Hi all, I wrote this one-shot at about 3 a.m. this morning. It represents a conversation that I hope to witness in about a year. I have been working on all of my other stories and there will be updates on them all soon. Hope you enjoy.

The Conversation

"Did you hear what I said?" In the more than 20 years since he'd known her, Sonny had never seen Alexis so completely without words or movement.

"I heard you!" She nearly bit his head off. The air from her lungs seemed to have gone on strike. What was it about her home and drama? She bought the Lakehouse hoping she would find peace, but all that ever happened there was drama. Her marriage to Ric ended here, she found Ric and Sam together here, and worst of all she found Kristina on the floor here after Keifer beat her. Now Sonny was standing in front of her making ridiculous declarations. Looking around the room, she resigned herself to put her home on the market.

He watched as Alexis retreated into her head. Where the two of them were concerned, it was the worst place she could go. He needed to snap her out of it. "I lov-"

"Don't say it again!" She thrust a finger to his lips. Sonny had lost his mind and he was threatening to steal her sanity in the process. After she sensed that he wanted to chuckle, she removed her finger and she began to pace. It was the only way she could get her bearings back. "You are confused. We've been spending a lot of time together…as friends…and with the girls and you are longing for a sense of family."

After all these years, he still marveled at the level of her animation when she went on one of her rants. What she failed to realize was that she'd gotten away from him once before and he would not let her get away again, although now she had even more reason to flee. "Are you my therapist now?"

She stopped in her tracks, but only long enough to roll her eyes. "No, I'm not your therapist. I'm your friend. And because I'm your friend, I know you very well."

"Better than anyone."

Once more she rolled her eyes. He was being agreeable. She hated when he was agreeable, it usually meant he was up to no good. Still, she could beat him at his own game. If anyone could, she could beat him. "Good. I'm glad you agree." She stopped pacing and faced him. "Because I know you. I understand how hard it was for you when Brenda fell for Jason. Brenda was the love of your life and Jason is like a brother to you. And even though they didn't fall in love on purpose, I know it still hurt." She continued to ramble. "Of course I know it hurts. Sam cried her eyes out for a month when they finally admitted they wanted to be together. And although you may be morally challenged, I know that you are not utterly without feelings."

"Alexis." He snapped her from her ramble. "Focus. This is not about Brenda."

"Of course it's about Brenda…and Jason. You felt like you lost your family…and then you started spending time with the girls…and me. We became a substitute family for you. I should have known better than to let it continue on for so long, but seeing you sad, made me sad…and Kristina and Molly, of course."

Finally, he saw a crack in her armor. Now, he would go in for the kill. "Why does me being sad make you sad?" With one step to his right, he blocked the path of her pacing.

"Because you're Kristina's father…and you're Molly's uncle." She pushed out a breath of air. "And we're friends, Sonny, you know that."

"I know that we're more than friends. You know that, too." He moved closer to her.

"Don't talk to me about what I know. What I know is that you are the great Recycler, but instead of cans and bottles, you recycle relationships."

"What?"

"Yes, you are a relationship recycler." She'd found her footing now. The animal had been named. "You can't let things go. How many times did you reconcile with Carly?"

He simply stared at her.

"Fine. Don't answer. We both know it was more times than you can count on one hand. And how many times did you reconcile with Brenda before this last time? Then there were your rekindled relationships with Olivia and Kate."

"Do you have a point?"

"Yes. My point is when you're not happy with your life, you try to fall back into a comfortable relationship to fix it."

"And that's what I'm doing here?" Suddenly, Sonny couldn't stop himself from laughing.

"Yes." She eyed him with suspicion. "Why are you laughing?"

"I can't believe you think we have a comfortable relationship. No one gets in my face more than you do."

"Well someone has to make sure you don't self-destruct or take out half of the town…including your children."

"Don't try to make your refusal to be with me about the danger in my life. If you were concerned about the danger you wouldn't have slept with Jerry Jacks…or my brother."

Her eyes widened. "I can't believe you just brought up Ric and Jerry! I will give you that my relationship with Jerry was ill-advised…but-"

"This isn't about Jerry, Ric or your fear of commitment."

"My fear of commitment? I don't have a fear of commitment. I just don't want to be with you."

"You don't want to be with anyone unless you think you think you can do it without emotional attachments."

At the revelation that she was being lectured by the man who could only be considered a serial husband, she tossed her hands up in the air. "That's ridiculous."

"Yeah? Both of your marriages have been marriages of convenience. And the one time you were going to marry for love, you hitched a ride to a truck to get out of it."

"I was there, remember?" She sighed, "So, now you're my shrink?"

"Nope. I'm your best friend and the only person in the world who really gets you, which is why you're so scared."

"I'm not scared." She watched as he titled his head the way he always did when he didn't believe her. "Fine. But why are you trying to change things between us now? We're in a good place. We're friends. Your daughter is happy. Your niece is happy. Why are you trying to ruin all that?"

"I'm not trying to ruin anything. I love you."

"I told you not to say that." Alexis shoved him with the full force of her body. The force was strong enough to cause him to take a few steps backward. Even still he found himself smiling.

"It's the truth. I thought you liked it when I told you the truth."

"Shut up." Once again, he managed to infuriate her, so she shoved him again. This time he caught her arms. "Let go of me, Sonny." It sounded more like a threat than a request.

"Tell me you're not in love with me and I'll let you go."

"You're not the boss of me!" She realized how immature she sounded as soon as she said it. His laughter only made her more enraged. Twenty years and a child later, the man still made her crazy. "Stop laughing!" He was laughing so hard that he forgot to keep holding her arms. She used the opportunity to punch him in the arm.

"Ouch." He rubbed his arm, though it really didn't hurt. "When did you get so violent?"

"When I started defending criminals."

"You defended criminals before me. Are you sure you're not trying to fight your feelings...literally?"

"Ha, ha." Alexis took a deep breath. Over the last several months, beginning with Brenda's return, Sonny had behaved more like the man she once knew. He was right that it was no longer about the danger in his life. Somehow, she'd managed to navigate it…not to mention, she'd been involved with more dangerous men than even he was.

"Stop thinking." He took her hands in his own.

"I was thinking about giving us a chance…but, if you want me to stop..."

"You thinking never ends well when it comes to us." He took a step closer to her and began to stare at her mouth. Alexis was engaged in a war between her head and her heart. He needed to giver her heart some ammunition.

"And what would you have me do instead?" She was flirting with him; God help her.

Sonny moved his hands to her waist and pulled her closer to him. Then he inched his mouth closer to hers…until she brought her fingers to his lips once again. She was beginning to exasperate him. "What is it now, Alexis?"

"I don't want you to think that you can use your masculine wiles to win all of our arguments in the future."

"Masculine wiles?" The woman was a nut but he was crazy about her. "Hey, you said the future. I like the sound of that."

"I must be out of my mind."

"Yeah." He watched as her eyes widened. "That and you love me."

She covered her eyes with her hands. "What is going to take to get you to shut up?"

"I think we both know the answer to that." He moved her hands from her eyes and returned his own to her waist.

Leaning in, she kissed him softly on the mouth before she whispered, "I hate you."

He smiled as he caressed her cheek with his hand. "Anything you say, Baby. Anything you say."