AFTER THE LAST EPISODE...

(by Gaby)

"John, can I talk to you for a minute?" Della Reese told the blond actor right when they were finishing the last episode of the series. She had seen him almost crying, hugging Roma fiercely and she knew it was time for her to talk to the young man. They walked a little away from the crowd that was still busy in the last good-byes, and they never noticed Roma looking at them and following them.

"What was all that about, Johnnie?" the older actress said taking him by surprise.

"What are you talking about?" he replied trying to get time to think as he soon realized Della had discovered him.

"Don’t come to me with that, John! You know perfectly well what I’m talking about, and if you need a remainder, you just have to wait to see this last scene... You haven’t talked to her, have you?"

John lifted his gaze with hers, his green eyes talking by themselves. Only Della and Alexis Cruz, their other frequent co-star knew his biggest secret: he was hopelessly in love with Roma.

"John?" Della’s voice took him out of his thoughts.

"No, Della. I haven’t talked to her," he confessed. "And to be honest I don’t even know how I will continue to live after today, when I will not be able to see her everyday."

"John, it’s been long enough..."

"I know, it’s just that... I don’t know how to start, what to say..."

"Lovejuice, you have to talk to her. Tell her all what you feel..."

"But how can I tell her?!" he shouted, startling both Della and Roma, who was hearing their conversation hidden behind a tree. "What can I tell her?! That I love her beyond words even if she doesn’t think of me but as a friend?! How can I tell her that I don’t know how to make it through the night because my arms are completely empty without her?! How can I tell her I’ve been loving her in silence for nine years now and that my life seems to be ending tomorrow?!"

Roma had listened carefully, the truth seeming too big to take it at once. But his last words were like a bucket of cold water for her: he had been in love with her since the beginning... and the truth was that she also wanted to keep on seeing him everyday, counting on him as that secure presence that was always there for her, as that warm body and those strong arms that were her perfect refugee whenever she needed it. He loved her... All that John had said was in fact those three words: he loved her. Suddenly a great feeling of joy invaded her and she took her hands to her mouth to stop the sob that longed to escape her mouth. She had to talk to him today...

Della was about to say something more when a soft voice interrupted the older woman and the actor. "John..." Both Della and John turned to find Roma. The Irish actress felt John was giving her his very life by the way he looked at her. It was as if he were begging to spare his life, a life to live with her.

"You two need to talk," Della said and she let the two younger actors alone.

Roma had bent her head down to avoid his gaze, but all the love he felt for her washed her over the second her eyes found his again. She recognized at once she would never find a bigger love than this one, one more absolute, one that would never ask her anything in return. "John..." she tried to start.

"All you’ve heard is true, Roma," John said gathering all his courage. "I don’t know how I will continue to live after today, how I will survive without at least seeing you..." He had walked closer to her and his trembling fingers were tracing the line from her temple to her chin, barely grazing her skin. "You’re the reason of my life, baby, you’ve been that the last nine years." A single tear crossed his cheek and Roma raised her hand to wipe it away. "I love you so much... as I’ve never loved anyone in my life, and so deeply that I’m afraid of myself, of this love I feel for you." Little by little, Roma’s eyes had been changing and a shine of love had been appearing on them. John was cupping her face tenderly as he kept speaking. "I want you, Roma, I want you with a new wish that is becoming a torment for me, and sometimes I wonder how is it possible that I should go to sleep and wake up and walk and have you again and always in front of me, in front of my eyes, in my thoughts, in every single moment of my life... I love you, Roma Downey."

Roma felt her heart bursting with joy: the most wonderful man she’d ever met loved her, something she hadn’t even dared to imagine. "This is too much and so good... I... I had no idea," she managed to whisper, her hand still stroking his cheek.

"You’re so precious to me..." the blond actor said taking her hand between his and kissing it lovingly. "I can’t help but loving you so incredibly much..."

The Irish actress remained silent for some seconds, the longest ones in John’s life. Big tears appeared in her eyes and crossed her cheeks unbidden before she could speak. "I love you too, John. I love you..."

He was also crying in silence but a big smile lightened his face. "I’m so happy... God, I’m so, so happy," he whispered cupping her face again and swiping her tears with his thumbs. He felt he couldn’t waste a minute more, so he leaned down to claim her lips in the kiss he so wanted to give her.

Their eyes met before their mouths and John was the first to close his eyes, his lips pressing against Roma’s. She wrapped her hands around his back, her mouth ceding at John’s insistence. She felt him capturing her lower lip and she opened her mouth to kiss him back, allowing her tongue to slide against his. John wrapped his right arm around her neck, his mouth never releasing hers. He guided her right arm around his neck too and then circled her waist pulling her closer. He was panting heavily when they parted, barely an inch from each other, but when John looked at her eyes, he saw something he had never seen there before: they were dark stormy with feelings that hadn’t been evoked in years. None said a single word, and a second later John felt her mouth searching for the reciprocity of his again, her eager lips parting his and rending him completely helpless. Once and again they stole each other’s breath, each kiss a small taste of what they had been missing for years.

"Tell me this is not a dream," he murmured gasping for air.

"Oh, yes, it is, Johnnie," she replied smiling happily and lovingly caressing his face. "It’s a dream for me, a very beautiful one." She leaned against the back of his hand that was stroking her cheek. "Why didn’t you tell me?"

"I was so afraid... I can’t lose you, baby. You’re my life." He held her tightly, kissing her cheek and her auburn hair.

"We have a new life waiting for us, John. You’ve given me that today," she murmured relaxing in his arms, those arms that had hold her so many times but never like today.

"No, Roma," he said pulling apart and cupping her face again. "You’ve given me a new life today, the life I want to have forever. By your side, showing you how much I adore you."

Roma smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist pressing her body closer to him. "Show me now," she whispered offering him her lips again. The blond actor smiled against her sweet mouth and kissed her, mentally thanking God for such a wonderful present.