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It was that time of the season where Melissa Scully was in-between lovers. With that usually came the need for her to stay with her mother or her sister and regroup while she figured out which direction the wind was going to blow her next.
So far it has been interesting week. While Melissa had gotten to know Mulder pretty well while Dana was in a coma, this was the first time she was getting a front row seat to their interactions. And, boy, did she have questions.
At first, she thought their restraint at showing any kind of physicality was to her benefit. Seeing as Melissa just got out of a month-long relationship, she thought maybe Fox and Dana decided to put the kibosh on the PDA while in her company. But the fire was still there—simmering, waiting…
She watched as her little sister would smile up at Fox like he hung the moon, laughing at his odd jokes, listening enraptured at his anecdotes of some cryptid he recently came across in some online message board.
She watched as her sister would reach out to lay a hand against his forearm—an automatic response, a motion so familiar its become innate. She watched Dana reach up to run her fingers through his hair as a diagnostic tactic at his mention of waking with a migraine that morning. She watched as Dana’s gaze lingered after him as he slowly made his way out of her apartment for the night promising to see her at the office in the morning.
And Dana wasn’t alone. Fox was just as equally tactile as her sister. Melissa watched as he guided her with a warm hand at her back. How he would gently take her arms to countermove in the small, shared space of the kitchen. She watched as he would reach out to swipe remnants of sauce at the corner of her mouth. How both their eyes would darken with something unnamed but equally yearned for.
“How long have you been sleeping with your partner?” Melissa blurted one night over dinner.
Dana coughed into her napkin, choking on a spoonful of rice. Melissa watched on with amusement as Dana took a swig of water to clear her throat.
“I’m not sleeping with Mulder, Melissa.”
“Oh pleaaaseee!” Melissa sits back in her chair, throwing her hands up. “I find that very hard to believe. You’ve basically eye-fucked each other every day since I’ve been here…like the tension is to the point where I called Mom this afternoon to ask if I could stay with her.”
“Please don’t tell me you told her your suspicions.” Dana dips her head into her hands.
“I wouldn’t think I had to. The woman has eye just like I do, Dana!”
Dana groans into her palms. “We aren’t sleeping together, Missy.”
“Yeah, ok.” Melissa crosses her arms over her chest, fed up with her baby sister’s lies.
Dana drops her hands, her face becoming serious. She’d only given her that look one other time and that was when Dana was trying to get through to Melissa about a former boyfriend of hers that had tried to take advantage of Dana while Melissa was away on some spiritual retreat.
“We’re not.”
Sisters sat there quietly at the table for a moment. The sound of the grandfather clock ticking in the background.
Melissa broke the silence, “Why not?”
Dana looks at her dumbfounded. “We—we don’t look at each other like that. In a romantic way. Everything between us is strictly platonic.”
“Uh, I beg to differ. Sex eyes, remember?”
“Why are you pushing this?” Dana gets up from the table and begins to clear her plate in the sink.
Melissa gets up to join her, “Why are you running away from your feelings?” She watches as Dana ferously scrubs at her dinner dish. After a moment, Melissa reaches out to stop her.
“It’s not one-sided, you know. He has feelings for you, too.”
“Stop! I don’t want to hear this right now!”
“What’s the big deal?!”
“The big deal is…there is a lot on the line when it comes to our partnership. There’re people out there who want to end us, end what we’re doing. To prevent us from finding the truth and exposing it and all their evil wrong doings.” Dana walks away into the living room, her arms crosses over her chest in a protective stance.
“If Mulder and I…” Dana sighs. “Point is, there is no Mulder and I. Romantically, anyway.”
“Well, whenever you decide that it’s safe to be ‘Mulder and you’, he’ll definitely meet you more than halfway.”
“Thanks,” Scully huffs out a laugh. “Don’t think that will happen anytime soon.”
Missy grabs Dana’s hand to pull her onto the couch and into her embrace.
“Well, since ya’ll are playing the waiting game, what are my chances with him?”
Dana pulls back sharply, “You stay away from Fox Mulder, Melissa Renee Scully.”
Missy falls into a fit of giggles against her sister.
“That was worth it.” Missy gets out between bouts of laugher.
“Are you still going to stay with Mom? You know you’re more than welcome to continue to stay here.”
“Nah, I think it’s time for a change of scenery. Besides, watching you two makes me wanna barf—and depressed. I miss being in love.”
Missy gets up from the couch and heads over to the coat rack.
“Where are you going?” Dana asks over the couch.
“Seeing where the night takes me, little sister.” Melissa opens the apartment door.
“Don’t wait up!” She sends over her shoulder before the door closes behind her.