Roswell Fanatics

Eva: Isabel knows her brother and she knows how much pushing she can get away with before he shuts down. She also seems to know a little bit about reverse psychology, lol.

Tess has become a welcome distraction for Kyle and she provides an excellent counterbalance to his mother’s overbearing behavior.

It’s about time, isn’t it?

sarammlover: We’re glad to hear that! Kyle and Tess are a lot of fun. Tony definitely tells it like it is and Courtney needed someone who would do that. Lol, yeah, that would be irritating. Isabel’s great and at that moment she’s exactly what Michael needed.

Natalie36: Kyle’s so happy about that too! Courtney doesn’t know how to deal with Michael.

begonia9508: Thanks!

Michael is pretty grumpy right now, but he’s got a lot that he’s dealing with. Luckily, he has a big sister who knows when to push and just how much she can get away with before he kicks her out.

Lol, Kyle’s recovery is sure to go a lot better with the girls than with his mother.

Earth2Mama: There’s a very good chance that this time staying with the girls may just open Kyle’s eyes to a few realizations.

Well…

CandyliciousLovah: Lol, big sister wasn’t taking no for an answer. She was gonna get her way one way or the other. Sarah’s not likely to keep those opinions to herself, but so far Tess has managed to be the bigger woman time and again.

Roswelllostcause: Thanks! She does… and will eventually.

keepsmiling7: Looks like the guys may just be what’s needed to make some headway on the case.



Part 151

Freedom


Kyle could just imagine the looks on his parents’ faces, his mother especially, and as soon as the chime signaled the doors closing he held his uninjured hand up for a high-five.

She slapped it and chuckled. “Only a few more minutes.”

“My mom’s always been overprotective, but since the divorce thing’s come up... jeez!”

“It’s because you’re an only child. Believe me, it was never like that in the Guerin household. If we were sick or hurt we got bandaged and then had to move on.”

“Kinda like triage.” That made him laugh.

“Yep.”

“You should’ve seen her when I told them I wanted to join the fire department.” He snorted. “I thought she was gonna write a note to the Chief to try and get me out of it.”

The elevator doors opened again and she pushed the wheelchair out into the open hall where lots of people were waiting or trying to figure out where they needed to go. “Well, let’s hope she won’t show up in Brooklyn every day, huh?”

“Maybe she’ll chill out once she sees you girls have everything under control.”

“Yeah, there’s hope.”

“There is that.” He could feel the heat from the sun on his face and arms as they neared the automatic doors and he inhaled deeply when they opened with a quiet hiss, drawing in a lungful of the humid air. “God, that feels good.” He felt the hot air rush over him, heard the cacophony of sounds that hit him all at once; the subway below ground, audible through the metal grates that dotted the city, the constant honking of horns, tires squealing as brakes were applied with too much force, the hum of conversation, the staccato slap of shoe soles against the pavement, and as always, somewhere in the distance, the piercing siren of police cruisers and fire engines as they raced through the streets.

“Seriously?” Tess snorted at the muggy air and the noise.

“Yeah.” He smiled and tilted his face up to the sun. “I’ll bet the sky’s a deep blue and there probably isn’t a cloud in sight.”

“Now you’re a poet?” she laughed.

“Hell no! I just know what the sky looks like on days like this.”

“And you’ll soon see it again,” she squeezed his shoulder.

He crossed his arm over his chest to reach up and cover her hand for a second. “Yeah, can’t wait for that.”

“You’re gonna like our new apartment. It’s even cooler than the one Maria an’ I had before.”

“It’s not here so I already love it. You guys have cable, right?”

She snorted. “Sure.”

“Cool. There’s a game on tomorrow night, we can watch it.”

“Sure. What kinda beer you like? Wait, can you have beer yet?”

He bit his bottom lip as he considered lying but then thought better of it. He didn’t really wanna do anything to set his recovery back or put him back in the hospital. “Well, not if you believe what my doctor says.”

“Okay, we’ll get you something else then,” she shrugged. “Guess there’s still time to damage your liver later.”

Kyle chuckled when he heard his mother’s shocked gasp as she and Dad joined them. “It’s just a joke, Mom.”

“You shouldn’t do anything unhealthy for a while. Your body needs to recover,” the older woman replied anyway, the disagreement over his decision to stay with his friends obvious in her tone.

“Sarah, leave the boy alone,” Jim muttered as he reached out to grab her arm just hard enough to get her attention. “They have the doctor’s orders and he’ll be surrounded by people who work in medically-related fields.”

“Why don’t you guys wait here while I get the car?” Tess suggested, eager to get him away from his folks

“That’ll be fine,” Jim assured her before Sarah could put her two cents in.

“Make it fast,” Kyle said with a forced smile. “A guy could get a sunburn sittin’ out here too long.”

“I’ll be right back,” she agreed and hurried away to the short term parking lot, where she had parked Tony’s Escalade earlier. It only took her two minutes to reach it, but almost five minutes to drive back to the front of the hospital where they were waiting. “Your transport’s here.”

“Traffic must be the usual nightmare,” he grunted as he slowly got to his feet, desperate to get away from the prying eyes and the hushed whispers all around him. He knew part of it was just his imagination, but that didn’t make things any better.

“Yeah, it is, but at least the car’s nice and cool,” she agreed and opened the passengers’ side door.

He reached out with his good hand, feeling along the inside of the doorframe until he located the hand grip. With a hold on it he felt around with his foot, grateful when Tess made no move to help him as he searched for the stepside. Once he located it he gauged the distance to the seat and carefully levered himself up into it, settling back into the comfortable leather bucket seat and sighing contentedly at the feeling of independence that rose above the exhaustion at the brief physical activity.

Tess turned to look at his parents. “We’re good to go. So I guess we’ll see you guys whenever ya got the time to visit us in Brooklyn, right?”

“You get him settled in and we’ll give him a few days before we come by. If you need anything just give one of us a call,” Jim said, not mentioning Leo because he knew she intended for the dog’s visit to be a surprise.

“Alright,” she nodded and then walked around the car while his parents said their goodbyes to their son.

Kyle dropped his head back against the headrest when the doors finally closed, shutting out his mother’s well-meaning but overwhelming concern and the noise of the city. “You weren’t kiddin’ about homemade pizza for dinner, right?”

“Nope, not the slightest bit.” She shifted into the driving lane and they finally took off. “I’m glad you’re finally outta there,” she admitted after a while and reached over to squeeze his hand briefly.

“Me too.” He tried unsuccessfully to suppress a yawn. “I kept waitin’ for them to change their mind about releasing me.”

“No way, I told your doctor it would only damage your brain more if he kept you longer.”

He snorted. “The scary thing is he probably believed you.”

“Yeah,” she chuckled. “I’m afraid things outside the hospital are maddening as well now.”

“Somethin’ new goin’ on that I should know about?”

“Depends... what do you know already?”

He shrugged one shoulder and yawned again. “We’ve got a major storm brewing between Michael and Maria, Cody’s getting worse, Maria’s been mugged, and some ex-Army buddy of Evans gave her a hand, Whitman’s missing, Michael’s gone off the grid... Did I miss anything?”

“What kinda storm ya mean?” Had Michael said anything to him?

He turned his face towards her, one eyebrow raised. “Like she didn’t tell you.”

“Didn’t tell me what?”

He snorted at her evasive response. There was no way Maria hadn’t confided in her about what had happened between her and Michael the night of the photo shoot. “I dunno.”

“Uh-huh, I dunno either.”

“So we both know but we’re not gonna talk about what’s goin’ on between our best friends?”

“What do you think about the things we don’t know that have happened?”

It took him a moment to unravel that tongue twister. “I think if what we think should happen actually does happen it’ll make all of our lives a little easier,” he said, responding in a similarly confusing manner.

“He’s not talking to her right now, you could say he’s ignoring her.”

“He’s not talkin’ to anyone right now.”

“Yeah, but he’s always talked to her, or at least he’d put up with her presence.”

“He just needs some time. It’s the first time she’s been part of what’s caused him to withdraw.”

“Yeah, I guess. He’s forgetting something important though.”

“What’s that?”

“That she needs him right now.”

“Yeah, he can’t see that right now. I don’t think he can let himself see that.”

She sighed. “He should see it, ya know? He really should.”

“Yeah, but he’s in a pretty dangerous position right now. He’s already crossed the line and it’s making him question not only his relationships, but also the kinda guy he is and wants to be.”

“When did you get so rational?” She looked over and slapped his leg playfully.

He snorted. “It’s all those friggin’ talk shows I had to listen to every time my mom spent the afternoon with me.”

“No more talk shows for you,” she shook her head and concentrated back on the traffic in front of them. “It creeps me out when a guy’s more rational than I am.”

He snorted. “You think it creeps you out?!”

“Uh-huh. We’ll get some good sport events on for you. Ya know, bring ya back to real man status.”

“Real man? Ouch, just kick a guy while he’s down, why don’t ya?”

Tess laughed and felt her nerves relax as they crossed the Manhattan Bridge over to Brooklyn. She had been on edge all day before picking him up, expecting something to come between their plans to bring him home. “I guess you don’t have to take every word too seriously right now. It’s been a crazy few weeks.”

“Got a newsflash for you,” he teased, “I never take your words too seriously.”

“Never, huh?”

He smirked. “Never ever.”

“Well, good, I’ll remind you next time you’re mad at me for something I said to or about you.”

“Well played,” he chuckled.

A ringing cell interrupted them and Tess pushed a button to put it on speaker. “Hey, Chica, what’s up?” she greeted Maria on the other end.

“I’m running to the grocery store. Anything you can think of that we’ll need this week?”

“The biggest steak you can find,” Kyle spoke up before Tess could suggest something like alfalfa sprouts just to push his buttons.

“I’ve planned only salad for you,” she countered through the cell and laughed. “Steak, got it, Valenti.”

“It’s good to hear you laugh. I’ll agree to a side salad, but only a really small one. The salad should never be bigger than the steak.”

“Only a man would say that,” Tess snorted. “Hey, bring some bacon for breakfast as well.”

Oh, yeah, he thought. He could practically smell breakfast cooking. “It’s a fact. No one orders a salad with a meal on the side.”

“We’ll discuss this later,” Maria said and cursed at some driver who had just honked. “Call me if ya think of anything else alright? I’ll see you guys in a bit.”

“That’s why women shouldn’t talk on the phone and drive at the same time,” Kyle said and laughed.

“I think she was walking,” Tess said. “There’s a grocery store just a couple blocks from our building.”

He shrugged. “Sometimes walking and talking ranks up there with driving and talking.”

“Shut up,” she slapped his leg again and held her breath when he caught her hand this time.

“Maybe you should try an’ make me,” he challenged as he ran his thumb over her knuckles.

Her eyes dropped to their joined hands for a moment and she found herself once again glad that he couldn’t see her face right now because she was sure she was as red as a tomato. “I would if I wasn’t driving.”

“Guess I’ll just have to wait and see if you can do it when we get home.”

There were ways to shut him up, she thought, her mind drifting back to the bathroom at the beach house where things had gotten very heated. And complicated afterwards, she reminded herself. “Don’t tempt me,” she replied. No way was she going to take the first step.

He just smiled and leaned his head back, sliding his fingers through hers and resting their joined hands on his thigh.

Maybe things were changing for the better, she thought and looked out over the water of the East River. Her hand in his felt so right – it was something she had dreamed of for so many years now and it was almost too good to be suddenly coming true.

“Tony said you guys have a pretty sweet setup at the new apartment,” Kyle said after a while. He wasn’t sure how close they were, but traffic hadn’t been too bad so he figured they had to be nearing their destination.

“It’s a dream. Quiet, but still not far from everything, a nice little backyard, lots of storage room and space.”

“Sounds good. Guess Max must hang there a lot, huh?”

“Yeah, he stays around a lot and spoils us,” she agreed. “I’m sure he’s got a silent agreement with Tony and my brother to make sure we’re alright with all the shit going on lately.”

“Probably, but I guess you guys aren’t complainin’ about it.”

“No, he’s been very good to us and I think secretly he’s enjoying staying with us since we’re good company an’ our apartment’s much nicer than his.”

He snorted at that. “It’s probably only nicer than his ‘cause it’s got three girls in it.”

“Four right now.”

“Oh, right, Isabel’s hangin’ with you guys for now. Well, he’d have to be stupid to not be enjoying the hell outta stayin’ at your place then.”

“You’re just about to enjoy it yourself,” she said and squeezed his hand lightly.

“We here?” He turned his head out of habit and sighed when nothing but darkness greeted him, reminding him once again that he couldn’t see.

“Yeah,” she stopped the car in front of the building. “Can you smell it?”

“Smell it?”

She grinned and opened his window. “Fresh air.”

“Oh,” he laughed, “I’m glad you said that. I thought maybe Maria beat us back here an’ she’d started cookin’ already.”

“Funny,” she opened her door and got out to walk around the car to open his door. “We’re lucky. There was an empty spot right in front.”

“Nothin’ funny about that,” he said as he got out of the car, appreciating her help and wishing it wasn’t necessary at the same time. His movements were still slow and careful in deference to the chest injuries he’d sustained in the explosion.

Tess guided him to their building slowly, trying to not make him feel like a total charity case. “Seven steps ahead in five... four... three... two... well, now.”

“Seven, huh? Guess that’s better than the trek at Maria’s old apartment, huh?” He turned his head when he heard a dog barking nearby and a couple of kids yelling at each other as they played some game or other. “Sounds like a nice neighborhood.”

“It is and I think anything even half as good as this would be an improvement over Maria’s apartment before.”

He snorted and mounted the steps slowly, painfully conscious of how close she was every step of the way. “No more steps once we’re inside, right? I’m on the middle floor?”

“No more steps for you,” she agreed.

“That’s good. I don’t think I’m ready for more of ‘em just yet.”

“Do you have to do some kind of exercises daily or something? Ya know, to get some strength back?”

“Doc wants me to walk a bit every day. I can’t use my arm yet and I’m not supposed to do anything that requires upper body strength until I’ve been cleared by him and the pulmonary doc.”

“Our backyard’s nice an’ even, perfect for your short walks.”

“Cool, that sounds good.” And it’d be well away from prying eyes, he thought.

She opened the door and took a step in. “Come in and welcome to our casa, Mr Valenti. We hope you’ll enjoy your stay.”

Kyle snorted. “You sound like one of those people at the hotel that show you to your room,” he said as he carefully stepped inside where he was greeted with cool air. “Guess you should probably give me the grand tour so I can count off my steps.”

“Sure,” she agreed and closed the door behind him. “You’re now in the huge living room slash kitchen.” Without a second of hesitation, she grabbed his hand again and guided him towards the kitchen.

He listened to her as she talked while mentally counting off the steps and mapping the apartment in his head.

“We don’t have too much furniture, so you should get around fine,” she stopped in front of the last door. “Here’s the bathroom with a toilet and sink. So everything you need.”

“Hey, the open space is perfect and everything’s easy enough to get to so maneuvering around should be a piece of cake. I might not be able to see it, but it’s got a good feel to it.”

“Good. Feel free to ask whenever you need something. If we’re in the mood, we might help.”

On impulse he stuck his tongue out at her. “Thanks for that.”

“Good,” she tugged on his hand. “Come on, let’s have a seat.” It wasn’t a big surprise he was exhausted, but he wouldn’t admit it.

He nodded gratefully when he sank down on the couch. “This new?” he asked.

“Yep.” She walked into the kitchen. “Something to drink?”

“Yeah, apple juice if you’ve got it. Water’s fine if you don’t.” He wasn’t a big fan of juice drinks but he was supposed to avoid caffeine for a while and orange juice just gave him heartburn.

“You’re lucky, Isabel loves it.”

“You’re right, I forgot about that.” The girl loved anything with apples in it. “So where’s the rest of the girls at?”

“Isabel’s at work and Liz is too, I think.”

“So, just me, you an’ Maria? Which one of you’s gonna cook?”

“We make a pretty good team in the kitchen.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet you do.” He could just imagine how well they worked as a team in other areas too. He cleared his throat before his mind could take hold of that thought and run with it. “So, you got cable?” He had to keep his mind from going anywhere near that idea.

“Sure as hell. Remote’s right in front of you on the coffee table, button in the left upper corner to turn it on.”

“Cool, thanks.” He fumbled around on the table and retrieved the remote before carefully slouching back on the couch and turning the television on. It was easy enough to figure out where the buttons were to change the channels and adjust the volume and it didn’t take long to find a movie full of action. He sighed contentedly and without realizing it he began to doze.

Tess started with the salad for dinner, trying to be quiet since his posture gave away the fact that he’d fallen asleep. She was about to get the dressing ready when the doorbell rang loud enough to wake him again. “Great,” she muttered to herself, expecting it to be Maria, who had forgotten her key, but the teasing words got stuck in her throat when she opened the door and found someone totally unexpected standing there. “Courtney,” she said, trying to sound less stunned than she was. What the hell? “Uh, excuse me for being rude, but why are you here?”

Across the room Kyle snorted softly. He had no idea why she was excusing herself for sounding rude.

Courtney stared at her for a moment, shocked to see Tess standing there when she had been expecting Maria. “Um, I was hoping to talk to Maria. Is she home?”

“No, she’s-” her words trailed off when her friend suddenly appeared on the stairs behind Courtney, her face as shocked as her own a moment ago. “Well, I guess she’s home now.”

“Oh, Maria,” Courtney said as she moved aside since she was blocking the door, “good, you’re home. Do you have a minute to talk?”

NO, she wanted to scream. “Depends, what ya wanna talk about?”

“Um, well... I’d like to talk about Michael.”

begonia9508: You’re definitely not imagining it!

Lol, it definitely has a Twilight Zone type of feel to it, doesn’t it? We’ll get to that talk between the two girls today.

Earth2Mama: Lol, we have a feeling she’d drive anyone nuts!

That conversation is coming up today. You’re right – Michael needs to have that particular talk with Courtney.

sarammlover: Tess knows how to give Kyle his space and Kyle’s really seeing Tess for the first time. Lol, what does Courtney want? We’ll find out today.

keepsmiling7: Thanks for reading!

CandyliciousLovah: Gotta love the unexpected! That was a definite cliffhanger but we’ll look in on that talk today.

Eva: We’re really seeing some forward movement with these two and things are leaning in a positive direction.

That conversation will be happening today. Lol, that may be a bit more fantasy than we have coming up, but the next few parts should reveal an interesting turn of events.

Roswelllostcause: Yeah, that doesn’t seem like a very good thing, does it? Tess is awesome with Kyle and we have a feeling he really appreciates it.

Rodney: Lol, we have quite a few of those coming up. Yeah, the accident’s really opened his eyes so to speak.

That talk could definitely take an ugly turn.

L-J-L 76: Thanks!

It won’t be too long before we’re checking in on them again.



Part 152

Hostile Meeting

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Maria denied. Courtney was probably here to rip her hair out for making out with him and right now she really wasn’t in a mood for a conversation like that. So, he had cheated on her? Well, she could pour her hate down on him, not on her.

“Maria, you have no idea how hard it is for me to even be here. Please, I’m worried about him.”

“Worried?” The word was out before she had time to think about it. So he hadn’t told her about their encounter? She wasn’t sure if she liked that or not.

“I haven’t talked to him in days. He was supposed to pick me up from the airport and he wasn’t there, I tried calling him and he won’t answer. I went to the station and Tony told me what had happened to his coworker and I went by his apartment afterwards but... he wouldn’t answer the door. Or maybe he wasn’t home, I don’t know. All I know is he must be hurting and he’s alone, and...” she swallowed down her pride, “I thought maybe you’d know where he is or maybe you’d have some advice on how to get through to him.”

Gosh, she wanted to send her away so badly, but she couldn’t. The fact that she cared about him even though he had done everything to push her away was enough to smooth her dislike over. “Come on in,” Maria gave in and handed Tess one of the bags from the grocery store.

“But...” Tess protested.

“Can you start dinner?” she asked her with a pleading look. “It won’t take long.”

“Maybe I can give you a hand,” Kyle said, pushing himself up a little more upright. He knew Tess was trying to protect Maria and he also knew Maria was about to fall on her own sword for Michael. He didn’t like it but he respected the hell out of her for being willing to do it.

“No, you stay where you are, Valenti,” Maria said as she entered the apartment. “She’s capable of doing this all on her own without having to watch over you burning your fingers. You’ve never been a great cook.” She pushed him back on the couch gently and leaned over him to kiss his cheek. “Hey you, welcome home.”

“Thanks.” He reached up to catch her hand and grabbed her arm instead, but that was all the leverage he needed to keep her close. “Don’t sacrifice yourself over this, M’ria,” he murmured.

“I won’t,” she promised and looked at Courtney, who was standing awkwardly in the room. “Let’s go in the backyard.”

Tess rolled her eyes the moment the door closed behind them. “I can’t believe that bitch came here and asked for Maria’s help with Michael!” she hissed.

“She obviously has no clue WHO she’s asking.”

“Are you kidding?” She pulled the groceries out of the bags and placed them on the counter with more force than necessary. “How can she NOT know?”

“He’s been avoiding her. Hardly possible she’s learned the truth yet,” he stated and walked over to the kitchen to sit on one of the barstools carefully.

“Even not knowing about what happened between them she knows there’s a connection between them. Otherwise she wouldn’t be so dead set against the two of them spending time together.”

“Yeah, well, what would you do if your boyfriend started to avoid you and there was no one to give you any answers why?”

“I sure as hell wouldn’t go to the one person I believed was my biggest rival.”

He chuckled slightly. “She’s not the smartest person I know.”

She rolled her eyes. “Talk about nerve! And, Kyle, really, there’s no way she hasn’t seen that ad yet! That ad’s not them acting out a part and if she can’t see that she’s even more stupid than I already think she is.”

“Maybe she’s just looking for closure.”

“Really? Either she lied to get in the door or she really came over here hoping Maria would help her with her problems with Michael.”

Kyle chuckled at her impatient tone. “I’m sure you’ll learn soon enough, Guerin.”

“Yeah, well,” she stood up on her tiptoes as she leaned closer to the window over the sink in an effort to see into the backyard, “I still say she’s stupid.”

Maria walked along the backyard, not able to sit still since she wasn’t sure if Courtney really was there for advice or if there was more to it. “So, I’m not sure what you’re lookin’ for here,” she started, stopping at the tree and leaning her back against it.

“Well, you’re his best friend and he’s told me you’ve seen each other through some pretty rough patches, so I thought maybe you could tell me where he’d go after something like this and maybe how I should approach him.”

“He’s not talking to me either, Courtney.”

“No?” Her mind flashed back to the ad plastered in Times Square. “I thought you’re the one he always lets in?”

“Me an’ Michael have history and it’s true, we’ve been through a lot of shit and he’s probably more open about things with me than with others, but that doesn’t mean he always comes to me when things are bad. Right now he’s locked himself away from everybody.”

She bit her tongue when that ad flashed before her eyes once again. She wasn’t gonna get anywhere if she started making accusations. “Do you know where he is?”

“He could be at home, just ignoring everyone,” Maria guessed. There was another place he would go when things got to be too much for him, but she wouldn’t ever tell anyone about it.

Courtney sighed and paced around the yard for a few minutes. “Maria, I know you know him a lot better than I do. And maybe that shouldn’t bother me, but it does. You KNOW him. You know how he thinks, how he reacts to situations, and you know how to reach him.” She rubbed her throat, hating the way it closed up as she tried to force her next words out. “We’ve had our differences, but he’s obviously in a lot of pain right now so if there’s anything you can do...”

Maria’s heart clenched at the thought of her best friend hurting. “But I’ve already tried and he sent me away.” For a reason I can’t tell you, she added in her thoughts.

“Then you have to try again!” she insisted. “If there’s any chance at all he’ll let you in and help him deal with this loss then you can’t just stay uninvolved. I don’t wanna be here asking you to do this. You have no idea what it took for me to come here, but if you can reach him then I’m willing to set all that aside and ask for your help.”

If you knew the truth, you wouldn’t come asking! “I’ll try to talk to him again,” she finally agreed, not sure how she would manage that. The last time she had tried, he had sent her away and it still hurt.

“Thank you,” she said, relieved that maybe now he’d be able to find his way back. “I know he’ll listen to you, Maria. He said before that you helped him when his brother died so I just know you’re the one he’ll listen to. And, if you could just ask him to call me so I know he’s okay, I’d really appreciate it.”

“Don’t thank me too soon,” the other girl said quietly. She felt like shit for agreeing to this when she was the girl her boyfriend had cheated on her with.

“No, it’s not too early. I know he’ll talk to you.”

“Don’t worry too much about him not calling you. Once he gets his thoughts back in order he’ll turn back to his friends.”

Courtney nodded. “Well, I guess I should go. I’m gonna go by his place on my way to work and see if he’s home. I’ll call you if he is, let you know he’s okay.”

“Alright,” she agreed, begging anyone listing for him to magically talk to his girlfriend so she would get outta this.

“Thank you again.” She looked around the yard but didn’t see a gate. “I guess I’ll have to go inside to get back out to the street?”

“Yeah.” Maria walked inside first and straight to the front door to let her out. There was no way she could bear her inside the walls.

Tess rolled her eyes the moment Courtney was gone. “Tell me you did not just do anything to help her stupid ass,” she demanded.

She sighed and leaned against the closed front door. “I just agreed to try to talk to him again.”

“Why? Because he won’t talk to her?”

“Tess,” Kyle called her name quietly.

“No, she has no right to come crawling to Maria because her boyfriend won’t talk to her. What’s she supposed to do? Fix him and make him all better so he can go right back to Shitney? That’s bullshit!”

“Give her a break,” he tried again. He couldn’t see any of them, but he could feel the tension in the air.

“Maria, you’re putting yourself out there again when he’s already kicked you out the door.”

“Just let it go, Tess,” she begged. The way her friend was acting it wouldn’t be long before Kyle knew something was up as well.

“Let’s get back to dinner,” Kyle said, hoping to diffuse the situation. Tess was indignant that Courtney had come to Maria for help and he could understand that, but Maria was close to the breaking point and if she continued she was only going to push her away.

“You should go back to the couch,” Maria told him. “Kick back and relax a bit.”

“Only if you two behave yourselves. Cat fights are only fun if you can see ‘em.”

“What? You can’t use your imagination?”

“Yeah,” he laughed, “but the real thing’s so much better.”

“I think we’ll behave,” Maria said, shooting a pleading look at Tess. She really wasn’t in the mood for any discussion right now.

“Either that or we’ll need to get a big pool of Jell-o and you two can put on bikinis and wrestle it out.”

“In your dreams, Valenti.”

“Well, we won’t discuss what goes on in my dreams.”

“No?” Maria teased. “Well, that’s too bad.”

“We could discuss yours.”

“We could,” she admitted. “But it’s highly doubtful any of you wanna hear anything about a naked Michael. Am I right?”

“Ungh, gross!” Tess shuddered. “Hell, no. His baby pictures are about as naked as I ever hope to see or hear about my brother.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna pass on that too,” Kyle said with a snort. “No thank you!”

“Thought so.”

“Guess that leaves you, Tess.” He slouched down into a comfortable position and sighed contentedly. “Wanna share?”

“My dreams?” She glanced at Maria, shaking her head at her when she caught her wiggling her eyebrows and pointing a finger at Kyle, quietly shouting: YOU, YOU, YOU!

“Yep, time to pony up.” He picked the remote up out of habit and tapped it against his stomach while he waited. “C’mon, tell me what you dream about.”

“Um, nothing in particular, I sleep very deeply,” she said with a blush while Maria was holding her stomach and laughing silently.

“Uh-huh, sure you do.” His tone was completely disbelieving.

Tess was so glad when the front door opened and Liz walked in, taking everyone’s focus away from her dreams. “Hey, where’s your Prince Charming?”

Liz smiled and shook her head. “Max is still at the studio. He had an appointment that ran late, but he’ll be by later.”

“We were just talkin’ about dreams,” Maria threw in.

“Oh? Anyone’s dreams in particular?”

“Tess,” she and Kyle answered at the same time.

“Um-hmm, and who have you been dreaming about?”

“Channing Tatum,” she stated dryly.

“Well, he’s definitely dream worthy,” she agreed although she had her doubts that was the man featuring in the girl’s dreams.

“Hell, yeah,” Maria agreed. “I wanna Channing all of your Tatum,” she sang loudly.

He had no idea what all the uproar was about, he thought, shaking his head at the name. The guy wasn’t like a huge name or anything, but the girls had seen him in some movie and he’d made an impression on them. “I don’t even wanna speculate what that means.”

“It’s sad if you actually have to speculate, Valenti,” she countered.

“Well, if it means what I’m fairly certain it means,” he made a face, “I’d rather not even go there.”

Tess chuckled and went to get some plates out of the cupboard in the kitchen. “Why don’t ya tell us who you dream about?”

“You girls know I love you, but um... no.”

“Killjoy!”

He snorted. “Entrapment,” he countered.

“What’s for dinner?” Liz tried to take the conversation in a different direction.

“Yeah, let’s talk food,” Kyle agreed. “I’m good with never knowin’ what Evans is doin’ in her dreams.”

“Who needs dreams when ya have reality?” she told him coolly.

“Ouch.” He slouched down further and tapped the remote on his knee.

“Don’t brag about your perfect love life, Parker,” Maria warned her.

Liz rolled her eyes at them. “It’s not exactly perfect.” No, but it was close enough where her relationship with Max was concerned, she thought.

“It’s a lot of more perfect than what the rest of us has,” the blonde corrected her.

She thought about that for a moment and had to admit it was true. “Well, okay, I guess if you put it that way.” She grinned and shrugged. “It’ll happen for you guys too.”

Tess just snorted at that and her gaze wandered to the man sitting on the couch. They had made progress, but she wasn’t sure if there was a chance for Kyle and her. He already knew how she felt about him and for some reason the accident had allowed her to get close to him again with his permission. But what would happen when he had healed and everything was back to normal?

“C’mon, you’ve gotta be positive.”

Maria rolled her eyes at the optimistic words. “Yeah, sure.”

“Michael will come around and-,” Liz caught herself before she said something about Kyle, remembering in time that BOTH halves of that particular ‘couple’ were in this room. “Uh, you’ll find someone too, Tess.” Her expression was apologetic as she mouthed a ‘sorry’ towards the other girl.

“She’s right,” Kyle said as he propped his injured arm on one of the throw pillows. It was starting to ache but he didn’t want to take any of his pain meds just yet. He also wanted to know what the girls weren’t saying. “You’ve just gotta give him time to wrap his head around things. With all the shit goin’ on here lately the guy’s havin’ trouble sortin’ everything out.”

Maria frowned at his words, but Tess walked past her and muttered, “He knows” into her ear, which made her eyes widen.

Seriously? she mouthed at her friend, who just nodded dumbly at her.

He shifted in an effort to find a comfortable spot when the girls all suddenly went quiet. He couldn’t figure out what had happened until it dawned on him that Maria probably hadn’t realized Michael had opened his trap about what had gone down between them. “So when’s the food gonna be ready?”

“Soon,” Tess dismissed him. “You can’t be that hungry.”

“I beg to differ.” He flipped through a handful of channels before getting bored. “Who talked to Guerin last?”

“Which Guerin do you mean?”

Why was talking to girls always such a headache, he wondered. “Michael.”

“Me, I guess,” Maria said while handing her friend some stuff out of the refrigerator.

“He do much talkin’?”

“Other than telling me to leave him the hell alone?” she asked sarcastically.

That wasn’t normal behavior for his best friend. Yeah, he pushed people away when bad stuff happened and he pulled into himself, but Maria was the one he had always allowed past that protective wall. “Were you plannin’ to try an’ talk to him again?”

“Before Courtney came? Definitely not, but well, I kinda agreed to try it again.” She made a face.

He shook his head. “Maria, if you’re gonna talk to him, do it for you an’ him, don’t do it for her.”

“I’ll try to get a hold of him again, but I won’t do it for Courtney.”

He nodded approvingly. “Good.” He didn’t know if Michael was just ignoring his girlfriend or if he had gone into hiding. He had a feeling it was both though. “When’re you gonna give it another shot?”

“I don’t know. She said she can’t get a hold of him and he’s most likely not home.” Maria sighed and looked at some photos that were plastered on their refrigerator door, one of them showing Matt maybe a year or two before he died. “He’s most likely at Ground Zero.”

Kyle sighed. If Michael had retreated that far he was in a seriously dark place. “He’s been under a lot of pressure lately and it just hasn’t let up.”

“Maybe I should just get over with it and go today,” Maria mused. She had planned to relax at home for once after all the stress, but it seemed like it wasn’t meant to be.

“You know better than anybody how he can be when he’s like this, but it’s the first time you’ve ever been lumped in with the rest of us,” Tess said slowly. “If you think someone else should try...”

“No,” she sighed. “I’m gonna go kick his ass myself. Just cross your fingers I find him.”

“Michael’s predictable at times and even if he’s buried under a truckload of emotional baggage I have a feelin’ he’ll be where he knows you’ll find him.” Kyle made a rolling motion with his left hand. “You guys got any good movies?”

“Depends on what ya think is good,” Maria walked up to him and handed him a few and then remembering he couldn’t see them. “Well, pick one and be surprised. I’m gonna go find the devil.”

“Well, that’s kinda harsh,” Liz said with a shake of her head. “I’m sure he’s not the devil.”

“Maybe not,” she agreed and looked down at herself, deciding that jean shorts and a tank top were good enough for a visit – in case she found him. Just thinking about talking to him again, repeating a scene similar to Sunday, made her stomach ache.

Tess looked up and met her best friend’s gaze. She knew it was possible that Michael might react just as badly as he had on Maria’s last visit. “You’ll call if you need anything.”

“Sure, I will,” she agreed, but knew she most likely wouldn’t. “Think Tony will mind of I take his car?”

“Carter’s a big marshmallow,” Kyle snorted. “Any of you girls could ask him for anything and he’d say yes.”

“I’ll check with him in case he needs it,” Maria pulled out her cell and dialed Tony’s number.

“As much as they’re workin’ I can’t see him needin’ it for much,” Kyle said as he debated between the handful of movies he’d been given. Damn things weren’t easy to pick when you didn’t know what your choices were.

“We’ll keep something for you for dinner when you get back,” Liz said when she joined Tess in the kitchen to help out.

*****

The door opened and the hinges creaked loudly, pulling Alex from a fitful sleep. He coughed and blinked slowly, trying to make out the shadowed figure standing in the open doorway. He was sore all over and there was a rattle in his chest that was starting to become more pronounced the longer he was kept in his prison. It was dark, his captor enjoyed dragging him out and half-drowning him before tossing him back in a freezing cold room, and once he was near frozen, the sadistic bastard turned the heat up until he was roasting. His joints ached, his muscles were sore, his nose was stopped up, his throat hurt, and he was so tired. If he didn’t have pneumonia yet, it wouldn’t be much longer.

He shook his head and the room seemed to swim before his eyes. “What’s left for you to do to me?” he asked.

His captor walked further into the room, cracking his knuckles, and not stopping until he was standing over him. The ever-present hoodie was missing and while there wasn’t enough light directly on his face to correctly identify him, the lack of an attempt to conceal his features sent the warning bells in his head into screaming mode.

“You’re still breathin’, aren’t you?”

It was the first time he could recall his captor speaking to him. Another sign that he was running out of time. It was Kidnapping 101. If the captive saw their captor, if they could identify them, it was all over. “What do you want from me?”

“You don’t have anything I want. You sure as fuck don’t have any money.” He’d done his own investigation into the guy’s background. His family was fairly well off, but even though he’d been off the grid for several days they didn’t seem to be aware of it. Or maybe they just didn’t care one way or the other. He made enough money to keep his sister cared for and to maintain her apartment, but that was about it. His checking account was a joke and he had so little left over after his monthly expenses that he didn’t even have a savings account.

“Would it matter if I did?”

His captor was silent for a moment. “No.”

“Please, my sister needs me.”

“Yeah,” the guy snorted, “the one who fried her brain by choice?”

Sandy had made mistakes, he was the first one to admit that, but it didn’t lessen his love for his sister. “What’s done is done. The past can’t be changed and mistakes can’t be erased. She hasn’t been doing well and there’s no one else to be with her.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. It won’t be much longer and they’ll be plantin’ her in a field with the rest of the vegetables.”

He wanted so badly to get up and make the guy eat his words, but the weakness in his body kept him down. “You’re one sick bastard.” He coughed and slumped back against the wall. “Just do whatever you’re gonna do and leave me alone.”

“Well, it’s been about twelve hours since your last drink. Bet you’re getting thirsty.”

“Not really, but I don’t guess that’ll stop you from tryin’ to drown me again, will it?”

“Nope.” He leaned over and grabbed his captive, hauling him to his feet. “Stand up,” he ordered, shaking him roughly. It aggravated him when he was forced to support most of the man’s weight and he shoved him, pinning him to the wall. “And you call yourself a man?”

Alex just stared at him. Maybe that was the wrong move. Maybe he should’ve just kept his eyes on the floor and pretended to be too scared to look up. But what did it matter? He knew the guy was working for Isabel’s ex and he had no expectation of being released.

“Memorize this face, Whitman,” he snarled.

A calm he couldn’t explain settled over him. He was already a liability. He may be going down, but he wouldn’t go down without a fight. “I don’t need to memorize it. I know who you are.”

“You don’t know shit.”

“You must be making good money, doin’ the dirty work for Kennedy and now takin’ care of Matthews’ problems.” He shook his head and tried hard to keep from coughing again. “I guess in your line of work that was a major step up though. Considering his income’s significantly higher than what Kennedy pulls in. One of them goes down, who do you think they’re gonna give up to get a deal?” He didn’t know if it was working, but he could see the guy was thinking about what he was saying, and maybe that would be enough to avoid today’s ice bath. “Their hands are clean, but you? Drugging some guy you’ve never even met? Planting drugs in that same guy’s car? Kidnapping? I’m pretty sure assault and battery will work in somewhere in there because this routine we’ve been doin’… it’s gonna qualify. It’s all on your hands. They might be callin’ the shots, but you’re the one takin’ all the risks.”

“I don’t know where you got your information – “

“It’s not just information. I have the proof. I can connect you to Kennedy and Matthews, and when I’ve been gone long enough that information will find its way to the authorities.”

“You’re bluffing.”

He was, but not completely. He didn’t know what was being done to find him or if any of the evidence he’d managed to collect was or would be used. It had been obtained illegally and if it was taken to the cops his friends would end up facing charges.

“Not that it matters. They’d have to find you first, wouldn’t they?” He smirked and dropped the man on the floor again. “And to find you, they’d first have to be looking for you.” He stepped back. “I’m guessing since no one’s reported you missing, no one’s even noticed you’re not around.”

Alex was relieved when the man left the room and he sank against the wall, grateful for the darkness that once again surrounded him. If he was going to suffer and be miserable he’d just as soon do it alone. Someone was looking for him. He was sure of it. He didn’t want to think of his sister being all alone as ill as she was. It didn’t matter that he’d been preparing himself for this eventuality he still wasn’t ready for it. He finally gave in to another coughing spell and he slid to the side, wishing fervently for the oblivion of sleep.

sarammlover: Courtney does genuinely care about Michael and that puts her in a very bad position. Things are coming together on the search for Alex.

begonia9508: Courtney’s desperate and that sent her to the one person she knows for sure can reach Michael.

Lol, well, that would be one way to solve that situation… but, this way it gets Maria back into Michael’s space.

Alex isn’t doing well, but the plan to find him is coming together.

Earth2Mama: The kidnapper is reaching the end of his patience with the situation. Let’s hope the plan to find him swings into action soon!

Lol, things may just take an interesting turn…

L-J-L 76: Thanks! We’ll be catching up with Max and Liz soon.

Eva: Alex isn’t doing well, but a plan will be worked out to find and rescue him. He’s not a quitter though, so count on him to keep doing everything he can to hang on.

Ah, Courtney’s desperation may just provide that necessary push.

keepsmiling7: Thanks! We have a lot of fun writing everyone.

Channing Tatum… who couldn’t?

Lol, Liz is smart enough to know things aren’t perfect, but they’re close enough to perfect.

Natalie36: We’ll see more of Max’s Army buddies as that plan comes into shape. Alex isn’t doing well, so keep your fingers crossed for him.

Rodney: Like Max, Tess just doesn’t like Courtney, and with Maria being her best friend she’s fully embraced those feelings, lol. She was just unlucky enough to fall for the wrong guy and in spite of all her reservations about his relationship with Maria, she moved forward with it anyway.

Hopefully the guys will get their plan together and put it into motion soon.

CandyliciousLovah: Alex isn’t doing well and you’ll have to get in line to take on that creep holding him captive, lol.

Roswelllostcause: We’re working on getting help to Alex. Lol, Maria’s thinking the same thing at the moment.

kismet: Lol, well, depending on how this talk goes, maybe you’ll get your wish and she’ll go away.

The guys will be working on a plan soon.

Alex did recognize the kidnapper.

Look for the light to start coming out very soon.

Alien_Friend: Yeah, there are times life does its level best to keep you down. Maria really lucked out with her subway savior. There are days when even the most positive person has trouble holding on to that perspective, and Maria has her low moments, but that positive will bounce back and do its best to hold on.

Shit storm… yep, it’s a great phrase.

It’s taken a while for Max to get to this point and even though he’s still not comfortable with it, that step had to be the hardest one to take.

That’s so true. The girls are all involved to some degree with guys in a very dangerous line of work. They know the reality of it though and hopefully that’ll help as they move forward and face what the future holds for them.

Kyle and Tess are making some real progress and it says a lot, not only that she went to be with him, but that he allowed her to be there for him.

Lol, more Courtney hate. Well, we’ll see what happens now that he’s having to stare the truth in the face.

Michael shouldn’t have taken his mood out on Maria, but in some ways, she was partly responsible for his mood. He’s lost a comrade, but he’s also dealing with the repercussions of what happened between him and Maria, and he does feel manipulated to a certain degree.

Blake definitely brings something to the group and we’ll be seeing more of him.

Count on seeing our soldier boys in upcoming parts. Now that they’ve had their introductions and gotten their big feet in the door, they’re doing their best to get their 15 minutes, lol.

Blake, well, he’s having fun showing his stuff and he’ll likely be very useful.

We may just see an encounter between Blake and Michael.

It’s a good thing to have these guys in the loop.

Lol, there is something to be said for being able to just go with the flow and ride the wave of multiple chapters!

Isabel isn’t about to be deterred when she has her mind set on something… Michael should know better, lol.

Michael should be better about dealing with certain people in these situations. However, he’s Michael and well… he’s Michael.

Tess has gotten quite adept at handling Kyle’s overbearing mother.

Kyle and Tess have certainly spent their time really getting to know each other and we thing that’s gonna pay off for them in the end.

Oh, yeah… she probably should’ve slammed the door in Courtney’s face. But, at the same time, maybe it’s just the nudge Maria needs to get her and Michael to a place where they have to talk to each other.

Alex is doing his best to avoid another ice bath and he’s still thinking fast on his feet.

There’s the possibility that things may not work out the way Courtney intended when she went to Maria.

We’re glad to hear RL has calmed a bit and we hope it’ll stay that way. Sometimes it just needs a good slap! We missed ya, welcome back!



Part 153

Now or Never

He sat in the shadows, his red-rimmed eyes locked on the construction site hundreds of feet below his position. It looked like utter chaos. The site was deserted for the most part; work for the day completed, and in spite of the obvious changes that four years had made, all he could see was the aftermath of the attacks. He knew things had changed. The landscape, the people, the way they viewed the world. They had all been left scarred in some way by the events of that day.

He didn’t spend a lot of time here. It was a spot he had found by sheer accident and one he found himself returning to whenever things just got to be too much to handle. Sometimes he wondered why he continued to come to this place, the site of the biggest loss he had suffered in his life, but if he was honest with himself, he knew why.

Lately it felt like the entire universe was just conspiring against him, against all of them. The bad things were heavily outweighing the good and it just didn’t fell like that was going to change anytime soon. His world was upside down and it was closing in on him, the darkness trying its damnedest to squeeze out every bit of light. His biggest link to reason, to sanity, had somehow suddenly become the most unstable part of his life.

“Michael?”

He inhaled slowly, not bothering to turn his head when she spoke. He had wondered if she would come. She always had before, but things had changed. He didn’t know if he wanted her to show; part of him craved her presence, but the other part of him didn’t want to see her right now. He was so torn where she was concerned, so completely out of his depth with her, and he didn’t know how to find that balance again.

“What do you want?” The harsh words were out before he could stop them, but once they were he realized he didn’t want to call them back.

Maria stood in the doorframe, holding the heavy door open with one foot while she looked at his back. She felt breathless and choked and the reason for it wasn’t the hot, humid air for once, it was his cold tone in his greeting. “Checkin’ on you.”

“Well, here I am.” He stared at the fence that bordered the rooftop. “Haven’t jumped.”

“I wasn’t worried you would,” she stated.

He might get pissed, depressed about things from time to time, but he sure as hell wasn’t suicidal. “No, I guess not.”

She stood there for a moment watching him, but he didn’t make any gesture that would allow her to hope she was welcome here. “Do you mind if I sit with you for a while?” She bit her lip until it hurt while she waited for an answer.

“It’s a free country,” he said after several minutes.

At least he wasn’t telling her to leave him the hell alone, she thought and stepped on the rooftop fully, letting the heavy door fall closed behind her.

Michael felt like he was suffocating. In spite of his anger he didn’t like being like this with her. “It’s hot. You should’ve just stayed home.”

She walked up to the fence a few feet away from him and looked down at the streets and the place where once two huge towers had stood proudly against the landscape. “It’s no hotter than it has been the last weeks and it’s actually refreshing up here.” The sun was already hanging low, bathing the whole city in orange. It would have been a romantic place to sit if things were different.

Why was it suddenly so hard to talk to her? She was the one person he had never had trouble talking to. He glanced up at her, swallowing hard at the way the setting sun backlit her figure. He shook his head and tried to shove those thoughts away.

Think of something to say, she ordered herself. Normally she would’ve just started with anything that came to mind because she knew he wouldn’t have taken anything she said offensively. But now? She had no clue what the right or wrong words were.

“I’m sorry about Dan.”

He had to remind himself to breathe and he nodded sharply.

“Kyle’s dealing with it better than I thought,” she went on. “Or maybe he’s just pushin’ it to the back of his mind, I don’t know. Tess picked him up a few hours ago.”

“Yeah, well, I’m sure he’ll talk to you girls, and Tess can be relentless when she wants to be.”

“Seems to run in the family.”

He thought about Isabel bullying him into dinner and he snorted. “The girls have it in spades.”

“It must be in your mother’s genes because Adam isn’t as annoying.”

“No, Dad’s more subtle.” Like Matt had been, he thought.

She glanced up when a bird took flight, its shadow moving along the roof and a moment later it was gone again, hidden behind another skyscraper. “I blame all my bad habits on my dad, which is pretty easy since I don’t know him.”

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye. It was rare for her to bring her father up in a conversation. She had to be desperate to talk if she was going there.

Ungh, so far nothing had worked as a conversation opener. She looked over her shoulder and caught Michael watching her. “I know I have a few, but somehow you always seemed to overlook ‘em.”

Any bad habits she had never really registered on his radar. Or if they had they weren’t so annoying that he’d ever done more than teased her about them. “Why’d you let it go so far that day?” he asked after a while.

And here we go, she thought, surprised when he suddenly addressed the elephant in the room. Her answer could be totally right or totally wrong, depending on how he felt about it. “I don’t know. Things like that seem to happen without a lot of thinkin’ involved.” She swallowed, knowing that was just half the truth.

He considered her answer for a few minutes before he finally shook his head. “There wasn’t much thinkin’ goin’ on, but we’ve never been like that with each other.”

“They say there’s a first time for everything.”

“Why didn’t you stop me?” He got up and started to pace.

She forced herself to be completely honest because more lies wouldn’t help anyone. “Because I didn’t want to.”

He looked at her directly. He was tired, he was angry, he felt betrayed, and there was such a feeling of emptiness inside of him. “Why?”

“I wanted you to touch me,” she muttered. “I,” gosh, this was hard, but it needed to be said and it was now or never, “I wanted to be that girl in your eyes.”

“At that moment? Or was that somethin’ you realized before?” He didn’t even know why he was pushing this right now, but he wanted answers. He needed them like he needed air to breathe. For years she had given him shit about the girls he slept with so why would she suddenly change her thinking and want to be one of them?

“Before.”

“And you knew I’d have my hands on you for the entire goddamned time we were workin’ on that piece for the shoot. Why the fuck would you just let me walk into it blindly?”

She frowned at his angry tone. “What should I have done? It wasn’t like I expected a reaction from you.”

“A guy that up close and personal right between your legs and you didn’t think I’d react? Damn it, I’m not made of stone!”

“Okay, let me correct that. I didn’t expect you to react so OBVIOUSLY.”

“I’m a guy, Maria, and you weren’t exactly doin’ anything to discourage me.” He stood at the fence and wrapped his fingers around it until it dug into his skin hard enough to leave marks.

“Sorry,” she muttered bitterly.

“What kinda guy do you think I am? I mean, you’ve all given me shit over tryin’ a relationship, and obviously I’m not cut out for it, but did you even consider that?” He leaned his head forward to rest it against the back of his right hand. “I sure as fuck didn’t.”

“Just because you cheated one time doesn’t mean that no relationship will ever work for you, Michael. That’s stupid! Maybe it was a mistake, but it doesn’t make you a bad person. Not in my eyes and not in your friends’ eyes.”

Michael exhaled slowly. “Would you think the same thing if you were my girlfriend and I cheated on you?”

“It doesn’t define you,” she stated.

“It also doesn’t answer the question.”

“That’s a twisted question. You can’t ask me that and transfer it to everyone else. Of course I’d be upset, Michael. We’ve known each other for years, we know things about each other no one else knows, that’s different.”

“So if we were together and I cheated on you...” He shook his head. “You couldn’t forgive that any more than I could.”

She exhaled in frustration. Of course she couldn’t forgive it, but maybe it wouldn’t even happen if you’re with the right person. “I think I’m gonna repeat what I said before about not regretting it.”

“And what happens now?”

“I don’t know,” she said honestly and locked her eyes on a ship in the distance. “It’s obviously something you can’t deal with, so I wish I could go back in time and take it back, so we could be friends again. Even if it meant to hide my feelings or,” she swallowed, “even if it meant I’d have to watch you with her.”

“Did you know before I started seein’ her?”

“Hell no,” she snorted and blinked a few tears away, glad she was facing away from him so he couldn’t see her face. “I never would’ve introduced her to you if I had a clue back then.”

“The beach house?”

“I guess,” she shrugged halfheartedly. “Sometime around then.”

“You should’ve told me.” No, he had no way of knowing how he would’ve reacted, but he had a feeling he would’ve thought twice before letting things go so far with Courtney.

“It’s not like this is easy to admit, Michael. Back then I wasn’t even sure if it’d last and I wouldn’t have risked our friendship over it. Hell, I still don’t wanna risk our friendship over it! I NEED you, Michael. My world’s falling apart and I’m so goddamn scared for my brother, I-” She didn’t even realize she had started to cry until a sob crept up her throat and blocked her voice.

If there was one thing that could just about drop him quicker than anything else, it was seeing her in tears. It wasn’t a side of herself that she exposed easily and he knew what it meant that she could show it to him. “Maria...” He released his grip on the fence, feeling the indents in his palms where he’d held onto it so tightly. Even with everything going on, everything in his life in question, he couldn’t let her suffer alone. “C’mere,” he muttered gruffly. It wouldn’t solve anything that was going on, but he couldn’t just let her stand there and hurt all alone.

She turned towards him, thankful that he had already closed the distance between them and all she had to do was take one tiny step to be in his arms. The moment she felt them close around her, she practically felt the dam break and she hid her face against his chest, hands clenching in his tee shirt while she cried.

Michael held her tighter, wishing he had any idea what to do about the situation he’d found himself in. It was obvious she was hurting. It was bad enough she had to worry about Cody and his worsening condition, but now she was stuck with feelings for him. And her response to his questions? Once again she was willing to put herself aside for the good of someone else. Yeah, she should’ve stopped him, but he should’ve had the balls to stop himself before things had gotten so out of hand. They were both responsible; the guilt for that day belonged to both of them.

It took several minutes of crying and crying and crying and at the point where she thought she would never be able to stop... it stopped and she was able to take some deep breaths, unwilling to let him go so soon. “Well crap,” she muttered, her voice thick from crying, “this wasn’t the way I planned this conversation in my head.”

“I’m not sure how you’d managed to plan this conversation considering our last one.”

“Well, for starters my plan was to comfort you in your misery and not the other way around.”

He shrugged one shoulder. “It works either way.”

“Yeah,” she took a deep breath, inhaling his scent and regretting it only seconds later. Forcing her body to obey, she loosened her grip on him.

Michael had to make himself back away and he turned back to the fence. His hands locked on it again and he stared down at Ground Zero as the feeling of loss washed over him again. That loss was compounded by the fact that he felt like he was losing Maria. He couldn’t explain it, but he had a feeling that was what was happening. If he stayed with Courtney – if she didn’t dump his ass the moment he told her what had happened – it was only going to further alienate his best friend and eventually it would eat away at their friendship.

Maria stood next to him, once more not sure what to say, but at least he had overcome his icy attitude towards her – showing her that he still cared about her even though he was stuck in a war in his own head. Her eyes moved over his face without his notice and she could easily see the battle there – a battle of thoughts she had caused and it made her incredibly sad. “I’m sorry I caused this huge mess, Michael. I really am!”

He closed his eyes and shook his head. “You didn’t cause it, Maria.”

“But you need a friend and now after what happened with us during that shooting you obviously feel you can’t open up to me anymore, and I hate that. I want you to look at me like you used to and not like the girl who suddenly has feelings for you.”

“I can’t just forget that things have changed.” His hands clenched around the fence. “And I can’t forget that since that day, when I’m around you I can’t help but look at you differently.” He turned his head slightly to shoot a quick look at her. “It still bothers me that I could so easily just forget that I’ve got a girlfriend. Maybe you’re right, maybe that choice doesn’t define the person I am, but I still have to live with it.” He sighed and rolled his shoulders. “I’ve still gotta figure out what’s goin’ on with me because like I told you the other night, Court’s the only regret I have about what happened between us.”

Her body tensed. She wanted so badly to ask him if he saw any chance of taking their relationship to something that actually included physical activities other than just being best friends, but she was too scared of his answer. Instead, she brought a subject that was just as uncomfortable and that she’d rather avoid but she knew it would come back later and bite her on the ass if she stayed silent about it now. “She came to see me earlier.”

That gave him pause. “What?”

Maria sighed, rubbing her face tiredly. “She came to talk to me since you’ve been ignoring her. She’s worried about you. Apparently she went to the station and Tony told her you’re not there.”

“I don’t wanna see her right now.” His eyes locked on the construction site below. “I have to figure out how I’m gonna tell her what I’ve gotta tell her.”

“Do you wanna tell her at all?”

“Hell no, I don’t wanna tell her.” He snorted at the sheer absurdity of the question. “But I have to. It wouldn’t be right to not tell her.”

She nodded dumbly, her gaze focused back on the ship that was closer now. “I just want you to know that I was always honest with you when you asked for advice about her. I didn’t make anything up because of my feelings for you.” A shaky breath was taken before she continued. “If you really think there’s something between you... ya know, something that could turn into something deep then I want you to go for it. I wouldn’t want you to hold back because of me.” It hurt to say the words, but she knew it was irrational to expect him to give something up for her if he didn’t even see a chance for them.

“If there was a chance for me an’ Court, I don’t think my big regret would be that I was dating her when the other day happened.” He thumped his forehead against the fence. “I doubt seriously she’ll see any reason to stay together once we’ve talked.” He sighed. “I just wish she didn’t have to get hurt for this.”

“What if she wants to try again?”

“She won’t, but if she did, I think we’d only be kiddin’ ourselves.”

She knew it was bad timing, but a little bit of hope crept up her stomach. If he didn’t see a chance with Courtney, what did that mean for them?

He closed his eyes for a moment, sorting his thoughts out before he looked at her over his shoulder. “After all these years of tellin’ me just how wrong I am about shit, how no girl in her right mind would ever want me around for more than a night, and how we’re just best friends, how the hell could you possibly suddenly want me?”

Although she felt sad inside, she had to laugh at the irony of his question. “If I knew, Guerin.” She shook her head and sat down on the sun-warmed rooftop, leaning her back against the concrete below the fence. “Must be your good looks an’ your big heart.”

He snorted at that. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s it.” He felt some of the knotted tension inside of him uncoil at her teasing tone.

“Whatever it is, it somehow refuses to go as quickly as it came. Go figure.”

“That mean you don’t think it’s just a passing thing?” he asked curiously.

“I was hoping it was, but I doubt it now. The night of the shoot only made it worse.”

“So you weren’t exactly ready to throw a party when you realized that you liked me more than just a friend?”

She chuckled. “No. More ready to throw myself off of a skyscraper.”

“I think I might be losing a little bit of confidence in my abilities.”

“Nothing wrong with your abilities from what I can tell,” she muttered.

“Yeah, didn’t mean THOSE abilities,” he smirked.

Maria laughed and it felt like the first honest laugh in ages. Only Michael could make her feel that way when everything seemed so dark and she loved him for it.

“So, how’s Valenti handlin’ bein’ babied by all of you?”

“He just arrived but I think he’ll enjoy it. Tess’s makin’ dinner for him right now.”

He nodded. “Isabel’s still stayin’ with you?”

“Yep, and she’s so fussy about everything. This morning when we got up I found her wiping the kitchen counter for fifteen minutes.”

“Better you than me. She came by and gave me an earful about the state of the apartment. I’d offer to let her stay with me, but...” He shuddered at the thought. “No.”

“I guess she’s not all that bad an’ she’s really worried and scared right now. We went out to a club Sunday night for a little distraction, but I swear she was looking around for something suspicious the whole time. That dick’s really messing with her.”

“Yeah, I’d like to mess with him.” He sighed tiredly and rubbed his gritty eyes. “Dad said to stay away from him, but I don’t know.”

“You should,” Maria agreed. “In the end it’ll only get you in trouble and that’s the last thing we need right now. His father has too much influence to let anything happen to his ass of a son.”

“Something’s gotta give soon,” he muttered. “He’s involved in too much of the shit goin’ on. Isabel said she went out to see Whitman’s sister and she’s getting worse.”

“Yeah, I know, and seriously, after all this shit I don’t have it in me to be shocked anymore. It’s like my scale of fear and shock is at its maximum since that stupid mugger got me in the subway.”

His hands clenched. “I wanted to call you when Carter told me what’d happened. I’m glad someone was there for you, but I wish it could’ve been me.”

She looked at him and smiled, but it vanished soon. “Yeah, I wish it had been you as well. You totally ruined my future romance with my savior though, so thanks for that.”

He cocked an eyebrow at her. “I ruined it? Are you into him?”

“I could be since he’s all hot and tattooed and obviously interested.”

“He make a move on you?” Just the thought of it irritated him.

“Nothing inappropriate, but he showed interest. He was with us the other night when we were in the club.”

“And because of what happened between us you’re holdin’ back?”

She sighed. “I can’t be with another guy when there’s someone else here,” she tapped her temple with her index finger twice.

“I almost wish I could tell you to forget about it and make a play for the guy if he’s as decent as you think he is.” He turned around and leaned back against the wall. “I’m confused as hell about everything that’s goin’ on and this thing with you, that’s really thrown a monkey wrench in things, but as selfish as it is, I can’t tell you to go for it.”

“You don’t have to,” she told him quietly. “I wouldn’t anyway because it wouldn’t be fair and I wouldn’t want him to feel like he’s second best because I couldn’t have you.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “You think somethin’ between us stands a chance?”

“There’s no guarantee, but it’s up to you in the end. I know I’d be up for a try.” Okay, so it was officially out and while it felt weird and terrifying, it was also kind of freeing.

He laughed raggedly and slid down to sit beside her. “All these years of denying there was anything between us and then outta nowhere it seems they were all right.” He dropped his head back to rest against the wall. “I can’t really say anything one way or the other yet. There’s the situation with Courtney that’s gotta be dealt with first.”

“I’ll wait,” she promised and reached out to place a hand over his where it rested on his thigh. “And just know that until then and even afterwards, no matter what your decision is you’ll always be my best friend, CB, an’ I don’t want you to shut me outta your life because of this thing between us.”

“That’s just dumb, Maria. Why would I shut you out ‘cause you’re hot for my bod?”

She looked up at him with a lifted eyebrow.

“Too soon for that joke?” he asked with a short bark of laughter.

“I was actually surprised to hear a joke,” she smirked and squeezed his hand lightly before letting it go again.

He nodded. “So other than this mess we’ve gotten ourselves into, how’re things goin’?”

“Pretty good on the job side, pretty bad with the family.” She let her shoulders hang. “Half of the day I think about what’s going on with us and the other half I’m trying to figure out what I’m gonna do if Cody dies.”

“Maria, you’re not supposed to even think that. We’ve talked about this before. You can’t think the absolute worst until there’s no other choice.”

“I know, but how can I not think about it? It’s like his health’s taken a major nosedive. I see him getting weaker every day. This morning when I was with him, he couldn’t even sit up, Michael.” New tears sprang into her eyes. “He couldn’t even sit up.”

“He took a bad turn, but you’ve gotta keep hopin’ that we get that call.” He wished he had something new to say, something that would give her the hope she needed, but they knew the reality of the situation. And even if by some miracle Cody did receive a new heart there were no guarantees.

She looked up and him and brushed her tears away, nodding wordlessly to show him that she wanted to believe in it.

“Maria, you can’t let those negative thoughts bog you down.” He reached over and took her hand, giving it a warm squeeze. “I know it’s hard to see him suffering like this and it’s probably made it even harder havin’ everything else to deal with at the same time. We’re gonna try and make it easier goin’ forward, okay?”

“Okay,” she leaned her head against his shoulder, hoping this kind of physical contact was okay with him because she needed it to soothe her nerves. “Thanks.”

“It’s gonna be alright,” he murmured. He didn’t know how, but things sure as hell had to switch directions soon. Didn’t they?

She smiled. “Weird how I always believe it when you say it.”

“Must be true then, huh?”

“It feels a little better right now,” she agreed. Well, there was one thing she could thank Courtney for. Without her plea she probably wouldn’t have gone to him again so soon.

“Okay then. Wanna order a pizza?”

“Up here?”

He shrugged, jostling her. “I know a guy.”

“Well, then. Hell yes, I could go for some greasy pizza right now.”

“The usual?”

“You know it.”

He nodded and shifted to pull his cell phone out, making the call and then shoving it back in his pocket. “There’s somethin’ I’ve gotta ask you.”

“Ask then,” she said, not sure if she wanted to hear it, but in the end what did she have to hide anymore?

begonia9508: And they’re not quite finished.

Michael is asking the questions and that’s a smart move.

We’ll catch up with that conversation soon and we’ll find out how she reacts.

That was definitely not the kind of thing that should ever be asked, but she did ask and it looks like that plan backfired on her.

L-J-L 76: Thanks! We’ll catch up with Max and Liz before too long. Michael and Maria are talking and that’s an important step for them. They have to get that rolling again so they can get things settled before they move forward.

kismet: Yep, we do!

Lol, that’s a distinct possibility, but we’ll know for sure when Michael talks to her.

Alex has enough to deal with right now, doesn’t he? Keep your fingers crossed.

keepsmiling7: Thanks for reading!

sarammlover: Lol, yeah, doesn’t look like much of a point there, does it? We have another part today that’s all M&M. Enjoy!

Natalie36: Thanks! There’s more of that coming up today!

CandyliciousLovah: They’re finally bridging that gap that’s been widening for a while.

Earth2Mama: Yep, that situation does need to be dealt with, one way or the other.

We’ll find out what that question is today.

Alien_Friend: Thanks!

Michael is having a hard time balancing what happened between him and Maria with the man he wants to be. And the cheating thing is something that’s going to take time for him to deal with. Being a man of his word is very important to him so he has to come to terms with his actions. He and Maria do have a very strong bond and hopefully that will only strengthen over time.

Maria’s got a lot on her shoulders, but things may be turning in the right direction now. It’s a hard situation all around. Things are changing, feelings are changing, and it’s gonna take some work for them to work through all of this. They’re relearning their boundaries and they have a lifetime of friendship to build on.

Lol, these characters definitely keep it interesting. Now that they’ve jumped that first hurdle, they’ve got the ball rolling in the right direction. We’ll be spending more time with them today. As for that question… well, you won’t have long to wait, lol.

Roswelllostcause: Thanks! Yep, they really needed this talk to start getting things back on track.

Eva: Michael and Maria are slowly finding their way and we have another chapter that’s all them today! Let’s see what else they can figure out.



Part 154

Business Before Pleasure


“How the hell do you do a photo shoot like that and not stay horny as hell all damn day?”

“Who says I don’t?”

“But you don’t sleep with any of those guys, right?”

“Hell, no. And lot of ‘em are gay anyway or they’re not my type.”

“I couldn’t do that all the damn time.” He cleared his throat. “You know what I mean.”

“It’s not always like THAT shoot. To be honest it’s hardly ever like that. And you don’t have to paint the other body before.” She smirked. “I saw us up on Times Square today.”

“Yeah, I’m sure lots of people have seen it.”

“That’s what it’s there for. “

“I guess it is.” He had a feeling it was a big part of the reason his phone had been blowing up for the past few days.

“But it’s probably not helping your situation,” she mumbled.

“Well, considering how insecure Court already is about our friendship, I’m sure that ad did nothing to ease those fears.” He rolled his eyes. “Of course, her fears have been validated.”

“Yeah, I guess...” She didn’t know what else to say.

“I’ve been buyin’ time by ignoring her, but I’m gonna have to face her eventually. Damn, I’m not lookin’ forward to that conversation.”

“I know. But I have the feeling the longer ya wait the more pissed she’s gonna be.”

“Yeah. I don’t know, maybe I’ll go talk to her tomorrow.”

“What should I tell her if she approaches me again? “

“You shouldn’t have to deal with it.” He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “Maybe I should just bite the bullet and go talk to her tonight.”

“I don’t wanna push you.” But she hoped he would!

“You’re not pushin’ me. I don’t know, maybe I went into this relationship thing for all the wrong reasons anyway.”

“What were your reasons? “

He shrugged. “You know, at first I don’t really think I gave it much thought. I figured she was a decent girl, we had a lot in common, she was fun, and hell, at the same time I could prove that I could do the relationship thing. It didn’t occur to me that what I was doin’ was unfair to her.”

“You weren’t necessarily unfair. You thought it could work.”

“I’m not sure she’ll think the same.” He looked up when the door to the roof opened and a guy wearing a shirt with the logo for their favorite pizza place stepped out. “Hold on, I’ll be right back.”

Maria watched as he got up, reached into the back pocket of his jeans to get his money and carried on a small conversation with the guy before he took the pizza carton out of his hands and returned to her. “How’d that guy even know how to get up here?” She shook her head, amused.

Michael shrugged as he retook his position next to her. He set the six-pack the delivery guy had stopped to pick up for him on the ground between them and pinned the handful of napkins under his thigh so they wouldn’t blow away. “Told you, I know a guy.”

She chuckled. “That’s why I love you so much.” The words came out before she thought twice about them. She had told him that she loved him before and it had always be meant in a friendly way – but now with the new development, the meaning suddenly hung heavy in the air. “Uh, you know what I mean.” She made a waving motion with her hand.

He stared at his hands as he paused with the pizza box halfway open and after a moment he forced himself to speak. “Do I?” he asked quietly. Yeah, they’d said the words to each other countless times over the years, but now he had a feeling it meant so much more than it had in the past.

“I wasn’t thinking,” she sighed. “Sorry.”

“We can talk about this, ya know.” He opened the box the rest of the way and snatched up one of the napkins so he could slide a slice onto it and hand it to her. “You know I love you, always have, and I’ve already told you I’ve gotta work on sortin’ things out on my end, but if it helps to talk about it...” He grabbed a slice for himself and ignored the napkin in favor of just shoving the first bite in his mouth. “We’ve always been able to talk, even about stuff I wouldn’t talk to anybody else about, so...”

Maria pulled her legs towards her and rested the food on her knees, stabilizing it with her hand to keep it from sliding off. “I don’t really know what to say. I think I’m still trying to get used to the thought as well. I’ve never looked at you and felt anything but a friend looking back. I’m not sure how that thought came. It was like allowing my thoughts wander this one time and I couldn’t shake it off afterwards.”

“Really?” His right eyebrow quirked in interest. “So, where’d your thoughts wander off to?” He had started to wonder just how much his own feelings had changed where she was concerned since talking to Kyle and realizing that his reasons for being with Courtney weren’t as innocent as he’d first thought they were. There was motive there, but he hadn’t seen it in time to avoid this mess.

“I don’t know if I wanna share that,” she said, blushing.

His eyebrow climbed higher. “We were naked, huh?”

“Not completely,” she denied.

“So partial nudity?” He nudged her with his elbow as he pulled a couple of beers out and uncapped them. “C’mon, you can tell me.”

She took the beer from him and swallowed a huge gulp of it. “Bathroom, beach house, in front of a mirror, biting my neck – and that’s all I’m gonna say.”

He took a long drink from his own bottle and watched her thoughtfully, loving the way her skin flushed at the admission. Or maybe it was from the memory itself, he mused, loving that even more. “I’ll have to remember that.”

“Uh-huh,” she bit into her pizza to distract herself, because she felt her body reacting to the memory.

He chuckled and followed her lead, concentrating on wolfing down his pizza. “Any new developments with anything else?” he asked, deciding not to tease her anymore about that particular subject. At least not for now.

“Not at all. There’s still nothing new about Alex, although I believe that somehow Max’ army friends are involving themselves in it.”

“Say what? You talkin’ about the guy from the subway?”

“Yeah, an’ another one we met when we went out.”

“Huh. I’m not sure how good that idea is.”

“Me neither.” She reached around him for another slice. “But the police aren’t getting anywhere and Alex has been gone too long.”

“There’s gotta be a way to figure out where they’ve stashed him. I mean,” he grabbed up another slice and took a bite, “Dick doesn’t have the balls to do a grab like that, which says to me he’s got an accomplice. Kennedy’s a douche, but he wouldn’t risk making the grab himself. Honestly, I can’t see Kennedy making this play or even agreeing to it. No, it’s not like it’s a high-profile case, but I think he would’ve looked at all the angles and known that Isabel wasn’t just gonna let Whitman’s disappearance go without raising the roof.”

“Yeah, I know. Do you think the guy who mixed drugs into Max’ drink is the guy who took Alex?”

He chewed thoughtfully while he considered her question. “That’s not a bad idea. Maybe we can follow up on that, see if it gets us anywhere.”

She nodded and they sat in silence for a while. “I hope there’ll be a time when we sit here again with Alex being safe, Cody bein’ okay an’ Aaron being home, so that the only thing we need to worry about is shit like what we’re gonna have for dinner or what the hell I’m gonna get you for a birthday present.”

“Speakin’ of birthdays,” he shot a sideways glance at her, “got any special requests? And no, I’m not gonna jump out of a cake for you.”

Maria frowned at first, but then it hit her. “Fuck, I didn’t even realize my birthday’s in just a few days.”

“I didn’t forget.” He nudged her knee with his. “Remember when we were little and Amy and Dad always had our birthday parties on the same day so it was just like one big party?”

She snorted. “As if I’d ever forget that.” She smiled at the memory and dropped her head against the wall behind her. “I wish we could do that again.”

“We could.”

“At your Dad’s place? In the garden? I just love that place.”

“Why not? Nicole loves to throw a party for any occasion and she loves it even more when it’s for one of us.”

“That’d be cool, but right now it’s all so damn complicated. I dunno what’s gonna happen with my family an’ we have no clue about Alex.”

“No, that’s true, but I seem to remember someone tellin’ me that we can’t just put life on hold and stop makin’ plans because other things in our lives are so uncertain.”

Maria smiled slightly. “Well, if that’s the truth, then maybe we can make some plans about our birthdays.” She really had no clue how much they would work out and if, in the end, this whole thing wouldn’t be even more disappointing.

“I’ll give Nicole a call. It’s been a while since we’ve all been out to the house and it’ll be good to get together.” He shrugged. “Maybe by then we can get the situation with Alex figured out and if we don’t have things settled with the custody issue for Max and Liz, maybe he can invite his parents out so Aaron can be there too.”

“That’s a good idea. At least a little bit should be resolved by then.” And hopefully whatever was between them would be more defined by then too.

“Cool, so that’s settled.”

“It’s still a bit to your birthday.”

“So?”

“A lot can happen between now and then,” she shrugged one shoulder. “I just hope for it to be good things.”

He nodded. “Yeah.” He smirked. “Wanna jump outta the cake for me?”

She snorted. “Only if ya promise to lick the icing off my body.”

He almost choked on his beer. “Hope you’re plannin’ to jump outta there naked,” he rasped as he wiped his wrist over his mouth.

“You sure ‘bout that?”

“Yeah, licking icing off of clothes wouldn’t hold the same appeal.”

“Well, okay, if you’re sure you can handle my nakedness,” she told him boldly.

“I’ll admit, I haven’t seen you completely naked since you were in the second grade and we were out on that family camping trip. Remember? You and Tess got adventurous and decided you could steal the honeycomb from that tree and you ended up with like a billion bees chasing you?” He laughed harder at the memory of her pulling her clothes off as she ran, trying to rid herself of the bees, and finally making a less than graceful jump into the lake.

“Oh my God,” she giggled. “I can’t believe you brought THAT up.”

“Damn, the two of you streaked right through the middle of the campsite. God, your mom was freaking out, the people over at the next site were yelling at her and Dad to control their kids, and there you two went, naked as the day you were born with a hoard of bees chasing you.”

“We were only what? Seven?” She shook her head. “I shocked you mark this as the last moment you saw me naked, because really? I didn’t even have tits back then.” She laughed and took a sip of her beer. “Well, guess not a lot grew since then, but still. Tsk.”

“I’m just sayin’ I haven’t seen you naked since then.” He gave her that sideways glance again and let his gaze slide over her. “I figure things have probably changed since that day.” He took a drink of his beer and swallowed it slowly. “And I’d say you’ve got enough up top.” He held his free hand up and made a cupping motion with it. “Y’know, more than this and really, what’s the point? If memory serves, you’re pretty perfect.” He held his hand up again. “Y’know...”

“Gosh,” she blushed, embarrassed. “Shut up.”

He grinned and slid to the side to nudge her shoulder. “You’ve never had any idea how beautiful you are.” He kissed the top of her head and sighed as he slouched back against the wall.

“And you did?” she asked doubtfully.

“Hell, I’m not THAT blind, Maria,” he grumbled. “I never doubted you were beautiful or that you define sexy. It’s like a known fact as far as I’m concerned.”

“It’s weird. I think the same about you but we never even tried anything all those years we slept in the same bed.”

“Yeah, lookin’ back at all the times we laughed it off when people assumed we were a couple or that there was more goin’ on between us...” He exhaled loudly and shook his head. “I can’t believe we both missed the bus on somethin’ this big.”

“Maybe it really wasn’t there back then. Or maybe we just weren’t looking for it. I never really wanted a relationship, thinking it was too much of a burden for the other person to deal with all my shit an’ you, well... you were just the male slut.”

He rolled his eyes. “Thanks, I can always count on you to point out my faults.” Of course, on the flipside of that same coin, she also had no problem reminding him that he did have a decent quality or two from time to time.

She chuckled. “It wasn’t a real fault. You just didn’t want anything deeper an’ that was okay. You had me for that, right?”

“Well, it’s not exactly a compliment either. Never thought about it much, ya know? I mean, I wasn’t lookin’ for anything serious and neither were they, but I guess maybe I should’ve given it some thought.”

“You’re still young,” she patted his thigh. “That ship hasn’t sailed yet.”

He chuckled. “I guess that’s good to know.” He sobered as he looked up at the sky that was slowly growing darker. “I guess we’ve been dealin’ with each other’s shit since day one, huh? Ya know, we know each other’s insecurities, good points, bad points, the things that make us laugh or what pisses us off. We’re already years ahead of where most people are when they first start out.”

Her eyes settled on his face. Did he know that he sounded a lot like they had already agreed to try a relationship? Probably not and she didn’t want to pin her hopes on it. “Guess that’s true. Others do start with the physical and get to know each other at a later point.”

“We sure as hell did it backwards then,” he snorted.

“Yeah,” she looked at the almost empty bottle in her hand.

“But on the other hand, I guess you already know everything there is to know about me. And obviously you’re as warped as I am ‘cause you still like me. Love me.” He mulled over that for a few minutes before he looked at her. “Why?”

“That’s not an easy question,” she admitted, holding his gaze. “There are so many things I appreciate about you; the way you care about your friends and family, the way you make me feel when I’m down, the way you know what to say in hard times even though you don’t have the answers. You’re the person I always think of first when something happens that I wanna share an’ you’re the one I wanna be with I want everyone else to leave me alone.”

“What would happen if we gave this a shot and it didn’t work out? I mean, I already know there’s no way me an’ Court could be friends after what’s happened, but me an’ you, we’ve got a lifetime behind us.”

“I think we’d still have a chance to be friends. I guess it really depends on what happens.”

He met her gaze directly. “But you’re willing to risk it?”

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to be brave. “I am.”

He nodded and finished off the beer in his hand. “Y’know I’ve gotta deal with the situation with Courtney before anything else can happen between us.”

“I know.” She couldn’t keep her heart from beating faster... so fast that she was sure he could somehow see it. “As I said, I’ll wait.”

“I’m glad you got that new contract because it’s probably gonna be ugly and I’d rather you didn’t have to deal with the fallout.” If only he’d opened his eyes instead of being so stubborn about maintaining the boundaries of friendship between him and Maria he could’ve avoided the nightmare that was coming up. How could he have been so blind to the fact that Courtney was similar to Maria in so many ways and that he was using her as a substitute for the girl he really wanted? The girl he was so afraid to lose that he’d nearly done that anyway. He nodded to himself. “We’ve hung out so many times over the years, gone out to clubs, had meals together, but I’ve never actually taken you out to dinner.”

“I’m more than glad I got that new company, believe me. The pay, the people... it’s all so much better an’ they don’t tell me all the time that I need to lose weight to be more competitive. And... are you asking me out on a date?”

“Yeah, whatcha say? Wanna go to dinner with me?”

A big smile spread across her face. “Yeah, I really want to.”

“Cool. I’ll call you after I talk to Courtney and if you’re free Friday night we’ll go out and see what happens.”

“You have no clue how fuckin’ happy this makes me,” she leaned against the concrete, trying to work through what had just happened.

He watched her for nearly a full minute before he spoke. “And you have no fuckin’ idea how much I’d like to kiss you right now.”

Her eyes snapped open wide and found his. His words went through her whole body like an electrical current and left her shivering and... turned on.

“I’m not gonna do it ‘cause if we’re gonna give this a shot we’re gonna do it right from here on out. I don’t know what the future holds for us, but it shouldn’t be tainted by our actions at the start.” His eyes dropped to her lips and he caught himself when he started to lean forward. “Damn, you’re gonna be hard to resist.”

She chuckled and got to her feet. “Guess that’s my cue to leave because I really wanna feel your lips on mine.”

That comment was enough to have his body reacting and he shifted to find a more comfortable position. “I have a feelin’ talkin’ to Courtney won’t take long.” She was gonna be hurt, but he sure hoped that her anger outweighed the pain and betrayal she was sure to feel after his confession. “But if it’s late I’ll wait and call ya tomorrow.”

“Got a feeling I won’t be getting any sleep tonight anyway.” She dusted her ass off and stole the new beer he had just opened out of his hand to empty half of it in one shot.

“That mean I should call regardless of the time?” he asked, unable to take his eyes off of her as she practically drained his beer before giving it back.

“That’s what it meant,” she agreed and pulled her cell out. “Got a new one, same number.”

He nodded and bit back the words before he could suggest just stopping by afterwards. He couldn’t say he’d mind if things progressed quickly on the physical front, but maybe they needed to avoid rushing things. “I’ll call,” he promised.

“I’ll be up,” she told him softly, her heart suddenly tons lighter after their talk.

“Hey,” he called after her, “you’re not takin’ the subway home, right?”

“No, I took Tony’s car. Not sure how much safer that is since the car’s so big I can hardly reach the pedals, but oh well,” she joked.

“Be careful and tell Valenti...” He snorted softly. “Tell him sometimes he’s not as dumb as he looks. He’ll know what it means.”

“Okay,” she said, amused. “I’m sure he’ll appreciate that. And ya know, you’re always welcome in the new Brooklyn Central. It’s just as cool as your apartment with the extra plus of a backyard.”

“Yeah, and it’s got somethin’ else my apartment doesn’t have.”

“And that would be?”

“You.” He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck when she shot a puzzled look at him. “How fast do you wanna take this?”

“How fast?” she babbled, her head spinning.

“Well, I mean, y’know, with the...” He cleared his throat. Damn, no wonder he never talked about shit like this! “I just meant we’ve already discovered that we’re fairly combustible and if you wanna take this a little slow instead of us jumpin’ in the sack, then I’m okay with that. I mean, I’m okay if you don’t wanna wait that long, but...” You’re makin’ a fool of yourself, his little voice taunted. “Anyway, just wanted to know what you were thinkin’ about it.”

“Knowing us, I doubt it’ll turn out as planned so I’m just takin’ it as it comes. I want you, Michael.” She shut her mouth for a moment while she thought about her last words. “Can’t believe I just said that out loud, but it’s the truth.”

“You can say that out loud any time you want to.” He met her gaze directly. He’d never pictured himself in this position. “It’s not one-sided, y’know. I want you too, Maria.”

Okay, that went straight to her panties. “Be glad I’m not sitting next to you anymore.” She shook her head to clear it.

His mouth went dry. “We could skip the call tonight.”

“You wanna have sex before our first date?” She chuckled, but her expression turned serious again. “Talk to her first and then call me or come to me.” She knew chances were good his mood would change again as soon as he faced Courtney, so right now she wasn’t gonna agree to anything that he might not want later.

“You’re right,” he said as he placed the empty bottle back in its carrier. “Well, I’ll try to rein myself in, but I’m not makin’ any promises about no sex before our first date. But, as far as tonight’s concerned, we’ll play it by ear.”

She nodded and stepped into the hall leading to the staircase, pausing to turn back and look at him. “When’s Dan’s funeral? Kyle’s kickin’ himself for not being able to go, but Tess is wondering if we could drive him over to his family’s house afterwards.”

His hands clenched into fists. “Sunday afternoon. If he changes his mind about goin’ to the funeral we can take him. I know it’s difficult enough to be there without any attention focused on you, and he probably thinks with his injuries there’ll be a lotta eyes on him, but it might be good for him to go if he’s up to it.”

“Yeah. Well, he might change his mind before then.” She watched him for a moment and smiled slightly when he motioned for her to get going. “Alright, I’m gone.”

He lifted his hand in a salute. “I’ll call ya tonight.”

Earth2Mama: It seems to have worked that way.

That definitely describes the heart of these two characters!

Boundaries are important and they have to make sure certain things are handled before they go any further. Lol, don’t think you’ll enjoy that, huh? There’s a very good chance she won’t take this well.

We’ll see how that goes soon though.

Roswelllostcause: You’re so right about that!

keepsmiling7: We definitely haven’t seen the last of Max’s parents or Aaron!

CandyliciousLovah: They’re doing their best to do things right... but they’ll get around to that kiss before long.

L-J-L 76: Thanks! We’ll see more from Max and Liz. Lol, it’s easy to forget things... even our own birthdays sometimes.

Natalie36: Thanks for reading!

sarammlover: Yep, that’s an important thing to take care of before they move forward with a relationship. Maria knew that was a now-or-never moment and she went with her gut.

begonia9508: Lol, yeah, explosive’s a good word!

Yeah, Courtney’s gonna be kicking herself for a while.

Alien_Friend: We’ll learn how things go with Courtney next weekend.

Celebrating those positive things definitely balances the scale. And with everything this group’s been through, they need those lighter moments badly!

kismet: Lol, big surprise, right?

Well, as much as we’d like to avoid any torture... that part will be up next weekend.

Our Army guys will be paying us another visit in just a few parts.



Part 155

Beating Around the Bush

“You think she’s still alive?” Tess pulled the popcorn out of the microwave and opened the paper bag to dump it in a bowl. “Ouch, damn it,” she blew at her fingers when the hot steam burned her fingertips.

“Let it cool off first,” Kyle shook his head and made a blind grab for her from where he was sitting on the barstool next to her. His hand came in contact with one of her arms and he pulled her towards him, letting it slip until it reached her palm. “Where does it hurt?”

She looked at him, stunned. “Wrong hand.”

He let go of her, but waited until she placed her other hand in his care. As soon as his wandering fingers made out the location where he suspected she had burned herself, he rubbed the spot a few time and then blew on it. “Need to cool it?”

“No,” Tess choked out, “it’s not that bad.”

“I think it’s a good thing we haven’t heard from her,” he suddenly changed topics again, but didn’t let go of her hand. “Probably means she found him and they’re talking.”

“Yeah, you’re-” Her sentence came to an abrupt stop when the front door was opened. She held her breath, expecting to see either a pissed off or hurt as hell expression on her friend’s face.

“Hey, I’m home.”

“Uh, I see.” Tess narrowed her eyes on her best friend. “Do you look… happy?”

“Kind of,” Maria couldn’t suppress the grin. “I had a good talk with Michael.”

“From your tone it sounds like it was a helluva lot better than just good,” Kyle said as he turned his head in her direction.

She sat down on the opposite side of the counter, looking at her friend’s joined hands and lifted a questioning eyebrow. “I admitted it to him.”

“It?” Tess echoed. “Oh, my God, you mean IT?!”

“Yeah, I told him the whole truth.”

“And? Don’t keep us in suspense, girl!” Tess was practically vibrating with excitement.

“He wants to talk to Courtney tonight, tell her what happened.”

Kyle nodded, not surprised that Michael was taking that step. He knew it had been weighing heavily on his friend and the sooner it was dealt with the better it would be for all concerned. “And after that?”

“He told me to tell you that you’re sometimes not as dumb as you look an’ you’d know what it means.”

He smirked. “You talk to him tonight you can tell him I already knew that, but I’m glad he’s finally realized it.”

“Okay, I have no clue what kinda secret code the guys have going on, but I don’t understand, so spill, Deluca,” Tess insisted, her tone impatient.

“It means your dumb brother’s finally got his head out of his ass,” Kyle said as he reached out in search of the popcorn.

She reached over and pulled the bowl so it was right in front of him. “Are you two...?”

“Barring any complications we’re going out on Friday night,” Maria said, trying hard to contain her excitement just in case things didn’t work out, but having no luck because everything she had hoped for with Michael was within her grasp.

“Yay,” Tess squealed, making Kyle wince. She walked around the counter to hug her friend. “So he’s willing to take a chance with you? For real?!

Kyle reached up to rub his ear, wondering briefly why it was anytime females got excited about something their voices took on that earsplitting quality that made every guy in the immediate vicinity wish he was temporarily deaf.

“I hope so,” Maria mumbled while hugging Tess back.

“If he’s gotten this far half the battle’s already won, Maria.” Kyle smiled in her direction and shoved a handful of popcorn in his mouth. Yeah, Michael still had a battle to get through with his girlfriend, but he knew once the guy had his mind made up about something he would see it through. Courtney might try to change his mind, but he didn’t think she was that desperate to hold onto him.

“We had a rough start at first, but – I’m not sure how – we managed to get past the anger and blame. I was sick of hiding so I told him an’ he was actually not as freaked out as I imagined he’d be.”

“It’s been there all along, he just had to see it. And you know how he is once he’s come to terms with the truth.”

“It’s almost too good to believe.”

“No, don’t say that, Maria,” Tess insisted. “Everyone’s known that the two of you were supposed to be together for so long and it’s finally gonna happen! It just took the two of you a while to realize it.”

Maria took a deep breath. “I know, and I’m very positive right now, but there’s still the fear hanging in the air that something will get in the way. Can’t explain it.”

“Well, I’m sure once he’s talked to Shitney and that stupidity’s over you’ll feel much better.”

“Yeah, I hope you’re right. He promised to call afterwards an’ I know I won’t be able to sleep until then.”

“Ya hungry? We left something for you in the refrigerator.”

“Nah, we ordered pizza and beer.”

Kyle smirked. If Guerin had ordered food and beer then he wasn’t as fucked up as he had been. Obviously Courtney had done something very right by coming here without knowing it. But he had a feeling she wouldn’t like it as soon as the truth was revealed to her.

“He ordered beer?” Tess frowned. “No pizza place I’ve ever called has beer for delivery.”

“He knows a guy.”

“Of course he does.”

Kyle snorted at Tess’ comment. “Well, it sounds like finally somethin’ might be lookin’ up.”

“I’ll drink to that,” the curly blonde went to the refrigerator to get some drinks out.

“So what’re you guys doin’?” Maria asked, craning her neck to see what was on the television.

“We were about to watch Armageddon.”

“Plenty of action to keep Kyle entertained then. I think I’m gonna go to my room and wait for a phone call.”

“You sure? You could stay,” Tess said but was shaking her head at her at the same time.

“No, that whole bit with the animal crackers is just so dumb it makes it hard to concentrate on the rest of the movie.” She winked at Tess. Message received, girlfriend. “I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

“Alright,” Tess chirped. “If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.” She grabbed a bottle of water and waved on her way out of the kitchen. At the stairs she turned and mouthed, Have fun!

“Good to hear her in a lighter mood,” Kyle commented and slipped from the bar stool carefully.

“Yeah, it is.” She grabbed the bowl of popcorn and his hand. “C’mon, let’s go watch the movie.”

His larger hand wrapped around hers in a tight but gentle grip when he followed her, wishing he could see her little ass shaking in front of him.

“You did say you liked this movie, right?” she asked as she sat on the couch.

“Good soundtrack,” he agreed and sat down next to her. “You mind getting on the other side?”

“Um... no, I guess not.” Did he want to put some space between them? She got up and moved to his other side, staring at the couch uncertainly. “Did you wanna lay down? I can sit in one of the chairs.”

“Nah, I’d just have you rather on my good side.”

“Oh, okay,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound as relieved as she felt. She sat down again and felt the familiar fluttering feeling in her stomach when he shifted and their thighs came to rest against each other.

“Remote?”

“Right,” she leaned forward to snatch it off of the coffee table and handed it to him. It hadn’t taken very long at all for him to memorize the pattern of buttons and functions on the face of the remote and it was something he could control. And as long as he wasn’t changing the channel every three seconds she didn’t care if he had it all the time.

“Movie’s in?”

“Yep, ready to play.”

He hit the play button and turned up the volume a bit before slouching down in a way his body would let him.

Tess knew he didn’t like to be fussed over too much so she bit back the words before she could ask if he needed anything.

“Relax,” he bumped her leg with his when she was sitting next to him stiff as a stalk of broccoli.

She hadn’t realized how tense she was until he spoke and she forced herself to slouch down next to him. “Y’know, the first time I ever saw this movie I was supposed to be spending the night with some friends and we snuck out and went to the movies.”

He chuckled. “Was it fun? “

“Well, yeah. It was rated PG-13 and the summer it came out I was 12,” she laughed. “We had to sneak into the movie too, so it was like a major accomplishment to not only sneak out of the house, but into the theater as well.”

“Uh-huh. Didn’t realize you’re a bad girl.”

“Oh, yeah, I was sooo bad.” She wrinkled her nose. “Of course, when we came out of the movie all proud of ourselves for fooling everyone and Matt was waiting for us, well, that kinda took some of the air out of our sails.”

He chuckled. It was easy to imagine it. “I’ve heard tons of stories about Matt. Wish I’d been around sooner to meet him. He sounds like a cool guy.”

“Yeah, he was.” She sighed and watched the movie for a few minutes. “He never told Dad about that night, but I had to promise him I’d never do it again.” She shifted slightly to look at him. “Dad and Nicole were out of town and Matt was in charge of things.”

“And? Were you a good girl after that?’

“Well, I didn’t do THAT again. I did get into other trouble, but not that particular thing.”

“Yeah,” he snorted. “Somehow I figured.”

“Hey,” she smacked his thigh and was surprised that even blind, he had such good reflexes and was able to catch her hand before she could pull it away again. Her eyes followed his movement when he guided their now intertwined hands to his chest, where he rested them comfortably. “I wasn’t as bad as Ava, so if ya wanna mark someone as bad, then it’d be her, not me.”

“Yeah? Why’s that?”

“Well, first she got piercings and tattoos way before she was allowed to. Dad was furious when she walked in with a nose ring one day.”

“What’d he do? Ground her?”

“Yeah, but it didn’t really help,” Tess snorted. “She sneaked out anyway – always was the rebel in the family, kinda like Mom, ya know? But unlike her, she didn’t run from her responsibilities when she got pregnant. She made a real u-turn with her life and Dad never called her on her shit, ya know? It probably would’ve made her turn her back on him an’ he knew that so instead of punishing her for her mistakes, he made sure she knew she always had a home and support.”

That sounded like Adam, Kyle mused. “Your mom didn’t run right after being pregnant though, right? I mean, she had five of you.” Somehow, that didn’t make a lot of sense. Why would a woman have five children and then leave them? Well, not really leave since they were always welcome to visit her, but anyway, it was strange.

“No, not like Maria’s dad or anything. I guess she left because she suddenly wanted more from her life than being a mother. I don’t know,” Tess sighed. “I know it doesn’t make a lot of sense and it’s not like I really understand it either. At first I blamed her for not loving us anymore, but I guess that’s not true. She cares, just not like mothers normally do, ya know? When Matt died, she came to New York for the first time after the divorce and she was totally devastated. One night I even heard her talking to Dad about coming back to New York.”

“She wanted to come back?” Kyle was stunned. He had never heard about that before.

“Dad talked her out of it. He said that he couldn’t do that to us. Ya know? Coming back out of guilt when she knew she wouldn’t be happy here anyway. I think she must’ve agreed with him, because she never returned from LA and she never said anything about her plan to any of us.”

“Did you tell Michael or your sisters?”

“No, I didn’t see the point in telling them since the idea was obviously gone soon after.”

He nodded. “What is it with parents?”

“Hell if I know. I love my mom, but I’d be the first one to admit she’s a flake. She means well, she just wants to do her own thing.”

“So you don’t really blame her anymore?”

She glanced at him when he started rubbing her knuckles with his thumb and she had a feeling he was completely unaware of what he was doing. “Um, no. I mean, we got Nicole outta the deal and she’s a lot more suited to the whole mom thing. Besides, I think her and Dad are so much happier together than my mom and Dad were before the divorce.” She yawned and slouched down a little further, settling against his side and resting her head on his shoulder. “I don’t remember them fighting a lot or anything, but me an’ Ava were little when they divorced.”

Kyle shifted slightly, rolling his shoulder just enough to get her to move. He could practically feel her blush when she hurried to sit up, but before she could move away he pulled her close again and dropped his arm over her shoulders. “More comfortable this way,” he mumbled. “Don’t want that arm to go to sleep. Right now it’s the only one that works.”

“You feel any improvement with the other arm yet?” she asked, finding herself momentarily distracted when his scent hit her.

“Hardly,” he grunted. “It’s healing so slow I think watching grass grow would be faster.”

Tess snorted. “You can try that as soon as the bandages on your eyes are off. Let’s see what ya say then.”

He chuckled and pinched her side lightly for her teasing tone. How had she gone from being so annoying to enjoyable to hang out with? he wondered, but he didn’t seem to be able to find a real answer. There was still a huge thing between them that couldn’t be avoided forever, but somehow he couldn’t find it in him yet to address the fight they’d had shortly before his accident. “How was the time you spent with your mom in LA?” he asked after a while, realizing he’d never really cared to ask before.

“It was okay, but LA just isn’t for me.” She made a face. “You need a car for everything because it’s all so spacious and you actually have to wait until the signal turns green before you cross a street.” She snorted at the thought.

“Isn’t that the point of signals?” he asked, amused.

“Not here in New York.”

“Guess that’s true. So did ya live with your mom?”

“Yeah, and sometimes it was kinda fun.”

“Uh-huh,” he said slowly, sensing there was more she wasn’t saying.

“People always think they want their parent to be their best friend instead of being the one who’s always telling them what to do or how to behave. I just kinda think they don’t realize that parents aren’t supposed to be our best friends. Take Dad, he’s pretty easygoing and we all get along with him really well, but he’s…”

“He’s your dad,” Kyle offered when she couldn’t seem to find the words.

“Yeah, exactly. We can hang out with him and we can have fun, but at the end of the day he’s still Dad. He’s gonna have fatherly advice, he’s gonna nudge us and provide guidance, and at times annoy us because we don’t wanna hear it. But he’s Dad and that’s kinda what he’s supposed to do.”

“Your mom’s not like that?”

“Not really. She’s the one that wants to be the best friend instead of the parent. And I thought it was cool for a while. I mean, Dad’s got all these rules and one of the biggies is that he’s more than willing to pay every penny for college as long as we’re pulling our weight. And he does pay for everything, even the credit cards, but only as long as we’re working and earning our own paycheck to cover our living expenses.”

He nodded. “That sounds more than fair.”

“Yeah, it is. Mom doesn’t have any rules like that. She likes to live in the moment, and I guess I can see why she likes it, but there’s no real stability that way. I love her, and I’m glad she’s finally happy, but after living with her and really spending time together, I have a better appreciation of Dad as a parent.”

“Sounds about right,” Kyle stretched his legs slightly to loosen his stiff muscles.

“You can put ‘em on the table if ya want.”

He chuckled. “Really? That, out of a woman’s mouth?”

“I’m generous,” she grinned. “Just for today. Don’t let it become a habit.”

“I think I’ll keep them down,” he shook his head at her warning tone. “Michael never talks about your mother at all. When’s the last time he spoke to her?”

“I don’t know,” she said honestly. He called a few times while I was in LA, but I don’t think he’s bothered to contact her since I returned. He still kinda holds it against her that she left her kids for a carefree life.”

Kyle nodded quietly. It fit the person his best friend was. Maybe the other man had enjoyed living his life carefree as well, but he knew his responsibilities and he wouldn’t just walk away from them even if it was tempting. Michael was someone who didn’t care much about random people outside of his job, but he would do anything for his family and friends – admittedly in a weird way now and then.

“We all lean more to Nicole, but Michael and her kinda had a good start right from the first moment.”

“At least your mother walking off spared you a lot of fights,” he said, thinking of the way his own parents’ marriage had lately gone from bad to worse to hell. “And cheating.”

“Yeah, I guess I never really thought about it like that.” She had walked in on more than one disagreement between his parents when he was in the hospital and as uncomfortable as that had been she could only imagine that it had to be worse for him. “I’m glad you decided to stay with us.”

“Needed some testosterone to balance things out, huh?”

Tess snorted. “Not even close.” She was hesitant to push too hard, but at the same time, he had opened that door, so maybe she would just wait and see what he was willing to share. “I’m just glad you’re not in the middle of a warzone, that’s all.”

“That has yet to be seen,” he teased. “I haven’t seen what happens when you guys are fighting over the bathroom.”

“Luckily, our schedules don’t conflict too often. And when they do, well, Liz has one too, so one of us just – “

“Barges in and takes over hers?” he interrupted.

“No, we do not! Besides, Max stays the night sometimes and I do not need to run into him in the bathroom.”

“Savin’ those encounters for me?” The words were meant in jest, but as soon as they were out he could’ve kicked himself for bringing it up. It wasn’t like they were unaware of the elephant in the room, but they’d done a pretty decent job of ignoring it for now. He held his breath, waiting to see what her response would be.

Tess sucked in a sharp breath, her eyes shooting towards him to check on his expression. For some reason he seemed to be just as surprised as she was though, so she decided he hadn’t brought it up for the BIG talk. “More like fear of Parker’s reaction if she ever finds out any of us walked in on her man being naked.”

He relaxed when she detoured around the obvious and unintentional opening to have THAT conversation. He wasn’t sure when the right time was going to be for it, but he wanted to be better prepared before tackling that one. “Yeah, well,” he made a face, “who wants to see that?”

“Who wants to see what?” Liz walked into the kitchen, carrying two empty wine glasses and an empty plate. She set everything on the counter and started to pour more wine in to carry it back to her room where she and Max were doing a movie night also.

“Bruce Willis naked.” Kyle shrugged when he felt the brunette’s eyes on him. “I was just sayin’ it could seriously scar a guy if he had to see that.”

“Well, the guy’s old,” Liz made a face.

“Not that his age has anything to do with it where I’m concerned.” He pointed to Tess. “She was just sayin’ she thinks he’s hot.”

“You like Bruce Willis?”

“So?” Tess said, pinching Kyle’s side without the other girl seeing it.

Liz shrugged. “Thought you were more the Mark Wahlberg type.”

She glanced at Kyle when he snorted. “What’s wrong with Mark Wahlberg?”

“Yeah, that guy’s hot,” Liz agreed.

“If you say so.” No way he’d get into a debate with the girls about how hot any guy was.

“What kinda actresses do you like?”

“The hot kind.”

“Like?”

“Is this like a trick question?”

“Depends,” Tess mused.

Uh-huh, that one word could get him in trouble. “On?”

“Who you list.”

“Uh-uh, no way.”

Liz snorted and took the filled glasses to carry them back. “Killjoy. You two have fun.” She turned the corner and called a goodnight over her shoulder.

“Who knew Evans was the dinner and wine with a movie type,” Kyle mused when they were left alone again.

Tess slouched down on the couch again. “I bet he’s any type Liz wants him to be. He’s so whipped.”

“Girls seem to like that.”

“Really? Hmm, maybe.”

“Like you wouldn’t.” He shook his head.

“I’ve never been in a real serious relationship, so I wouldn’t know. I like to think I want a guy who still has his own mind while we are together.”

That made him laugh. “Somehow I don’t think Evans is so whipped he doesn’t have a mind of his own anymore.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s true. An’ you have to compromise on things to make it work I guess.”

“I’d imagine compromise is the name of the game when it comes to relationships.”

She chuckled. “And you know that how? Ever had one?”

“No, not really. I just don’t think a relationship can work if it’s based on what just one person thinks or wants.”

“Yeah, guess that makes it hard for some people to stay in one.”

“I guess that’s why they should be sure of the other person before getting that involved.” He leaned his head back and sighed when his thoughts automatically turned to his parents. How much better could you know a person when you’d been married to them for almost thirty years, he wondered.

“There’s never a guarantee.”

“No, I guess really there’re no guarantees in life no matter if its relationships, jobs, or anything else.” He rubbed his casted arm absently. “Everything changes at some point or other.”

“Doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. Sometimes changes can be good and refreshing.”

It sure as hell wouldn’t be a good thing if he couldn’t return to the work he loved, he thought, knowing he was being pulled down by the negative thoughts and unable to stop it.

“Hey,” Tess bumped him slightly when he suddenly seemed far away with his thoughts. “Don’t go there.”

“Kinda hard not to, but you’re right, so... distract me.”

Eva: Chickenpox, lol… there’s a good time! Been there and done that! Our two best friends are indeed getting back on track. Without the risk, there’s no reward and it looks like they’re about to discover that for themselves.

Kyle and Tess are starting at the beginning and it looks like that was the right move.

begonia9508: Lol, it took them a while to get to this point, didn’t it?

They’ve both grown up and it shows.

Roswelllostcause: Yeah, they are!

Natalie36: Thanks! We’ll be checking in on the others soon!

sarammlover: Lol, and there’s more to come! These two are being very cooperative and we’ll be getting to that conversation sooner rather than later.

Earth2Mama: We have more of them coming up and there’ll be sorting out to come.

CandyliciousLovah: Lol, no it looks like the real deal.

L-J-L 76: Thanks for reading!

killjoy: Lol, yeah, not a big surprise!

We did end it there, but… we pick it right back up from that point this week!

keepsmiling7: Things are definitely heading in the right direction.

Lol, shhh, don’t let Max hear that!

Alien_Friend: Kyle is still trying to figure out how real his feelings for Tess are. He feels a certain pull towards her and at some point it will get too hard to not go after it.

We’re happy for our M&M couple as well. After so many pages, we’re finally at a point where they see a chance with each other.






Part 156

The Right Track

“Distract you, huh,” she mused. “How?”

You could put your lips on mine. He froze for a moment, waiting for her response, and when one wasn’t forthcoming he decided he hadn’t said the words out loud. “I dunno, I said you could distract me, not the other way around.”

“Hmm,” she thought about it for a while and then sat at the couch Indian-style and grabbed his good arm to place it in her lap. “I’m gonna draw something on your arm and you have to guess what it is.”

“What?” It was stupid the way his skin tingled at her touch.

“Concentrate on my finger on your skin an’ tell me what I’m drawing.”

He frowned. How the hell was he supposed to figure this out? “Is it like a picture or a word?”

“A picture.”

“Okay, fine,” he grumbled. This was a stupid game. He huffed and tried to focus on the design she was drawing, concentrating harder when she repeated it. He turned his head slightly, trying to figure it out and after a few minutes the proverbial light bulb flashed on and he cleared his throat. There was no way she’d tease him like that. Was there? “Submarine?”

She giggled. “Noooo.”

“Not a submarine, okay. Um...” Damn, his mind would not let go of his first thought. “A sword?”

She laughed. “Well, that would be one word for it.”

He felt heat race through him when he caught the double entendre. “It’s a dick?”

She broke out in laughter. “Yes, it is.”

He jerked his arm free and tried to rub the imaginary image off. “Only you would do that.”

“It was the first thing that came to mind,” she chuckled and grabbed his arm, running her hand over it as if she were wiping a blackboard after drawing. “Again?”

“Sure.”

She thought about it for a moment and then started again. “No worries, it’s not a vagina this time.”

“Too bad, I’d probably get that one pretty quick.” He tried to focus on her finger. “Is it sexually related?”

“No.”

“Hmm... okay.” He frowned after a moment. “Okay, what the hell is it? A lobster?”

“A lobster?” She frowned. “Hell, no. It’s a building.”

“It’s a good thing you’re not an architect.”

“Hey! Concentrate and name the building.”

“The Empire State?” he guessed.

“That’s right,” she clapped her hands. “Now it’s your turn.”

Whew, good choice, he thought. “Okay, I guess I can do this.” He wasn’t much of an artist, but if she could delude herself into thinking that last bit was the Empire State Building, well, he couldn’t do any worse.

Tess relaxed when he took her arm and started to draw something on it, but she found herself very distracted by his touch and her brain wasn’t following the direction of his touches.

He lifted an eyebrow when he sensed her distraction and detected the change in her breathing and rather than back off he added just a bit of pressure to his touches as he repeated the design.

Shit, she thought when he had stopped after what was probably the second time and she still had no clue what it was. She couldn’t even tell if it was long or short, oval or whatever. “Um...”

“Jeez, I can’t be THAT bad.”

“I’m sure it’s not. I just like to be tickled an’ it’s distracting me from following,” she admitted.

“So you like to be tickled,” he mused.

“Not everywhere,” she warned him.

“Oh, really?”

“Just my arms and legs and back.”

“Maybe we should use your stomach for this then,” he suggested.

She swallowed, trying to decipher if he was kidding or not. “Only if you promise not to go to my sides. I am a hell over ticklish there.”

His fingers itched to touch her. “Well, if it’ll give you a hand figuring out what I’m tryin’ to draw.”

“Alright,” she wasn’t sure how much she would regret this later, but she moved further down on the couch and placed her legs on the coffee table, then lifted her shirt enough to reveal her belly. “Okay.”

“A little guidance would be helpful otherwise I might end up coppin’ a feel,” he said with a teasing grin.

“Right,” she took his hand and placed it on her stomach. “Remember, not the sides!”

“Not this time,” he laughed, “I’m not up to a rumble just yet.” He cursed the way his hand trembled slightly when it settled on her stomach for a moment before he brought it under control and ever so lightly began to draw the outline.

Her eyes followed the path of his touches. She knew it was cheating, but there was no way in hell she’d guess right if she closed her eyes and concentrated on the touch alone. “Um, an octopus?”

“An octopus?” He snorted. He couldn’t be that bad. “Try harder.”

“Um,” she followed his hand again, but all she could see were the goosebumps on her skin.

Maybe he was that bad. Or maybe it was because of the angle. Rather than continue he let his hand rest flat against her belly, enjoying the feel of her skin.

Tess bit her lip when he stopped but didn’t pull his hand away. What was she supposed to do?

Kyle listened to the silence and realized the movie had ended. “You wanna watch somethin’ else?”

“Sure, if you’re not tired yet.”

“I’m a little tired, but not ready to sleep yet.” He turned his head to glance at her. Well, he’d be looking at her if he could see. “Unless you’re tired. You’ve had a long day so don’t hang here if you’re ready to hit the sack.”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“Cool, pick the next movie.”

“We’ll go with a classic,” she said and reached next to her. “Fast and Furious.”

“Good choice,” he agreed and settled back, finally pulling his hand away from her.

“I’m full of good choices,” she informed him and got up to put the next movie in.

*****

Michael spotted an empty spot and parked the Avalanche, squeezing in between a couple of compact cars. He pulled the key from the ignition and fisted the ring as he looked up at the apartment building. His gut felt like he’d swallowed a mouthful of broken glass and it was just grinding his insides raw. He wanted so badly for this to be over and done with, but since it wasn’t gonna get there until he got out of the truck and dealt with it, he shoved the door open and got out.

He drew in a deep breath and looked up at the night sky. He’d put this off as long as he could, driving aimlessly around the city for more than an hour before finally arriving at his destination. He made his way up the walk and into the building, taking the stairs two at a time until he reached Courtney’s floor. He stood outside her door for a few minutes before reaching up to knock sharply on it.

He had no idea what to say or how to even start the conversation. Although he’d seen the billboard when he’d driven through Times Square, and it had sent heat shooting straight through him when the image had taken him right back to that moment. He had his doubts that Courtney had managed to miss it, so he might not even have to worry about starting this conversation. He straightened up when the door was suddenly pulled open.

Courtney stood there, shocked and surprised to see him standing at her door. She hadn’t heard from Maria, didn’t even know if she’d had a chance to talk to him, but he was waiting for her to invite him in and she didn’t waste any time. She stood back and motioned for him to come inside.

“Hey.”

“How are you?” she asked carefully when he kept his distance. “I haven’t been able to reach you to check on you.”

He shrugged and glanced at her when she closed the door and leaned back against it. It was ridiculous, but he felt like the room was shrinking. “Had a lot on my mind and needed some time.”

“You any better now?”

“Guess it depends on how you look at it.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “How was your trip?”

“It was good,” she said carefully and walked further into the room, waiting to see if he would follow her. She wanted to yell at him for keeping her waiting so long, but she sensed it would only drive him further away. “I would’ve come back if I’d known what had happened, ya know.”

“No reason for that.” He forced his feet to move, but kept his distance. “There wasn’t anything you could’ve done.”

Her mind flashed to the advertisements that seemed to be spread across the entire city. She sure as hell would’ve prevented that from happening. “Want something to drink? A beer maybe?”

“Uh, no, no, I’m good.”

“Okay,” she frowned and got a bottle of water for herself. If he wouldn’t accept a drink then he wasn’t planning to stay long.

“I um,” He ran his hand over the back of his neck and nodded to himself. He was about to say something he tried to never say. “We need to talk.”

“I know,” she said tentatively. “I’m just not sure I like those words coming out of your mouth.”

“Don’t really care for ‘em much myself.”

“Do you wanna have a seat,” she gestured at the small table with two chairs at the end of her small kitchen.

He started to say no but he could see the tension spiking in her so he shrugged and followed her over to the table. He pulled one of the chairs out and waited until she had taken a seat before he followed suit. He didn’t know how to start this without just stating his reason for being there, but he didn’t want to be so blunt that he hurt her unintentionally. “I’ve had a lot of stuff goin’ on recently and I’ve had to take a hard look at myself and some of the decisions I’ve made.”

This was sounding a lot like a break up already and she couldn’t help the tears that shot into her eyes. “Nothing that’s happened was your fault, Michael.”

Yeah, you’re not gonna think that when this talk’s over, he thought. “Maybe not all of it, but I’m responsible for some of it.”

She looked at him, could easily see his distress, and she wondered what was causing it. He was feeling so uncomfortable right now that it was showing in his face, in his manner of speaking and in his body language also. “What is it you need to tell me?” she asked carefully.

“I wish there was a way to do this without hurtin’ you, but there’s no way around it and I’m sorry about that.”

“What’re you talkin’ about? Hurt me? What’d you do?”

“You’ve seen the ads.” It was a statement, but he knew what conclusion she would jump to.

“So what? Hell yes, I saw them and did I like ‘em? Hell no!” Was that all, she wondered hopefully. “You know how I feel about Maria, but you’ve done everything possible to make me believe you guys are just friends.”

“That photo shoot didn’t go the way I thought it would,” he admitted. “And when I told you that me an’ Maria were just friends, I believed it was true.”

“What does that mean?” Her heart was hammering madly in her chest, a mixture between anger and hurt flowing through her veins. “What does IT mean, Michael?” she repeated louder when he didn’t answer right away.

“I was wrong.”

“You were-” her voice failed her and she turned away from him to hide the devastation she felt.

“I didn’t expect anything to happen. When I agreed I was just agreeing to do a favor for a friend, that was it.” He got up and started to pace. “I never thought it would be more than that.”

“You slept with her,” she stated coldly.

“No,” he denied. “No, I didn’t.”

She relaxed just slightly. “What then, Michael? Stop beating around the bush.”

He exhaled loudly. “We didn’t sleep together, but, we, uh... we did more than just hang out and it wasn’t exactly platonic.”

He had cheated! “You cheated!” A snort escaped her lips and she hid her face in her hands. “I am such a moron.”

“Look, Courtney, it doesn’t have anything to do with you. It just... it just happened.” Yeah, even he didn’t believe that. It wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t wanted it to on some level.

“Shut up and spare me the, it’s-not-you-it’s-me shit, will ya?” she shouted at him, her anger finally breaking free. She jumped up from her seat and walked straight towards him, pointing her finger into his chest. “You’re a fuckin’ ignorant liar, Michael. If you would’ve just been honest with yourself right from the start-” Her voice cracked and she turned away from him. “You make me look like a damn fool.”

“Why? It’s not you. It has nothin’ to do with you.”

She laughed bitterly. “I can’t believe I went to her and asked her for help. HER!!! And she pretended you wouldn’t talk to her either. Where were you, huh? Hiding in her bedroom?”

“I already told you it wasn’t like that!” he bit out. He was trying not to lose his temper, but if she attacked Maria he wouldn’t hold back. “She had no reason to think I’d talk to her either.”

“Oh, really?” She shook her head and walked into her living room to grab a tee shirt that belonged to him. “I’m not stupid enough to believe you ignored her on the same level that you ignored me.” She shoved his clothes into his hand.

“I never said you were stupid. Look, I can’t explain the way things are with me an’ Maria and I’m sure you wouldn’t wanna hear it even if I could. I blamed her at first for what happened and it wasn’t until today that I realized that it wasn’t her fault. I’m as much to blame.”

“No, you’re wrong. You are the only one to blame,” she accused him. “Maybe she couldn’t keep her flirty fingers and sexy charms to herself, but she wasn’t cheating on anyone. Her whole fuckin’ goal was to get you to cheat an’ seems like she managed it pretty easily in just one night.”

“You make it sound like the whole point of that damn ad was getting me to cheat on you. There was no big plot behind it. Evans needed the publicity an’ she needed the money. That’s all there was to it. Maria isn’t like that.” She had explained that she had wanted to get his attention but she’d never expected what had happened between them.

Courtney laughed. “Are you fuckin’ kidding me, Michael? All of your whole friends were cheering for that event to happen and it was all soo nicely falling into place when I needed to head out of town for a job.”

He shook his head. “Look, I can’t help what my friends thought, and I sure as hell can’t blame them for bein’ right!” He winced. Okay, he hadn’t meant to throw that in her face. “And there was no way of knowin’ you’d be outta town when we did the shoot for that ad.”

“So you an’ Maria are together now?” She didn’t know why she continued to punish herself.

Michael bit the inside of his cheek as he considered her question. “I’m not gonna lie to you even though that’d probably make it easier. We’re gonna see where it takes us.”

“Glad I could help you to figure out the truth,” she told him sarcastically and went in the direction of the front door again,

“If you were so sure you were right then why ever get into a relationship with me?” he asked, not moving even though he wanted to.

She threw her hands in the air. “Why do people take risks even though chances are good they’ll fail? They just do it.”

“I’m sorry, Courtney.”

Her gaze met his and she believed him, but it didn’t help her acing heart. “Get outta here, Michael.”

He started to say something else, but changed his mind when he realized he had no idea what else to say to her. He hadn’t meant to hurt her, but he had his doubts that she really cared about that at the moment. “Good luck with everything.” He nodded and stepped past her and out into the hallway.

“Couldn’t get any worse, can it?” She asked and at the same time felt the dam he was able to holding up breaking. A sob escaped her lips and she held onto the open door tightly. “Good luck with your new girlfriend too. Faithfulness is obviously not your thing.”

“It doesn’t define who I am,” he insisted. “It shouldn’t have happened while I was with you, but it’s not what defines me.”

Maybe it didn’t, but right now she didn’t care. She was way to hurt to see reason. “Sure, if ya say so. Bet she will hold you on a short leash though. I mean, think she can really trust you after that, Michael?”

“Yeah, I do.” She had said as much earlier and if she’d had any doubts she would’ve stopped things before they could get started. Why make plans, why make a date, if she didn’t’ believe he could be faithful?

“No, you hope,” she corrected him when she saw the hint of doubt.

He shook his head stubbornly. “You’re wrong.”

“Believe whatever you want. It sure as hell isn’t something you can just pretend it never happened.”

“I never said I wanted to pretend it never happened,” he muttered.

“I sure as hell wish it hadn’t.” Her mood was swinging from anger to sadness again. “All the things you said and did... you even introduced me to your parents and now what? It was all a lie.” Tears streamed down her face and she wiped them away stubbornly.

“It wasn’t a lie. I told you I’d never done a relationship before and maybe I moved too fast, did things that maybe shouldn’t have been done so soon, but I never meant to hurt you.”

She shook her head and cried silently. “It WAS a lie, Michael. You were lying to yourself all the time.”

“Then it wasn’t a lie that I realized I was involved in.”

“And you think you’ve got it all figured out now? Because ya know, risking something with your best friend isn’t like dumping a woman you hardly know.” She knew she was being irrational and that his relationship with Maria would probably last a lifetime, but she wanted him to feel bad right now. He had goddamn cheated on her!

The doubts continued to rise but he did his best to ignore them. She was hurt and she was striking out as hard as she could. “I can’t change what happened. All I can do is apologize and try to make it right.”

“Well, the good thing is you don’t have to try any longer with me.”

“No, I guess not.” He was relieved Maria wouldn’t be in contact with Courtney after this.

She nodded and prepared to close the door. “Guess I should be lucky this happened so soon, that way I don’t have to put up with the shit your friends were givin’ me. Tell Evans he sucks if ya see him, will ya?”

Michael reached out to hold the door open. “What is it about Evans that bugs you so much? You had it in for him the first time you two met.”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that he never tried to hide his feelings? That he wanted to get rid of me sooner rather than later?”

Well, he had to give her that one. Evans had taken a strong dislike to her from the start. He dropped his hand and backed away from the door. “I’m sorry that I screwed around on you. Regardless of the situation I should’ve shown better judgment.”

“Hindsight, Michael.”

“Yeah.”

She stared at him for a moment then closed the door wordlessly and leaned back against it, sliding down to sit on the floor. He was still on the other side, could probably hear her, but she couldn’t hold back the strong outburst of her emotions once she was alone.

Michael stood there for a minute, unable to block out the sounds of her crying. There was nothing he could do to help her and standing there wouldn’t do any good for anybody so he finally ordered his feet to carry him down the stairs and out to the street. Her voice echoed in his head, the words tugging at his insecurities. “Faithfulness is obviously not your thing... She’ll keep you on a short leash... Can she really trust you after that?” He sighed and slid in behind the steering wheel. Maria hadn’t expressed any doubts earlier, but what if he was only hearing what he wanted to hear?

Eva: That was a difficult and painful conversation for Michael and Courtney. We’ll see what it takes for Michael to rise above those doubts.

Natalie36: Lol, think so?

begonia9508: Thanks!

Michael tried very hard to handle the break up without causing anymore pain that he had to.

Courtney’s definitely kicking herself for going to Maria. It was a big risk and unfortunately it didn’t go the way she thought it would.

L-J-L 76: Thanks for reading! We will be getting back to Liz and Max before too long.

Earth2Mama: Courtney’s words definitely hit their target. We’ll have to wait and see what effect her words have on him.

keepsmiling7: Thanks for reading!

sarammlover: Unfortunately Courtney knew that there was more below the surface with Michael and Maria and she still took that gamble… and lost. Michael needed to finally put an end to that situation and as difficult as it was, it’s for the best.

kismet: She did manage to pinpoint his insecurities and she didn’t pull any punches.

Tess and Kyle are making progress!

Roswelllostcause: Lol, well, she’s out the door… for good?

killjoy: There is no question they were in the wrong. Courtney went after someone she knew wasn’t really available in spite of his insistence that there was nothing between him and Maria beyond friendship, and unfortunately she took the risk and lost. But there is no doubt that the two of them were in the wrong.

Well, lol, not too long ago Kyle probably would’ve told you to have at it, but now? Well, that might just be a different story.

Alien_Friend: Lol, we’ll see what it takes for Michael to find his way past that and if he’ll confide in Maria about what Courtney said. Perhaps there’s someone else he might confide in first.

Things between Tess and Kyle are definitely moving in the right direction.

CandyliciousLovah: That’s definitely one hurdle out of the way. Lol, Tess found the perfect way to distract Kyle, didn’t she?

cjensen2: Cheating is wrong, regardless, and Courtney does have a right, liked or not, as she’s the one who was wronged in this situation. The way people respond to these situations varies but we’ll see how Michael and Maria handle it.

Michael and Courtney did jump the gun and it was bound to end badly. Perhaps she wouldn’t have felt such a need to control everything if it weren’t for the fact that she was threatened by his relationship with Maria. It’s unlikely that we’ll ever know though, lol.

We will see a conversation between Michael and Maria before long.

cjeb: Thanks for reading and we’re glad you’re enjoying the story!


Part 157

Waiting For You

Maria closed the book she had been reading for the past…, she turned her head to look at the clock on her nightstand… five minutes and threw it in the corner on the opposite side of her room. There was just no way she could concentrate on reading no matter how good the storyline was. Her mind was constantly drifting back to the talk with Michael this afternoon.

Had she misinterpreted anything? Hadn’t she made it clear enough to him he could call her no matter how late it got? There was no way he could be still talking to Courtney, right? It was already past eleven, no breakup talk would last that long.

What if it hadn’t turned out to be a breakup talk, her conscience taunted. What if talking to her had made him realize that he was still attracted to her and he wasn’t willing to give it up just to have a chance with me?

No matter how much she wanted to believe the thoughts were ridiculous and that he had been honest and forward with telling her that he wanted her, she just couldn’t shake them.

Her gaze wandered to the clock again before she rolled her eyes at her stupid behavior. It felt like being back in high school in ninth grade, when she had waited for a call from Danny Maverick – a call that had never come in the end and had left her secretly crying for days. Not even Michael had known about her secret crush on him until he had found her one day in school right after she had seen Danny with another girl.

The door to the eraser room opened and Maria held her breath, unwilling to reveal her presence where she was crouched down on the floor behind one of the shelves. Please, just go away, she begged silently, not wanting to witness a make-out session of one of the junior or senior couples. She listened carefully, but couldn’t hear anything and when the door was suddenly closed again she released her breath and relaxed slightly.

“What’re you doin’ here, RP?”

Startled, she glanced up and saw Michael in front of her, his already tall frame leaning against the shelf and his hair standing up in unruly spikes. “What’re doin’ you here, CB?” she countered with a hoarse voice, knowing she wouldn’t be able to hide the fact that she had been crying from him. “You should be in Chemistry right now.”

He just grunted for an answer and lowered himself to the floor next to her, back resting against the wall. “Wanna tell me what’s up with you crying all week?”

Maria looked at him, stunned. “I haven’t been crying all week.”

“Maybe not in school, but you’ve been down for a while. Anything to do with that ass? What’s his name? Mavershit?”

That made her laugh. “Yeah, I think that’s just about right.” She looked at him for several long moments. “How do you know? I never told you about him.”

“Please,” he rolled his eyes, “you didn’t have to. It’s obvious even to a blind dumb person that you’re into him. An’ I guess you don’t like that he’s dating Tina Delory, do you?”

“No,” she sniffed and looked down at herself. “I shouldn’t be surprised though, should I? It’s not like guys like him are into girls like me.”

“Girls like you?” Michael frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Maria rolled her eyes. “Fat girls, Guerin.”

“You’re not fat.”

“I’m not thin either.”

“RP,” he winced when he realized that using her nickname wasn’t really a good idea at that moment, “you’re just fine an’ that shithead’s just an idiot. He’s a total wuss too. Get over him.”

“You can say that so easy. The girls all like you.”

He grinned. “They do, don’t they?”

She groaned. “Guess I just added to your already inflated ego.” It was the truth, though. They had just started high school several months ago and yet he seemed to be the most popular guy in the ninth grade. She had even overheard some of the junior girls talking about him. “You’re not so bad. As a friend.”

“See, there’s one thing that you can say you have that none of the other girls here will ever have. You’re my only female friend and I intend to keep it that way.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s one advantage I have, huh?” She smiled and leaned against his side. “Good thing I don’t have a crush on you.”

He laughed and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “You sure about that? I am pretty irresistible.”

“I’m very sure,” she kissed his cheek.

“Forget that douchebag, Maria. I can go to that stupid school dance with you.”

“You would?” she asked excitedly.

He didn’t want to, but he would if it would make her feel better. He just couldn’t see the girl cry. “Yeah, but I won’t dance.”

Maria smiled at the memory and relaxed on her bed. He had made high school a much better place, especially until she had gotten rid of the extra pounds. In the ninth grade Michael had defended her in front of every idiot who had made fun of her. In senior year, he had fought off every guy who was trying to get into her panties for any reason other than really liking her.

Never ever would she have imagined back then that one day she was going to look at Michael and see what every other girl had seen.

Never ever would she have believed that one day she’d be one of those girls who’d wait for a call from him.

*****

Michael sighed tiredly and looked at the dark building that stood before him. He hadn’t slept properly in what felt like in weeks and if he kept driving around the city aimlessly any longer he was sure he’d need a new car soon. The problem was, no matter what he did, the nagging feeling in his chest just wouldn’t go away. No matter how exhausted he was or how often he told himself that things would turn to the better again, something was holding him down.

The pressure had felt lighter after talking to Maria that afternoon, but now it was back with all its force and he struggled to keep himself above water before another wave of depression pulled him under.

He cringed when his cell on the passenger’s seat went off and he was tempted to ignore it. What if it was Maria, his conscience taunted. He couldn’t just ignore her again. In fact she was still waiting for his call, but he hadn’t been able to do it yet. What would she expect him to say? How would he be able to tell her that he would be a different guy with her? Someone she could trust? Someone who would never betray her?

His gaze shifted to his ringing phone and he was surprised to see Kyle’s name on the screen. He took it from the seat and looked back at the house in front of him. There weren’t any lights on, but obviously his friend wasn’t sleeping yet. “What’s up?”

Kyle was actually stunned that he had picked up and he found himself struggling for words. He had just been lying awake for over an hour after Tess had gone to bed and he had realized that Guerin and him hadn’t talked since the news of Dan’s death. According to Maria she’d been able to get him to open up a bit this afternoon, so without thinking too much he had grabbed his cell and was glad for the first time that he had actually bothered paying attention to the voice command option when he had bought it. “Not much.”

“The girls must not be takin’ good enough care of you if you’re still up, invalid.”

He snorted and shifted on the couch that had been transformed into a bed before Tess had left. “They do alright, but lying around all day isn’t something I’d call a full day. How’s Loco?”

Damn it, when was the last time he had fed his pet? Michael wondered. “Uh, good I guess.”

“You’re not home?”

“No,” the other man sighed, leaning forward to see the night sky from his truck. He was actually surprised that he could see a few stars here in Brooklyn.

Kyle frowned. It was pretty quiet in the background until a fire truck suddenly disturbed the silent night when it drove through the street in front of the house with its sirens on. The same sirens he could hear echoing through the phone. “Are you in Brooklyn, man?”

Michael’s bleary gaze lifted to follow the flashing lights of the fire truck that disappeared in a matter of seconds. “Guess you’ve got ears like a fuckin’ bat now.”

“Yeah, c’mon in an’ check out my echo sound.”

He snorted as an image of Kyle with wings suddenly made itself known. “Yeah, you up for some company?”

“Sure, I’ll even open the door for ya,” he agreed, thankful that fate or whatever had brought his friend here in attempt to distract him from lying awake all night with his thoughts spiraling downwards.

“Well, if your sonar’s that good then I’m on my way.”

“Shut up.” He threw his cell on the coffee table and got up slowly, cursing when his arm hurt with every small move he made. It took him a full two minutes to get to the door and he was glad when he had remembered the right way.

“You look like shit, man,” Michael said when got a look at his friend. “Didn’t they send you home with painkillers?”

“They did, but I can’t drug myself 24/7.”

“You don’t need to sit around suckin’ it up all night either.” He walked inside and made his way over to the refrigerator. “Need anything?”

“Beer?” he tried.

“With the drugs in your system and the heart monitor they’ve got you on?” he countered.

“Damn Guerin, you’re worse than the girls.”

“Just sayin’ the side effects might not be anything you’d enjoy.”

“Fine, gimme a damn water.”

Michael grabbed two bottles, a water and a beer, and turned to look at Kyle. “You been out in the backyard yet?”

“This afternoon, why?”

“Just wonderin’ if the girls had any chairs out there.”

“I think there’s a swing an’ a hammock.”

He shook his head. “Living room works fine.”

“Well, I guess you can find a seat then.”

He chose the recliner and slouched down, stretching his legs in front of him. “How’d your first day with the girls go?”

“Good I guess. Better than in the hospital. Parker hid in her room with Evans most of the time, Isabel just came from work at 10 pm an’ went straight to bed, Tess fussed over me, an’ well, I guess Maria was with you for a while.”

He rested the beer on his stomach, his hands loosely wrapped around it. The girls were all safely in for the night and that was cause enough to relax a bit. “Yeah, she tracked me down earlier an’ we talked for a while.”

“Must’ve been a good talk.”

“Yeah, at least I thought it was.” He scratched his eyebrow and cleared his throat. “I broke up with Courtney.”

There was silence for several long seconds while Kyle tried to get over the shock. “So you told her.”

“Yeah.” He shrugged. “It was the right thing to do.”

“Agreed. How do you feel now that you’re a free man again?”

“I oughta feel relieved, and part of me does, but another part of me feels like I’m just waitin’ for the other shoe to drop.” He picked at the corner of the label on the bottle. “She said I couldn’t be faithful.”

“She’s hurt Michael. Of course she said things like that.”

He was silent for a few minutes. “Yeah, but what if she’s right?”

Kyle wanted to groan in frustration. “Guerin, please stop looking for excuses to not be with the one you want.”

“It’s not an excuse, Valenti! Damn it, Maria’s so sure somethin’ like that doesn’t define a person, but what if it happened again with someone else?” He shook his head. “I couldn’t do that to her.”

“Maybe you should just trust her trusting you and not over think everything. None of us can tell the future or what kind of stupid mistakes we’re gonna make.”

He chewed on his thumbnail. “She said she loves me.”

Kyle whistled. “She didn’t waste any time, huh?”

“No.” His hand dropped to his knee and he picked at a loose thread there. “Kyle, you know how Maria is. You know how invested she has to be if she’s admitted that already.”

“You two have known each other for so many years now, of course she’s invested. It doesn’t mean you have to jump into this. If you think you could do something as stupid as cheat on a woman like her, well then take it slow. Let her convince you that you won’t.”

“It wouldn’t take much convincing. Me an’ Maria, we’ve been tight since the beginning and after all these years she can convince me of shit that I wouldn’t buy from anyone else.” He sighed. “I believed it earlier, but after talkin’ to Courtney, it kinda brought the doubts back again.”

“That why you’re drivin’ around town in the middle of the night?”

“What makes you think I was out drivin’ around?”

“Doubtful you had so much to discuss with Court that it lasted until now.”

“Depends on what time I went over to talk to her.”

Kyle chuckled. “I hope you had more sense than to drag her outta bed for the news.”

“Hell, no. I sure as hell wasn’t gonna do that.” He took a long drink before resting the bottle on his knee. “You think Maria’s right? She said a slip like that doesn’t define a person.”

“I think it really depends on the situation,” he said honestly.

“Say what?”

“Who you’re with, who you cheat with, how long you’ve been together. Things like that.”

“I guess there’s a definite advantage here,” he mused.

“Huh?”

“Maria has a pretty large safety net.” He chuckled quietly. “That ever happened you guys would take out the dumbass that cheated on her.”

“You can count on that. But I’ve heard she’s dating her best friend now and the guy’s so into her I doubt he’d ever be dumb enough to do somethin’ like that with her.”

“You guys are never gonna let me live this down, are you?”

“Never.”

“She say anything to you guys when she got back?”

“Not much, but she was in a good mood compared to before.”

“That’s good.” He smiled slightly. “I was s’posed to call her after talkin’ to Courtney, but I think I’ll just wait an’ surprise her at breakfast.”

“I’m surprised she’s asleep if you told her you’d call,” Kyle shook his head. Hopefully, those two were finally at a point of giving themselves a shot.

“As late as it is I’d be more surprised if she wasn’t asleep. She’s had so much on her lately that if this took some pressure off of her then she probably crashed.”

“What about you?”

“Me? I feel like I could sleep for a week.”

“Then I guess you’ll find a place to crash here. It’s a pretty big apartment.”

“Yeah.” He slouched down a bit more. “You think she’s asleep?”

“I dunno. Haven’t heard anything from her for hours but her room’s upstairs.”

Michael turned his head to look at the staircase. He wondered what she’d think if he went upstairs and climbed into bed with her. If she was asleep he might scare the hell out of her when she woke up and caught him. She’d probably get over that soon enough though. He smirked at the thought. Things could get interesting in that case.

Kyle placed the water bottle aside and lifted his legs back up onto the couch, groaning slightly when the contraction of muscles brought the pain in his arm back. “Ya wanna go see her now?”

“I dunno, I was thinkin’ about it.” Just thinking about her reaction made him smile.

“Well, I guess she’d forgive you for waking her up if she’s asleep.” He rested his upper body against the pillows again and sighed.

Michael watched his friend, not missing the grimace of pain that crossed his features. “So, you an’ Tess hung out, huh?” he asked as he got up to sort through the collection of prescription bottles lined up on the counter.

“We watched some movies. Or she watched, I listened.”

“You seem to be a lot more tolerant of her since the accident.” He picked up the bottle of painkillers and shook a couple out.

Kyle shrugged one shoulder, knowing what direction the conversation was heading but he didn’t have an answer at the moment. “She’s been good support. Managed to distract me a lot.”

He nodded, not pushing it when he sensed that Kyle didn’t really know what was going on anymore than he did. “Well, she has her good moments.”

“Yeah, she does. To be honest, I think I would’ve gone insane by now if she hadn’t been so stubborn about keeping me company.”

He chuckled. “Yeah, she’s got that stubborn quality perfected.”

“I guess you’re asking because of what happened before.” Why not address the real reason?

“Well, she’s my little sister, so I’ve got my reservations.” He cleared his throat. “I know you though, and I know you wouldn’t hurt her intentionally. She knows what she wants and for whatever reason that’s you. I also know that if anything develops there it’ll only happen after you’ve really thought it out.”

“I sure as hell never expected it.”

“There anything there on your side?”

“Maybe. I dunno. But as long as I’m like this,” he gestured to his eyes, “I don’t trust my own reasoning.”

Michael nodded. “I can respect that.” He reached out and grabbed Kyle’s hand, slipping the pills into his palm. “Take those.” He sat down in the recliner again. “You gonna go to Dan’s funeral?”

He rolled the pills in his palm a few times before shoving them in his mouth and swallowing them down with some water. “I want to,” he sighed deeply. “But I don’t know if I can. The ceremony’s long and I can’t walk around for long. “

“I get that. But the department will make arrangements for you to be there that’d help you be more comfortable.”

“I’m not sure if I want that,” he muttered.

He rubbed his eyes and looked at his friend. “Y’know you’re gonna be kickin’ yourself later if you don’t go.”

Kyle stared at the back of his eyelids wordlessly for a while. “Did you visit his family?”

“Yeah, his wife’s got a lot on her plate but she’s holding it together for her family. She asked about you and wanted me to let you know that the family’s prayin’ for your recovery and your return to duty. There’s no blame there, man.” He ran a hand through his hair. “She’s got a lot of strength. Anyway, I got a call from Captain Collins, the Funeral Procession Officer. Dan’s wife asked if I’d be willin’ to fill in for you as a pallbearer since your injuries won’t allow you to do it.”

He should be the one carrying it, the other man thought and let his head fall back against the pillows lined behind him. “Will you do it?” His voice didn’t sound like his own

“I told him to let her know I’d be honored to stand in your place.” He rolled his shoulders. “I know if you could you’d wanna be there for them so...” He fell silent for a few minutes. “Isabel came by the apartment and grabbed our uniforms. She dropped them off at the cleaners for us. She’s pickin’ ‘em up tomorrow and she’ll bring yours by here. That way if you do decide to go that’s one less thing you’ll have to worry about.”

“Thanks.” He wasn’t ready to deal with the funeral. Hell, he wasn’t ready to deal with Dan being dead. It couldn’t be! Not Dan, and not because of some stupid explosion that shouldn’t have happened. “How are things at the station?”

“Quiet, but it takes time for everyone to get back where they need to be after somethin’ like this.” He finished off his beer and set the bottle on the table next to the recliner.

“Tell the guys I said hi.”

“They ask about you. Some of ‘em wanted to come by, but I told ‘em you needed some time to adjust to livin’ with four women.”

“If you told ‘em I live with four women then I’m sure we’ll have to beat ‘em off with a stick tomorrow.”

Michael chuckled. “If that’s the case all I can say is good luck, Valenti.”

He shrugged one shoulder. “Remember it’s your woman living here too.”

Maria. His woman. That brought out all kinds of protective, territorial feelings that he’d never had about any other woman. “On second thought, maybe I’ll just tell ‘em when you’re up to it we’ll have a barbecue or somethin’ an’ they can come by.”

“Michael Guerin the jealous guy, well, that’s definitely something new.”

“Lotta new stuff goin’ on here lately,” he said dismissively.

“Tell me about it, the whole freakin’ world is changin’.”

“Think this’s what they were talkin’ about when they said we’d grow up one day?”

“Doubt they actually meant THIS, but we’re already used to life throwing shit at us, aren’t we?” Kyle turned his head in the direction of his friend. “But we get back on our feet and dust ourselves off, right?”

“Yeah, life knocks us down we get back up and get back on.” He snorted quietly. “When did everything change, man?”

“Maybe it’s better if we never know the when.”

“Probably right about that.”

sarammlover: Kyle’s very good at getting Michael to consider things from different angles. Courtney’s words struck him exactly as she intended to, and in this situation, he’s right to question himself and his actions and how that could affect his future relationship with Maria.

Natalie36: We’ll be getting back to them before too long.

Roswelllostcause: Thanks for reading!

begonia9508: That is a big risk and it’s something he has to consider.

Kyle and Tess have really learned to appreciate each other during this ordeal.

Stay tuned… the plan to find Alex will be coming up soon.

Earth2Mama: Kyle has a way with Michael. He can get him to listen when no one else seems to be able to. We’ll find out today if Michael’s gonna make it up those stairs.

purple fairy: Hi again!

Lol, well, maybe you’ll get your wish this week.

Well, they may have their roadblocks and there may be plenty of things that get in the way, but we’re both Candies so you can rest easy that things will work out for them.

Kyle is a very unique individual and he has a special gift when it comes to helping his friends through the tough times. He and Tess are moving closer to something more and we’ll be catching up with them again next Sunday.

It won’t be too long before we see a plan of action being put into place for Alex. As for Max, Liz and Aaron… there are still a few major pieces that have to fall into place, but they’re working on it.

CandyliciousLovah: Michael’s proud to stand in Kyle’s place and he accepts it for the honor it is.

keepsmiling7: Indeed he did!

Eva: These two guys have an incredible friendship and that’s something they both need.

Well, lol, we’ll find out today if he takes your advice.

Rodney: Lol, but that’s the beauty of fanfiction!

That’s a possibility.

He has been missing for a while… but he hasn’t been forgotten.

Alien_Friend: Yeah, he always cared for her and it’s about time for them to take the next step. Maybe today?




Part 158

His Kiss

“I’m glad I was wrong an’ you haven’t started talkin’ to yourself, Valenti,” Max looked at the other two men across the room when he entered the kitchen. “I was worried you might’ve suffered some latent brain injury.”

“That still hasn’t been ruled out,” Michael joked.

“Funny,” Kyle grumbled. “Whatcha doin’ up, Evans? Based on the amount of wine you drank you should be passed out by now.”

Max snorted at that. “Wine isn’t a man’s drink and if I ever pass out from drinkin’ it I’m gonna have to start questioning some things about myself.” The truth was he had been sleeping even less than normal since being around Ramrod and Hawk.

“Got a feelin’ I’m not the one sleep deprived here,” Michael said knowingly when the other man neared and he got a good look at his exhausted features. “Everything goin’ alright with Aaron an’ your trial?”

“Be better if they could find any proof that the drugs had been planted.” He shrugged and dropped down in the other armchair. “So far they haven’t got anything concrete.”

“You got that information to your lawyer? The cell list an’ the photos?”

“Yeah, but until she can nail down someone willin’ to testify the drugs were planted and who paid to have it done?” He shook his head. “It’s not lookin’ good right now.”

“Ain’t that some shit?” Michael dropped his head against the backrest and stared at the ceiling.

“It’d be a helluva lot easier to deal with if it was just me it affected.” He sighed and ran a hand over his face.

“Ya talkin’ about your Army buddy?” He remembered Maria’s words earlier.

“Well, if it was just me I’d call them and see what we could do, but with Liz an’ Aaron to think about it’s too big a risk. But, it’s the fact that she’s gonna be devastated if we lose custody of him for good over this.”

“What kinda guys are we talkin’ about?” He lifted his head to look at Evans. “There’s the one who helped Maria in the subway, right?” His eyes narrowed as the thought of the guy having any interest in her crossed his mind.

“Yeah, that’s Hawk. Then there’s Ramrod and Stryker. They’re good guys, guys I served with, and you couldn’t ask for better guys at your back when you’re under fire.”

He bit his cheek before he could ask about that Hawk guy putting any moves on his girl. “Maybe we’ll find a way to make ‘em useful.”

“Guerin, these guys would like nothin’ better than for someone to find them useful,” he said, thinking more of Stryker than the other two. Hawk was still active, Ramrod had found a way to move on, but Stryker had just been discharged and he was struggling.

“Just sayin’. One of ‘em could pretend an interest in my sister. If Dick’s still stalkin’ her he’s gonna show up on his radar.” Okay, maybe it wasn’t his best idea. His brain was obviously too tired to think properly.

Kyle shook his head. “Not that any guy would have to pretend interest in Isabel, but I think she’d have somethin’ to say about that.”

“Well, she’s definitely experienced in pretending by now,” Max smirked, but the humor soon disappeared when his thoughts drifted to Alex. “We need to get a clue where Whitman is an’ soon.” The thought that he was locked away somewhere had kept him on edge all week and he fisted his hand against his side.

“Put you Army buddies on that mission,” Michael suggested.

“Yeah, let them ransack some of Dick’s abandoned buildings around town,” Kyle agreed.

“I think Isabel might already be thinkin’ along those same lines.” Max rubbed the back of his neck and slouched down so he could prop his feet up on the coffee table that had been moved to make room to open up the couch for Kyle. “She spent quite a bit of time talkin’ to the guys when we were at the club the other night.”

“Why don’t we meet ‘em for lunch? Think they’re up to it?” Michael asked. It’d also be the perfect opportunity to take a look at the other guy.

His worlds were on a collision course. “Yeah, they’d definitely be up for it.”

“I’ve gotta be at work at two. Maybe we can meet ‘em here in Brooklyn. Less risk that Kennedy’s gonna sniff around here.”

“You wanna meet with ‘em before work?”

“Yeah, sure.”

He nodded. “I’ll contact ‘em, see if they can make it. Any certain time or you gonna be hangin’ around until you head in to work?”

Michael ran a hand through his hair and pulled on the longer strands at the top of his head. “Guess that has yet to be seen.”

His eyebrows shot up. “That cryptic statement mean you’re finally gonna make a move?”

Kyle snorted at that. Evans had no clue that they were already past the make a move point.

He glanced between the two men curiously. “Okay, so I missed somethin’ somewhere. Someone wanna clue me in?”

Michael leaned forward. “Nope.”

He shook his head. “Four girls in the house; won’t be long before we all know anyway.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t heard yet,” Kyle shook his head and yawned. The painkillers were kicking in and he could feel the slight welcoming buzz they brought with them.

“With everything else goin’ on I’ve been kinda preoccupied.”

“You mean you an’ Parker spending 90% of the day in the bedroom?”

Max chuckled. “A woman has a way of keepin’ a man’s time and his mind occupied.”

“Shit,” Michael wiped his face. “I think I’m gonna go see if Maria’s willing to let me stay the night before I have to listen to you an’ Parker’s sex life a moment longer.”

He just smirked. “I can’t be held responsible for what you got outta what I said.”

“Yeah, whatever,” he shuddered and looked at his friend on the couch. The pills had started to work and he gave Evans a silent signal to leave him alone so he could get some rest.

He nodded and turned his gaze to the windows that looked out over the backyard. He couldn’t see much other than the shadow of the tree there, but he didn’t need to see anything because in the silence that followed Michael’s departure his mind began to drift into the past.

*****

The hallway lay in darkness that was broken only by the illumination provided by the moon and streetlamps that filtered in through the small window at the end and allowed him to navigate. It was weird that he had been up here only once in the time his best friend had been living here and he found himself wondering which room belonged to her.

Damn it, Guerin, remember! They told you.

But it had only been a brief show around and there had been tons of boxes and stuff everywhere. Nothing had looked like a bedroom at that point.

He followed the hallway down, taking in the pictures on the walls, but he couldn’t quite make out what was on them. When he stumbled over something on the floor, he cursed slightly and looked down to find a pair of flip flops. Maria’s flip flops.

His gaze locked on the door next to him and he felt his nervousness kicking in at the thought of approaching her at this time of the night. Was she still up waiting for his call? It was pretty unlikely, but he couldn’t be sure. Resting one hand on the knob, he leaned his head against the wall for a moment, trying to find the words to say to her in case she was still up.

Maria listened to the angry music blaring through the earphones on her mp3 player, her damp eyes locked on the glowing red numbers of the digital alarm clock on her bedside table. Midnight had come and gone and the phone clutched in her right hand hadn’t made a sound. She had checked it constantly, certain the ringer must be disabled or not working properly, anything but he just hadn’t called.

If it wasn’t so late and Isabel wasn’t crashed in Tess’s room she’d would’ve already gone to her best friend to bitch about Michael. But Isabel had enough to deal with and Kyle was hopefully sleeping in the living room, and he certainly didn’t need any added stress either. So she had stayed in her room and tried to use music to drown out the sound of her doubts as they rolled around in her head.

“Fuck,” Michael muttered to himself when he found his thoughts in a constant spiral. He turned his head to look down the hallway, but he pushed the thought of chickening out to the back of his mind. He couldn’t be a coward now! He needed to face her like a real man, like the man she knew, and like a man who wouldn’t run off after every new problem that cropped up.

Taking one last deep breath, he turned the doorknob and stepped into her room. It was dark inside, but there was a slight sound that sounded like drowned music or something. She was lying in her bed, back to him, and not moving the slightest bit at his entry. He swallowed when his eyes roamed over her perfect uncovered body, staying a little longer on her well formed ass that was only partially hidden beneath the plain black panties. Her tank top had ridden up a bit, showing the tanned skin of her side and back.

Should he be relieved or disappointed that she seemed to be asleep? He couldn’t decide, but he kicked his shoes off next to the door and walked further into the room, stopping abruptly when something in the bed suddenly illuminated the room slightly.

Maria looked at her cell once more, tempted to send him a text, anything to express her frustration right now, but she forced herself to place it back on the mattress and released a deep shaky sigh.

He winced when he heard the hitch in her breathing and he glanced over to check the time. He should’ve at least sent a damn text, he thought and mentally kicked himself. That was definitely a big difference between women and men. It wasn’t that they cared any less, at least he didn’t think so, but a guy would most likely be asleep. But not Maria. He should’ve known better. But in his defense, he’d never thought about her in this context and certainly not in relation to him being the guy she was waiting to hear from. He took another halting step over to the bed, debating the best way to approach her. He was likely to scare the shit out of her if he touched her or called her name from the darkness of her bedroom when she thought she was all alone.

He glanced at the phone her hand was still covering and he quickly pulled his cell out of his pocket and sent her a quick text.

She thought her heart stuttered when her cell finally buzzed. She wished she could ignore it, just say the hell with it – if he was waiting until now then he could wait until morning. But of course she would never be able to do that, so she opened it up quickly as the song on her mp3 was changing to “All The Same” by Sick Puppies. She almost had to laugh at the irony of how the lyrics fit partly.

Are you awake? The question was simple and direct and she frowned when it didn’t help her the slightest bit to figure out his mood. Maybe he’d call as soon as she told him she was.

Haven’t been able to sleep a minute yet, she replied honestly and hit the send button.

Michael glanced at the display on his phone, quickly scanning the incoming message and thumbing in a reply.

Feel like some company?

She was glad his reply came so fast this time and for the first time that night some of the strings around her heart loosened when she read his text. He wouldn’t want to see her at this time if he had bad news, right?

Only yours.

He smiled and nodded to himself as his thumb went back to work.

Turn around.

As soon as she read his text she frowned. Turn around? Oh no, he couldn’t –

Quickly, she rolled over, almost sure he was just messing with her and there would be another text soon, saying: Ha ha, that was a good one, huh?

But no, he was there. It was dark, but her eyes had gotten used to it so she could make out his outline. Quickly, she unplugged her ear pieces and sat up in her bed, legs resting under her. “Michael! How long have you been here?”

“Walked in a few minutes ago an’ thought you were asleep. When I realized you weren’t I thought I might scare you half to death if I just walked up on you.” He gave her a half-grin and moved until his knees were brushing against the mattress. “I should’ve sent you a text an’ told you I’d call soon as I had some time to get my head on straight.”

She lowered her eyes. “Yes, you should have.”

“I’m sorry.” He shrugged one shoulder. “I wasn’t thinkin’. I’ll do better in the future.”

She nodded and put the mp3 player away on her nightstand. “How did it go... you talked to her, right?”

“Yeah, I talked to her. She cussed me out, cried, she was hurt and pissed, but it’s over.”

His voice was monotone, not really showing any emotion, and it made it hard to read him that way. “How do you feel about it?”

“I wish I’d figured things out before anyone got hurt in the process.”

Okay, that wasn’t really the kinda answer she wanted to hear. And he was still standing there awkwardly. “You wanna sit?”

He nodded and sat on the edge of the bed. “I don’t mean just her, M’ria.” He sighed and forced his gaze to hers. “I said some things to you that day at my apartment and I know I hurt you. Not just what I said that day, but you’ve been aware of what you feel for me for a while now, and it had to be hell seein’ me with her.” He shook his head. “Askin’ for your advice about her, askin’ you to make an effort to make her feel welcome... You should’ve just told me to fuck off.”

She chuckled. “Oh, I really wanted to, but what kinda friend would I have been if I had told you to fuck off?” She shook her head. “Besides that, I would’ve so busted myself if I had reacted all jealous and mean.”

“Well, you an’ mean don’t exactly go hand in hand, but it would’ve been a helluva lot easier on you.”

“I don’t know if it would’ve been easier.”

“Yeah, I guess not. Next time I do somethin’ so stupid, maybe you can hit me upside the head.”

“Promise,” she lifted her hand for the vow.

Michael took her hand and held onto it, his thumb staying in motion and moving over her knuckles. “You workin’ in the mornin’?”

“No, in the afternoon. But I was planning on visiting Cody in the morning.”

“Not a shoot with some horny guy plastered to you all day I hope,” he said with a quiet smirk.

“No, just a shot for a sports catalog, buuuuut I will get a call tomorrow and I’ll know if I made it into the Usher vid or not. Graham told me today that I’m one of the last ten models.”

He scratched the back of his head. “You want that one, huh?”

“Oh, yeah, because Usher’s gonna be there for it,” she did a little dance with her upper body.

“I’ve never paid much attention to his videos, but if you get the job it’s okay if he’s not all over you for it.”

She chuckled. “I still hardly believe I’ll get it, but if so, I’ll let him know.”

“Uh-huh.” He snorted. “We could go see the little man together.”

“Yeah, he’ll love that.”

He stared at her hand for a minute before raising his head to look at her. “I could stay here tonight.”

“No, you should go,” she said firmly, but she was only able to hold her serious expression for a second before she grinned at him. “Kidding.”

He expelled a relieved breath. She’d had him going for a heartbeat. “I can crash downstairs if you think it’s too soon for us to sleep in the same bed.” He cleared his throat quietly. “Y’know, since things are different now.”

“Do you want to sleep downstairs?”

He rolled his eyes at her question. “Maria, you’re sittin’ here lookin’ like that and you honestly think I’d rather sleep downstairs an’ listen to Valenti rattle the windowpanes all night?”

She looked down at herself, not finding anything special there. “You’ve slept with me in the same bed when I was dressed in less.”

“Yeah, but then you were my best friend. Now you’re...” he shook his head, “you’re a lot more than that. There’s not much platonic goin’ on in my head right now.”

“I wish I could say that’s bad, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing at all.” She moved further against the wall and laid down on her bed, glancing up at him.

Michael crawled up on the bed and stretched out next to her, his weight resting on his forearm as he reached out and placed his other hand on the bare skin at her side. “You think it’s too soon?” His little voice stood up and smacked its forehead. Really? Why would you ask that question, dumbass?!

“Too soon for what?” she whispered.

“I guess we’ve already gone well beyond the boundaries of friendship, haven’t we? I don’t know if we need to take this slow or if we just play it by ear, but I do know I don’t wanna screw it up.” He shook his head. “And you don’t know how dumb I feel just tryin’ to get this out.”

It was only when he stopped speaking that she realized she had been staring at his moving lips the whole time and she had no clue what he had said. Words like friendship and dumb had been included, but they didn’t make a lot of sense.

Michael groaned when he realized she wasn’t listening to a word he was saying. Her eyes had gotten darker the longer they stayed locked on him and he leaned in closer, crowding her as his hand slid up along her side to rest against her back. There was nothing in her eyes or her body language warning him to back off so he slowly lowered his head, giving her enough time to stop him, and when she didn’t his mouth landed on hers with precision.

It was amazing to finally feel his lips on hers – a situation she had imagined so often over the last few weeks and yet it couldn’t compare to the real thing. He was careful, holding onto his control as much as he could, his body close but not touching hers. His lips pressed to hers, moving slightly before backing off a few inches as if he wanted to hear any kind of protest, but the only sound in the room was her harsh breathing.

He studied her expression, listened to her breathing, and reveled in the feeling of her heart pounding beneath her skin. He was close enough that he could feel the tiny thumps and it elicited a similar response in him. He bumped his nose against hers before his lips moved over hers again, searching and learning, imprinting on his memory every little thing that she liked.

Was it possible that a kiss could force a reaction like this? she wondered when her whole body seemed to be on fire. The only thing moving were their lips against each other, still light and careful, yet her pulse was as fast as after a marathon. “I think you’ve managed to let one kiss work me up more than a full hour of Tae Bo,” she breathed when he once again backed off.

He chuckled slightly, the sound choppy thanks to his ragged breathing. “Good.”

Her hand came up to run along the side of his head and back into his hair where she fisted it gently. “That night after the photo shoot, when we were at your apartment... Gosh, I wanted you to kiss me so badly.”

“So did I,” he admitted. He’d wanted a helluva lot more than that, but kissing was a good place to start.

She smiled. “You’re a good kisser.”

“Are you surprised?”

“No, relieved,” she teased. “I mean, imagine how weird it would be after all that if I discovered you were a bad kisser.”

That made him laugh. “You’re not so bad yourself.”

“Whew.”

“You couldn’t have had any doubts about that,” he said with a snort.

“Not about my kissing techniques,” she admitted and leaned up to rest her upper body on her elbow, “but about how you would feel about it.” She stretched her neck to nip at his lower lip briefly.

“Y’know, you’ve always had that underlying self confidence and that’s somethin’ I’ve always admired about you.”

“I think a lot of that I gained because of our friendship, Michael. You always made me feel special.”

“You are special. Hell, I knew that the first moment we met.”

“Really?” She snorted. “As far as I remember the only thing you thought was special when we met was my huge belly.”

“Yeah, but everything I dished out, you took and gave it right back to me. No one else did that.” He grinned at her. “You never backed down and you always pushed back.”

“Someone had to get your stubborn ass to see that you didn’t rule the world and it’s okay to have a few friends.”

“You succeeded with part of your mission.” He waited a moment. “I did come to realize that it’s okay to have a few friends.”

“And? Did it hurt?”

“It’s had its moments where it probably would’ve been a lot less painful if I didn’t have friends.” He shrugged one shoulder. “But I wouldn’t change havin’ them in my life.”

She reached out and played with the fine chain around his neck. As a pendant it carried a small piece of metal. Nothing that anyone would know the meaning of but him and a few close people. He didn’t wear it all the time, but definitely always when he needed some guidance in life. “You were a real punk when you were young.”

“Yeah, well, I guess some people would say I still am,” he said as he lowered his eyes to follow the movement of her hand.

“Not those who matter,” she mumbled and leaned forward to kiss a spot on his chest where she could feel his heartbeat.

He closed his eyes for a moment before he wrapped his arm tighter around her waist and rolled over to pull her on top of him. He could feel the exhaustion he’d been fighting off for days beginning to pull at him and for the first time in too long he felt like he might be able to sleep through the night. “You’ve been my lifeline for so many years, M’ria. You’ve been my sanity, my pain in the ass conscience at times, and I need to know we’re not gonna lose that with the way things are changin’ between us.”

“We won’t,” she told him firmly. “Why would we? We’re still the same people. We’ve just added something, that’s all.”

“Somethin’ pretty life changing,” he said, urging her closer so he could kiss her again.

She leaned in and gave him just a little peck and then backed off again out of his reach.

Michael frowned at her retreat and locked his hands behind her back to keep her from moving any further away. “What’re you doin’?” he growled.

“Weren’t you saying you wanted to take it slow?” she teased, resting one arm on his chest and her chin in her hand. “Sorry, I could be wrong. I wasn’t really listening to what ya said earlier.”

“I was just sayin’ I’m willin’ to take it at whatever pace feels right to you.”

“YOU feel right to me.”

“That’s definitely me you’re feelin’,” he said when her words and her body pressed against him had him reacting in a way that was completely unmistakable.

She chuckled and stretched to reach his mouth with hers. “I like that,” she breathed against his lips and moved her lower body just the slightest bit to make sure he knew how much.

“That’s good,” he muttered. “Got a feelin’ it’s not gonna go away anytime soon.” His hands moved, sliding down over her ass to squeeze the toned flesh and pull her more firmly against him.

Earth2Mama: He did and looks like they are.

Lol, well, it’s been less than a week that he’s been missing, but we can tell you that it won’t be long before things start heating up on that front.

Max is dealing with some major stressors right now, but hopefully things will work out.

L-J-L 76: Max does have a lot on him right now, but just maybe his old Army buddies coming on the scene will relieve some of that tension. Michael and Maria are finally on the same path.

Roswelllostcause: Thanks for reading!

Eva: Max’s Army buddies could make a big difference for Max, Liz and their situation. Lol, look for more Michael and Maria today.

Natalie36: More M&M on the way! The guys are gonna do their best.

keepsmiling7: Lol, well, maybe he’s on his way to finding it now.

CandyliciousLovah: Thanks! Lol, they didn’t go far. Look for more happy on the way.

begonia9508: Thanks!

There’s definitely a connection and it’ll be explored more in depth soon.

The guys may just be a big help.

Things are looking up with Michael and Maria.

sarammlover: Lol, Michael back out now? The search for Alex will be heating up very soon.

kismet: Yeah, it’s about time for the gang! M&M are on their way and Max will eventually get some peace of mind as well. Promised!




Part 159

One Night

Maria groaned when he pressed her body against the rough material of his jeans and the impressive hard-on underneath.

He would’ve already had any other girl naked and under him, but he didn’t want to move too fast and ruin things. She wouldn’t let him move too fast though. If she decided to put the brakes on, she’d let him know in no uncertain terms that they’d gone as far as she was prepared to go for the present time. He angled his head to deepen the kiss at the same time his fingers slipped beneath the lacy edge of her panties, cupping her ass without the barrier between them.

His hands on her sent waves of shivers and butterflies through her body. She let her legs drop to his sides and sat up on him at the same time as he tried to make her open up her lips with his tongue. “Come up,” she gripped a handful of his shirt in her small fist when he groaned in frustration.

He growled but bit it back when he realized she was trying to get him out of his clothes. He sat up and the new position brought their lower bodies into perfect alignment. “Hey,” he rasped when they were face to face again.

She bit her lower lip and the smiled. “Hey.” Her hands moved to the first buttons on his shirt to open them up slowly one after another while her lips found his again in light teasing kisses.

Michael slipped his hands up under the tank top she was wearing, tracing over her back and lifting the material higher. There was intensity humming between them, but it was tempered by something else. He wanted her more than he ever could’ve imagined, but he was enjoying drawing it out rather than jumping straight to the finish line. He rolled his shoulders when she finished with the buttons and had to take his hands off of her when she pulled at it insistently. He shrugged out of the shirt and his muscles twitched in anticipation when her small hands moved over him, exploring his body.

“I can’t believe I’m finally able to get my hands on you, CB.”

He snorted and went back to working her tank top off of her, eager to get his hands on her. “I can’t believe I’ve got my hands on you.” His palms skimmed over her flesh and he shook his head. “Might have to come up with a new nickname for you though ‘cause there ain’t nothin’ roly poly about you anymore, RP.”

She leaned her head back while she enjoyed his hands on her upper body. “Workin’ hard for it an’ I’m glad you like it.”

“Like it?” He finally rid her of the material and he leaned back slightly so he could cup her breasts in his palms. “No,” he denied on a whisper, “I don’t like it, babe, I love it.” He rasped the pads of his thumbs over her nipples, watching them in the moonlight as they stiffened to hard peaks.

Maria moaned at his touch, placing her hands over his to encourage him to keep going.

He leaned forward and let his tongue trace around one of those peaks before taking it in his mouth, nipping it gently between his teeth before sucking on it in earnest while holding onto her hips and grinding her against his erection.

“Michael,” she gasped when the zipper of his jeans was pressing right against her most sensitive spot. She dug her hands into his hair, tugging on it until he released her breast and she was able to crash her lips down onto his.

His tongue tangled with hers and one of his hands dropped to her ass while the other wrapped around a handful of her hair. Her body had found its rhythm and she was too close to interrupt her. He shifted beneath her to give her even more stimulation and her hands tightened in his hair as she gasped loudly.

When had it gone from teasing to steamy, she wondered as the waves of her way too fast and unexpected orgasm slowed. She breathed hard and rested her forehead against his. “Damn, is there a way for a woman to come too soon?” she asked breathlessly.

He snorted and kissed her gently. “For a guy, yeah, for a woman? Not unless you’re unlucky enough to be with some jackass who doesn’t know how to get you off again.”

“I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem with you,” she murmured, sucking on his bottom lip. “You made me come twice already without even using your male parts.”

“My male parts?” he asked, shaking his head with a grin. “Well, just wait until my male parts are introduced to your female parts ‘cause I think we’re in for a wild ride.”

She giggled and let her arms fall around his neck. “I don’t have a doubt, Michael Guerin.”

His features softened into a smile at her light-hearted response and he turned his head to kiss her temple. “Just for the record,” he growled quietly, “he’s ready for an introduction anytime you are.”

Maria nipped his ear. “Believe me, I can feel it.”

“Yeah, he’s not shy.”

Maria couldn’t help but break out in another fit of giggles. “Guess he’s had some practice.”

“Well, he’s been in training,” he said with a laugh.

“Uh-huh. I hope he’s aware of the fact that he’s not allowed to train with different trainers anymore.”

“He’s received his orders and he’s prepared to show off the results of his strength and endurance training.”

“Good,” she kissed his mouth gently and then placed gentle kisses on the tip of his nose, his eyelids and forehead, “because I don’t share.”

“I don’t either. Never was very good at sharing.” He nudged her chin with his nose and nipped at her bottom lip. “You used to tell me that all the time, remember?”

She snorted. “Do I remember? You never let me have your chocolate cookie. Ya know? The one in middle school that they gave out every Wednesday after lunch?”

“You could probably talk me out of my chocolate cookie now.”

“Yeah,” she grinned. “You’ve never been able to deny me any wish since high school.”

“Probably should’ve been a red flag right there,” he said with a soft snort.

“No. That’s called fate.” She let her lips move down a path from his ear to his shoulder.

“That what it’s called?” He shivered at the feel of her lips on his skin.

“Yeah, or...” she bit into the muscles on his neck, “destiny.”

He rolled his eyes. “Um-hmm.” He didn’t know what it was called and didn’t really care. She could call it any-damn-thing she wanted as long as she kept doing what she was doing.

“Lay down,” she whispered in his ear.

Oh, hell yeah! He nodded and grabbed the pillows, stacking them behind him before laying back.

She waited until he had gotten comfortable before she leaned down and started to place openmouthed kisses all over his upper body. Her own body reacted to it when the muscles in his stomach shifted under her touch, but she ignored her own arousal to concentrate on him fully.

With her tongue she traced along the low-hanging waistband of his jeans and she brought up one hand from the bed to run her palm over his length with slight pressure.

He could feel his muscles contracting in response to her mouth and hands, and when she touched that part of him that was screaming for attention his breath caught in his throat and his hands fisted in the covers. He wasn’t sure what she had in mind, but he was good with whatever she wanted.

With no effort, she managed to open up the belt as well as the button on his jeans. She eased one hand inside and then pulled the zipper down slowly. She had never been a great fan of blowjobs, but with Michael it seemed somehow different and when she leaned back to pull his jeans down and she saw the heat in his eyes, she knew she would actually enjoy it with him.

His dark eyes followed her every movement, his breathing shallow as he waited to see what she would do next. He knew blowjobs weren’t something every girl cared to give and if she wasn’t sure he didn’t want her to go there. “If you’d rather not...” Shut up! his little voice screamed.

Maria smirked and crawled up his body to come face to face with him. “Don’t you like it?” she teased.

“Yeah,” he growled, “I fuckin’ love it, and if you wanna do it I’m all for it.”

She smirked. “Then shut your brain off – yes, you’re allowed to, but just now – and enjoy it.”

“I’m all yours,” he said, his eyes locking with hers to make sure she knew he was talking about more than just this moment.

She was already on her way back down but she couldn’t help but reply with a tender kiss on his lips.

Michael caught her in his arms, holding her close as he deepened the kiss for a moment before releasing her again. His eyes never left her as she slowly slipped back down his body and he felt himself becoming impossibly harder when she intentionally dragged her nipples over his abdomen before shifting down to rim his navel with her tongue.

Once she reached the hem of his boxers, she let her nose wander over his erection gently. The little movement made him shift under her so she repeated it and then blew a heated breath where her touch had been. Though he was still covered by the thin material of his boxers, she got an idea of his size and smirked to herself. This time she would be able to see him while they touched. Taking the waistband of his black boxers between her teeth, she pulled on it eagerly.

All of his focus was centered on her and what she was doing. Once she had freed him from the restrictive material of his boxers the cooler temperature in the air conditioned room hit his overheated skin, but before it could even really register her hand was there, warm and sure as she stroked his erection. It was unreal what it did to him just to have her touching him like that and he nearly came undone when she moved closer, her intent clear.

Maria wetted her lips and licked a path all the way from the base of his shaft to the tip, repeating the move several times and enjoying the impatient sounds he made. When she took him all the way into her mouth she felt one of his hands sink into her hair. He held her gently, just guiding but never pushing while she moved her lips around him.

Michael felt like he had been on edge for hours, but he forced himself to stay in control while she moved her mouth over him. His hand clenched and he reminded himself to ease up. Flexing his fingers, he tugged the hair in his grip gently when she made a move that felt good enough to make his eyes roll back in his head.

I must be doing things right, she thought when she heard him groaning hoarsely, the sound sending shivers through her own body. It encouraged her to keep going and she shifted to change the angle slightly.

His breathing changed, coming in panting gasps as every touch of her mouth on him brought him closer to the edge. He could feel his own orgasm fast approaching and his muscles began to tighten in response. “M’ria,” he warned gruffly.

She just squeezed his thigh to let him know that it was okay and a moment later he seemed to be unable to hold it back anyway. She loved the sounds he made when he came and was proud she’d been able to do that for him while actually enjoying it.

Michael slumped back against the pillows when his muscles unlocked and he drew in deep lungfuls of air. Every muscle in his body felt loose and relaxed and it took a moment before his hand cooperated and moved down to catch her arm, tugging on it. “C’mere,” he mumbled.

She tugged his boxers back up and then crawled up next to him, laying next to him with her head on his outstretched arm and throwing one leg over his. “Did ya enjoy that?”

He snorted. “I can hardly move and ya gotta ask?”

Chuckling she took one of his hands and intertwined their fingers before placing a kiss against his knuckles.

He yawned and curled his arm to bring her closer against his side. He let his hand rest on her hip, his fingertips drawing random patterns against her skin. “I think I might sleep tonight.”

“Good, that’s good.” She rested her head against his chest and inhaled his scent, loving the way it made her feel all warm and comfortable. “Hey, Michael?”

“Yeah?” he grunted.

“Are you happy? I mean, there are still a lot of things to worry about, but...”

His eyes opened and he shifted, jostling her as he rolled onto his side to look at her directly. “Everything’s gonna work out. Don’t know how, don’t know when, but it will. And yeah, I’m happy. Not ‘cause you just gave me a blowjob either, although I sure as hell enjoyed it. I don’t know all the ins an’ outs of this thing between us, but I know since I thought it out and came to the decision that I wanted to give us a shot,” he took her hand and placed it against his chest, “the pressure in here just disappeared.”

She could feel the tears before they spilled over and she wondered if she would ever get past crying so much lately. They weren’t tears of sadness right now, it was more like all the bad feelings inside her suddenly found an escape, and it felt exactly like he said. Suddenly there was a lot less pressure.

“C’mon,” he mumbled quietly and pulled her into his arms as he turned to lie on his back. “S’okay, M’ria.” He had a feeling her tears were the result of relief or they were what she called ‘happy’ tears, which still didn’t make a lot of sense to him.

She nodded and pressed herself tightly against him. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Me too.” He reached up to scratch his eyebrow. “Feels like it’s where I’m s’posed to be.”

“G’night.” She kissed a spot on his chest.

He chuckled and kissed the top of her head. “G’night, sexy girl.”

“Your sexy girl,” she corrected.

Tired laughter rumbled in his chest as he closed his eyes. “Yes, you are.”

*****

It was late as Tess made her way down the stairs and peered around the wall to check on the man sleeping in the living room. Or early, depending on how you looked at it, she thought. The light from the television played over his features, casting them in an eerie glow. She couldn’t tell if he was asleep or not, but he was restless, his body in constant motion. She deliberately shifted her weight so the creak in the step would give her presence away and when it didn’t draw his attention she decided he had to be asleep. Well, either that or he was ignoring her.

She crept through the room, pausing next to the couch to check on him before continuing on her way to the kitchen for a bottle of water. She glanced at the medication chart lying on the counter under his prescription bottles and saw that the pain meds he was supposed to take had been checked off. She wondered who had talked him into taking them because he had refused when she had done her best to get him to comply with the doctor’s orders. He was stubborn and he had insisted if the pain got bad enough he’d get them himself and she had let it go at that. There was no sense in getting him worked up by fighting over it so while she hadn’t agreed with him, she had given in as gracefully as she could.

She leaned on the counter that divided the living room from the kitchen and kept watch over him while sipping her water. He slept fitfully, constantly in motion, and as she watched his features contorted into an expression that she couldn’t quite define. Fear, maybe. Sweat broke out on his skin and she could see his throat working. She pushed back and walked around the counter, not sure if she should wake him or not. Sometimes it could be worse to wake someone from the throes of a nightmare and she didn’t know how he’d react in this situation. Unable to watch him suffer any longer she reached out to touch him.

He couldn’t breathe. The air was filled with dust so thick it coated his throat with every pain-filled gasp for breath and made it necessary for him cough. It was only made worse by the inability to draw enough breath to fill his lungs, which in turn caused him to choke. His chest hurt and it felt like it was being compressed by a pair of elephants. Darkness surrounded him and the only way he knew for sure that his eyes were open was the gritty feeling of dust settling in them as it began to filter down.

“Dan?”

His voice was weak in his own ears, muffled, and he suspected he’d probably been close enough to the explosion that everything would sound like that for a while. Something to his left moved, causing the rubble to shift, and he groaned when the pressure on his chest increased. He tried calling for his partner again but only succeeded in expending what little energy he still had on a weak, gasping guttural sound.

Light suddenly began to filter into the tunnel and he looked around, taking in his situation and trying to make his brain work. He was pinned and there was no way he could move the slab of concrete that had turned the tunnel into a prison. He turned his head and light illuminated his partner’s features.

Dan’s open eyes stared back at him, the dull lifelessness in them impossible to miss. It was like someone had turned the lights out. There was no mistaking the sight of death. It was something he knew too much about, something he wished sometimes he could forget. He drew in a ragged, choking gasp of air as the sound of grinding metal and shifting debris assaulted his impaired hearing and he felt as if what little breath he had was being forced from his body. The weight pinning him to the ground seemed to increase and he knew he was going to be crushed to death.

Rescue would come but at the rate he was weakening he didn’t know if he’d last that long. The concrete and twisted steel groaned loudly and then a deafening roar as everything around him began to cave in. He was trapped beneath the weight, unable to call for help, suffocating, and cursed with knowing that he would never again see the light of day. He could feel his own life leaving him as it became impossible to draw breath and panic welled up inside of him. It just wasn’t in him to let go without a fight, but fate had seen fit to render him powerless. A scream welled up in his throat, struggling to escape, and just when it seemed as if he might defy the fates, what was left of the ceiling above him collapsed and the last thing he saw was another slab of concrete sealing his tomb.

Kyle jerked awake, his arms flailing as he fought the light blanket covering him, and in his half-asleep, painkiller-induced hazy state of mind, he forgot where he was. His casted arm collided with the frame of the sofa bed and he rolled over, breathing hard and cradling it to his chest as he tried to swallow down the agonizing pain tearing its way through his body.

Tess jerked back, startled by his sudden harsh return to consciousness and she stood there next to the couch with eyes wide open and a hammering heart in her chest. She watched him for a while and it almost broke her heart to see him in so much physical and emotional pain. He stayed where he was, bent and facing away from her, his breath coming loud and fast. She wasn’t sure if she should reveal her presence but it wasn’t fair to use his damaged eyes to her advantage.

“I’m here Kyle,” she said gently and sat on the edge of the sofa bed.

Fuck, it wasn’t bad enough his mind sent him back to that night over and over again, now he had a witness. “I’m okay,” he rasped.

“Nightmares happen to the best of us Kyle.”

“It wasn’t a nightmare,” he denied. Why, out of everyone in the house, did it have to be her who witnessed his weakness?

Of course, she thought with a roll of her eyes. “When Matt died I wasn’t able to sleep for months, ya know? Whenever I closed my eyes I could see him and it just never left me alone.”

He did his best to bring his breathing under control and fought off the panic that was still clawing at him. His heart was still pounding and he couldn’t just push it away. “He shouldn’t be dead,” he said, his voice raw.

“No, he shouldn’t. And neither should a lot of other people that day, but we can’t change that.”

“I should’ve gone after the kid or called it in sooner.” He couldn’t stop himself from going over every moment, trying to figure out what he could’ve done that would’ve changed the outcome of that day. But every step had been by the numbers and he couldn’t pinpoint his mistake.

“Don’t even go there, Kyle,” she begged. “The whole world and its history are a ton of ‘what if’s’ but does it change a single thing in the end? No, it doesn’t and it doesn’t help anyone.”

He rubbed his chest, hating the feel of the raised area where they had cut him open to put that damn plate in his chest. He could only imagine what he had to look like, his chest and abdomen left crisscrossed in hideous scars. Rationally, he knew they’d fade in time, but he couldn’t get past the idea that it had left him looking like Frankenstein’s monster.

She swallowed when he stayed silent and got up to go into the kitchen to get him a bottle of water. When she returned she pressed it to his sweaty neck gently. “Here, it’ll help you to relax.”

Could anything ever help him relax? Once again his world had been turned upside down and the last person in the world that he had ever expected to be there for him was throwing him a lifeline. She had been there since they’d allowed him to have visitors, dealing with his moods but never pushing him for anything he wasn’t ready for. He drew a deep breath and relaxed slightly when it didn’t hurt. “Thanks,” he mumbled after a few minutes.

“No problem. Anything’s better than listening to Isabel’s snoring.”

He snorted quietly and moved his arm experimentally. “She does tend to rattle the windows with that racket.”

Tess narrowed her eyes at him. “And how do YOU know that?”

“Because she’s crashed on our couch once or twice after a nightmare shift at the hospital.”

“Good,” she said, relieved. “I mean, uh, she’s really loud, huh?”

He gave a short bark of laughter. “What, you thought we’d slept together?”

“No,” she denied quickly. Too quickly.

“You’re a bad liar,” he said.

“Well, with all the sex goin’ on, you can’t blame me,” she shrugged.

“Yeah, well, me an’ Isabel? No way.” He chuckled when he felt her disbelieving stare. “Don’t get me wrong, she’s one of my closest friends and I love her, but we have an understanding of each other’s quirks that makes it apparent we’d never work in that capacity.”

“Can’t say I’m sorry ‘bout that,” she muttered.

“Someone else is gonna have to tow that line and whoever the guy is, I wish him lots of luck.” He eased over onto his back, wiggling the fingers of his casted arm.

“Maybe there’s already someone. Well... if we ever find him.”

“Yeah, a few months back I would’ve been sure just the idea of that was laughable, but I can actually see that goin’ somewhere.” He reached out blindly and patted her arm. “It’ll work out. They’re gonna find him.”

“Yeah, you’re right. An’ Dick gets a good swift kick in his ass.”

“Yeah, him an’ Kennedy both.”

“We should drink to that.”

“I’d agree with that but everyone keeps tellin’ me I can’t have anything but water or juice.”

She uncapped the water bottle that had been resting against his neck before and splashed a bit of it against him. “What’s so bad about water?”

“Nothin’ if you’re a fish.” He made a face at her. “Which I’m not.”

“You sure about that?” She splashed some more water against him.

He made a grab for the bottle and they wrestled for it, succeeding only in drenching each other with water. “There, now you’re all wet too.” He cleared his throat at the images that brought to mind.

“Yep, thank God your eyes are still bandaged because I’m wearing a white tee shirt,” she told him, knowing it was probably a bit too much teasing.

He swallowed hard and cursed his inability to see. “Wish they weren’t,” he muttered. “You should probably get back to bed.” Before I use my hands to ‘see’ what my eyes can’t, he thought.

Tess glanced at the hallway leading to her room, but she didn’t make a move to get up. “Yeah, probably.”

“I might not be able to see and I might be a little slower than I am on a good day, but I’m not an invalid by any means.”

“Never said or thought anything like that, Valenti.” Oh no, to be honest it was pretty obvious that most of his body parts were working quite well.

“Yeah, so if you’re gonna go you should probably do it now.”

Was he telling her to go or to stay? She wasn’t sure about it and her insecurities really were getting the best of her. “Yeah...”

He pried the empty bottle from her fingers and dropped it so he could wrap his hand around hers. He didn’t really understand what was going on between them but he knew he didn’t want her to leave.

Her eyes dropped to their joined hands and she prayed he wasn’t paying much attention to the fact that her palm was sweaty as hell. “You could let me stay here,” she suggested lightly. “Ya know… save me from the snoring beast.”

“Yeah, I guess I could.” He carefully shuffled over and nodded at the empty space beside him. “Hop in.”

Roswelllostcause: Thanks! Well, they’re certainly taking them at their own pace, lol.

Earth2Mama: They are moving quickly.

Kyle and Tess are settling into things at their own pace and it’s working for them.

L-J-L 76: Thanks! We will be catching up with Max and Liz.

Natalie36: Thanks for reading! We’ll have more of them today!

sarammlover: Lol, well, it’s M&M! Ah, if you’re lovin’ the action with these two couples we’re gonna have more of both today!

CandyliciousLovah: Tess is there and she has no intention of going anywhere.

keepsmiling7: Thanks for reading!

Eva: That’s M&M for sure! They’re moving at their own pace and in the end only they can say if the pace is right.

Kyle and Tess are taking their time, but they’re taking their time and working their way into a comfortable place.

begonia9508: Thanks!

Things between M&M and K&T are intense, just completely different levels of intensity.

kismet: Lol, we will have more M&L coming up.

SmileeUk: Lol, we’re glad to have you with us! That’s a lot of reading – 1,500+ pages!

Thanks! We have so much fun writing together and we’re glad to hear you’re enjoying! M&M are making some serious forward movement and there’s no doubt Alex is the right guy for Isabel… now we just have to find him!

How Max’s Army buddies can help will soon come to light. Keep your fingers crossed for Aaron and Kyle.

Alien_Friend: Thanks! We LOVE to write intimate / emotional moments between our couples!

M&M as well as K&T are making nice progress. After all they’ve been through it’s really nice to have them in a happier mood.




Part 160

I See You


Tess smiled to herself and lifted her legs to bring them onto the couch next to him. “Wow, it’s pretty comfy.”

He turned his head in her direction. “Didn’t you try it out before you bought it?”

“Not at all. This all happened so fast.”

“Well, you still made a good choice.”

“No doubt. Dad helped and he knows a lot about stuff like that.”

“I’ve been to your parents’ house so I’d have to agree with that.”

She turned to take the pillow and shake it out for a moment, then lay back. “Yeah, it’s a palace but this apartment feels a lot like home,” she sighed. “I’m glad I got the chance to work things out with Maria an’ that we can live together again.”

“Yeah, the two of you getting along again, it’s been good for both of you.” And for the rest of the group too, he mused.

“It’s good that not everything turned out worse, huh?”

“Yeah, that’s for sure.”

“Come on,” she tugged on his good arm when his body remained uptight. “Relax.”

“I am relaxed.” He wasn’t sure how much more relaxed he could really be with her lying next to him in bed.

“You’re not,” she chuckled and let her fingertips wander over the skin of his arm.

“Okay, but just for the record, I don’t think touching is gonna help the relaxation factor.”

“I heard this is relaxing, no?”

There was really no way to answer that without giving himself away. He sighed quietly and shrugged one shoulder, debating with himself over what he was about to say. But hell, he couldn’t sleep anyway and she didn’t seem to be in a hurry to leave. “Tess, what happened between us before...” he cleared his throat.

Her movement stopped and she was tempted to pull her hand away, but what kinda signal would that send him? “Yeah?”

“I really don’t even know what to say other than I’m sorry about the way I acted afterwards.” That had been eating his lunch since the night it happened and it felt like a weight had been lifted as soon as the words were out.

“I think we both could’ve reacted better,” she said quietly. His apology was honest from what she could tell, but did it mean he regretted it or not? “And my brother was giving you shit about it, that wasn’t really fair.”

“I wouldn’t respect him if he hadn’t. He’s your brother and he should look out for you, especially if his best friend pulls a stunt like that. You don’t screw around with a guy’s sister when your intentions aren’t in the right place. And that night they weren’t.”

“I don’t think that night any of us were thinking about intentions.”

“No, there wasn’t much goin’ on as far as higher brain function.”

“That all seems like it was years ago.”

“In some ways,” he agreed.

“I know I’m responsible for most of that mess. I left without an explanation an’ that’s when it all started.”

He frowned at that, trying to piece it together with the conversation they were having. “Why did you leave?”

“I thought that was obvious?”

“Well, I kinda started to wonder after you went off on me at the party, but I don’t think I wanna make anymore assumptions about what I think I know.”

She swallowed and let go of him to sit up a little more – putting a bit of distance between them since she had no clue what he would think about it. “I couldn’t see you with Maria, Kyle. It hurt and yeah, I know I should’ve talked to her about it.”

“So it was because of me.”

“It was because of what you had with Maria.”

“So it’s Maria you’re interested in,” he said with a teasing smirk.

“What?” she asked when it took a moment for her mind to wrap around his joke. “Ha ha, funny.”

He chuckled. “I would say I wish I’d known, but at the time it probably wouldn’t have made a difference. If it wasn’t for that night at the beach house and then that fight and now this I probably wouldn’t have sat still long enough to listen.”

“Yeah, guess not. It was all kinds of bad timing,” she chewed on her bottom lip while her thoughts went back to that night where she had planned to tell Maria about her feelings for Kyle. “I wanted to tell her, ya know? I was planning it one night and it ended up being the same night she told me about your sex-agreement.”

He made a face. “Somehow that sounds a lot worse when it’s said aloud.”

“Yeah,” she laughed. “You might wanna not mention it in front of my brother ever again.”

He thought about his earlier conversation with Michael. “Yeah, I think I’ll never say or do anything that’ll bring that subject up again.”

“Good, because I really hope he pulls his head outta his ass soon an’ comes back to Maria.”

“I guess you didn’t peek into Maria’s room before you came downstairs,” he said dryly.

“No, why?”

“My money’s on him bein’ in bed with her.”

“No kidding?” She jerked around to look at the staircase.

“Wanna bet?”

“Did you see him come in?”

“We talked for quite a while when he got here.”

“And what’d he say? Did he talk to Courtney? Ya know, about the things we both don’t know.”

“He ended things and she wasn’t happy about it.”

“So Shitney’s officially history?”

“About as official as it can get.”

“Hallelujah!”

He snorted. “I’m getting the feeling she won’t be missed.”

“I’m sorry for her, I really am, but yeah... can’t say I’ll miss her. She just brought so much more conflict to the group.”

“True, but if Michael and Maria had listened to everyone trying to get them to see reason she never would’ve gotten into the group the way she did.”

“Better late than never they say.”

“Yeah, and they’ve got a shot at maybe finally getting their shit together.”

“Cross your fingers.” She relaxed a bit while the conversation circled around something other than them but somehow it felt like they were just doing a dance around the truth.

“So, looks like your brother’s headin’ in the right direction, your little sister’s doin’ the same, and Isabel’s maybe figured out that Whitman’s a decent prospect.” He reached up to scratch his jaw. “What about you?”

“About me?” she asked stupidly. Why would he ask that? He KNEW what she wanted.

He waited for a moment to see if she’d take the first step and when she left it open he motioned to himself. “Well, I can’t exactly take you out to dinner or to a movie like this.”

Her heart made a little jump at his sentence and she turned her head to look at him. “You would if you weren’t hurt?”

“I don’t know.” He shrugged. “Would you wanna do that?”

“I’d go out to dinner with you.”

“Might be a while before we can get around to that, and I don’t have any idea where we’re goin’, but if you maybe wanna get rid of everybody one of these nights we could have dinner together and we can figure it out.”

“Sounds good,” she tried to control her excitement. “I’m sure we can get rid of everyone easily.”

He yawned and nodded. “Cool. You pick the night and I’ll be there.”

“Yeah,” she snorted. “You don’t have much choice, huh?”

“There’s always another choice, but I’m in.” He grinned. “I won’t stand you up or anything, promise.”

“You’re generous,” she smacked his thigh.

“I know, right?”

“Shut up.”

He was about to be even more generous. “I’ll handle dinner.”

“Dear lord, I hope you’re not planning to cook blind.”

He shook his head. “I didn’t say a word about cooking, although you haven’t seen me cook when I wasn’t blind, so this might actually be an improvement.”

She rolled over on the couch to face him, head propped in her hand. “Have they said yet when they want to remove the bandages?”

“Doc says they’re gonna take another look at my eyes in a few days. At last check he said they’re healin’, it’s just takin’ time.”

“Cool. Bet ya can’t wait for them to heal.”

“I can’t. It’s one more thing I’ve always taken for granted.”

“I guess everyone does.” She moved her bare feet under the thin blanket and shifted down to lie comfortably on her side – close to him. “I guess what you said is true: You only know the good things when they’re gone.”

“Yeah, but I’m never gonna forget this lesson.” He could feel her body so close to his, close enough to touch, close enough for her scent to drive his senses mad, but he tried to focus.

“I doubt anyone will ever forget it. And that’s okay. It’ll always be a reminder of how lucky we still are in the end.”

“That’s true.” He yawned again. “I could stand with a few less reminders though.”

“You’re tired,” she stated and glanced at the windows. The sun was already making its morning appearance and she knew she would be tired all day, but she didn’t care.

“Yeah, but I swear I can’t sleep for long without...” he shook his head. “Just can’t sleep for long.”

“Without?” she asked. “What were you’re gonna say?”

“I have trouble sleepin’ through the night,” he admitted with some embarrassment.

“Yeah, no wonder you’re lazy all day,” she teased him lightly and used one hand to run it through the longish hair on his head.

“Time for a haircut,” he murmured, the feeling of her touch soothing him. “Chief would have a fit if I came in lookin’ all shaggy.”

“As soon as the bandages come off we can take care of your hair,” she tugged on it with her fisted hand gently.

“You any good with a pair of scissors? ‘Cause I can’t go around lookin’ like I lost a fight with a weed whacker,” he joked, his voice slurring slightly as sleep pulled at him once more.

“I’m good enough to make you look nice, no worries.”

“It’s serious business lettin’ a girl cut your hair.” His head shifted on the pillow and he sighed quietly. “Major serious business...”

She chuckled. “Sleep tight, Kyle.”

He made a quiet humming sound in place of an actual response as he lost the battle to stay awake.

Tess smiled to herself and leaned forward to place a light kiss on his forehead, pretty sure that he was already off to dreamland. “G’night.”

*****

It was hot in her room. Why the hell was it so hot? she wondered when she woke up. Without opening her eyes, she felt around for her cell phone on her nightstand to check the time. When her fingers wrapped around it, she pushed the button on the side and blinked a few times to adjust to the bright light coming from the screen.

Only seven, Maria thought with an internal groan and was about to go back to sleep when something else caught her attention. The image on the cell’s background hadn’t been there last night. It was a picture of her and Michael when they were a few years younger and had decided to boycott the homecoming dance in high school.

“What time is it?” A raspy male voice came from behind her and a strong arm suddenly wrapped around her middle.

Her mind finally cleared and the memories of last night slowly came back. Michael had come to see her in the middle of the night. They had made out. He had stayed. She was holding his cell in her hand, not her own. “Still early,” she whispered and suddenly the heat radiating from his body felt good rather than uncomfortable. “Just seven.”

“Good,” he mumbled and forced his eyes to open briefly, thankful for the heavy brown curtains covering the windows and blocking most of the rising sun’s rays that were dipping the room in a very comfortable warm tone.

She smiled to herself when his breath ghosted over her neck. “Yeah.”

He stretched his arms over his head. “Sleep okay?”

“Yeah, just too short.”

“Um-hmm, worth the lost sleep though.”

“No doubt about that.”

“I’ll just have to remind myself of that later on when I’m workin’ my ass off.”

She turned around and let him cradle her close to his naked upper body. “You can still go back to sleep for an hour or two.”

“I could but it probably wouldn’t hurt to check on Valenti since I’m here.” He gave her a sleepy grin. “Couldn’t hurt to spend a little more time in bed with my girl either.”

The way he said ‘my girl’ made her all hot and weak inside. “No. that definitely couldn’t hurt. She’s a good girl.”

“Yeah, couldn’t ask for better.” He lifted an eyebrow. “Somethin’ that, just for the record, I’ve never questioned.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Couldn’t resist.”

“Good thing you don’t have to anymore.” Shitney was gone, she couldn’t believe it. Eh, and she should never talk to him referring to Shitney either, she thought, a little ashamed.

“What’s that look for?” He leaned back to give her some space. “C’mon, you know you’re gonna tell me.”

“Nope, not this time.”

He tipped his head to one side and studied her for a moment. “No doubts, right?”

“Doubts? About us?”

“Yeah.” He gnawed on his bottom lip for a second. “If there were you’d tell me.”

She moved up until her face was next to his on the pillow, her hand caressing his face and tugging at the piercing on his eyebrow. “I don’t have any doubts about us.”

“Okay, good.” He pulled her closer. “You don’t have any right to look this hot first thing in the mornin’.”

“Is there a reason for that?” she asked and let her hands travel over his body.

“There’s one reason that’s kinda pressing,” he chuckled and shifted his hips.

“I don’t think he’s complaining about me bein’ hot.”

“No,” he nudged her over onto her back and settled against her. “He’d have to be a fool to complain about that.”

“Ya know, the female body’s not so obvious but,” she lifted her head from the pillow to steal a kiss from his lips but he pulled away too quickly, “you’re not so bad yourself.”

“Yeah, that’s definitely somethin’ you’ve got over us. Girls do kinda have the advantage of not bein’ so obvious.”

“You’ve proven before that you know what to do to make it obvious.”

He chuckled. “I’m thinkin’ maybe we should do it again.”

“Absolutely.”

Michael nudged her chin up and nibbled a path along her jaw and down to her shoulder. His hand curled around her side, constantly in motion as he reversed directions and went in search of her mouth.

Her whole body vibrated under him. He was touching her, but the contact was mostly light and teasing, leaving her wanting more. She didn’t get the chance to ask for it though because his lips sealed hers with a passionate yet gentle kiss.

“G’mornin’,” he mumbled when he lifted his head after several minutes. They had been intimate when he’d come to her room but he knew they had plans and he didn’t want their first time to be rushed.

“It’s definitely a good morning.”

“Sure won’t mind getting up like this when we have a lot more time to spend in bed.”

“Yeah,” she made a face, “I wish we could stay here all mornin’.”

It was tempting to suggest they could do that, but he wasn’t so selfish that he’d take time away from a sick little boy so he could stay in bed. “Soon,” he promised. “And it’ll be worth the wait.”

“You working tonight?”

“Yeah, I’ll be off after midnight unless they pull a surprise double shift on us.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I’ve gotta be at work at 7 tomorrow morning.”

“Sounds like we’re gonna be juggling schedules. But, if I get off on schedule tonight we can have breakfast before you head in to work,” he offered.

She nodded. “Are we still on for a date tomorrow night?”

“We’re definitely on. I’ll volunteer for the double if I have to just to make sure I don’t have to cancel on our first date.”

“Don’t pull a double shift,” she shook her head, worried. “You’re beat, Michael. You need some rest. If work gets in the way, we can always go out later.”

“You just wanna get me back in bed as soon as you can,” he teased as he nipped her chin.

“Well, pizza in bed is dinner too, right?”

He laughed at her answer. “Yeah, I’d say that ranks up there.”

She smiled and wrapped both of her arms around his neck. “C’mere, I wanna snuggle a few more minutes.”

His eyes traced over her features and he wondered how long it had been since he’d seen her this happy. “You look good,” he said simply.

“I feel good,” she told him and pulled him towards her and bit into his earlobe playfully. “An’ you’re the reason.”

He growled low in his throat and rolled his hips. “Same goes.”

“Stop that.”

“M’ria,” he complained and instead of another full roll, just nudged her.

“Right here with you,” she muttered.

“You could be,” he whispered and traced the edge of her panties with his fingertips.

“Are you just teasing or are you planning to finish that?”

He slipped past the waistband and took his time sliding down over her mound to cup her. He let one finger slip between her folds to stroke her and his heated breath ghosted against her ear as he spoke. “Feel like I’m teasing?”

“No,” she breathed and moved against his touch, “an’ you’re not allowed to stop now.”

“No intention of stoppin’.” He shifted his hand, playing over the bundle of nerves that caused her breath to catch and her body to push against him.

She moaned and lifted her head from the pillow, pulling his lips into a hard heated kiss before he could back off again. Her hips moved in rhythm with his hand and she felt the light layer of sweat covering her body.

Michael added the pressure she needed, increasing the speed of his movements. He could feel her reaching for her orgasm and he deepened the kiss as he sent her over the edge.

Her hand dug into his hair and pulled on it while waves of pleasure rolled through her body and she had to control herself to keep from screaming out his name, knowing there were a whole bunch of people in the apartment. She needed some time to catch her breath and hid her face against his neck while she did. “You’re very talented with your hands.”

He grinned roguishly and chuckled. “Nothin’ but the best for you.”

“Keep that in mind,” she told him tiredly.

He rolled onto his side and kept her close. “You should sleep a little bit longer. You’ve got a full day ahead of you.”

“So do you. Wanna have lunch at Sal’s after the hospital?”

“Sounds good, but I already have plans to have lunch with the guys today.”

“Oh, so you’re going back to Brooklyn then?” She lifted her head and rested it in her hand to look at him. “Ya sure ya wanna come to the hospital then? That’s a lot of driving back and forth.”

“Yeah, I’m good. It’s not that much drivin’,” he said with a shrug. “Besides, it’ll be good for the little man and your mom can probably use a break.”

She didn’t argue with him. “So, lunch with the guys? Max, Kyle an’ Tony?”

“Yeah.” He grinned when she shot a speculative look at him. “Max was gonna give his Army buddies a call, see if they could make it.”

“You’re meeting Blake an’ Ramrod? Couldn’t be that you guys are working on a plan to find Alex, could it?”

“Maybe. I figure it can’t be a bad idea to lay our options out and take a look at ‘em.”

“Uh-huh. But you won’t do something stupid, right?”

“I won’t,” he promised. “I know that detective’s lookin’ into the case, but we have no idea what condition Alex is in and this’s important to Isabel. I just wanna find out what these guys can do.”