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Chapter 4

Maggie rolled over in bed and instantly regretted it. She felt like a thousand pins and needles were stabbing her head. Shay had been right. This hangover was a bitch. The house was quiet. She figured it must be early. She fumbled for her cell phone and held it in front of her face. She wasn't about to move her head again. She looked at the time on her phone. It was after twelve. She tried to piece together what happened the night before. She had gone to Molly's and danced with Pete. Something about Clarke. Oh yeah, he had seen them dancing. He had looked hurt. She had hurt him by dancing with her friend. She hadn't meant to. Tears welled up in her eyes. She remembered taking shots with Shay and Dawson. Clarke had disappeared and then reappeared. She wondered where he had gone. She couldn't believe she had waved at Clarke. She felt like an idiot. But he did smile at her. And he had insisted on driving her home. He was so sweet to her. She thought she had thanked him. She needed to thank him while sober. She needed to see him again.


Clarke had woken up at eight. He rolled over and tried to go back to sleep for a few hours. He had to be on shift at three. He couldn't sleep. Maggie filled his thoughts. His emotions had gone all over the place. He hadn't recognized the girl that Mills was dancing with. 'Good for him.' He had thought. Then he saw that it was Maggie. His stomach turned sour. He was jealous of Mills. He wished he was the one dancing with Maggie instead of Mills. He was thankful that he saw her when she tried to stand up so he could stop her from driving. He wouldn't have been able to live with himself if something had happened to her. She had surprised him when she hugged him, but he was glad she did. He wanted to kiss her. He wondered if she had wanted to kiss him. There was so much he wanted to say to her, but he knew he needed to wait for her to be sober. He wasn't sure why he had asked Herrmann if he could ask her out. His heart had almost jumped out of his chest when Herrmann said yes.


"Maggie? How are you feeling?" Cindy called through the door.

"Open the door?" Maggie answered.

Cindy opened the door. Maggie was still in bed. "Killer headache?"

"Yeah." Maggie groaned.

"I'll bring you some aspirin. It might help if you get up. Christopher will be back with the kids soon." She walked out of the room.

"Oh the kids." She groaned and sat up slowly.

"Here ya go." Cindy handed her two aspirin and a glass of water.

She swallowed the pills. "Thanks Aunt Cindy."

"You're welcome Sweetheart."

"I'm gonna get a shower. Maybe I'll feel more alive." She stood up.

"I'll make you some coffee." Cindy offered.

"Thanks Aunt Cindy." She walked in her bathroom.


"Feel better?" Cindy asked when Maggie walked into the kitchen.

"Yes ma'am." She nodded and poured her coffee. "I've haven't been drunk like that in a long time. I'm sorry to come home like that."

"At least you came home." Cindy smiled. "And you let Jeff drive you home."

"I thought you called him that last night. I didn't know his first name." She sipped her coffee. "I'm glad I let him drive me home."

"Speaking of which, we need to get your car." Cindy said.

"Oh yeah. Did Clarke leave my keys?" She didn't remember him giving them back.

"I don't know. Maybe he gave them to Christopher."

"Maybe." Maggie wondered how she was going to get her keys back.

"Hey Cindy! We're back." Herrmann carried Kenny James inside. The other four kids ran amuck. "Lee Henry! Don't chase your sister with the frog!"

"A frog?" Cindy asked.

"Yeah. He found one at your parents house. I told him he could bring it home and set it free in the yard." Herrmann shrugged.

"I hate frogs." Maggie shuddered. "Hi Kenny James." She took her baby cousin from her uncle. "Why can't they all stay this quiet?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Herrmann chuckled.

"Maggie! I painted you a picture at Grandma's." Herrmann's daughter Mindy held up her painting.

"I love it!" Maggie grinned.

"Luke, Jack, and Lee Henry helped. We're glad that you are staying here with us." The little girl beamed.

"I am too." Maggie smiled. Sure the house was crazy ninety percent of the time, but it was moments like this that made it all worth it.

"Look Maggie!" Lee Henry ran in and held up the frog.

"Ugh! Lee Henry! I hate frogs!" She squealed.

Kenny James started to fuss.

"Lee Henry." Herrmann gave him a look.

"Whoops." Lee Henry ran outside.

Cindy laughed. "Oh, Christopher? Did Jeff leave Maggie's keys last night?"

"No. Why would he have your keys?" He looked at Maggie.

"He made me give him my keys so I wouldn't drive. I didn't think about not having them until Aunt Cindy said something about picking up my car." She explained.

"I'll ask him when I see him. Do you need your car before I get off shift?" He asked.

"I don't think so." Maggie said. "I'm going to take it easy today." She smiled.


Clarke had given up trying to go back to sleep. Maybe he would get to sleep at the firehouse if it was a slow shift. He put his coat on and reached in the pocket for his keys. He smiled when he saw Maggie's keys. He had forgotten to give them back to her.


"Hey Clarke." Herrmann greeted him in the locker room.

"Hey Herrmann." Clarke said.

"Clarke, you still got Maggie's keys?" Herrmann asked.

"Why would Clarke have Maggie's keys?" Cruz asked.

"Because he drove her home last night." Herrmann kept a straight face.

"You drove Maggie home last night?" Otis was suddenly in on the conversation.

"Yeah. She had too much to drink and I offered to drive her." Clarke tried to play it off.

"Sounds to me like Clarke has a crush." Mouch said.

"That was very gentlemanly of you." Otis said.

"Thanks. I think. And yes, Herrmann, I have her keys." He held out her keys.

"Hang on to 'em. You can give 'em to her yourself." Herrmann grinned.


"Hey Clarke. Can I get you to help me with something?" Shay asked him.

"Sure. What's up?"

"Follow me." She walked to the locker room. "So spill."

"Spill what?" He asked.

"Don't play dumb with me. You drove Maggie home. Spill. I want details." She poked his chest.

"Details? She was drunk. I drove her home. End of story." He shrugged.

"That's it? I was expecting a little more than that." Shay seemed disappointed.

"Shay, she was drunk. You didn't think I would…" He stopped. He had no intention of taking advantage of her.

"Oh God no! That's not what I meant. You're too much of a gentleman. I just wondered if anything happened." She knew Maggie liked Clarke and she was terrible at keeping secrets.

"She hugged me and thanked me several times for driving her home." He smiled.

"That's a start." Shay smiled.

"Yeah. I still have her keys. I was gonna give them to Herrmann, but he told me I could give them to her myself." He grinned.

"Nice! You should ask her out."

"I think I will. Thanks Shay."

"Anything to help a friend." She hugged him. "My fingers are crossed for you."


Mills picked up his phone after they got back from a call. He had a missed call and a text from Maggie. 'Give me a call when you get back? I need to talk.' He knew what she wanted to talk about. He sent her a text. 'Sorry I missed your call. Why don't you stop by?'

"Aunt Cindy? Can you drop me off at the firehouse?" Maggie asked. "I need to talk to Peter." She rarely called him Peter.

"Sure thing." Cindy smiled. She knew it was going to be a rough day for Maggie.

Maggie texted Mills. 'K. See you in a few.'


"Hey Mags." Mills walked up to her.

"Hi Peter." She forced a smile.

"I'm just gonna hug you. I'm not gonna ask how you are." He hugged her.

She buried her face in his chest and sobbed. Whoever said that time eases the pain lied. "Fourteen years Peter. I've almost lived longer without him than I did with him." She sobbed. "It hurts just as bad now as it did then."

"Just as bad? Really?" He seemed to doubt her. "Think positively." He said kindly.

"It might be a little better." She admitted.

"You talk to your mom?" He asked.

"She called me first thing. Wanted to make sure I was okay." She wiped her eyes with her thumbs.

"Feel better?"

"Yes. Thank you Pete." She hugged him.

"Anytime Mags."

"Would you be willing to do something else for me?" She asked hesitantly.

"Sure. Name it." He said.

"Will you get Clarke for me? I'd like to talk to him and I don't have his number." She felt her cheeks flush.

"Sure thing. I'll go get him." He gave her another hug.


"Hey Clarke." Mills saw him sitting at the squad table.

"Hey Mills." He gave him a nod.

"You busy?" Mills asked.

"Not really. Just reading the paper. Why? What do you need?" He wondered why everyone seemed to need something from him.

"Nothing man. Someone asked to talk to you and I told her I'd get you." He smirked.

"You are enjoying this a little too much." Clarke laughed and rolled his eyes.

Mills just laughed.

"Not a word that I'm talking to her." He cautioned. He didn't want an audience.

Mills shrugged and walked inside.

Clarke chuckled to himself. He didn't care for the teasing, but at least it was in good fun. He smiled when he saw Maggie. She was looking down at her phone so she didn't see him. "Yes ma'am?" He asked her.

"Hi. I hope it was okay that I asked Pete to get you. I wanted to talk to you, but only if you aren't busy." She tucked her hair behind her ear.

"I'm not busy. We just got back from a call."

"I wanted to say thanks again for driving me home Saturday night. I get stubborn when I'm drunk if you didn't notice." She admitted.

"I might have noticed, and you're welcome. I didn't want you to drive yourself home. I've got your keys in my locker. Herrmann asked me about them when we came on shift. So now everyone knows that I drove you home."

"Oh my gosh. I am so sorry." She covered her mouth and giggled.

"It's okay. They mean well. Maybe." He chuckled.

"I'm sure they do." The wind caught her hair and blew it in her face.

Before he thought about it he reached up and brushed the hair out of her face.

She blushed. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He meant to apologize, but that didn't come out.

"I came by to talk to Pete and then talk to you if you would talk to me." She was trying not to stumble over her words.

"Why wouldn't I talk to you?" He looked confused.

"I don't know." She shrugged. "Pete and I are just friends. He's been my best friend for as long as I can remember. I came to talk to him this morning…" She let her voice trail off. She debated telling him. "It's been fourteen years since I lost my dad." She pinched the bridge of her nose. Sometimes that helped to keep her from crying.

"I'm so sorry." He wanted to hug her. He wondered if he should ask. "Need a hug?"

"Yeah." She nodded.

He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug.

She leaned her head against his chest and returned the hug. She could smell the smoke on his jacket. Her phone started ringing.

He reluctantly let her go.

"Yes Uncle Christopher?" She sounded annoyed.

"Are you still outside talking to Clarke? 'Cause if you are will you two get your butts in here and eat breakfast? We're not going to save food for you."

She rolled her eyes. He was trying to sound serious, but she knew he was joking. "I'm waiting on Aunt Cindy. She's going to pick me up and we're going to eat breakfast."

"Oh that'll be nice. Well, still tell Clarke to get in here." He laughed.

"Will do. See you later." She hung up and laughed. "He says to get your butt in there and eat breakfast."

"Okay." He laughed. "You're welcome to eat with us."

"I know. Not today though. I don't get to spend a lot of time with my aunt without children."

"Have fun." He smiled.

"Thanks."

"Hey, I have a question for you." He said.

"Okay."

"Um." He didn't mean to start with 'um'. He was nervous. "Would you want to go out with me?"

She grinned. "I'd love to."

He grinned.

"I have one condition though." She said.

"What's that?" He wondered what she was going to say.

"I need my car back first." She smirked.

"I think we can work something out." He laughed.

"Sounds like a plan." She smiled. "Oh, and tell Peter Mills that if he ratted me out I'll kick his butt. 'Cause I don't know how else Uncle Christopher found out I was talking to you."

"Who knows." He shook his head. "Have a nice breakfast." He saw Cindy pull up.

"Thanks. You too." She smiled.


I couldn't find names for Herrmann's other two children - just 'unnamed son and unnamed daughter'. So I added my own names. :)

Thanks for reading! :)