It wasn't the fact that she was sleeping with her mortal enemy that freaked her out. It wasn't even the fact that he was sleeping soundly behind her. If anything, you would think it was the fact that when she awoke it was to find him spooned around her, his arms pulling her into his body in the position she had become accustomed to; but it wasn't. What freaked her out, was how NOT freaked out she was by the whole situation.

She turned under his hold and found her face resting close to his on the same pillow. She studied his sleeping features and waited for her brain to realise who it was staring at and to feel the hysteria rushing through her; it never came. She seemed to be completely at ease with the man she now lay with; and that would simply not do.

"I can feel you watching me." He said, without opening his eyes, increasing the pressure at the small of her back to bring her warmth against him.

"Daniel?" She moved her hand lightly over the hair behind his ear, noting how it was growing longer and that she liked it. He lazily opened one eye to look at her, the other one following suit as he took in the consternation on her face as she propped herself up on her elbow.

"Why do I think I'm not going to like what you're about to say?" He mirrored her position, leaning on his elbow but not increasing the distance, still keeping his other arm on her bare skin beneath the cover.

"Why aren't we freaking out?"

He rolled his neck on his hand, stretching the muscles, still tense from sleeping. "You mean because my Mom and the rest of the Brady Bunch have descended on us?"

Despite her confliction she laughed, and noticed how Daniel's lips twitched when she did so, he liked seeing her laugh; he liked making her laugh, it was wonderfully new to him. "No...I mean...what you said there 'descended on US' why aren't we freaking out about what we're doing?"

"How do you mean?" He asked, even though he knew patently well what she was talking about, he just chose not to be the one to voice it.

She rolled her eyes and him, knowing that no matter what she had said in the past he wasn't THAT dense. "You know exactly what I mean Daniel. Haven't you noticed that with the exception of our one half-hearted attempt to stop this...we've never questioned it?"

He dropped his hand on the bed and swiftly retracted his arm from her, sitting up straighter. "You're saying you want to stop? You're telling me this now, when I'm in the same bed as you naked...wow, way to exploit a mans vulnerability."

"That's not what I'm saying dumbass...I'm saying, don't you think it's weird that neither of us wants to stop it?"

Daniel shrugged, looking at her with a pained expression, flapping his mouth to find words to say. Again, she rolled her eyes at him. "God Daniel, do I need to spell it out. It's you. It's me. And it's quickly becoming about more than sex...and we're fine with that. That doesn't strike you as odd?" She sat up in the bed and drew her knees to her chest, looping her arms over them on top of the cover.

Daniel chuckled and sat up next to her. "Willie...we are in a police safe house with new identities and have left our legacy in the hands of two junior editors and an ex-alcoholic. Everything about this situation is odd."

"You're not answering my question." She faced him, losing patience at his evasiveness. "Why does this...fit?"

Daniel studied his hands for a second before looking back up at her. It was true, he was sitting in bed with Wilhelmina Slater, he should want to run for the hills, erase it from memory and never let things get that far again. But he felt comfortable, he didn't want to run and he most certainly wanted to keep going. "I'm not answering because I don't have answers. What happened to not analysing this until we had to?"

She bit her lip. "That's just it...I think we have to."

"I gotta admit, I never had you down as one of those 'where is this going' type of women...especially after only three weeks."

She shot him a stare. "It might be only three weeks...but even three seconds should have been too much for us. And three weeks is a hell of a lot when you consider how magnified everything is in our current situation. If this had happened back at Mode...three weeks would barely be a blip on the radar."

"This would have never happened back at Mode." He said gently.

Willie threw her hands up in the air. "Great, now I feel guilty, like I'm happy a poor girl got killed and forced us in to this."

She tried to continue her ramblings but he put a hand on her arm to stop her. "Wait...so you're glad this happened? Not the girl part...but you're happy with this?"

"Do you see me running away?"

Daniel smiled at her and she pushed his shoulder. "See! This is what I mean! Statements like that should never come from our mouths! We should have allergic reactions to the very sight of each other! We shouldn't be comfortable, we shouldn't be happy...not with each other."

He steadied himself again and pulled at her arm so she had to look at him. "I'm only going to say this once, so listen up." She opened her mouth to snap at him for talking to her like that but he clamped a hand over her mouth. "In the past year...we both fell in love, and we both lost it. When I lost Molly...I didn't think I'd even be able to smile again, never mind even think of myself with someone else. I know it was the same for you with Connor. Now I'm not saying this is...you know...it, but I'm not going to let something pass me by...no matter who it's with. It's cliché and over used...but life really is too short."

He took his hand away from her mouth. "We've already said this won't work in the city." She told him.

Daniel shrugged and kissed her shoulder, before looking up at her with a glint in his eye. "Unless I'm mistaken...we're not in the city now."

Biting the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling, she relented under his hand and let herself be pushed back against the mattress. He followed on top of her and she angled her head to kiss him, but he avoided it, earning him a raised eyebrow before his mouth latched onto her collarbone, he would never tire of the taste of her skin.

His hands levered him over her body as his head moved in between her breasts, kissing the skin there and again it alarmed her at how quick her body craved more. He let his weight fall on her when he moved his hands to her side and his inquisitive mouth moved over the flat expanse of her stomach. Her hips twitched when his tongue flicked at her navel. Before he could move further, she groaned in annoyance when a loud knock could be heard from downstairs.

"Ignore it." His muffled voice came from against her skin, his lips moving to her side.

"I hate our neighbours." She managed to hiss under her breath while she focussed on Daniels teasing.

"DANIEL!" A voice called from outside.

"YES MOTHER I'M RIGHT HERE...NO NEED TO SHOUT!" Wilhelmina recognised the voice of her former assistant.

They both moved at lightening speed, Daniel jumped up from her body and misjudged his proximity to the edge of the bed, landing on the floor with a crash. Wilhelmina grabbed her robe and covered herself, checking in the mirror, to ensure she didn't appear flushed. They didn't look at each other as they hastily amended their appearance. Yet again, it was as if Daniel's earlier words had evaporated with the arrival of their old selves. Having finally located his underwear, Daniel threw on his boxers and hurtled from the room; leaving Wilhelmina to ensure no trace of him was left behind.

Daniel tried to run down the stairs quickly, yet quietly; it wouldn't do if the people at the door heard him thundering down from Wilhelmina's room. When he reached the bottom he silently thanked the Gods that he and Wilhelmina had the presence of mind to shut the drapes of the living room, the night before. Delving behind the armchair in the corner, her pulled out the sheets and pillows that had been hidden there and threw them haphazardly on the couch. He jumped on them for a couple of seconds, twisting and turning on them to give them the impression they had been slept on; dimly registering that he used to do the same in his bed when he snuck in from all night parties as a teen...his mother hadn't bought it then.

Another knock came from the door. "Bob...Leigh..." The names came out as a snarl and Daniel knew his mother was talking through clenched teeth, hating the idea of him locked inside with Wilhelmina. He jumped from the couch, satisfied with the appearance of the covers and pulled at his hair to give himself noticeable bed head. Taking a deep breath, to relieve his breathlessness, he moved to the door. With one downward glance to make sure his...evidence...had dissipated, he opened the door and made a show of yawning loudly and stretching. "Mom...guys...you're here early."

"It's almost noon Daniel." Betty informed him as the group filed past him.

"Really?" He was genuinely surprised, he seemed to have no concept of time when they were cooped in their own world.

"Yes really." His mother snapped and rounded on him, leaning her hand on the back of the couch. Daniel's breath caught when he saw her look at the makeshift bed on the couch. She quickly turned her gaze back to Daniel. "Wilhelmina not up yet?" She asked him pointedly.

"Guess not." He shrugged.

"Actually" Wilhelmina's voice came from the top of the stair and they all looked up as they heard the footfalls descending. "I've been up for hours."

She came into sight fully clothed, well –ish, she had on a pale yellow halter top and (yes, you've guessed it) more denim, this time though it was shorts that appeared to have been painted on her, still coupled with stilettos of course, which only accentuated the length of her legs. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and noticed everyone in the room staring at her legs. "Stop it...it's all I have left thanks to genius over there breaking the washer."

"If you've been up then why didn't you answer the door?" Amanda asked, in full knowledge as to why she didn't.

"And risk finding Daniel wishing himself a happy good morning? I don't think so." She looked at Daniel and scrunched her face up as if seeing him for the first time. "Dear God...thank the lord I don't eat breakfast, put some clothes on."

Daniel looked down at his semi-nakedness and suddenly felt very awkward amongst the fully dressed group in the room. He hurried past them and bolted up the stairs. Wilhelmina lifted the sheets from the couch, distaste painted on her face, and balled them up, throwing them back behind the chair.

"I don't know why you think you're coming to this excuse for a party tonight...because you're not. You have already missed a full day at Mode yesterday and with Daniel and I gone you can't afford to be away."

Claire folded her arms. "It's Saturday Wilhelmina, offices are closed."

"What about the work you missed yesterday? Just who was running the place? If we come back to find you've let our magazine go to the dogs..."

"What's with the 'we' and 'our'?" Claire interrupted her. "You've never been so keen on sharing before."

"It's different now they're sharing something else." Amanda mumbled and Marc stamped on her foot.

Claire narrowed her eyes at Amanda, she had been more than aware of the girls view regarding her son and 'the soulless one' for some time now, she returned to look at Wilhelmina. "We gave full instructions to the senior editors before we left, I'm sure they handled the 9 office hours, which they were in charge for, admirably. After all, you hand picked them."

Wilhelmina inhaled deeply through her nose, "Fine...but I don't see why you four have to stay. With the cock-up you made yesterday and Marc having to pretend to be Daniel, you could mess this whole thing up for us."

"And what thing would that be?" Claire asked, a horrible suspicion overcoming her. She knew Amanda was more intelligent than people gave her credit for and there was something off with the whole set up in this house.

"Our cover, what do you think?" Wilhelmina asked, silently thanking her mother for the acting skills she passed down to her.

xXx

Later in the afternoon, and after much fighting that they couldn't simply give their guests alcohol as this wasn't Manhattan, Wilhelmina had conceded and let Daniel and Betty light a barbecue; as long as they didn't come near her with anything they made and kept the smoke away from her. Betty had no idea how to control the wind but they had promised.

Wilhelmina sat at the outside table with Marc, putting the finishing touches to her letter from the Editor and firing off a couple of bitchy emails to Robbie to make sure she stopped needling Marc for information. She exaggeratedly hit the enter button. "DONE!"

Marc stared at the screen as the document closed and tilted his head. "That was...different."

"Excuse me?"

He looked at her. "Your letter, it...I don't know...didn't have the same 'listen to me or I'll eat you' vibe to it."

She scoffed. "What are you talking about? It was a precise and succinct as ever." She dared him to contradict her.

"Oh, no, I know." He quickly corrected himself. "I just mean...the content, it seemed a bit..." He searched for the word. "Wistful?"

"Wistful?" She repeated, taking a long drink from the Martini she had made Marc prepare, knowing she was unable to drink in front of her neighbours that evening; thanks to Amanda.

Marc picked up the laptop. "I don't know, ignore me." He stood up. "You want me to let Daniel have the once over of this?"

"No!" She said hurriedly. "I mean...no, there's no need. My word should be final."

Marc sat back down slowly. "Willie, was this...is it about him?"

"Don't be absurd." She laughed. "This situation has just forced me to take stock of some thing...about what's important in this life. It has nothing to do with Daniel Meade." The finality in her voice was apparent.

Marc nodded, although unconvinced, and went to put his laptop inside. On the way past he grabbed Amanda's elbow as she came out of the French doors and pulled her back inside. "I think you're right."

Off to the side, Claire watched the exchange between Marc and Amanda as she set plates and glasses on another table on the lawn. Her gaze travelled from them over to Daniel and Betty who were trying, and failing to light to barbecue. She didn't know much about the outdoors but she did now they should have got gas instead of that charcoal monstrosity which Daniel was copiously squirting lighter fluid over.

With slow even footsteps, she walked over to where Wilhelmina still sat and painstakingly tried to ignore that the younger woman was trying to mask the fact that she kept looking at Daniel. "Shouldn't you be helping your husband? This is your party after all...your chance for the neighbourhood to get to know the Johnsons."

Wilhelmina leaned back in the deck chair and put a hand on her stomach. "The smoke will set off my morning sickness." She said, sarcastically, with a smirk.

Claire bit her lip and nodded, sitting next to her. "I have an awful feeling you two are getting too into your roles." She let the unspoken question hang in the air.

Wilhelmina sipped from the drink and looked around for Marc to tell him to get her another. "We are merely making the best of a bad situation, would you rather have come here to find us both in a pool of blood?"

Claire tried to process her answer. Did Wilhelmina know what she had really been saying? Was she reading between the lines or was she just being straight with her? Was Wilhelmina ever straight with anyone?

"Maybe...maybe this is good. Maybe it will force some harmony between you two. The reasons which brought you here were tragic, no one is disputing that; but we must take our silver linings where we can find them.

xXx

By six pm, the neighbourhood had converged in their back garden Jesse and Marc were trying to outdo each other by waiting on Willie's every request and Daniel chuckled when every time it looked as if Jesse was succeeding, Marc would sidle up to James, making Jesse rush from his post at Willie's side. Daniel had watched her accept congratulations from every neighbour who passed her and she was now sat alone, with a strange expression. The chuckle died on his lips, all this talk of Amanda's phantom baby was more than likely making Wilhelmina think of her own child, and the young woman who bared her likeness who they had seen meet a violent end.

He walked over to her and crouched down in front of her, he placed a hand over hers and shook her from her trance; he wasn't concerned about his mother or their friends seeing, he knew he could pass it off as keeping up appearances to the suburbanites. "Hey...you ok?"

She nodded at him. "I'm fine...in desperate need of a drink but I'm fine."

He laughed. "Meet me in the kitchen in ten and I'll try and slip you something."

"You still talking about a drink?" She questioned him quietly, making them both laugh.

For the second time that day, Daniel noted how he loved being able to make her smile; not smirk at some dastardly deed she had perpetrated against him, not sneer at his latest idea, but really smile. His eyes stayed on her lips too long and her smile fell. "Not here Daniel." She whispered.

He swallowed. "What...it's not like we're not supposed to."

She grinned again. "Ok...you explain to your mother."

He laughed and stood up, she stood with him and one of her heels got wedged in the grass and she fell against him. She looked up at him and that dangerous look was back, it was one thing to keep up appearances, but this sudden contact should have made them both recoil as far as Claire was concerned and they both prayed she wasn't watching. Looking up to see if they were being observed, Wilhelmina exhaled in relief when she saw Marc had engaged Claire in conversation, her back to them but Marc giving her a pointed look over Claire's head.

Amanda was sipping from her umpteenth 'Amandatini' and critiquing Betty's methods at the barbecue; the young girl in question was sputtering through the smoke which bellowed from it as she dumped blackened steaks on the serving platters. When she finished locating them all, she realised she hadn't extracted herself from Daniels hold and he was doing nothing to end the contact either.

She was staring pointedly at Daniel's chest, resolutely not looking into his eyes, when she felt stares upon her. Looking up, she saw that both she and Daniel were practically being circled by the neighbours in their garden. Most of whom were standing in couples and smiling at them. "Aw isn't that sweet? Eight years and still so close." One of them, whose name escaped Willie, said, and the rest murmured in agreement.

"So..." Jesse began. "I was just telling everyone that the thing at Helen's was a big ol' misunderstanding." He gestured the crowd with a wine glass in hand.

Wilhelmina smiled a thank you to him for throwing them this life preserver. Daniel chuckled and tightened the arm around Willie, seeing no need to relinquish now that they were in the middle of their 'act'. "Yes...uh...sorry about that. It's just the warped sense of humour we had instilled in us from living in the big cities, been out of touch for too long."

"So you don't have an open marriage then?" One of the husbands asked, slightly crestfallen and earned himself a jab from his wife's elbow.

"No." Wilhelmina's arm snaked further around Daniel's waist. "Completely exclusive."

"And I take it given your recent news, that Bob's 'problem' was a little fib too?" The woman who they recalled was named Trina asked.

"Uh...yeah...was just..." Willie shrugged. "Getting him back."

"Oh you two...such kidders!" Jesse exclaimed, smiling knowingly.

"Yeah...we're a laugh riot." Daniel deadpanned.

Another of the wives scuttled forward. "So come on...you left so abruptly the last time, we hardly found out anything about you! How did you two meet? What brings you to our fair street?"

Daniel and Wilhelmina looked at each other, they had straightened out they story they would tell people but this would be the first, and hopefully last, time they told it. "Why don't you tell it honey, you're much better at it." Willie said brightly.

Daniel smiled down at her but she felt the sharp pinch in her side as he admonished her for putting him on the spot. "Of course sweetheart." He said forcefully, but faltered as he saw Amanda, Marc, Betty and, lastly, his mother, drawing closer to the crowd, obviously intrigued by what he was about to say.

"Well...uh...it was a little over nine years ago. I had a new client, very wealthy, powerful sort and I was called to meet him at his home. I was terrified, I had never had such a high profile client on my books and when I came into his house I was a wreck...could barely say my own name." He paused to let them chuckle politely.

"So anyway, I was shown into this huge drawing room and told he would be with me shortly, that his family had surprised him with a visit. I was so pent up about the meeting I saw it as an excuse to leave and reschedule...but they were having none of it. I'm glad they didn't let me leave though...next thing the door opens and his daughter comes in, trying to get away from the family gathering, we all know how they can be right?" More tinkles of laughter.

"She looks me up and down and as soon as her eyes hit mine I was calm. I knew that even if I didn't land this guy it was worth coming to this intimidating house just for that moment." He heard the females in the crowd 'aww' and saw his mother and the Modies roll their eyes and Marc gagging, it hadn't sounded nearly as sentimental as when they had concocted it.

"Without even one word to me, her father comes in to greet me and she left the room. To this day I can't remember what I said in that meeting, but I got the account and he asked me to join him for a drink. As soon as I could I made my way to find her, introduced myself; said some of the cheesiest chat up lines I knew...each one she shot down by the way, but I wouldn't leave until I got her to agree to see me...six months later, I proposed."

"So soon!" Jesse shouted and Willie rolled her eyes at him getting caught up in the fake story although he knew the truth.

Daniel laughed. "Why waste time when you know it's right...life's too short." He looked down at Willie. "Right?"

She swallowed, trying to appear happy in his arms, and with his words, for the strangers in their yard; but uncomfortable and bored to the people who knew her, it was no easy task. "Right." She answered quietly.

She could feel Claire's eyes boring holes in both her and Daniel and delicately tried to increase the distance between them, but Daniel wrapped his arm tighter and kept her against him, making her lose her balance and bring a hand to his chest to steady herself.

"And now baby makes three." Someone said sweetly.

"Yeah." Daniel exhaled, still uncomfortable with this added complication.

"Had you guys been trying for a while?" Another voice asked.

"Yeah." Daniel answered, without elaborating, opting to keep it simple.

"When did you find out?"

"Just a couple of days ago."

"Oh well that explains it!" Helen hiccupped loudly, clearly three sheets to the wind; she had been drinking Amanda's concoctions.

"Explains what?" Daniel asked.

"Well..." Helen laughed, drunkenly. "I know I should be discreet but we're amongst friends." The gathering turned to listen to her and she was in her element. "Howard here is, as you know, on the neighbourhood watch, aren't you Howard?"

"Yes dear."

Helen laughed again, scolding her husband. "Silly man...they were trying for a baby, they're not just mindless animals!" She exclaimed.

Willie and Daniel went rigid, not liking where this was going at all. "What are you talking about?" One neighbour asked.

Helen continued laughing. "These two! Howard's route goes right through the path connecting these houses...the sights he has seen! Can't keep their hands off each other...insatiable, the pair of them!" She laughed loudly and took another big drink.

The neighbours gawped at her for sharing this highly personal information and looked at Howard with disdain, his unwitting wife having just painted him as the resident peeping tom. With murmurs of 'she's drunk' and 'he's a pervert' they dispersed, giving 'The Johnsons' sympathetic looks after having their intimate life spilled for all to know.

Jesse looked like he was in seventh heaven as James pulled him away. Amanda was smiling widely, Marc was behind her, pulling on his bottom lip with two fingers and Betty looked, well, surprised, but that could also be due to the fact she burned her eyebrows off standing over the grill; something told them she would look just as shocked if she still had them. After a moments silence, Claire wordlessly stomped to the house.

Daniel and Wilhelmina dropped their arms and followed her, as soon as they were through the swinging door and into the living room, Claire spun around and began hitting her sons head and shoulders furiously. "You...stupid...stupid...moron...idiot...stupid!"

"MOM! MOM! STOP!" He tried to shield herself from her blows. Wilhelmina moved forward and grabbed Claire's flailing hands, getting a couple of smacks herself in the process. When she had Claire restrained, the woman began to calm and when she realised who was holding her she shrugged from the grip violently. "Don't you touch me!"

She stood toe to toe with Daniel, he had never seen her look so mad. "You...and...and..." she pointed behind her to Wilhelmina. "...THAT!"

"Mom, calm down."

"CALM DOWN! You know Amanda kept going on and on...but I thought, no, not my son, not with her...how stupid of me. How stupid of YOU!"

"Claire..."

"You shut the hell up or there will be another murder for you to worry about." She snarled.

"Mom, you don't understand..."

"Don't give me that shit, Daniel Emerson Meade! I understand perfectly...you would rather lie with the devil than go without! Do you remember who she is? WHAT she is?"

Daniel nodded, Claire shook her head and gave a bitter laugh. "And still you have sex with her."

Daniel winced at his mother saying the words aloud. Claire grabbed her coat from the chair and the door behind them creaked open; Marc, Amanda and Betty peering through. "Betty...call a cab." She said quietly, never taking her eyes from her son.

"I already did." She said meekly.

"Fine...let's wait for it outside will we?" It sounded like a question but the three friends knew it was anything but as they filed past the three people at a stand-off in the lounge. Betty looked briefly at Daniel and tried to convey her worry through her eyes, but Daniel read only disappointment, which made him feel heavier than he already did.

On his way past, Marc ran his hand down Willie's arm and squeezed. Amanda looked at neither of them and just hurried after Marc. Once all three were out of the house, Claire put her jacket on and turned to leave, she stopped in front of Wilhelmina. "I told you today...I hoped some good could come of this, a friendship, a civility...not this, this is sick...this is my son." Her voice was trembling as she fought to contain her rage.

She walked briskly to the door, Daniel took great strides across the room and spun her around as she stood on the threshold. "Mom wait-"

"Daniel you are an adult...you're big enough to make your own decisions, good and bad; devastatingly bad. But for your own sake, whatever this is..." She stared at Wilhelmina.

"...do not bring it back with you."