By Clare Holborow and Jane Hunt

Will Riker looked at himself in the mirror, a smile of satisfaction on his face at what he saw. He was dressed in a new dark blue outfit, his hair for once was behaving itself, except for the lock that always fell onto his forehead. He turned away and picked up the bunch of exotic and colourful flowers on the table. In the other hand he carried a box of her favourite chocolates. He left the room to go to her quarters, the door swishing shut behind him.

Walking along the corridor, he thought about the crazy rumours he had overheard in Ten-Forward earlier. He shook his head and smiled, if they were true, he would have been the first to know. He pressed the door chime eagerly as soon as he arrived at her door. He couldn’t wait to see which outfit she had chosen.

To his utter dismay, she greeted him at the door in her uniform. “Oh, Will, is it that time already?” She looked rather flustered, and he wondered why.

“Deanna, why aren’t you ready yet?” He asked. “Can I come in?”

“I’m sorry, I was rather preoccupied.” She said.

He pushed his way past her, and she had no choice but to let him in. The reason for her preoccupation was suddenly very clear. An Ensign was sat on one of Deanna’s comfortable chairs. He appeared rather relaxed and comfortable - he had probably been there for some time.

“Ensign.” Riker said curtly.

Ensign Seymour stood up. “Sir, I was just leaving.” He replied, nervously glancing at Deanna.

He strode out of the door at her nod.

Riker turned to face her. “So was I.” He sounded very cold, suddenly realising the “rumours” were true.

“I’m sorry, just give me a few moments and I’ll be ready.” She replied.

“No, don’t trouble yourself. I’m sure I can find someone else to spend the evening with.” He said, raising his voice. “You don’t care about me.” With that he marched stiffly out of her room.

She ran to follow him. She caught up with him outside his quarters. “Will, what’s this all about?”

He laughed hollowly. “Are you telling me you don’t know, or do you think I’m too stupid to figure it out?”

She really had no idea why he was acting so strangely. “What have I done?”

He shook his head in despair and walked into his quarters. She followed, still waiting for a reply.

“We were supposed to be making an effort, trying again. And all the time you’ve been with that Ensign.”

“He’s a patient!” She cried incredulously.

“Don’t lie to me. You two are the hottest topic of conversation in Ten Forward.”

“I have never lied to you. There’s nothing going on.”

“I don’t believe you.” He shot back.

“Fine, if you don’t trust me, there’s no point in even talking about it.”

He opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, she stormed out of his quarters. He didn’t see the tears falling down her cheeks at the realisation he didn’t trust her.

Will stood there for a second, almost frozen. What if the rumours were just that. What if she were telling the truth. Her words rang in his head “I’ve never lied to you”. He realised suddenly that she was right, as far as he knew she had been nothing but honest with him all the time they had known each other.

Perhaps now wasn’t the right time, but he had to find out for sure. He walked back to her quarters, hesitantly ringing the door chime, hoping she was a little calmer.

The door opened, and she frowned, clearly surprised he had the nerve to come back so soon. “What do you want?” She asked. “Have you come to accuse me of something else?”

He ignored her tone. “Can we talk?”

She sensed his change in mood, and allowed him to come inside the room.

“Maybe I was a little harsh.” He continued. “But you must understand how it looked from my position.”

“Will, we were only talking. What could you possibly have misinterpreted from that?”

“I suppose that’s what happens when you listen to rumours.” He admitted.

“I thought you knew better than that I wonder who started them.” She wondered aloud.

“I don’t know. It wasn’t me!”

“I know, I believe you, I trust you.” She said pointedly.

“I’m sorry, What else can I say?” He moaned.

“We can’t have a relationship if we don’t have trust. I don’t need to tell you how important that is.”

“You’re right. And I am sorry, will you forgive me?” He pleaded.

“Will, I don’t think you’re taking this seriously.” She said, looking into his eyes.

“I am, I promise you’ll never have to worry about it again. I’ll never do anything to make you distrust me again.” He looked straight back into her eyes, and she could sense his good intentions. He honestly wanted to make the relationship work. “How can I make it up to you?” He grinned.

“Well, you can start by treating me like a Queen!” She said, with a mischievous glint in her dark eyes.

“What, you mean like this?” He growled, pulling her towards him.

She gasped slightly at the sudden closeness, feeling his arms around her and his warm hands running down her back. “Stop it. You always think you can solve our problems like this.” She whispered, although he could tell she hadn’t the strength to resist.

“I thought we had solved the problem. Now we can have some fun!” He replied.

She smiled and nodded. “We have, and fun sounds like....” She paused trying to think of the word. “Fun sounds like fun, I suppose.” She laughed.

He grinned. He had always loved the sound of her laughter. He drew her tighter.

Deanna’s eyes studied his face. “Imzadi.” She pulled his face to hers and kissed him. She thought she was going to melt at the feelings she felt coming from him. She knew it was the right time, they hadn’t been waiting in vain.

Beside them, the stars continued to steak past the window as if nothing significant had happened.

End