It was too much for Amelia to stay in Seattle. She had just lost Betty and came to know that Teddy was in fact pregnant with the father being none other than Owen. On top of that Owen said some pretty hurtful things at the lawyer's office when they went to sign Leo's adoption papers. She couldn't even comprehend that such a thing could come out of the mouth of the man who she considered to be the love of her life. There is some fundamental part of you that is incapable of love or being loved. It caused her too much heartache. She needed a change of pace for a few days.
   
    So here she was in San Diego attending The Western States' Conference for Alternative Pain Relief. She could really use some pain relief right now and drugs were not an option! She wanted some change. She even cut her long brown tresses. Her hair was really short now, it ended just a few inches above her shoulders. She asked Bailey for a few days off, packed her bags and flew to San Diego as soon as she heard about the conference. She thought she kind of looked sexy in pant suit and earrings. She generally doesn't dress up but she she wanted to feel good today. Currently Amelia with a list of the sessions she was interested to attend was trying to find where the line to register her name was.

Amelia's PoV :

My God, there are so many sessions I can attend! Now which shall I attend first? The next generation NSAIDS panel sounds appealing. Now where is the registration line?! I never thought so many people attended these conferences. Finally giving up on my search I tap the shoulder of a tall, muscular man in a grey suit in hopes of asking where the freaking line was!
" Excuse me, is this the line...Heyy!!..", I trail off as soon as the person I asked turned and revealed his face. It was Link !! What is he doing here ?! My life is totally trying to play tricks with me! The one person I was trying to avoid in the hospital apart from Owen is here !!

" Heeyy!! What are you doing here??", Link says while chuckling. There is shock evident on his face. Both of us didn't imagine running into each other here.
I forgot I had to speak. Recovering from my shock I scramble for words. " Uhhh..." I look here and there to see something and the banner of the conference comes into view. Finally finding my voice, I say pointing to the banner, " Like the banner says Western States' Conference for Alternative Pain Relief".

" I didn't know you were into this stuff", says Link.

" Yeah I'm not. I mean...I'm interested ever since that day of the mass overdose." Ughh why did I have to mention that day?! Stupid.
Link's expression changes to that of understanding.

"Yeah tough day" , he says with sadness.

" Yes. I cried at you...convulsively. You might recall?"

" I haven't seen you around much since then", Link says with creases on his forehead asking a silent question.

" Yeah that was intentional. It's hard to know where to go after that" He understands and chuckles. I can't help but chuckle along with him. Changing the subject I finally ask him why he is here." Anyway I'm newly into this stuff. How about you?"

"Uh I do like three of these a year. I'm giving um... a lecture." , he says sheepishly.

"WOW!!" I'm shocked. I can't help but stare at his face while he speaks. This is the first time I'm seeing him in something other than scrubs. I can say that he is definitely not hard on the eyes!! The fact that he gives a lecture on this stuff does not help either. I suddenly feel the same Pants Feelings I felt when I first saw him walking around the hospital with that funny looking robotics arm. " When is that?"

" Tomorow. But right now I was gonna hit up this acupuncture demo. Interested? " Again I catch myself staring.  FOCUS!!

" Well I'm headed to this next generation NSAIDS panel. No. But you know what? I think I'd rather get poked." Wait. That sounded sounded disturbingly wrong and dirty. I hurriedly add, "...with needles." I catch a gleam in his eyes. I sigh, "Nevermind. I'm gonna keep avoiding you. Have a nice time". And I take off when I hear him laughing. Stupid stupid stupid. Why couldn't I just keep my mouth shut? I just had to make a fool of myself. Ughh. I look above silently asking God why didn't He give me a filter? I whisper " Oh my God " 

I completely miss Link laughing and the playful look on his face after my ramble when he turned to look at my retreating form.

1 hour later :

Amelia is seriously thinking why she didn't just accompany Link. The NSAIDS panel was so damn boring. She is now headed to something called Sound Bathing.
         A woman leads her to a dark room with numerous makeshift beds on the floor. There were numerous people on the beds. She saw a woman in a white dress sitting in front of what appeared to be a giant instrument. She occupied the bed closest to her. As soon as she turned her head to see the person next to her, she was left speechless again. There he was! In his perfect physique and perfect clothes lying right next to her !! ' Seems like the Gods are not in my favour today! ', she thought.

" Oh. Huh. Okay. Well hello again", she says with a nervous chuckle.

Link turned her way. He really seemed to enjoy her nervousness and asked her all the while chuckling,  " You want me to move?"

" No! No of course not."  Thank God. Link didn't want to move either. He was actually enjoying Amelia's company.

Link closed his eyes and laid back down. She couldn't help but ask after a few awkward seconds. " So what does this do? "
" The frequencies respond to the energy meridians and resonate..." She doesn't let him finish and interrupts him whilst chuckling nervously, " Oh okay. Energy meridians. Oh my God. " She lays back down. He lays down too but says, " You're not supposed to talk"

She laughs and says, " Yeah I'm not supposed to be here." She gets up halfway when suddenly the woman in the white dress starts playing the instrument. Amelia lays back down hearing the sound. It piques her interest. Link slightly smiles and stares at her face for a few seconds thanking God that she decided to stay. He really was liking her company!

After the Sound Bath :

Amelia finally is comfortable around Link.
" Can I walk you back to your room? ", Link asks hoping she'd say yes. He didn't want to say goodbye to her yet.
" Yeah why not", she says with a smile. Link just stares at her smiling face for a few seconds amd nods. They reach her floor. All the while Amelia felt a bit wobbly on her feet. They were making small talk when she suddenly asks, " Did that make you dizzy? Like loopy?" Still wobbly on her feet.

Link looks at her antics and answers while shrugging, " No. It just kinda chilled me out."

With a hint of playfulness, Amelia says, " I feel like I need a meeting. Ooofff. Hey could we sit for a second Link?"

" Yeah. Yeah sure. Let me just find a place..." Link immediately begins searching for a chair or a place for her to sit and trails off when he suddenly finds her sitting right there on the floor with the wall supporting her. He just stands there for a second looking at her. After a few moments he joins her on the floor with the wall behind him supporting their backs. He waits for her to speak.

" Sorry I'm falling apart here."
" No need to apologize", he smiles.

She looks content. Even Amelia doesn't know what prompted her to open up to Link. Was it his warm eyes or welcoming smile or just his calm personality, she didn't know. She told him everything about Betty. How she was an addict and she took her in to help her. She got emotionally attached to her but then her parents came back and she had to say goodbye to her. She told him she missed her and worried about her still. All the while Link was patiently and attentively listening to her.

She thought Link is judging her when he said..." You sound like a...". She yet again interrupted him and completed his sentence for him with a silent question, " A mess? "

"No! A parent. "  His answer shocked her and she turned her face to look at him properly. There was a level of softness in his eyes and a knowing and warm smile on his face while he was telling her about his mother worrying about him when he went to college just like Amelia is worrying about Betty. It was like he understood her to a whole new level.

They continue staring at each other. Amelia's gaze travels to his entire face. Link is observing her looking at him. Suddenly she says, " My God. You are just chiseled." This makes Link laugh loudly. She continues, " ...like a statue. It's like your chin has muscles." She leans slightly forward to stare at his chin properly. Link is chuckling and playfully says,  "Well I do work out my chin pretty hard. It takes a whole day!" It makes her laugh.

Suddenly they feel like a spell has been cast upon them and they can't look away from each other. They continue staring at each other and feel themselves inching closer. When their lips are just slightly away from each other, Amelia turns her head. Link is kinda disappointed that he didn't get to kiss her beautiful mouth. Amelia is a bit nervous and says with a soft smile on her face, " I should go to my room."

" And I should go..." Link trails off looking at her expectantly, hoping Amelia would say what he wants her to say. Instead she says with a knowing smile on her face, "...to your room"

Link is disappointed but understands. They both get up from the floor. " You have a presentation tomorrow and I am not fit for human contact. " She hopes he would understand though she herself is not that happy with her decision but she knows it is the right one.

He nods. "See you in the morning?", he asks hopefully.
"Yeah. Goodnight.", she smiles.
" Night." He looks at her retreating form longingly for a few long moments. She turns and they share an eye contact briefly. Both of them then turn around heading their separate ways.

They keep running into each other both intentionally and unintentionally and engage in heavy flirting for the rest of the conference. They just can't help themselves as they are obviously very attracted to each other. Soon it is time for Link's speech. Her presence brings a smile to his face and he stops for a second to admire her. When he continues with his speech, he knows many will be hurt with his course of treatment but continues anyway. Midway he finds Amelia leaving as she is obviously offended. He is highly disheartened as she didn't get to hear the good part before judging him.

He goes back to her room after his lecture in the hope of redeeming himself. He knocks on her door and moments later comes face to face with her. She is initially very rude to him and accused him of failing and costing a child his life. Link is hurt and tells her the rest of the story how he left medicine for a year and is now back and trying to do everything he can to fix the broken system.

"...maybe we can fight this thing together like Batman and...Batman." This seems to do the trick and her gaze finally softens. She smiles and takes a step towards him. " Okay "

" So you're not mad at me anymore? 'Cause for a second there, it looked like you wanted to hit me ", he says this sheepishly.

" I've got a bit of a hair trigger which can be scary." She smiles and apologizes for her behaviour. " I'm sorry. I've been in a weird place these days."

" I can roll with weird " , he flirts. He doesn't want to part with her yet and asks her out to dinner. He notices her eyes glazing over when she steps closer and says " Yes". But soon denies shaling her head, "No " and kisses him full on the lips.

Link is astonished for a second. He feels that electrifying spark between them in that kiss that jolts through his entire body. He quickly recovers from his initial shock and hungrily kisses her back. He wraps his arms around her waist and brings her body closer to his. He had been wanting to do that since the minute he saw her rambling the day before.

Amelia doesn't know what came over her. She just knew that she wanted to kiss him. No. She had to. She needed to kiss him. She wraps her arms around his neck when she feels him pulling her body closer to his by grabbing hold of her slim waist.

He slides his hand up her back eliciting a moan from her all the while kissing her desperately when she feels him pulling back slightly. She stares at him questioningly and prays that he doesn't back out. She really needed him close to her. He rests his forehead against hers briefly before answering.

" I feel like I'm taking advantage ", he says with his eyes downcast.
" Why? "
" Because you're in a place and I think you're insanely pretty." This seals the deal. Now she knows that she isn't doing anything wrong.
" The feeling is mutual" , she smiles her charming smile. His eyes glaze over and he stares at her mouth hungrily when she moves her hands from around his neck and starts unbuttoning his coat and removes it. It drops on the floor when he leans down and captures her parted lips. He kisses her hungrily and brings her body even closer to his if that is possible, all the while Amelia was hurriedly unbuttoning his shirt.

She lets go of his shirt and wraps her hands around his neck again when her pulls her even closer trying go get some friction. Link groans when her pelvis comes in contact with his causing Amelia to moan. They kiss vigorously when she suddenly pulls back. She just had to say this one thing. It is now Link's turn to look at her questioningly. Amelia doesn't want complicated now. She is done with messy.

" This isn't going anywhere. It's just alternative pain relief. "
" I could use some of that ", he says with a sultry smile without hesitation.

Link leans in and bites her lower lip. They start kissing as if their life depended on it. He slowly starts backing her up towards the bed. She now pushes his shirt over his shoulders and it slides down. Link picks her petite body up in his muscular arms and lowers them on the bed never breaking their kiss. He pins her small body on the bed with his big bulky one and moves down to her neck eliciting a moan from her.

Their aerobic alternative pain relief continued till the wee hours of the morning until both of them tired each other out and succumbed to blissful sleep. Both had content smiles on their faces excited for the future and the experiences that behold them.

Author's Notes:
Hey guys!! So this was the end of the first chapter. I remember that I said I'll post it tomorrow but I just couldn't wait!!! It's a bit long and I hope you really like it. Please share your thoughts in the comments!! I'd really like to know whether I should continue this story or not. The next chapter will be up in a few days. I just have so many ideas for AmeLink! Can't wait ;)