Chapter 28

Opportunity

When Gil and Sara arrived in the city of Edinburgh, they were still drained of any energy, and had been very quiet, they barely said two words to each other during the two journeys, both on plane and train.

It was much a relief that when they finally reached the hotel in Edinburgh, that the booking plans had gone right. Sara had a suite to herself, and Gil had booked himself a small room on a different floor.

His arrival into Edinburgh had been a whir of chaos. Of new faces and names, they'd been greeted at the airport by three of the professors at the university. Gil feigned enthusiasm in meeting them all, and introduced Sara as his colleague. As excited as he was to be there, and to have this opportunity, the only thing Gil was really looking forward to was getting into his hotel room and sleeping through the night.

Finally managing to escape from the trio of professors after coffee in a VIP room in the airport, Gil and Sara arrived at the hotel together by cab, again, neither taking any interest in looking out of the cab windows on the way, but rather just struggling to keep from dozing off on the backseat.

They separated in an elevator, to go to their separate rooms. Neither had much to say to the other, they were too tired and still jet lagged. Every now and then they would glance at each other. Gil knew silence spoke volumes, he didn't need to hear Sara say a word.

Gil only stopped to take his jacket off as he arrived in his room. Without even kicking off his shoes, he let himself drop on the bed, and curled up to immediately sleep.

He wasn't sure how long he'd slept for. He had not been paying attention to clocks since his arrival. All he knew was when he awoke, it was four am in Edinburgh. Everything seemed deathly quiet, the room dark and unfamiliar around him. He lay there for some time. The whole of the journey now seemed nothing but a blur that had gone by quickly.

Gil got up, and pulled himself together, giving the clock on the wall a quick glance before he went into the bathroom to splash water on his face. He heard a knock at the room door while he was in the bathroom. Quickly, he patted his face dry, and left the bathroom to find out who was knocking at four am.

He opened the door cautiously, surprised to see Sara there. She looked as tired as he felt, her hair was disheveled, much the same way it had been when he'd seen her wake up before they'd left to get the plane to Glasgow. Her eyes were puffy, her cheeks slightly pale, "hey," she said.

"Jetlag?" Gil asked.

Sara gave a nod.

Gil let her in, "is it just me or is it chilly?" he asked, he shivered slightly, the temperature in

"Gil, it's snowing outside," Sara gestured towards the window. The drapes had not been pulled and large flakes of snow danced across the dark sky.

Gil moved over to the window to look out over the quite streets, the snow made everything seem almost pristine and ethereal. Sara came over to stand beside him.

"Snow…in April. I'd expected rain, but not snow," Sara mused.

Gil leaned on the windowsill, his face close to the glass, "I love watching snow," he said with a boyish expression on his face, "and the view from here is fantastic…" he added.

Sara gave a soft yawn, she stood with her arms folded, "everything is so quiet compared to Vegas. It's like the streets are dead out there."

"Edinburgh sleeps," Gil commented, "even in the heart of the city," he added. He left the window, "we haven't said much to each other almost all day."

"We've been tired," Sara reminded.

"I was beginning to worry maybe things were starting to feel awkward," Gil confessed, he chewed the inside of his cheek.

"I don't feel awkward, at all. I do feel irritable and exhausted though," Sara sat down on the bed, ran her fingers through her hair. "Do you feel awkward?"

Gil paused considering his answer, then finally said, "a little." He wished he hadn't spoken at all, he knew she'd want to ask why now.

"About?" Sara asked immediately, as if on cue.

"It doesn't matter," he assured, he didn't feel like explaining the sexual tension that had been bothering him as of late.

Sara remained quiet, she sat using her fingers to brush her hair. Gil watched her for several minutes, then took a seat beside her. He could have sworn she was pretending to be nonchalant, and he hated it when women did that. Nonchalant on the outside and brooding on the inside when men such as he refused to answer a simple question.

"Okay…" he said, "really? I feel awkward because…this is the first time we've been truly…alone. Without chances of interruptions, without work getting in the middle…"

Sara turned to him, her eyes meeting his, she merely nodded as if understanding how he felt, but said nothing more.

Gil reached out and took her hands, slightly apprehensive and shy again. He ran his thumbs over the top of her hands tenderly, and looked into her eyes. It was then Sara leaned forward to kiss him, catching his lips with hers.

Gil's troubles were temporarily soothed, and he began to forget about all his worries completely, her kiss was so distracting. Her felt her lead his arms around her, he'd still been holding her hands. The kiss, soft at first, began to deepen, Gil felt like a volcano, ready to erupt any second. He had to struggle with himself, tempted to take further action, he would have liked right then to push her down to the bed and make love to her in every single position he'd seen in the Kama Sutra.

Sara seemed to sense the conflict in him, and she pulled back as if to save him from falling under the spell of lust, "you okay?" she asked, she touched his face, he was breathing heavy, his cheeks hot, he seemed fevered.

"I'm fine," he assured.

"Wanna go for a walk, get some air?" Sara asked, she stroked his cheek.

Gil gave a nod, "yeah…yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

They left the hotel together after Sara obtained her jacket from her suite. They walked together, hands in pockets, shoulders hunched against a biting chill. Snow drifted down, touching their skin like frosty fairy kisses.

The city was beautiful, the orange light of the streetlamps hung down, making the snow glisten, they walked along old streets with cobbled roads and brownstone buildings, feeling almost as if they had temporarily stepped into a time warp, rather than a thriving city. The snow crunched beneath their feet as they walked together side by side.

Gil turned to look at Sara as they walked, she looked around the street in wonder, her eyes wide with curiosity.

An inner calm came over Gil, just being with Sara right then and there. It felt for that moment in time as if they were the only people alive on the planet, as if the world, the comfort of the night and the drifting snow, solely existed only for them. It was romantic. It was perhaps the most romantic situation Gil had ever found himself in. His heart melted as well as the snowflakes that touched his bare cheeks. He slipped his bare hand out of his pocket, and reached out to stop her in her tracks.

Sara stopped, almost slipping on the ice beneath the snow on the paving. She reached out to grip onto the sleeves of his jacket to support herself.

Gil had so many things he wished he could say right then and there to her. He wanted to say he loved her, he always had and always would. He wanted to get down on one knee and ask for her hand. He wanted to tell her she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever known.

But he couldn't find those words right then, and he felt that if perhaps he should make any attempt to say them, he might ruin this perfect moment, and he would have to live with the guilt of it for the rest of his life.

Sara shivered, her nose and cheek were pink from the cold, her brown hair stirred in the gentle wind, "I can't believe we're here…" she confessed.

"Why?" Gil asked softly, he reached out and brushed her hair away from her cheek, he kept his eyes right on hers, never blinking, not once.

"Two months ago we weren't even able to tell each other how we felt, and now…here we are…" she smiled a little, "it's…overwhelming."

"I agree," Gil nodded, "It is."

"It's a little bit scary," Sara admitted, "it's so…perfect…it just leaves me thinking it can't be this good…something has to go wrong…"

"I wouldn't tempt fate if I were you," Gil slid his fingers into her hair and drew her close, he planted soft kisses on her cold cheeks. The cold felt as if it were starting to eat at his flesh with tiny invisible teeth, he tried to ignore it as he took her closer in his arms, and let his lips find hers, he kissed her softly then, savoring the feel as she ran her chilled fingers through his now damp hair.

Tell her you love her. You know you love her, you need to let her know now. This is the most romantic moment of your life, this is the right time. You can't miss this opportunity, Gil, his thoughts screamed at him. There might never be another more perfect moment. Don't blow it.

Sara shivered in his arms, she broke the kiss and took in an uneven breath, "I'm cold…" her voice quivered.

Gil stammered, "I…uh…"

Sara fixed the collar of his jacket absently. "Lets go back to the hotel…"

No, let's not, he thought, Lets stand here freezing our asses off long enough for me at least say I love you…

"Sara, I…uh…"

Sara raised her eyes from his collar to his eyes, waiting for whatever he intended to say.

"I…" he opened his mouth to speak again, the words just wouldn't come. His stomach swam in nausea as he tried to force the words out, but they just refused to be said. "I…" he tried again.

"You…?" Sara asked, raising an eyebrow.

Gil faltered. Quick! Say something! Say anything! Don't lose your cool…

Sara was still standing there, staring at him.

Damn it, you've been in a relationship with her for over a month, you should be over this shyness by now! He thought angrily with himself. Don't just stand here like a half peeled vegetable, open your mouth and say something, doesn't have to be I love you, just has to be anything that she can believe.

"I'm…really…glad you came…" he finally managed, it being the best thing he could come up with in such limited time.

Sara gave a short laugh as if she were relieved. "I'm glad I came too…" she pecked his lips, "c'mon, lets go," she took his hand, twining her fingers with his own.

Gil smiled a little, "okay…"

As they walked back to the hotel, his thoughts still ran constant, he still felt the anger with himself that he'd ruined the moment. Okay, already one missed opportunity, but you still have a week to make up for it, he told himself. A week is more than enough time to tell her you love her. More than enough.

I know, seems a bit boring. Typical thing for me to write on a rather bleak sunday, lol.I'll try and do something a bit meatier in the near future.

Thanks to the following readersfor reviewing over 3 lines long...

DolphinAnimagus, Aidrianna, PhDelicious, Erlina Silverstra, Ambient Flames, Cindy aka SG1PhileShipper, Crys Wimmer, Woody27, Scully as Trinity, jtbwriter and Kristy87 (hope I spelt all those names right). Everyone is starting to review over 5 lines now, which is even better than 3 (I get so excited!).

Btw, if anyone happens to be a member of the forums at drop me a line some time if you feel like it, I'm under the username Dismal Angel there. ;)

SS