Roswell Fanatics

sarammlover: Lol, still not liking Courtney, huh? Yep, things are about to get really interesting. That little photo shoot should cause quite a stir.

Earth2Mama: It does sound great, right? Lol, having roommates can be a challenge! Lol, think Tess could be that perfect third roomie, huh?

Who knows what that photo shoot will reveal… or whose eyes it’ll open.

CandyliciousLovah: Lol. Oh, that advertisement is sure to bring some interesting moments with it!

Cardinal: Yeah, chances are good the photographer will see exactly what’s between them and use it to bring that shoot to life.

Lol, we’ll let him know you think so.

You make a good point about the space that they all need, including Aaron.

Natalie36: Chances are good that Trent does have something up his sleeve.

mary mary: Hey, c’mon now… how could you not trust us?

keepsmiling7: Lol, Max is taking steps in the right direction.

We hope guys like a little mystery with their women too!

Crybaby001: Lol, probably more interesting than Courtney will appreciate.

You could be right about her reaction.

Alien_Friend: Max is definitely maneuvering Michael and Maria into an interesting position with this shoot. Yeah, Courtney isn’t gonna like it one bit. We’ll see Michael try to convince Courtney eventually.

Aww, you’re right. Max is already getting used to having Liz and Aaron with him.

Party at Tony’s promises some fun!

We’ll have more Alex and Isabel coming up soon.

Happy we could make your Sunday brighter!

begonia9508: Thanks!

Oh, we’ll certainly see what happens when Courtney finds out about the photo shoot, lol.

Hopefully somehow, some way, they’ll be able to prevent Trent from carrying out his threats.

Eva: Welcome back! Thanks! Hmm… it’s coming soon.

xilaj: We haven’t seen the last of Trent, yep!

We enjoy to write group scenes as well, thanks.



Part 81

Bad Boys with Big Hearts

Max walked into his apartment and paused to lean back against the door when he smelled dinner cooking. He could hear Liz moving around in the kitchen and talking to Aaron and after a moment he leaned down to unlace his boots and kick them off. He moved to the couch and set the shopping bag on the floor next to it, nodding to himself. He crossed the living room and leaned in the kitchen doorway, watching them as Liz turned the pork chops and checked something on the back of the stove while Aaron told her all about his day. He rapped his knuckles on the doorframe to get their attention and when Aaron turned and saw him a wide smile spread across his face.

The little boy ran across the room and threw his arms around Max’s legs and looked up at him. “You came home!”

He chuckled and ruffled the boy’s hair. “I picked up a couple things for you. They’re in the living room.”

Aaron’s eyes widened. “For me?”

“Yeah, why don’t you go check ‘em out, see what you think? Maybe after dinner we can build somethin’?”

“After dinner and his bath,” Liz spoke up before they could get too carried away.

“She always makes me take a baf,” Aaron muttered and made a face.

Max laughed and patted him on the back. “My mom always made me take a bath too. But it’s a good thing even though it doesn’t seem like it right now.” He gave him a little nudge. “Go on, maybe you can get a little playtime in before dinner.”

“Okay.” He hugged him again. “Thanks, Max!”

“What’d you do?” Liz asked, glancing at him over her shoulder when she heard Aaron shouting in excitement.

He shrugged. “Just some Lincoln logs, a package of cowboys and Indians, and a package of little farm animals. Nothin’ big, just some stuff he can play with.”

She moved the pan off of the burner and moved to stand in front of him. “Thank you,” she murmured as she wrapped her arms around him. “You may regret it the first time you step on one of them in the middle of the night though.”

He shrugged and his hands settled on her hips as he lowered his head to kiss her. “How was your day?”

“About the same as always, just a little easier since I didn’t have to go home to Trent.”

He nodded and for a moment considered not telling her about what had happened that morning but then changed his mind. She had a right to know that he was threatening her custody of Aaron. Even if it never led anywhere she had to know. “I kinda wanted to talk to you about him.”

Liz made a face. “If it’s necessary.”

“Yeah, I know, not my favorite subject either.”

“So hit me with it,” she dropped her hands to go back to preparing a salad for dinner.

He cleared his throat. “He’s threatening us with CPS. He’s already pulled my record and while I did receive a medical discharge it wasn’t because I was unstable. He also brought up your job at the club, Aaron spending so much time with Mrs. McGinty, and he implied that between the three it could be enough for CPS to remove Aaron from your custody.”

She stared at him in disbelief. Yes, Trent had mentioned something like that before, but she had never really paid that much attention to it and she had assumed now that he was rid of them he wouldn’t bother anymore. “Do you think it’s just a threat or will he will try to do it?” A life without Aaron was nothing she could imagine and she didn’t even want to consider it.

He shook his head. “I don’t know. The guy’s a blowhard and normally I’d say the threats are empty but... he’s also pissed. Yeah, he kicked you out but, I feel like he’s lookin’ for a way to get back at you. And maybe it’s not even about you. It could easily be about me because it’s a major blow to his ego that he threw you out and you landed on your feet. With me.”

“I can’t lose him, Max.”

He bit his bottom lip. “Maybe we need to get with Maria and figure out the numbers so we can start lookin’ seriously for an apartment for the two of you. I like havin’ you guys here but maybe it’s better right now if you guys aren’t...” he swallowed hard, “with me.”

She wiped her face with one hand and dropped the knife on the counter. “You’re so much better with Aaron than Trent ever was.”

He reached out and cupped her cheek in his hand. “We’ll figure this out, Liz. We’re not gonna let that asshole take him away from us.”

Happy babbling could be heard in the next room, which made her smile sadly. “Okay.”

“We’ll tackle the apartment situation first and then we’ll take on the job.”

“And we’re gonna take care of the babysitter situation tomorrow as well,” she reminded him. “You’re still coming with me to the daycare tomorrow?”

“Yeah, what time?"

“After my shift? Around 4? I know I was supposed to get off earlier so we could go to the zoo but one of the other girls is out with a cold and my boss needs me to stay a little later than I was expecting.”

He nodded. “Okay, sounds good. Maria and Cody are gonna go to the zoo with us tomorrow so we’ll just drop them off and come by and pick you up so we can go by the daycare.”

“That’s nice. Aaron will love to see Cody again. They’ve become friends.”

“Yeah, they should enjoy hangin’ out at the zoo.”

Liz wiped the counter where she had cut the tomatoes and slipped them into a bowl with homemade dressing. “I saw Maria in the café today. She said she’s gonna start looking at some apartments.”

“Yeah, they were all there when I stopped in, makin’ plans for a party tomorrow night.” He sat on one of the barstools and rested his weight on the counter. “Tony was busy goin’ through the apartment ads.” He scratched his chin. “What would you be lookin’ at payin' for rent?”

“I don’t know. It really depends, but I guess no more than $700. Less would be better but no more for sure.”

“Yeah, we should be able to find somethin’ that’ll work for both of you. Especially if you’re lookin’ in Queens.”

“Let’s hope so,” Liz nodded.

“We will. I’ve got a couple of clients that’re in real estate, thought maybe I’d give ‘em a call, see if any of them have listings over in Queens.”

“Is dinner ready yet?” Aaron stood in the doorframe, a few logs in his hands.

Max grinned and looked at Liz. “That’s a good question.”

“Almost,” she rolled her eyes. “Why don’t you boys set the table, huh?”

“Table duty,” he made a face that made Aaron laugh. He got up and walked over to the cabinet, debating between the package of paper plates and the real plates stacked haphazardly next to them. “Paper okay?”

“Paper?” she echoed. “We’re not in a snack bar, Max.”

“It makes cleanup so easy though.” He shrugged and grabbed three of the mismatched plates. “Guess that means no paper cups either.”

“You don’t wear paper clothes either, do you?” she asked and turned off the oven.

“I think she’s gonna put us on KP after dinner, Aaron,” he said as he pulled down glasses and carefully placed them on top of the plates.

“You can count on that.” Liz turned around to look at her brother. “Go and wash your hands.”

Max glanced at her when Aaron ran out of the room. “Anything I can do to get outta dishes?” he asked as he set the table.

“Nope,” she answered simply.

“Nothin’, huh?” He put the utensils next to the plates and walked up behind her, his hands resting on the counter on either side of her. “Sure about that?”

“I’m pretty sure, yeah.”

He lowered his head and nipped her earlobe. “Still sure?”

Liz turned around to face him, their bodies dangerously close together. “You gotta learn to behave with my brother around, Max.”

He sighed and eased back a bit. “We’re not doin’ anything indecent.”

“Um-hmm, not yet.”

“I’m aware there’s a little guy runnin’ around here, ya know.” He rolled his eyes. “I’m not suggestin’ we get naked and fuck on the counter with him less than 20 feet away.”

Liz placed a hand over his mouth when Aaron entered the kitchen right at that moment. She looked at him meaningfully.

Max cleared his throat and winced. God, he hoped Aaron hadn’t overheard him drop the F-bomb. Liz would never forgive him for that. He’d been careful not to speak too loudly but kids had a way of hearing exactly what you didn’t want them to hear. “Sorry,” he mumbled against her palm.

*****

Maria turned her body to glance in the backseat of Max’s Jeep, smiling when she saw Cody and Aaron playing quietly with a few stuff animals. They were both tired after spending several hours at the zoo together.

“They make good friends,” she said as she got comfortable in her seat again and glanced at Max.

He chuckled and shot a look at them in the review mirror. “They do.”

“I think Aaron’s a lot more relaxed now that they’ve gotten out of the hell they were living in. The smile on his lips whenever you talk to him says a lot, Maxie.”

“M’ria,” he complained and glared at her. “Don’t call me names, will ya?” He smirked and shifted gears when the signal turned green.

“Who would’ve thought you’d be so good with kids.”

He shrugged. “Honestly, I didn’t really know until Aaron came into my life.”

“They say you grow with your tasks and I guess it’s true.”

“Yeah.” He glanced at the boys again. “I’ve never given much thought to havin’ kids before, ya know?”

Maria snorted. “Guess it took a certain woman to bring that out.”

He chuckled and tugged on his lip ring. “Yeah, I guess so.”

“Oh, before I forget,” she rummaged around in her bag, “I wrote down some numbers of photographers.”

“Hey, cool. Thanks, I’ll put them to use, see what we can put together.”

“Let me know if ya need any help with it.”

“Will do. You know a lot more about this stuff than I do.”

“Goes for you too about the tat thing.” She was still trying to get used to the fact that Max had picked Michael to be her partner for the shoot.

“Are you okay with the direction the ad’s takin’?”

“I’m good,” she told him. “It’s gonna be sexy, what’s not to like?”

He shot a quick glance at her. “Yeah, that’s true. Of course, I could pair you up with a brick wall and it’d still come out sexy.”

She snorted. “Not sure about that, but everyone knows I’m sexier than Guerin. You should ask if he’s okay.”

“Hell, you’ll make him look good and if he’s got half a brain – which sometimes I question if he has even that much, he knows that.”

“Wonder what his girlfriend will think about it,” Maria mused aloud.

“I’d pay good money to be a fly on the wall for that conversation.”

“He still thinks she’ll be okay with it and she’ll take it easy, but I know she won’t,” she snorted.

“What about you? Are you okay with doin’ the shoot with him since we all know she’s not gonna like it?”

She probably should feel bad, but after the little encounter with Courtney the other day at the gym she had lost any sympathy she had for her. “Well, it’s not my problem.”

He smirked and shook his head. “Guess you guys won’t be hangin’ out anytime soon.”

“Probably not, no.”

“You think she’ll come to the party tonight?”

“I don’t know, but I think she’d rather come than let Michael go alone.”

“I don’t think Michael understands that she views you as competition.”

“I guess no girl would like to see her boyfriend with another girl, best friend or not,” Maria shrugged. “He’ll learn eventually. She’s already talked to him about it.”

He took a left turn and pressed on the brakes to avoid hitting a guy that ran across the street without looking. “No, and he doesn’t see what the big deal is, which is only gonna cause more problems for them.”

“Maybe they won’t be together that long.”

“Wishful thinking?”

“He never was the type for long relationships and when it gets complicated…” She left the rest open.

“He’ll run,” he finished for her.

Well, she had been thinking something more along the lines of Michael sending her back to the little hole she had crawled out of, but yeah, that fit too. “Right.”

He nodded at the backseat. “Is he dealin’ with it any better?”

“I don’t know, he hasn’t asked much about it the last few days, but he’s been sleeping a lot since the weekend.”

“Probably a good thing. I know it’s stressful for him trying to understand what’s going on.”

“Yeah, guess the timing could’ve been better. Everything just seems to be coming together right now.”

He nodded sympathetically. “It’s gotta be tough for Guerin too.”

“He’s trying to make everything right, but I doubt there’s a way to do that.” No matter what he did, Michael was gonna hurt someone and she knew it would most likely be Cody.

“Yeah, he keeps straddling that fence he’s only gonna end up bustin’ his own balls.”

Maria laughed out loud. “Nice image, Max.”

He made a face and shifted unconsciously. “Tell me about it.”

She watched as Max pulled into the parking lane in front of her mother’s building and turned to check on her brother. “Time to say goodbye for now.”

Cody looked at Aaron as he hugged the stuffed dolphin Max had bought for him. He reached out to pet the stuffed giraffe his friend was holding. “I gotta go now.”

“Can’t we play a little more no more?” Aaron asked tiredly.

“We’ve gotta meet Liz and head over to your new daycare, buddy,” Max said as he turned to look at the little boy. “Remember?”

“And Cody needs to have a nice afternoon nap with me,” Maria winked at her brother.

“Admit it, you just wanna get your hands on that dolphin,” Max teased.

“Maybe that too.”

He laughed and got out, freeing Cody from the car seat and handing him over to Maria.

“Bye bye, Aaron, tell Liz we said hello, okay?” She ruffled the boy’s hair.

“I will.” He waved and smiled. “Bye.”

“See you soon,” Max said his goodbyes and climbed back in the Jeep. “You okay, buddy?” He turned to checked on the boy.

Aaron looked up and grinned widely. “I’m okay. Are we gonna eat soon?”

“We’ll pick Liz up from the café and have a snack there, okay?”

“Okay.” He picked at the bag with the zoo logo on the seat beside him. “Lizzie will like her present.”

“You think?” Max grinned and started to drive again. It only took a few minutes for Aaron to drift off to sleep. The zoo had worn him out, he thought, amused.

Twenty minutes later he stopped in a parking lot next to the café, glad that Aaron wasn’t fully sleep. He had quickly learned that waking him up could be painful if he was. “Ready, little man?”

“Ready!” He took Max’s hand when the man set him on the ground and he held his giraffe tightly. “Don’t forget Lizzie’s present, Max!”

“We’ll give it to her later in the car, whatcha think?”

“Oh... will it be soon?” He was eager to see what she thought of the gift he had picked out.

“Sure, her shift’s almost over. We just gotta eat and then we’re gonna go to your new daycare.”

“Is it nice there, Max?” he asked as he looked up at him.

“I think it is. And Isabel will be able to visit you now and then.”

“I like her. She’s nice.” He ducked his head bashfully. “An’ she’s pretty too,” he mumbled.

Max laughed. “She is, and she’ll love you even more if you tell her.”

Aaron smiled and shuffled his feet when they stopped so Max could open the door. “Is that true?”

“Women always like to hear that they’re pretty,” he winked at the little boy and then looked around to find Liz.

“Can I have a grilled cheese, Max?” he asked.

“I think that’ll be okay,” he agreed and smiled when Liz entered the room, carrying two plates with fries and burgers to some customers.

Liz glanced over at Max and Aaron when she noticed them and she smiled at them. They looked relaxed and it was obvious they had enjoyed their day at the zoo. “I’ll be off in about five minutes, boys.”

“Do we have time to eat somethin’?”

She checked the clock on the wall. “Yeah, we’ve got time.”

“Little man wants a grilled cheese,” he pointed at Aaron and sat him in one of the booths.

“Anything for you?”

“I’ll take the same.”

“Want fries with that?”

“I do,” Aaron said.

“How about we share, huh?” Max offered, knowing the boy would never eat them all.

Liz couldn’t help but smile as she went to put the order in. She got Max a Coke and filled a small glass with milk for Aaron before walking back over to the table. “I’m gonna run clock out and then I’ll be done with work for today.”

“Have you already eaten?”

She smiled and shook her head. “I ordered three grilled cheese sandwiches and a large basket of fries.”

Aaron leaned against Max’s side happily. He was tired but it was a good tired.

“Need ketchup for your fries?” Max asked as he rubbed the little boy’s shoulder.

“Is it spicy?”

“Nah, just regular ol’ ketchup.”

“I want some,” he nodded.

He leaned over and snagged a bottle off of the next table. “You know the trick to getting ketchup to come out of a glass bottle faster?”

“No,” the boy said, his tone amazed and his eyes wide.

“When those fries get here, I’ll show you.”

“Okay,” Aaron agreed impatiently.

He grinned and nodded at the kitchen area when Liz came out dressed in her street clothes and carrying a tray of food. “Look at that, you don’t have to wait long.”

“You two look hungry,” she grinned and placed the food in front of them, bending over the table to give her brother a kiss on the cheek before taking her seat. “How was the day at the zoo?”

“It was fun, Lizzie! Look at my giraffe!” He picked it up off of the bench seat and thumped it on the table, narrowly missing the basket of fries.

Her little brother just loved stuffed animals and normally she would’ve rolled her eyes at it and told Max that they already had their own zoo at home, but the truth was that Trent had thrown a lot of them away, so he would get a pass for now. “She looks cute.”

“We seened tigers an’ the lion an’ the monkeys was funny. There was a rhinosaurus an’ a el’phant, an’ a big, big bear! An’ we got to ride the ponies! Mine was black an’ had a white star on her face an’ her name was Twinkle.” He wrinkled his nose. “I told the man she shouldn’t be named that but he said he couldn’t change it.”

“That sounds like a lot of fun,” Liz said and stuck a fry in her mouth, reaching over to cut the cheese sandwich on Aaron’s plate in quarters.

“Max,” Aaron reached over and shook his arm, “Max, show her the pitcher you taked!”

“Okay,” he swallowed down the bite of sandwich and was about to wipe his hands on his jeans when he realized that wouldn’t impress Liz with the kid around. He reached for a napkin instead to clean his hands and then pulled his cell out to look for the photo.

Liz reached for the phone when he held it out to her and she glanced up at him when their fingers brushed against each other.

“See me, Lizzie? I look like a real cowboy, huh?” He got up on his knees and leaned over to press a greasy fingerprint to the small screen. “An’ look, you can see Cody too!”

“Aaron,” Liz urged, “what’d we say about doin’ other things while eating?”

He made a face and settled back in his seat with his sandwich.

“Sorry,” she wiped the display with a napkin and handled it back to Max.

He shook his head and set the phone on the table. “What’s up, buddy?” he asked when Aaron tugged on his arm.

“What’s the ketchup thing?”

“Oh, right, forgot all about that.” He unscrewed the cap and upended the bottle, giving it a good shake and looking at Aaron when the ketchup inside barely moved.

“It’s not comin’ out, Max.”

“It’s not, is it?” He unrolled one of the napkins and reached for the butter knife, watching the little boy as he inserted the knife into the bottle and the ketchup started to slide down through the neck. It landed on the plate with a quiet splat when he pulled the knife out and set it aside.

“And that’s,” Liz took the knife away from him, “not something you’re gonna do,” she looked at her brother meaningfully.

Max looked at the little boy. “No, we only keep the squeeze bottles at home anyway.”

“Hey, eat your sandwich,” Liz reminded Aaron when he was still staring at the bottle.

“My dad showed me that when I was little.” He grabbed a couple of fries and dipped them in the ketchup.

“Where is your dad?”

“Probably not far.” He shrugged. “He’s a partner with an investment banking firm on Wall Street.”

“Really? I didn’t know that.” She knew very little about Max and other than the brief mention about his mom making the famous macaroni and cheese that Aaron loved she couldn’t remember him ever talking about his parents.

“When’s your mommy an’ daddy gonna come see you, Max?” Aaron asked as he looked up at him.

“My dad works a lot, buddy.”

“Oh. Does your mommy work lots too?”

“No, she comes by the shop once in a while or she has me out to the house for dinner.”

“Can we go to her house?”

“Aaron, we don’t invite ourselves to other people’s homes,” Liz said.

Max chuckled. He could just imagine how ecstatic Mom would be if he showed up for dinner with Liz and Aaron in tow. “I’ve actually thought about that,” he admitted to Liz when the little boy started building a tower with his French fries. “They have a lawyer on retainer and he might be able to give us some advice. Mom would love you guys and anything that gets me out there is good enough for her.”

“You don’t see them very often do you?” she asked quietly.

“No. I don’t really talk much to my dad anymore. Haven’t since Iraq,” he admitted quietly. He smiled when she reached over to place her hand on top of his. He cleared his throat. This was definitely a conversation for another time. “Anyway, we should probably get goin’ or we’re gonna be late getting to the daycare.”

Eva: Lol, yeah, Courtney isn’t likely to be happy with that news.

Max and Liz do have a good start but don’t count Trent out just yet.

Earth2Mama: We agree, Max and Liz aren’t likely to burn out too soon. Moving out might give them both a little room to deal with some things but it isn’t likely to put any real distance between them.

Trent has put them in a bad situation with his threats.

Lol, Trent and Courtney, huh? Interesting idea. We’re not sure Courtney deserves that.

keepsmiling7: Trent’s a jerk who enjoys his little power plays and it pisses him off to no end that Liz landed on her feet.

Max is good with Aaron and they’re good for each other.

As much as he wants them to stay with him he does know that maybe right now it’s safer to put a little space between them as far as living arrangements.

Max spent time in Iraq after joining the Army and it’s caused a large rift between him and his father.

CandyliciousLovah: Lol, it would be an interesting situation for sure.

mary mary: Lol, Max meant the items themselves, not the cost.

Not sure about settled (it’s a DT fic after all and we’re only 782 pages into the story, lol), but the photo shoot will certainly make things more interesting.

xilaj: We’re glad you like Max so much in this fic! He and Aaron are definitely good for each other. Max and Liz are taking their time and it’s giving them the opportunity to open up with each other. For Max that’s a very important step because he keeps so much bottled up inside. Sharing a place with Maria would probably be best for now because of Trent’s threats but it wouldn’t be permanent. We may soon see Max taking the necessary steps of going to his parents for help.

Max is trying hard to mind his manners around the little boy. Lol, clothes always seem to be so much easier to access than a napkin.

Natalie36: We’re glad you’re loving them here! Trent is and will continue to be an asshole, lol.

Alien_Friend: Lol, we’re okay with bias!

Max taking them to meet his family would be a major step for him. Diane would just adore them and she’d love that he’s so crazy about them and has them in his life. If he can make himself take that step and go to his parents it’ll be important, not just for the three of them but also for Liz and Aaron.

Sleepovers are always a possibility. Don’t worry, we’ll have more of those family moments.

Thanks so much for the compliment!

itsme69: Lol, that meeting would certainly be interesting!

sarammlover: This is one group that has each other’s backs. Kyle and Tess… well, they’ll get there eventually.

begonia9508: There are some good things happening for sure, but don’t discount Trent just yet. Unfortunately his threat is real and presented in the right light he could make Liz look very bad. So while Liz has made sacrifices and she’s doing everything she can to hold things together Trent could still pull the rug out from under her.

secretk: No worries, we completely understand! Glad to hear you’re doing better now, that’s the most important thing!

This group has made some good progress since the beginning of the fic. Alex has started to find his place in the group as he’s been accepted and he and Max have forged the beginning of a friendship.

Trent is a menace to society, but particularly to Liz. We’ll be seeing Max reaching out to his parents in future parts. He and his father do have some issues and being with Liz and Aaron may just help him finally face that.

Maria’s situation is a tough one but she does have a good support system. She really did enjoy that thought, lol. Another vote for Maria, Liz, and Tess to live together, huh? You never know.

Max and Liz do both have some things they need to sort out and they’ll get there. They’re finally working toward something lasting.

Lol, you just never know what might happen at one of their parties! Courtney’s gonna have a hard time really fitting into the group. They’ve all known since the beginning that Michael and Maria belong together and some of them – Max, lol – has no issue helping that along.

Michael does have an uphill batter and eventually that battle will include him because at some point he will realize what’s right in front of him. You’re right though, lol, it’ll be a while… anything worthwhile takes time.




Part 82

Favors

Alex sighed as he looked at his cell after trying to dial out. He had paid the damn bill, why was it still disabled? “I hate my life,” he groaned quietly and shoved it into his pocket.

“What’d you say?” Isabel leaned in the doorway, hands hidden in the pockets of her green hospital scrubs.

He glanced up at her in surprise and couldn’t help but think how different she looked this way – not bad though. “Nothin’.”

She frowned and walked further into the room, placing a small amount of bills in front of him. “Hadn’t paid you for yesterday afternoon yet.”

“Oh no, we were…” the last words were stuck in his throat. Yeah it had felt like they were just hanging out after work like friends, but no – they weren’t friends, right? She wouldn’t just hang out with him if the deal between them didn’t exist. “Thanks,” he nodded.

“How’s your sister doing?” she asked to change the subject. It felt weird to pay him for his company since she had started to actually enjoy spending time with him.

He shook his head. “As well as can be expected.”

“I talked to the attending the other day. He has some good connections to some nursing residences here in New York...”

“Yeah, and I must’ve met with most of them when I was first told she needed to be placed in a long-term care facility. As much as I’d like to have her closer, the cost is just too high.”

“Not if you know the right people and they owe you,” she told him with a wink.

He snorted. “I think you’ve got that one backwards because I’m the one who owes everyone.”

Isabel rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Uh-huh, so you pull some strings... and then what do I owe you?”

She shook her head. “Nothing, Alex. Actually the attending owes me and I really can’t think of anything I want from him,” she made a disgusted face.

“Why’s he owe you?” he asked curiously.

A cheeky smirk appeared on her lips. “Walked in while he was screwing a nurse from the ER. His wife works in Delivery and at the time so did I.”

“Well, he certainly owes you then.” Alex made a face. “Why are people so careless when it comes to relationships? I just don’t understand that.”

“In this case we’re lucky he isn’t,” she shrugged. “He’s a major pig, so it’d be my pleasure to make him do something for your sister.”

He chuckled. “I guess it’s only right that he should pay in some way. I’ve got a list of a few that I really liked. Maybe one of his connections is at one of them.”

“Gimme the list and we’ll find out.”

“I’ll write it down for you.” He tapped his temple. “I’ve got it all up here.”

She nodded and leaned against a desk in the corner of the room, crossing her arms over her chest. “So, what’re you gonna do tonight?”

“I don’t know. I could study, got a few chapters I need to read.” He looked down to hide a smirk when he saw the look on her face. “Heard there’s a party tonight... s’pose I could go out for a while.”

“Well, it’s Queens, but what could it hurt,” she teased.

“Did you wanna, I don’t know, go together?”

“We can do that,” she nodded. “We could take the subway. Heard there’s a station right next to Tony’s building and it’d probably be a lot quicker ride than going by car.”

“Sounds good.” He reached up to scratch his neck. “We could take a night off from y’know,” he gestured between them and then motioned to the money still lying on the table.

“Yeah, I guess, since I’m not forcing you this time,” Isabel tried to make a joke.

“Well, it is a hardship to spend time with a beautiful woman,” he said and rolled his eyes.

“According to some men, it really is,” she chuckled and pointed at the door. “I’d better go. I’m meeting Evans and Liz now.”

“Oh, right, the daycare thing. I guess I’d better get back to work anyway. Hospitals don’t clean themselves.”

“Smart man,” she snorted and waved goodbye before she walked down the hallway toward the area where parents picked up their kids from the hospital daycare.

****

Max and Liz were sitting in the chairs that lined the hallway and he glanced at her when he caught her checking the clock again. “We got here a few minutes early. She’ll be here.”

“I know.” Liz smiled nervously. Isabel had been positive that Aaron would find a place in the daycare but there was still the question of money and if the director – a friend of Isabel’s – would agree. She knew the other girl had said everything was set but she was scared to get her hopes up.

He was about to say something else when Aaron grabbed a handful of his shirt and got up on his knees. “Look, Max,” he whispered as he unconsciously jerked on the material.

He turned to follow the little boy’s gaze and he lowered his voice as he directed his comment to Liz. “I think Aaron’s workin’ on his first crush,” he said and nodded at Isabel as people moved to give her a clear path through the hallway.

“Well, I doubt that promises a happy future,” she smiled at him and then got up, wiping her hands on her jeans before greeting the other woman. “Hey.”

Isabel smiled as she greeted the couple and she crouched down to shake Aaron’s hand when he held it out. He shook it quickly and then ducked his head to hide his smile, burying his face against Max’s shoulder. “I hope you guys weren’t waiting long.”

“Nah, we just got here,” Max told her.

“Cool. I just talked to Carol, the director here in the daycare, and she’s in her office. You’re definitely in, that’s not a question. She’s gonna waive the usual enrollment fees and she’s gonna give you my discounted rate so the cost will be considerably lower than what you’d get anywhere else.”

Liz sighed, relieved. “Thank you so much, Isabel. I don’t know what else to say…”

She shook her head and waved her hand. “Not necessary, believe me. I’m just glad there was something I could do to help. And I’m sure Aaron will like it here. The staff is wonderful with the kids and if he has an epileptic episode he’ll be with people who know what to do.”

“That’s good. A lot of daycare facilities wouldn’t take him because of that.”

“Which is just ridiculous,” Max tossed his two cents in.

“A lot of facilities don’t want the responsibility or the liability.” Isabel shook her head. “But this guy here is anything but a liability,” she said and ran a hand over Aaron’s head, “and he’s gonna have a lot of fun here.”

Aaron looked at her skeptically, not really understanding what the adults were talking about.

“You’re gonna get to hang out with other little guys your age,” Max said as he looked at him.

“Cody too?”

“Not at the daycare, buddy. But we’ll hang out with him again soon.”

“Otay. He said we should visit him at home, Lizzie. He told me he has books wif sharks.”

“Oh, well, I’m sure we can do that if his mommy says it’s okay.”

They looked up when a door opened and a woman with dark hair stepped out. “Isabel, you’re right on time.”

She smiled. “We were just talking about you, Carol.” She turned to the couple. “Liz, Max, this’s Carol Underwood, the director here at the daycare.”

“Nice to meet you,” Liz stretched her hand out, while Aaron pressed himself against her side.

“Nice to meet you as well.” Carol smiled as she looked at the little boy. “I understand this little man’s looking for someplace to hang out during the day.”

****

Michael was just putting the final touches on dinner when the doorbell rang and he shoved one end of the dishtowel into his back pocket as he hurried over to the front door. He pulled it open and smiled at Courtney as his gaze traveled over her. “Wow, you look great,” he said as he took her hand and tugged her inside. He closed the door and pressed her back against it to kiss her.

“Something smells good,” she said when he leaned back after a few moments.

“Been slaving over a hot stove for the past couple hours. I know you like all that health food crap so I got the recipe from my parents’ housekeeper. Might be healthy but the way Nana makes it you’d never know it.” His gaze traveled over her. “You said you’re not a vegetarian so I hope you like chicken parmesan.”

“If it tastes as good as it smells I think I’m gonna be impressed. I was…” Her head snapped to the side when she caught movement and she blinked rapidly when she didn’t see anything.

“Somethin’ wrong?” Michael asked with a frown.

“Um, no, just thought I saw something, but I guess not.” She gave him a nudge. “You wanna show me around or should we get to dinner first?”

“Got a preference?”

“Hmm…” she glanced around the room and then at him. He hadn’t dressed up for their date, but he looked good in the jeans and black tee shirt he was wearing. “Why don’t ya show me your room first?”

Well, that was right to the point, he thought as he stepped back and gestured to the right. “Right this way.”

“Your place is really nice, Michael.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty cool. We’ve got a pretty good setup.”

“Pretty high rent as well I guess,” she snorted. “Is Kyle home?”

He shrugged. He never really thought much about the price tag. The rent came directly out of his account every month and he never noticed or missed it. “Nah, he’s out picking up some stuff for the party over at Tony’s place. Hey, you don’t mind headin’ over there after dinner, right?”

She was glad she was facing away from him at that moment or he would’ve seen her grimace. “There’s a party? Didn’t know you were planning to go to a party.”

“Well, didn’t know until yesterday but I figured we could go.” He scratched his jaw. “Unless you don't wanna go?”

“Who’s gonna be there?”

He shrugged. “Everybody.” He reached around her to push a door open. “This’s me.”

Everyone probably included Maria and after their last encounter she wasn’t sure how much she was looking forward to seeing her again. Her muscles still ached a lot from that last fitness class. “Nice,” she acknowledged his room.

He glanced around and nodded. “It’s comfortable,” he said and wrapped his arms around her from behind.

Her gaze shifted down to the tattooed arm he had slipped around her waist. He was pretty sexy and the tats gave him a little bit of a bad boy touch. Though she had a feeling she didn’t even know a small part of him and there was a lot more to learn. Her hand linked with his and she smiled when it wrapped around hers automatically. Having him also meant having to get along with the friend package he brought with him. “Guess we can go to the party after dinner, but you owe me a real date with just the two of us.”

He relaxed when she agreed to the party without an argument. “Cool. Unless the schedule changes I should have Saturday off.”

Courtney turned in his arms and looked up at him. “Well, I suggest you take me out to a restaurant then, preferably one with a view along the East River and after that we can have a little private time.”

He lifted his eyebrows. “Pretty specific request. Got a restaurant in mind too?”

“Don’t know the name, but I’ll find out,” she winked at him. “How about we try your cooking skills now? I’m starving.”

“Yeah, alright.” He turned and motioned for her to go ahead of him. “Oh, don’t step on Loco,” he said when the ferret ran across the hall in hot pursuit of a little ball with a bell in it.

“Lo…” Courtney started and then shrieked when she saw the little pet.

“Hell, don’t scare him,” he said and laughed when Loco stood up in the corner and hissed at the loud noise.

“Scare HIM?”

“Yeah, just look at him.” Michael crouched down and snapped his fingers to get the ferret’s attention, waiting for the animal to come to him.

“Is he friendly?”

“Yeah, he’s never bitten anyone before. Although once when my sister brought her boyfriend – now her ex – over Loco did shit on his coat. But I think that was just him expressing his opinion of Dick.”

“Well, if that’s a bad omen, I hope he doesn’t shit on me or anything belonging to me.”

“Nope, Dick’s the only one he’s ever done that to.” He picked the animal up when Loco moved to him and stood to rest his paws on his thigh. “Loud noises freak him out.”

“Well, little furballs freak me out sometimes,” she admitted and shifted her head to one side to look at Loco.

“He likes to sneak up on people so you might wanna remember that.” He watched Loco as he sized her up and he stood when the ferret stretched his neck in her direction.

“Uh-huh,” Courtney said and dared to reach out to the pet to caress its head slightly.

Loco chirped and shifted around to sniff her hand, freezing when the light overhead caught on the silver bracelet she was wearing. He started to chirp excitedly as he stretched to make a grab for the shiny thing.

“Uh…” she made a face but kept herself from pulling her hand back abruptly.

“I should probably warn you now that Loco’s a thief. He likes anything shiny and if he gets his paws on it you probably won’t see it again for a very long time.”

“Oh, you want the bracelet, huh?” She looked at the pet and pulled it off of her wrist. “Here you go.”

Michael’s eyebrows shot up when she handed it over so easily. Loco didn’t care one way or the other how he got it as he handled the bracelet, chirping louder and using his back feet to push against the man holding him. As soon as he was released he disappeared from sight, hauling his new treasure. “Well, you just made Loco a very happy ferret.”

“It’s just a cheap little thing from the supermarket.”

He chuckled. “Don’t be surprised if he wants to be your new best friend. He’ll want to know what other shiny things you’re bringing as gifts for him.”

“Guess I’ll have to bring all my old jewelry with me, huh?”

“That’d be one way to keep him happy. But the bracelet’s gonna keep him occupied for a while, which means he won’t be begging while we’re eating.”

“Sounds good,” she smacked his ass playfully when he turned to go into the kitchen.

He grinned at her over his shoulder and led the way back into the living area. He went into the kitchen just as the oven timer went off and he grabbed one of the oven mitts. He pulled the door open and reached for the pan, sliding it out and onto a towel he had folded in half on the counter. He peeled the foil cover back and looked inside. “That looks pretty good.”

“Smells good too.”

He grabbed the plates and set them on the counter along with napkins and silverware. “Wine?” he asked as he moved back to the cabinet for glasses.

“Why not?” She nodded while she watched him handling the kitchen.

He grabbed a pair of the glasses he had picked up that afternoon, frowning at the sticker that was still attached to the bottom of one. He peeled it off and stuck it to the bottom of the cabinet before closing the door and setting the glasses on the bar. “I was told Merlot went well with this meal,” he said as he retrieved the wine and filled the glasses.

“I don’t really know anything about wine,” she admitted.

“Me either. I called my dad.” He put the wine bottle away and went back to the stove, serving the main dish and then adding salad on the side. He placed them on the bar and then added a basket of rolls before standing back to study the setting. “Salad dressing,” he said when he realized what was missing. “Italian, Ranch?”

“Italian,” she told him and took a seat at the counter. “Wow, this really looks good, Michael.”

He silently congratulated himself as he grabbed both kinds of dressing and then took the seat next to her. He jumped back up after a moment to snag the butter from the refrigerator before sitting back down again. “Can’t have rolls without butter.”

“So what’ve you been up to the last few days besides work?” she asked after they had eaten for a few minutes in silence.

“Not much.” He thought about telling her about the photo spread Evans wanted to do with him and Maria and then decided this really wasn’t the right time. “Mostly just work. Long shifts, decompressing, and then hitting the sack for some sleep. Not much else.”

“Sounds like you need some fun,” she teased and bumped his side slightly.

“We’ve got a party tonight, that’ll be fun.”

“How you wanna get there?”

“We could take the subway,” he said with a shrug. “That way if we drink too much we don’t have to worry about how we’re getting back home.”

“Sure,” she agreed and turned in her seat to look at him, pushing her index finger into his chest. “Although I hope you decide on not drinking too much because I have plans for us tonight.”

“I’m not necessarily plannin’ on goin’ overboard but sometimes it happens.” He turned his head, his eyes moving over her. “Of course if you’ve got plans we can take the Camaro out and I’ll just watch my alcohol.”

She lifted one eyebrow. “You’ve got a Camaro?”

“Yep.”

“Well, if you don’t mind driving…” She hated drunk guys, so if she could prevent him from being one of them, it would be even better.

He shrugged. “Nah, I’m good. Whichever of us is throwin’ a party always confiscates keys at the door that way if they’re too drunk to drive when it’s time to go home we just put ‘em in a cab.”

“You guys have a plan for everything, huh?” She shook her head. This bunch was the craziest she’d ever met.

“Well... you pull enough people out of wrecked cars,” he shrugged.

“I guess you have a point,” she nodded.

“Sad thing is it’s not usually the drunk driver that gets hurt.” He took a big bite of chicken and pasta and hummed thoughtfully. “This’s actually pretty good. Not as good as when Nana makes it, but it’s good.”

“You did great,” Courtney agreed. “I’m totally full though.”

“Really?” He eyed her plate doubtfully. She had eaten all of the salad and maybe half of the chicken parmesan.

“Yeah, I can’t eat that much, Michael. You made me a huge plate.”

“Oh, guess I’m used to bigger portions.” He tried to remember a time when Maria had ever eaten so little. She had a big appetite but she also had one hell of a metabolism.

“Gotta watch my weight in my job,” she winked at him and made a face when she slipped off the chair. “And speaking of… my muscles still hurts from my workout on Monday.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Yeah, and it wasn’t even a professional class. I think Maria just overdid it a little bit.”

“Right, I forgot you take one of her classes. She likes to put people through the paces. Well, that’s what I’ve heard. We run together sometimes but I don’t take any of those chick classes.”

“She was the perfect drill instructor,” Courtney snorted.

“Uh-huh, you sound like you really enjoyed it.”

“It was okay,” she told him, not mentioning the fact that Maria had probably pushed them harder because of her that day.

He shrugged. “She’s good at her job.” He speared what was left of her chicken and put it on his plate. “You workin’ tomorrow?”

“No, I just need to meet with my boss for maybe half an hour after lunch.”

He nodded. “I’m off tomorrow but I’ve gotta meet my dad for lunch and then I’m free for the rest of the day.”

“Would you join me for a visit to the top of the Empire State Building? I haven’t made it up there yet.”

“You haven’t been there yet? That’s like one of the first things people do when they come to the City!”

“Well, I was busy with moving in and finding a job so there wasn’t any time to do that before.”

“Cool, we’ll make a day of it.”

She smiled. “Sounds like a plan.” It was nice that he made attempts for them to do things together. That way she could overlook the fact that he had made plans for the party tonight. They would go together and that was really all that mattered. Plus hey, he had cooked for her!

He nodded. “Anything else you wanna do tomorrow? Other stuff you wanna see?”

“Well, I haven’t seen anything at all yet, so I’m open to suggestions.”

He grinned. “Leave it to me.”

“Looking forward to it now,” she told him excitedly.

“I’ve got a few ideas. It’ll be fun,” he promised.

Natalie36: Well, each part moves us forward in those directions.

roswellian love: Aaron’s a sweet little guy.

We’ll be getting to that party soon so we’ll see just what’s gonna blow up… although you can be sure something will. Ava… we’ll see if she’s gonna come out to play too.

Earth2Mama: Shh, don’t tell Aaron that!

Isabel’s doing what she can to make life a little easier of them.

Nah, we won’t see Trent showing up at the daycare.

sarammlover: Lol, she’s probably gonna bother you for a while. Isabel’s doing what she can to help them out.

CandyliciousLovah: We are, yes. Lol, well, hopefully she won’t drag Michael down.

Crybaby001: And there will be more soon…

Lol, feeling like Cody, huh? Well, that realization will come in time.

keepsmiling7: We think Aaron’s gonna have a lot of fun there.

Max is learning to be patient and take it slow. He’s a little better with it now that Liz isn’t fighting him at every turn.

begonia9508: Thanks! Liz and Maria should make good roommates and that’d be one less thing for Trent to use against them.

They do know, we’ll see if that helps.

kismet: We’re glad to see you back! We’ve missed you. Thanks for the compliment.

Lol, well, that could still happen. She made some points with him but ferrets can be fickle.

xilaj: Alex is finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. Isabel’s gonna do her best.

That’s one thing down. We’ll see soon how Courtney does at the party. Lol, Loco did give her a pass since she gave him something shiny to add to his collection.

Alien_Friend: It will take some time for Michael to realize what is going on! Men!

A&I are on their way to see themselves differently!





Part 83

The Things I Do For You

“Did you already put beer in the refrigerator and in the cooler?” Maria asked as she moved around the kitchen with quick but coordinated moves to get as many sandwiches made at once as possible. She had convinced Tony that there had to be a bit of food served with all the alcohol. People always got hungry when they drank and if there was something to chew on no one would be stupid and order tons of pizza he had to pay for in the end.

“All set and done,” he told her and slouched down on a stool at the bar, watching while she prepared the food. The last two hours he had practically followed her instructions and he was sure by the time the party finally started he’d already be crashed out in his bed.

“Did you lock your bedroom?”

He frowned. “Did I… Um, no.”

“Well, if you don’t want people to make out in there, you’d better.”

“Good point,” he nodded and went to do what she had suggested, shoving the key into his jeans pocket. “Done.”

“I think we’re as ready as we’re gonna be,” she nodded and placed the tops on the sandwiches, stacking them on top of the already full plates and licking some mayonnaise from her finger.

His eyes followed her movement and he shook his head when his body reacted. Damn, it had been a long while since the last time he’d had any action in the bedroom and certain parts of his body were demanding attention. Maybe there would be someone at the party… he mentally went through the people they had invited because he knew Maria wasn’t an option. Their relationship had changed and while it had looked like a nice uncomplicated possibility during the beach weekend, he knew that sex between them would bring nothing but more complications in the end and he didn’t want to ruin the great friendship that was building right now.

“Where’re your thoughts, Carter?” Maria waved a hand in front of his eyes when he didn’t answer her question about where to set the food.

“Huh?” He shook himself when she called him. “Oh, just thinkin’ it’d be nice to meet someone.”

“Someone?” she asked with a slight frown on her face.

“Yeah, y’know...”

“Wasn’t that long ago you said you weren’t ready for that yet. Or are you talking about sex?”

“Sex for certain. More... I’m open to exploring.”

“And are you thinking of a certain person?” She wandered around the counter to sit next to him.

He shrugged and looked up when Joker ran through the room barking when he heard something. “Oh, I don’t know. Ava’s pretty hot.”

“Ava, huh?” She had to admit that she was surprised to hear her name again, but she probably should’ve known.

“Yeah. Should’ve invited her but I know she’s probably busy what with Chase an’ all.”

“You got it bad for her, huh?”

He grinned. “Pretty sure she was interested.”

“Hell, name one woman who wouldn’t be interested,” she rolled her eyes. “You should just be sure before ya mess around with her, ya know? Michael’s pretty protective of her because of Chase.”

“Uh-huh, worse than he is with the other two?”

“A lot, yeah. The other girls might get a pass for just sex stuff, but not Ava.”

He laughed. “Well, guess I can see that, but at the same time she is an adult and I know enough to know you don’t just casually date a woman with a kid.”

“Of course you know,” she said and rolled her eyes. “You’re like Mr. Perfect.”

“Think so?” He leaned over to take the knotted rope that Joker brought to him and the two of them engaged in a short game of tug-o-war. If he was so perfect why was he still flying solo?

“Please,” Maria snorted. “You’ve got the looks, you’re a firefighter, you’re financially stable, you’ve got a nice apartment, you know how to treat people right, and you’re good with kids… What else could a woman want?”

He shrugged with a grin. “A guy who knows what he’s doin’ in the sack.”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, I can’t say anything about that, but at least you’re good at the snuggling afterwards part I guess.”

“I’m pretty damn good,” he said with a smirk.

“Well, I could ask your ex for her opinion, but she came across a bit bitchy.”

“Yeah, no reason to have her give a bad review. It would be a lie of course, but we don’t want that getting around.”

“I’m gonna go change into a party outfit,” she pointed at the hallway and the room she slept in.

“Party outfit?” he asked dumbly as he looked at her, paying no attention to the little Jack Russell growling and barking around a mouthful of rope at the end of his arm.

“Yeah,” she walked off slowly and glanced over her shoulder. “You invited some firefighters, right? So I need something sexy.”

“You get any sexier and they’re gonna be puttin’ fires out in my livin’ room,” he teased.

“You’re such a charming man, Carter,” she laughed and went to her room, closing the door behind her. Her gaze locked on the cell on the end table next to the sofa and she bit her lip as she considered calling Ava after her talk with Tony. They had never been great friends or anything, but if Tony really wanted her… He had done a lot for her lately, so maybe she could do him a little favor as well? Without thinking any longer she went to get her cell and dialed the other woman’s number.

Ava was following Chase around and picking toys up when her phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and lifted an eyebrow when she saw Maria’s name. She dumped an armful of toys on the couch and sat down to take a short break. “Chase, take your toys into your room and put them away.”

“But I’m playing wif them, Mommy.”

“Then play with them in your room.” After several moments he gave in and grabbed a few of the toys and disappeared down the hall. She flopped back against the cushions and answered the call. “Hello?”

“Hey, Ava, it’s Maria,” she greeted because she wasn’t sure if the other girl had saved her cell number.

She couldn’t imagine what Maria was calling her for. “What’s up? Everything okay with Michael?”

“With Michael? Yeah, I’m not calling because of Michael.”

“Okay,” she said slowly. “So...?”

“Well, I know this’s pretty short notice, but we’re throwing a party in Queens and I wanted to know if you might wanna come?”

She was calling to invite her to a party? It was tempting. How long had it been since she had been out for any kind of adult activity? “I’d have to call and see if Mom an’ Dad could keep Chase for the night.” There was no point driving out to Queens for a party and then driving back home at some ungodly hour. She could crash at her brother or sister’s place if she needed to. Wait. “Queens? Who lives in Queens?”

Maria smirked. “Tony.”

Ava sat up straight at the mention of the hot firefighter that had brought Chase home after his weekend at the beach. She just barely caught herself before she could start asking a dozen questions at once. Play it cool, girl! “That’s the guy that works with Michael, right? He dropped Chase off the other day?”

“Yep, that’s him. He’s pretty hot, isn’t he?” she teased.

She snorted. The guy was smokin’ hot! “Yeah, he wasn’t here long but he definitely makes an impression.”

Maria grinned. Yep, the girl was definitely a lot more interested than she wanted to admit. “So, in case you can make it, the party’s at his place in Queens.”

“Well... like I said, I’ll have to see if my parents can keep Chase tonight but go ahead and give me his address just in case.”

“I’ll send you a text message with his address,” the other girl told her. “Maybe you can catch a ride with your sister or something.”

“Yeah, we’ll see. Thanks for the invite, Maria.”

“No problem. See ya later, Ava.” She hung up and threw her cell on the couch before she went to the bag with her clothes. Hopefully there was something in it worth wearing to a party.

****

Max opened the door to his apartment and frowned when it was too quiet even though there was a light on in the kitchen and hallway. “Liz?” he called and threw his keys on the desk next to the window. It was already after nine and the last-minute appointment at the shop had lasted longer than planned.

There wasn’t an answer so he walked deeper into the apartment, checking a few rooms until he stopped at his bedroom door that was slightly open. A slow smile spread across his lips when he saw her stretched out on the bed next to her brother, her hair, still wet from showering spread out over the bed behind her. They were both sleeping peacefully and he considered just going and having some diner alone, but he couldn’t resist slipping into the room.

The mattress dipped slightly when he sat down and her sleep obviously hadn’t been that deep because she stirred and woke up slightly. “Max?” Her voice was sleepy.

“I’m here,” he whispered back and leaned forward to press his lips against her forehead.

“W-what time is it?”

“Half past nine.”

Liz rubbed her eyes and tried to focus. “Guess I passed out after reading Aaron a story, sorry. I was planning to make dinner.”

“It’s good that you haven’t. Didn’t know it would take that long.”

“What was up?”

“A friend called. He got a tat while he was drunk and I needed to fix it as much as possible,” he snorted slightly. “It was a mess.” He stretched out next to her and caressed her towel-covered body gently. “You hungry?”

“Not really,” she admitted, her voice exhausted. “I ate a bit earlier with Aaron.”

“Okay. It’s a bit warm in here. Did you turn the air conditioner down?”

“No, there was a notice in your box that said they’re doing some repairs at the electric facility tonight because of some damage or something since the air conditioners have been running nonstop for so long now in the building.”

“Let’s hope they get it fixed before the apartment turns into a toaster.”

“They said it’d only take about two hours.”

“Good,” he nodded and pointed at the door. “I’ll fix myself something to eat. You wanna join me or…”

“I think I’ll just stay in bed if you don’t mind. I had a headache starting earlier and I’m really tired.”

Immediately, his hand wandered up to her neck and he massages the back of it slightly. “Okay. You need anything?”

“No, I’m good.” She watched him as he rolled off the bed. “Oh, an’ Max?”

“What is it?” he asked quietly to not disturb Aaron’s sleep.

“I know there’s a party at Tony’s, so if you wanna go…” She knew that there was no way he would lay down this early. Sleep didn’t come easy for him most nights.

He shook his head. “No, I’m staying with you.”

“Max,” she said gently, “me an’ Aaron will be asleep as soon as you close the door. If you wanna go then you should go, okay? I don’t want you turning your life upside down because of us staying here and there’s no need for both of us to stay home. Just don’t come back too late or drunk.”

He knelt down next to the bed and cupped her face. “Liz, I would never come home drunk with Aaron around here.”

“I know,” she said and meant it. “I believe you and I want you to go and enjoy yourself.”

Max looked at her while his thoughts were running over the possibility. A little party with friends sounded good; it’d distract his mind from Kennedy’s threat and everything else since she would be asleep anyway. “Maybe I’ll drive over there for an hour or so.”

She smiled and kissed the tip of his nose. “Have fun and say hi to everyone.”

“Will do,” he agreed and got up slowly, wincing when his hand felt still stiff after the long tattoo session. “Call me if ya need me here.”

“We won’t need you tonight, Max,” she said in a singsong voice and waved him off.

****

The lights of the city illuminated the couple inside the car as Michael navigated the busy streets. He had changed his original route after hearing a traffic report of an accident blocking one of the intersections. He was quiet as he drove and Courtney wondered what he was thinking about. They’d had dinner and it had been enjoyable, they had talked but the conversation hadn’t really focused on anything of major importance, and he had mentioned Maria several times but not once had he said anything about talking to her about putting a little distance between them.

He was in a good mood and she didn’t want to piss him off before getting to the party but she knew Maria was going to be there and she wasn’t interested in spending the night watching them hang all over each other. He had to understand why that bothered her. Right? And Maria was a woman, so she would definitely understand why she had to back off to some degree. You didn’t just go around hugging all over a man that was taken, even if he was your best friend. She sighed as her mind shifted back to the hellish workout Maria had put her through earlier that week. Well, okay, the entire class had suffered but she couldn’t imagine any other reason for the harder than normal workout.

“Michael?”

“Hmm?”

“You remember what we talked about on Sunday night?”

“The thing about me an’ Maria?”

He said it with such ease. Me an’ Maria, she thought as the words grated on her nerves. “Yeah, that.”

“Yeah, what about it?”

“I was just wondering if you ever got a chance to talk to her about it?”

His hand tightened on the steering wheel for a moment. “I said I would, didn’t I?”

“Yeah, I know and I’m not trying to be pushy about it or anything, I was just wondering, ya know… she’ll be there tonight and I’d just like to go in there knowing how things went if you already talked to her.”

“We talked an’ we’re okay.”

“So she’s not gonna to kill me?”

“Why would she kill you?” He shrugged one shoulder and changed lanes as they approached the Triboro Bridge.

Courtney sighed. He refused to put too much thought into all of this. “Forget it.”

He reached up to rub his temple at the hint of annoyance that had crept into her tone. “I talked to her, Court. Was she happy about it? No, she wasn’t. She’s got a lotta shit on her plate right now and I basically pulled one of the support posts out from under her foundation, but she’s dealin’ with it.”

She looked at him in the dim light and reached out to squeeze his hand on the gear shift. “Thanks, Michael. I know what I asked wasn’t easy for you either.”

He forced his hand to remain relaxed under hers as he searched for something – anything – to talk about that would steer them away from Maria. “How’s the modeling goin’?”

“Very good actually,” a smile crossed her face. “The magazine I got the cover for is planning a huge series of photos at different location in the city for a new designer and it seems like I’m in.”

“Yeah? You signin’ a contract for the job?”

“Um-hmm, it looks like I will. They took a few shots from this week and they’re deciding now but Nancy said that the deal’s as good as done.”

Just be happy for her, he reminded himself. It’d be good money and he knew Maria wasn’t the only one who needed it, but he knew how much it would’ve meant to her. “Congratulations. You like the photographer they’re gonna use?”

“They’ll use a few as far as I know and I haven’t met all of them yet.”

He nodded. “Guess that makes sense. Different photographers will see things differently.”

“If I get the job then it’ll probably mean future shots for the same magazine and that’d pay off really well. Maybe in a few months I could move into a nicer apartment.”

“Yeah, that’d be good. You start lookin’ lemme know, maybe I can give you a hand.”

“Cool,” she smiled and got comfortable in her seat. “I like your car.”

He grinned. “It looked like it might try to rain otherwise I would’ve put the top down.”

“Maybe we can do that another day.”

“Supposed to be sunny tomorrow. Hot and sunny. So we can put the top down and roast or wait until it cools down.”

“Sounds like a plan,” she agreed, already looking forward to it.

He glanced at the GPS navigation system as they approached an intersection and he put the right turn signal on. “Tony’s place should only be a few more blocks.”

“You’ve been there?”

“Once or twice, briefly. Just never from this direction. Most of the time the parties are at our place or somewhere in Manhattan.”

“Yeah, I can see that. Queens is a bit away from party central.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, little bit. Sounded like most of the usuals are gonna be there though.”

“The usuals, huh?” she asked, amused. “And that would be?”

“Maria, my sisters, Kyle, Tony, Evans maybe, even the nerd king’s gonna be there although if Iz has anything to say about it he won’t be there to be a killjoy.”

“I don’t think he’s that bad. Maybe a little more nerdish than you guys are but I don’t think he deserves to be the king.”

He snorted. “He was the king before the trip to the beach but I guess since Iz seems to have taken a liking to him maybe he’s not as bad as we first thought.”

She looked around when he brought the car to a stop. “This’s it huh?” Courtney pointed at the huge door of a building. There was a big yellow sign plastered to it with an arrow pointing upwards. ON FIRE was written in large letters under it.

He followed her pointing finger and grinned. The sign just screamed of Maria’s touch. “Yeah, that’d be it.”

Natalie36: So far it’s looking like Trent’s keeping a low profile.

keepsmiling7: Always lock the bedroom doors when the party’s at your place, lol!

That was smart of Liz. Now that they’re getting past their earlier antagonistic attitudes their true colors are showing.

CandyliciousLovah: Lol, well, you could be right about that. We’ll find out soon because Ava will make her appearance in this part.

sarammlover: Lol, eager to be rid of her? Tony and Ava are both in need of a good significant other in their lives. We so agree with you!

Earth2Mama: Lol, that comment really had us laughing!

We’ll see Ava make her appearance in this part… and Tony’s reaction.

No, Max is definitely nothing like Trent and we think Liz knows that. But he’s also not used to having a little guy in the house and that’s probably more what Liz was thinking when she asked him to not come home late or drunk.

Alien_Friend: Party night should be interesting.

Oh, that is so Max’s family on that bad!

We’ll see what kind of start the girls get off to in this part.

Thanks! Writing as a team does have some major benefits!

kismet: Lol, we’ll see more of that as we move forward.

For now Trent’s keeping a low profile.

Eva: We’ll see those reactions coming up in this part. Lol, yes, they are!!!

begonia9508: Lol, it should be funny to see Courtney’s reaction to the photo shoot.

mary mary: So true! Courtney has to see and know on some level, even if she’s pushing it to the background and doing her best to ignore it. That’s just not the kind of thing you can overlook, lol.

Us? Setting you up? Well… we’ll see…



Part 84

Change From Within

Maria turned the stereo volume up a little bit louder, grinning when the bass made a few things on the table vibrate slightly. They had informed and invited all of Tony’s neighbors so hopefully no one would call the cops tonight. The apartment was already nicely filled with people she barely knew – most of them firefighters and other employees from the station.

“Deluca’s up on the prowl,” Kyle said when he approached her from the side, sliding a beer into her hand.

She turned to look at him and grinned. “What makes you think so?”

He pointed at his eyes. “I can see the looks, ya know. You’re practically undressing them already.”

Maria laughed and tapped her bottle against his before they both took a long drink. “Well, since you’re not on the menu anymore…” She winked at him to make sure he didn’t take offense. To be honest, she wasn’t really disappointed that things between them had gone back to a friend’s only level again.

“Doesn’t mean we can’t dance,” he grabbed one of her hands and pulled her into the middle of the people dancing in the living room where they had moved all the furniture back to have some space.

She let him guide her for a while, enjoying the way he could move his body without looking stupid like most of the other guys. “Valenti, I’m still impressed with your dancing skills,” she admitted and laughed when her words just motivated him more. “You’ll make every female in the room envious of me if you keep going like that.” Just as she finished her sentence her eyes collided with Tess’. The other girl was leaning against the counter in the kitchen, giving her the evil look.

Damn it, she hadn’t even realized she was already there. Now she’d probably think she was doing this on purpose to hurt her or something.

“Guerin’s finally here,” Kyle’s words brought her out of her musing again and she followed the direction he had nodded to.

Michael was just slipping through the front door, grinning at a few people and high fiving them in greeting. For a moment she felt hope rising when she couldn’t see Courtney, but it quickly slipped away when she finally saw the blonde glued to his right hand. “Seems like his date took a while longer,” she answered as if she didn’t care, but she wasn’t able to ignore the sudden faster heartbeat in her chest when he entered the room. What the hell was going on?

No matter how much she tried to focus on something else, her eyes moved back to him. He wasn’t wearing anything special compared to his usual look, but there was still something else tonight that hadn’t been there before.

“Maybe you should just say the hell with it and go for it,” Kyle muttered.

She turned to look at him slowly, trying to cover her shock. “What’re you talking about?” She pretended to be clueless.

“She could never be you. He hasn’t figured it out yet, consciously at least, but she’s not what he’s lookin’ for.”

Her gaze immediately went to Michael again. He was laughing at something Courtney had just said and pressed her closer against her side. “I’m not so sure about that.”

Kyle snorted and hugged her from behind. He rested his chin on her shoulder. “Girl, she’s not even close to bein’ in the same class as you. Make him see it.”

“But how?” she blurted out and then bit her lip when she realized it was the first time she had admitted – aloud – that she might want that. “Forget what I just said.”

“Why? You’re not gonna forget it.” He chuckled warmly. “Besides, what could be better than my two best friends getting together?”

She shook her head and turned away from Michael, facing Kyle instead. “Won’t happen.”

“Negative thoughts? From you?”

“Not negative,” she denied, “just realistic.” Her hand came up to massage her forehead. “You guys talked so much about me an’ Michael that I start to believe it. It’s all your fault.”

“And if he dropped Courtney and opened his eyes?”

“Then I’m sure the next bimbo’s already waiting around the next corner.”

“Hell, there’s always another one of them waitin’ just around the corner. But a girl like you? You come along once in a guy’s life and if he’s too blind to see it he’ll live to regret it.”

“A girl like me?” she asked him with a lifted eye brow.

“Yeah, you’re an original, Maria Deluca, and don’t you ever forget it.” He grinned. “C’mon, I think you need somethin’ stronger than beer tonight.”

She followed him and watched as he filled two little shot glasses with tequila. “If I was so special,” she said and took one from him, “then tell me why neither of you guys ever wanted me – for real I mean.” With that she threw her head back and swallowed the liquid, bringing the glass back to the counter with a loud thud, her gaze challenging.

“I can’t answer that for Guerin. As for myself,” he knocked his shot back and slammed the glass down next to hers, “I guess I’m just a fool. We connected where sex is concerned and we’re great friends, but the rest just never took.”

She snorted. “Yeah, see, that’s the problem. I’m great as a friend and I’m great for sex, but the rest,” she waved her hand in the air and left it open. Her hand wrapped around the bottle and she refilled their glasses again.

“We just didn’t connect that way. Y’know,” he made a face and gestured to his chest, “like... that.”

Maria looked at his hand and just snorted before she tossed her second shot back.

He rolled his eyes and followed her lead. “Fine, we can talk about somethin’ else.” He emptied his shot glass and reached for the bottle for a refill. “Ladies choice.”

“What’s ladies choice?” Tony asked when he joined them.

“Nothin’,” Maria waved him off. “But maybe you can help Kyle with his explanations.”

“Y’know, you try to help out an’ all you get’s grief for your efforts,” he muttered. Maybe he needed to set Michael straight about this mess before he totally fucked it all up, he thought as he tossed back another shot.

“What’re you two talkin’ about?” Tony frowned.

“Nothin’,” Maria repeated. “Kyle’s just talkin’ himself into a hole.” She glanced around the room and realized she hadn’t seen his hyperactive Jack Russell. “Where’s Joker?”

“In my bedroom. He doesn’t like the noise.”

She snorted at that. “As much noise as that ankle biter makes and HE doesn’t like a good party?”

“Now you’re gonna be mean to my dog?”

“Forgive her, she’s a mess,” Kyle pushed another drink into her hand and filled another shot for Tony.

Maria rolled her eyes. Joker was actually a very sweet dog but she was surprised he preferred the quiet of the bedroom when there were all kinds of people in the apartment. She contemplated the shot for a moment before slamming it back. Maybe if she got good and hammered tonight she wouldn’t have to think about Michael and Courtney together. She cringed internally when the other girl laughed and she decided the sound ranked right up there with nails on a chalkboard.

“Good choice to cover the furniture with blankets,” Michael said as he joined them, his girlfriend still glued to him. He shook hands with Tony and slapped Kyle on the back before he leaned forward to give his best friend something that resembled a quick partial kiss on the cheek.

She forced a smile and motioned for Kyle to hand over the bottle. “I think I’m gonna go mingle.” More like go up on the rooftop terrace and mope, she thought. Well, maybe she’d mingle a bit first, make a show of being social before she went into seclusion for the remainder of the evening.

“Had too much to drink already?” Max teased when Maria almost knocked him over when he approached them.

“Not nearly,” she muttered, grateful for his steadying hand. She glanced around and grinned. “I thought you were staying home with the wife.”

He smirked. “Needed to make sure you left the roof on top of the place.”

She frowned at him. “And what makes you think the roof’s in any danger?”

“With you guys at a party?” He snorted. “You never know.”

“Good point. Did Liz come with you?”

“No, she’s home with the little guy.”

“Do you know if she works tomorrow? Tony found a couple of places and I thought if she had some time we could go look at them.”

“She’s got the early shift in the café and some classes in the afternoon.” He shrugged. “I think she’ll be done with everything by 4 or 5pm.”

“Cool, maybe I’ll stop by at lunchtime and see if she wants to take a look at any of them.” Her gaze was drawn to the bar setup again and she frowned when she saw Courtney laughing at something. What could possibly be that funny? “Anyway,” she shook herself, “if we can nail down some numbers it’ll help narrow our search down.”

“She’s excited about it,” he said and nodded at the others. “Sounds a lot like a hyena if ya ask me.”

“Right? And even if Michael, Kyle, and Tony are fairly funny on a regular basis, they’ve never been THAT funny.”

Max could easily hear the jealousy in his friend’s voice but he didn’t comment on it. “Where’re you going with that bottle, huh?”

“To clear my head.”

He smirked. “With tequila, huh?”

“No.” She paused for the space of a heartbeat. “With a lot of tequila.”

He shook his head. “I see a lot of disappointed firefighters this way.”

“Well, there’s one who won’t be disappointed.” She forced a smile and shook her head. “It’s okay, Maxie Max, don’t worry about me. I’m not gonna do anything stupid. Go on an’ have some fun.”

He watched her disappear into the crowd of people dancing and talking and he shook his head before he continued on his way to the rest of his friends. “What’s up?” he greeted no one in particular when he reached them. “Nice apartment. Maybe a bit crowded,” he told Tony.

Courtney rolled her eyes. “Kinda the point of a party.”

“I was thinking about new furniture anyway,” Tony shrugged, not really caring. He had known that some things were bound to get damaged so Maria and he had already put everything expensive or meaningful away that afternoon.

“Wasn’t sure you’d make it, Evans,” Michael said as he poured a couple of shots and slid one across the counter to Courtney. He tapped a third shot glass and glanced at the tattoo artist.

Max shook his head and grabbed a beer instead. “I drove and I’m not stayin’ long,” he said.

He nodded and tapped his shot glass against Courtney’s before tossing it back. “They settling in okay?”

“Think so, yeah.”

“Cool.” He turned his head when the front door opened and he saw his older sister enter the apartment with Alex. “Nerd alert,” he said and waved to get her attention. His eyebrows lifted when he caught sight of another blond who came in between them.

“Hey, you made it,” Maria greeted Ava when she saw her entering the apartment and then hugged Isabel and nodded at Alex.

“Well,” Ava laughed as her eyes scanned the room for a certain firefighter, “it’s been a while since Mama’s been out.”

“You look good,” the other girl said to shake off her sorrows. Her former best friend’s twin was wearing a pair of tight washed out blue jeans with a colorful strapless top. She wasn’t wearing the nose to ear piercing she normally wore, deciding for a small nose stud instead. She wore her hair in a bob with a few black wisps. “Actually you look different in a very good way.”

“Yeah, she does,” Isabel said as she gave her sister another look. She had been surprised when Ava had called and asked if she could catch a ride to the party with her and even more surprised when she had arrived at their parents’ house and gotten a look at her.

“Tony will like it,” Maria said with a wink.

“Oh, that’s what this’s all about,” she teased her little sister.

“Deluca,” someone called.

Maria turned around and realized it was a guy from the fire station she had met a few times before. “Hey, Rodney,” she smiled and gave the others an apologetic look before she made her way towards him.

And here I’m on my own at a party, Ava thought and glanced around.

Tony glanced up from pouring a shot when the little group by the door began to move apart and he froze when he saw the short blonde looking around and seeming a little lost. He abandoned the untouched shot and quickly excused himself before some other guy could get to her first.

“Someone’s in a hurry,” Alex muttered when the man passed him and Isabel without even realizing they were there.

She just smirked. “This could get interesting. C’mon, let’s get a drink.”

Ava suddenly saw Tony just a few feet away and she felt her heartbeat quicken as soon as she saw him. Man, he was so much her type it wasn’t even funny.

“Hey,” he greeted and then mentally kicked himself. “If I’d known you were gonna be here I would’ve kept it a little more low key.”

“You didn’t know?” She frowned. “Maria invited me.”

He grinned and shrugged. “A welcome surprise,” he assured her.

His smile caused the weirdest feelings in her chest and the only thing she could do about her blush was to hope that it was crowded and shaded enough to hide it. “Chase has asked a lot about you the last few days. I think you impressed him.”

He held his hand out to her. “Let me get you a drink and we’ll see if I can impress his mom too.”

Already impressed, she thought but didn’t say it. Her hand slipped into his and her knees went weak when he wrapped it around hers in a comfortable grip. When was the last time someone had done this? She couldn’t remember but it had been before she had been pregnant with her son.

“How’s Chase?” Tony asked as he led the way back to the bar setup.

“By the time I left my parents’ house where he’s staying tonight, he was in the bath and flooding the whole room,” she told him with an eye roll.

He chuckled and wondered where she intended to spend the night. “As great as he is it must be nice to get a break every once in a while, get a chance to step out of your mom shoes.” He winced. “That didn’t come out quite the way I meant it to sound.”

She laughed. “What you said is totally right, Tony. I got pregnant way before I was ready and while I grew with my tasks I know I missed a lot in my youth and I’m happy to get the chance every now and then to be a young woman instead of a mom.”

Cool, she had understood what he meant. “So you know what I do, what about you?”

“I’m actually looking for a job right now, got fired from the last one because my boss sucks and has no understanding of what it’s like having a little kid,” she made a face.

“What kinda crap is that?”

“I was working in a warehouse and mostly organized the logistics stuff, but he kept putting me on second and third shift.”

“You ever considered a job working with cops or firefighters?”

“Well, as long as I don’t have to run into burning houses I’d be okay.”

He laughed and shook his head. “Nah, there’re tons of jobs that don’t involve that kinda risk. They can always use a good dispatcher but sometimes they can work a 12-hour shift so that might not be good for you.”

She shook her head. “Ya know this really isn’t good conversation for a party, right?” And she really didn’t want to think about job hunting right now. Her eyes roamed over everyone while they passed the crowd and she smirked when she finally came face to face with her brother. “Hey, Michael.”

“Hey, Ava. Didn’t know you were comin’ tonight.” He glanced between her and Tony when he realized they were holding hands. What was up with that?

“Didn’t know you were dating someone,” she countered, noticing the blonde plastered to his side – a blonde who once again wasn’t Maria, she thought, annoyed.

He ignored the pointed comment and the look of disapproval that she didn’t completely hide. “Ava, this’s Courtney.” He looked at his girlfriend. “Court, this’s my baby sister Ava.”

“Didn’t anyone warn you about my brother?” Ava asked with a smile at Courtney when they shook hands. “He’s not really relationship material.”

She could feel the weight of the other girl’s gaze as she studied her. “I don’t know, he seems to be doing just fine.”

Don’t be too sure about that, the other girl thought. “Well, maybe he’s finally growing up.”

Isabel snorted at that as she joined them. Alex had gotten sidetracked by Max and she had left them to their conversation about music. “Yeah, that’ll happen. One day maybe. Tony, I seem to recall you making me a drink at the last party that I liked a lot.”

He grinned. “I think I remember that. Gimme a minute,” he disappeared behind the opened refrigerator door.

Ava checked her older sister’s face for any signs that she was making a play for him too, but she was here with someone else right? Although the guy really didn’t fit into the kind of guys she normally dated.

Tess snorted as she joined them. “I think it’s safe to say that Tony’s off of her radar. Isabel only has eyes for the nerd king these days.”

Had she said anything aloud? Ava wondered and then decided she hadn’t. Typical twin thing, she thought and shrugged. “What about yours?”

“Me? No, Tony’s not my type.” No, her type was shorter, darker, and considerably more dense, she thought with some annoyance. She glanced around the room and spotted Kyle talking on his phone. He didn’t look happy about whatever was being said and she wondered who he was talking to.

Michael glanced over the open refrigerator door at his co-worker. “So Ava now, huh?”

Tony was going over what he needed to make a round of mango martinis when his friend spoke up. “Say what?”

The other man moved around his girlfriend to approach Tony. “Thought you were kinda hooking up with Maria?”

“Me an’ Maria are just friends, Guerin. I just offered my place to get her outta the sweatbox she lives in.”

Michael leaned back on the counter and crossed his arms over his chest while he scanned the crowd. He located his best friend talking to Rodney and laughing at something he said, although her laugh didn’t seem to be real and her body language showed that she wasn’t really happy. If I could only talk to her without my girlfriend going into overdrive again, he thought. His focus went back to Ava and then Tony. “Now you’re dating my sister? When did that happen?”

“I’m not sure,” he mused as he closed the door and turned to lean back against the refrigerator. “Um, Ava, how long have we been datin’?”

She looked at him, confused for a moment and then recognizing what Michael was doing. “I doubt anything we’ve done yet can be considered dating.”

“There you go,” Tony said and waved one hand dismissively. He grinned and elbowed the other man. “Most important word in that sentence was the ‘yet’.”

“Carter,” Michael placed a hand on his chest when he tried to pass him and he pushed him back against the counter with just a slight bit of force. He locked his eyes with the other man, his gaze serious. “She’s got a kid, remember that, so if you’re not 100% sure you’re gonna be interested for more than a few nights, then my advice is to back off. If you hurt her…” he smirked, “I’ll hurt you.”

“Thanks for the warning. I’m not an idiot though so it’s not necessary.”

“Really, Michael?” Ava hissed. No wonder she never came to parties with her brother! “Leave the man alone and go back to your girlfriend.” Tony didn't strike her as the type to be put off by Michael’s threats but there was no reason to risk it.

“Yeah, dance with me, Michael,” Courtney told him.

“Um, no, I don’t dance,” he declined with a shake of his head.

“Ladies,” Tony was glad that Guerin was distracted again so he fixed two drinks and then handed them to Isabel and Ava. “You didn’t say you wanted one, so if you don’t it’s okay.”

“You’ll like it, trust me,” Isabel said as she took a sip.

“I don’t doubt it,” Ava said and nipped on it. Holding her liquor was a challenge since she hardly got the chance to drink anything alcoholic.

Tess cleared her throat. “Um, Tony?”

“What’s up?”

“Would you make me one too?” She wouldn't mind a drink to boost her courage before going over to put herself in the line of fire again.

“Sure, sorry I didn’t realize you didn’t have a drink,” he told her, not wanting her to feel left out since he had a feeling she was already put in that role a lot.

She smiled and nodded in thanks.

Michael shook his head and planted his feet when Courtney pouted and tried to pull him out where a few couples were dancing.

“Oh, c’mon, Michael. It won’t kill you.”

“We obviously have different understandings of what does and does not constitute death for me. Dancing is very high up on that list.”

“Maybe you should ask Maria for advice,” Max said as he and Alex passed the couple to get some drinks. “I’ve seen her get him out there.”

Her back teeth started to grind. There was nothing in his tone that indicated his words were anything more than a passing comment but she had a feeling that Max Evans would be perfectly happy if she and Michael broke up. “I thought you said you don’t dance?”

“Thanks a fuckin’ lot, Evans,” Michael growled. He turned back to Courtney. “I was drunk and I haven’t had nearly enough alcohol to get out there and make a fool of myself.”

“Your own fault, Guerin,” Maria countered when she overheard his last comment as she and Rodney joined the other couple at the counter. She went around to get some shot glasses as well as a new bottle of tequila since one of the other guests had snatched hers away from her.

He frowned. “Well, tell her I was totally drunk.”

Maria turned to Courtney and shrugged. “I have no clue what he’s talking about, but he was totally drunk.”

He shrugged and looked at his girlfriend. “See?”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

“Some tequila?” Maria asked her best friend and his lover after filling her and Rodney’s shot glasses.

“Yeah, I’ll – “

Courtney shook her head and grabbed Michael’s hand. “We’re good, thanks.”

“Guess it’s just the two of us,” she turned to Rodney and tapped her glass against his, but her eyes went to Michael when he was dragged away.

He grinned and nodded. “I’m good with that,” he said before tossing his drink back.

Natalie36: Oh, they’re not playing, lol. She’s just discovering that what she feels for him is more than just friendship and he’s… well… still clueless.

sonia62: Maria hasn’t wanted more in the past. A big part of her is afraid to want more because she has so much going on in her life. She’s used to relying on so few people for support and she’s scared to get involved with someone and putting her burdens on that relationship. As for Michael, well, he still has some learning of his own to do. They’re only 21 so they’re still at the beginning.

sarammlover: Looks like they’re off to a good start. Sometimes it seems like you just hit one wall after the other. But maybe she’ll catch a break soon.

CandyliciousLovah: Well, until Michael opens his eyes and sees what’s right in front of him they’re probably not gonna get anywhere. Maria’s opened her eyes… now we’re just waiting on him.

Earth2Mama: Lol, that’s a possibility.

Tony and Ava may just make things easy on all of us.

begonia9508: Thanks! That is the wrong approach to take. We’ll see how long that lasts.

keepsmiling7: We’ll have to wait and see.

The girls will definitely be looking.

mary mary: That’s one way to look at it.

Tony’s a great guy. We can’t reveal what we have in store for you, but… we’re sharpening the sword even as you read this…

Alien_Friend: Lol, Maria would love her for that too!

Tony and Ava might just make it easy on us. And Michael… he’s not joking.

Yeah, Maria’s not enjoying that.

Well, you may see Tess and Kyle get a moment.

Lol, if Maria hadn’t been at the party he might’ve just mentioned that… accidentally of course.



Part 85

The Ugly Truth

“I can talk for myself ya know,” Michael said as he let his girlfriend lead him away from the rest of the party and into the hallway.

“We came here to have a good time, right?”

“And?”

“Well, we’ve already done a few shots. Why don’t we find a quiet corner and... reconnect,” she suggested.

She was trying to distract him with sex, he thought. “Ya know, normally it’s the guy that does that.”

“Do you have a problem with the girl initiating things?”

“No,” he widened his stance and cornered her against the wall. “I was talking about using sex to distract from uncomfortable conservations. Total guy thing,” he muttered against her lips.

“Apparently it’s not just a guy thing,” she mumbled.

“Apparently,” he agreed and kissed her roughly.

Across the room Maria watched them and wondered why she had ever let her thoughts go past the friends-only barrier. Watching Michael and Courtney was nauseating but at the same time it was difficult to look away.

Michael wrapped his strong tattooed arm around her slim waist and pulled her closer to him. The beat of the music in the background was pulsating in time with the pounding of his heart and he felt a wave of lust wash over him.

Courtney completely forgot all about her reasons for wanting to get Michael away from the others, from Maria, and she lost herself in the overwhelming feelings that soared through her at his forceful, passionate response.

“Need a drink?” Max came up from behind and placed one outstretched arm over Maria’s shoulder, holding a filled shot glass in his hand while he glanced in the same direction.

“I may need more than that before the night’s over,” she muttered.

He snorted. “Sorry, can’t help you with that, Deluca.”

She shoved her elbow in his ribs. “I know you’re taken now. What a shame,” she said with a teasing smile.

He grinned back and handed her the drink. “I’d say Carter could give you a hand, but he seems to be distracted as well.”

“Yeah, and I suppose that’s my fault too.” She snorted and shot a disparaging glance at the couple across the room. “I’m the one who introduced the two of them, and I’m the one who invited Ava after Tony mentioned that he was interested in her.”

“Always thinking about others first, huh?” Max asked and looked at her. “When’re you finally gonna put yourself first, Maria?”

“Well, when I introduced her to Michael I didn’t know I was gonna realize he’s more than just...” She swallowed and shrugged. “And Tony, well, he’s great but when you want someone else there’s little point in getting involved with anyone who isn’t that person is there?”

He sighed, hating the fact that her realization had come at the worst possible moment. “I could hit them with cold water…” he nodded towards Michael.

“It’d be entertaining for sure.” She sighed and shook her head. “It’s alright, Max. He wants her and I want... I want to be alone.” She forced a smile. “I think I’ll just collect my comforting friend tequila and disappear for a while.”

“Alright,” he looked down at her with an encouraging smile. “Just don’t spend too much time alone with that particular friend.”

“Of course not. Just gonna spend... enough,” she said with a wink.

“Hey, do you know where the bathroom is?” Alex came up next to him. “Someone just spilled beer on my tee shirt.” He made a face and lifted it up to wring out the worst of it before it slapped back against his stomach and stuck there tightly.

“I’ll show you where it is,” Maria offered since her destination would lead her past the bathroom.

“Alright, thanks,” he handed Max his own beer and followed her, lifting an eyebrow when they walked into the hallway at the end of the room and had to squeeze themselves to the wall to pass the couple making out there. “Jeez, get a room,” he muttered.

Maria snorted to cover her misery and annoyance when Michael and Courtney continued to make out, completely oblivious to anything going on around them. She should’ve stuck her elbow in Courtney’s back or maybe accidentally spilled tequila down the back of her ugly top when they were forced to squeeze by them. “Just ignore them,” she muttered, wishing she could erase the image from her mind. She motioned to a door before glancing at Alex. “Bathroom.”

“Thanks,” he nodded and turned to disappear but paused when she stood rooted to the spot.

“Yeah…” she replied, her gaze shifting back to the other couple in the semi-dark hallway. Michael was leaning against the wall, one arm wrapped around her while he held their beer bottles in his other. Courtney was plastered to his body and the way she rolled her hips against him made Maria so sick that she wanted to toss her cookies right where she was. Countless times she had seen him like this with plenty of different woman, so why was it suddenly bothering her now? Her friends had kept talking to them, trying to make them realize something that they were sure was there but Michael and she had always neglected to see it. The damn beach weekend, she thought bitterly and was sure that the few days were at fault for her sudden change. No matter how often Max, Kyle, Isabel or Tess had told her to open her eyes to see what was in front of her, she hadn’t been prepared to actually see it one day.

Alex glanced at her, easily reading the combination of hurt and jealousy in her shadowed expression. “You okay?” He shook his head when she mumbled something that he assumed was supposed to be an “I’m fine.” When she turned away and disappeared through a doorway he shifted to step into the bathroom and caught sight of the light switch on the hall wall. He smirked and reached out to flip it up and then down, doing it several times before leaving the hall in darkness again and disappearing into the bathroom. Okay, it was childish but he didn’t really care, he mused as he stared at his soaked tee shirt in the mirror over the sink.

****

Tess tossed the last bit of her mango martini back and swallowed, earning a surprised look from Tony when she placed the glass on the counter. “I was thirsty,” she shrugged.

“I see,” he commented in amusement, but she didn’t even hear it as when she made her way toward Kyle, who was standing at the other end of the room, beer held in his hand while he leaned against a desk. He had left the room a while ago, the cell still in his hand and when he had returned after the call he hadn’t looked any happier.

As she stepped around several people dancing at the center of the room she tried to come up with something to say to him, but nothing really intelligent came to mind. Her thoughts were interrupted when someone suddenly stopped her by blocking her way completely.

Her gaze landed on a broad chest and she had to tip her head back to see the other person’s face. “I’ve heard rumors about the Guerin sisters and it looks they’re true.”

She lifted an eyebrow in an unconscious mimicry of her older sister as she met his gaze with a challenging stare. “And what rumors would those be?” He wasn’t bad looking but his attitude just ruined any chance of her finding him attractive.

“Blonde… good looking… nice body…” he said with a slight slur in his voice.

“Um-hmm, and moving on,” she said as she shifted to move around him.

“You’ve not even gonna give me a chance?” he asked.

“I like my guys to be sober, not slobbering drunks.” She made a face when he reached out and put a hand on her arm. “Move it or lose it.”

Kyle had been watching Jason’s sad attempt at making an impression on Tess, hoping the guy would just back off because he knew the other man tended to be a bit forward after a few drinks. Of course the scene was going in a direction he didn’t want it to and he sighed deeply before pushing himself from the desk to go and save Michael’s sister from the guy. “Step back and leave her alone, Brady, before Guerin catches you hitting on his little sister.”

“She’s a grown woman.” Jason’s eyes slid over her and he grinned drunkenly. “An’ you gotta admit she’s all woman.”

“Doesn’t make her interested in you though,” he said and stepped between them, his back to Tess.

“Ah, c’mon, man, don’t be such a killjoy.” He lowered his voice and lifted his eyebrows, certain he was being discreet. “You know you’d hit that, Valenti.”

“I know I’d accept a no from a woman,” Kyle said and grinned. “Although I never got one.”

Tess rolled her eyes. “Really?” she muttered under her breath. His ego could do with being taken down a few notches.

He turned, totally ignoring Jason’s presence as he looked at her. “You need to ask?” His gaze roamed over her body although he knew he was going into dangerous territory again. “Thought our bathroom performance was pretty convincing.”

She swallowed the hurt that came crashing down on her at his words and fervently hoped that he was too stupid to notice that the tears in her eyes were doing their damnedest to spill over. “You are such a prick, Kyle,” she hissed angrily. “So is he but at least he’s open about it.”

“Did I say somethin’ rude?” he asked. “No, I don’t think I did.”

“Fuck you. You’re not as great as you obviously think you are. If you were maybe people would quit leaving you!” Her right hand curled into a fist and she punched him in the stomach as hard as she could. She had the element of surprise but she knew it wouldn’t hurt him as much as she wanted it to.

“Leaving me?” he growled, hardly impressed by her attempt to hurt him. She didn’t know how much that comment had hit home after the phone conversation with his mother a few minutes ago. “Nobody left me.”

“Keep telling yourself that. I would’ve stuck around but you’re too stupid and blind to see me for who I am.” Her eyes widened momentarily at her unintentional admission and she swallowed hard. “Why don’t you go find some other random one-night stand so you can get your rocks off and you won’t have to worry about her sticking around to find out what an asshole you really are once the alcohol’s out of her system.”

Her words made him freeze as he was about to take a sip of his beer. She would’ve stuck around? What’d she mean? Had she really been interested in him? No, that wasn’t what she meant, right? It’d be a total disaster – even worse than he thought it was – if that was true. How would Michael react if he ever found out about that? “It’s really nice how you’re tryin’ to turn things around on me so I’m the one who looks bad after what happened.” He took a step forward to crowd her. “I can’t remember havin’ to talk you into having sex with me. In fact, you looked a lot like you were enjoying things that night. If my brain was working correctly I don’t think there was a time you told me it was about more than just sex for you because I sure as hell would’ve stayed away from you.” The words came out too fast for him to think about what he was saying, but when he was done and he saw the hurt look on her face he almost believed he was the ass she had accused him of being.

She was so angry, and yes, a little humiliated too that he was trying to make her sound like any of his other one-night stands that she couldn’t stop the words from coming out. “No, I guess you didn’t have to talk me into it, Kyle. I was a little hard up that weekend so why scare you off by bringing up even the slightest hint that maybe it was more? But then again, maybe it was just the fact that I wasn’t having a great weekend. Maybe it was because Max was otherwise involved so I couldn’t hit him up for a quickie in the bathroom. God knows that night in his studio was a lot more impressive than the few minutes I spent in the bathroom with you.”

Max almost smirked when he overheard Tess’ argument with Kyle and her comment about him. He was sure it would piss the other man off, but what he didn’t realize was that they had been loud enough to get the attention of big brother as well and the way he looked, it was pretty clear he had heard enough to put the pieces together.

Michael dropped Courtney’s hand as his blood started to boil over from what he had heard. From a distance he had seen Kyle and his sister fighting, sure it would be just another argument about nonsense like they normally had. He made his way towards them, shoving a few people aside without so much as blinking. His hand reached out to Kyle’s shoulder and in a moment of surprise he was able to shove him backwards. “You slept with my sister?”

“Michael, God, would you just stay out of this?” Tess pleaded.

His gaze shot to the side to glance at his sister and his chest felt tight when he saw the as yet unshed tears in her eyes. His anger was replaced with sympathy and his arms dropped to his sides as he relaxed from his intimidating posture to go over and hug her.

Max watched the scene in surprise. Admittedly, he hadn’t expected Guerin to take care of his sister rather than go after Kyle, but maybe it was because of his own insecurities about how to handle something like this when it involved family and friends.

“Man, you’re a dumbass. You just dug a hole you’re never gonna get out of,” Jason laughed and patted Kyle on the shoulder before he ambled away in search of another women who hopefully wouldn’t come with all that baggage.

Kyle cringed when the other firefighter’s words drew his best friend’s angry gaze right back to him. He had no idea what was gonna happen now. Yeah, he had fucked up and there might not be a way out of it this time.

“Don’t,” Michael heard a female voice plead. A small hand tugged on his collar and he glanced down to meet his sister’s gaze.

Michael’s jaw clenched so hard his teeth hurt as he hugged her tighter. “S’okay, Tess.” His dark eyes told another story as he continued to glare at his best friend. The argument he had overheard suddenly had all the pieces falling into place. All the stupid arguments and fights between Tess and Kyle, the ridiculous pranks she pulled on him, and the weird dance they were always doing around each other. She was in love with the guy and Kyle had taken advantage of her feelings for him, even if it had been unconscious. “We’ll talk later,” he said, the words directed at Kyle.

God, Tess thought, humiliated and crushed. The truth was out and now everyone would know. Her biggest nightmare and the reason she had left New York for a while was suddenly a reality and there was nothing she could do to make it disappear again.

Kyle turned to go and get a drink. There was no point standing there while Michael glared at him and Tess cried on his shoulder. It was only making things worse and he had a feeling once Michael had calmed his sister down he would come looking for him.

“I think I need some air,” Tess leaned back to look at her brother. She was thankful that he hadn’t just gone blindly after Kyle in the heat of the moment, but she knew it wasn’t over between them and she felt bad for being the reason for an upcoming argument between them.

Tony walked over to join them, motioning for people to go about their business and get back to the party. He felt bad for Tess. It was bad enough she had to deal with what was going on – or not going on – between her and Kyle, but now it had become public knowledge and he knew that would only make it a thousand times worse. “Hey, why don’t you go up on the terrace?” He told her how to get to it and glanced at Guerin, waiting to see if he would let her go.

Michael looked at her and nodded. At least that was better than her being alone on the streets at this time in the night.

“Hey,” Max stepped in when Tess went to go in the direction Tony had gestured to. “I know it doesn’t seem like it right now, but be glad it’s finally out.”

She brushed her hands over her face. “All it’s gonna do is create more problems.”

“Maybe for now,” he told her with a wink and squeezed her shoulder before she went on and he glanced at Michael. “Maria’s up on the terrace too, so I guess we can give her some space. Might be good for them.”

“Yeah,” Michael muttered as he turned, scanning the room for Kyle.

****

Maria stood on the rooftop terrace, arms wrapped around herself as she enjoyed the slight breeze that made the heat a little bit more tolerable. It was shortly before midnight, but the air still felt like an overly warm afternoon.

Queens by night was beautiful and she had quickly learned to enjoy the view up here, especially after dark, and she was hoping there was a way to find an apartment with a similar view.

From a distance she could hear the busier sounds of the city – squealing tires, a few shouting voices that carried on the wind, and sirens coming from the New York Fire Department. Maria made a face when the sounds immediately reminded her of the reason why she was up here and not down where the party was.

She let out a loud sigh and went to sit in one of the comfortable deck chairs, grabbing the tequila bottle she had set there a while ago and drinking from it. She made a face because the liquor had gotten warm and that made it taste really disgusting.

Almost as disgusting as what she had seen downstairs in the hallway. “Get out,” she mumbled and hit her forehead with her palm – a sad attempt to get rid of the picture of Courtney and Michael making out. It was pointless though, her brain just wouldn’t cooperate with what she wanted and it had its own way of torturing her. She took another sip of the liquid and swallowed it in disgust before she relaxed against the backrest. She could hear the music downstairs since the door to the terrace wasn’t closed and she closed her eyes to let her mind wander.

She was interrupted a few moments later though when someone disturbed her piece and came up to join her on the terrace. Slowly she turned in her seat to have a look at who it was and sat up straight when she saw Tess. “No, don’t…” she almost screamed, but it was already too late because the door had already closed, “…close the door,” she finished her sentence with a sigh.

Tess whirled around, surprised to find out she wasn’t alone at the rooftop. “What?”

“Fuckin’ great, you locked us up here, Guerin,” Maria accused her and went to check to see if it might open, but the door remained stubbornly closed.

“How the hell was I supposed to know?” the other girl asked, offended.

“Why’re you up here anyway? No luck with Kyle?” Maria knew her words were hateful and she didn’t really know why because there was no way Tess could’ve known about the door. Her own anger had just found an outlet and the other girl was unlucky enough to be there in that moment.

“Well, I just basically outted myself in front of everyone at the party, so I’m thinkin’ that’s pretty much done,” she snapped.

“What’d you do, just stand on a table and scream it out or what?” Maria snorted and stretched her arms out at her sides. “I’m in love with Kyle.”

“No, he pretty much announced that it wasn’t like he had to talk me into having sex with him at the beach house and if he’d known I had any kind of feelings for him he never would’ve...” she looked away, mortified when she admitted what had happened.

Maria snorted as she went back to take another sip of the tequila, but when she lifted the bottle to her lips she suddenly hesitated. “Wait, did you just say you had sex with him?”

“That's what I said,” she bit out. “It brought the ol’ wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am to a whole new level.”

“It was stupid to just sleep with him,” Maria stated, washing her sympathy away with the alcohol. No, no, no – Tess still didn’t deserve her sympathy.

“Thank you, Maria. I’m so glad you could point that colossal mistake out to me. Where would I be if I didn’t have you to bring my mistakes to my attention? It must be nice to be so fuckin’ perfect! How’s it feel to know you never make mistakes?” It was a stupid argument but it provided an outlet for her anger.

“I didn’t say I never make mistakes, but you should’ve come clean with us a long time ago,” she walked up to her and poked a finger in her chest. “You made this big mystery about it and put on that leaving New York show and now you wonder why it’s blowing up in your face?” She snorted. “Things like that always come back to you.”

“I’m not gonna go over that again. I told you why I didn’t say anything to any of you. If you wanna hate me for the rest of my life for not bein’ willing to put myself out there like that then fine, hate me.” She grabbed one of the deck chairs and dragged it to the opposite side of the roof and threw herself into it. She crossed her arms over her chest and deliberately focused her gaze on a pinpoint of light in the far distance.

“No problem,” Maria hissed and did the same at her end of the terrace.

“You know, for someone who can’t even admit that she’s in love with my brother you have a funny way of showing sympathy for someone in a similar position.”

The other girl just held up a hand and flipped her off wordlessly.

“Oooh, that one hurt,” Tess taunted in annoyance.

“Good,” Maria muttered and rested her head against the deck chair weakly.

She rolled her eyes and sighed loudly as she thumped her head against the back of the chair. The silence on the terrace was oppressive and after a while she couldn’t take it any longer. “I miss us,” she said quietly.

Maria bit her lip when she heard the confession. She missed them too, but was she willing to just forget about what had happened? A few silent tears spilled over and she stubbornly wiped them away several times.

“You’re never gonna forgive me, are you?”

“Gosh, can’t you just shut up for once, Tess?” Her voice sounded a lot less angry than her words did.

“Why don’t you make me?” She mentally kicked herself. Could you sound anymore like a five-year-old if you tried, Guerin?

“I could go get Kyle and tell him to shove his dick down your throat,” Maria teased and then almost laughed and cried at the same time. “Okay, that was over the top, sorry.”

“Right now if he’s got half a brain he knows better than to come anywhere near me with his dick because he might lose it,” she threatened and then giggled at the absurdity of the conversation.

“Ouch.” The other girl joined her with laughter.

CandyliciousLovah: Lol, yeah, he’s stepped in it big time! That’d be quite the sight, wouldn’t it?

sarammlover: Yeah, not the best time and place at all. Definitely not one of Kyle’s better moments. We’ll spend quite a bit of time with the girls today.

Earth2Mama: Big weekend for confessions, lol.

The guys do have a strong friendship and this will test it.

Not one of Maria’s best moments but between the pain of her situation and the tequila there was no censoring her words. We all have those uglier moments but hopefully we find a way to rise above them.

We’ll find out today what happens with the girls.

keepsmiling7: Thanks for reading!

Natalie36: Lol, because they’re young and they still have learning and growing up to do.

Alien_Friend: Lol, surprise! Michael likes to surprise people; glad to see he hasn’t lost the touch.

Both girls are in a tough place but we’re gonna see them put some things between them to rest today.

begonia9508: Thanks! Isn’t that the truth!

The guys will be having that confrontation soon. No way that’s not gonna be dealt with as soon as Michael gets the chance, lol.

kismet: The girls are making progress. Oh, that confrontation won’t be far off. Michael won’t let it sit for long.

mary mary: That first step is the most important.

Eva: Lol, oh, the insanity of youth!

Beautifully said! After being bottled up for so long things have a tendency to explode and for certain those things needed to come out. The girls did take an important step and today we’ll see them continue on the path to healing. The guys may take a little bit more work. But isn’t that normal? Lol.

xilaj: Lol, we will keep the girls on the rooftop for a while. Maybe they get the chance to talk more?

Hm, Michael’s realization is still a bit away.

D.D.: Hey! No worries, there will be plenty of M&L and we are not far away from it.




Part 86

Rise Above

“Gosh, sometimes I wonder what it is I see in him.”

“He’s not that bad in general I guess,” Maria said and relaxed a bit, staring out over Queens.

“He’s a little better when he’s not announcing to a roomful of people that we had sex and it didn’t mean anything to him,” she said, still stinging from his words.

“Did Michael hear it?”

“Michael and everyone else I’m sure. We were louder than I realized.”

“You let Michael hear?” Maria sat up, alarmed. “Fuck no, you know what this means?”

“I didn’t LET him hear anything but he heard it all the same.” She smirked for just a moment. “It means he’ll likely beat Kyle’s ass and at the moment I don’t care.” Okay, she did, but she wasn’t about to admit it.

It wouldn’t be that easy, the other girl thought. Although her best friend tried to stay out of his sister’s love lives as much as he could, as their brother, he wasn’t going to just overlook that Kyle had obviously hurt Tess.

Tess turned her head when she heard Maria sigh. “What?”

“You know your brother won’t just let that one pass even after kicking Kyle’s ass.”

“They’re best friends, Maria. They’re not gonna stop bein’ friends over this.” She frowned. “That’s not what you’re thinkin’, is it?”

“This’ll drive a wedge between them.”

Now it was her turn to sigh. “Yeah, that’s true.” And admittedly part of her was fine with that. But the other part that acknowledged that she could’ve easily said no that night at the beach house and saved herself this pain knew it wasn’t fair for the guys’ friendship to suffer over what had obviously been a mistake.

“Add it to the shitty list of things that’ve happened lately,” Maria grumbled and brought the tequila bottle back to her lips for a drink.

“That list seems to be getting longer every day.” She glanced at the other girl. “Wanna share that?”

“No,” she answered stubbornly.

“So you’re just gonna sit over there and get drunk while I sit over here miserable and sober?”

“Should’ve brought something to drown the pain too.”

“Hell, I thought I was just gonna come up here and get some air.”

“You got the air,” Maria made a waving move into the night. “Take as much as you want.”

Tess rolled her eyes. “Thanks for the support,” she grumbled.

“If you want tequila, come and get it, I’m not bringin’ it to you.”

“Fine.” She got up and dragged her chair over next to Maria. “Okay, I’m here, now share.”

Maria took another sip before she held the open bottle out to her.

Tess took a long drink, welcoming the burn of the alcohol even as she winced in reaction. “I’d say that’s good but it really isn’t,” she said huskily.

“Have you ever had tequila when it actually tasted good?”

“No, not really. I prefer something smoother.”

“Smooth… like sex in a little bathroom?” Maria teased her former best friend.

“Maybe something that doesn’t go from smooth to rough in a heartbeat,” she muttered.

“Was it at least like you imagined it? I mean, you fantasized about it in the past, I guess, so… was it?”

“Well, I can’t say I ever imagined it happening like that and I guess looking back now I probably shouldn’t have let it happen like that.” She pinched her lips between her teeth for a moment before losing control of the smile. “But reality was better than the fantasy.” She snorted. “Even if it didn’t last long. Well,” she giggled, “not to say he has no stamina but we were pretty rushed, so, you know what I mean.”

Maria caught herself before she could remind her friend that she knew all about his stamina. No need to rub that in her face, she thought. “Maybe Kyle just needs some time to figure it out.”

“Maria, he said if he knew I had any feelings for him he would’ve walked away. He’s not looking for anything real with me. All he wanted was a quick fuck and that’s exactly what he got.”

The other girl shrugged and took the tequila from her again. “I was just trying to be nice.”

“Great, now I think I feel worse.”

They stayed quiet for a moment and Maria used the opportunity to watch her out of the corner of her eye. She did look pretty upset and part of it was her own fault, but lately she was experiencing what it felt like to have feelings for someone who didn’t see her in the same way. “At least it’s out now,” she said finally and kicked her shoes off to get more comfortable on the deck chair.

“Yeah, I guess.” She followed Maria’s lead and kicked her shoes off before bringing her feet up and hooking her heels on the edge of her chair. There was no point in going over and over what had happened because it wouldn’t change anything. “So what about you?”

“What do you mean?”

“You and Michael.” She wrinkled her nose. “Are you really just gonna stand back while he makes a fool of himself with Courtney?”

Of course everyone was going to talk to her about him, she thought with an inner eye roll. “What exactly you want me to do?”

“I don’t know. I don’t see her sticking around for long though.”

Maria bit her lip before she could yell out an ‘I hope so’ into the air. “Michael’s never been the steady kinda guy.”

“No. But she’s already stuck around too long.”

“Tell me about it,” she muttered, not really aware of what she had said as she stared out into the night, her mind slowly but surely feeling clouded from the alcohol.

“See? You don’t like her either.” Tess leaned over and liberated the tequila to take another long swallow.

Maria sighed and rested her head against the chair. It wasn’t like she wouldn’t have liked Courtney under different circumstances – but as Michael’s girlfriend she was hard to take.

She was silent for a few minutes as she stared out over the city. “What do you think he sees in her?”

“I’d rather not think about that.”

“Okay.” She took another drink and sighed as the alcohol began to make her feel mellow.

The music from downstairs was muffled by the closed door, as well as the laughter of the guests. Would anyone notice at some point they were locked up here? Sure as hell not Michael, Maria thought, frustrated when she remembered his makeout session with his girlfriend in the hallway. Ungh, not even the tequila could block that memory.

Tess let her mind wander back to that scene between her and Kyle and of course the moment her brother had learned about what had happened at the beach house. As a rule he was content to let them make their own mistakes without sticking his nose too far into their business but Kyle was his best friend. She knew better than to think he’d just let that go. She took another drink and closed her eyes as Kyle’s words came back to her. He wasn’t an intentionally mean person so she didn’t think he had really said what he’d said to hurt her but it had still hurt. And she wasn’t letting him off the hook just because she didn’t think he’d meant it to be hurtful. No, he deserved punishment of some sort but she guessed he didn’t necessarily deserve to lose his best friend over it.

“Gosh, what happened to the time when life was easy and we didn’t have these things to worry about all the damn time?” Maria rolled on her side to look at the other girl.

“I don’t know but I wish we could go back.”

“Yeah, but only if we didn’t knew about the things that were coming,” she agreed. Looking back at their earlier high school years life had been light and without any serious worries. Then Cody had been born and it had put a heavy weight of sorrows on her family. That weight had seemed to be getting heavier with each passing year and other things had come with it as well.

“Guess that’s not possible though,” Tess said quietly.

“No, things change… that’s just cruel reality.”

“Yeah, you’ve got a point.” She looked at Maria. “Too bad there’s no way to erase things and start over.”

Their eyes met and the other girl could easily see the loneliness in her eyes. Yeah, things couldn’t be erased, but sometimes it was possible to get a fresh start.

Tess dropped her gaze after a moment, her eyes following her fingertip as it traced over the label on the bottle. “I wish I had done things differently, Maria.”

“Yeah,” she sighed and turned her head slightly to stare up into the sky. “It’s not all your fault though. I knew something was going on and I shouldn’t have believed you when you said it wasn’t about Kyle.”

She shrugged. “Maybe, but it’s not like I couldn’t have told you the truth. I don’t know, even looking back I’m not sure I could’ve been honest about the reason I was leaving.”

“I guess I can understand why you couldn’t.”

“Y’know, California was nice but I really missed being home and us hangin’ out.”

“I missed you too,” Maria confessed, remembering how much she had suffered from losing her best female friend all of the sudden.

“Really?” Tess asked in a small voice.

“Of course, goofball,” she rolled her eyes. “You think all of this left me unmarked?”

“No, just figured you were so pissed you didn’t really have the time or energy to miss me.”

Maria just snorted – she didn’t want to go back to the first week after she had suddenly been alone in a way too huge apartment.

“I’m really sorry that the old super screwed you over with the money. It never occurred to me that he’d do that.”

“I’m working on getting that money back. If things work out I won’t have to spend every minute working again once classes start at the end of summer.”

“I haven't decided if I’m goin’ back when classes start up again.”

“To California?”

“No, back to school.”

“What else ya wanna do?”

“I don’t know. It’s like I just have no idea what I wanna do right now and goin’ to school seems like such a waste when I don’t have a goal in sight, ya know?”

“Your Dad will never let you take a year of because you need to figure things out,” Maria said matter-of-factly. She knew Adam Guerin, and while he was good to all of his kids he could be a very stubborn father as well.

“He can’t MAKE me go to class.” She snorted. “I mean, he already took all my credit cards when I took off for California, what else can he do?”

“I really don’t wanna imagine.”

“I just feel so aimless, like I have no direction in life.”

“You’ll figure it out.” Maria used her foot to bump her thigh. “If it doesn’t work out you could always be a stripper.”

“Yeah, I’m sure I’d be great at that.”

“No doubt.”

Tess rolled her eyes. “Can you imagine my brother’s reaction to that? Or my dad?”

The other girl chuckled. “It’d be priceless to see. They’d sure as hell have a heart attack.”

“I think you have better rhythm than I do so if one of us is gonna be a stripper it should be you.” Talk about something giving Michael a heart attack, she thought with a smirk.

“Well, at least I have no father or big brother to complain about it, huh? And they say it pays decent.”

“I suppose the pay is good. Men are happy to throw money at nearly any woman who’ll take her clothes off and strut around naked.”

“Yeah… They’re so easy when it comes to sex.” And so difficult about everything else, she added in her thoughts.

“Too bad they’re not that easy with everything else.”

“Yeah,” Maria said. “Or maybe they are, but just not with us.”

“Maybe. It can’t just be us though.” She frowned. “Can it?”

She shrugged helplessly and took the bottle from Tess for a good long swallow. “Look at them! Tony’s suddenly interested in Ava, your sister’s dating a nerd, and Michael has an actual relationship with Shitney, can the world get any weirder?”

“Yeah, good point. Did not see Isabel actually interested in a guy like that. I mean, he’s so far out of her league.”

“I know she said it’s just to get Richard off of her back, but seriously… it has nothing to do with him anymore.”

“No, you’re right. I think she really likes him.”

“Oh, see, and look at Maxie-Max and Liz…” Maria turned to look at Tess. “We’re the only fucked up ones.”

Tess frowned as she thought about that. “What about...” Her brow wrinkled as she tried in vain to come up with someone else in their situation. “Well... fuck.”

“Yep,” Maria admitted with a chuckle. The alcohol was obviously beginning to affect her because it all seemed a little bit funnier now. “Sucks to want someone who doesn’t want you, right?” She kicked the chair Tess was sitting in.

“Well, I know one way he wants me. Stupid prick,” she muttered and took the bottle back for another drink.

“Congratulations, you’re one step closer than me then. Gimme that damn bottle.”

“The sex was great, no question about that,” she admitted as she handed the bottle over and nearly dropped it when she knocked it against the arm of the chair. She giggled as she and Maria both grabbed onto it to keep it from falling. “But now that he knows I want more he’ll avoid me like the plague.”

“Courtney told Michael to stay away from me, so I’m on my own as well,” Maria shrugged as if it wasn’t hurting her.

Tess nearly swallowed her tongue. “Wait, she told him to stay away from you... and he’s gonna do it?”

“Well, maybe not in those exact words, but she asked him to quit touching and stuff and he agreed to it, at least when she’s around.”

“That sounds more like Michael. She’s not gonna last long.” She closed her eyes and shifted around to get comfortable. “What girl wants to complete... comp...” her eyes opened as she cast about for the correct word and couldn’t find it. “Anyway, you know what I mean. Michael may be into her now but she’s gonna make one demand too many eventually.”

“Maybe...” Maria answered, not sure what to believe anymore. Even though Courtney would be gone, that wouldn't automatically mean he was suddenly interested in her. And what if she was just feeling like she wanted more because he was with Courtney? Maybe when the girl was gone things would go back to normal.

Tess snorted. “Nope, she won’t. I know my brother and he’s not gonna be happy with her for long. I don't think he’s all that happy with her now, he just thinks he is.”

“They’ve just been together for a few days.” Felt like weeks though.

“Yeah, my point exactly! It’s not gonna last.”

Maria made a face and hit her hand against her head several times. What was going on suddenly? Who had put Michael in her head in this totally different way all of the sudden?

“What’re you doin’?” Tess asked, frowning at her.

“Tryin’ to get stuff outta my head.”

“Looks like you’re just givin’ yourself a headache.”

“Whatever.”

She rolled her eyes. “I wish I could tell you to just tell my stupid brother that you like him but I’m so in the wrong position to give anyone advice right now.”

Maria snorted. “Ya know what the funny thing is? Nobody but me seems to be surprised about this.”

“Please! Everyone’s been tellin’ you it was there for how long?”

“I know,” the other girl grumbled. “But I didn’t believe it. And now it’s finally there… my heart rate raises when he walks into a room, there’s this awkwardness, jealousy…” she swallowed and dared to look at Tess, “… fantasies…”

Her eyebrows shot up for just a moment. “Okay, with any other guy I’d tell you to share, but with it being Michael... gross,” she said and laughed.

“You know, I don’t think it’s funny,” Maria glared at her.

“No,” Tess hurried to assure her as she tried to force her mouth to stop smiling, “not laughing at you or you fantasizing about my brother. Just the thought of his dumb ass being anyone’s fantasy material.”

“I wish he wasn’t mine.”

“Yeah, I wish Kyle wasn’t mine. I mean, really? He’s like the size of a garden gnome and he can be mean and he gets me all hot and bothered.” She shook her head. “Obviously I have issues.”

“A garden gnome?” Maria laughed. “That’s mean.”

“Not mean enough,” she insisted.

“Tess,” she reached out to touch her arm but missed it and hit her face instead. “Oops, sorry.”

She made a face and turned to look at Maria. “It just hurts that he made it sound like it didn’t mean anything,” she murmured quietly.

The other girl nodded. “Look at the positive things.”

“Positive things... like Michael kicking his ass? Right now that’s the only positive things I can see.”

“At least you don’t have to watch him making out with someone else all the fuckin’ time.”

“Well, true. But who wants to make out with a garden gnome?” She tried to laugh but she could hear the thickness in her voice and she hated it.

Maria chuckled at the thought and realized that there had been a time she had indeed had to watch him making out with someone else… with her. Ungh, that must’ve hurt! “Tess,” she rolled over to face her fully, reaching out to grab her hand. “I don’t wanna be mad at you anymore. We need to stick together.”

“Really?” She bit her lip uncertainly. “I’d really like that. I’ve missed you so much, Maria.”

She nodded. “I need someone to talk to with all the shit goin’ on and obviously I can’t talk to Michael an’…” she shook her head and felt the tears running down her cheeks.

“Don’t cry, M’ria,” she said as she tried to push herself up and caught her foot on the leg of her chair. “Damn it.” She stumbled over to crouch down next to her friend. “It’s gonna be okay. Even if we have to deal with stupid brothers and garden gnomes.”

“If it was only that, Tess,” the older girl mumbled and moved over on the chair so her friend could take a place on it as well.

Tess took her place next to Maria and even through the haze of alcohol she realized just how right that felt. “Cody?”

“His health is getting worse and worse and we’re forced to stand back helplessly. It’s not fair. I wanna help him but there’s nothing I can do.”

“Do they wanna hospitalize him?” She knew once the doctors decided to hospitalize him indefinitely they were reaching the end.

“Yeah… probably soon.”

She put her arm around her friend’s shoulders and hugged her. “I’m sorry, Maria.”

“If he dies… Gosh, I can’t even think about what it’d be like.”

“Don’t think about that. He could still get a new heart.”

“But how possible is that?” Maria shook her head and snuggled into her friend’s embrace.

“I know it’ll take a miracle but it could happen.” She closed her eyes. What it would take was someone dying and she knew that was a terrible thing to wish for. It was so wrong that for one family to benefit from a miracle another had to suffer a tragic loss.

“Life sucks,” she muttered and it really did at that moment.

“Yeah, it does,” Tess agreed and hugged her tighter.

Natalie36: The girls are making good progress.

CandyliciousLovah: Definitely a big step! The girls will continue to make progress. They’re at a place where they both want to mend those fences and get their relationship back on the right track.

Earth2Mama: Lol, the girls are well on their way to getting where they need to be. Their friendship is something they both need, especially in light of their situations.

sarammlover: Chances are good that even with the tequila haze they’ll remember they’ve made up.

kismet: We think they’re gonna make it.

Alien_Friend: Lol, yeah, sometimes it really does. The girls are getting back on track.

It’s so difficult to even begin to imagine how families in such situations cope. Must be with a lot of love and support.

Oh, you can count on some yelling. Michael isn’t about to just let this go.

xilaj: We’ll see the girls get back on solid ground with each other. With everything going on they’re gonna need the support only a best friend can give.

Oh, you can count on Michael having a lot to say once he and Kyle have a moment alone. Kyle is in a tough position and really, he’s not the only one at fault. There are other circumstances in play but Michael isn’t thinking about that. And you’re right about him being less sympathetic.

begonia9508: Lol, we’ll check in on them for a bit today. Tequila does have a way of doing that, doesn’t it.

Rodney: Lol, an appropriate saying. While it probably wasn’t the best way for everything to come out, it’s better that it comes out. We’ll be seeing more of Ava soon.



Part 87

The Silence Before the Storm


Kyle had found a corner where he had spent most of the night so far, his eyes following the activity of the partygoers without really participating and doing his best not to draw attention to himself. Not that it mattered, he thought morosely. Michael had been staring holes through him since he had fucked up and gotten into an argument with Tess in the middle of the party. An argument that had revealed the mother of all fuck-ups and one that he could lose his best friend over. He took another drink of his beer and wondered why he didn’t just go home. Oh, yeah, maybe because it wouldn’t be long before his roommate came home and they went a few rounds.

Stupid! He had known that night at the beach house that he was playing with fire and if Michael ever found out there would be hell to pay. It would’ve been a different story if he’d approached it differently. Asking her out and actually showing an interest in her first would’ve made a big difference. He would’ve gotten the expected warning from Michael and he would expect nothing less than to face off with her brother if he hurt her. Of course banging the guy’s sister in the bathroom and then treating her like she had the plague was only going to backfire on him no matter what method he had used. He sighed and downed the last of the beer when something in him revolted at the way his mind had phrased that last thought.

He honestly hadn’t considered that she might have any kind of real feelings for him that night. If he had he would’ve never let things go as far as they had. He wasn’t completely incapable of being sympathetic although he was sure Tess would disagree. Of course, if he was in her shoes he’d disagree with him too right now. Although, he mused, she could give as good as she got. She had hit home with her comment about people leaving and he hadn’t been prepared for an attack like that from her.

His gaze bounced around the room, landing on Tony and Michael’s baby sister Ava. He had overheard her brother’s warning to the firefighter and the man’s good-natured acceptance. They were openly flirting with each other and Michael was content to hang back and let it happen. In the center of the room Isabel was dancing with Alex and they were laughing about something. While Michael rarely interfered with his older sister when it came to relationships he had been skeptical about her involvement with the nerd king but he seemed to have settled down about that. While he occasionally checked on the two girls he wasn’t being overt about it and he wasn’t sticking his nose in their business.

“Here, you look like you could use another one.”

He turned his head to look at Max and his eyes dropped to the cold beer he was offering. “Yeah, thanks.” He set the empty on a shelf next to him and accepted the fresh one. “You come over here to tell me I fucked up?”

“Pretty sure you already know that, Valenti.”

“You wanna take it outside?”

Max chuckled. “We ever have to take it outside and you’ll regret it.” He shrugged with an easy grin. “You an’ Guerin? You guys are probably pretty evenly matched other than him bein’ taller so a fight between the two of you would be interesting.” He leaned back against the wall and took a drink from the bottle of soda he held in his right hand. “What happened between the two of you is your business and if Tess had wanted anyone else involved I would’ve beat your ass before we ever left the beach house.”

“Because we had sex.”

“Because it’s obvious she has feelings for you, dumbass!”

Kyle straightened up. “Wait, so she told you about it when it happened?”

He just gave him a well, duh look and rolled his eyes. “You’re not as dumb as you’re acting, man.” He shrugged one shoulder. “Or maybe you are.” He checked his watch. “Well, I’ve gotta get goin’. Catch ya later, Valenti.”

“Yeah, later, Evans.” He took another drink of his beer and glanced at his best friend. Well, his best friend if they could get past this mess he’d created. Michael’s gaze shifted long enough to follow Max as he made his way to the front door and slipped out but as soon as he was out of sight that cold gaze locked on him again.

“Michael.” Courtney tugged on his arm when she caught him staring at Kyle again. “I really don’t understand why you’re involving yourself in this. Your sister seems to me like she’s fully capable of handling this herself.”

“It’s not about what she can or can’t handle, Courtney,” he bit out.

“So…” she looked at him expectantly. “What is it about then?”

“She’s my little sister and he should’ve known better. You don’t just,” he growled and shook his head. “There’re rules.”

Courtney sighed, knowing that she couldn’t say anything that would make her boyfriend see things differently and it was kind of understandable. “Well, at least wait until things have calmed down and let’s enjoy the party.”

“Fine.” He turned to level his glare on Kyle again but the guy was no longer standing there. He looked around but didn’t see him. “Yeah, you’d better hide, Valenti,” he muttered under his breath.

“Everything okay here?” Tony approached the other couple after Ava had gone to the bathroom.

“Yeah, just great.” He shifted gears. “How’re things with Ava?”

“We’re getting to know each other,” the other man shrugged. He knew Guerin was on edge after overhearing the argument between Kyle and his little sister so the timing probably wasn’t the greatest to be dating Ava right now, but it wouldn’t stop him.

He nodded. He’d already given Tony the warning so there was no point going over it again. “I’m gonna grab another beer,” he said to no one in particular.

“Thought you were gonna drive us back home.” His girlfriend lifted one eyebrow.

He sighed at the reminder and shrugged one shoulder. “Right, I’ll grab a Coke.”

“Where’s Maria?” Tony asked and glanced around the room before the other man could leave. “Is she still upstairs with your sister?” He frowned. The girl had been excited about the party, so why would she hide out all night? He had a feeling he knew why though and the reason was standing right in front of him.

“With my sister?” That was a disaster just waiting to happen.

“I’m gonna go check on them.”

“Nah, you stay here. I’ll go make sure they haven’t killed each other.” He glanced at Courtney. “I’ll be back in a few.”

“Why don’t you let them handle their dispute,” she hurried after him. She knew if he went upstairs he wouldn’t be back anytime soon and she didn’t know anyone else at the party.

“Because that’s the last thing they need tonight. Either of them.” He turned to look at her. “It’s not gonna take all that long. Just hang here and ya know, mingle or somethin’.”

She sighed. “Maybe it’s exactly what they need right now.”

“If it is they’ll tell me to mind my own business.”

“Fine,” she stood back and watched him walking deeper into the hallway.

Michael paused and turned to walk back to her when the edge in her voice registered. “What?”

“Nothin’,” she waved him off. The last thing they needed right now was a discussion of her real issue in front of everyone.

“It’s gotta be somethin’ otherwise you would’ve dropped it earlier.”

“I just don’t know anyone here.”

“Okay, well, you’ve never struck me as a wallflower, Courtney. I’m gonna check on my sister and Maria and then I’ll be back. You wanted me to take a step back, well, I did that. But she’s still my best friend and when we talked about this you said you didn’t have anything against our friendship. I agreed to step back; I didn’t agree to stay away altogether.”

“Damn it,” she bit her lip. He had seen right through her and now she felt stupid for thinking that holding him back was a good idea. “I’m gonna have another drink,” she pointed at the counter and left.

He nodded to himself as he headed for the terrace. It had felt good to get that out. He wrapped his hand around the handle and frowned when the door didn’t slide as easily as it should have. He jiggled it and when it retracted with ease he stepped out into the hot, humid night air.

Maria shrugged out of her light sleep when she heard a sound and turned slightly without disturbing Tess’ sleep. What time was it? How long had they been up here? “Don’t shut the door,” she hissed when she saw Michael stepping out onto the terrace.

He turned and nudged a statue on the floor up against the open door and then walked over to the girls. “You two get stuck up here?” he asked quietly when he realized his sister was sleeping.

“Yeah,” she agreed and ignored the weird feeling in her stomach when he approached them. God, it was just weird to feel like this about him.

He crouched down in front of them and studied his sister’s face for a moment. “She okay?”

“She will be,” Maria whispered.

“The two of you, are you guys okay?” he asked as he glanced at her.

She rested her head against the back of the deck chair and glanced at Tess briefly before she nodded. “We are.”

“That’s good.” He rested his elbow on his knee. “I’m glad.” He rubbed his face and inhaled slowly. “She tell you what happened?”

“Yeah…,” her gaze wandered back to him to see how he was feeling about all of this.

“She deserves better than that.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “And Valenti shouldn’t have crossed that line.”

“No, he shouldn’t have,” Maria agreed. “But it’s not only his fault, Michael.” She wondered if he realized that Kyle had also been the reason why Tess had left for California.

“I’m not sayin’ she had no say in the matter, just that...” he exhaled loudly. “I don’t know. I didn’t realize until I overheard them fightin’ that she had feelings for him.”

“I should’ve known it. I actually suspected it but she told me I was wrong.”

“You suspected? When?” Where the hell had he been?

“A while back, before she left New York.” Maria sighed. “She started to act weird when I had told her about me an’ Kyle, so I figured he must be the reason, but she swore to me I was wrong so I believed it… or wanted to believe it, I don’t know.”

He slapped his palm against his forehead. “That’s why she left.”

“She couldn’t bear me and him together,” she nodded and now that she knew what it felt like to watch someone you had feelings for with someone else, she had an idea how Tess had felt back then. And she’d had to watch him with her best friend. That made it even worse.

“No, I guess not.” He rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head. “What a fuckin’ mess.”

Maria’s eyes followed his movements. She wished things were still the way they used to be. Normally he would’ve moved her over to lie down beside her, hugging her while she let him comfort her. But things were different now, his girlfriend was downstairs and he was holding back. She forced her eyes away from him – maybe it was better this way. Touching him wouldn’t help the situation as long as his feelings weren’t magically changed.

“You’ve been kinda absent tonight,” he observed finally. “You’re usually in the middle of things. Everything okay with you?”

“Yeah, I just had a little too much tequila and felt like I needed some air so I came up here. I was about to go back down but then your sister locked us up here.” You’re an award winning liar, Maria thought.

He stared at her for a while, certain that she wasn’t being completely honest with him. “You sure it’s not somethin’ else? Someone else maybe?”

“Someone?” She tried to sound confused, but her heart suddenly started to beat a mile a minute. God, had he noticed something?

“Yeah, you an’ Tony have kinda been spendin’ a lot of time together and now he seems to be interested in Ava.”

Thank God, he was totally on the wrong track, she thought, but there was also an underlying hurt that he wasn’t seeing it as well. “Oh, you mean that.” She tried to chuckle. “Do you really think I’m that much of a masochist that I’d call Ava to invite her over here if I had feelings for him?”

He watched her for a few moments, his gaze unwavering. “If he didn’t see what was right in front of him,” he snorted.

You don’t see it either, dumbass! Maria snorted. “Heard that a lot lately.”

“You’re sure you’re okay?”

“I’m okay,” she told him in her most convincing voice, but his face told her he still didn’t believe her completely. “It has nothing to do with Tony or whatever, I’m just worried about my brother and it’s really hard to think of anything else, ya know?”

“Yeah, I guess so.” He wasn’t convinced that she was telling him everything but it wasn’t the time to push her. “Don’t spend so much time locked up in your head with those thoughts. Cody’s a fighter, Maria, just like his big sister.”

“You say that so easy.”

“I say it with conviction. There’s a difference.”

“I see,” her gaze shifted to the door. “What time is it?”

He shrugged. “Little after one.”

“Guess you should go back down and party,” she said, not wanting him to leave, but she knew it was better this way.

“You two gonna be okay up here?” His gaze shifted to Tess. “Maybe I should get her home.”

“We’re good. Let her sleep.”

He reached out and tapped on the half empty bottle of tequila. “Give that stuff a rest. You don’t wanna be passed out up here. And overdoing the tequila’s never been a good thing for you,” he reminded her with a wink.

“I think I’ll just go back to sleep, I’m kinda tired.”

“You sure you wanna stay out here?” He reached out without thinking and took her hand. “It’s a helluva lot more comfortable inside.”

Her gaze immediately dropped to their hands. Damn, it felt so right! “The deck chairs are actually pretty comfortable too and up here the air isn’t that bad.”

“Alright, if you’re sure.” He started to get up but their linked hands made him pause for a moment. “I guess we’ll catch up soon since we’ve got the tat thing Evans is workin’ on.”

“Yeah,” she let go of him reluctantly. “Guess your girlfriend wasn’t too happy about that, huh?”

He cleared his throat. “Well, I haven’t gotten around to tellin’ her about that just yet.”

“Good luck with that then,” she said and wished she could see the other girl’s face when she became aware of it.

“Yeah, I’m probably gonna need it,” he muttered as he stood up. He knew Courtney wasn’t going to be happy about it but it was gonna help Maria so he wouldn’t say no.

“Get home safe,” she told him when he started to leave.

“Yeah, you too,” he said and then realized for now home was Tony’s place.

“Not goin’ anywhere,” she said and got comfortable again. “Don’t kill him,” she added before he was too far away to hear it.

He smirked slightly and stepped through the doorway, careful to leave the little statue holding the door open. “No, won’t go quite that far,” he muttered quietly.

If Michael hadn’t left at that point Tess was sure she would’ve exploded. “Gosh, you such a bad liar,” she muttered as soon as they were alone again.

“I don’t know what you’re...” the denial rose immediately and died just as quickly.

“You’re lucky my brother’s such an idiot.”

“Yeah, lucky me.” After all this time she had to realize that what everyone else had been saying all along was true.

Tess sighed and turned to look at her. “I’m sorry you’ve gotta go through this and that my brother’s finally decided to give monogamy a try.”

“Well,” she sighed and leaned her head back to stare up at the sky, “I’m not that good at sharing anyway. Either he’ll figure it out or he won’t but I’m not gonna be interested in having him part-time.” She shrugged. “Although if he decides to dump her ass anytime soon I’ll fully support that decision.”

“Well, let me say that differently. I’m sorry my brother decided to try monogamy with the WRONG person.” She reached out to place her hand on the other girl’s upper arm. “I always thought if he ever came around with that, it would be you.”

“Yeah, well, that’s probably partly my fault,” she admitted. “I practically challenged him when he mentioned a steady relationship and you know your brother when it comes to anyone sayin’ he can't do somethin’.”

“Maybe you should come up with a new challenge for him then.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. Something that makes him look at you. Really look at you.”

“Three words. Tattoo photo shoot.”

“Yeah… First thing is, we talk Max into letting Michael paint that tat on you.”

“Somehow I don’t think that would take much work.” Maria laughed and rolled her head along the back of the chair to look at Tess. “Max has taken it upon himself to push Courtney out of the picture.”

“There you go then. Not even my brother is so dumb he could ignore you when you’re half-naked in front of him.” At least she hoped she was right.

“The tat they’re designing,” she fanned herself with her right hand, “it’ll require a lot of up close and personal painting. And the way Max wants it put on me is gonna make bein’ dressed a challenge.”

Tess chuckled. “He won’t know what hit him.”

“That’d be nice.” Of course she had been around him wearing very little before and he’d never taken notice.

The girls sat for a moment in silence and glanced out at the night sky. It was peaceful, even if there was music coming from downstairs and it would’ve been perfect if their lives weren’t so messed up. “I’m glad I have you back, M’ria.”

“Me too.” She reached over to squeeze Tess’ hand. “It feels like it’s been so long.”

“It really was.”

“But you got to spend all that quality with your mom,” Maria teased.

“Yeah, I’m so lucky,” came the dry response.

“You had the west coast... perfect weather, great beaches, hot guys. Okay, not the stubby gnome you want, but still hot guys.”

“With no brains.”

“I’m not sure that’s such a bad thing. They’re dangerous when the brain above their belts actually operates.”

Tess laughed out loud. “Isn’t it just unfair how my sister now seems to have a good looking guy with a decent brain all without doin’ anything?”

“That’s just the kinda luck Isabel has. You could drop her in the middle of the desert and she’d find a good looking guy. It’s just a bonus that she’s found one who has a brain too.”

“Uh... I was talking about Ava and not the nerd.”

Maria laughed. “Gosh, I think I’ve had too much alcohol. All Ava had to do was walk out the front door and a hot guy landed right at her feet.”

“Yeah. How unfair is that, huh?”

“Totally unfair.” Maria snorted. “Hot guys all around and we’re stuck with your clueless brother and the garden gnome.”

*****

Max blinked when his vision became slightly blurry while he was driving over the bridge back into Manhattan. The lights of the city where reflected off of the river below him and somehow they seemed to be brighter tonight – almost blinding him so that it hurt his eyes. I should’ve stayed home, he thought and wished the ride was already over because he was starting to feel just a little bit dizzy. Shaking his head, he straightened up and concentrated on driving again. It had been a long day and his body probably just needed some rest.

He went on and left the bridge, turning onto the streets of the Upper East Side of Manhattan. What the hell is going on? he thought when he felt his heart rate increasing for no logical reason. His fingers started to tickle and the feeling spread into his arms and legs after a few more breaths.

Max knew the feelings. How often had he awoken in the middle of the night, suffering from panic attacks after the haunting nightmares? This was different though. He hadn’t had a nightmare and he couldn’t think of any other reason why his body would be reacting this way.

He blinked again a few times when the red flashing advertisement on a building in front of him caused his eyes to hurt and his head to spin. I need to pull over, he thought, but there was nowhere to stop where he was.

Cars were honking behind him loudly and it was only then that he realized he was driving in the middle of two lanes. Slowly he shifted back into his own lane so the drivers behind him could pass. He glanced in the review mirror to make sure the way was clear before he switched to the left lane again and winced when red and blue flashing lights accompanied by sirens told him that the cops were right behind him. “Perfect,” he muttered, and his voice sounded dull to his ears.

The police car sped up until it was right behind him and he knew he had to pull over. Okay, get it together, Evans, he told himself and found a side street he could turn onto. He rubbed his eyes and slowly moved his hands to rest on the steering wheel, keeping them in plain sight because the last thing he wanted to deal with was a cop with an itchy trigger finger. He felt the dizziness roll over him again and he hoped he could get through this and go home, certain if he could just get some sleep he’d be fine.

CandyliciousLovah: We’ll find out what’s going on with Max today.

begonia9508: Thanks!

Oh, you won’t have to wait too long for that, lol. She might regret it if she goes to Max about that.

We’ll check in on Max today.

sarammlover: That’s possible, but you’re right… how could he have managed that one?

Earth2Mama: Lol, we’ll know for sure soon.

Natalie36: Good question, lol. Trent is a cop. We’ll find out today if he’s the cop who pulled Max over.

somewhere87: Lol, he definitely gets points for that one!

Alien_Friend: Um… well… we’ll find out soon what’s going on with Max and how/if Trent is involved.

Kyle’s smart enough to know he’s in trouble, lol.

Is it ever that easy?

kismet: You could be right – we’ll know soon.

Lol, we’re all waiting for that!

keepsmiling7: That’s probably one of the thoughts running through his head right about now. We’ll check in on Max again today.

Eva: It was really time for Michael to say something… and he may just have more to say before the night is over.

We’ll find out today if Trent is the cop that pulled Max over.

xilaj: We will check back on Max right now and answer a few of your questions. We hope it won’t be too bad for you to read, lol.

We are pretty sure Maria and Tess can support each other out – and it’s gonna be fun to watch.





Part 88

Party-Night-Outcomes

Max watched as the officer got out of the car, hand resting over the weapon on his belt while he approached him slowly. The officer rapped his knuckles on the window and made a rolling motion with his hand, careful to keep the other positioned over his weapon. These days you just never knew what could come at you during a routine traffic stop.

Max nodded and did what the other man wanted, trying to focus on his actions, but somehow it was really hard to.

“You seem to be having some trouble staying in your lane, sir. Everything alright?” He sighed and shook his head when passing headlights hit the driver in the face and he jerked back as if he’d been hit. It was impossible to miss the blown pupils and combined with the trembling hands and sweaty features his condition suggested drug use. Great, just his luck to get stuck with a junkie trying to get from point A to point B. “License and registration please, sir.”

“Of course,” he nodded and reached over, frowning when his hand missed the latch for the glove box twice. “Uh, I started to feel a little weird while I was driving,” he babbled while he handed over the papers, aware that there was no way the officer would miss his condition. “I was gonna pull over, but hadn’t a chance to yet.”

“Uh-huh, where’re you coming from, Mr. Evans?” he asked as he scanned over the license information.

“From a friend’s place over in Queens. We had a little party and…” Max frowned, “… someone probably put somethin’ in my drink.”

Officer Alan Trask controlled the urge to roll his eyes at the pathetic cover story. “I’ll be right back.” He walked back to his patrol car and slid into the passenger’s seat to begin running the man’s license and registration. A few minutes later he had the information he needed and he returned to the other vehicle. “Mr. Evans, would you please exit the vehicle?”

Fuck! It took all of his strength to not hit something with his hand when anger washed over him, a really bad combination with the shit going on in his body. Slowly, he opened the door and stepped out. His legs felt like bubble gum and he let one hand rest on the jeep to steady himself.

“We’re gonna start with measuring your pupils and reaction to light,” Officer Trask said and quickly administered the test. He notated the results and took a step back. “Now I’m gonna ask you to tilt your head back and close your eyes.” He nodded to himself when he saw the resignation in the man’s features. He would fail this one as well he thought. “Let me know when you believe thirty seconds have passed.”

Max tried to count the seconds in his head, finding it hard to stay focused. “Now,” he said after a while.

This guy was sinking fast. “Alright, now let’s try walking a straight line. I want you to walk heel to toe in a straight line. Keep your eyes on your feet and count out loud.”

“A nightmare,” the younger man muttered and tried to do what the officer had asked of him but he didn’t feel able to. “I can’t do it, okay?” he snapped when it was all too obvious that he couldn’t do it.

“Very well. Let’s try the next one. Stand on one leg and try counting out loud.”

“Are you fuckin’ kidding me?” Max growled angrily, his brain feeling like mashed potatoes. “Someone drugged me or somethin’. Why do these stupid tests?”

“You admit to driving under the influence of narcotics then?”

“I don’t admit anything.” He leaned back against the jeep when it became difficult to maintain his gaze because everything seemed to be moving. “I was feeling okay when I left the party and just started to feel like this when I came back into Manhattan.”

“There were drugs available at the party you attended in Queens?” The denial train was just about to pick up steam. Just wait for it, Trask.

“Not that I know of. My friends and I don’t do drugs, but there were people there I didn’t know.”

That was a likely story, he thought. The stories junkies came up with were endless. “Turn around and put your hands behind your back, Mr. Evans.”

His gaze narrowed on the man. “Are you arresting me?”

“Are you resisting arrest?” he countered smoothly.

“I haven’t done anything wrong,” Max said but did as he was asked. There had been times in his life where police encounters had been a daily thing and he knew that fighting it would only make it worse for him in the end.

“That’s what they all say,” he muttered as he slapped the cuffs on the man and pressed him back to lean on the jeep because he was unsteady on his feet.

“Would you have any objections to me searching your vehicle?”

“I don’t have anything to hide.”

Officer Trask leaned inside the vehicle and turned his flashlight on, sweeping it over the seats and floorboards. He leaned into the back and gave it a cursory glance before sitting in the drivers’ seat and reaching over to open the glove box. When that search turned up empty he stretched his arm out and ran his hand over the mats on the floor and up under the seat. Coming up empty once again he frowned and checked over the visors on both sides, checked the ashtray, the console, and then the underside of the dash. “Um-hmm,” he mused when his fingers brushed against something as he searched the opening on the side of the steering column. He shifted around to work his fingers inside and when he finally snagged it and pulled it out he held it up to look at it.

“Looks like you’ve got good reason to be under the influence,” he said as he stepped out again.

Max’s eyes widened when he saw the little clear back of pills and he fought to straighten up. It was bad enough that someone had drugged him – and now he had proof that this wasn’t in any way related to the PTSD he suffered from – but now it looked like whoever it was wanted to frame him too. He was starting to sweat badly and he didn’t know if it was whatever was in his system or the thought of being locked up. “No, wait, that’s not mine!”

“Tell it to the judge,” Officer Trask said before reading him his rights. He walked him over to the patrol car and once he had him situated inside put in a call to have his vehicle towed to impound.

“Shit,” Max hissed and banged his head against the headrest of the front seat a few times. How had he gotten into this mess and what did it mean for him and Liz?

“Take it easy back there,” Trask said as he slid in behind the wheel and took his hat off to place it on the seat next to him. “You can sleep it off once you get to the station.”

“Generous of you,” he muttered.

“You should be above this. Sad to see someone who served this country act so irresponsibly.” He didn’t believe the guy’s story that someone he didn’t know had slipped something into his drink or that the drugs he had found weren’t his.

Max’ hands tightened into fists several times and it took all of his strength to not yell at the man in the front seat.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Evans, you’ll get your chance to tell your story.” Not that anyone would buy it.

*****

Tony glanced around at the damage left over from the party. It wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been, that was for sure. He’d seen a lot worse in the aftermath of a good party. Most everyone had gone home, happy to slip away into the night and leave the cleanup to someone else. He had seen Kyle sneak out more than an hour earlier, probably hoping to duck out before he and Michael got into it with an audience. Michael had found him to let him know about the girls and he had assured him that Tess was welcome to stay. He and Courtney had left not long after that. He had gone up to check on the girls and Maria had drowsily informed him that they wanted to hang out on the roof so he had left them to their quietly slurred, drunken conversation.

He had gone back down to get cleanup underway and found Ava organizing the last of the partygoers to help clean up. He had smirked to himself, wondering if it was the mom in her breaking free and trying to straighten up. She was probably used to that with a three-year-old underfoot. He could see her wrangling Alex into helping clean up, but getting Isabel to help out was a surprise.

“How’d you manage that?” he asked as he grabbed a handful of empties to toss in the bag she was holding as she worked to clear off every flat surface in sight that had collected bottles during the party.

“It’s not that hard,” she whispered. “With Isabel you have to twist the words and make her believe it was her idea.”

He coughed to cover a laugh when Isabel turned to look at them and he waved. “I’m okay, thanks.” She narrowed her eyes for a moment before going back to picking up. “That’s great. I’ll have to remember that.”

“Is my sister okay up there?”

“Yeah, I think maybe her an’ Maria are gonna be okay. They’re a little drunk but they’re getting along.”

“At least something good came about because of the party, huh?”

“Yeah.” He smiled at her. “Not the only good thing though.”

His smile sent butterflies loose in her stomach and she wasn’t ready for the night to end already. Would they see each other again soon?

He watched her for a moment before he realized he was staring. “Would you like to go out sometime? Maybe do dinner and a movie?”

“That’d be great,” she nodded with a wide smile and also a slight blush on her face.

“You’ve got a great smile,” he said as he reached out to brush his fingertips against her cheek. “Lights up your whole face.”

Her blush deepened as his words registered. “You make me look totally foolish.”

“Not possible.” He chuckled and shook his head. “You’re beautiful.”

“Could you crawl any more, Carter?” Isabel smacked the back of his head. “We’re gonna have to watch out for the trail of slime you’re leaving on the floor.”

He glared at her. “Do you mind?”

Isabel just shrugged with a smirk and pushed a stack of dirty plates into his hands. “Why don’t you make yourself useful since we’ve been so generous to help you clean up?”

“And while I do appreciate the help that you’ve so generously provided you’re kinda interrupting the moment. Why don’t you go make out with Alex or somethin’?”

Ava smirked at his slightly annoyed tone that made it clear he hadn’t appreciated the interruption, but somehow she was also a bit glad Isabel had done it. No matter how much she was attracted to the guy, for Chase she needed to take things slow.

Tony rolled his eyes when Isabel just gave him a look. “You can go away now, really. I’m just askin’ her out on a date. I’m pretty sure we don’t need a chaperone for that.”

“Have fun then,” she told him, amused, and winked at her sister before she went on into the kitchen.

He watched her over his shoulder until she was far enough away. “We could include Chase if you wanted.”

As much as she loved the fact that he wanted to include her son, she shook her head. “I appreciate it, really, but I don’t want my son involved before… ya know…”

He nodded. “Yeah, I can understand that. How’s Saturday for you?”

“I have to make sure I have someone for Chase first, but I don’t think it’ll be a problem.”

“Great.” He grinned. “I guess I’ll wait for you to call me.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Ava smiled. She was looking forward to getting to know him better and she could only hope that he was as awesome as he seemed to be. That would really be like winning the lottery.

“Guess we’d better get finished before your sister figures out you manipulated her into cleaning and leaves you here.”

“Yeah, she can be mean.”

He chuckled and turned to gather more empties. “Somebody probably oughta warn her new boyfriend.”

“I’m still getting used to the thought she’s dating someone like him.”

“He is different,” he mused. “Seems to be good for her though.”

“No doubt. I just would’ve never guessed she’d settle for a decent guy rather than a stupid prick for once.”

“Not a big fan of her ex?” He shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t get it. None of you seem to have cared for the guy so why’d she stay with him for so long?”

“Brainwashed maybe?”

“Gotta be somethin’. Oh, well, maybe Alex is a step up.”

“I doubt there’s a step down left anyway,” Ava snorted.

He laughed at that. “The guy may be sittin’ well below the upper class but he does seem to know what he wants outta life.”

“Yeah, that’s definitely a plus.”

“I’ve got part of one of your lamps here,” Alex said as he held out a large piece of ceramic.

Tony made a face when he realized it was the lamp his mother had given him for a birthday. “Well, crap…”

“I could fix it.” He shrugged. “Well, you probably already know how to do that yourself.”

“Just put it in the kitchen, I’ll take care of it.”

“No problem.” He carefully placed the piece on the counter so it was out of the way and then turned to look around. “I think we’ve pretty much got everything picked up.”

“Cool, thanks guys. It would’ve taken forever if it’d been just me.”

Isabel waved him off. “We didn’t mind helping.”

“You want me to call a cab for the three of you?”

“It’s not that far to the subway station and it’s comfortable enough out to walk.”

“Yeah, we’ve got Alex for protection,” Ava winked at the man.

Alex smiled at the comment. He wasn’t used to people making comments like that unless the words were being used as a joke or an insult.

Tony nodded. “Let me know when ya make it home.”

“Will do,” Isabel said as she looked around once more. “As far as I know Tess has to work tomorrow so if she doesn’t get up and moving early she may need a ride back to my place.”

“I’ve got it covered.”

“Good night, Tony.” She gave him a hug. “The party was fun. We’ll have to do it again sometime.”

“Yeah, how about your place?” he teased.

“Um, we will NEVER have a party at my place.”

“She’s a square,” Ava rolled her eyes and gave him a hug. “G’night, Tony.”

“G’night, Ava.” He returned the hug and reluctantly released her. “I’ll talk to ya soon.”

“Looking forward to it,” she winked and stepped back, happier than she had been in a very long time. “Let’s go, guys, Mommy’s getting tired.”

Isabel moved to the door and smiled when Alex reached out to pull it open for her. It was nice to see her sister and Tony were hitting it off.

****

Michael yawned and covered his mouth half-heartedly as he squeezed his eyes closed a couple of times in an effort to stay awake. It had been a long day and he had been up for almost twenty-four hours now. He glanced at Courtney when she leaned forward to press the scan button on the stereo, jumping from one station to the next as she searched for something to listen to. His brows furrowed when he heard the song she had paused on and he leaned over to nudge her finger out of the way to hit number one on his preset.

“What? You don’t like this?”

“I don’t like anything I can’t understand the lyrics to.” He nodded when something he knew and liked came on. “Somethin’ we can both agree on.”

“Okay.” Courtney shrugged and settled back in her seat when the sounds of Metallica poured through the speakers. She loved the song that was playing and she loved the band but she liked other kinds of music too. “The party was fun.”

“Yeah, it was okay.” He was preoccupied, his thoughts revolving around the scene between his little sister and Kyle. Secrets caused all kinds of problems and that had him thinking about his own situation. He knew he needed to tell Courtney about the photo shoot he had been talked into doing before too much time passed and it ended up seeming like he had been trying to hide it. It wasn’t that big of a deal but for whatever reason she seemed insecure about his relationship with Maria so he wasn’t sure how well she was gonna take the news.

She had been watching him for a while, observing the little mannerisms that told her he was thinking hard about something. “What’s on your mind?”

“Somethin’ I’ve been meanin’ to bring up.” Well, it wasn’t a total lie; he had known it was gonna have to come out at some point. “Max has this plan to do a photo shoot for his tat shop, get some publicity, and drum up some business.”

Her eyes widened. “And he wants to use me?” Well, that was unexpected. He didn’t seem to care for her at all.

“Uh, no, not exactly.”

She frowned. “I heard the others talking about it, I think. Wasn’t he gonna pay Maria for it?”

“Yeah, he is. He’s changed up the way he wants to do it though. He’s decided the shoot’ll work better if he has a guy and a girl to balance it out so he wants me to stand in.”

“So, you an’ Maria.” Again, she added in her thoughts and suppressed a snort.

“Yeah.”

“Well… Max hasn’t exactly tried to hide that he thinks you’re obviously with the wrong person, so I shouldn’t be surprised I guess.” She didn’t like it though.

“I’m the one who decides who I’m gonna be with. Quit worryin’ about what everyone else thinks. You’re gonna have to decide if you can deal with me an’ Maria bein’ friends or not, Courtney. I’m with you but she’s my best friend and I’m not givin’ that up. We’ve been through so many things together and you don’t turn your back on that kinda friendship.” He suddenly found himself saying things he had been holding back since he had learned that she felt insecure about his relationship with Maria. “I agreed to back off the hugging an’ stuff but she needs me to be there for her and I want to be there for her. She’s goin’ through a lotta stuff and I think it’s ridiculous for me to have to stand back and let her go through it alone or to be unable to give her a hug when she’s down.”

“I don’t…” she sighed. Okay, maybe she was expecting too much. Was it really fair to ask him to stay away from Maria? No, it probably wasn’t and she knew it, but her insecurities when it came to the other woman in his life sometimes overrode her logical thinking.

“I know I’m new to this whole relationship thing but it seems to me either you trust the person you’re with or you don’t. And if you don’t then there’s not really any point movin’ forward.”

Courtney looked at him from the passenger seat, noticing the serious expression he wore. He really meant it and she knew that she had to accept Maria in his life if she wanted to be with him. Although there were plenty of people around them who thought Maria and Michael belonged together, he didn’t seem to believe it, so why was she so worried about it? “I’ll try to be more accepting,” she started. “It’s not easy for me to just trust blindly, Michael, because unlike you I’ve been in relationships before and I’ve been proven wrong several times, so be patient with me.”

He nodded. “I don’t wanna feel like I have to sneak around to hang out with Maria and I sure as hell don’t wanna feel like any time we talk or hug you’re gonna come unglued. Seems to me that sneakin’ around would make you more suspicious than if we were just bein’ ourselves out in the open.”

“Sneaking around would be worse,” she agreed.

“I mean, you guys got along really well before we hooked up, right?”

“We just met, but, yeah… guess we didn’t hate each other.”

“Okay, so, this can be worked out then.”

She doubted that she and the other girl could be friends, but maybe she could be nicer to her. That way she could always say she had tried.

He took the turn that would take them over to her street and he ran a hand over his face. He was tired and even though he had planned to stay the night with Courtney he knew he needed to deal with the situation waiting for him at home. And maybe it wouldn’t hurt for her to think about things.

“You’re dropping me off at home.” It was a statement, not a question and she wondered what it meant. Earlier they had agreed to spend the night at his place, but obviously he had changed his mind.

“Kyle’s gonna be at my place and we’ve got a thing or two to settle.” He shook his head. “You don’t wanna be around for that.”

She was about to offer to let him stay with her, but she bit her inner cheek before the words could leave her mouth. Pushing him was probably not the right thing to do right now.

“I’ll probably sleep in but I’ll swing by and pick you up around 1:30pm?”

“Sounds good,” she nodded in agreement and sat up to undo her seatbelt when the car came to a stop in front of her building.

He reached over to take her hand and tugged her as close as possible with the console between them.

“Don’t get pulled into a wrestling match at home, okay?” She reached out to gently run her hand along the left side of his face. “I’d hate it if someone ruined your looks, handsome.”

“I can’t make any promises about that.” His temper boiled as he thought about the conversation he’d overheard.

“I know you don’t appreciate what he’s done… I wouldn’t either, but remember that your sister isn’t totally innocent in this either and there was also alcohol involved tonight.”

“Tonight, yeah. That night at the beach house...” he shook his head. “Alcohol or not it’s not an excuse.”

“Well, good luck then, I guess.” She knew she couldn’t make him see things from a more neutral point and if she tried to convince him, he would only get angry with her in the end.

Michael forced a smile. “I don’t need luck but Valenti might.”

“Um-hmm. G’night, Michael.” She leaned in for a short kiss.

“Yeah, g’night,” he said, his tone distracted.

Courtney looked into his eyes before she let go and opened her door to get out.

Michael waited until she was inside before he pulled away and stepped on the gas. He knew Tess wasn’t an innocent bystander but at the same time Kyle was older and he should’ve known better. There was the whole code thing too. He had just ignored it and... and... ungh, he didn’t even want to think about that in association with his little sister.

CandyliciousLovah: Quite true – why bother otherwise?

Lol, soon? Well…

Earth2Mama: Well, he’ll be taken down… eventually.

There’s a very good chance it’ll be used against her.

Lol, we’ll catch up with the guys today.

xilaj: Lol, thanks! We’ll do our best to untangle this mess.

Chances are good we’ll be seeing his parents very soon.

We’ll see how his arraignment goes and how long he’ll be held.

Oh, we haven’t forgotten about that!

We’ll be catching up with Tony and Ava from time to time and today we’ll check in with Alex and Isabel.

Lol, he needed to get some things straightened out.

keepsmiling7: Yeah, definitely not good.

It is a shame and it’s all for nothing. What can really be gained with this setup?

Alien_Friend: Perhaps not easily, but eventually he will get things figured out.

Nah, c’mon now, his life isn’t ruined.

We’ll check in with Tony and Ava from time to time.

It was past time for Michael to get that off of his chest.

Max is a strong character and he’s overcome adversity before – keep the faith because he won’t give up!

Natalie36: We’ll check in with Max today.

Already, huh? Well… could still be a while.

sarammlover: Max does have people who believe in him. As for Trent… well, it might take some time but eventually he’ll get his.

Past time for Michael to get that off of his chest, huh?



A/N: Beginning next Sunday, we will start to post Double Empire weekly as well!





Part 89

Different Viewpoints

Isabel sighed when they walked up the steps from the subway to reach ground level and the warm breeze awaiting them. “I miss the times when you come outta the subway in the middle of the night and actually freeze. It’s too damn hot even now.”

“Yeah,” Ava agreed. She had stayed silent for most of the ride back to Manhattan, watching her older sister and the man at her side. Alex was totally different and a few years ago she would’ve agreed with the rest of them about him being the nerd king, but now she saw things differently thanks to Chase. Alex actually listened to the things Isabel had to say. He held doors open and made sure everyone was comfortable – things that most guys their age were missing. “I almost forgot how sticky the city can be in the summer.”

“This isn’t normal,” her sister shook her head. “It’s never been this hot before.”

Alex chuckled internally. It’d been this hot countless times before, but who was he to say she was wrong? Instead he nodded in agreement. “I’ll be happy when the heat wave’s over too.”

They came to a stop when they reached the building where Isabel lived. “It was a nice party,” she said and faced him with a smile.

“Yeah, I guess it wasn’t that bad,” he replied with a wink.

“Hey, I’m gonna go on upstairs, okay?” Ava interrupted them. She wasn’t sure if the couple needed time alone or not, so she preferred to make a quick escape. “G’night, Alex.”

He nodded with a smile. “G’night, Ava. It was nice to meet you.”

Isabel rolled her eyes at her sister, knowing what she was doing and it was absolutely not necessary since it wasn’t like there was anything serious between her and Alex. Was there?

“Not exactly subtle,” he teased when they were left alone and he caught her expression.

“I guess subtle isn’t a Guerin characteristic.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “No. I had a good time tonight, Isabel.”

“Told you our parties aren’t that bad,” she bumped him with her fist slightly and winked. “I know they’re probably not that great if you need to study or something.”

“They can be a bit distracting when you’ve got your nose in the books.” He watched her, wondering what she’d do if he kissed her. She’d probably lay you out on the sidewalk with a right hook, his conscience taunted.

“You gotta work tomorrow?”

“I’m on shift at the hospital and off from my second job. You?”

“Late shift at the hospital.”

“Too bad.” He grinned. “We could’ve got together for a late lunch or somethin’.”

“Well, maybe I’ll come in a bit earlier then.”

“Meet you at the corner deli around 2pm?”

“Sounds good,” she agreed and glanced at her watch. “Guess you won’t get much sleep tonight, huh?”

“I’ll probably just go home and hit the books. Tryin’ to sleep now would just be an exercise in futility.” He shrugged one shoulder. “I’ll have plenty of time to sleep when I get home after work tomorrow.”

“I couldn’t study right now if I tried,” she shook her head in amusement and leaned in for a hug before the moment could become uncomfortable and silent. “See you tomorrow then.”

He was surprised but he quickly covered it and returned the hug. “Thanks for tonight. I’ll catch you tomorrow.”

Isabel turned and walked inside, telling herself to not look back when she left. “Hey, James,” she greeted the doorman, who seemed to be there no matter the time.

“Good evening, Ms. Guerin, did you have a good night?”

“Great, thanks,” she smiled and pressed the button for the elevator. She stepped inside when it opened immediately and a few moments later she found herself on the floor for her apartment. She only had to push the door to open it since her sister hadn’t locked it and Ava was doing something in the kitchen when she stepped inside. “What’re you doin’?”

“I’m kinda hungry.”

“Well, just don’t make a mess.”

“No worries,” Ava rolled her eyes. “Hey, there was an envelope on the floor. Looks like someone squeezed it in under the door. I laid it on the coffee table.”

Isabel nodded and went into the living room, feeling a moment of unexplained hesitation when she saw the plain legal size manila envelope. She picked it up and walked over to the desk to get a letter opener, sliding it below the sealed flap and ripping it open. She put the opener back and shook the contents out on the desk. She frowned as her gaze moved over the glossy photographs and frowned... all shots of Alex. Her fingertip slid across the edges, moving them aside and she swallowed hard when she reached the last one. Her and Alex earlier that evening, talking and laughing as they walked to the subway on their way to the party. The photograph was enough to cause her to be uneasy but it was the red x that had been drawn across Alex’s face that really worried her.

“What is it?” Ava glanced up from the plate in front of her when she saw her sister staring down at her desk.

“Nothing important.” She shuffled the pictures back together and slid them into the envelope. It had to be some sick, twisted prank of Richard’s because he was the only one who seemed to have a real problem with Alex.

“Ya sure?” Isabel looked kind of pale.

She just barely caught herself before she could snap and tell her sister to mind her own business. “Yeah, I’m sure. I think I’m gonna go take a shower and go to bed. You can take the guestroom since Tess isn’t comin’ home tonight.”

“Okay, cool.” Ava wasn’t sure if her sister was hiding something or not, but she knew better than to press.

****

Kyle was slouched down on the couch, his feet propped up on the coffee table while he stared unseeingly at the television that was tuned to a sports channel. He could’ve easily gone to bed and gone to sleep but what was the point? He knew Michael would be home after dropping Courtney off in spite of his original plans. He wouldn’t bring her back home knowing there was a fight waiting to go down. He had known hooking up with Tess that one time was gonna come back to bite him on the ass. There were so many reasons why it had been wrong and they far outweighed the reasons why it had been so right… they just hadn’t at that moment.

He inhaled deeply when he heard the familiar footfalls in the hallway outside the apartment. Michael had a distinct stride and he wondered when he had picked up on that. Now that he thought about it he realized he could identify most of his friends by the sound of their footsteps. He shook his head and took a drink from the beer he held tightly in his right hand just as his roommate’s key turned in the lock.

“You’re home.”

“Observant of you,” Michael muttered. “Too bad you’re too fuckin’ stupid to pay attention when it counts.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kyle asked, his voice calmer than he was. “Just because I made one mistake doesn’t mean I go around hurtin’ people.”

“She's 19, you dumb fuck! And you...” he was so angry he was having trouble getting the words out. “You fuckin’ screwed her in a bathroom and then acted like she didn’t exist!”

“She not a minor anymore,” Kyle defended himself from his position on the couch. “I’m not sayin’ it was the right thing to do, but she wanted it as much as I did, so why the fuck are you only blaming me? I didn’t know she had feelings for me.”

“This has nothin’ to do with her bein’ a minor. The point is she has no clue what she wants and she should be safe with my friends. You’re supposed to be my best friend. She should be safe with you.”

“You make it sound like a raped her,” the other man said and leaned forward to put the beer on the coffee table, using both hands to wipe his face. “I know it was wrong and I should’ve known better.”

“If I for one second thought anything like that nothin’ would’ve stopped me from throwin’ you outta the closest window after kickin’ your ass. She cares about you and I know she’s old enough to make her own decisions but you should’ve never had sex with her.”

“But I didn’t know she has feelings for me!” He shot up to look at his friend. The words still sounded weird and hard to believe in his head.

“Whatever,” Michael snapped. “She’s my SISTER!”

“You weren’t so fuckin’ responsible when Evans laid a hand on her.”

“It’s not the same thing. She went after him and that ran its course overnight. But you, no, it’s different with you.”

“Why’s it different?” Kyle yelled back, sure their neighbors would be already awake by now.

“She’s my sister and you’re... you were my best friend! You don’t just sleep with a guy’s little sister! You’re not exactly a stick around kinda guy and you just...” he snorted derisively and shook his head. “I wouldn’t nail your sister if you had one.”

“WERE? Did you say WERE?” He hadn’t even paid any attention to anything after that.

“You really think we’re just gonna go back to hangin’ out and forget this ever happened?”

Kyle didn’t know what he was thinking, but walking away from his friend sure wasn’t on his mind. “I know we won’t solve this tonight, Guerin, and I understand you’re pissed off about – “

“Pissed off? You think this’s just gonna blow over after a couple days? That I’m gonna forget you nailed my sister in the fuckin’ bathroom and then just treated her like shit?”

“I wouldn’t have done any of it if I’d known about her feelings and besides that, I didn’t treat her like shit. It all just boiled over tonight and hell yes, I’m sorry about that and I’m gonna talk to her about it.”

“It doesn’t matter what you wouldn’t have done, Kyle! It’s too late for that! Now in addition to everything else, everyone she knows heard about what happened between the two of you.”

“I don’t give a fuck about who heard it. I’m pretty sure there were people around who already knew. Evans knew about it.”

“You might not give a fuck but she sure as fuck does!”

“Tess doesn’t strike me as the type who cares about anyone outside of her family and friends and since I’m fuckin’ sure all of your sympathies will go straight to her, I don’t see a problem. We had sex, she didn’t mention she had feelings for me, and now I’m the bad guy. Got it!”

“Good, as long as we’ve got that straight.”

Kyle stared at him from several feet away, trying to determine if there was anything else Guerin wanted to tell him and when the other guy didn’t move an inch, he went to get another beer from the refrigerator.

Michael didn’t feel like going over this any longer and he was tired. He turned to go down the hall to his room, uninterested in talking to the other guy.

He watched him when he disappeared, biting his lip so he wouldn’t yell something sarcastic about the ridiculous charade he was playing with Courtney to avoid facing his feelings for Maria.

As soon as he was in his room Michael slammed the door as hard as he could and stomped across the floor. Why was his life suddenly so complicated? He needed something new to think about. He threw himself down on his bed and laid back, drumming his fingertips against his chest as he stared at the ceiling. He tipped his head to one side and studied it, wondering how much it would cost to have mirrors put up.

“Mirrors,” he mused to himself. “That could make things interesting.” He’d never tried that but when they had first gotten the apartment Maria had told him he should invest in mirrors for the ceiling. She had been teasing him about his sex life the way she normally did, suggesting mirrors as a joke, and then suggesting mood music to go along with it. Maria. He should call her. Nah, she was probably passed out by now. He stared at the ceiling for a moment, mentally going over all of the messages he could send. She had been kinda down so maybe something funny? Sometimes too much concern just made her feel worse. Funny. Yeah, he could do funny. He grinned as a message came to mind: Hot and horny New York male seeks mirrors for ceiling. Yeah, she’d remember that old conversation. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and frowned at the little blinking light that indicated he had a missed call or a message. How had he missed that? He flipped it open and pulled the message up.

I miss you.

“Aww, hell, M’ria,” he murmured as he discarded his funny message in favor of something more sincere. He had been distant with her since getting involved with Courtney and that was going to change. He had been straight with his girlfriend and he wasn’t about to just pretend Maria didn’t exist until it was convenient for Courtney.

He glanced at the time stamp on the message and thumbed one out to send even though he knew she was most likely passed out by now. I’m here when you’re ready to talk.

Maria woke up when the cell she was holding buzzed slightly. It took a few seconds before she remembered where she was and what had happened. A quick glance at Tess told her she hadn’t woken up from the sound. Quickly she opened her cell to see who would text her at this time of the night. It was only then that she remembered the stupid message she had sent Michael about an hour ago. Damn it!

Her heart clenched when she read his text. What was she supposed to do? It wasn’t like she had written him the message to actually talk to him – but of course that was nothing she could tell him. Not really anything to talk about – just in general, she replied back to him.

Michael checked his message when his phone buzzed and he frowned. There was more there but her message was so vague and they hadn’t really talked in a while so he couldn’t read between the lines of what little she had said. His day was pretty much set tomorrow and he was sure she was gonna be working but maybe they could catch up on Friday. His thumb danced over the keys and he checked the message before hitting the send button. Sal’s for dinner Friday?

Friday seemed so far away, she thought. Why was he texting her right now anyway? Shouldn’t he be all hot and horny with Courtney? She shivered uncomfortably at the thought and tried to get rid of the image quickly. Yeah, I’d like that.

He smiled. Sal’s always put her in a good mood. She loved the thick juicy cheeseburgers and always went for a double order of fries. Cool, it’s a date.

A date Maria snorted at that. You gonna bring the candles? I’ll bring the wine, she replied to him. If he only had any clue what he was doing to her lately.

Michael laughed and shook his head. No, but I’ll spring for the beer afterwards.

Sounds like a nice night, she punched in and then hesitated a moment before she added more. Just you an’ me, right?

Courtney was just gonna have to get over it and understand, he thought as he replied. Just us.

Maria smiled at his reply. Although she knew there was nothing romantic between the lines it felt good that they would hang out alone for once after what felt like so long – she missed spending time with him. Like that, she replied simply.

Michael yawned as he thumbed out a reply. Hit me back with a time and a movie if you’re up for one.

A movie, she thought. Well, it’d give them time to snuggle without having to talk about anything, but would that help the situation – her situation? Might be looking at apartments so I’ll send ya a time later, okay?

Works for me. Off at four and the night’s yours after that.

You are so generous, she replied back. G’night, CB, and thanks.

He snorted at her response. It’s what I do. G’night, RP.

****

Max made a face at the sound of a guy puking his guts out over in the corner and he crossed his arms tighter over his chest as he stared at his feet. The holding cell was crowded and already two different fights had broken out and officers had only intervened once. The second fight they had just waited until one of the guys had knocked the other one out before coming in to drag the injured one away. He had been searched and they had taken all of his personal things and sealed them in a large manila envelope. He had been fingerprinted and photographed since he was being charged with possession and he had been shuffled back and forth more times than he could count.

They had permitted him three calls but he had unintentionally wasted two by dialing wrong numbers and since he had actually spoken with someone both times the dick of a cop he had gotten stuck with had counted both of them. He had been incarcerated for over four hours now and the effects of whatever drug he had been slipped had worn off. He was staring at the payphone, knowing that the one call he had left was going to have to be to Liz.

Now that his mind wasn’t so foggy he knew he would get the number right if he called his mom – the first call he had intended to make. But he had to let Liz know what was going on. Would she believe him? He shook that off. She had to believe him, it was the truth. He just hated that this had happened now when they were just getting started and the threats made by Trent were hanging over them. Trent. Of course! He had to be responsible for this mess he was in. No one who knew him would believe he had drugs in his possession or that he had been taking them.

He got up and started the tedious process of trying to get the attention of one of the cops so he could make his last phone call. Damn it, this wasn’t the way he had wanted Liz to meet his mom. But if he called Mom then she’d have to be the one to let Liz know what was going on and he didn’t want that. He would call her himself and ask her to contact his mom so she could arrange for their lawyer to handle things.

He would be taken down for arraignment and he didn’t want some public defender handling his case for so much as a single minute. He wanted a lawyer who cared one way or the other if he was innocent or guilty. He wanted a lawyer that could get him out because he didn’t want to spend any more time in jail than he had to. He hated the feeling of confinement and being packed in with so many people wasn’t helping the situation any. His forearms rested on the bars as he waited for the cop taking his time walking over to the cell.

“What?”

“I’d like to make my last call.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet you would.” He motioned to the cell door. “Get over there.”

He bit back the smart remarks and did as he was told, silently waiting for the cop to let him out. He hated the way the guy shoved him forward when he walked past him, hated the sound of the cell door slamming closed, and most of all he hated that he had to wake Liz up before six in the morning to tell her he was in jail. He picked the handset up and it felt like it weighed a hundred pounds as he punched in his number and waited for her to answer. He had left his phone at the apartment because Trent had ruined hers and she hadn’t been able to replace it yet. He hoped it wouldn’t wake Aaron because he could just imagine that trying to answer the little boy’s questions while trying to take in what she was being told over the phone would only make things more difficult.

Liz sat up in shock when something loud and intimidating abruptly woke her from a deep sleep. It took several moments before she realized where she was and what was going on. She felt uncoordinated as she stretched to grab the buzzing and ringing cell from the nightstand, her heart hammering in her chest wildly when she answered it. “Hello?”

“Liz, it’s Max.” He leaned forward to rest his forehead on his fisted hand and squeezed his eyes shut. “Darlin’, I need you to listen to me carefully.”

His words immediately alarmed her. “What’s going on, Max?” She got up and slapped the light on, squeezing her eyes painfully for a few moments when the room was illuminated.

Here goes nothin’, he thought as he took a deep breath. “I got pulled over after leavin’ the party. The charges are bogus, Liz, so please keep that in mind. I’ve gonna be charged with drivin’ under the influence and possession, but I swear to you, the stuff wasn’t mine.”

“You’re in jail?” she asked in horror, turning the light off and leaving the room when she realized she was going to wake Aaron up.

“I don’t have a lot of time,” he said when the cop behind poked him as a reminder to hurry up. “Just please believe me when I tell you I’m innocent.”

“What do you want me to do, Max?” she asked helplessly. Her brain wasn’t working properly right now and she couldn’t even form an opinion yet.

“My mom’s number’s in my phone. I hate to ask but would you call her and just tell her what’s goin’ on? She can have a lawyer down here in the next few hours for my arraignment so he can get me out on bail.”

He wanted her to call his Mom, she thought and wiped her face with her free hand. “I’ll call her,” she told him emotionlessly because her mind was already running over everything she needed to do so Aaron would be safe and cared for in the morning.

“I’ll explain everything in more detail once my lawyer gets me outta here. It could take all day before my case gets called before the judge so we can talk over dinner. Okay?” he asked when she was silent.

“Okay,” she answered shortly and sank down on a chair in the kitchen.

The cop poked him again and he shot a glare at him over his shoulder. “Liz, they’re sayin’ my time’s up. I’ve gotta go. Just please don’t let your imagination get away with you before we get a chance to talk in person.”

She doubted there was anything she could do to stop her running thoughts from running wild since they had already started. “Goodbye for now, Max,” she told him and remembered at the very last second to ask him where he actually was.

Max stared at the handset for a few seconds before he slowly hung it up. He had given her the information she needed to pass along to his mom about where he was but he wasn’t sure she believed him.

“Let’s move it, Evans,” the cop said.

“I’m goin’.” He sighed as he stepped back into the cell and the door slammed shut behind him.

Natalie36: we'll catch up with Liz today and see how she's handling things.

CandyliciousLovah: Things are heating up all over.

Earth2Mama: Trent is a narcissist. Lol, safer to stay outta his head!

We'll get some of Liz's thoughts today.

The guys do have some work ahead of them.

Lol, Richard and Trent related? Talk about a screwed up family tree!

keepsmiling7: Holding cells are bad enough when you don't suffer from PTSD, so it must be torture for Max.

That would be embarrassing - especially for poor Liz.

We'll see what can and can't be proven where Trent is concerned.

sarammlover: Michael will get there, lol.

Richard is scary and we can only hope Isabel can see it now.

We'll look in on Liz today, see where her thoughts are.

Alien_Friend: Lol, yeah, pretty sure that's not the way any of them had ever hoped to meet.

Kyle has some learning and growing to do but he'll get there.

Hopefully nothing happens to intrude on M&M's time.

Looks like Isabel & Alex made a sort of lunch date and never even realized they didn't discuss money.

Richard is scary and something needs to be done about him.

We couldn't believe ITCOAL ended either. We're sure gonna miss it!

begonia9508: Thanks!

Lol, he's caught a glimpse.

Michael's just trying to protect his little sister. Yeah, she's old enough to make her own decisions and mistakes but he'll see that in time. Although he's sure to stick his nose in her business from time to time even after he finally sees that.

Lol, the texting may be over but...

Trent is terrible and he isn't finished yet.

We'll catch up with Liz today.

xilaj: Isabel should definitely be alarmed by now, this behavior is not normal – even not for a jealous ex! We will find out, what she’s going to do.

Mama and Papa Evans are on their way lol. M&L definitely got a lot on her plate and it’s getting more and more. Let’s see how (especially) Liz deals with it…

Michael and Kyle are just up for another round, lol.




Part 90

Love and Hurt Lie Close Together

Maria’s gaze was drowsy and tired when she rolled over on the deck chair to face away from Tess, who was passed out. Her mind was still clouded from the tequila and if Michael hadn’t texted back a while ago, she was sure she would've been in dreamland by now as well. The little interruption had her wide awake though and it had taken some time to calm her nerves again.

Slowly she lowered her gaze to the cell she still clutched in her hands. With her thumb she hit a random button to illuminate the display and she smiled when the photo of her and Michael appeared there.

Friday, she thought and closed her eyes, Friday they would get the chance to hang out again. Alone. Yeah, take that Courtney!

Her rational side told her that she shouldn’t feel all that excited about it because chances were good she would be disappointed in the end, but she couldn’t help imagining them together in his room, spread out on the bed while they watched a movie she wasn't paying attention to.

His body was stretched out next to her; one of his arms was bent under his head while the other was wrapped around her loosely. She could almost feel the slight shift of the mattress and his chest from his calm breathing. “Feel a bit tired,” she mumbled and used it as an excuse to shift closer to his body, her head resting on his chest while one hand was placed flat on his stomach.

“The movie isn’t that good,” he admitted, “so sleep if ya want.” Michael shifted his arm slightly and started to run his spread fingers though her hair in a soothing manner.

“Yeah, maybe I will…” she whispered back, but secretly she was wide awake, feeling the muscles of his six pack under the tee shirt he wore.

"You're not sleepin'," he rumbled a little while later. "What's keepin' you awake?"

“You,” she admitted with a little smirk to herself.

His right eyebrow lifted at that. "Me?"

“Yeah…”

He shifted slightly so he could look at her. "Why?"

“Why not?” she countered. “I like to be with you, so why waste time sleeping?”

His eyes darkened as they traced over her features, his expression slightly confused as he tried to make sense of what she was saying. "Somethin' you'd rather be doin'?"

She dropped her eyes to his stomach and her hand still lying there. “Maybe… ever wondered what it would feel like to be touched by me?”

He cleared his throat as he watched her. "Maybe..."

“Maybe…” she repeated softly.

"Guess there's one way to put an end to the wondering."

“You are so smart,” she teased and dropped her gaze again, lifting up his tee shirt with one hand and then leaning in to press a single tender kiss right over his belly button.

His breath shuddered at the contact and he tried to steady his voice. "That's a little more than just touchin'."

She looked up at him and met his eyes before she shrugged one shoulder. “It’s touching with lips.”

"Yeah." His gaze dropped to her lips and he couldn't stop his reaction when her tongue slipped out to wet them. "But if that's the kinda touchin' you had in mind it's only fair that we both get to touch," he said as he grasped her upper arms and hauled her up against his chest, releasing her to wrap his arms around her waist when their lips were a breath apart.

His move startled her for a moment and her heart rate sped up when she felt his breath on her face. “What’s stopping you?” she challenged him when he didn’t move.

"Kind of a big moment." One of his hands came up to touch her face, his fingertips ghosting over her skin. His fingers slipped down to curl around the back of her neck and he applied gentle force, closing the distance between them and pressing his lips to hers.

Maria groaned in frustration when he kept his touches so gentle that it was hardly possible to feel them.

He chuckled gruffly and tightened his hold on her as he rolled them, knowing what she wanted because it was the same thing he wanted. He deepened the kiss as he settled comfortably against her, recognizing the quiet sounds of satisfaction as she shifted even closer.

“Another big thing here,” she mumbled against his lips with a smirk when she rubbed her lower body against him.

He grinned and rolled his hips. "Your fault," he murmured.

"My luck," she corrected him.

"Well, if you insist," he said smugly.

“I insist that you take your shirt off,” she said and leaned back slightly to move her hands in between them and under his shirt to rasp her nails against his muscles underneath.

"Then it's comin' off." He sat up long enough to jerk it up and over his head, tossing it on the floor behind him.

Maria took her time checking him out although she had seen him like this before. “I love your body,” she admitted after a moment.

"It is pretty impressive." He laughed when she rolled her eyes at him. He took her hands and pulled her up. "Turnabout's fair play," he said as his hands skimmed the edges of the tank top she was wearing. He looked at her and when she gave a nod of ascent he removed it and his Adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed with difficulty at the realization that she wasn't wearing anything beneath it.

“Expected more?” she asked in amusement and bit her lip, enjoying the way he was looking at her.

"How could I expect more?" He nudged her back and followed her down, bracing his weight on his left forearm. With his right hand he traced over the skin of her abdomen, taking his time working his way up. He grinned wickedly at her hiss of impatience and he swooped down without warning to take one stiff nipple in his mouth.

“More clothes I meant,” she mumbled, but neither of them really cared about it any longer.

He hummed a noncommital response as his mobile lips moved over her breast. He shifted and nibbled along her collarbone up to her neck, nipping the tender skin there before soothing it with his tongue. He lifted his head and his eyes darkened in satisfaction when he saw the mark he had left.

Maria stared up at him and felt her stomach tighten in response to his looks. “Why're you wasting your time with her? Take me,” she whispered.

"You always blow it off when anyone suggests the two of us are more than friends." He shrugged one shoulder and looked at her. "She's nothin' like you, M'ria, but if you couldn't see me an' you together I settled for someone else."

“If I couldn’t…” she started, confused and then becoming angry. “You shut those comments down even harder than I did!”

With a slight gasp she shoved herself up into a sitting position, realizing quickly that everything had just been a dream, but it had still caused her heartbeat to speed up. Damn it, she sighed and ran both of her hands through her slightly sweaty hair. How long should she wait before she told him? Yeah, right, she snorted loudly. You'll never tell him, Maria!

*****

The house phone rang, the shrill sound intruding on the stillness of the early morning. At first the sound went ignored but after the fifth ring she considered reaching for it to silence it but miraculously the answering machine picked up and she sighed and settled back into the pillow.
Half-awake, her brain registered the sound of a young woman’s voice and at first she shrugged it off, certain it must be a wrong number. But a moment later her son’s name was mentioned and she sprang up, leaning over her husband’s soundly sleeping form to fumble for the handset.

Diane Evans pushed her unruly hair back away from her face as she brought the receiver to her ear. “Hello? Hello, who is this?”

“Mrs. Evans, my name’s Liz Parker. I’m sorry to call so early. I’m a…” Friend just didn’t sound right but she wasn’t certain girlfriend was the correct term either. “I’m dating your son.” Liz grimaced. That just sounded so lacking somehow, like it wasn’t enough. She shook her head in an attempt to rid the ridiculous thoughts from her head. “This isn’t the way I had hoped we’d be introduced – “

“You’re calling about Max? Is he alright?” Diane demanded.

“I think so. I just got off the phone with him and he asked me to call you.” She bit her lip. “He’s been arrested.”

“Arrested?” the older woman asked loudly and winced when it almost woke her husband.

Liz cleared her throat. "Yes, ma'am. He said the charges are false, that he wasn't in possession of any... anything illegal at the time of his arrest." Damn it, she didn't want to tell his mother he'd been arrested for driving under the influence and possession of drugs.

“Dear Lord,” Diane muttered while she rested her head in one hand. Was history repeating itself? “Where is he?”

Liz fumbled for the notepad where she'd written the information down and she quickly relayed it. "Mrs. Evans?"

“What is it?”

"Max and I are still getting to know each other and there's a lot I don't know about his past. He's very..." she searched for the word, "careful about what he reveals about himself." And he was, but did she think he'd do anything to put her or Aaron in danger? He had worked so hard to make her believe that he wanted her and Aaron to be a part of his life, that he wanted to be part of their lives. No, she decided, she didn't believe the charges were true. "But I don't believe he was high and I can't imagine he'd have drugs in his possession."

Diane nodded slightly. Although Max had been gotten into a lot of trouble during his youth, drugs had never been the problem, so why would he start now? Maybe to drown what he had experienced, her conscience came to life but she pushed the thought aside. “Where are you, sweetie?”

"I'm at his apartment."

“And you’re okay? Why was he out alone?”

"He was at a party with some friends but they're not the kinda people who're involved in drugs. And he promised he wouldn't come home drunk."

And why would he leave his girlfriend at home, she wondered but didn’t say anything. “We'll take care of the situation, um… what was your name?”

She wondered what his mother was thinking but didn't ask. "Liz Parker."

"Alright, Liz. His father and I will handle the situation from here." She didn’t know the girl and if she was really trustworthy.

"Okay. If there's anything I can do to help you can reach me on his phone."

“Thanks for calling,” Diane said before she hung up, her thoughts too busy to even realize she hadn’t said a goodbye. “Philip,” she called for her husband and wrapped her hand around his shoulder to shake him slightly.

He grumbled and tried to pull away, not interested in anything that might disturb his sleep.

“Philip,” she called him again, more urgent now. “You need to wake up.”

"What?" he growled, refusing to open his eyes.

“Max’s been arrested.”

That had his attention. His eyes shot open and he turned his head to look at her. "What?"

“A girl – someone he’s obviously been dating – called and told me he’s been arrested on the Upper East side.”

"For what?" he asked, already getting up.

“Possession of drugs and driving under influence.”

"Damn it." He started looking around for his cell phone. "You've talked to him recently. You said he seemed fine, no indication that he was having any problems." He turned to look at her as his hand closed around his phone. "I know he doesn't want anything to do with me, but, if there was a problem you would've told me." He searched her gaze. "Right?"

“There was nothing strange about his behavior,” she shook her head. The distance her son kept between them, especially his father, was one thing, but other than that he had seemed to be doing okay.

He sighed heavily and sat down. "If I'd known what was gonna happen to him..." he shook his head.

“Let’s not judge him until we know about this situation,” she said and dialed a number, listening to the female voice rattling off her standard greeting before she gave her the name and address of the police office she wanted to be connected with.

Philip listened to her short phone call and glanced at her questioningly when she hung up again.

“He’s there. I was just making sure this wasn’t some prank."

"No, I'm not judging him." He had been thinking of the deal they had worked out to prevent Max from going to prison at 17. Had he saved him from one hell just to send him to another? "But if they arrested him for possession then he either had drugs on him or they were in his car." He shook his head when she looked at him. "I'm not saying there's not an explanation, just saying that if they have evidence it'll make it that much harder to prove his innocence."

Diane went over to the wall closet with a sigh. “Let’s go get him.”

"I'll need to call Kathleen, make arrangements for her to meet us at the station."

“I hope she picks up at this hour.”

He snorted. "As much as I pay her she'd better answer."

*****

It was shortly after 6 am and Liz was sitting in the kitchen, arms on the table and head resting in her hands. She hadn’t been able to go back to sleep after Max’ call and now she was trying to find a way to get things in order for this morning.

How was she supposed to be at work in time with Aaron around and no one who could look after him? Mrs. McGinty had a doctor’s appointment this morning, so Max had agreed to let his assistant handle his early morning tattoo session, so he could be with her little brother until his babysitter got back.

There was a summer school class scheduled at the café today, almost 30 kids to serve for breakfast so her boss would never give her the morning off, and if she brought Aaron with her, she was sure by the time the first hour had passed she would be dealing with a mad four-year-old and 30 mad teenagers as well.

“What am I supposed to do?” she muttered to herself.

“I need to pee, Lizzie.” Aaron stood in the doorway, his hair wild and ruffled from sleep, legs crossed over each other while he danced back and forth nervously.

“Oh,” she shot up from her seat and took him up to go to the bathroom with a determined stride. “Hold on…. Hold on,” she chanted while she pulled his pajama pants down and set him on the toilet seat.

“Where’s Max?” he asked, confused when he hadn’t seen the man around.

“He had to leave really early for work, sweetie,” she lied, knowing the boy hadn’t realized that Max hadn’t even been home at all.

Aaron made a face when his sister told him that his buddy was already gone. “Ooookayyy.”

“You still got a bit of time left, wanna go back to bed?” she asked when she helped him wash his hands and was glad when he nodded and took off again. He would probably only snuggle back up and play with his stuffed animals, but at least it would give her more time to think.

Her gaze landed on the cell phone on the kitchen table when she went back into the other room and before she could think twice about it, she took it and scrolled through the contact list to see if there was anyone she could call for help.

Her fingers hesitated over the touch screen when she saw a familiar name, but could she really make a call that early after everyone being out so late at the party last night?

I have to try, she thought desperately and dialed the number, praying that her call would be answered.

Michael reached blindely for his phone, not really asleep but not fully awake either. He hadn't done much more than doze most of the night and as much as he knew he needed to sleep his mind had been too active to let him rest much. He squinted to check the screen and rolled his eyes when he saw who was calling. Did the guy ever sleep? He connected the call and brought the phone up to his ear. "What the fuck do you want this early, Evans?"

Liz winced when she heard his pissed off tone. “Sorry… It’s Liz, not Max.”

He cursed under his breath. "Hey, Liz, sorry 'bout that. What's up?"

She really didn’t know where to start, didn't know if Max would be mad if she told anyone what was going on, but what else could she do? He had to understand! “I didn’t wanna disturb you this early, Michael. It’s just that I've got an emergency here and didn’t know who else to call.”

He shoved himself up into a sitting position when he heard the desperation in her voice. "Hey, whatever it is, I've got you covered. Whatcha need?"

“I need someone to look after Aaron for a while this morning,” she admitted and bit her lip while she waited for his response. Michael was good with kids, but she doubted he'd really be too happy to babysit one so early in the morning after a party the night before.

"No problem." He checked his watch. "What time do you need me to pick him up?"

“Really? You're gonna do it just like that?” She was surprised, but very happy. Michael was one of the few people she would trust with Aaron, so if he really had the time she was one lucky person this morning. “I need to leave around half past seven, so there's still a little time.”

"Just like that. You're at Evans' place, right?" He nodded when she made a sound of agreement. "I can be there about quarter after. And hey, I don't have any plans that can't include a little guy so I can always keep him for you until you get off."

“Uh, really? I was just about to say you could drop him off at his sitter around 10 or 11am.”

"Sure, I don't mind."

“Okay, maybe we can discuss it over a coffee when you get here before I have to leave.” She felt relief washing over her and thanked God that he had sent her a group of people who all seemed to be involved with kids.

"Cool, I'll bring the donuts. And no arguments, Mom," he said with a laugh.

She laughed. “Okay, thanks, Michael.”

"Anytime." He rolled out of bed after hanging up and headed for the shower. He was snatching a towel off of a hanger in his closet when he heard movement in the kitchen and he knew Kyle probably hadn't slept much more than he had. Not that he deserved to sleep, he thought irritably. Hope Valenti had sat up all night with his guilty conscience, he thought as he turned the faucet on with a vicious twist.

****

Kyle sat down on one of the barstools at the counter, staring down at his coffee tiredly. He hadn’t slept all night thanks to his own stupid mistakes from last night and by the time he had rolled over for what felt like the hundredth time, he had finally decided to get up for an extra early morning run.

At least the temperatures didn’t go over 95 degrees at this time of the day, he thought and rubbed his face. For whatever reason there was movement in his roommate's bedroom and he was afraid the silence was about to be over.

The bedroom door snapped closed behind Michael as he stepped out into the hallway and he paused to inhale deeply before heading for the kitchen. He made it a point to ignore Kyle as he passed him to pull the refrigerator open and pull the juice out.

The waves still hadn’t calmed, Kyle thought when he watched him out of the corner of his eye and stood silently for another few minutes before it became too much for him. “Guerin, look, we live together so avoiding the subject or ignoring each other won’t help.”

"No need to avoid it," he threw out over his shoulder. He uncapped the juice and took a drink straight from the bottle. "You fucked up and it's not like you can fix it, can you?"

"If you mean fixing it by making it magically not happening, then no – I can’t do that,” Kyle grumbled.

"No, Kyle, that's not what I mean, you dumb fuck!" He shoved the refrigerator door closed and jerked around to look at the other man. "Obviously you can't undo what you fucked up."

They glared at each other and clenched their fists. “I doubt there's anything in your twisted mind that I could do to make you feel better about this.”

"This isn't about makin' me feel better. How stupid can you be? Did you even see her last night after you announced to the entire party that you," he made a face and clenched his teeth, "nailed her in a goddamned bathroom?"

“I wasn’t the only one who spoke loud enough to draw everyone's attention,” Kyle reminded him. “Tess was pretty vocal about it as well. It's funny how you seem to be so furious about the choice of location considering you've nailed probably more women than I have in a lot worse places.”

Michael's back teeth ground together tightly. That was part of what had kept him up most of the night, wondering how many of the girls he'd had sex with had been someone's sister. He'd never given any thought to them beyond nailing them; he hadn't promised them anything and he had always saw that as acceptable because there were no expectations on either side. But now after seeing what it was doing to his sister it bothered him to think about how callously he had treated the girls he'd been with. "This isn't about me. It's about what you did to my sister!"

“Damn it, I KNOW what I did was wrong,” Kyle yelled and smacked his palm on the counter, “you don’t have to point it out to me like I haven’t figured it out for myself”

"And do you even give a shit about her?"

“I didn’t want to hurt her. Last night escalated, we both said some harsh things, and it was just too much in the end, but I didn’t mean to humiliate her – and I wasn’t aware I could even hurt her that much because I wasn't prepared to hear she had feelings for me.”

"Yeah, well, you don't deserve 'em," Michael said and turned his back on him.

“At least we agree on that,” his roommate answered and took his coffee to have the rest of it in his room.

"Stupid ass," he muttered and finished off the juice before capping it and putting the container back in the refrigerator.