(AN: Hey there readers! I'm uploading, so I wont break my promise on Syfy ^^ Also, be prepared for some angst in this and in the upcoming chapters. So don't attack the author with sharp objects! * Hides * I wont make it too terribly angrsty... :] So, that's about it. Well, onto the story!)

Steve paced nervously in his room, teeth biting into his lip, hands clasped on his head. He was trying to think of what to do next with his recent 'discovery'.

He didn't know what he'd say to her. Tell her how much he needed her? Show her what he meant to her? Take a leap of faith and go for the cliché kiss?

He really didn't want to scare her away, or put her in a difficult position. He wanted her to make a choice that she wanted, not what he or anyone else wanted. But that didn't keep him from praying she would allow him into her life like that.

He did love her, after all.

He subconsciously bit down harder, and was startled out of his thought when he heard Claudia shout from next door. "Ow! Dude!" Steve tasted blood, and realized he must've bit through the skin on his lip. He cringed at the thought that he had hurt Claudia, even something as minor as that, and even if he didn't inflict it purposefully on her.

"Sorry!" He mentally shrunk back as his voice cracked, but he knew that she probably didn't even hear him. She tended to listen to her music when she was stressed or thinking, and he was positive that she was probably at least a little tensed up.

After the party and he had locked himself in his room, he realized Claudia was in hers. Next door. To him.

The fact that she was so close, and always will be, and he couldn't have her hurt.

He flopped, face down, onto his bed and groaned. He didn't know what to do.

He had so badly wanted to hold her when he woke up, but over the course of the rest of the day, the wanted had turned into a burning desire, almost a need. He sat up as his thought process resumed.

Steve's fingers longed to trace her face, and his lips craved the blissful pressure of her's. Just like in his dream. He visibly shuddered at the memory of his artifact-induced nightmare.

Because of his idiocy and that stupid pen, he had successfully figured out that he was in love with his almost-sister, his partner, and best friend. On top of it, he had been forced to love her, then have her ripped away and watch her die multiple times in his arms, and in an endless loop.

Because of his traitorous feelings, he had caused her to pull away slightly, and now he might never even have a chance at being her friend again. The very idea hurt him.

He felt like such an ass for this. He put himself before her.

He dropped his head into his hands. "I'm such a jackass." He muttered to himself angrily.

He stood up and clenched his hands into fists beside him.

This was no time to pity himself- he was going to figure out a way to fix the mess he had made. He began pacing again.

He was seriously tempted to punch the wall, if for no reason more than to hurt himself, but he didn't want to hurt Claudia just to do it.

That was another reason why he hated being connected to the metronome- he couldn't get hurt without hurting her, so he couldn't take a bullet for her.

All of the thought combined just made him pace faster.

Claudia's eyes fluttered open, and she stretched her arms as she sat up. Her hand moved to cover her mouth as it opened into a yawn.

A little after she felt Steve bite his lip open, she had dozed off, head phones still in, her mushy play list still going. She remembered despising herself for having the need to listen to them. She paused the current song temporarily as she reflected on the day's events.

She was horrified that Steve would do... that to himself over feelings. They had to be extreme to go to those measures.

But what was even worse was that the feelings were over her, of all people. Leena had said he loved her. Hell, he himself had cried while her said he loved her. And more than a sibling or friend love.

She wasn't sure she could do it, be with him like that.

Yes, she has thought about it before, but she knew that if they screwed it up, they would never be able to go back to what they had. Then again, she mused to herself, it will never go back, whether or not I make a choice.

She didn't want to hurt Jinksy, she really didn't. But she wasn't sure if she wanted to take their relationship to that level.

She had been hearing a muffled thump thump thump, but she had ignored it. Now she was getting annoyed. She pressed her ear to the wall by her bed and realized that it was Jinks' pacing.

She looked at the clock, and her eyes widened as she saw she had been asleep for a hour and a half. He's been doing that for almost two hours?! She exclaimed mentally.

She swung her feet over her bed onto the floor. He was going to kill himself with this. As she tried to stand, her legs gave out underneath her. She fell back onto the bed with a soft fwoomp.

The tech's feet ached and her legs felt like they were on fire. She concluded that this was Steve's doing, not her's. She attempted to stand once again, this time very cautiously. She used her nightstand as a support and began to slowly limp towards her door.

She opened it and frowned as it squeaked. She hated that about the door. She was leaning against the door frame for support, and she let go of it when she started to walk towards Steve's door.

To her horror, the second she had taken a step forward, her knees gave out again. Expecting to hit the wooden floor next, she closed her eyes and braced for impact.

But to her surprise, she never even touched the floor. Instead, a hand was pressed to her back, and another was wrapped around her wrist.

She flicked her eyes open in surprise, and almost jumped back when she saw who it was.

Steve held Claudia in his arms, his eyes clouded over with worry.

Steve had been pacing for over a hour and he still hadn't thought of anyway to win Claudia over. It frustrated him beyond belief that what he felt he needed with his entire heat, more than food or water, was in the room next to him.

And he couldn't think of a way to get her.

He had been startled out of his thoughts when he heard the tell-tale sign of a door's squeak. The one a certain door makes every time it opens.

Claudia, he thought. Even though he had no plan, he had to go see her. The sooner he talked to her, the more of their friendship he could recover.

He had swung his door open just in time to see Claudia take a step forward and fall. He shot forward and wrapped his left arm around her waist, and his free hand reached up and grabbed her wrist.

He barley realized that in an attempt to keep her up, he had pressed her body tightly to hers.

He suddenly realized he could smell her chapstick, and he felt her back on his hand. And mostly, her face was pulled close to his, and their lips were only a few inches apart, and Steve could feel her breath on his face. His was looking into her deep chocolate eyes, and her into his.

His heart ached, and he wanted nothing more in the entire world than to pull her closer and kiss her.

Except her happiness- she would always come first.

So he loosened his grip, but only enough to give her space. He still held her up.

Oh yeah, her safety comes before, too.

It hit him that neither of them had spoken for about a minute, both just looking into the other's eyes.

He cleared his throat. "Um, you okay?" He asked, swallowing the rising temptation to pull her back closer. "Uh, yeah. I'm okay." She muttered, and cast her gaze towards the floor. "Highly doubted. You just fell, and not from tripping.

He narrowed his eyes, but a smile still lingered on n his lips. He couldn't help it. He loved the feeling of her, even now with more space between the two.

She looked back at him, her brown eyes accusing. "Well, I've been asleep and resting for the past two hours. And, might I ask, what you've been doing in that time?"

Now it was Steve's turn to look away. "I-I, um... I've..." His eyes flickered around the hallway, looking for a way out.

"That's what I thought, pacing." She shook her wrist free from his hand and lightly grazed his cheek with the back of her hand. "As hard as it might be for you," She drew back her hand, which Steve almost whimpered at, "we are talking. No artifacts, no excuses, no ways out or around it." Her other hand grabbed at the one that Steve was using to hold her waist, and Jinks could feel her still supporting herself on him.

But her free hand grabbed her room's door frame and began pulling them backwards, into Claudia's bedroom.

"I- ah- what?!" He sputtered, eyes opened fully in horror. "I- um have something to do at the warehouse!" He forced out a laugh as she successfully dragged both of them into her room. "You know how Artie gets when we don't do inventory."

"BS." She growled, shutting the door. "He gave you the next two days off." Using multiple objects around the room to pull them closer to her bed. They were going to talk, and they were going to talk about everything.

Steve was extremely tempted to pull back or resist, but he was afraid of hurting her. He was only slightly surprised that he was still stronger than her after his pacing-rampage. He was trained to handle physical activity. She was fit (Something Steve now couldn't help but notice and admire), but not in a strength kind of way.

He concluded he would just hop up and leave after a minute or something.

Claudia finally released Steve as they reached her bed, and she fell onto it with a small grunt of pain and relief. Jinks felt a small twinge of guilt at this.

She patted the spot next to her, and Steve knew her eyes were following him.

He swallowed nervously and sat down on her bed, his eyes trained on her bedspread like it was the most interesting thing ever.

Her right hand reached up and gently cupped his chin in her palm. "Look at me." He reluctantly looked at her, her soft hand still on his face.

He was afraid of looking at her, because he didn't want to see the disgust or hate written on her face. When he looked, he only saw concern and sadness.

"Look, Jinks. We are talking." He felt like she was staring into his soul. "And we are not leaving until everything that needs to be said has been said."

(AN: So, what did you think? * Wiggles eyebrows* Please, don't attack the author! I promise I will update faster! * Ducks from angry readers* I have been having a back week for writing, it was my homework-rehab week -_- Got in trouble with everyone... but now I'm back into the writing! So you shall have more. Thanks for reading, and please don't forget to review!)