The Reunion (Liv): Are They Ever Wrong?

Hey all!  Thanks for sticking around :)  Since I'm not really writing along any sort of real storyline anymore, this post takes a jump about two years into the future.  Enjoy!
_______________________________

"I have good news!" Brody said cheerfully when I answered his call.

"You're bringing me back some real cheese curds?" I asked.  Brody was currently in Milwaukee, working on a new contract.  I missed Wisconsin cheese curds.

Brody laughed.  "I can do that too, so I guess I have double good news.  Everything is going really well, so I'll be back tomorrow instead of Saturday."

"That is good news!" I agreed.  "Though I can't promise the house will be clean.  I've been exhausted this week."

"I don't care even a little about the state of the house, I'm just looking forward to seeing you," he said.  "My flight gets in at 7:05, maybe we can get dinner together on the way home?"

"That sounds great!"

We talked for a few more minutes and then we hung up so we could both get to bed.  The next day, when school was done at 2:50, signaling the end of my work day, I calculated that if I went straight home, I could nap for an hour and a half before I had to shower and get ready to go pick up Brody.  I had no idea why I was so tired this week.

I let Eddie out, then brought him upstairs with me.  We fell asleep with ease and I grumbled when my alarm went off.  I hauled myself out of bed and into the shower, then re-straightened my hair and put on some light makeup.  It was an unseasonably warm February day, so I pulled on a navy polka dot dress, a gray cardigan, and tights.  It had been awhile since I'd gotten dressed up just for the hell of it, and I had a lot more energy after my nap.

I got to the airport at 6:50 and parked in the cell phone lot, waiting to hear from Brody.  I was glad he never checked bags for these short trips, because I was eager to see him.  He'd only been gone for 3 days, but we'd both had a busy week before that and hadn't gotten to spend much time together then either.  Brody's work schedule was so much more reasonable now, but we both got swamped from time to time.

I got a text from him at 7:11 saying that he was getting off the plane, so I drove over to arrivals to find him.  I only had to wait a few minutes before I spotted him.  "Hi!" I exclaimed, jumping out of the car and throwing my arms around him.  "I missed you."

"Well, hello!" he said with a laugh, hugging me with the arm that wasn't holding his carry-on.  "I missed you too, Liv."  He kissed the top of my head, then my forehead, then my lips when I tilted my head up.

I dragged myself away so we could get in the car and get out of the airport.  My stomach was rumbling and I needed some dinner soon.  "How was your flight?" I asked Brody as I pulled away from the curb.

"It was alright," he replied, rubbing the spot between his eyebrows tiredly.  "There was a screaming baby right behind me.  I felt terrible for his parents, but also for my ears."

I snorted.  "That does make for a rather miserable flight," I agreed.  "I promise I won't do any screaming tonight."

Brody opened his mouth, closed it, opened it, and closed it again, shaking his head and laughing.  "Not going to touch that one," he said.

My face turned red as I laughed with him.  "I mean, I guess that would be up to you."

Brody snorted and reached across the center console for my hand.  "I know I was only gone a few days, but I really missed you."

"I missed you too," I told him, glancing at him and smiling.  We figured out where to go for dinner and I navigated there easily, finally able to get around this city without an issue.  It taken long enough.

We got lucky and didn't even have to wait for a table.  It was nice to eat and relax with Brody after a busy week.  I yawned several times over dessert, prompting Brody to offer to drive home.  "Long day?" he asked.

"I've just been so tired this week," I said, shaking my head.

I closed my eyes and the next thing I knew, Brody was gently shaking me awake.  "We're home," he told me softly.

"Mmm, I knew that," I mumbled sleepily.  "I wasn't sleeping."

Brody laughed as he pulled his carry-on out of the back.  "Okay," he replied.  "Then we'd better get you to bed so you can sleep."

Eddie jumped around like a crazy dog when Brody and I came inside.  "Hey bud!" Brody said, crouch down to rub his ears.  Eddie licked Brody's face and wiggled excitedly.  "I missed you too, were you a good boy for Liv?"  Eddie wiggled harder and let out a sharp bark, clearly indicating he was the best boy.  "I'll let him out, go get ready for bed," Brody said to me.

"No, you just got home, and I know you want to shower.  I can let him out," I protested.

In the end, Brody won, and I trudged upstairs to wash off my makeup and brush my teeth while Brody went out on the deck with Eddie.  By the time I was done, Brody was in the bedroom, throwing some things from his suitcase into the laundry basket.  He kissed me on his way past me into the bathroom.  "I'm just going to take a quick shower, okay?"  I nodded and climbed into bed.

 I made myself stay awake while I waited for Brody to get out of the shower.  When he got into bed I rolled to face him and my lips found his in the dark.  "Hi," I said between kisses.

"I didn't think you would have any energy," he replied with a chuckle, moving his lips to my neck.  "Not that I'm complaining."

"Shut up and kiss me, or you'll miss your chance," I warned him.  He laughed and kissed me hard, rolling over until he was on top of me, between my legs.  I had just enough energy for one round of sex, and then I happily fell asleep in Brody's arms.

I didn't even wake up when Brody got up in the morning.  When I did wake up, I rolled over, confused by the emptiness of the bed next to me.  I squinted at the clock, surprised to see it was 9:30.  Brody had probably been up for hours.

"Good morning, beautiful," he greeted me with a smile when I made my way downstairs.

"Morning," I grumbled.

"Want some breakfast?  Eggs, maybe?"

My stomach turned at the thought of eggs and I shook my head.  "Just coffee," I said, frowning and sitting down at the table.  Eddie trotted over to me and laid his head in my lap.  I rubbed it briefly.  When I stopped, he nudged me and whined softly.  "Down," I commanded him.  He laid down, but he looked at me reproachfully and whined again.

Brody looked at me with concern.  "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah, my stomach is just a little upset," I said, rubbing my forehead.

Brody frowned.  "Well, drinking just coffee on an empty stomach isn't going to help," he pointed out.  "Toast?"

"Sure," I agreed.  I yawned.  I was so tired.  Brody, saint that he was, made me some toast and coffee and brought both to me.

When I gagged a little on my first bite of toast, Brody said, "Do you think maybe you should take a test?"

"I'm not pregnant," I replied, choking down another bite of toast.  My stomach roiled angrily and I set the uneaten toast down on the plate Brody had provided.  "I don't feel pregnant."

"Sweetheart, you don't know what 'pregnant' feels like," Brody pointed out gently.

He had a point.  I didn't.  Despite us spending the last 8 months trying to get pregnant, I still had no idea what being pregnant felt like.  I'd thought I was pregnant.  Several times, in fact.  Each time, I convinced myself that this was it, that I was absolutely, positively, without a shadow of a doubt pregnant.  And each time, I filled the bathroom garbage with First Response pregnancy tests with just one line.  Well, after the third time that happened, I'd switched to cheaper tests.

"Maybe if I still feel like this tomorrow," I said, finally.  I had felt a little sick the last couple mornings too.

Brody kissed the top of my head as I attempted another bite of toast, then said, "Sounds like a plan.  I'm going to get a little bit of work done, and then I'm all yours after lunch, okay?"

"Okay," I agreed, smiling at him.

I had been planning on going to the gym and then the grocery store this morning, but I was so tired and nauseated that I decided to just go back to bed for a little while.  The toast had settled my stomach a bit and I fell back to sleep fairly easily.  When I woke up, I felt much better.

Feeling more curious than anything, I decided to listen to Brody's suggestion and pulled a pregnancy test out of a drawer in the bathroom.  I left the test on the counter to process while I jumped in the shower.  I rushed through my shower, realizing I needed to know what the test said right now.

Still dripping water, with a towel hastily wrapped around me, I took a deep breath and looked at the test.  "Oh my god," I whispered.  Then, "Brody!"  Not sure if he'd heard me all the way down in his office, I stuck my head out of the bathroom, into our room, and yelled again.  "BRODY!" 

Turned out it wasn't necessary, and he appeared breathlessly in our room not 3 seconds later.  "Are you okay?" he asked me, looking alarmed.  "Liv?  What's wrong?"

Finding myself suddenly unable to speak, I waved him into the bathroom and motioned at the counter.  Brody looked at the pregnancy test, then at me, and then at the test again.  Then he put one hand on either side of my face.  "Two lines means...you're pregnant?"

I nodded as much as I could with Brody's hands on my face.  "I'm pregnant," I confirmed, a lump rising in my throat.

"You're pregnant," Brody repeated.

"I'm pregnant."

We stared at each other for several more seconds before Brody's face split into a huge grin and he wrapped his arms around me.  By the time he let go, I was crying, and his eyes weren't exactly dry either.  He backed out of the bathroom, tugging me with him.  Brody sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled me down onto his lap.  Wrapping one arm around me, he touched my stomach lightly with the fingers of his other hand.  "Do you think..." he started, looking up at me.  "I mean, are they ever wrong?  The tests?"

I shrugged.  "Sometimes?  Maybe?  I guess I don't really know.  I could take another one."

"Not right now," he said quickly.  He spread his hand flat across my stomach and stared at it in wonder.  "It doesn't look like you're pregnant."

I laughed.  "Well, I'm sure that will change," I told him, leaning against him and resting my cheek against the top of his head.

Brody shifted me off his lap and stood, pulling me against him.  "I love you so much, Liv," he said.  Then he crouched in front of me until he was eye level with my stomach and said, "And I love you."

I bit my lip and looked down at him, suddenly overwhelmed with emotion.  "I love you, too," I said softly, pulling him to his feet before I lost it completely.  Just then, Eddie wandered in, happily panting away.  He bounded over and nudged both of our legs before laying down and rolling onto his side, looking up at us.  I laughed.  "I love you, too, Eddie," I said, bending to rub his belly.

Brody shook his head.  "You sure know how to steal a lady's thunder, Ed," he said, sitting on the floor and rubbing behind Eddie's ear.  Eddie whined and shoved his head against Brody's hand, leaning into it.  I joined them on the floor, snuggling against Brody's side as Eddie stretched himself across our laps.  "We're going to have a baby," Brody said softly, kissing the top of my head.

"Yeah," I agreed.  "We are."  

The Reunion (Liv): Not My Style

"I can't believe you chose to work when you can just hang out for the summer.  Do you know how many people would kill for a schedule like that?!"  Lauren was baffled by the fact that I had begged my bosses for some work to do to keep myself busy.  They had happily put me to work about 10 hours a week, which was perfect.

"I would hate it," Kinsley said, nodding at me.  "I get it.  I think too much when I don't have enough to do."

I laughed.  "It was great for two weeks," I said.  "But that's enough.  I never realized how many hobbies I don't have until I suddenly had time to do them.  Or not do them, as it were.  And it doesn't help that Brody works about a thousand hours a week and you guys both have jobs and boyfriends and lives and can't entertain me all the time."

"Speaking of boyfriends," Kinsley said, grinning wickedly at Lauren, "How's the cohabitation space search going?"

"That," Lauren said, sighing.  "Not well.  We found a place and we put in an offer and lost it in a bidding war.  Then we found another place, our offer was accepted, but they found significant issues with the pipes during the inspection. We looked at a rental that I really liked but Alex hated.  And then of course, a bunch of places that sucked."

"That sucks," I said, frowning.  "You're staying month to month at your townhome then, right?"

"Yeah," Lauren replied.  "But I hate being in limbo."

Lauren, Kinsley, and I hung out at the restaurant for awhile after we were done eating, finishing our drinks and chatting.  After we ate, I went to the grocery store, not in any hurry to get home to an empty house.

When I got home, I was surprised to find Brody's SUV in the garage.  "Brody?" I called, struggling through the door with grocery bags in hand.  I was halfway to the kitchen when Brody appeared from his office.

"Hi, gorgeous," he said, kissing me on the cheek as he took the grocery bags from my hands.

"What are you doing home?" I asked.  "I mean, not that I'm not thrilled to see you.  Because I am."

Brody laughed.  "A likely story.  I came home awhile ago because I wasn't feeling very well.  Annnnd then I realized I hadn't eaten all day.  I was fine once I ate, so I've just been working here."

"You need to take better care of yourself," I said, frowning at him in concern.

"Don't worry," he assured me.  "I don't anticipate it happening again.  I mean, how could it, with a fridge full of your delicious cooking?"  He squeezed my arm and kissed me, then started to put groceries away.  I helped him, putting the dry things away in the pantry while he put stuff in the fridge.  "Anyway, listen.  Pete asked me to support a charity that's important to him, and since he's important to me, I'm going to do it."

"Well, that seems like a good idea," I replied.

"I thought so," he said, grinning.  "At least until I found out that he asked me just in time for their annual fundraising event.  Which I now have to go to."

I laughed, trying to picture Brody at a formal charity event.  It definitely seemed like something he would hate.  "Well, have fun with that," I said.

"Oh no," he replied, shaking his head.  "One doesn't go to a charity event without a date."

"And I suppose that means I get to be your date, huh?" I asked.

"I'd be honored," he said with a wink.

I couldn't say no to that.  "Fine," I agreed.  "But you'll have to be reeeaaallllyyyy nice to me between now and then."

"How nice are we talking here?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow and taking a step towards me.  "Like, taking the garbage out without being asked nice?  Buying you diamonds nice?"

I laughed.  "You already take the garbage out without being asked," I pointed out.  "Diamonds aren't necessary.  How about a massage?  That seems like a good compromise."

"Well, a massage doesn't really seem like a middle ground between taking the garbage out and buying you diamonds, but I think I can handle that."

"Good!" I said.  I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the stairs.

"Oh, you meant now," Brody said, feigning surprise.  "Hmmm, I'm not so sure I can--"  He stopped, laughing when I turned and glared at him.  He pulled me to a stop and tugged me closer to him, wrapping his arms around my waist and grinning at me.

"You're lucky you're cute," I told him, pursing my lips to try to keep myself from returning his smile.
He grinned wider.  "So lucky," he replied, leaning down to kiss me.

"That massage isn't happening, is it?" I asked, barely moving my lips from his.

"Nope," he replied, moving his mouth along my jaw, to my ear, and down my neck.  "Not tonight.  I owe you one."

*

"I feel like an imposter," I groaned, watching Lauren fix one last piece of hair.  She'd pinned it to one side, leaving loose waves out in strategic places.  I smoothed my hands down the midsection of my navy gown, feeling far more nervous than the situation called for.

"You don't look like an imposter," she said, smiling at her handiwork in the mirror.  "I mean, this is some of my best work."

I laughed.  "You did do a great job," I said.  "Thank you.  I would have looked ridiculous in this dress without my hair properly done."

Lauren started to respond, but a soft knock at the open door interrupted her.  "Almost ready?" Brody asked.  I turned towards him and watched his mouth drop open slightly.  "Wow," he said, looking me over.  "You look unbelievably amazing."

"Thank you," Lauren said, before I could respond.  "I've been working out."

"Go home, Lauren," I said, laughing.

"Some thanks," she huffed, gathering her bobby pins and hair spray.

I rolled my eyes.  "Thank you, I love you, now go home so my husband can properly appreciate your hard work!"

The look of horror on her face was perfect.  "I'm already gone," she said.  "I don't want anything to do with your marital appreciation."

"I wish I had more time to properly appreciate you right now," Brody told me after she was gone.  "But I assure you that I'm looking forward to getting that dress off of you later."

"I kind of like it," I said, checking myself out in the mirror one last time.  "I might just keep it on forever."

Brody frowned.  "Well, that would be tragic, though you are quite gorgeous with it on."  I laughed and nudged him out the door, thanking him as we walked downstairs.

"I feel kind of ridiculous," I admitted.  "This isn't really my style."

"You're not the only one," he said.  "I can't believe I let myself get talked into this.  Though it's a good cause and the exposure is good for my company."

"Oh please.  You can charm anyone.  I'm the idiot that will ramble and say embarrassing things.  Oh god, please promise to pinch me if I start to ramble.  Don't let me look like an idiot tonight!"

Brody laughed.  "I promise.  No one is going to look like an idiot."

When we got to the event, we immediately headed for the bar.  I was grateful to have a glass of wine in my hand, mostly because it gave me something to do with my hands.  "There you two are," came a familiar voice behind us, as we moved away from the bar.

We turned to see Pete and his wife, Serena.  "You clean up well, Pete!" Brody said, grinning and shaking his hand.  Brody kissed Serena on the cheek and then she lightly hugged me.  I may have felt awkward and out of place, but Serena looked like she knew exactly what she was doing.

We made small talk for a couple minutes before Pete dragged Brody off to introduce him to someone.  Serena and I stayed near the bar chatting until Brody and Pete returned.  "There's a surprising number of people here I know," Brody said, looking around.

"You know everyone, so I'm not sure why that's surprising," I pointed out.

He grinned.  He knew it was true.  "Walk with me?" he requested, holding his arm out to me.  I took it and as we walked across the room, Brody said, "I was so distracted by how beautiful you look that I forgot to tell you my good news."  I looked at him expectantly.  "We filled the last open position today."

"So..." I said, not sure I wanted to say out loud what I thought that meant.

"So there's an actual end in sight for my ridiculous hours now," he said.  "She'll start in 3 weeks, and I think about 2 weeks after that I'm going to start cutting down my hours and seeing how it goes.  I'm already working on shifting some of my responsibilities to the team leads."

"That is so exciting!" I replied.  "I mean, selfishly, I'm really glad that I'll get to have you around a little more.  But I'm also really excited for you.  You've worked so hard."

"Brody!" someone called, before he could respond.  Brody turned and smiled at someone.  He introduced me to the man, who was apparently a Denver Broncos cornerback.  "Your husband is the best PR I've ever had," he told me, grinning.  "And I went through quite a few before him."

"That's why I'm keeping you when we restructure," Brody said, laughing.  "I'm not going to let you run through my team."

"I told him he works too hard but he won't listen to me," the cornerback said to me.

"Join the club," I said with a chuckle.  "He won't listen to me either."

The rest of the evening was much of the same:  smiling through introductions, making small talk with the many people at the event that Brody knew, and wishing I had worn more comfortable shoes.  But the food was good, the bar was open, and I even had a little bit of fun.

"Well, what did you think?" Brody asked as we got in his SUV at the end of the night.

I groaned, slipping my heels off.  "Well, I think I need to invest in some more comfortable shoes if we ever do this again."

"Again?" he asked.

"I said 'if'," I reminded him.

"You also said 'again'," he replied, and I could see his smirk even in the dark.

I laughed.  "It wasn't so bad," I admitted.

"I agree," he replied.  "It didn't hurt that I happened to have the most beautiful date there."

I snorted and shook my head as he reached for my hand over the center console.  "Flattery will get you everywhere, I suppose."

"I can only hope," he said, winking at me.

The Reunion (Liv): Summer

Hi all!  I'm glad you enjoyed the first post.  Just wanted to let you know I'm not posting on any sort of schedule here.  I'm shooting for about one post a week, but I make no promises.  I have a handful of ideas so I'm looking at maybe 10-12 total posts?  We'll see how carried away I get :)
_____________________________________

I was composing an email to my boss, asking if there was anything I could do to pick up a few hours over the summer.  Groups, writing assessments, anything but sitting around being unproductive, when Brody called.  "Hey you," I said cheerfully.  "Will you be home for dinner tonight?"

"I won't," he said.  "In fact, I won't be home until late, that's why I'm calling."  I sighed, disappointed.  "Wait a second before you get too upset," he urged me.  "I'm staying late tonight so I can take tomorrow and Monday off to spend with you at the cabin."

"Really?"

"Of course, would I lie about that?" he asked.  "Don't wait up for me, okay?  Get some sleep, and we'll leave tomorrow morning.  I'm not even taking my phone with me."

"Okay, well, if that's the case I suppose I can manage on my own tonight," I replied, grinning.

I fell asleep around 10, but woke up when Brody came in, because he stubbed his toe on the dresser and swore.  I groaned and rolled over.  "Brody?" I croaked.

"Sorry," he said softly.

"What time is it?" I asked, my voice muffled by sleep and the pillow.

I felt the mattress sink under him.  "You don't want to know," he replied, stroking my back.  "I'm sorry I woke you."

"S'okay," I mumbled.  "Come to bed."

"Just a minute," he replied.  I felt his lips on my cheek, and then the mattress moved again as he stood up.  I heard him go into the bathroom, and I rolled over and tried to fall back to sleep.  But despite my best efforts, I was now awake.

Brody was in bed in a couple minutes and I snuggled up to him.  "How was your day?" I asked.  "Besides long."

"It was pretty good, actually," he replied.  "Everything is really coming together.  I think I'm going to be able to work some more normal hours really soon."

"Yeah?" I asked, lifting my head to look at him.  "I really hope so."

"Me too," he said.  I nestled into him, shifting a little closer.  Brody pulled me tightly against him, and I soon fell back to sleep.

Amazingly, Brody was still up before me.  He was out drinking coffee on the deck with Eddie when I made my way downstairs.  "Why are you up already?" I asked, squinting in the bright morning sunlight.  Eddie lifted his head at the sound of my voice and jumped up, trotting happily over to slobber all over my bare legs.  "Good morning, sweet boy," I said to him, scratching the top of his head.

"I get a 'why are you up already?' and he gets a 'good morning, sweet boy'?" Brody asked, smirking and raising an eyebrow.  "I see how I rank."

I laughed.  "Good morning, sweet boy," I said, kissing him on the cheek and settling into the chair next to him.

"Much better," he answered, grinning.  "And I have no idea why I'm up already.  I woke up and couldn't get back to sleep.  I was going to make breakfast in a little bit, I didn't expect you to be up quite yet."  I yawned in response, drawing a chuckle from Brody.  "I need more coffee, do you want some too?"  I nodded and leaned my head back, closing my eyes and enjoying the warm sun.  Eddie had stretched out again, this time under my chair.

Once I had woken up a little, Brody and I made breakfast together.  Then we packed for the weekend, loaded Eddie into my SUV, and got on our way.  I drove so Brody could relax.  Despite his good mood this morning, I could tell he was exhausted.  Sure enough, he fell asleep within 20 minutes.  Eddie sat happily in the backseat, nose pressed to the window.  I had it open about 4 inches for him, and he was slobbering all over the place.  "Oh Ed," I said, glancing at him in the rearview mirror.  He looked at me briefly with his goofy smile, then turned his attention back to the wind rushing into the car.

I had to wake Brody up when we got close, because I could never remember where to turn off the main road.  He yawned and stretched as much as the confines of the car allowed as we pulled up in front of the cabin.  I pulled my car under the carport.  This was Eddie's first trip here, so I snapped his leash on before I let him out.  He looked around excitedly as I let him sniff around the yard for a few minutes before we went inside.

Brody had brought most of our stuff in while I was letting Ed get acclimated.  I was hopeful we'd be spending some more time here soon, and I wasn't interested in hauling a bunch of Eddie's stuff back and forth each time, so I'd stopped at the store yesterday evening and picked up two new beds (one for the living area and one for our bedroom...no he's not spoiled at all!), food and water dishes, a long tie out, and a few of his favorite toys and chews.  "What do you think, bud?" I asked him, bringing him inside and letting him off the leash.  He sniffed around cautiously, smelling everything before moving to the next room.  He looked over his shoulder at me, whined once, and wagged his tail.  I followed him into the next room, where he happily sniffed around under my supervision.  We did this room by room for the entire cabin.

Brody was flopped on the bed in the master bedroom when we got done with our tour.  "Did he tip you, Madame Tour Guide?" he asked, smirking at me.  "He's got you wrapped around his little finger."

"It's a mutual wrapping," I retorted.  "Jealous I haven't paid as much attention to you yet?"

"A little bit," he said.

I laughed.  "Roll over," I said, tapping his hip.  He rolled onto his stomach and I straddled his hips, starting to massage his shoulders.

"That feels good," Brody groaned, his voice muffled by the bed.  I worked my way down his back, then back up, ending by massaging his scalp for several minutes.  "I'm so sleepy," he mumbled.

"Sleep for awhile," I suggested.  "I'll take Eddie for a walk and make some lunch, and if you're still sleeping when it's ready, I'll wake you up then, if you want."

"Okay," he said.  I swapped my flip flops for a pair of sneakers and by the time I had them changed, Brody was asleep in the middle of the bed in the same position he'd been in when I was rubbing his back.  I shook my head and pulled the blinds closed so it was a little darker for him, though I'm not convinced it would have made any difference.

Eddie followed me out of the room, and wiggled happily when I snapped his leash back on.  "Want to go for a walk, bud?" I asked him.  He wiggled harder, too well-behaved to do anything else.  I laughed and led him to the door.

We walked for about 40 minutes, and Eddie was thrilled with the new smells and sights.  I even jogged with him for a little while, and he ran alongside me, lips and tongue flapping happily away.  When we got back, he slurped up some water and trotted to the bedroom to keep Brody company.

I took my car into the nearest town and stopped at the store for something for lunch and for dinner.  I picked up some chicken breasts and stuff for salad for lunch, then picked out some steaks and scallops for dinner.  I found a few snacks, eggs and bread and milk for breakfast in the morning, and some juice.  At the liquor store next door I grabbed some beer and wine, and then I headed back up to the cabin.

Brody was still fast asleep when I got back, and Eddie was snoring on the floor at the foot of the bed.  He lifted his head to look at me sleepily when I peeked in, but for once he stuck by Brody, putting his head back down and huffing out a very dramatic breath.

I headed out to the grill on the deck and started it up.  While the grill was heating up and the chicken was cooking, I cut up some veggies and fruit and threw together salads.  When everything was done, I went into the bedroom to wake Brody up.  I laughed when I saw that Eddie, who was almost never allowed in our bed (I let him when Brody was out of town, but we didn't let him when we were both in bed), was stretched out next to Brody.

When I woke Brody up, he was just as surprised as I was to see Eddie next to him.  "He took advantage of my tiredness!" Brody said, but he was laughing.  Once Brody got out of bed, we went outside to eat on the deck.  It had been hot in the city for the entire week, and the slightly cooler air here was welcome.

Brody's nap had done its job, and after lunch he had a lot more energy.  When I got up to put Eddie on his tie out and let him off the deck, Brody wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me down into his lap.  I yelped in surprise, toppling onto him.  "Hi," he said, with a mischievous grin.

"Hi," I replied, laughing.  "Something I can help you with?"

"Actually, there's something I'd like to help you with," he said.  He pulled me closer and kissed me, and I shifted into a more comfortable position before losing myself in the kiss.

"Mmm, should we go inside?" I asked softly, barely pulling my lips from his.

"No," he responded, pushing his hand through my hair and then pulling my lips back to his.  His other hand roamed over my hip and down to my bare leg.  He slipped his fingertips under the edge of my shorts and pressed them into my skin.  Eventually, he tugged at my shirt, working it up and then pulling it over my head.

"Brody!" I exclaimed, laughing.  "We're outside."

He shrugged, smiling wickedly.  "Do you see any people?  Or houses?  Or anything but trees?"

"Good point," I admitted, looking around briefly.  Brody kissed along my collarbone, drawing my attention back to him.  I groaned softly as he swirled the tip of his tongue in a light circle at the base of my throat.

"So, do you want to go inside?" Brody asked, pausing.  His breath was warm against my skin and his lips brushed gently against my neck as he spoke.

"No," I whispered, digging my fingers into his arms as he lightly nipped at my shoulder.  Brody chuckled and reached behind me to unhook my bra.  I shivered as he removed it, dragging his fingertips down my arms along with the straps.  He leaned forward and flicked his tongue across one nipple, then wrapped his hands around my waist and lifted me off his lap and onto the table.  His mouth moved to the other nipple and his hands worked on the button and zipper of my shorts.

I sighed happily, shifting my weight so Brody could pull my shorts off.  He knelt in front of me and slid his hands up my thighs, pushing my legs apart as he did.  Brody kissed his way up my inner thigh and I gasped when his mouth reached its destination.  I almost slid off the table when I came, but Brody's strong grip on my hips kept me in place.  I pulled him up and yanked his shirt off.  He beat me to undoing his shorts, but not by much.  I wrapped my hand around him, stroking him until he pushed my hand away and pushed into me.

I enjoyed the thrill of being outside and completely exposed, even though the risk of actual exposure to anyone else's eyes was low.  Brody was in no hurry, and I enjoyed every second of it.  When we were finished, he yawned.

"Still tired?" I asked, laughing.

"More like tired again," he replied.  "You have a way of wearing a man out."

We decided to head inside and relax in bed for awhile.  I pulled my shorts and shirt back on and looked out into the yard.  Eddie was laying flat on his side, his legs stretched in either direction as far as they'd go.  "Eddie!" I called.  "Hey, Eddie!  Do you want to come inside?"  He lifted his head to look at me lazily, one eye still closed.  Then he shut the open eye and laid his head back down.  "Eddie!  Come inside!" I called again.  In response, he rolled lazily onto his back, rolled back and forth a couple times, and then stopped, legs still in the air.  "I guess Eddie is staying outside," I said with a laugh.  I checked his tie out and then followed Brody inside.

Once in the bedroom, I wriggled out of my clothes again and climbed under the blankets.  Brody was already there, and barely let me get all the way into bed before he pulled me against him.  We spent the rest of the afternoon in bed, alternating between talking or dozing and having lazy sex.  Brody got up once to let Eddie in, otherwise we stayed in bed until I dragged Brody out to help me make dinner.  After dinner, we took Eddie for a walk and then settled into the jetted tub in the bathroom with a bottle of wine.

We spent the rest of the weekend enjoying each other's company, cooking together (which was something I loved but we hardly ever got a chance to do anymore), hiking, and being lazy.  On the drive home Monday afternoon, Brody said, very seriously, "I think we should do this monthly.  At least monthly, maybe more.  I needed this.  We needed this."

I agreed.  I'd had a good idea what I was getting into when I gave Brody my blessing to buy his new office building, but it was now getting old really fast.  It probably didn't help that the worst of it had come when I was off work for the summer and actually had time to go and do fun things, but couldn't do them with my husband.  Of course, that didn't stop me.  I had spent quite a bit of time with Lauren and Kinsley so far, but I missed doing things like this weekend with Brody.  I supported him 100%, and I knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel, but I was counting down the days.

We'd also started to get a lot of questions from people about when we were going to have kids.  And since "When my husband works fewer than 90 hours a week and our child will actually recognize him," wasn't a socially appropriate answer, I'd done a lot of smiling, shrugging, and saying, "We're not quite ready," or "when things settle down a little."  Those answers resulted in lectures on how if we waited to be completely ready, we'd never have kids, or that things will never truly settle down, what's a baby on top of it?  But I knew better.  I was in full support of Brody right now, but I knew if we added a baby to the mix now, I'd grow to resent him really quickly.  And I didn't ever want to resent him.

"What are you thinking about?" Brody asked me, breaking into my thoughts on babies and support and resentment.

"Babies," I said honestly.

Brody didn't say anything for several seconds and then said, "Okay, you're going to have to give me more than that."

"Sorry, I was just thinking about having a baby someday.   We haven't talked about it in awhile."  I glanced at Brody's anxious face and realized why he was nervous.  "Oh!  No, I don't mean I want to have a baby now," I said, laughing.  The relief on Brody's face was almost comical.  "Sorry, you saying we needed this made me think about how tough the last several weeks have been, which made me think about missing doing fun things with you, which made me think about the absurd number of people who think the contents of my uterus are any of their business, and then I was about to start thinking about all the things I want to do before we start having kids, but you interrupted my completely logical train of thought."

"Completely logical," Brody said with a smile.  "So continue your thoughts out loud.  What are the things you want to do before we start having kids?"

"Well, I don't know.  I hadn't gotten there yet, remember?"  I smirked at him, and he laughed.  "But I know I want to travel more.  I want to do more with my career.  I need to finish the licensure process.  I have a little bit of supervision left to get before I can do that."

"And I want to be able to be around more," he said.

I nodded.  "Trust me, I want that too," I assured him.  "In fact, I require it."

"Well, I'm hoping that will start happening really soon," he said.  "Once we finish filling the open positions and have everyone trained, I should be able to decrease my hours fairly significantly."

"How many open positions are left?" I asked.

"Three," Brody said.  "Considering we started with 16 to fill with the expansion, I'm hoping we can have them filled within a month."  

I considered this.  "So with training and everything...?"

"My goal is by the end of the summer.  But I can do a little cutting already, I think.  Everything is going so smoothly right now.  I probably shouldn't have said that out loud, I guess.  But it is, and I think it's about time to start cutting down and seeing what happens.  We've got a couple departments that are fully staffed now.  There's no reason for me to still be involved so heavily with them."

"Sounds like you have a plan," I said, smiling.

He chuckled.  "I do," he replied.  "We'll see if it happens the way I want it to, but having a plan is good in any case."

"I'll take it," I said, grinning.  Brody reached for my hand across the center console, and we finished the drive in easy silence.

Lauren: Commitment

Before I even think about what I'm doing, I hang up.

Alex looks up at me, confused.  "Who was that?  Why'd you hang up so fast?"

"It was a reporter from the Denver Post," I answer.  "He wanted to talk to me about my job."

My phone starts ringing again, and I stare at it.  "You know," Alex says, looking amused.  "You could just tell him you don't want to talk to him."

"Oh, look who has logic and reason today," I retort.  "I can't answer now after I hung up on him.  He'll think I'm ridiculous."

Alex snorts.  "He already thinks you're ridiculous.  But you're right--if you answer, you're giving yourself numerous opportunities to become even more ridiculous."

I glare at him and hit the button to silence the call.  "You're--" I start.

"The worst," Alex interrupts.  "I know."  He grins at me and I roll my eyes and turn away before he can see the smile tugging at the corners of my lips.  I head upstairs to my makeshift office.  I need to comb through job postings again.

I actually find 3 that I want to apply to, and I carefully craft my cover letters and tweak my resumes, then send them off.

I get a call later that day from a job I applied to the week before, asking to set up an interview.  I don't answer it, fearing that it might be the reporter again.  After I listen to the message, I call back and set up an interview in two days.

The next day, I meet Liv for lunch.  I'm taking advantage of being off work and using it to improve my social life.  "How's the job search going?" Liv asks after we order.

"Not bad," I reply.  "I have an interview tomorrow."  I fill her in a little on the job search, and we talk about my old company.  Liv read the article in the paper and we'd texted about it quite a bit already.  "And how's married life?"

She groans.  "I wish everyone would stop asking me that," she answers.

"Uh oh," I say, concerned.

"Oh!" Her cheeks turn pink.  "No, nothing's wrong," she clarifies.  "It's just everyone's favorite question.  Actually, things are really good.  Brody finally has things at work set up the way he wants them, and things are starting to really slow down for him."  She tells me about his restructure at work and their plans to take a trip to Jamaica in March.  "Everything should be set by then, and we can celebrate him finally having a normal amount of work.  Provided nothing goes wrong between now and then, at least."

"That's awesome," I say sincerely.  I've struggled watching how busy Brody is.  From the outside, it's hard to see how their relationship works sometimes.  To me, it's seemed like he hasn't always made Liv a priority and I know they fought about it a lot towards the beginning of their relationship.  It's great to see him really making an effort to make more time in his life.  I know they want kids someday, and Liv has said that she won't even talk about it until his work schedule is more manageable.

"How is Alex doing?" she asks me.

I shrug.  "Pretty well.  He's working from home some, and we've been getting out more.  He's pretty self-sufficient now and only really takes pain meds once in awhile.  Usually after he overdoes it."

"That's great!" Liv says excitedly.  Unfortunately, she has to get back to work soon, but we make plans to go out this weekend.


My interview the next day goes well, and I leave it feeling hopeful.  I really click with the interviewers and I like the the feel of the company.  I stop on the way home to pick up some groceries, and I'm a lot more cheerful than I've been in awhile.

When I get back to Alex's house, he helps me put the groceries away.  I head upstairs to change out of my suit.  Then I make my way back downstairs and lay on the couch, settling my head on Alex's leg.  "I was thinking," I say, getting comfortable.

"Wait," Alex interrupts.  "If you were thinking, I think I need a beer before I listen."

"Shut up, jerk," I tell him, rolling my eyes.  "I was just thinking that once we're both working again like normal, productive members of society, we should plan another trip.  Savannah was so much fun until...well..." I stop.  I don't need to say 'until your mom went full bitch and tried to replace me.'

"I was thinking too," Alex counters.  "I kind of like this sweet set-up, and I thought maybe you could get a job and I'll just be a stay at home boyfriend forever."

"Tomorrow's headline: woman kills boyfriend with bare hands just for the hell of it," I reply.  "And anyway, who would pay your mortgage then?  Because I'm surely not paying my rent and your mortgage."

"I thought you'd appreciate my plan because it's breaking traditional gender roles!" Alex says, pretending to pout.  "And anyway, I just figured you'd eventually move in.  Or we'd find a new place together."  He throws this part on casually, but I stiffen involuntarily.

I hear him sigh, but I don't say anything.  "Laur," he says gently.  "You've practically been living here anyway.  I'm not saying let's move in together tomorrow, but I'm also struggling with the idea of spending the rest of my life with someone that I don't even share a house with."

I sit up and look at him.  His jokes are gone, and he looks serious.  "I'm not saying I don't ever want us to live together," I tell him uneasily.

"No," he replies, looking frustrated.  "Maybe in 10 years you'll be okay with some real commitment."

I blink in surprise and my mouth drops open a little.  I stare at him, and he returns my gaze easily.  "Alex," I start, but I stop.  I have no idea what to say.  I finally settle on, "That's not fair."

"Isn't it?" he asks.  "You're terrified of commitment.  Hell, we've known each other for almost 9 years at this point, and the best I can get from you is a verbal confirmation that you want to spend the rest of your life with me.  All talk, no action."

"Now that is really not fucking fair," I protest, trying not to raise my voice.  "I've spent the last how many weeks here, taking care of you?  I slept on your hospital bed after your accident.  I cried in public like a huge fucking mess.  I've put up with your parents, who hate me and just want me to go away, and I've done things for you that I don't even like to do for myself!  So I'm sorry, but just because you don't recognize those things for what they are, it doesn't mean I'm all talk and no action.  I've been nothing but action since the weekend before Christmas!"

My voice, which rose steadily as I talked on, shakes slightly and falters on the word "Christmas."  I try hard to see his perspective, and if I wasn't so angry I might be successful.  But I'm livid at his accusation that I've done nothing to prove that I'm in this for the long haul.  Where has he been these past 6 weeks?

I see the uncertainty in his eyes, and I can tell he's thinking about what I just said.  But I also see the stubborn set of his jaw, and I know this conversation is going nowhere good, and fast.  "I think maybe I should go home for now," I say softly.

"Sure," Alex says bitterly.  "Run away."

"I am not running away," I hiss fiercely.  "I am giving us both some space so we can come back to this after we've had some time to calm down and think.  You're hurt.  I'm hurt.  If I stay here, one or both of us will say something stupid and potentially relationship damaging.  I am walking away to save this relationship."

Alex doesn't say anything, and after giving him plenty of time to respond if he wants to, I stand.  I force myself to walk calmly up the stairs, and I collect some of my stuff.  Might as well do some of my laundry when I'm at home.  I've been doing it here, but I'll need something to do at home.

When I come back downstairs, Alex is standing with his keys in his hand.  "What are you doing?" I ask suspiciously.  Alex hasn't driven since before his accident.

"Going for a drive," he snaps.  I resist the urge to caution him and I just nod.  He follows me out the door, locking it behind me.  I don't wait around to watch him walk into his garage.  I leave as soon as I get in the car.

On the way home, I try to remind myself that the last 6 weeks have been really trying for both of us.  I hate being unproductive and not working.  Alex hates being cooped up.  That's all this is--our frustration of the last 6 weeks coming out sideways.  I hope.

Kinsley: Friends

You know how I love my bonuses.  I'll be back to school soon and won't have time to write as many, so I better give you guys some while I can!  If you haven't read Sunday's post yet, don't miss it!
________________________________________

Our pre-dinner sex was exactly what I needed to settle down a little.  Cole was gone from my head, and I even grabbed Damien's hand as we left my house and walked to his truck--which was indeed running.  "At least my truck is still here," Damien teased me as he pulled open the passenger side door for me.

"What's this?" I asked, smirking.  "You knock on my door like a gentleman, fuck me like that, and then open the car door for me like a gentleman?  Trying to make sure I know you're not a dirty old man?"

He laughed and shook his head.  "Careful with that 'old man' crap," he said.  "Don't make me prove my virility again."  He winked and held out a hand to help me up into the truck.

I snorted as I got in and muttered, "Your virility.  Okay, Damien."

He walked around the front of the truck and climbed in on the driver's side.  "Hi," he said, smiling at me.  "I never got the chance to properly greet you."

"Hi," I answered, returning his smile and leaning over the center console to kiss him.  He gently pushed a piece of hair out of the way, then cradled the side of my face in his hand as he kissed me back.  I loved the contrast of the tenderness after the quick, hard sex we'd just had.  I leaned my face against his hand for a second after we separated and sighed.

"How was your day?" he asked, his hand still warm against my face.

I closed my eyes briefly before I settled back into my seat and put my seatbelt on.  "It was fine," I said.  "We're slow at work this week so I spent a lot of time shopping online."

"Oh yeah?" he asked, chuckling.  "What did you buy?"

"Nothing," I replied.  "I was window shopping, I guess."

"Something in particular you were looking for?"

I shrugged.  "I want a new pair of boots but nothing is really doing it for me.  I made my appointment to use my Christmas gift for Saturday, too."

"Good," he said, smiling.

"I'm looking forward to it.  How was your day?"

"Busy," he replied.  "I went in early so I could get out at a reasonable time tonight so we could go out to dinner."

"Well, thank you," I said.  "We could have rescheduled for tomorrow if you were that busy."

"I didn't want to," he told me.  "I wanted to see you tonight."

Our dinner was nice and I relaxed even more.  "I figured while I was spending the day at the salon, I might as well get my hair cut too," I told Damien as we were waiting for our appetizer.

"Yeah?  What are you going to do with it?"

"I think I'm going to cut if off," I answered.  "Collarbone length or so."

Damien reached over and brushed my long hair back over my shoulders and cocked his head.  Then he nodded.  "I think that will look good on you," he said.

"Good," I replied, "Because even if you didn't, I'd still do it."

"I would never expect you to do something with your hair or clothes or makeup based on what I like, so we're on the same page," he said, chuckling.

A devious smirk turned up the corners of mouth.  "I'd wear lingerie that you liked," I said quietly, cocking an eyebrow at him.

"Would you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow to match mine.  "Now that I might take you up on."

"Pick something out and I'll get it and wear it for you," I told him.

He was about to respond when our server brought us the appetizer we'd ordered.  He snapped his mouth shut and just smiled slyly at me instead.  I loved this side of him, and I'd been seeing more of it lately.

We managed to behave ourselves for the rest of dinner, then we moved to the bar area for one last drink before we headed back.  We sat in the corner of the bar, legs touching, talking as we drank.

Once we finished our drinks, we left.  I shivered as we walked out into the cold and Damien slipped his arm around me.  I moved close enough to him that it made it hard to walk, and we both laughed as I shifted away enough so that we could make our way down the sidewalk without tripping each other.

"My lady," Damien said, bowing as he opened the door to his truck for me.

I took his hand and climbed up into the truck.  "You're ridiculous," I told him, laughing.

He kissed my hand and said, "I'm okay with that," before he shut the door.

When we got back to my house, Damien plopped down on the couch and pulled me down next to him.  I curled up against his chest and let him wrap his arms around me.  We cuddled on the couch until we were both almost asleep, then we moved up to bed.

Damien was busy all week and I didn't get to see him again until Friday.  He was exhausted, so we stayed in.  I even pretended to be a good girlfriend and cooked him dinner.

After dinner, we hung out on the couch together with a movie on and Damien's head in my lap.  I absently massaged his head, rubbing my fingertips over his short hair.  About 20 minutes into the movie, I impulsively blurted out, "Do you want to get married?"

"Right now?" he asked, turning his head up to smirk at me.

"Don't be a dick," I tell him, my cheeks getting pink.  "Never mind."

He twisted and sat up, looking at me seriously now.  "I'm sorry.  Tell me what you meant."

I was uncomfortable and I fidgeted under his gaze.  He read my discomfort perfectly and laid back down, settling his head back on my lap.  My fingers automatically went back to his head, soothed by the texture of his hair against them.  It's easier to talk without him looking at me.  "I mean...ever, I guess?  Is marriage a thing that you want, someday?  With someone?  I know that you were engaged..." I trailed off, regretting saying anything at all.

"I would like to get married someday," he answered.  "I'd like to have a family too, maybe."

"A family?" I squeaked.  I cleared my throat.  "Like, kids?"

I saw the corners of his mouth twitch.  "Yes, like kids.  How about you?  Do you want to get married?  Have kids?"

This seemed like such a nonchalant and ridiculous way to have this conversation, but I wasn't ready to have it in any other way yet.  "Yeah," I replied.  "I mean, I think."

"You think?" he probed gently.

"I guess I spent so long convinced that I'd never end up in an actual relationship that I've only just started considering the possibility of both," I admitted.

"And what has you considering these possibilities now?" he asked.  This time his smile was clear.

"Shut up," I said.

"It wouldn't be me, would it?"  He turned and looked up at me.

"I said shut up," I reminded him, fighting my smile.  "But maybe."

He reached up for my hand and twisted his fingers with mine, bringing my hand to his lips.  He kissed my knuckles gently then brought our linked hands to his chest, resting them there.  "Well, if you're thinking about wanting to maybe marry me someday, and you want to talk about it some more, I'd be happy to.  But I'm not in a hurry."

"Okay," I said.  "I'll keep that in mind."  He nodded and turned back towards the movie, and I was relieved.  Both that the conversation was over, and that it had happened.

I barely managed to kick Damien out in time for me to leave for my salon appointment on Saturday.  Somehow, I got there with 2 minutes to spare, which is basically the normal person's equivalent of being about 20 minutes early.

The day was excellent, and though I had briefly second guessed my plan to chop off my hair, by the time I sat in my stylist's chair I was relaxed enough to go for it.  When I sat down, my hair fell to the middle of my back.  When I left, nearly 8 inches was gone.  I shook my head, feeling the ends of my hair brush across the back of my neck.

The first thing I did when I got in my car was take a picture and send it to Damien, Liv, and Lauren, then posted it to Facebook.  Don't pretend you don't you do the same thing.  Then I hurried home to get ready.  Lauren, Liv, and I were having a girls' night out tonight.  It had been a long time since we'd done that, and I was excited.

Of course, I'd promised Damien I'd go for a run with him in the morning, Lauren had to get back to Alex, and Liv lived out of town, so it was safe to say that none of us would be getting wild and crazy tonight.  It didn't matter.  Going out and having a couple drinks and dancing with them was enough for me.

We were on the third bar of the evening (and getting close to tapping out) when someone touched my shoulder.  "What are you drinking?" Cole asked, close to my ear.

"Water," I replied, once I had caught my breath.  "And for fuck's sake, stop sneaking up on me like that!"  I whirled and glared at him.  He was, of course, smirking.  I cocked an eyebrow angrily and he tried to make his grin go away but it wasn't working.

"Sorry," he said.  "It's loud in here, there was no way to get your attention without scaring you."

"You're full of shit," I snapped.  "And seriously?  I don't see you anywhere for months and now I see you twice in one week?"

"Months ago you would have been happy about that," he replied nonchalantly.  He nodded a belated greeting to Lauren and Liv, who were both watching a little suspiciously.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Lauren called.  "Do you want to come?"  I paused, then shook my head.  She raised her eyebrows at me, then shrugged and grabbed Liv, pulling her towards the bathroom.

"I'm a little bummed that you're not happier to see me," Cole said, not sounding bummed at all.  He leaned against the table, effectively trapping me between him and the wall.  "I was hoping we could at least stay friends."

"Cole," I started.  I shook my head and stopped.

"What?" he asked.

"I can't be friends with you," I told him simply.  "It's too hard."

"Why?" He looked genuinely curious.

I sighed and pushed my hair out of my face.  "You know why.  I've never been able to look at you without wanting to get in your pants.  It's not like that's changed.  I'm not interested in doing anything to fuck up my relationship, so I think it's better if we're just...not."

He looked as though he was considering this when Lauren and Liv came back.  "Are you ready to leave?" Liv asked, after a quick glance at Cole.  She looked down at her watch, which I hadn't noticed before and must be new.  It looked expensive.  "It's getting kind of late."

"Yeah," I said quickly.  "I'm ready."  After a quick discussion of where we were parked, we discovered Lauren and Liv were parked fairly close and I was parked in the opposite direction and a solid 5 blocks away.

Cole glanced at me and said, "Let me walk you to your car, at least."

"Fine," I agreed grudgingly.  I wasn't looking forward to the 5 block walk by myself this late on a Saturday, anyway.

"You're okay, then?" Lauren asked me.  "Otherwise you can walk with us and one of us can drop you off at your car."

"I'm okay," I told her.  I hugged them both and we set off in opposite directions.

Cole kept up easily with my brisk pace, and was mercifully quiet as we walked.  When we got to my car, I turned and said, "Well, thanks for walking with me.  I appreciate it."

"You're welcome," he said, and it was one of the most sincere-sounding things that had ever come out of his mouth.  "By the way, I like your hair...even if it's probably harder to get a good handful now."

I rolled my eyes and without thinking said, "I'm sure it's just fine."

"Let's see," he said teasingly, and before I could stop him, he'd grabbed a fistful of hair at the back of my head.  Operating purely on reflex, I sighed and let my eyes flutter closed, losing myself for just a second.

And then Cole kissed me.

Kinsley: In a Hurry

"Cole," I said in surprise.  "Hi."  Liv and Lauren look really confused, and they're looking between Cole and I as if they've never seen a man before.

"Hey Kins," he replied, flashing a smile that was enough to make my palms start to sweat.  "It's been awhile."

"Yeah," I agreed.  "It has been.  How are you?"

"I'm good.  And you look good.  Are you going to introduce me to your gorgeous friends?"

I narrowed my eyes at him.  "Gorgeous and very much not single," I informed him.  "But, the one with the huge diamond on her left hand is Olivia, and the one with the huge emerald on her left hand is Lauren."

Cole grinned and said, "Nice to meet you, Huge Diamond Olivia and Huge Emerald Lauren.  I'm Cole, I used to work with Kinsley."   Liv and Lauren both said hi, then looked back at me.  They're clearly confused, and I don't blame them.  "Anyway, I'll let you ladies get back to your dinner, but I wanted to say hi.  I'll see you around."  He smiled disarmingly at each of us in turn, then turned and left.

"Okay," Liv said, as soon as he was out of earshot.  "Who the hell is that?"

"He is hot," Lauren added.  She narrowed her eyes at me.  "And you've fucked him, haven't you?  Lucky bitch."

"Yeah," I replied.  "I was sleeping with him while Damien and I were broken up."

"Was it good?  I bet it was, he looks like he knows how to lay some serious pipe," Lauren observed.

Liv's face turns pink and she elbows Lauren.  "'Lay some serious pipe'? Really?"

I laughed and Lauren joined me.  "Yeah, actually.  He's pretty talented."

"Too bad I'm not single," Lauren said, cocking an eyebrow.  "Mmmm."  That time, Liv and I both looked at her.  "What?  I'm out of sorts today, wait until you hear what happened."  Lauren filled us in on what happened with her job and I was absolutely shocked.  We talked about it for the rest of our dinner, forgetting about Cole and his serious pipe.

I hit the bathroom before I left, saying goodbye to Lauren and Liv as they headed for the door.  On my way out, I glanced towards the bar, and happened to catch Cole's eye.  He grinned and winked, tipping his chin ever so slightly.  I smiled back and turned, leaving quickly so I didn't have to think about the way that smile and wink made me feel.

I was unlocking my car door when his voice made me jump.  "In a hurry?" he asked.

I spun and glared at him.  He was leaning casually against the side of my car.  "Jesus Christ, Cole.  You should fucking know better than to sneak up on me like that.  Fuck you!"

"Here?" He smirked and glanced around.  "If you really want to."

"You're disgusting," I said.

"You've never complained before," he replied with a shrug.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked him, trying to covertly check him out.  The way the corners of his lips twitched up told me I wasn't sneaky enough.

He shrugged.  "I just wanted to say hi.  I haven't seen you since you got back together with that boyfriend."

"That's probably a good thing, don't you think?"

"Depends on your perspective, I guess," he replied.  "I was just starting to enjoy hanging out with you."

"Cole," I said, a note of warning in my voice.

He held up his hands in surrender.  "I didn't mean anything by it," he assured me.  "I'm not looking to change your situation.  You've got a good thing, from what you told me.  It all just ended a little abruptly and I do miss pulling that pretty hair of yours."  He reached out and grabbed the end of a chunk of hair and tugged lightly.

"Stop it," I demanded, trying to ignore the flutter of anticipation in my stomach when he tugged on my hair.

He let go of my hair and shifted back a little.  "Sorry," he said, and it sounded genuine.  "Look, I'm not trying to be a dick, I swear.  I really did just want to say hi.  I can't help being an asshole sometimes."

"No kidding," I replied, pulling open my car door.  "Look, it was good to see you, but I really should get going."

"Sure," he answered, flashing that disarming smile again.  "Good to see you too.  I wouldn't mind running into you again."  He cocked an eyebrow, then turned and headed back towards the restaurant.
I got in my car and took a deep, shaky breath.  I pushed my hair out of my face and silently reminded myself of the ridiculous amount of really amazing sex Damien and I had had over the weekend, and how miserable I'd been without him.  "Fuck," I whispered to myself.  Why did 5 minutes with this asshole make me weak in the knees?

I grabbed my phone and called Damien.  "Hey, baby," he answered cheerfully, and I immediately felt guilty.

"Hi," I replied.  "What are you doing?"

"Still at the office, unfortunately," he said.  "I can come over when I'm done, if you want?"

"No, that's okay," I told him.  Realizing that was a strange answer, I hurried to amend it.  "I just got done with dinner and I'm really tired.  I think I'm going to head to bed early tonight."

"Okay," he replied, sounding a little disappointed.  "Can I see you tomorrow night, then?"

"Definitely," I said immediately.  "Can we go out for dinner?"

"We can do whatever you want," he told me.  "But I guess I should get back to work so I can get out of here at a reasonable time.  I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay.  I love you, Damien."

"I love you, too.  Goodnight, Kinsley."  I said goodnight and hung up, resting my forehead on the steering wheel briefly before I straightened and started the car.

I made my way home and without even thinking about what I was doing I started to clean.  My house wasn't nearly as clean as it had been during the time Damien and I were broken up.  I hadn't had a good excuse to give it a good deep clean, but now I did.  Anything to keep my mind off Cole.

Honestly, I was pissed at myself for letting his presence and his touch get to me.  I'd barely even thought about him since Damien and I got back together.  Until tonight.  Asshole.  Who the fuck did he think he was?

I cleaned furiously, and eventually my rage started to subside.  I realized I was overreacting and if he said he didn't mean anything by it, then he didn't mean anything by it.  I glanced at the clock and realized with shock that I'd been cleaning for 3 hours.  I finished up dusting my living room furniture and window sills and put my cleaning supplies away.

It was past my bedtime but I got in the shower to try to get the cleaning supply smell off me.  Cleaning and the shower relaxed me, and it didn't take me long to fall asleep.  It also didn't take me long to wake up from a steamy dream about Cole.  In the dream, he'd used his grip on a handful of my hair to tilt my head back and was dragging his teeth down my throat.  His other hand was... I shook my head to clear the thought, but I shivered just remembering the dream.  "God damn it, girl, get it together," I hissed at myself in the dark.

I got out of bed, stumbled to the bathroom, and splashed a little cool water on my face, trying to calm the angry, neglected throbbing of certain parts of my anatomy.  I got back in bed and tossed and turned until the feeling finally faded and I fell back to sleep.

I was on edge all day at work.  For some reason, the dream (and my body's reaction to it) really shook me up.  I had sex dreams about random guys all the time, but they never bothered me.  This one, however, felt like it was mocking me.

When Damien knocked on my door to pick me up for dinner (seriously, even now he still knocks on my door), I flung it open, grabbed him by the front of his coat, and pulled him inside.  He barely got a chance to greet me before I kissed him hard.

"Kinsley," he said breathlessly, gently disentangling himself.  "My truck is running."

"You'd better fucking make it quick then, huh?" I replied, grinning devilishly at him.  Never one to turn down a challenge, he backed me up to the arm of the couch, spun me around and shoved my upper body down across the couch.  Then he flipped my dress up onto my back and tugged my tights down.

"Next time, skip the tights," he demanded, working them down my thighs.  He left them around my calves, trapping my legs together, and worked a hand between my legs.  I groaned and arched my back just in time for his hand to disappear.  I heard his belt, then his zipper, and then he was sliding into the small space created by my tightly joined legs and pushing inside of me.  I moaned and dropped my head down to rest on the couch cushion in front of me as he slid a hand beneath me and began stroking me as he thrust.

I was seconds away from orgasm when he leaned forward and grabbed a handful of my hair, tugging my head up and arching my back.  I came immediately, my legs trembling against the side of the couch.  Damien used the hand under my hips to keep me from sliding down to the floor and thrust harder, making me come a second time in less than a minute.  He finished shortly after and stroked my back for several seconds, keeping me pinned between his body and the couch until my legs could support my weight again.  Even after he pulled out, I stayed bent over the arm of the couch, catching my breath.

"Holy shit," I breathed, pulling my face up from the couch cushion.  "Where the fuck did that come from?"  It had been exactly what I needed, and not Damien's normal style.  Even when he humored me and pulled my hair or fucked me hard, it still had a very distinct "Damien" feel to it.  This had felt like a totally different person fucking me hard from behind.

"I could ask you the same thing," he answered, lightly smacking my ass.  "I guess you inspired me.  Are you ready for dinner?   I'm starving."

"Sure," I replied, finally straightening up.  I dragged my tights back up and adjusted them, then smoothed my dress back down over my ass.  "Yeah.  Let's go eat."

Kinsley: Snowball Fight

We didn't ski on Christmas.  We considered it, but we were both feeling a little lazy (and I was awfully sore).  Instead, we played outside in the snow, complete with snow angels, a snowball fight and a snowman.

I started the snowball fight by shoving a handful of snow down the back of Damien's coat.  I'd never heard him yelp like a girl before, but he certainly did it then.  By the time he recovered enough to grab some snow, I'd taken off, and his snowball whizzed past my elbow.  "You'll have to do better than that!" I called, turning just in time to dodge a snowball headed directly towards my head.

He ran after me as I scooped up a handful of snow and sent it flying back towards him.  It hit him in the leg, which is a worthless place for a snowball to land but better than he'd done yet.  I turned and ran again, skidding around the corner of the house.  I ran awkwardly, because have you ever tried to run in two feet of snow?  It doesn't work very well.

I was bending down to make a snowball around the corner of the house when Damien suddenly grabbed me from behind and flipped me upside down so I was dangling with my face just inches from the snow.  "Give me one good reason I shouldn't give you a face full of snow," he threatened, laughing.

I was laughing too hard to give him any reason at all, much less a good one.  "Nothing?" he asked, dipping me a little lower.  "That pretty face of yours is about to get awfully cold."

"Is 'because I'm pretty' a good reason?" I gasped, trying to catch my breath.

"Hmmm," he pretended to consider, lowing me a little then pulling me back up a bit.  "No.  But I'll give you another chance."

"I can't think when I'm upside down above 2 feet of snow!" I protested.

"That sounds like your problem, not mine," Damien teased.

"Well," I said, "If you put me down, I'll make it worth your while."

"How?" he asked.

"Oh, I think you can probably figure that out."

Apparently, it was tempting enough, because he let me down without dunking my head in the snow.  I scooped up a handful of snow and chucked it at him before taking off.  He caught up to me within seconds and tackled me into the deep snow, and we wrestled in the snow until I admitted defeat.


"I feel like a kid," I said, laughing as we came inside and stomped the snow off our boots.

"So do I," Damien agreed.  "I haven't played in the snow in ages.  It was fun."  He grabbed me by the waist and kissed the tip of my cold nose.  "Your nose is pink."

"Your whole face is," I replied, grinning at him.  He laughed and drew me closer, lowering his lips to mine.  His lips, somehow, were warm against mine, and I sighed into our kiss and leaned into him.  We were both still covered in snow and wearing far too much clothing for inside, but it didn't matter.  "I love you," I said as we pulled away from each other to pull off our outerwear.  "I know I keep saying it, but this has been the best Christmas.  Thank you for spending it here with me."

"Look at you and your feelings," he teased me gently as he pulled his gloves off.  "I love you too, and I agree.  This has been really great.  I thought I might miss seeing the kids open their gifts but it's been kind of nice to just relax and not have to listen to squealing and shrieking."

"I can squeal and shriek if you want to," I said, grinning.  "You know, just to really give you that true Christmas experience."

He grinned mischievously and wiggled his eyebrows at me.  "I'll give you a Christmas experience that will make you squeal and shriek," he threatened.

I threw my glove at him, and he caught it easily.  "You're a perv," I said, shaking my head.

"You don't seem to mind," he countered, tossing the glove back to me.

"That's because I don't," I answered, rolling my eyes.  I tugged off my coat and hung it up, then wandered towards the kitchen.  Damien followed me in, then opened a cabinet and pulled out a container of hot chocolate.  "This weekend keeps getting better and better!" I exclaimed, grabbing it from him.

We made hot chocolate and started working on dinner.  I'd wanted ham, but apparently Damien isn't a fan (this is probably the only thing he won't eat), so we settled on roasting a chicken instead.  I got the chicken prepped and in the oven, then we took our hot chocolate into the living room.

We spent the rest of the day being lazy, making dinner together, and then having sex.  Again.  Though I definitely had no complaints.

We skied again all day Saturday, then did a few quick runs on Sunday morning before we left.   At my suggestion, Damien had called his mom on Saturday to see if she wanted company for Sunday dinner, which she was thrilled about.  I kind of just wanted to go home and relax in my tub with a glass of wine, but I figured the least I could do was have dinner with Damien's family after he spent the whole holiday weekend with me.  I could tell he was happy that I suggested it, so I was glad to do it.

Claire greeted us excitedly at the door.  "Come in," she said happily.  "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, Claire," I replied, hugging her.  "Thanks for letting me steal your son for the weekend."

"Oh sweetheart, we missed you both, but you can steal him any time you'd like."  She glanced at him, then in an exaggerated whisper said, "I think he likes you better than us and I think it's wonderful."

"Mom," Damien said, rolling his eyes.  I laughed and Claire winked at me.

We had planned a family "Christmas" with them for the next weekend, but it hadn't stopped Claire from making a huge ham dinner with all the trimmings.  "And I made a pork chop for you," she said to Damien.  He grinned.  I was just excited to get my ham.

"I don't get why you like pork chops but not ham," I said, shaking my head.

He gave me a weird look.  "They don't taste the same at all.  They don't even look the same!  It's not like the difference between white meat chicken and dark meat.  Or a ribeye and a New York strip."

I shrugged and was about to respond when the door opened again.  "No!" came a tiny (but loud) voice.  "Uncle Damien's truck is out there.  Uncle Damien???"

"We're here, Amelia," Damien called back.

"Kinsley?" Amelia shrieked, flying around the corner and skidding to a stop in the kitchen.  She composed herself enough to walk over and fling her arms around my legs.

"Hi Amelia!" I greeted her, bending down to actually hug her.

She pulled back and looked at me with her wide eyes.  "Kinsley?  Did Santa come see you at the house in Crested Butte?  He knows where it is. He's come to see us there before."

I laughed.  "He sure did.  Did he come see you?"

She nodded, eyes still wide.  "Did he ever!" she declared, which made me laugh.  Then, just as quickly as she'd flown into the kitchen, she scrambled back out, yelling for her mom.  Luke gave her a dirty look as she scooted past him, then shook his head and rolled his eyes in a very well-practiced big brother way.

Dinner was--of course--wonderful, and we left fairly early because we were both tired.  Damien dropped me off at home and helped me bring my stuff in before he headed home for the night.  

I slept so well Sunday night that I was not even close to prepared for my alarm on Monday morning.  I almost always woke up just a little before my alarm went off, but I was sound asleep still this time.  It took me a few minutes to convince myself to get out of bed.  Once I was up, though, I was fine.

Work seemed to go pretty fast, and afterwards I met Liv and Lauren for drinks and dinner.  Kendra was supposed to come too, but she wasn't feeling well and bailed.  We got an update on Alex first, and Lauren reported that he was doing pretty well, though he was feeling a bit cooped up and was frustrated with that.

I told them about my awesome Christmas with Damien.  "It was seriously so good," I said excitedly.  "I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a holiday.  This was so much better than any holiday I ever spent with my parents."

"Were your parents upset you were gone?" Liv asked.

I snorted.  "I wasn't invited to either of their Christmases, so probably not."

"So when are you guys getting married?" Lauren asked nonchalantly.

"Sometime after we're engaged, I would imagine," I replied sarcastically.

She raised an eyebrow.  "Have you even talked about it?"

I shook my head.  "No."

Now she frowned a little.  "Don't you think that's weird?"

"No...should I?" I asked, starting to get a little irritated.

"It's been, what?  Almost a year and a half, right?  He's not getting any younger."

"Lauren!" Liv said.

"What?" she asked.  Liv just gave her a dirty look.

"Neither of us are, obviously," I replied.  "But we're both happy with the way things are.  He's probably waiting for me to bring it up, and I'm just not there yet.  But I can see myself marrying him at some point."

"Kinsley?  Getting married?  I don't believe that," came a familiar, sarcastic male voice.

My breath caught for a second as my brain processed who the voice belonged to.  I looked up, straight into Cole's eyes.

Brody: Christmas Eve

Hello, friends!  I know you're all waiting patiently for more on Lauren and Alex.  I'm working on the next one but it's not ready to go today.  So here is a short mini-bonus Brody post!  I'll have the next Lauren post up tomorrow, and a Kinsley post either on Thursday or this coming weekend sometime.
________________________________

I trusted I would wake up before Liv's alarm, and I did.  I almost always did.  I shifted carefully and snuck out of bed, grabbing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt off the floor so I wouldn't have to open drawers and risk waking Liv.  Eddie (luckily) stayed quiet, padding gracefully out of the room after me.  I was surprised he even came with me, usually he stays put wherever Liv is.

It was Christmas Eve morning, and we were flying out to Wisconsin a bit later to spend the holiday with Liv's family.  We'd both been so busy lately, though, that we'd hardly had any time together.  She was busy getting ready for her transition at work, and I was busy getting things moved and starting to make some changes to the way my company was structured.  Throw my weekend away and Alex's accident on top of everything, and it had been a really wild month.  We were both exhausted, and I'm not sure Liv was even looking forward to going home today.

So that's why I'd waited until she fell asleep and reset her alarm for an hour earlier.  She already had it set earlier than it needed to be, probably so she could micromanage me and make sure I had my shit together.  Our travel styles don't mesh at all.  I'm so sick of the inside of DIA that I prefer to spend as little time there as possible, but that makes Liv crabby.  We manage, somehow.  This morning she'd be pleasantly surprised because I was actually all packed already.

Anyway, I'd set her alarm a bit earlier and hoped I'd still wake up earlier than that.  I did, of course.  Once I was downstairs, I turned on the fireplace and headed into the kitchen.  I let Eddie out and put some food in his bowl for when he came back in, then turned my attention to breakfast.

I went all out.  Omelets, french toast, sausage, fruit, and even freshly squeezed orange juice.  Why not?  I turned the Keurig on when I heard Liv stirring upstairs, and I had a cup of coffee ready when she came clomping down the stairs.  For being so small, she sure makes a lot of noise when she walks around this house.

"Did you change my alarm?" she grumbled, coming into the kitchen.  She looked ridiculously cute with her hair still messy and the sleepy, irritated look on her face.

I grinned at her, which made her narrow her eyes more.  She was definitely not a morning person.  "I sure did," I answered.  I handed her the cup of coffee I'd made and said, "Here.  Go sit.  I'm making breakfast."  She took it silently, let Eddie in, then turned towards the living room.  Eddie looked seriously torn between his breakfast and Liv, but decided to wolf down his food before trotting out to join her.

By the time I was done with breakfast, Liv had woken up a little.  She was curled up on the couch under a blanket with Eddie (yes, Eddie was under the blanket too...spoiled as hell).  "Seriously?" I asked, looking at Eddie.  He blinked up at me, then laid his head on Liv's arm, not breaking eye contact with me.  That dog's heart belonged to her.

"What?" Liv asked with mock innocence, trying to keep the smirk off her face.  I just shook my head and chuckled, setting down plates on the coffee table.  "Did you reset my alarm so you could make breakfast?"

"Yes," I replied, turning to go back into the kitchen for the rest of the food.  "I wanted to spend a little time with you before we had to go to the airport.  We've hardly gotten to see each other lately, and this weekend will be crazy."  We were flying out today and back on Sunday, and I knew it would be a busy weekend.  "Then it's back to work right away."

"It's true," she agreed.  She yawned, then said, "I'm not even mad that you made me get up early."  I laughed and sat down next to her.  "Merry Christmas," she said, smiling.

I leaned forward and kissed her.  "Merry Christmas, Liv."  We ate our breakfast and caught up on each other's lives.  I wasn't kidding when I said we'd barely seen each other.  Liv started to take the dishes out to the kitchen when we were done, but I stopped her.  "I've got it.  You just enjoy your coffee and your spoiled dog."  Eddie opened one eye and looked at me disdainfully.  "Seriously," I muttered, chuckling.  She didn't protest, and I gathered our dishes.  Then I grabbed her Christmas gift (part of it, anyway) off the counter and went back into the living room.

I sat back down and smiled as I handed her the envelope.  "What's this?" she asked curiously.

"Part of your Christmas gift," I replied.  "Open it."  She grinned and slid her finger under the flap of the envelope, loosening the glue.  She pulled out the card and opened it, taking out the travel vouchers I'd stuck inside.  "It's been so crazy lately that I thought we could use a vacation together," I said.  "I know things will be nuts for you in your new position, and you won't be able to take any time off for awhile.  And neither will I.  Things should be better for me by the end of March, so over your school's spring break, we can go wherever you want."

She looked up at me and started laughing.  "What?" I asked, confused.

"Hold on," she said.  She shifted Eddie, who grumbled in irritation.  When she stood and headed upstairs, he jumped down off the couch and bounded up the stairs after her.  I just shook my head.  Eddie liked me just fine, but when given the choice, he always chose Liv.  I was grateful for that, since it really did help me worry less about her when I was gone.  I knew he'd take good care of her.

After a minute, Liv reappeared, coming back down the stairs.  Eddie walked behind her at her pace, looking comical as he tried to keep himself from succumbing to his forward momentum and knocking them both down the stairs.  Liv grinned at me and handed me an envelope.  Then she turned to Eddie and commanded him to "go lay down" while pointing at his bed.  He cocked his head and seemed to consider this, then begrudgingly went over to his bed next to the fireplace and curled up.

"Part of your gift," she said to me, motioning to the envelope that was now in my hand.  I tugged her down into my lap and she curled up against my chest while I opened the envelope.  I flipped open the card and read what she had written, then I started laughing too.  Inside the card she had written a promise for a long weekend trip anywhere I wanted to go, once both our schedules allowed.

I set the card to the side and wrapped my arms around her, kissing her temple.  "I guess we both want the same thing for Christmas, huh?" I asked.

"I guess so," she replied, and I knew she was smiling.  She wiggled loose from my grip and shifted so she could kiss me.  After a long kiss, she said, "Well, thank you.  Now we have a couple things to look forward to."

"You're welcome, and thank you," I said in response.  I kissed her again, and we enjoyed our last 15 minutes before we had to start getting ready to leave for the airport just snuggled up on the couch together.

Lauren: The Accident

"What?" I ask, sure that I didn't hear her right.

"I don't know the details," Liv says gently.  "All I know is that Alex had an accident and is in the hospital.  Let's go pack a bag for you."  Liv gently nudges me in the direction of the stairs and I dutifully walk up with her trailing behind me.

When I get to my room, I sit down on the bed.  "But how do you know?" I ask, still confused.

She must realize I'm not going to be helpful, because she roots in my closet for my overnight bag.  Once she finds it, she pulls a couple things off hangers and begins to pack for me.  "Brody called me," she replies.  "He thought the news would be better coming from me than him."  She digs in my drawers and drops a few more things into the bag.  Then she carries it into the bathroom.  When she emerges a minute later, she says, "Anything you want to bring I might not have grabbed?"  I shake my head silently and follow Liv out of the room and down the stairs.

"But he's okay, right?" I ask.

"I think so, but I'm not sure," Liv answers honestly.  "When we get on the road we can call Brody and find out some more if you want."

I trail behind her out to her shiny new SUV.  When I get in, I wrinkle my nose again at the new car smell.  Liv puts the hospital into the navigation system and then starts driving.  "Do you want me to call Brody?" she asks.

"Sure," I reply.  She hits a button on her steering wheel and instructs the car to call Brody.  "I didn't know Toyotas had Bluetooth things," I comment absently.

"Everyone does now," she answers, as we hear the phone ringing through the car's speakers.

"Are you guys on your way?" Brody's disembodied voice booms through the speakers.  I cringe and Liv scrambles to turn it down.

"Yes," Liv replies.  "Lauren's here too.  Laur, did you want to know more about what happened?"

"Sure," I say again.

"I'm not completely sure," Brody starts.  "I was on a different run at the same time.  He was on a tough run and he fell.  Someone who saw it said he hit a couple trees before he stopped.  I don't know what happened.  I know the run and I've seen him do more difficult ones.  Anyway, sorry.  He lost consciousness and it sounds like he has a broken clavicle, several broken ribs, and a collapsed lung.  They're worried about some neck and head trauma as well, but it sounds like we'll know more when he wakes up."

"He's still unconscious?" I ask, starting to get really nervous.

"Oh, sorry.  No.  He woke up, but he was in a lot of pain and didn't remember much of the accident, so he was kind of panicky, so they put him on something that knocked him out again."

I'm starting to feel a little panicky myself.  This was supposed to be a fun weekend for them and my much needed alone time.  "Lauren, he's going to be okay," Brody assured me, correctly interpreting my silence.  "The biggest concern right now is just seeing what the fall did to his head and how much he remembers when he wakes up.  But they don't seem too worried.  He remembered that we were skiing this weekend while he was briefly awake, which is a good sign."

"Okay," I say blandly.  "Thanks for filling me in."

"When will you guys be here?" Brody asks.

Liv glances at the navigation display.  Traffic had been mercifully light and we were making pretty good time.  "We've got a little over an hour, it looks like," she replies.

"Okay.  I'll call if anything majorly changes.  Otherwise, drive safe and we'll see you soon."

They exchange "I love you"s, then Liv hits a button on the steering wheel again, and Brody's voice is gone.  She turns on the radio and doesn't say a word when I start spinning the dial, looking for something else.  She normally gets irritated when people mess with the radio in her car, but apparently having a boyfriend injured in a snowboarding accident gives me special privileges.  What a perk.

I turn the radio up as loud as I think I can get away with and look out the window.  The loud music deters Liv from talking to me, though I know she probably wouldn't anyway.  She knows me well enough to know when she should or shouldn't talk to me.

When we get there, neither of us has said a word since we hung up with Brody.  Liv turns the radio off as she pulls into the parking lot of the small clinic/hospital and calls Brody to let him know we're here.  He tells us what door to go in, and by the time we've parked and found the entrance, Brody is leaning against a lamppost just outside.  I can see his ski goggles dangling from his coat pocket.

He kisses Liv quickly on the cheek and leads us inside and down a hallway.  I trail behind them as we go through one set of doors, turn left, turn right, and go through another set of doors.  Another left turn, one more set of doors, and a right turn.  Then we stop, and Brody turns to me.  He motions towards the room we're outside of.  "You can go in if you want.  He's still out.  His parents are on their way."

As I creep into the room, I see Brody wrap his arms around Liv in a tight hug out of the corner of my eye.  Christian is in the room and he stands when I come in.  "Hey," he says softly, offering me a small smile.  He touches my arm lightly as he walks past, vacating the room for me.

I'm surprised that Alex doesn't look like he should be in a hospital bed.  He looks like he's sleeping like a normal person, aside from the oxygen thing on his face and the brace around his neck.  I pull back the blankets a little and see what I expected to see on his face.  His left arm is immobilized against his body and his torso is bandaged.  The flesh I can see around the bandages is blotchy with every shade of purple, blue, and green that you can imagine.

His right side looks much better, so I drag the chair in the room over to the right side of the bed and sit down.  Liv tentatively starts into the room and stops a few feet in.  "Brody's going to go find some food," she says.

"Okay," I reply.  She turns to leave and I impulsively say, "You can stay.  I mean, if you want to."  She turns back and plops herself into the other chair.  Before I know it, I'm talking.  Rambling, Liv style.  Liv listens and contributes when necessary.  I talk about everything under the sun except for my seriously injured boyfriend that's laying in the hospital bed between us.

Brody returns with food and I eat mindlessly.  "Do you want to sleep at the hotel tonight?" Liv asks awhile later.  It's late.  After 11, anyway.

"No, I'm staying here," I reply.

"I can stay with you," Liv says immediately.  If I wasn't in robot mode to protect my emotions, I'd be touched by her offer.

"No," I answer.  "You guys go.  I'd actually prefer to be alone."  Liv doesn't push it, but does insist that I take the keys to her SUV in case I need to get somewhere before they come back.  I drop them into my purse and wait until they leave before I slip into the small bathroom and switch my jeans for the sweatpants Liv packed for me.

When I can't keep my eyes open anymore, I pull my chair close enough to the bed that I can rest my arms and head on the edge of the mattress.  I've just gotten as comfortable as I'm going to get when a nurse comes in to check on him.  I try not to glare at her as she checks his vitals.  "He's doing well," she tells me.  "I feel good about what we'll find out when he's able to be awake with a little less pain."

I nod, and when she's gone I get settled again.  I don't think I'll be able to sleep, but I do drift off eventually.  I wake up randomly, assuming I'm being disturbed by a nurse.  Then I feel a hand on my head, moving softly over my hair.  I'm confused and disoriented so I lay still for several more seconds until I realize the touch feels familiar.  I quickly lift my head, knocking the hand away inadvertently. Alex is watching me through heavily hooded eyelids, and one side of his mouth twitches upwards in a weak half-smile when our eyes meet.  "Lauren," he croaks, his voice raspy and painful sounding.  I bite my lip and swallow hard as he clears his throat.  "Don't cry," he implores softly.

But it's too late.  The tears are there, and I can't stop them.  "You motherfucker," I sob.  "You idiot.  What the actual fuck are you trying to do to me?  I'm so fucking pissed at you."

He reaches for my hand and strokes the backs of my fingers with his thumb, about all the moving he can do.  The other side of his mouth is moving to join the first and his smile gets a little bigger, which makes me cry harder.  "I knew you would be.  Thanks for not letting me down."

I'm interrupted by a nurse hurrying in.  "How long has he been awake?" she asks me.

"I don't know," I hiccup, trying to get a hold of myself.

"A couple minutes," he says quietly.  "Not long."  The nurse gives me and my tears a dirty look and I move away from the bed a little so she can do whatever she needs to do that I'm apparently preventing.

She starts asking him about his pain, about what he remembers, making him wiggle his fingers and toes.  Everything wiggles, which is a relief.  He remembers he was skiing, and he remembers the run he was on, but he doesn't remember anything about the accident or anything after that, including waking up earlier.

The nurse leaves, and seconds later a doctor enters.  She asks him the same questions the nurse did, which seems stupid and inefficient to me, then tells him about his injuries.  "The nurse is scheduling you for an MRI later this morning to check everything in your head and neck out a little better than the CT scan we did earlier.  The amount that you remember is good, and the things you don't remember may just be due to the shock and trauma of the accident.  We'll want to keep an eye on that lung for a couple days, but if the MRI looks okay, I don't imagine we'll keep you longer than 1 or 2 more nights."

Alex thanks her and turns his head the tiny bit it moves back towards me.  "I'm sorry," he says.

"What?  Why?"

He gives me a weird look.  "You said you were pissed at me, remember?  And they're worried about me remembering things."  He grins a little, and I'm so relieved he's telling jokes.

"I'm not actually mad at you, and I'm sorry I swore at you," I say guiltily.  "You just scared the shit out of me, Alex."

"You're in good company," he points out.  "It's pretty scary waking up in a hospital, immobilized, with your girlfriend that doesn't cry sobbing next to you."

I shudder, imagining what that was like.  "You said you knew I'd be pissed, though."

He chuckles, and immediately winces and swears softly.  "So, laughing is a thing I shouldn't do," he notes.  "And I didn't have to know why I was here to know that you'd be pissed about whatever it was."

"Your parents are coming," I tell him, randomly.  "I don't know when they'll be here.  I think Brody talked to them."

"I wish I remembered what happened," he says, and he looks frustrated.  "I should have been able to make that run without a problem.  I've done that one a hundred times."  I don't know what to say, so I don't say anything.  "What time is it?" Alex asks.  I can see he's struggling to keep his eyes open.

I dig my phone out of my sweatshirt pocket and click the display on.  "Almost 1:30," I reply.  "You should get some sleep."

"You should too," he points out.

"I was sleeping just fine until someone woke me up," I tease him.  He manages another small grin.

"Come lay with me," he requests.

I shake my head.  "Your entire torso is the color of an overly ripe plum."

"My right side is fine," he protests.  "Please?  Just for a couple minutes."  I sigh and carefully climb onto the bed, settling at the edge, barely touching him because I'm terrified of hurting him more than he already is.  His hand finds mine and our fingers twist together.  "Would you have been sad if I wasn't okay?"

I stiffen and fight the urge to sit bolt upright and glare at him.  Instead, I hiss, "What the fuck kind of question is that?  Jesus, Alex, I'd be devastated."

"Sometimes it's hard to tell," he says.  His words are slurring together a little and I hope it's the combination of good drugs and exhaustion that has him talking like this.  "I know you show it in your own way but sometimes I wish you'd show it in a normal way.  Sometimes it's hard.  But I guess you're here, so there's that."

"Alex..." I start, but I don't know what to say to him.  Finally I manage, "I'm sorry, I--"

"No," he interrupts.  "I know.  Don't apologize for being you, Laur.  I love you the way you are.  I just need to sleep."

"I love you too," I tell him softly.  "So much.  I can't even imagine my life without you."

"Any of it?  Ever?"

"Any of it," I confirm.  "Ever."  My hands are trembling because talking about shit like this is not a thing I do, but I ease my fear by deciding that he probably won't even remember this conversation tomorrow.  Then I realize that I want him to remember, because I feel like the worst girlfriend in the world after hearing him tell me that maybe he isn't sure I'd be sad if he wasn't okay.

"Laur, I know that," he says.  He yawns, and then groans.  "Fuck, I hurt," he mutters.

"Let's get some sleep," I suggest.  I start to sit up but his hand tightens slightly on mine.

"Stay here.  Please."

I shift into a more comfortable position.  I'll just stay until he falls asleep, I tell myself.