So I thought I was going to get this up before now, but the chapter had other ideas... So here is chapter 3.
Remember, I own nothing...
"Tell me. Now." Arthur glared.
"Alright, alright." Eames sighed and rolled his eyes. "Everything had gone perfectly. Too perfectly. The dreamer's subconscious sent thugs after us. They came out of nowhere. We started running and they started shooting at us. A shot grazed my arm. I tried to block Daphne from their shots, but she got hit anyway. I picked her up and kept running. We finally lost them, and I stopped to catch my breath. Daphne was screaming and crying. She begged me to do something. Anything. She wanted me to shoot her so she would wake up. I knew the time was almost up and told her to just wait a minute. I didn't want to shoot her. I knew you would kill me." Eames explained.
"You got that right." Arthur fumed.
"Anyway." Eames rolled his eyes. "She grabbed the gun from my waist. I grabbed her and kissed her. I didn't know what else to do to distract her. I grabbed the gun, but she shot herself before I could get it away. Then I felt myself being pulled out of the dream. I woke up expecting her to smack me for kissing her. She never did." He chewed on his lip. "Arthur. I'm sorry." His eyes were full of regret. Ariadne knew he blamed himself for what happened. She knew Arthur blamed him too.
"I NEVER should have trusted you!" Arthur yelled at him. "She's my sister! I told you to look after her!" He started shouting obscenities at Eames.
Eames cringed and covered Ariadne's ears.
She rolled her eyes, and tried not to start laughing. Then she started thinking about how Eames felt the need to cover her ears so she wouldn't hear the words Arthur was saying. She could still hear him, and she had heard most of the words before. She started giggling. She stood up and walked into her bathroom, and shut the door. Eventually Arthur quit shouting. She heard Eames shout 'ouch' and a door slam. She opened the door and walked into the room. Arthur was gone, and Eames was sitting on the couch covering his eye with his hand. "Eames? Are you alright?"
"Ariadne do you have some ice?" He asked completely ignoring her question.
"Sure." She grabbed a washcloth and some ice. "Here you go." She handed it to him.
"Thank you Darling." He winced as he placed the ice against his eye.
"Let me see." She sat down beside him.
"No. I'm fine." He said.
"Arthur punched you didn't he?" Ariadne knew that he did.
"Yes." Eames muttered.
Ariadne took the ice from him. The corner of his eye was turning purple, and the side of his face was starting to swell. "Ouch. You had better keep the ice on that for a while." She gave him the ice.
"Thank you." He winked. "So tell me about that kiss with Arthur. Looked serious to me."
The blush crept back into Ariadne's cheeks.
"So it was serious." He smirked.
She rolled her eyes. "Didn't you hear Arthur? It was just a distraction." She crossed her arms. "Just like our kiss in Fischer's mind." She muttered.
"Let me rephrase." He sighed. "It was serious to you." He looked at her.
Hot, angry tears filled her eyes.
Eames nodded and slipped his arm around her.
The tears spilled over and she started sobbing.
"Darling." Eames kissed her head. "Arthur has always been crummy at sharing his feelings."
"He didn't have to kiss me. We could have gone into his room, or hid behind the bed or something." She sniffled.
"True, but it was probably the first thing he thought of, and maybe he wanted to." Eames shrugged.
"He's been so distant, and after we went to see Daphne he changed. He was relieved that she told him she remembered him. I was relieved for him. When we rode up the elevator tonight he kissed my cheek." She smiled, and yawned.
"I'm going to leave so you can get some sleep. Are you sure you're alright?" He asked.
"I think so. Thanks Nick." She smirked and kissed his cheek.
Eames chuckled. "Goodnight Ms. Peters." He winked.
"How do you know my last name?" She called to him as he walked out the door.
"Forger. I know everything." He smirked.
She rolled her eyes and closed the door behind him. She crawled into bed and switched off the light.
Arthur sprawled out on his bed, and let Eames' words play over again and again in his head. He was still angry at Eames, but was beginning to realize that it really wasn't Eames' fault. Daphne always did what she wanted when she wanted. He shook his head. And Ariadne. He knew he was in deep trouble with her. First he had kissed her in Fischer's mind and told her it didn't mean anything. Then he didn't tell her about Daphne and practically ignored her for over a week. He kissed her cheek on the elevator. Lastly, when he thought someone was breaking into her room his first thought was to grab her and kiss her. Cobb had told him to look after her – not toy with her emotions. He didn't mean to, but that's exactly what he was doing. He knew she had to be upset with him. She had every right to be. He was mad at himself. He was doing the very same thing he always fussed at Eames for doing. The toying with women's emotions part anyway. He sat up when he heard a door shut. Eames must have left. He thought about going to talk to her, but he didn't know what to say. He could tell her he was sorry, or that he wanted to kiss her. Before he realized it he had knocked on her door.
Ariadne opened the door in her robe. "Arthur? What is it?" She yawned. She noticed he was wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants and his hair was messed up. It made him look younger than he was.
"Um, were you sleeping?" He asked nervously.
"Yeah I was. Are you okay?" She asked quietly.
"I'm sorry." He apologized.
She looked confused.
"For everything. I'm sorry Ariadne." He hugged her.
"Um, okay." She was still confused, but she hugged him back.
"You were sound asleep weren't you?" He cringed.
"Yeah." She shrugged.
"I'm sorry. I'll let you get back to bed." He smiled.
"Um, okay. Are you sure you're alright? If you need to talk I'll stay up. I don't mind." She smiled.
"I need to talk." He admitted.
"Then let's talk." She gestured him in.
"Thanks." He smiled and walked in.
She sat down cross legged on the sofa. "What's up Arthur?"
He sat down. "I feel awful about how I've treated you. I've been a horrible friend and I really I am sorry."
She was still miffed at him, but he was being sweet. "Arthur, you have been a horrible friend, but you've had a lot going on. I understand."
"You've been great, and I just feel bad. I'll quit apologizing eventually, but for now just let me feel bad okay?" He wanted her to realize how bad he felt and then maybe she would understand why he kept apologizing. He liked her and at first he thought that she liked him too, but now he wasn't sure.
Ariadne giggled. "Okay Arthur."
"And earlier if I had known it was Eames I would have suggested hiding in the closest and jumping out to scare him." He grinned.
Ariadne laughed. "That would have been hysterical."
"It would have. I know I surprised you when I kissed you. The truth is it was just an excuse for me to kiss you. I've wanted to kiss you, but I didn't have the guts to just kiss you outright." He admitted, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks.
Ariadne was stunned. She honestly didn't believe he felt that way about her. "Arthur, I…" She began.
He leaned towards her and softly kissed her mouth.
Just like the other kisses, Ariadne felt a spark when his lips touched hers. She smiled at him.
"Ariadne, I… I think…" He began.
"I think I'm going to get some sleep." She yawned.
"Alright." He smiled. "Do you want to eat breakfast with me in the morning?" He seemed nervous.
"Sure. I'll see you at 9." She stood up.
"Goodnight Ariadne." He walked back to his room.
"Goodnight Arthur." She kissed his cheek.
Arthur rolled over and looked at the alarm clock. It was almost three. He couldn't sleep. He had been analyzing his entire conversation with Ariadne for hours. He really wasn't sure what he was going to say when she interrupted him. He was kind of glad that she did so he didn't say something stupid. She didn't freak out when he kissed her. That was a good sign. She kissed his cheek and agreed to have breakfast with him. Two more good signs, or at the very least not bad signs.
"Good morning." Ariadne smiled.
"Morning." Arthur tried to smile. He was exhausted.
"You look tired Arthur. Did you not sleep well?" She asked.
"Not really." He yawned.
"Sorry about last night. I would have stayed up and talked longer, but I had taken a sleeping pill and I could barely keep my eyes open." She closed her door behind her.
"Why do you have sleeping pills?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Oh. Yusuf gave them to me. He said I might have trouble sleeping after Inception. I told him I would be fine, but he insisted. I'm glad he did." She pressed the elevator button.
"Have you had trouble?" He was concerned. He hadn't thought to ask her how she had been sleeping.
"Yes. The first night I fell asleep, but I woke up about an hour later and was awake for another hour. I took one of the pills and slept great the rest of the night. I haven't needed them every night. The only reason I took one last night is because I had so much on my mind and I just wanted to sleep." She smiled and stepped into the elevator.
"And I woke you up." He cringed.
"Yeah, but it was okay. You said you needed to talk." She blushed thinking about their kiss.
"I did, but you could have told me you wanted to sleep. It could have waited until today." He smiled.
"Arthur." She sighed. "You and I both know it could not have waited until today." She smirked.
Arthur blushed and grinned sheepishly.
She giggled.
"And I'm sorry you had to witness me yelling at Eames." He said changing the subject.
"Eames was right about you." She said as she stepped out of the elevator.
"Excuse me? What was he right about?" Arthur followed her down the hall.
"He said you've always been crummy about sharing your feelings." She smirked.
Arthur's mouth dropped open. After a moment he stammered, "It's not my strong suit."
"It's not that hard Arthur. I'll go first. I like you Arthur. I enjoy being around you. I'll admit it hurts like the dickens when you're mad at me and when you tell me our kisses are just distractions." Just talking about it made her heart ache. She crossed her arms and looked at him.
He didn't say anything.
She sighed and turned away. She started walking down the hallway blinking back tears.
"Ariadne." He grabbed her arm and turned her around. "I like you too Ari." He smiled. "And I'm sorry I hurt you. Our kisses weren't just distractions. I just didn't want to admit to myself that I have feelings for you. Yes Dom told me to look after you, but the truth is I would have done it anyway." He stroked her cheek with his thumb.
She smiled. His touch left her skin feeling tingly. "Thank you Arthur." She hugged him. "For everything." She kissed his cheek.
"You're welcome." He hugged her.
I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you thought! And if you have any suggestions. Thanks! :)