a/n: ahhh writer's block…need more fibre.

The barbeque leftovers had all been cleaned up and Liv and Elliot were relaxing on the couch.

"That was nice."

"Yes, it did go well, didn't it?"

"Not too many awkward moments." They both laughed.

"How was I supposed to know we met on a blind date?" Elliot asked her.

"Well, what was with the story about me falling in the river and freaking out about the leaches?" Liv countered

"Saw it in a movie once." Elliot shrugged.

"You are not helping my image."

"Since when did you care about your image?"

"Guess high school's going to my head." She paused, "thank you for defending my honour, by the way." Apparently Liv had heard about his little conversation with Ted and May.

"How does everyone know about that?"

"Are you kidding? Ted's nothing if not talkative. I bet I'll be hearing about it at school tomorrow too. You made quite the impression." Liv told him.

"I think Ted and I understand each other now." Elliot smiled and got up

"Where'ya going?" Liv asked. He pointed at the kitchen,

"Ice cream. Want anything?"

"Bring me a yogurt, and one of those burgers"

"Everything on it?"

"You bet." Liv flipped channels on the TV, occasionally yelling out condiments at Elliot.

When he came back he looked pensive.

"You never did explain to me how you ended up here. I mean, they wouldn't have placed you with Alex right away." Elliot asked. Liv shook her head,

"No, they didn't. This is actually my second new life. My first lasted a grand total of 29 days."

"What happened?"

"I blew up, I exploded. They put me in this little town where nothing ever happened. I was bored out of my skull. Someone really messed up on that one: sticking big-city, always on the move me into tiny little Point Pleasant, Washington. Even my name was ridiculous. Who would ever believe that I'm June Porter? Am I wearing pearls and cooking in high heels?" Elliot laughed at the prospect, "Anyway, about three weeks after I get there, something did happen. A girl was raped and dumped in the ditch. She was okay, physically at least. But no one was doing anything to catch the guy; they were letting him get away with it. I went ballistic. I was working as a researcher for the town prosecutor so I had access to all the data," Elliot knew what was coming,

"You figured it out."

"Of course I figured it out! I knew it was the sheriff's son, I knew he did it. I matched tire treads, found one of his hairs, blew his alibi out of the water. I had a solid case. But no one would believe me; no one would believe that he'd done it. No one was about to arrest the sheriff's son. So I marched into the police station and started telling them what to do." She shook her head, "it didn't end well. Two days later I left, got shipped out here." Elliot had to laugh.

"Okay, but it wasn't a coincidence that you ended up out here." Elliot pointed out.

"Oh, no, I'd started on that immediately after they'd suggested witness protection. I'd been told it wasn't an option. But after my little display, they thoughtfully placed me here, with someone who would help keep me sane. Besides, we are conveniently wanted dead by the same person."

"That is convenient."

"My therapist must have gotten tired of me listing all the reasons every session. It made perfect sense to me; the same man is after both of us. What's the harm in living together? They finally gave in." Liv seemed quite pleased with herself. "I was so happy when I got here. Bigger town, better job, and better company. I never knew how nice it could be to come home to somebody."

"You mean Alex?"

"Yes, and also Mr. Puffington." She pulled a small, brown striped cat from behind the couch. "He showed up the same day I did." She pooled the cat into her lap and started to pet him. He purred contentedly. "It had been so long since I've lived with anyone, I'd forgotten the benefits." Elliot watched her with the cat for a while. He'd never thought about it before, but it made sense that she'd be a cat person. Liv's sigh brought him out of his reverie.

"I'm afraid I've started some rumors about Alex at work."

"Like what?"

"First she dumps Bob out of the blue, and from what I hear it was a perfect romance. Flowers and chocolate, dates in the park. Then a week after she dumps him I show up. Some people have connected the wrong dots. We are a little old to be just roommates."

"You had nothing to do with her and Bob."

"I know, I know, it was just a coincidence." Suddenly she smiled at him, "Now that you're here, you're going to ruin some teenage daydreams, that's for sure."

"What do you mean?"

"I see the way some of the boys on campus look at me. And I intercepted some rather lewd stories about Alex and me." Liv saw Elliot's eyes light up. "And no, you can't read them."

"Guess I won't be needing these long johns." Elliot held them up to Liv, who was already in bed.

"Why the hell did you bring those?"

"Alex said it was cold out here."

Liv just laughed.

Alex and Liv both left for work Monday morning with promises to be home as early as they could. Elliot tried to pass the time watching TV, and then catching up on some reading, but he just couldn't sit still.

Mowing the lawn had seemed like a good idea at first. But now that he was halfway done and hot as hell, he was having second thoughts. He stopped the mower and pulled his shirt off, and noticed a neighbour waving at him. The little man made his way over to Elliot.

"It's about time you showed up." The man blurted out.

"Excuse me?"

"It's about time there was a man in that house. It's a disgrace." Elliot wasn't sure how much this man knew, or if Alex and Liv even liked him, but Elliot was already bristling.

"It's not my place to tell them how to live. My wife had her reasons for leaving me."

"A real man would have shown her what's good for her." Elliot counted to ten and didn't say anything. The man continued. "The way those two carry on…" he shook his head.

"Excuse me?" Elliot really needed to stop talking to this guy, before he hurt him.

"It's disgusting, how they're having a baby together. What a world." At the last second before he punched him, Elliot thought of a new tactic.

"Well, sir, we're very happy together."

"…The three of you?"

"Yes, and I thank you for keeping such a close eye on them for me." Elliot managed to keep a straight face. The little man was quite flummoxed at the prospect and just wandered off mumbling to himself. Elliot started the mower up again and finished the lawn, in a much better mood.

"I hear you were out mowing the grass, without a shirt on." Liv said, putting her arms around him from the back.

"Where'd you hear that?" He tried to keep his voice level. Maybe messing with that neighbour hadn't been such a good idea. Sure she sounded like she was in a good mood, but then she was also in a good position to throttle him. He did his best to cut the potatoes around her arms and pretend everything was just fine.

"Ms. Nosy Parker across the street, Ramona, she just happened to mention it in passing."

"I'll bet." Elliot relaxed.

"She also informed me that I'm a lucky woman." Elliot just smiled.

"Everything go okay today?" he asked.

"Yeah, nothing terribly traumatic. Saw a few of my regulars, and a kid who wrote an unfortunate poem. Nothing I couldn't handle. What about you?"

"Met one of your neighbours, little guy, bit of a dick."

"Balding, lives on the left side?" Elliot nodded, "Ah, that would be Dick."

"You're serious."

"Yes, I am. I love appropriate names. Just ignore him. The rest of the neighbours do."

"About Dick though, I may have told him-"

"I'm back, am I in time?" Alex announced from the front hall.

"Yep, we were just about to put the potatoes in." Liv yelled back.

"Good." Alex came in and gave Elliot the jar of spice.

"How was the grocery store?" Liv asked her.

"Fine, except for Dick Ima's wife. Gave me a very strange look."

"Stranger than normal?" Liv asked.

"She gives you looks?" Alex responded.

"All the time."

"Guess I just never noticed before." Alex shrugged. Elliot just kept himself busy with dinner.