I hope JE doesn't mind what I've done to her characters below.

Jenny (JenRar) I can't thank you enough for your willingness to work as the beta on this story.

Dina (aydinbydin), I can't thank you enough for giving me the courage to write this story in the first place.

Chapter 21 - More Dream Weaving

Stephanie's POV

I was having a wonderful time walking through a field full of flowers. It smelled fantastic, and I could run my hand over the top of the blossoms to touch the velvety petals of the blooms. Then the wind began to blow, and I felt like I was being pushed around because of it. I didn't fight it, though, because it seemed to me the wind belonged in this scene more than I did. Then I noticed that the wind had apparently blown me into a florist shop, because I was inside, but still surrounded by flowers, and the smells and touch of the soft buds had not changed. I was a little overwhelmed, because the walls trapped the scent, making it stronger, but it was still a beautiful setting, so I began to walk around once more.

Then I felt as though I was being pushed again, and I found myself in the walk-in storage area of the shop. The room was only a few feet wide and perhaps twice as long and refrigerated to keep the flowers fresher. I could feel myself shivering, and I was no longer able to enjoy the sights and scents of the blossoms, because I felt like they were too close to me.

When I turned to escape, the door closed in my face, blocking my exit. Then the wall behind me seemed to move so that the room I was in was shrinking. The flowers were getting closer and closer, and soon, I was surrounded so that no part of my body was untouched. I began to panic. I didn't want to break the vases or the living plants, but I couldn't stay still as the room continued to close in on me. Finally, I had to fight, unable to stay still while the claustrophobia built in me. I screamed and tried to push against the walls, needing to get away from the sickeningly sweet smell.

I could hear someone calling my name on the other side of the door, and that made me want to fight all the harder so they'd know I was trapped and help me get out of this shrinking prison. The voice grew louder, and then I realized it was more than one. Thank God. RangeMan must have found me, and if the guys were here, then they would find a way to get me out. I couldn't take much longer in this small space, so I hoped they hurried.

The voices got louder still, and I realized it was Bobby and Lester who had ridden to my rescue. I could feel myself fighting harder, needing to get to them, because I knew they would make the panic and fear that were threatening to overwhelm me go away. I had to be sure they knew I was here, so I pounded on the wall with everything I had until my hands got tangled in the vining plants so that I lost the use of my arms entirely. I guess that snapped something in me, because I screamed with all that I had in me.

At that exact moment, I felt myself being lifted up, and I stopped making noise because I was too confused to scream and try to reason out why I was flying. Finally, I decided that this might be easier to figure out if I had my eyes open. I couldn't remember when I'd closed them and was surprised at how hard it was to force my lids up, but eventually, I won, and right in front of my face was a very worried looking Bobby. I felt something touch my shoulder and turned my head to see an equally worried Lester. Neither was wearing a shirt, which was a welcomed diversion over what I'd been enduring only seconds before.

Lester leaned forward when I glanced his direction and touched his head to mine. "Hey, Beautiful," he said while rubbing our foreheads together. "We've got you."

His assuring words on top of Bobby's strong arms wrapping around us allowed me to let out a long breath and try to relax.

"It was just a dream," Lester promised, keeping me focused on him and not getting swamped by the memory of what had felt so real.

Bobby's hands began to move, rubbing enough to remind me this was real, not the images of my dream. "You want to talk about it?" he asked, not pushing in any way. I guess if anybody understood that there were times you really didn't want to get into the details, it would be these guys.

I shook my head no, but decided I should probably put their minds at least partly at ease by saying, "It was just a strange dream where I was trapped in a small space that was getting smaller by the minute, and I panicked."

"Flashback to this afternoon?" Lester asked, trying to get more details.

"Not specifically," I replied, a little embarrassed to admit I'd been attacked by flowers. I knew I'd never been a roses kind of girl, but I didn't think I harbored any ill will toward them, either. "I've had a thing against small spaces for a couple of years now."

"What happened?" Bobby asked, continuing his hypnotic rubbing.

"Stiva," I said, remembering that Lester had been there, but not Bobby – at least, not that I could remember.

I counted to four in my head before Lester pulled back and said, "The coffin and then the cabinet. Damn, Beautiful, I never even thought of that."

I was glad to know that I'd kept my newly developed phobia a secret from the guys. There were enough things that I felt made me a laughingstock that adding irrational fears to the list would have been more than I wanted people to know about.

Lester pulled back, allowing me to turn and look at Bobby. I watched as the clues Lester dropped reminded him of what he'd no doubt heard or read the report about.

"Yeah, after that, I haven't done so well with small spaces. There's that feeling of suffocating that comes just before I start to panic."

"I can attest to the panic," Lester replied, rubbing his chest and drawing my attention to the tanned skin there.

What he was subtly saying hit me, and I felt horrible, "Oh, God, Les. I didn't mean to hurt you. I didn't even know you were there. I'm so sorry." I tried to make my mouth shut before I said something I'd regret, but with my mind flying through all the possible ways I'd just embarrassed myself, it was inevitable that my mouth dropped hints of where my head was going, causing me to end my rant by accidentally saying aloud, "It's not even safe for them to sleep with me. They're going to want to cut and run just to be able to get a decent night's sleep."

"Stop," came Bobby's voice, much harder and more authoritative than I'd even heard him before. Strangely, my body immediately responded and my mind stilled per his command so that I could focus on what he might say next. "There's no way you're going to run out of our bed because you had a nightmare." He paused for a minute to let what he was saying sink in. "Do I need to remind you that if there's danger to anybody here, it's probably you because of what might happen when the two of us are sleep?"

I shook my head no, remembering how worried I'd been this morning that Lester would try to push me away out of fear that he had hurt me during his dream last night. I was ready to fight tooth and nail if I had to in order to stay with the guys that had come to mean so much to me. I should have known they'd feel the same way.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, not entirely sure why I was apologizing.

"For what? You did nothing wrong," Bobby corrected me. "You had a dream; then you let us hold you and show you that the images in your mind couldn't hurt you as long as we were around. There's nothing to be sorry for."

"Come on." Lester tried to pull me back down to the mattress. "Let's try to get some more sleep before the sun makes us all get up."

I shook my head no, knowing I needed to get the feeling of the walls closing in out of my head or I'd just be wasting my time lying down. "I just need a little space for a few minutes," I told them both, hoping they'd respect that and not push me to stay with their bodies up close to mine. As much as I loved them against me, I wasn't sure I could handle the closeness right now.

I got up quickly, feeling some soreness in my back and legs from being crammed in the box this afternoon. Deciding to use that as an excuse, I walked into the kitchen for a bottle of water and a chance to stretch. The guys stayed in the bedroom for a while, something I appreciated more than I could say. I used my time to try working the kinks out of my body, giving up eventually when I realized I was just as sore now as when I first got up. I went into the hall bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet, only to find it was completely empty. Who had a medicine cabinet with no medicine in it? A medic who didn't believe in randomly dolling out pills, that's who. I shut the door, admitting defeat, and went back into the bedroom, hoping the master bath might be better equipped.

I smiled when I saw several over-the-counter varieties of pain relief and then wondered why he had so many. Was one better than the other for what I needed?

"That depends on what hurts and why," came Bobby's deep voice from the door. He walked up behind me and kissed my shoulder, not the least bit frightened by the mass of hair in his way. "What's wrong?" he asked, reminding me of the medication I had been seeking.

Then he put his arms around my waist, pulling my back to his chest and causing me to tense up at the closeness. I knew this would fade, but I didn't want to insult my boys before it went away. I should have known better than to think I could play it cool and hope they didn't notice.

I watched his face in the mirror as he definitely picked up on my tension when he tried to pull me closer. I waited to see the judgment come next, but the only thing I could pick up on was understanding before he released me and asked again, "What hurts, Baby?"

"Being folded up so small has my back and legs sore," I admitted.

He pulled out a bottle of Advil and shook out two into my palm. "Pain relief and anti-inflammatory for any muscle swelling, but the best thing you can do is come lay down on your stomach so that I can work the knots out before your muscles tighten up any more."

That was an offer too tempting to refuse, so I let him take me by the hand and lead me back out to the bedroom, where I crawled up to put my head on my arms so that he could work on my back. I figured he would straddle my waist so he wasn't bent at a strange angle, but he knelt beside me on the mattress instead, working at a more difficult angle to keep from making me uncomfortable.

"It's okay," I told him. "I know it's you."

"That's all right, Baby," he replied, understanding exactly what I'd meant. "We'll do it this way tonight, and then tomorrow, we'll see about switching things around.

"Shut your eyes, and let me get the knots out," he commanded, working as gently as possible while still forcing some of the kinks in my shoulders to give up the hold they had.

I felt another set of hands in my hair and couldn't keep my eyes open if my life depended on it. I loved having my hair played with, and Lester's gentle touches on top of Bobby's therapeutic ones quickly proved to be more than I could resist.

I don't know how long they worked on me, but the next time I opened my eyes, the apartment was flooded with light and I was alone in bed. I stretched a little, trying to move slowly in case I was still sore. I was pleasantly surprised to only feel a little tenderness in my lower back. What had been in my shoulders seemed to have disappeared. I moved into the bathroom, running my fingers through my hair and judging that the sheer volume alone would mean a shower to tame it back down to a manageable level. I smiled when I looked at myself in the mirror and saw a big sheet of paper taped where my face should have appeared.

Good morning, Beautiful. I hope we didn't disturb you while we were getting ready. I'm out making client calls, but Bobby is going to be around unless there's an emergency. You should stop by his office once you're back in the land of the living so he won't worry about you. Tonight, dinner is all me. I'm making my world famous chili, so brace yourself to be impressed. Love, Les

I smiled at all the information they willingly shared with me. I knew their schedules, what was going on for dinner, and that they loved me. I stood there for a minute with a ridiculous grin on my face as I re-read the note. It wasn't until I shifted my weight to be more on my other foot that my head moved enough for me to catch my reflection in the mirror as well that I remembered what I needed to do. Tame the beast on my head first, and then I could obsess over the sweet note from Les.

Since RangeMan had such a large hot water supply and I figured at ten in the morning no one else was using it, I took my time in the shower, having to borrow a little shampoo from the boys. As I suspected when I got out, the shampoo and lack of conditioner didn't do me any styling favors, so I mooched some styling gel from Lester and attempted a French braid. It took a while because I was out of practice, but when I finished, it seemed to be holding up well enough. I then realized my folly in that I had nothing to hold it in place with.

I looked at the drawers on the opposite side of the vanity from where I'd found Lester's stuff and ventured to peak in the top one, hoping Bobby would have a rubber band around. He didn't disappoint, so I took one of his to hold my hair back. It was smaller than I was accustomed to, but I assumed the size worked better for holding his rows in place. Still, it did the job and was definitely tight enough to ensure it didn't slip off.

With that done, I walked out, realizing I only had yesterday's clothes to put on. I remembered Bobby saying something about having Ella bring me a uniform when he brought me upstairs after the botched take down, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember where it was. I tightened the towel around me and ventured out of the bathroom in search of something that I could wear. In their closet, I got temporarily distracted while looking through their clothes, impressed at the amount of color other than black.

I didn't see anything that I thought was for me in there, so I stepped out and looked around. My eyes fell on the dresser, where there was a stack of clothing that appeared to be just my size. I smiled at the RangeMan-labeled panties and slid them on. I appreciated the guys going commando, but there was no way I was wearing cargo pants without something between me and the zipper.

Having tackled that task, I moved to the kitchen, where there were a few pots and pans out, along with some canned tomatoes, a seasoning packet, and a bag of tortilla chips. I opened the fridge and saw hamburger, onions, some intimidating looking peppers, and several kinds of real cheese. I had a feeling Bobby had gotten everything ready for Lester to prepare the one dish he seemed to enjoy cooking.

Breakfast seemed like a good idea, so I began looking through the cabinets on the off chance there was something good to eat hiding in one of them. I couldn't find anything other than horribly healthy looking cereals that I didn't feel desperate enough to crunch my way through. I grabbed my pocketbook, which was conveniently sitting on the bar where I wouldn't miss it, and looked to see if I had another candy bar that I'd somehow purchased and forgotten about.

Disappointed, but not overly surprised, that the only thing in the bottom of my purse was a fuzzy peppermint, I picked up my phone and saw there was a voicemail and a text. I went for the voicemail first and heard my mother's voice say, "Stephanie, just because you have Robert cooking for you now doesn't mean you can't stop by for a visit. I made those little cookies you like so much with the oatmeal and chocolate chips." She disconnected after leaving her bribe, and I decided I'd go straight there. She didn't sound upset about Bobby cooking for me, which gave me hope that I wouldn't have to endure the whole "Joe being my last chance at happiness" lecture.

The text was from Bobby and said simply, Check inside the microwave. x Bobby

I couldn't image what would be in there, so I took a few steps to the side and opened the microwave door, immediately greeted with a single Boston Cream Doughnut and a thermos. I pulled them both out and unscrewed the lid on the thermos to see it was hot coffee, already mixed with cream and sugar. The first sip I took directly from the container nearly burned my mouth and sloshed down the front of my shirt.

Three paper towels and just as many expletives later, I decided to pour it in a mug this time to keep history from repeating itself. The doughnut disappeared in four delicious bites, allowing me to finally feel awake and alert enough to figure out my exit strategy. If I stopped by to see Bobby, there was a much greater chance I'd run into someone else and they'd see the wet shirt I was currently wearing.

I let out a sigh and went back to the guys' closet, hoping I could find a shirt that would work to at least get me out of the building. I could tell most everything hanging up was way too big and would swallow me whole, so I glanced on the floor and saw a stack of folded t-shirts. The top one looked well worn and had a picture of a needle and in small print, the words, Medics do it from Behind. I laughed at the sentiment and then figured the writing was so small, it wouldn't be easily readable, so I slipped it on and immediately decided it was on the floor out of sentimental value, because there was no way Bobby would fit in this shirt. It was big on me, but not too big to work by tucking it in.

Having fixed my wardrobe issue, I left a note on the kitchen counter telling Les that I was looking forward to seeing how hot he could make it in the kitchen, and then picked up the mug I'd swiped so that I could finish my coffee on the way to Bobby's office.

Stepping off the elevator, I could hear Bobby tell somebody to stop being such a girl. I couldn't stop myself and moved quickly into the doorway to say, "Or if you're going to be one, put on your big girl panties and stop whining."

Bobby laughed so hard, I worried that he wouldn't catch his breath. Hal, who I presume was the one being lectured, had the decency to blush and hop off the table. Hector said something in Spanish, which Bobby replied to in kind. Hal nodded at me on his way out, and Hector stopped, glanced down at my shirt, and then back up to my face with a smile. He said something to me in Spanish that I didn't understand at all, before kissing my check and walking out.

Bobby came over to where I was still standing in the doorway and took one of my hands in his, smiling at me as though my presence was all it took to totally make his morning.

"What did Hector say?" I asked, realizing I had a ready interpreter in front of me.

Bobby looked down slightly before looking back up at me and saying, "He said seeing you happy gave him hope."

"What a strange thing to say," I replied, still at a loss as to what he'd meant, even hearing the words in English.

Bobby shrugged, as though it didn't matter to him at all, and then used his free hand to point to my shirt. "You found something to wear, I see."

I looked down and smiled. "Yeah, the shirt Ella left had an unfortunate start to the day and wasn't usable."

"Hey." He hooked his finger under my chin and pulled my face up to look at him. "I like seeing you in my clothes, and I'm thrilled you looked around for something to wear. We want you to be comfortable there and to understand that whatever you see is yours if you need it."

I nodded that I'd heard him, and he asked where I was off to. "My mom left a message about me coming over, so I figured I'd do that first before she starts upping the ante and threatening to cut me off from dessert."

"I can make your favorite cake," he reminded me.

"Yes, but you'll only cook it for special occasions. She'll make it on demand," I said, pointing out the difference.

He nodded that I was dead on with that point and then looked a little more serious to ask, "You doing all right this morning?"

I refused to let myself dwell on a freaky dream, so I put on my perky face and tried to convey that all was well. Fake it 'til you make it, had served me well enough in the past that I wasn't willing to surrender one of my favorite coping mechanisms for honesty.

He listened without interrupting and then said, "You know you don't have to bullshit around us, right? We'll try really hard not to hover or crowd you if you don't want us to, but you don't have to pretend that everything is perfect when it isn't." Bobby wasn't fussing or angry. He was just calmly reminding me of something I should have known, but needed to be told again. These weren't the men of my past.

I smiled and said, "I'll try to remember, but old habits die hard."

"I heard that," he agreed, before taking another step toward me, eliminating most of the distance between us. "Is this okay?"

It took me a minute to realize he was waiting on a response. Having him so close to me had short circuited my brain temporarily.

I finally gave up on giving him an eloquent answer and just made a happy humming sound that I hope he understood as "Hell yes, it's okay, and if you were to move slightly closer still, it would be even better."

He must have understood me perfectly, because he dropped the hand he'd been holding and pulled me tightly against his hard body. My hands moved quickly to work up his chest and grip the back of his neck. Bobby moved his head down slightly so that our lips were nearly touching. I remembered the way he'd made me feel a couple of nights ago when he'd first kissed me, and I had to remind myself not to lock my knees in preparation for what I hoped was going to be a similar experience.

I knew he was moving slowly for my benefit, and he was probably trying to draw out the tension to make our touch that much more powerful, but I couldn't wait anymore. I lifted myself slightly on my tiptoes and pressed my lips to his. I realized immediately the huge mistake I'd just made. From the second our lips touched, I felt warm. It was like little sparks were touching all over my body and causing my muscles to move without my permission. I turned into some kind of wanton hussy, gripping his neck and locking my arms around him to keep him from pulling away, and then my hips began to move against him, as though trying to get just enough friction to get some kind of relief from the unbelievably warm sparks still moving across my skin.

It was a bit of a compliment that he moved so that one of his strong thighs went between my legs, giving me better leverage for the friction my hips were still generating. He opened his mouth, allowing me full access to explore. I was starving for him, and in the back of my mind, I thought I might be acting just a little over the top, but the rest of my brain was shouting, "More! More!" and the deep sexy moaning sound Bobby made wasn't helping to calm me down any.

A phone rang in the distance and was just enough of a distraction to pull me to my senses. I released the lock I had on his lips, but didn't move anything else. "Do you need to answer that?"

He shook his head no, "Voicemail will take care of it."

But the spell was broken from the brief conversation, and I recognized that the medical office wasn't where I wanted to first experience what I was sure the masterful Bobby Brown could provide; plus, there was the whole element of one of the guys coming downstairs and discovering me throwing myself at the company medic that I figured was probably not a good idea just yet.

So I let go of the grip on his neck and took a breath through my mouth. Bobby leaned down once more and placed a soft kiss on my lips. I knew he wasn't going to push for us to pick up where we'd left off, so I relaxed and accepted it as a tender way to say goodbye.

"You'll be back for Lester's chili, right?" he asked, as though nervous that I might try to bail on dinner.

"Of course," I replied, glad to see his smile return at my quick response.

I took a few steps away and then turned back, glad that Bobby had a private office for this conversation. "One more thing," I said to get his attention.

He lifted both eyebrows, as though shocked and interested in what was coming next.

"After dinner, I want dessert," I declared, watching his face carefully to see how he interpreted what I was saying.

He blinked three times before saying, "Chocolate?"

I shook my head no without offering any other clues, but decided to have a little mercy and told him, "I'm having that problem that we've talked about before when I don't get enough sugar."

"Cake?" he attempted again.

Again, I gave him a negative response. "The problem is worse than it's ever been," I teased him, trying to get that bedroom airy quality in my voice.

He finally seemed to get what I was saying, because this time, he smiled and said, "Ohhh, that kind of dessert."

"That's right." I smiled in return. "And I want enough of it to leave me feeling too satisfied to even get up."

His face transformed from playful smiling to sexy so quickly that I didn't even see the change. "Baby, I can guarantee that between the two of us, Les and I can promise you won't have the desire to get up, but even if you did, you damn sure won't have the energy."

I gave him a final smile and quickly retreated. Despite his promise and my belief he and Les would be perfectly capable of delivering on every word, I was so glad to know that my mother had a batch of cookies waiting on me. I needed a place to hide for a little while, and the 'Burg would be perfect for that. I definitely wasn't changing my mind, but I had a feeling going back to their apartment tonight would mean a definite change to our relationship, and I needed to spend some time in denial land in order to keep my courage up for whatever might happen later.