A/N: I'm officially calling them AusEm! I'm so glad y'all like all my AusEm stories and thank you for continuing to review and show your support! I don't trust ABC Family at all so I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but in the canon of my mind, those two are golden.


-XX-

Remember October

Chapter Four

It's a little crushing on the ego and a little ironic that a former multi-Olympic gold winner gets winded on a little hike. Then there's Emily, pushing Jillie in a stroller, blazing ahead of me. She smiles and runs her fingers along the tree trunks, looking like it's been a long time since she's been around nature, even if it is pretty damn cold and everything around us is, well, dead.

It makes me wonder where she's been. Obviously far from nature. Probably a city, but what city? Maybe she's been in Denver, right under my nose, this entire time. Maybe we walk the same streets every day and buy our milk from the same grocery store—No. I can't jump to conclusions like that. Nothing is certain unless she says it is. I can't start making up stories in my head. Who really knows where she's been?

"Having trouble keeping up there, Tucker?" Emily asks with a glance from over her shoulder. There's such playfulness to her soft voice, a piece of how we used to be together, how easy it all used to be. It makes me grin my ol' winning grin and jog to catch up with her, so badly needing to be near her.

"Don't worry 'bout me," I say. "Still got it."

"Sure," Emily laughs. "Just promise me no more uneven bars and pummel horses."

"Promise not needed," I assure her. "Wouldn't even if I wanted to. I'm sure I could find other ways to impress you."

Fuck. Was that flirting? Damn it. I wish I could take it back, but I'm me and I don't do the embarrassed apology thing so I just plaster on a smirk. Emily just keeps walking down the dirt path, pretending like I didn't just totally make things awkward.

Truthfully, just the idea of training again is a little terrifying. It's not like I have a beer belly or anything, but the last time I was in a gym had been Denver Elite and it was only to meet up with Nicky and Kelly before we went out to lunch. I don't care to count the months or, well, years since I've been in the Rock. It sucks the way I left what was once my home and it isn't something I like to think about.

"Do you miss it?" Emily asks nonchalantly.

It's exactly what I don't want to talk about, but not answering would be rude. "Sometimes, maybe," I tell her and it's the truth. "And you?"

"Things could have gone better. For all of us," Emily says. I know what she's alluding to and fuck. I really don't want to talk about any of that right now. "But I have Jillie now and it's like I'm living a completely different life. I do miss it though…sometimes."

We end up by the water and Emily pulls Jillie out of her stroller, setting her down on her feet. Her light wavy hair is pulled up in a high ponytail at the back of her head. There are bright like school bus yellow rain boots on her feet and she waddles around, Emily holding her hand tight when she tries to run to the water.

"How old is she?" I ask.

"Just turned sixteen months," Emily expertly replies. "What about, um, Kelly's son?"

"Eighteen months," I answer. "He's a talker, not unlike Kelly. That kid can babble for hours. It's ridiculous."

"We can't all be that lucky," Emily says, pulling Jillie into her arms.

"Yeah, I noticed she's quiet. Takes after mom then?" I ask. "Not Nana Chloe?"

Emily twitches at the mention of her mother and I can't tell if I'm actually seeing clues or looking really hard for them. "She definitely takes after me," Emily finally replies, sounding a little relieved. She doesn't look at me, but repositions Jillie in her arms and smiles. "Daddy is pretty soft spoken too, isn't he?"

Daddy. Damon Young. Mr. Music.

I want to ask why she didn't just run to him, why she's here with me and not him, but I know I shouldn't. There's so much I want to say, but stop myself from actually doing it. Nowadays in Denver I'm always around such strong women that I don't need to remind myself to be sensitive. Kelly and Faith are tough, talk like dudes and probably even fight like dudes too. I can usually say whatever and they take it in strides, but seeing how fragile Emily is right now, I know to watch myself.

Before I say any more, my phone buzzes in my pocket and I already know who it is.

Leaving DE now. You better be on your way.

Nicky has a ten-minute drive. By the time I leave Boulder, it'll probably take an hour at the most. Forty-five if I speed. Either way, Nicky isn't going to be too pleased.

No worries, bro. Already left, I text back then put my phone on silent and shove it into my pocket. He's a lot of fun to piss off. It's a pastime, really.

"You know, if you have somewhere to be you should go," Emily says, walking towards me with Jillie in her arms. "There's a full fridge. Electricity. Heat. Running water. Even cable TV. We'll be fine here. You made sure of that."

"Yeah, I should probably head out," I murmur, even though I really don't want to leave. "I gotta work tonight at the bar, but I'll swing by tomorrow morning and if you need anything—"

"You're the first number I'll call," she says. "Thank you for everything, Austin." She turns to Jillie and takes her hand, reaching out towards me. "Can you say thank you to Austin? Thank you, Austin."

Jillie doesn't do anything, but stare, but it still makes me smile. At first I thought it was just Parker, but even Jillie makes me feel it. I've got a soft spot for kids. So sue me.

"Bye," I whisper, running my thumb over Jillie's little fist. Before I can move away, Emily grabs my shoulder and then we're hugging again with Jillie nestled between us. I wrap my long arms over the both of them and we stay like that for some time. Then when she finally lets go, we share a smile, a wave and then I'm starting up my motorcycle, speeding off for my little lunch date.

Man, at Nationals 2010, after I scooped gold, if you told me I would eventually end up being such good friends with Nicky Russo, silver medalist, I would have probably laughed right in your face. Hard.

It's a little sad that he's always taken himself so seriously because, frankly, I never did. Not even when we were competing against one another, or, at least, supposedly competing against each other. I never really saw the kid from Boulder (then Denver) as too big of a threat. Not a threat at all. I always found him a little sad and now look at us. I'm godfather to his son. It's funny how shit plays out sometimes.

"You're late."

"Worst two word sentence in the English language," I add, sliding into the seat across from Nicky. He already ordered a burger and I reach over to steal one of the fries. He lets me, but if it were Kelly she would've tried to cut off one of my fingers with the butter knife. I make a mental note to tell little Parker to go through Daddy (the easy parent) and then get him to convince Mommy to get his way. Grinning I ask, "That's how you found out lil' PJ was in that oven, right?"

"No. I think it was more along the lines of Kelly screaming, 'Nick, this is your fault, you horny bastard. I'm pregnant' or, well, something like that," Nicky says with a fond smile. He even imitates KP's high-pitch voice and it reminds me of why I'm friends with this dude. "Speaking of Kelly, she told me about your Emily Kmetko situation."

"Was she freaking out?"

"You know Kelly and how she can be," Nicky says. He smiles down at his burger as he says her name. It's official. Russo got some last night. "You're like her little bird she nursed back to health. And she has a point. To throw yourself back into the lion's den is a little counterproductive, don't you think?"

"Nicky, you know it makes you sound like a douche when you use 'counterproductive' in casual conversation," I tell him. Cheeky grin and everything. "An old friend stopped by and we talked. That's all it was."

"Is this 'old friend' lounging around your apartment as we speak?"

"Nope. Long gone," I tell him. At least that's the truth. "So I love these little one-on-one lunch dates, Nicky. It really does show you pulling your weight in this relationship—" Nicky rolls his eyes at that, "—but did you really put this whole thing together just to yank my chain b'cause Kelly ordered you to?"

"No. Actually, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about." Nicky looks nervous all of a sudden and digs through his pocket. He places a small, square velvet box onto the edge of the table and pushes it towards me.

He looks so uncomfortable and it makes me irrationally happy.

"Well," I fail to keep my amusement under control and chuckle, "Aren't you going to get down on one knee at least?"

A grown man really shouldn't turn that shade of red. Oh Nicky.

"It's not for you," he hisses.

"Then who's it for?" I ask. Leaning forward, I level my eyes with the little box and poke it like it's a foreign object from outer space. Before I can poke it enough to tip it over, Nicky snaps it away and opens it, revealing a fucking huge ass diamond ring. "Shit."

"I'm going to ask Kelly to marry me."

"Holy fucking shit," I murmur, slumping back into the seat. Maybe it's good the waitress hasn't had a chance to come by yet. How am I supposed to think about something like food and eating when Nickelly and marriage is already crowding up the entire table?

Nicky's dark brows knit together like a confused little boy. "So you don't think it's a good idea?"

"Who told you it would be?"

In perfect unison, we both say, "Faith."

Nicky slouches and rubs his hand over his face while I lean forward and narrow my eyes at him. "So, Nicky Boy, what are your intentions towards my KP?"

I feel the emphasis on the "my" is both appropriate and necessary.

"Well, I mean, why not?" Nicky says. "Like you and Faith, and you both equally suck at subtlety by the way, keep suggesting, we might as well just do it. We spend so much time together anyways and it'd be good for Parker. Plus, you know, we could both use the financial benefits and tax breaks. Like it or not, society is made to cater to married couples."

Shaking my head, I push the top of the little velvet box until it snaps shut. "Fuck no am I supporting this. Dude, you're getting married for all the wrong reasons."

"But everyone keeps saying—"

"Fuck everyone, Nicky," I tell him. "You find someone who's compatible to you, who makes you a better man, who you love. Then you marry her."

"And you don't think Kelly is any of those things to me?"

"No, I think you and KP are three for three, but man, you can't even say it out loud to me, let alone to her. You aren't ready and Kelly can sense shit like that. She's like a fucked up people whisperer," I explain. "I know you and Kelly skip around a lot, going straight to the sex then straight to having a kid and juggling it all, bypassing the dating and the wooing, but going straight into marriage might be a risky one, Russo. Slow it down. Woo her."

"Woo her?"

"Yeah," I say. Honestly, I am the last person who should be giving out dating advice, but someone needs to. "Buy her flowers. Take her to dinner. Tell her how hot she looks. Tell her how you feel. Necessary steps, Nicky. The hell were you thinking? Proposing out of the blue?"

"I don't know what I was thinking," he says. Kid looks pale, sickly even. I wonder if he's going to finish his burger. "I just…I was going through some of my old things and I found this. It was the engagement ring my dad gave to my mom and my mom gave to me right before she died. Then I started thinking and I…I can't picture giving it to anyone other than Kelly."

Ugh. Fucking Nicky and his fucking skipping around. If he started out with that this would be an entirely different conversation.

"You sure? Not even Kaylie Cruz?"

Nicky scoffs. "What was one of our terms when we started hanging out?"

"That neither of us date Kaylie Cruz ever again," I say, dragging on each word to show how bored I am with the subject. As great of a thing as I had with Kaylie, how much I grew as a person when I was with her, there is no way in hell I would go back to that. I'm too different and though we haven't talked in years, I'm sure she's different too.

Last I heard, E! gave Kaylie and Lauren their own reality TV show, Off the Beam. It followed the lives of the two former elite gymnasts (who were roomies at the start—yikes) living in high society Beverly Hills, where stupid drama apparently follows them around. Girl fights. Boy issues. Charity events. Fashion shows. Jealousy. Drama. Drama. Drama. Real juicy (mind-numbing) shit.

Kelly and Faith would sit around every Tuesday night to watch it. They'd make fun of it, laughing hysterically and I couldn't help, but join in. That shit is just plain ridiculous, but it gets viewers and that's the whole point I guess. We got over it after the second season where Kaylie dated a Food Network Chef and Lauren had a feud with some chick that was apparently on the Hills. From time to times I still see commercials. Apparently they're on season 5 of that shit. What has this world become?

"Well, our pact to not date Kaylie Cruz seems to have served us well so far. I mean, you're a mess yet I still asked you to possibly raise my first born son if anything ever happened to me and Kel," Nicky goes on. "We work. I say we keep things that way."

"Ditto," I agree, "And I still think you should at least go on a real date or seven real dates and then move in together before you literally get down on one knee. And you better get down on one knee. Apparently, that was the first mistake I made when I proposed to Payson and failed miserably. Then again, I didn't even have a ring so you're already better off than me…"

I realize how I slipped when I see the way Nicky is looking at me. Fuck. There are a shit ton of things I don't talk about and proposing to Payson Keeler is at the top of it. It's even higher up than some of the shit Emily was stirring this morning. Not the greatest day so far.

We both go quiet and I slide the salt shaker from one hand to the next to try to keep myself occupied.

Nicky clears his throat. "If I didn't already miss a meeting this morning—" B'cause he was so still in bed with Kel. Called it, "—And have to make up that meeting after this, I'd call for a round of drinks," Nicky says with a reassuring smile. "Dedicated to the Rock Girls and the poor bastards who fell and almost fell for them."

I smile. "I'd drink to that. Too bad."

It's the weirdest thing to get a text message from someone about some else while you're currently sitting in a diner with that someone else.

I had to cover 4 u w/ Parker last night, u ass. As an apology, I demand u close up the bar 4 tonight. Nickelly is dwn 4 WASTED WEDNESDAY! What u think, Aus?

Faith still texts like an easily excited twelve-year-old girl, but it makes me smile every time. I text back: for you, boo. Shutting it down. In reply, I just get a text message of infinite x's and o's. That makes me smile too.

Chuckling, I tell Nicky, "Apparently we'll be getting those drinks soon enough. Faith just declared it Wasted Wednesday. So where's Parker going to be while mommy and daddy and the godparents get their drink on?"

"My dad volunteered to take him off our hands for the night, which is funny seeing as he was never around when I was Parker's age."

"God bless the retired."

"I was going to take Kelly out to dinner and pop the question, but apparently, Faith got to her first and you shut down all this," Nicky says, motioning to the ring box.

"Believe me, bro, you'll be thanking me when you and KP are for real doing this and there won't be any cold feet or runaway bride reenactments," I tell him. He looks deep in thought so I take the opportunity to sneakily grab half of his burger and devour it. "Trust me, Nicky."

"Yeah, as insane as it probably is, Tuck, I trust you."

Sliding free from the booth, I round the table and sit next to Nicky. Despite his protest, I round my arm around his neck in a headlock hug thing. I even try to wrap my leg around his knee and Nicky presses his palm to my face, trying to pry me off. Everyone around is giving us weird looks, but it isn't like I give a shit. I kiss the top of his head before finally letting go. After eating the rest of Nicky's burger and all the fries, we go our separate ways until tonight.

Picking bits of hamburger bun and meat out of my teeth, I text Emily and she tells me to quit worrying. Instinct tells me to head back to Boulder, to continue picking at her for answers, but then I decide against it, let her and Jillie settle in. So I head back to the apartment to get in a shower and change into some new clothes. I end up falling asleep and the next time I wake up it's because there's banging on the front door of my apartment.

I drag myself out of bed and go straight to the door, swinging it open. "Fuck is your problem?"

"Funny thing, Aus." It's Joey and I'm guessing whatever he has to say isn't so funny. "I show up to work, on time for a change, and then Giancana, who apparently owns the bar now and not to mention the universe, says we're closed for the night. Why didn't I get the memo? I never get the memo!"

"I'm sorry. I'll remember to put you on the employee mailing list. Next time, bud," I say sarcastically, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

"A text would have done it," he says. "I don't have time I can just throw away."

"Well, I'm sorry, Joey, but I had shit to deal with this morning, alright?"

"Does it have to do with your breakfast buddy?" Joey asks. I can't believe he even remembers that. He looks amused and so I narrow my eyes and grab him by the shirt to keep him still. It wipes that look clear off his face.

"Look, no one, least of all Faith, can know about that," I tell him in a voice that's calm yet her. Least I hope it is. "She's just going to tell Kelly who will then grill my ass about it and I really don't want to have to deal with that right now. Got it?"

"Yeah, sure," Joey says. "I always got your back, T."

"You better," I say. He let go of him and then run my hands over his shoulders to straighten out the creases I caused. I then shut and lock the apartment door behind me, starting down the stairs with Joey. "So since you have the night off you hitting the clubs?"

"Maybe," Joey says. "Since Faith made it clear that I'm not welcomed inside."

Joey's bitter, but there isn't anything I can do. Nicky/Kelly/Faith/Austin bonding time is sacred time. It's special and it's between us and Joey would have just felt awkward and left out anyways. We got this rule that when we hang no one else is allowed. It's just us. Even if Faith or me ever got married (haha), the spouse wouldn't even be invited. Duh Joey isn't going to be granted access. So we say out goodbyes at the door and I head inside.

"—And I was like, eww, no way is this going down. Keep your slutty little hands off of my son, you little whore," Kelly says venomously, swinging out her hand as she tells the story. Seems like my favorite HBIC has started the party early. Gin and tonic with a lime wedge.

"Parks, she was a two-year-old child," Nicky reminds her. He's got a beer himself. His jacket is off and the top buttons of his dress shirt are undone, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Clear signs that it's going to be a fun night.

"Aww, Kel, pick on someone your own size," I tease, walking over to them. I give Nicky a pat on the back as I pass him and kiss Kelly's cheek in hello. Nicky tilts his beer bottle to me and Kelly just stares. Fuck. She's still suspicious. Someone get her silly drunk and quick.

"You guys don't understand. That little girl's mom puts her in pageants. She was a pageant girl," Kelly argues. "There's no way a son of mine is going to end up with some free-loading trophy wife, who's going to think that she doesn't need to get a job and can just buy shoes and crap with the money Parker's hard work and gold metals earned. Hell no."

"So you see all of this by looking at a two-year-old?" I asks. "Phenomenal, KP."

I get behind the bar to where Faith is, mixing some sort of concoction that probably tastes like ass, going off of looks alone. Glaring, Kelly raises her glass like she's going to throw it at me, but then Nicky catches her wrist and brings it back down till the bottom of her glass thuds against the bar counter.

"Aww, Kelly, you need to lighten up," Faith pipes in. "I did pageants when I was a toddler. Ha, I was a toddler in a tiara…minus the spray tan. I stomped my feet and pushed for the spray tan, but dad and Cynthia, my handler, wasn't into the, well, orange look."

"You did pageants? Ha! My point exactly," Kelly says with a sly smile. "Slutty hands."

Faith pouts and I can't help, but laugh. God, I love my girls.

Not even a second later, Faith catches me laughing and socks me in the arm. Knuckle to bicep full force. Ouch.

"Well, shit. What's up with that?" I question. "Kelly is the one who called you Slutty Hands, not me. Jesus. Not the warmest welcome I've ever gotten from you."

"That is for ditching me with Parker when it was clearly your day. I even reminded you, you big jerk," Faith says, hitting me again. The second time she doesn't hit me that hard even though she surely could and proved it with the first punch so at least I know she isn't that angry at me.

"Wow, I didn't know being a good godmother was such a burden," Nicky says dryly.

"No, that's not my point. I love the kid. Yesterday we made a YouTube video of me feeding him dog food. Five thousand hits last time I checked," Faith says. She goes too big with her lies. She's incapable of telling little white ones. They always need to be so extravagantly dressed up. Oh Pretty. "Parker and me always have a good time. I just hate that I had to cancel a date on a night that wasn't my night."

"And I'm sorry. You know I'm sorry, Faye." I say it like a sap because damn this girl turned me into a sap. Faith glares, but I just round my arm around her and bend my head so our cheeks are touching. She doesn't even try to push me away. Loves the attention too much. "I'm sure the frat boy didn't mind you rescheduling."

"He's not a frat boy. He's a musician," Faith says. Without really thinking about it, I tense up and Faith frowns, feeling it, feeling me. Looking up at me, apologetic, she adds, "And…a, uh, he's a pizza delivery guy too."

Kelly snorts. "Well, he sure sounds like a keeper."

"Or the leading man in a porno," I try to joke.

"Shut up," Faith snaps. Directed at me again. Kelly just gets off easy, sipping her drink. "He's cute. I doubt this relationship is going to last more than my standard two weeks, but he makes me smile."

"Because that's what you should really be looking for in a future husband," Nicky adds teasingly. Faith wrinkles her nose at the simple idea of marriage. I don't think you could find someone more oppose to the institution than Faith.

"Nah, you look for shit like financial security," I say, giving Nicky a knowing smirk. He quickly looks away and it makes me laugh. "What happened to the dentist? Last time I checked that's who you were canceling Taco Thursday to go eat real food with."

"She suggested they have a laughing gas party, he explained that he could get fired for it and she dumped him," Kelly explains. "One of Faith's many romance novel-esque relationships."

"What happened to the graduate student?" Nicky asks. "He seemed descent."

"Caught him sleeping with undergrads. Ugh, freshmen no less," Faith explains and Nicky nods as if just remembering it. Ugh, I hated that douche. Thank God that one ended before the standard two-week relationship limit.

"What about that guy with the weird mustache?" Kelly asks.

"She found out he was married, remember? We went out for ice cream and we saw him there with his wife and kids. Faith dumped a milkshake on him, we bought an ice cream cake and ate the whole thing in one night," I answer. It makes me laugh because that night was kinda shitty, but kinda awesome at the same time and damn Faith has bad luck with dating, but she's got awesome stories and instead of beating herself up over, she just goes out and keeps hunting.

"What about the 24 Hour Fitness guy?" Nicky asks.

"He wore tighter jeans than me. Over before it even started," Faith explains. "Okay. Enough about my failure in love. What's everyone else been up to?"

My eyes move over to Kelly who's still eyeing me like she has an interrogation on the tip of her tongue. Fuck me. Might as well get it over now. "KP looks like she has something to say. The floor is yours."

Not missing a beat, Kelly asks, "Is she gone?"

"Out of Denver," I tell her just as quickly.

"You're sure?"

"Believe me, Kel. I saw her drive off."

Kelly nods and finally starts to relax. "I'm impressed. You made an adult decision for once."

"All thanks to your pep talk, life coach. Cheers," I tell her. I clink my glass against hers just for dramatic affect and toss back the scotch. God, I hate not telling my friends the truth. It kills me, but telling them the truth will only ruin the night and that is the last thing I want.

"Wait, so you ditched Parker for a girl?" Faith asks. "Some goddaddy you are."

"Let's just drink, huh?" I propose, pouring myself another glass. "I'd propose we play 'I never' just for nostalgia's sake, but fuck, I don't know if there's anything left that we haven't done."

"Signs of a happy and full life," Faith sings. "I'll drink to that."

We each take a shot and it's a gateway to a hazy night with too much alcohol, too many memories and a lot of laughs. We talk about old times mostly. We've had a lot of good times, the four of us, especially when they made me their little project and taught me how to have fun again. This was me Post-Boulder and Nickelly Pre-Baby and Faith, well, Faith hardly ever changes. We'd go to parties and Nuggets games, ski trips and bar hopping.

We spend some time laughing about that one failed camping trip where we gotten lost in the middle of nowhere, it resembling the set of The Hills Have Eyes, Nicky trying to figure out the GPS, Kelly complaining nonstop, Faith freaking out and me making it worse by convincing her inbred mutants were coming from her. Man, I remember forcing her watch that movie. She cockblocked me for a month after for making her watch it. Longest dry spell ever, but it was worth it.

I can't tell you why we drank so much back then. Probably because we could. More so them. Being self-restrained stick-in-the-mud gymnasts for so long, when they finally had the power to do whatever, they went all out. Faith was never a big drinker. Neither were Nicky or Kelly, now that I think about it. Ha. Apparently, when they were going out of their way to fix me and make me better, I was the bad influence on them.

For someone who doesn't like to drink regularly, Faith can hold her liquor. Thank God too. I would've been pissed if she passed out and left me to sit here and watch Nicky and Kelly, those damn drunk, sloppy rabbits make out like they're the only two people in the room. That booth in the back corner of the bar is their booth and that's where they are, giggling, groping, grinding and groaning.

"Why aren't we as drunk as them?" Faith asks, sitting with me at the bar.

I take a swig of my beer and reply, "B'cause we work in a bar. They're 'professionals' with 'real careers', whatever the hell that is, and they're also 'parents' and all them other neat little labels that put them in the adult category of human. Plus, KP's tiny and Nicky's weak and you and me still got it."

"October Fest '15," Faith hums with a bright, proud smile. The memory is then ruined by the sounds coming from the back. "Can you send them home already? They make me feel lonely."

"Sure. Give me a sec. The room just started spinning a bit."

Suddenly, Faith says, "You lied to Kelly or, well, didn't tell the entire truth."

I nod. I'm not above admitting something when caught. "You could tell?"

"We all could," Faith says truthfully. "Nicky's forehead did that crinkly thing and Kelly almost punched you in the face, but she didn't and he didn't say anything so I'm assuming they wanna let you try to handle it. Plus, swooping in to save the day is kinda their specialty when it comes to you and me."

"No swooping necessary," I tell her. "Everything is under control."

"Hope so," Faith says. "Liar doesn't look pretty on your forehead, Aus."

I smile a little. "Worried don't look pretty on yours either, pretty."

She rolls her eyes. "Shut up. I'm pretty all the time."

Laughing, I nod in agreement. "Fuck yeah you are. Now let's see how many shots it takes to make those pretty blue eyes bloodshot."

Faith smiles. "You pour."

It takes four shots of tequila for her eyes to turn red and a double after that for her words to start slurring. It's funny when she gets to that stage of sloppy drunk because it's Faith so she insists on talking, her words all running into one another till she sounds like an old person who forgot to put their dentures in. And she looks so happy. So damn happy.

I manage to call a cab for Mr. and Mrs. Lightweight and ignore the "I love you" and the "I love you too" that pass between them as me and Monte (our favorite cabbie) drag those two out front. It hurts to hear because it means enough to be real, but I know even if they remember it in the morning they sure as hell won't talk about it. Shit is blurry, but I feel nice so I slap Monte double the standard rate, salute him and head to bed.

Faith is already curled up in my bed when I get there and I'm so fucking lazy that I don't even want to change out of my jeans. I manage to kick off my shoes before collapsing onto the empty side of my cold bed, eyes too heavy to even try to keep open.

"Emily text'd you g'night," Faith sleepily says.

"Huh."

"N' I text'd 'er back. Said to keep away from my man," she giggles. Faith sleeps on her side and hogs the blankets, but I couldn't care less. She's here, which means she isn't out there, up to no good. She's safe with me and that's all that really matters. "Then I told her g'night too…I think."

Mostly likely it's a mess of nonsense letters and at least a few numbers that mindfucked the spell check. Oh well. Emily will understand.

"Don't let 'er hurt you, Aus," Faith mutters, seconds from drifting off. "Don't let 'er hurt us."

Something about Faith saying that sobers me up enough to give it some thought. In a way, I already have. Lying or at least, trying to keep it from Nicky, Kelly and Faith isn't something I do a lot. Actually, I don't think I've done it ever and I know it isn't something I should do. Plus, I'm practically transparent to those three. What can I say? That's family for yah.

It's just that Emily Kmetko has this hold on me and it hasn't hit me that she could potentially destroy everything I've built up since leaving Boulder. Kelly and Nicky and Faith have put up with my bullshit before and I don't want to make them have to again. I want to tell them everything, but before that can happen I need to figure out what everything is.

"Fuck me," I murmur. Not a command or a suggestion and I doubt Faith would go with it even if it were. It's more of an exclamation. An expression. Fuck it. I dunno. Just slipped out. "Faye, Kel is right. Emily is in bad shape and I'm guessing she went through some shit and I don't really know her anymore."

"Well, find out," Faith insists, pulling a pillow over her eyes. "Get diggin' boy."

"I don't know where to start."

"I'll help," Faith says, "But first some chili cheese fries. Yum."

I give a lazy chuckle, knowing the girl is gone. I force my eyes open long enough to see her curled up on the other side of the bed, burrowed beneath the pillows and blankets. I manage to get my watch off, toss it onto the floor, move a pillow away from Faith's face so she doesn't suffocate and then tucker her in like I would Parker if he was over. Then I return to my side of the bed, putting all thought to rest for the remainder of the night.

Come morning Ima beast the expected hangover then the digging begins.


A/N2: I know it felt like total filler and you probably can't tell at this point, but important shit was revealed in this chapter. It'll all make sense in due time. Just bear with me. Come next chapter shit gets twisted and that's a promise.

xoxo