I need to stop being so lazy and actually complete half written chapters for this. -has been writing smut- Ahem, well here's the next chapter.

Kitsune Moonstar: Thank you, I was hoping the story didn't come of as disconnected and emotionless. -beams-

Silent Devotion:

Chapter Twenty-One

A Thin Line

The beginning was simple, it started out as only a physical relationship. Who cares if two people simply fucked each other? They are adults, there wasn't any feelings between the two. Maybe that was the lie they wanted to believe. Riza would invite Roy over, he'll accept and they would have sex. A simple scientific formula, correct?

How wrong were they.

She wasn't an angel, neither was he a devil. Just human, one with many flaws, guilt weighing heavily on their conscious, and regrets. But, damn it, he could not deny how beautiful she was. His mind argued it was lust, only a primal urge. Mr. Hawkeye will enjoy to hear how his former apprentice was using his daughter now. It was probably his teacher worse nightmare. No man wants to see their daughter defiled by the very person he hoped will look out for the best for his daughter. Great job, Roy.

The more time they were together, there was a feeling that went beyond lust. There was a possibility he was rationalizing his guilt. Love? He didn't know, the only thing he did know how everything fell into place being next to her. Cliché, as educated as he was, there was not any other words for it. Simply he cared for her more than a subordinate. He cared for her like a woman, a person on equal footing. Hell, someone he can openly be with and it troubled him greatly. They are not allowed to fall in love or anything that required a hint of humanity. What did he get himself into?

No words was shared in the beginning. He gathered his clothes and leave and she will go back to sleep. Things developed and she offered for him to stay the night. The words came as a surprised, but he agreed. Soon, it came to where sex wasn't even the intended reason why he came over. The sweet nothings that lingered on her mind after he left. The sensation that burned his skin for days. For once, their life seemed normal. During the time, he came to value their conversation. The two nearly forgotten how it feels when the mask faded away.

"I think this may go beyond what we intended." He sighed closing his eyes. It was a clear opening for her to escape. Her professionalism probably wouldn't allow her to continue, who was he kidding?

"Too late."

Two words that have poignant meaning. The man turned on his stomach snaking an arm around her waist. "Figures." They never had the best of luck. Sure, they had a history. When both enlisted in the military, everything became bittersweet. That's no way to start a romance. Life throws too many wrenches.

Riza thinks it was the first time she has seen him in peace since this whole affair started. Plenty of conflicted emotions battled within her knowing this was not right (nothing ever is in life.) The rueful excuse of she was a woman and should have known she would have developed feelings for him. Any other man she could have continued with her life, those types of men did not deserve it. When two lives was intertwined in so many ways, the only expectation was denial. From the secrets that laid scarred on her back, to shooting him in the back if he derails from his goal.

In the beginning, she can honestly say there wasn't anything between them. The teenage crush has since faded away with the hormones. The months continued and there was a hint of anticipation when he knocked on her door. Afterward, what happened? Thoughts that have been locked in her mind slowly came to surface. Every woman wants to be a man last, the secret knowledge of him returning to her thrilled her. Guess this will add to their list of secrets.

Pitiful, wasn't it?