A/N: This was something that I wrote a while back after seeing the 1945 movie because I felt that a hug wasn't enough to suggest Lombard—er, Morley—and Vera would come out of the ordeal as more than just friends and I decided to put it up here as a fluffy little one-shot. Disclaimer: The movie And Then There Were None belongs to Twentieth Century Fox (even though they should probably change their name to Twenty-First Century Fox now) and the original book belongs to Agatha Christie.
Morley and Vera ran down the path to the boat, faster than they ever had before. Finally, the two made it to the docks. They stopped running to catch their breaths. "So…do you think we should take the boat back to the mainland now and leave the poor boatman here with the dead guests?" asked Morley.
Vera smiled at the thought, but said, "As tempting as it sounds, no. We should probably wait for him in the boat."
Morley and Vera climbed into the boat and sat next to each other. After a few seconds, Vera rested her head on Morley's shoulder. He then gently stroked her cheek, wiping a few wisps of hair off.
Vera shuddered slightly. She liked it when Morley touched her. It gave her a comforting, soothing feeling. It felt like stepping into a hot bath after having a long, stressful day.
"So…what was that one thing you said Mr. Owen couldn't foresee?" whispered Vera.
Morley smiled at her and lifted her chin off his shoulder, bringing her to face him before answering her question: "Well…Owen knew we would be scared, all right. He knew we'd be frightened out of our wits. But what he didn't count on was two of his almost-victims developing strong feelings for each other, trust being the foundation."
"What type of strong feelings?" asked Vera suspiciously.
Morley answered that question too, but not with his words; with his lips. It only lasted for about five seconds or so before he pulled himself away.
Vera, looking quite startled, stammered, "You—you kissed me."
"Yes, I did," said Morley. He quickly asked, "What? You don't feel the same way for me?" He sighed. "Listen…if you don't feel the same way for me, I'm sorry. But if you do, I'm not. Either way…it's just that…from the moment I laid eyes on you, I thought you looked beautiful. However, I've met a lot of women whom I viewed as beautiful but it hardly went anywhere, so I dismissed it as a schoolboy crush. But during this weekend, I've developed feelings for you that kept growing stronger as…"
"…more and more people died, even though you knew there was always the possibility I was the killer, but you just didn't want to believe it," finished Vera.
"Yes," said Morley, surprised. "How did you know?"
"Because…I feel the same way about you," said Vera, looking Morley in the eye.
"Now that I know that piece of information, there's something I have to tell you," said Morley. He leaned in a bit closer and said softly, "I love you, Vera."
Vera replied in the same soft tone, "I love you too, Charles."
And then the two leaned in further and closed the space between their lips. There had never been a moment in their lives where they felt happier or in Heaven than this moment. They wanted all of time to be suspended, to leave them like this forever. Their arms were now wrapped around each other and they gently moved their hands in rhythm.
"Excuse me?"
Morley and Vera pulled apart, turned around, and saw the boatman staring at them. Embarrassed, they laughed nervously.
"Sorry to interrupt such a tender moment, but the two of you left your luggage behind," said the boatman. He gently laid their luggage down in the boat and added, "And it looks like this little fellow wants to follow you two home." He picked up the cat that had followed him down to the docks and put him in the boat. The boatman stepped into the boat. He looked as white as a sheet, as though he had just seen the most horrific thing in his life—and of course, he had; he had seen eight dead bodies.
"Are you all right?" asked Vera. "You look like you saw a ghost."
"Eight dead bodies to be more accurate," said the boatman. "Would either of you care to explain this odd circumstance?"
Morley and Vera looked at each other before Morley looked at the boatman and said, "Take us back to the mainland. We'll explain the entire story when we get there. And trust me it'll be the death of you!"
End