CHAPTER 11: Heart of the Matter

Summary: The suspense thickens as Laura gives Max more juicy details of her unlikely encounter with Steve.


"Girl! Okay, hold up ... let's rewind for a second," Max demanded restlessly as she and Laura traversed the entry corridor of the mall, warily strolling shoulder-to-shoulder as they gossiped with hushed voices, leaning against each other in order to contain the covert scandal that had become Laura's love life. And at this point, Max had questions. A lot of them. "When did all this start anyway? How?"

Laura's hawk-eyed gaze was watchful and became shifty whenever they brushed past other mall patrons. When a group of students from school she recognized appeared out of nowhere and began walking towards them from the opposite direction, she quickly averted her eyes and grabbed Max's arm in order to careen her into the closest clothing store — she suddenly wished that they'd gone to the park instead.

Looking over her shoulder to ensure that there were no open ears nearby, she bashfully addressed her question. "You remember what happened at the auction, right…?" she asked under her breath as they began to aimlessly browse a rack of shirts if only to feign an interest in shopping. She could care less about clothes right now.

"Of course! The whole campus rememb —" Max began, only to pause as a realization dawned on her. For some reason, she had the impression that this 'crush' was a brand new venture as of the previous night but to find out it was a beast she'd been fighting ever since that night at the auction, it explained a lot! …Including Laura's recent lapses in judgment over other areas in her life. "…Ohhhh…" Her brows perked and her head canted in surprise as she sized her up. She had no idea her bestie was this sneaky!

"Yeah. That's when," Laura confirmed with a rueful nod of her head. "As far as 'how'? …That's the part I'm still trying to figure out. And last night didn't help matters much."

"But what else could've happened? Didn't you pass out?" Max asked in confusion as she continued to sift through the rack, pulling out a couple of blouses and a leather jacket to try on.

Laura, on the other hand, had given up the facade of shopping the moment memories of the previous night flooded the peripherals of her mind, distracting her from any hope of grounding herself. "I did. But it was about midnight when I woke up and I saw Steve all curled up on the floor, sleeping like a baby," she recounted in a hushed tone as she opted to lean on the rack instead of looking through it, residuals of her hangover still sending dull waves of pain through her skull.

All she could do at this point was surrender to the fact that no matter how many times she tried to wake up from it, this bizarre nightmare had no plans on ending anytime soon. She had to wonder just how much of it she could have really avoided from the start. "I was still really wasted and I got so dizzy and nauseous that I puked all over his shoes. That's when he woke up."

"Oh God, gross…" Max gasped softly, disturbed by the ghastly visuals that came to mind, her face twisted in disgust. "That had to have been pretty awkward."

"To Steve?" Laura scoffed dramatically and swatted the air in dismissal. "Pfft! Girl, puh-leeease — he thought it was endearing."

"…Oh yeah …" Max replied dryly, her repulsion subdued by the fact that you couldn't really expect anything less from Steve. This was a guy that would happily collect insect feces out of sewer swamps if given the chance… she couldn't help but further question Laura's sanity, but she kept her concerns to herself; it wasn't her place to judge. "Forgot who we were talking about here for a second."

"He was really sweet about it, though," Laura insisted, completely unaware of the introspective smile that involuntarily graced her features as she rehashed the memory — it was as if she hadn't fully tapped into the fact that Steve was even capable of making her smile in a way that wasn't forced … and yet, between her tears for fears over the horror of the situation, she'd also catch herself grinning like a whimsical idiot when certain thoughts of him made it into her daydreams. "He helped me to the bathroom and even held my hair while I prayed to the porcelain genie … even though he kept dropping the toilet lid on my head."

"Whoa, hold the phone!" Max exclaimed in disbelief as she finally abandoned the rack in order to spin in Laura's direction, who vigorously shushed her when the volume of their conversation exceeded safe levels, turning a few heads in the store. Catching herself, she leaned into her friend and returned to her library voice, though the dismay in her whispered tone steadily crescendoed into sarcasm. "…You let him hold your hair? After you threw up on him? Why not just offer to bear his children?"

The glaring ridicule was certainly justified for a couple of reasons. For one, the thought of Steve even touching her used to make Laura's stomach turn. Once upon a time, she would have rather chewed razor blades. Secondly, and most importantly … no one wanted to hurl all over the person they're crushing on! "I was toasted, Max. It's not like I had much of a choice!" she rebutted in distress, though she failed to admit that if she did have a choice, it probably would have happened the same way.

"I thought you weren't 'that drunk'?" Max retorted with a giggle, echoing Laura's words and voice to prove a point.

"Only to imply that I remembered what happened — I never said I wasn't two sips away from rehab." Her logic made sense to her: it was either aim for his shoes or the couch and she really didn't want to have to explain that one to her parents, who were still oblivious that she ever went out last night, let alone got filthy drunk. But she did take responsibility for the fact that she had everything to do with how it unraveled in the first place and she owned up to it with a dismal shrug. "It's true: Steve jumps the gun a lot but…he had a really good reason for thinking things had really changed between us this time…"

"As if kissing him like he was Denzel Washington wasn't enough!" Max asserted scornfully with a murmur as she brushed past her towards the changing room with her chosen blouses in tow. Laura saw it as a perfect opportunity to hide and followed behind her with the first random shirt she could yank off the rack and they both disappeared behind the curtains of the changing closets, their conversation carrying on softly across stalls.

"That's just the half of it. He helped me to my bedroom and before I could help myself, all these crazy emotions starting coming up and all these ….things just started flying out of my big, dumb mouth. It was like I caught flap jaw — I just couldn't shut uuuuup."

"Oh my God, Laura..." Max buzzed with excitement, practically drooling for details. How could it possibly get any juicier than this?! "...What did you say to him?"


LAST NIGHT, AFTER MIDNIGHT..

"Gee, Laura. Who knew such a tiny tummy had so much … storage space! You just gave Linda Blair a run for her money," Steve quipped as he held the bathroom door open chivalrously for Laura, who had just finished gagging and heaving up enough residuals of her irresponsible night to bring back Prohibition. Having never vomited so much in her entire life, even she had to wonder where she could have possibly fit all of that alcohol, the debris of which had almost painted the entire bathroom floor — good thing her aim was on point.

As freeing as it was to completely shed her inhibitions for a little while, she was quickly learning a huge lesson in limits and suddenly wished somebody had warned her about alcohol's thin line between tipsy and tanked — she felt like she'd just pulled her head out of a gas pipe. One thing was for certain: it would be a long time before another beer bottle touched her lips.

Still suffering from a nasty case of double vision, she clung to the frame of the door and paused to gather her balance as the heaviness in her soured gut continued to weigh her down as if she'd swallowed a bowling ball. Somehow, all of that was still better than spending the rest of the morning with her head in the toilet. "Nnnhnnhh… I feel better now…" she insisted with a wretched groan and she attempted to lift her head from where it hung against her shoulder, gathering enough strength to release the door frame … only to have her knees buckle right from under her the moment she took a step forward as the world around her spun like a top.

"Whoopsie-daisy!" Steve exclaimed in alarm as he rushed to her aid and barely caught her before she could face-plant into the floor. "I gotcha! All righty, my boozing beauty, time to go sleep it off…" He strained with vigorous determination, a vein nearly popping in his forehead while his muscles fought a valiant battle with gravity to help her to stand upright again. Good thing her folks were gone for the weekend or all this drunken commotion would have been pretty difficult to explain.

Taking one of her arms and slinging it around his neck, his other arm looped around her waist to keep her balanced, once again forced to revel in the miracle that she seemed to have no objections being so intimately entangled with him as her limp, exhausted frame collapsed against him. He was still reeling from her uncharacteristic show of gratitude earlier and as much as he was bursting to beseech her for answers, his gears had kicked into mission mode and his only concern at that moment was getting her to lie down before she seriously hurt herself.

"You must be pretty disappointed in me, huh..." Laura slurred shamefully as she leaned into him, making extra special care to keep her eyes closed in fear of becoming ruthlessly dizzy again. The heaviness of her head dropped onto his shoulder as he carefully escorted her through the hallway towards her bedroom, her feet dragging sluggishly behind her.

Disappointed?! Steve's brows quirked as he peered at her dubiously out of the corner of his eye. It was clear to him that she had no idea this was turning out to be one of the best nights of his life! And that was saying a lot considering that he had a black eye and stains from her lunch all over his shoes… and traces of her lip gloss all over his lips — no complaints here! "…For what, love dove?"

"You would've never been in this situation if it wasn't for me…" she slurred, landing an contrite pat of her hand against his shoulder.

"Oh, no worries whatsoever, my pet. If anybody knows what you're going through, I'd be the one! I was the first of us to take a hitch on the tipsy train after all," he reminded her in an attempt to alleviate the hint of embarrassment he detected in her voice ... which was a little strange to him considering he was the reigning champion of embarrassing situations — he should be the last one she felt timid around.

"Oh yeah, I remember…" Laura perked her head slightly on his shoulder so that her forehead nuzzled his neck as the memory of Max's rooftop party came to mind. As a brief fit of nostalgia washed over her, she reflected on how that night was probably the first time she'd been truly worried about Steve possibly dying. "...when Willy spiked the punch… but that was different."

Being so preoccupied with getting her to her room without damaging anything along the way, he was initially oblivious to her subtle cues that drew her closer to him. Possibly because trudging up the traumatic memory also had him reflecting on the disturbing fact that his life flashed before his eyes that night. "I know, it was worse! I almost became a hood ornament!"

"Yeah, but we were still kids and you were tricked into drinking; I knew full well what I was doing tonight," she replied shamefully, straightening her posture just enough to withdraw her arm from his neck and mindlessly wind it around his midriff instead to get more comfortable ... which completely threw Steve's focus off balance, as well as his poor coordination.

Luckily her grip on him prevented an all-out collision with the door as they reached it, all while giving him an excuse to wrap both of his arms around her shoulders to keep them both from tipping over! What was even more satisfying was the fact that once they were safe from falling, she sank right back into him as if right by his side was the safest place in the world.

Steve was absolutely beaming inside. He couldn't help but seize a few seconds to cherish the moment as he felt her arms tighten around him, safely sneaking a stare as he peered adoringly onto her once her eyes fluttered shut. Being this close to her had always been a thing of miracles, but getting a glimpse of what it felt like to feel so appreciated by her was downright addictive!

"You just had a moment of weakness, that's all," he reassured her softly as a hand gently rubbed her back to assuage her worries. "We all make mistakes, angel face. Lord knows I'm the expert in that arena." He had a hard time reaching for the doorknob because he knew that doing so would mean he'd have to let her go... for now. "All I care about now is that you're safe and sound."

Unfortunately, as he was well aware, all amazing things were doomed to come to an end pretty quickly in his world. Surrendering to that fact, his arms reluctantly unraveled from her in order to turn the knob and push her bedroom door open for her. Once he released her, she swayed slightly until the support of the door-frame helped her catch her footing enough to crossed the threshold.

"… And you always did, didn't you?" Laura mused pensively as she slowly dragged herself towards her bed, allowing more memories of his consistent benevolence throughout the years to flood into her drunken daydreams. "Even when you were the one causing mayhem."

Steve remained by the wall hesitantly, not daring to cross any boundaries once she faced him and he watched as she lowered to sit on the edge of the bed. He could recall a time when he'd invade her privacy in a heartbeat by crawling right through her window, but being older and wiser meant his cravings for her weren't as innocent as they used to be either. More than that, now that it appeared as if their relationship was taking on a totally different form, his respect for her had elevated even more.

Opting to keep the remainder of their time short and sweet in fear of psyching himself out, he decided to keep things light. Besides, she could use a little cheering up. "Hey, in my defense, my bloodline is genetically prone to accidents. Why, my great-great grandfather was the one that started the Chicago fire," he jested with an impish smirk, tugging at his khakis over his navel with pride. Managing to draw a giggle out of her, his heart quivered with joy and he grinned from ear to ear.

"Hm. Well, that explains a lot," she replied with a grin to match. Whether it was a joke or not, she didn't find it hard to believe. What she did have a hard time accepting was the fact that the longer he stood there, the more she wished he wasn't so far away from her. She smiled warmly at him as her head canted innocently, her heavy eyes still half-lidded from drunken exhaustion as the slur on her tongue managed to carry a genuine air. "But it doesn't explain where you get your heart of gold from."

Blink. ...Okay, he just didn't know how to process these compliments and his smile went instantly deadpan. It was as if he was talking to a completely different woman than he'd known only a few short weeks ago and for a split second, he considered that just maybe this whole night was a fluke. That this was some sort of elaborate prank that he'd be the butt of in the morning.

"Well… my mother's cousin's brother had a heart of iron, so…" he retorted succinctly, feigning a clueless shrug as he allowed his doubts to get the best of him. Peering at the clock on her nightstand, he used the god-awful hour as the perfect excuse put this dream come true to an end himself if it meant lessening the blow of disappointment later. At least that way, he would have control over how it ended.

Taking a step towards the door again, he grabbed the knob with the intent of closing it behind him before pausing to regard her and offer a few words of wisdom for her impending hangover, which he could tell would be a hum-dinger. "All you gotta do now is rest your gorgeous head and just let all that sin to flee your bloodstream — you'll feel a lot better after some good ol' detoxing. Sleep tight!" And just as he was about to step out and shut the door on his wildest dream...

"Steve, wait..." Laura beckoned timidly, causing him to hesitate and peek his head through the door again to spot the bummed look on her face, as if he were depriving her of his presence a little too soon. And her next request all but confirmed to him there was a God. "...can you stay with me for a little while?"

…... Huh?! He couldn't help but make sure Stefan hadn't suddenly appeared behind him or something because the amorous look of longing in her eyes was almost frightening. She must be delirious! ...Or maybe he was just hearing things. He quickly snuck a peek over his shoulder to make sure either one of them hadn't lost their minds before turning to her with a most perplexed expression.

"… Really?" he asked incredulously with a hook in his brow, his voice magically dipping three octaves in utter shock. When the frog left his throat, his nasally falsetto returned, only twice as squeaky than usual in contrast. "You're asking me to … stay? Here? …With you? In your room?"

Aw. He's so weird and cute. Laura couldn't help but giggle softly again at his antics, more tickled by the fact that his deeper voice gave her chills of a pleasant nature than anything else. She offered a welcoming smile if only to ease his ambivalence and shrugged innocently. "Is that so hard to believe?"

Steve really only had one response to that as his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "…Is that a trick question?"

Laura couldn't say she blamed him for being skeptical, what could she really expect after fourteen years of telling him to get lost? When it was clear he'd earned every right not to trust her anymore, the guilt that she'd been holding on to for the last few weeks suddenly accumulated in her core, threatening to boil over. Her temperment became steadily more somber and pensive as she looked at him with faded, puppy-dog eyes. "C'mon Steve, please? Just until I fall asleep?" she implored, trying her best not to go overboard with a full-blown pout. "I don't wanna be alone right now…"

Steve took a long, meditative pause to properly examine the madness transpiring tonight. Was Laura Winslow... begging him to stay? He pinched his arm hard, just knowing he'd wake up in his lab, lamenting his hopeless love for this amazing woman. ...But then, he didn't. She was still sitting there, staring at him with a look on her face that just killed him.

It was official. He finally wore her down. Hell must be frigid right now...

He cleared his throat gently. "…Excuse me," he whispered politely as he calmly stepped outside of the room and gently pulled it shut behind him ... BECAUSE IT WAS TIME TO POLKA! As if thousands of fire ants were chewing at the seat of his pants, he danced victoriously around the hallway in a silent polka circle with every hip dig and kick shuffle in the book, a chorus of angelic accordions chiming in his head. He'd been waiting for this day his entire, deplorable little life!

Laura knew very well that his quick disappearance was a result of some kind of outburst since she knew him well enough to predict a classic Steve reaction. But while the door remained closed, it gave her a chance to conceal her own reaction, which continued to surprise her through and through — she suddenly found herself drunkenly scrambling for a mirror to make sure she didn't have dry puke all over her face! She'd already blown chunks all over him; the last thing she needed was to look like she'd caught rabies. And so she frantically tossed around her comforter to the point where she was swimming through it, searching for the pocket vanity she knew she'd dropped there somewhere.

When Steve was done properly exhausting that very necessary display of extreme excitement, he returned to the door once again as if he'd never broken a sweat. Sedated, he rapidly slipped back through the door to see Laura had slipped under the covers and had gotten comfortable against her pillows, flashing an innocent grin!

...Well, well, well. Now, he didn't want to jump to conclusions. But he'd be lying if he didn't hope certain odds were in his favor, if only by a fraction of a percent. Forcing himself to pull it together, he poised his spine, stuck his chest out, and coolly shut the door behind him with a kick of a saddle shoe. "Just for a spell," he obliged with a deep croon, the magical bass briefly returning as he swag-waddled into the room, brimming with charm.

Even though she surfaced from under the covers before he caught her fishing, she'd failed in actually finding the mirror so she resorted to hoping a quick wipe of her mouth against her sleeve would do the trick. She had every intention of getting back up to entertain him once he agreed to stay.

But the moment her head touched the pillow stacked against the headboard ... oh man, it was just game over. It suddenly felt like her bed was giving her the most unbelievable hug and she melted into the plush cushions in utter surrender. And now with the warmth of her covers holding her hostage? She couldn't move anymore if she wanted to.

Steve paused his gait towards her once he saw her deflate into the pillows. When he watched her eyes begin to flutter shut, her hands tucked beneath her face, he began to slowly retreat. If she wanted him to just stay while she fell asleep, he figured he'd just watch her from a distance for a few moments and revel in her beauty in serene silence. Stepping towards the seat by the window, he began to carefully lower into the chair.

"Why are you way over there?" he heard her murmur, causing him to balk just before he sank into the seat, standing again. When he looked up, he saw that she was still wide awake and scrutinizing him with a tired smile. "I don't bite ... anymore."

"Well..." What are waiting for, man?! Do you want this woman or don't you?! He actually had no idea why he had to talk himself into it but he eventually conceded to the doubts that continued to assault his intuition despite his trend of victories throughout the night but he just decided to trust the moment to take them in the right direction. "Okay."

Buzzing with ambivalence, he stepped towards her bed and leaned over to briefly iron out the vacant spot next to her so as to allow him to sit on top of the comforter without invading her space. But he noticed that simply sitting on it forced him to keep his back turned on her... it became a perfect excuse to get more comfortable.

As if to parry protest, he cautiously scooted further onto the mattress and pressed his back against the headboard so that he was sitting against it. And when his back began to feel awkwardly twisted, he slowly brought one leg onto the bed ... and then the other. To his surprise, all Laura did was smile graciously.

"Y'know … I've been thinking," she began softly, Steve most definitely taking note of the sincerity of her tone as she peered up to him with one of the most honest gazes he'd seen in a long time. It made him feel like she really trusted him and he was instantly engaged with anything she had to say. "We've been friends a really long time and … I realize something."

"What's that?"

There was something else she desperately wished somebody had warned her about when it came to being this tanked: it was like being stuck in a pit of drunken tears. Not only was her moral compass out of whack, but so were her emotions. It seemed like the further underwater she dove, the less she could hold her feelings — and thus, her words — at bay. With her internal filter completely lifted, the secrets in her heart gushed out unchecked.

"That out of everyone I know … you were the one I should have been counting on the most this whole time. You've never lied to me, you've never betrayed me … most of all, you've never left me. And you always stood up for me, even when you couldn't stand up for yourself…"

Those feelings. Those words. All that truth. It gushed and gushed with reckless abandon as she slowly sunk in vat of emotional quicksand ... and she didn't even care. For some reason, these moments with him felt more like fleeting opportunities than mistakes she would end up regretting in the morning. Alcohol had a way of completely distorting the reality of hidden emotions while at the same time magnifying their truth and she didn't have the strength to keep herself in check anymore if her life depended on it — her courage was purely liquid at this point.

Wow. It was truly astonishing to Steve to be on the other end of such praise, but to have it come from her was simply mind-blowing ... to the point where it was a little too surreal for comfort. "Uh… sugarlips…" he began tentatively as he turned towards her, "...not that I'm complaining but …I gotta ask. Why are you so … obliging tonight? I mean… besides the fact that you've tipped over more beer bottles than an Irish pub."

Laura couldn't help but giggle a little at his remark. He'd always been pretty funny, but she knew now that she'd never acknowledged it enough to laugh with him instead of at him... and now she couldn't get over the fact that she rarely giggled this much in many people's presence. This had to be the weirdest nights of her life... and through it all, she had to admit that he'd been the best part about it.

"You've been closer to me the last few hours than you have been over the past month!" Steve said, ironing out his reasoning for being suspicious about all of this. "For a second there, I thought Houdini kidnapped you."

All she could do was nod to affirm his right to be suspicious, uninhibited in admitting her dirt as she head sunk further into the pillow. "I've been avoiding you on purpose, Steve."

"…Oh." He deflated slightly, momentarily butt-hurt by that statement. Figures. "…But, I don't understand. If you've been avoiding me, then why all the …warm and fluffy sentiments all of a sudden?"

And that was when she felt the floodgates to her accumulating emotions beginning to rumble and buckle beneath the inebriated pressure of her guilt. And it just like clockwork, tears began to slide out of her eyes and onto her pillow. Even though she was immediately pissed off at herself for being so vulnerable in front of him, something in her was desperate to redeem itself. "…You really wanna know, Steve?"

Whoa, dude! No tears! It was like Steve went into automatic red alert the minute he saw her begin to cry and he instantly regretted ever asking. The last thing he wanted to do was be the reason she was upset. "Oh, no, please don't cry, Laura! I'm sorry, forget I asked —"

"It's okay," she insisted with a sniffle, quickly lifting her hand to wipe her tears away. "I wanna tell you, it's just kinda hard to explain." She wasn't sure if she was quite ready to tell him the whole truth, but she was at least willing to explore parts of it on her quest to redemption. Taking a breath, she scooted a little closer to him until her hand could rest gently on his forearm.

And it was as if her touch alone was all the permission he needed to just relax and give her his undivided, uninterrupted attention. So without a second doubtful thought, he silently removed his glasses and placed them on her nightstand. He then grabbed the pillow behind him and fluffed it to set it next to hers, flipping on his stomach so that he could lie prone and hug it against his head as his ankles crossed off the side of the bed ... ahhhh, much better. "Talk to me, babycakes."

Now not only were they both super comfortable, they were now nose-to-nose and could peer directly in each other's eyes. Their voices remained just above a hushed whisper as their conversation persisted as best friends just being honest with each other. It was one of the most gratifying things Steve ever experienced.

"Somewhere along the line, I guess I just thought you'd give up pursuing me if I was shallow and condescending enough — I've spent the last few years counting on that. But no matter what I did or how much I humiliated you, you were still loyal to me and my family. So when I missed your birthday … again, it just kinda hit me that I never deserved a friend like you…"

"Oh, don't say that. I did get your present, y'know. And I loved it! Whether you missed my birthday or not, you remembered eventually and that's what matters to me."

"No, listen to me, Steve," Laura interjected as a hand peeked from under the cover to grab at his and their fingers laced affectionately. And the more they surrendered to the moment, the more he found himself starting to truly believe that this ... was actually possible. "I really need you to know that you never deserved to be treated like a nobody. Not by me or anyone else. And I'm so sorry, I really am. I wish there was something I could do to make up for everything you've done for me…" A soft smirk graced her features as a thought snuck into her mind. "...But you're a pretty tough act to follow."

He was nearly speechless as she offered one of the most sincere apologies he'd ever heard, weakening his resolve. If he wasn't trying so hard to keep his cool, he'd be bawling like a baby right now. It was like she'd finally fallen out of heaven after years of offering up the same, unanswered prayer. "Oh?" he croaked as a desperately tried to keep it together.

"Don't you remember that time you brought a marching band over my house, just to ask me out? I always thought that was so sweet, but I never wanted to admit because that would mean throwing you a bone," she admitted with an impish grin, tickled by their walk down memory lane, hand-in-hand.

"Smarty pants..."

"And how about the time you interrupted a concert to announce to a crowded auditorium how much you loved me? You always buy me presents when holidays roll around … and sometimes, just because it's Monday. You've even proclaimed your love on national television. And I used to think you that did those things just to embarrass and annoy me. But that's not true. You're just an extremely passionate romantic… and that's a rarity in my book. And y'know what? …I kinda miss your serenades, too."

Steve's brows lifted in surprise at the fact that she'd even retained his impressive displays of persuasion to memory. He always figured that since she seemed to always walk away embarrassed that it never really stuck with her. Besides, he always had to one-up himself just to get her to stay in the same room sometimes. "…You remember all that?"

"Of course I do, why wouldn't I? Those are things that are kind of hard to forget."

Well, that was a relief. At least he knew all his begging hadn't been in vain ... clearly not if she was willing to open up so much to him now. "I assure you that I absolutely meant every word — written, sung, shouted, or whispered! And I still do. But let's face it, baby, those days were child's play. My desperate measures take on an entirely new face nowadays." Liiiiike, creating a secret potion to fall out of love with her? Yeah, he wasn't going to be that honest right now.

"But why me?" she asked with a knit in her brow, just as perplexed as everybody else had been about the nature of his feelings, which seemed so boundless and unconditional that it was almost ridiculous. He was the only human being she knew that was so passionate to that level. "How could you possibly be so loving to someone whose so horrible to you all the time?"

"C'mon now, stop that — you are far from horrible!" he insisted sternly, almost offended by her self-deprecation. How had she still not gotten the point after all these years? "Why, you're my favorite person in the whole world! You're by far the most gorgeous, intelligent, and caring woman I've ever known — hands down. That's why I do it! I love you, Laura, I'd do anything to try to make you smile, even if I have to take a hit ... or two. Or a thousand." Shrug.

Laura's eyes were bashfully averted as she was lovingly admonished. She knew he was right. But there so many things about their relationship that complicated its progression. And she knew it was their own faults for letting things get so crazy. "…And what about Myra? She's all those things, too, isn't she?"

Whoa... that curveball came outta nowhere.

He could have asked her the same thing about Stefan, but respectfully decided against it considering that he was just as responsible for her current relationship as she was. Stefan would never have existed without his brilliant mind to begin with and he created him just for her. He figured if he couldn't have her, he wanted her to be happy with someone he could trust. Why not his own genetically modified clone?

Questioning why she was with him right now instead of Stefan was like tossing a pot of precious gold into a pit of fire — there was no logical reason to go down that road of speculation when all it would do is diminish the wonderment of this rare and precious moment. He'd been chasing moments like this with her all of his life; he refused to ruin it for himself now! So all he did was tell her what she'd heard a thousand times already.

"Yes, but …this heart of mine is proving to be very inflexible; it wants what it wants. As much as I care about Myra …she'll never be you. No matter what you or anybody else says, I would never trade your friendship for anything else in the world because you mean so much to me and you always will."

Awwww. It was just so funny to her how much things had changed. She'd been listening to him say that for as long as she could remember and this was the first time she actually heard him. She couldn't help but smile as her heart began to humbly quiver. Her grip on his hand tightened and she lifted her head momentarily to place a soft, gracious kiss against his cheek before returning her head to the pillow. "I know you mean that, too … And you know what? Even though I have a weird way of showing it sometimes, I hope you know that I really do care about you, too."

He'd been waiting his whole life to hear her say that. It was still hard to believe he wasn't the one who was drunk right now. "… So, you don't … hate my guts anymore?"

Laura's eyes began to become extremely heavy, slow blinks lidding her gaze as she replied softly, "I never hated you, Steve. I guess I just didn't appreciate you…or rather, I didn't want to because I didn't know how." Not many people knew how to appreciate him, considering how he's constantly looked on as a nuisance. It took a special type of person to see him for who he really was.. which was why she knew she didn't have a right to blame Myra. The girl had been on point the whole time. No wonder people thought she was a nutball.

"But the truth is ... you're the best friend I've ever had. I always knew that, I was just too stupid to see it ... and …" She was interjected by a heavy yawn and her lids remained closed, her voice beginning to trail off. "I hope … you can ... forgive me ..."

If only she really understood the effect she had on him. He was rendered speechless yet again as he watched her begin to doze off, her words washing away all of the burdens and insecurities he carried with him throughout his life and they all seemed to slowly lift off of his shoulders.

SNNOOOORRREEE

He blinked as the mattress seem to rumble beneath the power of those Z's. "L-Laura?" His head lifted from the pillow to examine if she was out for the count. Satisfied that she was peacefully asleep, he carefully unraveled his hand from hers and hugged his pillow again with a sigh of content.

He could have laid there and watch her sleep all night but he knew he couldn't stay. While it was clear their friendship was turning over a new leaf, he was still very aware that they were both involved and unfortunately, Laura fell asleep before she could help him put a label on what she was really trying to tell him. Oh well, there was always tomorrow...

But he had a few more words on his heart and he let them out softly, hoping that she heard him somewhere deep in the recesses of her dreams. "…The fact that you care at all is more than enough to keep my ticker thumpin' for all eternity. I could never give up on you, Laura … and believe me, I've tried. But the harder I resist, the deeper and deeper I fall. According to my research ...it's just not possible. Thank you so much, Laura. This has been the best night of my life." He leaned in to land a final kiss on her forehead before carefully lifting from the bed. Returning the pillow to its spot next to her, he pulled the covers over her shoulders. Grabbing his glasses off of her nightstand, he returned them to his face.

With a humbled smile, he made his way towards the door. "Sweet dreams, my little honey crumpet. Sweet dreams..." he said just before flicking off the light and stepping out of her room, pulling the door close softly behind him.

And once he was on the other side, grinning like an idiot, he couldn't help but pause and reflect on what just happened. As usual, the shockwave of it was a little too much for his brain to process. Just like that, his head felt like it was floating right off his shoulders and without warning, he fainted onto the hallway carpet with that enamored smile plastered on his face.

Best. Night. Ever.


CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 12...

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