He sat on the edge of the bed, staring blankly at the wall. It had been a long day.

The party had broken up and retired soon after they'd finished eating the strawberries. Robin realised that the day had been emotional for everyone - not just him. Susie had had her world suddenly turned around by being given acceptance; Loveday and Sir Benjamjn had had the unexpected stress of visitors thrown onto their already weary shoulders; William had moved closer to who he suspected was his sisters murderer... Even Digweed and Marmaduke had been rushed off their feet trying to acommodate the three newest residents.

Despite this long, exhausting day, Robin couldn't sleep.

His soul was burning.

At first he conviced himself that he was just restless because of the change in scenery. The shock of being back with Loveday and Maria after all this time.

But, as he thought her name, Robin realised he couldn't hide from what was really keeping him awake.

Passion.

Pure, hot passion that had been slowly building up over the last three years. Allowing himself to kiss her had been a mistake because now he was unable to think of anything except her.

He tried forcing himself to sleep. But lying under the covers didn't help. The fabric stuck to his skin and acted like an oven, trapping the heat radiating from his body and making him break out in a sweat. He sighed heavily and sat up, rubbing his eyes and seeing hers in his mind.

If only he could forget the taste of her.

He stood up, walking around and around the room. Maybe he could burn away the energy.

As if.

He tried lying face down on the bed, but the mattress became warm like her body and he jumped to his feet. He could still smell her there from their lapse of control earlier.

When, after alternating between trying to exhaust himself and trying to just fall asleep, Robin discovered that it was already past midnight and the Moon Princess wasn't showing any signs of leaving him to sleep, he decided to give up. Pulling his clothes and boots back on, he left the room and started walking down the corridor towards the stairs.

Maybe a walk through the night air would, at the very least, clear his mind slightly.

He walked silently, his feet soft on the stone floor. He'd almost made it to the end of the corridor when a darkness to his right caught his eye.

It was the small set of steps which would eventually lead him to Maria's room.

His body froze, torn between two very different futures. In one, he continued as he'd intended and left the house and had a brisk walk in the clean night air before returning to his bed to catch a few hours sleep before breakfast. In the other, he dashed up those stairs and found Maria's lips again and pulled her to him and sedated the burning hunger in his stomach while filling his senses with the smell and taste of her.

He was standing in front of her door before he'd even thought about it properly.