Fallingforyou - Curtwen

Ch 13: I Think I'm Falling... I'm Falling For You Pt.3

A/N: rare temporary author's note at the start of the chapter. Leave plenty of comments on this please because I might have covid and if I do I need something to make me feel better while I'm hurting and stuck at home.

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West Germany, December 4 C.E.

"How much longer?" Tatiana asked since Owen was already fidgeting with his watch.

"About thirteen minutes."

The two of them were assigned to hand off documents at some abandoned overpass in Germany.

They didn't even know what kind of documents they were. Evidently it was none of their business, so they asked no questions. They knew better than that when it came to MI6.

It was fairly quiet as they waited. Owen double checked their surroundings through the car mirrors every so often like it was a nervous tic. Meanwhile, Tatiana sat comfortably, her weapon secure in her holster underneath her coat should she need it.

"Excuse me if I am- how you say- 'crossing a line' here, Owen. But you seem... off. Is there a problem?"

________________

"You know what I think my problem is?" Curt asked Barb as she tried to pay attention to her pager, ready for Owen and Tatiana to need backup of any kind if their mission happened to go south.

"What. Curt." Barb, of course, was over this distraction.

They laid parallel to each other on Curt's hotel bed, but with Curt's head near Barb's feet and Barb's head near his.

Curt had just finished his own mission in Germany and so he was there by default. Barb figured when he asked her to come around while she supervised Owen and Tatiana's mission, it was to provide her comfort and a pleasant change of pace.

It was not.

"My problem is I'm not really a 'tell you how I feel' kind of guy-"

"I can't believe you invited me here just to incoherently vent."

"But it's because I feel too much."

"Sure." She rolled her eyes, barely listening anymore.

"So I'm not an 'I love you' kind of guy."

"Mhmm."

"I'm more of an 'I'm in love with everything about you and I have been for years and I get it okay? I do. If you're not gay and I read that wrong. That's fine. But I need you to know just how much I've been wanting you'... kind of guy."

Barb sat up to see Curt's face. Shock set in, and a new sympathy found its way behind her eyes. She laid by him so their heads were side by side now, staring up at the ceiling together.

"Oh."

________________

"Oh," Owen said. "Off how?"

"I don't know. For one, you keep fidgeting. And it's stressing me out so please stay still."

Owen stopped bouncing his knee. He hadn't even realized he started. This was happening to him a lot more often now. And these fits of unease were getting more and more difficult to hide as they progressed. It's just that when Owen's mind gets too overloaded, it begins to flood. And so, of course, these little droplets of worry were seeping through the cracks and falling right into the hands of Tatiana.

It hurt his pride that he couldn't hide it better. He hoped that Tatiana only noticed because she knew him and not because he played nonchalant that poorly.