"You ready" Eddie asked Sam when he opened the door

"Mom said I had to make my bed first, so you might as well come in" Sam suggested to him

"Thanks for picking him up, he likes you... I don't really know why but he does" Hannah said packing Sam's bag

"I think Phil's the one he likes" Eddie replied

"How's he doing by the way" Hannah asked

"Pizza Girls good for him, even got him to stand on the porch a few times" Eddie answered and Hannah nodded in agreement about the time Ray came down the stairs

"Latekka I guess I owe you an apology, I shouldn't have encouraged Matt to come after you but I had no idea he was going to bring help, hell I thought you would whoop his ass anyway" Ray put on his most sincere face

"Yeah well, Matt will get what's coming to him and as far as how he handles the ones that owe him, I'm not responsible for that" Eddie replied and Ray walked off. Hannah gave her I'm not talking about it face.

"I guess you heard Jackson Overstreet is back " Eddie mentioned

"Really what's he doing back" Hannah asked

"It's pretty obvious, Hannah" Eddie shocked her

"What are you talking about Eddie" Hannah asked frustrated

"Come on like you didn't know they were seeing each other before he left" Eddie's tone was condescending

"I think your letting the beer go to your head" Hannah laughed

"She didn't tell you about it" Eddie asked confused, she told Hannah everything about them

"Why do you care, Eddie" Hannah questioned but Eddie didn't have time to respond before Sam came down the stairs

--

"By Mom" Sam gave her a kiss "Later Ray" Sam gave him a wave as he came strolling back into the living room with a beer in hand. Hannah followed Eddie onto the porch.

"Go ahead put your stuff in the truck" Eddie told Sam and he always listened to what Eddie told him to do. Never a hesitation about it.

"I don't really want to talk about it Hannah" Eddie ran his hand through his hair

"I know and I'm not going to push it; I actually wanted to say thank you" Hannah was nervous and Eddie could tell

"What's goes on, Hannah "

"Nothing, it's just you've always been there for Sam and me and I don't know what either of us would do without you, he loves you Eddie and for that I'll be forever grateful"

"It's easy to like Sam, he's just like his dad" Hannah knew Eddie was talking about Nick.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Janet would have never answered her phone if she had bothered to look to see who was calling but she was tired and just wanted to get back home.

"Hello"

"Hey, don't hang up" Rooster kept his calm tone

"What do you want, I'm not really in the mood for this tonight" Janet said calmly

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause you..." She cut him off

"Just give me my space, I can't even try to forgive you until I figure out how to forgive myself"

"O-kay, if space is really what you want, then..." she cut him off again

"I want Eddie" She hung up the phone and tossed it over on the seat next to her and cried her way back to the Ridge.

--

It was the last night Jack was on the Ridge and he spent it on a bar stool hoping to see Janet. Eddie never showed and he was surprised. Mostly it was harmless flirting but there was plenty of it. About an hour after Janet came in she confessed why she was wearing a dress as to not lead him on by letting him think she dressed up for him. "you know I'll stay as long as you need me" was his response

"If things were different I might ask you to but they are what they are… a complete mess" Janet laughed

"At least spend the night with me instead of Latekka, can you give me that much" Jack asked "spend the night" Janet repeated

"Here, I don't expect you to leave with me, just hang out a while" Jack clarified "I think I would like that" Janet replied. Jack held out his hand and she accepted. He loaded the Juke box and they spent a while just dancing. The place was cleared out by then.

Sully didn't expect her to come in and when she did she was wearing a simple but rather sexy casual black dress. Sully urged her to go home but she insisted she didn't want to be alone and he was understanding. She had chosen the summer dress to wear to the parole hearing of the man responsible for her parent's deaths. A high speed chase gone seriously wrong.

"You want to tell me how you ended up falling for someone like Eddie Latekka" he asked holding Janet

"He's actually a good guy if he'll ever let you get close enough to know him" Janet briefly smiled at the thought of him "Tell me you didn't fall for the raccoon" Jack asked swaying with her

"Give me some credit…………..it was a singing kola bear" Jack laughed "What, he named him Ernesto, it was cute he's just for me" Janet defended "was for me" she got a big slap by reality

"Okay, finish telling me the story" he urged still dancing with her. That's the thing she always liked about Jack, he knew exactly how to make her feel better without forcing an attachment, though they had slept together several times it was never awkward to just hang out. He was the only person she ever had casual sex with and still didn't mind associating with otherwise.

"The short version we didn't trust each other enough to make it work"
"Why didn't he trust you, you've always been honest with me" Jack asked

--

"Is Sam okay, Eddie" Hannah asked Eddie instead of a hello

"Yeah he's with Phil and Pizza Girl….Hannah, have you talked to Janet today" He remembered when he got home that night the parole hearing was coming up. He never knew asking about such a small scar would open such a huge wound.

"Eddie if you care about her as much as I think you do you'll leave her alone today" Hannah said simply

"I know but she's not home. Is she with you?" Eddie was standing on her front porch.

"No, she said she wanted to work so she didn't have to think about it" Hannah wasn't surprised that he hung up without saying a word. He propped the beer and cheese puffs against the door and left.

-- -- -- --

"I guess because I didn't trust that I was good enough for him, and when Rory came back I proved I wasn't" Janet was solemn "What are you talking about" Jack asked holding her away slightly so he could look her in the eye

"Eddie didn't want to tell me he saw Rory, and I listened to Rooster go on and on about how they use to be so when Eddie blew me off I started to believe he wanted her back" "I tried not to and I even went to talk to him about it but he was kissing her so I …….I slept with Rooster" Janet explained and they were now standing still

"Rooster" Jack stated confused "I know you don't have to say it" Janet said bluntly

"Come here, I'm sorry he cheated on you" Jack wrapped his arms around her and they started dancing again

"He didn't, he told me the next day he stopped it because of me" Janet was crying into his shoulder

"It's okay, you didn't know and if he can't see that it's his loss" Jack comforted

"No, it's mine" Janet said stepping back and wiping her eyes.

"I wish you had been here, you wouldn't have let me ruin my life, Eddie's a great man, he's not just some jock that gets around, he's thoughtful and kind and actually listen's when I talk, he was good to me and for me, I've never known anyone as loyal as him and I went and through it all away because of something Rooster said, we're talking about my life and Eddie was it" Janet told him

"You give me way to much credit Meadows, a man will sacrifice all of his dignity to hold the woman he loves"

"I'm sorry... this isn't fair to you" Janet said feeling guilty for hurting Jack
"Hey, I've know all along where your heart lies, it's okay" Jack said softly and then took her face in his hands to kiss her but Janet immediately put her hands up to push him away "I can't" she said "I know, I'm not Latekka" he kissed her forehead "No Jack, your not Eddie and he's not Latekka"

"If you change your mind you know where to find me" he added. When he turned to leave they both saw Eddie standing there, he walked in about the time Janet said he wouldn't have let her ruin her life but Janet didn't know he had overheard her.

Eddie turned to leave but Janet called out to him "Eddie" it was soft but he could hear her and turned back around and stood frozen.

"I should go, take care Janet" Jack said to her. When he got close to the door he stopped to speak to Eddie. Eddie faced towards Janet and Jack faced towards the door. "I want stand in your way, but if you continue to push her away until she has no choice but to come to me…then I'm afraid I want be man enough to tell her no, either" and with that Jackson Overstreet was gone leaving Eddie stinging from the Rooster jab .

"I just came to make sure you were okay, I didn't mean to interrupt the twirl" Eddie said to Janet and turned to leave "Please wait" Janet begged and he stopped turned sideways

"For what" Eddie asked calmly "There wasn't going to be a twirl and I don't want you to leave here feeling like I did the night I saw you kiss Rory" Janet had to force herself to be kind about the matter.

"It's fine, we're not together anymore, you're free to see other people, Janet" Eddie explained turning back to face her again. He wanted to say like the day you told me you slept with Rooster but he didn't seeing how the last time he was honest she professed her hatred for him.
"I didn't know he was coming, I would have stopped him" Janet replied walking behind the bar

"Why did you tell me you had never been in a relationship" Eddie followed

"Because I hadn't" Janet was quick to answer trying to finish closing down the bar "A few lonely nights and one morning hardly constitutes a relationship"

"The man's in love with you Janet you have to know that" Eddie said to her retaining his calm tone but the desperation was still there.

"How do I have to know that, Eddie everyone always talks about how much louder actions speak than words but is that really true" Janet asked

"What you had with Jackson was ongoing and you don't consider that a relationship" Eddie asked now raising his voice slightly as they went through the swinging doors

"I don't love him and at that time I didn't know it was possible to have a relationship when you weren't loved back" Janet replied amazingly un sarcastic sitting her tray down, she was working frantically trying to avoid crying

"Eddie nothing makes sence anymore, your lack of words the day Rory came back spoke volumes and then hearing myself tell you what I did after hearing you so casually say you kissed Rory…I'm sorry but the words counted they still do every one of them"

"Janet, I couldn't" Eddie crackled out "It doesn't change the fact that I wanted you to or the fact that …….never mind it doesn't matter now" Janet stopped mid sentence

"Did I do this to you" Eddie asked with a slightly harsh tone "Do what"
"Before I asked you out, you held your head high, told off all the drunks, and didn't shy away from anyone that came through that door, hell until Rory came back you told me off every time I got out of line and now you're scared to tell me what you think, did being with me make you that way" he asked upset

"I don't know what happened Eddie, I've always been insecure but being with you made it so much harder, when I'm with you it's the easiest thing in the world but the second you're not there, I start doubting myself because you don't leave me with anything to hold on to" Janet stopped

"Where the hell did I go wrong because Jack seems to have figured it out, I know I messed up a few times but I gave you everything I had…..being the person I am has made it so hard to just be with you, you know I get in the way of myself sometimes" Eddie was referring to his messed up home life, the all star foot ball player, the ladies man and on and on, pressure upon pressure

"God Eddie just tell me who you want to be" Eddie was noticeable irate

"I don't know Janet why don't you tell me who you wanted because most of the time it was just Eddie but you can't help but want Hail Eddie can you, I'm tired of jumping through hoops trying to figure out who everyone else wants me to be. You want me treat you like my girlfriend but can't stop wishing it was a one night stand" Eddie immediately regretted the words that came out of his mouth but he couldn't take them back now. He and Janet were the only ones there and he had allowed his mind to dictate his mouth as they stood in the stock room.

It was a low blow attacking Janet's insecurities again. He knew her deepest one was becuase of the way men looked at her. They never wanted her unless they were drunk and had run out of other options. Being on the end of that receiving line had done one hell of a number to Janet over the years.

"You're right but does it make you feel better to know I wanted you to lust after me like that" Janet said calmly walking up to him "Did you really want to hear me beg for you, to whisper that I wanted you to make me scream with pleasure, to take me right there where we stood, to make me call out your name" Janet spoke in a whisper, their bodies brushing together her hands on his chest.

Eddie let his head drop and though they didn't kiss they could feel each other's breath warm against their skin. He grabbed her by the wrists firmly

"I don't believe for a second that you want me to lay you down like that, your not that woman" Eddie said brushing his stubbly cheek against her neck whispering in her ear.