"Z?" Angel asked, out of breath. "Are you okay?" Gently he rolled her over to see her face was red with beads of sweat glistening on her forehead.

"Aside from the clump of hair you pulled out and the bruising that's likely to form, I'm fine." She said, looking at the deep red line across her lower abdomen from his forceful thrusts pushing her hard into the footboard.

"Sorry," Angel complained, kicking his boots off and yanking his jeans from his ankles.

Zara crawled back into their bed and grabbed her phone from the nightstand. She checked the time to see it was a quarter after two in the morning. "You okay? I mean, I know you're not. What's wrong?"

Angel shook his head. "Just a bad fucking run. Did I really hurt you?"

"Oh baby," she said softly, "You take it out on me anytime. You need to work out that aggravation and I'd be lying if I said a good rough fuck isn't fun sometimes."

Smirking, although somewhat sadly, Angel kissed her. "I love you."

"You better," she yawned. "What happened?"

"Shitty weather, then Creeper went down, the truck got a flat and traffic sucked the whole way back," he complained. "Besides, I don't like leaving you here alone on the long ones, I hate you sleeping by yourself."

"I slept here alone for years before you moved in," she reminded him. "I'm okay and I'm capable."

"It's gonna be another couple years before you let me put any of my shit up," he said jokingly.

"Whatever. Go shower, you stink," she complained.

"You're all sweaty," he told her as he stripped the rest of his clothes off. "You need a shower too."

With her hair still damp from her shower before bed, Zara got up and started the water in the en-suite bathroom. "Yeah, it's been a while."

After the shower, and round two, neither Angel nor Zara were ready to sleep. They both pulled on underwear and white undershirts and went into the middle bedroom. It was once strictly her art room but since Angel moved in it became more than just that. The two of them turned it into somewhat of a hangout area as well as a studio, just for the two of them.

"Creep okay?" Zara asked as Angel pulled two beers from the wine fridge.

"Yeah, scratched up but fine," he shrugged. "You talk to your mom? Ask her about Christmas?"

Zara looked away shamefully.

"Z, come on," he chided. "It's been six months since that shit went down, I been living here for almost four. You gotta talk to her."

"We talk," she said defensively.

"You know what I mean," he groaned. "Did you ever thank her for this wine thing?"

"Yes," she laughed. "I told her we kept beer and liquor in it and she said she knew we would but it's classier than a mini fridge."

"I love Holly," Angel laughed.

"And she loves you," Zara rolled her eyes. "You two should run off together."

"I'm good," he said, looking at her lovingly. "There's no one I want to be with more than you."

"You're sweet," she said, yawning, "But I'm ready to go to bed."

"Go," he sighed, "I'll be in soon."

On her way out the door she stopped and kissed his cheek. "I'm glad you're home."

"Yeah me too," he agreed. "Good night."

"Goodnight, baby."

He heard their bedroom door click shut a few seconds later and moved over to one of the desks. Taking a crisp sheet of paper he began sketching Zara's face, focusing on the memory of the first day they met, the way she wore her hair and the neckline of her top. It was a rough draft but he was just practicing, preparing, for when he finally found the time, and the courage, to propose. Above the drawing, he wrote, "Will you marry me?" Then promptly crumpled the paper and tossed it in the trash on his way out of the room.

—

*A Few Days Later - The Monday After Thanksgiving*

Sitting at her desk, staring blankly at the laptop screen, Zara tried to summon the energy for her day. Breaks were almost not worth it when she felt so drained going back to work after. The loud slam of a locker in the hall jolted her out of her stupor just in time to see Letti coming toward the door.

"You're here and you're early," Zara said with surprise. "Usually people wait till January for resolutions," she teased.

"I promised my dad I'd try," Letti groaned.

"That's sweet," Zara smiled. "How was your Thanksgiving?'

"Frozen dinners and takeout and lots of TV," she shrugged. "It was awesome."

"I'm so glad," Zara smiled. "And Angel's old place? Feeling like home?"

"Kind of," she shrugged. "I'm still waiting for something to go wrong."

"I know the feeling," Zara commiserated. "You know you have a buddy coming in today, right?"

"No," she gasped. "One of those forced friendship things with transfer kids?"

"It's not that bad," Zara tried to sound supportive, "And it's only three days."

"Fuck!"

"Hey," Zara said firmly. "Come on, don't push it."

"Sorry," she groaned. "Lemme go find my little orphan. See you after 9th?"

"Yep. Have a good day, Leticia," Zara laughed.

For the first day back it went quickly and it wasn't even all that bad. At dismissal, as had become custom, Letti waited for Zara by her car but this afternoon she wasn't alone.

"Hello," Zara said, completely professional in front of the unknown teenager with Letti. "I'm Miss Osbourne. You must be Letti's buddy."

"Molly," Letti said with very little enthusiasm, "This is the coolest teacher here she doesn't have any real competition though."

"Hi," Molly said cheerfully. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," Zara said. Popping her trunk she tossed her bag in and gestured for Letti to get in the passenger seat. "Did you have a good first day?"

"It was a lot," Molly said nervously. "I think I'll get used to it though."

"You will," Zara said warmly. "I have to go, though. It was nice meeting you, Molly."

"You're allowed to drive her home?" Molly asked abruptly.

Zara tensed. "I am. Friend of the family and all that."

"Whoa. That's crazy."

"It's really not," Letti said loudly from her seat. "My dad and her boyfriend are really tight."

"California is crazy," Molly laughed. "Scandalous!"

Zara felt awful disliking a young girl but Molly was annoying. "Have a good night."

"You too!" She waved. "See you tomorrow, Letti!"

Letti gave Molly a tight, thin-lipped smile as Zara backed out of her parking spot. Once the girl was no longer in view, Letti groaned.

"The worst."

"Oh, she's not that bad."

"She's acting like she's some weirdo Amish kid," Letti complained. "She was homeschooled but she's trying to be some kind of an alien."

"Some people lean on their eccentricities as a barrier, like a mask, so no one can know the real them."

"You were a Molly in high school, weren't you?"

Zara cackled and shook her head. "No way. I tried too hard. I almost wish I was a Molly."

"Oh," Letti said as she noticed Zara flick on her turn signal. "I'm not going home, I'm going to the clubhouse."

"Me too," Zara said. "Good, I hate backtracking. Her face when you told her how we know each other was hilarious."

Letti laughed. "It was better to say that than they're in a gang together."

"It's a club," Zara said sarcastically.

They arrived to see the guys actually acting like much more of a club than anyone would suspect. EZ, Angel, Coco, and Riz were playing a game up pickup while some of the others were playing cards inside the clubhouse.

"What is this? It's a Monday, don't you all have jobs?" Zara teased.

Coco made one last shot before jogging off to greet his daughter while Angel tried to show off. He went for the rebound, the net swishing as he celebrated another two points.

"What's that 16 to 4?" He asked EZ breathlessly.

"Quit while you're ahead," Creeper huffed. "We coulda came back, you know it."

Angel laughed loudly and flipped Creeper off on his way to finally greet Zara. He was smug and sweaty and she made sure he knew.

"You can kiss me but no hugs," she grimaced. "You're drenched."

"Prissy," he complained as he squeezed her tight despite her protests. "How was the first day?"

"Boring," she said, as she relented and hugged him back. "Good to see you guys are recovered from the bad run."

"Not yet," Bishop interrupted the group. "We gotta go."

"Where?" Creeper asked eagerly.

"Dress shop," Bishop grumbled. "Galindo's got a fire he can't put out."

Zara kissed Angel, disappointed but not surprised, and squeezed him tighter doe a second. "It's okay. Go."

"Love you," he said.

"You too, please be careful," Zara said sternly.

"Always," he promised.

The Mayans were off quickly and as they drove through the gate, Zara looked at Letti with a shrug. "Pizza?"

"Beats cereal," she laughed.

"Just don't tell Molly," Zara joked as they got back in the car. "She'll call the school district and the cops on me."