Yes (Parks and Recreation Fanfic)

Part 16 - Ben

ONE MONTH LATER
"OK, everybody! We have a 5 hours left until this is all over!" I yell to Leslie's campaign group. "Leslie is up by 29 points! We should have this in the bag, knock on wood!" She curls up into me, head on my shoulder. I smile and kiss her on the forehead.
"Ew! God! Stop the PDA and tell us what to do!" April yells.
"That's what I'm trying to say! We have virtually nothing left to do!"
"Party planning?" Donna asks
"Taken care of." Ann says.
"Door-to-door campaigning?" Jerry asks.
"We're probably going to lose votes if we knock on their doors again." I say.
"Sandwich flavor creator?" Andy asks. Everyone blankly stares at him.
"Oh, crap! I forgot Leslie's speeches in my desk!" I say, feeling stupid for forgetting such a big thing. "Andy? Do you have the keys to the car?"
"Um... I kind of left them in the Sewage Department's filing cabinet."
"I'm not even going to ask."
"Just let me drive you!" Leslie says enthusiastically.
"Are you sure? You should probably just take it easy for the next few hours."
"Oh, and driving a car to your house is totally going to stress me out." she says sarcastically.
"Alright then! We will be back!" I say as we leave.
"How are you feeling?" I ask Leslie as we walk down the hall.
"Nervous."
"Why?"
"What if I lose again, Ben? Then I'll know I can't even win the election I was destined to win in the first place the second time around!"
"Leslie, you're almost guaranteed to win this thing! Stop doubting yourself!"
"Almost guaranteed. Almost." She stands behind her car, facing me.
"Leslie, I love you, but you gotta start believing in yourself." I say.
Her face brightens up into a huge smile. "What did you just say?"
The words came so easily to me, I didn't realize that I'd never told her that I loved her before.
"I love you. I love you more than anything. And I just want you to know that, regardless of how tonight goes, regardless of anything that happens, I will still love you."
She pauses for a second, taking in my words.
"Ben, I love you more than sheer words can describe." She says. She grabs my tie and pulls me into her for a kiss. I put my arms around her waist and pull her in closer. After a bit, we pull away. To my surprise, she starts giggling.
"What's... what's funny?"
"I was just thinking about how we met."
I can't help it. I join in with her laughing.
"Oh, Leslie, you must understand" I say, taking on a dramatic tone. "Ours was the most romantic of beginnings. I came in to your life telling you that we'd have to fire your employees. And you yelled at me, not once, not twice, but-"
"Three times. Once drunkenly. Once was when I came to apologize for yelling at you drunkenly."
"It was all because I was acting like an ass. Every time."
"And I responded by being an ass."
"Yes. And then I tried to shut down a concert you threw for the city's kids."
"And you almost fired me before that!" I feel my heart fall a little. I wanted to hide that from her. That was one of my biggest regrets.
"You knew?"
"Ron told me later. I can't blame you. I was a bitch to you."
"Ah, what glorious memories." We both start laughing.
"What matters now is that, whatever happened in between, we're together now. In love." She says tenderly.
"I don't care how it happened. All I know is that I love you, Leslie Knope."
"And I love you, Ben Wyatt."
I pull her in for another kiss. All time disappears at we stand there, lips pressed together.
"Your speech." I say as I pull away from her. "We need to grab your speech."
"Right. " she says, clearly happy with what just happened.
"I really don't want to leave this spot."
"I don't either, but I'm also curious on the whereabouts on my future. So I'd have to leave before tonight."
"Come on." I say, smiling. She takes the keys and goes to the driver's seat. I sit in shotgun. I can't stop from smiling. I'd finally found someone I was in love with.