Title: Stages of Love

Fandom: Stargate: Atlantis

Genre: Romance

Rating: K+

Characters: McKay/Cadman

Disclaimer: I don't own Stargate, or McKay, unfortunately. Please don't sue.

Summary: The five stages of love for Rodney McKay and Laura Cadman.

Author's Note: This chapter has the Sappiest.Ending.Ever. I'm not very good at writing kissing scenes, but I tried. :) Also, sorry about this chapter taking so long, the documents manager was being a pain.

Chapter Three: Passion

Weeks had passed since the incident at Teyla and Ronon's wedding and Laura was aggravated. No, make that pissed off. Every time she found Rodney alone he had some excuse where he had to be somewhere else. She was fairly sure she could handle Rodney rejecting her, but if he avoided her one more time she was going to punch him.

Stepping into his lab, she saw that he was alone.

"Rodney…" she greeted, once she was sure she was sufficiently blocking the door.

"Cadman." he replied, finding the pen in his hand very interesting.

"We need to talk." she said, stepping further into the room.

"And what exactly do we have to talk about?" he snapped, shooting her a look of disdain.

Laura felt tears stinging behind her eyes. Why was she upset? Rodney had said worse to her before and it had never fazed her. She lifted her chin in defiance.

"Never mind." She replied, turning on her heal and stalking out of the room.

"Laura…" Rodney called, but she was already out of earshot.

Laura was so engrossed in herself and thoughts of Rodney she nearly screamed as she turned a corner and ran right into the person unfortunate enough to cross her path. Feeling arms wrap around her waist to keep her from falling, she looked up into the caring eyes of Carson Beckett.

"Whoa lass, where's the emergency?" he asked, shooting her a smile.

Disentangling herself from the doctor, Laura sniffled and shook her head.

"Nothing, I'm fine. Sorry." She replied, attempting to move around him. Gently touching her arm, Carson willed her to look at him, then led her out to a nearby balcony.

"Come on love, we're still friends. Tell me what's going on." he urged, filled with genuine concern for his ex-girlfriend. Laura proceeded to tell him about Teyla's wedding, her feelings for Rodney, and his multiple attempts to avoid her. By the end she had found herself wrapped in Carson's embrace, tears once again filling her eyes.

"I just don't know what to do Carson. It's so aggravating. I wish he'd just tell me he doesn't feel that way about me and be done with it!"

"Just give him time." was all he could say. After promising she would rest after her shift was over, Carson let Laura leave the balcony and immediately headed for Rodney's lab. Not waiting to see if he was alone, he stalked across the room until he was standing in front of Rodney.

"You're a prat, you know that?"

"Excuse me?" Rodney replied, shocked at Carson's arrival.

"You're a prat. Either tell her how you feel or stay away from her. You're breaking her heart Rodney and I won't let you hurt her any more." With that, Carson left the lab, leaving a shocked Rodney McKay in his wake.

Laura had just returned to the control room when she heard Rodney pushing his way past the team that was preparing to go through the gate. Turning, she locked her eyes with his, never losing contact until he was mere inches from her.

"For a tap-dancing explosives expert you're really stupid sometimes." he said before pulling her to him, his lips crashing into her own. Before she could react he pulled away, obviously shocked at his actions.

"Well, I guess that's why I need a genius like you around huh?" she replied, grinning widely before pulling him into another kiss.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

dwparsnip-The whole "Rodney can dance" thing was a last minute addition, so I'm glad someone got a kick out of it besides me. Fluff is never a bad thing imho. :)

sb4ever-Rodney is a total sweetie at heart, but I love his aggravating side as well, because he's not Rodney without it.

Harper's Pixie-Thanks! I agree, more romantic!Rodney is definitely needed on the show. I love your user name btw, Harper was the best character on Andromeda!

Chase Liquor-Thanks for the wonderful comments! I have two chapters written after this one, but I'm thinking about writing an epilogue as well.