I wonder if Rick O'Connell is aware that he is the most stubborn man in the entire Goddamn world. Is it not common sense that when a terrible evil has risen (with your help, nonetheless) and the city is falling into ruins, that one would flee? Made sense to me!!!

Clearly, he didn't see it that way. I'd simply gone to his room to try and convince him to leave Cairo, and our civilized discussion had devolved into a yelling match. "We have to stay!" he said, gesturing in the air for effect. "We can stop this from happening!"

"It's pointless! You saw what that...that...that thing can do!"

"It's not a thing, it...she's a person. She can be defeated."

"But you might--..." I stopped myself short of voicing my real fear--that something might happen to Rick, and that I wouldn't be able to live with myself--not because it was my fault, but for reasons far deeper than I was willing to address at that juncture. "Look, buddy, you're my responsibility, and I don't want you to get killed."

"Oh, I'm your responsibility, huh?" he asked. "That's what I am to you?" I was amazed at how he didn't hide his hurt. I'd hurt him, and he didn't care that I knew. He wanted me to know. "In the end, that's all I am to you."

"God!" Men always take everything so out of proportion. I didn't really say that to him...did I? "Why do you have to be so....aaagh!" I cried. "Look, you saved my life, and that's very nice of you and all, but I don't like being in people's debt. So I brought you to Hamunaptra, and I got you back. We're even now, you hear me? Don't expect me to clean up your mess!"

"I wasn't asking you to," he said, very softly, like he always did when his eyes were too caught up looking at me to pay attention to speech. "I'm sick of playing these games with you."

"Games?" I sputtered. Who did he think he was?! "What does that mean? All I'm trying to do here is be honest!"

"Fine!" He crossed his arms, waiting for something. "Go ahead. Be honest."

This struck me pretty much dumb, as I hadn't even sorted through my own emotions in a coherent way, much less tidied them up for someone else. "About...what?"

"About whatever. Say whatever you want to say to me."

I thought about it for a long minute, not wanting to sound stupid. It never occurred to me not to tell the truth. "It was really stupid of you to read from that book. We're probably all going to die because of you."

"Agreed," he said. I hadn't expected that response. "What else?" Then he gave me that look....grrrr. Damn him.

"Well, I... I'd really rather you didn't die."

"You said that already. Responsibility."

"No, I... That's not it. Hell, I'd rather not die, either. And I...it's just that...if we were to, you know, live through this..." He didn't say anything. He just waited for me to get through it. I really wished he'd say something, anything, so I didn't have to embarrass myself any further. "Err..." I continued, my eloquence unsurpassed. "This is going to sound really silly, being in the middle of this huge catastrophe and all, but... It's probably just a stupid physical attraction, one of a million, right? You're not even my type. And I'm not yours, either. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out. We'd drive each other up a wall. And the crazy thing is, I tell myself these things, and I'm not listening. I don't want to listen! I...I want...I don't know what I want."

He smiled, and despite all my protestations of him not being my type, my knees weakened...just a little bit. "I do. I know exactly what I want. First of all, yeah, I don't want to die, a man's got to have his priorities. But also..."

He gave me that look, with those eyes. So I kissed him. I couldn't help it. He was a professor from a little town in Ireland. He wore reading glasses, tripped over himself every ten steps he took, and couldn't hold his liquor--not my type, not at all. Not that I'm the type for mushy-gushy romance in any circumstance... And yet, kissing Rick O'Connell made my senses spin upside down, go out the window, and down the block for a stroll.

So when it started to rain fire and brimstone about ten seconds later (hello plagues!), you can see why I was so upset at the interruption.

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Review please:):):)