Author's Note: It's been awhile, I know. And please accept my deepest and most heartfelt apologies. I have a steadfast rule that I won't publish a chapter until I feel I have a good handle on the next one, and well...the next one gave me a lot of heartburn, therefore this one had to wait to be published. But (!) this one's quite a bit longer, so hopefully that makes up for it, and it was worth the wait. Enjoy! -Manda.

The Defense Rests

Bobbie woke with a slight groan as they reached the house. Shane moved his arm carefully from under her head. Instead of guiding her out to help her walk, as when they left the bar, he slid his arms under her legs and arms and pulled her out. She waited for him to set her down, but he turned and walked to the house.

"Hey," she protested weakly, but she didn't try to get down. He ignored her, jostling her (a bit rougher than was strictly called for, in Bobbie's opinion) to adjust his grip.

"Throw up on me and I'll drop you, I swear," he threatened when she groaned at the movement. She responded by glaring at him.

"No promises." Surprisingly, he just chuckled once humorlessly and rolled his eyes as they reached the door.

"Go put her on my bed," Jimmy said, holding it open for Shane. "You and I will crash out here."

"No, I'm going home," Shane argued, stopping to look at his friend without putting her down. Jimmy held up a set of keys and jangled them tauntingly.

"Then I guess you're walking." Shane exhaled and glared at Jimmy. The two of them stood there, staring each other down. Rather, Shane was staring Jimmy down. Jimmy, on the other hand, just grinned, knowing he'd won.

"I hate to disrupt this display of manhood, but may I get down now?" Bobbie interjected impatiently, her speech slightly slurred. Shane glared at Jimmy one more time before taking her into the bedroom. Rather than putting her down, he looked at her suspiciously.

"You don't need to get sick or anything, do you? It wouldn't be very polite to do it all over Jimmy's bed."

"No, Shane, I do not. Now can I get down?" To her surprise, he grinned.

"You sure?"

"Yeeeesss..." she replied, feeling, for the first time, a bit apprehensive at the close proximity.

He still didn't move to put her down as he looked at her thoughtfully.

"What's with you?" she demanded. After another second, he shrugged and set her on the bed.

"Nothing. You want a teeshirt to sleep in?"

"Um...sure." He turned and pulled open a drawer, then tossed a shirt to her. He hesitated, then pulled another drawer open and dropped a pair of sweatpants on the foot of the bed.

"In case you need to get up during the night. Anything else?"

"No..." she replied softly, more than a little thrown off by this new side of Shane she was seeing. He nodded once and lifted his hand in a slightly awkward wave.

"All right then. Have a good sleep."

"Okay," she answered, still in the same soft tone. Without another word, Shane turned and left.

"She okay?" Jimmy asked as he arranged one of the couch pillows before laying on it. Easy-going guy he was, Jimmy could arrange himself into a comfortable position as easily as throwing one leg over the back of the couch and folding his arms over his chest.

"Seems to be. I gave her one of your teeshirts to sleep in. Hope that's okay." Jimmy rolled his eyes, knowing Shane couldn't care less whether or not he minded.

"That's fine." He paused, wondering how, and if, to broach the subject. "So. Strongbow?" he asked casually.

Shane shrugged as he pulled his boot off. "It was nothing."

"Okay. It's just a little out of the ordinary, that's all."

Shane dropped his foot onto the floor a bit harder than necessary and fixed Jimmy with a warning look. "Drop it, okay?"

"I just can't believe it. I distinctly remember you calling Jim Beam when you challenged Rachel last year," Jimmy reminded him with a shrug of his own. Then he made a show of shifting into a more comfortable position and closing his eyes. Shane sighed loudly and stopped punching his pillow into submission; he couldn't get comfortable as quickly as his annoyingly happy-go-lucky friend. Jimmy didn't need to open his eyes to receive the full blast of heat from the glare Shane shot him.

"Look, she was already buzzing pretty hard. It wouldn't have been right to call anything stronger than beer," Shane answered defensively. Jimmy decided not to point out that Rachel had been much farther gone—which had been mostly Shane's doing—than Bobbie at the time.

"Of course," he replied instead, nodding. "Strongbow's technically cider, though," Jimmy couldn't help correcting.

"Well, yeah, I didn't want to look like a pussy!" Shane exclaimed.

"Sure," Jimmy said, ever the agreeable one. This earned him a scowl from his less-amiable friend.

"Can we just go to sleep now?"

Jimmy grinned, his eyes still closed. "Sure, sure. Whatever you want, pal." He didn't bother to smother his snicker after Shane shut off the light.

"Shut up," Shane growled back.

-X-X-

Shane woke the next morning to a pillow hitting his shoulder.

"What the—? What'sa matter?" he asked groggily, opening one bleary eye.

"Julia just called. She needs me to start her car," Jimmy said.

Shane groaned and threw an arm over his face. "So?"

"So, I need you wait here until Bobbie's awake. I don't want her to wake up here alone. She might assume...um..."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Shane replied, waving his free hand dismissively. "And, incidentally, why do you bother? That damn Volvo hasn't run since about 2003 and you know it." He didn't need to move his arm to know that Jimmy shrugged helplessly at the question.

"Just do me a favor and explain things when she wakes up, okay? I already called Sparky, he knows she's here."

Shane groaned again; it was common knowledge that the editor of the town newspaper despised him. He doubted Sparky discovering that Shane had gotten his beloved niece plastered her first night in town would be winning him any brownie points. "Fine. Go break the news to Julia. Again."

"Thanks," Jimmy said. "See you later, then." Shane heard the door close a few minutes later.

Shane tried in vain to fall back asleep, but after twenty minutes, sighed and heaved himself off of the couch. He slumped into the kitchen and helped himself to some of Jimmy's coffee and bread. Just as the toast popped up, he heard footsteps behind him and turned to see Bobbie walking sleepily into the kitchen, one hand covering a large yawn, the other wrapped around a fistful of Jimmy's sweatpants, holding them up.

"Hey," she said through the yawn. "What time is it?"

"Morning, sleeping beauty," he replied, pulling the toast out. Then he checked his watch. "About ten."

Bobbie's green eyes widened in shock. "Damn, Sparky'll be worried sick. Where's my phone?" she asked anxiously, looking around.

Shane rolled his eyes. "Chill out. Jimmy called him, he's cool."

Bobbie immediately calmed down. "Oh. Good. So...where is Jimmy?"

"He had to go help Julia. Guess you're stuck with me this morning."

"Oh. So...why are you here?"

"Babysitting," he replied. "Jimmy wanted me to stay so you wouldn't wake up by yourself in a strange house and freak out." He glanced up at her and motioned vaguely with the butter knife. "Your purse is in the other room if you want to, ah...freshen up a little," he informed her, his glance shifting up to her hair with a smirk. Her hand immediately flew to her bedhead hair, and she let out a groan. Shane snickered as he finished buttering his toast.

"Thanks." She turned and started shuffling back out of the kitchen.

"Hey, you want some coffee or something?" he asked after her. She turned slowly, a confused look on her face.

"Uh...sure." She hesitated, then added, "Thanks," in a slightly baffled tone.

"No problem," he answered, feeling inexplicably irritated at her confusion, and remembering Jimmy's smugness the night before. Really, couldn't a guy just be nice without speculation?

-X-X-

"Good night last night?"

Bobbie bit her lip as she peeked around the corner to see Sparky at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in his hand as he folded the paper and laid it next to his plate, a neutral expression on his face.

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun." She turned to go up the stairs, hoping that'd be the end of it, but knowing Sparky well enough to hope too much.

"What happened between you two?" he called.

"What do you mean?"

"Jimmy called this morning; he said he was leaving you at his house with Shane. I'd have expected better of Jimmy. Did something happen?"

Sighing, Bobbie turned and walked into the kitchen, plopping on the chair across from her uncle. He waited, a concerned look on his face.

"No, Sparks. Shane and I just stayed at Jimmy's last night. I stayed in Jimmy's room, they slept on the couches. Jimmy had to leave early to go help out someone named Julia, and Shane stayed behind so I wouldn't freak when I woke up. It was nothing, I was just tired last night and they didn't want me to drive." She was sure to emphasize the "they" part.

"So why couldn't they bring you back here?" he countered, mirroring her inflection sarcastically.

Bobbie thought fast. "Well, if you'd have woken up at two AM to two guys putting me into bed, you'd have been a little suspicious, no?" Sparky's green eyes, so like hers, narrowed a bit.

"I suppose," he allowed.

"Okay then. Are we done?" she asked, not waiting for an answer as she pushed up from the table. Sparky responded by snapping his paper back into place.

"Just be careful around Shane, will you? I'd hate to have to call your mother to tell her that you landed yourself in the can," he called after her.

Bobbie chuckled and shook her head as she walked up to her room.

-X-X-

"Jimmy?" Shane called as he walked onto the small trawler they'd bought together the year before. He was half-hoping he didn't get a reply, but he'd seen Jimmy's truck at the end of the pier.

"Up here," Jimmy called from the bow.

"Whatcha doing?" Shane asked as he rounded the wheelhouse.

"Just, uh...tying up loose ends and whatnot," Jimmy replied, holding up the net he was mending with a grin. "How about you?"

Shane rolled his eyes at the badly-executed pun. "Just needed quiet I guess." Jimmy nodded, understanding; the docks were usually pretty empty this time Sunday mornings.

"Bobbie get home all right?"

"Yep."

"Good." They stood in comfortable silence for a few minutes. "So. She's pretty cute, don't you think?"

Shane didn't answer right away as he gazed out over the water and shrugged. "She's all right, I guess. More of a blonde man, myself."

"Oh, I don't know. You seemed to take to her all right. For a brunette." His tone was casual, but Shane could hear the ever-present grin returning in his voice, despite the fact that Jimmy didn't look up from mending the net.

"What are you getting at, Jimmy?" he asked, turning with narrowed eyes to look at him. Jimmy's eyes widened innocently as he looked up from his task.

"Nothing!" he exclaimed. "I'm just saying—you don't usually act that way with women. Bit of a departure from the norm, that's all." He shrugged one shoulder and went back to work.

Shane exhaled exasperatedly. "Well, how often do we get new ones around here, hmm?" he demanded.

"Not very," agreed Jimmy, nodding.

"All right, then. Mystery solved," he said firmly, before looking back at the water he loved and hated so much and resuming his stony silence.

"If you say so," Jimmy replied. But he was still grinning in a very self-satisfied way.