turn it into more than it seems

by beware of trips

Alice was the type of ratty Southside girl who smoked cigarettes and dealt dime bags and chugged beers with the boys. The kind of girl who'd probably show up at the home of her nice Northside boyfriend in the middle of the night because she had nowhere else to go. Maybe she just gave mothers a reason to hate her.

Track season was long over, but Alice still made it to the Cooper's house in less than half an hour. Running would have been easier with a pair of sneakers instead of her worn out Doc Martens, but she'd made it anyway. Hardly even broke a sweat even though it was a middle of June.

It was closing in on 2 am. On another night, she'd be getting up on her knees on the bar, ringing a bell, and yelling, "Last call!" A slew of drunken men would yell out orders to her instead of coming up for their own drinks and expect her to haul ass with a heavy tray around the bar.

Not tonight though. Tonight she had walked out of the bar with her head held high. It was the least she could do after her father's words cut through her like a blade.

She raised a hand to her sore cheek as she walked across the Cooper's front yard. She wondered if there was still a mark on her face or if they cool air had soothed it. Her purse was still tucked under the bar and she hoped someone - FP most likely - had the good sense to grab it for her.

Alice swallowed hard thinking of FP. He was still at the Wyrm when she left, but he'd made no move to get between her and her father. He knew better and owed her father too many favors to get on his bad side now. Would FP expect her to be sitting on the steps of his trailer when he got home? They'd play the same song and dance they did every time she got into a fight with her dad and it was too late to high tail it to Fred's. FP would offer to sleep on the couch so she could have his tiny bed and they'd bicker until he finally plopped down on the horrible lime green sofa with his arms crossed.

"I'll sleep in my bed if you can pull me up."

She could knock him off the couch with one arm tied behind her back, but it was FP's way of telling her he wasn't letting her win. And truth be told, she hated being exposed in the trailer's small living room. The one time she had slept out there, she'd caught FP's roommate leering at her in the early hours of the morning.

Things were different now. It was far too late to go to Fred's without waking his parents, but she still had one choice. It felt a lot like putting on her eggs in one basket, but there was no way she was walking back to the Southside after all she'd gone through.

So she'd do the thing she'd been dreading the past two months. The thing she kept telling herself would finally make Hal get sick of her.

She walked to the side of the Cooper's house and looked up at the second story windows. Despite her frequent trips here, Mrs. Cooper had never let her upstairs to Hal's room. She'd once let them down to the basement rec room together, but it had only been because Hal's sister was with them. Prudence Cooper didn't trust Alice Smith as far as she could throw her. Alice was the type of ratty Southside girl who smoked cigarettes and dealt dime bags and chugged beers with the boys. The kind of girl who'd probably show up at the home of her nice Northside boyfriend in the middle of the night because she had nowhere else to go.

And here she was. Maybe she just gave mothers a reason to hate her.

Alice looked between the two windows on the second floor, trying to figure out which one was Hal's and which his sister's. Gertrude wouldn't tell on them, Alice knew that, but she'd probably give Hal a good teasing over it. And she might ask too many questions about why Alice was showing up in a mesh top and leather skirt at 2 am.

Hal had told her his bedroom was the last in the hall, so she assumed the one on the left. She looked around the grass for a rock or acorn to toss, but settled instead for smacking her hand against the drainpipe that ran down past his window.

Nothing. She hit it again slightly harder and bit her lip, afraid she might wake up someone else in the house if she was a much louder. A few seconds passed and then a light came on in the window. The curtain moved aside and Hal stuck his head out, looking down at her quizcally.

"Alice?" he whispered loudly. She nodded and took some glee when her boyfriend's face broke into a goofy grin. He stared down at her few seconds before nodding towards the back of the house.

Alice walked past the bushes and stuck her hand into the small hole so she could unlatch the fence into the yard. She closed it carefully behind her, uneasy by the screeching noise it made. Mr. and Mrs. Cooper's room was on the other side of the house, but Alice didn't want to take any chances. She tiptoed through the yard until she came to the basement door. After a minute, she heard the latch on the other side and the door lightly swung open. Hal stood there in a grey t-shirt and pajama pants. He jutted his head inside, grin still on his face, and Alice ran past him into the house.

He closed the door behind her and as soon as he walked down the few steps, she threw herself into him, smacking her lips against his. He was still for a moment before wrapping his arms around her and opening his mouth. When they broke apart, she rested her chin on his chest and looked up at him.

"Hey," she whispered. Hal laughed.

"Hey." He kissed her again, taking her chin in his hands and lacing his fingers in her hair. "Hey. God, I missed you. You haven't answered the phone in two days. I was getting worried."

My dad didn't pay the phone bill. She closed her eyes. "It's a long story."

"I've got the time."

"Not now." She pouted her lips towards him and he leaned down to plant another kiss on her. "2 am isn't exactly the time for long stories."

"2 am is the perfect time for long stories." Hal shrugged his shoulders. "There's something romantic about it, don't you think?"

"I think," she brought her hands to the neck of his shirt and smoothed it out, "there are more appropriate things to be doing at this hour. And no," she placed her finger up to his mouth, "not sleep."

"Huh," Hal said simply. She could feel his heartbeat speed up through his thin t-shirt. "Do you want to, to go upstairs? Like, go to my room?"

Her eyes darted over Hal's shoulder. "Perfectly good couch down here. And no parents."

"Well," Hal gulped, "there's no lock on the door to the basement, but there's a lock on my bedroom door." His eyes looked to the low ceiling of the basement. "Plus, you've never seen my bedroom, right?"

Hal led her up the two flights of stairs that went from the basement to his bedroom, one hand firmly held in his strong one and the other carrying her boots. Their bare feet pitter-pattered up the two sets of stairs, both decorated thoroughly with Cooper family photos, and then through the carpeted second floor. He pointed to one door and mouthed "my parents" and pointed to another and mouthed "Gertrude." He held open the last door for her and she walked through.

She could fit four of her bedrooms inside Hal's. It was exactly how she envisioned it, like something straight off the set of a John Hughes movie. Baby blue bedspread, disheveled from Hal just waking up, wooden desk with books neatly held up by bookends, pictures lining the walls, plush beige carpet full and center, pulling the room together. Alice took one step on it and wiggled the softness between her toes. The only part the struck her as remotely messy was the small shelf right above the bed, littered with a few dogeared paperbacks, an empty to-go cup from Pops, and a small stuffed dog.

A click from behind her made her jump. She turned around to see Hal fiddling with the lock of his door. He turned the knob slowly either way before he seemed satisfied that the mechanism had caught. When he finally turned around, he leaned against the door and looked at her wide eyed. He went to shove his hands in his pockets before remembering there were none in his pajama pants. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Hey," he said softly, the edge just apparent in his voice. Alice bit her lip to hold in her smile.

"You nervous about something, Coop?"

He smirked at the nickname, but shook his head. "No, no. I've just, I've never had a girl in here before. Not a girlfriend at least."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Obviously. You've never even had a girlfriend." She took a seat on the edge of his bed, surprised at how firm it was. She'd had the same mattress at home since she'd grown out of her crib, but Hal's felt brand new. She gestured for him to come closer. "You've never even seen a pair of tits before mine, much less snuck a girl past your parents."

A flush traveled up Hal's face as he sat down cautiously next to her, uneasy even though they were in his own room, on his own bed. He left a good six inches between them that Alice quickly closed.

"I had seen," he held the word in his mouth for a moment, "tits before." Alice put her had on his knee and grinned. "I mean, not in person, but I've seen them before."

She leaned over and planted a kiss on the corner of his mouth. He moved his head to meet her lips. Alice scooted further back on the bed, pulling Hal down with her so they were both lying sideways, feet hanging off the side of his full size bed. Her hands gripped the front of his t-shirt and his found their way to her hips. He ran his fingers over the material of her skirt. Growing impatient, she grabbed one of his hands and slid it back so he was cupping her ass. His hand stayed there a few lingering seconds, just enough for him to give her a good squeeze, before he moved his hand up and rested it on her lower back. She held in her groan of disappointed as he broke away from her.

"Where were you tonight?" His eyes looked her up and down, but there was no malice in his voice. Just curiosity.

Alice stiffened under his gaze. "Nowhere." She sat up straight and pulled down her skirt, even though it wasn't going anywhere. "I just wanted to come see you. Is that so wrong?"

"No, of course not." Hal sat up with her and ran his hand backwards through his hair, messing it up. "It's just, since school let out I've hardly seen you. And then you're outside hitting my drainpipe at 2 am. It's a little concerning."

"You're my boyfriend, aren't you?" She stuck her fingers through a tear in her fishnets and tugged at it. "Can't I just stop by to see you?"

Hal was on his knees, crouching down next to her on the bed. He put his hand on the small of her back.

"Of course. You can come by whenever you want." Hal gently placed his other hand on her shoulder and she jutted them up until she let go. "Just, just talk to me, Alice. Please. You don't have to keep this wall up between us."

She looked up at him, wide eyed. "Can I stay here tonight? Please?" Hal opened his mouth and before a word could come out, she talked over him. Her gaze dropped back to her legs. "I'll leave before your parents wake up, I swear. I'll go down the drainpipe in the morning. Before sunrise even. I just -"

"Alice." Hal slide one hand from her back to her shoulder. He turned her entire body so she was facing him. "Of course you can sleep here. Of course. Just, please? Tell me if something happened."

She stared into Hal's eyes for another moment before reaching up and touching his face. "I will, yeah. It's nothing really. No big deal. Can't it just - it can wait." She let her hand fall down to his shirt. She wrapped her finger in a piece of the soft fabric, pulling him in a little closer. "Until after?"

Hal hung on to her every word. She pulled him close enough so that their mouths were nearly touching and he had to cross his eyes as he looked down at her. "After what?"

"Come on, Hal." She let go of his shirt and ran her hand around the back of his neck. "We've been dating for two months."

Hal pulled back from her, but Alice kept a good hold on his neck. His eyes went off to the side, focusing on the headboard of his bed.

"Not quite two months. More like seven weeks. But if you're rounding up and all, then sure. Two months."

She laced her fingers together behind him. "Need to get it over with at some point."

He swallowed. "Get it over with?"

"Can't hold on to that v-card forever."

"Right." Hal let out a heavy sigh and pulled Alice's hand off from around his neck. He fell back off his knees with a thud onto the firm mattress. "It's just, you know." He looked to her desperately and she pursed her lips.

"No, Hal. I don't know." She got up on her knees and crawled to where Hal was sitting. Her eyes darted to the small dog sitting above his bed before looking down at him. "Tell me why you want to stay a virgin forever."

The flush crept all the way up to the top of Hal's ears. "I don't - I mean I'm not going to. To be a virgin forever." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't plan on it. It's just this," he waves his hand around, "this isn't exactly how I planned it."

Alice put her hand on Hal's knee and crouched down closer to him. "Should we light some candles?" she asked. "Put on a Crannieberries' album and take our clothes off?" She broke into a wide grin and watched the corner of Hal's mouth turn up.

"Very funny." Alice tightened her grip on Hal's knee and he bit his lip. "I just feel like when the time is right, we'll know."

Alice rolled her eyes. "If you wait for a perfect moment, you'll be waiting forever."

"That's not true."

"It is." Alice slumped back, sitting on her feet. "I thought this would be nice. That you'd be comfortable enough in your own house, in your own bed."

"This is nice." Hal took her hand from his knee and squeezed it. "It's just like, we're in my house. My whole family is sleeping right down the hall. Hell, I grew up in this room."

Alice took Hal's chin between her fingers. "And you can become a man in this room." Alice raised her eyebrows at him, but he shook his head, dropping his gaze from her.

"No, no I can't. Not when like, my stuffed puppy is looking down at us."

Alice looked up and took note of the stuffed dog again. She reached to the shelf, turned it around, and plopped back down with flourish. "Better?"

"No."

She sighed, blowing a piece of hair out of her face. Flexing her face made her remember the sting in her cheek. Whatever mark her father left must not have stayed if Hal didn't mention it. The anger was building up again thinking about her dad. She tried to take a deep breath to calm herself, but instead blurted out, "Your mom really did a number on you, huh?"

Hal was taken back. "My mom what?"

Alice pinched her lips closed. A voice in her head told her to just apologize, but she ignored it. "She instilled some weird thing in your head about waiting until marriage to have sex and you don't even realize how nutty that sounds. What decade is it? No one does that anymore. God, do you want to be the last kid in our -"

"Alice," Hal said firmly. There was something hurt lurking in his eyes. "Stop it. This has nothing to do with my mom, Christ." He ran his hand through his hair so the short blonde strands were sticking up at odd angles. Alice wanted to run her hands through it and smooth it down to how it normally looked. It never occurred to her before that it didn't naturally lay flat and neat, that he must comb it what way each morning. "I don't want to wait for marriage. Hell, I do want to do it with you. Of course I do. I just don't think this is the way." He made to put his hands back in his hair to muss it up again, but Alice darted her arm quickly across and started running her finger through it, scratching his scalp lightly with her nails. Hal didn't flinch at her quick movement. A dazed look came over his face, but he continued. "I just want to do everything right by you. Right doesn't mean waiting years." He closed his eyes and tilted his head closer to Alice. "It just means, it means a perfect day or something."

Alice gave his hair one last go through, finally satisfied with the way his hair looked. She let a single nail come down his cheek and tap his chin up. Before he could open his eyes, she pressed her lips softly to his. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her down with him. She let out a quiet giggle as they landed on the bed, their heads falling just before his pillow.

Hal knocked his lips back against her so hard, her head fell flat against the bed. He smiled down at her when he broke away.

"You're really special, Alice." Her heart started racing in her chest. She shrugged and Hal pressed a kiss to her lips again. "I mean it. I've never met another girl like you." Another kiss. "I like you so much. I can't believe how lucky I got." Hal moved a hand to her cheek and Alice flinched. Concerned filled his eyes. "What's wrong? Did I -"

"No. No, of course not, Hal." Alice let out a small laugh much louder than she intended, making her eyes go quickly to the locked door. She sat up straight, forcing Hal to move over. "Just, I don't know. I'm just on edge. Walking all the way here in the dark and all." She pulled her knees up to her chest and hugged them.

Hal stared at her through a furrowed brow. "What happened tonight?"

She bit the lie back in her mouth and let however much truth she could slip out. "I just missed you and wanted to see you. I needed to see you tonight."

He shook his head slowly. "No. There's more."

She stared down at his bedspread. "I got into a fight with my dad and I didn't feel like going home."

"A fight over what?"

"I was working at the bar tonight."

Hal's mouth fell slack. "Doing what?"

Alice caught her breath. "No, nothing like that. I was bartending. That was it."

Hal picked up his mouth. "I didn't mean it like - just, well, does your dad not like you working there or something?"

She shook her head. "He loves when I work there actually. Says I add some much needed spunk to the place. I just did something that he didn't like and we fought over it. It was nothing."

"It wasn't nothing." Hal laced his fingers through hers. "You wouldn't have come all the way here for nothing."

Alice bit the inside of her cheek until she could taste blood. "I came all the way over here to see you."

"Okay but," Hal's eyes looked to the ceiling, "something prompted you. It's bad enough that you didn't want to go home."

She stopped and took a deep breath. "My dad told me I embarrassed him and I disagreed. That was it."

Hal raised his eyebrow. "Like you embarrass him in general or?"

"Gee, thanks." Alice tried to pull her hand away from Hal's, but he held on to her.

"I just want to understand," he said softly. She looked down to her fishnets again as Hal took her other hand in his. "Just talk to me. I can't help if i don't know what's going on."

"You can't help, Hal." She could feel his gaze on her. "This isn't something you can fix. It's just the way things are."

He gave her hands a soft tug and when she finally looked up at him, his blue eyes were pleading silently with her.

"Maybe I can't fix things," he sighed, "but maybe you'll feel better if you talk about it. Maybe things don't have to be this way."

She laced his fingers through his. "You can let me stay here tonight. That'll help. My dad will have cooled down by morning. Just," she squeezed his hand, "just be with me tonight?"

"Yeah, of course." Hal gave her hand one more squeeze before letting go. "I'll get you something to wear." He planted a kiss on the top of her head before turning away.

Tears welled up in her eyes. She waited until Hal was digging through through his dresser before the first one fell. She bunched up the bottom of her shirt, cursing the too thin material, and wiped quickly. She swallowed back the sobs threatening to escape her throat. One deep breath in, hold, deep breath out -

"Alice!" Hal was on the floor in front of her. He took her face in either of his hands, his fingers just lacing themselves into her hair. She shut her eyes tight, but the tears still slipped through anyway.

"What's wrong?" he asked. She grimaced at his hands on her face when she finally opened her eyes. He seemed to notice and climbed back into the bed with her, taking her in his arms. She curled into his lap and rested her face against his chest. She already knew her runny mascara was probably staining his grey shirt, but he didn't push her away. He combed his fingers through her hair. "Did I say something?" he asked softly when her cries steadied out.

She spoke into his shirt, inhaling his scent as she spoke. There was something comforting about it. He smelled like ink and soap and faintly of the dusty smell that plagued the Blue and Gold office.

"I won't even talk to you, but here you are being so nice to me. You don't even want anything in return for me staying here. I don't know how to thank you."

His hands stopped in her hair for a moment. "Alice, I don't want - I don't want you to think you need to pay me back in anyway for staying here. Especially not with like, with sex stuff. You know?" He returned to stroking her. "I just want you to be okay. That's all that matters."

Alice finally looked up at him. She took one more deep inhale and let it out slowly. "Some guy at the bar tonight pinched my ass. Not by accidently or like he thought I was someone else or something. I give him his drink and as I go to walk away, he pinched me. I turn around, waiting for an explanation or a sorry or something and he just, he just laughed at me." Hal opened his mouth, but Alice held a finger to him to silence him. "Next thing I know, all the other guys around are laughing too. And I just blanked for a few seconds. I grabbed his drink, tossed it in his face, and smashed the glass on the floor. I don't even remember doing it. It's like I was in a daze until I heard the glass break. Then my dad," her voice cracked, but she continued, "my dad is there grabbing my wrists, asking me what happened. And I tell him and I expect him to lose his shit, but he doesn't. He just gives me the dirtiest look, spins me around, and tells me to fucking apologise." She stopped to take another deep breath and Hal interrupted.

"Apologise?" His eyes were a mixture of anger and confusion and she immediately felt bad for weighing him down with her problems. "Why the hell would you -"

"I didn't, of course. I just flipped the guy off instead. So my dad slaps me, right there in front of the whole bar. I swear, it felt like the world stopped. I couldn't hear the music anymore. Everyone was watching us. And it's not even like he's never done it before, but -"

"He's hit you before?" Hal asked. "He can't just -"

"He's my dad, Hal. Of course he can. But in front of all those people? To, to publicly shame me? No way. So I just walked right out the door and I, well, I ran until I got here."

Hal pulled Alice back against his chest and rubbed her arms up and down. "I don't know what to say, Alice. I'm so sorry."

"You don't need to say anything. And you don't need to be sorry. This is between me and my dad. Hell, he was drunk. He'll probably have forgotten it by tomorrow. I just know it's going to be a pain in the ass to live this down."

"Alice." Hal pulled her away from himself so he could look her in the eyes. "Who cares about you living it down? If anything, it's good that so many people saw it happen. You'll have people to back you up and -"

"Back me up? For what? So they can tell me to respect my dad and listen to him when he tells me to apologise to someone? Yeah right."

"Someone was harassing you and you defended yourself. Your dad should have done something right then and there. Hell, your dad should have been the one looking out for you."

"And do what? My dad is friends with that guy. He's fairly high ranked amongst the Serpents. I should have just told him to go to hell and walked away."

"Alice." Hal took her by the shoulders and brought his face down to hers. "Are you more upset about your dad embarrassing you than you are about him hitting you? About, about some guy grabbing you?"

"I don't know." Alice closed her eyes and shook her head. "I mean, I'm upset by all of it of course. But that was the worst part I think. Why?" She opened her eyes again. "Public humiliation is really shitty, you know."

"We can talk to my parents in the morning. They're going to be pissed that you slept over, but they'll understand once we explain the situation."

Alice gasped. "Hal, no. Don't you say a word." Her heart sped up again. "Like your parents don't already think I'm some trash from the Southside, I don't need them calling social services on my dad or anything like that."

"Alice." He moved a piece of hair away from her face and looked her straight in the eyes again. "I care about you. My parents are going to want to do what's best. You can't live with someone who'd treat you this way. I wish you'd said -"

"Said what, Hal?" She bit back the tears that were threatening to return. "That I have a smart mouth that my dad loves until he's at the receiving end of it? Or I'm embarrassing him? Oh please. It's not a huge deal so don't make it into one." He opened his mouth to protest again but Alice held a finger right up to him, eyes pleading with him. "Please, Hal. Please. I know you don't understand a word I'm saying, but try. Just try."

She waited for him to nod slowly before taking her finger off his mouth. He let out a long sigh. "I won't say anything."

"Not to anyone?"

"No, of course not." He took her face in his hands once more and she didn't flinch his time. He rubbed each of his thumbs slowly under her eyes, wiping away her runny mascara. "I'm glad you trust me, Alice. I really am." He let go of her face. "Let me go get you that shirt."

"No." She plucked at the shirt he was wearing. "Just let me have this one."

"This one?" He pulled it away from his body and looked down. "There's nothing special about -"

"It smells like you," she blurted out. "Sorry if that's weird. It's just comforting. And it looks nice and worn in."

Hal smiled sideways at her. "It's hot in there. It's probably all sweaty and -"

"Please?" she pleaded, pouting her lips. "I got makeup on it and everything. It's dirty anyway."

"So wouldn't you rather have something clean?"

"Not at all. I want that one."

"Right. Yeah, okay." Hal twisted his body on the bed and turned his back to her. He pulled the shirt over his head and held it out blindly behind him. Alice took the shirt as Hal stood up and walked to his dresser, not looking back at her.

"Are you embarrassed?" she asked.

Hal's eyes darted quickly over his shoulder and he turned back quickly as Alice took her own shirt off.

"No. I just wanted to give you your privacy and all."

Alice stood up to pull down her fishnets and skirt. She snorted at Hal's words. "You've gotten my clothes off before. Why's it any different now?"

"I haven't though." Hal pulled a shirt out of his drawer and fiddled with it in is hands, still not turning to look at her. "I mean, every time we've ever done, done stuff, it's always been somewhere dark. Miller's Point doesn't exactly have the best lighting. Nor does that closet at Rick Mantle's house. I've never really gotten a good look at, at all of you."

Her right hand hovered over the latch to her bra. "Okay, I'm done. Turn around."

She unclasped her bra as Hal turned around. At once, her bra and the clean t-shirt in his hand fell to the carpet with a soft thunk. Hal's eyes traveled up and down slowly, his jaw nearly falling to the floor with their discarded garments. Alice turned around slowly, flashing a smile and looking over her shoulder to make sure she didn't miss his face. She walked a few steps closer to him and hooked her thumbs into the waistband of her panties.

"I can take these off too," she said softly, "if you want the full effect and all."

Hal gulped and finally tore his eyes away from her breasts. "You, uhhh, you have a tattoo."

"Oh." Alice felt her face heat her. She crossed her arms over her exposed chest. "Yeah. It's nothing really. Just -"

"Sorry, sorry." Hal ran his hand through his hair. "I mean I knew you had one. Figured at least. I just never noticed where you - it's a Serpent tattoo, right?" Alice's gaze fell to the floor as she nodded. "Can I, can I look at it?"

Alice shrugged and turned around, still keeping her arms folded over her breasts. Hal's finger slowly traced the snake between her shoulder blades as Alice held her breath.

"I like it," his voice said softly near her ear. "I don't think I ever really had a strong opinion on tattoos before but it's actually, it's actually really hot."

Alice let go of her breath and laughed. She turned to face him again and tossed her arms around his neck, kissing him before he could protest. His hands ran up and down her sides and he walked her backwards to the bed. When the back of her knees hit the mattress, she broke their kiss and led Hal's hands to her panties.

"Now or never," she sung, pushing Hal's hands down with the thin fabric. Just before they came off her, he pulled his hands away. Alice's body slumped limply against the bed. "Ok. I thought -"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Hal sunk to his knees and hit his forehead against the bed. "I want to. I really do. You have no idea how bad I do." He looked back up at her. "But you just told me all that and I don't know. I feel so connected to you right now. It doesn't feel right to sully this moment. Not tonight. Not with sex. You know?"

Alice fixed her panties and pulled Hal's shirt over her head as he spoke. It stopped mid thigh on her and she smoothed it over her legs like a dress. "You want it to be special?" Hal nodded. "Okay then. My first time wasn't special. My first time was more 'I want to get it over with so it stops being such a big deal.' And it was. Do it once and it's old hat, you know? But," she placed her hand over his and he grabbed it, "I do want it to be special for you. I want it to be special for us." A fluttering feeling came to her stomach. "I like you, Hal. I really like you. And I want this to work out between us. So lets wait a little longer. If that's what you want. You tell me when you're ready."

Hal rubbed each one of her fingers. "You mean all that?" She nodded. "I really like you too. It won't be long, I swear. I just think we'll both feel it when the time comes." He nodded to the head of the bed. "Lets go to sleep."

After some adjusting, they both found themselves settled under the covers. Alice leaned against Hal as he wrapped his arms around her midsection. He nestled his face against the side of her neck and his soft breathing tickled her.

"One more thing." Hal reached above his head and pulled the stuff dog down. "I know it's silly, but he always makes me feel better when I have a bad night." Alice rolled her eyes but took the small dog anyway. She examined the parts clearly sewn back together by Mrs. Cooper and the tiny tag around his neck that read Pal. She snuggled the toy up against her chest.

Hal gave her a single kiss between her shoulder blades, right on her Serpent tattoo, before laying back down and nestling in to her neck again. Just as Alice was started to doze off, she let out a laugh. The infectious, just a bit too loud one that Hal loved.

"Hmm?" Hal asked against her.

"You're too much." She forced herself to turn around in Hal's arms and held the dog up to his face. "Pal Cooper. You've got to be kidding me."

Hal kept his eyes closed but smiled. "Sorry, Alice. You're stuck with me now. Bad jokes and all."

She placed a soft kiss to his lips. "I wasn't complaining."