Chapter 12:
Rian’s POV
Spike finished his PT half a week ahead of schedule; the attack on his team motivating him to get back to work. Ed, who escaped the bomb with minor bruising and a sprained wris, went back to work the same day Spike did. The only difference, was now there was a member of Cyber Crimes working with SRU’s dispatcher to find whoever has been hacking into the police and SRU databases. Once Spike was back at work, things weren’t so tense at home. He was a lot happier, and I was happier because of that. Over the next few weeks Leah made a full recovery and was soon back on the Team. All too soon it had been two months since the bombing, and the girls and I were finally getting out girls night out that we had planned over 6 months ago.
Winnie was hosting girls night at her place, and Spike was hosting a guys night at our house, so I had to hit the road before the house was overwhelmed with testosterone. I stepped out of the shower, slipping into a pair of loose gym shorts and a tank top. I pulled my hair into a sloppy bun. I almost ran into Spike coming out of the bedroom.
“Hey,” he said, leaning against the doorway, blocking my way out.
“Hey, yourself.”
“You look fetching.”
I rolled my eyes, “I know right? I look glamorous in pajamas.”
“You always look glamorous.”
“Aww, such a charmer.”
I leaned forwards, kissing him quickly. He groaned as I pulled away.
“We have some time,” He said, his hands going to my waist.
“Not enough Superman.” I said, as the doorbell rang. I scampered past him, opening the door.
“Hey Rian”
Ed and Sam were holding six packs and bags of food on the doorstep.
“Come on in guys! I was just leaving.”
“Here you go babe.” Spike said, coming up behind me with my bag of food, car keys, and cell phone.
“Okay. Okay, I get the point. Have fun boys!” I waved, heading down the driveway to my car.
The drive to Winnie’s was short and I was last to arrive; parking at the end of a long line of cars in front of her condo. I knocked on the door, opening it to the sounds of raucous laughing and hellos.
“Hey girls!”
“Rian!!” They chorused back waving their drinks in the air and offering me a spot on top of the piled blankets at the foot of the couch. They had set up shop in her living room, near the kitchen and in front of the giant TV. How to lose a guy in ten days was already playing when I added my chips, salsa, and truffles to the pile of food on the coffee table. I flopped next to Jules, grabbing a bowl and some cheetos from the coffee table.
“How was your week Jules?”
“It was fine. I get to deal with your mopey boyfriend at work though.”
“Mopey?”
“He misses you.” She said, teasing me.
“Aww… that’s so sweet.” Shelley broke in, leaning down from the couch to grab a handful of my cheetos.
I blushed, that was really sweet. “Well I don’t get to work with my husband. But how’s Sadie?”
“She’s good, we’re starting a new pre-school next year. How’s Clark?”
“Clark’s good. He’ll be a senior in college next year. I can’t even believe it. It seems like yesterday he was learning how to ride a bike.”
Shelley rubbed her back. “Come on, let’s watch the movie.”
Although Shelley suggested we watch the movie, the quiet lasted less than ten minutes.
“So you’ve slept together right?” Jules asked, everyone looked at her, not sure who she was asking, but when she turned to look directly at me, everyone started laughing while I blushed.
“Of course they have.” Winnie broke in, looking at Jules like she was crazy. “They’re living together.”
“Rian?”
“Yeah, we have.” I shifted uncomfortably, turning my attention back to the movie, trying to ignore the fact that everyone was watching me.
“And?” Winnie supplied,
“And it was great.”
“Just great.”
“What do you want me to say? That it was the best sex of my life?”
“Only if thats the truth?”
I shifted again, mumbling, “Itwasthebestsexofmylife.”
“What?” Winnie said, smiling viciously. I chucked a pillow at her head, hitting her square in the face,
“You heard me, IT WAS AMAZING.”
They all laughed at my outburst, continuing to tease me on and off through the remainder of the night. Leah was also a subject of teasing because of her new boyfriend, a club owner she knew from Haiti. We gossiped the whole night; the movies simply playing in the background as we laughed. We went through 4 movies and so much food before it was finally time to head back to our respective houses. Winnie divvied up the food, ensuring that we all took some of it home, as there was still too much of it leftover. We said our goodbyes around 2:40 AM, and left Winnie’s, all running to her car to get out of the rain, which was freezing cold. I was soaked by the time I got to my car.
When I finally pulled up in front of the house, It was 3:00AM and all the lights, except the porch light and the front hall light were off. I sprinted to the front door, unlocking it as quietly as I could. I crept, shivering upstairs, where I stripped and toweled myself off, still unable to get rid of the chill of the rain. Sliding my pajamas on I crawled into bed, trying, and failing, not to wake Spike up. He shifted under the covers, turning around and facing me in the dark.
“You’re home.” he said, his voice thick with sleep.
“Yeah. I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” He murmured, his hands finding my waist, and pulling me closer. “You’re freezing.”
“It’s raining outside.”
“No umbrella?”
“Nope.”
I dragged my foot along his calf before kissing him where I thought his mouth was. He let out shaky breath as I turned in his arms, drifting off to sleep.
“You ready for breakfast?” A voice asked in my ear.
“Hmm...” I rolled over in my bed, and glared at him. He was propped up on one elbow, looking slightly down at me. Instead of getting up, I rolled over, staring at the ceiling until suddenly, the ceiling was no longer in my line of sight. Spike had moved so fast I hadn’t even seen it coming. One minute he was next to me, the next, he was on top of me, his face inches from my own.
“Or… we could stay in bed…?” I smirked, lifting my head to kiss him.
After my shower I found Spike in the kitchen, looking in the fridge for something to eat.
“We might need to go to the store Ri.” He said as I looked over his shoulder into a practically empty fridge.
“Oh, yeah… that might be a good idea.”
He twisted around, grabbing my hand, and pressing a kiss to my knuckles
“Mhmm…” He said moving to kiss me.
“Hmm… we should really go. We don’t have anything to eat babe.” I said pulling away. “Come on.”
“Ugh.” He groaned as I tugged him to the front door.
“Come on!” I laughed, “Who’s driving?”
“I got it Ri.” He said taking the keys.
120 dollars later the fridge was stocked, and we were back at my house. We were sitting at the dining room table after lunch; Spike was filling out paperwork and doing something with his laptop and I was planning next year’s lessons when Spike’s cell phone rang.
“Hey Sarge. Mmmhmmm… Tomorrow? At the reservoir? Yeah we’ll be there.” He pulled the phone away from his ear and hung up,
“No shift tomorrow?”
“Nope. Team three is on call in the morning, and team two at night.”
“Ah, so what are we doing tomorrow?”
“Team One family picnic up at the reservoir.”
“Sounds like fun, Who’s going to be there?”
“Everyone” came the very vague reply.
I got up from my chair and walked so I was behind him. Leaning down, I draped my arms around him, resting my head on his shoulder.
“You’re being very vague.” I said, right as he closed a window he was looking at. “What are you looking at bud?”
“Nothing, just some crime scene photos. You don’t want to see them.”
I frowned, since when were crime scene photos on the web.
“Ok.”
He noticed my frown and poked my cheek, “It’s really nothing.”
“Okay. Want to watch a movie tonight?”
“Sure.”
A few hours later I was done with my lessons but Spike had not yet finished whatever he was doing on the internet. Whenever I had tried to see what it was, he closed the window, pretending to be looking at photos from a crime scene. Finally he put the computer down and shot me a huge smile.
“Dinner?”
“Sure, what are you in the mood for?”
He continued to smile like a kid caught in a candy store, “Fettucine?”
I grinned, “yeah. Come help though.”
He followed me into the kitchen, where I pulled the ham, peppers, onions, and broccoli from the fridge. I passed the vegetables and the meat over to him with a cutting board and a knife.
“Here, dice these.”
I found the flat pan I was looking for and then went to raid the spice cabinet. I also grabbed the cream, milk, and cheese from the fridge, setting everything I needed on the counter next to the stove. I started the water, lightly salting it before setting it to boil. Once Spike was done I swept the vegetables and meat into the pan, now covered in olive oil. Once the vegetables and meat had been sauteed I added the rest of the ingredients for the sauce, watching as Spike sat on the couch, leaning back and flipping through Netflix, trying to find something to watch. I finished the sauce, leaving in on a low heat as I waited for the pasta to finish.
Soon it was done and I was sitting next to Spike on the couch, with a full plate of fettucine in my hands and the latest Brad Pitt movie playing. It was called World War Z and it was about zombies, but it wasn’t the complete piece of trash I thought it would be. After we had paused the movie to put the dishes away I grabbed a blanket, leaning against Spike and draping the blanket over both of us.
“You know how we said we were going to look for a house?”
I looked up at Spike, we had lost hope after a few months of looking.
“Yeah, of course.”
“You still want to get one, right?”
I sat up, pausing the movie and turning to face him properly. I cupped his face in my hands, forcing him to look at me.
“What’s wrong Spike?”
“Nothing, nothings wrong.”
“Bullshit.”
“Ri-”
“You’ve been acting funny all day.” Then it clicked, I stood up, standing in front of him trying not to think about what I was going to say next.
“A...Are you trying to leave me?”
The expression on his face was proof enough,
“Wha- No. God no. Ri, I love you and I want us to buy a house and live there together until we grow old.” He tugged on my hand, pulling me down so I was straddling his lap, facing him. “I love you.” he repeated, his fingers moving to bring my chin up. He leaned forwards, my eyes fluttering closed as our lips connected.
“You still want to get a house right?” He repeated, pulling away slightly.
I smiled, “Yes. I would love that.” I moved my head forwards, kissing him teasingly on his nose before he moved forwards, capturing my lips. His hand moved to cup my jaw as he turned his head slightly in an effort to deepen the kiss. I leaned against him, sitting up slightly so he had to tilt his head up. He pulled away again, but I could still feel his lips move as he spoke.
“I think I found a house.”
The day of the picnic flew by and soon we were driving to the reservoir, armed with hotdogs, chips, and pasta salad. Spike drove, and as a result we were the first ones there. I placed the food down on the picnic table.
“So we have 6 twelve hour shifts over the next eight days.” Spike was saying. “Umm.. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Sunday.”
“Okay. I don’t have anything special this week so just let me know what you want for dinner.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll also call the realtor and schedule an appointment for next week.”
“Great! I’ll do more looking as well, and then annoy the crap out of you when you get home.” He shot me a smirk,
“depends on what you’re doing to annoy me.”
I playfully smacked his shoulder.
“Spike! Rian!” We turned around to see Sophie, Ed, Clark, Izzy, and an unknown girl walking across the parking lot, laden down with bags. I hurried over, grabbing a bag from Sophie.
“Rian, Spike, this is Gina, Clark’s girlfriend.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” I said, shaking her hand after I’d put down the bag.
“Hope Ed hasn’t been giving you too hard of a time.” Spike said, also shaking her hand. Clark blushed and wrapped an arm around her, as if trying to block her from our stares. Ed and Spike moved the picnic tables into a half rectangle shape in front of the grill as Sophie and I laid out the tablecloths and paper products. Spike and Ed both opened a bottle of beer, sitting at another table with Clark, while Gina, Izzy, Sophie and I talked about them at a separate table. None of us saw Jules and Sam come up until Sadie ran up to Izzy, practically tackling her to the ground in a bear hug. I stood up, hugging Jules and Sam before making room for Jules at the girls table. Kevin and Shelley were next, then Leah and Winnie, and finally Greg.
Once Greg arrived the guys started to tackle the grill, still talking off in their own little world. I thought I heard my name a couple of time, but when I turned around, Spike was talking earnestly to Kevin. Spike saw me looking a gave a little wave, I smiled and turned around, refocusing on Sophie.
“Food’s ready!” Ed called a few minutes later. Spike was the perfect gentleman and came to wait at the back of the line with me. Jules and Sam saved us seats and I slid in next to Sam, as Spike hurriedly took the seat next to Jules. The food was delicious and we spent quite a while just sitting around eating. Spike and Jules kept whispering back and forth about something, but I couldn’t tell what over all the conversations. Some of the guys kept giving me strange smiles, as if they knew something I didn’t. Finally everyone was done eating and Greg stood up,
“I’d like to thank you all for coming today, and I hope everyone had a good time. We’ve dealt with a lot since we became Team One, and I hope these next few months will be easier on us. Keep the Peace!”
Ed slapped him on the back as he sat down.
“Nice, boss.” he said, smiling and wrapping an arm around Sophie’s shoulders.
Soon the picnic was over and shortly after that summer was over too. School started back up again, and I continued to worry about Spike. The only disturbances came from the occasional cream colored letter arriving on our doorstep, which I handed over to Constable Mendoza. The stalker hadn’t done anything major in almost a year, but he continued to harass us, reminding us he was out there and watching. Spike had convinced me that we shouldn’t move yet. He wanted the stalker caught before we moved anywhere else; limiting his sphere of influence. We had a huge fight about it, but in the end, he won. I knew he was only protecting me, and it made sense. The first real break I got from school was on December 15th; the first day of my very long vacation. I guess because we had students from all over the world, we got fewer vacations but those we did get were extra long.
"Hey gorgeous!"
A voice called from the entryway as I heard the front door open and shut.
"Hey superman." I called back, hearing him drop his duffel in the entryway. Soon enough I felt his arms circle my waist as he hugged me.
"How was shift?" I asked as he kissed me quickly on the cheek. I turned around to make sure he was okay.
“Nothing bad happened right?” I asked visually scanning him for injuries.
“I’m fine Rian, but I do have a present for you.” He said pulling out two long rectangular pieces of paper.
“What are these?” I asked, examining them, “...Tickets to the New Year’s Eve Police Ball?!”
“I was hoping you’d accompany me,”
“Who else were you gonna take?”
“Hmm.. maybe I’d call Izzy, see if she wanted to go with me” I smacked his shoulder playfully, “No but really, I’m glad you like it.” He said, smiling broadly.
“I have to go shopping, maybe Jules’ will want to go with me.” I mused, tucking the tickets behind one of the magnets on the fridge.
A week later, I was on my way out to a shopping trip when I discovered a cream colored envelope on my windshield. This was getting more annoying that frightening, and I couldn’t understand why they hadn’t caught him. They hadn’t caught the SRU hacker yet either, but his case was still open. Sighing I did what I had done with the hundreds of letters, who’s sender still remained anonymous, despite Officer Mendoza’s greatest efforts. Only 6 words were printed on the page.
Do not go to the ball.
************************************************************************************************************
AN:
I know it's short... sorry *sheepish grin*, but I have a crap-load of stuff on my plate right now :(
THANK YOU ALL FOR READING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE COMMENT AND VOTE!