Chapter 12

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: THE FOLOWING SCENE IS NOT ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL FOR THE PLOT OF THE STORY. IF WE WERE WATCHING THIS ON TV, THIS SCENE WOULD PROBABLY BE DELETED FOR TIME CONSTRAINTS AND CONTENT. HOWEVER, WE ARE NOT WATCHING IT ON TV (THIS IS THE DVD EXTENDED VERSION!). CONSIDER THIS THE DIRECTOR'S EDITION.)

It was very late by the time they made it back to Buck's apartment. Buck expected Twiki to be waiting for him when he got back, but there was no sign of him anywhere. 'He must still be down at the lab with Theo,' he mused.

Buck yawned. "Are you ready for bed?" he asked.

Sharese shook her head. "I'd really like to take a shower before our big day tomorrow," she replied.

"I thought you said you could go days without taking a shower."

"Normally I can. But there's going to be a lot of people in the conference room tomorrow, and we have the fitting tomorrow morning. I don't want to stink them out. Besides, you could use a shower too."

"Can I help it if walking around town today made me sweat?" Buck asked as he raised up his free arm to sniff his armpit. "Oh, I see what you mean. Alright, I suppose we can take turns. I can wait outside the curtain while you shower. The bathroom's a little small, though."

They went into the bathroom. Sharese stepped into the shower and closed the curtain as well as she could. Buck could hear her getting undressed. Soon he saw clothes being tossed out of the shower and onto the floor. He heard her grunting a little.

"What's wrong?"

"I can't get my shirt off over the cuff." She stuck her bare arm out of the shower. "Can you rip it off?"
Buck reached to the sink where he had a pair of scissors and cut the sleeve. The shirt fell easily to the bathroom floor.

"That was my favorite shirt, too," she moaned as she turned on the water.

In the meantime, Buck removed his shirt and also had to cut his sleeve to get it over the handcuff. The small bathroom quickly filled up with steam from the hot water of the shower.

"I hope you don't use all the hot water," Buck teased.

"I'm done. You can come in, now."

Buck handed her a towel. She covered herself up and they switched positions. Buck was halfway through his shower when the curtain pulled back and Sharese stepped back into the shower.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Buck asked.

She grinned slightly. "Just thinking about what you said at the restaurant."

"And what was that?"

"Just making best of the time we have together," she said slyly.

"But it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding," Buck reminded.

She took the soap and rubbed it onto Buck's chest. "Then close your eyes."

Buck simply stood there and smiled ever so slightly.

Sharese looked up with a slight grin on her face. "You're eyes aren't closed."

He nodded. "You're right. It's not morning yet!"

When the hot water finally turned cold, they got out and toweled off. Buck put on a pair of sweat pants while Sharese simply wrapped the towel around her.

"I forgot to bring my bag in," she explained.

Just as they exited the bathroom, the front doorbell rang. Buck looked at his watch. "Who the heck would be knocking at this time of night?"

They went to the door. Buck tapped a button to the right to see who it was. Wilma's face immediately filled the monitor. Sharese and Buck exchanged unsure glances.

"Can you pretend you're not here?" she asked.

He shook his head. "She knows better."

"Then tell her you're sleeping and tell her to go away!"

"If she's here at this time of night, it must be important. Try to stay out of sight."

"All I have on is a towel!" she whispered loudly.

"Yeah, I know! That's why I said try to stay out of sight!"

Sharese stepped as far away from the door as she could before Buck opened it.

"Wilma!" Buck said surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, Buck. Did I wake you?"
"No, no. I just got out of the shower, but I was getting ready for bed. It's getting late. What's going on?"

"Yeah, I know. I'm sorry to come here this late, but I just got back from Harper Five."

"Yeah, how'd that go?"

"Okay, I guess. The reason I'm here is I heard something from the two girls at the security checkpoint when I got back and I just wanted to verify it."

"What'd you hear?"
Wilma smiled and shook her head. "You're going to think I'm crazy. Maybe I'll just go to bed and talk to you tomorrow."

"No, what'd you hear?"
She paused for a moment. "They said something about receiving orders from Doctor Huer about going to a wedding tomorrow."

Buck hesitated. "Oh yeah?"

Once again she paused and shook her head and smiled wanly. "Yeah. And the funny thing is they said it was your wedding."

She laughed awkwardly. "Mind if I come in?"

Before waiting for an answer, she stepped into the apartment several feet. When she turned to face Buck, she saw Sharese in the bath towel. Her eyes widened and her face turned red.

"I...I...I," she stammered. She turned to Buck and slapped his face. "How could you!" she screamed as she ran out of the room and down the hall.

Buck rushed out into the hall. "Wilma, I can explain! Wilma!"

He felt a slight tug on his arm. "Buck, it's cold out here!" Sharese complained. He continued to stand in the middle of the hall watching Wilma run until she disappeared around a corner. "Buck! Buck!"

Finally he turned to see Sharese standing in the hallway. Slowly he stepped back into the apartment and closed the door. He went to the couch and sat down. Sharese sat down beside him.

"I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "No, it's not your fault. Apparently she hasn't seen Doctor Huer, yet. She doesn't know about this," he indicated the handcuff.

Sharese remained quiet for a long moment. "She's in love with you," she finally said softly.

Buck jerked his head around. "I thought I told you to stay out of people's heads, especially my friends."

"I wasn't in her head," she replied truthfully, softly. "It was on her face."

Buck glared at Sharese for several seconds before looking away. "Oh."

"Sorry. I've seen that face a few times before. That's how I knew." She hesitated a moment. "I saw it on myself once."

Buck shook his head. "Yeah, I've seen it too... on occasion." He whirled around to face her. "Tell me this, then. If she loves me, why is she so cold sometimes? Whenever I think we're getting closer, she suddenly turns herself off and shuts me out."

"Maybe she's afraid of rejection."

Buck shook his head, gave her a frustrated grin. "You really are a psychiatrist, aren't you?"

"Bartender," she replied.

"Whatever."

Sharese shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe she has feelings of inadequacy like I do. Maybe she doesn't feel she lives up to your standards either. I don't know."

Buck shook his head. "You have a very high opinion of me."

She smiled broadly. "I'm beginning to!"

Buck stared at her for a moment before the corners of his mouth began to rise. "Are you going to sit on my lap again?"

"Do you want me to?"
"You usually do when you feel like you're losing control."

"Maybe tonight I want to lose control!"

Buck looked at her and then began to laugh.

"What's so funny?"

He couldn't answer. He simply continued laughing. Finally Sharese got up and sat on his lap. She sat there for a minute just listening to him laugh. Finally she leaned over and kissed him to make him stop laughing.

"So what's so funny?"

Buck shook his head. "You!" he replied, beginning to giggle again.

"What did I do that's so funny?"

"Standing in the middle of the hall with nothing on but a bath towel!"

"That was your fault!"

"Maybe, but it was still funny."

Sharese shrugged. "Are you ready for bed yet?"

He nodded as he took a deep breath. "Do you think Wilma will come to the wedding?" he asked.

Sharese shook her head. "I wouldn't. She'll probably call in sick tomorrow, say she's got a headache. She won't talk to Doctor Huer until the day after tomorrow. That's when she'll find out about the handcuffs and our plan to go to Edenbridge to find Bettino and Caputi."

Buck nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. Should I give her a call tonight?"

"Do you think she'll actually answer and talk to you?"
He shook his head almost immediately. "No."

"Then I suggest we go to bed. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

Buck rapidly stood up. Sharese squealed as she wrapped her legs around his hips and her arms around his neck in an attempt to hold on and not hit the floor. The only thing to hit the floor was the bath towel.