They did not go to the park the following week as instructed by a note delivered via arrow through the BLU medic's head. Sniper didn't give any reason as to why he was calling off their weekly meeting, only saying that he couldn't see the pyro this week. Pyro didn't think much of it, really. There was the momentary worry that they had done something wrong but the BLU pushed that thought aside as quickly as it appeared.

Sniper enjoyed their meeting and, judging by the way he smiled as they left his van last week, the kiss did not seem to offend him. They were not too worried… that is not at first. The next week's capture the flag missions went well. Both teams won and lost – the REDS winning more than the BLUs- and nothing seemed too out of place.

Thoughts continued to run through the BLU's head as they ran across the blocked off train tracks and into the RED's sewer system. Why did he call off their meeting? Was the RED team becoming more suspicious of why he was leaving every weekend? They listened from the tunnel just out the drop from the RED spawn; they would be hunted down if they had to kill someone fresh out. The pyro trotted to the base of the steps, grabbing the small bottle of pills and refilling their weapon's gas tank.

Double Cross had to be one of their absolute favorite battle fields. You have to keep an actual strategy in your head if you want to win, if you don't you will be easily picked off by a sentry on the bridge or by an opposing sniper. Sniper… Maybe something was wrong. Usually they would catch a glimpse of a small red dot around them at some point during the week, but it was already Thursday and they had seen neither hide nor hair of the Australian. They never thought they would miss the RED watching them, but the lack of any sign of him was… disheartening.

Pyro rushed up the stairs to the RED spawn, the beeping and whirring of a sentry coming from a direction they couldn't quite discern. They whipped around the corner from the door as they heard that all-too familiar sound of the spawn gate opening. They were so close to the sniper's overhang too… The BLU clung to the corner, crouching as an enemy demoman rushed by and over the railing. This was a terrible place to be.

They jumped down in front of the second spawn door. Nobody ever used it except for snipers and spies, so they were probably safe for now. They could hear the aussie's gruff voice grumbling from around the corner on his little ledge. Could they go talk to him? There was that small space with only one window they could go hide in to talk… But should they go was probably a better question. They peeked around the railing to see inside the intel room.

There were no sentries in sight, though there could possibly be one hiding under the stairs. Still, it seemed like it would be easy enough for Scout to swoop in and get back if he had his soda popper. Pyro glanced in the direction they assumed Sniper was in. Well… it surely wasn't safe here.

The sound of creaking boards alerted him to someone's presence. The spy had already gotten him twice this battle and he sure as hell wasn't going to allow a third time. He snapped to look where the noise was coming from, but what he found was absolutely no spy.

He let out an irritated sigh. Great, this was just what he needed, "Did anyone see you coming over here?" he stomped over to the BLU Pyro, soon regretting letting his irritation take over after seeing her flinch.

The pyro shook her head, "I whldn't bh herh if I whs feen,"

He rubbed his temples ,"wouldn't be too sure about that, Sheila," Why couldn't she have just stayed away? He needed time to think and the battlefield was no place to do it. Scout could come jumping in at any moment, how on earth would he explain this away? He turned his attention back to the BLU in front of him, "What are you doing here?"

"I whnted fo check hn yhu… arh yhu okhy?" Pyro tentatively reached forward and put a hand on the other's arm, "Yhu feem thnfe…"

"of course I'm bloody tense, we're on a battle field," He shouldn't take his feelings out on her, he wanted to be with her more than anything… but that's why he had to do this. He needed to end what they had to protect her.

He shook the hand off, "You need to leave" the sniper turned to go, but was stopped by a hand holding on to his shirt,

"whtf wrhng? Dhd… whf it fhmething I dhd?" Her voice sounded strained and upset; it hurt Sniper's heart to hear her like this. Maybe he should forget about breaking it off and just turn around and hug her… He sighed. No, he had to do this to protect her, and even if she hated him after this was done, he would be happy that she was alive and well.

"Yeah, something is wrong… I…" he hesitated, choking on his own words, "I don't want to see you again. We need our relationship to go back to being just business like it was before," He turned to face the BLU, glad for once that he couldn't see her expression.

"Wht… wht dh yho mhan? How chn yhu shy tht?" Her voice wavered, a mixture of confusion and pain, "I fhught… I fhught wh-"

"You thought wrong," The sniper cut her off, "You need to leave before someone sees us… sees you," He turned to leave once more, but was again stopped by the pyro's hand. This time, however, her grip on his shoulder was strong enough to actually cause pain.

She spun him around to face her, "Nho! Fthy here hnd thll mh whatf wrhng… thll mh wherh thif if chming frhm!"

"look Sheila," he rubbed his temples, before gripping his rifle tightly, "Leave before I have to make you," He didn't want it to end like this. He wanted to be able to end it off the battle field where there would be fewer bitter feelings. However, there was no more time to drag this out. Their teams would notice they were missing soon, and a curious Spy was the last thing this situation needed.

Sniper could swear he saw a frown through that rubber mask, "Ihm nht lhaving,"

"Pyro, please…"

"mhke mh,"

The Australian did nothing for a moment, but soon hefted his weapon to the other's head. He wouldn't do this to the BLU, right? Well, sure he would kill them from time to time, but they would do the same to him! But… he would never kill them in a situation like this. They were having so much fun together and had gotten so close! They were just getting close enough to him to call him their datemate. There was no way…

There was a loud bang followed by darkness.

Respawn brought them back mere seconds after the lead pierced their brain. What had they done wrong to make their beloved Sniper act like this? The Pyro tried to walk forward, only to have their knees shrivel out from under them after the first step. They sat alone in the resupply room for a moment. He really had been avoiding them the past week… maybe the kiss really had been too far.

The BLU noticed a dripping sound from in the room, but paid little attention to is as they thought about what just happened. What an idiot. This had to be their own fault; they destroyed the one strong friendship they had because of a small bit of physical contact. Sniper probably just wanted to be friends and showed affection differently, though they really thought he loved them back.

The resupply doors opened to reveal a very angry Engineer. His buildings were just destroyed from the looks of his stained jumper and broken parts sticking from his tool box. He nodded to the Pyro and walked over to the munitions cabinet, before setting down the red box and kneeling beside the firebug,

"Pahro? What's wrong?" he draped an arm over the shorter's shoulders and brought them closer to him.

Only now did the pyro realize where the dripping was coming from; themself. At some point after respawning they had begun to weep silently, leaving a stream on tears running down the interior of their mask and through their air filter.

They leaned against the Texan, welcoming the comforting touch.

Chapter 12, also known as "The chapter where Clarence fucks everything up! Don't worry though, this IS a romance, and everything will work out in the end.

To answer a question in the reviews section by Luke:

I will do my best to have a new chapter out every Saturday until the story is complete. I DO have an ending for this in mind, though I do not know how any chapters it will take to get there!

As always, thank you everyone for reading and enjoying!