A/N: I'm so so so sorry this took so long for this to be finished! Life kept getting in the way, and I had multiple stories/oneshots for this that I just hated. Got the idea for this when I was in the shower, though I am still a bit uncertain about the ending. However, it was the best I could do considering the prompt.

Btw, for those who don't read RvB fics very often, human!AI fics are common. I have one myself, but this is not set in that universe. This is just a little stand alone that has no real time or place. Although I couldn't find a good place to put this in the actual story, all three of them are seventeen or so, age wise.

She can't look at him in the morning, not look into those deep brown eyes that she had half fallen for previously. He doesn't meet hers, either, as he makes his bed with a precision she has never seen before. He is habitually messy, the opposite of Delta, and the last time she had been with him he hadn't cared.

She licks her lips, and grabs her clothes off the floor. "Look away," she hears herself saying, in a voice that doesn't seem like her own.

He complies when he normally would have teased, and she feels as though the run has spun into some strange dimension; that she has fallen down Alice's rabbit hole. Unlike Alice's wonderland, however, it still manages to have the stark perfume of guilt clinging to their skin. She can still taste his kiss, feel his body against hers, and she shivers, hating herself for wanting him again.

It is too late to take back what she has already done, but she bites her lower lip and hopes she has enough self control to stop now. She loves Delta; he is her balance, the one who keeps her grounded. She wants D, too, but he is still a little frightened, despite her gentle coaxing. She is far from patient but for the first time in her life she waits.

And waits.

And waits.

Until now, when she can't take it anymore, or so it seems. Her heart thumps in time with Delta's unknown betrayal as she pulls on her skirt, and looks at the handmade corset on the ground with nervousness. It has always been a two person job to get the laces in the back, and although she is loathe to ask her best friend turned stranger to do so she clears her throat and does.

"Yeah, of course, Sig," he says, offering her a hesitant smile.

She blinks, still not able to reconcile herself to the situation. He has never been the type to be nervous or hesitant in anything, and his fingers shake a little as he weaves the laces he had removed previously with such ease. She had seen how he looked at her then, like she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. His touch had been enough to drive her wild last night, and even now when his hand brushes up against her shoulder she has to repress a sigh.

"Finished." He clears his throat awkwardly, still refusing to look at her as she turns around.

"I think I noticed that," she snaps back. "And can you at least have the decency to look at me?"

"Yeah," he mumbles, and she digs her nails in the palms of her hands to keep herself from walking over there and kissing him on the forehead.

She wants to ease away the guilt and pain in his expression, but she knows she only makes it worse. In fact, he looks ready to collapse under the weight of it, as he sits down on his bed, drawing his knees to his chest, and burying his face in his arms.

"'M sorry," he says so quietly that has to strain to hear him.

"Don't even go there." She wants so desperately to sit down next to him, leaning up against him, maybe put her arm around him. Gestures she had done without a second thought before, back when they were just best friends, not…well, whatever they are now. Even last time, before Delta, before she had fallen so deeply in love, it had never been awkward.

They just were, existing in their own world, where they seemed to understand each other's thoughts without saying a single word. That was how she had known then—that he wanted to kiss her but he was holding back. So she had done it first, and they had fumbled awkwardly at touching, at loving one another. They had been fifteen then, and although he had already been through a host of girlfriends he had never gone all the way with any of them.

And she…well, she had never had anyone before. He was her first kiss…

And your first love. You still love him now.

The little voice in the back of her mind reminded her, and she shook her head. "Nope, no way."

"Huh?" He looks up from his self inflicted pity party, and she stumbles over her words.

"Um…I wasn't saying anything…I..uh…no…I didn't mean." She sighs and looks at her nails. "It's not important."

At that he gets up, and stands close to her, anguish in his steps. With hesitation shaking through him, he very gently lifts her chin so her gaze is level to his. "It's always important, Sig. I'll listen to whatever you have to say."

"Don't," she says through clenched teeth, and rips away from his grasp. "Don't fucking do this."

"What?" He reaches for his hand and now the gesture is far from tender. His dark blonde hair falls into his eyes. "Do what, Sig? We've already done the worst thing possible, so what the fuck can I do now?"

She gives a little cry at his words, and slaps her hand over her mouth. She can't think, can't breathe, can't even move. Her head is spinning and her heart aches, sending a spiral of pain through her veins. She can barely swallow but she does, choking out the words. "You…I…I'm the worst thing possible?"

"Fuck," he mutters under his breath. "No, Sig, I didn't mean it like that."

She sticks her nose in the air, grabbing her bag and walking towards the door. "Sure it isn't," she says, trying to salvage the torn remnants of her pride. "Great to know how you feel. Thanks for sharing, after all these goddamn years. Nice to know that it was a complete waste of my time, lov-hanging out with someone who hates me." She takes a deep breath, hoping he'll ignore her slip off the tongue.

"That's bullshit, Sig, and you fucking know it."

She shakes her head, beginning to shiver, a sure sign she is going to cry. She opens the door but lingers near it, waiting for him to stop her.

And he does, rushing to her side and grabbing her arm. "Sigma."

"What?"

He turns her around, always being the stronger of the two, though not the dominant one. They had always taken turns when one needed the other, something he never did for anyone else.

"I could never…I could never say you were the worst thing that ever happened to me."

"Well, you just did. So now what?"

"God damn it, Sig, will you just listen to me? Please?" She has never seen him plead, his voice close to breaking. She had been his friend long enough to see his tears, as much as he had tried to hide them. But he never begged, he was far too proud for that. Or so she thought.

"Fine." She glares at him. "One minute. Then I'm outta here. D's probably waiting out front in his car anyway."

Delta always did that when she spent the night somewhere—without a car, Sig used to have to walk home, but D wouldn't have that now that they were a couple. Sig loves those small gestures, little signs of consideration showing that he loves her, even if he has difficulties expressing his emotions at times.

"Okay." He releases her, and the skin where he touched her still tingles, and she finds herself wishing he would go back to holding her again, like he had last night, kissing her all over. "You may not believe me now, though…I would freakin' hope you do considering you know me better than anyone else." He sighs, and runs his hand through his hair. "Look, I just…"

Her insides are practically melting, and she wants nothing more than to let him go on but in a contradiction, she can't bear to hear the words he is going to say. "You have ten seconds now." She crosses her arms over her chest.

He scratches the back of his neck and briefly gazes at his feet before looking back up at her. "You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Sig. Not the worst…not ever that. I'm sorry…I didn't mean it that way."

His stammer brings a small smile to her face—she can't help it, there is something so achingly bittersweet about him losing his ability to tell her what's on his mind.

His final words are so quiet she can barely hear them. "I love you, Sig. I…always have. And I'm sorry I fucked things up for you and Delta, I'm so fucking sorry."

"Stop." She presses herself against him, tilting her head up ever so slightly to look at him properly. "It's my fault, too." She wets her lips, and loses every bit of logic Delta has infused within her. This can't be solved by logic, not even with creativity. Maybe, just maybe, it can't be solved at all. She is defeated and she knows it.

Nothing to lose now, right? You owe both of them the truth.

"I love you, too, Maine." She has to stand on her tiptoes to be able to kiss him, and for the first time that morning he seems like himself as he laughs and picks her up. She wraps her legs around his waist and presses the lightest of kisses on his lips.

Her body thrums with the desire for so much more, but she won't allow herself to fall back into the dawn. She has inflicted enough carnage on D already, and now it's her time to go down to the porch and face those searching green eyes of his.

Maine may be her sun, her morning light, but Delta is her stars, her night, and she needs him just as much as she needs the other.

The both of them make her day, and after everything, her world.