ZOMG I FAIL SO HARD AT UPDATING!

Seriously! I am so sorry I'm making you guys wait so much. The problem is I have so many different ideas for different chapters, and I'm in such a hurry to get to the sequel, that every time I sit down to write, I feel like my brains going to explode! Gah!

On a plus side, I actually like this chapter, so I hope you guys do too! It's a very belated birthday gift for 23jk. I noticed it was her birthday on DeviantArt, and she's been reading my story since I posted Chapter 3 of "Fearless" - over a year ago! So, for her loyalty, and because she'd never actually made a request for a chapter, I volunteered to write one for her and she simply requested romance.

I'm sorry it's kind of short, but it's got all kinds of romance in it.

Enjoy!


"Hey!"

Jim's eyes shot open at the shout. He looked around for a second and quickly realized transport vehicle they'd taken from the spaceport back home to Montressor was empty except for he and his sleeping wife... and the driver who had woken them up.

"You two planning on getting off anytime soon?" the frog-like man questioned Jim.

"Um, yeah. Sorry about that, George," he apologized as he sleepily rubbed his face.

The driver chuckled. "Don't worry about it. You and the Mrs. must be exhausted. I see you on here nearly every week it seems, always coming and going on one voyage or another. You two need to get some rest."

"Yeah, sounds like a plan," Jim agreed.

The bus driver smiled and returned to the front of the bus. Jim yawned as he sat upright, or tried to at least before realizing his arm was caught. Turning to his left, he smiled at the sight of Tabitha still sound asleep, his arm wrapped around her while her head rested on his shoulder. "Tabitha?"

Tabitha didn't make any sign that she'd heard her name other than to let out a small sigh.

"Hey..." Jim whispered as he gently shook her. "Tabitha, wake up..."

Tabitha groaned quietly as she blinked her eyes open and lifted her head.

"We're home," he explained.

"Oh," she said as she sat up and stretched. "Sorry..."

"No, it's okay. I fell asleep too," he explained as he stood up.

Tabitha grinned, stretching her arms above her head as she stood up. "Here, let me get a bag."

"I've got them," Jim assured her as he swung bag over his shoulder and held the other in one hand, holding out his other hand for Tabitha.

She smiled, took his hand, and together they made their way to the front of the bus.

"Good afternoon," the frog man said as the couple stepped off the bus. "See you two soon, I'm sure."

"Goodbye, George," Tabitha responded as the doors shut. "Where are you going?" she asked as she noticed Jim heading up to the inn.

He stopped and turned around. "I was just going to stop by and tell everyone we're back."

"Oh," Tabitha sighed. "Alright."

"Wait, wait," he stopped her. "Why don't you go ahead and go back to the house?"

"You sure?" she questioned.

"Yeah, you're tired. I can handle this."

"Then at least let me take the bags back so you don't have to carry them."

Jim started to argue, but quickly realized Tabitha wasn't going to let him be that chivalrous. He smiled and passed the bags over to her. "Love you," he said as he quickly kissed her.

"Love you, too. See you in a little while."

Jim yawned again as he trudged his way up to the Benbow. He could only think of one time when he was more tired than this - back on Lacuna, when Tabitha had been hurt and he'd ended up staying awake for three days straight - and this came in as a very close second. All this traveling, to planets with different time schedules and then back, was completely exhausting, and they'd been doing it almost nonstop for over six months. Jim had felt especially bad after this trip because Tabitha's birthday had fallen right in the middle of it. She insisted that she didn't mind, and he knew she didn't, but he still wished he could have done something nice for her...

"Hey t'ere, Jimbo!" Silver greeted as Jim entered through the kitchen door of the Benbow.

"Hey, Silver," Jim yawned.

"Jus' back from yer trip?" the cook asked as he dumped a variety of ingredients into a large pot on the stove.

"Yeah, I was just stopping by to tell you guys."

"How was it?"

"Same as always," Jim shrugged.

"Ya look worn out," Silver stated.

He sighed. "Tabitha and I have been doing the same thing for months now."

"O' course ya have! It's yer job," Silver laughed.

"Yeah, but... it's not exactly what we want," Jim explained. "We want... more exciting voyages. You know, explorations or something. Not necessarily something like the trips to Treasure Planet or Lacuna, but... something more interesting than just ferrying merchants and their products back and forth."

"Well, just keep lookin' lad. Somethin'll turn up."

Jim sighed heavily and hopped up onto the counter. "I need a vacation."

Silver laughed just as Jim's mom entered the room. "Jim!"

"Hey, mom," he greeted.

"How many times have I told you not to sit on the counter? That's where we prepare the food!" Sarah scolded.

"It's nice to see you too," he laughed as he hopped down and hugged her.

She hugged him back. "How was your trip?"

"Fine, but I'm exhausted. I just stopped by to tell you I was home."

"Well, I'm glad you made it home safely," she smiled. "Where's Tabitha?"

"Back at the house. She was tired, so I told her to go ahead of me," he shrugged.

Sarah grinned. "You really are a wonderful husband."

"Aw, mom..." Jim scratched the back of his neck bashfully as his mom headed back to the dining room. "Um... I'm going to head home now. See you later."

Silver chuckled. "Go on, now. Don't leave 'er waitin' up fer ya."

Jim scoffed amusedly. "Yeah, right. If I know Tabitha, she's already passed out in bed with everything but her shoes still on." He stopped halfway out the door as inspiration suddenly hit him. "Hey...Silver?"

"Aye, lad?"

Jim thought for a second, then smiled to himself. "Could you help me with something?"


Tabitha hovered in a half-awake, half-asleep stage for several minutes before her stomach growling finally forced her to wake up. She groaned and rolled over, trying to tell her stomach to hush and wait for breakfast, when the smell of some kind of food hit her nose. Her taste buds began to water and she opened her eyes. Glancing around, she realized it was nightfall and Jim was not in bed with her. She drowsily pushed herself to her feet and made her way to the kitchen, but it was empty. Her brow furrowed in confusion, and she headed into the living room, gasping in shock when she saw the scene laid out before her.

Jim glanced up at the sound and grinned. "Hey, I was just about to come get you."

"Jim... what...?" she stammered as she surveyed the living room. The table had been pushed away from the center of the room and replaced with a blanket on the floor. Several dishes of food were laid out on it - everything from the salads to desert. "What's the occasion?"

"Um, well... " He stammered. "I-I was just thinking about how you didn't get to have a real birthday this year because we were on a voyage - "

"I had a real birthday," she interrupted. "It was wonderful, really."

"Yeah, okay, well... I-I didn't get to do anything special for your birthday because of the voyage, so I was going to do it now, and I thought it might be nice to re-create our first date, but since you don't like the cold, I decided to do it inside..." He laughed and scratched the back of his neck, suddenly sounding very stupid to himself. "So basically, we'll be eating dinner on the floor tonight... Happy birthday."

Tabitha laughed when she saw how unsure he now looked about his gift. "Jim," she began as she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around him. "This is amazing."

"Really?" Jim asked hopefully as he returned the embrace. She nodded. "Good. I'm glad you like it."

"Did you make all this food?" she gasped.

He scoffed. "No, I got it from Silver of course."

They laughed together as they sat down around the blanket and began to enjoy their meal. They were relaxed, more relaxed than they had been in a while, as they talked and joked. It seemed like no matter how long they knew each other, they could always find things to talk about. Somehow or another, they eventually ended up on the couch, Tabitha in Jim's lap, her back leaned against the arm of the couch.

"Thank you," Tabitha smiled as the meal finally came to an end. She leaned over and kissed him. "This was... amazing."

"You're welcome," he grinned as he leaned over and kissed her again. He wrapped a hand around her neck and held her to him, letting the fingers of his other hand gently skim across her back.

Tabitha laughed against his lips. "If I didn't know any better, by that kiss I'd think you were expecting something in return for that lovely dinner."

"No, of course not," he smirked. "I'm simply... giving you another part of your birthday present."

"Oh, really?"

Jim smirked and pushed her up. She looked confused for a second before he laid down and gently tugged on her hand. She smiled and rejoined him on the couch. As she looked down into his eyes, she suddenly noticed something.

"You look very tired," she stated.

He laughed. "You know, I didn't nap for three hours after we got back like you did."

She smiled and pushed his bangs back. "Let's just go to sleep." Jim started to object, but she stopped him. "I'm tired, too, believe it or not. Besides, we just got finished with the last voyage we had planned. We've got plenty of time to be together."

Jim smiled and pulled her down into another kiss. Tabitha started to stand up, but he tightened his grip around her waist. "Um, Jim? Bed?"

"No..." he sighed, closing his eyes and smiling. "Just stay here."

"Are you sure this is comfortable for you?" she asked as she tentatively lay back down.

"I get to be close to you, I'm comfortable," he yawned.

Tabitha laughed quietly as she pulled the blanket they kept strewn on the back of the couch over them. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he sighed, wrapping his arms around her to hold her to him. "I love you."

"I love you, too..."


Tabitha awoke first in the morning. The blanket had slipped off them, but their combined body heat was keeping her warm. Glancing at the clock - eight in the morning - she decided she felt well rested enough to get up.

Tabitha gently eased off of Jim and stood up. She picked up the blanket and draped it over him, leaning down to kiss him. Then she quickly gathered up the leftover dishes from the night before and made her way to the kitchen. As she washed the dishes, an idea slowly began to develop in her head... An idea that was squashed when she realized that they'd been home so little (and neither of them cooked much here) that they had practically no groceries, but was quickly restarted as she decided to go borrow some from Sarah.

Tabitha left the home, but only had to walk to the end of the sidewalk before she ran into a familiar face. "Hello, B.E.N."

"Hey there, Tabby!" he said as animatedly as ever. Morph suddenly appeared as well and zipped over and began licking Tabitha's face.

"Hey, Morph," she giggled.

"Where's Jimmy?" B.E.N. asked.

"Still asleep," she answered.

"Well tell him his old pal B.E.N. says hello! I'm sorry I can't stay. I've been sent on an errand to fetch some groceries and - "

"Oh! Would you mind picking up a few things for me as well?" Tabitha pleaded.


Jim was awoken mid-morning by sounds coming from the kitchen. A quick glance around the living room told him it was probably Tabitha cleaning up from the night before. However, when he walked into the kitchen, he realized he was wrong.

Tabitha was standing at the counter, a large bowl in one arm as she stirred its contents with a spoon. What Jim assumed was a cookbook lay open on the counter and she surveyed it with a confused look in her eyes. Her general appearance was what really amused him though. Over her typical clothes she wore a white apron, but her clothing still had patches of dusty flour on it. Her face was red and her bangs were plastered to her forehead with sweat from the heat of the oven. As he stood watching her, he snorted in a failed attempt to hold back a laugh.

Tabitha looked up at him. "What?" she asked, as if him catching her like this was the most ordinary thing in the world.

"What are you doing?" he chuckled.

"I'm making brownies."

"Why?"

"Well, I was going to make you breakfast, since you made me dinner last night, but we didn't have much food or anything, so I went to ask your mom if I could borrow some things, but I bumped into B.E.N. on his way to buy some things and I gave him a list... but I got tired of waiting and I wasn't even sure he'd remember, so... I made brownies instead!" she explained. "It was supposed to be a surprise, though."

"I am surprised," he smiled. "I'm not sure I've ever seen you bake anything willingly and without any help."

Tabitha rolled her eyes and lifted the spoon to her lips. "Mmm... It's pretty good. You want to try it?"

Jim glanced at the spoon she was offering to him, then back at her. Noticing the spoon had left a remnant of the batter on her upper lip, he smirked and pulled her into a kiss. "Mmm," he sighed when he pulled back. "Delicious."

A light blush dusted her cheeks as she started to turn back around, but Jim stopped her.

"No, wait," he stated, putting a hand on her cheek and turning her head back to face him. "You've got a little something - "

"What? Where?" she asked curiously, wiping her hand across her mouth.

"I'll get it," Jim volunteered as he leaned down to kiss her again. Tabitha laughed against his lips, smiling wider each time she tried to move away and he pulled her back. She threaded her fingers into his dark hair and he moaned quietly and pushed her back, pinning her between his body and the counter. When his lips moved down to her neck, Tabitha slumped, letting her hands fall to her sides.

"Jim, I am one hundred percent sure that there is no chocolate on my neck," she stated.

"Okay, then - " Jim, not one to be deterred so easily, dipped a finger into the batter and skimmed it across her neck before letting his mouth trail along the same path.

"Jim!" she laughed, trying to push him back. "Just let me put it in the oven, and then we can go right back to this."

"Hmm, no," he decided with no thought whatsoever to the proposal.

Tabitha rolled her eyes and hit Jim's cheek lightly with the spoon.

"Hey!" he cried out as he finally released her and wiped at his face. He smirked and quickly grabbed the spoon from her, dipped it back into the batter, and flung chocolate at her.

"You're going to pay for that," she stated as she wiped chocolate off the front of her shirt.

"Oh, am I?" he taunted, crossing his arms.

They glared at each other for a minute, then, at almost exactly the same second, they both lunged for the bowl, each trying to jerk it from the others grasp. When she was unsuccessful, she threw another glob of the batter at him, hitting him in the shoulder. He returned fire, and in an instant, there was an all out war. Amidst their fits of laughter, they tried to simultaneously dodge the oncoming dessert bombs while still trying to splatter each other as well. When Tabitha aimed for Jim's face, he cleverly opened one of the cabinet doors to shield himself. When he threw a handful at her, she ducked and let it hit the wall instead. Finally, Jim managed to actually get her, but as it splattered across her face, she held up her hand to stop him.

"Jim, wait, stop," she whined.

"What is it?" he questioned worriedly.

She used her fingers to rub at her eyes. "I have chocolate in my eye."

Failing to hold back a snicker, he wiped his hand on his pants and approached her.

"It's not funny!" she complained. "It hurts."

"Okay, okay," he began, all seriousness as he lifted her face up and grabbed a rag towel from the counter to wipe at her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay - " Tabitha sucked in a breath through her teeth. "Ow! It really hurts." Tabitha blinked a few times, then slowly opened her eyes and managed to keep them open.

"You okay?" he questioned. When she nodded, he smiled. "I guess what my mom always said was right: It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt."

"Yeah... Then it's hilarious."

Before Jim had time to question this add on, he suddenly found himself drenched in the batter as the bowl was poured over his head from behind. As Tabitha's arms retracted and she placed the bowl on the counter, she fell into another fit of hysterical laughter, and he realized she'd gotten him.

"You sneaky little..." He laughed as he brushed the wet mix away so he could open his eyes again. "You tricked me."

"I might have..."

Jim narrowed his eyes in a playful glare, then quickly jerked the bowl from the grasp and placed it on the counter and pulled her tightly to him.

"Jim! You're getting me covered in chocolate!" she squealed.

"Serves you right!" he laughed.

Suddenly, she stopped squirming in his grasp and met his gaze for only a moment before his lips hungrily met hers and his hands lifted her onto the counter. She wrapped her arms around his neck as his hands ran along her thighs, her hips, up her sides to her waist... His lips moved away from hers and devoured their way down her neck, his lust only accelerated the taste of the sinfully sweet desert.

"This really isn't how I thought this would go," Tabitha suddenly said.

Jim pulled away, slightly disappointed. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not complaining. I just thought thought that I'd make brownies, instead I got... this." They both laughed lightly. "But I guess I'm not completely surprised."

"Oh, really?" Jim asked skeptically.

"Well, chocolate's an aphrodisiac."

He raised an eyebrow. "I thought that was just a myth."

She reached out and ran her index finger along the inside of the mostly empty bowl before swirling the chocolate covered digit in her mouth seductively. "You tell me," she said coyly.

Jim's entire body tensed. His eyes lustfully skimmed over Tabitha's body, then, in an instant, he had lifted her off the counter and was carrying her to their bedroom.

She squeaked and wrapped her legs around his hips to hold on. "What are you doing?"

"Well, seeing as we're both covered in chocolate," he said as he made his way through their bedroom to their bathroom. "I thought we should probably take a shower."

Jim started the water, then quickly stepped in without waiting for it to warm up.

"Jim, our clothes!" Tabitha exclaimed.

"What? They need to be washed, too. It's not going to hurt," he smirked.

Tabitha's legs were still wrapped around Jim's lower waist as he roughly pinned her against the tile wall, her body trapped between the ice cold wall and his heated body. The water was a bit chilly at first, but neither of them seemed to be even remotely aware of this, and after just a moment, hot water was suddenly beating down on both of them, steaming up the room. Tabitha suddenly realized she was panting hard, as was Jim, and his gaze was absolutely nothing but pure lust.

Stars, she loved these random moments of passion that came between them every so often. They were always amazing, always heart-stoppingly impassioned. Tabitha flung her arms around Jim's neck and pulled him to her. He gasped and released her legs to brace his hands against the wall. In a state of near frenzy, she put her feet on the ground and suddenly pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it out of the shower. He quickly did the same to her, groaning as her fingers rushed through his hair and down his chest to his belt.

Tabitha moaned as Jim suddenly pinned her against the wall again. He leaned forward and began to whisper into her ear as she bit her lip and closed her eyes, tightening her grasp on his shoulders...


"Hel-lo?" B.E.N. called as he knocked on the door for the hundredth time.

Morph squeaked confusedly.

"I don't know, little buddy. Tabitha asked me to bring the groceries back by here," B.E.N. said, scratching the top of his metallic head.

Morph chirped and turned into an image of Tabitha and Jim asleep together.

"Oh... Maybe you're right. Maybe they're asleep," the robot nodded. "She said Jimmy was asleep... I bet she just joined him."

Morph shrugged.

B.E.N. lowered his voice to a whisper. "Let's go now so we don't wake them up."

Morph nodded, and the two innocents quickly began their trek back up to the Benbow.


A while later, Tabitha and Jim collapsed into their bed, still panting heavily.

"It's really... a shame..." Tabitha began, still breathing heavily. "That we can't do that... on voyages... because of the crew."

Jim gasped and shook his head. "No, It's really a shame... that you don't... cook more often."

They rolled onto their sides to face each other and burst into a fit of laughter. She grinned as he wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer.

"You know, that was the last voyage we had planned," he whispered. "We won't have to worry about a crew for a while."

Tabitha smirked. "And I'll have plenty of time to cook more often, especially now that - Oh, no! B.E.N.!"

"What?"

"B.E.N.!" she explained as she started to leave the bed. "I told him to bring the groceries back. He probably stopped by while we were - "

She stopped when Jim suddenly grabbed her hand, staring at her with an almost unreadable expression.

"What?"

He smirked and pulled her back into the bed.

"But, Jim, what if - "

Jim rolled over so he was on top of her and kissed her. "We'll figure it out later."

Tabitha met his gaze and laughed, wondering how the thought of groceries could even have distracted her from a moment of this.

"You know, I think you planned this," he teased between kisses.

"What?" she asked, feigning offense.

"Chocolate's an aphrodisiac," he repeated skeptically, raising his eyebrows.

Her jaw dropped. "You think I decided to bake brownies just so something like that would happen?" Jim shrugged, and she smirked. "And what if I did?"

Jim grinned and leaned down, his lips just centimeters away from hers. "Then just promise me you'll do it again."


So there you go. I think thats pretty much any and every kind of romance you could want.

I'll really try to be quicker with updates! I just need to get organized. (Yeah like that's gonna happen.) Shut up, inner monologue! It could. You don't know! Also, be expecting an authors note sometime in the next few days. I have a lot of things I want to talk to/ask you guys about, but I can't remember all of it and I'm lazy, so just check back later! :D

Oh! One more thing! Everyone should come follow me on Twitter! My account is writemily and it's specifically for updates on my writing (fanfiction and what I hope will be upcoming books)! You can also feel free to message me on there with comments, requests, questions, anything!

Thanks everyone! Reviews are ever so welcome!

- Emily

+ Responses to Reviews +

Icecreampopstar - I already sent you a message, but I don't remember everything I said, so sorry if I'm repeating myself: Wow, thanks! I'm so glad I inspired you and that you enjoy my story so much! It's always awesome to get new readers! I'm still considering posting that idea, so just keep reading and you might see it! :)

malisa: Haha I know what you mean about Henry. I wrote him and I couldn't even figure out if I liked him. But no, he is certainly not Jim. :D I'm really glad you liked it, and that it made Tabitha seem more realistic.

anon: Thank you for you reviews! They are always appreciated!

23jk: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it, and I hope you enjoyed this one as well. Sorry it's so late. I've been working on this chapter so much and I literally wrote it like 15 different ways before I decided on this one, so I hope it's good!

NeverTooLate03: Haha Thanks! I will definitely come to you if I need someone to proofread! As always, I appreciate the fangirling! I will never get used to that! And Morph was in this chapter! Finally! lol Ooh! And I really want to write that chapter where Henry comes back. It sounds pretty intense. We'll see! Sorry, I know I originally said that this chapter would be yours, but then I found out about her birthday and had to rearrange some things. I'm also sorry I failed so hard at completely missing your update! As a fellow fangirl, I'll try harder! :D

Horseygirl 96: Thank you so much! I'm really glad that chapter came out better than I thought, judging by the reviews. As always, thanks for the review! :)

MistressTaco: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it! No worries on the review - I understand how school can just completely fry your brain.

S.A.M. Fonceca: Thanks! You're not the only person who requested seeing Henry again, so I may have to write that. It would definitely be interesting.

EventHorizon6: Aw, thank you! I'm so glad you liked it! I'm excited about Smokey Black Nights, too! I can't wait to write it! :D

SweetAngel183: Whew! Finally got around to updating. Hope you liked it! And thanks for the review!

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