"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Fran quickly agreed.
"Oh, I don't know," C.C. said. "If I were Maxwell, I'd want to know about this."
"I certainly hope I remembered to take the chicken out of the freezer like Mr. Sheffield asked," Niles mused aloud.
C.C. got the message. "You know what? On second thought, what Maxwell doesn't know won't hurt him."
Fran had no idea what had caused C.C.'s sudden change of heart, but she figured with Niles and C.C., it was probably best that she didn't know.
Niles dropped C.C. back off at her place, then he and Fran continued on home.
"Well, I think I'm just going to head upstairs," Niles said as soon as they were inside the house.
"OK," Fran said. "Thanks for...everything." She kissed him on the cheek.
"Don't mention it, Miss Fine. I'm just glad you're staying. You coming?" he asked as he started up the stairs.
"Nah, I think I'll watch a little TV first, take my mind off things," Fran replied.
"Ok, 'Night," Niles said. With that, he went upstairs.
Fran walked into the living room. Unfortunately, it was quite dark and difficult to see where she was going. Just as Fran reached the couch, she tripped and fell.
Luckily, Maxwell had fallen asleep on the couch. The sound of a voice crying "Oy, my leg!" woke him immediately. He looked down and saw Fran lying there on the floor. "Miss Fine, are you all right?" Max asked as he helped her up.
"Yeah, I can walk, I think," Fran said. She tried to take a step, only to find that she was wrong.
"Where were you?" Maxwell asked, trying his best to sound like he was just making conversation.
"Nigel had to go back to London suddenly, so Val and I went to a late movie," Fran lied.
"Oh," said Maxwell, relieved to hear that she'd just been with Val all this time. "Can I help you upstairs?" he asked as he took her in his arms. Fran giggled. "Don't worry, Miss Fine, I would never let you go," he said as he carried her upstairs.
"Oh, I know you won't," Fran said with a smile.