Daniel and Tessa had been going out on dates, holding hands, spending time with each other, and just enjoying the other's company. But neither one of them had confirmed if they were actually dating. Daniel was too scared to ask in case she decided against it and for that main reason, he kept quiet about the matter – no matter how much he wanted to confirm.

Even now, the FBI agent went around the kitchen, bobbing his head to the song playing as he stirred the food in the pot, enjoying the rhythm that flowed through him, gently dancing to the song as he hummed along. The sound of his phone ringing on the counter had him pause the music before he smiled to see the contact picture pop up.

"Hey, Bambi," He called adoringly into the phone as he stirred the sauce in the pot.

"Hey," Tessa's voice greeted on the other line.

"We're still on for the weekend, right?" He confirmed, tasting the sauce and smacking his lips together.

"Yeah, I'm just packing my overnight back and thought I'd let you know that I'll see you in half an hour."

"Great! Can't wait," Daniel grinned in excitement. "Food would be made by then too,"

"Awesome!" She smiled into the phone. "Also, I wanted to ask if it's okay that Jeremy tags along for dinner?"

"Sure, I've made enough for the three of us,"

"Lovely! I'll see you soon,"

"See you," Daniel ended the call and pressed play on the remote, going back to enjoying the ambiance he had created.

Half an hour later, he had been dishing up the food with the plates set when he heard the front door unlock followed by the distinct chatter of two voice. Peeking his head out of the archway, a broad grin overcame his face to see Tessa step inside with a backpack slung over her shoulder and Jeremy in tow.

"Hey," He walked over to the two, placing a kiss on Tessa's cheek before greeting Jeremy with a handshake, taking the bag from her and placing it at the foot of the stairs. "Come on, food is served," He cocked his head towards the dinner table as they both grinned and made their way over to it.

Daniel had made creamy salmon pasta with spinach, served with bread rolls and butter and a large bowl of green salad. Everyone digging in and enjoying the delicious taste that danced across their taste buds, all three of them chatting and laughing together.

"So Daniel," Jeremy spoke up after their laughing fit died down as the man in question looked up at him. "I hope you don't mind me asking you a couple of questions, do you?"

"No, go right ahead,"

"Okay, so..." He trailed. "How old are you?"

Daniel looked up at him with a raised eyebrow, wondering if he was actually serious.

"28..."

"And what is it that you do for a living?"

"I'm an FBI Agent," He squinted at him. "You know that,"

"Yes, yes," Jeremy waved dismissively. "What exactly is it that you do as an FBI agent?"

"I investigate various crimes"

"Like...?"

"Murders,"

"Okay," He nodded to the answer, Tessa looking at him in confusion. "What do you do for fun?"

"I read, or go out for a walk, sometimes even go swimming if the weather is good, I like cooking too," Daniel informed, chewing at his pasta. "I enjoy hiking, and sometimes just sitting in with good music and a nice cup of coffee on rainy days,"

"So you have a diverse range of activities to do in your free time?"

"Yeah,"

"And what are your friends like?"

"My friends..." He trailed, leaning back in his seat before taking a sip of the water. "Well, here in New York, most of them - if not all - are married men who I work with and we bonded over one thing or the other. Like, I started talking to this one guy when we both realized we were having the same problem with our phone, another one I began talking to when it was discovered that we were both the youngest of four, and stuff like that. I have a small number of friends, but we know each other intimately now,"

"So you trust them?"

"Trusting them on the field is the highest esteem anyone could get, and they all have my trust,"

"Okay, what's your favorite thing about Tessa?" Jeremy asked as Daniel finished his food, both him and Tessa looking up at him at the question.

"Everything." He spoke without hesitation. "From the way her eyes crinkle when she smiles down to the way her toes curls when she stretched in the morning after having a good sleep the night before, to the way she puts her hair in a ponytail and takes them out just to put them back again when she's frustrated, and I especially love the way she sways like she's listening to a good song when she eats food she likes," Daniel stood up as she flushed at the words, watching him pick up the dishes and take them to the kitchen.

"Hey, Danny," Jeremy followed after him, taking the beer bottle he held out to him. "Want to join me on the porch for a bit?"

"Well, what for?" Daniel looked up at him in confusion as he handed Tessa the cup of green tea he had made for her.

"A smoke,"

Daniel raised an eyebrow at the words before nodding, Tessa having insisted that he stop smoking and if he needed to smoke then smoke outside. Shrugging, he grabbed a beer bottle himself before placing a kiss on the top of Tessa's head and walking out after Jeremy. Settling on the front steps, he put the bottle beside him before taking out a cigarette and lighting it, offering one to Jeremy as well as he shook his head and instead took a swig of the beer.

"I asked you to join me outside so that I could ask you a question in private,"

"And what would that be?" He put the case away as the cigarette moved with his words.

"Where do you see yourself going with Tessa?"

Daniel blew out a cloud of smoke over his head at the question, sitting silently for a minute and formulating his answer.

"I want to go as far as she is comfortable-" He began to say but was cut off.

"-Personally,"

"Personally?" The agent confirmed as he took a swig from the bottle. "Personally speaking, I know I'm not her first, but I want to be her last,"

"I mean..." Daniel fumbled for words as he took a puff of the cigarette. "You've noticed how when you're driving in the rain, you hear the pitter patter against the hood of your car and everything gets blurry due to the drops on your windshield. And then, when you drive into a tunnel, that incessant noise just stops, the blurriness clears away and everything is so high definition, and it's just you and that clarity, right? Yeah, she's my tunnel." He tried to make him understand.

"I have known that Tessa is that one person out there that would love nothing more than the chance to enjoy me in all the right and wrong and never abuse me. Someone who from I don't want to hide. Someone who won't make me feel crazy. I don't feel lost with her, I feel found." Daniel sighed. "Because I remember the day I looked into her eyes and just felt my entire world...flip,"

He wanted to ask if he understood, but decided against it, realizing that even if he didn't, he didn't have the words to explain. Daniel watched a wide grin spread across Jeremy's lips as he nodded.

"Yeah," He chuckled, walking up the stairs and stopped with his hand on the handle. "I like this boyfriend of Tessa's," And walked in.

Later that night, Tessa had gotten ready for bed and sat on the mattress in a blush pink and white polka dotted sweatshirt with matching pajamas. She had been tying her hair into a braid when Daniel walked out of the washroom in black sweatpants with a grey t-shirt, rubbing his arms against the cold before turning off the lights.

"I had a very interesting conversation with Jeremy," He revealed as he got under the covers beside Tessa, the girl humming in acknowledgment. "Out on the porch, he was asking me these questions,"

"What sort?"

"Just questions," He shrugged. "But that's not the point. After I answered the question, he looked at me with this...smile and said 'I like this boyfriend of Tessa's',"

"Okay, and?" Tessa questioned in response as she tied the ends together and threw the braid over her shoulder.

"The funny thing is..." Daniel chuckled. "I don't remember us having made it official," He looked up at her as she blinked at him.

"I thought it was obvious," She responded before cuddling under the covers.

"Obvious or no," He shook his head with a smile. "I want to confirm, do you consider me your boyfriend?"

"I do," She nodded in confirmation, feeling heat travel up her neck. "I do consider you to be my boyfriend," Tessa hid half her face into the blankets as a wide smile overcame Daniel's lips.

She watched him turn around and open his side table drawer before fumbling around with it. Tessa lifting her head up to see what he was doing before he turned back with a gold knot ring in his hand.

"Alright," He took hold of her left hand as she looked at the wire thin ring. "Will you do me the honors of being my girlfriend?" Daniel looked up at her from beneath his lashes as his cheeks took on a light shade of pink.

"I do," Tessa chuckled at his antics, shaking her head with a bright face before smiling to watch him slide the ring onto her finger and placing a kiss on the back of her hand.

Now the two had made it official and were very happy with the development. Tessa coming over to his house so often that he gave her a spare key to his doors, and every minute Daniel wasn't working, he was with her, both of them practically living together. With this new change, a few of Tessa's friends complained that she doesn't spend time with them anymore and for that very reason, she sat at a café, laughing and chatting with a group of three.

"Oh! That's hilarious," One of the girls threw back her head, laughing.

Chuckling and settling down, Tessa tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear as the gold ring Daniel had given her caught the light, the girl beside her noticing the sudden shimmer as she watched her place her hand on the table.

"Oh, who gave you the knot ring?" She asked as Tessa looked at her in confusion.

"What?"

"The knot ring?" She gestured to the ring on her finger. "You know, a ring that symbolizes a knot that is not quite tied yet, but has all intentions of being tied? A promise ring, Tessa,"

"A...promise ring?" Tessa confirmed as she looked down at the jewelry on her finger, the color draining from her face. "I didn't know..." She murmured quietly, her friends not having caught her words.

"So who gave it?"

"I... I have to go," She rushed out and grabbed her bag before getting up from her place and running down the sidewalk, leaving the three girls to sit in confusion at her sudden haste.

Unlocking the door, she had expected Daniel to be home but groaned in frustration to see that he wasn't. Taking out her phone, she speed dialed his number and waited for him to pick up. Pacing the hallway when he didn't and she tried again.

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Pickett," Daniel thanked tha gentleman before him and took a step back, flipping through the pages on his notepad as he made his way to his partner by the car. "So, Mr. Pickett did not see the husband come in during the time of the murder, but he did hear the sounds of an altercation inside and had assumed it to be the couple, and next thing he knew, the husband came home and soon 911 was crawling all over the place,"

"No luck with the other neighbor," His partner shrugged before walking away when Daniel took out his phone, his eyebrows scrunching in confusion to see the numerous missed calls from Tessa followed by messages demanding him to pick up.

Clicking on her number, Daniel held the device to his ear, his heart thundering with concern at the urgency of her approach.

"Bambi," He called into the phone when she picked up. "What happened? Is everything aright?"

"You need to get here right now," Tessa's thick voice responded on the other line. "I need you here, right now!"

"Why? What happened?" He questioned as his heart dropped to his feet when he heard her sniffling.

"Just get home, Daniel!"

"Okay, okay," He tried to pacify her. "I'm coming," He assured and hung up the phone.

His worry and concern must have been evident on his face because his partner turned to him and asked if everything was alright.

"I got to go," Daniel told him, looking up at him with a dazed expression. "My...my grandma just died..."

"Oh, shit," His partner hissed. "Go on, I'll cover for you," He ushered him away as Daniel nodded and made his way to his car, getting in before driving away.

Arriving outside his door, he ran up the stairs and entered, catching sight of Tessa standing in the middle of the hallway with her hair standing up in odd angles with her face blotchy and her eyes bloodshot, a clear indicator of her having been crying.

"Tessa? What happened?" He asked in concern and began making his way towards her, stopping short when she held up her left hand for him to see as he grabbed it and turned it over. "Did you get hurt? Did you hurt your hand?" Daniel asked her.

"Did you know?" She sniffled in response.

"Did I know what?"

"Did you know that this is a promise ring?" She pointed to the knot ring on her finger, Daniel's eyebrow scrunching in confusion at the question.

"Of course,"

"Do you know what it means?"

"Yes, I-"

"-A knot ring symbolized a knot that has all intentions of being tied," She choked out. "It means that you want to marry me,"

"Of course it does, that's why I bought it," He chuckled at her words. "Because one day, I want to marry you. Didn't you know that, Tessa? I thought it was pretty obvious," He teased her with her own words.

"Oh, Daniel!" A broken sob escaped her as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him fervently, Daniel stumbling back at the suddenness before melting, feeling her lips on his own for the first time.

One arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her closer as the other cupped her cheek, slowing down to relish in the softness of her lips and the slightly salty taste that infiltrated his mouth, gently coaxing her to slow down. His coaxing did nothing but to make her push herself into him, both of them stumbling as Daniel returned her rushed passion, not even realizing both of them struggling to get the clothes off each other as they tripped over their own feet on their way to the lounge.

A fold in the rug had Daniel fall back as Tessa fell after him, the agent lying beneath her, with ruffled hair and crumpled clothes as he stared back at her with labored breathing and burning eyes.

He wanted to ask what the suddenness was for, he wanted to ask her if she liked the kiss, he wanted to say so much to her at that moment, but all he managed to do was lean forward and connected their lips together. Feeling heat envelop him as she sighed into his mouth before he turned them over, Tessa fumbling to get his clothes off him as his fingers slipped in trying to achieve the same task, both of them in far too great a haste to feel each other's bare skin to be dignified in the task.