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Chapter Eight: Shoulder to Lean On

Once I pull into the parking lot of the hospital again, I just sit there for a couple minutes after turning the car off. Danny gets out and heads inside to see Jo, but Rico waits with me. I don't look at him; I can't. I know that I shouldn't be as affected by almost losing Jo completely as the guys, but it's shaken me. When Rico reaches over to me, I let out a sigh.

"Go see Jo. I'll be there shortly." I say, but I still don't look at him.

"I'm not leaving you alone Lacey. I can tell that this is making you upset. I want to be able to make it better for you, but I can't do that if you don't let me." Rico says and I blink rapidly to get rid of the tears that are forming in my eyes and I turn to look out my window.

"Rico…" I say in a shaky voice.

"No Lacey, I'm not leaving you alone. Chief Masterson didn't say a single word to either of us about what happened with Archie after we left here earlier, so I am not going to risk losing you by leaving you alone. If you aren't ready to go in there and see Jo, then I'm staying with you." Rico insists.

"She's your best friend Rico. You should be there with her. She needs you." I say as I wipe the tears away.

"She has her mom and Danny. If she asks for us, then we'll go in together. Until I know that Jo is feeling up to seeing me, you are my main priority Lacey." Rico says as he coaxes me to look at him and wipes the tears that are on my cheeks away with his thumb.

"Should we call Chief Masterson and ask him what happened with Archie?" I ask slowly as I pull my phone out.

"If you want to, you can. I'm not going to make you do anything that you don't want to do." Rico responds as he sits back in his seat.

"Rico, if you don't want me to call him, then I won't. But if we want this relationship to ever have a chance of working out, then we need to have open lines of communication between us." I say placing my phone on the dash.

"Open lines of communication, huh? How about this; Lacey I really like you. I want to be with you, but it's getting frustrating for me to try and get there to really be an 'us' when you keep pushing me away. I want to be the one that you automatically turn to when you are having a bad day so that I can comfort you. I want to be the first person that you think of when you wake up in the morning and the last person you think of before you go to bed; heck, I want to be the one you dream about at night. I want all of this, but that won't happen if you can't let yourself trust me. I will never hurt you, physically or emotionally, and I'm sure you know that by now, but for some reason, you act like you are alone in everything you do. I didn't want to say it before, but you looked alone before… when you were with Archie and hanging out with the popular crowd. I hate seeing you like that Lacey. I know that I can make you happy, you just have to give me a chance, and you have to give yourself a chance to really trust someone again. Is that too much to ask?" Rico asks and I'm in tears. "Lacey, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make you cry." He adds as he wipes the tears away.

"I get emotional easily. I've just learned to hide it well." I say with a small smile.

"Do you want to head inside? We can sit in the hall outside of Jo's room until we're told that they are ready for us to come in." Rico suggests.

"Sure. But, can I do one thing first?" I ask.

"Go ahead." Rico says and I pull him in for a kiss.

After a couple minutes we pull away when air becomes necessary. I'm smiling for the first time in what feels like forever, and so is Rico.

"I thought you wanted to get to know each other better?" He says with a smirk.

"You can know someone for years and really know nothing about them. It doesn't really matter if the first time we ever spoke to each other was on Monday. The only way to see if we can work as a couple is to try it out." I say with a sigh.

"I'll take what I can get." Rico says giving me another quick kiss before he gets out of the car and comes to open my door.

As we walk towards the hospital, I hear footsteps behind us. When I stop walking, and pull Rico to a stop as well, the footsteps behind us stop. Shaking my head I start walking again and the footsteps start, this time, Rico hears them and pulls me to a stop, but this time, the footsteps keep going. I turn around just in time to see Scott coming towards us with what looks like a bat.

"SCOTT DON'T!" I yell pushing Rico away from me while I step to the side, but Scott follows Rico.

"Lacey, get inside the hospital… now!" Rico calls and I run inside and straight to the receptionist's desk.

"Call the cops." I say quickly and she doesn't ask questions.

"Lacey? What's wrong?" Danny asks as he comes out to the waiting room.

"Scott's out there with a bat and he's trying to beat up Rico. Danny, please do something." I plead as he hurries out. I follow him enough to be just outside the doors so I can hear what's happening.

"Hey Scott, man, what's your problem?" Danny asks and Scott stops mid-swing to look from Rico to Danny.

"This isn't your fight Desai. Stay out of it." Scott says.

"You're right Scott, it isn't my fight. And frankly, it isn't yours either. It's not Rico's fault that Lacey broke up with Archie, its Archie and Sarita's fault. I can see that you're upset by Sarita and Archie being together, but why are you taking it out on Rico? He has done nothing to you Scott. Just put the bat down and think about what you're trying to do." Danny says and I'm shocked to see Scott lower the bat to his side.

"I was so furious when I found out that Sarita was cheating on me with Archie. I mean, that's like, the ultimate betrayal. I guess I figured that Lacey broke up with Archie to be with Rico, and Archie turned to Sarita and somehow convinced her to sleep with him to get back at Lacey. I never thought of it any other way, so I saw Rico was to blame in everything. I'm sorry Rico… I lash out when I'm angry. Are we good?" Scott says as he sticks his free hand out to shake hands with Rico.

"Miss, do you still need the police here?" the receptionist asks me.

"No, I think we got it sorted out. But thank you anyway." I say before I walk over to the guys.

Rico still hasn't taken Scott's hand by the time I get to his side. He's staring at Scott trying to decide if it's a trick or not. Once I take his hand and squeeze it, he slowly takes Scott's and shakes it.

"Wait… why were you so upset by Sarita and Archie being together? Haven't you been hanging out with Phoebe more lately?" I ask giving Scott an inquiring look.

"We've only been hanging out more this week. You know, since Sarita and Archie were making out against your car. I was actually coming here to see if Jo was okay, but when I saw you and Rico my anger took over and I lost it. How is she doing anyway?" Scott asks looking at Danny.

"She's doing better. Her heart stopped for a little bit a couple hours ago, but the doctors revived her. She's asking for you Lacey." Danny replies and I look at him in shock.

"She's asking for just me?" I ask eyeing Rico.

"Yeah, I think she wants to really make up for the past." Danny says and after giving Rico a kiss on the cheek, I hurry inside and to Jo's room. Knocking lightly on the door, I stick my head in. "Can I come in Mrs. Masterson?" I ask.

"Of course you can Lacey. She wants to talk to you." Mrs. Masterson says with a small smile.

As I walk over to the chair next to Jo's bed, Mrs. Masterson steps out of the room letting me know that she was going to get something to drink. Once I sit down, I look at Jo and let out a sigh.

"I'm sorry Jo." I mutter.

"It's not your fault Lacey. You were the one that told Sarita to push the chair into my way. You weren't even in the diner at the time." Jo replies.

"That's not what I was apologizing for. After Danny left, I shouldn't have distanced myself from you. No one else really knew what we were going through, so we needed each other. I was wrong in thinking that we would be better off without each other… that I was better off without you. I regretted my decision the second I made it, but I knew that I was already too late to take it back. But I want to make up for it now." I say and tears are falling down my cheeks.

"Danny mentioned you blamed yourself for what happened to me on Monday." Jo says.

"I do. If I hadn't left you 5 years ago to be friends with Sarita, Archie, Regina and Scott, then Sarita wouldn't have taunted me about having Archie, and then she wouldn't have had a reason to trip you." I reply.

"Domino effect would implicate Danny in that theory, not you." Jo says. They are perfect together.

"That's what Danny said when I mentioned it to him and Rico." I say with a nod.

"How are you and Rico doing? Danny mentioned something about you two not talking." Jo inquires.

"Rico and I got into a small fight on Monday night. I was avoiding both Rico and Danny all week. Heck, I was avoiding everyone that I could have hung out with all week." I admit.

"What about Phoebe?" Jo asks.

"I talked to her, but that was about it. She and Scott have been spending time together this week, and Scott was still sitting with Archie and Sarita for some stupid reason." I explain.

"What about now? How are you and Rico doing now?" Jo asks.

"We're doing better. I think we are going to try an actual relationship." I say with a small smile.

"He's a great guy Lacey. And you deserve a great guy. Just don't try to force anything if there isn't something there." She advises.

"We are going to see where things go, but he hasn't actually asked me out on a date. You asked me out on a date on his behalf." I say.

"Not true. It was my idea to invite you. Not his. Lacey, Danny isn't the only one that wants us to all to be friends again. I want that too. That's kind of why I suggested Cinderella. I thought that if it was more of a girly play, then there would be a better chance that you would agree to go. I didn't know when I made the suggestion for the play or that we invite you that you had any kind of feelings for Rico. I thought he was involved in a one-sided crush with you. But I'm glad that you like him back." She says.

"Excuse me ladies, but Ms Masterson, you need to get some rest. You experienced Cardiac Arrest. You need time to heal." The doctor says coming into the room and offering Jo a small smile.

"Of course Doctor; I'll be back tomorrow Jo." I say with a smile as I stand up.

"You are going to the play tomorrow with Rico." Jo reminds me.

"I know; I'll come by before I get ready." I say before walking towards the door.

"I'm glad we're working on being friends again Lacey. I've really missed spending time with you." Jo says making me stop in my tracks.

"I'm glad too Jo. And once you're out of the hospital and feeling better, I'm taking you shopping." I say before walking out and bumping into Rico.

"How's she doing?" He asks.

"She's doing okay. We're gonna work on being friends again." I say.

"That's good. I won't have to choose between my two favorite girls." He comments with a smirk.

"I wouldn't ask you to Rico. If it came down to it, I would expect you to pick Jo. She's your best friend." I say with a sigh.

"It would depend on the situation and I would need to know everything that had happened to make the right choice." He says after a moment.

"Is everything okay with Scott?" I ask as I sit down on the floor and tug on his hand to get him to sit next to me.

"Yeah, he left a couple minutes after you came inside. He said that he was heading home to get sleep before tomorrow night." Rico says.

"What's happening tomorrow night?" I ask.

"Scott and Phoebe are joining us for the play tomorrow. Apparently Phoebe asked him about going right after you invited her, and he said yes." Rico explains.

"Well, as long as he doesn't try anything to hurt you, I'm glad that they're coming with us. Maybe once Jo is out of the hospital and is feeling better, the six of us could hang out." I suggest.

"I would like that." Rico says with a nod.

"Are you tired?" I ask.

"Yeah, I am. It's been a long a stressful day, and we are going to have a long night tomorrow night, so we should get home and get some sleep." He says as he stands up and helps me up.

"Where's Danny?" I ask as we walk out to my car.

"He's talking to the Chief. He said something about having an important question to ask him." Rico says nodding towards where Danny and Chief Masterson were standing and talking in hushed voices.

"I wonder what that could be." I say with a shrug.

"We'll find out in due time." He says with a smile.

"I'm glad you're here with me Rico. I don't know if I would have been able to survive this week if you hadn't been there." I say after a minute of silence.

"Like I told you earlier; I want to be the one that you turn to when you are having a bad day. I will always be there with a shoulder for you to lean on if you need it." Rico says as he kisses the back of my hand.

"I might just have to take you up on that soon." I say with a smile.