Disclaimer: These characters belong entirely to someone else and I am merely toying with them for my own amusement.

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She knows that now he understands why she did things the way she did. She knows that he is patient and would forgive her anything.

She knows that driving in horrendous traffic in a driving rainstorm to Stamford the minute she got off the phone with him was one of the most difficult things she ever did, and the bravest. More brave than calling off her wedding; more brave than extricating the entangled strands of her life from Roy's.

She knows that the look in his eye when he opens the door and sees her standing, drenched, on his doorstep is something she has longed to see in his eyes without even knowing it. She knows immediately that the feeling it gives her inside is something she'll need for the rest of her life.

She knows that when her lips touch his, lightly at first, it is at once familiar and new and she never wants it to end. She knows that their history is full of awkward pauses and misinterpretation but at this moment in time, they can finally fill in all the blanks.

She knows that when he takes her hand and leads her inside that it's clear they want exactly the same thing and right now. She knows that when she tells him she's in love with him it will never change. She knows that when he touches her hair and tells her he loves her too that he really means he wants to spend the rest of his life with her.

She knows that when he peels off her soaking wet clothes and feels the warmth coming off his skin, it feels like home and when she shivers it isn't from the chill. She knows that his hands move on her body like he is trying to memorize every inch of her. She knows that he won't have to because they'll never be apart again long enough for him to forget.

She knows that when she is begging him to touch her here, to move there, he makes her feel confident, sexy, and in control. She knows that when his mouth is on her and he makes her come for the first time she's never felt the blood rush to her head like it does. She knows that when he does it again, he will always put her needs above his own. When he slips inside her and fills her completely and drives her mad with desire, she comes again and still she wants more. When he comes, gazing in her eyes naked with desire and love, she knows that there was never any question that they belong here, together.

When he finally falls asleep, his breath soft and warm on her breasts, his limbs tangled with hers until she doesn't know where he ends and she begins, she is certain that this is all she'll need for the rest of her life. She knows that she can't sleep until she relives it all in her mind and then she drifts off with a faint smile on her face and contentedness in her heart; her mind free of torment for the first time in months.

She knows that when she leaves him the next morning it's only temporary; somehow fate has taken it out of their hands. They simply cannot be apart anymore.

She knows that when they make the announcement that the Stamford branch will be merging with Scranton to clean out half of her small closet. She knows to start packing boxes that were only recently unpacked and she knows that she'll lose her last month's rent for breaking the lease but she doesn't care about it for even a second.

When they find the new place, she knows immediately that it's the one. There's a second bedroom with good light and the smile on his face says that if she loves it, so does he.

She knows it when he makes her dinner, when they cuddle up on the couch with a movie on Friday night, and when they don't make it out of bed all day on Sunday. She knows it when he frames her favorite art class watercolor and hangs it where every visitor will see it.

She knows it when they fill out the paperwork declaring their relationship to HR, when he uses a picture of them as his screensaver, when he kisses her in the elevator as soon as the doors close, and when he meets her in the supply closet late in the afternoon because he hasn't kissed her since lunchtime and he hungers for her touch.

She knows it when she meets his family and when he meets hers. She knows it when he sits through her cousin's awful wedding, her niece's 3 hour long dance recital, and her Uncle Larry's endless boring stories at a family reunion, winking at her when she catches his eye across the room.

She knows it when he does her laundry because she's been finishing her final project. She knows it when he drags her out to shop for a suit so she can interview for the entry level job that will hopefully lead to her dream career. She knows it when he brings home champagne to celebrate when she nails her interview.

She knows it when he takes her away that weekend he's going to propose. She knows that there's never a doubt as to what her answer will be and it makes her indescribably happy that he has no cause to doubt her answer anymore.

She knows it when together they pick the date, the location, her dress, the food, the music. She knows it when he's standing there, his brother by his side, waiting for her with a look of pure joy and admiration on his face; knows that he sees only her. She knows it when he takes her hand in his on the dance floor and his eyes are burning into her soul. She knows it that night when his hands are trembling and her knees are weak as though they haven't done this so many times before she's lost count.

She knows now that even though she doesn't know why she did things the way she did, it no longer matters. She knows now that he is the one.