Dominos

Chapter 21

Disclaimer: This is fictional, and Courtney belongs to me.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews: maketimetotime, Sonib89, Chi1078, Emmettluver2010. They always make me happy. My plans had changed quite a bit, and I'm not going to be going home until tomorrow. So that means there's an update today! Yay! Hope you guys enjoy it! Love you lots! XoXoXo

Courtney was nervous as hell. She was headed over to Stu's house, about to meet his brother Martin and his niece Avery. When it came to her love life, she typically did not meet siblings, parents, etc. Mostly because she didn't have any sort of love life in the last few years. But even when she did meet someone, they didn't involve each other's families. And she was content with that. This was all very new to her.

When she parked in front of his house, her heart was just about ready to beat out of her chest. She got out of the car and walked up to the front door. She rang the doorbell. Within moments, the door opened. Stu stood there, his three year-old niece being held on his hip.

"Courtney! Come on in," he said, moving out of the way.

"Hi," she said, giving the pair a kind smile, as she walked into his house. He shut the door behind her.

"Hi!" the young brunette said, waving to her.

"Hi," Courtney said. "You must be Avery. I'm Courtney."

She nodded. "I heard about you. You're Uncle Stu's girlfriend!"

Stu laughed nervously. "Avery, she's not my girlfriend, you silly goose. She's my friend," he corrected her.

"You looove her!" Avery insisted, placing her palms on her uncle's cheeks. He was bright red, as was Courtney.

"Avery! Are you teasing Uncle Stu again?" a man, spoke, walking over to the three. He was slightly shorter than Stu but looked very much like him.

"Yes," she replied with a guilty tone and a pout.

"What did I tell you about doing that?" he asked her.

"That it isn't very nice to do," she admitted.

"Hi. You must be Courtney. I'm Martin, this overgrown giant's older brother," he introduced himself and held his hand out to her.

Courtney smiled and shook it. "That's me. It's so nice to meet you, Martin. I hope that you don't listen to a word he's said about me," she replied.

He laughed. "Oh, trust me, he's spoken about you plenty. But he hasn't said one negative thing about you," he told her.

"She's very pretty," Avery said, loudly whispering to Stu.

"Yes, she is," he agreed.

The girl reached forward and ran her fingers through Courtney's hair. "You have very pretty hair," Avery said.

"Thank you. You have very pretty hair, too. It's almost the same color as mine."

"Uncle Stu, I like her."

"Well, you know, you always yell at me for not having any girls here that you can to play with. So, I invited my friend Courtney to come over and hang out with us today," he explained to the three year-old.

"Why isn't she your girlfriend?" Avery asked him.

"Why do you ask so many questions?" Stu replied.

"I heard you tell daddy that you like her and that she's beautiful."

"You're a nosy little bugger, aren't you?" he asked her, pressing his nose against her much smaller one.

Avery laughed. "Yes, I am. I like to know secrets!"

Courtney loved watching Stu interact with his niece. He was happy and playful with her. She loved seeing this side of him. It was incredibly endearing.

Stu, Courtney, and Martin were sitting in the living room, on the couches. Stu was sitting next to Courtney, his arm resting on the back of the couch, subtly behind her. Martin was on the loveseat near them. Avery was napping, after having played Hide and Seek with Courtney, as well as playing with the three year-old's dolls.

"So, now that the little one is napping," Martin began, "what exactly is going on with the two of you?"

Stu and Courtney looked at each other and laughed uncomfortably. "We're um…we're…friends," Stu replied.

"The way that you look at her says that's not true."

Courtney turned bright red, as did Stu. "Well, I obviously care about her very much. But for now, we're just…you know…um…friends," he tried to explain to his brother with as little detail as possible.

She decided to chime in to try and help him out. "We like each other…a lot. But we're not in a relationship or anything. I'm making him work for it."

"At least the lady is honest about it. I have to appreciate that," Martin said with a nod.

"Well, I don't want to put a label on it just for you, if it isn't something she's okay with," Stu explained.

"I can assure, Courtney, my brother here is simply mad at about you," Martin told her with a smirk.

She smiled. "I know he is."

"The fact that you're making him work for it…well played. I like that."

Stu looked up at the ceiling, shaking his head. "Why do you feel the need to do this to me?" he rhetorically asked.

"Aw, Stu," Courtney cooed, gently rubbing his leg.

"He speaks very highly of you. He has since the first time I ever heard him mention you," Martin told her.

"Oh really?"

"Absolutely. He always talks about you. I'm telling you, I've never seen him so hooked on anyone before."

"He's growing on me, too," she teased.

"Oh. You like my brother, do you?" he asked.

"I do. He's a very sweet guy."

"My mother and father did their best to raise us right. I wish you could meet my wife. She would love me," Martin told her. "But she's got baby number two on the way and didn't want to fly during her third trimester."

"Well, maybe I'll be able to meet her at some point. That is…if Stu decides to keep me around," she said, nudging the man next to her with her shoulder.

"We're going over in about a month and a half for a few shows. I'll bring you to meet Joanna…and my parents, if you'd like," Stu offered.

"I would love that. Besides, if Avery wants a girl to play with while Uncle Stu comes around, I can't let her down," Courtney replied.

Stu smiled at her, genuinely happy that she was onboard with meeting his family. "Then, it's settled, you'll meet the whole family."

"You know, Stu hasn't brought a woman around to meet us all in quite a number of years," Martin told her. "So, he must be pretty serious about you."

"Good. The last thing I want to be is another notch in his belt," she shot, sending a smirk in his direction.

"Stu, I must say, you've got yourself quite the winner here. She's got a really good head on her shoulders."

"Thank you," Courtney said.

"Quite honestly, if you showed up without her, I don't think Avery would let you into the house anyway," Martin commented.

Stu laughed. "You're probably right. She'd slam the door in my face," he agreed. "Like the time I jokingly told her I didn't bring any gifts for her."

"I remember that. We knew Stu was at the door and sent Avery to answer it. She was like 'hi Uncle Stu, what did you bring for me?' And he told her that he thought he was a sufficient enough gift. She shut the door in his face and stormed over to us. When we asked her where Uncle Stu was, she said 'he didn't bring gifts. He needs some time to think about what he has done to me.' We were all hysterical."

The three laughed at the story. "I'd love to hang out with Avery again. I have to say…she seems very advanced for a three year-old.

"She's really smart. And in a lot of ways, that's a really good thing. But she's a little too smart for her own good sometimes. She's very nosy, too," Martin told her. "Joanna and I have caught her a few times picking up the phone while we're on it, to listen in on our conversations."

"Oh jeeze. She's clever."

"To say the least."

Courtney had a wonderful time with Stu, Martin, and Avery. She spend the next day at home, allowing Stu some time with his family. Besides, she needed to give herself some time to clear her head. Being with Stu and his family made it harder for her to keep her emotional distance. Watching him with his niece made her melt.

The doorbell ringing caused her to jump, seeing as she wasn't expecting any company. She knew it couldn't be Stu. Other than him, she really wasn't interested in having any visitors. Courtney got off of the couch, where she had been sitting and reading a book. She walked over to the window and glanced out of it, rolling her eyes when she saw who was standing there. Exactly what she didn't want to deal with.

Courtney opened the door. "Paul. What a pleasant surprise," she spoke, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Can we talk?" he asked her.

"Do you promise to keep it quick?"

He sighed. "Yes."

"Alright." She moved over, allowing him to walk inside. She shut and locked the door. Upon turning around, she saw him standing right behind her. "You can sit on the couch," she said, motioning to it.

Paul sat on the loveseat. She sat on the other couch. "I heard that Stephanie was talking to you," he said.

"Oh? She told you?"

"No. Brian saw her bringing you into her office and asked me what that was about," he explained.

"So, Brian knows, too?"

"No. He just noticed that the both of you seemed uncomfortable and asked me what that was about."

"Oh."

"So, what was that about?" he questioned.

Courtney sighed. "Paul, she thinks you're cheating on her…with me."

"What?!"

"You really need to talk to her about what's going on. She knows that you call me and text me. She said that she has people looking into this whole thing. You have to tell her the truth. I told her she should talk to you. But…"

"I'll take care of her. Don't worry about it," Paul said. "I really wanted to see how you were doing."

"I'm fine."

"What's going on with you and Stu?"

She rolled her eyes. "Don't concern yourself with that. We're friends. He's a good guy. That's all."

"That's why I hired you to be his valet. I figured he would take care of you. I'm just concerned that maybe he's taking too much care of you and that you're more than friends. You know…people talk, and I have ears all over the place. I hear everything."

"He's not my boyfriend, if that's what you're asking me, Paul. Besides, I don't trust men at all. But you already knew that, didn't you?" she replied, her last statement oozing with passive aggressiveness.

"I know."

There was a silent pause between them. "Paul, why haven't you told Stephanie about me? She's your wife. She should know the truth."

"I know…I just…I don't know why I haven't told her yet." Courtney rolled her eyes at him. "Why are you avoiding me?"

"Because you're too much for me to deal with right now. I've got a lot going on. And quite frankly, you act like you're some prince charming coming in on his white horse. When quite frankly, we both know that it's because of you that my life is a mess," she replied. "You really need to work on boundaries."

"Maybe I do."

"Listen, Paul, I don't hate you. And I actually don't blame you for everything that has happened to me. I made my own decisions in my life. But I just need you to back off a bit. You're trying too hard, and it's just frustrated."

He nodded. "I'm just trying to do what I think I'm supposed to. I don't know what the hell I'm trying to do to be completely honest with you."

"You really need to talk to Stephanie."

"I told you I would take care of her."

"You have to really soon. Quite honestly, I don't need your wife pulling me out of the locker room asking me why her husband is calling and texting me incessantly. You know she's gonna go to Shawn and ask him about it. And it the truth comes out in a way that neither of us are involved in, I have just as much to lose as you do. I don't need everyone knowing about my life before you brought me here."

"Shawn won't say a word. He knows what's on the line. He wouldn't do that to either of us," Paul assured her.

"You should say something, though! She's your wife, Paul. She deserves to know why her husband is practically stalking some random twenty-five year-old new employee. It just looks awful for the both of us."

He nodded. "You're absolutely right," he agreed. "Alright. I'm gonna go to the Performance Center, then. Thanks for letting me in and talking to me."

"Yeah. No problem." The two stood up from the couches they had been sitting on and headed towards the front door. Courtney unlocked and opened it.

"I'll see you," Paul said.

"You will."

"Bye Courtney."

"Bye Paul."

And with that, he was gone. She shut the door and pressed her back to it. That went better than she expected it would. But she also knew that her secrets were going to come out in a bad way, if Paul didn't talk to Stephanie. And soon.