"Whatca doooing" Pizza Girl asked Phil "Watching the news" Phil replied in the same playful tone "What are you doing" he asked "It's a beautifull night, the stars are out and I bet we could see them from the bench on the porch" Pizza Girl was being sweet but it was time for Phil to start coming around.

"I can't, you know that" Phil stated for the ten thousandth time since they became a couple

"Who say's you can't, its dark and the door will only be a few feet away" she encouraged him "I'll hold your hand" she added standing up and leading him to the door. Pizza Girl opened the door and the warm night air surrounded them. He paused at the threshold "It's not that I don't want to, I just can't" Phil explained "Yes you can, trust me" Pizza Girl kissed him a long slow kiss. She pulled away from him and he smiled pulling her back in for one of many that followed.

She pulled him through the door while their lips were locked and all the way to the bench and sat down before the panic set in. Phil started taking deep breaths and Pizza Girl pressed her lips to his again. As long as they were kissing he managed to contain his fear.

Eddie pulled up and although he was genuinely happy for Phil he couldn't help but wonder what it looked like when he kissed Rory in that very spot. Phil and Pizza Girl sure looked close and intimate but he couldn't believe him and Rory would have.

-- -- -- -- --

Ickey was leaned over onto the counter that Darcy was so desperately trying to work at when Eddie came in and headed straight to the back of the store not even seeing Ickey or Darcy for that matter. "I've got to get to work, you gonna be alright" He asked and she nodded
"I'm cooking tonight, if your interested" she couldn't believe she just asked him out so to speak "I might be" Ickey turned and walked out the door.

--

Awkward was a serious understatement when Eddie made it to the counter with three tubes of window caulk. Darcy started to ring them up. "I'm sorry to hear about you and Janet" Eddie was caught off guard and stood in silence for a second"Ickey told me you two broke up" He laughed at the thought of Ickey's crush "I'm sorry I didn't call, actually I'm not.. I should have never bothered you to begin with, I guess you figured out I'm not such a nice guy" Eddie smirked but was being sincere. "I don't think you're as bad as you think you are" she dropped Eddie's change in his hand

-- -- -- --

Nick was late going to work and Aubrey was still wrapped in a sheet when she walked him to the door at a quarter past 10:00. Nick managed to get the door opened and stepped out of it still locking lips with Aubrey when they heard someone clear their throat as she picked up the newspaper wearing only a t-shirt. Nick looked up and Aubrey said good morning to the young lady.

"Lacey this is my boyfriend, Nick…"

"Garret" Lacey finished her sentence

"You know each other" Aubrey looked at Nick for an answer

"Yeah, we do… Lacey's parents live across the street from us, her and Ronnie are like brother and sister" Nick added "Does he know you're here"

"Yeah, I ran into him at the lake last night" she answered and Nick realized she was wearing a familiar shirt but she quickly excused her self and Nick looked at Aubrey in disbelief.

"Was that Ronnie's shirt" Aubrey asked "I think, but they wouldn't be, no way they grew up together, that's just to weird" Nick kissed her quickly and headed off to work.

Ronnie decided to be a gentleman and took Lacey to breakfast. Things weren't as awkward as either one thought they would be and Ronnie suggested she come by the house to see the Commander, he could use the cheering up. Ronnie caught her up on the Ridge happenings and the blow-back from Nick coming home. She told him she saw Nick that morning and Ronnie realized she lived next door to Aubrey, that wasn't going to be easy.

Lacey insisted on going by to see Best Friend Windows before they headed to his house to see the Commander and meet Lesley. Nick had already ran it by Eddie whom played dumb about the situation but when Ronnie came strolling in wearing the same shirt Lacey had on that morning in the hallway it made it that much harder for Nick to believe he just crashed there and when he asked to speak to Eddie in private he knew more than sleeping had or was going to happen.

"You've defiantly grown up" Eddie flirted
"I see you still haven't" she replied sending Nick and Ronnie into laughter
"Hey Nicky it seems baby bro likes em feisty" This time Eddie and Nick did the laughing
"Don't worry about him, he's nursing a broken heart" Eddie immediately took a straight face
"Maybe so, but I still work with your brother and sometimes it gets boring and we need we start telling funny stories just to pass the time" Eddie grinned tapping his pen on the desk
"Can we talk for a minute" Ronnie asked and the second they made it to the back room out of sight Ronnie hugged him and said Thank you repeatedly. Eddie informed him to let go or he was going to get hurt.

"Sorry man" Ronnie looked at him

"It's fine just don't let it happen again" Eddie warned

"So I take it things worked out well last night" he asked

"Yeah, but it's kind of weird considering who she is" Ronnie told him

"You should know Nick's about to have a fit wondering if that's who you were at the lake with last night" Eddie laughed

"I didn't know she lived next door to Aubrey until I was halfway through my omelet"

"Is that going to be a problem, seeing how you've got more than the hots for your brothers girlfriend" Eddie accused and Ronnie looked at him in shock

"Ickey told me what he told you and I think you had best listen to him, it want work the tension will always be there" Eddie warned

"I know and I'm trying to get over it but until last night it hasn't been very easy"

"Tell me about it, just be glad it didn't get as far as….never mind just be honest with that one, she's your friend and trust me you don't want to lose one like that" Ronnie took the cue to give him some space and headed back to save Lacey from Nick's questions.

"So, what have you been up to since you've been back" Nick asked suspiciously
"You always were an open book" she replied
"touche" he showed a little humility
"Ronnie can tell you what he wants you to know" she finished just as Ronnie and Eddie made it back up front.

When Ronnie opened the door for her and lead her out he shot Nick back the same look he was giving.

--

When Eddie woke that morning he knew he would never be the same person he was before Janet but Janet wasn't his anymore and he would be turning 29 in three months. It was time to finally figure out what comes next in his life. He had two options continue to spend his life wondering or try to find someone to love him. A task he knew he was doomed to fail so wondering it would be.

Janet and Hannah stopped by the deli for a quick lunch. They immediately noticed Eddie at a table with a not quite as hot as normal but still very pretty girl. "We can go somewhere else" Hannah offered "No its fine Knights Ridge isn't very big so we might as well get use to it." Janet replied and ordered her lunch. They sat down at the table farthest from Eddie. Janet with her back to him.

"Would you stop staring" Janet insisted upon Hannah
"I think I know her, I just can't place from where" Hannah said still staring
"Well who is she" Janet asked but Hannah couldn't see her whole face. They talked about the wedding and Big Cat and the possible connection to Eddie's beating.

"Ickey doesn't seem to think Ray had anything to do with it" Hannah told Janet "But you aren't so sure" Janet asked "On one side I don't think Ray could ever do something like that but I can't help but wonder if he hates Nick so much that he would go after Eddie to get to him" Hannah added

"Hannah, does Ray know about you and Eddie" Janet asked "No, I don't think so..I mean how could he. The only people that know are us three and…." Hannah's face went pale "Your mom" Janet said in unison with Hannah's "my mom". "No she wouldn't…would she" Janet asked "If she thought I was going to take Nick back she would in a heart beat" Hannah was beside herself

"I think you'll have more to worry about than Ray knowing when Eddie figures out whether or not Big Cat was behind it all"

-- -- -- -- -- - - -

"Well, Mr. Latekka I'll give your bid to my boss" The lady said to Eddie
"Thanks for lunch, you really didn't have to…." She continued
"Not a problem, you weren't exactly bad company" Eddie flirted
"I guess not; any way you should be hearing from us in a few weeks" she added as she stood to leave and Eddie stayed to finish his coffee.

"Hannah Jane, is that you" the lady said stopping at their table
"oh my god, I can't believe it's you" Hannah said excited as they hugged

"This is my best friend Janet, Janet this is Sarah we were best friends until I moved to the Ridge" Hannah introduced them "Nice to meet my predecessor" Janet picked "Well, it's a pleasure to meet my replacement although I'm sure your better at it than me" Sarah joked back as Eddie cringed not being able to hear the conversation "So, what brings you to Massachusetts" Hannah asked "My company is building the new mall in Mission Flats and it's my job to handle the bids, I was actually here meeting with someone from Best Friend Windows" she stated "Eddie" Janet said "I didn't get his first name but believe his last was Latekka, do you know him" Sarah asked Janet "Looooong Story" Janet said "That would explain why he didn't hear half of what I said, I'll try not to hold it against him though; he was doing his best to smile while looking over my shoulder" Sarah giggled "Anyway, got to run I have to meet a Mr. Ray Cataldo, but here's my number call me sometime Hannah Jane" and with that Sarah was gone.

Hannah and Janet were dangerously close to being late from lunch so in a hurry they gathered their things. Hannah bent over to pick up her shopping bag from the produce stand and Janet was digging in her purse to find her keys when she stood up. She bumped head first into someone and she knew by the cologne it was Eddie. Before he realized he had put his hands on her arms to catch her. He had come to say "Hello" as not to be an ass, part of his plan to get on with life, but when Janet's body brushed into him he had a surge of emotion for the first time since he finished the meds and in an effort to contain it he used his hold to push her back. "I've got to go" she replied and squeezed past him and to her car. Eddie just sighed and walked back to best friend windows. Hannah didn't even have time to see Janet off she left so fast.

Nick immediately noticed the irate mood Eddie was in as he slammed around the office. "Is something wrong" Nick asked "Why do people keep asking me that" Eddie grumbled slamming the door as he went in the back room. Though he wouldn't admit it to his self it hurt him that Janet couldn't stand to be touched by him.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Saturday night rolled around and Eddie headed to Sully's to meet the guy's but tonight he was going to sit in his usual place at the bar. He'd be damned if some woman was going to dictate his life. It was his bar and he was about to reclaim it.

He strolled in and sat down right in front of Janet. "Can I get a draft" he asked with such disregard "Sure" Janet said in return as she purposely foamed it up and handed it to him. "Thanks" Eddie commented and drank it as if he didn't care "the guy's have a table reserved" she stated coarsely as she sliced lemons "Yeah well I kind of like it here" Eddie replied seconds before Rory walked up "Rory, what goes on with you tonight" Eddie asked pissing Janet off but she refused to be jealous "You want to get a table" she asked "I was just telling Janet here how much I like sitting at the bar" Eddie was being smug "In that case can I get a beer" Rory asked putting her purse on the bar "Not a problem you're obviously welcome to anything you want from my bar" Janet said opening the bottle and handing it to her with a cheery tone. Eddie was surprisingly turned on by Janet's our right attack on Rory.

"That's good to know" Rory replied
"So you going to tell me what's got you in such a mood" Rory turned to Eddie
"I don't know, maybe I'm just sad" Eddie said boldly rubbing both Janet and Rory the wrong way

"I guess it's your lucky day because barstools make excelent places to rot" Janet barked and stomped off. Rory and Eddie talked for a while nothing of great importance but it didn't matter to Janet she had made up her mind to have some fun of her own.

She spent the rest of the night accepting and flirting back to all of Knight's Ridge's finest beer guzzling men and their offers. She handled her self well and found she controlled the drunken comments better when she gave them a little attention as opposed to her usual cursing. She finally understood what fueled the rudeness the same thing that fueled her self destruction, a complete lack of self confidence. Once she acknowledged them they were more pleasant to be around for the most part anyway.

Eddie had enough of watching Rooster strut around and left around 10:00. Rory offered to follow but he suggested it wouldn't be the best idea reminding her she was still married. She felt the ouch from that one. "I'm pretty sure Jake want mind" she suggested "Yeah, well I'm not really into the whole infidelity thing" Eddie told her throwing money down for a tip the rather large amount didn't go unnoticed by Rory "Why do I get the feeling we're talking about yours rather than mine" she asked "I've got to go" he offered as his answer and turned for the door.

When Janet made it back to the bar they were both gone. She didn't want to assume they left together so she decided it was best to stay busy and avoid all thoughts of Eddie Latekka.