~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So what do you have so far?" Lewis asked Twyla, who had been scribbling silently in her notebook since they got to Lewis' apartment.  Twyla didn't respond, instead she just handed the note book to Lewis to read.  He took a minute to read the verse that Twyla had written so far, then shook his head and handed the book back.
"Well, that's a depressing interpretation of the single life.  It really has been ages since you've been alone hasn't it?" Twyla just shrugged at this and looked at her hand.
"Are you ready to tell me what happened yet?" Lewis asked.  When Twyla failed to respond, Lewis continued to prod.
"You saw something in the bedroom didn't you?"
Twyla looked up and nodded slowly.
"Was Greg in there?"
Another nod.
"Uh-huh.  He was with another woman wasn't he."  Lewis folded his arms.  This time, Twyla shook her head.  Lewis lifted his eyebrows at this.
"Really?  What did you see then?"
No response.  Okay, apparently I'm restricted to yes and no questions Lewis thought.
"What, you didn't see him with a guy did you?"  Lewis asked with an awkward chuckle, attempting to lighten the mood.  To his surprise, Twyla responded with a shaky nod.  Lewis' eyes bulged out.
"Ouch" was the first thing he thought of to say.  He would've been a little more vocal about his current opinion of Greg, but at that moment Twyla put her head in her hands and began to cry.  Lewis inched toward Twyla and put his hand tenderly on her shoulder.  Twyla looked up at Lewis, her eyes wide, innocent, and flooded with tears.  She embraced him tightly, practically holding on to him for dear life, and sobbed heavily into his chest.  Lewis returned the embrace, stroking Twyla's hair gently.  They remained like that deep into the evening.

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

The next morning, no one at Lewis and Oswald's place felt like waking up before noon.  Oswald ended up being the first one up at 12:01.  He staggered in a part sleep induced, part hangover induced daze across the living room to the kitchen.  Once he got there, Oswald looked over and saw Lewis conked out on the booth in a T-shirt and boxers.  Putting off the making of his breakfast/lunch, Oswald staggered over to the booth and tapped Lewis lightly on the shoulder.
"Mmm...you think more of that damn monkey than you do of me" Lewis murmured in his sleep.  Oswald made a face at this, but decided that it was too early to ask.  He gave Lewis a more forceful tap on the shoulder, and succeeded in waking him up.
"Mmm..."Lewis squinted, trying to wake up, "Oswald?"
"Hey, rough night buddy?" Oswald asked with concern.
"How 'bout you sleep in the booth and see what kind of a night you have."
"Well, you could've told Twyla to take the couch."
"Yeah, but compared to the kind of night she had, sleeping in the booth looks like a luxury."
"Well I guessed that.  You never told me what happened by the way."
"She saw her boyfriend sleeping with a guy." Oswald made a low whistle at this and Lewis continued, "Yeah.  From what I could gather it was either the keyboard player or a Buddhist." Oswald made another face at this.
"Hey, she was crying, it was hard to tell what she was saying." Lewis said defensively.
"Um, I'd go for the first one." Oswald responded.  He sat down next to Lewis and shook his head.
"Wow.  It really sucks to be her."
Lewis nodded in reply and cracked his knuckles.  Oswald looked over.
"You're gonna kill him aren't you."
"Yep" Lewis said with a nod.  Oswald patted him on the back and said:
"Go for it buddy."  At that moment, there was a knock at the door.  Lewis got up slowly and answered it.  Greg was standing in the doorway, looking sheepish.  Lewis resisted the urge to crush him immediately and landed against the doorway with folded arms.
"May I help you?" Lewis asked coldly.  Greg looked up with slight fear in his eyes.
"Is Twyla here?"
"What do you want with her?"
"I want to talk to her."
"Do you?  Do you now?"
"Yes," Greg said with frustration, "Please Lewis, will you just let me in."  He attempted to walk into the apartment, but Lewis' arm stopped him and pushed him back into the halway.
"You really think after what you did to her I'm going to let you set foot in MY apartment?"  Lewis' voice was a low rumble, the anger coming across strongly, "Twyla is someone I've come to care very deeply about.  I can be happy for her when she's in a relationship, but not with someone who doesn't deserve her.  And you've just proved that you don't.  That upsets me.  Now if you don't leave very soon I'm gonna be forced not to give a crap about murder being illegal."
"Lewis?" Twyla asked quietly as she stepped out of the bedroom.  Greg's eyes widened with shock as he noticed Twyla wearing nothing but one of Lewis' T-shirts.  He was about to say something, but Lewis noticed the look on his face and spoke first.
"Get your mind out of the gutter, she needed something to sleep in." he said with disgust.
"Lewis," Twyla put a hand up, "I'll handle it."  She then turned to Greg.
"Well, what do you want?" she asked angrily.
"I want to talk to you."
"Hmm, interesting.  Suppose I don't want to talk."
"Please Twy, be reasonable."
"Okay, what do you have to say?"
"Can you at least accept me and Pat?  I was desperate, I had been having these feelings for a while and I had to act on them."
"Uh-huh," Twyla said with little enthusiasm.  She turned to Lewis.
"I mentioned that you can kill him if you want right?"
"No, but that's good to know." Lewis said, cracking his knuckles again.
"Twy," Greg pleaded, "can't you picture where I'm coming from?"
"I have to admit it's a little difficult.  I've never found Pat particularly attractive myself."
"You know that isn't funny."
"I frankly don't care.  I'm in no mood to hear excuses."
"Twy...please.  For the band?"
"I've heard enough Greg.  Just leave."
"What right do you have to kick me out?  It's not your place, it's his." Greg gestured to Lewis.  Lewis responded to this by making a loud cat-hiss at him.  Greg, now quite discouraged, took that as his cue to leave.

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

"Is she still up there?" Kate asked Lewis at the Warsaw that evening.  The gang had gathered at their usual table, except for Twyla, who had been moping around the apartment most of the day.  Lewis looked up from his drink.
"Twyla?  Yeah, on the couch last time I saw her."
"Man, that's gotta be rough." Drew shook his head, "Having your boyfriend turn gay on you is one thing..."
"Having him cheat on you for it has to be worse." Oswald jumped in, "Man, you guys should've seen Lewis straighten that guy out." he continued with a proud grin on his face.
"Who Greg?" Kate asked.
"Yeah, Lewis was gonna pound him into the wall."
"Well," Lewis said, trying not to smile, "it wasn't anything much."
"Really?" Drew asked.
"All right, let's just say that if Twyla hadn't stepped in, there would be legs coming out of the ceiling now."
Just then, Twyla emerged from the stairway and sat at the bar.  Lewis looked up alertly.
"I'm gonna go talk to her." He said as he walked off.  Drew, Kate, and Oswald watched him walk off then turned back to their beers.
"Man, he must have it bad for this one." Drew shook his head.
"Well, I can't blame him for wanting to kill her boyfriend." Kate said with a shrug.
"I'm wit Drew on this one." Oswald said, "I seriously think he's in love with her."
At that moment, Greg and Pat walked into the bar.
"Hey, here come Siegfried and Roy now." Drew said with feigned enthusiasm.  Kate turned and glared at them form across the room.  Drew saw her face and said:
"Kate!  Don't bother.  They're gay, your 'You're-the-only-guys-in-this-town-I-won't-sleep-with-so-give-that-a-thought' look won't work."
Kate made a face at Drew, "It's supposed to be my 'You-hurt-my-friend's-love-and-now-you-must-die' look."
"Well they have some nerve.  Should we warn them?" Oswald motioned to Lewis and Twyla.
"Nah, leave 'em.  They'll figure it out eventually." Drew said as he turned his attention back to his beer.

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

Twyla had been doing most of the taking.  She had been quiet all day, trying to process the past few days.  Now that it was processed, Twyla felt the need to vent.  And at present, all Lewis felt like he could do was listen, which appeared to be enough.
"It's not like I want to completely cut him off, I mean there are still things I like about him.  Both of them in fact.  But if he could pull something like this...who's to say he's still the same person?  I'd believe he was if he showed some regret for what he did, but I haven't seen that yet."
"Well," Lewis said thoughtfully, "if he apologized, could you forgive him eventually?"
"If he apologized, it'd just be for killing our relationship and that's not really what I'm this upset at him about.  Relationships die, I understand that.  But it doesn't mean anything if he doesn't know what to apologize for.  And if I told him, he'd say the right things just to get me to forgive him and I don't want that either."
"Ok, Twyla," Lewis started, "let me let you in on a little secret.  The psychic power of a guy is very low.  In fact, for the most part guys are pretty much oblivious.  I know, people have yelled at me for not knowing what was going on.  So he probably won't figure out what's going on in that head of yours.  Now, when I apologize, it's usually for everything I could possibly be blamed for, and I'm guessing other guys have the same system."
"Hmm," Twyla nodded.  She had heard most of this, but got a little lost in the middle.  She found herself being distracted by Lewis' eyes.  After all, she had never seen eyes that shade of green before.  Twyla was also finding his voice terribly intoxicating.  She felt almost like her ears were swimming in Lewis' deep voice.
"Twyla?" Lewis said, attempting to ignore the possible attraction he saw in her eyes.
"Mmm?"
"What are you going to do?"
"Lay down the law.  If they want my forgiveness, they can earn it.  If they don't want to work for it, I'll find a new band."
"Well, you might want to lay it down now." Lewis said as he saw Pat and Greg over Twyla's shoulder. "I'll let you talk to them." He said as he got up to leave.
"No," Twyla put a hand on Lewis' shoulder, "Lewis, please stay." She then turned to receive Greg.  Greg was about to open his mouth when Twyla shushed him.
"I know you want to talk.  I need to tell you some things first.  I've had some time to think now.  I'm still incredibly upset with you, not only for going behind my back, sleeping with another person, and pretty killing our relationship, but because you seem to think this was an ok thing to do.  That your sexual confusion gave you an excuse.  Well, news flash, I'm just as mad at you for this as I would be if you slept with another girl.  But Lewis gave me some insights into the male mind just now, and I realize that you might not have understood that until I told you. 
So here's the deal.  I will stay with you guys and the band, and I'll accept and understand you two.  But, there is going to be a lot less trust here, because after this I really don't know if either of you guys are the same people anymore.  You'll both have to earn my trust back.  These are the conditions, do you guys accept?"
Greg and Pat stood dumfounded.  They hadn't expected to get steam rolled with a speech.  Nevertheless, they both nodded in agreement.
"It's a deal.  Welcome back Twy." Greg said.  They all hugged and Greg turned to Lewis.
"Hey, thanks for being there for her through this."
"Yeah Lewis, I appreciate it." Twyla added.
"No problem," Lewis smiled, "and, no hard feelings for this morning right?"
"Not at all.  If I had been in your place, I would've killed me too."
"Oh, one thing."  Twyla said as she took hold of her mug of beer.  Before anyone could say anything, she splashed it in Pat's face.
"Hey," Pat said with shock as he sputtered beer, "What was that for?"
"That was for sleeping with my boyfriend you bitch."  Twyla said with a grin as she walked to the stage. With that, Greg and Pat knew that everything would be all right like this.  Following her, Pat continued the "argument".
"Hey girl, you wanna take this outside?"
Greg followed, shouting after both of them:
"Hey guys, there's enough of me to go around."

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

When Lewis got back to the table, the gang was eager to know what happened.
"Hey buddy, what happened over there?" Oswald asked, "I saw Twyla throw beer at Pat."
"Yeah, everything's all right, they're still a band."  Lewis responded, slightly distracted.
"Huh?" Everyone asked.
"How did that happen?" Kate asked.
"I'll tell you tomorrow, but they're playing now so shush." Lewis said, obviously focused on Twyla.
"Hey guys," Twyla said into the microphone, "this number is by Bree Sharp, and I'll give a free beer to anyone who's heard of her.  If not, just enjoy."  With that, the song started and Twyla sang:
"Solitary girl I have been
Living in a cell, made of skin
Sealed inside myself, nothing gets out or gets in
I can't feel, what you feel...

Show me, the way to my heart
Show me the way
Show me the way to my heart baby
Show me, show me..."

And Lewis engrossed himself in the song, giving his full attentions to the sound of recovery in Twyla's voice and grinning to himself knowing he had contributed to it.  Once or twice during the song, he thought Twyla may have been singing to him.  But whether it was real or just wishful thinking, he didn't know.

"Two beers please." Twyla told the bartender.  She sat at the bar with the one girl who knew who Bree Sharp was and gave her one of the beers.
"So...your name's Angel right?" Twyla asked.
"Yeah"
"So, how are things in your story."
Angel didn't respond.  Instead, she grinned and fanned herself.
"It's fun.  Lewis and I are getting married.  Among other things" She added mischeviously.
"Man, your author sounds fun.  Mine has me getting cheated on, and she hasn't even started anything with me and Lewis yet."
Sorry Twy.
"Oh it's ok, I just hope my story gets better."
It will.  Hey Angel, shouldn't you be getting back to your own story?
"Nah, I'm on break.  My author told me who Bree Sharp was and she sent me here.  She says hi by the way."
Tell her to get you working again, I want to know what happens darn it!
"All in good time, don't worry."
Just then, Lewis walked over from his table to the bar.
"Hey Twyla, who's this?" He asked.
"Oh, this is Angel.  She's my newfound friend.  She knew who Bree Sharp was, so I owed her a free beer."
"Oh.  Hi" Lewis waved to Angel.  Angel smiled and waved back.  At that moment, another Lewis walked into the bar.
"Hey Angel," The other Lewis said as he gave her a quick kiss.  He then looked at his counterpart and made a face.
"Well, this is interesting..." Both Lewises said at the same time.
"Wow, two." Angel said with a grin.  Twyla grinned as well.
"As tempting as this is, this is MY story and it's getting weird.  Will you both get back to your own universes please."
With that, Twyla shooed Angel and her Lewis out of the bar.  She then changed her mind and pulled Angel-Lewis back in.
"You can stay." She said with a smirk.
"Don't you dare!" Angel yelled to Twyla.
"I'm just kidding!" Twyla yelled back.  She then let Lewis out of the bar.

"Well, look at what you've reduced me to."
Hey, I was trying to be funny.
"Man, I could've had two..."
Maybe I'll write a "Lewis get's cloned" story.
"Then you'd be stealing NLC's idea."
Oh yeah.
"Just let me have some kind of Lewis-action."
Maybe.  I can't tell you what happens, it'll take the suspense away.
"Please?"
No.  If I tell, people won't want to read about you anymore 'cause they'd know what happens.  Do you want that?
"No...does it get better for me at all?"
Next part, we'll see.  As long as you're good.
"Please, what am I going to do?"
Good point.

"Hey, who were you talking to?" Lewis asked as he walked over to Twyla.
"Oh, no one."


Part Four