I went up to Duke's apartment, fighting past the paparazzi that were clustered around the entrance being held back by an army of security guards.

I rang his doorbell and waited patiently. I didn't move out of the way of the peep-hole. I wanted him to see me. Otherwise he'd think it was some crazed fan that got into the building somehow. After a few moments, I rang the doorbell again. I wondered if he was even home. But he had to be. He had said he was tired and wanted sleep. But then again, I don't think anyone could sleep with the amount of noise that was outside. From where I was standing, I could hear screaming fans.

Finally, the door opened. Duke stood with a slightly annoyed, but mostly weary look on his face. He was wearing a pair of dark jeans and a loose black henley.

"I'm kind of busy right now," he said. I internally rolled my eyes. He was a bad liar.

"That's all right. You don't have to invite me in. I'll be quick," I replied. He sighed and leaned against the doorframe.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I quit," I said flatly. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What?" he asked.

"I quit. I'm not your assistant anymore," I said. He frowned.

"When did this happen?" he asked.

"This morning. After the trial," I answered. His eyes took in my expressionless face.

"Why?" he asked after a moment.

"There are two reasons, actually," I said. He waited for me to say them.

"The first, is that a few days ago, my parents called and told me they wanted to get dinner. I agreed and during dinner, I told them that I had gotten fired from Camden, the firm I worked at before, and that I was now the assistant to a celebrity. So then they told me the real reason they called me for dinner," I paused. "They offered me a job on their team at Sparks. I told them yes," I finished.

He looked at me, a peculiar expression on his face.

"What's the other reason?" he asked after a silence. I gazed up at his face, taking in his features. My eyes wandered over his strong jaw, his perfectly shaped lips that were pursed right now, his snow-slope nose, and his beautiful blue eyes.

"The other reason," I began. "Is that it's extremely inappropriate for an assistant to be dating the person she's assisting. But I'm not your assistant anymore," I said.

He raised his eyebrows at me, confusion still etched in his face. But I saw his eyes brighten from the navy blue that they were currently to a lighter, clearer blue that I had been so accustomed to.

"What are you saying?" he asked.

"I'm saying that if you're willing to forgive me, then I'm willing to give this a chance," I answered.

He was silent for a moment, his expression contemplative.

"So you quit this job so that you can become apart of your parents' team at Sparks. And now I'm assistant-less. And you're suggesting that you want to give "this" a chance," he summarized. I nodded. "Can I ask you what "this" is?" he asked, putting air quotes around the word.

"'This' can be anything you want it to be. I'm open for whatever," I said.

"Valerie..." he said.

"Duke..." I replied.

We stood staring at each other silently for a few minutes. I tried to read his expression to see what he was thinking. Had he forgiven me? Or was he just going to slam the door shut in my face?

"Do you want to come in?" he asked, finally. I gave him a half smile.

"If it's an invitation, then sure," I replied. He stepped aside, pulling the door open. I ducked under his arm and stepped inside. There was a rolled up afghan on the couch and the TV was on mute. I knew he hadn't been busy when I walked in. He was just watching TV.

The shouting was louder in here. He had the curtains drawn. The sunlight behind the curtains was dim and cast a shadow across the room.

"You never answered," I said as he sat on the couch.

"Answered what?" he asked.

"If you were willing to forgive me," I said.

"You never asked for forgiveness. I can't be willing to give something that wasn't asked for," he replied.

I sighed loudly. He was making this difficult. I knew he was trying to test my nerves on purpose. I wasn't going to give up, though. I had to try to make an effort, even though it was hard.

"I'm sorry, Duke," I said. He looked up at me from the couch.  His eyes seemed to have come alive in the past few minutes.

"For what?" he asked.

"For being a jerk. For walking away. For avoiding you. For being afraid. But mostly, for lying to myself," I answered.

"Lying to yourself?" he asked.

"By saying that whatever happened between us was a mistake," I clarified. "Because it wasn't. It was probably the most "right" thing I've done," I said. He stood now and faced me, his face close to mine. He didn't say anything; just studied me with those beautiful eyes of his. I wondered if he could hear my heart racing.

"So?" I asked.

"So what?" he replied.

"Do you forgive me?" I questioned. He looked at me, his eyes taking in every bit of me. Then he stepped back.

"Nah, I don't think I will," he said, turning away.

"Duke!" I shouted, stomping my foot angrily, incredulous.

He turned back around so fast, I didn't even see it happen. Before I knew it, he had cupped my face in his hands and his lips had crashed down on mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck and his hands moved down my body. He placed one on my waist and the other on the little arch of my back, pulling me closer to him. I could feel my stomach erupting in fireworks as he deepened the kiss. When we broke away, my head was spinning.

He smiled at me and leaned his forehead against mine, kissing my nose gently.

"You're an ass," I told him, a smile on my own lips.

"And you're the most beautiful and perfect girl I've ever met," he replied.

He closed the gap between our faces and kissed me again, drawing it out. We moved from where we were standing to the couch. I dropped my bag that was resting on my shoulder and it fell with a loud thump!

The noise distracted Duke and he pulled away.

"What the hell do you have in there?" he asked. I glared at him, annoyed at him for ruining the moment.

"Duke...really?" I asked. He looked at me with innocent, curious eyes.

"You're not hiding a weapon in there, are you?" he questioned.

"Yes, because my plan all along was to seduce you and then murder you and then run away with all your money. You got me!" I said sarcastically. He rolled his eyes at me and then reached for my bag. I yanked it away before he could get it.

"Valerie!" he exclaimed.

"You can't go through a girl's bag!" I cried.

"What's in there?" he asked. I could tell he was burning with curiousity.

"Fine, if you must know..." I said, opening the zip and pulling out a wrapped box. He looked at me, confused. I handed him the present. "Open it," I said, smiling.

He gave me another dumbfounded expression before tearing the wrapping paper off. Underneathe was a box for a model airplane. But not one of the cheap kinds. It was a collector's edition.

"Now way!" he exclaimed giddily, prying open the box. I watched him pry open the box. He looked like an excited child that had gotten what he wanted for Christmas. He pulled out all the pieces and then looked up at me, his eyes bright with happiness.

"Why'd you get this?" he asked, setting the parts on the table. I shrugged.

"Call me desperate, but I figured that if you rejected me the first time I asked you to forgive me, then I could use this as a back-up to bribe you," I said simply.

He laughed and reached out with his hand to brush his fingers gently along my cheek.  Then he leaned in and kissed me deeply, pulling me onto his lap. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he held me close from my back. I ran my fingers through his hair, messing it up. I could feel one of his hands travelling under my shirt, tracing the curves of my body. I moaned as he licked my lower lip, asking for entrance. I obliged and we deepened the kiss further.

He set me down on the couch so that he was on top of me and began moving his lips from mine and down my jaw to my neck. I could feel myself getting warmer as I brought his face back up to mine and locked his lips again.

After a few long, intense moments, we sat back, both of us partially clothed, breathing hard.

"Jesus..." Duke muttered, running his hand through his hair. His face was a little flushed from the exertion and I knew mine must have looked the same.

"Right?" I replied, with a small laugh. He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. Then we both sat back against the couch, letting our heart rates steady and our breathing go back to normal.

He looked at me and I gazed back at him with a small smile on my face. Then he turned his face and looked at the disassembled parts of the model plane that were sitting on his coffee table. He reached out and ripped open the plastic bag that was around a shiny metal wing. He held the wing in his hand, running his fingers over the smooth texture of the metal.

He looked at me again, his eyes shining.

"Do you..." he paused. "Do you want to put it together?" he asked in a small voice. I reached forward and picked up the other wing. He watched me as I weighed the thing in my hand. Then I looked at him with a grin on my face.

"Let's do it," I said. His whole face lit and we both sat on the ground, tearing open the plastic bags that the different parts were in.

We worked together to create the model airplane, putting the pieces together.  We worked together to put the pieces where they belonged. And when we were done, we sat back to gaze at our creation. It was made up of so many separate parts, but together, they fit effortlessly, creating a perfect model airplane.

                                                            The End

_______________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Yay!!! This story is finished! How'd you guys like the ending? Do you like the little symbolism I put with the airplane?

What were your thoughts about the story as a whole? Did you like it? Any suggestions on improvements?

Thanks for all the support, everyone! Now that I'm done with this story, I can start on a new one. But that will be after my exams.

For now, leave a comment and VOTE!!! Also, fan me! Send me a message! I love saying hi to new people. =)

XOXO