Songs I listened to while writing:

Out of Control by Oshins and Way Down We Go by Kaleo

"This is such a cute little office!" Erica exclaimed, looking around with fake interest. Emily gripped her pen tighter in her hand. Ever since her sister had gotten high up with some company name Emily couldn't even pronounce, she thought she was king shit. She also thought that Emily would wipe that shit off her shoe no matter what.

"Thanks," Emily said.

"I wish I could be as brave as you," Erica went on.

"Why?"

"You're in such a competitive business. Surely you must be afraid of losing your job to someone better?"

Not even five seconds and her sister was slamming her. This was really going to be a long three days.

"How are you, Erica?" Emily asked, feeling weary suddenly.

"Oh, I'm doing just fine," Erica answered, beaming. "I got a promotion!"

"Good for you."

"Do you need money or anything?"

"I'm fine, Erica," Emily answered. She rubbed her neck hard. This was going to be very hard. Her sister wiped off the chair and sat on it, crossing her legs neatly. Her brown eyes flashed as she took everything in.

"You've got a dinosaur for a computer," she pointed out.

"It works great," Emily said, trying not to make a face as her mouse froze on the screen and wouldn't budge.

"Mum says to tell you that if you don't get married soon, she will start considering freezing her eggs for you."

"That doesn't even make any sense," Emily said, irritated.

"I'm just repeating what she told me," Erica replied, dusting off her skirt. Emily was tired of people asking about her love life. Why couldn't it be fine to not have one? She didn't understand.

"I know you said no, but I know you, and I know you're going to want one within the hour," Lee said, returning with a coffee for her. She cringed inside. Erica was already giving Lee an appreciative look. She literally looked like a wolf eyeing up a helpless sheep.

"Who are you?" Erica asked, purring.

"Lee," he answered. He turned back to Emily. "Just milk, though. No sugar. Okay?"

"Thanks," Emily said, taking it from him. She wished she had some vodka or something to put into it. This not being able to drink thing might be harder than she thought.

"Oh, and it's decaf," he said, "since you've had way too much caffeine today."

"Okay."

"You work here?" Erica asked.

"Yes," Lee answered, keeping his answers short. "You must be Emily's sister."

"Erica," she simpered, standing and offering her hand. Lee eyed it before shaking it. She held onto his hand afterwards, squeezing it. Emily could tell Lee wanted to laugh.

"Nice to meet you," he said. "I kind of need my hand back, though."

"Of course!" Erica tittered with laughter. "Sorry. I'm just not used to seeing such a handsome man."

"I'm flattered," Lee said, sitting down in his chair. Emily wished he would leave.

"I never would have thought you'd be into wedding planning," Erica said, standing behind him and resting a hand on his shoulder. "What are you working on?"

Lee shifted so that her hand slid off of him. Emily felt embarrassed for him. Her sister was so overbearing at times.

"This and that," he answered. "Em, why don't you take off early? I've got this."

"You sure?" Emily asked. She'd rather stay here for the next three days if she could.

"Yea," Lee answered with a nod. "Get out of here."

"Okay."

"Are you still at that apartment?" Erica asked, putting her attention back onto Emily now that Lee had pretty much dismissed her.

"I am."

"Really? I was so sure you'd have chosen something more sanitary by now."

"Well, it's good for me for right now," Emily said, packing her stuff up.

"Still no ring?" Erica asked next. Emily groaned inwardly. She was anxious to get the hell out of there.

"Nope."

"I've had to turn down two proposals in the last year," Erica went on, without batting an eyelash.

"Uh huh," Emily said, trying to find her wallet.

"They were just too wealthy for me, you know? I want a man who loves me, not his money."

"I see."

"Well, not to worry. We'll find someone for you who still wants something old fashioned," Erica said. Emily felt herself tighten inside at this. Her sister could be so cruel sometimes, but her words were always disguised in that fake nicey nice voice she used. She didn't even want to know what Lee was thinking right now. She could see him watching from the corner of his eye.

"Okay, I'm ready," Emily said, deciding to just ignore the comment.

"I'm serious, Em," Erica went on, "you're boobs and butt are gonna start to sag soon, and no one likes that. I can give you the name of the guy who did my work. You'd never even know!" Erica twisted to show off her tight rump and fake boobs. Emily was ready to throw up.

"Can we just go now please?" she asked.

"Did I say something wrong?" Erica inquired.

"I'm just tired. Long day," Emily said.

"I didn't think it was that hard to call for flower arrangements and type up wedding invitations," Erica commented, giving her hair the signature flip with her hand. Emily's stomach was so clenched now that she was sure everything she'd eaten that day was going to fly out of her mouth. She imagined what it would look like all over Erica's face and neck and...

"Em," Lee started.

"Let's go," she said to Erica, cutting him off. "See you later, Lee." She moved to walk out when he stood up, making her pause.

"Just one thing before you go," he said, walking towards her. Emily wasn't sure what he thought he could do that would help her situation. Nothing could make Erica more bearable...

Oh, dear Lord. He was literally right in front of her now. Emily opened her mouth to ask him what the hell he was doing when quick as lightning, he slid a hand behind her neck and pulled her into him, crashing his lips into hers. For a second, Emily couldn't comprehend what was happening. After two seconds, she didn't care. So this was what it was like to kiss Lee Hendricks. It was intoxicating. She gripped his arms tightly as he tangled his fingers in her hair and gave a slight tug. He turned his head one way and then the other as he kissed her, his other hand sliding along her waist, cupping it and holding it firmly. Those fingers on her skin were making her weak in the knees.

"Ahem," Erica coughed. Emily mentally cursed her sister for being there, but Lee wasn't bothered by it. He trailed his fingers from her hair down her neck lightly and finished kissing her, pulling his lips back as slow as possible. She felt dazed and slightly cross eyed when he was done and kept his face close to hers. Her eyes never left his, and she saw something in them that indicated he was feeling just as overwhelmed.

"I'll see you later," Lee said to her, still holding her face. Her tongue felt like it was five times bigger than usual, preventing her from speaking. She cleared her throat.

"Definitely," she said back, her voice sounding a little bit hoarse.

"What is this?" Erica demanded.

"What's it look like?" Lee asked.

"Em doesn't have a boyfriend..."

"She does," Lee insisted.

"I do," Emily agreed when Erica looked at her with a raised brow.

"I'm sure this is a set up," Erica said, tossing her hair again. "I wouldn't put it past you. You're just coworkers, and he feels sorry for you and is trying to make you look better for my benefit."

"I think she's jealous," Lee said to Emily, kissing her lightly again and then moving his lips down her jaw and onto her neck. She felt him tighten his grip on her waist when her knees buckled and she almost lost her balance.

"You've made your point," Erica said snippily. "Not that I buy it."

"I'll miss you," Lee said to Emily, ignoring her. He touched his nose to hers, and she honestly had no idea how she wasn't melting into a puddle on the floor from this.

"I'll miss you too," she said back. He smiled. Oh God. This was bad. So, so bad.

"I'll call you."

"Okay."

One last, lingering kiss, and she wanted to die when he stopped and released her. She stood there blinking when Erica's not so subtle cough brought her back to reality. She looked at her sister, who, for once, appeared disarmed. The expression was soon replaced with haughtiness, though. She forced her feet to work and left the office, her sister following quickly.

"Was that really necessary?" Erica asked as they headed for the door.

"It was," Emily agreed, a little faintly.

"I still don't buy it."

"I don't care if you do. It's been about a month and a half now."

"Clearly he's faking it," Erica sniffed. "No guy is that crazy for a girlfriend for long. Two weeks tops." Emily felt stung inside. Was her sister implying that no guy would keep that fire for her? They were outside now, and she hailed a cab.

"Maybe they're not compatible then," Emily suggested. "Cos to me, you should always be a little bit crazy for each other no matter what."

"You really do live in a fantasy world," Erica snorted. She flicked her hair yet again and looked around, bored. Emily resisted slapping her. How could she say that? Was losing David not reality enough? She suddenly wanted away from her, so when the cab got there, she gestured for Erica to get in and then didn't follow. Erica gave her a surprised look.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"I have to run an errand," Emily said. "I'm sorry. Here's my spare key. I'll see you later." She left without another word, without letting her sister say anything either. She marched around to the back parking lot, wondering where she could go. She didn't want to be around her sister right now. She stood still, pondering on what to do when she noticed Lee leaning against his parked truck watching her. Relief inside of her was immense. She walked towards him, wondering what to even say to him. What he had done was...was...well, there were no words really.

"Hey," he said when she stopped in front of him. "Need a lift?"

"Desperately."

"Come on then," he said, opening the passenger door to let her climb in. Once he was in the driver's seat and taking her far away from her sister, she felt herself relax.

"Why did you do it?" she asked a little while later. It was slightly bothering her. Why would he pretend to be her boyfriend for her sister?

"Because she kept shitting on you, and I just wanted to give you a win," Lee answered. "It was that or toss her in the dumpster out back, and we all know I'm not a complete arsehole. Anyway, you'd have done it for me."

Would she have? Emily thought about this. She wasn't sure, but maybe. She dared to look at him as he drove. His left elbow was leaning on the edge of the window with his hand resting against his face. He looked fully concentrated on what he was doing, not noticing her watching him. She thought about how his lips had felt against her. It brought warmth to her cheeks just thinking about it.

"I've never been good enough," Emily said, surprising herself. He turned his head to meet her gaze, and he looked bothered by that statement.

"You're more than good enough, Em," he told her after a moment. "You're the only one who really needs to believe that." She said nothing as she looked back out her window at the passing places and people. She wasn't surprised that he wasn't talking about their kiss. It had meant nothing to him. It had simply been him doing her a favor to get her sister off her back. That was all.

It really surprised her how disappointing that was.

...

"Oh my God," Jane said. "Oh my God!"

"What?" Andy asked, confused. She was wrapping up for the night. Nigel was still in his office.

"I saw them!"

"Saw who?"

"Lee and Emily!"

"Doing what?" Andy asked, growing impatient.

"Kissing!"

"WHAT?!" This had Andy's full attention now. She gaped at Jane. "When? Where?!"

"Here! Just now!"

"Why?!"

"I have no idea, but I walk by and see Lee giving Emily a Notebook worthy kiss and some woman gaping at them. What is happening?!"

"There has to be a reason," Andy said. "There has to be."

"Erica's in town," Nigel said, making them both spin to see him standing in the doorway. "Emily's sister. Erica is a bit of a bitch, and I'd bet anything Lee was trying to help Emily out by pretending to be her boyfriend."

"Oh, this is perfect," Jane said, rubbing her hands together.

"What is?"

"She won't be able to say no if he asks her to come to dinner tomorrow," Jane said, her eyes shining now. "And he'll have to pretend to be her boyfriend all night." Her perfect situation had just gotten even more perfect.

"Oohhh! It's perfect!" Andy exclaimed. Nigel's brows were raised, but he was smiling.

"You two are hysterical," he commented.

"You can't say there's nothing there," Jane argued, looking at him. He chuckled.

"Why do you think I hired him to help us out?" he asked, giving them a "gotcha" kind of look before leaving them alone.

"I think we're slightly evil," Andy stated as Jane got more excited.

"Nonsense. I know a man in love when I see one, and he's not in love with Lacy. He's in love with Emily. I can't find out if Lacy's running around on him, so we just gotta nudge them in the right direction."

"Alright, alright," Andy said. "So how do we do this?"

"Just watch and learn," Jane replied, grinning hugely. Christmas had come just a little bit early this year.

...

That kiss was all Lee could think about it. He hadn't planned on taking it to that level with her, but once he'd started, he couldn't stop. The intensity of it took him aback, not to mention the fact that he didn't want to stop. What the hell was happening to him?

He snuck a peek at her looking out the window. She hadn't brought it up other than to ask why. It probably didn't mean anything to her anyway. She knew its purpose, so why talk about it?

He really wanted to talk about it.

He opened his mouth to say something when she beat him to it.

"If you don't mind dropping me off at the bar, that'd be great. I just need to be anywhere but home," she said. "And no, I'm not drinking." He closed his mouth. He nodded.

"Sure."

He kicked himself for chickening out. He felt like if they didn't talk about it, it would be this thing between them that would create awkwardness and then just get worse from there. They didn't speak as he drove, and when he arrived at her destination, he felt his time running out.

"Thank you," she said, putting her hand on the door handle once he parked.

"Em, wait," he said hurriedly.

"Yea?"

What could he even say? She was his wedding planner for God's sake. His wedding planner. He was marrying someone else. He swallowed.

"Are you okay?" he asked. Was that disappointment in her eyes? No, it was relief. He was pretty sure.

"Yea," she answered. "I'm fine."

"Do you want me to come in with you?" He was worried someone else like Scott would find her, but she waved him off.

"I can't be scared to live my life, Lee. I'll call if anything happens."

"Okay."

"Have a good night."

"You too," he said. Then she was gone, and he felt like an idiot. How could he have thought kissing her was a good idea? He drove home. He had no intention of telling Lacy because it meant nothing. It was a friend helping a friend. She'd do it for a friend too. It was no big deal.

But he couldn't help but realize that if Emily had told him it meant something, he would have told her that it meant something to him too.

The Next Morning

Jane was practically vibrating with excitement. If Lee kissed Emily, then he cared about her enough to make her look good for her sister. He was probably still thinking about it, and if he was, then he'd realize he wasn't with the right girl and would tell Emily. Then they'd get together and live happily ever after...

"Honey?" Kevin asked, interrupting her dreamland. She looked at him without fully seeing him.

"Yea?"

"You're just standing there...with your hand shoved up a turkey's ass," he commented. Jane looked down at her hand, and it was indeed stuffed inside a turkey's ass.

"Oh," she said. "Right."

"What is with you?" Kevin asked, laughing as he went to steal a piece of stuffing. Jane moved her leg to kick him in the butt, but he dodged her.

"I was thinking about one of my weddings," she lied.

"Pfft," he scoffed. "You were thinking about Lee and Emily." Why had she been stupid enough to tell him about the kiss? Was she nuts?

"Nooo..."

"Jane, it's okay," he laughed. "You're a romantic, just like me. It's why we fit so well together. It's one of the reasons I love you."

"Okay, so what are we gonna do?"

"Just let things happen naturally," Kevin answered. Jane gave a slight stamp of her foot, her hand still trapped inside the turkey.

"That will take forever!"

"You wanna force it and watch it blow up in your face?"

"He's gonna marry the wrong girl if we don't do something!"

"You don't think he knows he's with the wrong girl?" Kevin challenged.

"You think he does?"

"He knows. Deep down or wherever, but he knows."

"Then why is he being so stupid?" Jane demanded. Kevin walked over to her and planted a kiss on her for a moment before pulling back to look at her.

"Because guys are idiots," he answered. He tweaked her cheek playfully and went back to peeling the potatoes. Jane watched him thoughtfully. He was so good to her, and she was so glad things had worked out the way they did. She felt tears in her eyes as she thought about their rough journey of trying to have a child, but she reached with her arm to wipe them away. Regardless of what happened, they had each other, and that's all that mattered.

...

Lacy looked over at Lee sitting on the edge of their bed, his hands folded on his knees. She knew he wouldn't take her going away for work on Thanksgiving very well. His face was in a shadow, and he was quieter than usual.

"I'm sorry," she said again.

"I've given up trying to understand how this job operates," he replied. "Do what you gotta do, Lace. I won't stop you."

"You're making me feel bad..."

"You and I both know that the only we can make ourselves feel bad about something," he retorted.

"Well, I do feel bad," she insisted. She stopped packing and rested her hands on top of the suitcase. The guilt for not telling him that the man she'd had an affair with was also going was immense. The guilt for not telling him about the affair at all was even worse.

"Well, don't. You've had to get used to me going God knows where for God knows how long, so it's only fair," he reasoned.

"That's true," she agreed. "But I still feel bad." She walked over to him and sat beside him, taking his hand in hers. She frowned a little when he slightly flinched at her touch. Was he really that angry with her for leaving?

"I'll make it up to you," she promised, rubbing his fingers with hers gently, "when I get back. Okay?"

"Alright."

She leaned in to kiss him, and for the first few seconds, he wasn't as responsive as he usually was. She examined his face afterwards, wondering what he was thinking.

"What's going on with you?" she asked. "I feel like it's more than just me leaving for work." He fidgeted slightly, and her heart started to race. Was he cheating on her?! Her Lee? Loyal Lee? No...

"If you had a guy friend whose sibling was berating him nonstop and basically calling him a loser, would you pretend to be his girlfriend to give him a win to make the sibling back off?" he asked. Lacy blinked.

"Well, yea," she said slowly. "I mean, it would mean nothing to me, but if it was helping him out, I'd do it, especially if he was a good friend."

"Okay," Lee said.

"Did you pretend to be someone's boyfriend?" she asked, realizing why he'd bring up such a crazy sounding hypothetical situation.

"Yes," he answered. "I...I don't like lying to you or keeping things from you. I did last night. I just couldn't take it anymore. This girl was so vicious. She told my friend she needed an arse and a boob job in order to keep men interested in her."

"Oh God!" Lacy exclaimed. "That's horrible!"

"That's what I thought, so I just...I stepped in and said I was her boyfriend. It shut the sister up instantly."

Lacy read his face, and she felt there was more that he wasn't telling her. She swallowed, feeling a bit nauseous suddenly.

"Did you kiss her?" she asked. He flinched, which answered her question. She felt herself tense up.

"Briefly," he answered. "It meant nothing, nothing at all. I swear."

"Who was it?"

He hesitated, and she felt her skin prickle.

"Emily," he answered.

"Our wedding planner, Emily?" she asked.

"Yea."

Lacy surveyed him carefully. He looked extremely regretful, so that helped. If he said it meant nothing, then it meant nothing. He was a man of his word, she knew that. The problem was that Lacy didn't exactly trust that Lee didn't have a small crush on Emily. His face always lit up when he talked about her, which wasn't all the time, but she was their wedding planner after all, so her name did come up more than she'd like. Lacy did trust Lee, so she had to trust him now.

"You're always looking out for people," she said, kissing his cheek. "That's something I admire about you the most."

"You're not mad?" he asked.

"No," she answered. "I would've done the same thing. Her sister sounds like a hag."

"She is."

Lacy patted his leg before standing up and resuming packing. He looked less moody, which indicated that the whole kissing Emily thing had upset him a lot. She could always count on his moods to tell her if he was doing something wrong. She'd know if he was having an affair very easily.

Her, on the other hand...

"I love you," he said, and she worked to steady her shaking hands.

"I love you too," she replied.

"Jane's hosting a Thanksgiving dinner with her husband," he went on. "Nigel and Andrea are going. I was thinking of going too."

"Oh, good. I won't have to worry about you being home alone all day then," Lacy said, relieved. Then she paused. "Is Emily going?"

"I don't know. I don't think so. She'll be with her sister I think."

"Well, have fun," she said.

"I will." He nodded. She turned to finish packing, trying not to entertain the idea that she suspected he was still keeping something from her.

...

Barney's arms were getting tired as he mashed and pounded on the potatoes. Gunner was in his corner, muttering to himself as he did his best to make something that resembled a pie. Unfortunately for him, he had Caesar supervising and being bossy about it over his shoulder.

"That's not right," he was saying now.

"Then you do it," Gunner retorted, sounding irritated. Toll was sitting with his feet propped up and reading a book while his corn cobs sat ready to boil. Tool had tossed his salad and was smoking his pipe while sketching something on his notepad. None of them were allowed to do the turkey or stuffing even if they'd offered or asked to do it. Caesar made it very clear that was his job.

"You'll never learn if I do it for you," Caesar insisted.

"I never wanted to learn in the first place!"

Barney chuckled and then promptly jammed the edge of the knife into his thumb as he missed the potato completely. He gave a disgruntled noise before sucking the blood off in his mouth.

"You'd be better off with a peeler," Caesar commented, noticing.

"Shut up," Barney said back.

"Just sayin'."

"Say it over there," Barney ordered, pointing away from him. Caesar rolled his eyes and went to check on his turkey. Barney felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, and he reached to pull it out to answer while wrapping his thumb with a paper towel before continuing peeling.

"Yea?" he said.

"Am I interrupting?" Lee asked.

"Just cooking," he answered. "What are you doing?" He had the phone in the crook of his neck while he pulled the blade down the potato again, slowly this time.

"I kissed Emily," Lee blurted. Barney jerked in shock, and the knife slipped and dug into his thumb again through the paper towel. Hard. He stomped his foot, bent over briefly in pain, and wordlessly swore while straightening up and chucking the knife halfway across the room. The others were staring at him now, especially Tool, whose eyes were slightly bulged as he turned his head to glance at the knife stuck in the wall inches from his face.

"You what?" Barney asked, now that he had a grip on himself.

"Her sister was being a real git, and I couldn't take listening to her saying Em was old and flabby..."

"What?!"

"...so I just walked up to her, planted one on her, and pretended to be her boyfriend," Lee finished without missing a beat.

"Well holy shit," Barney said, dumbfounded.

"And then I felt bad and I told Lacy."

"You're an idiot," Barney commented.

"I didn't tell her I'm still pretending to be her boyfriend later."

"A complicated idiot," Barney corrected. "I think that's worse. How did you get into doing that?"

"Jane. That's all I'm saying about it."

"She blackmailed you?"

"Something like that. Basically, Emily is going to be there with her sister, and I'm going to be there, so do the math on what I gotta do. If I don't, it makes things worse for Emily with her sister."

"Well, I don't think you took much convincing," Barney said, stating the obvious.

"I lied to my fiancée, Barney," Lee growled. "I'm no better than she is."

"Now hang on a second," Barney interrupted. "Did she ask if you were still doing it?"

"No."

"Then you didn't lie."

"Not telling her is still lying, Barns..."

"You didn't sleep with Emily. You just gave her a kiss to give her a win in front of her sister, right?"

"Yea."

"You don't have any intention of sleeping with her, do you?"

"No."

"Then you're just having dinner with friends while giving the illusion of something else to the sister."

"This is true. Lacy said she'd do the same thing when I told her about the kiss."

"And then some."

"Barns..."

"What? It's the truth and you know it. After everything she's put you through, giving a friend a kiss to help them out is nothing."

"What the hell is going on over there?" Caesar asked, unable to help himself.

"But I didn't tell her about doing it again. Why would I do that?" Lee demanded.

"Because deep down you have feelings for Emily and know that Lacy probably knows it too," Barney answered immediately.

"I want to do it," Lee said. Barney could hear him pacing now. "That's the problem. I want to. Barns, I'm in trouble."

"No shit."

"What do I do?"

"Dump Lacy and date Emily."

"I can't just do that..."

"Sure you can."

"I can't."

"You ain't married yet," Barney insisted. "If you don't feel it's right, then don't do it." He listened as Lee sighed and huffed and paced some more. He could tell his friend was tormented. He wished Lee could see how easy the solution was.

"I gotta go," he said finally.

"Okay."

"Say hi to the guys."

"They say hi back."

Toll raised his hand in a wave without looking. The others did as well. Barney said goodbye and hung up. He tapped the phone in the palm of his hand, ignoring the blood that was dried on it now.

"What the hell is Christmas up to now?" Gunner asked. Barney chuckled.

"It would appear that our brother is caught up in a possible love triangle."

"Ten bucks says he gets with Emily," Caesar said instantly.

"I'll take that bet," Toll piped in.

"Twenty bucks Lacy is already cheating on him again," Tool added.

"Oh! Count me in for that too!" Toll said. Barney was amused but also felt bad for his friend. He hoped he would make the right decision.