A/N: Well, here is the last chapter of this story. Thank you sincerely to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story. I hope you enjoyed reading this.
"Stop fidgeting, Charlie. You're making it worse."
"But it hurts!"
"Well, if you held still it wouldn't hurt as much."
Crutchie grumbled at Jennie's logic, but he did his best to stop moving around nevertheless. He and Jennie were sitting across from each other in the kitchen of the lodging house, and she was currently dabbing some sort of ointment on the cuts and bruises which riddled his face after his fight with the men in the alley. Crutchie had, fortunately, won, having the advantage of proper training and being sober. He would have to thank Spot later.
Jennie was quiet as she finished cleaning Crutchie up, her eyes full guilt and an emotion Crutchie couldn't quite place. When she finally spoke, her voice was thick. "You didn't have to help me."
Crutchie looked at her incredulously. "'Course I did, Jennie. If I hadn't, you wouldn't be here right now."
"But you wouldn't be hurt," Jennie responded, her voice soft.
"I've had worse," Crutchie shrugged. "An' besides, I've got you ta take care of me."
Jennie chuckled, beginning to clean up the medical supplies she had spread across the kitchen table. "That's true. I'll always look after you."
Crutchie raised his eyebrows. "Always?"
Jennie's eyes widened as she realized what she had just said. "Well, I- you know what I mean."
"No, I don't," Crutchie said, frustration creeping into his voice. "I don't know what's between us Jennie, an' it's drivin' me insane. You know how I feel about you, an' if you don't feel the same way that's fine, but I'd like to know!"
"Be careful what you wish for," Jennie murmured, turning away from Crutchie. The silence hung between them for a minute, thick and suffocating, until Jennie finally spoke again. "I've thought a lot about you, Charlie, since that night a few weeks ago. Almost constantly, in fact."
Crutchie swallowed hard, bracing himself for the rejection he was sure was coming.
"I realized that… that I like you too. A lot. Since we first met. I tried to push it away because I was with John and I was sure he was the one for me, but when he broke my heart I realized that I wanted to run to you. I wanted you to be there for me, and help me. I wanted you to hold me and tell me everything would be alright. I wanted-" Jennie's voice cracked, and a few stray tears ran down her face.
Crutchie was on his feet in an instant, and he pulled Jennie into a warm and comforting hug as her tears escalated into sobs. For what seemed like ages (but was in reality only a few minutes) Crutchie held Jennie tightly, whispering comforting nonsense words in her ear like he remembered his mother doing whenever he was upset. Finally, Jennie's sobs quieted and she pulled away, her eyes still glistening with unshed tears.
"I'm sorry," she muttered, her cheeks turning red with embarrassment at having thoroughly soaked Crutchie's shirt.
"Don't be," Crutchie smiled reassuringly at Jennie. "An' about what you said… I feel the same way. I want to be there for you."
Jennie smiled softly. "Thank you, Charlie."
Crutchie hesitated for a moment, unsure if it was the right moment to tell Jennie this, but he decided there would never be a perfect moment to say what he wanted to. "Jennie… d'ya think maybe you could be there for me too?"
Jennie blinked, taking a minute to process Crutchie's unexpected question. Finally, her face broke into a dazzling grin. "Is this your way of asking me out on a date?"
"Uh, yeah," Crutchie said. "Did it work?"
Jennie didn't respond, she simply planted a light kiss on Crutchie's forehead. Crutchie was taken aback at this gesture of affection, and he blushed bright red. Jennie giggled. "Of course I'll go on a date with you, you leathcheann."
A/N: Roughly translated, 'leathcheann' means 'idiot' in Irish.
I have several more stories about Crutchie and Jennie already written and published on my AO3 account, and my goal is to get them published on here as well in the next few weeks. I hope everyone is looking forward to that, and again, thank you for reading.