Roswell Fanatics

Natalie36: Looks like things are looking up at the moment. Lol, we can understand why you’re happy about that!

Earth2Mama: Of course! And these girls need it, lol.

That was a nice break for Max, Liz, and the boys.

We’re not sure about soon, but they’re working towards that goal.

CandyliciousLovah: Lol, no promises about soon.

keepsmiling7: That little guy was very happy.

The boys should have all kinds of fun with that skeleton.

sarammlover: Yes, she did, and he so is! Aaron’s in a good place right now and that’s good for all of them. Hopefully the right people are paying attention to what’s going on in this situation.

begonia9508: Thanks!

Little kids really do see what adults seem to lose the ability to see over time.

What’s better than a little girl time?

Alien_Friend: Thanks, it’s good to be back!

We love writing the little guys. They’re so much fun and they’re honest to a fault. Hopefully that judge wakes up and sees what’s really going on.

Lol, who wouldn’t be jealous of Ava?! We had to laugh at that ‘no pun intended’!

xilaj: Ungh, RL can be a major pain at times! We’re glad to see you back! Being able to spend some time together helps with the separation and knowing that Aaron is with Philip and Diane does help ease their worries about the situation. Alex’s friend is working on that information and we should be hearing something from him very soon.

Yeah, Trent’s little plan hasn’t exactly gone the way he thought it would… although at the moment he doesn’t realize that, lol. It has strengthened their resolve and their relationship and it’ll probably continue to do so.

Dinosaurs… what’s cooler than that at their age? Sounds like Max had a pretty good teacher because he did pretty good relating that T-Rex information.

The girls needed that break and they’re not quite finished yet. Hope to see you again soon!



Part 121

Gossip Girls

Ava rolled her eyes at them. “I’m talking about Chase spending the night and stuff.”

“Um-hmm, notice how she doesn’t elaborate on that ‘and stuff’.” She snorted teasingly even though she knew her sister well enough to know she wouldn’t just jump into anything without being sure when Chase was in the middle of it.

“Well, I’d definitely doubt her sanity if the ‘and stuff’ didn’t involve any groping,” Maria added with a chuckle.

Ava did her best to wish away the slight blush that she could feel heating her face but it didn’t work and she just shrugged when the other girls started laughing. “Okay, I didn’t say I was a saint or anything. And I may be a mom but that doesn’t mean I’m dead. You guys have seen him and he’s about as close to perfect as he could possibly get.”

“As I said, I’d doubt your sanity if it hadn’t. Carter’s – sorry – a hot piece of ass.”

She laughed and nodded as she reached for her drink. “I’m not gonna deny that. But he’s a lot more than that. And it does make a big difference that he and Chase get along so well. You’d be surprised how many guys will either ignore your kid altogether or pretend to like your kid just to get your attention.” She shook her head. “Tony definitely stands apart from the crowd.”

“I guess it helps that he knew Chase and liked him even before he met you,” Liz thought out loud.

“That’s true,” Ava agreed. “But I knew if Michael trusted him enough to let him near Chase over that weekend then he had to be a decent guy.”

“Oh, yeah,” Tess chuckled. “See there’s another plus. He got the okay from Michael before he met you.”

“Well, you know how picky Michael is about guys dating his sisters, especially his little sisters.”

“Uh-huh. And we know he doesn’t necessarily like it when his friends get involved with his sisters,” Liz threw in.

“True, but I don’t think Michael has a problem with it at all, it’s more like he doesn’t like his friends to just fuck his sisters.” Maria looked at Tess and winked apologetically.

“Regardless of what he does or doesn’t like he should recognize that we’re old enough to make our own decisions,” Tess insisted. “I understand he feels some sort of older brother obligation to check out the guys we date or… whatever, but he should respect certain boundaries. Like if we tell him to back off because what’s going on is our business he should back off.”

“It’s not easy for him,” she defended her best friend. “Especially not after Matt’s death.”

“Would you appreciate it if you had an older brother who thought it was his duty to talk to every guy who looks your way? I realize Michael took on that added responsibility and there’re times when I can appreciate the way he sticks his nose into our business to look after us, but he should be able to listen when we tell him to give us space when we want it.”

“Keep telling him, maybe he’ll listen one day.”

The twins snorted at that. “Yeah, and maybe pigs will sprout wings and fly,” Tess muttered. “I can handle the situation with Kyle without Michael sticking his big nose into it.”

“I think he’s over the shock.”

“He might be over the shock but you can bet he’ll have more advice to hand out over the situation.”

“I guess it’s the burden for older siblings. Especially for brothers.” Liz smirked at the girls. “I know you see it as nerve-wracking, but be glad you have him, he’s a good guy.”

Maria laughed quietly. “Yeah, Liz is right. Even if he does annoy you at times, at least you’ve got him looking out for you.”

Tess looked at her twin. “They can defend his nosy behavior because he’s their friend and they benefit from his big brother behavior without it bein’ all intrusive.”

“We benefit from it?” Maria rolled her eyes. “I don’t think so!”

“Whatever!”

Ava laughed at the two of them as they went back and forth. “You guys are never gonna come to an agreement over this one.” She shrugged. “I think we’d do well to just accept that Michael’s the way he is and he’s not likely to change any time soon.”

They were interrupted when one of the cells on the counter started to vibrate and a moment later Liz realized it was hers. She grabbed it to read the incoming text message and a moment later she smiled goofily.

“Prince Charming?” Maria suggested.

“Who else?” Tess asked and rolled her eyes.

“Is he already missing you?”

“He’s offered to come over if we need a guy around.” She pressed a button to read the rest of the message and opted not to share.

“Uh-huh, tell him you’ll see him tomorrow,” Ava said.

Liz snickered as she imagined the look on Max’s face when his offer was declined. But, she added a little extra at the end of the text and then sent it.

“Bet she added nasty stuff,” Maria said when she looked at the brunette’s face.

“Maybe I did, and maybe I didn’t.” Liz grinned. “I’m not gonna tell.”

“And we don’t wanna know.”

“Uh-huh, then we’re all satisfied.”

Not really, Maria thought. “Wanna have ice cream for dessert?”

“Ice cream sounds good. Do we have chocolate sauce?” she asked, happy to have the conversation steered away from her text messages.

“We sure as hell do,” the blonde slipped from the stool to get everything.

“Did Isabel say if she was gonna make it or not?” Ava asked.

“She said she’d come by after her shift, but she didn’t know yet if she could leave any earlier.”

“She’ll probably drag her feet so she doesn’t have to answer any Alex questions,” Tess said as she carried the dishes over to the sink.

“You think?” Ava snorted.

“Please, you know she is.”

“Maybe she’ll surprise us.”

“She could,” Liz agreed. “Alex is a really nice guy and they seem to get along pretty well.”

“He’d be the first nice guy she’s paid any attention to,” Maria rolled her eyes. “Really, Isabel’s such an attractive woman but the guys she was with before were all losers.”

“So maybe Michael should share some of his brotherly advice with her,” Liz suggested.

“Oh, believe me,” Tess groaned, “he already did that, but even Michael knows talking to Isabel about it’s like talking to a wall.”

Maria laughed as she carried the ice cream over to place it in the center of the counter. “Wanna bet she told him where he could stick his advice?”

“No doubt,” her friend agreed and went to get spoons.

“He means well though. Granted, he’s not as…” she cast about for the right word as she pried the lid off of the tub of ice cream. “Hmm… gentle with his advice as Matt was, but he only involves himself in your business because he cares.” She looked at Liz. “Matt was like Michael, a lot like Michael, but he was missing that in-your-face part of his personality. Michael’s your basic bull in the china shop and Matt was a lot more sensitive when it came to handling certain situations.”

“I see,” Liz nodded.

“But his heart’s in the right place.”

Tess rolled her eyes. “That makes it soooo much easier to deal with.”

“He’s distracted right now,” Ava suggested and ran her spoon over the ice cream.

“Yeah, he’s lost in Shitney-land,” her twin muttered. “And really? Bringing her here today?” She glanced at Maria. “Your eyes nearly fell outta your head.”

“Just wasn’t prepared for it,” she muttered.

“No one was prepared for that.” Ava reached for the chocolate syrup. “At least Tony kept Chase occupied so he didn’t tell her again how much he doesn’t like her. I mean, I don’t want him to be rude or anything, but I can’t force him to like someone either. I wouldn’t even try to. And unfortunately, he’s at an age where saying exactly what he’s feeling doesn’t come with a filter.”

“Same with Cody, he can’t stand her.”

“Little boys do tend to say what’s on their minds,” Liz agreed. “Aaron’s a little shy so that helps control his mouth but even he’s not fond of her.”

“The little ones have taste,” Maria said.

“Yeah, that’s for sure,” Tess mumbled around her spoon. “I guess Courtney’s not that bad as a person, but she and Michael just aren’t a good fit. And please, if I was with a guy and I knew his friends couldn’t stand me, I wouldn’t do anything to spend time with them.”

“Guess she’s trying for him. And let’s be honest... would you guys think she’s not a good match for him if I didn’t exist?” She looked at each of her friends.

“Kind of a pointless question,” she said, digging into the ice cream in her bowl again, “Maria, because you do exist. And, okay, if you didn’t exist, maybe I could get over myself and like her, but you do, and I don’t.”

Ava chuckled. “Maria, we could like her even though she’s dating Michael when we think he should be with you, but the fact of the matter is, we don’t. Remove her from the Michael and Maria equation and maybe that’d change, but we all know if he ever gets his head out of his ass and wakes up that she’ll be gone and we won’t have to even give her another thought.”

“Well, what if he isn’t gonna do it? Or what if he REALLY doesn’t see me like that?”

“Of course he doesn’t see you like that right now,” Tess said before her sister could answer. “The two of you have been together since me an’ Ava were like, three or four. You’ve gotta make him look at you differently. He’s a guy, and we all know Michael likes his little corner of the universe to be as uncomplicated as possible. Looking at you differently, as a lover rather than just a best friend? That’s gonna complicate the hell out of his life. You guys have a big blowout, break up, that could have serious repercussions for your friendship. Right now, you have a big fight, you go to your corners, cool off, and after a while you work things out. We all know relationships aren’t as easy to fix. Not sayin’ that friendships are always easy to fix when a problem comes up, but a relationship/friendship? That’d be a little more complicated.”

“Now we’re gonna have a fight?” Maria frowned.

“Not necessarily, but we are talkin’ about the two of you,” she pointed out. “I’m just sayin’ that IF you had a fight as a couple it’s different than if you had a fight now, as just friends.”

Ava nodded. “That’s true, and he probably has that information stored away in the back of his brain somewhere. Every couple has fights now and then, but if the relationship didn’t make it you’d potentially be looking at losing a lifelong friendship as well.”

“Well, great, that really calms me down.”

“I don’t think she meant it like that,” Liz said, scraping her spoon against the bottom of her bowl to get the last bit of ice cream. “And while there’re no guarantees in any relationship it all comes down to how much you want it and how much you’re willing to risk to go after it.”

“Michael’s never looked at me like that. I could walk up and down in front of him in my underwear and he still wouldn’t be interested. That’s just the way it is, and while I really wanna hate that Shitney bitch, I don’t wanna be unfair to my best friend.”

“You don’t have to hate her, but you don’t have to be her new best friend either,” Tess grumbled. “And that’s totally what she’s wanting. Why else would she have had that conversation with you at Dad’s house? She wants to keep you close so she can make sure nothing happens to change the way he looks at you.”

“Yeah, and what’s up with the tat shoot thing?” Ava asked. “I mean, that right there should give you an idea if he could ever see you differently.”

“Really? But how? Just because he has to paint parts of my body doesn’t mean he’ll see me any different.” Maria made a face and stuck the spoon in the ice cream, frustrated. “I can’t just flip the switch and start to flirt with him out of the blue.”

“Why not?” Tess wanted to know. “You want to, God knows you know how to, so what makes you think you won’t be able to flirt with a guy applying a temporary tat to your half-naked body?”

“Because it’s Michael,” she answered matter-of-factly. “You know how embarrassing it’d be to try something and he’d just think I’ve gone insane? And he’s with Courtney! What kinda friend would I be if I tried to encourage him to cheat on her?”

“That’s a good point,” Liz said, pointing her spoon at Tess and Ava. “And does she really wanna be with a guy who would cheat on his girlfriend?”

“Who said anything about cheating? Flirting isn’t cheating, I didn’t say you should actually do anything, just make him SEE you.”

“Okay, maybe it’s not technically cheating, but would you like it if some girl that likes Tony started flirting with him and he responded to it? Or what about Kyle? It’s not technically cheating but it doesn’t make you feel any better.”

“So what’re you suggesting, Parker?” Tess hopped up to sit on the counter next to her and took her spoon to keep her from eating while she looked at her challengingly. “Should Maria put all her cards on the table?”

“I don’t know what she should do. Yeah, I do think she and Michael could be a great couple, but I’m just sayin’ maybe this isn’t the way to get him to notice her.” She shrugged. “You flirt with a guy, you lay it on thick, and what happens if he does pick up on those signals? What if he does make a move on her? Where does that leave them then?”

“Hmm, good point,” Ava mused.

“It won’t happen,” Maria shrugged the suggestion off. “Really! We don’t have to worry about that. He’s told me he’s serious about Courtney – hell, he introduced her to his parents. He’s NEVER done that before.” She sighed in frustration. How had it happened that that bitch could just walk in and take everything that was hers? Well, okay, it had never really been hers and technically Courtney hadn’t done anything to deserve the feelings of hatred, but she couldn’t help it.

“Don’t attach too much importance to that. Our parents were pushing him about it in that gentle, inquisitive way they have and you said he’d just had that argument with Isabel…”

“Yeah, but the truth is he’s never done it before. And he’s invited her everywhere and to pretty much everything we’ve done lately. She was at the beach house, barbeque night, and she was even here this morning. I can’t believe she got him to do that,” Maria ran her hands through her hair. “Everyone else needs months or years to gain his trust and with her it’s like he’s just forgotten all of his normal issues.”

“Maybe she’s poisoned him,” Tess guessed.

“Brainwashed,” Ava suggested.

They all turned to look at the front door when it opened again and Isabel burst into the room. “You will never guess what just happened!”

Tess rolled her eyes. Why did people always expect you to guess when you had absolutely nothing to go on? “You won the lottery.”

Isabel just stared at her for a moment before she shook her head. “No, I didn’t just win the lottery.”

“That’s true,” Maria said, pointing her spoon between the twins. “If she had she’d have run straight over to see Alex to share the news first.”

The two of them exchanged a look and broke into a familiar song from when they were younger. “Alex and Isabel sittin’ in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g…”

Liz giggled at the murderous look Isabel shot at her sisters.

“Just for that the two of you are disinvited.”

“You can’t disinvite us when you haven’t even invited us yet,” Ava huffed.

Isabel studied her nails for a moment before exhaling loudly. “Fine, I guess I’ll tell you. I stopped at Saks because I saw the cutest pair of shoes – “

“And she needs another pair of shoes,” Maria whispered to Liz.

“Anyway,” she said loudly as she shot a look at Maria, “there was a drawing for a spa day at Bellini’s and guess whose name was selected?” She grinned, forgetting all about her annoyance with them for interrupting and teasing her. “It was me! That’s right, six all-expenses paid spa day beauty treatments. We’re talking facials, European manicures and pedicures, there’s a seaweed wrap, a full body massage, oh, they have that hot stone massage, and lunch is included in the package. Do you have any idea how much a day at Bellini’s goes for? And six day passes?” She rolled her eyes heavenward and sighed, taking a moment before looking around at them. “Okay, who’s in?”

“Well, it can’t hurt to beef Deluca up for our brother,” Tess said and winked at the woman in question.

“Shut up,” Maria hid her face in her hands for a moment and groaned. How had she ended up in the role of the desperate girl who wanted her best friend and everyone but him knew about it?

“She’s right,” Isabel grinned, but it faded. “Although I think Michael’s too dumb to notice any difference. Men like him just work that way.”

“Uh-huh, a guy like Max would notice though,” Tess said and looked at Liz meaningfully.

“I don’t know; I have a lot going on right now.”

“Ah, c’mon,” Maria hugged one arm around her shoulders. “We’ll find a day that’ll work.” She turned towards Isabel. “Do they have a solarium?”

“Of course.”

“Good, because Ms. Basement-tan needs to bronze and obviously she doesn’t see the sun a lot.”

“I like my tan,” Ava rolled her eyes.

“This,” Isabel walked further into the room and brushed her blouse aside to reveal a blindingly white shoulder, “can’t even be called a tan.”

Tess laughed and nodded in agreement with their older sister. “I’ve gotta side with Isabel on this one.”

Ava stuck her tongue out at both of them. “No one even asked you.”

“Well, we don’t have to decide when we’re gonna go right now.” The tall blonde went in search of a bowl so she could help herself to the ice cream. “We have plenty of time.”

“You said you have six tickets, what’re you gonna do with the last one?” Tess asked, one eyebrow lifted in question.

“I don’t know, hadn’t really thought that far ahead.” She grabbed a barstool and pulled it up to the island, taking a seat and reaching for the carton of ice cream. “Okay, so what’re we talking about?”

“Michael and Maria.”

“There is no Michael and Maria,” Maria groaned as she glared at her best friend. “Let’s just drop this particular subject and move on.”

Tess huffed indignantly but gave in to her friend’s wishes. “So, Liz, how’s it going with all the stuff that ass of a judge wanted you guys to do?”

Liz shrugged. “Slow. Max has his first session with the shrink tomorrow and I’m sure he’ll be up all night psyching himself up for it.” She smiled tightly. “At least Aaron’s doing okay. He likes being with Max’s parents but he keeps asking when he can come home.”

“Yeah, he was telling me all about Garfield,” Isabel said with a reassuring smile. “He just loves that cat.”

“He seemed to be in a good mood this afternoon,” Maria agreed and turned to the others when she noticed their confused expressions. “They came to visit Cody for a bit. He joked around with him a lot, so I think he’s happy even though he misses you.”

“Yeah…” Liz sighed.

“Hey,” Ava placed a hand over hers on the counter, “I know I probably have no clue how hard it is to be helpless in a situation like this, but you have to stay positive. Things will work out and for the time it takes, at least he’s with people he likes and you know you can trust.”

The brunette girl nodded mutely.

“Is there something else that’s bothering you?” Maria frowned when she realized that even though Aaron had been taken away, it wasn’t her only worry right now.

“No,” she denied, but it wasn’t really convincing.

“Uh-huh.”

She sighed heavily and wiped away a tear. “Okay, but it’s gonna sound stupid.”

“Nonsense,” Tess denied. “What is it?”

“You know, I was just wondering… what if he doesn’t even want to come back when this’s over,” Liz asked quietly without looking at any of them. “He likes Max’ parents place and he likes them as well as the cat and the yard and stuff… When he’s with us, we can’t offer him anything like that.”

Isabel shook her head. “Aaron may like staying with Max’ parents, and he may love having the cat around to play with, but he doesn’t want that more than he wants to be with you. I listened to that little boy talk today and there’s nothing he wants more than to come home.”

“Yeah,” Maria agreed. “Anyone can see Aaron loves you two.”

“It’s a good thing he’s happy at the Evans’ house,” Tess added. “As long as he’s occupied with the cat and whatever it is his new grandparents are doing to keep him busy, he’s not thinking about the fact that he’s not at home with you.”

“Max’s dad wants to take him to one of the museums so he can see dinosaur bones. I guess it’s something he and Max used to do when he was little.”

“He’s never really talked much about his parents,” Isabel mused. “Do they get along?”

“They’ve got some things to work out,” Liz answered evasively. She didn’t want to just give out that information since Max had kept it to himself for so long even with his closest friends.

“Come to think of it, he’s never really talked about much of anything.” The tall blonde ran a hand through her hair. “I mean, I wasn’t expecting it when we were in court and they started talking about him being in the military. Although it does make sense and it’s not surprising that he’s kept it to himself.”

Maria nodded in agreement. “He’s never shared much, but you just knew there had to be something.”

“Do you think differently about him now that you know pieces of his past?”

The other girl frowned as she thought about it, but then shook her head. “No, he’s a good guy. Maybe he has some secrets, but I know we can trust him. Max is one of the best guys I know.”

“Yeah, agreed,” Tess admitted. “The way he cares about other people says a lot.”

“And really, who doesn’t have at least one or two things in their past that they’d rather forget than share with the rest of the world?” Isabel threw in.

“Wanna share yours?” her youngest sister taunted. “Bet your little encounter with the one and only Ashton Kutcher belongs in that category.”

“Sshhhh, Ava,” Isabel hissed, “I thought we agreed on the WE WILL NOT EVER MENTION THAT AGAIN thing.”

“You met Ashton Kutcher?” Maria asked and glanced at Liz to make sure she was okay again before she slipped back onto her own seat. “When? And why the hell didn’t you ever tell us?”

“Since you brought it up, why don’t you just share the rest?” the oldest woman hissed at her sister.

“Sure,” Ava grinned and turned to the others. “It was back when she was in high school. Isabel was a senior I believe and Dad wanted her to pick me up from a friend’s in town because we were supposed to meet the family at MACY’S shortly before Christmas. My friend and I had gone to Starbucks so Isabel wouldn’t have to look for a parking space at my friend’s place. She came in and decided to get herself a coffee before we left and while she was waiting in line, she hadn’t noticed that the one and only Ashton Kutcher had come into the shop as well. She was so busy talking to one of her snobbish friends that she wasn’t even aware of anything going on around her.”

Isabel groaned. “Can’t you just spare everyone the boring details and get to the point?”

Her sister ignored her and went on with the story. “So when she had gotten her order she was just finishing her call. She was grabbing the cup with her free hand and turning to leave, but Ashton had blocked her way to make more space for a lady with a child right at that moment, so she bumped into him and spilled coffee all over both of them.”

The girls’ eyes widened before all of them but Isabel started to laugh.

“So what’d he say?” Maria wanted to know.

“Oh, he didn’t get a chance to say anything because Isabel went off on him like he was the biggest fool in the world for standing where he stood.”

“Ouch!”

Ava grinned. “And then she suddenly realized WHO was standing in front of her.”

Isabel rolled her eyes when they all started laughing. “Fine, laugh it up. Just get it out and get it over with.”

“Oh, Isabel,” Maria said as she tried to catch her breath, “you have to admit that’s priceless. I can just picture you standing there with your foot in your mouth.”

Tess nodded as she got up and went to get a bottle of water. “Imagine how much that picture would be worth.”

“Like none of you have ever done anything like that,” the tall blonde said with a soft snort. She shook her head when they all denied their involvement with anything so embarrassing. “Liars. All of you.”

keepsmiling7: They’re all going to be so happy when that day comes!

Rodney: Yeah… who could that sixth person be?

Earth2Mama: How indeed…

Max would be very happy to move things along in that department.

CandyliciousLovah: Lol, hopefully things work out that way!

Natalie36: Lol, leave it to Isabel!

sarammlover: You just never know what’s gonna happen when you get these girls together!

Eva: Don’t we all miss those days? Well, at least some of them, lol.

begonia9508: Thanks!

We’ll find out what Maria decides to do and how Michael reacts to it.

xilaj: Now that the girls are finally back on the right track they’re wasting no time becoming the support they know the other needs. And Liz is fitting right in with this group of girls. That’s definitely something that’s probably keeping that barrier up and preventing Michael from seeing what’s right in front of him.

The characters have grown so much, individually and as a group since the start of this fic.

Oh, that shoot should be fun and there’ll be some interesting moments!

We’ll be getting a peek in on one of Max’s sessions soon. Knowing that he has their support in spite of his past will help him.



A/N: Since Christmas is arriving soon, we are working on a little holiday fic. To get it ready in time we have to slow down our other fics for a few weeks, means we are going to post TT and DE in turns every Sunday. So next Sunday it will be DE!






Part 122

Bitch Rant

“What a day,” Tess sighed and fell back on one of the comfortable armchairs in their new living room. She glanced around the room and a slow smile spread across her face. This was really the place where she was starting all over – she loved it.

“Yeah, from the amount of work we’ve done today I’m surprised we’re still able to walk,” Maria agreed and squeezed into the same armchair.

“There’s plenty of furniture and you’re gonna squeeze into mine?” her friend complained halfheartedly, but made enough room and snuggled up against her with a hug.

“This place’s amazing. We’re lucky your dad has some seriously good connections in the city.”

“Yeah,” Tess agreed. “I’m happy we’re living together again, Maria. I could still kick myself for being so immature and running from the truth.”

“Water under the bridge,” she muttered with a half shrug. “It really doesn’t matter anymore. Let’s just close that chapter and go on.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

They sat there for a moment in silence listening as some other doors in the apartment were closed by the others who had gone to bed. It had been a long day and they were both exhausted, but neither of them felt like sleeping yet.

“Oh, I picked something up on my way back from the hospital,” Maria suddenly remembered and got up to get it.

“What is it?”

“You’ll see,” she called from another room and came back with a large photo frame in her hand. “I went through some pics on my phone this morning while I was in bed and I thought this would fit perfect on the empty wall over there.” She gestured at the blank wall above the sideboard.

“Show me, De Luca,” Tess rolled her eyes when she didn’t turn the picture immediately.

Maria chuckled and shifted to reveal the photo. It showed their whole group and the kids at the beach house a while back. They were all sprawled out on the steps leading down to the beach and it looked like a happy time. And the best thing was she had made Courtney take the picture so she wasn’t in the photo.

“Wow, I didn’t even remember taking that until now,” her friend said and slipped from the chair to have a closer look at it.

“Me either. I just remembered this morning when I stumbled over it.” She had been looking for a picture of her and Michael when she had found this one.

“It’s a good shot of all of us.” She reached up to nudge one side to make it even. She stepped back and they stood shoulder to shoulder as they stared at the picture. It had been a perfect photo opportunity and Alex of all people had been the one to notice it. And that was when Isabel had brought it to everyone’s attention that he was a closet photographer. He had been embarrassed by the praise but he had handled it gracefully.

For a photo that hadn’t been planned it had come out beautifully. Everyone had been grouped together and looking at it now they realized that the way they had coupled up, even unconsciously, spoke volumes. Max and Liz, and even Alex and Isabel. Kyle and Tess and been on each side of Leo, and the big dog had been eating up the attention. And at the center of the shot, Michael and Maria were laughing at something while Cody, Chase, and Aaron played together in front of them while Tony watched over them.

“It was a good day,” Tess mused.

“Yeah, it was.”

“This’s the way it’s supposed to be.” She reached out and tapped a fingernail against the glass, drawing Maria’s gaze to the center of the photo. “So, you wanna get it off your chest or you gonna just let it sit there until you blow a gasket and go off on Shitney?”

Maria stared at the photo and unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself in a defensive posture. She sighed deeply before she spoke. “I don’t wanna feel all these things. My life’s always been less than perfect with my father running off, Cody born with a heart condition, which drove his father away as well, but I’ve never felt jealous about things others had and we didn’t. NEVER, Tess.”

“Until now,” her friend added knowingly.

“Until now,” she confirmed and closed her eyes for a moment. “It’s not something I like to feel; it turns me into someone I’m normally not. I doubt your brother would like me this way.”

“Jealousy is a totally normal thing,” Tess assured her. “Believe me I’ve been there… obviously.” She rolled her eyes.

“And see where it put us for a while.”

“Yeah, true, but sometimes things have to happen this way, I guess. Hiding your true feelings is a lot of work. All it does is makes you really tired and frustrated.” She wrapped one arm around her friend’s shoulders, but their gazes stayed on the picture. “It’s not always wise to hold your feelings inside just because you think it’s the least uncomfortable for everyone. Believe me when I say I know it sounds like a bad idea, but coming clean can also give you some release inside.” Tess bumped her hip into Maria’s. “And telling Courtney what you really think would feel sooooo good at that moment.”

The other girl snorted at the thought but smiled for a second. “It might feel good to kick her ass, but I doubt Michael would think the same way. He believes in the positive, good-natured best friend he knows and I don’t wanna disappoint him with my inner bitch. He doesn’t deserve that. He didn’t do anything wrong and he’s already hurting because no one seems to really care about Shitney.”

“But you’re hurting, too. I doubt he’d want that at the same time if he knew the truth.”

“He wouldn’t want it,” Maria agreed. “But let’s face it. Right now I’m the only one hurting, but if the truth comes out…? Michael will be hurt and if his feelings for Shitney are real then it’d drive him further into her waiting arms. He’ll withdraw from everyone else, including Cody. It’d all be a big mess.”

“For a while maybe,” Tess nodded, knowing that it was most likely true. “But what if he realizes a thing or two about you after thinking about it? And what if he left Courtney because he doesn’t want to hurt you any further and his feelings for her aren’t as strong as he thought? In the end you’d feel so much better with the truth out and you know I’ll always be there for you, as well as the others. Max, Tony, Kyle, my annoying sisters, Liz, hell, even Alex. We all have your back, girl.”

“But it’s like you’d have to choose sides,” Maria shook her head.

“We could support both of you,” Tess mumbled and hugged her tighter for a moment. What had she expected? This was Maria after all. The girl always thought about others before herself. It was a trait everyone adored in her, but one day she was gonna have to realize she had to take care of her own needs as well. “Alright,” she said after a minute of silence, “then talk to me instead.”

Her friend frowned and leaned back enough to look at her. “Isn’t that what we were just doing?”

“Yeah, but I meant something else. Pretend I’m Courtney for a while and tell me all the things you’d like to tell her.” Tess looked at her with a challenging gleam in her eyes.

Maria snorted and shook her head as she took one last look at the picture before putting some distance between them. “I don’t think you want me to unload on you like that.”

“C’mon, Deluca, hit me with it.”

“I can’t, Tess!”

“I think you can.” She went back to the armchair she was quickly growing fond of and dropped down to sit in it with her legs dangling over one arm and using the other as a brace for her back. She studied her friend for a moment. She was so ready for a good rant but she was gonna try to hold it in. Not this time, she thought to herself.

“Look, it’s not even worth it. What’s it gonna change?” In spite of her words the emotions were doing their best to claw their way out.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’ll make you feel better? It’s either this or one of these days you’re just gonna explode and tell her off. And while that’d be entertaining I know you, and you’d end up regretting it.”

“I wouldn’t know where to start,” Maria hedged.

Um-hmm, she was getting close. “Gee, there’re so many options. Let’s see…” she looked down at her nails, running a fingertip over a snag on one of them. “We have Shitney on our beach weekend, stealing the cover job, cornering you at my dad’s place to have that little,” she made a face, “talk, and… what else? Oh, I know! Comin’ over to our new place to have a little look around today. Still at a loss about where to start?”

“Why’re you pushing me like this?” Maria stalked over to the window and looked out, crossing her arms over her chest even as she could feel it tightening.

Because you need it, Tess thought. “Imagine what’s going happen when she shows up tomorrow evening and tries to get into the show.”

“What the hell, Tess? SHUT UP. Do you think I really need this shit right now? If that bitch crosses my path again I’m gonna kick her ass. She already fuckin’ has all I want. She’s got the man, the job, the money,” Maria kicked the back of the couch furiously while she paced through the room raising another finger for everything she listed. “I really wouldn’t care about the last two things at all if Michael was finally gonna kiss her ass goodbye. He’s NEVER gotten serious with a girl and all of the sudden he decides it’s a good idea to date someone who gets in my way at every damn turn! And you know what’s just ridiculous about this whole thing?” She stopped and looked at her friend.

“What?”

“That I’m the only one to blame. I introduced them and I practically dared him into dating her. She’s such a lucky bitch! She should kiss my feet and thank me every damn day for that. She’d never have gotten more than a glance from him, and if she was really lucky a good fuck, if I hadn’t. But no, I made the mistake and now I have to hear that shit from her about how she wants us to get along and I also have to hear that shit from him about how he wants us to get along and how he really wants to make things work with her. It makes me so sick to hear those words from him, Tess. It makes me so damn sick!”

Her rant was interrupted when her cell on the kitchen counter started to buzz loudly and she went to get it before it could fall to the floor. She opened the message she had received and made a face. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”

“Something wrong?” Tess stretched her neck, hating the interruption because Maria had been really into it without even realizing it.

“No,” she answered bitterly and threw the cell towards her friend. “Just your brother making it even harder for me.”

“Huh?” The other girl caught the phone before it could crash to the floor. There was a message from Michael that read: Fire in the animal clinic. Guerin to the rescue. Who’s your favorite? And there was a picture attached showing Michael holding a cute little puppy dog next to his face and both of them had that ‘come-and-get-me’ look.

“Who’s your favorite,” she muttered and made a grab for the phone. “Give that back.”

Tess lifted an eyebrow when Maria started punching in a reply and muttering to herself the whole time.

“Dumbass Michael asking a question like that. What the hell?” She deleted the last few letters when the ones she punched in spelled… well, nothing that would be recognized as a real word. “I’ll bet he doesn’t send things like that to Shitney.”

The other girl just shrugged and decided to play devil’s advocate. “Are you sure about that? I mean, if you think it’s cute – and we both know you do – then what makes you think she wouldn’t think the same thing?”

“What?” She went back and checked the message in an attempt to see if he had sent it to both of them. “Can you imagine what her response would be?” She altered her voice until it was high pitched as she mimicked the other girl’s imagined response. “Oh, Michael, aren’t you just the cutest thing! And, oh, look at the puppy, isn’t it precious!” She made a gagging sound and reverted back to her natural voice. “Please! Okay, yeah, it’s cute an’ all, but this,” she held the phone up, “this’s just Michael being Michael!” She sighed in relief when she saw that she was the only one he had sent it to… unless he’d sent it to Shitney in a different message.

She paced back and forth as she sent the reply. “This’s what I get for being so nice. What they say’s true, ya know? Nice guys do finish last. And me, my stupid ass isn’t only gonna finish last, I’m gonna finish alone. And don’t sit there and tell me how that’s not true, Tess, because at this rate she’s gonna take home the whole enchilada!”

Tess was trying hard to keep a straight face as Maria began to pace more erratically, her words tumbling out faster, and her gestures all over the place as she started ticking things off on her fingers again.

“She’s not even right for him, y’know. She’s too skinny for one thing. She’s never gonna veg out with him on movie night and split a whole pizza or gorge out on a sack of cheeseburgers from Sal’s with him. And c’mon, she’s never gonna get the movie thing.”

“The movie thing?”

“You know, we’ll watch a movie and turn the volume all the way down and make our own dialog for the characters.”

She laughed and nodded. No one thought that game was as fun as Maria and Michael did. How many times had she been around when they’d gotten one of those games started and she’d just sat back and rolled her eyes at them?

“Okay, so she has some compatibility when it comes to music, but really? How far’s that gonna get them? She doesn’t get his sense of humor, which can be twisted and totally raunchy at times. She has no understanding of how deeply Matt’s death affected him or how deeply that loss impacted his life. She won’t have the slightest clue what to do or how to handle him when something goes wrong on the job. And you know that shit happens, Tess.”

The other girl nodded and after several moments of quiet where the only sound was Maria’s feet slapping angrily against the floor she spoke up. “Well, she does want to be your friend,” she said helpfully.

“Oh, yeah,” she muttered derisively. “And you know exactly why she wants to be my new best friend.” She reached the end of the room and whirled around to point at Tess. “She wants to make sure he keeps his distance. Or better yet, that I keep my distance. Like I’m gonna be her friend! She knows better than that shit! Why doesn’t she just go out and make her own friends? Why’s she coming in here trying to make nice with my friends?”

“She’s only doing it for Michael’s sake. She doesn’t even like us.”

Maria made a face and fell back on the couch when she reached it. “You know what I hate the most?”

“What?”

“I hate that I can’t really hate her. Sure, I can be pissed off and I can be jealous and risk turning green from envy, but I know all she’s guilty of is falling for a great guy who happens to have a female best friend. Why can’t she be a REAL bitch, you know? She should do something obvious to earn the title!”

“And that would be?”

“I don’t know. Be rude to any of us – like obviously rude so Michael could see it as well.”

Tess knew what her friend meant. Although none of the gang really liked Courtney, she hadn’t really done anything majorly wrong to earn a super bitch title. To be honest, they were all a bit standoffish with her because they wanted Maria at Michael’s side and maybe because of some other small reasons like eating like a mouse. “You feel better now anyway?”

Maria looked up and smirked slightly at her. “A bit, yes.”

“Nothing goes better than a good irrational bitchy rant. It’s okay to let it out now and then, ya know?”

“I guess. Glad I can be with you and I don’t have to be worried that it’ll get to the wrong people.”

“I heard it too, but my lips are sealed,” came down from above them. Isabel smirked to herself.

“Good, Guerin,” Maria called back and rolled her eyes. “Damn,” she whispered.

“Don’t worry, the girls are all on your side and even if they just know a little of what’s going on inside of you, I do know.”

“And that’s my fault,” Maria made a face and went to snuggle into the armchair close to her friend again.

“It’s not and we’re over it, remember?” Tess made a grab for the cell. “What’d ya write back to my hopeless brother?” She opened up the right folder and read out loud. “You. But just because you wouldn’t shit and pee in my new apartment.” She rolled her eyes. “Really? He’ll never take you serious this way.”

“As if your brother would take anything I wrote him in a text message seriously,” she defended herself.

“Okay, so you won’t tell him, and you won’t try to do it in a roundabout way either, so the only solution I see is the ignorance tactic then.”

“The ignorance tactic?” Maria lifted an eyebrow. “Something I should know?”

“C’mon, you know what I mean. Make him see what he’s missing. Don’t play along with his little messages, don’t listen every time he feels the need to open up to you about stuff… especially Courtney stuff, don’t have time for him every time he makes time for you. If you keep playing the best friend role you’ll never get out of it.”

It made sense, she thought and bit her bottom lip.

“And he’ll never see you as more. Something has to change his view of you, and since you don’t wanna talk about it openly, then that could be the way to make him realize.”

“And what if that just drives him further into Courtney’s arms and I lose him even as a friend?” The plan sounded plausible, but it could also backfire.

“Giving him relationship advice with her and handling his moods for her sure as hell won’t cause any less damage.”

“No, I guess you’re right about that.”

Tess snorted. “Of course I’m right, but you can thank me later.” She thought about the situation with her sister and Richard-the-creepy-stalker-ex and considered talking to Maria about it but then changed her mind. She had intended to, but now she thought maybe it’d be better to wait so Maria had some time to deal with everything else on her plate. Hitting her with too many things at once wasn’t going to do any good.

Maria rolled her eyes and shifted around so she could lie on the couch, sinking into the ultra comfortable cushions and sighing happily. “I could just stay right here and not worry about anything else.”

“You’d grow roots and be like a real live couch potato.”

“That’s kinda gross,” she mused as she closed her eyes and let the feelings of ‘home’ seep into her pores. For the first time in so long she really felt like she was where she belonged, like the roof over her head wasn’t just a means to avoid the elements, but that it signified the most important thing a home should: love.

*****

The pencil felt heavy in his hands, a good sign that the welcomed feeling of tiredness was finally coming. Michael placed it on the counter and looked down at the body with the tattoo outline he had sketched. The photo shoot was getting closer and he had to hurry to finish the final touches on the huge piece of art they would be painting on Maria this weekend.

He looked up when something rustled near the door and he expected to find Loco fighting some piece of paper he had found, but the pet was nowhere to be seen. Frowning, he got up just as a huge envelope was slipped under the door. It slid across the floor and stopped as it hit his feet.

“What the – ” Without picking it up, he took two long strides to the door to open it, finding a baffled Alex standing there.

“Oh, hey!”

“What’re you doin’?”

The other man glanced past him and saw the envelope on the floor of the apartment. “Your mailbox downstairs is full.”

“It is?” Michael wiped his tired eyes. “Must’ve forgotten to empty it. Had a lot goin’ on.”

“Yeah. How’s Kyle doing?”

“Better, but he’s getting painfully depressed with his condition.” He went back to get the envelope lying on the floor. “So, what’s this and why didn’t you knock?”

“I was on my way out and thought you’d probably be asleep. Isabel mentioned you’d been working a lot of extra hours and pulling the night shift lately.”

“Yeah, we’re a little shorthanded at the station right now, but I can’t just go to bed after my shift. Gotta have time to decompress. Wanna come in for a coffee?”

Alex tried to hide his surprise at the unexpected invitation. A few weeks ago he’d never even talked with the guy in front of him – well nothing more than the routine ‘Can you please turn your music down?’ stuff. “Sure, I’ve got a few minutes before work.”

Michael nodded and waited until the other man had stepped inside before he kicked the door shut with his bare foot and walked back into the kitchen. He threw the envelope on the counter and pulled a second mug out to fill it with coffee. “Sugar? Cream?”

“No, just black, thanks.” Alex sat on one of the barstools on the opposite side and accepted the dark liquid with a nod. “My friend from college gave me this last night,” he got the envelope and opened it up to pull several pictures out. “It’s a collection of people Trent’s worked with the last few months. Maybe your coworker that thought he saw someone dealing drugs could look at them and see if he recognizes anyone.”

“Yeah, sure,” Michael muttered and walked up behind him to look at the pictures. They all showed men, most of them in their mid-twenties, a few maybe on the better side of thirty. “With that short hair and the uniform they kinda all look alike.”

“True.”

“I’ll show them to Rodney anyway.”

“My friend was telling me he’ll probably have a list of people Trent’s called recently by the end of the week.”

“He’s that good, huh?” Michael lifted an eyebrow.

“He is.”

“Good.” As much as he hated going about this illegally, Max’ whole future depended on it and he didn’t trust the lawyer to find out what was really going on. Kennedy was a corrupt asshole; he’d know who to pay off before things could be revealed the normal way. “I can’t wait to see that motherfucker’s ass in jail.”

And he could take someone else with him, Alex thought, but stayed silent. He knew that things with Isabel’s ex were getting worse and he had to do something. He was still hoping she would be the one to act though, because he would hate to break her trust in him.

Natalie36: Alex won’t let us down.

keepsmiling7: The new lead on Trent may just prove to be an important one. Nailing him to the wall would be a huge step towards getting our little family back together.

Earth2Mama: Lol, Alex has really stepped up and he’s pitching in and helping out wherever he can.

begonia9508: Tess is a smart one and she’s showing some maturity here.

We won’t have long to wait to find out what happens at the photo shoot.

CandyliciousLovah: Yeah, it is! Tess did a good thing and getting Maria to vent really helped.

The Sushi Monster: Any little thing is likely to be helpful at this point and Tess did have some good advice.

We’re definitely in agreement that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with anyone wanting to eat healthy. Not everyone appreciates it and our gang probably wouldn’t even pay much attention to outside of the occasional ribbing if it was anyone else.

It’s only a matter of time before something is mentioned about Richard.

kismet: Thanks! It is simply tragic and saddening.

xilaj: Thanks! We’ll begin posting the Christmas fic today!

The girls are finally at a place where they’ve reconnected and they’re able to let down their walls and just be honest with each other, which in many respects, is also allowing them to be honest with themselves. We’ll have to wait to see if she takes Tess’ advice, but we won’t have to wait long. As for Michael… what it takes to wake him up may just be unexpected.

Alex is really beginning to find his place in the group. The situation with Richard will be addressed soon. You just never know what Alex might uncover during his investigation into Isabel’s ex.

Now that’s something we can all get behind!

Thank you so much! It means so much to us that Tony has become a character that the readers love, more now than ever before.



A/N: As a special thank you to all our loyal readers, we are starting to post a Christmas Fic today, you can find it also in the AU Without Alien Thread under the title: "A Christmas Story (ITCOAL related)".

Hugs to all of you and may the Christmas time be a good one for you!



Part 123

Show Off

Central Park was buzzing with activity as the group made its way along the outer edges of the crowd. As they neared the stage that had been set up the music blaring from the monstrous speakers arranged around it became even louder. For once the temperatures weren’t sweltering and the early evening air was hot but with the lower humidity it was comfortable.

“Let’s cut through here,” Michael said as soon as he spotted an opening in the crowd. “We don’t want Evans to be late for his appointment with destiny.”

“Bite me, Guerin,” Max growled. The things he was willing to do for a friend, he thought as he hid a shudder at the thought of what his admirer/photographer had in store for him. Maria had sworn it wouldn’t be anything that would embarrass him and he just hoped she was right and what’s-his-face didn’t pull out some last second surprise for him.

“Oh, c’mon, Max,” Tess called from behind him. “I’ve met Graham and he’s not that bad. Yes, he does seem to think you’re perfect but that’s only because he doesn’t know you.”

Liz had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the expression on her boyfriend’s face as he tried to decide if he’d just been insulted or not. “Whatever he talks you into wearing, just focus on me while you’re out there onstage. She pinched his side lightly. “Trust me, it’ll help.”

“I’ve got twenty says the guy pulls out a Speedo,” Tony said with a grin.

“I’ll take that bet,” Isabel said and shoved him with a smirk. She knew Maria would never put Max in that kind of position.

Ava and Alex exchanged a look and rolled their eyes at the same time.

Maria suddenly appeared onstage, motioning for them to hurry up. “What took you guys so long?”

“Whatcha got on under there, Deluca?” Michael asked playfully as he reached up to tug on the edge of the silky-looking cover she was wearing.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” She held it closed with one hand while leaning over to offer the other to Max.

Michael shrugged. “Not really.”

She stuck her tongue out at him as she straightened next to Max once he was onstage next to her. “Liar.” She looked around for any of the sponsors and then grabbed the sides of the robe and flashed it open to reveal the bikini underneath for just a second before pulling it around her again. “Gotta go, bye!” She grabbed Max’ hand and pulled him backstage with her.

“Nice move, Deluca,” Max smirked as he followed her.

“Huh?”

“Flashing Guerin with the bikini...”

She shrugged and fussed with the edges of the material. “Not like he noticed.” Not that she’d had the guts to look to see if he did, she thought with a mental eye roll.

“He’s a guy. He noticed.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah, well, what guy doesn’t at least look when you stick a pair of legs and boobs in his face?”

“There’re a few,” Graham interrupted her and let his gaze move over Max instead. “I’m glad you made it in time, sweetheart.”

Max reached up to scratch the back of his head just to have something to do. “Yeah, well,” he cleared his throat, “late’s one thing I’m rarely accused of being.”

“Interesting,” Graham said, amused, and walked around him to have a closer look. “Stacy,” he finally called for a woman moving around like crazy with different kind of clothes in one arm and tape and needles in her free hand. “I think Mr. Evans is the right guy for the boxing outfit, don’t you think?”

“Boxing?” Max growled under his breath with a sideways look at Maria.

Stacy held out some shorts with longish wide legs to him. They were black and silky with a red logo on them. “They’ll fit you really well.”

Well, it could definitely be worse, he thought as he accepted them. “What, no boxing gloves to go with them?”

“No, but we’ll be taping your hands,” she held the roll of white tape in front of him and grinned.

“Great, tape and silky boxers.” He didn’t feel like a piece of meat on display at all.

“You’ll have the matching robe as well. You’ll walk out covered and then drop it when you reach them.”

This was just getting better and better. “I’m just gonna walk out across the stage and drop the robe?”

“You’ll walk up along the gangplank, stop at the front, shrug it off, then walk left and right and then come back here.”

He nodded. “Alright, I can do that.”

Graham grinned. “This show’s gonna be so good.” He picked at Maria’s hair to arrange it to his satisfaction. “Just beautiful. It’s a shame you were denied the cover, girl. That other bitch was so not working for me.”

His words were a soothing balm to her injured pride. “Graham, you have no idea how much that means to me.”

Max lifted an eyebrow in amusement but stayed quiet.

“You work for the wrong company, darling. You should get outta there.”

“Yeah, but where would I go?”

“Cross your fingers, maybe tonight will bring opportunity,” he winked at her.

“That’d be a nice change.”

Everyone straightened when the music died and a moment later the emcee walked out onstage to start the show. “It’s time for you to change,” Graham rushed Max back towards the wardrobe area.

“And here we go,” he muttered under his breath. It wasn’t like he was shy; any modesty he’d had about being unclothed around other people had been stripped away while he was in the military.

“He’ll look so good in that outfit,” Graham whispered to Maria.

“I know. Wait until you see his tats.”

He rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “I’ll try to contain myself but I can’t make any promises.”

“You’re still on for this weekend’s shoot, right?”

“Would I miss an opportunity to work with that delicious man?” He shook his head and smiled at her as he reached out to tip her chin up. “And you, darling, you are a pleasure to work with and so photogenic.”

“Why can’t all photographers be like you,” Maria smirked.

“Because they broke the mold when they made me.” He winked.

“No doubt.”

He clapped his hands. “Let the warm-up acts take the stage, get the crowd ready for your entrance. You,” he took her shoulders and turned her towards the curtains that separated the stage, “go backstage and wait for your cue.”

“Alright,” Maria agreed and left with a nervous feeling in her stomach. What had Graham meant when he said something about an opportunity possibly coming out of this evening?

“Let’s go, people,” he called as he moved around the stage erratically, sending his models, designers, and wardrobe people scattering. He motioned for the people handling the music to switch tracks and the beat of the music slowly came to a stop. As soon as the stage was cleared he stood at its center and looked out at the crowd, inhaling deeply and drawing in the energy that surrounded him. They were slowly quieting, the feeling of anticipation building as the music once again began to play, this time with a beat that was so strong he could feel it vibrating through the floor beneath his feet. It was time, he decided as he nodded to the woman acting as emcee for the show. He walked backwards slowly and disappeared behind the curtains as she began to announce the first model of the evening.

“Gosh, I’m so nervous for her,” Tess stood in the crowd next to her brother and Tony while their gazes were glued to the stage.

“Why?” Isabel flipped her hair back over her shoulder. “Maria’s used to this.”

“Yeah, I know, but normally she just does the shots, not so much the live shows.”

“She’ll be good at it,” Michael said with a shrug. “C’mon, this’s the kinda thing that could get her recognized an’ she knows that.”

“What’d I miss?” Courtney made her way through the people, glad she had finally found them in the crowd. She stood on her tiptoes to place a kiss against her boyfriend’s jaw.

Ungh, great, thousands of people and Shitney had managed to find them, Tess thought as she forced a smile in the girl’s direction. She turned to look at Liz. “Ready to see Max come out onstage?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m stretched tight as a bow right now,” she said, her face revealing her excitement.

“He’s gonna be great. You think he’ll be comfortable once he gets out there?”

“I don’t know. He mostly doesn’t like to make a big show of himself, but he’s got great abs to show off.”

Isabel snorted. “I think once he gets out there and sees you drooling over him he’ll forget any reservations he has.”

“We should’ve made some posters to hold up,” Tony smirked at the thought.

Michael rolled his eyes. “For what? We’re all here, aren’t we?”

“He means for Maria and Max, dumbass.” Isabel rolled her eyes at her brother.

“They know we’re here.” He shook his head at her.

“Whatever. Why don’t you just shut up?”

He shrugged and turned his attention back to the stage. “Whatever,” he mocked.

“Did they say when it’s their turn to come out?” Courtney asked after a while and leaned against Michael’s chest. She was well aware of the glances he and Tony were getting from the girls around them and she wanted to make sure every female knew he was taken.

“Maria just said we’d know when we saw her,” Tess answered. “And Max, I have no idea.”

“Either way, keep your cells close to take pictures,” Isabel told them.

Ava shot a sideways look at her sister. “That’s good advice. Too bad I didn’t have one that day at Starbucks.”

“Shut up.”

Michael glanced at them. “Why would you need to take a picture in Starbucks?”

“That,” Isabel started and glared at her sister warningly, “is an old story no one wants to warm up.”

He shook his head at the two of them. “Why don’t you two take your cryptic conversations somewhere else?”

“What’s crawled up your ass today, Guerin?” Tony shook his head. “Didn’t sleep enough?”

“He’s been pulling a lot of hours,” Courtney defended him.

“We all are.”

She rolled her eyes at the response but it went unnoticed since she was facing the stage. She didn’t know why she bothered trying with these people when it was so obvious they didn’t like her. She focused on the stage and the models crossing it instead of the people around her.

“Want something to drink?” Michael offered her some of the beer he was holding.

“Sure.” She took a swallow and relaxed slightly. What did it matter what the others thought? She wasn’t dating them anyway, she was with Michael.

“It’s Max,” Liz suddenly yelped when someone in a boxing robe came out onstage. He had the hood over his head and it cast his whole face in shadows, but she knew it was him anyway.

“How can you tell?” Isabel asked as she studied the man’s posture as he walked the runway.

“It’s him,” she said with confidence. She grinned when he lifted his head slightly, turning it just enough to catch her eyes. She saw the imperceptible straightening of his spine, the smirk on his lips and the gleam in his dark eyes when everything else faded into the background. His attention was all on her as she watched him and she knew what that could do to a person, how empowering it could be to be the sole focus of someone who meant everything to you.

Max didn’t take his eyes off of her as he reached the front edge of the runway. He stood as he had been told to, pausing a moment before his hands opened the belted rope around the robe and it fell open. The silky material slipped easily from his shoulders and landed on the floor at his feet and the mass of women around him broke out in “Ooh’s” and “Ahh’s.”

“Doesn’t that make you jealous?” Tess asked.

“Why?” Liz shook her head. “They can look, I can touch.”

“Good policy,” Ava agreed.

The crowed moaned again when Max flashed them his backside.

“Take the shorts off,” one woman next to them yelled.

“I wouldn’t mind going a couple of rounds with him,” another woman said.

Liz just rolled her eyes at them. They could look and drool all they wanted to. At the end of the night she was taking that prize fighter home and all they’d be left with were their empty fantasies.

“Max, you were awesome,” Maria beamed when he came backstage. “So hot.”

“Thanks,” he said, sounding a little breathless. “It’s kind of a rush, isn’t it?”

“It so is,” she agreed and grinned when Graham rushed by, his face pure happiness.

“Gosh, that was awesome, sweetheart.”

Max glanced at Maria and shrugged when she nodded. He had never been the object of a man’s affections so it was a little bit weird. Not to mention he’d never been called ‘sweetheart’ by any man. “Thanks. So, that’s all you needed from me?”

“For today,” Graham smirked.

He looked at Maria, shooting her an I-told-you-so look. He wondered if he should tell the guy that he was in a seriously committed HETEROsexual relationship. “Cool. Hey, I appreciate you offering your services to do the shoot for my shop.”

“Anything for friends,” he winked and squeezed Maria’s shoulders. “Almost your turn, beauty.”

If nothing else, this guy was good for her ego, Max thought. He hooked his thumb over his shoulder. “Maria, if you don’t need me for anything I think I’ll get dressed and get out to my girlfriend.” He glanced down at the shorts he was wearing and then back at the photographer. “Think anyone would care if I kept these?”

“Go ahead,” Graham shook his head with an amused smile and considered what he could tell the company.

He nodded. “Thanks. Do you need anything from me before the shoot?”

“I’ll get the details from Maria, the rest we can handle over the phone.”

“Sounds good.” He tugged on the waistband of the shorts. “Thanks again.” He kissed Maria’s cheek. “I’ll catch your act from out front if you don’t mind, gorgeous.”

“No, go ahead.” She smiled. “And make sure he looks,” she called after him.

He snorted and shook her head. “Deluca, he’s not gonna be able to look anywhere else.”

“So there’s a boy of interest out there?” Graham teased and peered out into the crowd.

“A boy who has no idea I could exist in any capacity beyond that of his best friend,” she sighed.

“Ungh, stuck as the best friend?” He made a face.

“Yeah, ever been there?”

“I’m gay, darling. I’ve been there half of my life.”

She smiled and hugged him. “Graham, I hope you find someone really special because you deserve a good guy.”

“You don’t have any gay friends, do you?”

“Just you,” she said with a wink.

“Too bad,” he winked back at her. “Straighten up, they’re playing your song. Your turn, Miss Deluca.”

Max joined his friends just as the pulsating music started again and he recognized it as the song the director had told him would announce Maria’s appearance. “Hey, Maria’s up next.”

“You were amazing,” Liz smiled and jumped into his arms, grinning when some of the girls around them looked at him as if he was on the menu.

“Yeah?” He kissed her and waggled his eyebrows. “I snagged the shorts.”

“Kinky,” she whispered.

He laughed. “It could be,” he teased.

“She’s on,” Tony called when Maria started her walk. She looked gorgeous in the olive bikini and there was a big smile on her face, a smile that reached her eyes.

“She looks great,” Tess said.

“Gosh, she even has a six-pack, can you believe that?” Isabel shook her head.

“As much as she works out?” Ava asked and rolled her eyes. “How could she not?”

“Her aerobics classes are murder,” Courtney said, remembering it all too well.

Max rested his chin on Liz’s right shoulder. “Gotta be to stay in shape like that.”

“Ready to paint that body?” Tony leaned in close to Michael to mutter the question so that his girlfriend wouldn’t overhear it.

Michael glanced at him and shouldered him back. “Of course, it’s just...” he watched as Maria made a turn and shot a look into the crowd over her shoulder. “Just Maria.”

“Whatever you say.”

“You gotta admit she’s on fire up there,” Max said, easily imagining what Tony was saying to Michael.

She did look happy, Michael thought, but he didn’t want to go into detail with Courtney in his arms.

“So, why hasn’t some company snatched her up yet?” Alex wondered aloud. “I mean, she’s got presence and she catches your attention. She’s attractive and has a good figure.” He shrugged. “It makes sense that she’d be a selling attraction.”

Isabel shook his head, amused, knowing that he was teasing her brother.

“Because she thinks that a boyfriend won’t fit in her life right now,” Michael answered the question.

“More like she’s waitin’ for the right guy to realize she exists,” Max muttered.

Courtney shot a glare towards the man who always liked to get the best of her. Of course he would mention that to Michael. Grrr!

He jerked his chin in her direction when he caught the death look coming from her. “Got a problem?” He couldn’t help it. It wasn’t just that he knew the girl’s relationship with Michael was hurting Maria, he hadn’t liked her from the start and that hadn’t changed any.

“I’m good,” she told him coldly.

“Yeah, I’ll bet you are.”

“Let it go, Evans,” Michael warned.

“This’s between me an’ your girlfriend, Guerin, so back off.”

“Max,” Liz tried to calm him down. Somehow he seemed to lose his good behavior with Courtney.

“Sorry,” he muttered and shifted slightly as he turned his attention back to the stage.

Tess and Isabel exchanged a look. The group dynamics just weren’t the same when Shitney was around.

Tony shook his head. “Your brother’s gotta wake up and soon,” he mumbled quietly to Ava.

“Tell me about it.”

“I’ve heard of denial, but this’s ridiculous.” He grinned at Maria when she made a second pass on the stage and shot a flirtatious smile at the crowd.

“She really looks good up there,” Courtney said loud enough for everyone to hear, just to prove a point – that she was not the totally jealous girlfriend.

“Yeah, it’s a pretty prestigious opportunity,” Max baited her. “Heard there’re some scouts for some pretty big companies out in the crowd.”

“Good for her.” Great, now he was on her again.

“It’s a good opportunity,” Alex said, moving to stand between them under the guise of getting closer to the stage. “And isn’t it fortuitous that the two of you have had such good opportunities this week? You’ve got that gig coming up this weekend and Maria could potentially be looking at something good coming out of this.”

The gig that won’t me allow to be at the tattoo shoot, she thought, frustrated. “I think we’re both lucky.”

“See?” Alex slapped his friend on the shoulder.

Michael shook his head. Why did Evans have such an issue with Courtney? Okay, she seemed to take the same issue with him but if he’d just lay off she’d forget all about him. He sighed. He hated drama in his life.

“We should go and celebrate somewhere afterwards,” Tess suggested.

“That sounds like fun,” Ava agreed. “I haven’t been out to a good club in a while. Got someplace in mind?”

“We could try out one of Brooklyn’s night clubs for once since half of us live there now.”

Courtney lifted her head to look at her boyfriend and was relieved when he shook his head. They had agreed to spend the rest of the night together, just a low key evening, and she was happy to see he obviously still wanted that.

“I think a club over in Brooklyn works fine for me,” Isabel said. She reached out to poke Alex’s shoulder. “What about you? Gonna have a few drinks and cut loose?” She lifted one eyebrow in challenge.

He chuckled. “Sure, why not?”

“Do you even drink?” Tony asked. “No, I mean, I’ve seen you have a beer, but do you really drink?”

“If you mean drink like getting really drunk then no, haven’t done that since high school.”

“He doesn’t have to prove anything by trying to drink anyone under the table,” Isabel said and rolled her eyes. “And I’ll bet he can dance better than the rest of you guys.”

“I wouldn’t bet on that,” Alex told her.

“You must be kidding.” She looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. “You can’t dance?”

“I’m not very good at it,” he confessed.

“No man needs to dance these days,” Michael rolled his eyes.

“You know, Michael,” she said with a longsuffering sigh, “some women actually enjoy dancing with the guy they’re with rather than just being drooled over from afar.”

“So you and Alex hit it off?” he countered.

She lifted her chin and looked down her nose at him. “I’ll thank you to mind your own business. What Alex and I do or do not get up to is our business and I believe we’ve had this conversation before.”

He just snorted at that and looked at the man in question. “Consider what you’re getting yourself into, man.”

“Oh, I think I can handle it,” Alex said with a smirk.

“Let’s get closer to the stage so we can meet Maria when she comes out,” Tess gestured to the left.

Yay, Courtney thought without an ounce of enthusiasm.

“Yeah, let’s go,” Max said as he draped his arm over Liz’ shoulders. “I doubt she’ll have any trouble findin’ guys who loved her performance though.”

Michael didn’t miss the pointed look Evans gave his girl again and for the first time he couldn’t wait to get away from his friends. The last few days had been tiring and even when he had time to sleep it didn’t come easily so he was physically as well as mentally exhausted. Dealing with them giving his girlfriend shit was just something he didn’t want to face in this state.

“That’s true,” Tony agreed. “And it couldn’t hurt for her to get a little ego boost right now.”

CandyliciousLovah: Thanks for reading!

sarammlover: Hmm… we’re still working on him. Lol, he’ll get there.

Earth2Mama: That sounds painful, but you’re not the only one thinking it, lol.

Natalie36: Thanks! You may get your wish in this next part. Well, he could… if she had any, lol.

somewhere87: That’s always a possibility.

Maria did have a great time.

It has been a while, but we do have that photo shoot coming soon.

Rodney: Lol, you’re in the minority there.

keepsmiling7: There was no mistaking who that boxer was, was there?

Thanks, we’re glad you’re enjoying it!

begonia9508: You’re right, and things are going to get a little more tense in this part.

kismet: We’ll be getting back to that possibility in this part.

Lol, enjoyed boxer Max out onstage, huh?

Yeah, this entire situation with Courtney is really throwing the group’s natural rhythm off.

It’s quite possible that Tony will be appearing in future fics. He’s kinda become a familiar face in DT fics.

Alien_Friend: Lol, Isabel probably would’ve been happy if little sister hadn’t shared that one.

Lol, that’s certainly Maria’s hope!

Max and Liz are doing everything necessary to get their little family back together.

Maria needed to get that out. It wasn’t good for her to keep it all bottled up.

Thanks! Graham is a fun character to write. He’s just so open and he puts things in perspective. And he obviously has good taste in men too.

Yeah, it’s hard to be in Michael’s position right now. And Max will continue voicing his opinion in this part, lol.

Lol, every girl should be so lucky, right? Talk about a TKO!

Nah, RL has a habit of getting in the way of everything fun. And we adore your feedback when you have the time to post! It’s always worth the wait. We completely understand that OCD, lol.

Thanks for being such a faithful reader.

xilaj: Max did a great job up onstage, didn’t he? Through her new friendships and her relationship with Max, Liz is gaining confidence. Oh, there’s just something about Courtney that sets him off and it could create a problem if he continues to let that dislike be so obvious.

Alex really fits in with the group, he’s found his niche and he’s become an asset to them. Michael is facing some serious choices and eventually he won’t be able to continue putting it off.

Merry Christmas to you too!



Extra long part before Christmas today! Merry Christmas!


Part 124

Sick Of It

Isabel could see that her brother was having a difficult time trying to balance things between his friends, his family, and his girlfriend. She reached over and placed her hand on his shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “C’mon, your friend could use your support.”

He nodded and looked at her. “Wouldn’t hurt if my family would support me now and then,” he muttered.

“Give it time, little brother,” she advised. “Change takes time and accepting it sometimes takes more time. You’re gonna have to be patient with everyone.”

“Doesn’t seem to count with Max and Liz, or Tony and Ava, or you an’ Whitman.” He was frustrated with everyone but Maria. She was the only one who hadn’t been a bitch about Courtney. Why couldn’t the others get over it? He had always supported his friends, other than some dumb stuff now and then.

“I’ve dated seriously in the past and so has Ava. Max and Liz get a pass because it’s apparent no one’s existed for them but each other since the moment they met. You, brother dear, have always played the field and you’ve made no secret of your dislike for the thought of settling down with one woman. Don’t expect people to just embrace that change overnight.”

He let go of Courtney and walked over to his sister. “All of you have always told me I should consider something serious and now that I have, you’re all giving me shit about it.”

Isabel drew herself up to her full height as she met his irritated gaze. “I’m not looking to get into a fight with you about this, Michael. I’m trying to be supportive, not bust your balls.”

“Supportive my ass,” he muttered.

“You wanna get into this? Because I have no problem steppin’ on your toes. You’re not gonna change anyone’s thoughts or feelings overnight.” She lowered her voice so it didn’t carry to the others. “And Michael, you don’t have to shove her down everyone’s throat. It’s not good for her and it’s not good for anyone else. They’re gonna like her or they won’t, but you have to let them decide for themselves.

“No one’s even given her a chance,” he hissed at her, but they were interrupted when Maria showed up suddenly.

“Hey, so what’d you guys think?” she asked breathlessly.

“You were great!” Isabel enthused.

Tess rushed up and squeezed between them to give Maria a hug. “Great?” she scoffed. “She was better than great!”

“Yeah, you rocked, RP,” Michael agreed and held a fist out to her, waiting for her to return it.

The internal struggle continued as she stared at his fisted hand for a moment that felt like an eternity to her. Should she do as Tess had suggested? Could she do it? She swallowed with difficulty and forced a smile when Courtney suddenly appeared beside him and it strengthened her resolve. She finally pulled herself together and curled her right hand into a fist, raising it and knocking it into his. “Thanks.” She turned to find Max and felt herself relax slightly when she wasn’t looking directly at Michael. “Hey, so I heard some of the people backstage talking and they really like you.”

“Likewise,” he grinned at her and pulled her into a hug since Guerin the idiot hadn’t.

“You know how to put on a show, Maria,” Tony said as he shouldered in to give her a hug as soon as Evans had released her. “Hope you kept that little bikini.”

“For sure,” she winked.

“So, did you hear anything about other shows or anything?” Ava asked, settling against Tony when he came back to her after congratulating Maria.

“Not yet, but Graham said I should stay in sight just in case.” Just as the words left her mouth the photographer appeared next to her.

“Come on, darling, the company’s agent wants to talk to you.”

Her eyes widened. “Are you serious?” She shouted in elation and jumped up to hug him tightly when he nodded.

“I don’t know what he has in store, so breathe, okay?”

“Breathe, yeah, I can do that.” She forced herself to calm down and inhale slowly but she couldn’t do anything about the feeling of hope that had burst to life at his words.

“I’ll stay with you, let’s go.”

“Things might just be lookin’ up for her,” Liz said as she watched Maria walk away with the photographer.

Please let her get that contract, Michael thought. She’d feel like shit if it was denied to her a second time and it’d strain things in the current situation even more.

“I hope so,” Max muttered. “She could use it.”

Isabel interrupted before Michael could take offense to the comments even though she didn’t detect anything directed towards his girlfriend in the words. “Alex, would you mind getting us something to drink?” she asked, hoping he’d take the hint and take Max with him.

“Sure,” he turned to the man. “Gimme a hand?”

Max rolled his eyes at Isabel, seeing right through her little question. “Yeah.” He dropped his gaze to Liz. “Want anything?”

“I’ll take a Coke.”

“Coke it is.” Before he could take more than two steps drink orders were coming at them from every direction. How many hands did they think they had?

“I’ll go with you,” Courtney said suddenly. So they were afraid she’d get into it with Max? Screw them.

“I really think the guys can handle it,” Isabel protested. This was NOT what she’d had in mind when she’d suggested drinks.

“Hey, why not?” Max looked at the other girl challengingly.

Isabel looked at Alex apologetically but he just shook his head and gave her a brief smile.

“Why don’t I just go get the drinks with Alex,” Michael interrupted.

“No one needs you to referee a drink run, Guerin,” Max growled. “I think your girlfriend’s perfectly capable of making her own decisions. Even those that aren’t that well thought out.”

“If you wanna start somethin’ then just say what you have to say right to my face, Evans.” Michael was fed up with this shit and he gave him the slightest hint of a shove.

“You don’t wanna get into this with me,” he warned. Michael could fight, he’d seen him go up against guys a lot bigger than him, but he had been trained to fight and it’d be easy to let that training take over and if he lost control in the moment he could seriously hurt him. “Just walk away from this because me an’ you, we’re not gonna settle for throwin’ words back and forth. You push me again and I’ll put you down.”

“You wish, Evans,” he growled in return, but didn’t touch him. A fight in the middle of a crowd and at this time would just be dumb. Instead he turned to grab his girlfriend’s hand. “We’re leaving. Get the fuckin’ drinks yourself.”

“Later,” Max said with a careless wave. “I’ll tell Maria you said bye.”

A wave of guilt washed over him as he pulled Courtney through the masses. He didn’t want to leave and miss the outcome of the talk with the agent, but enough was enough.

“Max,” Liz said with a shake of her head, “you’ve gotta stop that.” She pulled on his hand to bring his irritated gaze to her. “I know you don’t like her but getting into arguments with her, daring Michael into a fight, it’s only aggravating the situation. Hey,” she met his eyes directly, “and it’s only gonna make things worse for Maria.”

He looked at her in confusion and then focused on Maria when she came back, grinning from ear to ear. “I got it,” she yelped and he felt bad when her eyes scanned the crowd, obviously looking for Michael.

“They had to leave,” Tess said.

“Max couldn’t behave himself,” Isabel said with an annoyed look at him. It would do no good to hide the truth because it always came out and when it did it would only be worse for Maria to find out later.

Disappointment rushed through her and she hated it. “Well, their loss,” she put on a brave face. “Let’s party.”

“Now that sounds like a good idea.” Tess linked her arm through Maria’s. “Wait, what’d they say?”

“That I should come to their office next week to sign a contract.” The happiness was back in her face.

“No!” She leaned back to look into her friend’s face. “Really? Maria, that’s great!” They hugged and jumped up and down, their excitement and happiness obvious.

“Yeah, and the best thing is that there’s a constant little paycheck even without the shoots and then I get a bonus for the jobs I get.”

“Now that deserves a drink,” Tony said as he reached out to squeeze her shoulder. “First round’s on me.”

*****

“Hey,” Tess greeted and closed the door as quietly as possible before she went to the bed Kyle was half sitting, half lying in.

“You know, just because I can’t see you don’t have to be so fuckin’ quiet.”

“I’m not quiet because of you, I’m just totally hungover,” she admitted and sat down next to him in one of the chairs.

“Hungover? So what fun did I miss?”

“Do you mean the part where Max and Michael got into it in Central Park? Or the part where we were partying hard and drank like three bottles of tequila to celebrate Maria’s new contract? Oh, or do you mean the end of the night when I had to soothe a drunk, crying Maria to sleep?”

“What’s wrong with her?” he asked as he maneuvered himself into a more upright position. “You said she got a contract? That’s good news, right?” He went on, talking to himself as if she wasn’t even there. “No, she’d be over the moon about that. It’s Michael. What’d he do?”

“Actually he can’t really be blamed,” she admitted. “Max couldn’t hold back about Courtney the whole time so Michael and him kinda got into a fight. At one point he got fed up and left before Maria came out with her news.”

“Well, Evans doesn’t like her and she doesn’t seem to mind pushing his buttons.” He shrugged. “Michael’s either gonna have to accept that and let her fight her own fights or he and Evans are gonna end up fightin’ it out.”

“Yeah, I guess... Guess Max just met him in an already down mood, so things went like that and Maria’s the one who got hurt over it.”

“It’s gotta be tough for the guy, ya know? I mean, he finally decides to get serious about a girl and all he’s getting is opposition from everyone. He probably feels like no one’s taking him seriously and they’re not givin’ his girlfriend a chance.”

“And he’s always supported his friends...” Tess slouched down in the seat and kicked off her shoes to rest her feet on the edge of his bed.

“Yeah, and it’s not like he’s doin’ anything wrong.” Kyle rested back against the pillows. “He’s still gonna do the shoot, isn’t he?”

“I hope.”

“What about Maria? She havin’ any doubts about goin’ through with it?”

“Doubts? No, she’s just a little nervous, I guess.”

“I know we believe that they’re right for each other, but do you think we could be wrong? I mean, if he can seriously make it through that shoot without seeing her as a woman and not just his best friend, we could’ve all been wrong this whole time.”

Tess stayed quiet for a while. “Maybe...” she admitted and sighed.

He snorted. “I saw the tat Evans wants to use, Tess. If your brother can put that art on her and not be affected... Well, to be honest, I can’t imagine any guy bein’ that up close an’ personal and NOT bein’ affected.”

You’ve been there, she thought and shook that thought off. He and Maria were in the past. “If nothing comes out of it then we need to back off.”

“Yeah, I guess. So, anything else goin’ on?”

“Not at all, we’re still busy decorating our place. It’s pretty cool – a total girl’s place.”

“You guys did remember that Aaron’s a boy, right?”

“He’s still little.”

“Tell me Evans had some input when you did the kid’s room.” He shook his head. The kid had to have a refuge away from all the pinks and purples, ruffles and bows, and other girly stuff that’d be everywhere.

“Nobody’s touched his room yet,” she admitted and shrugged, though he couldn’t see it. “Too painful for Liz, I guess.”

He thought about something he’d heard the other day while the TV had been droning on. Not that he was about to admit he’d been listening to any of those daytime talk shows for chicks. “You guys have to get her in there, Tess. She needs that hope, ya know? And workin’ on his room, getting it ready for him, it’ll keep that alive for her.”

“We’ll do our best. Ava’s been around a lot lately and she’s got lots of experience, so she’ll help.”

“Good. I heard the new place has a yard. That’s gotta be nice.”

“It’s a dream.” She nudged him with her foot slightly. “Even cooler than yours.”

“Uh-uh,” he denied. “We don’t have to mow any grass or shovel snow an’ ice off our sidewalk an’ steps.”

“You’re such a wet blanket. Just be happy for us, would you?”

“I am. I just don’t think it’s cooler than our place.” He made a face. “Of course, I’m sure it’s not like the three of you will ever have a shortage of guys to help out with stuff like the yard and sidewalks. And no, I’m not volunteering to do either.”

“No?” She grinned. “Why not?”

“Because it’s too hot in the summer an’ too cold in the winter. I like you but I’m not about to freeze my balls off to de-ice your sidewalk and steps.”

“Um-hmm, I bet you guys will hang out at our place all the time soon, because it’s just so cool and spacious and all your favorite women live there.”

“Hangin’ out’s acceptable, crashin’ at your place’s acceptable, but shoveling your snow or mowing your grass? Huh-uh. Well...” he thought about that, “... unless you wanted to work out a deal.”

Tess lifted an eyebrow. “What kinda deal would that be?”

“I don’t know yet.” He thought about just casually tossing out the possibility of her thawing out his frozen nuts but considering the fact that she genuinely liked him, and had for a very long time apparently, maybe that’d just cause trouble. “I mean, I hate doin’ laundry.”

“I’d wash your uniforms, but not your dirty boxers.”

He shrugged. “The uniforms have to be pressed too. How are you with an iron?”

“I won’t guarantee anything.”

“Then I can’t guarantee I’d get all the icy patches off your steps.”

“Now, that’s just mean. We could slip and hit our heads.”

“And if I go in with my uniform all wrinkled I get in trouble,” he countered. Okay, he wouldn’t really leave ice on their steps but if she was gonna be ice-free, he was gonna be wrinkle-free, damn it!

“With your boss?”

“Yeah, you don’t just show up all wrinkled. Uniform pressed, shoes shined, buckles and pins polished. It’s not just a uniform; it’s a symbol of pride.”

“And then you run into the next burning house. What’s the point?”

He sighed and shook his head. “The point is to wear that uniform with dignity and pride, to uphold tradition and honor. I know it probably sounds lame, but it does mean somethin’ to the guys who wear it.”

“I guess there is a point,” she conceded and glanced out the window. “I heard things are still pretty bad with your coworker.”

“Yeah, he’s not doin’ too good.”

“That sucks.”

His mood went downhill fast and she kicked herself for bringing it up. She knew it was on his mind anyway, but why did she have to say anything? “So, any news about how long you’re gonna be stuck in the hospital?”

“No,” he made a face when he moved his injured arm with the help of his other, “they refuse to give me an exact answer.”

Tess could easily hear the frustration in his voice. She studied him for a moment and only then realized a difference. “You eye bandages looks different.”

“They changed it this morning.”

“Were you able to… see anything?”

“Other than the light blinding me and making me feel like I was looking right into the sun?” He snorted and kicked the railing on the end of the bed in frustration. “No, nothing. They were bandaged a few minutes later and they told me I’m not allowed to use them yet, the injuries just heal slowly.”

“But – “

“Doc says everything should be fine with my eyes eventually,” he told her before she could ask the question that had been keeping him up at night for a while.

“Good, that’s good news.” She glanced up when the door was opened, expecting it to be one of the nurses, but she was surprised to see Max walking in. “Hey.”

“Hey,” he nodded at her and turned to take a look at the man in the bed. “What’s up, Valenti? Still giving the nurses a headache?”

Kyle snorted and flipped him off, but to Tess’ relief, there was a small smile on his lips. Gosh, she really missed seeing him smile. This depressed mood was so not him. “The other way around, man. They fuss over me like I’m a five-year-old.”

“They say you get what you deserve, but well…” Max trailed off and pulled a chair out. “I’ve heard they fight about taking over shifts just to take care of you.”

“Is that so?” Kyle asked, his tone bored. “I don’t think I make that much of an impression in this state.” With his healthy arm he pointed up and down his body.

“Are you kiddin’? Women just love havin’ a helpless man at their mercy.”

Tess snorted at that. “Whatever. That’s just somethin’ you guys tell yourselves to make you feel better. Women do not need men to be ill or injured to be at their mercy. And considering how much you whine and cry when you’re sick or hurt I think you’d better reconsider that statement.”

“Whatever.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’ve been around my brother too much if that’s the best argument you’ve got.”

“You act like women are better than men when it comes to bein’ sick.”

“Talk to me when you’ve given birth and have a newborn baby to take care of. Or maybe when you’ve survived PMS and working all day with bitchy customers. Or – “

“I get the picture,” he interrupted before she could really get going. “Why is it any time the man/woman thing comes up they automatically resort to two things men will NEVER have to deal with?”

“Just to show you how lucky you guys are in the end,” Maria finished before Tess could say it. They all looked at her, surprised, because none of them had heard her come in. She sneaked around the chair to get to the bed and kissed Kyle on the cheek. “Hey, how’re you holding up?”

“Sucks as usual,” he muttered.

“Why’re you all up so early after that party last night anyway?” Max frowned at both women. “It’s not even ten and you’re both here at the hospital. Considering that you came all the way from Brooklyn, you must’ve been up for a while now.”

“Visiting my brother,” Maria told him.

“Visiting Kyle,” Tess answered, “and then heading out to work a half-day shift. Just for today. What’s your excuse?”

“I’ve been up since seven,” he snorted. “I even took Liz to work and inked a simple tat already.”

“Busy man,” Maria ruffled his hair.

“Hey,” he made a face and caught her hand, making her almost fall from the bed since she was now sitting on the edge. “You still mad at me?”

She frowned. “Why?”

“Because he was an asshole last night,” Kyle filled in.

Maria turned to look at him. “So, they filled you in?”

“Tess summed it up for the most part. Congrats on your new contract, heard you rocked.” He lifted his arm to place it where he thought her shoulder was, but his hand landed flat on her breast instead.

“Touchy much today, Valenti?” she teased and hoped it wouldn’t bother him because it really wasn’t his fault.

“Oops,” he grinned and pulled his hand away quickly.

Tess just rolled her eyes, but chuckled. That was just her luck!

“You getting good money outta this new thing?” Kyle asked to distract from his little misplacement.

“Yeah. It’s not like I’m rich now, but they pay a decent rate that isn’t dependant on how much I work and then I get an extra bonus for every show or shoot I take part in.”

“Sounds good. At least this way you don’t have to stress over it so much.” He moved his hand to the side carefully, making a grab for the water bottle and nodding when she nudged him in the right direction.

“Yeah,” she agreed. “And the best thing is I don’t have to worry that Shitney’s gonna walk in and steal my job.” Maria looked at Tess, horrified by the slip and shook her head when her friend just giggled. “Don’t tell Michael or he’ll murder me.”

“Did he message you or anything at least?” Max asked, not really surprised about Courtney’s nickname. He liked it actually – a lot.

“He did this morning, yeah,” she said, her mood sinking again. “He congratulated me and asked if I wanted to have lunch with him before he goes in to work the late shift.”

“What’d you answer?” the other woman in the room wanted to know.

Maria stared at her hands and sighed. “I told him no.”

“You told him no?” Kyle asked and although his eyes and most of his forehead were covered, she could hear the frown in his voice.

She looked at Tess uncertainly and went on when she got an encouraging nod of approval. “Yeah, I know he just wants to make up for not being there last night, but eventually the conversation would turn to him and Courtney and how his friends seem to dislike her.” She took the water bottle from him and had a sip of her own. “I just can’t do it anymore, you know? What am I supposed to say to him without lying to myself?”

“Well, hell, maybe you not bein’ around will actually work in your favor,” he said and winced when his arm started to ache.

“So, what’s the plan when you get outta here?” Max asked as he scanned the channels with the remote he had confiscated.

“The plan?”

“Yeah.” He paused on one of the channels and shook his head. “There is nothin’ on TV during the day. What the hell do you do all day?”

“Basically I lay here and stare at the backs of my eyelids.” He rubbed his upper arm and focused on the quiet voices coming from the television. “Go up, three… no, four more channels.”

“Cartoons?”

He shrugged. “It’s that or talk shows.”

Maria got up and went to find a nurse. He wasn’t saying anything but she could see that he was in pain.

“Anyway, when you get outta here? You goin’ home?”

Kyle blew through his nose loudly, the sound frustrated. “Probably stay here until I can at least see again. If that happens.”

“Kyle,” Tess nudged him with her foot on the bed. “Your eyes will be fine, they told you they would.”

He didn’t reply and just shrugged one shoulder.

“You’re gonna stay here the whole time?” Max lifted an eyebrow.

“What should I do?” the other man hissed. “I can’t see a damn thing and my arm’s a fucking mess. How ya think I’d do at my apartment? And the other option would be to move in with my parents for a while.”

“And that’d be so bad?”

“It would be fucking hell,” he corrected him. His parents weren’t so bad alone, but together? They couldn’t stand each other anymore, but they’d have to live under one roof for that time.

“Why don’t you come and stay with us girls?” Tess suddenly blurted out.

Kyle just snorted at that.

“No, seriously.” She leaned forward as she thought about it. “We’ve got enough space and most of the time at least one of us would be there to help you. I’m sure you could survive a few hours now and then on your own as well.”

“Tess…” he started.

“Why not?” She looked up when Maria walked in with a little plastic cup in her hand that contained two small pills. “Would you mind if Kyle stayed with us for a little while?”

The other girl looked at her, surprised. “I wouldn’t mind.” She had thought about it as well, but was pretty sure he wouldn’t want that at all. “Here, take these,” she placed the two pills in his hand.

He tossed the pills back and washed them down with a long drink of water. “Yeah, that’s just what you girls need,” he muttered. “An invalid to take care of.”

“Who pissed in your Cheerios this mornin’?” Max asked and punched the other man’s leg.

Kyle turned his head to look in the direction of his voice. “Do you gotta piss off everyone you talk to?”

“No, but in your case – and consequently, in the case of that ball and chain that’s attached herself to Guerin like a barnacle on the hull of a ship – I’m goin’ outta my way to push buttons. You wanna lay around and bitch an’ moan because your arm’s fucked up? Or you wanna whine ‘cause your eyes are TEMPORARILY outta sorts? Man, that shit’ll heal.”

“Yeah, if the doctors are right,” Kyle snapped, irritated with the unsympathetic response. “It’s not like I’m enjoying myself here. They could be wrong. I could be blind for the rest of my life. Or my arm might not heal right and I’ll be stuck with a handicap and out of a job that I love.”

“Wow, could you be anymore pathetic?”

“Max!” Tess hissed as she shot a look at Kyle.

He shook his head and held a hand up to silence her. “Man, even if both of those things were to happen you’d still be highly functioning.”

“Fuck you!”

“You wanna get pissed at me? Go for it, you won’t be the first or the last to tell me to fuck off.” They had to do something about this depression Valenti had fallen into. Low moods were to be expected, but for it to last for so long was a bad sign. “Your whiny ass ain’t getting outta that bed so it’s not like you’re gonna do anything about it. What’re you gonna do from there? Throw a bedpan at me?”

Maria and Tess exchanged a look and nodded. “C’mon, Maxie-Max, we’re gonna go get a coffee.” She slipped from the bed and turned to Kyle to whisper in his ear. “I’ll give him a cold shower.”

The other man didn’t reply to it, but she detected the smallest hint of a smile around his lips, so she went on and turned to Max, placing her hands on his chest when he stood. She shook her head and pushed him to the door gently.

Max let her drag him out of the door instead of throwing more words at his friend in the bed and waited until they stood in the hallway before he spoke. “Maria, he needs to hear – “

“He needs to hear what?” she asked, hands on her hips. “Things he already knows?”

“No! He needs to hear that whining over his situation isn’t gonna get him anywhere. He needs to be positive.”

“I know he needs to be positive,” she sighed and rubbed her face. “But you think he’s gonna think positive if you point out he can’t do anything about you yelling those words at him because he’s bound to that bed? I’m all about getting him out of his bad moods and pushing him now and then, but we’re his friends, the people who should be supporting him. That was a little too rough for my taste.”

Had it been? Max wondered as he went over the things he had said. “I’m not tryin’ to be an ass.”

“I didn’t say that.” She guided him along the hallway to a little coffee machine and made him sit down at one of the tables situated around it while she got two drinks for them.

He looked up and accepted one of the cardboard cups. “Thanks.”

“We have to see it from his side as well, you know. Kyle’s always been a man so full of life and energy. He’s not the type who lies around doing nothing and right now he’s bound to a bed, unable to see anything, unable to do much because he’s got a pretty badly busted arm. No one can tell him yet if he’ll be able to go back to the job he loves once he’s healed up.” She looked at the door of her friend’s room at the end of the hallway. “So of course he’s in a bad mood and we have to give him time to be in it. Ever been in a bad mood and your friends tried to lighten it up and all you could think was: Leave me the fuck alone, I don’t wanna be cheered up right now?”

Max nodded. “I guess.”

“There’s a thin line between pushing him in the right direction andbeing the people who get on his nerves too much trying to make things better for him. Who wouldn’t be pissed at life after what happened?”

“You?” he asked with a half smile.

She snorted.

“C’mon, Deluca. Life’s dumped enough shit on you and I haven’t seen you in a bad mood for longer than a few hours.” He took a sip of his coffee.

“And most of the credit for that goes to you guys,” she admitted. “And it really helps when you’re just there and give me a hug now and then or… you know, just be there.”

“I know depression, Maria. I’ve been there and I don’t want him to go there as well, because once you’re in that circle…”

“Kyle’s not that far into it,” she squeezed his shoulder and looked at him. Maybe Max was too affected because of his own past to see it, she thought. “Tess and I talked to the doc the other day and he gave us a heads-up about signs we should take seriously like him lying around all day in silence, not accepting visitors, not reacting to questions… stuff like that. We’ve been here every day since the accident and he was in a worse mood when he woke up, but he’s doing okay right now, I think. He’s not pushing his visitors away; in fact, he lets me and Tess stay for hours. We’ve talked about random stuff and he’s followed the conversation and whenever we come in he’s listening to the TV or music on his cell phone. He even smiles now and then.”

“Yeah, maybe,” he said, but wasn’t convinced. He’d seen it before and while he wasn’t an expert or anything the underlying signs were there.

“Trust me, Max, he’s gonna be okay. Us girls can bully him a little more diplomatically than you can so maybe you should leave that to us.” She smiled teasingly. “I know Michael’s usually the one who acts like the bull in the china shop, but I’m beginning to suspect that you’ve been spending too much time around him.”

“That’s probably true.” He shrugged. “I’ll leave the diplomacy to you but that doesn’t mean I’m promising not to give him a good swift kick in the ass now and then.”

She laughed quietly. “I wouldn’t believe you if you did.”

“Well, no one’s ever accused you of bein’ stupid.”

“That’s good because I’d take offense to it.” She nudged him. “How’re things goin’?”

“They’re goin’.”

“How’d your first session go?”

He shrugged. “I survived it.” The shrink was alright as far as shrinks went, but he’d still rather do just about anything than sit through those sessions. He looked at the clock on the wall behind her and sighed. “I need to head back for my next appointment at the shop.”

“Yeah, I should get back to my brother for a while as well.” They both got up and returned to the room Kyle had been held hostage in for a while now and said their goodbyes to him. “I’ll come back later when Cody takes a nap.”

The man in the bed nodded. “Don’t stress out, Deluca, I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

“I’m leavin’ too. The job calls for my presence,” Max told him, not sure if he should say anything about earlier or not. He wasn’t really sorry, but maybe it had been just a bit too much. Maybe.

“Nothing else to say, Evans? Haven’t heard anything about my busted ribs yet.”

The other man smirked when Kyle’s tone was teasing rather than mad. “Maybe next time, Valenti.”

“I’m sure you won’t disappoint.”

Tess waved as the others left and they sat in silence for a while. Her eyes roamed over the man in the bed, taking in his appearance, which was a hell of a lot better than a few days ago. He still looked damaged, but it wasn’t like it seemed a small touch could shatter him anymore. “They removed your piecing,” she stated when she suddenly realized it for the first time.

He touched his lip where it had been before. “Yeah. Damn thing wasn’t healed up yet so I guess Evans is gonna have to do it all over again later.”

She snorted. “You’d let him come close to you with a needle after today?”

Kyle chuckled. “Michael threw the same shit at me. And Evans is stressed out because of his own situation, which makes him even more uptight than usual.” He turned the water bottle in his hand, slowly twisting it back and forth. “I’d rather deal with that than pity.”

“Where’re your parents?” She was surprised neither of them seemed to be around today.

“Told them to go to work. They didn’t want to, but hell, I needed a break. They’re driving me insane with all the fussing.”

“They’re just worried.” She grabbed a book from the table and wondered who had left it there. For sure, it wasn’t for Kyle.

“I know, but it creeps me out when they sit here all day and there isn’t really anything to talk about. I can’t see them and all the time I’m imagining them sitting here and staring at me like I’m an animal in a zoo or something.”

“C’mon,” she giggled, “you’re not THAT interesting to look at. Besides, there’s a book here so I’m guessing your mom was reading.”

“What is it?”

“Shit Happens.”

He laughed. “Really?”

“Yeah,” she leaned forward and read the cover. “It’s about funny incidents that happened to people for real. A collection of them.”

“Wouldn’t have guessed she’d read something like that,” he admitted in surprise. His mother was more the type of woman who read romance novels about career woman and badass men.

“Want me to pick one out?”

“And then?” he wondered aloud.

“Well, read it to you.”

Tess reading to him? What a weird image, he thought, but took the remote and switched the TV off. What the hell? “Sure, why not?”

sarammlover: We’ll see more of Kyle and Tess before long. No, Max certainly isn’t putting up any false fronts with Courtney, lol. Michael’s a bit confused about that refusal, but he’ll get a clue eventually.

Eva: Lol, Max maybe should’ve bit his tongue on that one. We don’t have too long to wait to get Michael’s opinion on the subject.

It’d do Kyle some good to get away from the hospital and to just spend time with the girls.

Earth2Mama: Perhaps not, but maybe in the future he’ll find a better way of approaching the situation.

Kyle would do well in that situation.

keepsmiling7: Lol, someone’s gotta do it otherwise there’s no telling what the poor little guy’s room might end up looking like.

Tess let ‘em have it with both barrels.

We’ll check in on Aaron before too long.

Natalie36: Thanks for reading!

CandyliciousLovah: Oh, pretty soon he’ll have no choice but to have to take a good look at what’s right in front of him. You can count on Tess. We have a feeling she’s up to the task.

begonia9508: Kyle definitely has no shortage of friends who are concerned for his wellbeing. Max was rough in his handling of the situation, but he did mean well.

Yeah, trying to force her on them isn’t the way to gain acceptance. If acceptance is what he wants he’s gonna have to go at it from a different angle.

xilaj: Isabel will be having more words with Michael today. Max, well, he and Michael will straighten things out eventually.

You can count on the photo shoot being… interesting.

Kyle would do well staying with the girls. It would give him some peace and a break from the tension and stress of the hospital and his parents. And in turn, he’ll be really good for the girls as well.

Alien_Friend: Max was rough and perhaps in time we’ll learn why he reacted that way. Kyle does have PT to look forward to, but he has no shortage of friends to be there at his side, helping keep his spirits up while he gets back to peak condition. That is one difference between men and women, isn’t it?

That’s a good assessment of a fight between Michael and Max, lol. Courtney was pushing and had she just left it alone Isabel and Alex could’ve successfully diffused the situation. It’s making it difficult and if one of them doesn’t give soon it’s only gonna make it worse. We don’t have much longer to wait to find out how that session affects Michael.

Isabel’s gonna give it another shot today.

Maria’s doing the smart thing, taking Tess’ advice.

Rodney: He could’ve handled that situation better.

Lol, we have a feeling Kyle wouldn’t complain about that.

somewhere87: Lol, hang on for the shoot… there’s sure to be plenty of Michael and Maria when we get there.

Jennifer24: That’s a lot of reading, lol. Welcome back!

Liz is having a rough time right now but at least she’s found a solid group of friends who have her back and will do whatever they can to help. Lol, Aaron’s likely to have that same thought.

Kyle is in agreement with you about that.

Oh, we’ll get him there in time. But you know how Michael is… he just can’t be rushed.




Part 125

Proper Tendency

“Go home and get some sleep for once,” Dana winked and pushed him towards the men’s locker room. “It’s been a long week and the exhaustion is starting to affect your good looks, Guerin.”

He grunted with a nod and shoved the door open. “See ya tomorrow night.”

The air in the locker room was damp and muggy from several hot showers of guys who had just ended their shift and it’d been a hell of a busy shift again. He sat down on one of the benches and leaned his head against his locker, closing his eyes for a moment.

“Long day?”

He quirked an eye open again and saw Tony next to him, still dripping wet from his shower. “Make that days.”

“It’s been crazy lately,” the other man agreed and opened his locker next to him, pulling out his casual jeans and tee shirt.

“Yeah,” Michael agreed and made himself sit upright again to get his things out as well.

“Not taking a shower?”

“I’ll do it at home.” Actually he was planning to take a long bath and then head straight to bed, but Carter didn’t need to know that. He looked at his cell briefly and noticed the unopened message. Maybe Maria had decided to talk to him again after she had kinda blown him off this morning?

Wanna come over? I can give you a massage… x

He considered taking his girlfriend’s invitation for a whole two seconds, but decided against it. Sorry, I’m beat. Heading straight to bed. Call you tomorrow.

“Have fun last night?” he asked casually while he shrugged out of his uniform.

“Yeah, we went to a club in Brooklyn and it turned out pretty cool. Maria, Tess and even Liz got pretty shitfaced,” Tony snorted. “It was good Ava had to get home for Chase because I had my hands full with the girls and the men standing in line for them.”

Michael looked at him, alarmed. “Did something happen?”

“Other than a few dudes who needed to be told to back off everything was cool. Took ‘em home safe, so relax.”

“Good.” He wanted to ask Tony if Maria had been mad at him for not taking part in the celebration, but he couldn’t get himself to ask because he didn’t want it to be true that he had to ask someone else about his best friend.

“Hey, heard your shift was downright hell,” a new voice interrupted them and a bag was placed on the bench next to him.

“Better be prepared, night’s just starting and if it goes on like it has been, you won’t get a chance to even breathe,” Tony said and closed his locker.

“Rod, I got something for you to look at,” Michael mentioned as he remembered the envelope Alex had given him. He pulled the envelope down and shook the pictures out.

“What is it?” Rodney took it with a frown.

“I was hoping you could tell me if any of the guys in the pictures seems familiar. Maybe one of them was at Carter’s party the other night?”

The other man nodded, knowing what this was about and he went through the pictures attentively. He took his time looking over them and then singled one out. “Well, I don’t know if he was the one dealing drugs because I never got a good look or anything. It was just stuff I heard, but this guy was there.”

Michael and Tony both leaned in for a closer look. “Do you know him?” Michael asked.

“No, face doesn’t seem familiar at all.” And this dude had seriously been at his party? “You sure, Rod?”

“Positive.” He pointed at a little mark on the side of the guy’s neck that was hardly noticeable if you weren’t paying attention. “That’s a scar from a removed tattoo, I remember looking at it that night and wondering who’d want a tattoo of a dog on his neck. Obviously the guy regretted it. You can still the outline though, so it’s not completely gone yet.”

“Good,” Michael nodded and shoved the pictures back in the envelope. “That’s something to work with.”

“What’re ya planning to do?”

“Not sure yet, but those guys have all worked with Kennedy. Maybe we should find out how much he loves his job?”

Tony lifted an eyebrow. “You planning on paying this guy a visit?”

“Let’s talk about it another time,” Michael wiped his eyes tiredly. “We’re gonna figure something out without losing our own jobs over it. Maybe Max’ lawyer can make use of the information.”

*****

Dr. Rebecca Rodgers watched her patient as he drummed his fingers against the arm of the chair he was sitting in. Even though it was their second session he still hadn’t opened up very much. It wasn’t unusual for men to have a difficult time talking so finding that one thing that opened the door was the key to making headway. She hid a smile when his eyes moved to the clock on the wall and she could tell from the quiet sigh that there was still too much time remaining in the session for his comfort.

“Max, I know how uncomfortable this is – “

“Do you?” he interrupted. “You think dissecting me’s gonna give you some kinda insight into who I am?” He shook his head. “I’m only here because if I don’t do this we lose custody of our kid.”

“So you don’t think you need these sessions?”

He shrugged. “I’ve been doin’ okay.”

“Is okay good enough?”

“What kinda question is that? Look, maybe my life isn’t perfect, but it could be worse.”

She nodded. “But could it be better?”

He rolled his eyes. “Why do you people always answer a question with another question?” he growled. “Yeah, things can always be better. But as long as they don’t suck I’m good with that.”

“Why do you think Judge Cahill requested mandatory counseling?”

“Because he thinks I’m crazy. I don’t know why he made this an issue.”

She glanced over her notes even though she’d already memorized them. “You’ve never talked to your friends about your service in the military.”

“Never came up. Look, I was in the Army, I served my time, and I came home. I’m not interested in dwelling on it.” He crossed his arms over his chest when she started making notations in her notebook. “People look at you differently when they know you’ve been over there, okay? They wanna know if you killed people, what you saw, and I don’t need to bring all of that up again.”

“Now that your friends know that you served have there been questions of that nature?”

“Not really. They’re not like regular civilians. Half of the people I hang with work in high pressure fields that come with their own mental stresses and they understand that you don’t necessarily wanna talk about it at the end of the day.” He rolled his shoulders in an effort to release the tension he could feel knotting his muscles.

“So, they’re in a position to understand what you went through over there, at least to some degree, but you won’t talk to them. What about your girlfriend? Have you ever confided in her about what you experienced during your service?”

“We’ve talked about it,” he answered evasively. He got up and moved around the office, the walls so confining he felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“But it wasn’t your idea, was it?”

He rubbed the back of his neck and rolled his shoulders as he focused on his breathing. “Look, Doc, why’s this even necessary? I was enlisted, I went over there and killed people, got shot, came home with my head all fucked up, and got discharged because I was no longer useful to them. Why does that need to be talked to death? It happened and it’s over, end of story.”

“You’re here because you don’t want to lose custody of Aaron, that’s why this’s necessary. I know this’s difficult for you. I haven’t yet met a soldier who found it easy to deal with what happened to them in a combat situation.” She watched him as he found his way to the window that looked down over the Hudson River. “Why don’t we try this from a different angle,” she suggested. “Do you write?”

That got his attention and he turned to look at her. “What?”

“Do you write?”

“What, like recreationally?” He shook his head. “No, not really. I wrote papers for school and stuff,” he shrugged, “letters to my mom when I was stationed overseas, but that’s about it.”

“I’d like to try something but you have to be willing to be completely honest if you agree to it.” She waited until he motioned for her to continue. “I’d like for you to write about the first time you had to use your weapon in combat. Find some time to be alone because you need to put all of your focus on this project. It doesn’t matter if you killed anyone or not, but I’d like for you to let yourself go back to that day – or night – and write about it. Write it however you’d like but be completely honest about everything you can remember: feelings, emotions, sights, sounds, and smells.”

“So, this’s like a writing assignment?” he asked, confused. “You’re gonna read it and take it apart, figure out what’s goin’ on in my head?”

Dr. Rodgers smiled and shook her head. “Whether I read it or not is up to you. For now I want you to just write out that experience. Don’t edit it and don’t worry about watching your language. Honesty is the point here. You’re scheduled for two sessions a week for the next seven weeks so let’s make the most of it. Each session I’ll give you one of these writing assignments and you should have it completed by the next session.”

“How’re you gonna know if I’m even writing the papers?”

“I’ll know.” As he began to write it would draw the feelings to the surface that he had worked so hard to bury and in time he might just be persuaded to open up. There was nothing in his file to indicate that he was unstable and it was apparent that he was only attending the sessions to appease the judge, but if they didn’t make some headway and she was unable to submit a favorable report she knew it would negatively impact their custody case.

“Alright,” Max agreed finally. “I’ll write the paper.”

“I’ll have my assistant schedule you for Mondays and Thursdays to give you time to work your thoughts out and put them on paper.” She stood as the clock chimed the hour and he looked ready to bolt. “Max, I think if you really give this a chance it’ll work. And while you may not see it now, out of stubborn pride or simply because you can’t see it, this will help you deal with the past. Liz and Aaron will also benefit from it.”

“I hope you’re right, Doc, because losing them isn’t an option.” He crossed the room and pulled the door open. “I’ll see you on Monday.” He didn’t know how writing a paper was gonna help anything but if it got him out of actually sitting there talking about what had happened over there he was gonna do it.

*****

Isabel was slouched down on the couch in her brother’s living room, waiting for him to get out of the shower. She really sympathized with the woman who did the cleaning for Michael and Kyle because the place was a wreck. Her gaze shot to the left when a pile of towels or dirty clothes, she wasn’t sure which it was, moved.

That couldn’t be a good sign, she thought as she slowly got to her feet and looked around for something to arm herself with. She grabbed a baseball bat that was on the kitchen counter, making a mental note to ask her brother why he would keep such a thing in the kitchen at all, and she crept along the wall back towards the mountain of material.

She had the bat raised above her head when the pile suddenly moved again and thanks to her horribly bad aim she missed Loco by a foot. The ferret squeaked loudly and quickly unburied itself from the hiding place, hissing at her before turning and running towards Michael’s room.

“Yeah? Well, I hate you too!” she yelled after it.

“What’d I do?”

She rolled her eyes when Michael yelled from the other room. “Nothing, Michael, nothing at all. Why do you have a baseball bat in the kitchen?”

“I don’t know.”

He didn’t know. Well, if he lived there and he didn’t know, who would? “And why have you let your place turn into such a pigsty? It’s disgusting in here.”

“I’ve been busy and had other things on my mind,” he defended himself as he came out of his room half-dressed, towel slung over one shoulder.

“That’s your defense? We’re all busy and have things on our minds, but we don’t live like this.”

“If you don’t like it you know where the door is.”

“I would’ve watched something on TV while you were busy but your cable’s out.”

“Forgot to pay the bill,” he said and shrugged. “Got it straightened out so it’ll be back on in a day or two.”

“Uh-huh, and you changed the locks and forgot to tell your cleaning lady?”

“No, she’s been on vacation and I didn’t like the replacement the service sent out.” He grabbed a bottle of water from the refrigerator. “Besides, Marta’s gonna be back,” he did a mental check, “next Monday so it’ll be fine.”

“Well, you may need to start interviewing now because when she gets back and sees this mess you’re likely to need a new cleaning lady.”

“Marta loves us.”

She shook her head. “No one loves you that much,” she denied.

“Whatever.”

“And do you not have anything to read that doesn’t feature women with large breasts wearing as little as possible and still considered clothed?”

“I think Kyle might have some magazines on cars…” he pretended to think about it for a moment just to annoy her. “Ah, nope, definitely got some hot chicks in those rags and I don’t think they’re wearin’ anything.”

“Ungh, you’re disgusting.”

“I’m a man,” he corrected her.

“You tell your girlfriend that?” She lifted one eyebrow. “Do you bring her here? I don’t think ANY girl could feel comfortable in your slutty chaos.”

“Don’t even go there, Izzy,” he begged, really not interested in getting into another round with his sister about Courtney. She and Evans seemed to be the ones who liked to push him and he was still trying to figure out if he has done anything wrong that night at Central Park to deserve the treatment he’d gotten over his girl. The only one who had a right to be mad at him was Maria, but she claimed to be okay – well, at least she had said she was. ‘Everything is fine’ had been her lame response to his text that morning about the night he had just disappeared. Combined with her non-existent interest in meeting him for lunch yesterday, it made it all too obvious that nothing was fine, but what was the matter anyway? Before, if she’d been mad, she’d told him, so why not now? She couldn’t run tomorrow at the shoot, he thought. He’d ask her then and Courtney wouldn’t be there to put any pressure on him.

“Earth to Michael,” Isabel said and went to the kitchen to wave a hand in front of his eyes.

He blinked and looked at her, stunned. “Sorry, did you say somethin’?”

She rolled her eyes. “I said I was sorry about how things went on Tuesday.”

“Not your fault Evans doesn’t know when to back the fuck off.”

“He’s probably just on edge about his own stuff. And I know I’ve said things before as well, so… I’ll try to stay out of your business. She’s your girlfriend and I don’t have to like her. You don’t usually like my boyfriends either.”

“That’s fair enough,” he said with a shrug, trying to hide the fact that deep down it bothered him that she was so openly admitting that she didn’t like Courtney. “Although you can’t deny the fact that your ex was a major dick.”

“We’re all entitled to our mistakes.”

He shook his head and turned to dig through the refrigerator, pulling out a cardboard pizza box from Sal’s. “Be nice if people would quit assuming she’s a mistake.”

“You’re surprisingly sensitive about this subject, little brother. You know I have no problem sharing my opinion, and if that’s what I had meant to say, I would’ve just come right out and said it.” She held a hand up when he started to interrupt. “Look, you were very vocal about your opinion of Richard, and as it turns out, you were right, but the point is I didn’t appreciate it at the time. Maybe I’m wrong and Courtney’s a perfectly lovely person, but I don’t imagine we’ll ever be friends.”

“This’s a fun conversation, Iz, but I’ve got a few errands to run before my shift.”

“Fine, but you’re missing the point I’m trying to make.”

“Whatever it is, you’re takin’ too long to get there and I’ve got shit to do.”

She rolled her eyes at his retreating back and followed him down the hall to his room. “I’ll be nice to her and I’ll respect your feelings for her – which, consequently, is more than you did for me with Richard – but that doesn’t mean we’re just gonna suddenly become best friends.”

He stopped and turned to look at her speculatively. “So, you’ll make an effort to make her feel more part of the group?”

“Yeah,” she agreed slowly, “but you have to be willing to compromise a little bit, Michael.”

“And so do you.” He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her. “You’ve got an extra ticket to that stupid spa thing, right?”

Oh, hell! Think quick, Guerin! “Well, yes and no. I did have an extra ticket, but I asked Alex and he’s gonna go.” She sighed when he gave her a disbelieving look before going into his room and slamming the door in her face. “You can’t just force her into group situations and expect everyone to be excited about it, Michael! And there’s nothing I can do if the tickets have already been given out!”

Isabel sighed when there was no response and she knew the conversation was over. Stubborn man! “Well, goodbye to you too, Michael. I’ll see you at Max’ studio tomorrow and you’d better be nice then.”

She turned on her heel and stalked to the front door, resisting the urge to slam it the way her brother had a moment ago. Okay, her excuse for the spa had really been lame. Alex? Really? As if she would ever invite a man to such a thing! Well, obviously she had to now, because there was no way she would admit to Michael that she’d lied about it. How could he really think she would invite Courtney out for a spa day? It would be hell for Maria – not that the dump head knew that.

The elevator opened just as she reached it and she jumped inside and rode down, ready to hit the gym since it was rather empty this late in the day. “Goodbye, Miss Guerin,” the doorman said politely and held the door open for her.

She smiled at him and passed, following the wide empty sidewalk towards the gym. It wasn’t long before the recent and all-too-familiar feeling of being followed washed over her and she turned around quickly but couldn’t see anyone in the semi-dark street. I’m going nuts.

With a little hurry in her step she kept walking and forced herself around for another turn when she heard footsteps echoing behind her. Her eyes narrowed on a shadowy spot, trying to determine if someone was hiding there or not and as soon as she saw a little movement her heart started to beat crazily.

It was still a few blocks to the gym and she cursed quietly for parking her car over there earlier instead of looking for a parking space at her brother’s place. Her gaze went back to the building she had just come from; it wasn’t far and she could go back to Michael’s and wait there for a while or maybe ask him if he could drop her at the gym. Nodding to herself she went back the way she had just come, crossing the street so she didn’t have to pass that dark alley again.

When footsteps sounded behind her again she didn’t turn around this time and kept moving until she reached the entry to the apartment building again.

“Miss Guerin, you forget something?” the doorman asked politely as he held the door open again.

“Yeah, yeah, something like that,” she muttered, not really paying attention to the man. Her movements only stopped when she reached the elevator.

With a quiet ‘ding’ the doors opened and Michael stepped out, carrying a bag over his shoulder and frowning at her. “You still here?”

“Uh, yeah. Aren’t you taking your car?” It was normally parked in the underground parking for the building and could also be reached by the elevator.

“Subway’s much faster most of the time. Especially in the morning when I’m comin’ back home.”

“Right,” she nodded. Damn, she had hoped for a ride.

“And you’re still here because…?”

“Oh, I just remembered that Alex needed something from work, so I’m gonna…” she pointed at the elevator and stepped inside.

“Whatever,” he said with a shake of his head. For a woman who was always straightforward and came across pretty cold at times, she definitely looked whipped. “Tell him I said hi.”

Isabel watched the buttons light up as each new floor was passed and she found herself thinking about how much had changed in a few short months. The bell dinged and the doors opened with a quiet whisper when she reached Alex’ floor and for a moment she considered just changing her mind. But the memory of footsteps echoing off of the buildings, the feeling of being watched, and the uncertainty she’d felt as she tried to decide if she had detected movement in the shadows had her rethinking her options.

She’d just go see if Alex was busy and if he’d mind some company for a while. He probably wouldn’t, she mused. They actually got along pretty good and they could carry on a decent conversation. Well, they were usually much better than just decent and given the chance they could talk for hours, but there was no need to get carried away.

Forcing her feet to move and nearly getting squished when the doors almost closed on her she squeezed between them and hurried down the hall. She took a deep breath and forced herself to appear calm before knocking on his door and waiting. Someone on the floor below her dropped something and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

Alex pulled his door open and tried in vain to hide a yawn as he rested one hand on the doorframe over his head. “I hope you’re not here for a last-minute date because I’m tired and I don’t think I’d be suitable company.”

“You don’t have to be suitable company to let me hang out on your couch while I’m waiting for my brother to get home.”

He dropped his arm and stepped back, motioning for her to come inside. He scratched the back of his head as he closed the door behind her. “I thought he was home.” He yawned again. “Guess I’m hearin’ things. Wanna drink while you’re waiting?”

“Maybe water if you have it.” She made a face. “Bottled, not tap.”

“No problem. Why’re you waiting for Michael?”

“Oh, I was there earlier to talk to him about Courtney and I forgot my keys at his place when I left. I didn’t realize it until later and by then he was gone. I think he said he wanted to run some errands.” She felt bad for lying to him, but the truth would just bring up a discussion she didn’t want to have right now.

“Want me to call him?”

“You have his number?” she asked, surprised when he handed her the water.

“He gave it to me recently,” he shrugged and pulled out his cell.

“You don’t need to call him. I already tried and he must’ve left it at home because he’s not answering or anything.”

“Okay,” he really wasn’t convinced by her story. She had her bag with her so why would she have dropped her keys off at her brother’s place? And why would he leave his cell at home anyway? “So how’d it go?”

“Huh?”

“The talk about Courtney? “

“Oh, well, not as good as I had hoped,” she wrinkled her nose. “And that just reminds me of something. How do you feel about a spa day?”

“A spa day?” he asked with some amusement and plopped down on the couch, gesturing for her to have a seat as well.

“Yeah. Let’s say with me an’ the girls.”

Alex just laughed. “Are you serious? Isn’t that a girls-only thing?”

She made a face. “Yeah, usually but my brother had this brilliant idea that I should invite Courtney and I kinda told him I’d already invited you so you have the last ticket... sorry.”

“You kinda told him,” he mused and shook his head. “You’re bad.”

“I know,” she sighed. “But I couldn’t let her have it, Alex. And I couldn’t tell him the truth because Maria would kill me.”

“One day he’s gonna have to know.”

“True, but from her mouth not mine.”

“Well, that’s the smartest way to go with that situation,” he agreed. “So, what exactly does a guy do at a spa?”

“Spa things, I don’t know. I’ve never really paid much attention to what men do there.”

He braced his elbow on the back of the couch and rested his chin in his hand as he looked at her, his gray eyes teasing. “Your ex strikes me as the manicure type.”

“He was all about appearances.” She shrugged, thinking about it, and then laughed quietly. “He did spend a lot of time on himself. I guess that should’ve been a red flag. I mean, I have no problem with a guy taking care of himself, but there’s a point when it does become a little much.”

“And that point would be what? When he’s in the bathroom getting ready in the mornings or to go out and he takes longer than you do?”

She rolled her eyes and gave him a little shove. “That didn’t happen. Okay,” she admitted after a moment, “it didn’t happen ALL the time, but there were times when he would take a ridiculously long amount of time to get ready to go out.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled, “that probably should’ve made you wonder about the guy. You wanna look good when you’re goin’ out with your girl, but there’s something seriously wrong if it takes you longer to get ready than it does for her. We’re guys, there’s only so much we can do.”

“Or I’m just a natural beauty who doesn’t need any time at all,” she joked.

Alex’ gray eyes moved over her slowly. “I won’t argue about that,” he muttered and shook himself to make him stop staring. “I was about to warm up some leftover Chinese for dinner. You want some?”

“Yeah, why not,” she smiled at his obvious attempt to change the subject. It was sweet and so different from the other men she had dated. “Want me to help?”

“Oh no, I’ll get it. Just make yourself comfortable.”

She followed him anyway when he went to the kitchen, interested in the rest of his apartment. “You warm it up in the microwave?”

“Well…” he looked down at the food and then shrugged, “ …yeah?!”

“You don’t know anything about good warmed up Chinese food.”

“Okaaay, and what’s the big secret to properly heating it up?”

“Let me handle it. I just need a pan.” She grabbed the cartons of food from him and looked at him intensely when he didn’t move. “A pan, Alex.”

“Right,” he turned and bent down to get one out. “Here we go.”

She grabbed it from him and made a waving motion with her hand. “And now out.”

“Throwing me out of my own kitchen, huh?” He chuckled, but did as he was told, heading back into the living room. A few books were sprawled on the table and he collected them all to carry them to his bedroom, tripping when he almost fell over her bag on the floor.

“Shit,” he muttered and threw the book in the armchair to collect a few things that had fallen out of her bag. His movements stopped when he saw the large key ring lying on the floor. For someone who had forgotten her keys at their brother’s apartment she still had a lot of them in her bag, he thought with a frown.

sarammlover: Lol, Alex had no idea what was waiting for him when he answered his door. Alex isn’t likely to bring them up. You know how he is… he waits and lets Isabel come to him. Dr. Rodgers could prove to be very helpful if Max allows it.

Earth2Mama: That’s always a possibility.

Dr. Rodgers was smart to take the session in that direction. Getting Max to work out some of his issues through writing was a good move. He does love Liz and Aaron very much

killjoy: Lol, well, Alex may not have jumped at the invitation, but he didn’t turn it down either.

CandyliciousLovah: Yeah, that wouldn’t go over well, would it? Although his snooping was unintentional… the snooping going on in the other room…

pandas2001: Yeah, in spite of their issues they do their best to pull together and have each other’s backs.

That would be a nice break for Alex. And yeah, no way around it, pushing Courtney on the girls won’t go over well and Isabel wasn’t about to put any of them in that position, not even Courtney.

Michael’s in a position he’s never been in before and he’s gonna make some mistakes. He’s trying hard to make things work, but what he hasn’t figured out is that he’s maybe trying too hard while fighting an uphill battle and maybe he needs to take a step back and really think about what he wants.

Isabel’s trying to get to that point, but unfortunately in that position it’s easy to slip into denial. One thing that holds her back with telling Michael is she knows how he’ll react. He isn’t going to have a civilized chat with Richard and he could get into trouble. But, she is still with Alex, so who knows what the evening may bring?

That really said it all, didn’t it? Max will do whatever it takes to keep his family together.

Natalie36: There is a lot going on and we’ll spend a little more time with Isabel and Alex in this next part.

keepsmiling7: Dr. Rodgers has an approach that may just be very beneficial to Max.

somewhere87: Yes, it is, lol.

He’s still figuring things out where relationships are concerned.

Alien_Friend: Dr. Rodgers can see just how important it is to Max to keep his family together and even though he’s uncomfortable being there he’ll do what it takes to make that happen. The good thing is she may have just found the perfect way to get him to open up.

We’ll be catching up with Alex and Isabel in today’s update so perhaps she’ll open up a bit. Lol, you know how Alex is, he pushes a little and prods a bit, and hopes she’ll confide in him.

Wow, could you imagine the drama if Courtney had gotten invited along on spa day? Talk about mudslinging!

Michael’s really struggling with a lot of things right now, but eventually some of them will become clearer for him.

Talking to Max’ lawyer is a smart move. If they approach the subject and things go south they could cause more damage to his case.

Lol, it never hurts to have hope. And we all know that Michael knows Maria’s the girl for him deep down inside… so deep down inside that he’s completely blind to it.

Um, well, not exactly. The day we’ve all been waiting for will begin in the following part and it will take several parts to cover it.

begonia9508: You’re so right! It is dangerous and being followed definitely scared her.

LovelyPOM83: Thank you! Opening up in such a way is a difficult thing and Max is used to bottling certain things up rather than dealing with them. That’s Dr. Rodger’s line of thinking as well! For Max to really do as she’s asking he’s going to have to face his past and finally come to some sort of peace with it.

xilaj: Max’ case is still far from being closed, but they getting a step closer to prove his innocent and eventually we will get there.

He’s also not happy to have to go to the sessions in exchange of getting Aaron back, but we know, he’d do everything for Liz and the boy and in the end he will see the bigger picture – that it actually helped him as well.

The situation of Isabel/Alex/Richard is definitely worsening and something should happen soon…

Not yet, but the photo shooting is just around the corner.




Part 126

Twisted


Isabel took a moment to peek into his cabinets and refrigerator while she was reheating the food and she shook her head at the meager contents. Either he ate out a LOT or his leftover Chinese takeout was an extravagance and he existed on bologna sandwiches, possibly mixing it up and alternating on some days with peanut butter and jelly. There were a few other things: ramen noodles, eggs, frozen pizzas, and a bag of store brand frozen hash browns. All in all, it was a sad selection.

She looked around the kitchen and wondered if it was so clean because he didn’t do much cooking or if it was because he cleaned up after himself that well. With him she had a feeling maybe it was somewhere in the middle. She knew the living room was kept pretty straight but it wasn’t like he dusted on a regular basis.

“Find what you were looking for?”

His voice startled her and she whirled around to look at him. He was leaning in the doorway, long arms dangling at his sides. He shifted to slide his right hand into the pocket of his jeans and his lips curved up in a smile as he watched her scramble for a suitable answer.

“You don’t eat very well,” she said after a moment.

He chuckled. Her response was neither a confirmation nor a denial. “I get what I need.”

“When’s the last time you had a decent meal? I know you like breakfast because you packed it away when we were at the beach house.”

“I like lots of things, just don’t like the price tag that goes with them. Fry up some hash browns, scramble some eggs, mix ‘em all together and you’d be surprised how filling that is. And if I really want something that resembles meat with breakfast I can always fry up some bologna.” He laughed at the look on her face. “C’mon, Isabel, don’t tell me you’ve never had a fried bologna sandwich.”

“Um, no, I haven’t.” She rolled her eyes at him and turned to the pan to turn the food. “Where do you keep the plates?”

He chuckled and walked up behind her to reach into the cupboard above her. “Thought you’d already checked everything out.”

“Not everything,” she grinned over her shoulder.

“Well, good, keeps the mystery alive,” he placed the plates next to her on the counter and stayed where he was when she turned to face him and pointed the spatula at him.

“Well, I don’t think you’re so easy to figure out at all, Alex.”

“Neither are you, Isabel Guerin. Neither are you.” And the most recent puzzle was: Why was she here when she obviously had her keys? Was she really waiting for Michael?

“It’s all about keeping yourself interesting,” she winked at him.

“I have a feeling that’ll never be a problem for you.” He shook himself when he realized he was staring again. He moved over to the refrigerator and pulled the door open, reaching inside for a couple bottles of water. “So, are you stuck going to that meeting at work?”

“Meeting?” she asked as she filled the plates and carried them over to the small table situated in the corner. “Oh, you mean the one o’clock thing on Monday?” She placed the plates on the table and shook her head. “The director likes to have those once a month or so just to see if anyone has any complaints, compliments, or issues that need to be aired.”

“Really,” he mused. “I don’t remember the last time I had a boss who seemed to care one way or the other.”

She found the drawer with the utensils and frowned at the assortment of plastic spoons, forks, and knives. “Um… where’re the real forks?”

He laughed and motioned to her right. “You’re in the takeout drawer. It never fails, when I stop anywhere and put in an order to go they always put in two of everything as far as that stuff goes. Now if I actually wanted two of everything I’d be lucky if I got even a single fork or straw.”

That actually made sense. “Mitchell Osborne isn’t your typical director. He likes to know what’s going on in his hospital and he likes to know that his people are satisfied with their jobs. If there’s a problem he wants to know what it is and he wants to hear possible resolutions. He doesn’t use everyone’s suggestion or idea, but he listens and if he can use someone’s suggestion to make things easier or solve a problem, he does it.”

“Well, that’s good to know. Maybe the meeting won’t be that bad after all.” Alex held her chair for her on his way to grab a glass for her water. He filled it with ice before grabbing a pint of chocolate chip ice cream from the freezer and setting it on the counter to soften just a little bit. “So, things going okay? No more harassing calls or unexpected encounters with your ex?”

She avoided his eyes and used her fork to push the food on her plate from one side to the other. Richard hadn’t directly approached her again, but there was still the feeling that someone was following her.

Alex stopped with his spoon halfway to his mouth and looked at her. “Isabel?” His tone was slightly alarmed. “Has he come after you again?”

“I’m not sure,” she placed her flatware aside and leaned back in the chair. One the one hand, she really didn’t want to talk about it, but on the other hand, Alex was the only one who knew about the little problem in the first place.

“What’s that mean?”

“It means I’m not sure,” she said helplessly. “Sometimes I think someone’s following me, but it might just be a feeling, it’s hard to say. Maybe it’s just my imagination after everything that’s happened.”

Although he wanted so badly to tell her he was sure it wasn’t just that and that she needed to wake up and do something about it, he stayed calm because he knew anything else would just send her straight out the door. “That the real reason why you’re here?” he asked softly and reached over the small table to place his hand over hers where it rested next to the plate.

“My brother isn’t home.”

He felt her hand tense beneath his, the tautness in her body warning him to take it easy and not push too hard. “No, I know he isn’t. He’s been pulling the night shift for a while now.” He settled back in his chair and concentrated on his food for a moment. “Ya know, whatever you did to this really does make it taste better than if it was reheated in the microwave.”

She relaxed slightly. “Little bit of seasoning, don’t reheat it too fast, and you end up with something edible.”

“Bet you couldn’t work that magic on a cold cheeseburger and fries from McDonalds,” he teased.

“No one could revive cold food from McDonalds.” She shook her head and smiled slightly. “If you don’t eat it hot, don’t even waste your time.” They ate in silence for a few minutes before she lifted her head to look at him. “So you and Michael are getting along now?”

He shrugged one shoulder and got up to grab the pint of ice cream. “I’d say it’s more a matter of we’ve reached an understanding.”

“You understand Michael?” She lifted an eyebrow. “Well, that’s good, but most of the time I don’t.”

Alex chuckled. “That’s probably a sibling thing.”

“Probably, yeah.” She looked up at him. “He’s a good man to the people he cares about. An overprotective brother sometimes, and an annoying ass as well, but he never does anything to hurt his friends on purpose.”

“I’ve figured out that much about him already,” he agreed. “You all kinda have the tendency to come across pretty rough and tough from the outside, but I guess it’s like they say: First impressions aren’t always the right ones.”

“Think that goes both ways.” She sighed. “We didn’t have a good start either and I know I was a bitch to you pretty much all the time. And this arrangement about the whole I pay you for being my fake boyfriend,” she chuckled bitterly, “it was really low and just for the record it’s over.”

He nodded. “So, what’s that mean… for us?” He gestured between them a little helplessly.

“That we’re friends without the payments.”

“So… we’re friends without benefits,” he teased, his gray eyes lit with amusement.

“You have the best possible benefit,” she said as she leaned over to steal a bite of his ice cream.

“Hey!”

“You can’t just bring ice cream to the table and then not share.”

He used his spoon to prevent her next attack on his dessert. “What’s the benefit?”

“Hmm? Oh, that,” she waved her fork dismissively, using it to distract him so she could sneak another bite. “You get the pleasure of my company.”

He snorted. “A while back I wouldn’t have used the word pleasure to describe any interaction with you.” His expression turned serious. “I’m happy to say that my initial assumptions about you weren’t without error.”

She made a face at his choice of words. “Thanks. I think.”

“So, if you’re not paying me to go out with you anymore…?” He waited until her eyes focused on him. “Maybe you’d like to go out for dinner one night?”

He was asking her out, she thought and while she couldn’t do anything about the little freak out going on inside of her, she didn’t reveal it to him. “You think that’s such a good idea, because of… you know…” Gosh, now she couldn’t even say her ex’ name anymore?

“I think it’s my best idea,” he told her and held the spoon with ice cream out for her.

Her eyes focused on it for a brief moment, but second thoughts were pushed away quickly and she leaned in to take it into her mouth, very aware of his gaze following the movement.

“You can’t put your life on hold for him. He needs to move on and so do you.” Her ex wasn’t to be trusted though, Alex thought. He wasn’t convinced the guy would just drop Isabel because too much had already happened, but he’d rather stay with her and get some insight into things rather than stay away from her as she had suggested a while ago.

Her eyes didn’t leave his face while she tried to make a decision. She didn’t want to put her life on a hold for that asshole, but she didn’t want to get Alex into any kind of trouble either.

“Ex-asshole aside,” he leaned on the table when he realized the warring thoughts going on inside her, “would you say yes if he wasn’t in the picture?”

Isabel nodded slowly.

“Then we’ll have dinner,” he told her with a wink.

*****

Richard sat up straighter and stared hard at the apartment across the street when the curtains moved. Or at least he thought they had. After a moment he heaved a disappointed sigh and leaned back in his chair. Where could she be? It was late, too late for her to be out when she had the early shift the next morning.

He shook his head and folded his arms over his chest. He had never liked it when she went out with her friends, partying or clubbing, when he hadn’t been accompanying her. It just wasn’t right for an engaged woman to behave in such a manner. Going out unescorted and hanging out in clubs or bars. It just wasn’t proper.

A knock at the door caused him to jump and after taking a moment to calm his nerves he got up and went to answer it. He peered through the peephole and rolled his eyes as he leaned back to unlock the door and pull it open. “It’s late,” he said by way of greeting.

“And you’re still stalking her.” His visitor shrugged insolently and entered the apartment, moving around like he had a right to be there. “You won’t see her tonight.”

“That’s ridiculous. She wouldn’t just go out and not come home. Well,” he said, thinking about that, “she might stay at her brother’s place if she’s not safe to drive herself home.”

“Or she might spend the night with one of her brother’s neighbors.”

Richard’s eyes narrowed when he looked out the window again, his gaze locked on the dark windows across the street. She was staying with that scum? “His apartment’s below her standards. She’s not going to stay the night over there.”

“If you feel better believing that,” the other man in the room shrugged. There hadn’t been any lights on in her brother’s apartment and he had left for work after she’d gone back into the building.

“We need to find a way to get rid of Alex Whitman.”

“We?” The man lifted one eyebrow. He shoved his hands into his pants pockets as he spoke, his tone cool. “Somethin’ like that would cost significantly more than what you paid me to plant drugs in some guy’s car.”

Richard’s eyes widened as he turned to his visitor, the thoughts turning over in his mind faster than he could track them. “You would do that?”

The man shrugged and leaned one shoulder against the doorjamb. “That all depends on what you’re willin’ to pay. You want him to take a serious beating we can work that out for around what you paid me to do the other job. You want me to break an arm or leg we’re lookin’ at around ten grand. You want him dead we’re talkin’ twenty-five grand.”

“I don’t think it’s necessary to kill him.” What if he did it though? What if he paid this degenerate to remove the other man permanently? With Whitman out of the picture, Isabel would seek him out once again, he was certain of it. He didn’t know why she was slumming it with the guy and he didn’t really care. All that mattered was she belonged to him and she needed to be reminded of that fact.

“You think on it and lemme know what you wanna do.” He straightened and reached for the doorknob. He could see the coward trying to decide on a course of action. Guys like him only reached into the gutter for his services because they weren’t man enough to handle their own problems.

Richard nodded absentmindedly. All it would take was one phone call and all of his problems would go away. He needed to weigh his options and determine the best path.

*****

Liz sighed with relief when the alarm clock on her nightstand showed it was almost eight in the morning. Finally!

She reached out to switch the alarm off before it even had the chance to go off and swung her legs over the edge of her bed. Sleep didn’t come easy in spite of the new apartment and the comfy bed. Whenever things got quiet her thoughts went running to her brother and got a hold of her, which made it impossible to sleep. Or to sleep very long, she thought in frustration and got up, feeling every muscle in her body making their exhaustion known.

As soon as she opened her door and stepped out into the hallway she could hear the sounds coming from the apartment and her clouded mind became lighter at the sound of Maria’s and Tess’ voices as they sang along with the radio. In a very short time she had learned to love their company and it felt like her life in New York had only recently started to make real sense.

“Such a good mood so early in the morning?” she asked as she joined them in her panties and a tank top only, which matched the clothing choices of the other girls in the room.

“Sorry, did we wake you up?” Tess looked over her shoulder briefly before she concentrated back on her task of flipping the pancakes in the hot pan.

“Nah,” she waved her off. “I’ve been awake since five. Again!”

“Ungh, that sucks,” Maria made a face and sipped her coffee. “I’ve been up since four if it helps though.”

“Nervous about the shoot?”

“Not nervous,” she shook her head.

“She so is,” Tess clarified and walked up behind her blonde friend to place a pancake on her plate. “His hands will be on you all day, don’t tell me you’re not twisting your panties in anticipation, Maria.” She grabbed another plate from the counter and slid it over to Liz after putting food on it as well.

“I’d be nervous too,” Liz admitted.

“I’m trying to not get too excited,” Maria poked her pancake and then glared at Tess. “And you’re no help. I’ve done my best to ignore your brother the last couple of days so how well do you think things will work out today? Nothing will happen.”

“Just hope it doesn’t end in a disaster with Max and him being in one room the whole day,” Liz snorted, remembering Wednesday night in Central Park.

“Good thing they’re not putting a real tat on you,” Tess said and giggled. “You’d be like one giant pincushion while they argued back and forth.”

“There’s an image I’d rather not have.” Maria made a face and got up to get the milk. “And if those two go at it they’re not gonna be arguing. They’re gonna be throwing punches and breaking shit over each other’s heads.”

“I think Max and Michael are gonna have to fight it out, one way or the other. There’s just too much going on there,” Liz commented as she reached for the milk and filled her glass.

Tess snorted. “Yeah, too much testosterone. I think a lot of it, at least on Max’s part, is the stress he’s been under lately. And Shitney doesn’t help matters any. If she’d just let it go the other day things would’ve just settled down. Isabel had stepped in and sent Alex in as the neutral party to diffuse the situation and what’d she do? Just jumped in and said she’d go with them to get the damn drinks.”

“Yeah, and Max really doesn’t like her,” the brunette agreed. “He has been under a lot of stress but I think now that he’s got the first couple of sessions with Dr. Rodgers under his belt he’ll ease up a little. Not completely maybe because something about Courtney just sets him off. I don’t think he’s even pinpointed exactly what it is about her he doesn’t like, but whatever it is, there’s no way to pretend it isn’t there. But he’s gonna swing by in a little bit to give me a ride to work so I’ll remind him to try to behave.”

“Tell him he has to or no sex,” Tess suggested.

“Um, I love you guys, but I’m not about to punish myself for his attitude with Courtney.” She froze with her fork halfway to her mouth when she realized what she had just said and she mentally cringed when she felt her face heat up and the girls started laughing. She wasn’t a prude or anything, but damn, she usually kept thoughts like that to herself!

“Well, remind him anyway, it could help,” Maria emptied her glass of milk. “I don’t wanna be stuck in an awkward situation all day because Michael and Max can’t get along. Tell your boyfriend it’s my business to deal with the girlfriend, not his.” She rubbed her forehead. “I don’t want him to stress out over Courtney or get into fights with Michael just because he thinks he needs to be loyal to me or something.”

“I’m sure it’s not just that,” Liz said, but she nodded anyway. She had a point. Max really was loyal to Maria, he respected the girl and her strength, so yeah… maybe part of his reasons for disliking Courtney so much could stem from his friendship with Maria. “I’ll advise him to stay out of it.”

“Thanks. The last thing I need today is the two of them going at each other. And you know how that goes. In the end Michael will know everything about me an’ my stupid changing feelings. He’s not dumb.” Gosh, please save me from an embarrassment like that.

“When’re you meeting them?” Tess sneaked a bite of her friend’s pancake when she noticed she wasn’t eating it anymore.

“Some time around lunch. I’ll stop by the hospital this morning to visit Cody and Kyle and then go in to suffer hours and hours of painting.” Just the thought of Michael’s hands being on her body made her shiver. Stop it!

“I’m gonna go visit Kyle after work, and then I’ll come straight to the tat shop too.”

“Me too. Right after finishing my shift,” Liz agreed.

*****

Isabel scrunched up her nose and rolled over, snuggling deeper into the cushions of the couch and dodging the light trying to penetrate her closed eyelids. She was in that hazy state, somewhere between awake and asleep, trying desperately to hold onto that comfortably warm place where reality was the dream.

Across the room Alex was leaning on the kitchen counter, blearily watching the coffee pot fill in between glances at his overnight guest. They had sat up late, later than they should have considering she had the early shift this morning. He actually had the day off and he planned to enjoy it. He was going to visit his sister and after that he was thinking about stopping by Max’s studio since he knew Michael would be there most of the day.

He and Isabel had talked at great length about the situation brewing between her brother and Max. She was concerned about the way his relationship with Courtney was affecting the dynamics of their group and he knew her concerns were valid. There were indicators that the group was showing signs of fracture and it was pretty obvious to him that sides were being chosen, with or without intent.

Maybe by being there he could diffuse some of the tension between Max and Michael. It might not make a difference, but he would at least try. He didn’t see Courtney as a bad person and he couldn’t see Michael as public enemy number one simply because he was blind to Maria’s feelings for him and he was making a genuine effort with another girl. He knew there was a lot of talk about Maria maybe making some sort of move and he didn’t know how wise that play would be. It could totally backfire on her and end with things worse off than they were now.

He straightened up when Isabel shifted again, giving in to the insistent light pulling her to wakefulness. He shuffled around the kitchen, trying to ignore the fact that she wasn’t wearing anything but one of his old tee shirts while stealing glimpses of her in any reflective surface available.

Isabel yawned widely and sat up, expecting her back muscles to hurt from sleeping on the couch, but surprisingly they didn’t seem to mind at all. “G’morning,” she greeted him in a sleepy voice and tugged on the edges of the tee shirt to hide most of her thighs, although her legs weren’t anything that needed to be hidden.

“Good morning to you too,” he greeted with a smile and held a mug up. “Coffee?”

“Definitely,” she rubbed her face. “Black for me in the mornings.”

“I put out a fresh towel in the bathroom in case you wanna shower before leaving.” Alex went to the coffee machine and filled her mug, loving the smell of the freshly brewed liquid.

“Thanks, but I think I’ll do that at home. I need to head there before work anyway and I’ve intruded on your space long enough.”

He snorted. “Intruded isn’t really the right word, Isabel.”

“No?” She lifted an eyebrow. “What is then?”

“Hmm,” he leaned back against the counter while he thought about it. “How about pleasured? Yeah, you pleasured the place with your presence.”

Isabel laughed and got up, her hair unruly but still beautiful in his eyes. “It was a pleasure to pleasure your place then.” She took the mug from him and winked when their hands touched with the move.

His pulse rate nearly tripled and he just hoped she couldn’t tell.

“I really appreciate you letting me crash here last night, Alex,” she said when he seemed to be tongue-tied.

“Anytime,” he hurried to assure her.

“I should really be getting ready to go. I don’t have long before my shift starts.”

“Isabel?” He called her name when she turned away. “Are you gonna talk to Michael about what’s going on with Richard?”

She shook her head. “He’s got enough to deal with right now.”

Had he expected her to answer any differently? But he only nodded, letting her know he accepted her decision. It was time to have that talk with Michael that he’d been putting off in the hope that she’d come to her senses. He waited until she had dressed and come back out. “Can I at least accompany you on your way home?”

She bit her bottom lip while she considered his offer. Was it smart to walk around with Alex so openly when someone might be following her? She wanted him to stay out of this complication in her life but on the other hand she enjoyed his company – and not just because she felt safer when she wasn’t alone. “You don’t have to, but I wouldn’t say no either.”

He smirked and held a hand out to her. “Let’s go then. I need to stop for some groceries on my way back anyway.”

She took it without a second thought and let him pull her towards the door gently. “Plans for today?”

“I’m gonna visit my sister and then have a look at the photo shoot I guess.”

“Really?” She chuckled. “Seems like we’re not that bad to hang out with.”

“No,” he laughed. “Guess you’re not.”

“Any news about your sister?” she asked as they walked out into the hallway and Alex turned the key to lock the door.

“No. Nothing at all.”

She remembered her plan to move his sister to a better place than the one she was in right now and made a mental note to talk to her boss today while Alex wasn’t around.

Natalie36: We’ll be getting that scene started in this next part.

Lol, we’ll see how the guys do.

Well, if all goes according to plan Shitney will be busy with her own job.

As for that talk… we’ll have to wait and see.

keepsmiling7: Thanks!

Ah, Liz just has a lot on her mind.

Lol, Liz definitely isn’t going to punish herself.

sarammlover: Alex would definitely have his hands full if he ever had to deal with Richard directly… or even indirectly.

Earth2Mama: It sounds like Richard was involved in that mess.

He is dangerous and now that we know he’s working with someone who obviously has no issue getting his hands dirty that makes him even more dangerous.

Eva: Richard has proven to be even more dangerous than we thought. He has no love for Alex and it’s apparent that Isabel’s concern about involving him in her life has some validity.

Yep, we’re finally getting there! We’ll have them in the studio before the end of this update.

CandyliciousLovah: Isabel really does need someone watching her back since Richard’s even more dangerous than she suspects.

begonia9508: Isabel’s sure she can handle Richard and she doesn’t want to be a burden to her family. But Alex has it in mind to have a talk with Michael whether she likes it or not.

xilaj: Yeah, lol, she’s still certain she can control the situation. Let’s hope Alex can avoid anything bad happening to him. You just never know what Richard has up his sleeve. He certainly prefers the ease of dealing with a situation with a mere phone call. Alex fully intends to have a talk with Michael even though he knows it’s likely to cause a setback with Isabel.

The relationship between Alex and Isabel is developing at a nice pace and it’s one they’re both comfortable with.

Lol, getting stuck between Max and Michael fighting would seriously suck! So far there’s been no suggestion that Courtney’s schedule could change. Keep your fingers crossed. Alex does have a unique way of seeing things and he also does his best to keep the peace between the guys.



Part 127

Turnabout vs. Backtrack

Michael dodged a group of teenagers and ignored them when a tall girl with pink spiked hair rolled her eyes at him. He supposed it hadn’t been all that long since he’d been their age and been so certain the world revolved around him. But still, it was annoying. The age difference wasn’t so great when he considered the fact that he was only four or five years older than some of the kids. Sometimes he felt decades older though.

The events of September 11th had forever changed him and altered his perception of the world. In so many ways he had grown up overnight. Any innocence he’d still had in his possession had been taken from him on a morning that had started like so many before. Oh, he still liked to party and mix it up, but there was a part of him that knew without a doubt that no one was invincible and life could change from one heartbeat to the next.

He shook those thoughts off, suddenly remembering why he had pulled his phone from his pocket. He needed to call Courtney, let her know he was thinking of her, and remind her to be careful while she was away. He glanced up to see where he was in relation to the tat shop because he wanted to take care of the conversation with his girlfriend before facing Max again.

He had no idea what he was gonna say to the guy, but they needed to get a few things straight. Some ground rules needed to be laid down because he was sick and tired of putting up with the shit Evans kept shoveling on him. He knew things were stressful for the guy, knew he had some personal issues he was working through, but that didn’t mean he could just start shit with Courtney to make him feel better. Okay, yeah, she didn’t do anything to make things any easier. She didn’t have any problem throwing fuel on the fire, but he’d already talked to her about it.

The drama had to stop. He was sick and tired of it. And now on top of everything else going on, something was up with Maria. She never turned him down for lunch or anything else without a good reason, but here lately it seemed like she was too busy doing things that, to be honest, sounded made up to him. Not to mention, she didn’t reply to texts or take his calls half the time and that was a recent thing too.

He snorted and punched in Courtney’s number. He’d get this conversation outta the way, give Evans a piece of his mind and tell him how things were gonna be from now on, and then he’d have hours of painstaking art to paint on Maria, which would force her to talk to him. He nodded to himself. She would talk to him. She always did.

“Hey, Michael,” her cheerful voice blew his thoughts away and he concentrated on his girlfriend.

“Hey, baby, how’s it goin’? You enjoying the pool and champagne already?” Michael stopped and leaned against the wall of a building to avoid at least some of the noise of the streets and passing people.

Courtney laughed. “No champagne yet, but the place is lovely. I wish you were here. They have whirlpools, super huge comfy chairs to snuggle in, and it’s not as hot as in the city.”

“Sounds about right,” he said and felt the sweat run down his back. It was another one of those freaking hot days, but there was never a point where he got used to such heat. “Have you done some shots already?”

“Nah, I’m still waiting, probably won’t be my turn until late afternoon. They said they want me for the beach photos, when the sun’s low in the sky. For now they’re concentrating on some bitchy twins. I really don’t like them, ‘cause they’re walkin’ around like they own the place,” she grumbled and made a face.

“Any men with you?” he teased.

“A few,” she told him, amused. “Male models, ya know?”

“Uh-huh, I heard most of them are gay.”

Courtney laughed, which brought a smirk to his lips as well. “I don’t know about that, but none of them can compare to you anyway.”

His chest rose proudly and unnoticed at her confession. “That’s right,” Michael replied smugly and glanced over at the tat shop where Max was just putting some signs up that announced the closing for the day and a party that night. “Hey, I need to go for now. Evans’s waiting for me.”

“I suppose telling you to say hi for me wouldn’t make much sense.”

He snorted. “I’ll tell him anyway.”

“You gonna call me again later?” she asked hopefully. The fact that he was going to spend all day with the people who were mostly against her still put a damper on her mood and she wasn’t sure if she should be bothered more by Max’ or Maria’s presence in the end.

“I’ll try. Not sure when I’ll get the chance though, so I’m not making any promises.”

“Alright,” she said, reluctant to let him off the cell already. “Have a good day.”

“You too, baby. Talk to ya later.” He hung up, because he had always hated to drag phone calls out with a lot of empty conversation.

Max was arranging everything they were going to need while he waited for everyone to arrive. He glanced up when the bell over the door rang, signaling someone entering the shop. He’d noticed Michael on the phone a few minutes before and he had been waiting for him to come in so they could get this over with.

Liz had expressed her concern about the situation between him and Courtney when he’d picked her up and as much as he hadn’t wanted to hear it, he knew she was right. He didn’t like the girl, but letting that get the best of him was only aggravating things between Michael and him, and in turn, it was creating more of a problem within their group.

“Guerin,” he greeted when the guy stepped into view.

“Evans,” the other man greeted back tightly, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans.

“Guess we might as well deal with the issue before everyone else gets here.” He shrugged. “No reason we have to spend the whole day bein’ tense around each other.” Not to mention the fact that if it continued they were gonna end up in a fight and he didn’t want it to come to that.

Michael walked further into the shop and pulled a few sketches out of his back pocket. “So lemme hear it. What’d I do wrong in your opinion?”

“Never said you did anything wrong.”

He blew the air out through his nose loudly. “So why’s everyone and especially you acting like it?”

“My issue has very little to do with you outside of the fact that you take my dislike of your girlfriend personally.”

“I take it personally when it seems like it’s too much for you to bear her at a night out together.” Michael walked closer to the man, glad that no one besides them was there yet. “You’re makin’ me choose between her an’ my friends, Evans, and I don’t like that.”

“I’m not makin’ you do anything. I don’t like her and I’m not gonna apologize for it. But at the same time I’ll find a way to get along with her.” Liz had been clear on that point. There was no point creating a rift in the group because he couldn’t keep his trap shut.

“You better. I have enough shit going on and I know you do too, but that’s no excuse.” He stopped, coming face to face with his friend. “How would you like it if one of us couldn’t get along with Liz and made it obvious? Would you dump her?”

“Like I said, Guerin, it has nothin’ to do with you and I’m not askin’ you to dump her.” Wouldn’t be sorry if you did though, he thought. “I was ready to walk away the other night. She’s the one who decided to invite herself along after the issue had already been settled. She doesn’t like me either.” He shrugged. “We’re the ones who have to find a way to deal with each other and that’s on us, no one else.”

Michael ground his teeth against each other before he could tell him that he didn’t need to jump on every opportunity available. Instead he nodded briefly. “Alright.”

Max shrugged one shoulder. “Alright.”

That was as good as it was gonna get for now. Michael glanced at the sketches on the table. “Wanna have a final look?”

“Yeah, sure.” He grabbed one of the stools and pulled it closer, settling on it and leaning in to examine the sketches. He studied them for several minutes and then ran his forefinger along the one in the middle. “I really like the lines of this one.”

“It could flow over her hip.”

“Um-hmm,” he mused. “The curve here would move around her thigh...” If Guerin wasn’t affected by this afternoon he was gonna be seriously worried about the guy.

“Yeah...” he leaned back against the table. “So, how’re we gonna put this massive thing on her?”

Max shook his head. “Very slowly and very carefully,” he muttered as he turned one of the other sketches around. “She’s gonna be wearin’ the bare minimum but there’re gonna be a few spots that’re gonna be tricky with this design.”

“Like?” Michael asked with a smirk.

“If you have to ask then you’re unfamiliar with the female body.” He shook his head. “We can work around those spots if need be. We’ll wait and see how much Maria’s comfortable with.”

“By the end of the afternoon she’ll be in a pissy mood from all the standing still so we’d better order some treats she likes.”

He smirked. “Already got that covered. Sal’s gonna send someone over later and Tess said she’d stop at that place Maria likes that has all that sweet stuff she loves to get her hands on.”

“My sister’s a genius,” he lifted his eyebrow. “Surprisingly.”

“Not all that surprising.” He glanced up from the sketches. “How far have you pushed Valenti since he’s been in the hospital? I mean, with him bein’ kinda depressed all the time.”

“He needs a kick in the ass now and then, but it could be worse I think. He’s in a pissed off mood for sure. We need to keep him distracted.”

“Your sister suggested he stay with her an’ the girls once the hospital discharges him.”

“I’ll eat my ass if he agrees to that,” Michael snorted. “Although, it might be the better option for him than staying with his parents.”

“The girls had that look they get when they have some new project in mind. He won’t be any match for them.”

“Guess it’s not a bad idea – although he probably thinks differently.” He looked out the shop window to the busy street. “Not sure where he an’ Tess stand but it seems like she’s doing him some good right now.”

Max watched him for a moment. “Yeah, who knows where that’s goin’?”

“I’m glad I don’t know.”

“Looks like all of your sisters are at least interested in decent guys.” He turned back to the sketches. “That’s gotta be some relief.”

“You think Valenti’s a decent guy?”

“Yeah, he’s no worse than you or me.” He smirked. “Hell, he might be better than both of us.”

“Not a chance,” Michael denied with a chuckle and grabbed one of the sketches. “Did you agree on what Maria’s gonna wear yet?”

“Oh, we’re definitely agreed.” He wondered what Guerin would think when he saw the outfit they’d chosen. “Graham was surprisingly helpful with the wardrobe choice.”

His friend lifted one eyebrow. “So... you gonna tell me? Show me?”

“Nope, you’ll have to wait for the unveiling.”

“When’s she gonna be here?” He had no clue because, well... she hadn’t really talked to him at all.

“Should be any time now. What about you? Ready to be photographed for an ad that’s gonna be visible right in the heart of the city?”

“I hope that Graham guy’s good.” He grinned and flexed the muscles of his right arm. “Been doin’ some extra training at the station when I have the time.”

“Good, maybe he’ll decide he likes you and leave me alone.”

“Doubtful, the guy has a thing for you, Evans.”

“Yeah, lucky me.”

“I’m pretty sure Liz will tell him when to stop, but maybe you don’t wanna get trapped in the back room with him.”

“No worries, I have no intention of giving him the slightest idea that I might’ve changed my mind.”

They both looked up when there was a knock on the back door of the studio. “Is Maria comin’ in from the back?”

Max frowned. “No clue.” He went into the other room and unlocked the door, surprised when he found Maria there. “Hey, why’re you comin’ through the back?”

“Hey,” she hugged him and then pointed over her shoulder. “Carter brought me an’ used your parking lot back here.”

“Oh, cool.” He lifted an eyebrow. “Guerin’s already here. You wearin’ it?”

“Of course I am.”

“I saw it,” Tony walked up behind her and mouthed a ‘damn hot’ towards Max.

He grinned and nodded. He knew how hot it was and there was no way his good buddy Guerin was gonna make it even part of the way through that painting without breaking a sweat.

“Hey, you got any coffee here, Evans? My shift starts in an hour and I’ve had a crazy morning.”

“Yeah, in back.”

They walked into the shop and stopped where their other friend was looking over the sketches again. “Hey, Michael,” she greeted him, trying to sound as normal as possible like she hadn’t been playing the avoidance game with him lately.

“Hey, RP, how’s it goin’?” he asked, wondering what to expect from her.

“Good, just been busy,” she smiled and even managed to stand on her tiptoes and brush a kiss against his cheek.

“Yeah, guess we’ve all been pretty busy.” Where was the exuberant hug he was used to getting from her?

“You ready?” she asked. “Seems like it’s gonna be a long day.

He nodded. “It’s gonna take quite a bit of time. You sure you’re gonna be able to be still that long?”

“Not sure,” she placed her bag on the table and looked at the sketches. “Maybe you’ll have to hold me still.”

“Guess it wouldn’t be the first time.” She’d never had much patience for being still for very long.

“When’re you planning the after show party?” Tony asked as he joined them, giving Michael a slap on the back with his free hand.

“After the show,” Max answered. “I’m not sure what time we’ll wrap up here. A lot depends on how long it takes for Guerin to get the job done.” He snorted. “I have a feelin’ it’ll take longer for that than it will for the actual photo shoot.”

“Aren’t you gonna help?” The man in question frowned.

“Yeah, but I’m used to workin’ on actual bodies... you aren’t.”

“Well, then you can do the painting.” That way he wouldn’t have to touch his best friend all day, which would totally work in his girlfriend’s favor.

“Chicken?” Maria dared before Max could speak up.

“No,” he glared at her. “But he’s right. I’ve never painted on a body.”

“If you’ve got reservations, now’s the time to tell me,” Max said as he listened to the conversation. “Let me know if I need to call Amber in for this before we get started.”

“I’m good,” he shook his head. All he said was if THEY thought someone else could do better then he wouldn’t be mad. Why the hell didn’t anyone seem to understand him anymore?

“Then let’s get this show on the road. Maria, let’s get you settled because this’s gonna take a while.”

“Alright,” she said a little nervously and glanced at her best friend briefly. Where was this day going to end?

“I’ll handle the first stage, work the outline, then give my hands a break and let Guerin take over.”

“Sure,” she pulled on her tank top to get it off. After the girls had left this morning she had taken a long bath and tried to get rid any inappropriate body hair, so hopefully she hadn’t missed anything since the guys would be looking at her for hours.

“You sure you’re not interested in a tat for real?” Max whistled in appreciation. “You’d be easy to ink.”

“I just got a new contract, not sure how a real tat would work with that,” she threw her tank top at him and glanced down to see if the tiny little black thing that was called a top, but really wasn’t more than a strapless bra, was still in place.

“Hey, love the look you’ve got goin’ on,” Tony said as he took the stool Max had abandoned.

“Nasty little things Graham has in storage, huh? Wait until you see the panties,” she smirked a little nervously and opened the button of her jean shorts.

“I can only imagine what that odd fella has in his closet,” he laughed. “C’mon, don’t drag it out. Let’s see the rest of it.”

“Am I in a strip bar or what?” She shook her head and pulled the zipper down, then dragged the denim fabric over her slim legs and kicked them off in Tony’s direction. The black panties were revealed, which hugged her ass high and tight. They didn’t reveal too much, though they sat very low on her hips – a thing Graham had chosen so the guys would have a lot of room to work.

“If you were the guys would be throwin’ more than dollar bills at you,” Max said with a grin. He nudged Michael as he moved past him. “Don’t you think so?”

“Yeah,” he muttered and cleared his throat slightly.

“I’ve gotta grab a few more things from the storeroom before we get started. Maria, you might wanna walk around for a few minutes because once we get started you’re gonna be stuck for a while.”

“I probably need to pee and then not drink anything for the rest of the day,” she rolled her eyes.

“Well, I’ve got a private bathroom in the back. The other one’s for the public and it’s kept clean, but I know how girls are about public bathrooms, so you’re welcome to the one in the back.”

“Cool,” she collected her clothes and placed them on a chair, then went for her bag to get a hair clip out so she could put her hair up for the painting.

Tony watched her, his gaze appreciative. “I wish I could stay here for the day and enjoy the show.” Especially the part Guerin was gonna play because the guy already couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. “But unfortunately, duty calls and that’s one call I can’t ignore.”

She smirked and went to him for a hug. Somehow he had become such an important friend in her life in such a short time that she wondered how things had been before him. “Be safe.” She leaned back. “You gonna be back tonight?”

“Yeah, I’m gonna swing by and pick Ava up on my way.” He winked at her. “Can’t wait to see how that artwork turns out.”

“Alright,” she let go of him. “Be safe, but well... I said that before, right?”

“You can never overdo it with that wish.” He kissed her cheek and whispered, “You be careful today. Don’t overplay your hand, let him come to you.”

“I’m in for some waiting then,” she replied dryly.

He smiled. “Better to wait for the real thing than settle for somethin’ that burns out quickly, right?”

She rolled her eyes. “Get outta here, Carter, and save your smarty pants advice for things that really need to be said and done.”

“There’re people who’d pay good money for my advice,” he teased as he made his way to the door.

“Alright,” Maria stretched when he was gone.

“So...” Michael started and then realized he had no idea what to say. Almost 20 years as best friends and he suddenly found himself tongue-tied around her. “How’s the new job? You already signed the contract?”

“Not yet. I’m goin’ in on Monday to make the deal and Graham said it’s likely they’ll book me for their new catalog shoot right after.”

“Does he work with them on a regular basis?”

“They’re a new label, so they’re just getting started, but he’s had a few shoots for them and I think he said his sister’s on the team there as well.”

“I’m glad things are workin’ out for you.” He hated the awkward, almost stilted, conversation between them but he didn’t know how to fix it.

“Thanks,” she didn’t know what else to say. It wasn’t like her life was anything near perfect and part of it was him, he just didn’t know it. “I’m gonna hit the bathroom so we can get started.”

“Right. I’ll just... go over the sketches again,” he mumbled and watched her walk away.

“You like the outfit?” Max asked him when he came back, carrying the airbrush set and several bottles of paint.

He shrugged. “It’ll be easy to work around.”

Max narrowed his eyes at him. “Are you gay or something? It’ll be easy to work around,” he mimicked in a dull voice and shook his head.

“What the fuck are you getting at?” he snapped.

“Just that pretty much any guy, friend or not, would’ve said sexy, hot as hell, damn fine or whatever.”

“She’s sexy as hell, alright? Are you satisfied now?” He shoved Evans away. “Would you leave me alone?”

Guerin was affected, he thought, satisfied. It was the only reason why he had reacted so agitatedly. “Let’s get started.”

“Don’t take all day with that outline,” he growled.

He bit back the question, not asking if he couldn’t wait to work on her. “It needs to be perfect, man. It’s advertisement for my shop.”

“Yeah, whatever. What time’s your photographer buddy supposed to be here?”

“Not until 5pm.”

“Guess that gives us plenty of time to get this thing finished.”

“Are you ready or what?” Maria leaned in the doorway.

Michael looked up, ready to fire back some witty remark when he saw her and his mouth went completely dry.

“You wanna do it standing or lying down?” Max teased.

She glanced at her best friend, satisfied to see that he was still apparently incapable of speech. “I’m not sure,” she mused. “Whatcha think, CB? Easier to do me lying down or standing up?”

“Huh?”

“I said, what’s easier for you?”

He shook himself out of his stupor. He was almost positive that wasn’t what she’d said but it’d look weird if he questioned it.

Max shook his head with a grin.

“Standing,” Michael finally said. Anything else wouldn’t work for the right proportions.

“I suppose doing it standing up has its advantages,” she said, her eyes sparkling with humor.

What the hell? He wondered if he looked as dumb as he felt right now. “Yep.”

Max ducked his head to hide his smirk. “I’m good either way, but there are definite advantages to doin’ it this way. Better position for full access.”

“Standing it is then,” she agreed and arranged the tiny bit material she was wearing again. This was going to be torture, she already knew it. And not just because of the long time standing up.

“We can work by the column over by the counter.” He looked up, his gaze quickly moving over Michael before landing on her. “You can lean against it for support and it’ll help if you need to stretch or anything.” Not to mention just how provocative the pose would be, he thought.

Eva: They do seem to be trying their best, don’t they? Lol, look for more of that today. And definitely keep those fingers crossed.

Earth2Mama: Lol, well, he’s happy to oblige.

The session will indeed be torturous for both parties. As to where it’ll lead… well, we’ll see soon.

keepsmiling7: Lol, well, he seems to be jumping in head first.

sarammlover: They’re far from being finished. Yep, that was definitely a good point!

begonia9508: Thanks!

Everyone’s entitled to their own opinion and Michael does have to understand and accept that.

We may just see more of speechless Michael.

Oh, don’t worry… Graham has it all planned out…

Natalie36: We’ll be seeing a lot of Michael and Maria in the next few parts.

CandyliciousLovah: More of the photo shoot coming up now!

xilaj: The photo shoot definitely will give him something, we yet have to find out what it is though, lol.

It’s a good thing, Max listened to Liz, the last we need right now is Michael and Max getting into it badly.

We sadly can’t have a look at the ad, but we have our fantasie.






Part 128

Something Clicked


“Sounds good,” she agreed and walked over to the spot Max had suggested. “Where do you wanna start? Front, back? Leg, neck?”

“I like to start at the back of the neck for somethin’ of this nature. The tat should begin there and wind its way down.”

Michael took a seat when Max went to place the equipment on the counter. The outline would take a while so he’d listen to some music while he waited.

“I think it’ll be easier to do the neck, shoulder, breast, and down the side, maybe right around the ribs, and then I’ll stop to give my hand a break. Michael can take over then to work on filling in the outline.”

“Get to work, Max,” she got into position and glanced at Michael briefly where he was slouched down in a chair, his earphones already in place. Was he really not interested or was it some kind of distraction he needed?

“Getting there, Deluca. Just keep your panties on.” He gave her a teasing grin. “Unless it’d be easier for you to work naked. I can do it either way.”

“Shut up, Max.”

“Alright, not as much fun, but it’ll probably get me in less trouble this way.” He finished putting everything in order and then reached for one of the bottles of ink and selected the brush tip he needed. “Let’s get to work.”

Michael lifted his gaze when they finally stated to work on the outline. Maria had her back to them while Max started the first lines on her slim neck. He could see how she shivered slightly when the paint that was probably cold hit her skin for the first time.

“Be still,” Max muttered, his concentration on the line he was drawing.

“Already giving orders, huh?”

He grunted. “You don’t wanna look like a five-year-old did a finger painting on your body, do you?”

“Your ad, not mine,” she teased.

“True, but it’s your face that’s gonna be up there, not mine.”

“You could be your own advertisement, you know that, right?”

Max snorted. “No one’s gonna pay good money to try lookin’ like me.”

“I disagree.” She let him work in silence for a while and decided she knew why his tats were so popular in town. Although she had no clue what a real tattoo felt like, his touches on her body were always light and never inappropriate.

He moved to his right, slowly bringing the line down over her shoulder and along the edge of her breast. Out of habit he started mentally reciting the first of what he knew would be many song lyrics as he worked.

Maria closed her eyes as she imagined Michael working on that part instead of Max and she already knew it was going to be torture. Experiencing what Courtney had for real? Who was she kidding if she didn’t admit to her jealousy?

Max finished the first part of the outline and faded it out so that it would blend flawlessly when he started again. He flexed his hand and leaned in to check his handiwork, nodding in satisfaction as he straightened up. “Okay, phase one is done.” He patted her back lightly as he backed away. “You’re up, Guerin.”

Maria looked at her best friend and swallowed. He didn’t look like he was looking forward to this and he had no clue how much that hurt her. “Can I move and stretch for a moment?”

“Think you can move right back into that pose?” Max asked even as he nodded for her to go ahead.

“Yeah, I just need to roll my shoulders,” she replied and moved from the counter.

“Need a little massage to loosen those muscles up?”

“Not yet, but I may take you up on that later.”

“Just holler if you do. It’s easy enough to end up with tight muscles when you’re in one position for so long.” He held his hands up. “Gonna wash up, be right back.”

“I think I’m good again,” she said after she had moved her arms in a stretching manner a few times.

Max grabbed a piece of paper off of the counter and wadded it up, throwing it across the room and hitting Michael square in the chest. “Hey, you’re up, let’s go.”

The other man pulled his earphones off and placed them on the table. “Alright,” he went over and had a look at Max’ work. Yeah, the guy knew to paint bodies. His eyes followed the outline and he swallowed when it went down so close to her breast.

Max was drying his hands a couple minutes later when he came back into the room and he tossed the towel over a nearby chair. He looked over at Michael and Maria, wanting to laugh at the look of forced concentration on the guy’s face.

“Okay?” Maria asked when she had her back to Michael and she bent her neck slightly to give him better access to paint. She could feel him step in closer, almost pressing his lower body against her.

“Yeah,” he grated out. How the hell did Evans do this all the time and manage to be unaffected? Damn it, she was his best friend! The last thing he needed was to start seeing her as an incredibly sexy woman. It was kind of hard to ignore when she was practically naked and he had his hands on her skin though. He could feel sweat breaking out on his back and it had nothing to do with the temperature in the room.

“Okay,” she said softly and tried to relax. His grip on her body wasn’t as light as Max’, or was it just that his touches felt more intense because of her attraction?

“How’s Cody doin’?” he asked to keep his mind off of her. He hadn’t been by to see the little man in a few days because the extra hours at work at left him exhausted and by the time he’d left the station he’d just been too wrung out to do anything but hit the sheets.

“As good as he can. They keep him connected to oxygen all the time, that bothers him most.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I can imagine. I’m goin’ by in the mornin’ to see him, thought I’d take him breakfast and a couple books about dolphins.”

“Yeah, he’ll be happy to see you. He asks about you like every other hour or so.”

“I wanted to get by and see him sooner but I would’ve just fallen asleep on him.”

“Yeah, I told him you needed to work a lot.”

He nodded and sighed. “I know he doesn’t really understand though.”

“No, he doesn’t, but that doesn’t have to make you feel guilty.”

“I know. I’d still like to be able to get by to see him more often.” He leaned back a moment to roll his shoulders. “Maybe things will slow down soon and the hours will be a little more reasonable.”

“I’m gonna tell him about Kyle tomorrow. I discussed it with Mom and we agreed we can’t put it off any longer.”

“Probably a good idea. I’m sure he’s been askin’ about him and it doesn’t do much good to put it off for long.”

“True. Maybe I can take him down for a visit now that he doesn’t look that scary anymore.”

“Y’know, that’d be good for both of ‘em.” He swallowed with difficulty as he started moving south and he inhaled slowly before going to work on the area outlined along the edge of her breast.

“Yeah. Thought so too,” she muttered. Okay, talking had worked as a distraction as long as it had been just her neck, but she knew it would fail now.

“So... the new job...” He struggled to keep his thoughts on what he was saying. It was just Maria! Why was he having trouble concentrating?

Gets me away from your girlfriend. “I think it could turn out to be pretty cool. My old company’s a bit pissed, but I told them they hadn’t had any good jobs for me recently anyway.”

“You think you’ll...” He rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand. Good grief, it was getting hot in here! “Um... travel, you think you’ll have to travel with this job?”

It was affecting him, she thought, satisfied. “I don’t know. I hope not too much. As much as I’d enjoy it, I wanna be able to visit Cody.”

“Yeah, that’s um...” he reached up to tug on his collar. “Evans, you wanna quit bein’ cheap and turn the AC on? Damn it, you know it’s over a hundred outside.” It was just the heat, that’s all it was. He was NOT being affected by his best friend THAT way! God, she smelled good though! “I mean, you know, I know you’ve always wanted to do some traveling...” Was he even still on the same conversation thread?

“Maybe one day,” she mumbled and closed her eyes when his free hand flexed on her hip. She shifted just the slightest bit and was annoyed by her physical reaction to him.

“The AC’s set to low, but I don’t wanna take it any lower. We don’t want Maria to catch pneumonia,” Max called from the other room with a grin.

“Right,” he muttered. “Be still or I’m gonna fuck this up.”

“Sorry,” she bit her lip in concentration.

“God, where’s this thing end?” he growled under his breath. He was getting closer to where Max had faded the outline out, but this was only gonna get worse, he could feel it. If just working on her body right here was bad, what the hell was gonna happen when they went to work on her thigh? He swallowed with difficulty. On her INNER thigh?

“Doesn’t sound like you enjoy painting on a woman,” she said in her most unaffected voice although she couldn’t hide the hint of disappointment.

“What?” He looked up at her and saw her rub her cheek on her shoulder, a move he’d seen more times than he could count, and almost always meant she was trying not to cry. He couldn’t exactly tell her he was having trouble with this because she suddenly seemed to be so much more than his best friend.

“Nevermind,” she said and avoided his eyes.

He cleared his throat. “So anyway...” What the hell were they even talking about? “I was out on a call yesterday. Five-year-old kid swallowed about seven marbles on a dare.”

“Did he at least win the dare?”

He shook his head. “Dare was for an even dozen.” He carefully applied the paint between the narrowing borders of the outline as he finally reached the finish line for the first stage. “But, he got to ride in an ambulance so I think the way he looked at it he won anyway.”

“I’d freak the hell out if it was my kid,” Maria said and tried to not shake her head at it.

“There’re worse things he could’ve swallowed.” He chuckled, partly at his thoughts, but mostly in relief as he completed phase one and leaned back. “You wouldn’t believe what some people will swallow.”

“Or stick up their asses,” Max said as he approached them with a grin. “Saw it on TV the other day.”

Maria made a face. “You really need to monitor what you watch.”

“Maybe around the kids,” he shrugged and glanced at the clock. They’d been working for about an hour now and there was still more to paint than what was done. “You hungry yet?”

“You have food here?”

Michael snorted at her question as he put some distance between them. “You just said the magic words, Evans.”

“Just some light snacks for now, Tess will bring something a little more substantial later though. Ya interested?”

“You tease her with food for long and she’s gonna hurt you,” Michael warned.

Maria rolled her eyes at him. “You don’t have to make me sound like an animal in the wild.”

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Max glanced at the other man. “It’s in the refrigerator in the back and since you’ve got your hands free while I paint the next part you can go ahead and feed her so she won’t move around too much.”

“Yeah, okay, I’ll...” He paused, halfway to the back, when the words finally registered. “Y’know, I think she’ll be good to do it herself. I mean, you’re down below the ribs now.” He pointed to the back and started walking again. “So I’ll just grab whatever you’ve got for her.”

She waited until her friend had left the room and then exhaled loudly with closed eyes. “Max, don’t.”

He shrugged one shoulder, the move nearly imperceptible. “You can feed yourself, Maria,” he said as he glanced up at her with a grin. “All I did was stick the thought in his head. Trust me, he doesn’t need to hand feed you to be incapable of not watching you now.”

“You suck, Evans,” she rolled her eyes, but she could never really be mad at him and his big mouth for long.

“Do me a really big favor and don’t say anything like that around Graham. I get enough looks from him as it is.” He leaned in close as he crouched down next to her, using his knee to brace the back of her leg as he carefully brought the outline down and began to slowly curve it around her thigh.

“If you promise to stop trying to push Michael my way,” she hissed before the other man came back.

“You wanna negotiate right now?” he asked in disbelief as he etched the line high up on her inner thigh. “Fine, fine, fine, have it your way.”

Maria glanced down at him and bit her lip. Fuck, what was she going to do when it was Michael’s turn again?

Max began reciting lyrics again as he shifted around. “Gonna need a little more room to work,” he said, giving her opposite thigh a nudge.

“Great,” she mumbled and widened her stance right at the moment Michael came back with some chips, veggie sticks and dips.

Michael just stopped and stared as he watched Evans work and tried to force his mind to blank out. How the hell was he gonna do that? The guy was practically face to... No, he was NOT letting his thoughts go there. It was a job. Just a job, nothing else. He saw various body parts up close and personal every day in his job and he managed to stay focused and professional. That’s all he had to do. Clinical distance, detachment, he could do that.

He tipped his head to one side as Evans nearly bent himself in half as he worked between her legs. And besides, she was his best friend. Yeah, she was a woman, it’s not like that was a newsflash or anything. Obviously she had all the woman parts, but when it was your best friend you knew they existed but you basically never thought about it. How the hell was he gonna be right THERE and not think about it?

“Come closer and hand me some of those chips.” Maria had registered the look on his face and was trying to figure out what he was thinking. Normally she could read Michael, but somehow it seemed to be difficult when she was the object of his thoughts.

“Huh?”

Max had to fight back the laugh that wanted to escape at the less than intelligent response because if he didn’t he’d ruin the line he was working on.

“CB, chips!”

Michael blinked and focused on her annoyed gaze. “Oh, right. Sorry, kinda got lost in thought for a second there.” He hurried around the counter to place the tray next to the pole.

“Thanks. What’s wrong with you?” She shook her head. You are so bad, Deluca, she accused herself.

“Nothin’, just been a long week. Haven’t slept much, makes my brain work slow.”

“I see,” she reached behind her to grab some of the chips on the tray and felt a tight squeeze on her thigh when Max warned her silently not to move too much. “Sorry,” she muttered.

“No problem. But unless you want these lines somewhere completely inappropriate I wouldn’t move for the next minute or so.”

“Not movin’,” she agreed.

Michael shifted around to get a look at the outline he would be filling in before long. He followed the clean lines as they came down from her ribs, over her hip, and criss-crossed along her thigh before beginning to wrap around her leg to disappear on the inside where Evans was currently working. What the hell was the guy’s secret?

“C’mon over,” Maria made an inviting gesture.

“I don’t um...” He sighed. If he made a big deal of this she was gonna think something was wrong. “Yeah, okay.”

“I need something to lean on or I’m gonna get a cramp,” she stated as he finally approached her.

He shrugged. “You can lean on me.” How difficult could that be? It wouldn’t be the first time she’d ever used him for support and he’d always liked being there for her like that.

Relief flooded her when he agreed, but the reaction she’d been expecting was that he’d offer to get her a pillow to put between the counter and her or something.

“Guess this’s a position you never thought you’d be in,” he mumbled as he moved around to support her.

Max brought the line around to flawlessly blend it in with the one coming down along the outside of her thigh and shook his head at the ridiculous attempt to make conversation. “Two men, one woman, lotta women have that fantasy, Guerin.”

Maria leaned against Michael’s chest and tried to not enjoy it too much. She smirked at Max’ words and relaxed. “Guess I’ve been in worse situations.”

“I’ve never really gotten that two guys, one girl thing,” he went on. “I mean, I guess from the woman’s perspective it could be a good thing, but the last thing I wanna see’s another guy getting it on with the girl I’m with. Ungh, especially another naked guy.”

Michael snorted, amused. Although the talk was about sex he felt himself relaxing. “Guess it’s for those guys who’re swamped with women in their bed. That way she won’t notice how bad he is.”

Maria rolled her eyes. “Two guys and one woman makes more sense than two women and one guy.”

“Why?” both men asked at the same time.

“Really? It seems to take a lot of effort for you guys to satisfy one woman, so two? You get to the finish line and you roll over and go to sleep. And half the time we’re not even close to the finish line! So what makes you think you could satisfy two women at the same time?” She snorted and shook her head lightly. “Two men equals twice the stamina.”

“Roll over an’ go to sleep?” her best friend asked. “You’ve been with the wrong guys, RP.”

“Oh, please!” she exclaimed. “Like you don’t do that.”

“We do that,” Max agreed. “But we make sure the woman’s pleased BEFORE.”

“Exactly,” Michael agreed.

“Um-hmm, don’t think I won’t ask.” She would’ve flicked Max’s ear but she didn’t want him to mess up the artwork.

“Nothing to hide,” Max mumbled while he worked on some small details.

“Um-hmm, well, you and Liz are still in the honeymoon phase of your relationship so you’re probably making the extra effort right now,” she teased.

“Whatever,” he dismissed her.

Maria smirked. “And just to take the illusion from you guys, we girls... we can fake it pretty good, you can never be too sure about it.”

Max paused. “You mean I’m not as good as I think I am?” He pretended to be shocked but he was grinning as he went back to work.

“Could be. And that goes for both of you.”

Michael shook his head. “I know I’m as good as I think I am.”

“Yeah?” She glanced over her shoulder to meet his gaze. “How?”

He smirked. “I’ve never had any reason to doubt my skills between the sheets.”

“Doesn’t convince me at all,” she shook her head, amused.

Max just snorted as he reached the end of phase two. “Every guy thinks he’s better than he really is. Let’s face it, what it all boils down to is whether or not the girl we’re with thinks we’re good.”

“True words,” she agreed. “And in your defense, we girls probably have it a lot easier with the being good in bed than you guys.”

Michael’s eyebrows lifted in interest. “How’s that?”

“Well, we’re not under pressure to get the guy to orgasm. That always works out.”

“Girl’s got a point,” Max said.

“Of course I do. You guys get off whether we’re active or passive.”

“We prefer active,” Michael muttered.

“Let’s switch,” Max got up and stretched his legs.

Michael swallowed hard as he took up his position crouched down next to Maria, his hand clenching tightly around the airbrush. He forced his grip to relax and his gaze locked on the lines he needed to fill in. He could do this. It was no different than painting on a canvas. Yeah, except this canvas was warm female flesh. Ungh, stop it! This was Maria, he reminded the little devil on his shoulder again, and I don’t see her like that.

He inhaled deeply and the fingers of his left hand wrapped around her thigh to keep the skin as taut as possible and also to help keep him steady. He shifted uncomfortably when he heard her inhale sharply, the sound so quiet he wondered if he’d imagined it. He started a mental inventory of the equipment in the paramedic’s truck at work and he started to relax as the minutes passed.

He moved up to fill in the area around her ribs, using even strokes to keep the colors blended perfectly. He took his time, carefully going over every detail as he painted and losing himself in the work. He shifted in closer, his hand flexing as he eased into a narrow area.

Maria closed her eyes and tried every method of distraction she could think of, but nothing could keep her mind off of the man touching her. He was so close she could feel his breath gusting against her skin and it took so little effort to imagine that every stroke he made with the airbrush was his hands touching her. It was a dangerous direction for her thoughts to go in but she couldn’t help it. She was trying to force them away when she suddenly felt his hand on her ass and she knew for certain THAT wasn’t in her imagination.

Max watched in amusement as Michael froze, apparently realizing where he’d just put his hand as he moved down along her hip to fill in the outline. “Wow,” he said, hoping to diffuse the tension he could see in both of them, “it’s a good thing you don’t work for me for real. Talk about your sexual harassment suits.”

“Shut the fuck up, Evans.” Michael glared at him and slowly moved his hand back into neutral territory. “Sorry,” he muttered.

“Since you guys are gonna be busy for the next hour or so, I’m gonna run pick Liz up from her shift.” Max winked at Maria.

Michael groaned silently. “Is it already time for her to get off?” He sighed and shook his head. Great choice of words considering this situation, he thought.

“Her shift ends at 2:30, so yeah, it’s already that time and since I’ve got the time, I’m not gonna make her take the subway.”

“Right, well, they should never take the subway alone if there’s another choice.” He shook his head. “Especially with that mugger still on the loose.”

“I’ll be back soon and we’ll bring some coffee. Think ya can handle Guerin alone?” he teased Maria.

“She had no problem handlin’ me before you came into the picture, Evans.” And somehow that didn’t come out sounding the way he’d meant it.

“Is that so?” the other man asked with a wide grin on his face.

“You know what? Why don’t you go pick up your girl and leave mine alone.” He shook his head. What the hell was wrong with him today?

Maria’s heart fluttered at his words although she knew he hadn’t meant it like that. She wasn’t his girl – not the way she wanted to be his. “Get outta here, Evans,” she told him and her voice sounded way too hoarse to her own horror.

“Gone. We’ll be back before long,” he called on his way out.

“Sometimes I think his brain’s been seriously damaged,” Michael grumbled.

And so is yours, she thought, frustrated.

He moved further down her thigh, doing all of the artwork on the outside of her leg and putting off the rest as long as possible. “Seein’ a shrink should be good for his dumb ass.”

“Don’t be so mean; he’s having a hard time with things.”

“I’m not bein’ mean. Sometimes he’s a dick, that’s all I’m sayin’.”

“You’re all dicks at times.”

He shrugged one shoulder, just a slight lift to avoid making a mistake with the airbrush. “Yeah, well, that’s the way it goes.”

“I’m generous and will look past it,” she told him. Hopefully he wouldn’t start to whine about Courtney and her non-acceptance in the group again now that Max was gone.

“Yeah, well, that’s because you have a big heart and you can see past the bullshit.” He had started to bring up the situation with Max’s attitude towards Courtney but he and Max had already talked about it so what was the point of dragging it out?

Why can’t you, she wanted to ask him, but instead she just looked down at him and the work he was doing. His hand was huge against her thigh and once again her imagination went wild and tried to come up with all the things he could do with it on her body.

Shit.

Earth2Mama: They’re certainly making a Herculean effort, but how long before that’s not enough?

Sixty minutes… yes, that’s more than enough time for something to happen.

sarammlover: Lol, we’re glad you’re enjoying Max. He’s having fun trying to nudge his friends in the right direction. That’s true, and Michael’s doing his best to be a good boyfriend.

Eva: And it’s only getting hotter, lol!

We have a feeling that seed is not only going to be planted, but it’s going to be encouraged to take root.

keepsmiling7: Lol, that’s probably very true.

LovelyPOM83: There’s a lot going on for our entire gang, so get ready. (That’s what happens when you post fast so you can get back to writing, lol. Thanks for the heads-up!)

begonia9508: Those difficulties are probably just the beginning. We’ll have to wait and see what Michael does or doesn’t tell Courtney.

Lol, true, there’s just no telling where he’s tattooed and pierced!

Natalie36: Ready for that game to end, huh? We’ll see.

kismet: Max is definitely doing his part, isn’t he?

We’ll see some movement in those areas soon.

CandyliciousLovah: Thanks for reading!



Part 129

Brain off – Heat on

He could feel the sweat starting to break out again when he reached the end of the outline in what he was now thinking of as the safety zone. He glanced up, his gaze following the lines as they traveled up the inside of her thigh and disappeared. And that was his next destination. His eyes widened in horror when he felt a familiar tug below the belt and he quickly tried to bring his thoughts under control before he completely embarrassed himself. “Um, you’re gonna have to...” he made a motion with his hands, hoping she could figure it out.

“Yeah, sure,” she agreed quietly and once more widened her stance. Hopefully he wasn’t paying too much attention to her body’s signals right now, she thought, embarrassed.

He cleared his throat and nodded, closing his eyes for a moment before he moved into position. This was so much easier to do in theory than in reality, he thought.

Think of your brother, your mother... anything, she told herself, but nothing helped at all. The moment he touched the skin of her inner thigh, goosebumps spread over half of her body. Damn. Fuck. Shit.

“Sorry,” she muttered. There was no way he wouldn’t notice something. “I’m only human.” Lame excuse, Deluca. You didn’t have a problem with Max and he saw that!

He shrugged. “No problem, same here.” They didn’t have to make a big deal of it. She was a girl, he was a guy, these things happened.

She didn’t know if he said that because it was true or because he wanted her to feel better. “Good. That makes me feel better.”

He wrapped his hand around her upper thigh again and carefully brushed the paint into the outline. He wondered what it would feel like to... What the fuck?! He shook those thoughts off and wished there was a way to do this faster.

Why the hell had Max put the thing THIS high on her inner thigh? She was sure it didn’t have to be this high. With all the shadows and different colors he had to use, Michael needed to go at it from different sides and angles. And that meant he got a lot closer to certain barely covered body parts, which Max hadn’t come so close to. Please, don’t accidently brush me there, she begged to anyone who cared to hear her prayers.

Michael had to focus all of his concentration on what he was doing to keep his hands from shaking. Think of something to talk about, dumbass! “You ever think about doin’ this for real?”

“All the time.” It was out before she even had time to think about the meaning.

She was talking about the tat, right? She had to be. “Yeah,” he mumbled. “Hold on, gotta switch colors.” He wiggled backwards to grab one of the small bottles, pausing when he glanced up and was greeted with a sight he was sure would have any guy ready to hammer nails with his dick. He shifted in the hope she wouldn’t notice that he was just as human as the rest of them. This was NOT supposed to be happening. He fumbled with the bottles and lunged to avoid dropping them, nearly knocking Maria over since his shoulders were brushing the insides of her calves.

“Easy, Michael,” she grabbed onto the counter.

“Sorry,” he muttered and finished switching the colors out. “Gonna get back to work now.”

She blew a breath out, frustrated at her situation. All she wanted to do right now was rub her thighs together for a bit of release, but it would ruin the work. THIS right here felt like an incredibly long and incredibly good foreplay. The only problem was that it wouldn’t lead to the actual act.

“I don’t know how any guy can do this all day,” he grumbled under his breath.

“Maybe it helps if the customer’s male... or fat.”

“Definitely be easier on a guy’s dick. It’s gotta be hell tryin’ to ink someone who’s fat though.”

She managed to laugh a little. “I’m sorry about your dick. Or, you know what... I’m not.”

“That’s a little harsh, don’t ya think?”

“Nope.” I could give you a hand though.

“I sure as hell think it is.” And it sure as hell made things uncomfortable!

“You need a break?”

“No, if we let this go without finishing it the colors won’t blend properly.”

“Okay,” she tightened the muscles in her legs for a moment and then relaxed again to loosen them.

Michael exhaled slowly and tried to focus on anything but her thigh muscles clenching. He did not need to follow that line of thought. “I’m not about to listen to Evans giving me hell over screwin’ this up.”

“You won’t,” she assured him. “Go ahead.”

He’d like to go ahead, he thought and then shook his head. This wouldn’t be so bad if he was getting laid tonight. But he wasn’t, so it just made this even harder. That was for damn sure. He shifted again and took a deep breath as he lifted himself up to finish high on the inside of her thigh.

Be quiet, she warned herself and bit her lip painfully as he worked. It was crazy to feel this frustrated and turned on at the same time and it wasn’t fair. His hands moved carefully this time, but it wasn’t possible to not touch the edges of her panties once or twice in an effort to bring the color into position. By the time he let go of her again, she released a deep breath that she hadn’t realized she had been holding.

Michael finished the last fill-in and his eyes widened when he saw just the slightest mistake in the work. It probably wasn’t all that noticeable, he thought and then frowned. Depending on the shot it could be though. “Um, I need you to be really still for a sec, okay? I’ve got a little mistake to fix here.” Fuck, there was just no good way to get to it. “Okay, here’s the deal: I’ve gotta get this or Evans is gonna have a coronary, and as tempting as that is, I’m not about to give his stupid ass mouth to mouth, so just bear with me, okay?”

“I’ll be still,” she promised. Hopefully.

“Right.” He cursed Evans for taking the outline that high and he grabbed a cloth to clean away the paint that had made it past the border. He was congratulating himself for managing to do it without incident when his hand slipped and his knuckles grazed her. “Sorry,” he grunted when she jerked and he heard the hiss of her indrawn breath. He hadn’t meant to do that. Or had he? He couldn’t stop the thoughts that were bouncing around in his head and while he could blame some of them on basic male-female crap, this was really unsettling. She was a woman, he knew she was a woman, but at the same time she was just Maria, so she was off-limits as a woman. Crap, that just didn’t make any sense even in his own head.

“God, Michael,” she lifted her hand to run it over her face as if she could wipe away her affection that way.

“What? I said I was sorry,” he bit out. This was wrong on so many levels and he had no idea what to do now.

Doesn’t help, she thought and was tempted to just shift enough to make his hand touch her again. Now, that would be desperate.

His hand shook slightly as he finally moved it, dropping the cloth on the floor and sighing raggedly. He wondered what she’d do if he really touched her. Like she said, they were only human. And sexuality was a big part of being human. Definitely one of the best parts, he thought as his mind once again crept into forbidden territory. Her body was taut and if he watched closely enough he could see the fine tremors that he could feel as he worked on the painting. She was turned on, there was no denying that. And there was no ignoring the fact that he was hard as a rock. What would she do if he just reached up and slipped that scrap of material out of the way and touched her, skin to skin, with intent?

Was it possible to orgasm just from a thought, she wondered and remembered that stupid 40 Days and 40 Nights movie. She had always thought it was totally ridiculous, but right now she had a feeling she wouldn’t need much more than brief contact. If only Courtney wasn’t in the picture, she thought and it helped her to cool down at least three degrees. If that bitch wasn’t in the picture... maybe she would risk it right now.

He was fixated on her thighs and what lay hidden behind that scrap of black lace. He shifted slowly, paying no mind to the airbrush when it dropped and hit the floor. His hand moved from the inner thigh he had just painted to the other one, breathing with difficulty when he saw the light smear of cobalt blue paint he was leaving in his wake. He didn’t care. Suddenly his universe had narrowed down to this one moment, to this feeling that had overtaken him, and all he knew was he had to know what her response would be to his touch. It was one of those moments that just took hold of you, demanded you follow your instincts, and without waiting any longer he pushed the edge of the panties aside and nearly lost it at the feel of her slick shaven skin.

Her first response to the sudden change on her legs was confusion, but when she suddenly felt his fingers right there, between her legs, stroking her soaking wet center, her knees almost gave out and she braced her flat hands against the counter behind her. A groan escaped her lips and she felt the heat of arousal as well as embarrassment in her cheeks. What was he doing? Why?

He didn’t know what he was doing. It was wrong and he knew it. Wrong for her because hell, it had to be confusing. Wrong for him because he had a girlfriend and he was trying his damnedest to make a relationship work between them. Wrong because they were best friends and best friends just didn’t give each other hand jobs. But every rational argument going back and forth in his head disappeared when he heard her groan and he shifted, easing out from between her legs even as he pulled her down to her knees in front of him. The position was better for penetration as he moved his fingers back, finding her entrance and dropping his forehead against her shoulder as he thrust a finger inside of her.

“Michael,” her voice was breathless as she arced forward into his touch. “What’re you doin’?” She really didn’t want to know though. His touch made her cry out again and she reached back to bury one of her hands in his hair.

“Fuck, I don’t know,” he growled and kissed her shoulder. He would’ve sunk his teeth into her perfect flesh, marked her, possessed her, but he knew he couldn’t leave the visible proof behind. Her ass ground into his erection and he forced himself to focus on her as he added a second finger and used the heel of his hand to grind against her clit.

It was wrong, but it felt so right. She knew they would regret it later, but there was no going back at this point. “Don’t stop,” she whimpered.

“Not gonna stop,” he panted against her skin. What would happen after this? They couldn’t take it back and they sure as hell couldn’t pretend it hadn’t happened. He fumbled to undo his belt and the snap and zipper on his jeans.

“Let me help,” she breathed when she realized what he was doing and she reached back between them to run her hand over his boxer-covered length.

He ground his teeth together when her small hand touched him and even through the fabric it felt so right it was stupid. And impossible. And why was he even thinking about it? he asked himself as he pushed into her hand.

The fact he was so big and hard just because of her made her happy and if possible even more turned on. Her hand slipped into his boxers to feel him without any barriers between them.

“Fuck,” he hissed. There was nothing better than skin to skin contact and in this case he couldn’t think of anything that’d ever felt better. He felt like he was strung so tight he was gonna snap in two at any second.

Her breath came in pants when he sped up the movement of his hand. “Very close,” she groaned, her face one of pure concentration.

“Same,” he grunted. Hell, he felt like he’d been ready to come for hours now! He brought his free hand up, skimming her abdomen and side as he reached up to cup her breast, palming its soft weight. He slowed the rhythm of his strokes for just a moment and as soon as she whimpered in frustration he slid his fingers almost all of the way out and then squeezed her taut nipple as he slammed them home again.

Oh, he was good, she thought and squeezed his dick in response. He knew exactly what he was doing and what buttons to push to get a certain reaction out of her. Her hand moved up and down on his soft skin, silk over steel, and she felt satisfaction when he started to breathe heavily against her shoulder.

He knew she’d liked that just by her reaction. He wanted to be in a position where he could taste her, take his time to discover what spots got her the hottest, how much pressure it took to make her moan, and what it felt like to really be inside her. That last thought only added more pressure and he pushed harder into her hand, needing the friction desperately.

She wanted to tell him to hold her tightly, to kiss her and slow down so they could enjoy this longer, but even in her aroused state she knew that couldn’t happen, so instead she dropped her hand from his hair to place it over his where it was buried between her legs, pressing it against her harder while she ground against it. “Fuck,” she muttered to herself when she came hard.

“That’s it,” he said, his tone gruff as his hips shot forward into her tight grip. Whether he was talking to her or himself he couldn’t have said. All that mattered was they had both hit their peaks and he panted hard against her shoulder as he slumped against her back weakly.

Maria’s heart raced so fast she was scared she would black out for a moment until it finally found a steadier pace again. She had never imagined this would happen and sure as hell not the way it just had... But, what now? Was THIS gonna change anything between them? Okay, of course it would change something. The real question was: for the better or worse?

Michael’s breathing slowly returned to normal along with his heart rate, and as he regained awareness he realized several things at once. First, what the fuck had they just done? Second, how badly had he fucked up the paint job they’d already spent several hours on? And third, not only had he come all over her back, now it was gonna be all over the front of his shirt. Fuck! He pressed his forehead harder against her shoulder and squeezed his eyes shut. What now, you moron? He slowly withdrew his hand from between her legs, wincing when he heard her moan quietly in protest, her body automatically seeking more pleasure. He couldn’t resist gently squeezing the breast still resting comfortably in his palm and he lifted his head slowly, trying to figure out what to say now.

“We should clean up this little mess before anyone gets here,” she said hoarsely after a long awkward silence between them. She could feel the wetness on her back and there was also paint on the floor.

“Um... yeah, right.” He zipped up and buckled his belt as he stared at the floor around them. Was what they had just done considered cheating? he wondered. He felt stupid for staring at the floor but he just couldn’t bring himself to look her in the eye.

“Michael,” she called out for him when she moved away slightly, but she had no clue what she wanted to say. He didn’t lift his eyes while he picked up the equipment so she decided to get up and run for the bathroom before he could detect the tears building in her eyes. No, no, no. Don’t cry over this now!

“M’ria...” he let the words trail off because he had no idea what to say to her. What could he say? Sorry was only gonna make things worse. Silence wasn’t gonna make it any better. Telling her it was a mistake was seriously gonna hurt her. He couldn’t just lie to her either though. He shook his head and pulled his shirt off, using it to mop up the paint. At least this way when he ran out to his car to grab the spare he kept there he’d have an excuse if he ran into Evans. Shit! Evans, how had he forgotten about him? What if he and Liz had walked in on them?

Maria locked herself in the bathroom and leaned against the door, taking deep calming breaths like those you learn in yoga classes. No tears, no tears... She repeated the mantra in her head until she was sure she was back in control. A glance in the mirror told her she looked like she had just been properly fucked and in that moment she hated it.

Sighing, she used the edge of a towel and wetted it to clean her back. Part of the paint on her thigh was ruined but at least the upper part had been dry enough to survive the hand job.

Michael had given her a hand job. It was too much to work through right now so she swallowed it down and then went back out to find him standing there with a bare-chested.

He had finally managed to clean up the paint and he was on his way out to grab his spare shirt when Maria came back out and he caught himself staring. How the hell was he ever gonna manage to finish the paint job on her? There was no way he could put his hands on her like that again. “Gotta grab a clean shirt,” he said and made his escape.

“Wait,” she walked over to him and held him by his upper arm. They needed to clear the air before anyone came in otherwise the rest of this day would be hell.

While she approached him she thought of a way to get past this awkwardness and all she could come up with was to take it as lightly as possible. “Nice job, Michael,” she brought her thigh into view and his handprint right over it. “Some people would probably consider this art but I don’t think Max belongs to that group.”

“Yeah, well...” He couldn’t hide the shock in his features. “We’re um, we’re okay then?” he asked uncertainly.

Whatever okay meant to him, she thought. Was it an okay, let’s forget it happened? Or like an okay, let’s do that again? “We both wanted it,” she shrugged, “so we’re okay.”

Yeah, he wasn’t so sure about that. “Okay,” he said with a shrug, “lemme grab my shirt and we’ll try to get that fixed before the ink dictator gets back.” If she wanted to just play it cool he was gonna go along with her because he really didn’t know what else to do.

*****

Tess was in a great mood as she walked through the corridors of the hospital, greeting the nurses that she was now on a first-name basis with as she passed them. She had called to check in with the head nurse earlier and inquire as to Kyle’s mood for the day. Since she and Maria had bullied him – ever so gently and lovingly of course – he had given the nurses permission to discuss certain things with them.

She had been informed that he had been in a mood most of the day. Grumpy was the word the kindhearted woman had used but Tess had easily read between the lines to the real answer. It was one of his off days so she’d requested permission to bring him something a little special for dinner.

When he was grumpy he liked to bitch about anything and everything and the only people who generally got him out of that mood was her or Maria. He never stood a chance if they double teamed him but she was flying solo today since Maria was otherwise occupied. And hopefully Michael was paying attention to the fact that his best friend was an actual woman and not just his buddy.

She peered around the doorway and into the room, smiling to herself when she saw that he was the only occupant. He was staring sightlessly at the wall, ignoring the television as it droned on quietly. She glanced up at the screen and saw that there was a baseball game on and the Yankees were down 3-1. That wouldn’t have improved his mood any, she thought as she moved further into the room.

“Hey, Grumpy Bear,” she called out as she set her surprise down on the table by the window and went over to kiss his cheek. She reached up to run her fingertips over his shadowed jaw. “Didn’t let the nurses shave you again today?”

“No,” he grumbled, “I’ve decided there’s no point.”

“Well, scruffy can be a good look too,” she said agreeably. “Here, sit up a little more.” She tugged gently on his shoulder, urging him to lean forward so she could arrange his pillows.

“I’m not hungry, Tess.”

“Um-hmm, Jeannie told me you threw your Jell-o cup across the room today. You promised me and Maria you wouldn’t do that again. Now, you might not be hungry for hospital food, and after seeing some of the things they’ve brought you to eat I can’t say I blame you. But you’d better not throw what I brought you.”

He muttered under his breath while she set everything up and he hated it when she took his hand and moved it to show him where his adult-sized sippy cup was. Okay, it was really a large plastic cup with a lid and a straw, but to him it was nothing more than a damn kids’ cup. He took a drink at her urging even though he wanted to tell her where to stick the damn thing. His mood improved slightly when he tasted Dr. Pepper rather than the watered down decaffeinated tea or plain old water he was used to getting.

“And now for the big surprise…” she slid a paper plate on the table in front of him and guided his hand to the edge, watching him with a hopeful expression as he felt the food in an effort to determine what it was. She had stopped and picked up a deep dish pizza with extra cheese and all of the meats he liked and she wanted so badly for it to make him smile.

Kyle frowned under his bandages and leaned in to sniff the food slightly. “Is that pizza?” he asked.

“No,” she mumbled after taking a bite of the piece she had just snagged for herself. “It’s just the best fuckin’ pizza in the city.”

“And you’re eatin’ mine?” He turned his head towards her voice, a full and wide smirk on his lips.

Mission accomplished, she thought. “Just one piece. There’s still enough for you.”

“Yeah,” he turned towards the food again and pulled a piece off of the plate for himself. “Thanks, I guess I’m already so sick of hospital food that I just don’t have an appetite at all anymore.” He bit into the pizza and groaned slightly. “Well, that is until I smelled this.”

“See,” she took a sip of his Dr. Pepper. “One more reason why you should come and stay with us girls for the time your eyes need to heal.”

“Tess…” he groaned.

“Consider it, okay? We’d be happy with your company and really, if you prefer to stay here or at your parents’, we’re gonna be pretty offended. We’ve already made plans about how we’ll crash in the living room at night, listen to music, and you get to massage our feet while we bitch about men.”

He chuckled. “You make it sound so inviting.”

“You’re the only guy who wouldn’t be happy to live with three hot chicks under one roof.” She slipped out of her flip flops and shoved his thigh slightly with her bare foot before resting it on the chair in front of her.

“Well, maybe if those three girls offered sex…” he teased, but then realized that his comment might’ve been pretty inappropriate considering their past.

“I don’t think Max would be happy about that. And Maria? Sorry, but I think she’s moved on from you,” she told him coolly and left any remark about herself in the open. From his expression, he hadn’t meant his words to hurt her, so she would just play along.

Kyle lifted his head to look at her. Well, he’d be looking at her if he could see, he thought. He took his time chewing the huge bite of pizza, savoring the taste right along with her words. Did he know what was going on between them? Nope, not a clue. He had discovered that he did actually enjoy her company and the time she spent visiting with him made the hospital room and his situation a little more tolerable.

“So, that only removes two from the equation.”

She smirked and took another bite of pizza. “True,” she mumbled.

“Three minus two equals one.”

“Wow, your math skills are crazy good.”

He grinned at her teasing tone. “I know, right?”

She picked a pepperoni off and popped it in her mouth. “So you can subtract, but can you add?”

He shrugged. “I’m pretty good at addition too,” his eyebrows wiggled playfully, but with the bandages it was hardly noticeable. “One plus one equals two.”

Tess felt as if the temperature in the room had suddenly risen a few degrees and for once she was really glad his eyes were bandaged otherwise he would’ve noticed her blush. “Very good. I think your brain didn’t suffer from any damage, I’ll tell the doctors.”

He snorted and decided to drop the subject before it led to something that wasn’t so comfortable anymore because they really hadn’t resolved any of the things standing between them. Of course the bandages over his eyes were responsible for growing fantasies lately, so imagining her on top of him while he was sitting on the couch in their apartment – which he didn’t even have a clue what it looked like – would still cross his mind. Thank god for tight boxers, he thought when a certain part of his body didn’t make any effort to forget the recent conversation. At least it was still very much alive, he smirked to himself.

“What’re you smirking at?” she asked when he had been silent for a full minute.

His smirk got even wider, but he shook his head. “Nothing you really wanna know.” He leaned forward and took another bite of the delicious pizza.

“You sure?” Tess tipped her head to one side while she watched him. For a moment she’d thought he would start to talk about what had happened between them, but then he had suddenly smirked.

Kyle chuckled and nodded. “I’m sure. For now anyway.” He took a drink of the Dr. Pepper and leaned back against the pillows. “What’re you doin’ later?”

“Well, when I leave here I’m gonna go by Max’s studio and see how things are going there.” She shrugged one shoulder. “I figure Maria could use the support.”

“Maybe your brother’s finally opened his eyes a little bit.”

“Yeah, and maybe I’ll win the lottery tonight.”

“Who needs the lottery when you’ve got your dad’s credit cards?”

She made a face at him that he couldn’t see. “That’s only for necessary things and besides, I win the lottery I could be vacationing on a nice warm beach somewhere sunbathing while some really sexy guy brings me drinks in a coconut.”

“With a little umbrella?” he snorted.

“Hey, it’s my fantasy vacation; don’t pick on the umbrella drinks.”

He held his good hand up. “You can keep your coconut umbrella drink. Just make sure mine’s a good beer with a shot of Jack on the side.”

Tess nudged him with her foot. “So you wanna go to my fantasy island with me?”

He turned his head in her direction again and nodded. “Whatever gets me outta here.”

She nodded to herself and leaned forward. “So it’s a deal, Valenti. You’ll come an’ stay with us girls.”

“Tess…”

“Huh-uh, either that or you’re gonna spend lots and lots of time with Mom and Dad.”

He leaned back quietly, arms carefully crossed over his chest as much as his injury would allow. Before he could answer the door swung open and Mrs. Valenti walked in, carrying a few bags of clothes. “Hey sweetie,” she greeted and leaned over from behind to kiss his cheek before she greeted Tess with a nod.

Sarah’s eyes wandered to the pizza and her disapproving look didn’t go unnoticed by the other woman. “I know the hospital food isn’t what you like, but I don’t think pizza will help your recovery, Kyle. Once you’re able to come home with us, we’ll hire someone to cook you the best and healthiest food.”

Other moms would cook it themselves, he thought.

The door opened again and this time his dad walked in, making the room feel crowded now. “Hello, son, how’re you feeling today?”

“Fine,” was the short answer he gave.

“I thought you were coming by earlier?” Sarah looked at her husband.

“I had to stay longer at work, so – “

“You should’ve called me. If I’d known you weren’t gonna make it, I would’ve come here earlier, Jim. Kyle needs – “

“I don’t fuckin’ need anything,” their son interrupted and startled everyone in the room with his angry tone. “No one needs to skip out on work. I’m not a baby so get over it.”

Tess cleared her throat carefully when neither of them spoke for what felt like hours. “I’d better go an’ see how that tattoo shoot’s going. I’ll stop by tomorrow, alright?” She slipped into her flip flops and squeezed his hand under the table where neither of his parents could see it.

“Thanks for the pizza,” he mumbled. “And about earlier... I think I’m in.”

A smiled crossed her lips because she knew he was agreeing to stay with the girls rather than his parents, but he didn’t want to tell them yet. “Very smart of you,” her tone was teasing. “See you soon, Kyle.”

“Yeah,” he let go of her hand, wishing she’d have stayed longer, but with his parents around he couldn’t blame her. He knew they just meant to be there for him, but with their own problems with each other it always felt like there was a heavy weight hanging in the air.

Natalie36: Thanks! Oh, that roommate situation has all kinds of potential! Lol, chances are good their brains are gonna be working overtime now.

begonia9508: Yeah, things are definitely out of sorts and it’s likely to make things a bit awkward now.

sarammlover: Believe it… because they did! Bad M&M! Lol. Kyle and Tess are coming along nicely and we’re getting to see them really building a foundation for the future. It should be a lot of fun when he moves in with the girls.

Earth2Mama: Yes, we do.

Neither are we and we’re certainly not condoning it. We’ll see them deal with the ramifications of their actions.

We can’t promise soon, but we can promise that we’re both Candies, so… in time.

The situation with Kyle moving in with the girls is going to be a lot of fun.

Eva: Lol, Michael definitely jumped off of that bridge!

Well, it is going to take time, we can’t lie about that, lol, but you know we’re both Candies, so in time they will find their way.

Tess is doing really well and she and Kyle are progressing at a nice pace.

keepsmiling7: Definitely had our monitors breaking a sweat, lol.

CandyliciousLovah: We’re seeing definite progression between Kyle and Tess, and as for Michael and Maria… well, it was bound to happen one way or another, lol.

LovelyPOM83: Thanks for reading!

Roswelllostcause: Good luck with that – they can use all the help they can get!

Alien_Friend: Alex is getting more and more comfortable with Isabel and the rest of the gang. And the others do realize that he isn’t as boring and stuffy as they thought he was.

The tattoo shooting and especially the tattoo painting is definitely the best thing, which could happen for the candies. They might not see the whole picture yet… (and fight with their hormones)… but it’s the start for something bigger.

Good God, we hope as well that it won’t take another 129 parts to get them to the “love-part”. That would be bad, lol.

K&T definitely make the best out of the situation. His accident shocked them all, but it will also help him to “see” some things a little clearer.

No worries girl, we love your feedback, but we know it’s hard to always keep up.




Part 130

Hormones

Liz tipped her head back against the headrest and looked up at the sky as they drove through the city. Max was taking every shortcut he knew but the late afternoon traffic was doing its best to beat him at every turn. She shot a lazy glance at him when he laid on the horn after someone cut him off and she couldn’t help the smile that lifted her lips at the annoyed look on his face.

She didn’t mind driving on road trips but she wasn’t that fond of driving in the city. It was a headache on a good day. Max was a good driver but he was easily irritated by the stupidity of other drivers and he had no problem letting them know he thought they were stupid. Most of the time he settled for griping about them, but every once in a while he just had to flip them off before giving her an earful about the idiots behind the wheel.

She didn’t really care. He would bitch about it for a while and then something would distract him and he’d be off on another subject. At least this agitation would wind itself down before long, she thought when the talk show host he was listening to on the radio said something that caught his attention and made him laugh. She hated talk radio and preferred music, but there was one sports radio talk show that he never missed if there was a radio nearby.

“You hungry?”

She turned her head to look at him when he spoke and she reached over to give his chin a nudge, shifting his gaze back toward the road. “I’m not starving but I could eat.”

“I called an order in over at Sal’s. He’s gonna have it delivered in a while.”

“Please tell me you didn’t get me a burger.”

He snorted and grinned as he cut down an alley and turned into the small parking area behind his studio. “BLT on Texas toast, extra crunchy bacon.” He jumped out and went around to give her a hand her down. “C’mon, let’s go see how much damage they’ve done.”

“Shouldn’t they be close to being finished by now?”

“They should be, but if that was me an’ you an’ I was puttin’ that art on you?” He shook his head and reached for the door. “We’d never get anywhere.”

“Really,” she stopped him before he could announce their arrival and placed herself between him and the door instead. “Then why haven’t we tried it yet?”

“Because we don’t need an excuse to make out,” he growled and used that little invitation to press against her, his hands sliding down to her bare thighs. “Have I told you how much I like you in shorts?” he mumbled against her lips.

“Not today.”

“If that shoot wasn’t waiting, I know a few things I could do to completely convince you right now.”

“Such as?” she teased.

Max squeezed her ass and rolled his hips against her. “Such as taking you on the table in my back room.”

Liz groaned slightly at the image. “I need to remember to visit you more often after my early shifts then.”

“You wouldn’t get any complaints from me.” His customers would complain maybe, he thought, but quickly pushed that distraction away. Instead of backing off, he reached between them and hooked one finger it the front belt loop of her jean shorts to tug on it, knowing that the move would cause the seam of the tight shorts to rub at her center.

“You’re bad,” she mumbled with affection in her voice.

“I’ve been told,” he agreed in amusement and tugged again, stronger and longer this time.

“Stop that,” Liz pushed his hand away. “Or are you planning to finish it?”

He glanced around them and realized that although the parking lot was unoccupied, there were several windows from nearby buildings that faced it. His shop wasn’t empty either and the Jeep really wouldn’t hide much with the open deck. “I don’t like to share. Maybe if it was dark already.”

“Thought so. So maybe later then?” She grinned and reached behind her for the doorknob.

“Definitely later,” he agreed and shifted to rearrange his jeans, which become painfully tight.

Liz stepped away to pull the door open. “I’ll remind you, Mr. Evans.”

“No need for that,” he grumbled and followed her inside, frowning when they reached the other couple and they were still working on Maria’s thigh. “I was gone for…” he glanced at his watch, “a little over an hour and you’re not very far from where you were when I left.”

Maria felt Michael’s hand on her tense at Max’ remark and she did what she’d been doing since the… incident – she played it cool. “Sorry, I suddenly had to sneeze and the movement caused Michael to ruin a good part of it, so we had to restart at the thigh.”

“Uh-huh,” Max said slowly as his gaze bounced back and forth between them. He shrugged when Liz gave him an unsubtle nudge. “Okay, whatever.”

Michael was having the most difficult time working on the design because all he could think about was what had happened. It didn’t help that her skin was even softer than it looked. What the hell was he supposed to do now? He had no idea what to say or do, no clue how to act around her, and it felt like everything in his world was suddenly upside down.

She was playing it cool, doing her best to act unaffected, but he knew her well enough to know differently. They were definitely in uncharted waters, but even he wasn’t so dense that he’d believe it was nothing more for her than just some random thing that could be forgotten now that the heat of the moment had passed. It sure as hell wasn’t something he’d be forgetting anytime soon either.

He growled in frustration as he tried to figure out what was happening to his entire world. He couldn’t just ignore the fact that he’d cheated on Courtney. Yeah, there wasn’t any other word for it, he thought in irritation. Just one more complication created by being in a relationship. Hooking up with girls meant no one got hurt and you didn’t have to worry about whether or not getting it on with some other girl was crossing a line or if it would hurt anyone else.

Well, they’d just crossed the mother of all lines. What the fuck was he supposed to do now? Pretend it never happened? Maria was sure as hell trying her damnedest to do that very thing. Maybe it was just a heat of the moment thing, he tried to rationalize. It still doesn’t absolve you of that whole cheating thing, his little voice insisted on reminding him. And it doesn’t change the fact that you and your best friend just gave each other hand jobs on the floor of Max’s tat shop.

“Sonofabitch,” he snarled when his hand slipped and he crossed out of the boundaries of the design. Again.

“You sure you’re alright, Guerin?” Max asked. He was starting to get a little worried. It wouldn’t be much longer before Graham and his crew arrived to set everything up and he didn’t want to waste the opportunity if Maria wasn’t gonna be ready in time.

“Fine,” the other man grumbled.

Liz watched them for a moment and wondered what had happened between them in the time Max had been gone. There was enough tension in the room to suffocate. “How are Cody and Kyle doing?” she asked, hoping to relax the atmosphere a little.

Maria turned her head towards her. “Nothing new at all. They’re kinda both moping around and giving their nurses a headache.”

“When do they think Kyle will be able to go home?”

“Next week maybe. But not home as in his apartment.”

The brunette made a face. “He’s gonna stay with his parents?” She’d met them at the hospital during a recent visit. “They seemed nice as long as they weren’t in the room together, but I can’t imagine it’ll help his recovery much being in one house with both of them.”

“Tess is trying to convince him to stay with us,” Maria chuckled. At least someone was here now to talk to since Michael was Mr. Silent after the incident.

“What’s he need to stay with you for? He’s got a perfectly good apartment and we can get him a nurse to help out,” Michael muttered. While the thought of them being together had never bothered him before it suddenly annoyed him that they might be living together, even if it was only temporary.

“You really think he wants to have a stranger doing stuff for him? Sometimes maybe even embarrassing stuff? And you can’t have someone around 24/7.”

“I think a stranger would be easier to deal with handlin’ stuff like that. And that’s why they have in-home nursing care.”

Max snorted. “Not that anyone would wanna live with the two of you.”

“You know what, Evans? Why don’t you go ink something and keep your nose outta this.”

“I don’t know who pissed in your Cheerios this mornin’, but – “

Liz grabbed his arm and gave him a nudge towards the back of the shop. “Why don’t you go check on that food?”

Michael shook his head and went back to work. “Anyway, my point is we can handle all of that without him havin’ to live with you girls.”

“You make it sound like he’d be a burden,” she muttered.

“I think he just means sometimes it’s easier to have a stranger see those things that we all see as weakness,” Liz said when the conversation took an unexpected turn. “And really, you’re both right. Michael, you’re working even more hours than normal right now and you’re exhausted when you get home. Kyle’s gonna need someone to help keep his mind occupied while he’s recovering, and at least if he’s staying with us someone’s pretty much there the whole time. I’m sure if Kyle just can’t handle having his friends take care of some of those needs that a nurse is probably better suited for then he’ll speak up. He’s never struck me as the type of person to just suffer an indignity without speaking up if he could do anything to stop it.”

No one really said anything, but Michael gave a grunt that sounded like it might’ve been an agreement.

She hopped up to sit on one of the counters and folded her legs under her, resting her elbows on her knees as she watched him work. “That’s an amazing piece of art,” she said after a few minutes.

“I’d never get it on my body for real,” Maria denied. “Imagine how painfully long that would take.”

“Yeah, especially since you couldn’t possibly get that done in one session.” Her eyebrows lifted as she watched Michael bring the color down and blend it in with the next section. “I couldn’t sit still that long.”

“I lost feeling in my legs hours ago,” Maria snorted, but really, it was a lie. She was still pretty aware of his touch, but him getting her off had at least eased that building need inside of her. It wasn’t for long – she was sure of that.

“You’re braver than I am.” Liz chuckled and shook her head. Max was right – they’d never have gotten anywhere if he’d been putting paint on her like that.

Brave? No, she wasn’t brave at all. If she was brave, she would’ve told Michael about her feelings instead of just having a make out session with him. She lowered her eyes to him, watching the way his facial features changed while he painted. Maybe today was a start for him to realize something... or it was the day he would cut her off and completely turn to Courtney for distraction.

Michael leaned in close as he worked on a narrowing area of the design, his thoughts still a mess. Liz was right about Maria, he mused, locking on what he felt was a safe topic. She was brave. Braver than anyone else he’d ever known. He gripped her leg to steady her when he felt the slight tremble, unaware that it was his breath ghosting across her skin that was causing the reaction in her.

“Food’s here,” Max walked back in with a plastic bag in one hand and napkins in the other.

Maria’s eyes widened. “Is that from Sal’s?” She inhaled deeply and sighed. “It is, isn’t it?”

“Don’t drool on me, will ya?” Michael warned her.

Liz laughed when she realized Maria could easily do just that. “You must really like their burgers.”

“They’re the best and one thing that I’ll miss in Brooklyn.”

“Like Sal wouldn’t have someone deliver them for you if you asked.” He rolled his eyes and leaned back to stretch. The old guy had loved her from the first time they’d met, years ago.

“I know, but I wouldn’t put that on him. He’s always struggling to keep the diner going with his wife’s illness and all.” She shook her head. “But feel free to bring something every time you visit.” If he ever visited again after today!

“Someone’s probably gonna have to if you’re gonna have Valenti stayin’ with you. You’ll need the energy.” Just keep it light and everything will be fine.

Max pulled the food out and set it on the counter, sorting through the selection and laughing at Maria’s expression as he placed her hot cheeseburger on a napkin and handed it to her. “One orgasm on a bun,” he teased.

“Huh-uh,” she took it from him. “Thanks. You’re the best.” Already had one, but thanks anyway!

“That’s what they all say,” he said and gave a long-suffering sigh that was short-lived when Liz thumped his shoulder. “I didn’t say they said it sincerely.” He grinned and handed her the BLT he’d ordered for her since he knew after serving burgers all day the last thing she’d want was to eat one.

“Alright,” Michael sighed and leaned back to look at the entire piece of work on her inner thigh. “I think we’re finally done.” He shifted the airbrush to his other hand and flexed his fingers to ease the pain there.

“It looks amazing,” Liz said as she leaned forward to get a better look at the artwork.

Max stepped a few feet away and looked at her from top to bottom. “It does look good,” he agreed.

“Somehow I think you’re gonna change something,” Maria said doubtfully around a mouthful when she noticed his thoughtful stare.

“Not change,” he mumbled. “But maybe add.”

She glanced down at herself. “What’s left?”

“Okay first, I think we could work in a matching tendril of the same kind on the other side of your body, just something small,” he took a step forward and lifted her arm, “it could wrap around your upper arm like a bangle.

“Oh, I think that’d be pretty,” Liz said with a nod. She motioned to the other girl. “You know, you might bring that tendril down over her opposite shoulder, the side you wanna add to, kinda let it taper down so that it disappears right where her top starts.”

Max smirked. “Need a job, darlin’?”

She stuck her tongue out at him. “Depends on the pay.”

“What ya think, Michael? I was just wondering about extending the flower here,” his hand pointed at her painted side, right over her breast, “but that would work too.”

He cleared his throat as quietly as possible. Yeah, he thought, let’s hang out around her breasts now. “Whatever you think, it’s your ad,” he muttered and took a big bite of his burger.

Yeah, just pretend to be unaffected now, Maria thought. Why couldn’t he be a bit cooler about it? He obviously thought it was a mistake and regret was written all over his face. She knew she couldn’t expect him to fall for her in one day, but the least he could do was to act like a friend.

“Ya up for a little more?”

Max’ voice caught her attention. “Sure, if you think it makes it better, go ahead.”

“Alright, let’s roll with that. I’ll get to work on the outline, give Guerin a break. His hand’s already had a good workout.”

She was sure he would’ve expected her to choke on her food, but instead she just grinned and even dared to look at him. “Indeed.”

Michael flexed his hand unconsciously and looked away as he busied himself with picking up the things he’d been using. What was she doing? If he hadn’t been confused enough, now she was... what? Teasing him? Flirting with him?

Maria was thankful when the other man blocked her view to work further on her tattoo. This way she wouldn’t have to face her best friend and his inner battle. Should he go with regret, guilt and all that – he was kinda guilty considering he had a girlfriend. Maybe she wasn’t ready to tell him her true feelings, but she wouldn’t let him believe that she thought it had been a mistake. No fucking way!

Max glanced up at her as he carefully brought the first line of the tendril down over her shoulder. Something was going on but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. If they were any other two people he’d suspect what they’d been getting up to while he’d been gone, but... “Everything okay?” he asked quietly.

She let out a calming breath. “Yeah, fine.”

Two ‘fines’ from two people who seemed to be anything but fine, he mused but let it go.

“Is there anything I can do?” Liz wanted to know after she had finished her food.

“Keep Maria distracted,” Michael spoke up finally. He kept his gaze averted but he could feel Maria’s eyes burning into him. “She’s getting tired from all the standin’ around. Just keep her mind off of it.”

His best friend laughed when the brunette girl bit her lip and tried to come up with something. “It’s okay Liz, you don’t have to come up with a topic under pressure, and right now I’m pretty relaxed.”

She nodded. “How long will the photo shoot take?”

“No clue. Graham’s good, but he tends to take his time until he’s satisfied with everything.”

“A perfectionist. That makes sense with his job. And he’s pretty well-known, so he’d wanna maintain his reputation.”

“He makes dirt look like gold in his pics,” Maria agreed. “The photos will turn out awesome.”

Max snorted. “Well, he’s workin’ with a helluva lot more than dirt today.”

“I sure hope so.”

They glanced up when there was a knock on the front door. Liz sprang from the counter and glanced around the corner to see Tess’ smiling face through the large glass door. “It’s Tess, I’ll let her in.”

Tess was grinning as she was let in and she hurried inside. “It’s all set,” she announced as she set the carton of sweets on the counter. “Kyle’s gonna stay with us.”

“You were really able to talk him into it,” Maria grinned. “You’ve got my respect. That sure wasn’t easy.”

“No, it wasn’t,” she agreed with a roll of her eyes. “But his parents made it a lot easier, that’s for sure.”

“Were they fightin’ again?”

Michael clenched his hand as he listened to the conversation. Valenti had really agreed to stay with the girls? Why? Was he somehow still pissed at him after the fight over Tess?

Tess snorted and dug through the sack from Sal’s, pulling out a cheeseburger and tearing the wrapper off. “That’s all they do. I don’t know why they couldn’t just suggest he stay with one or the other instead of both of them. Not that I’m complaining, of course, but really? Why would his mother insist they stay at the house, which by the way, she’s totally getting in the divorce, when she knows it’s only gonna put more stress on Kyle? And his dad? I feel really bad for him too, but only to a certain point because he gets pulled into the arguments and that just stresses Kyle out too.”

“They’re probably just too wrapped up in their own sorrow and guilt to realize it,” Max said, while his gaze stayed focused on Maria.

“Well, his mother’s the one who screwed everything up. Cheating on him with his best friend.” She shook her head. “But the good news is he’s gonna stay with us. His mother won’t be happy, that’s for sure. I half expected her to take the pizza he was eating and throw it away.” She snorted. “And then she made some snide comment about hiring a nurse to cook all these nutritious meals, like that’s gonna solve all of their problems.”

The only part Michael had heard was the ‘cheating with his best friend’ part and although he knew that was on a completely different level, he felt guilt wash over him. Shit, what had he done?

“Good grief just let the poor man enjoy a slice of pizza already! He’s been eating hospital food for weeks and he’s sick of it.” She looked at Maria and paused when she saw the distracted look on her face. Rather than say anything and draw attention to her friend she reached for the carton she had brought in and opened it up. Maria loved the little bakery and the variety of desserts they made fresh daily. “Look what I brought.”

“You guys are awesome. Although I probably shouldn’t eat so much before a shoot.”

“More for me if you don’t.”

“Save me one for later after the shoot, will ya?”

She nodded. “Of course.” She turned and held the carton out to Liz. “What about you?”

“Since I don’t have to pose in barely anything, I’ll take one.” She grinned.

“Maybe not right now,” Max teased before shifting his attention back to the artwork.

His girlfriend shivered, remembering their earlier encounter. He definitely needed to make up for that little tease.

Tess watched them for a moment before rolling her eyes. “Do we need to leave the two of you alone for a minute or two?”

Max winked at his girl. “Maybe later.”

“You two are disgusting,” Maria complained, but the smile on her lips made it known that she was only teasing them.

“Did Kyle say anything about when he’s gonna be released?” Michael asked his sister. The girl hung out with him pretty much every day and Valenti seemed to enjoy it, so maybe it was her and NOT Maria that was behind his agreeing to stay with the girls.

“He doesn’t have an exact date yet, but it should be in the next few days. He can get up and move around by himself a little bit now. His arm still gives him some trouble, his ribs are sore but they’re healing, and it’s gonna take some time with his eyes, but once he gets the layout of the apartment and has some time to adjust he’ll be fine.”

Maria nodded in agreement. “Amazing how fast things change, huh?”

“Yeah. I’m just glad he’s healing so well. It seems like it’s been forever since he got hurt but at the same time it doesn’t. Now that the surgeries are all over and the bruise on his heart’s healing he’s able to do more for himself. He does still have to take it really easy for a while because of his heart, but as long as nothing changes, and it won’t, he’ll be off all of that heart monitoring equipment soon. He might have to have some kinda portable thingy that’ll monitor his heart until it’s completely healed, but at least he’ll be home.” She shrugged one shoulder. “He’ll heal better and faster once he’s out of the hospital. They’ve done about everything they can do for him there.”

“He’ll be fine and you girls will keep his mind off the bad thoughts,” Max nodded and then leaned back to look at his work. “Done. You wanna take over, Guerin?”

Michael wanted to say no. Almost as much as he wanted to say yes. How had he allowed things to get so out of hand? He grimaced at his choice of words. He’d never before looked at Maria like that, never had any thoughts about her... or had he just never allowed his thoughts to go in that direction, he wondered. All this time everyone kept throwing the thought of him and Maria in his face and he’d always blown them off because it was just absurd. How many times had the two of them made a joke of it? Well, he sure as fuck wasn’t laughing now!

Maria bit her lip when he stayed silent. Gosh, he was way too obvious with his behavior. If he didn’t want to he could always come up with something, but at the very least he had to make up his mind.

He cleared his throat when he realized he’d remained silent too long while he carried on a conversation with himself. Great, now he was gonna drive himself crazy. “Yeah, I’m ready.” Working on her thigh had driven him mad but at least he hadn’t been able to see her eyes. He really wasn’t even sure what he wanted to see there. Regret for what they’d done? Hope that maybe it meant more? Desire? Confusion? Anger at him for allowing things to go so far? He glanced at her and frowned when she just smiled and motioned for him to hurry up. Nothing. That’s what he saw there, and it bothered him because he’d always been able to read her and now, suddenly, he’d lost the ability. Or she was just shutting him out and that possibility hurt.

“I think the flower should be the same color as the one on her hip. The large one,” Max instructed.

“No problem,” he muttered gruffly and went to work.

“Fuck, wait!” Maria hissed when he was about to start and she held his wrist away.

“What?” he asked, irritated and almost expecting her to slap him across the face or yell at him or something.

“Cramp,” she made a face.

“Oh, right. Calf muscle?” he asked, almost certain it was.

“Yeah, damn it.”

“Just hold on.” He crouched down in front of her, his right hand wrapping around her calf as he sought out the knotted muscle. “Yeah, that’s a bad one. Probably should’ve taken a break and stretched it out.” Damn, how many times had they done this and it’d been nothing more than giving a friend a hand? He growled under his breath and steered his thoughts clear when they decided to follow the question.

“Thank God for your talented hands,” she said when the pain eased and only then realized the double meaning. Oops.

“Yeah, well, never had any complaints,” he shrugged. If she was gonna act like what had happened was no big deal he needed to do the same thing or he was gonna start drawing all kinds of attention to them.

“I’m not complaining either,” she mumbled quietly when he got to his feet again.

He paused a moment as he was reaching for the airbrush, trying to decipher her words. Was she talking about just now or before? “Any time,” he said and forced a smile. Just the thought of really putting his hands on her had his dick letting him know it had no objections. “I mean, you know,” he gestured to her leg and then kicked himself for trying to explain.

She nodded wordlessly but kept her eyes on him. If this was a movie she would’ve considered this as ‘a moment’ between the main couple, but with her and Michael that had yet to be seen.

He could feel her gaze on him like a physical touch and it made him nervous. He didn’t understand it. He could run into dangerous situations at work but suddenly the thought of this one girl doing nothing more than look at him made him want to run and hide. He wanted to smack Liz for suggesting taking the art in this direction because it was heaven and hell at the same time. Which was just stupid, he reasoned. Because it wasn’t like he was doing anything of a sexual nature. She was clothed and he was just working the airbrush, filling in the borders, but it was ridiculously erotic.