x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x
"What do mean YOU HAVE NO CLUE!!" Shalimar suddenly found her voice - and temper.
"You give us this long speech about how dangerous the situation is for our friends. You convince us about how much Brennan and Emma need each other. You bloody well frighten us out of OUR minds - and NOW you tell us you have no clue!?!!!" Shalimar almost lunged at Edward but the thought that this man might be able to help restrained her - barely.
"Look I don't know what to do. I've tried to speak to Emma, and even Brennan, with lamentably little success. Neither one will listen to me; in Brennan's case, he won't even acknowledge me. What else am I supposed to do?!!!"
"Maybe you could make him jealous. That should convince him he has feelings for Emma. We saw how he reacted to Jesse's presence near Emma. If you paid some attention to her . . "
"If I 'paid attention to her' as you so charmingly put it, Brennan would fry me faster than bacon. He very nearly turned Jesse into a walking light bulb and he is Brennan's best friends. I will NOT be so lucky. The only reason he puts up with me is because Emma's seems to want me around. However, if I showed any romantic interest in her he would kill me. And I am NOT joking."
"Anyway, I would not do it to Emma or . . ." *~Marie . . . I can never pretend to love someone else. ~*
"Okay, so it was a bad idea. But we have to come up with a plan." Shalimar started pacing around the two men, trying to think of something - anything.
"You know, if this was a TV show - and a cheesy one at that - the bad guys would break in right about now and attack Brennan and Emma. Being in a life- threatening situation would finally lift the blinkers from their eyes. They would defeat the bad guys, not have a scratch on them, admit their undying love for each other and live happily ever after. At least till the nest episode." Edward ginned. *~ Now if only life was that simple. ~*
"Well, THIS isn't a TV show - thank god for that. Now keep quiet, I am trying to think." Shalimar snapped at Edward. *~HOW can the guy joke at a time like this? Though I must admit - it would solve our problems. Where is the Strand when you need it - useless mutants. ~*
Edward happily complied and let Shalimar walk a hole in the carpet. Maybe it would help - at the very least, it would rub out the horrible yellow pattern on the carpet.
"Maybe we are going about this the wrong way." Jesse thoughtfully commented, very effectively stopping Shalimar from her pacing.
"Instead of making them 'see' what is so obvious to each other, maybe all we have to do is make them confess it to us. The problem, as I see it is that they don't believe each other. Or they are too frightened to talk to each - thus the little dance around each other.
All we have to do is get them to speak to us - and then WE can speak to them. They must be eager to speak about what they are going through." Jesse finished hopefully.
"Maybe not, I tried to talk to Emma but she is hurting too much to speak right now." Edward quietly interjected.
"Then I'll talk to her. She'll listen to me." Shalimar confidently asserted.
"Shal wait. That might not be a good idea." Jesse hurriedly continued when Shalimar's expression became foreboding. "If I thought that there was something between you and Brennan then Emma . . ."
Shalimar gulped, her eyes widening. Could she have inadvertently come between her friends? She looked at Edward, he would know. He nodded slightly.
"But . . . I didn't . . .oh my god." Shalimar trembled slightly, looking at Edward, beseeching Edward to tell her she was wrong. Now that she thought about it, this whole mess had started on the day she and Brennan had . . .
*~ This is all my fault; if I had not kissed him none of this would have happened. What have I done?! ~*
"Shalimar, you couldn't have prevented this and neither did you cause this. Your 'relationship' with Brennan only brought a simmering problem to boil. It WOULD have happened sometime or the other." Edward sharply cut into her thoughts.
Jesse lightly rubbed her arms, allowing her to lean into him, offering a few moments of comfort. It didn't matter what Edward said, or how true his words were, Shalimar would blame herself until she saw Brennan and Emma happy - together.
"I think I should talk to Emma." Jesse said.
Edward agreed, "I think that would be best. She might not want to go into a deep mental examination of her motives with me." Edward chuckled wryly, *~ And in the end, it is best if . . . she talks to family. ~* For a brief second, he felt a sharp pain because he knew that Emma would rather talk to Jesse than him. Then he put that thought out of his mind - what was important that Emma talk.
"Okay what are you both waiting for?" Edward asked. Jesse and Shalimar just looked at him.
"But Brennan . . . ?"
'You don't think that I should go and speak to him. I might be brave but suicidal I am not." Edward threw up his hands in mock horror - but his eyes were twinkling. At least there was some humour to be found in this night.
"So I repeat, what are you two waiting for?"
Jesse and Shalimar smiled and went looking for the would-be lovers.
x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x
Brennan and Emma sat uncomfortably on the couch - praying that someone would come back soon. Neither thought of moving to the empty chairs nearby.
"Hey, you look bored, would you like to dance?" Emma looked up at the young stranger standing in front of her. He seemed nice, 20 something and for a second Emma seriously considered taking him up on his offer.
"No she would not like to dance." Brennan's voice loudly cut into her thoughts.
Emma spun around to face Brennan - her anger instantly igniting. *~ How dare he make my decisions for me?! ~*
Her protests died in her throat - Brennan was not looking at her. His entire attention was on the poor guy in front of him - his eyes bore into the guy - flailing him for asking Emma to dance. The guy squirmed, obviously uncomfortable with the implicit threat in Brennan's stance.
"Leave." Brennan's voice was low, harsh - and very dangerous. The guy needed no more encouragement - he ran off as fast as his legs would carry him.
"You shouldn't have done that." Emma finally found her voice, on the one hand glad that she did not have to dance with a stranger but angry at Brennan's presumption.
Brennan turned to look at her and she hissed at the anger in his eyes. Even more frightening was the desperation, which fuelled that anger.
*~ I WILL NOT let another man have you. You are mine. ~*
Brennan did not speak - he didn't need to, Emma heard him as clearly as if he had screamed.
"It was only a dance." Emma quietly pointed out. But she did not consider any more offers - even for a moment.
She could not do that to Brennan.
x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x
Okay I know that was a very dull chapter but I decided to post as fast as I am writing, otherwise if I will lose inspiration again. And I know the end is coming soon, so I am getting a bit restless.
"What do mean YOU HAVE NO CLUE!!" Shalimar suddenly found her voice - and temper.
"You give us this long speech about how dangerous the situation is for our friends. You convince us about how much Brennan and Emma need each other. You bloody well frighten us out of OUR minds - and NOW you tell us you have no clue!?!!!" Shalimar almost lunged at Edward but the thought that this man might be able to help restrained her - barely.
"Look I don't know what to do. I've tried to speak to Emma, and even Brennan, with lamentably little success. Neither one will listen to me; in Brennan's case, he won't even acknowledge me. What else am I supposed to do?!!!"
"Maybe you could make him jealous. That should convince him he has feelings for Emma. We saw how he reacted to Jesse's presence near Emma. If you paid some attention to her . . "
"If I 'paid attention to her' as you so charmingly put it, Brennan would fry me faster than bacon. He very nearly turned Jesse into a walking light bulb and he is Brennan's best friends. I will NOT be so lucky. The only reason he puts up with me is because Emma's seems to want me around. However, if I showed any romantic interest in her he would kill me. And I am NOT joking."
"Anyway, I would not do it to Emma or . . ." *~Marie . . . I can never pretend to love someone else. ~*
"Okay, so it was a bad idea. But we have to come up with a plan." Shalimar started pacing around the two men, trying to think of something - anything.
"You know, if this was a TV show - and a cheesy one at that - the bad guys would break in right about now and attack Brennan and Emma. Being in a life- threatening situation would finally lift the blinkers from their eyes. They would defeat the bad guys, not have a scratch on them, admit their undying love for each other and live happily ever after. At least till the nest episode." Edward ginned. *~ Now if only life was that simple. ~*
"Well, THIS isn't a TV show - thank god for that. Now keep quiet, I am trying to think." Shalimar snapped at Edward. *~HOW can the guy joke at a time like this? Though I must admit - it would solve our problems. Where is the Strand when you need it - useless mutants. ~*
Edward happily complied and let Shalimar walk a hole in the carpet. Maybe it would help - at the very least, it would rub out the horrible yellow pattern on the carpet.
"Maybe we are going about this the wrong way." Jesse thoughtfully commented, very effectively stopping Shalimar from her pacing.
"Instead of making them 'see' what is so obvious to each other, maybe all we have to do is make them confess it to us. The problem, as I see it is that they don't believe each other. Or they are too frightened to talk to each - thus the little dance around each other.
All we have to do is get them to speak to us - and then WE can speak to them. They must be eager to speak about what they are going through." Jesse finished hopefully.
"Maybe not, I tried to talk to Emma but she is hurting too much to speak right now." Edward quietly interjected.
"Then I'll talk to her. She'll listen to me." Shalimar confidently asserted.
"Shal wait. That might not be a good idea." Jesse hurriedly continued when Shalimar's expression became foreboding. "If I thought that there was something between you and Brennan then Emma . . ."
Shalimar gulped, her eyes widening. Could she have inadvertently come between her friends? She looked at Edward, he would know. He nodded slightly.
"But . . . I didn't . . .oh my god." Shalimar trembled slightly, looking at Edward, beseeching Edward to tell her she was wrong. Now that she thought about it, this whole mess had started on the day she and Brennan had . . .
*~ This is all my fault; if I had not kissed him none of this would have happened. What have I done?! ~*
"Shalimar, you couldn't have prevented this and neither did you cause this. Your 'relationship' with Brennan only brought a simmering problem to boil. It WOULD have happened sometime or the other." Edward sharply cut into her thoughts.
Jesse lightly rubbed her arms, allowing her to lean into him, offering a few moments of comfort. It didn't matter what Edward said, or how true his words were, Shalimar would blame herself until she saw Brennan and Emma happy - together.
"I think I should talk to Emma." Jesse said.
Edward agreed, "I think that would be best. She might not want to go into a deep mental examination of her motives with me." Edward chuckled wryly, *~ And in the end, it is best if . . . she talks to family. ~* For a brief second, he felt a sharp pain because he knew that Emma would rather talk to Jesse than him. Then he put that thought out of his mind - what was important that Emma talk.
"Okay what are you both waiting for?" Edward asked. Jesse and Shalimar just looked at him.
"But Brennan . . . ?"
'You don't think that I should go and speak to him. I might be brave but suicidal I am not." Edward threw up his hands in mock horror - but his eyes were twinkling. At least there was some humour to be found in this night.
"So I repeat, what are you two waiting for?"
Jesse and Shalimar smiled and went looking for the would-be lovers.
x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x
Brennan and Emma sat uncomfortably on the couch - praying that someone would come back soon. Neither thought of moving to the empty chairs nearby.
"Hey, you look bored, would you like to dance?" Emma looked up at the young stranger standing in front of her. He seemed nice, 20 something and for a second Emma seriously considered taking him up on his offer.
"No she would not like to dance." Brennan's voice loudly cut into her thoughts.
Emma spun around to face Brennan - her anger instantly igniting. *~ How dare he make my decisions for me?! ~*
Her protests died in her throat - Brennan was not looking at her. His entire attention was on the poor guy in front of him - his eyes bore into the guy - flailing him for asking Emma to dance. The guy squirmed, obviously uncomfortable with the implicit threat in Brennan's stance.
"Leave." Brennan's voice was low, harsh - and very dangerous. The guy needed no more encouragement - he ran off as fast as his legs would carry him.
"You shouldn't have done that." Emma finally found her voice, on the one hand glad that she did not have to dance with a stranger but angry at Brennan's presumption.
Brennan turned to look at her and she hissed at the anger in his eyes. Even more frightening was the desperation, which fuelled that anger.
*~ I WILL NOT let another man have you. You are mine. ~*
Brennan did not speak - he didn't need to, Emma heard him as clearly as if he had screamed.
"It was only a dance." Emma quietly pointed out. But she did not consider any more offers - even for a moment.
She could not do that to Brennan.
x - x - x - x - x - x - x - x
Okay I know that was a very dull chapter but I decided to post as fast as I am writing, otherwise if I will lose inspiration again. And I know the end is coming soon, so I am getting a bit restless.