"Dylan, I-" Newkirk's voice cracked on the last word, and he pause midsentence. The boy had caught Deryn right outside her quarters after a long hard day of middy duties and doing chores for the lady boffin. Really, all she wanted was to slip in her room and fall onto her soft, soft bed…

"Wha'd'ya want?" she yawned.

"I was, uh, just, um, wondering if, uh,"

"Barking spiders, just spit it out!" she was irritated now; he was keeping her from some much-needed beauty sleep.

"Blisters… Can we talk in here?" He gently pushed open the fabricated wood door that led to her room in a questioning gesture. She sighed.

"Sure. Come on, I don't have all night." She nudged the door and it glided open. Without looking back at Newkirk, Deryn stepped inside and collapsed on the bed. She exhaled air that she didn't even know she was holding and started to unlace her standard issue airman boots. She ripped the first one off, and then the second, watching Newkirk out of the corner of her eye the entire time.

The poor boy looked more nervous than a message lizard soaring thousands of feet off the ground in a freaked huxley, and that is quite an accomplishment. Deryn couldn't help but notice that the door had somehow gotten locked in the time between when she entered and now. She looked up to meet his eyes, but he was staring out the window.

"So, what was it you wanted to-" In a fraction of a second, he had seemingly flown across the room and knocked her on her back. She was acutely aware of his knee pressing against her side and his face a mere three inches away. She closed her eyes. Soft lips pressed against hers, tentative and unsure, but sweet and lovely. They sent tingles through her entire body. Against her better judgement, she laced her arms around the boy's neck and pulled him closer, on top of her. Alek… No! Her eyes snapped open and she found herself staring at the face of a trespasser, a quite attractive trespasser, but a trespasser none the less.

"No…" He kissed her neck, "No… No. No! Get off!" Her voice screeched like a girl's, but she was beyond caring as she shoved this boy, this not Alek, across the room. He went stumbling and fell back against the opposite wall. His shirt was off, and she realized that her tie was MIA and the first two buttons of her middy's uniform undone. In the deep recesses of her mind, she couldn't help but notice the perfectly toned muscles stretching and rolling across his glistening tan skin. It really wasn't that bad, she thought, but she soon pushed that idea from her mind.

She forced herself to look into his eyes. They were hurt, that much was obvious. His crystal clear sapphire eyes shined with a translucent layer of salty liquid. Those eyes… She had never really given much thought to any eyes, any eyes aside from Alek, that is. But these eyes were pure blue, just like the sky she loved so much, she could almost feel herself swimming through them… They clashed just so with his chocolate brown hair… She had never really had much chance to taste chocolate, it was a rare commodity in a time of war, but she thought she remembered one time her aunties brought it over. Its tart sweetness as it melted on her tongue. She shivered.

Snapping back to reality, she could see him make a move for the door, but she lunged for him and tackled him to the floor before he could get even one step.

"Oh no, you don't. I think you have some serious explaining to do Mister Newkirk." It came out a little more snappy than she would have liked, and he visibly flinched. When she stood up, his muscles failed to comply, and she practically dragged him back to her bed, where he promptly plopped down on his bum next to her.

Silence.

"What was-" She started, right when he said, "I'm terribly-" They both blushed.

"Newkirk?" She enquired. Her voice was small and girly and she cursed herself inwardly. But the boy hardly seemed to notice, he was too busy blushing like an overripe tomato.

"My name's James."

"Ok then, James."

"Dylan, I… no, never mind. It's nothing." He made to get up, but her hand clamped down on his arm, forcing him back into his seat.

"Barking spiders, just tell me already!"

"Ok, ok. Dylan, I, I think I'm in love. With you."

"Oh." Well that was unexpected.

"Well I see you don't feel the same way, so I guess I'll just be on my way then-" Again he tried to get up, and this time she stopped him with a shove to his muscular, chiseled chest. No, no, no… Why was she having these thoughts? She loved Alek, right? But she was certain that he'd never return her affections, even if he knew her true gender. Here was a man who loved her, and she was ready to throw such a valuable gift out the bleedin' window. It would be so easy, so easy, to say she didn't love him back and that'd be it. But sometimes the easy path isn't always the right one.

He gulped. Visibly. And right there, right then, she reeled him in and took him into her bed.

xxx

Alternate ending! :

But sometimes the easy path isn't always the right one.

He gulped. Visibly. She pulled the boy into her and gave him a simple peck on the lips.

"I love you too." The corners of her mouth flicked up. He grinned full out. All of a sudden he was on top of her, smothering her face and neck with kisses.

"Woah there! Hold it for a squick will ya? I have something I need to tell you. Look at me," He did. "James, I'm a girl. My name's Deryn." She didn't think his grin could get any wider, but somehow it did.

"Aye, well that's a relief." His eyes shone bright as the sea and sky combined. This time it was she who tackled him.

The door creaked open. Deryn caught a glance of bright green emerald eyes, and auburn hair, before her love was torn away from her.

"Oy!" James screeched in surprise.

"Get your hands off my girl!" Girl?

"Alek!" She roared, but he was relentless in his beating. James was getting a few good hits in, but Alek had had the upper hand from the start.

So she hit him over the head with a frying pan.

"Blisters… I never thought one of these would come in handy."