Author: Joyce
Title: The Consequences of Flirting
Disclaimer: I'm still borrowing them but I'm not really sure if I'll ever return Gary.
Note: As always, your replies to this story warm my heart. I still can't believe that you people actually read my stories and like them. I can't tell you how much that means to me, no matter how many times I try to explain it to you guys. So again, I would like to thank each and everyone of you who reviewed. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter : )
This has to stop
As soon as her lips touched his all thoughts flew out of his head except for one, one that kept repeating itself like a mantra; I'm kissing Sara, I'm kissing Sara. Her lips were soft and gentle, exploring his in a tentative manner and he surrendered to her, participating in the kiss while pulling her closer, the mantra still going strong in his head. And then, just like that, his brain caught up with his body. I'm kissing Sara! He released her while panting slightly, taking a big step away from her, away from those lips and the feel of her body against his.
"Tina..." he whispered and that one word was enough to bring them both back to reality. He saw a flicker of pain flash in her eyes and then she sat down, covering her face in her hands. He just stayed where he was, hands in his pockets, not knowing what to do.
"I'm so sorry, Warrick," she finally told him, taking a chance and looking up at him. She was relieved to see that there was no anger to be found in his eyes, just confusion and a whole lot of pain.
"I didn't exactly push you away," Warrick said dryly but the attempt to lighten the mood fell flat on the both of them.
"I know but..." Sara began, running her hands trough her hair. "I don't know what got into me. This is not something I usually do, I never let my feelings take over and..."
She was cut of when he sat down next to her and took her hand, squeezing it lightly.
"This was not your fault," he tried to convince her. "You started the kiss but..."
He paused, lifting her chin up with his finger.
"You have no idea how much I wanted you to kiss me, Sara," he told her and she gave him a small, shaky, smile.
He sighed, getting up to put some distance between them because he didn't trust himself while being so close to her and this had gone far enough.
"I made the mistake here," he admitted. "I let you kiss me, I never did anything to stop the flirting, I allowed you to shake up my life and I never once thought about the girl that is sitting in my house as we speak, waiting for me to come home to her."
"Tina," Sara said flatly, studying her hands. "Do you love her?" she asked him and he shrugged.
"I don't know," he said honestly. "But I do know that she doesn't deserve this and neither do you."
Sara stood up, standing in front of him but keeping her distance.
"So, now what?" she demanded to know from him.
His expression was serious and she recognized some of the dedication in it that he usually only had for his job.
"We stop this, Sara," he said, his voice steady and sure. "We stop this without rules or any other tricks. This can't go on any longer. I won't do it anymore."
She said nothing, wondering why it hurt so much to stand here while hearing him say those words.
"I need to give Tina a chance," Warrick told her with a sigh. "I owe her that," he concluded in a small whisper, hoping that she would understand.
He wanted to leave the room when she stopped him, her voice a whisper of her own and he could hear the hurt in it.
"And what do you owe me?" she asked him, turning around to face him.
Warrick had to restrain himself from going over to her and kissing her again, knowing that he couldn't.
"I owe you a better friendship," he said with a smile, not knowing where he found that smile because he felt very much like crying. "You need a friend, Sidle, and that's what I'll be."
""Friends?" she repeated, imagining a life in which she was just friends with him again, somehow failing.
"Friends," he confirmed, the words painful to pronounce but he carried on anyway.
"I can do friends," Sara assured him with a fake smile on her face and she saw his smile of relief in return, one that warmed her even now.
"Good," he said, leaving her behind because he couldn't stand to be around her any longer without doing something that would get them both into more trouble. He had made the right decision he told himself. He was with Tina now and Sara...She was Sara, his co-worker, his friend. It would have to be enough, even if it would kill him.
Back in the locker room Sara slumped down on the bench that was standing behind her, a single tear rolling down her cheek. This was right she told herself. He was in a relationship with another woman and he was her co-worker, her friend. "It will work out," she said out loud, hoping that it would help somehow. Finally she stood up and brushed her tears away, trying very hard to forget about his lips on hers while making her way home.
Warrick came home half an hour later to find Tina in the kitchen, her back to him. She turned around when she heard him and he couldn't help but see another woman in his kitchen. Couldn't help that he thought about another smile greeting him.
"Hi," Tina greeted him and he waved back.
"How was your shift?" he asked her and she replied in an cheerful tone; "The usual, a lot of sick people but we managed to make a whole lot of lives better."
"That's good," he replied, hardly hearing her but he did look up when she sighed.
"What it is?" he asked her.
"Us," she said with a sad look in her eyes. "It's us...I...I don't think that I love you enough."
He furrowed his brows, confused at the sudden turn of events.
"What do you mean, you don't love me enough?"
Tina walked out of the kitchen, sitting down on the couch while he took a seat next to her.
"I came out of a very controlling relationship when I met you," she began. "And when we first hooked up it was fun and exciting and I vowed that I would be free, that I would follow my instincts and live in the moment for once."
"Because you only live once," Warrick said with a small smile, one that she returned.
"Right," she confirmed. "So when you asked me to move in with you I was...It was the ultimate chance to show everyone that I had changed, that I was living life my way for once. But I never once thought about us, I never asked myself if we're right for each other."
"And now you're thinking we're not? he said in a friendly manner.
"We have fun," she told him with a fond expression on her face. "And you're hot and so very kind but..." She trailed of and looked at him. "Do you love me?" she asked him and he remembered that Sara had asked him the same question only an hour before.
He shrugged, not really knowing how to answer.
"It's ok, Warrick," Tina told him gently. "I was having the same problem, I kept asking myself if I loved you and I always doubted myself. And today I saw this couple in the hospital that were head over heals in love with each other and it suddenly dawned on me that I don't feel that way about you, no matter how hard I try because you're everything that I always thought I could love."
"Right back at ya," Warrick said, stroking her cheek with his thumb.
"You don't love me either," she said, making a statement not asking a question.
"I really wish I could," he told her and she nodded. "Me too."
They were silent, both lost in their own worlds.
"So, now what?" Tina asked him and Warrick smiled, the image of Sara popping up in his head again, not that she was ever really gone.
"You can stay here as long as you like," he said to her. "I asked you to come live here and I will not kick you out."
Tina studied her hands.
"I never gave up my old apartment," she eventually admitted and he raised his eyebrows.
"You never gave us a chance, did you?" he asked her but his tone was light, indicating that he was teasing her.
"I had some doubts from the start," she told him with a grin.
"Me too," he said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and pulling her towards him in a friendly hug.
"I'm still glad that I met you," he said. "You're a great person and an even better friend."
She glanced up at him.
"Right back at ya."
They sat like that for a long time, contemplating the future and slowly a smile formed on Warrick's lips. He was free now and so was she and while she had thought that he was flirting with her before... He hoped that Sara would know what she was in for because Warrick decided that it was time to let the real flirting begin.
Tbc...
