Title: Stabbing Westward III: Inside You

Author: Margaret Brown

Pairing: Rommie/Dylan

Rating: PG, just to be safe

Status: Complete

Archive: Yes to list archive if any, all others please ask first

Feedback: Yes, please!

E-mail address for feedback: phoenyxphiyre@hotmail.com

Series/Sequel: Stabbing Westward, part three of four

Disclaimers: I don't own the characters or the lyrics, just my story ideas.

Summary: Dylan ponders what happened after overloaded emotions drive him and Rommie to an unexpected resolution...

Notes: Part Three of the Stabbing Westward series - the third of four installments. The song is Inside You by Stabbing Westward, off their album Wither, Blister, Burn, and Peel. It'll probably be helpful to read Parts One and Two of this series - Shame and Save Yourself - before reading this.

Warnings: Spoilers for Star-Crossed. This one seems to be sweet rather than angsty - my muses worked so hard with this one I couldn't deny them a happy ending. Especially since I also denied them their original idea so I could keep my rating down...

I feel your lips.
I taste your skin.
I need to know,
I need to feel you from within.

I still don't know how it happened. I remember finding her crying on the Obs. Deck and trying to comfort her. She pulled away from me... started crying even harder while I did my best to calm her down after she let me hold her again...

Then she kissed me.

I tried to fight it, I really did, but it wasn't something I could walk away from. Not after all the weeks of shouting matches and endless tension... Something had to give, and it did.

The next thing I knew, we were both half-naked on the Obs. Deck floor. I fought my way back to reality for a second then, only to use that moment of lucidity to lead us both to my quarters...

After Pax and Warrick, I promised myself I would never let something like this happen with Rommie. Somehow, though, I'm not surprised that I caved at the first real temptation - and not really all that regretful... What happened isn't right, I know, but it isn't exactly wrong either...

I just hope Rommie is alright with this in the morning... She's so wary of her own emotions that I'm afraid what happened between us might really scare her. And I don't want that, especially now that so much could happen for us.

The thought of her and I together is probably crazy, especially since I've been fighting it for months, but it's an idea I've gotten used to in these last few hours. Maybe it's the smile on Rommie's face as she lies sleeping beside me. Or the way her presence at my side feels so natural, like she belongs there...

I don't know if I've lost my senses or regained them, I really don't, but I can't see that it matters much. I'm not exactly know for being rational when it comes to love anyway...

Now there's a thought out of nowhere... Is this love? We're friends, yes - lovers now, too, it seems - but are we in love?

I look at her face while she sleeps, note the smile that's crept across mine, and realize that the answer is yes, and that it really couldn't be any other way...