After their bit of fun, Chris did his shirt back up. "S-so you had it in for me all that time?"
Karen coyly looked away. "Well…I thought I'd keep tight lipped about it."
"You certainly did that." Relieved that he had a few minutes to spare so he could give himself time to recover, he positioned himself against the radiator.
"Hope I didn't take too much out of you."
He smirked playfully. "I don't feel too bad." Should he have said something about what he felt a few moments ago? He wasn't sure.
"You seem awfully quiet."
He peered down at the floor and then back at her. "I felt something before I…you know…went."
She tilted her head attentively. "Was it bad?" She hoped not. She wanted to make him just as happy as he did so with her.
He shook his head. "I don't think so. I guess it felt good…it was just so powerful, I honestly can't tell you."
"Maybe it was just a big release you had." Karen suggested. "I mean I certainly felt like that when you touched me that time."
"Or maybe we're so connected with each other." Chris's gaze became more affectionate, yet confused at the same time. He felt something for her, sure. He wouldn't have been with her otherwise. But was it a crush, simply sexual attraction, or dare he said it…more than either of the two put together? The feelings and emotions he was experiencing were none he'd ever come across when with anyone else – sleeping with them or not. To some extent, it was confusing him.
Karen was aware of how mixed-up Chris seemed to be; his posture was one of doubt yet at the same time he looked to be thinking things over. She definitely felt something for him, but she couldn't be sure if it was out and out love or simply…a crush.
"I don't think this is something I can openly ignore anymore." He started slowly, not completely forgetting what he'd intended to tell her the night before. Maybe there was nothing stupid about what he wanted to say.
Karen grew worried. What the hell was he going on about? Of course, he'd already stated he would look after her and be there for her, which is something no one had ever promised her. And the sex they both had…they were definitely connected – emotionally and physically.
"I think we were meant to be together, Karen." He put to her finally. "Strange as that might seem, this may be turning out to be something more than just a little…you know…fling."
Karen watched as he slowly came over to her.

"I'm finding it so hard to be apart from you for too long and I want this to be more than an affair."
She swallowed hard as he stroked the insides of her wrists.
"I think I'm in love with you."
She smiled dimly. "You've already said that."
"I mean the real sort." Chris's eyes sparkled more.
Karen flitted her gaze away sharply. In terms of what he was saying, it was clear that he meant true love. A pretty idealistic view, of course. But it didn't exactly come from a highly idealistic person. She wanted to be with him, but what for? Protection? Sex? Support? She knew it was for all of those things which both of them fulfilled, but love…actual true love…that was something that shouldn't be taken lightly. "I feel something for you, but I'm not sure what."
The sparkle didn't leave the young male's eyes. "You need time to think it over."
"It's not that I don't love you, Chris, because I do. But I don't think what I feel for you is enough."
"You've lived with a violent partner and you've been through a traumatic experience. It's obvious you wouldn't exactly trust your innermost feelings at the moment." He noted understandably. "But when you do feel ready, we should talk more about being together in a more permanent sense."
Karen nodded dimly. "I feel a bit rushed at the moment."

"That's one thing I don't want you to feel." Chris assured her. "But once we are more of a couple, we're going to have to tell everyone. A more definite relationship is one that shouldn't really be kept a secret. Ones like this should for obvious reasons. You're still married and it'd mean the end for both of us if anyone else knew about what we get up to."
She looked away, prompting him to get her to look into his tempting blue eyes.
"Take all the time you want." He put to her gently. "However long it takes, I will not change the way I feel about you. Even if it takes three months, I'm not going to go and jump into bed with someone else. I don't wanna do that if I'm to be with you and you feel as strongly about me as I do about you."

Once Chris had left Karen by herself when his sets were due, she tried to concentrate, unable to get what he said out of her head.

Tom came into the room, noticing her pensive expression. "Don't tell me you're already having it rough?"
"What?" She peered up at him. "No. No, of course not...just in deep thought."
"You've been doing a lot of that lately." He lightly teased, sliding over to her desk. "It's not about what's going on between you and a certain deputy head, is it?"
She smiled softly. "Well, Chris did say something that's made me think, that's all."

"Oh." It was his turn to smile. "Sounds ominous."
Karen went back to what she was writing, but the words she wanted to write down weren't coming out to her. She sat back, noticing Tom had come closer to her.
"I don't doubt that he does feel very strongly about you, Karen." He put to her. "I can tell from the pair of you that you have a very strong connection."
She nodded. "But is that enough, Tom?"
He frowned a little.
"I don't know how strongly I feel for him."
Tom perched himself on her desk, gazing at her steadily. "You're attracted to him, right?"
"Very much so." Karen could so easily get lost in his big, bright blue eyes; they looked all the more enticing when such little light shone into them, making them glisten and sparkle. "I know that I feel more for him than I did when I was with Charlie."
"How so?"
She flitted her gaze away. "Charlie had been assaulting me, Tom."
"So when Chris got attacked that time…it was because he was protecting you?"

She nodded dimly. "I told him all about what Charlie did to me…he understood how slow I wanted to take it."

He shrugged. "So what's the problem? What is it that's making you hold your feelings back?"

Karen didn't seem sure herself. "I-I don't know…you'd have thought that to be with someone who was willing to protect and look after you, it would make your relationship with that person that much stronger. And Chris has done nothing but protect me."
Tom gazed at her more openly.
"I think I've had too many abusive relationships to really trust anyone anymore." She admitted sadly.
"But if he's already said to go at your pace, that's fine, isn't it?"
"I don't think that's enough." She felt her pores almost weigh her down. "How long would it take to fully recover from a sexual assault I couldn't stop and then a several-year marriage that ended in abuse? Would he really want to be with someone who's had a less than favourable past?"

He went to go. "You just need to think more about what you want out of it. But I wouldn't go as far as to mistrust him, Karen. He's a good kid."
Karen nodded dimly. "I don't want him to think any less of me…"

"I don't think it'll ever get that far."