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Disclaimer: Not ours. The real ones at least. Just wild imaginary spinnings.

Summary: Hmmm, about technophobes and friends who mean well.

Chapter Fourteen

Jennifer struggled to get her eyes open and clear of sleep. Last night had been a veritable sexual marathon between Orlando and herself. It seemed as they wanted to get every single moment they could out of each other before he left today. That sudden thought had her flipping quickly in the bed, finding it empty beside her. Orlando sat on the side of the bed, totally dressed, a smile on his face.

"You're dressed," she said, her tone more than disappointed. It was downright depressed.

"It's almost time for me to go," he explained, leaning down till he rested his weight on his elbows, his face looming over hers. He stroked her hair back from her face, fingering is gently. "I'm gonna miss waking up beside you."

"That's my line," she sighed, toying with the zipper on his jacket. She wanted to ask when he would call, but she didn't want to seem clingy. Especially if this was his subtle way of breaking it off between them.

"I'll call you when I get home."

"You don't have to," she said quickly.

"But I want to." His smile warmed her all the way to her toes.

"Sure you don't want me to take you to the airport?" she asked, her teeth worrying her bottom lip.

He ran a finger across it, so that she would stop. "No. I want to remember you just like this," he said, his voice growing lower as he brushed his own lips across hers.

The kiss was slow, sweet and the most heart wrenching yet. Jennifer could feel the tears building up in her eyes, as he kissed her almost reverently, his hands tightening in her wild hair that lay all around them. When he pulled away, she could almost swear she saw tears shining in his eyes as well, but he smiled, gave her one last kiss and was out the door. She didn't even have a chance to tell him what had been in her heart since he first arrived on her doorstep…she was falling in love with him.

****************

When Orlando finally managed to drag his sorry ass inside his apartment, he found that it seemed lonelier now than it ever had been. He dropped his bags just inside the door and sighed heavily, running a hand through his shaggy hair. Would he ever get rid of this intense ache inside his chest? The one that had started right about the time he had left Jennifer in her bed early that morning?

Leaving his bags as they were, he walked to the kitchen, not even sure what he was going to find there since he hadn't been grocery shopping since before he had gone to Jen's. Already he missed her…her house…her dog, Merlin, the big lug…he missed everything there was about her. Question was, how was he going to get it back and keep it this time around?

Just as he flipped on the light, something caught Orli's eye. He looked at the kitchen table where he usually kept Billy's laptop sitting and noted another laptop, with a big red bow on the screen. It had a picture of a car zooming around on the screen with a sign on it that said, "Hello Wanker!"

Laughing, Orlando sat down at the computer, tapping on one of the keys and was greeted with an open word document with a note from Billy.

"Consider this an early Christmas present, especially since I needed my own computer back. I have set up everything for you, so you may continue your Internet romance with Jen. I hope you worked things out with her and had a great time. Will talk with you later, Billy"

Orlando closed out of the document, amazing even himself that he knew how to do it. Immediately he logged on to e-mail Billy and thank him for the computer and see if perhaps Jennifer might be on. He really wanted to talk to her on the phone, but trying out this computer was just too tempting. Great. He was addicted to a computer. It was all Billy's fault. Orlando chuckled to himself. He made a note to really thank Billy later.

*******************

"Jennifer, please say something," she heard Orlando's voice plead with her from the other end.

Her mouth opened but no words were coming out. She was shocked. No, way beyond shocked. "I…I don't know what to say," she heard herself say weakly.

It was the truth. What could she say? "Orlando, please tell me you're not offering this because you think I might still be pregnant. I told you the test came out negative!"

His frustrated sigh reached her ears over the line. "Jen, it's not that. I want you here! Would you at least consider coming out to L.A. to stay with me? Just for awhile? I can't take being away from you anymore. And I can't come to Minnesota."

A battle was waging inside of her. She hadn't seen this coming. Yes, she knew how discontented they both were with the situation over the last three months, but still…to pick up everything and just move? "I just don't know, Orlando."

A long silence filled the air over the phone.

"Okay, fine. I've got to go now. I'll call you later."

"Orlando, wait!"

"Bye, Jennifer."

The line went dead, and Jennifer slowly hung up the phone. It wasn't until the hot splash of tears hit her hand did she realize she was crying. She'd lost him.

"Jen?"

She turned at the sound of Michelle's voice, finding her standing there in the doorway of her bedroom. Jennifer had forgotten she was even there.

"He…he asked me to move to LA to be with him," Jennifer said, her voice but a mere whisper.

"Oh, Jen," Michelle sighed, moving toward her. She sat on the bed beside her and drew her into his arms, as sobs racked Jennifer's body. "I know that you probably don't want to hear this right now, but…maybe it would be for the best not to talk to him anymore."

Jennifer jerked out of Michelle's arms, her expression one of horror. "What?! What are you saying, Mick? Have you lost your mind?"

Michelle's face bore total innocence. "I don't know what you're talking about, Jennifer. I'm being perfectly reasonable. After all, if you've turned him down, hearing his voice from now on is just going to make it worse."

"Are you on drugs?!" Jennifer yelled out, swiping angrily at the tears on her face, scrambling to her knees to face Michelle. "I love him!" Jennifer gasped when she realized what she had just said, a hand going to her mouth in shock.

Michelle smiled slowly, crossing her arms across her chest. "Is that so? Well, what's holding you back then?"

Jennifer's chin trembled with emotion again, but she held herself together. "Because…what if he doesn't love me?"

Michelle groaned and dramatically fell back onto the bed. "Jennifer, let me tell you something about men…they don't always know how to say those three words that we so love to hear. But they show it in other ways. Orlando loves you. Why else would he still call you four times a day, just to see if you're okay? Why else would he ask you to come live with him in L.A., when at the building stages of his career, his bachelorhood means lots of fans to help him get to the top? If he's willing to risk all that for you, how could he not love you?"

Jennifer shook her head, a little dumbfounded. "I don't know."

"You seem to be fond of that phrase today. Get a clue, Jennifer. And fast."

"Well, what about Merlin?" Jennifer said, trying to find some excuse.

"What about him? Orlando loves him, right? I'm sure he didn't forget about Merlin when he made the invitation."

"And work?"

Michelle rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders. "Didn't you tell me that you could work anywhere? Isn't that the beauty of your job?"

Jennifer opened her mouth to find another excuse, but found she had none.

"Bye, Jennifer." Michelle climbed off the bed and started for the door. Jennifer scrambled off after her.

"Where are you going?"

"Well, unlike you, dear, I know what I want. And I'm going to go get it. If you need me, you can find me in Scotland. Billy asked me to come spend Christmas with him and his family."

Jennifer knew that if she had another shock that day, her knees were going to give out on her. "You and Billy? Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because…you were in the middle of a crisis. Wasn't a time to brag about my own love life," Michelle said, with an evil smile. "Take care, Jennifer. And if you do go to L.A…drop me a line sometime. Just because you're not here anymore, doesn't mean I'll stop being your friend."

"Michelle…I'm scared."

Michelle crossed over to her, hugging her hard. "Of course you are. But it's time to stop being afraid of what's out there and get on with your life. Don't blow this, Jennifer. He's worth the risk."

Jennifer watched Michelle leave, her mind still whirling with doubt and fear. She sank down to the floor, staring blankly, until Merlin came over to nuzzle her with his wet nose. Jennifer wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face in his soft fur. "Merlin, what do you think? Huh? Do you think Orlando loves me?"

Merlin let out a loud woof, letting her know that he agreed with Michelle.

"What about moving? Think we should move to L.A.?"

Merlin again let out a woof. If Jennifer didn't know better, she would almost believe that he was smiling. Shaking her head, Jennifer got to her feet and went back to her bedroom to curl up on the bed. She had some serious thinking to do.

********************

Orlando paced inside of his trailer, his heart beating rapidly with fear. The ringing on the other end of his cell phone was nothing but an agitation and annoyance. Where was she?

"Fuck," he swore, ending the call and throwing the phone across the room to the small bed there.

He started to run his hands through his hair, but then remembered the two hours he had just spent in makeup and stopped. He didn't want to suffer the wrath of the makeup artists again. Sinking down on the edge of the bed, Orlando braced his head in his hands, his heart sinking right with the mattress.

Where could Jennifer be? He hadn't heard from her in three days. Was she still upset with him and now not going to answer his calls? He had even tried e-mailing her…nothing.

A rap on his trailer door startled him. "Three minutes, Mr. Bloom!"

"Be right there!" he called back, getting to his feet.

He took a minute to clear his head of Jennifer, not able to let himself wallow in misery right now. He could do that for the rest of his life.

****

Jennifer sat in the hallway, surrounded by her bags of luggage and boxes that the cab driver had so generously helped her carry up. She could have managed, but he said if he left them out on the curb, someone would swipe them. Merlin nuzzled up to her again, whining softly.

"I know, boy. I don't know where he is," Jennifer sighed.

Merlin whined again, letting her know that she wasn't the only one tired of waiting on Orlando.

"Wonder if the super would let us in? Doubt it, since the doorman thinks I'm here for someone else. Not to mention all those stairs…I don't think I could handle climbing those again."

Merlin let out an answering woof. Jennifer smiled, tears burning her eyes.

"Did we make a mistake, Merlin? I haven't talked to him in a week. What if he doesn't want us here anymore? What if he takes one look at us and sends us back to Minnesota?"

"I don't think that's going to happen, love."

Jennifer swiveled around quickly, her heart lifting when she saw Orlando there just a few steps away. Merlin barked loudly, running for him, jumping around excitedly. Jennifer was frozen for a moment, till she finally managed to get to her feet and walk to him. He gave her the sweetest smile she had seen in a long time, just before he swung her up in his arms. She buried her face in his neck, breathing him in, her heart feeling content for the first time in months.

"I have missed you so much," he sighed, his arms tightening on her. He was about to cut off her air, but she didn't care. Just as long as he held her, she didn't care if she ever breathed again! She wanted to tell him she missed him too, but she couldn't seem to get her voice around the lump in her throat.

Pulling back, he cradled her face in his hands, studying her face for a moment, before kissing her. Once his lips met hers, he couldn't stop kissing her. She was here…she was finally here.

A push from Merlin got their attention and Orlando realized that they were still standing out in the hallway. He laughed and rubbed Merlin's head, but not letting go of Jennifer.

"Let's go inside. I think we've got some catching up to do."

"Wait! Before we do, I just have to say something," she said, finally finding her voice.

"What is it, love?"

"I…" Jennifer hesitated, looking up into his dark eyes, searching for the reassurance that she could say it. "I love you, Orlando. And I want this to work. Really work."

He seemed a bit shocked to hear her say that, but a smile slowly spread across his lips. Jennifer didn't see it and kept on with her speech that didn't want to stop coming out now. "I know that you can't say the same to me, but it's okay. I know you care for me, and you might even love me, but I don't have to hear it. You show me that you do-"

He covered her mouth with his own, his kiss deep and robbing her off her senses. When he finally pulled back, Jennifer was dazed.

"I love you, Jennifer. And I'm not taking it back."

"That's good," she sighed, laying her head over his chest. "Cause I won't let you."

Orlando chuckled softly, happy now that his heart was complete. "Let's go inside. We've got to settle you and Merlin into your new home."

Jennifer smiled, waiting for Orlando to unlock the door and lead them inside. "Home," she whispered, realizing that home was wherever Orlando was. He was her home…and heart.

The End