...until now

Reese is taken by surprise as Angelica draws so near. Though they often both worked late, usually it was on separate projects, so even if they were two of the very few in the building, they sometimes didn't even cross paths.

He leans his face into her hand a little, looking into her eyes with a bit of puzzlement, mixed with the strangest gaze of admiration. Being drawn into her kiss, his arms automatically slide around her, his hands resting lovingly on her back as he returns the sweet gesture.

Though she pulled back, he didn't let her go far, his arms still around her. Hearing her words, it's without warning that moisture reflects in his eyes. "I... I wasn't sure if I believed you," he admits quietly. A little bit of color comes to his face. He'd overheard her and David. Though he hadn't seen them kiss, he had heard his plea for her to go with him and he'd heard her answer. "What you told David was... I mean, I..."

He swallows hard and moves one of his hands to run it down Angelica's face, his thumb tracing over her lips and jawline. "I feel so undeserving," he finally manages softly. "I haven't... it's been a long time." Why he felt like he was falling to pieces now, he wasn't so sure. He was just as glad that they were the only ones on the dim main floor at the moment. "I haven't been told I was loved by a woman since Wyatt's mom."

A part of his heart was still clinging to the past, while another part was clawing its way to the surface, begging for him to allow himself to be loved again. Looking down into Angelica's eyes, he searches for the truth in her words. Tonight was not a night he had been prepared for this barrage of emotions. They were emotions that he usually only let show when he was alone at night with no one else to see. No one ever saw him stare blankly out the window, overcome in total loneliness on the rainy days. No one ever saw the tears run down his face as he flipped through old photo albums, his heart yearning for the love that had been taken from him. No one ever saw him dance in the dark to an old song, his arms around an invisible shadow that only his heart could see.

"I miss it." His words are choaked out as he fights for control. It shouldn't have been hard. He felt rather foolish for this display, but it seemed he couldn't help it. "I hide behind my work because I'm afraid... I'm afraid to let go of the things that have become shadows because I've clung to them for so long."

"If I ever I die, Mike, don't spend your life in loneliness."

"What a morbid topic. Pass me the popcorn."

"I mean it... please, I'm serious."

"Alright... but... why now?"

"Because these times with you are so special. I'd never trade them for the world and they make me feel like nothing else... and I know you feel the same."

"I do."

"So I don't want you to miss out on these times if I was ever gone."

"It's still morbid. We've only been married six months."

"Promise me, Mike. Promise if something ever happens that you'll move on. You deserve it."

Reese's eyes seem to come back from a journey that had only taken a split second, yet had taken him so very far away. He focuses on Angelica again, a new resolve forcing him to begin letting go. "And I've been afraid to love you. I know I haven't done all the things maybe you want... and I haven't gone out of my way enough times to show you I care. I was just... afraid. But Angelica..."

His other hands comes up to cradle the other side of her face. "...you've proven the impossible. That this heart can love again. I was just too afraid to admit it... until now."


Kip laughs and gives Karla back a big hug. "Woohoo! World, here we come!" Without thinking, he gives Karla a kiss on the forehead with a loud, "Mwah! You are going to be a fantastic manager!"

Kyle turns his head to Alice, a smile spreading as his eyes twinkled. For once, he wasn't dancing around with the others or being silly. He was too overcome. "We still got a long way to go," he mentions. "They may like us, but they may not have a spot for us."

Straightening up, he pulls Alice into a hug and kisses her head. "But we made it the first leg of the race... we did it... and that includes you. Without you, I never would be here right now."