Sorry I was gone so long. Lots of stuff going on personally that delayed me finishing this story. Don't worry though, I did not abandon it. I have it practically finished so you should see more updates coming soon.

Please enjoy!

Kissing Alara had affected Gordon more than he wanted to admit. The kiss had been short, intense and left him wanting much more. He wanted a longer, deeper kiss. He wanted her hands on his body, against his chest, around his neck, in his hair, along with other areas that one would never think of having a friend touch.

The fantasies he had in his dreams were so vivid that the last few mornings he awoke half expecting to see Alara slumbering beside him only for reality to hit him once he reached over and touched the cold, untouched side of the bed where he expected her to be.

It was in those moments when disappointment washed over him that he started to realize that Alara meant more to him than just a friend or shipmate. He didn't want to delve too deeply into the meaning of these feelings or anything, but every morning brought them back to the front of his mind, stronger than the day before.

He knew that he was falling for her and that thought terrified him.

Defending her relationship with Gordon to her father was a tiresome chore. Her father hated everything about Gordon, from his human lineage to his lack of scientific knowledge.

'Malik is better' was Ildis' daily mantra and Alara was sick of it.

At one point the desperation to stop her father from comparing the two men grew so strong that she thought about pretending to be pregnant to force her father to accept Gordon. Of course, as soon as that thought came to her mind she immediately dismissed it. She didn't want her parents killing Gordon when this was all over and she didn't feel comfortable with such a large lie when the small one she tried blew up in her face.

She didn't know why she was trying so hard to gain Ildris' approval. Once Malik was gone, she and Gordon would "break-up" and everything would go back to normal. Her father would chalk it up to another mistake in the grand list of Alara's list of mistakes, but no one would fear death.

Alara stared at the ceiling in her bedroom, her fingers gently touching her lips, almost as gentle as Gordon's kiss had started.

She wanted to say that that kiss had started all these strange thoughts in her head, but that would be a lie. Since pretending to be dating she had seen a different side of Gordon. Gordon had always been her friend, the jokester, but that kiss had been no joke.

His eyes and expression had been serious, the slight touch of his lips on hers had caused electricity to shoot through her, exciting and terrifying her.

She had never felt this way with anyone else before. She wanted to feel it again, stronger and deeper than previously. No interruptions, nothing to stop them from... she wasn't sure what she wanted.

This feeling made no sense. This was Gordon! How could she feel these things for someone so much older than her? How could she feel these things for someone whose maturity was sometimes younger than her?

Then again, how could she not?

Alara stood and headed out of her quarters. She didn't want to see her parents tonight. Malik was back from Outpost 48 and would be joining them for dinner, which would make the whole situation worse. Gordon had to finish up a few things, but he planned on joining them afterwards.

That would leave Alara alone with Malik and her parents until he arrived.

As she entered, being greeted by her mother, she saw both her father and Malik stand and turned to her, her father giving her a smile as if saying that this is a man he approves of, Malik was smirking as if already knowing what her father was thinking.

This would be the hardest night so far, she hoped that Gordon was up to the task.

Pretending to be Alara's lover in front of her parents wasn't as hard as Gordon had thought it would be. In many ways Gordon wasn't pretending at all.

Over the last 3 days, Gordon and Alara had been spending time with her parents. While Drenala had been welcoming since that first night, Ildris hadn't budged. Alara's father was determined to put Gordon down to force his daughter to see things his way.

Drenala, however, had been observant. When Gordon asked Alara to open a jar in front of her mother, followed by him thanking her and kissing her temple, Drenala had smiled softly at him, approval shining through her eyes.

Honestly, other than the kiss, Gordon would have done the exact same think without an audience. The kiss was something he hadn't realized he had done until he had already done it. Physical affection towards Alara seemed to come so naturally to him now that half the time he didn't realize what he was doing.

Ildris saw all this too, but never said a word. Instead he glared his disapproval at him so hard that Gordon thought he would set on fire.

Malik had returned to the ship and was joining them for dinner tonight, something that neither Gordon nor Alara were particularly excited about. Alara was worried about it, Gordon could tell. However, Gordon also knew that tonight was his chance to knock Malik down once and for all, if he played his cards right and could get Malik to reveal his true nature.

When Gordon arrived, he knew that it was going to be difficult.

Both of Alara's parents were already chatting with Malik as if he was part of the family. Clearly this man was approved of. Alara was there too, sitting across from her partents with her arms crossed and a frown up on her face. She clearly didn't want to be there or enjoy the conversation going on. Gordon could only imagine what conversation he had walked in on.

Then her eyes moved to his, the frown grew to a smile and her arms relaxed. Gordon felt a rush through him at that sight, his heart started pounding and he couldn't help returning her smile.

She stood and walked over to him, her eyes never leaving hit. It only took a few seconds, but to Gordon it was like she was walking slow motion. He was aware of every move she made; the swing of her hips, the curve of her fingers, the bounce of her hair.

As she came closer, he started to notice other things. The brightness of her eyes, fullness of her lips, the ridges on her nose and forehead connecting to the smoothness of the rest of her face.

His fingers itched to touch her in a way that he couldn't with her parents and Malik sitting there, although he was only barely aware that there were other people in the room.

"Hey," she said softly, reaching up and pressing a soft kiss to his cheek. This had been their routine every day and it never failed to make Gordon want more.

"Hey, Sweetheart," he replied, his voice dropping low and slightly husky. Usually he was able to cover his reaction to her, but today he didn't. Today he wanted her to know what she did to him.

Her cheeks flushed and he knew she heard his tone, that it affected her. Her eyes studied him intently, as if trying to understand.

For some reason, this fake romance they were acting didn't feel fake, really hadn't felt fake between them since day one, which surprised him. The soft touches and chaste cheek kisses that set his blood on fire wasn't just for show.

He knew that he had been falling for Alara, but he had been ignoring it. But now it was all so real that he couldn't. It terrified and excited him. The one thing that terrified him more than anything else was recognizing that he wanted this thing with Alara to be real on both sides. He wanted Alara to care about him as much as he cared about her. He wanted to tell her everything right there.

But he didn't.

Instead, he smiled at her and said hello to her parents and Malik as if his whole world hadn't just shifted forever.

Dinner was awkward.

Alara was sitting between Gordon and Malik with her parents across from them. Her father would talk with Malik with pride about his accomplishments and career path, before turning to Gordon to inquire about his own and comparing them as insignificant to Malik's.

Gordon took it stride for the most part. There were a few moments when Malik and Ildris spoke about him as if he wasn't sitting right there next to her that she could tell bothered him. He tensed up and she could feel the anger and upset rolling off him.

Alara reached over and placed a hand on Gordon's arm, feeling how tense he was beneath her fingers. He turned and looked at her, the tension vanishing in almost an instant. The fact that her face could ease his tension caused Alara to feel a warmth fill her different from anything else she had ever felt. Gordon smiled as if he was only smiling for her.

They had had several moments like this over this whole experience, moments where the rest of the world vanished and it was just the two of them. She didn't know what this was and wasn't sure she could ever look at Gordon as just a friend ever again.

He was...more than that.

"Alara?"

Her father's voice broke the connection between her and Gordon as she turned back to him. "Yes?"

"Malik was inviting you to Xelaya next month to visit his family."

Alara looked at Malik, an eyebrow raised in suspicion. "Oh?" She could feel the tension in Gordon's arm again.

Malik smirked, a smirk that made Alara's skin crawl. "Yes, my mother will be so pleased to see you. She was heartbroken when you left me."

Alara didn't bother to correct him about who left who. She also highly doubted that Malik's mother cared one way or the other about Alara visiting. She had interacted with the woman once and it had not been a positive experience.

"You should think about it," Ildris said with a smile. "It cannot hurt to have other connections."

The tone of Ildris' voice made it perfectly clear what he was implying. Connections with other Xelayans were good, connections with humans, like Gordon, were bad.

Alara took a deep breath, Gordon's hand had found hers, still resting on his other arm. That connection, one her father wanted to break, was the only thing keeping her calm in this moment, but just barely.

She took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. "I'll have to decline," she said firmly to Malik before turning to her father. "I have no intentions of rekindling old connections on Xelaya."

Alara could see Malik in the corner of her eye. He looked calm, but his smiled was too forced. She could almost see the waves of anger rolling off him. However, he outwardly looked as if this didn't bother him at all.

Her father, however, wasn't as subtle.

"That's it!" Ildris said firmly. Drenala tried to calm him, but Ildris was too angry. "Alara, I have watched you make too many mistakes with your life to watch you make another one like this."

"Mistake? What mistake?" Alara said, knowing already what the response would be.

"What mistake?!" Ildris exclaimed, standing suddenly, vibrating with anger. Then he lifted his hand and pointed at Gordon. "That mistake!"

To give Gordon credit, he didn't pull back in shock or even get angry. It was as if he already expected this response from Ildris the entire time, as if Gordon knew the whole time that Ildris thought of him as a mistake to correct in Alara's life.

That just made Alara even angrier, to the point that even Gordon's presence couldn't curb it anymore.

Alara stood and glared at her father. "How dare you say that!" Her eyes filled with hot, angry tears. "My being with Gordon is not a mistake. He's a wonderful man and I'm lucky he wants to be with me."

"He's human!" Ildris exclaimed. "You aren't compatible!"

"Says who?" Alara yelled, tears streaming down her face now. "I don't give a damn that Gordon is human and I'm Xelayan. I don't give a damn that he doesn't reach your high expectations. I don't give a damn that you don't approve of our relationship. I love him the way he is and if you don't like it then too bad!"

Alara turned and practically ran from the room, her anger pushing her forward, leaving a stunned, silent group behind her.