The Best I Ever Had

Part Two

By Aeris Jade Orion

aerisjade@worldnet.att.net

Rating: R

Pairing: KW/KL, KW/MW

Beta Reader: Scotty Welles

Spoilers: Yes, for season seven.

Timeline: Four months after Walk Through The Woods.



Note: In case you haven't figured it out yet, I named it after the Vertival Horizen song. I heard it and thought thats just so perfect...*sigh* But if you've never heard it I will post the lyrics on the very last part.



Disclaimer: They all belong to those three annoying puppies...







"This just isn't like you..."



Kerry let out a heavy sigh at the heartbroken tone of her ex-husband. He'd always had trouble coming to terms with the fact they were divorced. "I love her. Maybe you remember what that's like?"



Michael looked up at her sharply. "You know what I mean. You're almost forty years old, and in that time I don't remember you ever considering something like this."



"You mean dating a woman? Or do you mean moving in with someone I've only known for five months?"



"I came here hoping that we could give this another shot." He turned those passionate emerald eyes onto her. "I realized that, even after all this time, I still love you. You're the only woman I want to be with." The desire and love on his face tore into her heart, as he whispered, "Which is why I want you to be happy. If this woman is really what you want, then I wish you all the happiness in the world, but if she isn't... Does she make you happy?"



"Yes..."



He studied her closely, not missing the slight hesitation in her voice. "Kerry...do you love her?"



Kerry met his eyes more decisively. "Yes," she said, "I do."



Michael smiled, with a resigned sigh. "I...take it your colleagues have been supportive of your relationship?"



"I haven't exactly gotten around to telling them...yet." She began twisting the napkin in her hand nervously.



"Kerry..." He grabbed her hand. "...I'm leaving in a few days, and I was hoping we could have dinner tonight."



"I..."



"Just dinner."



She stared at the man she'd once loved, and found herself missing his company. This was the man who'd stood by her through the good times, and the bad. The man who'd cuddled her in his arms every night for five years. The man who'd been her best friend and her worst enemy.



She fixed him with a stern look, one that he knew very well, and nodded warily. "All right..."



"I'm sorry to interrupt, but where did you put the Tylenol?"



Kerry glared over at Kim, as the blonde effectively avoided making eye contact with her. She was very much aware of how the taller woman had taken being asked to leave. She was also aware that Kim wasn't prepared to deal with her ex-husband's presence.



Michael cleared his throat with a small smile and stood up. "I should really get going." He fastened the buttons on his blazer and bowed his head to her. "I'll see you tonight."



Kerry nodded, taking in the way Kim's face had tightened considerably. Sensing the tension between them, he made his way down the short hall, and let himself out of the house.



Her grey eyes darkened as she fixed Kim with the same glare that had left Michael sleeping on the couch for a week after their honeymoon.



"You've never told me you love me." Kim smiled softly and moved to embrace her, pausing as she took in the simmering anger that was very visible on her lover's face. "I mean, I hoped, but..."



Kerry narrowed her eyes as that one piece of information told her everything she needed to know. "Do you always make a habit of spying on your lovers?"



"I wasn't spying..." She pouted slightly at the 'Yeah, right, what kind of fool do you take me for?' look. "I know I've been a little more possessive and... over-protective of you than I should be, but I would not deliberately invade your privacy. I did hear your conversation, but only because I was cleaning up the coffee stain outside the door."



Kerry's neck flushed at the memories of the previous night's... accident. It was something she'd meant to clean up, but last night had left her too exhausted to do anything but fall into a deep sleep. As for that morning, well, she'd been distracted by a certain tall blonde.



"Now, about that Tylenol...?"



Kerry reached into the grocery bag, still sitting unpacked on the nearby island, another thing they hadn't managed to get around to last night, and pulled out the new bottle. Instead of closing the distance between them to give it to her, she held out her hand and waited for her lover to come to her.



There was a new calmness on Kim's face. One that hadn't been there before the blonde had admitted to hearing her confession of love. She'd known what her feelings for the younger woman were for the last four months, but knowing them and telling her lover about them were entirely different things. That kind of confession left her vulnerable, the way that sex left her vulnerable and exposed.



The long, elegant hand closed over hers, gripping the bottle. She registered in her mind that she needed to let it go, but that simple contact of skin felt so good right now. She found her left hand coming to rest on the slender waist under the soft cashmere sweater, and pulled the blonde closer. Their bodies were barely touching, their lips only a few centimeters apart.



"I love you..." There. She'd said it.



Kim's statement melted into shock. Even after hearing it as Kerry spoke to her ex, she couldn't believe it. Her mouth stuttered open of it's own volition, "I love you, t..." Her words were cut off as Kerry's searing lips found hers.







"I'll call and cancel."



Kim tightened her hold on the lithe body in her arms. For the last few days she'd been scolding herself at being so over-protective and so afraid that the most basic trust was no longer there. It was a hard truth, but their relationship couldn't survive without that. Faith and trust were so important, and now it was time that she did what she had to in order to save that.



"No." She let Kerry shift so that she was looking straight into her eyes before she continued. "I admit that I don't like the idea, but... he's your friend. It wouldn't be right for me to ask you to sacrifice that friendship, simply because of my...insecurities."



"You have nothing to be insecure about. My heart belongs to you now." Kerry broke her eye contact, uncomfortable with all this baring of the souls, and sat up. "I should really get dressed. I need to stop by the hospital and pick up some paperwork before I meet him."



Kim reached out and grabbed hold of Kerry, tackling her down to the bed. She began to chuckle as the short-haired redhead glared up at her with a combination of irritation and passion. She allowed her hand to begin stroking the pit under Kerry's knee. "Surely that can wait a few minutes..."







"...I don't think I've ever seen you so furious."



Kerry struggled to keep up her trademark scowl as he collapsed into a fit of laughter. His smooth, tanned skin seemed to glow against the simple candlelight. She could clearly see his white silk top pulled tautly across his lean chest, giving her a very clear idea of how sculpted his body still was. "As I recall, you ended up stranded on the side of the road in the middle of the Nevada desert..." She replied, not quite able to hide her smirk of amusement.



He grinned widely, with an irresistible boyish charm, and refilled her glass of wine. "I hiked for almost ten miles in broad daylight before that convertible full of bikini models drove by."



"I remember. I was pacing the living room, worried half out of my mind, when I heard this horrible booming of music outside our house." She snorted softly, giving into the urge to laugh. "I looked out the window, and there's this little black convertible filled with gorgeous women wearing these bikinis, with you sitting in the middle of them."



"...and the look on your face. You looked like you weren't sure whether to hug me or throw me out onto the street!"



"You were standing there, no shirt, with this ridiculous tie around your neck and a sheet tied around your waist. I wasn't sure what to think, much less what had gotten into you." Kerry still had trouble figuring out just how his bachelor party had turned out so...disastrous.



"Me?" He stared at her innocently, but not quite hiding the predatory glint that was dancing just behind his eyes. "What about your own party?"



Kerry nearly choked in mid-swallow. She'd been known for some of the parties she'd thrown during her school years, but her bachelorette party had been wild even by her standards. Her getting locked into a very small closet with an amorous male stripper for two hours had been the lesser of the evils that night. "I don't know what you mean."



Michael's jaw dropped slightly, his eyebrow shooting up. She leaned back and smiled neutrally, not about to let him win this. She watched with amusement as his hand limply slacked and the wineglass in his hand clunked onto the table unceremoniously. She'd never seen him so completely speechless and aghast.



It was all it took to push her the rest of the way over the edge. "I still have no idea how those cops went from trying to arrest me to joining the party," she admitted.



"I don't know, but Morgan probably had something to do with it."



"Undoubtedly." She was never too surprised by anything her lifelong best friend did. The fiery, auburn-haired woman had a natural nose for trouble...and the body to get out of it. There had always been a small amount of jealousy on her part, over her friend's comfort with sex. In fact, Morgan had been the one to teach her about the facts of life, along with other helpful tips.



"Have you seen her recently?"



"Christmas."



"That must have been interesting."



Kerry flinched as she recalled the night she'd gotten in from a double shift, only to find her front door unlocked and a certain troublemaker dancing into the hall while trying to get a pair of skintight pants on. It had been a sight that had made her laugh at the time. That was until Morgan had informed her that they were going to a rave. "Interesting is not the word I would use to describe it."



"So tell me about this girlfriend of yours."



She considered the man sitting in front of her. He always seemed to know what she was thinking, what she was going to say, what she was going to do. He'd been the kindest, most gentle lover she'd ever had. Now here he was, asking her about the very person that was standing in his way, and he was genuinely interested.



"She's a psychiatrist..." She paused as he chuckled knowingly. She knew exactly what he was thinking and there was no way she could just let this one go.



The gentle beep of his watch reflectively caused her to check her own watch. "Damn..."



"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.



"It's almost ten..." She sighed, torn between not wanting the evening to end and wanting to go home to her lover.



"Oh." Michael rose from his chair and moved to pull her chair back. His head snapped from the table to her quickly departing figure. With a soft grunt of frustration he threw down enough money to cover their bill twice over and snatched up his coat. He maneuvered through the crowded restaurant and dashed out the door, finally catching up with her. "Kerry..."



She stopped walking and turned to him. Her little voice told her to just keep going, but she never could ignore him. His hand gently touched her arm and turned her to him. "Michael I sh..."



His lips silenced hers as he kissed her with all the pent-up passion of the last few years. He sighed happily as her hands came up to his shoulders....