In Between Love and Hate

Author's Note: Sorry this took so long. I was havin' a hard time writing. Not that I've already ran out of ideas, it's just that my mind was a little consumed with some stuffs. But I'm okay now; I know I'll get over it soon. PS. I promise I would not give up writing this one. But in case I haven't updated in far too long, please forgive me for I'm a really busy person.

Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar. Mr. James Cameron does.

Chapter Seven

Clouds moved discreetly into a wave of phantasm, allowing the silvery white moon to creep up from the darkness it was within. Enticing stars twinkled up the asphalt sky as if they were metro lights dancing.

Miles crossed his muscled arms as he plainly stared at the dark sky above him, totally absorbed into its overcastted and mysterious gloom. His eyes also trailed through the stars evenly spaced out among the clouds hovering above.

He sighed.

When he was but a young boy curled up into his mother's loving arms, totally oblivious to the weight of the world inching its way to his shoulder - he was then that innocent child who would always question his Mom about those twinkling stars above.

And his Mom, in all her intimidating beauty and grace, would only look down at him with that tantalizing blue eyes and would simply mutter; 'The stars will always give you answers to your questions, Miles. Always,'

He gritted his teeth, unable to accept that this was just one of those many lies that his Mom stitched into his brain when he was still an immature lad. Had she been right about her trite adage, his brain would not be a complete havoc at this very moment, his thoughts would not swirl into that oasis of confusion from which there is no escape.

And if only escape had been possible, he would not let himself to fall too fast, crash so hard to something that would risk his noted alias as the heartbreaker, the playboy, the sadistic lad.

Hell, if it was just possible, he wouldn't submit himself to what everyone called a sweet sin; Love.

Ah! Enough with the topic being narrowed down. If he had that certain strength and courage to resist Grace, he sure wouldn't let himself fall inlove with her, at least, not with that type of woman who can be likened to a fire-breathing dragon for her short temper, and well, maybe, for her deathly red glare.

'Damn...'

Come to think of it, though, Miles has never really understood the real concept of this love thingy. Lots of them Marines in the Corps had told him that even for them, love has its mysterious ways that will cause men - even the intolerable ones - to be enslaved by women. Scary somewhat, he thought before.

And now, he found out that all their theories about how powerful love was - they were all right.

Miles groaned, but a light chuckle escaped his lips afterwards. Hell, sure this love thingy drives him mad, he'll admit to that. A fool he would be if he'd still deny this fact.

As soon as Miles regained his composure, he shifted his position on the bench that he was sitting at and slid his right hand to his pocket, pulling out the ring with blue sapphire adorned on it. He dangled it into one of his fingers and stared at it intently.

The silver band shone under the darkness, mixed with the unmistakable glow of the blue sapphire gem that was attached to it. 'Had the day really come for this ring to have the rightful queen?' he silently thought.

But he was just.. Still confused.

If ever he would have that courage work on his own hands somehow; and ask Grace to be his girl, that would just be the very first time he wouldn't actually commit himself to a relationship for all intents of pure lust and sex. He had.. Lots and lots of girlfriends back then, he would admit. Women he fucked almost every night, women he'd had dirty talks with. Just his needs. His desires. Those were all that matter. No love. No commitment. No bullshit.

He chuckled at this. It was true enough. Miles sniffed, knowing that the irrevocable was really inevitable. He IS serious with Grace, he loves her. He just doesn't know if it will work out, considering that he's never really been that rogue lover everyone wanted him to be; he was a heartbreaker, known for making women scream and cry. 'Geez, what a pun. Feels like I'm in a gangster movie or somethin'...'

Doubts, reservations - always his greatest nemeses. Never had really lived without them hanging there in every decision and action he thought of doing. He found it a little discreet for someone like him, an all muscle one, being all that discerned person and shit. But at the very least being discreet had saved his butt from being killed for numerous circumstances, admit it or not.

With a deep, exasperated sigh, he shut his eyes and bit his bottom lip, trying so desperately to keep the thoughts from bugging his mind once more. 'Think positive, Miles. You love her. Well, she might also be inlove with you. Try to remember her reaction when she saw you with Beth earlier. She was jealous and the sight was indeed, priceless,' Damn right, but these were just his primeval instincts. Deep down in his heart, he's still a little confused.

Abruptly, Miles heard some stirring from inside the apartment and quickly made his way in, entering through the kitchen door. He took a peek on his wristwatch and realized it was past midnight, so he figured someone in the house was having a hard time sleeping. Curious to whom this was, he opened the kitchen door only to find a very beautiful woman sitting in one of the chairs, a glass of milk in her fair hands.

Beth sat in the wooden chair, elegantly poised and pretty. Her hair was in total disarray and she looked a little loopy, sleepy, and purple bruises were evident under her eyes. Being all formal and everything, she greeted him with a sweet smile first then she spoke with that innocent tone. "Good evening, Miles,"

"It's past midnight. Good morning, Beth," he chuckled and pulled one of the chairs for him to sit on, opposite her.

Their eyes connected.

"Havin' a hard time sleeping? Ticks on the bed? Loud snoring from my sister?" Miles grinned at her, attempting to ease the tension between them. To his relief, Beth smiled and nodded her head.

Then she frowned. "Yeah... Sort of..." Beth eyed him once again, then opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. She blinked twice, then pursed her lips.

"A-Anything you'd like to ask, Ms. Beth?" he queried.

Silence.

Miles stared at her for a minute, saw that undefined composure in his green eyes and that little crease on her forehead. Clearly this woman had something on her mind. "Beth...?"

Again, she gave him silence.

Five minutes.

Four minutes.

Tick-tock.

Three minutes.

Two minutes.

One.

Zero.

And then she spoke, almost like a whisper, making Miles lean in for her words to be audible in his ears. "I know I'm not in the place to ask," she breathed sharply.

Miles tensed, feeling this was becoming like a police interrogation with that swaying bulb hanging over them. Cold beads ran down his forehead and he tensed ever so lightly. "What?"

"You love her, don't you?"

Miles smiled nervously. "Who?"

"Ms. Augustine," she grinned at him, showing her teeth with pink braces. "I uhm... Didn't mean to eavesdrop on you two. But I saw you kissed her," she tucked her left cheek on her left palm and eyed him playfully. "Pulled her out from her car and pinned her to the wall... It was like watching a romantic movie!"

He groaned. "That was... Nothing. Just a friendly kiss," he just hoped his cheeks are not flaming right now but he could already feel the heat burning up. 'Oh shit,'

Beth stared at him and raised a brow, a woman's indication that she doesn't believe a word that she'd just heard. "Liar... You love her, admit it,"

"It was really nothing. We're friends... Nothing more," he frowned. "You're too far from that innocent Beth I know from a while ago... What's gotten into you?"

"Changing the topic, aren't you?" she smiled sweetly. "I can feel you love her. Stop lying to me and stop lying to yourself. You know you could do better,"

Miles had to pause at that. He looked up to meet her gaze, half-surprised and half-amused about this pretty woman opposite him, wondering just about how obvious his feelings are for Grace in somebody's point of view. "H-How can you tell? It's not like you're a fortune-teller or something..." he bit his lip.

"Well... Hmmm..." Beth grinned. "Earlier in the mall right before we stumbled upon Grace in our tracks, you were so... Loud,"

He raised a brow.

"Loud! I mean you were so noisy! You never ran out of stories to tell, and you always smile and laugh... But it was different,"

Now that was really confusing. Before he replied, Miles stood up from the chair and headed to the fridge, and grabbed a can of soda. While he opened the can, he was trying to contemplate Beth's words; see reason about what she meant about the term 'different', but he found it completely clueless. 'Women and their mind-blowing theorems and philosophies...' "What do you mean, different?"

"You stopped talking to me the second you saw her. And your eyes... They brightened up a bit," Beth shifted on her sit and took a deep breath. "And when she turned her back from us and left, you looked so dumbfounded. You talked less and your eyes were cloudy, like you were in deep thoughts..."

Only the 'pop' sound of a can being opened echoed in the whole kitchen, filling the air with tension. Miles looked down at the can on his hands. He blinked twice. Was he really that obvious?

"But she loves you two, you know," Beth tried to compensate, feeling that her very words was the reason behind his odd silence. "The look on her eyes and the way her shoulders fell were certain proofs that she was jealous. Her tone conveyed it, too. She was... Maybe she was intimidated by my presence,"

Miles gave her silence. He looked down at the can in his hands, thinking of words to say, reaction to convey and expression to display. Was he really so obvious like that? How stupid.

When he finally parted his lips to speak, it took him a moment to consider that his mouth was dry, and so his words came out a little rougher than usual. "I know she loves me," he admitted coldly, quite frankly. "I just... I just don't know if it'll work out..."

"Why?" Beth asked, turning her head to look at Miles, her hair moved in sync with her sudden movement.

Miles stiffened, but he smirked. "I don't think you'd like an honest answer about that," he took a sip of the soda and gulped, letting out an "ah" sound afterwards.

"Well, I respect your decision to keep your reason under wraps. But just remember... Whatever your reservations and doubts are, it will work out. Love conquers all, Miles. If you really love her, there is always that chance that you can cross the impossible," she rose from her chair and turned her back to leave. "Make it happen,"

Miles smiled as he trailed his eyes on her retreating form. "I will," he breathed. 'I will,'