Disclaimer: I own nothing, other than the characters of Jeremy, Connor, Ava, Baby Taylor, and Natasha.

After putting the children to sleep, which proved to be a hard task, as she had to carry Taylor and Ava, and also half-dragging Connor to his bedroom, Gabriella then settled in to watch a bit of TV, but she couldn't focus on it.

As she flipped through the channels for what seemed to be the thousandth time, she thought of her "date" with Jeremy. Her feelings were so confusing; they seemed to be garbled up in one, big emotional garbage can. She sighed in frustration as she turned the TV off. She then got up to do a bit of stress cleaning. She started with clearing off the kitchen counter of all clutter that seemed to pile up every time she turned around.

She smiled as she picked up a tiny tooth that Connor had just lost. She then turned to rummage through a drawer to find a plastic baggie that she could store the tooth in. As she was doing that, she heard a hard bang on her front door.

"Shoot!" Gabriella cursed under her breath as she shut the drawer, wary of her sleeping children upstairs.

She briskly walked towards her foyer, all the while cursing the person at the door for banging at the door at this time of night. She quickly unlooked the deadbolt, fully prepared to chew the person out for her disregard of her sleeping children. The only person she could think of to come at this time of night was her mother.

"Mami…." Gabriella started before even glancing up at the man who was standing there. She gasped when she realized who it was.

It was Jeremy.

He rolled his eyes as he watched her shocked expression. "Do I look like your mother?"

Gabriella shot him an angry gaze as she pulled the large man inside her house. "What are you doing here, Jeremy?" she hissed as she glared up at his face. "It's…" Gabriella paused as she checked her practical nurse's watch on her wrist. "It's nearly eleven o'clock at night!"

Jeremy sighed as he watched Gabriella turn to head back to the kitchen. He began to follow. "I…well…I feel so stupid for this…" Jeremy said as he reached the kitchen counter and leaned on it as he watched Gabriella start to clean out a soaking pan that was leftover from that evening's dinner.

Gabriella glanced up and held Jeremy's green-eyed gaze at her. "Is there a reason why you came to my door at this hour? I'm pretty sure you didn't forget anything. I kind of rode home in your car."

"Yes…right. My car," he mumbled as he began to play with Taylor's teething ring that had been left nearby.

Gabriella rolled her eyes at Jeremy's boyish nervousness. "The kids are asleep, Jeremy. They're not going to hear what you have to say."

He glanced up at Gabriella's awaiting face. "No…never mind. I'm sorry to bother you."

Jeremy turned to walk towards the door. Puzzled, Gabriella reached out to stop him.

"You come over at this hour just to say 'never mind'?"

Jeremy sighed as he ran his free hand, the one that Gabriella wasn't hanging onto, through is hair. "Yeah. I'm sorry."

"There's something more, Jeremy," Gabriella responded persistently. "What did you come over hear to say?"

Jeremy gave her a coy look, but just shook his head as he struggled against Gabriella's iron hold on his hand.

Gabriella pulled back, by now angry at his strange behavior. "Just tell me damn it!"

Jeremy's eyes flared as he turned to face her. "I didn't come here to talk."

"Then why did you come?" Gabriella demanded angrily.

"Because I came to do…" Suddenly Jeremy grabbed the back of Gabriella's head and pulled her to his lips. The sudden action surprised Gabriella. What was even more perplexing was that she didn't attempt to fight back.

Jeremy's nerves—which were so apparent seconds earlier—were soon dismissed as he pulled his free arm around Gabriella's waist, pulling her in closer and closing the gap between the two.

Nerves—and rational thoughts—seem to disappear also for Gabriella. She found herself responding to Jeremy's surge of boldness by relaxing her grip on his hand and entwining her fingers with his.

It was sweet, yet demanding and sweltering, all the while the demand for more was heightened. Self-control was all but lost. It seemed to take everything Gabriella had inside of her to pull back from Jeremy.

"Wait," Gabriella murmured against Jeremy's lips as she let go of his hand and the back of his neck.

Reluctantly, Jeremy pulled back. He studied Gabriella's flushed, pained face. "Is it the kids? I'd understand if you didn't want to here…" he trailed off as Gabriella shook her head.

"It's not that Jeremy. Well…the kids are part of it, but they aren't the main reason why."

Jeremy sighed as he rubbed his swollen lips. "What's the main reason then? Is it Troy?" he guessed.

Gabriella looked away, the sting of his name enough to silence her. Jeremy waited for her response, but after several moments, he realized that her silence was more than enough conformation. He wiped his hand over his face, as he turned away, wounded by her rejection. "You said you were trying to get over him," he said with a shaky voice, as if the shock of the passion was finally hitting him.

She studied Jeremy's defeated expression. She had told him too much that night about her feelings on Troy. It was now coming back to haunt her.

"I'm sorry, Jeremy." Rather than the strong, emotionless voice she was trying to convey in her statement, it merely came out as a pitiful whisper. "I'm so sorry. I'm trying. I really am; I just can't fully let go of him yet. Please…" She was utterly pathetic. She knew what she was doing, and it was wrong on so many levels. Gabriella was acting like some cheap tease; stringing Jeremy along just for companionship.

She tried to reach out to him, but once her shaky fingers touched his arm, he flinched as if her touch burned him. Tears that Gabriella had tried to hold back were now brimming over her eyes. "Jeremy—"

He then turned, fully facing Gabriella, and stared intensely down at her. Intimidation waned over her as she fought to regain control of her torn mentalities. One was campaigning for Gabriella to throw Jeremy out and to forget his existence. The other was to throw Jeremy onto her living room couch and make love to him, then and there.

Before she knew it, she had made her decision…

A/N: You enjoyed that cliffy…right? I hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving.