Unrequited (Trip x OC)

Ten

Sim hadn't been to see me all day and it was already dinner time.

I walked down the hall with the crowd for dinner, except I passed the mess hall. I got the feeling I knew where he was.

I walked to Trip's quarters and rang the doorbell. Unsurprisingly, Sim answered the door in only stained sweatpants. There were tear trails on his cheek. My heart hurt to see him like that. I reached out to wipe his tears. He turned away and walked farther into the room. My reaching hand fell short, so I let it drop to my side. I walked in after him and the door closed behind me.

We sat in silence for a while, across the room from each other. Each of us stared into the other's eyes. It was like staring into Trip's blue ones, but I knew they weren't his. Not really. This was my Sim.

There was so much I wanted to say, but I waited for him to speak first. I could at least give him that liberty.

He opened his mouth, then closed it, apparently deciding not to say what he was about to.

Finally, he spoke, his voice raspy and quiet from crying.

"I thought we'd get more time together. I at least wanted to grow old by your side, even if you wouldn't be growing old with me," he directed his attention to a portrait of a famous engineer on the wall.

"I know, Sim. I wish we had more time, too. I thought this would be easy," I laughed bitterly, looking down. "I've been battling the fact that you and I only get fifteen days together since you were born. I almost wanted to push you away. I think that may have just been better for the both of us."

His head jerked up quickly to look at me. "That's not true!"

I looked up at him in surprise.

He sighed and moved across the room to sit at my side, taking both of my hands in both of his, his far bigger than my slender ones.

"Look. You mean the world to me. The compassion you've shown me... I couldn't've wished for anything more. Nothing can compare to the way I feel about you," his eyes were intense as he stared into mine.

I sighed, formulating my next sentence carefully in my mind. "Sim, I--"

But it was never spoken.

He leaned forward and planted a kiss on my lips. My eyes widened. That was a sight I never expected to see. Charles Tucker so close to me, his eyes closed and his lips on mine.

But it wasn't Trip. It was my Sim. And it felt... wrong.

I laid a hand on his shoulder and pushed him off a little rougher than I had intended.

His eyes opened and he looked frightened. "I'm sorry. I just thought... Well, I was telling the Captain this morning--"

"I heard, Sim," I looked at him with sad eyes. "Look... you're a good kid--" I trailed off.

"Emily. You're a good kid."

Trip had said the exact thing to me months before, and I knew how much it hurt. But I couldn't and I wouldn't lead him on.

"Regardless of how you feel about me... In my mind, I raised you. I changed your diapers. It's hard to think of you as--"

"As a romantic interest," he nodded. "Yeah, I know. I just thought..."

I patted his cheek. "Sim, I wish I could say something to help, but I know from experience that there's nothing I can say, so unless you want me to hang around... I guess this is goodnight?"

"No," he looked away. "I've already told the doctor that I'm going to let him operate on me in the morning. Goodbye."

Tears filled my eyes, but I knew there was nothing I could say to stop him. "Goodnight, Sim." I hesitated before leaning forward and kissing his forehead. I stood, walking to the door. "Sleep tight, don't let the--"

"Emily, wait," there was a certain urgency about his voice, and a tinge of fear. I turned around to see him looking up at me like the scared little boy I had seen when he was just nine.

"Yeah?"

"Can you... stay with me? At least until I fall asleep?" he sat there for a second. "You know what, nevermind, I don't want to ask too--"

"No, it's okay," I hesitated before making my way over to sit on the bed next to him. We both laid down and I wrapped my arms around him.

"I'll stay."

I've always hated goodbyes.