In The Distant Future

by caramelapples

Chapter 3

Bill frowned in confusion. "Are you all right?" What else was there that she could find so vexing?

"Yes, yes, I'm fine." She went to sit on the couch and he followed suit. She shifted her position so that she could see his face. "When you weren't here-before you came-I went out on a date with someone," she said and waited for his reaction.

Bill sat back on the couch and frowned deeper. "You dated someone?"

"It was one date. Janice-"

"Who's Janice?" he interrupted.

"She's a friend. Janice and the girls set me up with someone."

"If it was only one date, you shouldn't get too worried about it."

"Bill, I have to."

"Why? It's not like anything happened." He noticed a shadow cross his features. "Did it?" he asked uncertainly and held his breath.

Laura couldn't help the sinking feeling in her gut. His anger was going to be overwhelming, she thought. But she needed to tell him. Slowly and not looking into his eyes, she nodded. "I'm sorry, Bill," she said, her voice breaking.

He looked as though someone had just punched him in the gut. "You slept with him?" he asked, the words tumbling out of his mouth in a rush, disbelieving.

"Yes, but I-"

"I don't want to know," he said and got up.

"Bill…" She stood up and grabbed his arm. "We had too much to drink. I didn't mean to and I can't remember anything that happened."

He yanked his arm away from her grip and turned his famous glare onto her.

"Bill please," she begged. "I'm so sorry."

The temperature in the room could have dropped several degrees despite the fire in the fireplace. His glare had the effect of several ice sculpted daggers piercing her heart.

"Please," Laura said, feeling tears prickling her eyes.

"No," he snapped. "I couldn't help staying away so long. I spent every night thinking of you here and you slept with another man? I never thought you would ever do that."

"Bill…"

"You were not who I thought you were, Laura. I thought Adar was the mistake you learned from."

The last sentence was the sentence that Laura wished she never would have to hear. She wished at that moment that she never told him about Richard. The memory itself was enough to cause her to doubt herself, her morality. At the moment, she wished that she never said anything about Cliff although she knew that she would eventually.

"I know I made mistakes, Bill! I know that! And you have no idea how much I want to take it back when I got to know you. You made me think of my actions. You were my conscience and I started to-" she broke off, letting her gaze fall on his features. "You know the phone calls we always had?"

He nodded stiffly. "Yes I do." His voice was not s cold as before.

"I always looked forward to them because I wanted to hear your voice. It made me feel protected. And I started to-" she paused and took a deep breath. "I started to fall in love with you," she choked. "I'm, so sorry, Bill."

He stood still for a moment and then turned and walked out, closing the door as he left.

"Bill, wait!" she called out and ran for the door. "Please!"

She grabbed the doorknob and yanked the door open to find herself staring at him. He stood there breathing raggedly. She gasped in surprise. "I thought you-"

A pregnant pause fell upon them. He was the one to break the silence.

"I started to fall in love with you too," he said, thickly.

She searched his face for anything that she might use as a clue but found none. He reached out and cupped her cheek, his thumb wiping a few stray tears. She closed her eyes and smiled.

The pretty schoolteacher was not single anymore. Everyone in town knew that. Laura had decided to talk to Cliff and they decided to become friends which meant that she needn't avoid him anymore and she could get books from his bookshop. Bill on the other hand found Cliff a good companion much to Laura's surprise.

"Are you all right?" Bill asked, concern prominent.

Laura seemed taken aback as she heard his question. "I'm fine," she said, not asking why he asked. "How are your eggs?"

"Delicious," he smiled, meaning what he said. Everything she cooked was the best food he'd ever had. He had never got the chance to taste her cooking before when they were floating through space.

"I'm glad."

Bill watched her eat her breakfast slowly and decided to talk about something else.

Bill woke up in the morning and found the space beside him empty. He smelled the sinfully delicious smell of bacon and told himself that he had to stop taking too much food like that. Laura seemed to think the same. She watched his salt intake like a hawk. But she rewarded him occasionally like today. He went to the bathroom and brushed his teeth. He loved not having to get up early in the morning and actually having the chance to sleep past eight in the morning. The medicine cabinet was always locked. It was the same with Carolanne. He never bothered to ask. He went into the kitchen and wrapped his arms around her waist, breathing in her scent.

"You're awake, sleepy head," she commented, giggling as he blew air behind her ear.

"I'm catching up on hundreds of hours of lost sleep while I was in the military," he replied and sat down as she served his breakfast.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too," she said, smiling.

"We should say that to each other more often."

"We should," she agreed.

She sat across the table and started to eat her own food.

Vegetables and mashed potatoes? Bill eyed her food. Maybe she's on a diet. Remembering that women didn't like to talk about their weight (it was one of the things that he could never understand) he decided not to say anything. If she really was on a diet, she didn't need to go on one. In fact, she seemed thinner than usual. Instead he commented, "You're beautiful."

She looked up at him and smiled. It was an odd smile, Bill decided. It was a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Thank you." She realized that he was watching her food. "I ran out of bacon," she said quickly.

"You can have mine," he offered.

"No, you have your breakfast. It's been a long time since I've eaten vegetables." She laughed a little.

"Sure?"

"Yeah."

"All right."

The fire crackled in the fireplace as they sat on the couch. "Lee's travelling."

"Travelling?" Laura asked.

"Yeah, around the world or something. I've yet to get any word from him."

"He'll be fine. He's most probably in Europe. They say it's beautiful, especially Paris and Rome." Laura shifted and snuggled closer to him. "But I like it here very much. It's quiet."

"You came home from work early today," he stated.

"I had a headache."

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine. Don't keep asking me that."

"Okay but you seem-"

Before he could finish, she pressed her lips against his, hand roaming on his chest.

"Are you feeling well?"

She leaned in and kissed him again, not letting him speak. She held the back of his neck and pulled him almost impossibly closer. She attacked him with ferocious passion and pushed him down to lie down on the couch.

He saw a glimpse of pain cross her features but it disappeared as sudden as it appeared. Before he could apologize must have hurt her, she attacked his mouth again, making small muffled moans. Bill pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind but he knew something was definitely off.

"Laura…"

She didn't respond and pulled her sweater off, dropping it onto the floor. He was there with her and that's all that mattered. It was so easy to ignore everything else.

To be continued…