Next day was a slow work day for Noelle- which she was thankful for since it gave her time to catch up on paperwork. She was halfway through the huge stack of files when she was called to a loft in Bushwick. From the moment she walked into the dilapidated apartment, it was clear to see what kind of lifestyle the young adults living there had. She wrinkled her nose as the scent of overflowing trash and dirty laundry hit her nose.

Hearing noises in one of the back rooms, she realized that must be where all the action was. She glanced over at her co-worker Will and nodded toward the noise to let him know where they should be heading. As soon as she stepped into the room, she saw Danny and Jackie turn their heads when they heard someone enter the room.

She walked over to them and gave them a greeting. Jackie gave one back before telling her partner she was going to look around for clues. Noelle took a step closer to the body, a young man- late teens if she had to guess. He was on the floor, slumped back against the wall with a gunshot wound in the forehead.

She told Danny her first impressions, which he wrote down, then while Will began to take pictures of the body, she stood up and took a couple of steps back to stand beside Danny.

"I take it this is your case," she said, stating the obvious.

"Yeah, and it's just taken a turn for the worst." Danny sighed. "This was the boyfriend of the kidnapped victim. The two were faking it and apparently brought in a third person, which obviously didn't work out for them." He gestured toward the dead body of Drew Leland.

"I'm sorry, Danny," she said sincerely. She could tell this turn in the case was hitting him hard and she felt bad for him. She also felt bad for the poor girl who was somewhere out there now with a murderer. She had no doubt Danny would find her though, which is what she told him.

"I hope you're right, Little Bit."

"So is this the case from the other day? The one that Baylor showed up for the ransom?" she questioned, earning a nod as a response.

"Yeah, but don't worry, I have a BOLO out for Baylor. When he pokes his head out of hiding, we'll know it," Danny said, hoping to reassure her. After she nodded her head to thank him, he looked over at her from the corner of his eye. "After last night, I understand that comment you made at the station a little more now."

"Which comment?" she questioned, playing dumb. She knew which comment he was talking about, it was the same one that set Jamie off too.

He didn't say anything as he turned his head to look at her- the look on his face let her know he wasn't falling for her act. "I know you're scared, but don't even think about disappearing on us, Little Bit. If you ever try, I will find you and I will drag your ass back here- after I kick it- do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I hear you." She nodded. "But don't worry, your brother has already chewed me out about it."

"Good. You should listen to the kid," he stated. "And you should listen to me when I say we're gonna catch the creep. I'm gonna do everything on my end, but I need you to trust me."

"I've always trusted you, Danny," she said honestly. "I trust all of you, this was never about trust...I just don't want to lose any of you."

Seeing his partner calling him over, he gave Jackie a nod, then looked back at Noelle and gave her a quick kiss on the side of the head. "You couldn't if you tried, Little Bit."

She gave him a soft smile before he walked over to Jackie- who informed him one of the roommates was there. While Danny went over to question him, Jackie walked back over to Noelle and her co-worker to see what was going on.

"Well, he's dead," Will said, stating the obvious. "And it looks like it hurt like a bitch too."

"You don't say?" Jackie said sarcastically.

Noelle chuckled at the comment, then nodded her head toward her co-worker. "Don't pay attention to him. He has a weird sense of humor."

"I should probably be offended by that, but actually I'm honored that you noticed that," Will joked with her. He jutted his thumb toward an exit, then told her he forgot something from the van and he'll be back in a few.

"Did Danny tell you we got the test back from last night?" Jackie asked her once the two were alone.

"No, he didn't mention it." Noelle shook her head.

"You were right, he left no prints behind. We also tested the lipstick he used to write the message and the only prints on there were yours."

Noelle wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed her hands up and down her arms. She realized he had stolen the lipstick from her apartment, then used it to leave Jamie a message to try to scare him away. The message seemed to have an opposite effect though, it made him want to stick to her like glue.

She was grateful for that, she always loved spending time with Jamie, but she still couldn't help but worry about what Jimmie might do next.

"I can't imagine how difficult this is for you, but we are doing all we can to stop this guy," Jackie said.

"I know," Noelle said, giving her a genuine smile.

"I know it's hard, but just try not to stress yourself out over this. I know you're scared and have every reason to be, but you are well protected so you can relax. You can start living your life again," Jackie said, hoping to put her mind at ease. "For example, today is Valentine's Day, and from the looks of you and Jamie last night, I think it's safe to say you two probably have big plans tonight."

"Yeah." She couldn't keep a grin from her face. "He says he has something planned tonight, but he won't tell me anything, which drives me crazy and he knows it. He knows I hate surprises."

"I'm right there with you, girl. I hate surprises too." Jackie made a face. "I had this guy tell me one time he had a big surprise for me and told me to pack a bag. I thought I was gonna get this great vacation out of him, but instead, he took me upstate to meet his family, then later gave me his grandmother's ring as a promise that we would get married one day."

"That's kinda sweet."

"It was our third date."

"Oh, never mind." Noelle wrinkled her nose. "That's not sweet at all, that is straight-up weird."

"Right, that's what I thought," Jackie said in agreement. "Although compared to my ex-husband maybe I should have married him."

Noelle laughed at her joke. "Well, on the bright side, at least I don't have to worry about that with Jamie since I already know the whole Reagan gang...probably a little too well."

"Hey, who knows, maybe he'll want to bring back that 'playing doctor' thing you two used to do as kids," Jackie teased as she flashed her a wink.

Noelle laughed at her comment, remembering Danny bringing that up the night she first met Jackie. The two women were laughing, when Danny walked back over to them to tell his partner they might have a lead on the shooter- a guy named Taze. According to the roommate, he's a graffiti artist that Drew buys pot from sometimes.

"What's so funny?" he questioned, coming to a stop in front of the girls.

"I was telling Noelle about one of my disastrous dates."

"Was it on Valentine's Day?" Danny asked her.

Jackie thought about it for a moment. "Actually, it was."

"Valentine's Day curse strikes again."

"You really think there's such a thing as a Valentine's Day curse?" Noelle questioned him.

"I know there is. You should be careful tonight, Little Bit," he warned as he thought about the bet he had going on with his wife. If they just wait one more day, then he'll win.

At his comment, she lowered her eyebrows, wondering what he meant by that, but before she could ask Jackie asked him what he found out from the roommate. He was in the middle of filling her in when she got a phone call- the parents of the kidnapped girl had received an email demanding money.

After Jackie told Danny about the phone call, he nodded his head, knowing they needed to leave, but before he did anything, he turned to look at Noelle and opened his mouth to speak.

"I know. As soon as I'm done with the autopsy, I'll call you," she cut him off before he could say a word.

"No, that's not what I was going to say." Danny shook his head. "I was going to tell you not to worry, but to be cautious. And if anything happens, call me asap, you hear me?"

"I will," she promised.

"I'll see you later, Little Bit." Danny gave her head a quick pat before he and Jackie left the room.

Alone in the room, Noelle took a few steps toward the body, then squatted down beside him. A sad look appeared on her face as she looked him over and couldn't help but wonder how he got there. He was young and should have had his whole life ahead of him, but here he sat with a bullet in his brain.

It was a thought she had often anytime she showed up on a scene, she wondered what choices they made that led them down a path that unfortunately resulted in their death.

Were they not loved enough? Did they grow up with too strict parents and was just trying to rebel? Were they in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Were they just trying to do a nice thing, then learned the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished- something she was very familiar with.

Whatever the reason, she always did all she could to find out what happened in their final moments. She would do all that she could to tell the stories they couldn't tell anymore, she would not let their voices fade away and be ignored. She would not let them be silenced even in death.

•••

Later that evening, Jamie had texted her to tell her he would meet her at her apartment, then they could start their Valentine's date. He lied and told her he was running late because of work, which he felt bad for doing because the truth was since his tour ended he had been at her apartment going back and forth on what to do- casual or romantic? He could swear he could hear both of his siblings going back and forth in his head.

He had grabbed some take-out, their usual from Cathalina's, one of their favorite places that they had frequent often in the past. He sat a few bags down on the counter in the kitchen, then glanced over at the small table she had in the corner of the room, then walked over to the doorway leading into the living room as he debated on where they should eat.

His original idea was to set the table and have a romantic dinner by candlelight, but now he was worried that was too much. He knew he didn't want to go too casual and eat on the couch though.

His eyes dropped down to the floor, then it hit him, they could have a picnic on the living room floor. In his opinion that was in between romantic and casual; it said he wanted to be more than friends, but wasn't pressuring her with labels of what they were.

He spent the next few minutes laying out a colorful blanket on the floor for them to sit on- one he found in her linen closet, where he also made sure nothing was colored coded and was pleased to see it wasn't.

He grabbed several throw pillows she had lying around and tossed them on the floor to make it more comfortable, then he began to set out the food and grabbed utensils. He opened the bottle of wine he brought, then laid several daisies out on the middle of the blanket before standing up to look everything over.

As much as he liked the way everything looked, he couldn't help but think adding candles would be a good idea. He argued with himself if that would be too much or just enough. Finally, he shook his head and said screw it and went back into the kitchen to grab the candles he had bought earlier. He set several out all around the room, then lite them and took a step back, seeing the flames flickering and illuminating the room with a soft glow.

Nodding his head, he glanced around the room, feeling like it was perfect now- which was good timing when he suddenly heard a key at the door. Not wanting to scare her when she walked in, he made his way over to the door, then called out her name to let her know he was in there.

He told her to hold on as he reached out to click all the locks, then opened the door for her. She smiled when she was him standing there in a pair of light gray slacks and a black sweater. She opened her mouth to speak, but when she saw all the candles, her voice trailed off in surprise.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Nol," Jamie said, flashing her a smile. Seeing the look on her face gave him a boost of confidence that he was headed in the right direction with his plan. He reached back to grab the last flower he brought with him from his pocket, then took a step toward her as he placed it behind her ear.

Her mouth hung open, but no words came out. He let out a chuckle and lightly caressed the side of her face. "I hope this silence means you're happy."

"I-I am," Noelle breathed out. "I'm just-I'm speechless."

"Wow, I don't think that has ever happened," he joked, then took her bag from her hand and sat it down by the door, while she slipped her high heels off. He helped her take her coat off, then grabbed her hand to lead her further into the room.

As he shut and locked the door, she looked over at the blanket he had set out for them, a smile on her lips when she saw all the daisies he had sitting out. When her eyes landed on the food, she softly gasped, then turned to him.

"Is that alfredo from Cathalina's?"

"Out of everything on the blanket, why am I not surprised that your eyes go right for the food?" he teased.

She laughed at his comment, then playfully slapped his stomach. "I noticed everything else too. Especially the flowers." She smiled up at him and reached up to touch the flower behind her ear. "Thank you for these, by the way."

When the two sat down on the blanket, he saw her look down at the flowers, her smile fading some. He asked her what was wrong- for a moment he had worried he'd messed something up.

"As much as I love daisies...they also make me think of the daisies your mom use to grow every year," she answered with a sad smile. The other woman was like a second mother to her, and she missed her dearly every day.

"You know she used to do that for you, right?" he stated. By the surprised look on her face, he realized she didn't know that. "After that first year, when she saw how much you loved them, she kept adding more and more every year for you."

"Really? I never knew that." She reached up to wipe away the tears after her eyes began to water, then let out a breathy laugh. "You know, I bet she would have acted like the others yesterday at dinner. I bet she would be happy with what's going on between us."

Jamie nodded his head. "She probably would have been betting along with the others too. She always loved you like you were her own, Nol."

Noelle smiled at his words, then realized what he said. "Wait, betting? Everyone's been betting on us?"

He nodded his head to answer. "According to Danny, the whole family was in on it."

"I expect this from Danny, but gotta say, I am surprised by some of the others." She laughed.

The two continued to laugh and talk as they began to eat. He couldn't help but smile when she let out a small moan each time she took a bite, then talked about how good the food was. It had been a while since she had food from one of their favorite restaurants- since she moved back to the city and Jamie had come to her apartment for the first time.

"After this, we can move into the kitchen. I brought some cake mix to make cupcakes," he told her after he took a sip of the wine.

"So for my Valentine's present, I have to bake my own dessert?" she joked.

"Yeah, I thought it would be fun. I brought all kinds of stuff to decorate it with too," he explained, starting to rethink his decision until she began to laugh.

"I'm just kidding, Jams," she said, reassuring him. "I actually think that's a great idea. It's been a while since we baked. I missed it."

"Me too." He nodded. While daisies made them think of his mom; baking made them think of her mother. All of their childhood memories were intertwined with each other, and neither one would have it any other way.

"Then, I figured while the cupcakes are cooling, we could watch a movie like we use to."

She gave him a small nod, then shoved some food in her mouth instead of saying anything in return. She couldn't help but feel like she was getting mixed signals from him. In her opinion, it felt like when he did something romantic, he had to play it down like it wasn't a big deal and she couldn't understand why.

As she chewed her food, he added, "But just so you know, baking cupcakes together and watching movies isn't your main present. I got you something else."

"Seriously?" She raised her eyebrows in surprise and laid a hand to cover her mouth while chewing. After swallowing the food and feeling even more confused, she said, "You're really going all out this year."

"It's not that big," he argued. "Just a nice, low-key, night in."

She blew out a breath, then raised her wine glass and took a big swallow, finishing the glass off. She held it out, wanting him to refill it, then silently began to eat her food again. She hated to be a downer, especially after everything he had done to make it special, but she didn't know how to take all of this. His actions were telling one thing, but his words were saying something completely different.

Jamie made small talk with her as they continued to eat, but he could tell she wasn't as chatty as she usually was and become curious about that. Did the night take a turn and he didn't notice it or was it about something else?

Maybe it was something with work or she was thinking about all the drama surrounding them. His main job tonight was trying to give her a normal night; a night without thinking about Jimmie or the Blue Templar, and at the moment, he felt like he was failing.

Finishing their food, he began to clean up all the trash, then took it into the kitchen to throw it away. While in there he grabbed her present, then went back into the living room and sat back down beside her.

He smiled and handed her the small, wrapped, rectangle box. She took it from his hands and was tempted to shake it for clues, but knew he would just roll his eyes and jerk it away from her to open it himself. He would always fuss at her for shaking presents and trying to spoil the surprise.

She flashed him a smile, then tore the wrapping paper off. She let out a laugh when she saw it was a box of Cracker Jack. She held it up and flashed him a look. "Is this to replace the one you stole?"

"Allegedly stolen," he corrected her, then gestured toward it. "Open it. There might be a surprise in there too."

She laughed and opened the box, seeing the familiar small red, white and blue package the prize came in. She pulled it out, then raised her head for a moment to smile at him before she looked back down at it and ripped it open. She turned it upside down to pour it out, expecting to see a small cheap toy coming out like usual, but her mouth dropped open in surprise when a silver necklace with a snowflake charm came out instead.

"Jamie..." she breathed out as she raised her head to look at him. "This is beautiful, but are you sure? I mean, you sure it's not too much-"

"It's not that big of a deal," he cut her off. With some of the double shifts he worked recently he had a little extra. He knew he should have put the money toward his student loans, but he really wanted to give her something that would cause the reaction he was getting now.

At his comment, she couldn't stop a frustrated sigh from escaping her lips as she lowered her head and looked down at the necklace in her hand, seeing how the snowflake charm sparkled by the candlelight.

"Hey..." He reached out to grab her chin and forced her head up to look at him. "What's wrong? If you don't like it, I can exchange it for-"

"No, I love it." She closed her hand over the necklace and moved it toward her chest.

"Then what's wrong?" he questioned, confused on her reaction.

"It's nothing." She shook her head.

"Nol..."

"I shouldn't say anything. It's not that big of a deal," she lied.

"When has that ever stopped you before?" he joked. She had always spoken her mind to him, no matter how big or small it was.

"Okay, fine." She blew out a breath, then looked him straight in the eyes. "What are we doing here, Jamie?"

"What?" he asked confused.

"What are we?"

"We're taking it slow..." When he saw the look on her face, he started to wonder if she was having second thoughts about that. "Right?"

"Then what is all of this about?" She gestured around the room. "You did all of this for me and now this beautiful necklace..." Her voice trailed off for a moment in thought. "But then, you say things like 'we're taking it slow', and keep saying all of this isn't that big of a deal-"

"I...I don't..." he began to stutter. "Nol, I don't know what you want me to say?"

"I can't tell you what to say, Jamie." She stood up from the floor. "You have to figure that out on your own. And once you know what you want to say, you know where to find me." She held out the necklace and dropped it in his hand.

Jamie let out a sigh and ran his other hand through his hair. This was not the way he thought the night would go. Thinking of something his brother said, he mumbled out, "Maybe there is a Valentine's Day curse."

Hearing what he said, she came to a stop and turned to look at him. "Wait, what did you just say?"

Raising his head to look at her, he repeated, "I said, maybe there is a Valentine's Day curse."

She made a face. "That's weird. Earlier today, Danny said something about a Valentine's Day curse and how I needed to be careful."

"Danny's the one that told me about the curse. He told me I should keep tonight casual," he said, standing up and thinking the same thing she was. "Wait, you don't think he-"

"Would sabotage us to win a bet?" she finished for him, then shook her head, a chuckle escaped her lips. "This is Danny, of course, he would. But the real shocker with all of this is you taking his advice. What the hell were you thinking, Jams?"

He laughed at her comment and ran a hand over his face. "I don't know what I was thinking." Dropping his hand, he gestured between them. "I mean, other than I didn't want to screw this up, so I was trying to be careful."

"What did you want to do tonight?"

"I wanted to go all out." He walked over to her and came to a stop in front of her. "I wanted to tell you exactly how I feel about you."

She flashed him a smile. "Well tell me."

He opened his mouth to speak, but before he spilled out his feeling, there was something else he wanted to do first.

He shook his head. "I would rather show you."

"What?" She lowered her eyebrows in confusion.

"Come on." He pulled her toward the door, blowing out candles on the way. He grabbed her coat, then held it out. "Put this on."

"Well, wait, should I change first?" She gestured toward the work outfit she had on; a pair of dark-colored pants and a light-colored blouse. She had no idea where he was taking her and didn't know if she needed to be more dressed up or dressed down.

"No, you look amazing just the way you are," he stated. "There is one other thing you need though." He motioned for her to turn around.

With a confused look still present on her face, she did what he asked, then felt her lips curl up in a smile when he placed the necklace around her neck. She laid a hand on top of the snowflake charm as he clipped it in the back, then grabbed her shoulders to turn her around.

"There. Perfect." He smiled at her. It made him happy to see the beaming smile on her face and knew he was the cause of that.

Even as kids he always loved making her happy; like when he threw her the kind of birthday party he knew she wanted or the time he found a stray dog in his backyard and took it to her. The two kept it hidden a couple of weeks from their parents- scared they would make them give the puppy away until they saw signs around the neighborhood about a missing dog.

He knew how upset she would be having to give it back, but they both knew it was the right thing to do. Next week when he received his allowance he used the money to buy her a plush toy in shape of a dog that looked a lot like the puppy and bought her some of her favorite cupcakes to cheer her up. He was always doing things like that for her, he could never stand to see a frown on her face.

He helped her with her coat, then waited for her to slip on a pair of shoes. He took her hand and led her out of the apartment and toward the stairs. After climbing several flights of stairs, he pushed open the door leading to the roof of her building.

The owners of the building had the small area decorated with potted plants and flowers, as well as a couple of tables and several chairs set out to sit on. Above their heads were also lanterns to light up the area at night. Any of the tenants were welcomed to hang out up there, but the place was deserted at the time thanks to the cold weather that night, making them feel like they were the only ones in the world.

"What are we doing up here?" Noelle questioned him with a laugh.

Jamie ignored her question and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He scrolled through it before he found what he was looking for. As a slow song began to play, he laid the phone down on a table, then walked over to her and held his hands out for her to take.

Another chuckle escaped her lips as she placed her hands in his and he pulled her toward him, one arm circling around her waist as his other hand held onto hers as the two began to slowly sway side to side.

"Years ago, there was a Valentine's Day dance at our school and there was this amazing girl I wanted to ask to be my date..." he began to say, causing her to smile, knowing he was talking about her. "But the problem was, she was my best friend and I was terrified of screwing things up between us; so I didn't say a word to her and instead we stayed home and watched movies while she basically ate all the chocolate candy."

She laughed out loud and shook her head. "I shared the candy, Jams, don't go changing history."

"Giving me one piece...the piece you didn't want anyway, doesn't count as sharing, Nol," he joked, hearing her laugh at his comment. "Anyway, that started a tradition with us, but there was a part of me that always kinda wished I would have asked her to that dance.

"Flash forward to senior year, I asked that amazing girl to be my prom date and I couldn't be happier," he added. "But, I had that little voice in my head the whole time reminding me that this beautiful girl is my best friend, so I better not screw this up. So we mostly stood around, talking to our friends and drinking punch...I kept it friendly the whole time."

Letting go of her hand, he wrapped that arm around his neck. "But now, I owe that girl a dance."

"Yes you do," she teased. "But, I gotta say, this definitely makes up for back then. You have redeemed yourself, Jams."

"Good to know."

He dipped her, causing her to let out a loud laugh. He pulled her back toward him, the two smiling at each other until he leaned forward to rest his forehead against hers as he held her close and the two continued to dance under the starry sky.

"Jamie..." she whispered, her forehead still pressed close to his.

"Hmm?" He lightly ran his thumb up and down the back of her neck. He moved his hand up to tangle his fingers in her hair, then opened his eyes as he pulled her head back to look down at her, waiting to see what she going to say.

"I don't want to go slow with you." Not wanting him to get the wrong idea, she quickly added, "I mean, I know we just started dating and this might be way too fast, but I don't want to do casual with you."

"You don't?"

Noelle didn't say anything for a moment as she tried to read his expression to see if they were on the same page or if she was making a huge mistake, but for once she couldn't tell what he was thinking. But she figured she started this, might as well finish it.

"As far back as I can remember, I've always had feelings for you, Jamie...more than friendly feelings," she admitted. "I've imagined moments like this so many times I've lost count. I knew I shouldn't feel that way about you, I knew it would end in heartache, but I couldn't stop and I tried everything. I've tried to date guys to distract me, but that never worked because I always came back to you. And then I had to sit there while I watched you date girl after girl and I always hoped, one day, you would come to me..."

Her voice trailed off as she lowered her head for a moment until he lightly grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. He lightly ran his thumb over her cheek and waited for her to finish, knowing she had more to say.

"But then you met Sydney and I knew she wasn't like the others. I watched you fall in love with her and the friend in me wanted to be so happy for you, but the girl who had feelings for you was jealous and hoped you two wouldn't make it." She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "And I felt horrible for that, I hated that I secretly wished it wouldn't last. And then one day you told me you were proposing to her and I felt my heart shatter. Sometimes I wondered if this was punishment for wishing it would end- like I deserved this by being a terrible friend."

Seeing her eyes water, he held her face in his hands, and run his thumb under her eye to catch the tears. "I'm sorry, Nol, I never knew-"

"It's okay," she interrupted him, her voice barely above a whisper. "You were happy, so you didn't see it, and that's okay because Jamie- you deserve to be happy."

"So do you, Nol," he said. "All I ever wanted was to make you happy."

"You do." She smiled. "You have always made me happy, Jamie. Even when my heart was breaking; you could still make me happy, because that's just who you are. You're just so loving and sweet and selfless, you've always made me proud to call you my best friend. But I can't deny that I always wish that one day I could call you something more."

"So what you're saying is..."

"What I'm saying is...I don't want to be just friends with you, Jamie. I don't want to go slow or casual with you, I want to be serious with you- I want only you, Jamie Reagan."

She stopped swaying and stepped out of his arms. "I knew that when I was a little girl and those feelings have never changed. I know I might be coming on a little strong, and if you're not there yet, and want to keep taking it slow-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Jamie grabbed her hands and pulled her back toward him, his lips capturing hers as he put everything he was feeling into the kiss. He held her face in his hands, then pulled back slightly to look at her.

"I don't want to go slow with you either," he softly said.

"Really?" A wide smile appeared on her face.

"Really." He softly caressed her cheek. "This is all I want, Nol...just you, no one else."

"So this means we're really together? Like boyfriend/girlfriend together-together?" she questioned, needing to be sure before she got too excited.

"Yes, that's what it means." He laughed when she began to grin at his answer. He called her a dork, then leaned forward to kiss her again.

Realizing what just happened, she let out a happy squeal and she pulled back to look at him. "Oh, my god, do you realize what just happened? We just had the talk."

"Yeah, we did." He nodded, a chuckle escaping his lips. "And now that the talk has happened, we can get back to this." He pulled her face toward his to capture her lips for a passionate kiss.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers going into his hair as she pressed her body against his, then grinned against his lips when she felt how that action affected him. She raised up on her tiptoes and tilted her head to the side to deepen the kiss until something wet hit her cheek.

She pulled back in surprise, then let out a gasp when she noticed it had started snowing, making the scenery around her look like a real-life snow globe.

"It's snowing. Jamie, it's snowing!" She clapped her hands together and began to glance around excitedly.

He laughed at her antics, then watched as she tilted her head back and began to turn around in slow circles. She lowered her head to look at him and he nodded his head to the side, knowing what was coming next.

Noelle flashed him a smile, then turned to run over to the other side of the roof. She peered over the side and looked down below to watch the big snowflakes float around before landing somewhere and sticking to the surface.

She watched a few minutes longer, then turned back to look at Jamie and motioned for him to come join her. He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist as she leaned back against his chest. The two watched the snow fall down around them with the most beautiful skyline in front of them. In their opinion, there was no place better than New York City- there was no place better than home.

She blew out a content sigh, then felt him brush some hair aside before his lips were pressed against the side of her neck. She bit her bottom lip, her eyes flutter shut as she tilted her head to the side, giving him better access. When she began to rub her butt against the front of his pants, he let out a low groan, causing a fluttering in her stomach. She knew she was the cause of that sound.

She spun around and threw her arms around his neck, then pressed her lips against his for a hard kiss. He took a step back from the sudden impact, the back of his legs hitting one of the patio chairs. He laid his hands on her hips, then sat down in the chair and pulled her toward him. Their lips never parted as she straddled his lap almost as soon as he sat down, neither one paid attention to the cold as they got lost in each other, the heat between them keeping them warm.

His cold fingers fumbled with the big buttons on the front of her coat, until he finally got it open and began to push the fabric off of her shoulders. She felt the heavy snow land on her shirt, then melt into the thin cloth and cool her skin. She shivered from the sensation of cold combined with his lips against the front of her neck. She ran her fingers through his damp hair, pulling him closer to her as she rolled her hips causing him to let out a moan.

Realizing how quickly this could get out of control, she breathed out his name to get his attention. He didn't give any indication that he heard her as he left light kisses down her neck, then began to nibble on the soft skin where her neck met her shoulder. Now it was her time to let out a moan as he alternated before biting and licking her skin. As much as she was enjoying this, she knew it was time to move things inside.

"Jamie, wa-wait," Noelle muttered. She tightened the hold on his hair, then pulled his head back, a whimper leaving her mouth as she missed the feel of his lips on her skin. "We should go inside."

"I'm sorry," Jamie breathed out. He ran his hands up and down the thick fabric covering her arms. "Are you cold?"

She shook her head and bit her bottom lip. From the look on her face, he now knew why she suggested going inside, causing a shiver of excitement down his spine.

He gave her a nod. "Yeah, let's go in."

As soon as they walked into her apartment and shut the door, he had her back against it as his lips were on hers to pick up where they left off on the roof. He kicked his shoes off and jerked his jacket off, then slipped his hand under her coat to push it off the rest of the way and heard it hit the floor by their bare feet. He grabbed her hands to place them against the door above their heads, then pressed his body closer to her, hearing her breathe out his name.

He released one of her hands, then ran his hand down her arm, then laid the hand against the side of her face. Forcing himself to stop kissing her, he pulled back to look at her, a smile upon his lips as he ran his thumb over her swollen bottom lip- the two basically panting as they tried to catch their breath.

He couldn't deny that he had been thinking of this moment between them a lot lately, but he didn't want to rush it, he wanted to take his time.

Noelle smiled back at him, then laid a hand on top of his. She puckered her lips to kiss his thumb, then moved his hand to kiss his palm and the inside of his wrist. She pushed the sleeve of his sweater back to lay more kisses against his skin, causing his breathing to quicken again.

She grinned against his skin, then gave his forearm one more kiss before pulling back to look at him. She kept her eyes on him as she reached out to grab the bottom of his shirt. She began to lift it up, seeing that he had a white t-shirt on under it, then grabbed that one as well and removed both shirts.

She laid a hand on his bare chest and pulled in a breath. She had thought of this moment since she was a teenager. She felt a slight blush on her cheeks when she thought of all the times in the summer when he would be shirtless around her at the pool and she always imagined what it would be like to touch him in that way. His skin was a lot smoother than she would have ever imagined. She ran her hand down to his toned stomach, never realizing how much her light touch was turning him on.

He thought nothing could feel better than her fingertips dancing across his skin until she stepped forward and pressed her lips against his skin. He breathed out her name and placed a hand on the back of her head, intertwining his fingers in her silky hair.

When she kissed up and nibbled his collarbone, he gripped her hair and pulled her head back, his lips crashing against hers for a heated kiss. He slipped his tongue in her mouth, his other hand went to the front of her shirt as he began to unbutton the blouse and pushing it off of her shoulder.

Jamie pulled back to look at her as he continued to pull the shirt off, revealing the tank top she had on under it. He ran his fingertips over the exposed skin on her shoulder, brushing the thin strap aside and causing her to release a shaky breath. She closed her eyes and let out a moan when he began to kiss the area he had just touched.

Needing to feel more, he reached out to lift up the tank top, but when his fingers brushed against her skin near where the scar was, she quickly pulled back to break the connection.

"I'm sorry-" he began to apologize until she shook her head to stop him.

"No, I'm sorry," she said back. "It's just- it's the..."

"Scar?" he finished for her, earning a nod in response. He grabbed her hands, then took a few steps back toward the couch, sitting down on the arm of it.

He shook his head. "It's okay, Nol, we don't have to do this."

"No, I-I want to," she stated. "I want this, Jamie, I really do. I just...give me a minute."

Knowing she needed to overcome this fear, she blew out a nervous breath, then gripped the bottom of the shirt, her fist tightening around the thin fabric. She felt her heart pounding in her chest as she slowly began to lift the top over her head, leaving her in a lacy bandeau bra.

She dropped the top onto the floor then self-consciously wrapped her arms around herself, laying her hand over the scar and tried to cover up as much as she could.

Jamie shook his head, then reached out to remove her hand. He lightly ran his fingers over it, causing goosebumps on her skin. He lifted his eyes to look at her and softly said, "You shouldn't hide this."

"Why not?" Noelle breathed out, a pained look appeared on her face. "It's nothing but a big, stupid reminder."

"You could say that about any mark on your body or mine." He pointed to a small scar on his chest- a few inches above his nipple. "You remember this? This was when we were throwing rocks at glass bottles and a piece flew back and cut me."

"I remember." She nodded. "That was definitely not one of our bright ideas."

"And this..." He stood up and unbutton his pants. She raised her eyebrows and couldn't stop herself from checking him out as he removed them and stood in front of her in a pair of dark boxers briefs.

He pointed to his knee. "This scar here is when I tried to do a backflip on the trampoline."

He stepped closer, keeping his eyes on her as he reached out to unbutton her pants. He paused for a moment when he saw her breathing pick up, then began to pull them down when she gave him a short nod to continue.

She stepped out of the pants and brushed them aside, then watched as he kneeled down and lightly ran his finger on the side of her knee before placing his lips against the scar. She bit her bottom lip to hold back a moan.

He raised his head to look at her, the tone of his voice soft, "And this scar, is from when Bobby Romano dared you to skateboard downhill while holding onto his bike. You fell off of the board and was dragged a short way before you let go. Remember that?"

She nodded her head to answer, not being able to find her voice as she sank down to the floor in front of him. She also remembered how he sat with her and she buried her face in his shirt so no one could see her crying. Danny threatened to kick Bobby's ass while Joe ran back to the house for help.

He laid a hand on the side of her face, running his thumb over a small scar above her lip. "And this is from when you had chickenpox- which you gave to me a week later." She let out a chuckle, remembering that as well.

"All of these scars are just stories, Nol, and the scars on your side and ankle are just stories too."

He moved his hand to the back of her neck, then began to guide her back toward the blanket they sat on earlier. He reached out to lightly touch the scars on her ankle, then lifted her leg and placed his lips against the scars, showing each one attention.

He raised his eyes to look at her. "These scars show how strong you are. They show how, no matter how hard it was, you never gave up." He placed her leg down, her foot against the floor with her knee bent. He kissed the side of her ankle again, then began to leave light kisses against her skin as he went up her leg.

When he made it to her side, he did like before, kissing around the long, deep scar, then moved his lips closer, showering it with soft kisses. Anytime she looked at the scar now, he wanted to erase the bad memories and wanted her to remember this moment- the moment where he loved every inch of her and saw her scars as a badge of bravery.

He kissed up her body and laid out beside her, then pressed his lips against hers for a tender kiss. He reached down to softly touch the scar on her side, then pulled back slightly to whisper, "And this scar...this is the story of how you faced death and you survived it, and there is nothing more powerful than that. Nothing at all."

He closed the gap between them to brush his lips against her. "I don't care how many scars you have, you're beautiful, Nol. Every single part of you is beautiful."

Noelle smiled at his words, then laid a hand on the back of his neck to pull him down toward her. He kissed her deeply and felt her hook a leg around his waist and pull him closer to her. He let out a moan at the skin on skin contact, then pecked her lips a few more times.

"Should we move this to the bedroom?" he whispered against her lips.

She shook her head, then pulled back to look at him. "You know, I always kinda wanted to do it in a field of flowers; so this is probably the closest I will get to that."

"Really?" He raised his eyebrows, then reached out to remove the daisy from behind her ear. He lightly ran the petals over her top and bottom lip. "You never told me that."

"Like I was really going to tell my best friend that I wanted to have sex in a field of flowers." She laughed.

"You could have told me that," he argued. "We told each other everything."

"Okay, let me rephrase that...I couldn't tell my best friend that I wanted to have sex with him in a field of flowers."

"Oh." He laughed, he understood now why she never said anything. He began to run the flower down her body, starting at her chest and went down to her stomach, the petals lightly tickling her skin.

"Now you can tell me things like that and maybe there's something we can do about that."

"I think we should do something about that now." She bit her bottom lip, then grinned up at him.

"I think you're right."

He leaned down to kiss her again, then with her leg still around his waist, he lightly ran the flower down her outer thigh, causing her to softly gasp. He grinned against her lips, then hooked his fingers under the waistband of her lacy panties and began to pull them down.

The two might not be in the middle of a field surrounding by flowers, but laying on a blanket with several daisies surrounding them with the moonlight streaming in was better than anything she could imagine. She didn't need any more fantasies now that she had the real thing.

She always thought he would be gentle and he didn't disappoint as he spent the night touching her in ways she had never been touched before. Neither one was a virgin, but sex with other partners never felt like this. They came together and bonded in a way they never thought possible. In this moment, their feelings went from more than friends to something else that felt a lot like love.

•••

A/N; Nol x Jamie are official together! It's about time, right? lol. I had a lot of fun writing this chapter and been looking forward to this scene since pretty much the beginning.

Thank you to everyone reading!

Happy reading!
xx