A/N: I just wanted to thank all of my reviewers, you've all been so supportive of this story, and I was very nervous posting a RenoOC story. Your words of encouragement really keep me going :)
Chapter 9: To Not Forgive You
Reno thought Tseng's words through carefully, taking a full day away from Bee to consider them. He sat silently on his couch at his one bedroom apartment close to the heart of Edge. Maybe Tseng was right, he thought, looking over his collection of movies from his couch. Maybe Reno was really just lucky to have somebody like Bee in his life, and he should cherish that, protect it. He had never considered friendship before, it was almost a foreign concept to him at this point. But after having lived as a Turk for basically half of his life, he had forgotten what it had meant to be really human. He had given up his humanity the moment he made his first kill for the company. Now, Bee was giving him his humanity back. He went to bed each night he had seen her and the screams of his past victims were quieted in his head, his dreams less violent. She represented the innocent life that he could never have, never thought he had event wanted until now. Reno finally understood for the first time in his life why Tseng had been so attracted to Aerith. She was pure good, and when you are a Turk you find yourself thriving off of that goodness, trying to take some for yourself. So he would stick around, he decided, feeding off of her, while she fed off of him, balancing the two out.
He moved off of the couch, passed his coffee table, and sat before his TV so that he could pull out movies. Bee had liked Materi Rush, claiming that it was exciting, and she had never actually seen the plate in Midgar before. Though, Reno had admitted that it wasn't entirely realistic; people didn't really go hunting for or selling Materia on chocobos in Midgar on a daily basis. Or ever for that matter. He smiled as he remembered that she looked at him sheepishly and grumbled that she knew that.
He pulled out another movie and looked it over, deciding that he would bring this one to her next. He reached back to his coffee table and grabbed his phone, flipping it open and scrolling through his contacts. It wasn't hard. The only numbers he had in his phone were Tseng, Elena, Rude, Strife Delivery Service, Rufus, Reeve, and Bee. He clicked on her number and waited for her to answer.
She answered after the second ring, her voice crackling as the sound of cars driving by skewed her receiver. "Reno? Did you forget something at my house the other day?"
"No," he said quickly, looking down at his movie again, gripping it tightly in his hand and keeping his eyes on it as he took a deep breath. "I wanted to meet you for dinner, then show you another movie."
"You want to what?" she had asked him, her voice crackling again on the other line. Reno heard what sounded like a motorcycle go by.
"Meet you for dinner. You're going soon, right? We can go back to your place after and watch the next movie I have for you," he told her, becoming proud of his own idea. Really, it was one of his best. This was the perfect way to see her again.
He worried when she didn't answer right away. Maybe he hadn't thought this through, he usually didn't when it came to something that didn't involve the Turks. Maybe he was being too presumptuous. He wasn't good at normal social relationships, no Turk was. Maybe Tseng had been wrong. Maybe-
"Are you trying to get me to sleep with you again?" Her voice sounded again on the other line, interrupting his little mind questionnaire. "Because I already told you that I don't-"
"No!" Reno cut her off quickly. He knew it was too presumptuous. Man, had he screwed up. "I just want to eat dinner and watch a movie with you! You always eat alone. That's so boring. After the movie you can go play with the little girl or whatever it is you normally do," he said, referring to Marlene at 7th Heaven.
"Alright..." she assented slowly, caution and suspicion still in her voice. "What movie?"
"A comedy," Reno said, looking at the movie he had picked out, "It's one of the best ones Midgar has to offer."
"Okay," Bee agreed, "I guess I can let you invade my house for a laugh. I'm going to this small little diner tonight. Called Darma's Dine-In. You know where that is?"
"Yeah, I do," Reno said, not mentioning that the Turks had eaten there on occasion. Diners were good places to remain inconspicuous as there were always many different types of people that ate there. Turks weren't even the only people in suits half the time they went. "When will you be there?"
"Umm... Maybe a half hour? I have one last patient to see, and then I will be heading there," Bee said, and Reno had to strain to hear her answer, her line was so full of static.
"What's with the fuzz?" Reno asked, standing up with the movie still in his grasp. He grabbed his EMR off of the couch and tucked it in the loop on his pants, folding his shirt over it.
"Oh, that's probably the wind. It's really windy on top of the bank," Bee replied nonchalantly.
"You're on top of the bank?" Reno asked, completely bewildered, and even more worried for the girl, "That's the highest building in Edge!"
"Yeah, it is," Bee answered, still completely at ease with her situation, "But it's on the way, and it's very easy to climb up."
"Bee that's dangerous!" Reno yelled into the phone, rushing to get to the door of his apartment. He swung it open hastily, and slammed it behind him, almost dashing down the hallway to the stair case that would lead him to the streets below.
"Are you worried about me, Turk?" Bee teased, "I've done it plenty of times. It's perfectly safe."
"Plenty of times? You're insane! Forget what I said, you have plenty of excitement in your life!" he replied sarcastically, still yelling. He had reached the streets now and was running in the direction of the bank.
"I'll get down if it will make you feel better," she bargained, "It doesn't take long. The bank has a lot of ledges. Here..." Her voice drifted off, caught in the wind and Reno held his breath, and felt his heart race, hitting his ribs almost painfully, as he waited for her to respond.
"Bee?!" he yelled after she didn't respond for a whole minute.
"What?" she asked in annoyance, "I'm just... There! I'm back on the street."
"I don't understand you!" He basically pouted into the phone, annoyed that she had managed to worry him so much, "You aren't willing to get drunk more than a few nights a month, you've never watched TV, you spend most of your day slaving away in your shop, and then the rest being a fucking angel, yet you climb the highest building in the city like it's no big fucking deal!"
"Climbing things is the only thing that reminds me of the slums," she said seriously. Her line conveyed the sounds of cars again, and Reno knew that she was walking towards her patient's house again. "And it's easier to see the sky. I couldn't ever see the sky in the slums."
"Whatever," he dismissed, "Just stay on the street where it's safe and I will meet you at that diner, okay?"
"Okay, see you then," she affirmed before hanging up.
Reno hung up with a sigh, suddenly realizing that protecting her would require a lot of more work than he had anticipated, especially if she took his offer to bring more excitement to her life seriously. The girl apparently had serious thrill issues.
"Alway the quiet ones," he grumbled, crossing the street and making his way to Dinah's Dine-In.
Bee met him outside the diner a little over twenty minutes later. When she asked him how long he had been waiting, Reno tried his best to play it off like he had just gotten there. He didn't want her to know that he had left early, trying to reach her at the bank because he was worried that she would fall and hurt herself. It worked.
A hostess sat the two in a booth and gave them menus. Bee flipped through hers quickly, noticing that Reno didn't flip through his at all. He instead was looking around the diner, taking in every customer sitting down, every waitress that walked by, every cook behind the counter. She decided not to point it out, and ignored it instead with the understanding that in Reno's line of work, he could never be too cautious. She turned back to her menu, going through it slower this time, stopping at individual items that she would be interested in getting. When a waitress came to take their drink order, she asked politely for a water, while Reno asked for a cola. He scoffed playfully at Bee after the waitress had left.
"What now?" Bee asked exasperatedly.
"Even your drink choice is bland," he pointed out.
"It's healthy," she argued back, "And besides, you just admitted that my climbing was pretty exciting."
"No, I think you're climbing is your way of overcompensating for you boring life, and downright fucking insane!" he rushed back, pointing at Bee accusingly. "I wouldn't even do something like that!"
"It's the only other thing that I'm good at besides making products for my shop," she said sullenly, leaning back as her water was placed in front of her. She thanked the waitress and when asked for her order, replied that she wanted a cheeseburger and fries. She had been craving them since she took a bite of Reno's the other day. He ordered the same, handing both their menus to the waitress with a sultry smile, causing the woman to blush and run off with their orders.
"You're the biggest goody-two-shoes I've ever met in my life. You have to be good at something else," he told her seriously, not realizing that he was in no way complimenting her.
"You mean like you're good at getting women to have sex with you?" she retorted sarcastically. She motioned to the waitress who was eyeing Reno from behind the counter where she had placed their orders on a pin for the cook.
"Yeah," he said, very seriously. He ignored the stern look Bee gave him in favor of flashing the waitress a grin, and cocking an eyebrow in her direction. The waitress eyed him in what Bee could describe as hungrily, and then turned around to head to another table. Reno did not miss the way her hips swayed suggestively as she walked, and Bee did not miss Reno watching.
"Is that the kind of woman you like?" she asked him, her voice gruff. She found that she was unusually jealous of Reno's attention on another girl. She knew how much of a flirt he was, she had experienced and even succumb to it first hand. Seeing it in action on another woman was entirely different, and Bee despised the jealousy that bubbled up in her gut. She and Reno were friends, she told herself. Her night with him meant nothing to the Turk, a fact she had still not resolved with herself.
"Hmm?" Reno asked distractedly, looking away from the waitress and back at Bee. She tried to hide her jealousy and knew that she failed when he grinned at her knowingly. However, he decided to ignore it and responded, "Nah, I like smaller girls. With brown hair, high foreheads, gray eyes and pink lips that taste like watermelon." He stopped himself from saying more, berating himself for mentioning the watermelon lips out loud.
Bee looked at him, simply confounded at his words. She had been playing with the wrapper to her straw, but now it sat dejectedly in front of her, curled awkwardly in a figure eight. Reno waited in anticipation, hoping that she wouldn't bug him further about it because he honestly didn't know what to say back. To his surprise and utter horror, she began laughing at him. Really laughing, one that came from her stomach and shook her shoulders, causing her to hunch over in the booth. It was the first time he had ever seen her laugh so hard, and of course it was at his expense.
"It's not funny!" he cried indignantly, but that only set her off further. He heard her say in between breaths to not sound like a girl, and he crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. The waitress he had flirted with watched them with narrowed eyes, but Reno ignored her. "Bee. It wasn't funny. Knock it off."
Slowly, her laughter died down, and began small spurts of giggles that she tried to cover with her hand. "I'm sorry. Just... watermelon? That's different. You get all the girls with that? 'Hey, babe. Your lips taste like watermelon. Let me be the grapes and we can mix together to make fruit salad.'" She had lowered her voice to try and imitate his, and failed miserably.
"That," he said, finally getting his good humor back, "was horrible. Fruit salad? Now maybe if you said, 'I've got a banana that would fit perfectly with your watermelon' that would make more sense."
He was the one to laugh this time as Bee's face turned a bright red, and she excused herself to the bathroom she was so embarrassed by his comment. He laughed her entire walk to the bathroom, and when she exited, he laughed again when he noticed that her cheeks were still tinged with pink. She ignored him, and was glad their food had arrived while she was gone. She grabbed the ketchup before Reno could, and squeezed some on to her burger before taking a bite out of it.
"We're even," he told her cockily, fixing up his own burger. He was rewarded with an angry grumble and a reluctant nod, and he chuckled.
They sat in silence for the next few minutes, eating their matching meals in eagerness. Bee was always starving by the time she had gotten to all of her patients, as using magic used a lot of her energy. It was why she never waited to get to Tifa's to eat and always ended her visits at a house near the place she planned on eating that day. She was thinking about how her friend would react when she heard that Bee had blown her off to spend the night hanging out with Reno when the Turk in question finally spoke up again.
"You had the stigma, right?" he asked her, remembering that she had mentioned that she was in Aerith's church when Cloud had found her. She had gone to be cured, she had told him.
"Yeah, I did," she replied with a nod, "Why?"
"What happened when you got it?" he asked, "Rufus had it too, but he didn't like to acknowledge the fact that he did, so I never understood it completely."
"I got it on Meteorfall," she told him, thinking back to that day, "I heard that a lot of people that got it that day died almost instantly. But I had it for nearly two years, and I even managed to travel around what was left of the slums, healing survivors while I had it. Cloud told me the stigma was a result of Sephiroth's evil tainting the Lifestream, and that Aerith's existence in the Lifestream tried to battle it. I think that's why I didn't die. I was in Aerith's church the day of Meteorfall too, so I was exposed directly to the Lifestream. It came from the flower patch. It felt... like her."
Reno nodded. "Even the Turks felt her in it."
"Right. I think my exposure to the Lifestream that Aerith's presence was in protected me from the full extent of the tainted Lifestream. I didn't get the full brunt of Sephiroth's evil. Aerith managed to protect me, even then. Having the stigma was... painful. Very painful." Bee placed her burger down, and Reno paused from eating his as well, giving her his full attention. "It covered the right side of my neck and shoulder, which made it even more difficult to use my magic as that's my prominent hand. Sometimes, I would pass out after healing a particularly difficult injury. Or other times people would hesitate to let me heal them because of the stigma. They would be afraid to let me near them. It was... difficult, and upsetting to keep being rejected when all I wanted was to help them. I honestly don't know how I managed to survive for two years, but I really think Aerith was guiding me, keeping me safe, urging me to keep going on, helping despite it all. It was a strange disease, I couldn't heal it, couldn't create a potion or an antidote to ward it off. I'd never felt so helpless in my whole life."
Her voice broke at that, and she hated how weak she sounded. Reno had probably been through a lot worse than a stupid disease. Really, she was still just in awe that nothing she did could beat the stigma. All of her lessons in alchemy were naught when it came to the stigma, and she had watched so many people die because of her short-comings. She told Reno this, and he scowled at her.
"It wasn't your fault," he assured her, his voice gentle and betraying the scowl he wore, "It was Sephiroth's."
"And Shinra's." Bee couldn't help herself. It needed to be said, and she didn't regret pointing it out.
"And Shinra's," Reno repeated with a sigh, but said nothing else.
"Can we leave?" Bee asked, noticing that they had both finished their burgers, and not wanting to linger any longer. Reno agreed and then asked for the check. The waitress hurried over, dropping the check in front of Reno with a flourish, and Bee didn't miss the wink she gave him before scurrying away.
"How much do I owe you?" She made to grab the check in order to see, but Reno pulled it away before she could reach it. "Hey!"
"Don't worry 'bout it, bug," he told her, avoiding looking her in the eyes, "I got this one." He shoved a hand into his pocket and pulled out a fistful of gil, placing it on the booth and then standing before Bee could protest any further. She followed behind him as he hurried out of the diner, and frowned when she saw that he was carrying the check in one hand. They exited the diner and Bee frowned up at him.
"What's wrong with you? You took the check but left the money."
"Don't worry 'bout it, bug," he repeated, walking to the nearest trashcan and throwing the check away in it. Bee followed him as he walked away, but as she passed the trash can an idea struck her.
"She wrote her number on the check, didn't she?" His lack of response was all she needed as confirmation. "Reno, why would you throw that out? Here, let me go get it..." She turned to go back to the trashcan when she felt Reno's hand on her wrist, pulling her backwards.
"Little bug, why would you go and grab a number that I obviously didn't want?" he asked her dubiously. Sometimes, he really just didn't understand her. Such as right now.
"Because you were interested in her, and she gave you her number," she stated as if it were obvious, "You should go get it and call her and-"
"And what?" he asked, throwing her off with the sudden anger in his voice, "Go watch a movie with you and then leave your house, call that waitress up, and invite her to go fuck at my place? Because I can't get you to have meaningless sex with me again, I should just go and fuck the first whore that passes my way?" Irrational anger coursed through him, and he pushed away the thought that he was really only angry in order to cover up the fact that he got caught throwing away a girl's number because he wasn't really interested in anyone but the one he was currently with.
"What are you talking about?" Bee cried, tears forming in her eyes. She tugged on the wrist that Reno had a hold of, but he didn't let go. His eyes flashed at her, and she felt the first tear drop from her eye "I just didn't think it was right that you throw away her number like that. She gave it to you for a reason... Maybe she thought you were interested in her...Ah. Oh. I..."
"You forgot that I like crushing innocent hearts like yours when you figure out that all I want is one night of mind-blowing sex, and then I throw you away like trash," he supplied. That's right, be angry that she would think better of you. Be angry that she has hopes for you that you can never live up to.
"Reno, come on. Stop. I made a mistake and I'm sorry. You know I don't look at you that way. You're my friend! My friend! I'm so so-sorry. S-sorry. P-please," she was sobbing now, and was trying to pull Reno into the nearest alleyway as his outburst was gaining the attention of the people walking by.
Her sobs slapped him out of his tirade, and horror appeared on his face. He too glanced around to see people slowing in their walks to get a glimpse of what was going on. He hastily pulled on the wrist he was still holding, and dragged her into the alleyway she was headed for. It was there that he pulled her into his arms and cradled her head to his chest with his hand. He stroked her hair and looked for the right words that could possibly make it better. Of course she had just wanted him to take the number because it was the right thing to do. Of course she didn't think about what he would actually do with that number. Of course she just wanted to make Reno happy because she was Bee the Angel, and he was Reno the Fuck Up. Reno the Fuck Up When it Really Matters.
"Bee..." he began, his voice low and weak, "Bee, no. Don't be sorry. I'm the one who is wrong. So wrong. You think too much of me, bug. I'm not like you. I'm..." He trailed off, feeling thoroughly awkward. He had never apologized for anything in his life. "I'm sorry..."
Bee listened to his apology, his voice breaking through her sobs. She had been so scared there for a minute that he was so angry with her that he would stop being friends with her, and she didn't know if she could take that. Reno was the first person to take such an interest in her life, and having that taken away from her so suddenly as it appeared would crush her.
She snaked her arms behind his back and pulled herself closer to him, burying her head even further into his chest, angling her head to the side so that her mascara wouldn't run onto his white shirt. She noticed that he kept his hands on her forearms, perched delicately as if any amount of pressure would break skin. She clutched his back harder in consolation, holding onto the fabric of his jacket like a life line, knowing that if she let go, she would sink into the pavement in a snotty, watery mess.
"You let me think whatever I want of you, okay?" she cried into his chest, trying as hard as she could to calm herself down. She took a deep breath in, smelling the fabric softener of Reno's Turk suit, and finding it terribly ironic that a killer use fabric softener.
Not knowing what else to say, Reno weaved his arms around her back, holding her tighter this time, and nodded against her head. "Sure, bug. Whatever you want."
Bee nodded in return, her hair brushing underneath Reno's nose. "I want to go home and watch that movie, and I never want you to tell me what you think I feel about you again. Not when it's so negative."
He wanted to laugh at that, but thought back to his conversation with Tseng and decided better. He knew that Bee saw him in a way that he himself could never imagine. He knew he would never live up to her expectations of him. He knew he could never be the man that Bee needed. But maybe, for once in his life, he could be the friend that she needed. So he agreed to take her home, and gently moved her from his chest. She looked up at him, her tears finally stopping, and she gave him the barest of smiles, and he knew he didn't deserve that either. So he did the only thing he could do as her friend; he wiped her tears away with his thumbs and told her that the movie would make her feel better, and that he would never yell at her like that again. He would never make her cry again, he swore silently to himself. He walked her home with an arm around her shoulder, trying to comfort her with his embrace, and with every step he took towards her house he promised himself over and over again that he would never cause her pain like that again. He was supposed to protect her from that pain, cherish the fact that she had agreed to be her friend. Starting today, he would try his hardest to be the man that she saw when she looked up at him with her innocent smile.
Bee had calmed considerably by the time they made it back to her place, her eyes appearing less red and the tears finally gone from her face. She even smiled at Reno when he popped the movie into her TV, and leant her head on his chest as he had prompted her to last time. He put his arm around her, pausing for only a moment and wondering if he even deserved to touch her that way, but she had looked up at him when she felt his hesitation. She grabbed his arm and finished his movement for him, situating his arm on her waist instead of her shoulder, surprising him.
"You forgive too easily," he told her as the opening credits appeared on the TV.
"Maybe people don't forgive enough," she argued back in a whisper. He didn't respond, so she continued, "Besides... You've done too much for me to not forgive you."
"You're crazy."
"You've told me. So which is it? I'm crazy or I'm boring?"
"Both."
Bee sighed, the action raising her shoulders and causing her to shift by his side, but she said nothing back as the movie had officially started. Reno was elated to hear her laugh within the first ten minutes of the movie, and he felt himself slowly start to relax, glad that she had forgiven him. But he found it was harder for him to laugh throughout the movie, as the thought that he had caused her to cry hung over his head. How stupid he had been, yelling at her like that. How stupid of her to forgive him so easily.
The movie ended a little over two hours later, and Bee smiled happily up at Reno, telling him that she had enjoyed the movie a lot. He told her he was glad, and would bring another movie later on in the week, and she accepted eagerly. She noticed that he still appeared uncomfortable and was about to tell him that she wasn't upset with him when her phone rang. She grabbed it from her backpack quickly, and noticed that Reeve was the one that was calling her. She looked at Reno and showed him her phone, but he only shrugged, really having no idea why he would be calling her. So she answered, holding the phone up to her ear warily.
"Reeve, is something wrong?" she asked into the receiver.
"No, not at all," his voice sounded from the other end, and Bee was surprised to hear that his voice was eager. "I have very good news actually!"
"Good news?" Bee repeated in confusion. "About what?"
"I've found your brother, Bee," Reeve told her, his voice still delighted, "He was stationed in Kalm at the time of Meteorfall. I found him easily because he returned to Midgar afterwards to help with cleanup. He's been working with the WRO this whole time as a soldier. He was accepted without training because of his SOLDIER background. I called him to my office, and told him that you were looking for him. He was confused, you don't go by your real name anymore, but I told him you were making antidotes for our armies and he immediately knew it was you. He wants to see you."
"Toby... Toby wants to see me?" Bee asked, having a hard time finding her voice. Reno looked over at her in concern, but she ignored him. Her brain felt fuzzy, and she had to remember to breath again.
"Yes," Reeve confirmed, "He's here at headquarters. I can have a chopper bring you tomorrow if you want."
"Oh... okay. I can do that," Bee agreed, nodding her head furiously, her head still fuzzy. She felt a buzzing in her ears and Reno was no longer visible to her even though he was still next to her. "Can I bring Tifa with me?"
"Of course. Toby asked about where you were staying. If you had people taking care of you. I told him you were in good hands. I'm sure he'd like to thank Tifa," Reeve told her. He was still excited with his achievement and didn't seem to notice the weakness of Bee's voice.
"Reeve, please just... tell him I don't go by my old name anymore. Tell him I go by Bee. Please?" Bee asked him, a hint of desperation in her voice. She hadn't heard her real name in over four years, and she didn't want to start hearing it now.
"Ah, sure. If that's what you want."
"It is."
"Okay then. I will be sure to tell him. I will send a chopper to get you tomorrow morning just outside of Edge. Tifa will know where. I will call her and let her know what's going on."
"Okay. Thank you, Reeve. For doing this."
"Nothing could ever repay you for what you are doing for the WRO, Bee," Reeve assured her, "I will see you tomorrow."
"Right, tomorrow. Good-bye." Bee hung up her phone quickly and dropped it into her lap where she proceeded to stare at it. She didn't even hear Reno call her name from next to her. She wasn't even aware of him until he shook her shoulder, really worried now. She looked up at him with clouded eyes. "Huh?"
"I asked who Toby was. What's with you? This a secret lover or something?" Reno asked, still concerned and just barely annoyed.
"It's... Toby is..." Bee cleared her throat and tried again. "Toby is my older brother."
Reno stared at her, thinking that over. "Should I worry?"
"What?" Bee asked, thrown off by the question.
"Well, I banged his sister," he stated with a shrug, "He may want to kill me."
"It's not like that's how I'm going to start off the conversation!" she cried indignantly. Reno laughed at her and she scowled up at him. "In fact, I'm not going to mention it at all."
"That probably a good idea," he agreed with a nod. "So, what's the deal? You never mentioned you had a brother."
"Because I didn't know he was alive. He was in SOLDIER, 2nd-class. I thought he died when the Shinra building exploded. But Reeve told me he was in Kalm, and that he's still alive," she explained, still a bit dazed. She stared out the window behind the TV and watched as the sky slowly began to change colors as the sun set in the distance. "He... he wants to see me."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Reno asked, still confused by the whole thing, "Shouldn't you be just a little bit more excited? Or a lot more?"
"The last two times I saw my brother... We argued. He left me and my mom in the slums, and never came back to help us. He left us to pursue some stupid dream with a corrupt company while my mom and I... while we..." Bee felt tears well up in her eyes and she blinked rapidly in order to get them to go away. She couldn't finish her sentence and she continued to stare out the window.
"Ah. I see." Reno didn't know what else to say. He had never really had a family. The closest thing he had were the Turks, and he never had normal familial functions with them. "Listen... I'm sure it will be fine. I'm sure he's forgotten all about your argument."
"Yeah, he probably has," Bee admitted, "But I haven't."
Reno was thrown by this. Bee had just said minutes before the people needed to forgive more easily. Yet she was still clinging to an argument that had happened years ago, and with her brother of all people. He pointed this out to her and she shrugged.
"Guess I'm not as angelic as you think I am," she retorted sullenly, standing up and turning the TV off. Behind her, the sun finally made its way below the buildings of Edge and its last rays of light were slowly dissipating.
"You let me think whatever I want about you," he shot back, also standing.
"If I did that, you'd think about me naked all the time." She paused, and looked up at him with wide eyes, surprised at her own joke. He stared back down, and there was a moment of silence before Reno began laughing at her, both at her joke and her reaction to it.
"You're crazy," he repeated for the umpteenth time that day.
"Then why do you stick around?" she asked, though her lips were smiling again as she handed him his movie back.
"Because I'm trying to get you back in bed again, remember?" He looked down at her and wiggled his eyebrows at her and she laughed again, and shoved him playfully.
"Go home, Turk. I have to sleep now. I have to wake up early tomorrow," she told him quietly, walking out of her living room. He followed behind her, and gave her a wave before saying good night and disappearing down the stairs. Bee made her way to her bedroom and found herself walking to her open window and peering out of it. Reno was walking out of her shop and was headed down the street when he turned around. He saw her looking out her window and she flushed, embarrassed that he had caught her. He only smiled at her, gave her another wave, and then slipped around a nearby corner and out of her sight. She stood at the window even after he had gone, wishing on every star she saw in the sky that he would come walking back, and into her house, and make her laugh just one more time before she went to sleep, because Shiva, did she know she was going to need it.
