Inara stopped Simon on the catwalk “Didn’t you see what might happen?” she asked him angrily.

“Oh yes, I saw” he said

He had seen what might happen and had done it anyway. When he realised what his actions did to Kaylee, how miserable she was, Simon wanted to apologise, he really did. But something always stopped him.

Simon hated Jayne. He was tired of the sneering, the rough teasing, the knocks in the corridor, everything. River’s sudden attachment to the big mercenary infuriated and bewildered him. It appeared that she had forgotten Jayne’s betrayal at Ariel, his continuous distrust of her, his actions prior to Miranda. In spite of all this lately River was actually spending more time with Jayne than she was with himself.

.

When Jayne had him cornered in the infirmary, River hadn’t even helped him! She had let the man almost choke and threaten him. She’d then left with Jayne had come back hours later, drunk. Drunk! Jayne had taken his little sister to a bar and got her drunk.

But Jayne’s actions had given Simon the ammunition he needed. He was brought to the realisation that Jayne was in love with Kaylee, disgusting as that was. The man probably relied on her friendship, her trust. So Simon would take Kaylee’s friendship away. He acted with malice aforethought to injure Jayne anyway he could.

Simon admitted to himself that there were problems between himself and Kaylee. He had honestly meant the words he had spoken when in battle with the Reavers. He sincerely loved Kaylee and thought that their being together was meant to be.

But he didn’t handle relationships well, didn’t always know the right way to behave, the correct thing to say. Kaylee’s all or nothing approach to relationships; her emotional reactions to every situation were foreign to him. He was uncomfortable with parading their newfound relationship in front of the crew and couldn’t understand Kaylee’s need for constant touches.

While he certainly desired her he found that their attitudes toward sex were diametrically oppo