Author notes: Here my second story about Arthur and Ariadne. I hope you like it.

The consequences of a bet

Arthur was watching Ariadne again. Sitting at his desk, he was staring at her another time. He couldn't keep his eyes off her no matter how hard he tried. He couldn't stop laughing at her jokes. He hardly ever laughed at Eames's jokes, but he laughed at hers. That was their second time working together after the one for Saito, and things had gotten worse with time. Arthur didn't know precisely when he had realized that he liked her, but it had happened. And he had started to notice things about Ariadne that he hadn't noticed before. She played with her scarf when she was nervous, and she nibbled her lips when she focused. All these little things made him like her even more. And then, there was that kiss he had given her during their first job together. It had been a simple kiss, but he still couldn't forget it. She raised her head from her job, and he suddenly looked back at his computer in a pathetic way.
"I bet you," a male voice said behind him.
"What?"
"I said, I bet you."
"We are working Eames," Arthur said, trying to get rid of him.

"Are we? I don't think so, at least not you."
"I was working," he said, irritated. He knew that that was a lie. Watching Ariadne all the time had made him unprofessional, a thing that he couldn't hate more. His computer screen had been on the same page for about 20 minutes. But what could he do? Naturally, asking her out was out of the question! First, she was a colleague and second theirs was a dangerous work. He still remembered the experience with Cobb and Mal, and once was enough. Sometimes he missed his friend Cobb; he could talk about it with him. They still called each other, but it wasn't the same thing.
"Well, I bet that I will be the first one to spend the night in Ariadne's apartment."
"What?" Obviously, Eames didn't have that kind of problems. For him, all was fine.
"You heard me. Are you in?"
"Of course, I'm not. Besides why I would like to spend a night in her apartment?"
"Oh, darling, it's so obvious that you would like it."
"Well, I'm not in."
"A hundred dollars, is that ok?"
"No, it is not." But Eames, as always, seemed not to listen to him and started to cough very loudly. "What are you doing?" He asked.
"The bit starts now," he said, continuing to cough.

"Is there any chance that you might someday become more serious?"
"You mean like you? No, I don't think so." Pulling out a handkerchief, he blew his nose.
"Eames, are you okay?" Ariadne asked, looking at him.
"I don't know; I think I have taken the flu."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Is there anything that I can do?"
"No, thank you. I think I just need a bit of rest, but I don't have a house here in Paris. I live in a hotel, and I don't want to infect everyone. Maybe I can stay here for the night." Ariadne seemed to think about it, and then she said,
"You can stay in my apartment."
"What?" Arthur shouted. Eames ignored him.
"I don't know. I wouldn't want to disturb you." Arthur rolled his eyes; Eames was a very good forger, he had to admit it.
"It's not a problem, and I have a lot of drugs in it," she took her keys out of her bag and gave them to him. "Do you know where I live?"
"Yeah, I know. Thank you, Ariadne." She smiled and went back to work. Eames looked at Arthur, satisfied.
"See you tomorrow darling, and take the money." Arthur didn't say anything, lost in his own thoughts. Why had Ariadne let him go into her house? Maybe she liked him. The simple idea was like a dagger in his stomach. He glimpsed at her once again; then he tried to came back to his work without success.

Some hours later, Arthur was at home, not able to sleep. He had turned on the TV thirty minutes before, and now he was surfing channels, but nothing was able to distract him. In fact, he couldn't stop thinking of Eames in her apartment. What was the point of not going out with her if Eames could do it? The realisation of being jealous of him was terrible. Someone rang the bell. Surprised he went to the door and opened it.
"Ariadne what are you doing here?"
"No suit?" she asked before she could restrain herself, "I've always imagined that you slept with one on." It was then that he realised that he was only wearing a grey T-shirt and black boxers.
"No, no suit for sleeping. I'm sorry if I'm not presentable," he said, apologising.
"It's not a problem." Wasn't it? He was sure, he saw her blushing. "I mean, even if it were, I doubt that you have the sweatpants."
"I have some, somewhere in the closet, full of dust." They stayed silent for a moment, which seemed infinite.

"So, why are you here?" He finally asked her. Ariadne looked down at the floor. She knew very well why but explaining it to him was a whole other thing.
"Well, the fact is that Eames is in my apartment now."
"Yeah, I know. You invited him, remember?" Arthur said, annoyed. He could accept to losing a bet with Eames, but not everything else.
"Are you jealous?"
"Me? Why should I be?" He replied immediately.
"Anyway, he has the flu, and I don't want to catch it, so I was wondering if I could stay here for the night." Arthur looked at her, very surprised. He couldn't believe it. All that he was waiting for was here.
"I shouldn't have come," she said seeing his expression. "I'm sorry. I... I don't know what I had in mind. God, I'm sorry." She was leaving when he decided to catch the opportunity. With an automatic movement, he took her arm, stopping her. For a moment, he had decided not to be predictable. He'll think about all the consequences tomorrow.
"Please, stay."
"But..."

"I want you to stay. Can you?" She looked at him. The intensity of his look causes her a shiver along her back. She nodded, then taking a deep breath she said,
"I can. I've been waiting for this from the first time I realised that you were watching me like I did with you." He smiled, and for the second time Arthur's lips were in hers, but this time the kiss was all another story. A new beginning. Arthur savoured every second of it. "You know I never did a thing like this. I mean I'm happy to be here, but normally I'm a woman from the third appointment," she said, still out of breath for the previous kiss.
"I'm a man from the third date, too, because I'm a gentleman, but if you remember once you brought me out for trying the best crepes of Paris."
"Yeah, and how were they?"
"Definitely the best," he answered, smiling. "And another time we went out after work to eat sushi." Then Arthur realised that even if not officially, he had already gone out with her several times.
"Eames was with us," she remembered.
"True, but he left the dinner soon with a blonde woman, so I think we can count it. And in our last job, one evening, we went to dine at an Italian restaurant." Ariadne nodded.
"So I think I can come in without any problem," she said.
"I think you can." And he moved to let her in. Once inside, she asked for a bathroom. Then she took her totem from her pocket to check that everything was real. Arthur, in the other room, was doing the same. He smiled after receiving confirmation that this wasn't a dream. Maybe he had lost a hundred dollars, but he had won more that he would have expected. Wait, was it possible that this was all a stupid plan of Eames? Ariadne came back from the bathroom, smiling at him. No, it could be, and even if it was, at the moment it didn't matter.