Chapter Twenty-Six – A Step Forward

Jon stares blankly at the TV as he sips at his beer. He's lost count as to how many he's actually had, not that he truly cares. After the day he's had, followed by the horrible evening, he wants to forget about everything. He finishes his beer before standing up and heading into the kitchen to grab another one. He turns around when he hears the door open. He's surprised to see Angelina walking in. He walks into the living room and watches her set her bag down.

"You look like hell," Jon says.

Angelina looks over and runs a hand through her hair. "Right back at you," she says.

"Yeah." He sets his beer down on the coffee table. "Didn't expect you to be back."

She shrugs. "I couldn't stay there." She rubs her arms nervously. "I never even made it up to my old room."

"Why not?"

"Dad was all over me about how right he was."

Jon snorts. "Yeah, I'm not surprised." He shoves his hands in the front pockets of his jeans. "You shouldn't be either, Angie."

"Jon…"

"I've gotten over it. I'm not in your world. You and I both know it." He watches her closely. "I'm surprised he let you leave again."

"Jon…"

"It wouldn't have surprised me if he made you stay there while he came here and got all of your things. It wouldn't even surprise me if he found some reason to have me arrested."

"I wouldn't let him, Jon."

"No?"

"No, of course not." She steps toward him.

"Why not?"

She rests her hands on his sides. "Because I love you." She licks her lips nervously. "I know I'm not the easiest person to be around sometimes, but that doesn't change how I feel about you."

Jon nods. "I'm not either, Angie. I told you in the beginning that you were liable to hate me more than you like me."

"I said the same thing to you." She takes a shaky breath, hating that he still has his hands in his pockets. Of course, she doesn't blame him for not doing anything yet. "I'm sorry, Jon."

"I need you to trust me, Angie. I work with her occasionally. I don't like it, but there's nothing I can do about it. I've tried talking to the company and they said that if I couldn't get over myself then I wouldn't be working for them anymore."

"But the way you looked at her…"

"Is nothing compared to the way I look at you. I don't know what you saw, Angie, but what I had with her has been over for a long time. It was over long before I even met you. And I'm sorry if I made you think anything other than we were working. That was never my intention."

"Did you love her?" She fists the bottom of his shirt, silently pleading with him to answer her.

"No."

"Do you love me?"

He rests his forehead on hers. "More than life itself."

"Tell me." She slides her hands up his chest. "Please?"

"I love you, Angie." He pulls his hands from his pockets and slides his arms around her waist. "I'm sorry."

"No, you don't have anything to be sorry about. It's me. I tend to overreact if you haven't noticed."

He smirks. "Me too. Two peas in a pod it seems."

"I'm sorry I walked out."

"I'm just glad you're back." He pulls her into a tight hug and lifts her off her feet.

"How much have you had to drink?"

"No clue. But not enough to be drunk."

She smiles. "Can we go to bed? I just… I need you to hold me."

"Anything you want."

"Forgive me?"

"The second you walked in the door." He sets her down and pulls back enough to look at her. "Come on, let's go to bed."

Angelina walks inside after getting home from a long day at school. She's surprised to find Jon in the kitchen. She sets her bag down on the couch before walking over to where he's standing. "Hey," she says wrapping her arms around him from behind. "I'm sorry I'm late."

"It's okay," Jon says. "How'd the test go?"

She groans. "I don't know." She rests her cheek on his shoulder blade. "It was really hard."

"I'm sure you did amazing." He turns around in her arms and smiles at her. "Dinner's just about ready."

"You didn't need to make dinner, Jon."

"I know I didn't." He kisses her forehead. "But when I got home you weren't here yet. Then you called and said you may have to stay late. We need to eat and before you came along, I did keep myself alive. And I told you that you don't need to be cooking for me all the time."

"I like to cook though."

"I know you do. Now back up so I can finish dinner. And if you remember correctly, I cooked for you before we were even together."

"I do remember that." She smiles as she leans against the counter. "Tacos."

He grins as he turns back to the stove. "If I remember correctly, you said they were amazing."

"They were." She watches him closely. "My Dad called me today."

"Oh yeah?" He sighs, hating the fact that Ethan probably made her feel guilty about something. "What did father of the year want?"

"He invited us over to dinner Saturday."

"I can't."

"I know. I told him that. If you didn't have a show, would you?"

He shrugs. "If you wanted to go."

"He mentioned that he wants to come to a show." She watches Jon's grip tighten on the pan. "I told him it would be up to you."

"Can't exactly stop him."

"Jon… I know we've had our issues with him, but maybe he really wants to try."

"I don't trust him, Angie."

"I know. I don't really either."

"He's not coming here afterwards like Beth."

"I wouldn't want him here. And I'll talk to Mom. She'll come too."

"Okay. But if he says one thing about how I act out there…"

"He'll have to deal with me."

Jon grins. "Okay." He leans over and gives her a quick kiss. "Go sit. I'll bring dinner to you."

"Okay." She smiles at him. "Thank you." She sits down at the table and watches him. "You are one amazing man."

He smirks as he plates their food. "Nothing special, Babe."

"You are though. To me."

He sits down across from her. "Well, good to know."