Title: Steps (1/1)
Author: FigFan
Summary: It all happens in steps..
Rating: PG? I dont know. Its tame.
Disclaimer: NOT MINE!
Notes: Yeah, this was so like, a 15 minute fic. I just got the voices, and bam. I write. Thanks to Melody and Kat, who listen to my voices, and don't think I'm too weird.

Feedback. Yes. FigFan2002@yahoo.com
-----------------------------------------

She comes to him for the first time on a dreary night, early in the term. They've had bad days before, but this has been the first truly bad one. Where she feels she can't handle the press and the President, the long hours, phone calls and stress. She shows up at his apartment, frazzled and confused, not at all like herself.

He lets her in, hestitantly. Not sure why she's come to him. They're friends. They're all friends. But she shouldn't come to him. Toby, maybe. Not him.

They sit at his kitchen table, drinking month old coffee and eating whatever food he has in his cabinets. She tells him that it's just a mood, it'll pass. He tells her that she shouldn't worry, they all have moods.

She doesn't know what brought her here. Maybe it was fate, maybe it was because his address was the only one she remembered.

But she feels better.

Suddenly, she gets up and leaves. He doesn't quite have a grasp on the situation, but it was nice.

He turns off the lights and goes to sleep.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Next time, he comes to her.

It's Christmas, she's at the top of her game. It's Christmas, and he's broken.

His hand has been bandaged, phone calls to nervous friends have been made, the sirens have faded.

She opens the door and hugs him fiercely. She got a phone call, but wanted to know for sure. That he's there, all of him.

They sit on her sofa, and she listens as he tells her everything. Everything about the music, about the dreams, everything about how he doesn't know how to thank someone for saving his life, everything about how he's still scared.

They end up talking about gingerbread cookies. And he likes that. It's something different.

Eventually, he falls asleep next to her. Head on her shoulder, feet propped up on the table. She doesn't want to move away from the warmth, but realizes she needs to. They're not there yet. So she carefully moves his head to a pillow, and grabs the fleece blanket off the recliner.

She places the blanket on him, kisses him on the forehead, and goes to sleep.
--------------------------------------------------------------
The third time, they come to each other.

She reaches his apartment as he is about to leave for hers. She doesn't need to knock, he knows she's coming and the door is open.

They've just lost a friend, the man they trust with their lives has lied, and the sky is falling.

They spend a lot of time crying, a lot of time talking, and a lot of time just holding each other. They're both confused, frazzled and broken, but they both have each other.

She remembers the stash of cookies she has hidden in her bottom desk drawer.

He remembers that he found the real thing, and it changed his life.

They both remember Christmas, and that night early in the term, and they know that things have changed. Both in the world, and between them.

This time, they go to sleep together.