Hazel couldn’t believe it. Dean was here. What did it mean? Was he coming back to get her? This kiss certainly felt like he wanted to be with her. Did she want to be with him? Heck yeah. She’d go anywhere with him. Hollywood, Jacksonville, Timbuktu. Now he was here and his lips were on hers she didn’t want anything to change.

“What are you doing here?” she breathed, when he finally pulled away.

“What were you doing on the roof?” he asked, bursting into nervous laughter.

“Trying to save a cat,” she said and bit her lip, trying to hold in her own giggle. He looked at her in disbelief and kept laughing. She lost it and her hysterical giggles joined his.

“You could have died!” he gasped, tears streaming down his face.

“I know!” she said, a huge unladylike snort escaped, and they looked at each other and laughed even harder.

As their laughter slowed down Dean pulled her more tightly to him. All of her curves and edges fit into his perfectly, as they always did. She was home. He tucked her head under his chin, his fingers twisted in her hair, and she pressed her cheek to his chest, breathing him in. He was here. She couldn’t believe it.

“I came to tell you some stuff,” Dean said. “If you’ll let me say it.”

She was suddenly afraid of what he had to say. What if he was only here to say goodbye? She needed to apologize. “I’m sorry I ran away from you on the Tower, Dean. I had no idea you were stuck! I should have given you the benefit of the doubt. I should never have doubted you. And I’m sorry that I yelled at you the next day, when that man was here. It wasn't your responsibility to tell me anything. It was Indigo's mistake, and we've fixed that now.”

Dean pulled her even closer. “Sssh, babe. You’ve been going through some rough stuff. I’m sorry I left you here to deal with it all by yourself, but I knew you’d work it out and I had some things I needed to do first. Things I needed to do for us. So that we can be together. That is, if you’ll have me.”

Hazel's heart had been pounding from the moment that first tile had slipped, but now Dean's words slowed it. She didn't need to be afraid. He wasn't here to break up with her. He was here for her. She pulled herself into a sitting position and pulled Dean up beside her. She sat cross-legged in front of him in the tiny space. Outside there were voices and banging sounds, but she ignored them. Dean had her full attention.

“Tell me,” she said and gripped both of his hands in hers. "Tell me everything.”

Dean smiled at her, his blue eyes crinkling, and she felt her stomach do a backflip. Had there ever been a more beautiful man?

“There’s plenty of time to tell you the gruesome details later. But I need to tell you the important bit. When Adam first took me to LA, I thought I'd found a home. Adam was like the brother I'd never had, and the film sets, all the people, they were my family. I felt like I belonged there.” Hazel nodded her head, encouraging him to say more. “But the truth was, I had no reference for what a real home felt like. I didn’t know it could feel like this.” He swept his hand around the widow’s walk and she smiled, she knew he meant Borgotaro, not this tiny, grimy room. “I didn't know it could feel like you. I realized I’ve been kidding myself all of these years. Those people in California don’t care about me. They only care about what I can do for them. But you... you didn’t even know who I was when you met me. But you cared about me, anyway.”

Hazel let go of his hand and punched him lightly on the shoulder. “Are you sure? Seems like I did a lot of yelling back then, too.”

He laughed and leaned forward to kiss her lightly. “I liked that I had to win you over. I never had to do that before.” She took his hand in hers again and squeezed. “There’s more,” he said.

“Go on.”

“This is my home. You. Borgotaro. Sara, Stella, Atillio… even nutty Indigo.” She rolled her eyes and laughed. “I love you, Hazel. Would you stay here with me? In Borgotaro?”

She leaned forward and kissed him. Resting her forehead against his and trying to catch her breath. Did Dean McLean just say he loved her? Uptight, messed up, drowning in trouble Hazel? She couldn’t drag him into this mess of her life right now. She should get her life sorted out before she dragged him into it. “God, I love you Dean. And I’d stay with you anywhere. But I need to fix my life first. I’m drowning in debt. I have no job. I don’t even have a place to live.”

“You don’t have to do everything by yourself, you know. You can let people take care of you sometimes. I don’t want to be your knight in shining armor - I want to be your partner. But I can make it easier for us. I have made it easier for us.”

Hazel was confused. “What do you mean? Made it easier?”