"What do you mean?" He asked, his voice sharp, commanding. "Mistake? This was a mistake?"

Juno sighed and pressed her fingers against her suddenly throbbing temples, rubbing in circles for a few seconds before answering. "I mean, last night was… nice…"

"Nice?" Jamie interjected, his voice suddenly higher and even sharper. "Nice?!"

Juno rocked back on her heels, her hands dropping to her sides. "I mean, it was, you know…"

"It wasn't nice, Juno." Jamie shot back. "It was phenomenal. I took you off your feet, woman. I rocked you back, and what's more, you know it." Jamie took in a huge gulp of air and locked eyes with Juno. "You know it."

Juno nodded, and then quickly squeezed her eyes shut to avoid the inferno in Jamie's. "Yes, it was. I mean, I haven't been that… I've never felt so… uninhibited, but that doesn't…"

"Uninhibited?" Jamie repeated. "For someone who insisted I close my eyes when you ran across the room, I mean, when you flipped over and…"

"Okay, okay." Juno interrupted hastily. "I don't need a play by play of last night. I mean, I'm still stunned I got undressed in front a total stranger… rescuer… whatever, but that doesn't change things in the cold light of day."

"I want you to know right now, for the record, that when the time comes, I'm going to be elected as the president of the 'Juno should get undressed' club." Jamie said hotly. "And after last night, if I hear you say even one more thing about your appearance, I'll…"

"You'll what?" Juno asked hotly, her temper beginning to flare inside her.

Jamie gave her a smoldering gaze. "Spank you?"

Juno clicked her mouth shut and bit back her retort at the very suggestion. Jamie raised an eyebrow at her, and then continued. "If we're going to fight, do you mind if I get my kit on first?"

Before Juno could reply, Jamie threw back the sheet and climbed out of bed, looking to Juno like a very nude, very sexy Adonis. She felt a stab of sadness when Jamie slid his pants and shirt on and then turned back to face her. "Now, then, you were saying? A mistake?" Jamie asked again.

Juno shrugged, her temper finally beginning to rise up and take over. "What did you think would happen, Jamie? Huh?" She huffed and blew a strand of hair out of one eye. "You thought we'd take a tumble then never see each other again? Or you thought we'd take a tumble and live happily ever after?"

"I don't think I thought either one, Juno!" Jamie shot back, his voice rising in volume. "But I at least don't think of it in such crass terms as you. Take a tumble? Who says that, anyway? Is this from one of those stupid American movies?"

"It's an expression. And you're a guy, of course you think in crass terms. All guys objectify situations like this for their own advantage." Juno argued, making Jamie growl in anger.

"Don't do that." He said harshly. "Don't put me into the same category as all the guys before who have molded you into this self loathing, frigid girl who believes she isn't worth her weight in salt." Jamie paused, and then amended his statement. "Which wouldn't weigh very much, before you jump all over my choice of words."

"You infuriate me." Juno said, her voice flat and even.

"I know." Jamie agreed. "That's half the fun, isn't it?" He added with a hint of a smile.

"Not for me." Juno answered. "I don't like conflict."

"Conflict keeps it interesting, darling." Jamie amended, taking a few steps towards her. "Conflict keeps the spark between two people."

At the word spark, Juno took a quick step back, halting Jamie in his steps with a look of concern on his face. It was as though he was reading her thoughts from her earlier reverie, her thoughts about the sparks between two people…

"But what did you really think was going to happen, Jamie?" Juno asked seriously, as inch upon inch of her insides felt like they were freezing to ice and dying. "Really?"

"I hadn't thought that far ahead." Jamie answered honestly. "I guess I was too busy falling for you and living in the moment and enjoying our time together, I suppose. If that makes me a berk, so be it, but I really hadn't thought about it much at all."

"Well, I wasn't either." Juno confessed. "Until this morning."

"Why this morning?" Jamie asked, genuinely curious.

Juno shrugged. "I just had some time to think before you woke up, I guess. I've never really been in this situation before. I'm sorry I'm being so defensive, I just… I guess I'm a little thrown by… by last night." She paused and looked down at the floor shyly. "Which was incredible, by the way."

Jamie grinned despite himself. "Now we're getting somewhere." He took another step towards Juno, and then another until the distance between them was only a few inches. "Now how about a proper good morning so that we can stop this idiotic fight of ours?"

Juno felt her insides thawing and restoring themselves to normalcy as Jamie kissed her. Her mind was still reeling a mile a minute, but for the time being, she was content not to tune in for a few minutes. Instead, she felt herself wrapped inside Jamie's embrace, reveling in the feel of his body against hers again. It felt like it had been eons since she had last touched him, and she realized how much she missed it.

Missed touching him.

Without realizing he was doing it, Jamie steered Juno slowly across the floor until the backs of his knees bumped against the bed. In one fluid motion, he sat down, pulling Juno down to sit on his lap, his lips never leaving hers. She wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled closer against him, so glad they weren't talking anymore, even though that's what she needed to do.

Talk things out. Make sense of things. Make sense of herself.

But at this very moment, that seemed like too exhausting a prospect. Especially when there were other things they could be doing…

"Hey!" Juno said playfully, slapping at Jamie's hand as it tugged her shirt out from the waist band of her jeans. "I just put this shirt on."

"Shouldn't have gone to the effort, darling." Jamie said huskily. "Because in about thirty seconds, it's going to be flung over that lamp shade over there."

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before . after