I'm baaaack! After many internal debates about whether I wanted to finish this or not, I've decided, what the heck, might as well! So here are the next TWO chapters because I have been slacking so much! I'm sorry!!!! Thanks so much for staying with me! I love you guys! :)

~Love Ink

Disclaimers: I own nothing but the new characters that I love dearly and missed writing about!

Chp. 11: Barney and Belt-notchers

by: Love Ink

Vince woke up to find himself in an unfamiliar bed, alone. His eyes found the clock, its bright red numbers telling him it was way too early for him to be awake. "Carly?" he called out, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and standing up slowly. Obnoxious cartoon sounds were blaring from the living room. He followed the noise and couldn't help the smile that crossed his face at what he saw.

Carly was lying curled up on the couch with Boone sitting contently in the empty space between her stomach and legs. A bowl of Lucky Charms was perched on his little lap. Vince watched as Boone grabbed a handful of the cereal, picked out the marshmallows for himself and handed the rest to Carly. Carly would dump the small amount of cereal in her hand into her mouth without thinking twice about it. Vince was sure Boone could've slipped a bug into her awaiting hand and she'd eat it without blinking. "I like Barney better, Cawly. Why you no like him?" Boone questioned, his bright eyes fixed on the screen.

"Well, Booney dear, I'm afraid of talking dinosaurs," she explained her face completely serious.

Boone seemed to think this was an honest answer. "Oooh. Is that why you won't watch Land Before Time with me?"

Carly tried matching the movie title with the subject. A flash of little cute dinosaurs wandering around lost came to her mind. For some reason, she could remember crying hysterically when she saw it in her youth. "Yes. That's exactly why."

"Why are you guys up this early?" Vince asked, interrupting their conversation.

She glared at him, her green eyes fierce; what had happened last night had obviously not been forgotten. "If you got a problem with it, you should go back to sleep," she quipped sarcastically.

"Touché," he muttered under his breath before sitting himself down on the floor in front of the couch. "What are you watching?"

"Looney Toons because Cawly won't watch Barney because she's scared of talking dinosaurs," Boone answered. "Are you scared of talking dinosaurs, Ince?"

Vince chuckled while he shook his head. "Nah, I'm not scared of talking dinosaurs. I'm scared of singing ones."

Carly scoffed and got off the couch to grab something to drink. Vince sighed and watched her leave. "Here, buddy, why don't you put on Barney while I go talk to your Aunt?"

"Yes!" Boone exclaimed, pumping one little fist into the air.

Vince headed over to the kitchen and waited for Carly to say something. He watched as she emptied the dishes from her dishwasher, trying her hardest not to look at him. "Look, CC, I'm sorry," he started out, unsure of where to go from that point. He had never been good at apologies and this was no different.

"For what?" she asked, her eyes focused on the utensil drawer as she chucked the utensils into their places with a vengeance. "It's not like you did anything wrong in rejecting me, right? It's not like we're together or anything. It's fine. Don't feel bad about it or anything. I mean, it was stupid of me to even think there was something going on between us because you're a racer and a mechanic and I can't tell one car from another and you're into all those bootylicious hoes from the races and that's okay. Its okay you're a manwhore, I guess. If it works for you, go ahead, be a man-whore. I'm just not a man-whore because, okay well I'm not a man first off and I'm not a whore and I don't want to be just another notch in your belt or anything so if you want to make your belt tighter go get someone else because I'm not a belt notcher."

Carly mentally slapped herself in the head from rambling, but she couldn't seem to stop herself. Then out of no where, his lips were on hers. She froze, her brain on pause at the feel of his lips on hers. It took awhile for her brain to kick back into gear and for her to kiss him back.

The warm feeling filled his stomach again, but Vince knew better than to pull away this time. He held on tightly to her curvy waist and pulled her closer to him, taking one hand from her hip and knotting it into her hair. She pulled away, breathless. "What was that for?"

"To shut you up," he said with a smirk. "You're not a notch in my belt, CC. You're much more than that. Plus, my belt is already tight enough, thanks."

Carly's mouth dropped open in shock. She hit him lightly before going back to the task at hand. "Manwhore," she muttered under her breath with a roll of her eyes.

Vince scowled at her, reaching out and pinching her nose to get her attention. She slapped his hand away and stuck her tongue out at him. He laughed, it seemed Carly picked up a lot from her nephew. "Does that mean you forgive me?"

"Yep," she said, a smile slowly spreading onto her face.

"Thanks." He kissed her cheek, his beard tickling the smooth skin there inciting a giggle from her. "What do you got for breakfast around here any way?"

"I can make you an amazing bowl of cereal. Grab one from the cupboard over there."

"Why do you have all these cereals?" he asked, opening the door of the cupboard she pointed out to find various brightly colored boxes of cereal. He grabbed the Capn' Crunch and poured some into the bowl.

Carly shrugged. "Miracle is on this health kick so I buy all the cereal she won't. Why do you think Boone is here so early?"

"You spoil them don't you? No wonder they like you so much!" Vince said with a laugh.

"I do not spoil them! It is perfectly all right to eat sugary cereal for breakfast if they are going to be spending the rest of the day with their parents and not me." Carly gave him an impish grin before grabbing the box of Golden Grams from the cupboard. "Plus, these cereals are good." There was a knock at the door and she went to answer it with a sigh.

Chris stood at the other side a fake scowl on his face. "I seem to have misplaced a child. Do you know where I can find him?"

She shrugged and glanced around her apartment. Boone had hidden himself behind the couch when he heard his father's voice. Vince was making faces at the boy trying to get him to laugh and ruin his hiding place. Carly hid a laugh of her own at how ridiculous the scruffy man looked sticking his tongue out at the toddler. "Boone's missing?" she exclaimed trying to sound as surprised as possible.

"I know he's in here," Chris said stepping around Carly and into the house. "Boone! Boone! Are you here?" A muffled "no" came from behind the sofa. "Hey Vince," he said nodding toward Vince. Vince gave him a nod back. Carly rolled her eyes, only men greeted each other like that. "Too bad he's gone because I was going to take the kids to Disneyland today, but since he's not here, I guess just me and Stella will go."

Boone jumped from his hiding spot and sprinted towards his dad. "I'm here! I'm here! I wanna go to Disneyland!"

"I thought so," Chris said with a chuckle as he scooped his son into his arms. "Let's get you changed out of your Pjs and we'll go."

"Otay! Bye Ince! Bye Aunty Cawly!"

Carly kissed Boone's cheek before standing on her tip-toes and kissing Chris's cheek as well. "Bye boys! Have fun and be good!"

"I should say the same to you," Chris said, jerking his head toward where Vince was eating. Carly made a face at him while she tried to close the door on him, he put his foot in the way to stop her. "Don't forget you're opening the shop in an hour, Car. Danger's coming today so be prepared."

She let out an annoyed sigh. "I know, Chris. We already talked about this!"

"Okay, just thought I'd remind you. I am your boss you know."

"Would you leave already?" she said with a laugh as she shut the door on him. "Living next to your boss sucks," she stated with a pout.

"It's not that bad. Its way easier to call in sick when your boss can physically see that you're sick," Vince said with a shrug as he poured himself another bowl of cereal.

"True that," she said with a slight nod. She had forgotten that Vince lived with his boss too. "I'm going to hop into the shower. Feel free to leave whenever you want," she added on, already halfway to the shower.

"And miss you getting out of the shower? Not a chance!" he teased.

Rolling her eyes, she started the shower and got in. The hot water eased her sore muscles as memories of the barbeque drifted through her head. She couldn't shake the way Vince looked at Mia out of her mind. He had said it wasn't a big deal, but she wondered if Mia was the reason he pulled away last night. Carly understood why Vince had such an affinity for the girl; Mia was the nicest person she had ever met and very beautiful. She grimaced when she felt her stomach tie itself in knots at the thought of Vince with Mia. This was going too far. She was in way over her head with this scruffy mechanic. Way, way over her head.

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Thanks for reading!! :D