Ours

[Kira & Lee Norris]

They were back at their place again- back in silence- and back in each others' arms. Complete silence enveloped them; there were no words to be said, just things to be thought. And Lee's mind was very much somewhere far away from the forest they were in...
His dream had followed him around all day- like a dark stalker, it popped up at the most inappropriate and unexpected moments. Earlier, for instance, he'd been kissing Madeleine, yet as he closed his eyes, the strange woman flashed up before him, and it felt as though he was kissing her instead. When he spotted Will in the Dining Hall, all he could see was her in a flowing red dress- her arms stretching wildly towards him...
Even now, encased in the silence of the clearing, Lee could hear the vicious calls of the dream women, and the vision of Madeleine and Levi disappearing into the darkness...
His arms tightened around her possessively, and he rested his chin on her neck, trying to force the nightmare out of his head.
And failing.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

It was early evening, and already getting dark.
The wintry sun had been radiating light through the leaves to make dimpled patterns on the frosty ground, but now, it was starting to get darker, and much colder than it had been before. Earlier, their breath had been coming out in billows of white, but now they were used the cold air.
The cold in general, in fact, and it had a lot to do with the fact that they'd been in each others arms for a while now. Now, Madeleine was warm and happy...
Almost.
The words that Kira had spoken the night before were running through her head, and she couldn't get them out. But like she'd said, she didn't care what Kira said or thought about her. No, the bit that was on her mind was what she'd said about a letter from Bethany. Lee still hadn't mentioned anything, and today he was so quiet and wrapped in his thoughts that Madeleine was beginning to get anxious.
Had something gone wrong back home? Was everyone alright? Maybe she or his parents were sick, or maybe something had gone wrong with -
Lee's arms suddenly tightened around her, and he moved his head so that it was resting against her neck.
"You okay?" she asked, talking muffledly into his chest.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

He smiled to himself, his lips resting by her ears. It was almost like she'd read his mind.
"I must suck a bit to have as a boyfriend," he muttered. "Always up and down- always something going wrong. Sorry. I know I'm a bit of a wuss. I do."
He wasn't sure why he was telling her this. After all, she must know it all already. But... it felt appropriate. Almost like an apology for being himself. He wished he didn't have so much to complain about. He wished he didn't have so much to think about. But that bloody dream had gotten to him.
It shouldn't have, dammit, but it had.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

The words startled her a little.
"Where did that come from?" she asked softly. "You're not a wuss. You're not."
She felt him shift slightly, and tightened her arms around him and kissed his shoulder. "You're a great boyfriend to have. I love you, remember?"
Now she was sure that something had gone wrong. This wasn't like Lee. What had happened?

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Her words reminded him eerily of what he'd said to the dream Madeleine...
"I remember," he muttered, so low he wouldn't be surprised if she missed it. "Never mind. It's something else..."
Argh. Even now he found it hard to say what was on his stupid mind.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

She moved a little, bringing herself even closer to him.
"What is it?" she murmured, thinking of what Kira had told her about earlier. "You can talk to me about it, you know."
It'd all be fine. It would get better.
She would make it fine.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Lee groaned loudly and unexpectadly- even to himself. "Right. Okay. What makes you think something is wrong?"
He pulled away from her now, to look at her properly.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine shivered slightly as he pulled away.
She met his bright blue gaze. "You're oddly quiet - you haven't spoken much all day. Is everything okay?"

[Kira & Lee Norris]

She couldn't know... could she?
"I just had a really bad dream last night is all," he told her calmly. "Couldn't get back to sleep for a long, long time either. It was early morning before I managed to drift off. See these bags?" He pointed to the dark purple pools which now swam beneath his eyes. "These are the result of my trials." He smiled quickly, to show her he meant it in a jokey way. "So if I haven't been speaking properly, sorry. I've just been... tired, is all. Why? Is there something you want to talk about?"
He straightened up slightly, trying to make himself look more alert. If Madeleine had anything she wanted to talk about... well, he didn't know what he'd do. Just, try and be Jude for a bit.
His friend seemed to be a bit like that- sort of an unasked for shrink. Sometimes it was good. Other times- like when Lee sat by Madeleine's side in her coma- it wasn't so good...

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

She reached out for his hand, squeezing it. "Sorry."
Then, she debated it.
If Lee hadn't told her about the letter yet, would he be mad that Kira had told her? Madeleine really didn't want to drive the wedge between the two of them any further.
But Kira had told her that the letter was a problem - she'd told her.
Making her decision on the spot, she opened her mouth. "Look, I hope you don't think I'm being rude or anything... but Kira and I were talking, and she mentioned a letter... from Bethany." She watched him carefully for a reaction. "It sounded like it was something bad, and I was worried..."

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Immediately, Lee felt his heart sink. He hadn't been expecting that one. Why the heck had Kira said something about that to Madeleine? What possible twisted reason could she have?! He'd have to talk to her about that. God, it drove him crazy.
Luckily, it also drove his dream from his mind.
His jaw clenched and his fists curled. "Right. She said about Bethany, did she? How much did she say?"
Well, if Kira wanted them to talk, they would.
Madeleine had the right to know.
He loved her- he owed her this.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine's hand flew to rest on Lee's clenched fist, trying to calm him down.
"It wasn't her fault," she said soothingly. "We were arguing... it just slipped out. She just said that Bethany wrote a letter."

[Kira & Lee Norris]

"Yeah," Lee shook his head slightly, trying to calm himself. "Yeah, my sister wrote a letter. She was... well, she was pretty mad at me."
It was now or never.
Lee heaved a sigh. "When you and Levi were still going out... well, I mean, whenever we were talking that day after Battle Training. Right, well, because I thought that you didn't want to be with me- like, that there was no chance at all- I wrote a letter home to my family, telling them that I was going to leave Orchid, and come home."
Melodramatic, much?
"Except, whenever the battle came along and you... you went into that coma, I knew I just couldn't leave. So I wrote home again and without going into details told them there'd been a change of plan. A few days ago, I got a letter from Bethany and... well, she's mad as hell."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Oh, the guilt.
Madeleine didn't think that she had ever felt so guilty in her life.
He was going to ... leave? Because of her?
No wonder Kira was angry.
She felt sick... so sick. How could he leave Orchid? How could she do that to him?!
"Oh, Lee," she sighed, pulling him towards her into a hug. "You are so stupid! Never do something like that because of me again, okay? I am not worth that. Don't - never - just don't do..."
She broke off, befor starting her setence again. "I'm so sorry. I didn't... I didn't know... I'm so sorry, Lee," she whispered into his neck.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Relaxing against her once more, Lee's arms snaked around her guilitily. Great. Now she felt guility- and that made him guility- and no doubt him feeling guility about making her guility would make her guilitier still, and then... well, you got the picture. Sighing, he closed his eyes for a couple of seconds, trying to gather his thoughts.
"D'you wnat me to answer the question now? About me... running away?"