O, Jen, you made my own ML heart goPNWgal wrote:This is just all kinds of wonderful, Karen.
darkstarrising wrote:Alone.
That’s how he’d been for most of his life and would likely remain. Some of his isolation was self-imposed, hoping to distance himself from those he’d only end up hurting or who might hurt him. For all his charm and good looks, Mick St. John had been unlucky at love, more than an ordinary man could ever endure. Yet Mick was anything but an ordinary man and he had the scars to prove it.
That first word just hurts, because that's what Mick is. Alone.
But he doesn't have to be, and that's the beauty of this piece. Beth offered up her blood to save him, but he can't accept what he'd done to save himself. He can't entertain the possibility that she offers him more:
darkstarrising wrote:While her pain would be fleeting, his would be eternal knowing it wasn’t just her blood he craved. Locked in his grip, her head on his shoulder, her softness and warmth, her caring, tortured him. While her blood would sustain his body, his soul would starve for what he could never have – the unconditional love of another.
And then he opens the door (which made my romantic ML heart go):
Poor Mick.darkstarrising wrote:“No. I mean I’m sorry about what I did to you.”
Beth reached up and taking Mick’s hand, gently pulled him down next to her. “You didn’t do anything to me. You’re my friend. You needed me, you needed what I could give. I have no regrets, Mick, and neither should you.”
He didn’t reply, he didn’t need to. His eyes gave him away.
I could quote that whole ending conversation because it's just so beautiful, but I'll just grab my absolute favorite part:
darkstarrising wrote:Ever so carefully, Mick removed the bandage, and raising her arm to his lips, gently kissed her wounds.
“Forgive me.”
“On one condition.” Beth kissed his cheek tenderly, then whispered. “That you never let the connection between us fade.”
Can I see this? Absolutely. It's lovely and haunting and fits in perfectly with how I believe they both felt at the time.
Wonderful, WONDERFUL job!
when you said you could see this happening. 
When that last scene begins at the end of 'Fever' Mick is just sitting on the arm of a chair staring off into space and you get the feeling he's thinking about everything that just happened. But what struck me is that he was alone, while Beth was being consoled by Josh, and looking every bit like having Josh around was the last thing she wanted.
That last part you quoted is my favorite as well and I could see this ending. It's way too early in their relationship to be any more than acknowledging that a close friendship is developing, one that each of them desires. The fact that Beth didn't make any response to Mick' not wanting 'to cause any trouble' with Josh is telling as well and was inspired by her discomfort she showed when Josh kissed her wound. In my story, Mick kisses the wound, and she returns the gesture.
Mick opened the physical door. Beth opened another. Now each of them has to figure out how and when to go through it.
