"We should have just followed that couple back there," complains Ariadne exasperatedly.
"I know where we're going," grunts Cobb over his shoulder, not quite catching her glance. Conversation has been strained the whole afternoon comprising. Not even bring up his children has helped bridge the growing distance between him and the group.
"You do not. We're going around in circles!" The sun was setting fast, the chill of the night creeping upon them. "Men," mutters Ariadne, as she worked to keep up to him.
"I heard that."
"Look! There's someone over there," standing on her tippy toes she points westward at a hedge of corn plants. "I think that's Arthur and Eames! Hey–" Cobb takes a hold of her arm and pulls her around a corner, the sharp edges of the leaves catching her bare arm.
"Ow! Cobb! What did you do that for? I'm pretty sure that Arthur back there."
The four of them had mysteriously gotten separated an hour ago. One moment she'd been telling Cobb to hold still as she picked a ladybug off the collar of his shirt, the familiar hum of Arthur and Eames' bickering the background (Eames about the heat, Arthur about how this was summer and they were in California, so of course it'd be hot), the next moment their voices had carried off in the wind, her attention caught by endless blue.
"We can do this. We don't need him. Them. Whatever."
"I'm sorry, did I miss something? I didn't realize this was a competition," she retorts sarcastically. They'd been in the maze for almost three hours. She's dirty, thirsty, and this close to throttling him. Maybe that'd get him out of his brooding mood.
"Shit, your arm." Faint streaks of red are slowly gathering as the delayed stink struck her. He makes a motion to reach for her arm.
"Don't," she pulls back. "If we turn around now, we can probably still catch up to him."
"Can you, for one second, not mention him?"
"What is up with you today? No, these last couple of days?" Ariadne digs out a couple of napkins from her bag and winces as she drags them over the cuts. He reaches for her again and this time she lets him care for her minor wounds.
"Fine. You know what, you can go ahead and be stubborn and," she says, turning from him, "and moody all you want. Me? I'm out of here. I'll find the guys myself."
"No. Wait. Don't go to him," he grits his teeth, nose flaring, "Them, I mean."
"Then tell me what's wrong. What did I do wrong? Why are you being like this? Why are you shutting yourself out from us?" From me, she adds silently.
Of course, he ignores this like he's ignored every other attempt at speaking to her this afternoon.
He looks away and it moment drags on, second by second until, "I can't do this," he breathes out. "I can't."
"Cobb, do what? Are you okay? Is it… is Mal? Are you dreaming about her again?" Another horrifying thought crosses her mind, "Are you using the PASIV device again?"
"Mal?" he looked confuses for a second, as if the name of his dead wife is unfamiliar. "No, not Mal," he murmurs, hesitantly reaching down and brushes away stray tendril of hair that's fallen over her left eye.
"And no PASIV, just regular dreams… and nightmares." He's contemplating something and she's so busy wondering what he's wondering that she almost misses his next words.
"Are you in love with him?" he asks suddenly. Ariadne blinks, frozen in his sad gaze. Cobb's rough, callused hand is cradling her jaw, tipping it up towards him. The touch sends shivers down her spine.
"With Arthur?" she almost clarifies, but catches herself. It doesn't matter who. Arthur, Eames… the answer is the same. "No," she whispers, and then there's life in his eyes again.
"Really?" His thumb traces her bottom lip. She can't breathe. She doesn't need to.
"Yes, really," she closes the distance between them.
"… Okay," and instantly, his wall is up, his long stride has them twice as far apart.
She's dumbfounded for a moment.
"No, it's not okay," she walks up to him, grabs his collar and pulls him down to meet her lips. She's caught him off guard and his instinct is to push her away, but she's feeding off of pure adrenaline now, and she won't let him. Soon, he stops his tortured protesting and grabs the back of her head, leaning down to take her mouth completely. His lips are hot and dry, and kissing him is nothing like she ever imagined because thoughts and dreams could never be like this.
"Damn it, Cobb," she gasps through hastily taken breaths. "Don't shut me out. Whatever you do, don't shut me out."
"Ariadne…" his voice is rough, her name spoken almost in surrender. It scares her just as much as the freefall kick in Limbo because she can feel him telling her go again.
"I can handle friendship with you," she swallows, and he is mesmerized by the tears gathering in her eyes. "If that's what you want, Cobb, I can do it." She wonders if she's lying to herself. What was the other option? Friendship with this man is better than the startling possibility of life without him.
"What if it's not enough?"
"It will be. It has to be," she's trying to convince the both of them now and failing. "I'm not afraid of unrequited love," she states boldly, desperately.
He surprises her again, this time with a beautiful smile that she'll never forget.
"I meant what if friendship is not enough… for me?"
She can't control the tears that fall now, but it's okay because he catches each one with a kiss before finding his way back to her lips.
The sound of Cobb's cell phone finally breaks the moment.
"It's Eames," he tells her.
"Have you two found a way out of this damned maze?" Eames sounds unusually flustered. Was the Brit losing his cool?
"No, we're somewhere east of the exit."
"Okay, well if you can make your way… south, we've found one of the employees who swears he knows the way out, isn't that right?" There's an eager muffled response in the background to the unspoken threat in Eames' words.
Ariadne takes the phone from Cobb, "Go on without us. We'll be all right."