A/N: I'm sorry it's taken so long to update, I've had one of those irritating colds the last few days. Ugh. The first day I milked it for all it was worth with a bunch of "oh poor me's" and "yum, chicken noodle soup would really hit the spot's"…and after that it was just a downward spiral of taking out my irritation at being sick on everyone around me. :)
After that story, I hope everyone continues to enjoy this story! Thanks to everyone who is reading and to those who review, it truly makes my day. :) Also, I don't know how Vanessa and Joe got together and so if I get it wrong in this chapter, please forgive me. Enjoy!
Four Times Too Many
Chapter Twenty-One
"Where are they going?" Maggie whispered. She was staring out her bedroom window with her arms wrapped tightly around her and watched as Frank, Joe and Biff all climbed in to Biff's truck.
"I'm not sure," Laura replied looking over Maggie's shoulder, "why don't you have a seat Maggie."
"No, I can't sit," Maggie was still shivering but she was beginning to feel the first pulls of embarrassment. Everyone she had come to think of as her friends had seen her fall apart in the worst way. She cringed when she remembered Biff trying to help and her thinking he was going to hit her. It was Biff. She had grown to trust him and his relaxed and easy going personality, how could she have ever thought he would hurt her? The embarrassment bloomed in her cheeks hotly.
"Where are they going?" she said again her voice growing worried, "what are they going to do?"
Images of Biff and John fighting, with an uncertain outcome flashed through her mind. Suddenly she was scared for a whole new reason, for Biff.
She stood like that for a full five minutes before Nancy came back into the room, "Nancy," she said and whirled around, "where are they going?"
"I think to look for John," Nancy replied truthfully. "Maggie, I need to ask you something. You said John spoke to you."
"Yes, he did," Maggie replied and shuddered as she remembered the absolute certainty in John's voice as he had spoken to her.
"So he was close?"
"Yes," Maggie nodded, "just a few cars down from where I had parked."
"Maggie," Nancy said carefully and felt triumphant, "that means he broke the restraining order."
"Oh."
"Yes, oh," Nancy said and pulled out her cell phone, "I'll make sure Con picks him up."
"Can he get there before Biff?" Maggie asked.
Nancy hesitated, "I'm not sure."
"You should let one of us drive," Joe said as he jumped into the truck. Biff was already throwing the truck into drive as if he wasn't going to wait for his friends to get in, they either made it or they didn't.
"No," Biff replied simply and Frank had barely closed the door behind him before Biff peeled away from the curb.
"We have to let the authorities deal with this," Frank tried to keep his voice calm and reasonable when his own mind was telling him to hunt John down like a dog. "Nancy's calling Con right now."
"Fine, he can have whatever is left of him when he gets there," Biff replied his voice matter of fact.
"Biff, I'm with you on this buddy, really I am," Joe said trying a different tactic, "but think about it. What's Maggie going to think?"
"What she doesn't know won't hurt her," Biff replied and turned the corner onto Main Street.
Joe and Frank exchanged a quick glance and Frank spoke quietly, "Biff, we're all upset and angry about this…but you seem…extra upset and angry." Frank's usual eloquence with words was lost on how to approach this subject with his friend.
Biff didn't respond for a full minute and Frank was beginning to think he wasn't going to before he finally spoke, "she matters, Frank." He said it so quietly Frank didn't think he had heard him correctly, "I didn't realize she mattered this much."
"Wait a minute," Joe held up his hand, "you and Maggie?" Biff just shot Joe a look, "whoa," he said slowly, "I mean, whoa. Biff, she's still married," he said it gently but the words still stung.
"I know that!" Biff said angrily and slammed his fist on the steering wheel, "don't you think I know that?" He ran a hand through his hair, "and after today I know I'm going to have to back off. I have no right having these feelings for her when she has so many other things to worry about. It's not fair and it's not right. I can't be more than just a friend for her."
"I don't think friends go charging off like a tragic white knight," Joe muttered and earned a steely glare from Biff.
"You're one to talk Joe, like you wouldn't do the exact same thing," Biff said sarcastically and pressed down on the gas pedal. The truck roared from the extra surge and charged down a side street.
They turned onto John's street and Frank was the first to notice that John's truck wasn't parked out front. When Biff finally noticed he swore and pulled the car up to the curb, "fine, then I'll wait for him."
They sat in silence for four minutes before Joe started shifting restlessly, "can we at least get out?"
Frank shot him a murderous glare, "I don't think that's the best idea Joe."
"Why?" Joe challenged, "Let's get out and wait for the bastard."
Biff climbed out of the car and slammed the door behind him, "Joe, in case you didn't know," Frank said before he climbed out, "we came with Biff to stop him from doing anything rash."
"I know that," Joe said grumpily and shoved at Frank's arm, "now get out of the truck."
Frank rolled his eyes and climbed out of the car. The three men were soon leaning against the truck and Biff was kicking at the pavement dejectedly, "damn it," he muttered.
"What?" Joe asked.
"The edge of my temper is wearing off," Biff said angrily and his tone of voice conflicted heavily with his words. He looked up at the brothers and would have been amused at the different expressions, Frank's hopeful and Joe's disappointed, if he hadn't been feeling so dejected, "don't get me wrong. I still want to pummel the crap out of the bastard but I'm starting to see Frank's point of view."
"Damn it," Joe agreed, "thinking rationally hardly ever ends in bloodshed."
"Good," Frank pushed himself up off the truck, "can we go back to my place then, sit down and talk this through? We can still make John pay for what he did to Maggie without doing something we'll regret."
Biff looked at Joe, "how do you live with this guy?" he jerked a thumb in Frank's direction.
Joe shrugged, "you get used to it."
They were about to climb back into the truck when Con's cruiser pulled around the corner. They waited until he had climbed out, "evening," Con called out.
"Evening," Joe replied.
"John's not here," Con said stating the obvious.
"Unfortunately," Biff muttered.
"Have you boys asked the neighbors if they've seen him yet?" Con asked.
"No," Frank replied.
"Alright," Con said, "wait here, don't do anything stupid." He grinned at Joe's indignant expression and turned toward one of John's next door neighbors. After a quick conversation and a wave goodbye Con walked back to the group, "neighbor hasn't seen hide or hair of John in three days at least. He said he'd remember because apparently John's truck is pretty loud."
"He hasn't been home in three days?" Joe asked, "Well where the hell has he been?"
Con shrugged, "who knows? Nancy called," he said looking at Frank, "said John broke the restraining order. We'll put a warrant out, someone will pick him up."
Frank nodded, "alright, thanks Con."
"Should I ask what you three were planning on doing here tonight?" Con asked.
"No," Biff replied stonily.
"I think I can guess," Con replied, "Biff and Joe were going to discuss a few things with John using their fists and Frank was here to try and get you two to stop, am I close?"
"Close enough," Joe said easily, "thanks Con, good night."
"Good night," Con nodded and headed back towards his cruiser.
"Come on," Frank said to Biff and Joe, "let's go back to my place."
"Fine," Biff sighed and climbed back into his truck. What was he supposed to do with all of this useless anger now?
"You guys go ahead, I'm going to stay out here for a few minutes," Biff said when he pulled up to the curb in front of the house.
"Biff…" Joe's voice trailed off when his friend just shook his head.
"Do you want me to stay out here with you?" Frank asked.
Biff laughed bitterly, "no, thanks guys."
Joe and Frank exchanged a glance before climbing out of the truck and heading into the house, "Biff has got it bad," Joe said and shook his head, "when the hell did that happen?"
Frank shrugged, "beats me." He thought back to yesterday when he had been too tired for Nancy to explain why Biff was coming around so much, "ah," he said out loud and reached for his keys.
"Ah, what?" Joe asked impatiently when Frank didn't elaborate.
"Ah, now I know why Biff has been coming around here a lot more than usual. Same reason we haven't seen Chet very much lately," Frank shrugged and opened the front door.
"Bess?" Joe asked, "She's still around?"
"No, back in Chicago, Chet went with her," Frank explained.
"Chet went to Chicago? Our Chet? Flannel wearing Chet? The Chet who's happier elbow deep in horse manure than he is doing anything else?" Joe was dumbfounded.
"Yep, that Chet," Frank confirmed.
"Huh," Joe ran a hand through his hair and was happy to notice that it was definitely getting longer. "He's coming back right?"
Frank laughed, "Yeah, you can take the boy off the farm and all that."
"Good," Joe paused, "why didn't I know he'd left?"
"We've been a little busy Joe," Frank reminded him and watched as his brother grimaced.
"Yeah," Joe agreed.
They stood together in the hallway for a few more minutes, "what do we do now?" Frank asked.
"I don't know," Joe shot a look back at the front door in the direction where their friend was hurting and then up the stairs where another friend was also hurting.
"If we stand here much longer it's going to start getting awkward," Frank said and shoved his hands into his jeans.
"Yep," Joe agreed and mirrored his brother's actions.
"So," Frank began, he was about to suggest they go into the living room when Laura appeared at the top of the stairs followed by Maggie, Nancy and Vanessa. Frank studied the picture they made: Laura at the front, clearly a shield for Maggie. Behind her Nancy and Vanessa stood on Maggie's either side like bodyguards. Maggie looked pale and still shaky but otherwise she had put herself together, Frank had to admire that.
"Where's Biff?" the worry was clear in her voice.
"Outside, in his truck," Joe replied.
"Did you…find…" Maggie couldn't seem to finish the question.
"No," Frank answered, "we didn't." He deliberately didn't tell her that John hadn't been seen at home for three days.
The relief rolled off of her like waves, "oh," she breathed, "so, he's not hurt?"
"No," Joe replied and resisted the urge to tease her over her lack of concern for him and Frank.
Maggie walked quickly down the stairs and headed for the door, "where are you going?" Frank asked.
"To see Biff," she said and her eyes were clear with resolve.
"Uh, that might not be the best idea," Joe said quietly, "he's pretty mad." He didn't want his friend to unintentionally scare Maggie and feel even worse than he already did."
"Mad?" Maggie was confused, "Is he mad at me?"
"No," Frank hastened to reassure her. "I think he's just mad about the situation."
Maggie was quiet for a moment, "I have to fix this," she muttered and went out the front door.
Frank turned and saw Nancy, Vanessa and his mother walking down the stairs towards them. "Let's go into the living room and we can tell you what happened."
Biff sat in his truck staring straight ahead, not seeing the quiet suburban street that stretched out in front of him. He could feel the anger bubbling, rising in his chest and his fists clenched along with it. Why hadn't John been home? So he could work out some of his frustration on his face before turning him into jail. Now, he was forced to try and calm these feelings of rage and ineptitude with no satisfying result.
He slammed his fist on the steering wheel once, twice before giving up and leaning forward to rest his forehead against the cool leather. He heard the passenger door of the truck open and someone climb in a few minutes later and he sighed, "I'm fine Frank. I don't need you to babysit me."
"It's not Frank," Maggie's soft voice ripped at his soul and he shuddered.
"Oh," his voice was suddenly husky and he refused to look at her. His newfound resolve to be nothing but a friend to Maggie was going to be hard and he didn't think he would be able to keep that resolve if he looked at her now.
"Are you alright?" she whispered tentatively.
"No," Biff replied honestly after a few moments of deliberation.
"Oh," Maggie replied.
They sat in silence for a moment before Biff sighed and straightened up in his seat, he still wasn't looking at her and it stung. Was he so put off by her now? She wanted desperately to fix whatever she had broken between them.
"Go back to the house Maggie," Biff said and closed his eyes.
It took all of the fragile courage she had begun to build up since leaving John but she managed to whisper a shaky, "no."
"Please?" Biff begged and his voice was strained.
"No," Maggie repeated and her voice grew stronger, "not until I fix this."
"Fix this?" Biff echoed her words in disbelief and for the first time looked over at her, barely moving his head.
"Yes," Maggie replied and angled her body so she was facing him. "I'm so sorry Biff," she said it with such sincerity it sliced at Biff's heart.
He was shaking his head, "you don't need to apologize. You have nothing to apologize for."
"I…" Maggie was having a hard time getting the words out, "I…was wrong. In the car, I was afraid and I had no reason to react the way I did. I know you would never…hit me." She swallowed and continued, "your…" and here she got stuck, because what she felt toward him was so much more than friendship but still so indefinable. Because he still wore a tortured look on his face she decided to take the safe route, "friendship means so much to me. I don't want to lose it…or you." She whispered the last two words and he couldn't be sure if she had said them.
"You were scared," Biff replied and just thinking about that had him relaxing his fists, even if thoughts of revenge and retaliation still coursed through him angrily.
"I've never been afraid of you," Maggie said sincerely. She saw his hand resting on the seat beside him and took a tentative step toward repairing what she thought she had broken, she laid her hand on top of his.
Her smooth hand on his rough one was like a balm and he had to resist the urge to turn his hand over to link his fingers with hers. She needed a friend, not a jealous lover and he reigned in that want inside of him. He carefully slipped his hand out from beneath hers and patted her hand gently. "Let's go inside," he suggested and was careful to keep his voice neutral.
What he saw as necessary she saw as rejection and she felt her heart sink at his casual gesture, "alright," she said and was proud that she was able to keep her voice so bright, almost cheerful. Even with this new demeanor coming from him she had to know, "Biff, are we alright?"
"Of course," Biff smiled, "friends."
Maggie returned the smile but it didn't quite reach her eyes, "Yes, friends."
"Idiot," Nancy said vehemently that night as she and Frank got ready for bed.
"Huh?" Frank paused in the act of emptying the change out of his pocket. "Why are you calling me an idiot?"
"Not you," Nancy said aggressively, "Biff."
"Biff? What did Biff do?" Frank was very confused.
Instead of answering him Nancy yanked the quilt down on the bed with an unnecessary amount of force before she whirled to face him with her hands on her hips, "what is wrong with you men anyway?"
"What?" Frank could only stand where he was and blink at her.
"You always think you know what's best and it's always wrong!" Nancy growled in frustration and marched toward the bathroom.
"Jeez, what did Biff do?" Frank asked when he followed her in.
"He patted Maggie's hand like she was his baby sister, like she was twelve!" Nancy exploded and threw her hands up in exasperation.
"Um," Frank knew that Nancy was good and riled and he would need to tread carefully here, "um…what's wrong with that?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth he knew that he hadn't tread carefully at all.
"What's wrong with that?" Nancy hissed. "What's wrong with that?" She threw her hands up in exasperation, "You know, it's great living with the man of your dreams but he's not a woman."
Now Frank was really confused, "huh?"
"I'm calling Vanessa," Nancy stormed out of the bathroom and left a very confused Frank behind her.
"Idiot!" Vanessa cried and slammed the phone back into the receiver. She whirled to face Joe who was staring at the TV screen, the movie they had been watching had stayed paused for the entire thirty minutes of Vanessa and Nancy's conversation.
Joe looked bored out of his mind; he hadn't heard a word of the conversation after Vanessa had exclaimed, "No he didn't!"
"Explain something to me," she demanded now and plopped down on the couch beside him.
"You mean we're not going to turn the move back on?" Joe asked hopefully.
"Not yet," Vanessa said fiercely.
"Fine," Joe laid the controller on the coffee table, he had picked it up hopefully when he noticed that Vanessa and Nancy's conversation was winding down.
"Explain this to me," Vanessa said again, "why is it that men think they know every damn thing?"
"Um," Joe began brilliantly, "we…don't think that?" his response sounded like a question.
"Oh yes you do!" Vanessa said angrily, "you men always think you know what's best for the womenfolk. Well, I have a newsflash for you to pass around to all of your man friends. Nine times out of ten you don't have a clue."
"Um, okay," Joe replied. He had no idea how he should respond to Vanessa's tirade. "What did Nancy want?" Vanessa explained what Biff had done and waited expectantly for Joe's response. He cleared his throat nervously, "honestly…I don't know what the big deal is." Whoops, he could see instantly that that had been the wrong thing to say.
"What?" Vanessa exploded, "you…what?" She threw her hands up in exasperation. "What am I supposed to do with you?"
"Um, marry me?" Joe said with a cheeky grin.
Vanessa folded her arms across her chest and tried to look stern. She held the pose for a full five seconds before she dissolved into laughter, "you're so adorably clueless."
"What?" Joe asked and his back was instantly up. "I'm not clueless! You'll remember I got almost the same score as Frank on the SATs."
"I didn't say you weren't smart," Vanessa said and kissed him quickly on the lips, "I said you were clueless."
"That's practically the same thing," Joe said grumpily.
"No, it's just a defect of your kind," Vanessa replied simply.
"What?" Joe asked surprised, "I don't have a defect!"
"Sure you do," Vanessa replied and reached for the remote.
"I've never been clueless!" Joe said defensively.
"Oh yes you have," Vanessa said smugly.
"When?" Joe's voice was challenging.
"When did I start liking you?" Vanessa asked him instead.
"At the party…when you saw me dancing…" his voice trailed off when he saw her pitying look. "What? That's the night I started liking you."
"Yeah, well you're wrong," Vanessa said triumphantly.
"I am?" Joe asked, "Well, tell me when you first started liking me then."
"Alright," Vanessa settled into the couch and crossed her legs. "You were right in the middle of your angry rebellion, which I found simultaneously attractive and sad." She shook her head, "things weren't good for you during that time, you were such a bad boy," she smiled at him. "You were really cultivating that image too and I was beginning to dislike that about you. Until one day, school had been out for awhile and I had stayed after to do some research in the library. I was walking out to my car when I saw you and your brother standing next to yours. The parking lot was virtually empty and when I looked over at you and your brother, you must have just gotten out of football practice or something; you both gave each other the most sincere hug. I could tell you were upset about something but I couldn't tear my eyes away. That's the moment I first started liking you."
Joe didn't know what to say and so he reached over and laid a gentle kiss on her lips. He pulled back and drew his eyebrows together, thinking. "If Frank and I had just finished football practice…that must have been in the fall."
"Very astute," Vanessa said with a laugh.
"But we didn't get together until the spring," Joe said.
"I know," Vanessa replied.
"That's like, six months!" Joe cried indignantly.
Vanessa shrugged, "I'm a patient person."
Joe laughed, "No you aren't."
"I was when it came to you," she said sincerely, "you were hurting and it was the wrong time for a relationship. So I waited." She laid a hand on his cheek, "and then at that party when I pretended to like your dancing…"
"Wait a minute, you didn't pretend! You loved it!"
"Sure I did," Vanessa laughed and kissed him. "Let's finish the movie."