(A/N: Hi, and thank you for reading my first story! This story is un-betaed, so I apologize for any mistakes I make. Please read and review!)

The one thing he didn't want to do ever again.

It was too dangerous. He had many enemies who tried to hurt him every chance they got. If he loved someone, that person would get hurt. And that was the one thing he couldn't bear.

He could withstand torture and verbal abuse, but if someone he loved got hurt, he could never bear it. Because, you see, it was his fault they got hurt. If he hadn't loved him, nothing would have happened to them.

So he was determined never to love again,and he put all his walls up to help prevent himself from loving again. But then she came along. She reached out to him and slowly, gently, tore down his walls. He tried to stop her. He tried to explain. But she wouldn't have any of it. She was perfect in his eyes, but he hid his feelings.

Then he died. He was brought back to life with the special blood, but things changed drastically between them. They realized how close they had come to losing each other without telling the other how they felt.

He kissed her. He admitted he loved her.

Word got out about them. Soon everyone knew. He was horrified.

He broke up with her, but the damage had been done.

He received a ransom note: his life for hers. He raced to the appointed time and place, but he was a minute too late. That one minute that changed everything, that one minute he grew to hate.

he held her as she admitted with her last dying breath that she loved him still, and he broke. He cried. He told her he loved her too. And she died.

He moped around for days, shirking his duties. People understood he was grieving. They left him alone.

After a while, he built his walls up higher and stronger than ever. No one could reach out to him because he turned them away.

He thought about her. He dreamed about her. He loved her.

His name was James T. Kirk. Her name was Carol L. Marcus. And they loved each other.

(A/N: Hope you liked it! Review please, reviews make my day!)