Disclaimers-The characters in this story and the ship Voyager are all
owned by Paramount . But the story is mine ! and they can’t take that away
from me . (he he he!)
This story takes place after Day Of Honour about two to three weeks
afterwards
ENJOY
Love so Tender
-----------------
B’Elanna Torres was very confused . Ever since Day of
Honour when she told Tom Paris she was in love with him when they were
hanging in space dying because of lack of oxygen . She had not spoke to
him or seen him , she felt empty without his company . Her mind flashed
back to the time when she went through the Ponn Far how she felt when she
had kissed him in the caves . She felt warm and full as though Tom had
filled a space inside of her . But after that she buried and locked away
her feelings and pushed him away at every available chance . She felt if
she let him near she might get hurt and end up alone . She pondered the
thought for a while , dismissed it and went back to her work .
Tom Paris set off towards engineering he knew she
had to be there . Tom hadn’t seen B’Elanna for the best part of two weeks
. He hadn’t even seen her in engineering when he had gone down there with
reports . But he knew this time she had to be there , he had been assigned
to work with her on a mission they were going to do next week . As he walked
along his mind went back to Day of Honour when he and her were flouting
in space he thought of how he felt when she told him she loved him . How
when they got back she said she needed time to think . He wondered whether
she had thought things through , he himself had tried but could make no
sense of it . His mind was a mixture of thoughts and emotions which he
couldn’t get into a logical order . He walked into engineering , he spotted
B’Elanna standing at a console . She appeared to be staring into space
. He approached her and stood behind her waiting for her to turn around
.
B’Elanna sensed someone behind her , she turned around
to find herself looking into the face of Tom Paris , her heart skipped
a beat . He handed her a padd
“Here’s the report you asked for” he said
“Thanks” she said taking it from him
“B’Elanna” he said while leaning on her console . She looked up her
gaze settling on his face .
“Yes Tom” she said
“Well urmmm I think we need to talk” he said softly
Her gaze softened
“Yeah I know but not right now I’m busy” she said while running around
with a hyper spanner
“Okay then when?” he asked while running after her . She stopped and
thought for a moment then turned around to face him ,
“How about later I’m really busy right now” she said softly
“Okay I’ll see you later” Tom whispered in her ear . This gave B’Elanna
a small tingle inside of her . He walked out of engineering with a look
of satisfaction on his face . B’Elanna looked at him as he walked out then
while no one was looking a tiny smile appeared on her face .
Later that day Tom was in his quarters reading
, he put the book down and started thinking . He wondered whether she would
come , normally something always came up , something always went wrong
. He carried on thinking about this for a few minuets then went back to
his book .
It was a few hours later that evening when she came
, B’Elanna stood outside his quarters for a few minuets and then plucked
up the courage to ring the bell so to speak .
The door chime rung it made Tom jump ,
“Come” he shouted , the door opened to reveal B’Elanna she walked in
slowly . *Maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea after all* she thought
to herself . Tom stood up
“Hi” he said nervously
“Hi” she said back her voice was barely a whisper , but in the silence
of Toms quarters it seemed like a shout . There was a deafening pause .
She looked into Toms eyes looking for some hint of emotion that would tell
her what he was feeling . He started talking
“B’Elanna you know what’s been said , you can’t change that . You know
I love you but ........ I don’t know the way your feeling” B’Elanna looked
into his eyes now they were giving out emotion , he was confused and she
knew it , carried on talking “I need to know , we can sort this out”
Tom then started stuttering , looking for words which would tell what he
was feeling . He gave up not knowing what to say or do he turned around
and looked out of the window at the passing stars he whispered
“I’m so confused” his voice could hardly be heard by B’Elanna but she
knew what he was saying . She looked down at the floor and then started
to talk
“Don’t you think its confusing to me” her voice started out low and
soft “I’m not even sure what to feel” by this time it had started to rise
“I don’t even know what to do!”
With this Tom turned around to face her , he could see hints of tears
in her eyes
“I don’t even know how to act around you any more” she started to back
up towards the door , she stopped for a few seconds and stared into Tom’s
eyes . Then she turned and ran out of his quarters . Tom started after
her .
B’Elanna reached her quarters she slumped
down onto the floor and started to cry . She couldn’t say it to him , she
just couldn’t . She could just about admit it to herself . She loved him
, GOD! why couldn’t she tell him . She carried on crying .
Tom raced after her , he now knew how confused
she was . He reached her quarters and knocked on the door .
B’Elanna didn’t here the knock
at the door nor did she here the footsteps coming towards her . But she
heard the soft thump as someone sat down beside her . She knew who it was
she didn’t look up . *what was the point* she thought to herself . Suddenly
she felt Tom wrap his arms around her and pull her close he started whispering
in a calm , soothing voice
“B’Elanna shhh come on” he held her tightly even more so than
before “Come on calm down” he said softly . B’Elanna buried her face into
his chest and breathed his slightly musky scent in deeply . He kept on
repeating the same words while gently rocking her back and fourth . This
gave her a sense of security and great comfort . She grasped the front
of his uniform with both hands tightly . Tom felt his uniform tugging at
the neck . He ignored it and continued rocking and talking to B’Elanna
gently till she calmed down . When she finally did , Tom didn’t stop rocking
instead he just held her there for a long time . B’Elanna lifted her head
and looked into his cerulean eyes . They were so full of love and feeling
, she had never seen so much emotion which had been directed at her in
her whole life . She couldn’t hold it back any longer , she whispered to
him softly ,
“I love you Tom , I love you so much” Tom looked back into her eyes
and saw she was telling the truth . He lent down and whispered in her ear
,
“I love you too” he then leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips
. B’Elanna felt a tingle run down the length of her body as his lips touched
hers . When he broke off the kiss he looked into her eyes they were full
of love and it all was directed towards him .
B’Elanna reached up and gently pulled Tom’s face
nearer to hers . The kiss that resulted was not a light one . It was one
full of tenderness , love and promise . B’Elanna didn’t want it to end
. A few minuets later Tom broke off for air and looked down into her chocolate
brown eyes . B’Elanna looked into his ,
“I love you so much” she breathed . A tender smile broke out on his
face as she pulled him tighter and kissed him again .
By
Claire-Marie Preston.
&;
mattclaire@.email.msn.com