Ronon hadn't known it was possible for a human face to turn that red. He watched her twist her fingers together, watched her shift from one foot to the other, watched her look down and then up as if he'd magically disappear if she looked everywhere but at him. He didn't disappear, didn't stop looking at her and couldn't help the slight smile that crossed his face at her obvious discomfort. He loved her blush.

Finally he took pity on her and grabbed her hand, pulling her gently into her office before shutting the door behind them and releasing her hand. She took a few steps away from him, seemed to need the space in order to get her thoughts together. He watched as she looked at the flowers briefly as she seemed to decide something, before she swept them off her desk and into the trash in one movement. He hadn't thought it was possible to love her more but watching her choose him, even if it just meant her throwing out some flowers, proved him wrong.

He watched as she turned, square her shoulders and looked him straight in the eye, her blush ruining her confident act just a bit.

"How long did you know I was out there?"

"A little while."

"Right. I shouldn't have been eavesdropping and I'm sorry, it was wrong."

"So I've heard."

"It still doesn't make what you did right."

"I know. And it doesn't make anything I just said untrue."

"Oh."

That was all she had to say? Oh? She should be throwing herself at the man, kissing him senseless and telling him that she loved him to. But she didn't, she was the idiot who just said "oh." Next thing she knew, she'd be telling him "thank you" if he ever told her to her face that he loved her. Not that he'd ever tell her that with the way she was acting at the moment.

Jennifer Keller didn't know what to do. How did one act when one's wishes were all coming true?

"You could start by telling me what you're thinking."

Shit. She'd said that out loud?

"You also said that out loud, Jen."

"Right. I don't know why I do that sometimes, you know, I think I'm just thinking something but in reality I'm saying it. Maybe it's a nervous tic or something, maybe I should talk to someone about it, might not-"

"Jennifer. Just breathe." He couldn't help his smile. He loved making her nervous, "in a good way" she'd once told him.

"Right." She loved how he was able to be the calm after the storm in her life.

"So," he said, his voice scratchy and thick as he gently claimed her hands once more. "Where do we go from here?"

"I don't know. I guess I'm not absolutely sure where 'here' is."

"You heard what I said to Chen…"

"It doesn't count."

"It doesn't count?" he laughed as Jennifer blushed once more.

"It doesn't count because you didn't say it to me."

"Right, well, I guess I should get around to correcting that problem."

"Probably."

"Jennifer," he said as he tugged her forward so she landed against his chest. She tilted her head back and looked at him, a smile playing across her face. He looked down at her, their eyes locking, a grin firmly in place as he rubbed his nose softly against hers. She sighed quietly, eyes closing for a moment before snapping open again, as he kissed the tip of her nose with the lightest of touches. "Jennifer. I am so in love with you, never stopped loving you."

"I love you too, Ronon."

"So where do we go from here?"

"You could try kissing me, I'd probably let you."

So he tried and she let him.

_________________________________________

18 Months Later

They really shouldn't have been eavesdropping, it was wrong and they knew better but here they were anyway.

Ronon had just been coming by the infirmary to pick up Jennifer for dinner when he'd been stopped, hushed and denied a 'hello' kiss by the cute little doctor. She'd been peering around one of the curtain dividers and listening, rather intently he thought, to whomever was speaking on the other side. So he'd stopped and hushed and taken his lack of a kiss in stride - he'd make sure he got more than a kiss later - and strained his ears to hear what was happening on the other side.

It hadn't surprised him to hear Eric Chen - he was a doctor after all - and Jennifer and him had remained friendly after she'd turned him down and told him that her and Ronon were together. Eric had even shaken his hand and congratulated Ronon on their engagement although it was only after he had threatened to inject him with a deadly toxin if Ronon hurt Jennifer in any way.

What had surprised Ronon was the other voice, a voice which sounded strangely like Amelia, a voice which sounded like it was flirting. Amelia and Chen? Ronon didn't dislike the idea but he did find it strange. They were so different, he couldn't even imagine them together. The sound of someone moving towards them interrupted his thoughts and he and Jennifer scurried, when had he started scurrying?, off to her office in order to avoid detection. He rounded on her the second the door closed, a million questions he wanted to ask on the tip of his tongue.

"I know, it is so strange. Amelia and Eric? But they might be good together, I mean, we're complete opposites and we work, right?"

"Right. Is that the first time-"

"Oh no, I've seen them together a few times actually. I think their little 'thing' probably started around when she'd gotten injured. They spent a lot of time together since she was stuck here for those two weeks."

"Okay."

"We probably shouldn't have been listening to their conversation…"

"Probably not."

"Right. Well, um, what are you doing here?"

"Taking you to dinner."

"Sounds good, let me just finish this-"

"Taking you to dinner now."

"Ronon…"

"Jennifer."

She smiled and shrugged before dropping the charts she'd picked up off her desk back on it. She thought it was incredibly sweet and thoughtful how he'd come by during her shifts to make sure she ate something, even going so far as to throw her over his shoulder one time when she wouldn't put down her staff evaluations in order to have breakfast with him. She grabbed the hand he held out to her, watched with a certain amount of delight how his large hand swallowed her smaller one, and followed him out of her office. She almost ran into him when he stopped suddenly in the middle of the infirmary and turned to look at her.

"What?"

"I forgot something."

"What?"

"This," he said before kissing her, not caring who saw or how much she blushed. Jennifer didn't mind, she just threaded her arms around his neck and held on as he lifted her slightly off the ground in order to even out their heights. He set her down, brushing his nose lightly against hers, before looking her in the eyes. "Hi."

"Hi."

He knew then, as he'd always known, that he'd never get tired of her, never want anyone else, never stop loving her.

She knew as she'd always known that he'd always surprise her, always make her feel wanted, always be the only man she'd ever love.

And, for the both of them, it was enough.