Disclaimer: I'm getting smegging sick of this: I don't own Red Dwarf or anything to do with it (except the mouse pad I mentioned earlier. Oh, and series I-IV on DVD.)

Author's note: I love this chapter even more than the last one. A lot of nice descriptive passages coming up.....

It was all very confusing. They each remembered every detail. He remembered how she had flung her arms round his neck and kissed him passionately; how she had taken off his jacket with one hand; the way she rubbed her foot up his leg. She remembered how he had been fairly rigid and unresponsive at the beginning, but sunk into it; how he had been gentle and considerate and yet still given her wild, manic sex; the way he had shouted 'Geronimo' every three and a half minutes. They remembered every detail. Yet, neither Nicole nor Rimmer could quite work out how they ended up in the shower.
Nicole was lying in his arms in his bunk. She found it quite remarkable how just a little contented sigh from him made her feel on top of the world. After sex with Dave, a sigh from him was usually followed by "Could have been better, couldn't it?"
Oh my God, she suddenly thought, Dave!

For the first time in his life, Rimmer was happy. Really, genuinely happy. The list of the number of women he had had sex with had just increased by one, making a grand total of...three. But he didn't care about that figure. Just the fact that Nicole was one of the women made his list seem full to bursting. Besides the fact that it was Nicole he had just made love to, she was the best he had ever had. He didn't kid himself, the other two weren't bad, it was just...Yvonne McGruder. Lovely woman, but the sex had been...well, fantastic, frankly, but it was also a little sudden and rushed. Nirvanah Crane. Again, lovely person, and the sex hadn't been as sudden or rushed, but he couldn't help but feel it was a little forced, what with the whole 'twice daily' rule they had had aboard the Enlightenment. But Nicole. She was so sweet and sensitive, and there was a certain innocence about her that was tremendously attractive. And all of that came across whilst they made love, but there was also a reassuring sense of experience that contradicted the naivety, and made her all the more enchanting. To put it simply, she wasn't going to be forgotten in a hurry!

Suddenly, Rimmer felt Nicole tense up, and her body heat noticeably increased.
"What's up?" he asked.
"Arnie? What did we just do?" she asked, panicked. A silence greeted her, "I mean, not that I don't know what we just did, but how did it happen?"
Rimmer shook his head. It was a good question. And, honestly, he didn't know the answer. One minute he had been holding her in his arms, comforting her, the next she was tearing his clothes off.
"Oh God," Nicole said covering her face with one hand.
"What?"
"I can't believe we just did that. Anything could have happened! Someone could have walked in on us! Smeg, someone could walk in on us right now!"
She sat up and tried to get out of the bed but Rimmer held her gently back.
"No, no, it's OK, no one will find us" he swore to her, "Door Lock."
A metallic chink told them the door had been locked.
Nicole took a moment to calm herself down.
"What have I done?" she said distantly. Rimmer ran his hand up and down one of her arms.
"It's OK, Nikki," he said softly. He put his other hand on her other shoulder and kissed her cheek. He brought his hands round to her front and hugged her tightly. She allowed him to continue kissing her neck and shoulders until she realised what was happening. She got up suddenly, grabbing a robe and hastily wrapping it round herself.
"No!" she protested, "No, no, no! We can't!"
"I don't see why not."
"Er, hello?" she retorted sarcastically, "I'm supposed to be in a relationship here! Oh my God, I've just cheated on someone! Oh my God, I'm my sister! Oh my God..."
The room started spinning. She had the same lightheadedness she had had the day she had emerged from the stasis capsule and seen the crew for the first time. She was having another panic attack.

But she didn't pass out. Rimmer made sure of it. He leapt out of bed the instant he saw she was in trouble and put a comforting hard-light arm around her. He tried to offer words of encouragement as well, but for some reason he could only manage to get out "Shh," and, "OK."

He came back from the bathroom with a glass of water. She took it from him and sipped at it. He smoothed down a strand of her hair which had flown away during the attack. The feel of his light touch calmed her even more.
"Try and keep your breathing steady," he told her. After her first panic attack all those months ago, he had read up on them so he could be prepared in an emergency, and even though she hadn't had one for ages, he still remembered a lot of it. She took three deep breaths and had another sip of water.
"I think I'm OK now."
"You won't be OK until your heart rate returns to normal," he said feeling her pulse, "and right now it's rocketing."
She took some more slow, steady breaths. Rimmer picked up a magazine.
"Here, read this and take your mind off it."
She shook her head, "I can't read at the moment. I'm too shaky." Rimmer nodded and put the mag down.
"Could you hold me, please?" she requested.
"Are you sure?" he said uncertainly, "You remember what happened last time you asked me to do that, right?"
"Yes. I just...that's what I need right now."
Hesitantly, Rimmer folded his arms around her shoulders.

"What are we going to do?" she inquired. Rimmer froze. "Oh, come on," she said, "one of us had to bring it up." He supposed she was right. "I suppose the most important question we have to ask ourselves," she continued, "is: Do we tell Dave?"
"No," came the immediate response, "Not yet, anyway. It's too soon. I don't know about you but I've only just got over the fact that you even considered sleeping with me."
She couldn't help but giggle. But he was right. It was far too soon to tell Dave. There was a long, and slightly awkward pause before Rimmer brought up another subject he had been avoiding all night.
"So...what about us?"
"What about us?"
"Well, you know...where do we go from here?"
"I'm not quite sure I'm following you."
"I mean, is this going to continue or is it just, you know, a one night wonder?"
Nicole smiled again. He could be exceedingly sweet.
"Well," she began, "There's no denying, tonight was pretty wondrous. But I think it's just as clear that this isn't over. It's only just beginning."
Rimmer's heart jumped. Nicole looked at the clock and was startled to see it was quarter past four in the morning.
"Smegging hell, I have to go!" she exclaimed getting up and pulling her jacket on.
Rimmer's heart sank, "Do you, really?"
"Yes, sweetheart, I have to get back before Dave figures out I'm missing."
Rimmer sighed. Nicole smiled and put her arms around his shoulders.
"I'll be back tomorrow. Get some rest," she kissed him and whispered into his ear, "I'll be back before you know it." She skipped to the door, "Door Unlock." She said before spinning round and blowing Rimmer a kiss. And then she was out of the door. Rimmer got to his feet and looked around the room. He didn't know what to do with himself now she had gone. He was on too much of a high to go to sleep. He picked up the half-empty glass of water and put it to the side in an attempt to keep busy. It failed dismally. Giving up he crawled into his sheets and closed his eyes. It took him a while but he eventually managed to drift off into unconsciousness with Nikki's words repeating over and over in his head.

It's only just the beginning!

A/n: Awwwww! Good ol' Rimmer. Sorry to all the Lister fans out there, but I wrote the Lister/Nicole kissing scene during a 'stream of consciousness' then realised three chapters later I didn't want to put it in. But it's OK, 'cos I've thought of a really good story now. Completely different from what was going to happen, but, whatever.