Not to late

"What are you doing here?" Ariadne found herself asking. She was shocked to see him. He looked disheveled. Nothing at all the neat fastidious man she remembered.

"I wanted to see you." He said softly. He stood out in the hall. Waiting for her to let him in.

"Well are you sure?" She asked heat coming to her cheeks. Arthur looked down at his shoes.

"May I come in?" He asked politely. She sighed and stood aside letting him in.

Arthur looked around her apartment. It was lovely. Simple and small. She had adorned her walls with unframed canvases of brightly colored art work.

"Those are nice." The Point Man said nodding to the paintings.

"Jon painted those. He's an artist." She told him. Arthur nodded. So the young man had a name. And he was an artist no less. "What do you want?" She asked.

"I came to say, I'm sorry." He said with difficulty. "Down in the dream. You said those wonderful things to me. I didn't say it back." He searched for the right words. "Just because I didn't say it, doesn't mean I don't-" His speech was interrupted by the young man, the artist, emerging from a nearby bedroom. Vintage French music was playing loudly.

"Who's at the door?" The young man called to Ariadne. He noticed the Point Man and looked surprised.

"Jon, this is Arthur." Ariadne said introducing them. "Arthur is one of the men I worked with last month." She explained to him.

"Ohhh." Jon said. His 'oh' almost musical. Telling Arthur that the young artist knew all about him. "Well, I'm Jon. I'm her boyfriend. Were madly in love and have sexual intercourse very often." Arthur didn't see Ariadne roll her eyes and cover her face in her hands.

The Point Man hated this young man. This artist. His good looks, his youth, his closeness with Ariadne.

"Um Jon, we have to talk about work can you give us some privacy?" Ariadne said a little embarrassed.

"Sure thing Baby Cakes." Jon said. Her boyfriend turned gracefully out of the room and vanished into the bedroom.

"Your boyfriend seems nice." Arthur finally said. Ariadne laughed. He looked at her in surprise.
"Jon is gay." She assured him. "Very gay. He has a boyfriend named Steven." A wide smile on her face.

"Oh." Arthur breathed out. Relief flooding over him. He had to laugh at his own mistake. "Thank God." He said with a sigh.
"You were saying?" She asked. Her face becoming serious again. Back in the hot seat again, Arthur collected is breath.

"Just... Just because I didn't say it, doesn't mean I don't love you." He admitted. He looked up at her. Hoping that she would run into his arms. That it would be as simple as Eames had suggested. That he would apologize, admit he was wrong, and take her to bed.

Things rarely work out that easy.

"Are you just hear for one last fling?" She asked. Her arms folding across her chest.

"No." he said horrified. "Not at all."

"Why didn't you call me?" She asked.

"Why didn't you call me?" He accused back at her. "Why did you leave me at L.A.X without saying a word? Not even a goodbye." he felt anger rising up in him.

"I didn't say goodbye because I knew you never wanted to see me again! I asked if we would work together and you said 'I don't know' what kind of thing is that to say? Do you do this often? Make a conquest out of your Team members?" She accused. Hot tears springing to her eyes. The Point Man looked hurt at her accusations. "Was... was that all I was to you? A way to keep busy for a week?"

"You know that's not true!" He barked back at her. She took a step away from him. Her eyes looking frightened. He slowed his breathing.
"I'm sorry." he said, his voice quickly returning to normal. He put up a hand to her, trying to reach for her. She remained well away from him.

"I don't do... what we did with just anyone. Never with team members. This is new to me. I... I don't put my heart out there for just a fling." He said.

Perhaps that was the right thing to say. Ariadne's face softened slightly. He trudged ahead. Not wanting to lose the momentum.

"I've missed you." He admitted hoarsely. His arms opening up to her. "I've missed being with you. I've been wanting to call you, but I was afraid you didn't want to talk to me." He could only be honest now. The gravity of what he could lose was to real. "Ariadne, I love you. I love how brave and smart you are. I love how well we work together." He stopped and had to fight back his emotions. "I love the way you bite your lower lip. I love your laugh, I love being with you, arguing with you. I'm sorry, I'm sorry for everything. Please... Please can we just..." He lost his words suddenly. Unable to finish.

He looked at her face. Tears were streaming down her cheeks. She was in his arms then. Her mouth to his. Her breath and her tears mixing with his own.

He did take her to bed that night. They had stayed up late, lost in conversation. They talked about their childhood, their schooling. Their plans for the future. Things they would have talked about before if not for the dangers they had found in the dream.

It was blissful to sleep in the same bed with him again. Like a return to normalcy. To feel her little feet making contact with his. His strong arms around her body. They neglected any lovemaking that night. They were content with gentle kissing and holding.

They had become lovers before they had become friends. Not the best way to start a relationship, but one they both wanted to correct.

Dawn broke into a bright morning. Ariadne stretched in her bed.

Arthur was gone.

She sat up suddenly, feeling a wave of anger and hurt come crashing over her body. She looked around her tiny little room. It housed only her dresser and reading chair. A small closet. No place for him to hide. She heard the front door shut from the living room and roused herself out of bed. Arthur stood in the kitchen, fresh flowers in one hand, a grocery bag in the other.
"You ruined the surprise." He said with a smile. "I was going to make you breakfast in bed."

"Did Jon let you in?" She asked bewildered. Her nightclothes and hair a mess. He thought she looked beautiful.

"No, he's gone already. I took your keys from the hook." He said pointing at the fashionable vintage key house. "Hope you don't mind." He added. She smiled at him as she helped him unload the groceries.

"Thank you." She said with a smile as she helped him bring down cooking utensils from the cabinets.

"No problem, Baby Cakes." He teased. She giggled as he heated grease to fry eggs in.

The Point Man was an excellent cook. She was not used to eating heavy foods at the start of the day, but enjoyed a nice sit down meal with him. With the fresh flowers at the table's center, it almost felt like a date. They talked about Cobb and Eames. About his plans for future extractions.

"Cobb said he wanted me to come work with the Team again." Ariadne admitted. Arthur nodded.

"You are the best architect we've ever worked with." He admitted. She blushed.

"Do you want me to come back?" She asked.

"Of course I do." He told her. He took her small hands in his large ones, leaned over, and kissed her.

It was while they were doing the dishes, a simple clean up, Ariadne started to demand his attention. She gave him soft little kisses to his neck. Her breath on his neglected body felt wonderful.

"Arthur, come to bed." She whispered.
"I thought you wanted to wait a while before..." He said his voice growing huskier with need. She was exciting him. Her mussed hair, her deep eyes, her teeth on her bottom lip.

"I missed you." She whispered in his ear. He couldn't ignore the arousal he felt. He had been to long without her touch. He was missing her to much, to resist her.

Sorry about having to re-post guys. I had to delete some stuff at the end.