I know this is going to really miff some people off (can you say Dani and Ice?), and all I can say is I'm sorry and bear with me. It will get better. I promise. 500 words.

"Oh, Rodney," repeated Jennifer in a moan so pitiful it made the already considerable churning in her stomach intensify.

Her eyes slowly lifted so she could take in the scene before her again. How did he get the lilies? she asked herself as she reached over and let her finger feather along the outside edge of one of the flowers. Her eyes moved over to the candles, which had been lit some time ago if the build up of wax at their bases was any indication. She looked around and could find no evidence of food. To be delivered from the Mess, no doubt, she realized.

Her body, apparently in tune with what needed to be done before her brain, moved with haste towards the door. She had a good idea where Rodney would be, and she felt a small measure of pride in the fact that she was probably the only person who could find him when he didn't want to be found.

She broke into a light jog in the corridor, slowing down only when she reached the door that led to the stairs. She moved up the stairs two at a time- one flight, then a second flight, then a third and finally a fourth. By the time she reached the door to the correct level her heart was thumping madly within her chest and her breaths were shallow and quick.

She moved swiftly down the corridor to an unremarkable nook in the wall that looked like any number of others that could be found in most of the corridors of Atlantis. Only this nook was quite remarkable as it perfectly hid a balcony from the prying eyes of people in the corridor. Rodney had found it months earlier and had told her about it so it could be their own special place.

She turned side on and slipped in between the bulk heads. The door slid open and she shimmied through. The door closed behind her yet she didn't notice anything but Rodney with his arms resting on the rail and his head hanging low.

"Rodney?" she called out softly. For all the movement he made he could have been a statue. She moved up to stand beside him and after a moment she put her right hand on his shoulder.

"I think we should stop," he said without looking at her. "Take a break or see other people or whatever the terminology is these days."

Jennifer's hand dropped from his shoulder not out of a desire to do so, but from the shock of what he was saying. "Rodney…"

He turned away from her and took a step back, maintaining a distance that seemed as wide to her as the Grand Canyon and not the three feet it actually was.

"I'll get my stuff from your room tomorrow..."

"Rodney," she interrupted forcefully. "I love you."

Rodney fell silent. Half a minute passed and Jennifer shook her head and thought, How'd we ever get this way?

A/N: "How'd We Ever Get This Way" was written and released by Andy Kim in 1968.