AN: OK, another short story but I've been a little busy and shorter stories are just a little easier to write right now. This is back when Babe and Jamie were still together, and living in the apartment over the garage. And this is when JR keeps trying to seduce Kendall. -Danielle

Hidden Feelings

Babe unlocked the door with her set of keys and walked inside her small apartment she shared with her boyfriend Jamie. She was immediately welcomed by the smell of gas and a faint small of scented candles. Babe kept candles all over the apartment to try and get rid of the smell of the garage downstairs, but nothing worked.

Babe threw her purse and keys on the table and looked at the clock, it was past 2 am. She had just finished with another hard shift at the bar, but this time it was especially grueling because there were a whole bunch of frat boys there trying to have a good time.

Babe took off her jacket and looked around the apartment and sighed. The apartment was such a piece of crap, but it was all she and Jamie could manage, thanks to JR. Babe kept trying to tell herself that she was happy living here with Jamie, but she wasn't. And she wasn't even that upset about having to live here. It was living with Jamie that was distressing her most.

She looked at the couch that was pulled out into a bed, and looked at Jamie sleeping soundlessly on top of it. Babe had tried to convince herself that she was really in love with Jamie, and that she really wanted to marry him, but she realized that it wasn't the truth. And it was getting harder and harder to keep the truth from Jamie.

Babe sat on a chair and started taking off her shoes, thinking about the way her life had turned out. It wasn't how she expected it at all even being poor and living in a place like this was probably always in the cards for her. She and Jamie worked night and day and just barely made the rent. But Babe always thought she would be doing this with someone she loved... with JR.

Babe had realized she was still in love with JR long ago. At first it was shocking, but now she accepted it. When she and Jamie were making love, or when he was just holding her, she would always try to imagine it was JR instead of Jamie, and those thoughts made her happy and depressed at the same time. Happy, because she was finally with the one she truly loved, but depressed because she knew it would be the closest thing she would ever get to JR.

Babe knew JR hated her, and it hurt. She wished she could take back all the hurt she had caused him, and she wished she could go back to a time when they were really happy. But they couldn't, and Babe knew JR would never want to with her.

Babe stood up and stretched. She knew that JR was now going after Kendall. Whether it was just for sex or because he cared about her, Babe didn't know for sure. All she really knew was that she was jealous. Every time she thought of them kissing, or just holding each other, Babe felt like crying. But she wouldn't, because she knew she deserved it. She betrayed JR over and over again, and this was her punishment. No happily ever after with her son and the man she loved. And that was the worst sentence Babe could ever receive.

Babe changed into her PJs and slid into bed with Jamie, and she felt him turn and wrap his arms around her. Babe felt bad for lying to him like she did, but she had to. He was all she had. And Babe knew it was a horrible reason to stay with him, but Babe needed him in a way. Even though she didn't love him, she did care for him, and she knew he would protect her whenever she needed it. But she knew that JR would have done that, too. He would have gone to the end of the world to keep her safe. And Babe blew it.

So Babe lay there another night, pretending she was about to fall asleep in JR's arms, the man she truly loved.

And Jamie lay there, hearing Babe whisper JR's name lovingly before she fell asleep.

-----

JR was drinking from a glass of scotch, lying in bed naked with a beautiful woman sleeping next to him. They had just had mind-blowing sex, but JR hadn't thought of that woman once during it. The only woman JR could picture was his blonde beauty, Babe.

Kendall had her arm draped across JR's abs as she talked about something, but JR wasn't listening. Kendall was the farthest thing from his mind. He kept on thinking about Babe, and wondering what she was doing.

He glanced at the clock and saw it was 2:30 in the morning, and knew Babe had returned home from another late night shift at the bar. Even though JR didn't act like it, he was secretly worried about Babe. He knew that she worked in a bad part of town, with lots of shady characters. He always thought about letting her get a job somewhere safer, but he didn't want to seem like her still cared about her. So every night Babe was working, JR would secretly drive up to the bar a little bit before the time Babe's shifts were over and he would sit outside the bar and wait until Babe left, and then follow her back to her apartment, making sure Babe would get home safely. And then he would come home, go to sleep, and the next morning he would be fine and back to his Babe hating ways until Babe had to go to work again.

Tonight was the first night since Babe had started working at the seedy bar that he hadn't been there to make sure she got home OK, and he was being eaten up by guilt. He kept on trying to tell himself that it wasn't his job to make sure Babe was safe, but he knew it was. She was the woman he loved, and he needed to do all he could to protect her.

But JR knew that he didn't always do everything he could to protect her. In fact, he was the cause of most of her pain. And JR hated that. He wished that he could stop dealing out so much pain, but that would make him appear weak, and she deserved it. She was shacked up with his brother.

JR sighed. Even though she was with his brother, he still loved her. He really, truly, deeply loved Babe. Every time he saw her he wanted to tell her, and make her understand that the only reason why he acted like he hated her was because he was so hurt. But he knew Babe wouldn't understand. She would think it was another one of JR's tricks. Plus, she hated him. Even if she did believe him, why would she care?

JR looked down at Kendall who was still rambling on, and wished that it was Babe lying on him instead of Kendall. He wished that it was Babe living in this house instead of just him, his father and his son. There was nothing that JR could do except wish, but wishes were no good to JR.

Kendall then sat up and looked at him, "JR, are you listening?"

"What, yeah of course." JR said, trying to cover.

"No you weren't. Don't lie. You looked a million miles away, what were you thinking about?" Kendall wondered.

JR knew Kendall would kill him if he told her the truth. Kendall hated Babe, and rightfully so. Babe kept her sister's child away from her for months, the whole time knowing that it wasn't her baby.

"I'm just a little tired, that's all." JR lied.

Kendall nodded, still looking unsure, "OK then, let's get some sleep." Kendall leaned over and kissed him on the lips, "Goodnight JR."

Kendall lie back down and shut off the lamp close to her side of the bed.

JR couldn't help but picture Babe lying next to him with a smile on her face as she fell asleep. That used to be one of the best things about Babe. Right before they fell asleep, she would reward him with this beautiful smile. JR had never seen a smile like that before in his life, and every night he would imagine that smile before he closed his eyes, and it would make his life that much better.

JR had shut his light off also and had lain down next to Kendall, preparing himself for the dreams about Babe that came every single night.

After yawning, and without realizing what he was saying, JR said, "Goodnight, Babe."