Author's Note: Sorry it's been a while. I was on vacation.
This chapter didn't come out like I had planned, but it happens so I just went where it took me.
He was completely out of his element.
He could handle some of the most brutal terrorists in the world, but he couldn't handle one dinner with one of Michelle's friends.
Noticing Tony's apprehension as they came up to the table, Michelle slipped her hand into his and gave it a tight comforting squeeze. He glanced at her and she offered him a smile.
She greeted them with a bright smile and ushered them over to the table. "Hey you, my god it feels like it's been forever."
"I know, we need to do this more. Where's this new boyfriend of yours?" Michelle asked, not wanting to delay the inevitable.
"He stepped outside, had to make a quick call. He'll join us once he's done," Angela told them. "Would you two like a glass of wine in the meantime?"
"Sure," Tony said, accepting the offer, thinking that a drink or two might help to settle his nerves.
"So this is the Tony you tell me about."
Michelle glanced at the dinner table as she took a sip from her glass.
"This is a nice place, trying to impress someone?" Angela redirected her attention to Tony, beginning to dig her claws into him.
"I'm already impressed," Michelle said, looking at all at the elegance of the room, knowing exactly what her friend was doing.
"That's good to hear," Came a voice behind them.
Both of them turned around and saw a Michael Williams behind them. He wasn't a tall man, but what he lacked in height he made up for in confidence and stature.
"Hello," Tony answered back.
Both Michelle and Tony set their glasses down and greeted him properly.
"Michael, this is my best friend, the one I always go on about," Angela said, making introductions. "Michael, this is Michelle, and Tony."
Michael offered out his hand and Tony accepted, firmly shaking his hand. "It's a nice to meet you."
"Likewise," Michael said, but his tone didn't sound sincere.
"I think I'll go to the restroom before we order." Angela said, signaling for Michelle to come with her.
She gave Tony a reassuring peck on the cheek and left the table.
Michael and Tony looked at each other with the same hesitation to be left alone with complete strangers.
Angela had just finished washing her hands, turning her attention to Michelle, reapplying the lipstick she rarely wore.
"So…you wrapped your legs around this Tony guy yet?"
Michelle turned, shocked by her friend smearing the lipstick on the side of her face, both laughing hysterically like they did in college.
They came back half expecting to see two awkward men trying to make small talk. Instead they were yelling at each other, laughing like they'd known each other forever.
"No way man, the Cubs are so much better."
"What are you boys talking about?" Michelle asked.
"Michael here thinks he knows something about good sports, I'm just educating him a little," Getting an eye roll from both her and Angela. Boys and their sports.
Michelle and Angela exchanged their "war stories" from college the rest of the dinner, some even getting a few raised eyebrows from Tony.
"You remember that weekend we took your parents car. You drove straight into that tree about a mile up the road?"
"Well if I remember right it was you who took the car and you who talked me into it. I didn't even know how to drive a stick." Michelle laughed, remembering how much trouble she got in, mostly with her father.
The rest of the night went the same, a little too much wine and catching up.
"Well Michael has to get back, I'm in town for the next week, let's do lunch okay?"
They said there goodnights at the door, exchanging hugs all around, except for Tony and Michael's "guy" handshake. They waved as they drove off in the slightly used truck.
As the valet brought Tony's car around, Michelle chimed in.
"I don't want to go home just yet."
Tony and Michelle walked the pier after dinner, Michelle not ready for the night to be over and still reeling from the wine. Holding hands, laughing, kissing while they got some nasty looks from other walkers.
Tony walked her to her door, surprised when she jumped into his arms, feet of the ground, laughing and kissing all over his jaw.
"Ah hem,"
She dropped her hands and straightened out her dress when she saw her brother, sitting at her front porch, looking more than angered.
It was hard not to notice the harsh quiet tension when Danny stood to greet them. Michelle shot a look at her brother sipping nonchalantly away at his beer. She was about to open her mouth to ask why he was here until Danny stood from the porch.
Danny looked at Tony from top to bottom, taking note of his neat attire. Tony could see the man's eyes come to some kind of conclusion.
"Let me guess," he began, raising an eyebrow at him, "you're Michelle's boyfriend?"
"Danny, what are you doing here?" she asked.
Danny smiled and hugged her. "Is it a crime for me to visit my little sister?"
"No," she told him, "I just wasn't expecting you."
"Apparently," he commented as he took in the sight of his sister dressed in red with her boyfriend standing at her side.
Michelle looked down at her dressing and then crossed her arms. "We were uh…" she said, at a loss for words.
Danny laughed with good humor and held out his hand to Tony. "I'm Danny Dessler, Michelle's brother, but you already knew that."
Tony shook his hand. "Tony Almeida, Michelle's boyfriend." It felt rather good calling himself that.
"Ah, so you're Tony," Danny said. "I heard a lot about you before you had me escorted by guards..."
"Danny, what are you doing here?" Michelle asked again.
"Megan is going to let me see my kids," he answered. "In a couple of hours I'm going over there. I had a couple of hours and thought I'd pay you a visit."
"Oh," Michelle said. She then turned to Tony. "Well come in for a minute," Earning her an uneasy look from Tony.
They stepped inside the house; Tony made some coffee, growing more annoyed with the man sizing him up by the minute. Michelle excused herself to change, leaving them in an uncomfortable silence.
Danny smiled a smug smile at him and swirled the beer in his hand before taking a sip. "I hope you don't mind, Tony, but since you're sleeping with my sister I should know something about you."
"First off, I'm not sleeping with her," Tony said, offended at his insinuation that he was only using Michelle for sex. "I'm in love with her."
"Right. I'm not a fool enough to think that what you do for a living isn't dangerous. But it isn't just that, it's you. It's what your capable of, torture, killing. Eventually it'll come back to haunt you…and Michelle," Danny said, leveling a stare at Tony.
"I would never let anything hurt Michelle, if that's what you're saying," Tony told him. "Not even myself."
"Now I hope you don't think I'm stupid enough to believe that promise," Danny remarked.
Tony didn't know what to say to that.
"She isn't safe with you, and looking at you now, you don't deserve her. She's too good for you," Danny told him.
Tony bowed his head down, a swell of emotions swirling inside of him. Anger, shame, resignation. A voice inside him screamed to tell the drunk before him to shove it, that he was good enough for Michelle. But there was a truth in Danny Dessler's words, and Tony couldn't help falling for it, letting it run through his mind over and over again.
Tony was quiet the rest of the evening until he left. Even when he walked Michelle up to her room, he said not a word.
When they got to her door, Tony let out a long sigh. "Well…"
"Well," Michelle said back.
Tony looked into her face, long and hard, as if he was trying to remember its every feature because he believed that he would never see her again. "Goodnight, Michelle," he told her quietly and then turned to walk away.
Something in his eyes told Michelle that if she let him go right now, she could lose him, and she didn't even know why. So she caught his hand before he took even two steps. "Wait."
Tony stopped. Slowly, he turned his head to face her.
"Stay the night, Tony," Michelle pleaded. "Please."
Glancing down at her hand clasped around his, Tony felt a little guilty for trying to leave her without a word. He looked up at her face, into her pleading brown eyes, and realized he couldn't deny her. Nodding, Tony gave in and said, "Okay."
Michelle gave him a small smile and led him into her bedroom. Without words she climbed into bed and tugged Tony in beside her, removing his shoes and jacket while slipping off her own. Lying beside him in bed, Michelle then turned her back towards him, scooting back until she felt the front of his chest, and wrapped his arm around her waist. Michelle felt Tony tighten his hold around her and she fell asleep wishing that he would never let go.
Michelle woke up in the middle of the night to find herself alone in bed. Looking around the room, she called out Tony's name, but got no answer. Moving the bed covers from her body, Michelle got out of bed and saw Tony's jacket in the same spot she had left it.
Slipping on a robe and a pair of slippers, Michelle ventured out of her bedroom to go look for him. As she walked into her living room, she felt a sudden chill. Shivering a little, she pulled her robe more securely around her body, and wondered where the cold air was coming from.
The door to her kitchen was open so Michelle went there and saw the window to the fire escape open. Tony was just outside, leaning against the railing and looking up at the night sky.
Michelle went over and climbed out the window onto the fire escape. "Hey," she said.
Tony turned his head to see her come up beside him. "Hey."
"What are you doing out here?" Michelle asked.
"Thinking."
"About what?"
Tony remained silent.
"Tony," Michelle began, "What did my brother say to you tonight?"
He let out a sigh before answering. "Nothing."
"It's obviously nothing if it's making you this upset," Michelle said. "So what did he say to you?"
Tony wasn't going to answer her. But then he felt her hand upon his arm. He turned to see her patiently waiting for him to tell her. The same emotion he felt when she asked him to stay the night came back and he found himself telling Michelle everything.
A splay of emotions flickered across Michelle's eyes as she quietly listened to everything. When Tony was finished, she looked him straight in the eye. "You really don't believe that, do you, Tony?" she asked in response when he told her that her brother said she was too good for him.
"I don't deserve you," he said.
Michelle shook her head. "You stupid ass,"
"My brother had no right in saying that, and he's wrong anyway."
"Michelle…"
But she wouldn't let him finish. "It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter that my brother may not like you," Michelle told him. She then gripped his head with her hands, forcing him to look at her. "I love you."
Tony swallowed hard and his heart lurched in his chest in love for this woman. His hands reached up to her wrists. His thumbs caressed the back of her hands as she cradled his head in her palms. Tony glanced down. Michelle took a step towards him, decreasing the distance between them down to nothing. Looking back up, Tony gently rested his forehead upon hers.
"I love you too, Michelle," he said breathlessly as his arms circled her waist, pulling her even more tightly against him.
Michelle smiled up at him and she tugged his head down to hers, taking his lips in a dizzying kiss that left her warm-headed and feeling like she was floating on air. When his mouth lifted from hers, Michelle moved to rest her head upon his shoulder. She felt his hand reach up to play in her hair, caressing the locks between his fingers.
Tony smiled into her hair. "I still don't deserve you," he said, "but I'm going to be selfish and keep you anyway."
Michelle let out a laugh and then pulled away slightly to look up into his face. She tugged on his hands towards the window. "Let's go back inside."
Tony nodded and followed her back into her apartment, right into her bed.
She kissed him then, looked him in the eyes, tried to make him believe. "I won't give up." She kissed him again, slid to his side, looped her arm and leg across him, and laid her head on his heart as she traced his chest and arms with her hand. He brought an arm around her waist, his other resting on the leg she'd brought across him. His breathing deepened and she began to hope he'd return to more peaceful sleep. She continued to trace him—she needed to feel the reality of him beneath her. She laid a kiss on his heart. "You're so beautiful," She whispered, pressing another kiss there.
The arm underneath and around her tightened then, and he increased his grip on her leg. She continued to trace his front and sides, dropping kisses where she could reach. He took his hand off her leg and took the hand she'd been stroking him with. Pulling it to his mouth, he kissed her open palm, and then tipped it to kiss the back of her hand, then every fingertip. She shifted so she could kiss his neck, his face, his shoulders, and let her lips memorize every inch she could reach, as his hand at her back stroked, feather-light, up her spine.
She felt her own warmth radiating as she tried to keep soothing him. But he suddenly rolled her onto her back, his entire body pressing down but where he leaned on his forearms over her, his breath mingling with hers, his eyes still dark with fright and love.
Author's Note: So I had originally planned to do more with Angela and Michelle, but it just kind of evolved itself into this, so I went with it. We'll be seeing more of her later anyways.
Please make my day and review!!
