Chapter 4: Beginnings…or not

Noin awoke with a terrible headache and smiled slightly when she saw the aspirin next to her. Such a kind man, she knew what Kent felt for her and part of her wanted to feel for him too. She looked at her clock and grumbled to herself, "How could he let me waste my whole day like this?" She pulled off the tank top she was wearing and replaced it with a white tee. Looking in the mirror she smoothed her hair a bit and licked her lips. Noin had never been one for makeup, she sighed when the thought made her think back to the night of the graduation ball, the way that her body responded to his, the things that he said. Noin, get over it, it's history…move on with your life… The little voice in her head always spoke to her like that, but she never wanted to listen, not until now. Kent had been a gentleman and had shown genuine interest in her well being. She had needed the rest; she knew it. It would have taken Zechs two days of nagging to get her to take a day off, yet somehow Kent's gentle way only took a few hours. Of course there was some alcohol involved as well. Noin chuckled to herself as she walked out the door, "Quite a man…" she said under her breath as she moved down the hallway toward the gym. She had decided that some rounds with a punching bag would help clear her head.

Zechs was leaning back in his chair analyzing some of the star movement and checking for any emission trails from ships, nothing out of the ordinary so far. He could hear Berta humming in the back of the room as she was working on tuning up some of the scanning systems. She had been very straight with him and it had pissed him off. He hadn't spoken to her since their conversation and he felt childish for acting in that way but he didn't know what to say to her anyway. Deep down he knew that Berta was right. He sighed a stared into the darkness of space, I don't deserve happiness; I should have died out there. He dropped his head into his hands massaging his temples trying to erase the headache and the terrible memories.

Heavy footsteps fell behind him as Berta moved toward him, "Hey, sourpuss, get over yourself and help me getta hold of this dang blasted system." She patted him on the back and he scowled at her.

"Bert, stop with the southern charm, it's not working…" she looked at him with her lip out and blinked at him, then laid a sloppy wet kiss on his cheek, he lightly pushed her away and got out of his chair, "Okay, okay… enough abuse…" he couldn't help but chuckle a little. Berta was always good at shocking him out of a blue mood; she could make him feel like his old self. They walked back toward the dilemma at hand.

Noin was working the bag over sweat dripping lines down her white shirt revealing her sports bra below. Kent watched her from the doorway, he had told her to rest, but maybe this helped her rest. He felt a little funny for watching her but he couldn't help himself. She could sense eyes on her and she turned to see him leaning against the doorway smiling. He looked like he had gotten his hand caught in the cookie jar.

She walked over to him slowly, wiping her sweat off on a towel, "How long have you been there?"

He smiled at her and looked up at the ceiling embarrassed, "Long enough to enjoy the view." His eyes came back down and met hers. He watched her become a little fidgety and it made him happy. He liked seeing that he might have a chance with her.

His eyes seemed to look into her and she started getting butterflies and tingly in places that she had forgotten that she had, crap, she thought, this complicates things.

They looked at each other a while longer and then he cleared his throat and tried to break the silent tension, "So, would you like some dinner tonight?"

She smiled, enjoying the attention and thought what the hell, "I'm always up for food." She walked femininely by him making sure to brush her hips against his. He turned and watched her go.

When Noin got back to her room wild thoughts were going through her mind. She shook her head, "Get a hold of yourself…" Her comm. Beeped on a Sally's voice came over the wave.

"Hey…" Sally's voice was always a pleasant sound.

"Hi, Sal." Noin said smiling at her friends face.

"How's everything going?"

Sally always asked that and it never meant the project. Noin frowned, "How do you think?"

Sally shook her head, "If I didn't know how much you loved him I would tell you to give up."

Noin dropped her head and sighed, "I've been thinking about that actually." Sally could see her eyes become teary up, "Sal, I just don't know if I can do it anymore. I hurt too much."

Sally looked at her caringly, "Have you told him that you love him?" Noin shook her head. Sally sighed, "Noin, you have got to tell him. Whether it will hurt you or not."

Noin looked at her friend and knew that she was right, "I know." Noin felt like she needed to change the subject, "I met someone."

Sally cocked an eyebrow at her and smiled, "And whom might this new man be?"

Noin blushed a little, "Kent, the project leader. He seems interested."

Sally grinned, "You really like this guys, huh?"

Noin fidgeted a little, "Of course it's not love, but…" and she looked Sally right in the eyes, "God, Sal…I need a good shag…" She blushed when she said it and looked away.

Sally laughed loudly, "Noin, finally!" She looked at her friend, "I totally understand. I've been so frustrated lately. I feel like there are cobwebs in there." She smirked.

Noin laughed, "Hell yeah, I haven't been laid for over four years!" They both laughed for a while longer then Noin got serious again, "You know, Sal, I tried moving on after academy, I had a few relationships but every time I had sex with one of them I thought of him. It was a nightmare."

Sally looked at her and sighed, "You need to settle things with him before you try to get close to anyone else and then I think you can move on with you life." Sally looked at her watch.

Noin smiled, "Need to take off?"

Sally smiled back, "It's always a pleasure talking to you, my friend. I'm off to try to get Wufei to shag me." She winked and they both laughed, "Bye, Noin."

Noin said bye and the screen went dark. She fell onto the bed and tried to think about Kent and dinner.

Zechs and Berta walked out of the docking bay, each smiling a little due to an off color joke Berta had just told. They moved side by side down the hall and were met by Kent with Ramona in tow. "Hey." Kent said coming up to them.

They nodded and Ramona looked Zechs up and down, licking her lips. Zechs shuddered inside thinking of the ideas this young girl was thinking. Berta gave Ramona a dirty look at she looked away, beaten.

Kent continued, "How did it go?"

Zechs gave him an update on the scans and the repairs and Kent was pleased. "Great." He smiled, "You both deserve a break, you have the rest of the night off." They nodded and continued down the hall.

Ramona came running after them, "Hey, wait up!" She ran up along side of Berta grinning from ear to ear, "Guess what Bertie?"

They kept walking and Berta smiled, "What you silly girl?"

Ramona kept pace with them and continued, "Kent's going out with Noin tonight." She watched Zechs flinch, "I guess they're hot for each other, plus we all know they both need a good fu…"

Berta smacked the back of her head stopping her vulgarity and she looked over at Zechs, but he was gone.

Noin was reading a book when she heard the light tap on her door. She hopped up and opened her door. Zechs serious expression met her gaze and her heart leapt, "Oh…Hi Zechs." She motioned for him to enter.

He entered slowly and she could tell that something was wrong with him. "So how did it go up there?" she tried to break the silence.

He looked at her right in the eyes, "We need to talk."

She knew that this was coming but she never expected it to start with him. She prepared herself. She needed to be honest with him today. She needed to tell him she loved him. She waited for him to start, this was it; the start of something or the end of it all.