103:

She knew she was safe. She knew where she was, and who she was with and how the rescue had been affected. She wasn't unclear, or confused. She simply couldn't stop the reaction this time. She had no strength to resist the force of her body's awareness of what had happened to them. After all she'd been through; this seemed to be the worst. Even when she was hysterical before and hallucinating T-Rex's, she hadn't felt quite this out of control. She could think clearly, but her heart wouldn't let her body respond clearly.

Robert rocked her back and forth, stroking her back gently, keeping her head tucked under his chin, his eyes squeezed shut so he wouldn't be tempted to stare at her bruises in the mirror and get all angry again. His anger didn't help anything.

"You want to talk, my Tia Melia?" He asked gently, pulling her back from him just a little to look into her green eyes. His face was so close to hers, his breath so sweet on her cheeks, all she could do was stare. She could see the pores on his skin, the five o'clock shadow forming, the fullness of his sunburnt lips, the slope of earlobe, the flash of white teeth in tanned face. What she couldn't see right then was Ryan... or Jared....

"Robere." She sobbed quietly.

He loved her for calling him that. Loved the endearment it brought with it. Loved the nickname. Loved the thought behind it. "Hey." He gently walked her into the room and sat on the bed, pulling her onto his lap. "It's okay to cry."

"I don't want to cry." She said. "I only cry with you."

"I love that you only cry with me." He softly smoothed her hair back behind her ears so he could see her clearly.

"Why is it that I can only cry with you? After Jared died, you're the only one I could cry with." She sniffed randomly, wondering at the same time why it mattered, why she was telling him this. It seemed silly and she felt silly for saying it.

Robert took a deep breath. "Maybe, my Tia Melia, maybe it's because you are supposed to cry with me. I understand your tears."

She shuddered, hearing the words and knowing what they meant, and what they meant to him, and she didn't know what to say.

"I know it's kind of soon, but—." He hesitated, wanting to say the words, but feeling somewhere that maybe now wasn't the time. But they were in his heart and he wanted to say them. "But I want this time with you to be for real."

"For real?" She repeated, her arms around his chest lightly, her cheek snuggled to his neck, so she could hear his heart beat and his swallow.

"Time with you... this time... right now. Now that you're here on my boat and we're sailing back home, I want to... make it count. Like, explore who we are together. For real." He sounded a funky kind of out of character shy.

"You don't want to let my dad come and get me?" She knew that was the plan, for her parents to come and retrieve her tonight or tomorrow morning. None of them were completely out of danger while Carlos Villarino was still loose, and he was.

He shook his head. "I think we can handle this." He chuckled.

"You want to... court me?" She asked carefully, using an old-fashioned word, and knowing it meant something to both of them.

He nodded. "I want to court you. I want to call you my girlfriend." He chuckled again. "It sounds kind of funny doesn't it?"

"A little. Like we should just be holding hands in a theater somewhere if we're boyfriend and girlfriend. I think we have something more than that already." She dried her eyes once again on his t-shirt.

He took a deep breath and then lay back against the pillows, scooted up so he was comfortable and pulled her close next to him, cuddled securely in his arms. "Yes." He sighed contentedly. "I realized it when your phone clicked on and it was me you'd called to save you. You put all your trust in me, and I knew I couldn't let you down. I think that was when I first knew that we had progressed past mere boyfriend and girlfriend. Don't know when it happened."

Melia could hear his heart beating with one ear, and she could hear the sound of toilet paper being pulled off the roll in long papery shreds by Hannah on the bathroom floor.

"It's going to simply be a little unconventional for us." She said gently and got up to retrieve her daughter who had been left to her own devices in the bathroom. "I think after all this I may need some counseling."

He laughed outright at that. "I'll be your counselor." He said. "I'm qualified."

"And just what makes you think you are qualified?" She snuggled Hannah on her lap while she played with the cardboard toilet paper roll, and felt her heart beating faster, her cheeks flaring redder against her will, and her insides quivering at his words. He wanted to be with her... to explore who they were together....

"I am the man who wants to hold you and hear your issues. Trust me. Once I've made up my mind, I'm good as gold to keep my word." He leaned forward, so that his knees now touched her backside, his arms came around her and he nuzzled her neck, pushing her hair aside. "Now that you've crossed the line into the physical, I am finding that I like it very much." He kissed her on her neck, nuzzling her softly, tickling her, both arms securely around her own shoulders. Her hand came up to grasp his forearm, as she studied it, waiting for signs of the chaos she'd felt inside when she touched Ryan... waiting.... It didn't come.

She felt a rush of tears at that thought. No chaos, but what about Jared? Were her feelings for him gone too? How could she let go of that?

Robert sensed her sudden hesitation; he nudged her chin toward him and fastened his lips to hers, and tasted the tears. "What's up, sweetheart?"

Melia sniffed. "I'm just really emotional right now." She said haltingly, wondering if all the issues would come out while she was crying with Robert. He'd probably be sick of all her tears when it was all over.

"Thinking about what happened the last few days, or thinking about Jared?"

She gulped. He knew her well. Maybe because he experienced it as well. She burrowed her head into his shoulder in some heated embarrassment and he sighed. "That's okay, baby. I know what that feels like too. You went through a very trying and emotional experience, and that's going to take time. But the Jared thing... I understand. Believe me, I do. You feel guilty, and frustrated and sad all at the same time, and you want him back, but you know you can't have him, and you want to move on, but it's hard to give him up."

She sighed in relief, and nodded. That was exactly what was going on inside her. Especially when Robert kissed her. And believe it or not, she liked it and wanted Robert to kiss her. Not a bit like Ryan... this was new and different and wonderful and lovely... she turned her face to him again, looked into his eyes and sensed the acceptance building inside. She closed her eyes and drifted closer... closer, meeting him this time, eagerly....

*****