Brooke could feel the warm air of Kevin's breath on her face and shivered slightly as his fingertips ran lightly across her cheek, so lightly it tickled.  He traced along her face for awhile, finally running his fingers across her lips.  She smiled slightly as she began to wake up, blinking a few times as she opened her eyes to see Kevin kneeling before her in his living room.

    "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up."  He apologized with hushed words.  Brooke took a deep breath and sat up, trying to wake herself up.  After sitting out on the balcony until dawn they had both decided to go inside, coming downstairs and curling up on the couch.  They sat silently, still reeling from everything that had happened in a few short hours, and within minutes Brooke had fallen asleep, not waking even when Kevin slid from beneath her, covering her with a blanket.

    "What time is it?" She wondered, glancing around for a clock.

    "3:15."  Kevin said, still kneeling on the floor, his elbow propped up on her legs.

    "Why did you let me sleep so late?" She asked.

    "Why not?" He shrugged. "It's Sunday afternoon, you were up all night, and frankly I enjoy watching you sleep.  I like the snoring."  He smiled.  A look of appallment came over her face.

    "I DO NOT SNORE."  She yelled with a laugh, standing up, encircling her arms around his waist, and thanking the heavens above that things worked out the way they did, even though they still had a lot to talk about.

    "I have a favor to ask you."  Kevin said.  "You can say no if you want."

    "What?" She asked.

    "I was talking to my mother this morning, and she's having a big family barbecue tonight.  Will you come with me?  She really wants you to come."

    "Of course I'll go." She quickly agreed.  "When is it?"

    "At five."

    "At five!" Brooke stood back from him, although he still held onto her hands.  "I have to go home to shower and change."  She let go of his hands and started walking towards the door.

       "You're not leaving without me."  He said with a hint of vulnerability.  "Just wait like ten minutes and I'll be ready."  He begged.  She walked back to the living room and sat on the couch, twenty minutes later, he emerged.

    "You are so slow."  She proclaimed with a smile as he grabbed her hand and they dashed to the car that still sat on the street.   She glanced over at him, sitting in the passenger seat, fiddling with the radio in her car.  He looks really good, she thought to herself; gray Kentucky basketball t-shirt and dark blue shorts, backwards baseball cap on his head.  That took him twenty minutes to do? she shook her head and smiled.

    "What?" He asked.

    "Nothing." She said.  "Would you pick a station already." The endless song changes were driving her insane.

    "Just looking for the right song." He told her as he continued flipping through channel after channel, finally stopping as a familiar song sounded, turning it up louder, moving his hand over and placing it gently on top of hers and sitting back in the seat, a pensive look coming over his face as he sang quietly,

"Once in your life you find someone who will turn your world around, bring you up when you're feelin' down.  Yeah nothin' could change what you mean to me, oh there's lots that I could say but just hold me now....."

    "I have a question for you." He asked, turning down the song, his voice growing as serious as it had been the night before.

    "Go ahead."

    "Did you see anyone while we were apart?"

    "No, not really." She said honestly, continuing. "But I went out with someone I met in my building last night.  I left our date to come to you." She shrugged.   "What about you?"

    "Yeah, just a little, just one person."  Kevin looked down as he noticed her obvious surprise, wishing he hadn't brought up the subject.

    "How long did you see her?"

    "On and off for a couple of months."

    "Tell me about her." Brooke said with a hint of jealousy, asking but not really wanting, to know anything about her.

    "She wasn't you." He said.

    "That doesn't tell me much."

    "Are you mad?"

    "No......" She said, not sure if she was lying or not.

    "Well, you're something, what is it?"

    "I'm jealous all right." She admitted loudly.

    "Brooklyn, you have nothing to be jealous of, Courtney was just an excuse to get my mind off of you." He said.

    "Did you sleep with the excuse?" Brooke cringed as the words left her lips, and dreaded his answer.

    "No." he said firmly.

Brooke was silent.

    "You believe me, don't you?" He asked.

    "Of course I believe you." She said, looking him in the eyes for a moment before turning them back on the road.  She  reached over to turn up the volume on the stereo, not wanting to continue the conversation, afraid she'd say something she'd regret, and even more afraid of what he'd tell her about the relationship he had with whoever she was.  She could sense Kevin's worry over the situation, she knew how scared he was that she couldn't trust him, but she did believe him, she was only annoyed at her own jealousy.  Brooke stayed silent for the rest of the trip, even though it was eating at Kevin.

        They walked hand in hand up to her apartment, and after she opened the door she hurriedly made her way to the bedroom, leaving Kevin confused and paranoid in the living room.  He heard her opening and closing drawers, a door shutting and finally the water of her shower running.

    "I knew I shouldn't have brought that up." He sighed to himself, sitting down on the couch, tapping his foot incessantly on the floor.  He glanced at the floor beside his foot, bending down to pick up the letter he had written Brooke just yesterday morning.  It seemed like a lot more than a day had passed since he sat down to write the letter, a letter that had brought him to tears and was probably the hardest thing he ever had to write.  He shot his head up as the shower stopped, and got up of the couch when he heard the bathroom door open.  He watched as she emerged, towel wrapped around her head, and another around her body.

    "Brooke." He called as she reached the bedroom, she turned to him.

    "What?"

    "Can I talk to you for a second?" She shrugged.

    "Can't it wait until I'm dressed?"

    "No."  He said bluntly, leading her to the bed and sitting down next to her.
 

        Brooke tentatively stepped from the passenger seat of the car, she had let Kevin drive to his mothers, and they had both arrived just shy of five o'clock.  What am I doing? She thought.  We just made up this morning and I'm meeting his family?  Oh my god I am so nervous.  A million thoughts ran through her head as he walked around the car to join her, comfortingly grabbing her hand like he could sense her apprehension, smiling at her with the sweetest of smiles.  She felt better after they had talked, and she was very glad he confronted her about her silence and jealousy, even though she was still bitterly jealous of the time Courtney got to spend with Kevin, she felt better knowing she was the one with him now, and forever if he'd let her.  Brooke glanced around the yard she had only seen once before, the house looked different in the summer.  So many leafy trees and flowers were everywhere, and half a dozen horses grazed in a field behind the barn.

    "So who's going to be here?" She wondered out loud.

    "Well, my mom, I think my brother will be here."

    "Which Brother?"  She interrupted

    "Tim, and his wife.  Um, I think some of my uncles, aunts and cousin's and well probably some of the neighbors."

    "Oh that's all." She said nervously.  He squeezed her hand.

    "Why are you so nervous?"

    "I've never met any of these people before Kevin.  I talked to your mom once on the phone, but in all the time we've known each other I've never been introduced to her.  What if she doesn't like me?" They had stopped just below the steps to the front door, Kevin turning to her.

    "Baby, she'll love you.  I'm pretty sure she already does, so calm down."

    "Calm down?  Easy for you to say, you aren't going to meet my parents, just you wait!" She laughed as they stepped up to the door.  He knocked  a few times before walking in, no one seemed to be around, but he led her through the kitchen and out the back door where about twenty of Kevin's family and neighbors stood, some of them turning towards them as they emerged.

    "C'mon." He said, pulling Brooke from where she stood.  "There's someone I want you to meet."

Brooke held her breath as they walked to a small statured woman sitting on the porch swing having a conversation with another young woman.

    "Mom."  She looked up, smiling tenderly at her son. "This is Brooke.  Brooke, my mother Ann." Brooke extended a hand to her, but Ann stood up and hugged her tightly.  She must have been about five inches shorter than Brooke but leaned upward whispering in her ear.   Brooke laughed as she stepped back, peaking Kevin's curiosity.

    "Thank you Mrs. Richardson, I'm glad I could come too."

    "I told you before, please call me Ann."  Brooke nodded, remembering back to the short phone call she had made to her while looking for Kevin.  "Now if you excuse me, now that everyone is here I have some food to prepare."  Ann walked back to the kitchen and Kevin encircled his arms around Brooke's waist from behind,

    "See, now that wasn't so bad was it?" He coyly said in her ear.  "What did she say to you?"

    "She told me she knew she was right about us, and that you didn't get your asshole qualities from her."  Brooke laughed.   Kevin turned a charming shade of crimson but chuckled softly to himself.

    "So what was she right about?"

    "Huh?"

    "You mother said she knew she was right about us.  What was she right about?"

    "I dunno, I vaguely remember her telling me she knew I was in love with this girl and that I was wasting time being an ass.  Something along that lines."

    "I'm glad you listen to your mother." Brooke sighed.

    "Me too." He hugged her tighter.  "Okay now who will I introduce you to?"

Kevin pushed Brooke along to the next person in their path.
 

It was very late Sunday night, Brooke and Kevin sat outside underneath the stars.  All of Kevin's relatives and neighbors had gone home and his mother had long ago gone to bed.   It had been an exhausting evening, everyone had been so friendly and they had all eaten so much it felt like they would burst.   They rocked back and forth on the porch swing in her backyard,  the bright glow of the moon above, and the gentle sound of the wind rustling through the leaves was soothing.  Brooke was curled on the bench of the swing, her head resting against Kevin's chest, one of her hands resting on the small of his stomach, the other on his leg.  He stretched his arm out, wrapping it around her shoulder, twisting the ends of her hair in his fingers.

    "So tonight wasn't so bad was it?" He asked, his voice in a hushed whisper.

    "I had a great time tonight Kevin, thank you."  Brooke ran through the list of people she had met tonight; Kevin's brother Tim and his wife Tracy, their baby boy Will, Kevin's Aunt and uncle, Harold and Jackie, Kevin's very funny and adorable cousin Brian and his friend Sofie, not to mention all his mothers friends and neighbors.  They had all been so much fun, she'd never laughed so hard or heard so many stories at one time, it had to have been one of the most entertaining  times she had ever had.  "I really love your family."

    "I'm pretty sure they loved you too.  What's not to love." He said in a gallant Sean Connery, 007 type voice.

    "Aren't you charming!" She said sarcastically, closing her eyes as he held her closer.

They were silent again for awhile,

    "You know, last night at this time I was pacing my living room waiting for you."

    "I wanted to talk to you about that."  Brooke said twisting her body so her face looked up at his.  He looked scared about what she was going to say, but smiled when three words left her lips.

    "On bended knee?"  He blushed again as Brooke began laughing.  "I'm sorry, but that was really cheesy."

    "It worked didn't it." He exclaimed.

    "The song had nothing to do with it and you know it."

    "Yeah but as contrived as it seemed and stupid as it was, I meant it ya know.  I'm not making empty promises when I say I don't ever want to let you go."  Brooke smiled as he lowered his head to kiss her softly on the lips.

    "I want to ask you something about last night too."  He said as he sat back up, taking a deep breath before he continued.   "Will you ever forget?"

    "Forget what?"

    "You know, what I said, and the way I said it to you.  Because you said last night that you wouldn't." The familiar sadness washed over his eyes, Brooke sat up on the bench and sat indian style next to him, his hand in hers.

    "I don't know if I'll ever forget, but I forgive Kevin.  I know you didn't really mean it, I know what you were trying to do."

    "I'm sorry I did it Brooklyn." He said sadly, his head dropping.

    "It's over now Kevin.  You don't have to apologize."  She assured him, sighing loudy and looking up at the clear sky. "Can't we just have it perfect for awhile?  No sadness, no apologies, no bad things in general, can we please just have that?"  Kevin looked up with a crooked grin.

    "That sounds good." He nodded, kissing her softly.  "Wanna go home now?"

    "Yours or mine?" She wondered.

    "Ours if you're willing.  I mean, I know it's fast, probably too fast, but I really want you with me."  He babbled.  "I told you before I didn't have anyone to share the house with, but I know I want to share it with you, I don't want you to be too far away from me, I wasted enough time as it is..."

    "Kevin, stop rambling."  Brooke said suddenly.   "I have to think about it for a little bit, but for tonight I'd like to stay over."

    "Okay." He seemed satisfied with her answer, Brooke was unsure if moving in with him this soon would be good for either of them, but she decided she'd know when she thought it would be right.

    "Let's go." She said, taking his hand as they walked around the side of the house to the car parked out front.
 
 

        “I just don't know Ryan.  I mean, I know I love her, but is that enough?” said Nick as he sat with Ryan while they watched a basketball game on television.

    “Well man, you gotta do what you gotta do, whatever that may be,” said Ryan.  He was fairly preoccupied with the game on television, but he always enjoyed listening to Nick's love life.

    “Dude, and she had this dream, and I know it had something to do with Paul.  I thought all of that was behind her, ya know?”  Ryan looked at his friend straight in the eye and said,

    "Nick, it'll never be completely behind her.  This shouldn't be your responsibility.”  Nick stared at Ryan and shook his head.

    “Don't start man,” Nick said.  Ryan shrugged,

    “I'm just looking out for your best interests.  This relationship just seems weird to me, that's all.”  Nick kept his eyes on the game and muttered,

    “You'll never understand.”

        Annie laid on the couch in her living room and stared at the ceiling.  She was waiting for Nick to come back and the longer he was gone the more impatient she became, her feet dangled over the opposite side of the couch as she thought of Nick and how happy she had been with him.  She loved the way he made her laugh.  She loved the way he held her.  She really loved when he'd kiss her on the back of the neck when she would wake up in the morning and then he'd whisper in her ear, that was her heaven.  Annie smiled at the thought when she remembered the dream she had the night before.  It was just a dream Annie, that's all it was.   Nick is with you and Paul is definitely out of the picture.  But what if this is my brain trying to tell me something?  What if I don't love Nick and I really still want Paul in my life?  Annie sighed and said aloud,

    “Annie, you're being an idiot.  Stop thinking like that.  You love Nick.”  She sighed deeply just as the door opened.

    “Hey baby,” Nick said as he walked in.  He walked straight over to where Annie was and knelt down and kissed her.

    “I missed you,” she whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck.  Nick smiled at her and gently kissed her lips and crawled on top of Annie.

    “Hey there sexy boy,” she whispered as began nuzzling her neck.  Annie ran her hands through Nick's spiky hair and let out a soft moan.  Nick brought his lips back up to Annie's and they kissed each other passionately.  His tongue traced her lips until she parted them and let him into her mouth a little more.  Annie ran her hands up and down Nick's back causing him to moan.  This went on for a little while, and neither of them wanted it to stop.  Why was she thinking of Paul? Why did she have that dream? I thought she was better…’ were the thoughts that went through Nick's head as he was kissing Annie.  He didn't want to think about it, but he knew he couldn't get the thought to escape his mind.  Nick continued to kiss Annie, but the thoughts were coming faster and he couldn't get them to leave his mind.  All of the sudden, he stopped and  pulled away fast, surprising Annie.

    “What?” she asked with a look of hurt and concern on her face.  Nick stared at her for a second and then got up off of her and sat on the floor.

    “Nick? What's wrong?”  Nick nodded his head to signal nothing was wrong and stared blankly at the floor.

    “Um, Carter, there's obviously something wrong,” she said as she moved close to where Nick was sitting.

    “Nothin’ wrong babe,” he said.  Annie looked in his eyes and could see pain.

    “Baby, what's the matter? C’mon, I know something is wrong.  We were having a good time there for a while,” she said.  Annie ran her hand through Nick's hair.

    “C’mon, tell me, what is it?”  Nick stared at the floor blankly and took a deep breath.

    “Why did you dream about Paul last night Ann?”

    “What?” she flinched.

    “I know that dream was about Paul,” he said meekly.

Annie sat back on the couch and crossed her arms over her chest.

    “I don't know,” she said.  Nick looked up at Annie,

    “You don't know what?”  Annie stared blankly across the room.

    “I don't know why I dreamt about Paul.  I just did,” she said.

    “Why him though?” Nick asked defeatedly.

    “Nick,” Annie said quietly,

    “People just dream things.  It doesn't mean anything.”   Nick sighed and looked up at Annie.

    “I thought you felt safe with me,” he said.  Annie sat up straight on the edge of the couch and touched Nick's cheek lightly.

    “Baby, I do,” she whispered.  Nick grabbed her hand and kissed the inside of her palm.

    “I just wanna be able to take care of you Ann.  I don't wanna see anything like what happened before with you happen again,” he said.  Annie got up off the couch and sat down in Nick's lap.

    “Baby,” she whispered as she ran her hands through his hair, “You can't protect me all the time.  Things are gonna happen whether you can stop them or not,” she said as she kissed him lightly on the tip of his nose.  Nick wrapped his arms around Annie's waist and pulled her a little closer to him.

    “Yeah,” he broke in, “But, I want you to feel safe with me.”  Annie smiled a little.

    “Nick, I do.  But, there's nothing you can do about what goes on in my brain.  But, honey, I don't live in fear anymore.  I don't live in fear of Paul coming back to hurt you or me.  I'm passed that now,” she said.  Nick pulled Annie in a little closer and hugged her tightly.

    “Are you sure?” he asked.

    “Nick,” she sighed, “Please don't worry about me, I'm fine.  I had a dream about Paul.  But, the whole time I was worried about YOU.  I love you.  You helped me to change myself and not be afraid.  That dream was freaky, but I'm okay,” Annie said happily.  Nick smiled a little.

    “I just wanna be the one who is always gonna be there for you,” Nick said as he kissed her.

    “I hope you do,” she giggled.

    “So, you're okay then?” Nick asked.  Annie nodded

    “YES” she smiled.  He squeezed her tight and she let out a little groan.

    “Carter, you're killin’ me man,” she said.  He laughed,

    “Oh, sorry bout that.”

 Annie pulled back a little to look at Nick's face.  She ran her hands through his hair.

    “You know, this hair does something different for you,” she said.

    “Oh yeah,” he replied,

    “What exactly does it do?  Make me look SEXY??” he asked as he made a silly “sexy” face.

    “Um, not exactly,” she giggled.

    “You're askin’ for it Whitten,” Nick said as he ran his hands through Annie's hair tangling it up.

    “Heeeeeyyyy,” she yelped.

    “That's what you get for makin’ fun of my hair!” Annie giggled.

    “I wasn't making fun of your hair Carter!  I think it makes you look…” Nick broke in,

    “Makes me look what?!! Makes me look what?!!” he said as he tickled her.  Annie laughed loudly.

    “It makes you look…stop it! It makes you look…like the man I want to spend the rest of my life with!”  Nick stopped tickling her and stared deeply into her eyes.

    “You always know the right thing to say Whitten,” Nick said as he kissed her deeply.  They stared at each other for a few moments.  A smile spread across her face.

    “What?” Nick asked.

    “I woulda said anything to get you to stop tickling me!” she giggled.  Nick laughed.

    “Oh, you are so asking for it Anns!” he said as he began tickling Annie once again.

There was no way to stop Nick once he began tickling and all Annie could do was laugh.  He kept tickling her as laughter and screams of giddiness filled the house.