightly coloured ones.

I remembered a silent promise I had made so many years ago... a silent promise to protect her no matter what and I knew it was one promise that I would never break... could never break.

The End.