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He tried to catch her one more time as she changed the next morning but in his zeal to get around the corner quickly, he stumble-hopped into the wall, crashing gracelessly then slid to the floor. Scully appeared in the hall immediately, fearing he’d finally killed himself but instead found him grinning on the ground, rubbing a goose egg on his forehead, “I should probably stop trying to sneak a peek at you.”
She shook her head, then crouched down beside him, “just can’t wait a few more days, can you?”
Unabashedly ogling her breasts, rounded and smooth under the Lucky Charms t-shirt she stole from him five minutes earlier, “Lucky Charms indeed.”
She stood, leaving him prone, “I’m going to take the bags down while you think about what you’ve done, young man.”
He bit his tongue from firing back with ‘and more about what I haven’t done yet’ because he was a gentleman, after all, and sitting with a smile, he gave her a minute or two before he began scooting down the stairs, dragging his ever-present crutches behind.
She had the car packed within the hour and once done, she came back in, grabbing them the two granola bars and the pudding cup with disposable spoon she’d left on the counter, then beckoned him out to the back porch. They both settled on the steps, eating the bars and sharing the pudding. Eventually holding out the last spoonful to her, “I wonder what your mom is making for dinner?”
“Should we tell her we’re coming back today,” he watched her lick the spoon clean, his fingers bobbing under the pressure of her tongue against plastic, “or just drop on by and surprise her?”
He went full-on male for a moment and never heard a word she said, the processing power needed for what he just witnessed demolishing any rational thought capabilities he had. It was only when he saw her lips curve into a radiant smile to rival the sun rising overhead that he woke back up, “what?”
Her smile grew exponentially, “you are totally my Mulder, aren’t you?”
“Was there every any doubt?”
&&&&&&&&&&&
The drive home was easy; traffic was easy, food was easy, music was easy, his hand in hers was easy, her palm on his thigh was easy …
The mini-make-out session they had in the back of the rest area parking lot was very easy.
It was nearly five when they pulled to a stop in front of Maggie’s house, the pair recognizing Dave’s car as well as Charlie’s. Scully turned the car off but didn’t get out, her fingers around the steering wheel, “are we actually doing this, Mulder? Are we going to go in there and proclaim whatever the hell we are now because honestly, I really don’t know and it makes me nervous to think that Dave and Charlie and Sarah and Joanna and my mother will be the first witnesses to the train wreck that is ‘Mulder’n’Scully: the Early Years’.”
Peeling her fingers from the fake leather, he held her hand a minute, “first, we are well beyond ‘The Early Years’. Everybody who has ever seen us interact and is not your older brother is expecting this. They’ve witnessed the flirting and the near-death hospital bed vigils and the quarantines and the card games and plenty enough Sunday dinners that at this point, Charlie or Dave are going to beat me if something doesn’t happen between us.”
Finally turning towards him, “can we maybe just sit on this a little longer? Possibly … pretend we haven’t exchanged spit and red M&Ms?”
“Is this the freak out I should be expecting or is this just the tip of the iceberg?”
There was no annoyance in his tone, his demeanor still relaxed, still perfectly Mulder in every way and she was grateful for it, “I would just like to get us together in some ordered fashion before we bring in the masses, all right?”
“So … right now … we’re just … two friends who’ve spent six weeks together in two countries surfing, breaking shit and getting drunk?”
One side of her mouth pulled up, her eyes crinkling in amusement and memories, “maybe substitute ‘shit’ for ‘stuff’ given there will be kids present.”
Kissing her knuckles, he knocked them against his chin, “come on, woman, I’m hungry.”
Scully got out, grabbing the bag of souvenirs from the backseat before meeting him beside the bumper, “ready for some chaos?”
“When am I not?”
Starting across the lawn, the front door of Maggie’s house opened, several children tumbling out, racing towards the pair, yelling ‘Aunt Dana’ and ‘Mulder’ as they surrounded them, demanding stories of sharks and aliens and asking about presents. Once Scully had shoo’ed them back inside with promises to answer all questions, Mulder tugged on her arm, “Scully?”
“Yeah?”
“They just answered your question.” When she gave him a confused look, he shrugged and nodded towards the house, amusement playing on his face, “about what we are? We’re ‘Aunt Dana’ and ‘Mulder’ and that appears to be damn good enough for them so it is damn good enough for me.”
“Is it damn good enough for me?”
“Damn right.”
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Maggie just shook her head when they wandered into the house a minute later, hugging tightly first, then, “leave it to you two not to call. Luckily I made extra food.”
Mulder kissed her on the cheek, “I could have invited a platoon with me, Maggie and there still would have been leftovers but it was your kid’s idea not to call so yell at her while I go sneak something from the oven.”
The rest of the time before dinner and the entire meal showcased Mulder at his finest storytelling abilities. Scully hadn’t really sat and thought about everything they’d been through in the last month and a half and listening to Mulder, she realized tonight would just be the beginning. At one of the few moments Mulder stopped to breathe and everyone calmed enough to hear her, she promised plenty of pictures the following Sunday, complete with more adventures she couldn’t remember at the moment but she was sure Mulder had managed to document on his ever-present camera.
Eventually, they had finished dinner and were in the living room, discussing who was hungry for the waiting dessert of pie and ice cream. About to make a joke about Scully still looking for a piece of pie she might like, instead Mulder watched her cup her hand under her nose to catch the flow of blood streaming down. Grabbing the dishtowel from over Maggie’s shoulder, he held it up, moved it under Scully’s now dripping hand and seamlessly helped her scoot it below her nose. She turned towards the stairs to go clean up, hoping most people hadn’t noticed and shook her head, motioning him back when he tried to follow.
After she’d disappeared, he rotated on his good foot, knowing what he’d find; a roomful of silent people staring after Scully, looks ranging from confused interest by the kids to fear from the adults to downright terror from Maggie. She looked like she was going to faint, going whiter than eggshells and Mulder shifted to guide her to sit in the nearest chair, which Charlie vacated promptly, “she’s fine, Maggie. She’s perfectly fine.”
Looking like she didn’t believe him, “that hasn’t … that hasn’t happened since … she was sick.”
“She’s fine. I swear to you, she’s fine.” He knew there were other words for fine but at that very second, he couldn’t think of any, relegating himself to sounding like a parrot, regurgitating the same word over and over. Taking a deep breath, “the same thing happened at the beginning of vacation and when we got to San Diego, we went to the hospital and they ran tests and gave her an MRI and everything is fine. Honest to God, everything is fine.”
Maggie stood, then stopped, hovering over her chair, trying to decide whether to follow her daughter, “you are telling me everything?”
“I swear to you. It’s happened a few more times but she really is okay. I would not lie about this to you, I swear. She really is fine. All the tests and the scans came back clear. They told her her iron was low. That’s it.” Watching carefully, Mulder put his hands on Maggie’s shoulders, leaning over to look her square in the eye, “if you are feeling the same thing I did for that three days, there is no earthly way I would keep you in the dark about anything, I promise you.”
He could see the relief creep in, taming the panic somewhat until she nodded, “all right. Should I go up?”
“I’ll go. Sit back down and take a deep breath, all right?”
Deciding he’d just defined them as a pair, he waited until Maggie sat down, then hopped to the bottom of the stairs, one hand on the bannister, one on the railing, “Scully!?!”
His yell startled her as she struggled into one of the t-shirts she’d grabbed from the stash she always left behind, and coming to the top of the steps, “what?!”
“I love you!!”
Nearly falling down the stairs, she held onto the railing at the top, looking at him, eyes wide, “what?”
Dave, lovable, pain in the ass cousin Dave, from his place lying on the floor, “He said he loved you! Are you deaf now or something? Answer him back, for God’s sake.”
“Yes, I heard him, Dave, thank you!”
“Welcome!”
Shaking her head, she gave Mulder a tilting, serious look, “why do you say that now?”
“What’d she say?”
“Shut up, Charlie!”
“Kiss my toe, Dana!”
Maggie smacked her son on the knee, “quiet.”
Grinning at his mother, “well, she needs to talk louder, Ma, or else we’re never going to hear anything.”
Mulder, his own smile wide, looked up at his partner, “get down here, Scully.” Giddy to her core in a sudden rush, she smiled at him, then hiked up her shirt and bra, flashing him for a moment before settling the cotton smooth and walking down the steps. Mulder let out a laugh that made the room smile but by now, he’d forgotten about them, only having eyes for her as she stopped two steps above him, lined up perfectly with his mouth, which he stared at for a long moment, “What was that for?”
Leaning in, forehead to forehead, nose to nose, “you’ll never catch me otherwise so I thought I’d help you out a little.”
Eyes shutting, “I would give you every red M&M in the world if I could.”
“I love you, too. You have no idea how much.”
This time, it was Maggie who chimed in, totally out of character and not caring in the slightest, “would you just kiss her already? Some of us have ice cream and pie to serve.”
So, he did.
Again.
And again.
And again.