Winter's Heart (Part 1) 18+ Canon

Chapter 10

James screwed up big time, he knew that. The problem was, he didn't know how to fix it. Two days had passed and he barely saw her. She was either working, typing viciously on her laptop, or hiding in her room. James sat at the dining table watching her exercise outside in the cold. Her cheeks were flushed from the crisp autumn air, but she didn't seem to care.

The door was opened, and a short time later Steve stepped into the kitchen. James stood up, walking to the coffee machine for a refill.

"Buck, good to see you", he said cheerfully, placing a file on the kitchen counter. "Where is Liv?"

"Right here", Liv chirped.

Here we go, tell him everything, he thought, suppressing the urge to roll his eyes. But as James turned, he was surprised to see her happy face. He watched her suspiciously, as she walked to the fridge and took out a bottle of orange juice.

"You two get along?" Steve asked, noticing James's face.

"Well, no one died", she said, looking at James with a wide smile still plastered on her face.

Yet, he thought to himself. But her eyes betrayed her. He could see it. If he looked hard enough, she was thinking the same thing.

"What happened to the shelf in the study?" Steve asked, catching both of them off guard.

Liv was the first to regain her composure again.

"Cat", she blurted.

Steve pulled his eyebrows together while James was lost on her words.

"You should have seen this!" she said laughing. "A cat sneaked in and when James tried to catch it, he tripped, fell and broke the shelf. Hilarious."

Liv turned her back to Steve walking over to where James stood and opened a cabinet to grab herself a glass for the juice. Steves phone rang which he answered and walked around the dining room.

"Tripped and fell?" James asked, gritting his teeth, casting her a side-glance.

Liv paused, filling her glass with juice, and arched an eyebrow at him. "Isn't that what happened?" she said this while innocently grabbing her glass and walking over to the other side of the isle, putting as much space between them as she could.

Steve ended his phone call and came back. "We had a lead up north, but it turned out to be a dead end. And we found this", he tapped the file on the isle.

Liv opened it and went through the content, not believing what she was seeing.

"That can't be true", she whispered.

"What is it?" James asked and came closer, to see the content as well.

"They are trying to complete the code by themselves", Steve said.

"And with the input Hardy probably provided them with, they will", Liv said, eyes still glued on the code snippet before her.

"How far are you?" Steve asked.

"The algorithm is nearly done. It's only... ", she came to a halt when she noticed their blank expressions and instead said, "5% left to go."

"We will have to leave as soon as you are done", Steve said.

Liv nodded. This was inevitable. Her eyes met James for a split second. They had an expiration date as soon as they saw each other for the first time. So why did she feel this tightness in her chest?

After a long day in the study, Liv took a hot shower to relax. Calling it an early night, she went to bed early, again. It was in the middle of the night, when she woke up again. That was the downside of going to bed early. She also woke up in the middle of the night, and she knew she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep. With an annoyed sigh, she left her bed, grabbed her morning gown, which barely covered her butt, and went downstairs for a glass of water. She tapped barefoot into the dark kitchen, opening the fridge for cold milk.

"Why don't you sleep?" she heard James' voice in the darkness.

Liv froze, closed the fridge and tried to locate him in the dark. Through the light of the refrigerator, she needed a moment, but then she saw him coming out of the living room. He walked around the isle and leaned against it, arms crossed in front of his chest.

"I was thirsty. What's your excuse?" she asked.

"Nightmares", he said as a matter of fact.

"Right", she said, remembering all too well the night she entered his room.

A shiver ran down her spine, catching her by surprise. Not in a bad way, she realized. At this point, she questioned her sanity.

"You are avoiding me", he said after a while.

Was it sadness she heard? She had to imagine that. Just because she wished he would regret his behavior didn't mean he actually did.

"And what if I do?" she replied, turning to face him.

James hesitated, contemplating his words.

"I don't want you to", he said at last.

"What if I don't like you anymore?" Liv said with her teeth clenched.

"Liar", he mocked with the hint of a smile. She didn't see it, of course, but she could hear it.

"If you say so", she replied with a defeated sight.

It was the middle of the night. She wasn't into having a full confrontation now. Liv crossed her arms in front of her chest and headed for the foyer again. Whatever this was, it was never a good idea to have a serious conversation in the middle of the night.

James couldn't let her go so easily. Everything in him screamed to stop her, and before he could stop himself, he stretched out his arm, grabbed her ponytail, and pulled her in. He wrapped her hair once around his hand, forcing her to take a step back until she bumped into his hard chest.

When he suddenly stilled, her hair fell from his grip. She pulled back, trying to see his expression in the dark.

"What's wrong?" she asked, confused.

James hushed her by pressing his index finger on his lips. Then she heard it too. Someone was at the backdoor.