Dallas, Texas

"What is it Pammy?" leaving the diner after sharing a banana split between them, literally indulging in the dessert they'd arranged to have earlier in the morning, Bobby brought attention to Pamela's strange mood; she was flirty and fun one minute, and distant the next and that worried him, he didn't want to lose her before he really had her. "Cliff's starting to ask questions", looking up at him as she spoke, Pam didn't hesitate in answering and it seemed to him that she was almost relieved to have someone to verbalise her thoughts to. "Yeah? What kind of questions?" taking her hand as he responded, he continued to walk them toward his car, figuring that if they were going to fight they should do it in some relative privacy, and if they weren't, they were one step closer to moving on to the next part of their evening together.

"Who are you and what do you do? The first time you came to my house to pick me up he said you looked familiar and asked how we met; now he's digging deeper, he's sure he knows you from somewhere", looking down at their joined hands as she spoke, it was clear to him that Pamela really was concerned, concerned about their relationship and their conversation. "Mm, so, what'd you tell him?" rubbing her hand with his thumb, he willed her to continue speaking, he was interested in her answer as much as he was moving forward, beyond her answer.

"I told him we met through a friend and you're in the ranching business, that you might look familiar because maybe you are familiar, but that as far as I know you've never met; it's the truth, but only half of it. I've been dodging questions left and right and I hate it, my brother and I are close and I feel like I'm lying to him, and I don't do that". Surprised by her answer, he dropped her hand, not intentionally but definitely in reaction to her comments; things had taken a turn he hadn't really expected and he wasn't sure how he felt about that change, clearly it wasn't all that positive though. "Pamela, I never asked you to hide our relationship, you chose to do that all on your own", responding himself, he knew he'd said the wrong thing when she took a step back and stared him down, obviously not happy with what he was saying.

"Oh, so it's my fault? You've told your family about us have you? Your mama and daddy know and I'm the one lagging behind here?" throwing it back at him that he'd hardly been eager to announce their relationship to his family either, he frowned to himself as he considered her point. "Well, no, but you've met Jack, Sue Ellen, and JR…" attempting to argue a point he knew wasn't quite the same as what she was asking, he continued to frown as she took another step back from him. "That's not the same and you know it", hearing the way she responded to his comment, he knew she was right. Informally meeting Jack and JR, and mutually knowing Sue Ellen, but not informing her of much more than the bare minimum factual details was hardly the same as him bringing her home to Southfork to meet the family, the way he would with any other girlfriend. Granted, they hadn't even officially had a conversation about their relationship status and it was still a little early for him to want to bring her home to become one with his family, however, acting as if that was what was happening now didn't strengthen his argument either.

"I'm sorry", whispering his apology, he took a step closer to her, pleased when she didn't step back again. "Thank you. You do have a point, technically I have met some of your family, but that was then and this is now, it's different…" responding herself, Pamela seemed to be warming toward him again, though he couldn't be sure, because she was speaking cryptically. "Meaning?" coming out and asking her straight, he hoped she would answer him, because he had some idea of what was different, but whether or not that was the same reason she thought so he wasn't sure. "Meaning, I feel like things have changed between us, don't you?" answering him, he still wasn't sure what exactly she was getting at; of course he felt like things had changed, but in the time that they'd known each other things had changed a lot anyway, so who knew what she meant? He certainly didn't. "I do, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on this seeing as you seem to have done so much thinking. Tell me, what's changed? Why is it so important that everyone knows now?"

Tilting her head just slightly, Pamela's facial expression appeared to him as a mixture of confused, annoyed, and hurt, and when she began to reply, he heard all of those feelings verbalised. "What's changed? Everything's changed, at least for me. I got a call today, I got one on Friday too, invitations, invitations I turned down because of you, because of us. Every time I hear the phone ring, I hope it's you, and every time it's not, I'm disappointed. That's what's changed, I'm turning down plans because I want to be with you, because whether or not we ever declared this exclusive, in my mind it is, and I really hope you also feel that way, otherwise I'm going to feel very foolish".

Letting out an anxious breath, he reached out to touch her hand again and looked her in the eye as he responded, "exclusive? Oh Pammy. Please, don't feel foolish", pausing for a few seconds, he didn't expect her to respond to his brief comment, but she did. "That's not really the answer I was looking for to make me feel less foolish", appearing embarrassed, all he wanted to do was hug her, to show her that he did care, he felt he should probably say something first though, to reassure her instead of confusing her further. "I'm sorry, I feel the same way, I don't want to think of you accepting dates with anyone else, you're my girl, and I like that I'm your man. For the record too, I haven't been on a date with anyone but you since this thing between us started". Bending the truth slightly, because he'd hardly shut himself away from other women in the time between their first meeting and now, he was telling the truth in the sense that he hadn't actually dated anyone since then; luckily, she seemed to appreciate his comments.

"Good", nodding, she stepped closer to him this time, making up some of the ground they'd lost when she'd stepped back earlier. "Good? I'm glad to hear you think so" grinning as he spoke, he took hold of her hand again; he liked the thought of her thinking of him as hers, he certainly thought of her as his at the moment; she was his girl, not all of those other men's. "So am I. I still don't think we've solved our original problem though", bringing their conversation back to something serious, he wished they could just move on, but apparently she wanted to talk about it. "Problem?" feigning ignorance, he offered no answers, instead just gently rubbing her palm with his thumb, as if it would make her forget her question.

"Yes, what are we telling everyone?" not so easily distracted by his relaxing hand motion or affectionate gaze, Pamela brought the question back to the forefront of their conversation, causing him to sigh again. "Why do we have to tell anyone anything?" hearing the way he verbalised his reply, he didn't blame her for dropping his hand again as in response, he could hear exactly how childish he sounded. "Why? Because I don't want to be some dirty little secret, to feel like I'm sneaking around and doing something wrong when that's not the case at all", stepping back from him again, he knew he'd messed up. They had just declared themselves exclusive, but he didn't want anyone to know, that didn't make any sense, it didn't stop him from feeling that their lives would be easier without anyone else's opinions though.

"Now come on Pammy, I don't want that either, but you know how things are. You only have to look at how you reacted to the news when you found out who I was to know our peace and happiness will be broken if we just come out and announce our relationship to the world, or at least our families". Understanding her point, somehow he still managed to argue his own, though not necessarily very strongly. If he wanted things to progress any further than a bit of fun, their relationship would eventually become public knowledge; however, he really was hesitant about opening that can of worms, at least right now, before they even had a chance to get used to how good things could be.

"Oh I know, believe me, I know, why do you think I've not told Cliff yet? I'm just worried that things will be worse the longer we wait. I'm also worried about keeping an open secret. Your cousin Jack seems ok and I like Sue Ellen a lot, but JR, what makes you so sure he won't announce the news for us if we don't do it ourselves? It's not like he has anything to lose". Bringing attention to JR's volatility, he felt a bit defensive, he didn't always like his older brother and he didn't have a problem saying it, but it was a different situation when someone else said it. "Now honey, don't you think you're being a little harsh on JR? You only met him once, and granted he wasn't very polite to you, but he hardly gave you reason to think that badly of him. He doesn't know any details, and even if he did, spreading the news himself would most certainly result in Sue Ellen being angry with him, and that's not something he takes lightly anymore, not after some of the things they've been through". Not going into details, he hoped she had spoken to Sue Ellen enough to know that his comments were based in fact, JR was no saint, but he seemed to respect his wife now, almost losing her after infidelity had affected him in a positive way, at least for the time being.

"Yeah well, I hope you're right about that. I still don't feel right about keeping us a secret though. You say you never told me to do that, but I feel like you expect me to, your comments just a few moments ago say exactly that. You don't want to deal with your family's remarks, or worse, so sneaking around like this suits you just fine", giving him a stern look, he knew she was quite serious. "Pam…" he couldn't exactly deny her point, it was close to the truth; he was not ashamed of her, he just wanted to keep things as good as they were now for a little longer, before everything changed because everyone knew. "Tell Cliff whatever you want. Promise me it won't ruin this though", giving her the answer she was looking for, he knew it was optimistic to ask her to promise their newfound good relationship wouldn't be ruined, it wasn't really up to her, or him, that was exactly what he was worried about.

"You mean that?" hearing him, her facial expression immediately changed, her serious, straight face replaced by a hint of a smile. "I do", nodding, he returned her smile, though he was a little more apprehensive about what his agreement actually meant in the long run. "Good, next time Cliff asks, I'll answer his questions, as gently as possible", responding, it seemed that Pamela was now closer to the page he was on. "Good. He was probably going to notice my licence plate someday anyway", making a joke, his smile turned into a grin, which seemed to have a positive effect on Pam. "Probably", smirking at him as she responded, it appeared she was laughing at his joke, which was absolutely ok with him.

"Are you prepared for this?" taking hold of her hand again, this time hopefully for good, he asked her a hard question, he personally wasn't sure he was ready, at the same time though, he had to consider what the worst that could happen was, and really, the worst wasn't the end of the world. Choosing a girlfriend who wasn't a Barnes certainly would be easier than what he was potentially entering himself into, there was no denying that; the question was, what did Pamela think?

"I don't know, I think so, but I can't be sure. What I am sure of though is that I can't keep dodging Cliff's questions, it feels wrong, like I'm lying to him; Cliff and I have been through so much together and to lie to him now isn't what he deserves". Responding honestly to his question, he knew she was making the right decision, even if it would make things difficult; family was important, to both of them. "Mm, you love your family, and I love mine, I think we'll be ok as long as we remember that we also like each other a lot, despite our family problems with each other". Not quite using the word love, because he wasn't sure he loved her, and even if he did, they barely knew each other, he breathed a sigh of relief when she smiled and nodded.

"I hope so, because you're right, I like you, a lot", smiling at him flirtatiously, he felt the mood change, and he didn't need to be told twice to move with that change. "Yeah? If that's the case, why we are spending our time talking about all of the things that could go wrong instead of enjoying what we have together?" Returning her flirtatious smile as he responded, he was pleased when she reclaimed her previous position, taking a step forward so they were properly close again, not just within touching distance. "I don't know, but let's not waste any more time", circling her arms around his neck, it took him no time at all to respond to her gesture, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her body close to him and her face even closer, capturing her lips with his. He had plans for the rest of their evening, but after the conversation they had just had, those plans could wait a few minutes; his girl was back on his side and he was not going to take that for granted.

To be continued…