DISCLAIMER: Don't own.
Author's notes: I based this story around spoilers for "The Rainy Day Women".
That night Sandy checked himself and Rebecca into a run-down motel. It had been too dangerous to drive in the storm. Regardless of what conclusion one might jump to when they saw a married man checking into a motel with an ex-almost-fiancee, Sandy didn't care. In fact it never even crossed his mind.
He and Rebecca spent the night watching Pay-Per-View movies while splurging on snacks from the mini bar. Since this motel had no room service, Sandy went across the street to buy some champagne from a liquor store. As he took out his credit card from his wallet, his eyes focused in on his and Kirsten's wedding photo. They looked so happy together, he thought, unlike now. Before he could think any longer, the clerk was handing him the bag of champagne. He grabbed to red party cups from the mini bar and toasted to Rebecca. It made him think of the fact that Kirsten would never accept champagne from anything but a fancy flute.
There was an awkward silence after they finished watching the movie and drinking champagne. What else was there to do in a cheap motel besides eat and watch movies?
Rebecca took this as an opportunity to make her move. Seductively caressing his hair, she told Sandy that finally, they were all alone with no interruptions and no distractions. She leaned in and kissed him, hesitant at first waiting to see what his reaction would be. Sandy was oblivious to what he was doing. She was surprised when she felt Sandy's lips and tongue kissing her back. Things got going a bit more quickly and before they knew it, Sandy was on top of Rebecca underneath the blanket. Stopping to catch his breath, he awkwardly got to his knees as he pulled a strand of hair out of Rebecca's face, startling himself as he realized who he was on top of and where this was heading. It wasn't the blonde hair he was used to touching and it wasn't the pretty blue eyes he was looking into. Before he had time to think what he was doing, his cell phone rang. Awkwardly, he got up and fumbled to the nightstand to answer it, hoping that it wasn't Kirsten. He felt so ashamed and guilty. He didn't think he could ever face his wife again.
To his relief, it was Seth. "Dad? What's going on? It's a school night, you and mom didn't make any dinner, and its midnight and neither of you are home."
Sandy was speechless. What was he supposed to say? That he was living it up like he did back in college? That he was about to cheat on his wife and son's mother?
Picking up on Sandy's hesitation, Seth said, "Dad, are you and mom okay?"
"No, we're not son. I've been hurtful to your mother these last few weeks. We've become distant. I don't know if she'll ever talk to me again."
"Where is she?"
That was the turning point for Sandy. After a long pause, he said, "I don't know, son. Do me a favor, call her and tell her…tell her that I'll be home in the morning. Tell her that I love her."
"Okay dad. Please be careful with that fugitive."
Sandy couldn't believe he had no idea where his wife was. How could he have grown so distant from the woman he loved most?
Little did Sandy know, Kirsten was smoking cigars and getting drunk with Julie Cooper-Nichol at her house.
Something about not knowing were his wife was made Sandy very jittery. He told Rebecca that he was going to check out of the motel and that she should stay there, that he'd call her in the morning to talk business. She insisted that he take her with him back to her original motel in fear of being found at this one.
They drove in the pouring rain back to Newport. Suddenly, the SUV in front of them stopped short, forcing Sandy to quickly swerve to avoid rear-ending it. Because of the slippery conditions, Sandy lost control and slammed into a ditch off the side of the road.
The next thing he knew, he saw police coming. He had no idea what to do about Rebecca's situation. He couldn't concentrate so he just sat there, feeling defeated. Suddenly, Rebecca got out of the car as the cop came up to them. Sandy couldn't believe his ears when he heard Rebecca state who she was and that she was in fact present when her friend committed manslaughter. She told the cops that Sandy found Rebecca that night and was bringing her to the closest police station, but since he didn't know where he was, he was heading back to Newport to turn her in there. She pleaded with the cop that Sandy had nothing to do with this, and that in fact, he convinced Rebecca that if she agreed to turn herself in, he'd be her lawyer and defend her.
Sandy watched as Rebecca was taken into custody as he got out of the car and was examined by the EMTs. The EMTs told him he was okay, just shaken up a bit. The cops told him that as long as he complied with their questioning, there wouldn't be any charges against him since Rebecca turned herself in and since he was Rebecca's lawyer.
Kirsten heard the phone ring at 2am. After Seth reached her, he picked her up from her dad's house. She was hung over when she answered, worried when she heard Sandy's voice on the other end. He needed a ride home from the police station on the border of Orange County. He promised he'd explain everything to her.
He sat with his head in his hands as he waited for her. He felt so ashamed and guilty for what he had done these last few weeks. It wasn't just one thing either…he lied to her, he kissed another woman on two different occasions, he said hurtful things to her. He could go on and on, but was interrupted when he heard the door open. He saw his wife looking both beautiful and terrible at the same time. Beautiful in the sense that she was his wife... his partner in life who was there for him the last 20 years through all of his ups and downs, the one who gave birth to his son and started a family with him, the one who opened her heart and agreed to Ryan being a part of the family, the only one who could bring a smile to his face when he was feeling like crap and the one who he loved more than anyone…and he missed her…everything about her, her outside beauty and inside beauty. Yet her physical features told the story of a wife who was hurt, terribly hurt. Her face was blotchy red, both from drinking and crying. Here eyes were watery and bloodshot and tears were drying on her face. Her hair was a mess, thrown up in a ponytail. Ironically, she was wearing his clothes. A sweatshirt and sweatpants of his that didn't even match. It was probably because she was wearing her thin, sexy pajamas underneath that wouldn't be acceptable for anyplace other than the bedroom.
Sandy stood up and hesitantly walked over to her, afraid she might curse him off and push him away. As he got closer, he realized what she needed most was his security, to know that everything was going to be okay. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, breathing a sigh of relief when he felt her arms around his back and her head resting on his shoulder. Though she had started crying again, he now had hope that their marriage could be what it once was.
He explained the entire story to her, telling her the truth about everything. She didn't say much as he told her, just nodding and looking away during the parts of the story that hurt her most. He finished the story saying, "Baby, I'm sorry about all this. I hope that somehow you'll be able to forgive me. I miss cuddling and making out with you. I want our marriage to be stronger than it was before this happened."
"It will be. We're going to go to marriage counseling. I'll call tomorrow."
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