Glitch of the Heart

Chapter Ten - Rum

I awoke in Rimmer's arms, sitting on Starbug on the way back to the dwarf. I smiled, nuzzling closer to him. He smiled, glancing at me. "You slept the whole way back."

I yawned, rubbing my eyes. "I did? That's a first."

He chuckled. True to his word, we were just arriving at the Dwarf.

We docked and I stretched, Rimmer holding my hips so I didn't fall from his lap.

Cat shook his head. "OK, I gotta ask-"

"Leave it, cat." Lister told him casually. When Cat looked scandalised, Lister shook his head. "They're happy." He told him calmly.

"Yeah, but she could have been happy with me!" Cat argued, but dropped the subject.

Rimmer looked at me as the others wandered off. "Well, we made it home."

I smiled, squeezing him a little. "Yeah, I guess we did."

"No creatures, no hijinx and no mortal peril." He lifted me up round my waist, standing up. I giggled, nudging his shoulder as I stepped out of his arms.

"Goofball." I smirked.

"Weirdo." He replied.

"Gimboid."

"Smeghead."

"Get a room." Cat told us as he walked back past to leave Starbug.

Kryten wandered off as well and Lister turned to us as we headed back down the corridors. "I am honestly happy for you guys." He smiled. "Just don't do anything in the bunkroom, yeah?"

I giggled, shaking my head. "Shut up, Lister." I smirked. "Thank you."

"Don't hurt her, man." He told Rimmer as he walked past, clapping the hologram on the shoulder.

"Never." Rimmer promised, although I got the impression he was talking about himself, not me. I rolled my eyes, turning and walking into our little living quarters.

Rimmer followed me. The others had wandered off somewhere, so we had the room to ourselves. "You OK?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

He stepped closer, looking at me. "You sure?"

I frowned, pushing his shoulder a little. "Yeah..." In all honesty, I felt a little tired, and I worried that the pain would return. I was surprised it hadn't while we had our day out yesterday.

He grinned, chuckling. "Ok. Come here..." he moved closer, wrapping his arms around my shoulders. My arms went around his waist. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. You're the only thing I really care about."

We stood in the silence, smiling at each other. "You too..."

"Last night..." He began. I nodded, wondering where this was going, especially when he tensed around me. "Do you remember what you said to me? Before you fell asleep?"

I thought back, the only thing I remembered was the start of my dream, when I told him I... "Oh..." I whispered. "Did I actually say that?"

He nodded slowly, carefully. "I, um, I mean, I understand if you didn't mean it, I get why, I mean, you know, im me and everything-"

I stopped his rambling by placing my hand on his cheek. I looked into his eyes, him staring back into mine, scared. I smiled softly, rubbing my thumb over the scar on his cheek. "I meant it..."

"Really? I- I understand if it's too soon-" Before he could continue rambling, I pushed myself up, softly kissing him. He started, then melted into it after a couple of seconds.