Paramount owns all, I own nothing
SUMMARY:
A fight breaks B'Elanna and Tom up. What will it take to get them back together?
A spur-of-the-moment story! Please forgive me if it isn't too great!!
ON with the show.....
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"I don't know how I ever could have to loved you! I hate you Tom Paris!" with that, B'Elanna Torres stormed out of his quarters, and running down the hall to her own at warp speed. "But..but..I...B'Ella..no.." was all that he could get out. *What did I do wrong?* he thought, dazed *She hates me. The woman I love hates me.*
*Why do I always manage to screw everything up? Why?* he sank down numbly on his couch, tears streaming down his face. "Why B'Ella? I love you so much." he whispered to himself, "I love you B'Ella. I love you." * No one so wonderful could ever love a screw-up failure like you Thomas.* his father's voice rang in his ears. *She's too good for you, and she knows it.* "B'Ella.." he whispered. "I love you B'Ella..
****
"How could he! I'm GLAD Chakotay caught him with that, that DELANY! I thought he loved me!!" yelled B'Elanna Torres as she stormed around her quarters. *But he never said the words. He just wanted to see how far he could get with you. Just like Kenneth.* a voice in her head nagged.
"No! He's nothing like Kenneth!" she disagreed, but she was uncertain now. *He only wanted you for the SEX. No one could ever love you! You're just an ugly half-breed!* "No!! I'm not ugly! Tom said so!" she yelled.
*And look where you are now.* the voice taunted. *Look where you are now.* "No...no...I love him." she whispered. "But this proves it. He could never love me."
****
"What did you tell her Chakotay?" "Huh? What?" asked Chakotay, confused. The Captain had asked him into her ready room, and he had no idea what for. "You heard me Chakotay. What did you tell her?" Janeway asked, glaring at him menacingly. "Who?" questioned Chakotay, though he knew perfectly well.
"B'Elanna. You're the only one he would've listened to." she said. "What do you mean?" he asked, still trying for the innocent story.
"Don't play dumb with me mister. You know full well what I mean. B'Elanna and Tom have both been acting strangely for the past few days. Tom's detached, and hardly says a word unless it's to respond to a direct statement. And B'Elanna's yelling her head off at everyone! She's always angry! Tell me what you told her."
Relenting, he answered her:
"Well, about two days ago, I observed Ensign Megan Delany and Tom eating lunch together. Their heads were close together, and they appeared to be talking about something. Then, she kissed him on the cheek. I didn't, despite what you may think, tell her on purpose. It just, sort of, slipped out..."
"Well Commander. It appears we may have a problem on our hands. I'm very concerned with the mental health of the two of them, as is the Doctor. There must be something we can do." Janeway said.
"Well Captain," Chakotay started after contemplating a moment "We're approaching Lisphus, which Nelix says is a great sours for urithrosaine. Perhaps we should send our two Lieutenants down on a mission..."
"Excellent idea Commander."
****
Both Lieutenants sat in an uncomfortable silence as they descended towards the planet, each with their own thoughts and feelings.
Tom's heart was thumping so hard, he was sure they could hear it in the Alpha Quadrant. That was the way it was when she was around. It always had been. But now she hated him. He didn't even know why. *I should have known she'd never love me. Why did I let myself fall in love with her?* he asked himself.
*Well, it's too late now.* he told himself *You're in so deep you'll never get out. Even if you wanted to. But she hates you.*
As for B'Elanna, she felt as though she'd like to cry. She'd never cried this much, not since her father had left her.
Over the past few days, she'd managed to push away all thoughts of Tom during the day, by engrossing herself in work. But at night, all she could do was cry as she thought of the man that she loved, and who she'd believed loved her. *Oh Tom. I can't believe I thought it possible for you to love a worthless half-breed like me, especially when you can have anyone else on the ship. But I love you. I love you so much..*
****
They landed on the planet, and proceeded to collect samples of urithrosaine. Somehow, neither had said a word to the other the entire time. They were perhaps 15 metres from the shuttle when a great roar of thunder blasted in the sky and rain started to pelt down. Hard.
Quickly, Tom looked around the area and spotted a small cave. "Come on!" he yelled to B'Elanna over the rain, which was falling harder every second making it very difficult to hear and see, and started toward the cave. He turned around to see if B'Elanna was following, and saw her struggling against the wind. Her hair was whipping all about her head and to Tom, she looked absolutely gorgeous.
Then she fell.
Tom saw her struggling to get back up, but to no avail. The ice-cold wind was pinning her down, and the almost freezing rain pelted upon her relentlessly. "B'Elanna!" yelled Tom as he tried to run over to her. He was going in the direction of the wind now, so the going was easier. But not by much.
When he reached her, she was on her stomach, still fighting to get up. "B'Elanna!" Tom yelled again, so she could hear him over the wind. "Tom.." she said weakly. Kneeling, he put one hand on her back and the other on her legs, and moved her into his arms.
Cradling her, rain pelting them both, he looked forwards, judging the distance between them and the cave. *Only a few feet. Good. If I can just get up...* with that, he gathered up all his strength and stood. Putting his head down to fight the wind, he struggled to get to the cave.
After what seemed like eternity, they reached the cave, which offered nothing but shelter from the rain and wind. Kneeling, Tom held his beloved's head his arm. "B'Elanna? B'Elanna wake up. Please wake up. B'Ella don't leave me...I need you." He started to shake her by the shoulders when, as if in answer to his plea, she opened her eyes.
"Tom.." she whispered, horse and barely loud enough to be heard. "Gods B'Ella! You scared me!" he exclaimed, hugging her to him. "Tom..." she whispered, her beautiful brown eyes not meeting his blue ones, "It's cold.." Only then did Tom see how blue her lips and fingertips were.
"I'll get you warmed up right away then..." said Tom suggestively, even as he pulled off his uniform jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. That gained a small, weak smile. "I'm tired Tom." she whispered. "No B'Ella, you can't fall asleep!" exclaimed Tom as he saw her eyes begin to close. "At least not until you're warm again."
"Why do you care?" she asked, suddenly hostile, even in her weakened state. "Because I love you that's why!" Tom exclaimed "I know you don't feel the same, but I will NEVER stop loving you B'Ella. Never."
Seemingly just as shocked at this confession as she was, he just stood there, staring her right in the eye, blue orbs expressing all the tenderness, concern and, yes it was there, love that he had for her.
*He loves me!* She felt her heart swell with joy. And then realization hit. "Oh Tom.." B'Elanna sighed and looked away. "How could you think I don't love you?"
"You did break up with me, saying that you hated me and didn't know how you ever could have loved me." he pointed out. "I...I didn't mean it Tom. When Chakotay told me about you and that that Delany..." she practically spit out the words
"I guess I just...just.." she felt the tears well up in her eyes, one escaping from under her lashes. "I'm so sorry Tom. I'll understand if you hate me for not trusting you. I'm so sorry." The tears ran freely now.
Suddenly, a pair of warm arms engulfed her weeping form. "Oh my beautiful B'Ella. I love you so much. I could never hate you. I was helping Megan with some trouble she was having with Gerron. I would never cheat on you! You're too precious to me."
"I love you Tom. I love you so much." "I love you too B'Ella. Forever." "Forever."
~Finis~
So, whadda ya think?E-mail me your comments!
Please try to make it positive! I'm very sensitive you know. ; )
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