I guess I'm still not convinced that the story read outside of a slash context, outside of our expectations, is convincing as a love story.

I think that regardless of who is reading it or their expectations in regards to the type of story, some people will see it as working and some won't. It has more to do with people's own ideas of love, their own prejudices, etc. than with the text of the story.

I mean, I can't answer whether they were in love or not, but at the end of the story, it felt to me like they were getting it to work, which is as good an ending for me as anything.