12.

~ It was a relief to be back in Paris. The summer months winding down as Ariadne spent her time with friends. She read books she didn't have time for before. Studied art and spent her evenings alone.

At first, it was like withdrawal from some kind of drug. She missed the Team. Missed Cobb's kindness. Arthur's gallantry. Eames humor.

She missed their touch on her skin. Their lips on hers.

She stopped checking her email. A few days after landing back in Paris, a friend's apartment became available and the Architect took it. Further distancing herself from the life she had with the Team. It wasn't out of fear that one or all of them would come calling at her door, she just wanted to disappear for a while.

She knew she could be found if someone was really searching for her, and that's exactly what happened.

"I told Cobb I couldn't find you." Arthur said.

She looked up from her book. She had the daily habit of reading in the park and watching the fall encroaching. A peaceful refuge.

"I've known where you were for a while now. Just wanted to give you some space." He explained to her bewildered stare.

"Hello, Arthur." She said somberly.

"May I sit down?" He asked pointing to the bench. She nodded as the Point Man cautiously sat next to her.

"How did you find me?" She asked.
"It's my job. It's what I do." He told her.

They said nothing for a long time. Watching the glories of nature.

"How have you been?" He asked politely. She shrugged, noncommittally.

"I'm sorry I left like I did." She said sheepishly. Not looking at him.

"Well, we were worried." Arthur said calmly. His gaze on the swans gliding across a nearby pond. "We thought something had happened to you."

"Something did." She whispered sadly.

"I know." Arthur said curtly.

His face hardening.

"Right before we realized you were gone, Cobb told me he was buying a house. That he was going to ask you to marry him." The Point Man said steadily.

Not looking at her.

"I'm so sorry, Arthur." She said holding back tears. "It started out with just dinner and the next thing I knew, he was telling me how he doesn't want to be without me. He wanted me to be in his life and I didn't know how to handle it. It just happened so fast." She couldn't help the tears falling.

"You don't have to explain." Arthur said handing her his handkerchief. Ever chivalrous.

"Nothing happened." She told him. "I mean, I didn't have sex with him." She confessed.

"I don't want to talk about that." Arthur said shaking his head.

They watched the swans for a long time as she dried her eyes.

"Do you want to be with him?" The Point Man asked bluntly. Not taking his gaze off the swans. "You seem to make him happy. He's my oldest friend. I want him to be happy. If you want to be with him, I'll make way. I'll let you go. I'll never say a word about us. I promise."

"I don't want to be with Cobb." She said firmly.

He finally looked at her.

She took a deep breath.

"I'm not ready to be a mother to his kids. He will always love Mal. Always. He's wonderful and kind. I know he would care for me, but, I don't love him." She said breathing out. Feeling a weight come off her.

He nodded and let the silence sit between them.

"What about Mr. Eames?" He finally asked.

She looked up at him in shock. His gaze returned to the pond. Robotic like.

"After you disappeared, he told me. He was so drunk I could barely understand him." Arthur said dryly as she shifted uncomfortably.

"He made his affections for me known." She said numbly.

"Did you sleep with him?" The Point Man asked. Coldly.

"I thought you said you didn't want to know." She fired back.

"With Cobb I can make way." Arthur explained. "Eames... I can't let you go. Not to him."

"Why?"

"Eames wouldn't love you." Arthur said harshly. "I'm willing to rip my own heart out for Cobb's chance at happiness. I'll do that, for you. I've found myself loving you above any other woman, and I've done nothing but honor and cherish you. I will not lose you to Eames."

Her heart was beating a rapid tempo as her breathing sped up. She became of two minds suddenly. Flattery over Arthur's mettle, his bold stance on his feelings for her. The heartbreak he was willing to subject himself to. For her.

The second, was a sharp twisting anger at his interference. Her life was hers to live, not his.

"It's not your business who I spend my time with, Arthur." She chastised.
"It is my business when your with a man who will only hurt you. I won't allow the people I love get hurt." he retorted.

She cast him a dark look.
"If I want to be with Eames, I will. If I want to be with Cobb I will. You have no say in it." She told him sharply.

"Why did you have sex with me?" He asked suddenly.

She gave him a shocked look. He shrugged.
"You were entertaining Cobb and Eames." He explained

"I was not entertaining Cobb or Eames." She said coldly. Her anger rising. Her cheeks burning. "They came onto me. Made a passes at me. Alright? I wasn't seeking out a summer romance with anyone." She said hotly. Tears returning as her face burned red at her sudden anger. Her importance to properly take out her anger at Arthur.

"Cobb. I didn't know how to say no. He was so charming and kind and I thought for a while that... maybe it could work." She felt her anger leave her as Arthur met her eyes.

"I didn't sleep with either one of them. Although they both wanted me to. I made love with you because I wanted to, Arthur." She said stiffly.

"I was all set to tell Cobb about us. That I wanted to be with you, when Eames was arrested and after I bailed him out, he cam onto me." She concluded coldly.
"Why didn't you just tell Eames about us? Why not tell Cobb? Why leave?" He asked. She could see tears hiding behind his eyes. Unwilling to fall.

"All of you were coming at me. All of you were so kind and perfect. I wasn't prepared for it. If I chose one of you, I would lose the other two." She explained.

Her hand went to his face. Catching a rouge tear that escaped from his eye.

"You would have never have lost me." He whispered.
"If I chose to be with Eames, I would lose you." She said softly. He grasped her hands in his.

"Do you choose Eames?" He asked. Defeated.

"No." She whispered. A smile pulling at her face. "Your right, he would never love me. Not like you. I've thought of you a lot while I was here. I've missed you."

His lips were on here then. Kissing her as their tears were mingling.

~ She made a phone call to Cobb when the couple went back to her new apartment. The Extractor was relieved to hear from her. Angry that she had left without a word. He was full of persistent wanting for her to return to California. Telling her they could start over.

After a very long conversation, mentioning nothing about Arthur or Eames. She ended it with Cobb. Telling the heartbroken widower that he would find someone. Someone who deserved him. Cobb doubted it, tried to get her to relent. Tried to convince her that he loved her. That they would be happy together. But she would not be deterred.

Eames was easier.

"Is this about what happened? What I did the last time we were together?" he asked. "I'm sorry." He told her.
"It's not just about that." Ariadne said sadly looking at Arthur. The Point Man was sitting outside on he balcony. The only way he could give her privacy in her small apartment.

"I just don't feel that way about you." She explained. "I'm sorry."

~ Both men had asked the same questions Arthur had asked. Why she had left, why she had cut herself off from them. It was a painful few hours over the phone. She had lost Cobb and Eames. She knew that. But she did it as painlessly as she could.

~ She was rewarded by the Point Man wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing the tears off her face.
"I love you." She whispered softly.

She felt his lips curl into a smile.
"I love you." He breathed.

It was a VERY close race between Arthur and Eames.

Arthur won!

Thanks for the love!

I will write an A&E as well as an A&C ending to make it up to all of my other voters.

An alternate reality, if she had picked one of them.

Maybe an erotica about the four of them living in a big house and she just "visits" one of them a night. That could be cool.

I'd take that with a side of chilli fries!

Don't worry, next chapter will be erotica! Yeah A&A erotica! Arthur gets the Erotica because Arthur won.

Thanks to everyone who voted!