A/N: This is the last chapter, I hope you like it. Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed!

Chapter Seven

Linka sighed against her lover's mouth as his gentle hands slipped under the edge of her small top, his fingers brushing the sides of her breasts, continuing their exploration of her skin. For her part, the Russian girl was concentrating on what they were doing with their mouths, whilst tenderly running her fingers through his hair.

If she thought about it she would probably have to admit that he didn't have to be too amazing to surpass her inexperienced daydreams, but Linka was still impressed by how attentive he was being. She could tell that he was at least as interested in her reactions as how what he was doing made him feel, and it gave her the encouragement she needed to reciprocate.

The phone rang.

"Ignore it." Wheeler mumbled, running one hand down her side to rub the thigh that was bent up against his leg.

For a moment she listened to him but then pulled away, gasping her response. "We cannot… it can only be the front desk… the others."

The American swore and disentangled himself, before reaching for the receiver. "Yeah? …Thanks." He hung up. "Damn. They're on their way up."

Linka chuckled and sat up, rearranging her top and pushing her hair back. "Put the television on and see if you can find a film or something we could have been watching."

He did as he was told and then went to sit in the chair.

"Where are you going?" She looked surprised.

"Um… I thought you wanted it to look… innocent?" He suggested, flicking the channels on the remote. "Not that anyone will believe we were watching this, all this stuff is in some foreign language."

The Russian giggled. "You mean French?"

Her companion's cheeks went red as he remembered where they were. "Oh, yeah."

"Come back to bed." She pulled the duvet back. "They are going to tease us anyway, we might as well be comfortable."

Wheeler sat on the bed and scooted over to put his arm around her, grinning as she cuddled back into him. "You sure you're okay with this?"

Linka looked up at her boyfriend and smiled though she looked a little worried. "When we are alone? Definitely. When the others get here? I hope so. I want to be, I just…"

"I know. It's okay, we'll work it out." He kissed the top of her head and flicked the channel again.

It was easy for Linka to feel okay when Wheeler was being like that, but she wasn't really sure how she would react the next time he did something stupid or embarrassing, and in truth, she was as much bothered by what he might do and say in front of the others as she was over what their friends might say to them.

Their short time alone together had helped, Linka adored her fiery friend when he was just relaxed and being himself, it was the rest of the time that kept her off balance. She had made her decision though, her feelings for him weren't going to go away and she was convinced that finding a way to make it work between them would outweigh everything else. It was at least worth fighting for.

"Oh, hey, this'll do. Watch." The Russian looked at the screen, a little confused as Wheeler had turned the sound off and settled for what appeared to be a farming program.

The farmer was being interviewed by a young woman, who looked completely out of place in the middle of a field, and the American began to dub their voices by providing his own dialogue.

"Well Andrea, I don't tend to wear high heels in the winter time but I'm sure the sheep would appreciate your advice on the latest hair fashions."

"You think so Zeb? Some of them are fashion disasters, can we go and talk to them? Is that okay?"

"Sure, Sure… mind your step… oh sorry about that, they aren't house trained…"

The awful thing was that his improvised conversation seemed to fit the images on the screen a little too well. By the time the others entered their adjoining room, Linka was laughing uncontrollably. On the plus side she completely missed the way Gi had pretended to cover her eyes, asking if it was safe to come in.

"In here guys." Wheeler called out, lacing his hand with Linka's reassuringly.

"You two look cosy." Gi grinned. "Not interrupting are we?"

The American rolled his eyes but encouraged by the fact that Linka hadn't yet jumped away from him, said. "Yes. But you can come in anyway."

The Asian girl perched on the end of the bed while Ma-Ti sat in the chair with Laura in his lap. Kwame went to put the kettle on for coffee.

"So Linka." Gi's eyes were gleaming. "Did you have a good birthday?"

"Da. Thank you all, it has been wonderful." She squeezed Wheeler's hand to let him know that she was okay. "I hope you enjoyed it too?"

That triggered an enthusiastic conversation about the merits of the restaurant, the food, the music and the dancing. Everyone was in a good mood and inclined to laugh and joke and Wheeler could feel the tension gradually seeping out of Linka, until Gi once more brought up the subject of their relationship.

"So, does this…" She gestured at the couple in the bed. "…mean that you're… erm?"

"We're erm?" Wheeler replied irritatingly, making his girlfriend cringe beside him. "We're cold? Bored? Having incredible sex? What?"

The blonde's face was getting redder by the second. "Wheeler!"

"Sorry Babe." He grimaced, knowing he'd screwed up again but not sure how badly. "We got soaked through and Linka was still cold…"

It was Linka's turn to feel guilty so she finished the sentence for him, not wanting him to think that she was ashamed of their relationship, even if she didn't want a lot of fuss about it. "…and since we are a couple now we did not think there would be any harm in sharing a duvet, now please can we drop the subject?"

Gi grinned triumphantly but all she said was. "Sure," before changing the topic completely.

Stunned for a moment, Linka looked up at Wheeler and laughed softly. He in turn grinned back and shrugged, settling back to re-join the group conversation with his girlfriend cuddled into his side.

Some time later, Laura yawned. "I hate to say this but I need to get some sleep."

"Laura is right, it is very early in the morning and we should all be in bed." Kwame agreed.

Wheeler's grip tightened involuntarily around the lovely Russian, very reluctant to be parted from her. Linka squeezed him back, turning sad eyes up to his.

Their guest sat up and once Ma-Ti had released her, stood. "Why don't you two stay there? Gi and I can share the other room with the guys, it's all single beds after all and I've always wanted to try a top bunk."

"I am not sure your father would approve…" Kwame began but stopped when she started laughing.

"Kwame, I know you think of Ma-Ti and I as the babies of this group but we're not teenagers anymore. I'm at university! My friends and I crash at each others places all the time and I promise you nothing happens."

Gi grinned. "Yeah, but does your Dad know that?"

Laura laughed. "He's never asked."

To Wheeler's surprise, when the laughter died down Linka said. "If you are sure you do not mind, we would prefer to stay together, da?"

"Da!" He waited until the others had said good night and filed out before asking, "You wanna get in bed properly?"

Linka shook her head and rested it on his shoulder. "I am warm enough, but I will move if you want me to."

"Nah, I'm good." They snuggled down and Wheeler reached out to turn the lights off before cuddling back around her.

The adjoining door was still open and they could hear the others talking and going in and out of the bathroom, but they felt detached from it, as if they were in their own little bubble.

"Good night Yankee, thank you for a wonderful evening."

He kissed her softly. "Happy Birthday."

"It was." She sighed sleepily. "I wish we had not been interrupted."

Wheeler chuckled. "Me too, but we have plenty of time… what was it you said when I was sick? Your grandmother's song?"

"'Dearheart sleep sweetly.'" She recited softly, meaning each word. "'For I am watching over you, and when you wake I will share your joy and your pain, and bring comfort to your ills. My love will be with you always.'"

His lips met hers as she finished, and when they parted he whispered. "Always. I'm going to take care of you Babe, like you did for me when I was sick, you won't need to worry about anything."

"I am not sick though," She pointed out, her eyes smiling into his.

"In sickness and in health," he told her with a wink.

It was a promise.