I own none of the characters of October Road

"Come on Aunt Janet. I wanna golf." Timmy told his aunt.

"You need to have some patience. My boyfriend isn't here yet." Janet answered her nephew as she anxiously looked around.

"This is so stupid." Charlie complained.

"Fine. Let's go."Janet took the boys' hands and they began to walk to her jeep.

"No Aunt Janet. I don't wanna go." Charlie grumbled.

"I'm not staying here with you if all you two are going to do is complain. This is my treat for you and bratty boys don't get treats. "

"We're sorry." Timmy quickly said.

"I don't believe you." They boys seemed to think that saying sorry fixed everything.

"Really, we're so sorry." Timmy was practically in tears and Janet stopped walking and turned to the boys.

"Are you really sorry?" Both boys nodded. "Are you going to complain anymore?" This time they shook their heads. "What do you say to me for being rude and one at a time."

"I'm sorry Aunt Janet." Timmy mumbled.

"I'm sorry too." Charlie told her.

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

"Janet." She turned her head and a smile crossed her face when she saw Eddie and Max walking towards her. As soon as Max saw his friend he took off running and within seconds he was embracing Janet in a giant bear hug.

"Hi Max." Janet greeted returning his hug. Eddie had joined them by now and he yanked his brother away from his woman and then he took his turn hugging her. "Hi Eddie."

"Hi babe." Not being able to resist any longer, Eddie pulled back from their embrace and kissed her. "Oh my God. I've missed you." He mumbled.

"I've missed you too." Janet reluctantly pulled away from Eddie and turned to the other three in their party. "Max, these are my nephews, Timmy and Charlie. Timmy, Charlie, this is my friend Max." Max stuck out his hand and the boys just stared at him. "Boys, shake Max's hand." Janet demanded and the boys complied.

"It's nice to meet you." Max told them.

"You too." They mumbled.

"Do you boys remember my boyfriend Eddie?"

"You are the one who paid us to be quiet." Charlie pointed out and Janet's mouth dropped open in shock. Eddie ignored it and focused on the boys.

"Hey guys."

"Hi."

"So are we ready to play?" Max, Timmy and Charlie all nodded eagerly. "Well let's go." Eddie grabbed Janet's hand as the boys ran in front of them.

"You paid them to be quiet at Gramps' funeral?"

"I wasn't going to let them ruin it for you."

"I can't believe you did that." Janet looked at Eddie and her blue eyes were sparkling with happiness. "And thanks for doing this." Janet told Eddie as they followed behind them. "I'm sure that hanging out with my nephews is not the way you wanted to spend your Saturday afternoon."

"I'm with you and there is nothing I would rather be doing on a Saturday afternoon."

It had been eleven very long days since the two of them had spent any real quality time together. Since dinner at Eddie's parents their schedules were always in conflict. On the nights when Janet was off Eddie ended up working late and when Janet worked nights that's when Eddie was free. The weekend following the family dinner Janet worked all weekend and the following week was pretty much the same. Besides multiple, phone calls that occurred and usually went late into the night they did manage to squeeze in a couple of quick meals together at each other's jobs but it wasn't enough. It wasn't the quality of time that they both desired.

When this weekend came around they were both thrilled that they were both off work and were finally going to be able to spend time together until Janet remembered that she had agreed to watch Timmy and Charlie. It was only for a few hours while Jason and Lillian completed the final paperwork for the house that they purchased. Janet was worried that Eddie would be angry that their time together would have to be cut short…again but surprisingly he wasn't. In fact, it was his idea to treat the boys and Max, who had been asking about Janet non-stop since she came for dinner, to a game of miniature golf. Eddie was desperate so see Janet he was willing to spend an afternoon with Janet's heathen nephews.

Janet was much better at put-put golf than she was at regular golf. They all had a blast, especially Max, Timmy and Charlie. There were a couple of fights between the younger boys and Janet punished them by making them sit out one of the holes which was pure torture for them but it worked After they had to sit out they learned their lesson and they didn't fight for the rest of the time. Meanwhile, during the game, Janet and Eddie stole kisses from each other whenever they could, usually when the boys were taking their turn.

After the game ended with Max hitting a hole in one Eddie decided that they all deserved ice cream and it just so happened that there was an ice cream stand at the put-put course. "What do you say to Eddie?" Janet asked once they all had their cones in hand.

"Thank you Eddie." Timmy, Charlie and Max all said.

"You're welcome." Eddie turned to Janet. "And what do you say?"

"Thank you very much for my ice cream Eddie." Janet stood on her tip toes and gave Eddie a quick kiss.

"You my dear are very welcome." Eddie leaned down and took a big bite out of Janet's cone.

"Hey that's mine."

"I know." He answered with a grin. "So I'm starving so how about we grab some dinner at Sully's?"

"That sounds good but I have to drop the boys off first."

"Even better."

"Hey, they weren't that bad."

"No they weren't. I should probably mention that Max will be joining us for dinner. I kinda promised him that we would take you to dinner."

"What about if I would have said no? Then what would you have done?" Janet asked with a mischievous grin.

"You can't say no to me." He whispered in a seductive tone.

"Oh really?" Eddie leaned forward until his mouth was right next to her ear.

"Really." The feel of his breath on her neck gave her goose bumps and she was really disappointed that they were in public.

"We'll see about that." She responded with a shaking voice.


"Would you like to stay for dinner?" Lillian asked. Since Janet's miscarriage things had been better between the two sisters. Janet had always made the effort with her sister and was shot down and now Lillian was making the effort, calling her just to chat, something that she never did before, and she even came to The Johnson Inn once to have lunch with her sister.

"Thanks but I can't. I am meeting Eddie at Sully's for dinner. How about Thursday night? I'm off then."

"Thursday is fine." Lillian smiled at her sister. "You should bring Eddie with you on Thursday and I'll invite mom and dad."

"I'm sure he'll love that but I will bring him."

"So things are going well between you and Eddie?"

"Things are going really well. Our schedules have been crazy lately so I'm really looking forward to spending an evening with him, alone."

"I'm sorry that you had to watch the boys today but I really do appreciate it."

"Don't be sorry. We had fun."

"But I'm sure that they cramped you're style."

"Not at all. Eddie brought his brother with us. We actually did have a really good time."

"Well thanks again for bailing me out today. Now get out of here and go enjoy your night with your man."

"I plan on it." With a smile and a wave Janet was out of the door and on her way to Sully's. Thankfully the drive to Sully's was a short one because Janet was giddy with excitement about her upcoming evening. The few quick kisses that were exchanged left her wanting so much more and once they were in the privacy of one of their houses they could really give into their passion that had been building up over the last eleven days. She had just had her miscarriage follow up and her doctor declared everything normal and give her permission to return to sexual activity for about an hour after her appointment Janet seriously considered telling Eddie that she had reconsidered her idea of waiting to have sex for a couple of months but decided against it because she knew, celibacy is what their relationship needed, what she needed.

Janet walked into Sully's and she scanned the bar for Eddie and Max. Just as her eyes settled on a booth in the back where Max was sitting she felt a pair of very familiar arms wrap around her waist and the next thing she knew she was being spun around and Eddie's lips planted themselves on top of hers. "Now, that's what I'm talking about." Eddie said when they broke apart breathless.

"You can keep on talking baby." Eddie knew that was Janet's subtle way of asking for another kiss which he happily provided.

"Max and I were starving so I ordered and I got you you're regular. I hope that was okay."

"It's perfectly okay." Eddie placed his arm around Janet's shoulders and led her to the table where Max was anxiously waiting. When they got to the table Janet saw two placemats on the side of the booth that Max was sitting in and she knew that second seat was hers.

"Hi Janet." Max said happily.

"Hi Max."

"Eddie told me that you used to work here."

"I did."

"Why don't you still work here?" Janet glanced at Eddie who was sitting across from her and he reached out and squeezed her hand.

"I was just ready to move on. I didn't want to be a bartender for the rest of my life." It was part of the truth.

"Oh look. Our food is here." Eddie told them and changing the subject. Neither of them wanted to talk about the past.

"Hey Janet." Janet was at the bar getting refills and she turned when she heard her name being called and felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hi Rooster." She moved to the side and his hand dropped. This is the first time since Hannah's engagement party that she has talked to him.

"How are you?"

"Fine." Janet was wishing that her drinks would come already.

"So I see that you and Eddie are back together. I couldn't miss the public display of affection when you walked in here. "

"I'm not really comfortable talking about my relationship with Eddie with you."

"Why not? You didn't have a problem talking to me about having sex with him." He responded. Janet grabbed Roster's arm and pulled him off to the side so they could have this conversation in private. From the corner of her eye she saw Eddie walking over to them. She gave him a slight shake of her head, letting him know that she could handle things but he stayed close by in case she needed him.

"I shouldn't have done that. In fact there are a lot of things that I shouldn't have done."

"Like sleep with me?"

"That would be at the top of my list." Janet saw the hurt that crossed her old friend's face and she felt bad but she knew that Roster needed to hear the truth. "That night never should have happened."

"Then you shouldn't have kissed me."

"There is no use playing the blame game. We are both equally to blame."

"How am I to blame? I just reacted to what you wanted."

"You are to blame because you were sober Roster. Yes, I initiated things but I was three sheets to the wind because you brought me moonshine but you were the sober one and supposedly my friend. You should have stopped me or just walked away. That's what a friend would have done."

"I was or am your friend Janet."

"No Roster you aren't my friend and I wonder if you ever were."

"What does that mean?"

"A friend would want me to be happy. Eddie made me happy and you couldn't stand it. From the moment that we started dating, you planted seeds of doubt in my mind. You took me through town to point out all of Eddie's past conquests and then insinuated that I was just another conquest. Every chance you got you would make a comment about Eddie, our relationship or a past fling that happened to be in the bar and every one of those made me doubt what Eddie and I were building and the day that Rory came back to town; that was the worst. All day long all I heard out of your mouth was the epic love story between Eddie and Rory." Janet wiped away the tears that had begun to fall. "A friend would not have done those things. A friend would have been happy for me. You took advantage of my insecurity and you took advantage of my drunken state. What were you thinking? How could you hurt me like that?"

"I never wanted to hurt you. I just wanted you to see what kind of man Eddie was before he broke your heart."

"You have no idea what kind of man that Eddie is and he didn't break my heart. I broke his with help from you."

"I won't apologize for what happened between us Janet. I don't regret it."

"I do and if you were really my friend you would regret it as well." Janet started to walk away but Roster reached out to stop her.

"You are my best friend and I miss you. Can we be friends again?"

"I'm sorry Roster but I can't be your friend again. I don't trust you and you really aren't the kind of friend that I want to have." This time she walked away from him, trying to block out the sounds of his desperate voice as he called her name.

"Are you okay?" Eddie asked when she walked up to him.

"I…I…can we just get out of here?"

"Yeah sure." Eddie took her hand, went to go get Max and the three of them left the bar.

"Janet do you want to come over to my house?" Max asked when they got outside.

"I'm sorry Max. I can't."

"Why not?"

"Because Janet and I are going to spend the evening by ourselves." Eddie answered for her.

"But…"

"Say goodbye Max. Give Janet a hug." Max did as his brother told him.

"I'll see you soon Max. I promise."

"Okay." Max turned and climbed into Eddie's truck.

"I'm going to drop Max off at home and then I'll be over if that's okay."

"That sounds perfect." Janet wrapped her arms around Eddie neck and hugged him tightly. "I'll see you soon."

After a quick kiss the two parted ways and twenty minutes later Eddie walked into Janet's house and found her on the couch with a beer in one hand and a bag of cheese puffs in the other. Her conversation with Roster was really weighing on her mind and the past was forefront in her mind. Eddie went to the fridge grabbed himself a beer and then made himself comfortable on the couch next to his girlfriend. The instant Eddie sat down Janet laid her head on his chest and he wrapped an arm around her and that's how they remained for the next thirty minutes.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Eddie asked softly when Janet returned from the bathroom.

"What's there to say? I thought that I would feel better once I finally talked to Roster but I don't. I would have been better off just ignoring him."

"No you wouldn't. It should have happened a long time ago and it would have if you didn't run away."

"I didn't run away." She sat up and glared at him.

"I don't think that was your intention but think about it Janet, you did run away. You quit a job you loved."

"I did it for you. I quit so you could have your bar and not have to see me in it."

"I believe that was part of the reason you left but it wasn't the only reason. One reason you quit was because it wasn't comfortable being around Roster after what happened between the two of you and instead of confronting him you avoided him and eventually quit."

"The second reason?"

"Memories. The memories of what we had in that bar were too overwhelming. Those memories were why it took me as long as it took me to return to Sully's." Janet laid her head back on Eddie's chest.

"You're right. Being around Roster was just too damn uncomfortable and the memories. There were so many good memories of our relationship at Sully's and being there, it was too much for me. Everywhere I looked, I saw you and it overwhelmed me so I ran. I seem to do that pretty well don't I?" A single tear slid down her face

"Oh baby." Eddie cradled her in his arms. "You didn't run today. You finally had the long overdue confrontation with Roster that you needed."

"Did it really solve anything?"

"You tell me."

"I thought he was my friend." She mumbled into his chest.

"I'm sorry sweetheart."

"I…I…just don't understand. Every time I got to a point where I was comfortable in our relationship he would do or say something that made me doubt myself or you. Why would he do that?"

"Because he was in love with you Janet." She shook her head in denial. "He did and you were the only one who didn't see it and I think that since he couldn't be with you than no one could."

"I'm sorry Eddie. I am so sorry I let him…"

"It's over baby and he tried to get in your head today and you didn't let him. I am so proud of the way you handled the situation." Janet lifted her head from Eddie's chest, looked deeply into his eyes, leaned forward and the two of them shared a passionate kiss.

Needing more Janet climbed onto Eddie's lap, straddling his thighs so they were facing each other. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressed her body to his and resumed kissing him. Eddie's arms immediately wrapped one arm around her waist and the other around the back of her neck. It wasn't long before their hands started wandering over the other's body removing each other's shirts in the process.

"Eddie…we…got to stop." Janet whispered breathlessly. Things were moving forward very quickly and it was confusing her. She wanted him, she wanted him bad and at the same time she was terrified to let things go further. Janet climbed off of Eddie's lap, grabbed their shirts that had landed on the floor and tossed Eddie his while she put hers back on.

"Janet you're sending me some major mixed signals. You tell me that you want to wait and then you are climbing on me, kissing and taking my clothes off and then you back off."

"I'm sorry." She mumbled.

"I'm not mad sweetheart. I'm just confused. You're mouth says one thing and you're body says another. You say that you want to take things slow and I'm okay with that as long as you aren't on top of me without a shirt. I'm willing to wait as long as you want to but you have got to make up your mind." He sounded irritated and Janet couldn't blame him. She was sending mixed messages.

"I…I…I'm so confused."

"Join the club. What's going on babe? We're good right? We're solid. In fact we are better than we ever have been so what's confusing? Do you doubt how I feel?"

"No Eddie. I don't doubt how you feel about me at all."

"So why the sexual hesitation?"

"We've haven't even been back together for two weeks and I'm afraid that if we rush it than we'll ruin what we have and I don't want to take that risk."

"Making love won't ruin us Janet. It can only make things better. Trust me."

"I do trust you but..."

"But what Janet?"

"Quit forcing me." Janet suddenly snapped. "You said that you would be willing to wait and now you're not."

"Forcing you? I'm not forcing you to do anything. You were the one on my lap taking your shirt off. You're not being fair. You say you want to wait and then you pull a stunt like you just did, get me all hot and bothered and then pull away. I am so damn tired of you pulling away from me Janet."

"Maybe you should go." Janet whispered.

"I'm not leaving. We are going to figure this out."

"Fine. Then I'll leave." Before Eddie could process what was happening, Janet was off the couch and out the door. Shaking his head in confusion, Eddie followed Janet outside and found her at her jeep, struggling to put her key in the door as the rain fell hard and fast.

"Janet, what in the hell are you doing?" He shouted over the rain.

"What does it look like?"

"Janet what is wrong?" She ignored him. "Talk to me dammit." He placed his hands on her arms and turned her to face him.

"Let me go." She yelled. By this time they were soaking wet but neither of them really cared.

"No. You are not running away from this. You are going to tell me what in the hell is going on."

"It doesn't matter." She was struggling against her but he was not letting her go.

"It matters to me." He stared her down until he saw the anger leave and her face crumbled. "Talk to me baby."

"I'm scared. Are you happy now?"

"What are you scared of?"

"The last time we had sex we got into a huge fight. I got pregnant and then lost our baby and the time before that the last time I had sex was with Roster and I broke your heart." Eddie could tell by her voice that she was crying since he couldn't tell if it was rain or tears on her face.

"Janet that…" She wasn't going to let him talk.

"Once we start having sex we'll get comfortable in our relationship and once we are comfortable with each other we'll lose what we have. We won't go on any more dates. We won't make an effort to get to know each other. We'll stop trying and just settle and eventually I'll lose you and I…I...can't lose you again. I can't." She was now sobbing in the rain. Eddie pulled Janet to his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around her, mumbling "I love you" over and over until her body stopped shaking.

"You okay babe?" She shook her head.

"I'm so damn scared." She told him and attempted to break free of his grasp but he held tight and Eddie was grateful that the rain seemed to have let up, at least for a few minutes.

"Look at me sweetheart." Janet would not raise her eyes to meet his. "Janet please look at me." She finally raised her head and looked up at him with big, blue swollen eyes. "Sex isn't going to end things between us. It can only make things better."

"But last time…"

"We made mistakes; mistakes that we learned from. I promise you right now that we will never just settle into a regular boring monotonous life. We will continue to get to know the best and worst about each other and we are going to continue to go out on dates, amazing dates Janet. We are not going to grow stale. Together, we will keep things fresh between but I can't do it on my own. Relationships are hard work and this is something that we have to do together. Are you willing to work with me?"

"I want this…our relationship more than anything Eddie. I will do anything. I love you…more than anything…and I…I…don't want to lose you."

"You're not going to lose me Janet."Suddenly the sky opened up again and the rain began to come down heavy and hard. "I love you Janet. Do you hear and believe me? "Eddie shouted so he could be heard over the rain. He saw her nod and say something but he couldn't hear her. "What?" He yelled.

"I believe you." She shouted. "And I love you too." Eddie placed both hands on Janet's cheeks and kissed her with more passion than ever before and standing in her driveway, in the pouring rain sharing a kiss with the man she loved, more than she ever thought possible, Janet had never felt more loved before.