6. Iron
Genre: Slightly humorous romance.
Rating: PG-13.
Left in the darkness
Here on your own
Woke up a memory
Feeding the pain
You cannot deny it
There's nothing to say
It's all that you need to fire away
So much had changed in just a few seconds. Up until a week ago, she and Chase had been nothing more than colleagues; they would work together, have strictly professional dinners with the rest of the team on special occasions, and send each other cheesy Christmas cards for the sake of politeness. They'd be casual and nonchalant and they would pretend to care. No one had known anything about Thirteen's darkest little secret. Things worked. Then on New Year's Eve on the party where all employees had been invited, she found herself outside with the direct object of the aforementioned secret and due to some weird, uncalled for brain blackout, she decided to act on that secret and kiss Cameron on a whim. That would have been perfectly fine; that is, it happens, right? There's nothing strange about a colleague you work with every day having a collosal crush on your fiancée and successfully hiding it from you – and her – for months. It would have been perfectly fine…
If Chase hadn't seen them.
Oops.
Now Cameron thought she had done it on purpose and Chase considered them both "sluts" as he had said. Who could blame him? It's not every day you witness something like that happen right in front of you. She had screwed up both of their lives and she felt particularly guilty about it. Nevertheless, there was another, entirely different matter clouding her mind; she could have sworn that for the shortest of moments, the blonde had kissed her back.
She dove in head first and knew there was no turning back. So, once on the starting line, why not finish the race while you're at it? She was all the more motivated since the prize was Allison Cameron's heart. It had turned into a competition; no, a war. There was a fighting chance for the underdog, too.
She knew she had messed with Cameron's head. In fact, she counted on it.
Oh damn, the war is coming
Oh damn, you feel you want it
Oh damn, just bring it on today!
Every commander needs a good, elaborate strategy. What was hers? Walk right up to Cameron and say "I'm dying, I do drugs, I have the hots for you and I think you should dump your soon-to-be husband and the main stability in your life for someone who doesn't exactly have good reputation in terms of long-term relationships and will not stick with you for more than ten years one way or the other"? Nuh-uh, there was no way that was going to work. This matter required special treatment.
You can't live without the fire
It's the heat that makes you strong
'Cause you're born to live and fight it all away
She was well aware that talking things through was not one of her strong points, but she figured that if she defied her fears and conquered them, it would only make it clear to Cameron just how serious she was. Easier said than done, true, but if all else were to fail, she could always explain things on top of Cameron, in her bed. Or on the couch. Kitchen counter. Chase's bed. Aargh!
And that's exactly what she did; the first part, that is. Boldly, she stepped out of her car in front of Cameron's house—well, she was until she hit her head on the car door. Not the best way to start the most important few minutes of her life indeed. She cursed under her breath and then – a little less bold but still feeling rather heroic – walked up the stairs and knocked on the door, bracing herself for the yelling and probably beating from the depths of hell that was to come like a true martyr.
There was nothing except for a blank stare and a shy "hi", a while later followed by the ever polite "Won't you come in?" Checkpoint!
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry your fiancé had to see it, but I don't regret what I did," she announced solemnly.
"You're never sorry for screwing with a girl, metaphorically and literally, are you? Where I come from, we don't touch what belongs to someone else. It's called decency."
"In my land, we respect other people's freedom enough not to openly usurp them for ourselves. It's called appreciation." Score one for Thirteen. "Meaning, I acknowledge your relationship and I never meant to cause any trouble, but what you do to me – not that it's your fault – had made me momentarily lose my mind and act solely on feelings instead of listening to my head." She shrugged. "Then again, pardon me for not believing you minded that much since you kissed back."
"I most certainly did not."
"Yes, you did."
"Did not!"
"You did!"
In times like these, there is only one way to solve a quarrel; fair combat. A ruthless, wet, sloppy duel of the tongues, to be precise, followed by a more manual battle in sheets (or on kitchen counters) in times of a tie.
She definitely kissed back this time. Remy wins!
You can't hide what lies inside you
It's the only thing you've known
You'll embrace it and never walk away
Don't walk away!