Author's note at end! : )

Pavel stares listlessly at his command station. It had been a week since the wedding and Shelby still hadn't spoken to him. He pokes at the navigation screen, not really paying attention to the display. They were on a set course to pick up a delegation that they would then drop off on another planet. Unfortunately for the Russian, this meant that he didn't have anything to distract him from his thoughts. After a few moments of the clicking, he gave up and pulled up Tetris and started playing the flashy game, losing after a few moments. He growls a bit and shuts it off. Sulu looks at his friend, concern clear in his eyes.

"She still hasn't let you in?" He asks softly. Pavel nods. "Da...I even faked an illness to get to medical bay...but ze doktor wouldn't let me in..." He grumbles. Sulu stares at the other male. "You must be desperate." It was common knowledge around the ship that Pavel hated going to medical bay for checkups. Kirk looks up at the Asian man's statement. "Are you two still fighting?" He questions, sitting up with excitement (he was really bored), "Since we have nothing better to do, we'll focus on getting you back together!"

Spock looks over from the science station. "Captain, I must inform you, even though you will likely ignore me, that that is highly illogical and unprofessional. It is also likely against Star Fleet regulations. We /are/ on a mission." Kirk rolls his eyes at his first mate. "Crew moral Spock!" He replies before turning back to Pavel. "Now! I've had plenty of girls mad at me!" He begins. "The first thing you should do is get a lot of flower petals and throw them all over her room-don't worry, I can break you in-and after 'losing' your clothes, lay out on her bed and wait for her to come back! She'll be so impressed, she'll forget she's angry and you'll both be happy...just don't forget protection...Bones'll kill me if she gets pregn-" Kirk was abruptly cut off as an earpiece flew across the room and hit him on the side of the head. "If you do that, I'll kill you both." Uhura growls from across the ship.

For his part in the matter, Pavel was bright red at the captain's suggestion. Sulu sighs softly and shakes his head. "The captain was right about one thing...you should get some flowers...but don't break into her room...maybe you should make a scavenger hunt of sorts..." He starts before looking at Kirk. "Permission for the Ensign and me to leave the bridge?" He asks, smiling as an idea began to form. Kirk grins and nods. "Sure! Your shift is almost over anyways!" He waves his hands in a 'shooing' motion.

Sulu nods and stands, gently herding the shell-shocked Russian from the bridge.

Sulu quietly prunes some of his more exotic plants as Pavel looks around the greenhouse. He sighs. "What if she does not take me back?" He whispers to one of the flowers. He had been doing it for a while, but Sulu simple let him. The Asian understood that the Russian needed the time to think. After the Russian asked a plant that appeared to be licking its 'lips' at Pavel, Sulu decided to step in. He gently pulls the Russian back and leads him to some pretty, white carnations. "Why don't you find Shelby's favorite color from the dye over there," He points to a tub full of small, glass bottles filled with different colors of liquids with labels on them. "And we'll dye these the right color." He instructs. Pavel sighs and nods, looking at all of the colors.

Sulu fills a large vase with water and starts adding carnations to it. Pavel smiles softly. "Can I do two colors?" He questions, holding up two vials. Sulu smiles, happy to see his friend back to normal, and nods. "Sure." He gets two smaller containers and fills them with water and carnations before taking the two colors, smiling to himself at the colors the other man had chosen.

Shelby was a mess, a plain and simple mess. As she hadn't done her hair and make-up for a week, she wasn't even a hot mess. She had gone to her shifts (even though her uncle tried to keep her out), but then she immediately returned to her room. She hadn't felt like eating since the wedding, and had only done so when McCoy brought her food and made her eat. She was trying not to be a drama queen, and in public, she attempted to act normal, but her heart was really broken. She had never been in love like she was with Pavel, and to have him break her heart like that had really hurt.

She lies down on her bed and hugs her moose pillow, trying not to think about the male. "Why can't I just hate him?" She wonders aloud. She wanted to, REALLY BADLY, she knew that if she hated Pavel, she could just ignore him and move on with her life, but she was still in love with him. She throws the pillow across the room and breaks a vase. She starts sobbing, angry at herself. After a few minutes of angry tears, she finally calms down enough to shuffle to the other side of her room and clean up the vase. As she was throwing the pieces in the disposal, there was a soft knock on her door. She sighs and quickly wipes off her eyes before opening the door and then promptly slamming it.

Lily sighs from the other side of the door. It had taken her a few days to figure out who the girl from the party was. She had had to promise to go out with the ensign assigned to the bridge to finally get the girl's name. Then when Lily found out where her room was and who her uncle was, this knowledge was what caused her to wait a little bit longer to talk to her. McCoy scared many people on the crew, and while Lily wouldn't admit to being /scared/, she would admit that a confrontation with McCoy would be unsettling, if his niece was anything like him, Lily had to be mentally prepared.

She had wanted to wait longer in order to come up with a better plan, but she had seen Pavel walking to his room the day before and the state he had been in nearly broke her heart. She knew from ship gossip that Shelby wouldn't talk to him and she could plainly see that Pavel was suffering. She really liked the navigator and wanted to be his girlfriend, but she was pretty certain she would never have a chance, and she just wanted him to be happy.

Which is why she now found herself in front of a door that had recently been slammed shut. "Why do I even bother?" She grumbles. Lily was not used to settling differences in peaceful ways. She was a weapon tech and as such had been trained to go into a hostile situation with guns blazing. Or at least phasers. Her hand twitches, automatically going for her throwing knives, but she had left those in her room so as to keep this other woman alive and keep herself from being court marshaled. After taking a deep breath, Lily reaches out and lightly knocks on the door, "Please nurse Larson!' She says, "Just let me explain."

Shelby stared at the door, pure anger radiating from her. She couldn't get mad at Pavel, but she had no problem getting mad at the wench who had started all this. She opens the door, but stays in the doorway, not inviting the other in. Lily sighs. "Look...I'm really sorry about what happened the other night..." She whispers. "I-I mistook Pavel's kindness to be flirting, I didn't realize that you two were dating, I never would have kissed him if I had realized that he was taken." She explains in a rush. "And Pavel didn't do anything! I promise...I kissed him because I'm an idiot, as soon as it happened, he pushed me away...please don't hate him." She finally finishes, panting softly from the lack of air. Shelby stared at her, not sure what to say. There were so many thoughts running through her head. He head began swimming and she clutched her stomach, feeling sick before collapsing to her knees and sobbing. Lily stares at her, not sure what to do. She had never been good at difficult social situations. She hesitates and then kneels down, awkwardly hugging the girl. Shelby freezes and then relaxes into the hug. "I-I've been so mean to him...he's never going to want to be with me again." She whispers, wiping her eyes. Lily starts laughing. "He's wandered around the ship like a lost puppy for the last week! You have nothing to worry about!" Shelby chews on her lip, thinking. "I want him to apologize...but I guess he's tried...maybe I should go to him." She whispers, standing up. Lily stands and nods, hesitating. "You might want to take a little time to calm...and he's on shift on the bridge anyways." She adds, trying to get her to wait. She had seen Sulu pulling the Russian around with flowers and she had a small inkling that something was up. Shelby blushes lightly and nods. "I suppose I should maybe shower and look presentable too..." She mumbles, shifting a little in her dirty sweats. Lily laughs and nods, "I have to get to my shift." She says, "Good luck." Shelby smiles and nods, returning to her room. She stops and turns. "Thanks, by the way." She say. Lily grins and nods. "No problem!" She says brightly before hurrying of, sighing in relief after turning the corner. "She's nothing like old grouchy bones..." She mutters to herself before going to make her rounds of the turbine room.

Sorry for the massive cliff hanger. I just realized that it was at 1682 words and it seemed like a good place to stop. This way yawl can have a chapter (finally)! I want to promise that the next one will not take at long, but unfortunately, college sucks time like the M-113 creature sucks salt! Have awonderful week and review if so inclined. Oh, and sorry for the weird tense issues, I can't English or German right now. I will fix it one day!

Love,