It's a weird day and if we have to believe Moira, it's all because of a full moon in Scorpio. Which means people get more demanding or more upset about things. It's making people act strangely or reckless, at least that's what Moira says.
But it might be true...Some strange things have happened. And the worst thing of this day is that Alex almost died in the water-tank near Drovers. All because the girls forgot to place a longer water-hose, to clean the tank. Luckily Stevie had the guts to jump right in the tank to save Alex life, thank God he's fine now. He feels really grateful because Stevie risked her own life to save his.
They just talked about it in the back-seat of the ambulance. After they both had a check-up by the ambulance staff, they went to the porch, to have a brake and to take some rest after this traumatic experience.
Meg made some tea for Stevie and Alex. Stevie is exhausted and feels very confused and emotional about what just happened to her best mate. She did what she had to do, but it scared her so much, it was overwhelming. She almost lost him...He could've died. She's shivering because of all the emotions, she feels like she can't control herself.
She wants to be strong for Alex, now that he has had a life threatening experience. And she doesn't want to let him know what it really did to her. She's also shocked because it did more to her then she could ever imagine...And that's why she needs some time alone, she sneaks inside, acting like she's going to get something out of the fridge. She said a few words to Meg, who just left the kitchen with a pot of tea. She brings it to Alex, who is waiting outside for his best mate. He thanks Meg and already pours Stevie some tea...being sure about the fact she will be back in a sec.
Stevie bends down to open the fridge, her hand is shaking...She grabs it with her other hand. She wants to stay calm, but she can't control herself at this moment. The emotions ran to high, it was to much for her to deal with. She's a tough woman, but not as tough as she looks.
Alex knows that, he's probable the only one who knows her like that. She can act so tough, but he's able to prick right trough that, he knows how sensitive she is. He thinks it's strange the way she's trying to be strong right now. They're best friends, almost share everything with each other, but now...
Alex is sitting on the bench outside, he waits for Stevie to come back, so he can talk to her about what happened.
Inside the house Stevie has a major breakdown. She leans against the fridge and slowly sinks down on the floor...No one is there to comfort her. She cries like a child. Shocked by her own reaction to this she slaps one hand against her face, and crawls up, against the fridge. She can't stop the tears and feels broken.
When she hears someone coming in, she wants to hide and crawl into the corner, behind the fridge, or even better; sink right through the floor...She wants no one see her like this right now, especially the one who already noticed her.
A warm, but very affected voice says. "Stevie?" But Stevie can't look up, she's to sad, to emotional and it's kind of embarrassing when the victim finds his hero, crying like a victim.
"Hey...Stevie..." Alex says, feeling so much compassion for her right know. He kneels down in front of her and gently strokes her hair. He touches her face and cups it with his hands, forcing her to look at him. Stevie is still shaking, she can't control it.
"Hey...it's ok." He softly says, with a soothing sound in his voice. They look at each other, when their eyes meet it's hard to look away...
She whispers "Alex...I..."
"Sshh, don't say anything. Come with me, ok? Meg made some tea for us." He reaches out his hand to help her get up. But Stevie feels so weak, she isn't ready to stand up yet. She almost sinks down again, but Alex won't allow her to sink down again, he gently catches her in his strong arms.
He now feels even more concerned "Hey...take it easy will ya."
Finally Stevie manages to get up, she starts to wipe her tears. Alex gently wraps his arms around her. Because of the passionate embrace Stevie starts to cry again. She still pictures him in the tank, that moment when she thought he was gone. She was so scared she'd lost him.
"I thought I lost you Alex." She says with al the strength she has left. Alex loosens his grip and carefully pushes her away, so he can look her in the eye.
"You think you can get rid of me that easy huh?" He gives her a soothing smile. "There's a lot more needed for that, I'm tough Steves."
"Yeah I know...But a few more minutes in that tank would've killed you." She says, while tears are running down her cheek. She puts one hand on his chest. "You scared the hell out of me Alex Ryan." She adds, sounding a little more stronger.
"I'm a lucky man to have someone around who cares so much about me...I would've done the same for you, no doubt about it...I would jump right in there." He honestly says.
They gently let go of each other and walk outside, to drink the tea Meg made for them. At first it's pretty quiet again. Stevie wipes the tears of her face and then drinks her tea, the cup seems to be a lot heavier than it ever was.
Alex observes his best friend. "You're still shaking..."
Stevie looks a little bit shy "That's weird, you should be the one who's shaking."
"I'm fine Stevie." He says, with a careful smile. Stevie forces a tiny smile on her face, but in fact she's is not feeling happy. What happened was just to much for her.
Their eyes get locked on to each other once more..."It scared me..." Stevie says.
He nods and slowely blinks his eyes "Yeah I know, that's very normal, don't you think?"
"I wasn't finished talking..." She says with a serious look on her face. "Everything scared me, you in that tank and my feelings...I wasn't just scared...and just now...I wasn't just sad."
Alex slowly blinks his eyes again and looks inquisitive. "It hit ya really hard...Because we're best mates, we care about each other, a lot."
"That's what's scared me...I found out how much we...or I...care about you." Stevie says.
It's getting very quiet for a moment...They won't look away from each other and they're both thinking.
Alex frowns his eyebrows. "So you're sure you don't wanna come with me and be my date?"
Stevie feels unstable and confused about this question all of a sudden. They've had a big discussion about it earlier today. "What about Fellicity?"
"Stuff her, I'll call it of...I care much more about you Stevie, and from what I hear, you care a lot about me too..." He winks.
It's quiet again, but Alex isn't going to let this subject pass this easy. "So tell me..."
Stevie now looks away "'About what?"
He smiles "I think you're still not finished talking..."
Stevie now looks hesitantly and bites her lip, thinking about what next to say. "I ehm..." Alex is fully paying attention to her, his whole body language tells her he's all ear and very curious. She shyly brings one hand to her face, and nervously touches her mouth with her fingers. "Actually I meant to say...that it's very special, the way we feel about each other."
"Tell me exactly how you feel about me." Alex says, awaiting and kind of impatient.
Stevie looks a bit scared now...She hesitates to tell him how she really felt when they were in that tank together. She yelled at him "Don't you die on me Alex Ryan!" But in her heart she yelled "Don't die, I need you, I love you!" That's why she was so devastated, that's why she wasn't able to control herself for a moment. She just found out why they get along so well, why their friendship is só special, why she feels so good when he's around...
"You look pretty serious...loosen up will ya? I just love to hear you care about me. I know I'm irresistible off-course." He says, acting very self-confident.
It makes Stevie smile "Don't be so full of yourself..." She shakes her head. "You're so incredible bad Alex."
He pretends a serious look "She says, after she said she cared so much about him...Such a pity, I thought this would lead to something." He teases.
Stevie laughs. "What? Always a dirty mind...even on the day you almost died."
Alex pretends another serious look and looks surprised at the same time "I wasn't thinking of anything dirty."
"Right." Stevie smiles.
It's quiet for a moment, Alex doesn't want to leave yet and likes to continue their little private chat..."You know, I don't even like tea...You reckon you could handle it to open the fridge again?" He teases.
Stevie smiles. "You really think you're funny huh? If you want a beer, you know where the fridge is."
Alex pulls her a face "She says to a man who almost died a few minutes ago."
Now Stevie feels a little embarrassed. "Right..I'll get it."
She smiles when she walks inside the house, already looking forward to sit next to Alex again...Alex smiles to himself, he didn't cry once. He didn't let his emotions go. He just feels happy, he feels loved and lucky to be alive. He's so thankful that Stevie saved him. He re minds her yelling at him, it came right out of her heart. This whole day, including the conversations he had with Harry about Stevie, made him think a lot about Stevie and what they have together. About what she means to him, how much she means to him. It's not just a friendship...and he wants to know what she thinks about that.
"Hey..." Stevie says, while she walks towards Alex with a six-pack in her hands. "This might help to recover from your almost dead experience." Alex looks serious now, and touched.
Stevie immediately gets the message and feels a little embarrassed. "Oh I'm sorry, that sounded like a bad joke, didn't mean it like that." Stevie corrects herself.
"I know...It makes me even more aware of the fact how lucky I am...If you weren't there..."
"But I was...Don't start like this...It's not helping." She says.
Alex is still holding on to the fact about how lucky he is. "Thank you Stevie."
"You already thanked me, it's ok."
Alex looks amazed "You're doing it again..."
"What?'
"Act like it wasn't such a big deal, but inside you feel so different about that." He knows her so well.
Stevie sighs and looks insistent. "I'm the one who just showed you a little piece of my deepest feelings, you didn't even let a tear about what happened to ya." She snaps, while she pushes him a fresh bottle of beer in his hand.
Alex opens the bottle and now looks in front of him, he sips his beer and stares at the floor. "You can't force me to cry."
She sips her beer and looks at him "That's not what I meant. You act like I hide my feelings, but what about you?"
"Look, I'm really shocked and everything but I didn't cry because I'm to happy to be alive, maybe the tears will come later...I don't know."
"I'm not asking you to cry right now Alex. I'm just letting you know you're wrong, I did show you my feelings."
Alex looks up, he instantly makes eye contact "You were hiding behind the fridge." He points out. "If I didn't found you like that, you'd probable walk outside a few minutes later, acting like nothing's going on."
Stevie smiles surprised "What? You're kidding me right...look at yourself please. I'm the one who likes to hide her feelings, but you...you're more like an open book to me, you mean?"
He smiles, knowing that's not true. "Yeah something like that."
"You're as closed as a book can be Alex."
Alex gets annoyed by hearing her say that "And that makes you a book with a lock on it."
Stevie's eyes are getting a little bit bigger "What?...We almost share everything with each other, at least that's what I try."
Now it's quiet again...Alex is thinking. She's right, but something is missing. They are honest to each other and share a lot, except something that's deep down inside their hearts. Maybe locked away, because of fears. Fears from the past. And when they get emotional that part comes up, that deep feeling of love. It came out before, when they had their first kiss...And now their dealing with the same situation, except they haven't kissed each other this time and they are best friends now. He wants to hear her say it, he wants her to tell him how much she cares about him, so he can say it too.
"You know me, I can be very stubborn...like you."
Stevie sighs "Alex...are you trying to start a fight or something?"
He looks surprised...He's not up for that at all. "No, I'm just..." He sighs "Oh I don't know, just forget it."
They both shake their heads and look at each other.
"What are we doing?" Stevie carefully smiles.
"I just want you to tell me how much you care about me..." He sighs. "Something has changed, right?"
Stevie is shocked to hear him say that, she feels her cheeks getting warmer, which scares her even more.. That love she feels for him, deep inside her heart is getting stronger...right now.
She bends forward and stares at the floor, says with a soft voice. "I guess you're right, something has changed."
He quickly responds "I feel it too Stevie, at least I think I do."
Now Stevie tries to turn roles."It would make things a lot easier if you'd tell me what changed."
"Maybe we're wrong and nothing has changed...maybe that's the point."
A quiet moment follows again...Stevie gets his point but doesn't know what to say, in her heart she's answering "Maybe we felt like this for each other for a long time."
But Alex saves her, he turns his face at her and softly touches her shoulder, to make her sit back again, which she does. He then looks at her with a charming look in his eyes.
"I think we know exactly how much we care about each other, but we just don't say it out loud...Because that would make us more than best friends, right?" He honestly says.
Her eyes twinkle and she shyly smiles "You think so?"
Alex smiles and shakes his head "You tell me..."
"I already said something about it." She says, unstable.
Alex gets annoyed again "Why is it so hard for us to be honest about our feelings?"
They both take a deep breath, before it gets quiet again...Stevie feels insecure right now and thinks this subject can wait.
"Want another beer?" She says while she stands up to walk away. "Yeah..." Alex says. But when she walks away he adds something unexpected. "Stevie wait...I think I love you."
He doesn't look at her and stands up to walk up and down the porch, but he still feels her presence. "There...I've sad it...I can be an open book after all."
Stevie is flabbergasted and thrilled by what he just said...She could only dream of it. She walks up to him and stands before him. She tries to make eye contact, but Alex is avoiding her eyes. "What?...You what?" That's all she can say when her eyes are searching for his.
"You've heard me." He says with a hoarse voice.
Stevie smiles and looks dreamy "Off-course I did...Alex..?" But Alex is still avoiding her eyes.
"Can you please look at me?..." She begs exited and shuffles a closer to him, she playfully pushes his arm "Don't tell me you're shy." She ads in a funny way, which makes him look at her straight away.
He struggles to hold hide his smile "It's your turn now."
Stevie feels so light all of a sudden and she can't resist his charming eyes for a second, it makes her a little nervous "I was trying to...But I...I just found out..."
But Alex isn't shy "Oh come on cowgirl, it's not that hard, say it...it makes you feel good, I promise." He teases in a charming way.
Stevie is trying, but it't not easy. "I feel the same for you."
"Explain yourself..." He teases again.
Before she can think about it, she answers "I think I love you too Alex." She didn't even finished her sentence when he grabs her by her waist and pulls her closer.
"It's that damn kiss that did it, we've had a while ago...Like I said, once you let yourself fall..." He winks at her and puts on his most charming smile, while she wraps her arms around him. He lifts her of the ground and holds her in his strong arms, she wraps her feet around him. they feel so happy! Butterflies crawl out if their secret hiding-places and fill their bodies.
"So another kiss would only make thing worse?" Stevie says.
Alex nods "Oh yeah..." They both laugh and then he starts to kiss her.
After a lot more kissing and being unable to get their hands of each other, they almost rip each others clothes of...But Alex suddenly re minds to have to cancel his date with Fellicity. Right on time, because the girls are walking to them. They want to know how they're doing...Stevie and Alex don't say anything about the romantic scene they've just have. They keep on smiling and they both feel very warm inside. But the girls don't notice anything different between them, they're always close. After a while Alex leaves, to go home, take a shower and try to look the best he can.
Because instead of taking Fellicity, he takes Stevie with him, to have a great evening. He even tells Harry proudly about it when he gets home, just to let him know he's not the one to decide what's best for him.
Stevie and Alex have a silent drive, every now and then they look at each other, feeling extremely happy to have each other. It's kind of a relieve to arrive, so they can have a drink and try to relax a bit
Stevie loves the way Alex looks in his black suit, he looks so strong, cute and hot. Alex can't take his eyes of her, she looks so beautiful and lovely with her nice curly red hair wearing a green dress. They are admiring each other.
He pulls up one eyebrow and softly says "You look so incredibly sexy Stevie...May I have this dance?"
Stevie gives him a sweet glance "You're sure you don't need to talk to some important business contacts?"
"Stuff Harry, let him take care of the business-things, I'm not good at it...But I know some other things I am good at." He blinks his eyes.
Stevie laughs and wraps her arms around him. "I knew it...You would've never survived this evening without me." She tightens her grip and pushes her head against his chest.
He carefully pulls back "You reckon everybody's ready to see us like this?"
"As long as we're ready for it, cowboy."
He whispers "More than ready, cowgirl...Come here you." He pulls her closer. After a few minutes of fairy-like dancing, she looks up and when their eyes meet they share another passionate kiss.
The end *sigh*