Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, only the plot and the circumstances.

Sometimes
by DarkHonda aka Tal

Kelsey stared up at Ryan, he was frowning slightly, a small crest between his brows; his mouth was settled into a slight pout, looking like he was thinking hard. He looked serious, ambitious even. It wasn't rare for him to look like that, it was the depth of his seriousness that alarmed her a little. He didn't even see her coming close!

She wasn't so sure he was waiting for her anymore.

It wasn't uncommon for him to appear in her room at the Aquabase, during one of her rollerblades afternoons in the park or in one of her long walks on the beach. He would always appear when she was alone and if she wasn't, he made sure she could see him and know he's waiting for her until she was alone.

This evening he was sitting on a bench above her, in the fancy Marnier Bay Promenade, while she was walking barefoot in the sand.

"Ryan…?"

When she said his name, his eyes found hers despite the distance that separated them; she smiled, not caring if he could barely see her lips curve since it was dark already.

"Kelsey." His voice wasn't loud, he spoke in his usual tone, but she still seemed to hear him just fine. He climbed up the small stone wall of the promenade and jumped down to the sand, straight on his feet. She stared at him, half at awe at the great height he has just jumped in front of her and half at the subtlety of his strength; he didn't seem as indestructible as he looked, quite the opposite, innocent.

She walked to him, a few steps to get closer, smiling broadly as he held his arms for her and wrapped her in a tight hug before anything else. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself to relax and enjoy this close proximity to him. She could feel his lips pressing against her forehead, then his cheek resting on her head and she smiled.

Silence.

She liked the silence, there was always tranquil silence with him, everything else slowed down and it was always just them.

"I'm in love with you." He stated simply.

Kelsey opened her eyes immediately, looking up at him, a bit shocked; she pulled back from their hug, taking a few steps back to look at Ryan. What would she say? What was she feeling? Did she love him?

He confused her.

"When you're near me, I can't think of anything. I can't take my eyes off of you, like you put me under some kind of a spell and I…" His voice trailed, his eyes shone in the darkness, bright yellow. They didn't scare her anymore, but it didn't mean she wasn't scared at all.

"I don't know what to say."

She could barely find the words to describe what she felt at that very moment!

He moved in the darkness in a cat-like fashion, taking her hand and making her shiver: his hand was so cold. He gently led her to a spot where light from one of the promenade's street lights snuck onto the sand, so she could see him.

"Kelsey, is there a problem with me loving you?" He asked tentatively, in the light his eyes were light brown, only slightly lighter than Dana's, honey-like. She liked the fact he had yellow in his eyes, they were beautiful and it was sort of poetic on some level, her ranger colour in his eyes...

She wasn't supposed to think about his eyes when he was clearly worried, right? But she couldn't help thinking about his eyes, and the way his lips were shaped so strongly, and that little scar in his chin and –

"Kelsey?"

She shook her head and smiled, squeezing his hand.

"Sorry, you were saying?"

"It's just… every time I come close, you move away and... it seems like you don't want me to stay."

She melted.

How can someone so evil be so sensitive? Did that even make some kind of sense? She knew staring into his eyes wordlessly wouldn't help, so she bit her lip and stared away from his eyes, trying to concentrate on her answer.

"It's not that I don't want you to stay, it's hard to explain but everything between us is moving so fast… two weeks ago we were enemies and now you tell me that you're in love with me and –"

She couldn't control of the words that came after that, it's like everything flowed away from her heart to his ears.

" – I want to believe you, everything you say… it sounds so good to me, Ryan. Still I'm not sure if I can trust you, you're evil and sometimes you get really scary and I have to keep remembering that –"

He squeezed her hand gently.

"Kelsey, slow down, did you say I scare you?" He asked gently, his voice so soft. Kelsey gulped and nodded.

"Sometimes I'm scared of you." She said in a small voice. Ryan sighed and pulled her close, holding her tight for a long moment, in silence.

"I don't mean to fright you, okay?" He sounded tired and somewhat hopeless and Kelsey bit her bottom lip, unsure what to say or do. She looked up to him, watching how his light brown eyes turned sad, pensive.

"You always do." She admitted, guilt flooding her on the inside.

"What?" Ryan said sharply, in a near bark. Kelsey pushed away from him a little, watching his brow furrowed and his expression surprised.

"You always scare me a little." She shrugged, avoiding the truth wasn't one of her best features, so she stuck to the truth. "Sometimes… sometimes I just want to run, other times I want to hide. In the battlefield it's always the hardest, all the things you say –" She stopped.

He looked tormented, his eyes shut and it looked like he was trying to force himself to stay still and take in everything she said.

"It's not your fault." She added, hoping she sounded sure of herself. It really wasn't.

"I don't mean to scare you, I don't want that." His voice was clouded with pain she easily recognized. "What is it in me that scare you?" He added after a moment, opening in his eyes.

"I-I don't know. I mean, things you say… how you're going to butcher us, my friends and I, or how you almost killed Joel yesterday. You enjoyed it." She felt the tears prickling her eyes but tried to swallow them back in. It wouldn't help if she cried.

"I enjoy a good fight and I love wining a good fight." He stated. "I can't change that."

"I know. I told you it's not your fault. It's a part of who you are, I just wish that you weren't so cruel to me or my friends."

"That can't be helped, your ranger friends are my enemies." He said soberly.

Kelsey nodded.

"I don't want to hurt you, I love you, and I won't be cruel to you. I won't ever fight you." He said softly and Kelsey nodded and found comfort between his arms again, leaning her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeats.

He was human, after all; he had a heart he could love with and Kelsey couldn't resist it, couldn't resist him. Yes, she was scared of him and afraid of the entire situation and yes, she knew that if he has chance, he will kill everyone she loves. But he would also be there, protect her and comfort her. And he would be genuinely sorry for killing all her friends.

The irony made her want to laugh, and she shook her head and looked up at him.

"Do you trust me?" She asked him quietly.

"Yes, I do." He replied calmly, like it was the most natural thing to do: trust your enemy.

"I want to trust you, too." She spoke to his black tee shirt.

"You will, I know it takes time and I'll wait." He smiled down at her and tilted his head to kiss her lips briefly.

How come he seemed even more handsome after he said that?

"I really want to be with you, Ryan." She smiled and closed her eyes, inhaling his deep earthly scent. Things were going to be alright, she was sure of it; nothing could be ruined when they were this close. There was always some hope.

"Day and night, I know. Me, too." He smiled down at her calm, reassured expression and tilted his head again, kissing her.

A/N: This was unplanned, I swear. A mistake. I was listening to Sometimes by Britney Spears (a nostalgic thing to do, eh?) whilst trying to write my first Jasper x Alice when this came about. So, if you look very closely at Sometimes' lyrics you can find this story or the other way around. Not everything included though.

Wow, too many words for a oneshot's A/N. Oh and look me up on Twitter and then you shall know when I curse and work on a new RyKels, my nickname is YourSeth. And so, I shall get back to my House MD episodes. Ta-ta.