LOVE DRUNK

"Ted, you said this wasn't going to be too much trouble so why are you taking so long?" Maryse asked with a hint of amusement in her voice as she entered the room Ted was working in.

Once inside she put the box she has been carrying in her arms down on the floor and placing her hands on her hips she took a look towards the southerner's direction.

On his part, as soon as he listened to her voice manifest in that thick accent that characterized her, Ted stopped what he was doing for a second and glanced back at her. "Because I'm doing it right. Or what, do you want me to do it in two minutes so it would crumble down as soon as you put Sophia on it?"

"Hmm, I would have done it better and faster." She said tapping the tip of her forefinger to her lips and shrugging dramatically.

At that Ted smiled, arching an eyebrow and then snorting. "Better and faster? I don't think so, this right here is work for real man and not for a snobby French Canadians chick."

Maryse blinked a couple of times and then she flipped at her hair. "Snobby? Are you calling me snobby?"

Getting up to his feet and leaving the still the unfinished crib on the floor, Ted stretched his libs and turned around to face Maryse. "Well, yeah. I mean look at this room, you spent a small fortune in decoration and what's worse, you paid double the price for a gallon of paint just because it's eco-friendly…"

"That's not being snobby, it's called being responsible, environmentally conscious and caring for my daughters health." She said in that way only Maryse had of talking before blowing out of her face a lose strand of hair that escaped her ponytail.

Ted laughed, his eyes fixed on Maryse's hazel eyes as she smirked knowingly at him.

Now, for the last several weeks, the blonde's spirits has been to picking up and little by little she was going back to the old Maryse that used to be his friend. She laughed more often, she didn't act as if she wanted to tear his guts out of his body before skinning him alive and after seven weeks of refusing to go anywhere that wasn't the hospital or her hotel room, she has even agreed to flight back to LA with him.

Sure, there was no doubt that she was influenced by the fact that the doctors gave her the great news that baby Sophia was strong enough to leave the hospital as soon as next week and she wanted to get the room ready before taking her home and Ted knew that, but that he managed to make her take a plane to go three States away from the baby was a small victory on itself.

"That's nonsense," He blurted out, going back to the conversation about the paint. "My mom not only painted with regular paint but she made me do it for her and look at me, I turned out just fine."

"Right… anyway…" She said rolling her eyes and moving forward to take the roller so she could go on with the painting process. "There is another box in the middle of the kitchen; bring it here. I want to be done with this today."

"So, not only is she snobby but bossy too, and to think this is my day off."

"Hurry up, Ted!"

"Yeah, yeah…" He rolled his eyes playfully and walked out of the room, leaving the blonde occupied with painting the walls of the baby's room.

While he walked out, he came to realize that he was tired and he had good reason to be. Just the previous day he worked a house show and as soon as he could he took a flight to visit his daughter, then as soon as the visit hour ended he took a red-eye with Maryse to LA and the first thing they did was clean up, eat and hit the stores.

Now, shopping with Maryse was a task on itself and they visited what he believed to be all the baby stores in West Hollywood to then go back to her apartment so they could work on the room.

So with no sleep at all and already running on an empty stomach, he felt like he needed a break.

Not that he would rather be somewhere else because he wanted to be included in every aspect of their baby finally getting home with her mom. Besides, he wasn't going to let her go through the process of it all by herself, he knew that she was getting emotionally better but he also knew she didn't want to be far from the baby for long.

That she got kind of bossy every once in a while? That was Maryse and regardless of that he liked spending time with her, especially now that they were getting along so nicely.

Once he was in the kitchen he located the the mother of his baby told him to move, then he took it and then carried it to the room.

"Here it is." Putting the box down, he took a deep sigh when looking up he encountered that Maryse has stopped painting and was now staring at the wall intently.

He frowned, crossing his arms across his chest while he just observed her. Her hair was lazily pulled in a ponytail that was about to fall loose and all over her back… this was far from the immaculate Maryse everyone knew, and that he was there with her, watching her barefoot and dressed just in shorts and a tank top gave him a sense of hope.

Maybe it was false hope, but he didn't care at the moment.

He shifted his weight onto his right leg, noticing the way she was chewing on her lower lip while her eyes fixed on the wall… he knew her well enough to know that she was thinking.

He liked the way she looked when she was concentrating, but then again he liked how she looked all the time… and that was not a friendly thought.

"You don't like it." He stated rather that asked.

She broke out of her trance and looked him. "I don't know… doesn't it looked dull?"

Ted looked at it for a moment before turning his eyes to her. The paint was a pale pink, the kind little girls loved… or so he thought.

"I think it's pretty, not too scandalous and not too subtle, just perfect."

Maryse shrugged, her eyes back to the wall. "I think it's boring, I should have picked something more vibrant, maybe even purple. I don't want Sophia to have a boring room."

At that statement, Ted chuckled, but deep inside he was hoping that Maryse wouldn't be planning on another trip to buy more paint. The first time has been too much for him as it was.

Hoping for the best, he walked to her and joined her in her stare off. "Maryse… Sophia is two months old… I don't think she'll take notice on what kind of pink her walls are painted in."

"Well she may be young but she has eyes you know, and a boring room can affect the rest of her life…"

"Maryse, Maryse… you are overdramatic and I think you spend too much time thinking about little things that have no sense. This is a nice color…" He reached for the paint can and put a finger in it, soaking it with fresh paint, he then traced a pink line with his painted finger all across her cheek. "See, it even looks good on you."

Maryse opened her mouth in shock and for a moment just stared at him, then she finally reacted. "Ted!" She protested with a gasp as she wiped her cheek with the back of her hand, then she rubbed her painted hand against his arm, painting him as well. "Ugh, I hate you."

Ted didn't mind what she said and he went back into collecting more paint with his finger so he could wipe it on her other cheek. "Ah, pretty in pink, this is definitely your color."

Maryse's eyes were huge sparkling pools in her face. She didn't seem pissed off, so he ventured to continue his pink path down to her neck, then he retreated and smiled.

Amazingly enough snorted, dunked her hand in the paint and smeared it on his cheeks and forehead. "There you go, they say that real man wear pink."

Liking this new turn of events, Ted saw Maryse's rare playful mood as a green light to keep on, but when he was about to collect more paint to splash it on her, the blonde dunked her hand in the paint before him and painted him some more. This triggered a playful fight were their faces, arms and great part of their clothes ended up covered in pink.

It was a feast of pink, every girls dream and Ted's newly favorite color.

At one point as they goofed around, Ted took hold of the can and walked towards him, letting him know her intention of tossing it to him at any given time. "Take one step closer and you'll be sorry."

"Wait, wait…" He breathed out, reaching to grab her wrist so that she wouldn't throw him the paint. "You wouldn't want to spoil this nice floor, would you?" He tried to reason with her, and it seemed to work because she looked down to the floor… apparently forgetting it was covered in plastic so it wouldn't get ruined with the painting.

Ted took the opportunity to take the can away from her; she laughed and tried to act quickly by spilling it on him but she only managed to spill a small amount over him. Now he had full possession and control of the can.

"So… what was it that you were going to do?" He asked teasingly as she took a step back. "Were you going to throw this on me, all over my hair?"

"Don't you dare, Ted?" Maryse warned, backing away as Ted took two steps towards her, all until she was cornered against a wall.

"But you were going to do it to me." He smiled, his eyes taking on the way her own eyes sent him a warning.

"I'm warning you…" She said him again, even when she was smiling. He knew what she was thinking, not in the hair…

He introduced his hand inside the paint, put the can down and faced her. "Now, what part of you needs more pink, hmmm? He considered for a while… a teasing smile on his pink-covered face. "You have your face, your arms… Oh I know!" Before she could react or even tell him not to do it, he ran his hand through her hair, making her gasp in shock.

"Ted!" She yelped, her mouth wide open as she stared at him in disbelieve.

"Now this masterpiece is complete, you look lovely." He said in triumph, not backing away from her as she stood in her corner.

"Take this thing off my hair or I'll kill you, I swear I'm not kidding."

His mind worked fast and he grinned at her. "Alright… then let's take it off." In a quick maneuver that surprised the blonde in front of him, Ted picked her up, put her over his shoulder and carried her out of the room.

"What do you think you are you doing? Ted, put me down!" With that said, she rested her hands on his lower back, trying to find a way not to fall or maybe looking for a way down; whatever it was Ted kept walking.

"You want me to take the paint off? Then shut up woman," He said; then after some more walking he made it to the bathroom, into the shower and only when they were both there he put her down.

"What?" She started to ask but was cut off when Ted turned on the shower and they were both hit with an icy cold spray. "No… I don't have the water heater turn on!" She protested, trying to walk out of the shower but finding it impossible with Ted blocking her way. "Ugh!"

"Would you stop the whining and crying?" Ted asked, reaching behind her because there was a bottle of shampoo and a bar of soap conveniently placed there.

Maryse blinked, getting soaked as she spoke. Then she tried once again to walk away, pushing against him to evade the water, but Ted was not giving in… he was liking this too much.

Keeping her new line of silence, he squeezed some shampoo into his hand and then onto her hair. She let him do it and he smiled.

"The good news is, since this paint in non-toxic you don't have to worry too much." He said, concentrating on trying to take the paint off her hair.

It came easy enough, but because she couldn't tell how much she had left he continued for a bit longer, enjoying the way it felt to wash her hair… he couldn't have planned for a better way to get Maryse in a shower with him.

As he went on with that, the French-Canadian didn't speak; she just stared at him, her beautiful hazel eyes glued to his as he took the soap to take the paint off her face. He didn't speak either, he just processed into gently scrubbing her face, taking in with fascination the feeling of her smooth skin underneath his fingertips.

Sure, he has touched her before and more intimately than that… but it has been so long ago that he was feeling it like it was the first time he ever lay a hand on her; and the fact that they were together in a shower, close enough so that they were touching, soaked to the bone while her big warm eyes studied him made it all different.

It made him wonder what she would do if he leaned into her and kissed her. He only had to move forward the sightless bit to do it… she was so close, it made him wonder if…

"Here, let me help you." She whispered, rubbing some water off her eyes and then taking the soap from his hand. Like he did with her, she went to wash his face… scrubbing his skin, feeling around… her fingers roaming all over his face; he could do nothing but held his breath and watch her as she cleaned him.

Moving his eyes to her slightly parted lips, Ted blinked slowly and bringing his hand up he took hold of her wandering fingers and held them secure in his hold. "I want to kiss you right now."

Tilting her head up, Maryse placed her other hand to his hard stomach and remained like that, saying no word as her eyes delved deep into his.

Ted took that as yet another green light and leaned forward, his lips tenderly pressing to those of the woman in front of him and adding a bit of pressure.

Maryse didn't protest against that so he caught her bottom lip between his teeth and pulled at it, creating a way so he could deepen the kiss, sliding his tongue slowly into her mouth and tasting the sweetness of her.

Breathing into his mouth, Maryse angled her face to the side and dragging her hand from his stomach to the back of his neck, she started to kiss him back; making Ted think that this was finally his time…

TBC?

A/N: Big thanks to xxPunksterxx and NTXDiva for sticking to this; you guys are the best and I wrote this one as a thank you. I don't know, this could be the last update in a long time, I know it was left with a very open ending but I'm not feeling into this story too much as of late and I need to recuperate my Ted & Maryse muses who apparently want to run away.