Chapter two: What desire will make foolish people do

Neither of them could believe just how quickly the rain had begun to pour down upon the car. Mike frowned as he tried to see past the rain and windshield wipers, both of which were going at top speed. At this point he had given up on finding Micky but he knew that Trixie had not, so he kept on driving.

A figure formed through the rain and was walking towards the direction of the car. Mike tried to see who this figure could have been. He had some kind of idea who it was but he wasn't sure until Trixie pointed towards the person and exclaimed that it was Micky. Sure enough there Micky was, walking along the sidewalk looking like a depressed drowned rat with his soaked and flattened curls sticking to his forehead. He clutched a bag really close to his chest and kept his eyes turned down. Mike tapped on the horn before getting out of the car. The two of them began yelling at each other all the while getting pounded by the falling rain.

Trixie decided that it was time for her to take charge of the situation by getting out of the car and grabbing hold of Micky. Mike stood back and watched as Trixie took over yelling at Micky for him. Her long hair had grown much darker as the water engulfed it, causing it to weigh down. Her sundress began to seem as though it was shrinking as it clung to her slender and obviously braless form. Mike's eyes wandered and followed a single rain drop as it slowly rolled down from the bottom of her chin and all the way down her cleavage, disappearing within the depths of her dress.

Before he knew it, Micky had quietly agreed to get into the car and Trixie had followed him. Mike got into the driver's seat and momentarily watched as Trixie wrung out her hair. In order to prevent himself from staring at her and taking in her natural, and very wet, beauty, Mike made it seem as though he needed to adjust the rearview mirror. In doing so he managed to catch Micky's reflection. Micky sat in the backseat with his head down and knees drawn up to his chest. Mike couldn't tell if the drops rolling down Micky's cheeks were from the rain or tears. But he decided that it was better not to question whether or not his friend was crying. All he had to do then was get the three of them back to California and back home.

Everyone was exhausted from this long journey. They were all gathered in the living room area of the downstairs and Trixie had even managed to coax Micky out from the bedroom to join them. Davy and Peter started conversation off by describing what they had gone through in riding along with Brownie and Tulip. It turned out that Tulip's driving wasn't the only frightening part of their trip. After they completely lost track of where they were they wound up picking up what they thought to be a very harmless hitchhiker. The hitchhiker, as they discovered, wound up pulling a knife out and made an attempt at robbing them. The four of them wound up literally throwing the would-be robber out of the van, leaving him stranded in the middle of nowhere. After that caper they said that it had taken them almost two hours to realize that they were driving around in circles through San Diego. That's when they decided to head back home.

Mike was going to tell the other three guys about certain little moments he had shared with Trixie. But the fact that Trixie was there caused him to keep it all to himself. Instead he sat back and played those very moments in his head. As he thought about those images with a grin he didn't realize at first that Micky was telling a story of his own. Micky explained to them what exactly prompted him to go with August and what led up to him becoming stranded in the rain where Mike and Trixie had found him. Mike frowned a little, feeling guilty that he was picturing Trixie soaking wet with her skintight dress clinging even closer to her body, while Micky was sadly telling his tale of sudden lost love.

After a little bit Trixie got up and headed over to the door. She said how she was tired after such a long day and that she was going to go home. It didn't take much on Mike's part to talk her into staying the night. She grinned as she accepted the offer because she was secretly hoping that someone would have asked her to stay. After everything they had gone through she didn't want to go home to an empty house.

The other three guys had gone to bed while Mike and Trixie stayed up together to talk. They sat next to each other on the couch. Trixie scooted over closer to him and rested her head on his chest. He casually rested his arm on the back of the couch and around her shoulders. His fingers grazed the top of her shoulder and began to lightly create tiny patterns over her skin. She sighed softly and she saw that he had drifted off into his own thoughts.

"Michael?"

"Hmm?"

"What's on your mind right now?"

"Oh, uh, I was just thinking of that song I started writing. I probably should find some paper and finish it."

"Oh yeah I forgot about that." She paused and then pulled away from Mike. She reached down, the front of her dress and pulled out a crumpled napkin "Here." She giggled as she handed it to him

Mike snickered and took the napkin "You had it in there the whole time?"

"Apparently so. I hope you can still read it."

Mike smoothed out the ink-smudged napkin "Some parts are a little smeared but I can still make it out."

"That's good."

Mike put the napkin in his pocket. He looked at her only to see her green eyes twinkling as they looked directly into his eyes. The two of them slowly moved in closer towards each other. Mike swallowed right before their mouths had reached a point where they would be about an inch apart. He moved his head back some and brought his hand up to scratch his nose.

"Well I probably should call it a night." He said

"Oh… alright."

He stood up and mentally kicked himself for not taking the opportunity to kiss her "Oh by the way, are you going to be comfortable here on the couch? I could let you sleep in my bed and I'll sleep down here."

"No Michael I couldn't let you give up your bed for me. I'll be fine down here."

"Ok if you're sure." He walked over to the closet and got a pillow and a blanket for her "But just to warn you. Peter sometimes likes to sleepwalk."

Trixie snickered "That shouldn't be a problem."

"Yeah well… just make sure he doesn't leave the house if he does."

"Ok I will."

"Well… goodnight." He backed away from the couch and went over to the stairs

"Goodnight." She grinned and made her "bed" before lying down

With each step he took up the stairs, Mike cursed himself in his head. He hoped that Trixie had not noticed that he was feeling that he had made a fool of himself. He felt as though he should have stayed with her on the couch a little longer. He had no idea why he didn't kiss her when he had the chance. That wasn't like him. He wasn't a big risk taker but normally when he knew that he had a chance like the one he just had on the couch, he would have taken it. But for some reason he stopped himself from taking the chance. What was he afraid of? Would she hate him for it? Not likely. Was he just that much of a gentleman? Even he was surprised over that one. All of this was rattling around in his brain even as he lay down in his bed.

He turned over onto his side and watched Micky struggle to get into a comfortable position. Mike knew that both of them were going to have a hard time getting to sleep, but for much different reasons. Mike turned over on his other side, hoping that not being able to see Micky would help him to be able to relax, at least enough to ease his mind from his thoughts of Trixie.

Trixie. Oh Trixie McEuwin. What was it about her that was making Mike react this way? She had always been more Micky's friend than anyone else, but they all got along with her. Mike never even thought twice about her until now. There was something about her that suddenly began to draw Mike to her, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Sure she was attractive bit he had never found himself to be actually attracted to her until now. But why he was attracted to her, was what he couldn't figure out.

Mike closed his eyes, trying to get Trixie off his mind. But immediately an image of her face appeared. He opened his eyes and sat up. Taking a glance over at Micky's bed he saw that Micky seemed to be asleep. Slowly, Mike got out of bed and walked over to the door. Right as he almost had the doorknob in his hand, Micky let out a whimper. Not wanting to draw attention to himself, Mike stood still and quiet. Micky mumbled August's name, which prompted Mike to believe that he was still asleep. That was when Mike opened the door and crept downstairs.

He got part way over to the couch before he paused. The light from the moon came in through the window and seemed to be resting directly on the couch and nothing else. She looked so beautiful and alluring as she peacefully lay there. Mike slowly approached the couch and suddenly she stirred. He froze once again and watched her sit up.

"Michael! You startled me."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"What are you doing here? I thought you went to bed."

"I did. But then I remembered that I was going to ask you if you would like another blanket or pillow or something." He lied

"No I'm fine. Thanks."

"Alright well I uh… well goodnight." He turned to go back to the stairs

"Goodnight then…" She lay back down

Once again Mike mentally cursed himself as he went back upstairs. He couldn't believe how he was acting. He had never been this way towards someone he found himself attracted to. It didn't even occur to him until she had woken up just how creepy it might have come across by him sneaking downstairs and going up to her as she slept. He also realized that he didn't know what he was going to do as he was down there. He knew what he would have liked to have done but he had no idea how she would have felt about it. Right then as he reached his bedroom, he felt that it was better to worry about all of this the next day when he would be able to talk to her. Until then he was going to try to get some sleep.