Title: "A Rather Strange First Encounter"

Chapter 3: "Lonely Hearts Club"

Author: Jerome Mullins

Disclaimer, Summary and Rating: See previous chapters.

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Dana Scully had not slept well that night. She knew she was exhausted from the journey and the major time difference between Chicago and Oxford. Her mind and body screamed for rest, but she didn't listen. She was hard on herself for doing the one thing she knew to be a mistake. She had fallen in love. That in of itself was not the worst part, but the fact that she had fallen in love with a man she knew she might never see again made her heart sink. It didn't bother her that he was four years her senior, or that he was in college. But the fact that he was studying in England made the idea of a long-distance relationship out of the question.

What really put Dana in a dilemma was the fact that she didn't want to fall in love in the first place. And yet, here she was, in England, away from her parents, and in love. with Fox Mulder.

She found it extremely hard to concentrate that morning at breakfast. Grace and Maggie lead her down to the dining hall where they gave their suggestions as to what foods were edible and what should be avoided. The three of them settled on toast, a fruit cup and tea.

"It's hard to ruin a cup of tea, especially in England." Maggie explained. "You all right, Dana? You seem a bit distracted."

"I'm fine." She lied with a weak smile.

Maggie stared at her for a moment and looked at Grace who was sensing the same thing as Maggie. Dana shifted uncomfortably in her seat and quietly turned her attention to her meal.

"Something's definitely wrong," Grace said breaking an awkward moment of silence. "Could it be that she misses home?"

"No." Maggie shook her head slowly. "I've seen this troubled look before, it isn't something about home."

"It's nothing." Dana shook her head.

"Oh, it's certainly something, deary." Grace narrowed her eyes. "Is it something about your visit here? Something about one of us?"

Dana said nothing.

"Fox!" Maggie suddenly shouted.

Dana slumped in her seat and tried to hide her blushing face.

"Fox! Over here!" Grace got out of her chair and waved to Fox Mulder who had just entered the dinning hall. He was carrying a stack of books and set them down in front of the empty seat next to Dana. She looked up to him and then quickly looked away.

"Good morning, all." He said quietly. "I trust you had fun last night."

"Yes, thanks again for the invitation. Hope you weren't in trouble with your hall monitor." Maggie handed him her fruit cup.

Fox took the cup and picked out the pineapples with his fingers and quickly ate them before handing the cup back to her.

"Thomas could care less about who's there at night, especially girls." He shrugged. "Besides, he didn't come in last night until well after you left." He then noticed Dana's blushing cheeks and he looked back to the other two. "Am I interrupting something, ladies?"

"No, not at all." Maggie shook her head.

"We're trying to read Dana's mind, see what's bothering her."

"There's nothing wrong," Dana lied again. "I was just thinking."

"Yes, but about what?" Maggie leaned closer to her. "A boy?"

"This is where I make my exit," Fox stood and gathered his books.

"You always have to run off somewhere," Grace protested. "You should get some food and come back to sit with us. Sacrifice your reputation for always bursting full of energy and just sit for a while. Chat with some old friends, and a new one." She gestured to Dana whose face was now a bright crimson.

"Thank you, but I know better." Fox shook his head. "Now, you're picking on Dana and trying to pry information about boys from her. But later you'll be focusing all your energy on me and trying to get into my mind." He shook his head.

"I promise, I won't try and get into your mind." Grace held up her hand.

"However, she can't promise not to try to get into your pants." Maggie said.

Grace slapped Maggie's arm and Fox rolled his eyes.

"As much as I would _love_ for you to do so," he said sarcastically. "I do have an appointment with Dr. Graham in the English department. You'll just have to plot getting into my pants without my presence."

He bowed to them slightly and headed in the opposite direction. He then stopped and came back to their table. Picked up the books from the table and cleared his throat.

"Just for the record, ladies, I have no intention of sleep with any of you. Nothing personal, it just isn't on my list of priorities here in England. Good day to you all." He bowed again and hurried out of the dinning hall.

Maggie watched him leave and turned back to Dana. "Behold, Dana, there goes His Majesty, King of the Broken Hearted."

Regaining her composure and happy to no longer be the subject of attention, Dana looked to Maggie curiously. "Why? What happened to him?"

"Phoebe Green." Grace said finishing her toast. "They broke-up about a month ago."

"Bad relationship I take it?"

"Very, she was seeing other men on the side because of Fox's 'principles.'" Maggie said. "He wouldn't sleep with her. Not right away, at least. And he was more interested in actually having a relationship rather than just jumping her every chance he got."

"That's not the reason why she was seeing other guys," Grace shook her head.

"I'm just reporting what I observed." Maggie said calmly.

"He was too busy, which you can plainly see," she gestured to the door where he had exited. "He's constantly working on his degree and in his classes. He's most likely going to be Valedictorian of our class. Not surprising, if you ask me."

"The man is brilliant," Maggie nodded.

"He swore off relationships?" Dana asked.

"Unfortunately, yes." Grace nodded. "I wish he would change his mind, though."

"Yeah, but after being with you for a week, he would swear off women for good. Probably become a priest." Maggie teased.

Grace slapped at Maggie again.

"So he's not interested in relationships," Dana said changing the topic again.

"That's right." Maggie nodded. She paused for a moment, then her eyes widened. "That's what's wrong, isn't it?"

"No." Dana shook her head and quickly looked away.

"No, that _is_ it." Maggie leaned closer to her and smiled. "You like him, don't you?"

"Not at all." Dana lied again.

"Did you really fall for him?" Grace was amused. "You just met him yesterday."

Dana sighed loudly. "I didn't plan for it to happen."

"You can't plan what's written in the stars," Grace teased. "Welcome to the club."

Dana looked at both of them. "You too?"

"Completely and hopelessly." Maggie nodded. "He's just so sweet."

"And very handsome." Grace smiled brightly.

"I don't want to talk about this." Dana shook her head.

"Oh, yes. That's right." Grace nodded. "Dana swore off romance too, she had a rather nasty break-up herself about a year ago. She doesn't want to have anything to do with men."

"That includes talking about them," she said firmly.

"I see." Maggie nodded and sipped her tea. She then leaned closer to Dana. "It happened last night, didn't it?"

"The book cracking thing got me too," Grace winked at her.

Dana grunted angrily and ignored them. They finished their breakfast in silence.

"What do you intend to do about it?" Maggie asked her while they were walking back to their dorm.

"Why do I have to do anything about it?" Dana eyed her suspiciously. "You've known him longer than I have, why don't you do something? I'm going back home in five days."

"That's precisely why you should do something." Maggie said. "You might never see him again, we have two more years with him. We'll get another chance."

"And you own him, do you?" Grace folded her arms in front of her chest. "You can give him away freely? He has no say in what happens in his life?"

"I simply meant that Dana doesn't have that much time, if she wants to be with him, she should make her move."

"I thought we agreed we weren't going to talk about this." Dana grumbled.

"No, _you_ said you didn't want to talk out it. We never agreed." Grace corrected her. "And Maggie and I were arguing between each other."

"Well then, why don't _you_ go after him?" Maggie challenged her.

"I tried, two days ago. He had no interest. What about you?"

"We've been friends for so long, I don't think he would believe that I'm in love with him."

"Shouldn't that be a good starting point?" Dana stopped and turned to face her. "If you fall in love with your best friend, isn't that the best place to start in a relationship?"

"Not if one isn't in love with the other." Maggie briefly smiled, but it could not mask the pain on her face.

"You never asked if he loved you or not," Grace said coldly. "How do you know?"

Maggie shrugged and continued walking.

"If neither of you feel like you have a chance with him, what hope is there for me? Besides, I leave in a week, less than that, I'll never see him again. Long distance relationships don't work."

"You could always try to enroll here in another year," Grace shrugged.

"He'll graduate by the time she starts studying here. I'm pretty sure he'll be going back to the States." Maggie said.

"It wouldn't work out." Dana said confidently.

"How do you know?" Grace asked.

Dana didn't answer.

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That's it for Chapter 3. Sorry it took so long to post this, more will be coming in less time. Let me know what you think so far. Reviews always welcome.