Together {Star Trek Enterprise Fan Fiction}

Denial

"Hoshi! Uh, Hoshi! Can we talk?" Tripp was breathless. He'd run after her.

"Sure," she said, and they went into an unoccupied lab.

After the door had closed, he said, "Marry me."

"What?"

"I said, marry me. Uh, will you marry me?"

"Tripp, calm down. You won't want to in, like, a week or so. That gas, maybe it's still affecting you. You'll see. You don't love me."

"But I do. Really. You want I should, uh, get on my knees? Is that what you want, Hoshi?"

"No, no. Stop," she dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands. Stay strong, she said to herself, "Get up. Please. Don't, don't do this. You don't mean it."

"But, uh," he looked in her eyes and she looked away, "I do mean it," he tried to take her hand but she rebuffed him.

"We have to be able to work together. We can't do that if, if, you know."

"So we'll change jobs, or I'll change, and you can stay on the Enterprise, which you love. And we can be together, I dunno when, when you're on leave or somethin'. Everybody needs an engineer. This could work."

"No, it can't," she said, "Please. No more."

It finally sunk in. He got up, "I, uh, I'm sorry. I'm, uh, I'm only gonna say this once," he swallowed, and then continued, "I think I can understand. We're not in the same place, you 'n me. And that happens. And that's, uh, that's all right. I love you enough to, to not push it," he swallowed again, "But I just want you to know. Just, just say the word. And not about, about gittin' married but about just, well, just giving this another chance. Just say the word. Any time, any place," His voice breaking, he left.

Hoshi looked down at her hands when she moved one up to wipe her eyes. The fingernails had dug right in and drawn blood.

=/\= 

"Jennifer, we should talk," Travis said.

"What's there to talk about?" she asked.

"You know."

"Oh. Well, you just won't say anything and I won't say anything, and we'll be fine," she said.

"Jennifer, you can't just wish this away."

"Sure I can. Watch me."

=/\= 

"Thank you for the ride," Malcolm said to Chris.

"Thanks from me, too – and from the San Francisco Ballet," Shelby Pike said, smiling.