I wrote this a while ago. Just a short Courier/Pretty Sarah unrequited love story. Reviews are appreciated.

Sarah likes to think of herself as a well grounded woman, not partial to daydreams of someone who'll come in and sweep her off her feet in some fantastic love affair. But the Courier treats her better than anyone in the wasteland ever has- he always stops to talk to her, all blue eyes and charm, as if it is only her; he's not there to fuck one of her whores. They talk about events in Westside ('Mean-son-of-a-bitch is hoarding fiend corpses in the pump station again.') and the Courier brings her updates on the war with the legion ('You hear some fucker bombed the Mccarran monorail?') Pretty Sarah tells him to go straight up- he doesn't have to talk to her unless there's trouble. But he keeps doing it- keeps talking to her like she's just a normal girl, who matters. Like she wasn't scarred and broken and ruined by Cook-cook all those years ago. He even manages to turn Marco's ironic nickname, with his cute accent and stupid fucking cowboy hat, into something... she can't quite hate.

Pretty Sarah finds herself waiting for him to visit, both relishing and dreading it.

Until the day the Courier doesn't show up.

It is not uncommon for people to disappear out in the wastes. Even in Westside, people step outside the walls for a moment and never come back. But Sarah thought that the Courier was different, with his wild stories and rugged demeanor.

But perhaps not.

It takes the man more than three months to make it back to Westside, and when he does he looks... changed. His smile is more forced, his eyes don't have quite the same sparkle and there are strange circular burns around his neck. But Sarah says nothing. It's none of her business. They talk for a while, but his eyes look past her towards the stairs, and her laugh is hollow as she tells him to "Go see who you really came to see, cowboy." He grins sheepishly, pats her shoulder, and disappears.

Pretty Sarah closes her eyes tightly, and tries to pretend she wasn't expecting something else. ("I'm here to see you, Sarah.")

Months go by, and the Courier falls back into his regular routine, and eventually, into his usual self. Sarah wants to know what happened to him, out there in the Mohave. But she won't ask. And she doesn't ask Sweetie or Maude about him. She doesn't want to know.

She doesn't want to know.

Then, one day, long after the Courier has gone upstairs she decides to wait on the landing, and tells herself that she will not let him leave without saying something, something with meaning.

But as he bounds past her, cocking his hat and smiling that ridiculous grin, Sarah can't find anything to say. She watches him leave, and heads back to her post. But Jimmy catches her first.

"Uh, Sarah?"

"Hmm?"

He gives her a long, calculating stare.

"That guy..." He gestures to the door. "You know he's been coming to see me, right?"

She looks away, down at the worn, peeling carpet. She's silent for a moment, then continues down the stairs.

"Of course I know that, Jimmy. I'm not fucking stupid."

She doesn't want to know. But she did.