Madeline was a little shocked at the turn of events. After so long, Red was letting her into his life. So of course, she was going to take the invitation to stay the night with him.

Dembe had let her inside before Red came back from his meeting. She took the liberty of taking a quick look around. The first thing she noticed was the furniture that looked old and comfortable. The second thing took a little longer. There were books... EVERYWHERE! They on tables, chairs, on the bed, and on the kitchen counter. It seemed the only place that they weren't was on a bookshelf.

"Madeline, you made it!" Red called cheerily as he walked through the living room. She smiled as he pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her cheek. "How was the trip?"

"Long but relaxing," she answered. He beamed at her before ushering her into the kitchen.

"I made us some lunch earlier. It's probably cold now, but I didn't really have the right schedule for it." He stated pulling out a pot of pasta. He made a plate for both of them before sitting down across from her. "How do you like the house?"

"It's beautiful." Madeline answered. Red gave a quick smile before taking a bite of his pasta. "I've noticed it certainly has a lot of books." She added glancing at one on the counter. Red gave her an odd look before looking like he realized something.

"Oh no, those are mine. I have a habit of reading while I'm doing other things. So, they get strode around the house." Red responded. "What?" he asked when he saw a slightly worried look on her face.

"Raymond, you can't really carry those things around everywhere you go."

"Why not? The majority of them I haven't even gotten to read yet."

"You buy them that far ahead in advance?"

"I like to stock up on them." He answered looking somewhere between serious and sheepish.

"Honey, you're hoarding them."

"I am NOT hoarding them!" Red stated defensively as a blush crept over his cheeks.

"Prove it. Show me all the books that you haven't finished yet." She said. Red chewed on his lip for a moment before standing up. Madeline thought for a moment that Red was going to tell her to leave.

"Alright, come on. Only, let's make this more interesting." He told her. She stood and met his challenging gaze.

"Fine by me. If the book pile is as tall as you, you have to do whatever I want, with in reason, of course."

"If it isn't, you have to do whatever I want." Red responded and Madeline nodded. She grabbed the book on the counter and held it up.

"I'm assuming that you haven't finished this yet?" She asked getting a fish impression from Red. "I didn't think so." She stated before turning to walk out of the kitchen.

"Now, hold on! This is books I haven't read yet!"

"Ah ah ah. I said books you haven't FINISHED yet." She said causing his eye to twitch. Madeline chuckled. She always loved being able to outwit him.

They continued through out the house, gathering books as they went. Eventually, Madeline had Dembe take the books that they had gathered back to the living room. That way, Red couldn't cheat and stop short of what his height was. Finally, all of them had been brought to the living room and stacked on top of one another. Red bit his lip. That stack looked rather tall.

"Go stand beside it." She instructed. Red did so and sighed a breath of relief.

"I'm taller." He said with a smug grin. Madeline looked between him and the stack. There was less than and inch difference. Red's smile fell when Madeline started to grin.

"Take off your shoes."

"... I don't think my shoes will make that much of a difference."

"Still. I said if it was taller than you, not taller than you with your shoes on." She said. He looked hesitant before finally complying. His face reddened when he saw that it had made enough of a difference to make him shorter than the books.

"It's too close to call... Right, Dembe?" Red asked looking at his friend. Dembe only looked away while holding back a grin.

"Face it, Raymond. I won." Madeline stated and wound her arms over his shoulders gently. "Next, we can talk about all those hats of yours."

"Leave the hats out of this." Red stated getting a small laugh from the blonde. She leaned up and placed a kiss on his lips. Pulling away, she noticed him try to close the space again.

"Then, let's do something else." She said and felt his hands rest on her lower back. "Just promise that you won't read during it."

author's note_

So, I found all the books I have scattered around the house that I need to read and it's more than I'm proud to mention. It's no where near as bad as Red, but it's kind of bad. I could just picture Red hoarding unread books. Hope you guys liked this. :) Also, I thought Red needed some love after this last episode.