Lennox walked downstairs he turned her head and gasped to see Joe with a very red face sitting at the table. She rushed to his side.
"Oh my god, Joe, are you okay?" Joe looked up at her, his eyes stinging.
"Oh, hey, Lennox." Joe said, trying to sound tough. Lennox knew he was trying to cover up whatever just happened, but what was it?
"What- what hapened?" Lennox asked, sounding concerned. Joe looked at her. He knew she cared.
"I- Mel- told me that she loved me. And I told her I loved her, too." Lennox smiled.
"That's awesome! But, where is she?" Joe sighed.
"That's the bad part. She left after I said that we just couldn't be together." Lennox gasped.
"What! Joe, if you love her and Aunt Mel loves you, then it's really clear that you should be togehter!" Joe stood up.
"I know, Lennox. But Burke is not gonna want to be with me now." Lennox followed him.
"Do you know where she went?"
"I don't know. Look, I have to get to bed. Goodnight." Joe said, practically crawling up the steps. Suddenly she turned around and heard the door open. She walked into the living room to see Mel with an even REDDER face than Joe's.
"Oh, hi, honey." Mel said, with tears traveling don her cheeks.
"Joe souned like he was really worried. Even though you might not believe me, Aunt Mel, Joe was crying, too."
"Really?" Mel asked anxiously. Lennox patted her back.
"Yup. He really loves you." Mel smiled.
"Where is he?" Mel stood up and went to the kitchen.
"He's in his room!" Lennox called. "God, I am so good." She beamed.
Mel hurried up to Joe's room. She burst through the door.
"Joe?" Joe turned around and smiled.
"Oh Mel... I thought you wouldn't come back..." Mel smiled blankly at him and sat on the couch. She breathed heavily as Joe sat down next to her.
"I'm so.. sorry, Burke. I shouldn't have reacted that way. But, if you'll just let me explain-" Mel huffed.
"I know you want to explain. But if we both love eachother... don't you think that it is a sign, Joe?" Joe nodded.
"Fine. You're not wrong, Burke. But- for example- what if we did start a realationship? That is what I want... but we live together- you know- you are the boss, and I am the staff plus. If we break up, this whole freaking living arangement will be screwed. We'll be screwed." Mel nodded and smiled at the thought of her manny calling himself staff plus- even though he was MUCH more than that now.
"I know. So maybe-"
"Yeah..-"
"We should just remain the way we are- the way we always were." Mel said. Joe smiled, but a little part of him said that Mel didn't want that- and he didn't either.
"But... aren't we a little... more than friends?" Mel grabbed his hand and held it. Joe became flushed.
"Yes- well- yeah. But, we can't let our feelings for eachother get in the way. So, let's just move on, and tell Lennox and Ryder that things are getting back to normal."
Ryder and Lennox sat in the hallway to their bedrooms. Ryder was reading a book, and Lennox was on her laptop working on her blog. Ryder put his book down and glanced at his sister.
"Lennox, what is going on between Aunt Mel and Joe?" Lennox continued typing.
"Well, Aunt Mel told Joe she loves him and Joe said he felt the same. They got into a fight when Joe said that Mel and him couldn't be togehter. Aunt Mel got real pissed off and ran off. She came back home and now her and Joe are sorting this whole mess out. Got it?" Lennox said imaptiently. Ryder gulped.
"Woah." He said. Lennox rolled her eyes and put her arm around him.
10 minuted later, Mel and Joe were still talking.
"So, we are clear."
"Yes." Mel smiled at Joe and he returned her gaze. She leaned in and planted a kiss on his cheek. She got up.
"Good night." Mel said.
"'Night." Mel turned around.
"Joe?" Joe turned his head.
"Uh.. yeah, Burke?"
"How do we explain this to the kids?" Joe's mouth fell open. He hadn't thought of that.
"I...don't know... well, let's just say that we are remaining friends." Mel nodded.
"Okay." She said, smiling.
Mel rolled out of bed and dragged herself downstairs. She had gotten absolutely no sleep last night. She felt much better with Joe holding a cup of coffee downstairs.
"Hi." He said, handing her the coffee. She tried to say hi back, but she sipped her coffee instead. Joe sat down at the table and kindly handed Mel a packet of sugar.
"So... you look tired. Get much sleep?" Mel shook her head.
"Not at all. You?"
"No. Oh, and Burke, I explained to the kids what happened with...us. Lennox was a little disapointed, and Ryder...well Ryder just shook it off." Mel nodded. After a long pause she awkwardly spoke up.
"Um... cool." Joe swalloed. He really wasn't sure how to say this.
"Burke, are we going to be tortured by what happened last night?" Mel shrugged.
"Well, we did get something off our chests. But telling eachother that we love... eachother... is kinda big deal..." Her voice traveled off, noticing Joe looking into her eyes. It made her feel weird, even though she did the same.
"Umm...I... just wanted to let you know...that just because I said we couldn't be together NOW, doesn't mean we can't be together any other time." Mel felt something snap inside...
"What about my feelings, Joe?"
"Mel, we went over this-"
"I know, and I want to go over it again. When I said I loved you, I ment it. You love me, too, right?" Joe nodded.
"As hard it will be for me to admit, yes. I love you."
"I think we made a mistake last night, telling eachother how we feel."
"What?"
"You heard me, Joe. The way things are right now- you know- our living and buisness arangements, we should have never- I should have never- kissed you."
"Ok. Let's just forget that ever happened and move on, shall we?" Mel nodded and Joe and her clanked their coffee cups together.
"Agreed."