The Latest War to End All Wars- Chapter Seven

Okay, so I lied again. If no one reads this I won't blame them. Sorry for this taking so impossibly long guys, I was busy and so I didn't write and then I lost the flow of the story and got huge writers block…oh the creative fires are temperamental. But "genius is burning" as they say in Little Women, and so I have updated. Review and let me know what you think.

Alex got inside her tent and took a huge breath. Disbelief washed over her. What have I done? A split second of panic gripped her, but almost before she registered what it was anger and frustration swept it away. Her tears started to spill down her cheeks. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

She spent an unknown amount of time pacing her tent, running her hands through her hair, sinking onto her cot only to jump up again, alternatively laughing and crying. Dozens of scenarios played out in her mind, ones where he admitted to loving her and proposing marriage on the spot, ones where he ended up hating her and demanded a transfer simply to get away.

At one point she thought he had come back, but it was only BJ, and she told him to go away without even opening the door. Suddenly her tent seemed too small, and in a burst of energy she shoved the door open and stormed out into the night. Without realizing it she walked out towards the field where Hawkeye had taken her to gaze at the stars all those weeks ago. She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice anyone on the road until she'd slammed into them.

Of course. I should've known he'd be here.

They stood in the road, not looking at each other. Alex could feel the chill of the air settle on her now that she'd stopped moving. Seconds ticked by ever so slowly. Then, suddenly, without any warning, they crossed paths and kept walking away from each other. Alex started to shiver, but not just from the cold. Part of her was relieved that nothing had been said, and part of her was hurt by it.

"Why now?"

Why did I say anything now? She tried to keep walking, to ignore the question, almost refusing to believe that he'd broken the silence. But she felt her pace slow, and she stopped about a hundred feet away from him. When she turned around she was almost shocked by the intensity of his gaze. The starlight sparkled off his eyes.

"Does it matter?"

"How long have you felt this way then?"

"I don't know. It's been pretty gradual." Why the hell am I saying this? She shivered again.

"Cold?"

"That's part of it."

"What else?"

"Fear, relief, anger, dismay."

"Right."

"Right?"

"You're confused. I understand."

"Don't act like some kind of sympathetic, benevolent being. You're the reason I'm feeling this way."

"Hey, don't get mad at me. You sprang this on me less then an hour ago."

"Well what's to think about? You either like me or you hate me."

"I-"

"On second thought, don't answer. I'm not sure I want to know."

She turned to walk away again, but his footsteps were following her.

"Now hold on, it isn't that easy! Let me remind you that you've never once indicated a desire to be more then friends. I've been my usual charming self; remember that dinner offer? You've ignored it all. I always thought you were just not interested. And I wasn't going to spend the rest of the war pining over you. So I got used to you being a friend. Well now I need to think about you as more than that again, and I'm not sure how I feel about that."

"You're a flirt. I didn't want to get hurt. I didn't even want to fall for you but that seems to have been out of my hands. And you kept sleeping around! There was no guarantee that you weren't going to consider me a one-night stand!"

"Well it's not as if you ever asked me to try it!"

"Because what if you'd said no? Everything we had, our friendship, our working relationship, all of it would've been ruined."

"But we could've had something amazing."

"It was too big a risk."

"Is it still too big a risk?"

"It's already out there. The damage is done."

"Yeah."

They fell silent again. Alex suddenly felt very tired from the arguing, she just wanted to lie down in her tent and forget. Slowly, she walked over until she was standing in front of him.

"Listen, if I have to fight this hard, maybe it's not worth it. It shouldn't be this hard."

"Love isn't easy."

"Feeling it is. Keeping it strong is the hard part."

"Well I'm sorry, but I'm not having a very easy time right now."

"Mm hmm." She paused, "I think I just got my answer."

To her surprise, he let out a small growl of frustration.

"God, Alex, can you give me a chance here? I didn't say no!"

"But you're not saying yes!"

He stared at her for a second, eyes burning. Then, cupping her face almost possessively, he kissed her. It started out rough, and demanding, and she struggled. But then she felt herself start to respond, and the kiss softened. When they finally pulled apart, he kept his hands on either side of her face, and, foreheads touching, he whispered to her,

"I don't know where to go from here."

In response, Alex put her arms around his waist and laid her head against his chest. He moved his arms around her shoulders, and held her. She could hear his heart beat, and the warmth she had felt earlier when they danced came back.

They eventually pulled away, as if they almost couldn't believe what had happened. Then, very slowly, she put her hand in his, and, hand in hand, they walked back to the camp.

Wow, that was quite the struggle, but I did it. I was trying very hard to not follow a predictable storyline, but when one is inside the story it can be hard to tell. Things are not going to magically be perfect for our two new lovebirds, but I'm also not sure where they are headed next. And having learned from experience, I'm not going to promise an update anytime soon. Sorry, I know I suck. But I would appreciate reviews of this chapter, as that will help me determine how happy people are with this (potentially obvious) turn of events.