Disclaimer:See Chapter One

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Ray held up a figurine. "Uh, where do you want this and why in the world do you want to keep it?"

Erin looked over and took the figurine. "Your mother gave this to me for high school graduation."

"Right. Valedictorian." Ray laughed as he tore the box apart. "I think she got that for you so you wouldn't think too highly of yourself."

Erin smirked and looked at him. "Oh, no. I didn't need your mother for that. I had you."

Ray feigned surprise. "Me? Little old innocent me?"

"Innocent, my ass." Erin opened another box. "You remember senior prank?"

Ray laughed hard. "Do I ever!"

"Yeah. Little innocent Ray Barnett pulling a stunt like that. I think it took them ages to figure out how you managed to get his car in the classroom."

"Well, Mr. Strivecky had it coming, the jackass." Ray sat down on the couch and rubbed his thigh. "He was going to fail me because he didn't like me."

Erin sat next to him. "He was going to fail you because you didn't do the homework."

"It wasn't my fault that the band had to practice." He playfully defended.

"Every night?" Erin laughed. She leaned over and kissed him. "You know how proud I am of you?"

Ray smiled. "Yeah, I do." As he leaned in to kiss her again, a knock at the door stopped him. "Who the fuck?"

"I'll get it." Erin stood up.

"Hey, I'm missing my legs but that don't mean I'm a cripple."

Erin flashed a smile at him. "Yeah, right, Dr. House." She opened the door and saw Neela standing there. "Can I help you?"

Neela looked up at Erin and back at the paper in her hand. "I'm sorry. I've got the wrong address. I should go."

"You must be Neela." Erin's soft Southern accent made Neela turn back around.

"Pardon?"

"I was just saying you must be the Neela Ray's talked so much about." Erin opened the door. "Won't you come in and join us for some lunch?"

Neela hesitantly stepped towards the door. "I don't have a lot of time. I'm at lunch."

"Don't worry. I'm sure they've got someone covering for you." Erin smiled and held her hand out. "I'm Erin."

Neela shook her hand. "Nice to meet you too, but I really should go. I don't…"

"Neela?" Ray's voice was colder than Neela had ever remembered it being. "It's not nice to refuse an invitation from a Southern belle. Please join us." His voice never became warm and Neela found herself confused.

"Right, then." Neela walked in. "I got your address from Pratt. Said I really needed to talk to you." She looked around. "This is nice."

Erin closed the door. "Would you like some tea?"

"Oh, no thank you." Neela looked at Ray, who appeared to be glaring at her. "You know, I think I'll have some, thank you."

"Why are you here, Neela?" Ray's voice was now accusatory with the cold.

"Pratt said we needed to talk." Neela crossed her arms across her chest and pulled her shoulders in.

"Here you go, hon." Erin handed Neela a glass.

"What's this?" Neela looked at the glass.

"It's tea, Neela." Ray walked back to the kitchen.

"I thought when you said tea, you meant hot tea." Neela smiled.

Erin smiled back. "Honey, I'm from Louisiana. Ain't nothing hot there but the weather." She waved towards the couch. "Why don't you and Ray have your chat and I go pick us up some lunch?" She looked at Ray, who stopped pouring his tea. "I'll be back in about a half hour. You two talk and talk good." She gave Ray a quick kiss. "And be nice, Raymond." She whispered.

Ray sighed as she left. He sat in the chair opposite of Neela. "What do we need to talk about?"

"It's not important. I should go." She put her tea down and stood up. She was amazed to see how quickly Ray stood up.

"You're not doing this again, Neela. You said we needed to talk and every time you have ever said that, you have walked away and we never talked. You're sitting your ass down and we're talking!" Ray's frustration was beginning to show.

Neela did as she was told and sat on the couch. She looked at him. "You've changed, Ray."

"Of course I've changed. I lost my legs and half of my dignity and now…" He suddenly clamped his mouth shut.

"And now what, Ray?"

"You come back and say 'we need to talk' and I don't know anymore, Neela." Ray sighed.

"Erin's nice." Neela tried a change of subject.

"Yeah? That's because she's everything you weren't, Neela." Ray hissed.

Neela felt her hair rise at the tone of us voice. "What's that mean, Ray?"

"She never played games, Neela. She never didn't know what to do when an ex showed up out of nowhere. She never said one thing and did the complete opposite. She was honest with me and honest with herself."

"Ray…"

"I was able to tell her what I was never able to tell you, Neela. She thought with her heart and her head. You always thought the safest route was the way to go. Never once took a risk."

"I took a risk to be here this afternoon." Neela hissed back. "I told you everything I needed to tell you and…"

"IT WASN'T ENOUGH!" Ray yelled. "You left me for Gates. You made your choice and you expected me to be there for you when you discovered the truth. I'm sorry things didn't work out between you two, but I wasn't going to sit around and wait forever for you. I moved on with my life, Neela. I went back home and I met up again with Erin. She's the one that slapped me out of my self-pity mode. I was moping because there wasn't so much as a call or a letter from you. That made it quite clear where I stood. After all, you had time to write Michael and…"

"DON'T YOU BRING HIS NAME IN THIS!" Neela yelled back, tears threatening to brim over. "I loved him and I loved you, but now…" Neela made her way to the door. "Go to hell, Ray." She opened the door, surprised to see Erin standing there.

"Back inside, Neela." Erin softly demanded. Neela resignedly headed back inside. Erin looked at Ray. "Ray, we need some more groceries. Would you go buy some?"

"Erin, I can't…"

"Ray. Go get groceries." Erin's voice was a little more demanding. Ray huffed and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

"How long were you out there?" Neela wiped a stray tear.

"Long enough." Erin sat down. "Look, Neela. I know all about you and Ray. I know how shattered you left him. I know how he blames you for the fact that he lost his legs."

"Me?" Neela sat down on the chair, surprised.

"Yes." Erin leaned forward. "He thought that if you had made it quite clear before the fight, he wouldn't have gone off to another bar and gotten drunk. If you hadn't called him…if you hadn't left the message. All sorts of things, Neela. He blames you."

"But I…"

"You never made it clear to him." Erin sighed. "When Ray came back home, I knew he was in love with you. Everyone did. But, after six months of watching him pine for you, I couldn't take it. Someone had to knock him about." She sighed. "Look, the three of us are going to have to work together somehow. I don't see why it would have to be hard and awkward. We're all adults."

"Do you blame me?" Neela looked up.

"For his legs? No. That was Ray's own doing. For breaking him, yes, I do blame you. But, Neela," Erin stood up. "If I didn't want Ray to be around you, I wouldn't have pushed him to accept this position. He wanted to stay in Baton Rouge. It would have been less pay and he wasn't happy there and his happiness has always been top priority for me. His happiness, for some reason, is here in Chicago. I want him to be happy. I want the three of us to be grown ups and try to be friends."

"How long have you and Ray been married?" Neela looked back to the floor.

"Six months. It's not been easy. I suppose you know about his mood swings." Erin smiled.

Neela looked up and smiled back. "Yeah. But, he's always been there."

"Ray's a good guy." Erin faced Neela. "I didn't expect him to stop loving you when he started loving me. I know that there's a place in his heart that will always be yours and that's why he has to be here, why he has to deal with you. He has to know that. He doesn't know that I know. Whatever you do, Neela, be nice to him. Don't hurt him."

"You either." Neela stood up. She had gone from hating the woman Ray had married to rather liking her. "I'll hurt you if you do." She laughed.

"Take that as my warning as well." She helped Neela to the door. "And, Neela?"

"Yeah?" Neela faced her.

"Don't push me either. I will fight for Ray if I have to."