Title: Heart Burn Author: Invisigoth Feedback: Invisigoth4@lycos.com Rating: R Classification: SRA Spoilers: None Disclaimer: Not mine Archive: Please ask first Summary: Foot rubs, chocolate, stuffed aliens, kisses... making do on Valentine's Day "Did you know that there were really three saints that Valentine's Day may have been named after?" "Turn left, Mulder, then right and don't forget the turnoff to the motel." "I'm not going to forget it like I did last night, Scully." She sighed and turned towards the window, itching to get out of the car, her suit, her partner's sight. She could feel the seat belt digging into her neck like it always did because she was too short and the blisters her pumps had rubbed into her feet after walking through fields and swamps all day. Her hair was in tangles around her face and her toes burned as they thawed out. She huddled deeper into her coat and glared at her partner. "They all died," Mulder added helpfully. She stared out the window, her nose close enough to draw marks on the steamed glass. There was a slight jerk in the car as Mulder put it in park and she fumbled with cold fingers to undo her seat belt. Mulder was all ready out of the car and bounding up the stairs to his room as she flipped the lock and slowly followed him. She stood in the moonlight, breathing in the frigid air until her lungs burned and her fingers turned to ice. Her ears, she was sure, were frozen solid. To think that other people were at dinner right now, laughing, talking, holding roses. That they had looked forward to this day, to getting chocolate and sweet kisses while she just tried to type her reports and keep up with her partner. To think that she was alone on this night of all nights. "Scully?" she heard behind her, felt the air shift as he stepped closer. "I'm sorry I dragged you out there. You could have stayed with the Deputy and gone over the evidence again." She didn't answer for a long moment, wrapping her arms around her waist and staring at a couple walking, hand in hand. She touched her ear to her shoulder and discovered she couldn't feel it. "Someone has to watch your back," she murmured, quiet enough that he had to bend to hear her. His nose touched her hairline and she felt a tentative hand cover her own on her waist. "We caught him before he could kill again. That's what matters." He nodded and suddenly pulled away. Cold air seeped into where he had been. XxXxXx Scully sat, later, in the middle of her bed. There were pictures of mutilated woman spread out around her and her laptop was balanced precariously on her crossed leg. She could hear Mulder banging around next door, the murmur of voices as he thanked the pizza guy, as the door shut and the connecting one to her room opened. "Hungry?" he asked from the doorway. His suit jacket was off, his collar open and missing his tie; in his hands he held a steaming pizza and Scully thought that maybe she could forgive him. She cleared off a place for him on the bed and he took it as an invitation, setting the pizza on the nightstand and propping himself against the footboard. His feet reached all the way to the pillows. "You know," he said, regarding his slice thoughtfully. Green pepper, onion and sausage, as always. She carefully selected a piece for herself and Mulder leaned forward to pick off her sausage. She snagged one of his peppers and kicked at his feet so she could lay down, her head on the pillows. "You know, I always really liked Valentine's Day." "You like a purely Hallmark holiday, one that's been so commercialized that no one remembers the true meaning of it?" Her calf was resting casually against his warm thigh and she tried not to think about it too much. "No," he said, licking his fingers one by one and she made herself look away. "I had my first date on Valentine's Day." Interesting. She nodded for him to continue, chewing on her crust and not watching him lick his lips. "Fifth grade. Her dad took us to get ice cream." Scully was intrigued despite herself; it wasn't often that Mulder shared bits of his childhood. "What was her name?" she asked passing another slice to Mulder and taking one for herself. "Jess." He smiled at his pizza. "Jessica. We played baseball together." She smiled because he was smiling and nudged his leg with her foot. XxXxXx He was flipping channels from his place at the foot of her bed, sprawled out sideways on the bed, his head resting on his forearm. Her toes were scrunched in the warm space the small of his back made against the bed and he was slowly tracing her ankle with one finger. "I'm not putting that the killer was possessed by his dead father in my report, Mulder," she said, squirming as he found a ticklish spot. "He was. It was his father's anger towards his wife that drove the son to kill. All the classic signs of..." he trailed off as Baywatch came on. She kicked him to change it, clicking away on her laptop. He squeezed her ankle in return and she hissed as he found a blister. "Why didn't you say something?" he asked, pulling off her sock and examining her bruised and sore feet. "It's not that bad." She bit her lip as his fingers gently probed and she could feel his eyes on her face. He dragged his thumb firmly along the sole of her foot and her toes curled as he loosened sore muscles. "You should have said something. We could have slowed down." His hands were gentle, sliding between her toes and needing a knot of muscle. "It's ok," she breathed. "I'm ok." He nodded and gently tweaked her big toe. XxXxXx He jumped off the bed, her toe still tingling from the feel of his lips. She watched with hooded eyes as he bounded to his room and listened as he rummaged through his things. There was a crash and a curse and he stood in the doorway, his cheeks slightly red. "Here," he said shyly, holding something out to her. A stuffed alien holding a heart shaped box of chocolates was clutched in his hand and he couldn't quite manage to look at her. He was biting his lip as she carefully crossed the room to him and took it. "I couldn't find any, uh, flowers or anything." "It's perfect," she murmured, tracing his jaw with her nail. He smiled, lighting up his eyes, and gently bit her finger. XxXxXx They were side by side on the bed, their cheeks full of alien shaped chocolate. She was denying with all her heart that she was actually lying on him, that she might be spread limp across his chest as the dug into they candy balanced on her stomach. There was no way that Mulder and Scully, chasers of aliens, wielder of guns, seekers of the truth might be cuddling, might even be enjoying it. She assured herself none of it was true even as she ate another piece from Mulder's fingers, even as his lips not so accidentally brushed her neck, her cheek. "To think I could have gotten you jewelry," he murmured in his sandpapery voice, his cheek scraping against her own. She smiled and let him touch his lips to the corner of her mouth. XxXxXx He was so warm and solid behind her, beneath her, and she was able to ignore the warm hand splayed on her stomach under her shirt. She ignored the long leg draped over one of her own, his warm breath in her ear. "Did you have plans for tonight?" he breathed into her ear, his other hand tracing over her knuckles. She felt him curl his fist around her index finger and squeeze gently. She shook her head, her hair trailing over his cheek. With her hand still trapped in his, he crossed it over her shoulders, pulling her tight against him. She could feel his watch digging into her, his fingers light against the side of her breast. "I was thinking," he said, finally letting go of her and moving her so they were facing each other on the bed. She immediately missed his warmth, his body. "I was thinking that we could have done something this year. Gone out to dinner, you know, normal stuff." She quirked her eyebrow at him, slid her hands over his waist. "I like the alien, Mulder." He smoothed her eyebrow with his thumb and nodded. "I had my first kiss on Valentine's Day also," he said, staring at her mouth. She just looked at him. "Jess and I were eating our ice cream and her father had gone to pay." He ducked his head, his cheeks flushed and Scully leaned down to catch his eye. "Tell me." "She kissed me. I was so surprised I dropped my cone. We told her father I had tripped." "She must have been some girl," she said, fluffing the pillow beneath her head. He nodded and scooted closer to her. "Not as great as some other girl I know." Scully poked him in the ribs and he poked her back. XxXxXx They stood in the doorway to his room, desperately pretending that they didn't have to get up in the morning, that they weren't saying goodnight. "Would you have preferred roses?" Mulder asked her as she traced the lines of his face with her eyes. "Chocolate's the way to a girl's heart," she replied, fidgeting with her cross. "What about in her pants?" Scully smiled and met his eyes as his hand closed over hers around her necklace, as his face drew closer and closer. Her eyes fell closed as his mouth gently touched hers, once, twice, and then pulled away. "Happy Valentine's Day, Scully," he murmured, his cheek resting against hers. "Happy Valentine's Day, Mulder," she said and closed the door after him as he left. She turned around to an empty pizza box, chocolate wrappers and a stomach full of butterflies. XxXxXx End Author's Notes: Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I hadn't really planned on writing this, but the muse insisted. Thanks, as always, to my wonderful beta and friend, Jess. You are, truly, the best I could ask for. Hope you've had a wonderful day, my dear.