Chapter 4

Alex had made it as far as his couch. She sat down and leaned her head back to think, to relax. She closed her eyes and felt sleep pulling at her. She couldn't have fought it had she wanted to.

Finishing the dishes, Bobby was hoping his thoughts and feelings were as collected as he wanted them to be. He made his way into the den. He was about to say something when he realized she was asleep. A small smile tugged at his lips. He moved to her. He gently and lovingly moved some hair out of her face. He stroked her cheek softly. He sighed heavily. Without even thinking, he scooped her up and carried to his room. She'd sleep there. He'd sleep on the couch. He carefully laid her down on the bed and watched her sleep for a moment. He wished he could see this more often. He finally turned away from her and moved towards the door.

"Bobby," she said in the darkness. "I can't take your bed..." She moved to get up.

Bobby closed his eyes for a moment. He had hoped not to wake her up. With a sigh, he turned to face her and stopped her from getting up. "Yes, you can. I want you to. Lie back down, Eames, and go to sleep." Eames was safer in this situation.

Eames... Alex sighed softly. She reached for his hand. She pulled him closer to the bed. "Then...you stay too..." She scooted over and made room for him on the bed.

Bobby swallowed hard. He stood staring at the empty space on the bed for a long moment. If he laid down with her, there was no end to the ways it could end badly. If he didn't, she'd never forgive him. Feeling stuck, the call of his bed finally made the decision for him. He slid into the bed and hoped to God he didn't do anything stupid or anything that would scare her off for good. Closing his eyes, he turned on his side, away from her. That would be safest. He tried to sleep.

Alex sighed softly and moved to snuggled against his back. She needed to be close to him. She just hoped this wasn't pushing the boundaries. She closed her eyes again as her hand came up to slide around his waist.

Bobby tensed for a moment, but he finally relaxed. It felt good to have her there, to know she was there with him. It felt good good to share a bed with her, even if it was only temporary. He was finally able to fall asleep when he heard her breathing even out again.

Alex slept all through the night. She heard a stranging buzzing noise and groaned. What the hell was that? She felt a warm body against hers. Her eyes slid open slowly. She raised her head and saw Bobby's sleeping form. She smiled when his arm tightened around her. She realized the noise was the alarm clock and she moved to turn it off. She was about to lay her head back down when she felt his eyes upon her. "Hi..." she said softly.

Bobby's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't expected to end up like this. It was incredibly pleasant, but he was sure it was crossing every boundary they had. "Hi..." He immediately pulled his hands from her. "I'm...sorry. You...wanted me to stay. I...shouldn't have..." He didn't want to hurt or embarrass her.

Alex frowned. "Bobby..." She sighed softly and sat up. She finger-combed her hair and nodded. "I remember asking you, Bobby..."

Bobby relaxed a little. She had at least been lucid. "I... Yeah..." He sat up with her. He hoped to change the subject. "Are you hungry? I can fix breakfast..." He got up quickly.

She shook her head. "Coffee. Just coffee." She reached out and took his hand. "Bobby...we need to talk about this...about what's going on...with us."

Bobby swallowed hard. He looked up and met her eyes. "I... There's nothing going on, Eames. We're fine." He pulled his hand away and pointedly asked, "Right?" He was trying to pretend the kisses and everything else hadn't happened.

Alex frowned. She pushed herself up. Pushing past him, she nodded. "Right," she said softly, tears stinging her eyes. When he had kissed her the day before, she was certain they had been real.

Bobby closed his eyes. He heard the strain in her voice. Something was wrong. Confused, he turned to face her. She had left the room. Shaking his head, he sighed. He hoped to be able to drop it. He left the room and heard the shower start in the bathroom. He headed to the kitchen and made the coffee she had asked for. He made some toast anyway, in cause she wanted something, even if it was light. He only ate a couple of bites and picked out his clothes for the day, as he waited.

Alex's eyes were bloodshot as she made her way out of the bathroom. She jumped when she saw him. She hadn't expected for him to be waiting on her. She shrugged trying to cover it up. "I didn't mean to take so long. I did leave you some hot water..."

Bobby swallowed hard. He turned to really look at her. He pretended not to notice that she had been crying. He replied weakly, "Thank you..." He grabbed this things. "I'll...be back in a few minutes. Then I'll take you home to get your car..." He was trying to make things normal. He needed them to be OK.

Alex shook her head. "That isn't neccessary, Bobby. I'll just call a cab. Then I'll see you at work." Why couldn't he let her love him?

Bobby stopped. With a frown, he turned to face her. Swallowing hard, he insisted, "Eames, don't do that. Let me take you please. Twenty minutes tops." He could tell she was angry.

She stopped at the door and turned to face him. "You don't have to babysit me. Okay?" She then turned again and headed to the couch where she had pulled off her boots.

Bobby sighed softly. Frustrated, he moved to her. He looked down at her. "I am not babysitting you, but if you are so stubborn as to believe that and to not want a ride, that's fine. But if you can keep from cutting off your nose to spite your face, I'll be out soon and more than happy to take you." Before she could respond, he moved to the bathroom. He locked the door behind him.

Alex sat there stone still and waited for him to come out. Glancing at her watch, she called out, "You have two minutes left." Didn't he see that fighting with him was the last thing she wanted? Waking up in his arms, she had felt so safe. Now she felt the distance he had put between them like a knife to her heart.

Bobby walked into the room and assured her, "I'm ready." He grabbed his things by the door. He was trying so hard to bury his feelings and keep from making things more awkward between them.

Alex quietly moved toward him and held out her hand. She met his eyes. When he didn't put the keys in her hand, she snorted, "Fine." She stomped out of his apartment and didn't even turn to see if he was following her or not.

Bobby shook his head and followed after her. He slid into the front seat. He looked at her and ventured, "Are you going to talk to me?" When she didn't say anything, he continued, "You're pissed, and I have no idea why or how to fix it."

She glared at him. "I wanted to talk and as you so kindly pointed out, we're fine and have nothing to discuss." She cocked her head. "Is that not pretty much what you said upstairs?" Her tone was hard.

Bobby swallowed hard. He was hoping she had let his go. Realizing she hadn't, he was practically shaking. It was going to destroy everything. He glanced at her and asked softly, "You want to talk about…yesterday?"

"You've made it perfectly clear that you don't feel the same as me. That you don't feel anything…" Her voice was low. She turned to look out the window. She swallowed back tears. "Lets just go. I'll be fine."

Bobby glanced over at her. His stomach plummeted. Confused, he turned in his seat to look at her. "You're right. There's no way you could ever feel for me what I feel for you." Bobby immediately stopped, realizing he was saying too much. He turned back and started the car. Still shaking, he started driving. He hoped she would let it go.

Alex studied him. After a few minutes, she said softly, "You're right. Because what I feel…all you see when you look at me is your partner. You don't see me as a woman...a woman who loves a man that has his faults but she loves him anyway." Alex closed her eyes and nervously wrung her hands. She had said to much. Gone to far.

Stunned, Bobby was silent for a few moments. He couldn't believe it was possible. His voice shook when he finally spoke, "You love me? You're in love with me?" He couldn't look at her, afraid he had gotten it all wrong.

Alex swallowed hard. "There is no reason to make fun of me. Just forget I said anything." She felt so stupid. Why did I push this? He could never feel the same way. Not about me.

A/N: We do apologize for the wait between updates. We meant to have this up, and we promise to do better. Its mostly my faults (untapd's fault) that it wasn't up before now. We hope that you enjoy this chapter and the direction that the story is starting to take.