Disclaimer: Firefly belongs to Joss Whedon; master of the 'verse.

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Simon sat in the infirmary, his head in his hands, hating himself for putting his foot in his mouth yet again. It was like a curse or something. He could never come close to telling Kaylee what he felt about her without managing to royally screw it up all to hell. He was just destined to never be with her. He was going to die alone and he knew it.

Simon didn't understand it. He was one of the most brilliant minds of the age and yet he couldn't have a conversation with Kaylee without saying the wrong thing. He couldn't even thing about telling her how he felt without getting completely lost in the thought.

He had briefly considered being just friends, but he knew it would never work like that. He couldn't be just friends with Kaylee, he felt too much for her. Sure, his feelings were probably the last thing the captain would approve of, but Simon found that he wasn't concerned with the captain and his selfish opinions.

At the same time, however, Simon thought that maybe Kaylee would be better off not knowing how he felt. She might be happier. At least that way he wouldn't be breaking her heart on top of hurting her feelings every time he said the wrong thing. Yes, he decided. If Kaylee didn't know it would be for the best. Besides, Simon had gone this long without doing anything for himself. The rest of his life wouldn't be too much worse.

Meanwhile, Inara made her way down Serenity's corridors, searching for the young doctor. She had just seen the captain and he'd asked her to find Simon and tell him that they’d be landing on Camulodunum soon and that Mal needed the list of supplies they required in the infirmary so he could pick everything up.

She hummed softly under her breath as she crossed the catwalk above the cargo bay from one end of the ship to the other. She stepped down the three steps into the lounge area and glanced over through the glas