It's late on the Enterprise and he's just allowing the sing song of the ship's whirring to lull him to sleep when she comes to his door looking for advice.

She enters his quarters almost timidly, but he knows that she is anything but timid. He knows that underneath the mask she's wearing of shyness is the same no nonsense girl that loathed his existence throughout their time at Starfleet Academy. To her credit, she doesn't mention that his quarters have been programmed, obviously by him, to allow her entrance without request.

"He's pulling away from me." She's almost ashamed at the weakness of showing someone her fears, but she doesn't know what else to do.

He doesn't bother to ask her who or how she knows or if she's sure or any of the other asinine questions she had prepared for. He just sits up and studies her for nearly a full minute.

"And you want me to tell you how to fix it." It's a statement rather than a question and she knows its because he's in love with her. He knows she's going to ask for his help when she has no right to and that he's going to give it even though he dies a little bit inside every time he empowers her with the tools to get farther away from him.

She tells him everything that's wrong and he listens. Patiently. He doesn't interrupt or advise or offer any captainly wisdom. That's the last thing she needs while she's purging all these thoughts she's embarrassed to think.

Once, he reaches to take her hand, but pulls it back at the last second before they ever touch. He's never felt her flesh against his. He's felt her breasts, through her uniform and he's felt her hands as she shoved him out the door when he she caught him that time with her roommate, but even then her hands touched the clothes he clutched to his chest rather than him. He thinks her flesh to his flesh might be too much to bear.

Glancing at the shimmering length of her ponytail he wonders if hair counts in his self-made no flesh rule and realizes that he must get off on pain otherwise, he'd throw her out of his life. He doesn't want to be this guy anymore. The one that's castrated right in front of her eyes as she moves him into the category of "friend" and never views him as someone with a raging hard on that could satisfy her in ways the Vulcan never could.

He's decided once and for all he is done with her, but when he opens his mouth to tell her what comes out is, "Well, let me think about it and I'll come up with a plan. We'll get him back." Her smile is luminous and he wonders if Starfleet would let him captain an entire ship if they knew he couldn't even control his own mouth.

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Just a little one-shot about unrequited love to hold y'all over until I'm really back...hope you enjoyed! Review, please. :)