Disclaimer: I don't own it. I really don't. I apparently own an odd accent which causes people to make fun of me.

There was a knock on my door and I opened it reluctantly to reveal someone I hadn't expected.

"Rose." Jenny sobbed barreling into my arms.

I slumped backwards awkwardly and shut the door half-dragging Jenny to the couch. "Whoa, what happened?"

Jenny clutched my shoulder crying into my sweater spitting out words between sobs. "I. told. Tommy. That. I love him." She was slowly breathing again relaxing slightly. "I didn't know where to go. I couldn't stay at the hospital any longer. I mean, seeing Sean like that. Watching the three of you walk away. Where did they go?"

I stroked her hair letting her cry. Jenny was tough and I hadn't seen her break down like this in a long time. She didn't even break down when she heard the whisperings about her husband, that no good rat bastard. I think she always knew he'd end up dead and it never seemed to bother her.

"I swear Jenny. I have no idea where they went. They walked me to my car and left. I don't know where they were headed. I'm sure we'll hear…"

We both froze looking at the television screen. Squad cars and flashing lights lit up the dark street in front of Sal's place. We all knew whose place it was. The question was who was dead.

Jenny turned to me, her face white. "Rose. Rose who's dead?"

I shook my head eyes turning back to the television screen. "I don't know."

Jenny sprang up and we ran out of my apartment to my car. Why I owned a car living in New York, I wasn't always sure. Of course it could be the random drives to Boston. We sped off to the hospital and all I knew was the boys had better be back at the hospital, and alive.

When we got out of the elevator, we headed to the waiting room to see Mrs. Donnelly sleeping soundly in the chair. I wrapped my sweater tightly around myself. It was still a bit chilling and not grabbing a coat had been a dumb idea. The one thing I loved about the sweater was it wrapped around me. There wasn't a sash or any buttons holding it together, it was just a wrap around and a big one at that. Sometimes I just focus on the little things like my sweater when I don't know what else to do. I walked to the door and saw Tommy and Kevin walking down the hall.

I looked over my shoulder to see Jenny taking the last few breaths to regain composure. "Hey Jenny…"

She jumped up and ran past me nearly swinging the door into the wall. I heard a noise behind me and turned to see Mrs. Donnelly waking up. She blinked her eyes a few times frowning then gave me a smile. "Rosie it's good to see you. How's your ma?"

I gave her cheek a kiss and sat beside her. "Good to see you too Mama D. Ma's good, she's in Boston for the week, but she sends her love and prayers."

Mama D took my hand with a reassured smile on her face. She was the only one I knew who called me Rosie all the time. My mother called me Róisín, and everyone else called me Rose unless they were in trouble. Among four sons Jenny and I wee her small bouts of peace, in a way. She was a tough woman and could instill true fear in the heart of any girl her son's were messing around with at the time. I had seen Sean's girlfriend stilling there for a while and scurry away now and then for coffee. When mothers day came around I had always celebrated it with my mother and Mommy D. Jenny would spend half her time at the cemetery and the other time with us.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Kevin. He leaned past me to give his mother a kiss and sat next to me. His hand was clasped with his moths hovering over my lap. My eyes zeroed in on the bloodstain peeking from under his sleeve. My fingers appeared from beneath my own sleeves and ran over the tip of his shirt folding it over and tucking it beneath the jacket.

Jenny's eyes caught mine from across the room and we just took it all in. Louse Downtown was dead, there was no doubt about it. It was Jimmy's doing, Tommy would never have been that stupid. As for the people in the Sal's, that was Kevin and Tommy. I don't know details but I knew this. It was to save their family, keep them from going back after Sean and keep Jimmy the hell out of it. You could hope it would die down soon but of course hoping had never really helped any of us. I watched as Jenny went back of the room to find Tommy.

Kevin's other hand squeezed my shoulder. I turned my face to look at him and my chest tightened. He didn't look sad, worried or even angry. He looked apologetic, as if he was sorry about the whole thing. I tilted my head to rest my cheek on his hand keeping my eyes on him.

You know what this means don't you?

Yeah. He's apologizing for scaring the shit out of me and…

…and letting you know he's sorry that things are going to change completely.

My eyes were just starting to close as I felt Kevin's arm move. I looked up to see a doctor motioned for Mama D. She and Kevin stood up and I followed closely behind. Tommy came down the hall at his mothers words. A few moments later Jenny followed.

Oh yeah. Definitely going to speak to her about that after.

I rose an eyebrow at her but she looked away careful not to make contact again. We took our places behind the boys. I watched as Jenny touched Tommy's shoulder and quickly dropped her hand. When the doctor walked away Tommy mumbled something about stepping out and gave his mother a kiss as he walked away. Kevin turned around fingers brushing mine as he followed Tommy. Mama D nodded to me and gripped Jenny's shoulder as she walked back into the room.

We sat for a while when Mama D looked at the clock with a gasp. "Jenny, Rosie the two of you get out of here. Look at the time! Jenny get back to your dad and Rosie go open the bakery. If you two must stop by again make sure you get to work first." She grinned at me. "Send us some muffins if you can my cosin's comging around eleven and she praises your muffins everytime I see her. I laugh and think about the day you and Jenny tried teaching the boys how to make me a birthday cake."

Jenny gave a small smile. "My hair smelt like burnt pans for three days."

We each gave her a kiss and left the hospital heading toward my car. Once Jenny was buckled in I slid a glance at her. "Were you and Tommy making out behind the soda machine?"

She didn't say anything but her eyes narrowed slightly and a small flush sprang across her face.

I fixed my mirror and sped away dropping Jenny off and preparing myself for another wonderful day of work.

I dialed the phone feeling slightly miffed. "Come on, pick up the goddamn phone."

The connection clicked and I heard a huff. "Yeah?"

I leaned against the counter watching people walk in front of the store laughing and unaware of how hectic the day had been. These were the night people, relaxing after a normal hard day. "Kevin. Why is Jimmy calling me and asking me for bail money?"

"Oh." He was quiet for a moment. "Don't worry about that."

I heard Tommy's voice shouting in the background. "Don't worry about what Kevin. I swear to god, is that Jimmy? Give me the phone Kevin." He ignored his brother's words and came on the line. "Suck it up Jimmy. It's all your fucking fault."

I rose an eyebrow. "Well that's nice Tommy. So what is it I did that's my fault?"

He was silent for a moment. "Sorry Rose. What's wrong?"

"Jimmy called me for bail money. What did he get arrested for?"

I could almost see Tommy shaking his head. "The truck thing. You know how bad he's gotten, I couldn't have him around like that."

I heard a shuffling and Kevin came back on the line. "So yeah, don't worry about it. Don't give him the money."

I rolled my eyes. "No Kevin. I mean that money tree in the back is just pushing out the leaves. I should use the money on something."

I heard a fist slam on dashboard. "Jesus Christ, why is everyone being so fucking sarcastic today?"

I gave a laugh and hung up then stopped. I had heard a fist on dashboard. No mistaking that sound, I made it everyday. The question was why were they in a car. The only one that drove was Tommy and he didn't have a car. That couldn't be a good sign.

I flipped over the closed sign and turned to come face to face with Jenny. "Are you trying to scare me?"

"Have you seen Tommy?"

I shook my head. "Not since this morning, why what's up?"

She gave a sigh. "I really need to talk to him. Walk with me to the bar?"

I nodded. I knew Tommy was on the road somewhere but Jenny didn't have to know that. For all I knew Tommy was on the way back to the bar from his joyride.

We walked down the street flipping off a car that honked every now and then. We didn't know what we were going to do or say when we got to the bar. That was if anyone was there. All we knew was the Firecracker Lounge was our destination. We stood outside the doors and I walked forward to open the door. I gave it tug and looked over my shoulder at Jenny. "It's locked."

We let that sink in. It was true we both had keys. Before Jimmy won the bar we did business in the form of getting food and deserts together for birthdays and wakes. We had gotten keys to get there early and set up. Once Jimmy took over he changed the locks and awarded us with emerald green keys. Why the keys were green was simple. Sean had been sent to get the copies and he was easily amused. But that wasn't the point. The point was this was the first time we were contemplating going inside without being invited.

Jenny moved in front of me making up her mind as she slid her key in the lock. She took a deep breath and pushed open the door. I followed her inside quickly shutting the door behind me in an almost guilty way. I headed to the staircase leading up to the small apartment above the bar calling the boys' names. Jenny opened the door to the cellar a word dying in her throat. I came up behind her following her line of vision.

Bloodstains clung to the metals grooves of the steps leading up to us.

Without words, we took off our jackets leaving them in the bar. We descended the steps. The beat up sink in the corner had brooms, mops, and scrub brushes surrounding it. In the dark of the night, we scrubbed the stairs having to refresh the bucket of water now and them. We never spoke or spared a glance at each other. It was as if a switch had been thrown within our minds. I guess its one of those things implanted in every female brain. Protect the nest. Protect the ones you love, no matter how bad they are. Family above all. No matter what anyone said, we were a family. No questions ever had to be asked. And in times like this, we didn't even have to wait for the words.

We scrubbed the night away and slowly got back to our feet. Putting every away we ascended the stairs moving back into the cold night. We were grown and prepared for whatever was thrown to us next. We were no longer the little girls that had snuck the boys past their mother to the bathroom to help clean them up. We had just scrubbed away evidence of a murder. Maybe it was that thought that prompted it. One our way walking back to home we clasped hands pretending we were five again and acting as if we were just going for a normal walk like we used to. Normal, like it used to be.

I handed my car keys over to Jenny letting her go back to the hospital. I gave her a hug. "I'll be up there tomorrow. I just, I need to get a few minutes of sleep."

Jenny nodded. She stopped halfway through shutting the door. "They'll cal you before me wont they?"

I nodded watching her drive away. I continued my walk stopping shirt when I saw Kevin sitting on the steps to my apartment building. I pulled my sweater around myself a bit tighter as I sat beside him. "Planning on going somewhere?"

He had his hands folded in front of him staring them down. "I was looking for some company."

I put my hand on his wrist. "Wherever you need to go Kevin."

He looked down at my hand and stood up bringing me next to him. We were walking out of the Irish district and into Italian land. I watched as Sal's place loomed before us. Before I knew it Joey Ice Cream was on my other side. Kevin and I both looked at him but he just shook his head. We walked into the bar and Joey nodded at the girl behind the bar before she could say anything. She passed out three beers and we took a seat at the end of the bar.

We watched as Tommy walked into the bar. He didn't notice us until he was halfway to the staircase. Tommy saw Kevin and paused. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Kevin looked down at his beer and back at Tommy. "Couldn't sleep."

Tommy clenched his jaw. "Just stay put." He walked down the stairs.

I turned to Joey. "He didn't even notice us. That's a interesting trick."

Joey clinked beers with me. "Welcome to my life."

I smiled taking a swig, seeing Kevin watch me from the corner of my eye. Uh huh, that's just peachy.

We waited until Tommy came back up. Kevin followed him while Joey and I followed Kevin. When we got outside Tommy turned to Kevin and stopped. "What the hell is Joey Ice Cream doing here?" He saw me behind Joey. "What's Rose doing here?"

Kevin looked at us and shrugged. "I don't know. Well, I asked Rose to come with me and Joey just kind of appeared."

Tommy rolled his eyes and led the way down the street. After a block Joey was gone again. Disappeared just like he came. We got to my apartment and Tommy kept walking. Kevin and I sat on the outside steps watching him. We didn't have to say it. He was going to see Jenny.

We watching the streetlights flicker and a few late night strollers taking their dogs back home.

Kevin pushed my sleeve away from my hand twinning out fingers together. "I'm sorry about before."

I looked down at our hands. "About?"

He sighed. "About before…"

I held up my hand. "Let's just not talk about anything tonight. I'm too tired to fight or argue and I know something is going to be said one of us will regret." I pulled him up and walked up the stairs. "Crash here tonight. It's not like you'll be seeing Tommy."

"What do you…oh." Kevin stopped at the look I gave him. "Thanks. I just don't think I can go home yet. Not with knowing Sean's still in the hospital and Jimmy's locked up. Then Tommy's doing…well Tommy's doing something."

I pushed open my door leaving my keys on the side table. I slid off my sweater moving over to the stove and switching on the teakettle. I could feel Kevin behind me. He leaned his hand forward and switched off the stovetop.

I turned around frowning at him. "What was that for?"

"Rose, the last thing you need is caffeine right now. You need to get some sleep." He put a hand on my back leading me to my bedroom and shut the door. I paused watching the door and slowly changed into pajamas. I opened the door to see Kevin waiting there in his boxers. Now I have known the boys all my life. Tommy and Sean were workout freaks. As for Jimmy, well who knew anymore? Kevin isn't an exercise freak but he has some muscles. His stomach was flat but firm. His arms were where the muscle was. I slowly turned away from him crawling into bed finally feeling how tired I was.

Kevin got in after me rolling me over to face him. "I'm sorry if I've been dragging you along at all."

I shook my head. "You're not. Plus it's not like I can't just say no."

"But tonight at Sal's…"

I put a hand on his arm. "Kevin, you need to relax. Take a breath. I know what I'm getting myself into. I know what I'm doing when I'm faced with this stuff." I moved slightly closer rested my head beneath his chin. "I just don't know where I'm headed."

I felt Kevin press a kiss into the top of my head. "Do you? Because I don't have one clue as to what's going on anymore."

I felt my eyes close and drifted to sleep with the rise and fall of Kevin's chest.

A/N:

Interesting No?

Thank you to my lovely reviewers. Ya'll make me a very happy girl.

By the by I will have a chapter up for the special bonus online episode thing. That should be fun.

Soo:

Asnowbunny: thanks. I like writing for Joey. He's just so screwed up his narrative comes naturally.

Darkdestiney2000: yeah, that's one of the things I really like about the TV show, there's a slight omniscient narrator that provides you flashbacks and anything he deems important.

xBellaDonnax: I thought it would be a nice touch to have Joey in here. A bit more comedy.

Kellie: thanks for the input. I'm going to have Joey's narrative as an in between. This way I can catch up before the next episode.