A/N: Are the emotions enough for you? I'm trying to make this story as angsty as possible. I mean, we are getting angst on the show right now but not the angst we want between Robin and Patrick…sigh. But thank you guys once again for the amazing reviews. I so enjoy reading them and it gives me a reason to update sooner.

So here is the next chapter…

--

To Close for Comfort

Chapter Three: Undefined Mystery

They walked silently back through the halls of General Hospital, neither really sure of what to say. How do you put words on something so special that they had shared? But what exactly was it that they had shared? Where did this leave him now?

He glanced at her walking beside him. She took two steps for every one of his because of her size. She was small but yet, she was mighty. She knew just what to do on that roof to make him feel better, to make his problems seem like they didn't matter. When she had stepped in front of him and pulled his body to hers, the world seemed right. He felt safe in her tiny arms; like it was where he was supposed to be.

He hadn't meant to be that honest with her and he certainly hadn't meant for her to see him cry, but once again, it was something about her. She made him feel safe, she made him want to be a better person and let someone in. She made him want to open up his heart once more and learn to love like he was supposed to.

She turned her head to face him and saw the slight blush that had risen in his cheeks. She knew that he was embarrassed because of what had just occurred on the roof, but she herself couldn't have felt more comfortable. She finally felt like she was seeing the real Patrick, and not the faulty one. The Patrick that was sensitive and who cared about others, the Patrick that she could see herself really caring about.

She couldn't explain the high that she had experienced while she was standing body to body with him. It was more than a physical attraction… so much more.

"You know…" She began. "It's the strangest thing but for once, I don't want you to leave." She smiled up at him. "Do you want to get some coffee or something?" Was this really happening? Was she really the one propositioning him now?

He thought briefly about giving her some sort of smart comeback in return, some silly remark. But he didn't. She had now seen all sides of him and he couldn't act like she hadn't. "Sure." He agreed and bowed him head. He was finally getting what he had wanted…

--

"You are kidding me? There is no way…" Patrick argued, with a sexy smile plastered on his face. "You, Dr. Scorpio, Miss conservative-never-do-anything-fun with your nose permanently implanted in your research, actually went skydiving?"

"Don't be so surprised…" She flashed him a sly smile. "It was right before Stone got really sick. He knew that he was dying, I had no clue, but he wanted to take every risk that he could. He wanted to live what was left of his life to the fullest and we did. We did every crazy thing that you could think of: bungee jumping, skydiving, swimming with sharks. We splurged and went on a totally expensive weekend away."

She stopped speaking and Patrick noticed the look of reminiscence in her eyes. He thought that all of this talk would make her sad and depressed but she still had a smile on her face. It was obvious that they had shared something amazing and it was obvious that she still held so much love for him.

"Anyway…" She came back to earth, remembering that she was at Kelly's with Patrick. "It ripped my heart out when I had to let him go but he wouldn't have wanted my life to end. He would have wanted me to live. He would have wanted me to be happy and to smile when remembering him, not cry."

"It's obvious that the two of you had something special…"

"What about you?" She changed the subject. "Tell me about your first love."

"I can't." He stated simply, sitting back in his chair. "I don't have one." He watched her surprised reaction before continuing. "I swore off love when my father died."

"So that's where your reputation comes into play…" She finally understood.

"Exactly." Patrick agreed. "I'm known as a playboy because I go out with different women and don't make a commitment, and people think very little of me. When in reality, you don't have to sleep with a woman when you go out on a date. I may date a lot but I don't sleep with as many women as people think."

"So why did you swear off love? From what you have told me and what I have heard, Noah and your mother were quite an item. Why wouldn't you want that kind of love?"

"Because of what that love did to my mother. She loved my father so completely that losing him… made her lose herself." He coughed, trying to get rid of the sudden lump that formed in his throat. "I watched her fall to pieces and leave me in the shadows and there wasn't a thing I could do."

"When I went to college, I was the best student. I studied all the time, rarely left my dorm room. Eventually I started going out and I was opened up to the real world with the beautiful women…" He smirked at her, "and I decided to shelter my heart but not be sheltered. I wasn't going to let anyone near my heart but I couldn't just stop living…"

She nodded. "That's the way I was after Stone's death. I had had my one great love in life and for whatever reason he had been taken from me, and I didn't want to go on. But you can't shelter your heart. You have to get out there and let whatever happens, happen. Love truly is an amazing thing when you allow yourself to fall totally and completely…"

"You of all people should understand where I'm coming from. For you it was losing Stone and being hurt by Morgan. For me, it was watching my mother get lost in the bottle…" He sighed. "There have been times where I wish I had someone I could call up at any time of night and bare my soul completely to them, but I can't be that vulnerable. I have worked too hard to keep myself locked away from the world to stop now."

She nodded. She did understand. She understood completely. But who was she to give him a lecture and try to explain the excellence of love? He was right… she had lost Stone and Jason and because of that she hadn't let herself fall in love with another man. She couldn't tell him to open up more, see deep inside someone, let that person in… if she couldn't do it herself.

He glanced at his watch for the first time that evening. "You know, Dr. Scorpio, it's getting pretty late. We should really get you home."

"I actually had a good time tonight, Dr. Drake. We should do this more often." She smiled at him.

"I'm going to remind you that you said that…" He warned, "…right now when I ask you to go to dinner with me tomorrow night."

She looked up at him, now standing so close to her. It was strange what a difference one day could make. The day before they had just been friendly colleagues and that was on a good day, and now… they were undefined but it was nice. It was nice not having anything to live up to and learning about the deep insides of the other person at the right pace. They weren't rushing into anything and neither was quite sure where things were going to go. But that was the best part… the mystery.

--

A/N: So this chapter is extremely short and it's taken me a little bit to post it and I'm sorry about that but it's the best I can do when I'm sick with the flu, so I hope it came out alright… I think I'm going to get the story moving a little farther along in the next chapter so look for the real sense of the story to come through. Hope you liked it!