Title: Scars

Fandom: Andromeda

Author: MsBeata

Pairing: Dylan/Harper

Rating: PG

Status: new

Feedback: Yes, please

Email: msbeata@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: They're not mine; they just play in my head.

Summary: Harper struggles with hurt feelings.

Scars
by MsBeata

Another scar. Another scar to go with all the rest.

But this one was internal. A scar on his heart. Or his soul.

How could someone he trusted so much, who he thought understood him so well, hurt him so deeply?

Trust didn't come easily for him. It just cost too much in the long run. Yet he had been fool enough to trust again. And again, he was paying the price. Betrayal. Hurt. Old friends come back to visit.

The funny thing was, Dylan didn't even know what he had done. He actually thought he was helping Harper. All the while twisting the knife deeper into his heart.

It was an offhanded comment, nothing really. But the underlying message was what hurt. The knowledge that the closeness he felt with Dylan wasn't really there. Dylan didn't really
understand him at all. He was alone in the universe – again. Still.

Dylan had seen the pain in his eyes, and Harper knew Dylan was sorry for causing it, but he didn't understand what he had done. And Harper couldn't put it into words.

Dylan saw it as "the" truth. Harper saw it as "Dylan's" truth.

Sure Harper was dying when he boarded Andromeda. And he was now living a dream being her engineer. But that wasn't the sum of his existence.

He had feelings, hobbies, needs, dreams, and a past. He was a whole person, a whole person who deserved love and acceptance. And understanding.

Maybe Dylan could never truly understand him. Maybe that was just asking too much. After all, Dylan had not lived through what Harper had, and Harper couldn't really imagine what life had been like in the Commonwealth.

He realized that Dylan loved him and accepted him. So that would have to be enough. After all, unintentional hurts were part of any relationship, weren't they?

Harper heard the door open behind him, felt the warm body and strong arms envelop him. "I'm sorry, Harper." The words were soothing in his ear, followed by a gentle kiss on his neck. "Forgive me?"

Harper turned in his lovers embrace, looked deeply into his eyes, and felt Dylan place a tender kiss on his lips. In that instant all the hurt feelings were swept aside, replaced by a love so intense
that he knew that they could overcome any misunderstanding. Harper lingered in that feeling for a moment.

Slowly coming back to reality, Harper studied the man before him. Patient, kind, strong, courageous, and clueless. Clueless as to what he had done, but asking for forgiveness anyway. How could he not love a man like that? "Yes, Dylan, I forgive you."

Maybe this scar wouldn't be so ugly after all.

**** end****