Hi all! So sorry for the delay-I can't believe it took me over a year to finally post this! Hope you enjoy. Thank you to all the reviewers of the last chapter and of the story overall. Comments and criticism are gladly welcomed, as they will help inspire me for future stories :)

-AM

Usagi found herself in front of another man's door facing yet another dilemma. She knocked twice, slowly. Mamoru opened the door; for an awkward moment Usagi stood in the doorway uncertain how to greet him.

"Hey." Usagi avoided his eyes and inadvertently looked at the spot on the floor where she had stripped off her dress just the night before.

"You left this," Mamoru said with little emotion, handing her the box of chocolates he had given her.

"Oh," Usagi said. "Thank you." She followed him into his living room and sat down on his recliner. She noticed that they were in the same positions as their previous "serious talk." Mamoru was clearly waiting for her to begin. "I'm sorry I ran out this morning without saying a word. This is sort of overwhelming for me."

"Overwhelming?" Mamoru prodded.

"We had such clear expectations about our relationship," Usagi said, pulling her legs up to her chin on the recliner. "Ones that were established primarily by you, I should add. Not to get too serious, not to get attached. I closed myself off from you emotionally and convinced myself that you were a jerk. Our relationship meant very little to me, so when I found someone who I thought would make a great boyfriend, it wasn't hard to give up our…quasi-relationship."

"I thought you weren't going to be mean this time." His voice betrayed his irritation.

"I'm sorry, just let me hash things out," Usagi continued. "And now you're refusing to let go. Maybe there's a part of me that is pleased. But I don't know if I can handle the uncertainty in whatever it is that we're progressing toward. What exactly are we progressing toward?"

"What do you expect me to say?" Mamoru said. "You want me to be explicit?" His voice rose. "Fine. I think we can have a serious relationship. Why won't you give it a shot?"

"There are just so many issues," Usagi said. "So many obstacles."

"What kind of issues?" Mamoru asked.

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Humor me."

"Well," Usagi began, "for one, you know how important my girlfriends are to me, yet you've never made an effort to meet any of them. I can't date someone who doesn't get along with my friends."

"We're frequently occupied by activities in bed, aren't we?" Mamoru was rewarded with a glare from Usagi. "Besides," he said, "you've never invited me to meet them."

"I shouldn't have to invite you."

"Usagi, I'm not female," he said. "I can't read your mind. If you want me to meet your friends, just say so."

"Fine. I'll concede that point." Usagi sensed that she was losing some control. "Second, there's your aversion to commitment. I need to be able to say you're my boyfriend. I want to believe that we may get married and have kids. These things may be meaningless to you, but they mean something to me. You don't need to believe in the religious aspects of marriage; that's fine. But I need a commitment from you."

Mamoru paused a few moments before replying. "Eventually...people have to settle down. In this society, at least. I guess I wouldn't be opposed to getting married eventually.

"No one is forcing you to do anything," Usagi said. "I don't want you insincerely pursuing a relationship because you want to hold on to me, or because you feel constrained by social norms. We'll both grow to resent each other."

"It's not insincere, Usagi."

"Okay…well…then there's your arrogance, your stubbornness, and so forth. The list just goes on."

"Doesn't your constant desire to jump me negate some of these problems?"

"See! There you go."

"Oh, come on. I'm teasing," he said. "Besides, it's true."

"You're so frustrating! Honestly, why am I attracted to you? It's got to be the pheromones."

"Good news," Mamoru said. "That means our DNA is significantly different and therefore we have good breeding potential. I'm sure we'd have attractive, genetically superior children."

"You sound like my friend Ami, but with less humanity. This is the kind of shit I keep referring to," Usagi said. "You've always said offensive and absurd things to me in the past, but back then I could ignore it, because we weren't serious. But now...now it bothers me."

He remained silent.

"And honestly, when the sexual chemistry dies down, what do we have left? Everything rational in my brain is telling me to go crawling back to the nice, normal guy from the office. This afternoon I told him it was over. And you know what he said? 'I hope you find happiness.' That if I can be happier with you, then he's happy for me, because he cares about me. Would a similar train of thought ever run through your mind?"

"No," Mamoru said, "because you should be with me. I'm thinking of tattooing my name on your ass." He gave her a playful grin.

"Will you stop joking about this? This is serious. I don't know what we're doing."

Mamoru stood up and gazed out over his balcony. "Why do you have to make this so complicated? We'll play it by ear. We'll take every day as it comes. It'll be fun."

"That sounds so easy. But it doesn't make sense to me. Why? Why are you doing this? Why can't you just let me go?"

"Usagi, look. I like being with you." He continued to stare out the window.

"Go on."

"And maybe…whatever love is…that mix of chemicals telling us how to behave…I think I feel that way."

Usagi stared at his back dumbfounded. "Could you possibly say that any less romantically?"

Mamoru took a deep breath, then slowly released it. He turned back around to face her. "Usagi, I'm in love with you, got it? I love you. I've had relationships with women in the past, but I was never ready. I have difficulty forming emotional attachments to women. To anyone, for that matter. Sometimes I get angry or upset and I feel like there's darkness surrounding me but you...you make it brighter. You're the only one who knows the details about my past. I didn't trust other women enough to tell them about what happened…in the accident."

"Thank you for opening up a bit and saying that. But—and I recognize how selfish this may seem, but really, why should I have to teach you how to be in a relationship? Why do you get to win instead of the nice guy?"

"Maybe you're right, Usagi. You'll have to deal with my mood swings and my dark side. It won't always be easy."

"You've done a poor job selling me on this. What could motivate me to be with you?"

"The fact that you've fallen for me, too."

"You're such a jerk."

"Say it. Just say you're not in love with me."

"I mean…I'm not…I…dammit." Suddenly she felt very weak. "I don't want to be in love with you, okay? I don't want to be that vulnerable to someone like you. But I can't seem to get rid of you. It's like fate wanted us to keep meeting until I finally said yes."

Mamoru walked over to where she was sitting and stared down at her, almost appraisingly.

"Fate? You're not very perceptive, are you?" Mamoru said.

"Excuse me?"

"You think it was coincidence that every time you met Jadeite I was also there?" Mamoru said. "I told him to contact me when you two were meeting up, and he would call some other friends to make it seem natural that I would be there as well."

Usagi gaped. "You used Jadeite as a spy to get in my pants?"

"First of all, that's what friends do. Secondly, well, yes, I guess that's not far from the truth. You should be flattered. Besides, it's more than that. I already told you. Still waiting for your response." He stared directly into her eyes, and she looked down.

"God! You make me so angry. Fine! I love you, okay? Just...don't screw me over. We have some issues that we need to work through, and—"

"Stop overanalyzing everything," Mamoru cut her off. "It's time for make-up sex." He picked her up, tossed her over his shoulder and carried her into his bedroom.

"Ah, Mamoru! You know the caveman act turns me on! Not fair!"

"Call me Mamo-chan, Usako."

He placed her on the bed and began to slide her dress up while letting his fingers dance around the inside of her thighs.

"Uh, Mamo-chan? Don't you think we should take it slow?" Usagi said, quivering. "You know, like we're in a new relationship or something?" Yet she didn't fight as he slid her dress over her head.

"You're joking, right?" Mamoru said, moving his mouth up to her breasts.

"Wait, I need to shower first! I haven't showered since before I met you for dinner yesterday. I'm dirty!"

"How convenient. I haven't either. I guess we'll just have to take one together?" He picked Usagi up again and walked her to the bathroom.

"Hey! That's not what I meant! Maybe it would be better if we—" Usagi stopped as Mamoru pulled off his shirt and dropped his pants, revealing a rock-hard erection, the sight of which caused an audible intake of breath. "Oh, who the hell am I kidding. Get in here and fuck me. We can finish serious talk tomorrow."