"No, Alec, I'm poor as it is, I'm not going to play you again," Sketchy said, walking away after he lost yet another game of pool.

"C'mon, Sketch. Maybe your luck will change," Alec said, trying to coax him into another game.

"Kris, will you please tell your friend that I have no desire to lose more money," Sketchy said, taking a sip of his beer.

"My friend? Since when was he my friend and not our friend?" Kris asked him.

"He's your friend when he takes my money from me," Sketchy replied, smiling. He had long since given up the quest to date Kris, realizing she made an excellent friend and Alec was completely devoted to her, despite the lack of a title to their relationship. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size? Like Kris?" Sketchy asked Alec.

Alec stood in front of Kris, giving her the puppy dog eyes. It had been two weeks since Kris walked in on Alec with another woman and they had resumed their friendship like it had been before.

"Kris, please?" Alec whined, holding her hands in his and stroking them lightly with his thumbs. She had grown accustomed to his occasional touch and enjoyed it.

"Ack! The puppy dog eyes..." Kris said, closing her eyes. Alec's version of the puppy dog eyes was always her undoing.

"Kris...c'mon, one game."

"Fine, fine. Why do you have such a desire to lose anyways?" Kris joked.

"We'll see, we'll see," Alec replied. Out of the countless times they had played together, Alec only won about thirty percent of the games.

"How much did Sketchy lose?"

"Twenty, why?

"I'm betting twenty then."

"Huh? We never bet money." Sorbet, pizza, dinner, yes, but never money.

"I gotta help out the boy. He's moaning too much," Kris said.

Alec sighed. "That's fine. I can do a lot with forty bucks anyways."

They both laughed.

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"Here you go, Sketchy," Kris said, giving him back the twenty dollars he had lost earlier to Alec.

Sketchy took it hesitantly. "Are you sure? I mean, you won it."

Kris shook her head. "I played for you. Keep it."

Sketchy hugged her. "You rock, you know that? Like major ass kicking, that's what you are!"

"One more," Alec said, coming over and sitting down at the table.

Kris shook her head, "Always quit while you're ahead," she said.

"They sound like an old married couple," Sketchy commented to O.C. and Max.

"Are you sure you're not..."

"No Sketchy. For the millionth time I've never slept with Alec," Kris replied, slightly annoyed. Sketchy was often a pain in the ass when he was drunk.

"Well, actually, that's not technically true..." Alec jested.

Kris punched him lightly. "Oh, shut up," she said, realizing there were many instances where she had fallen asleep on him as they watched a movie and he wouldn't bother to move her to the bed.

"I wanna know what happened," Sketchy complained.

"Well..." Alec started, smiling mischievously.

"Ug, you are impossible," Kris stated, annoyed.

"You wouldn't have it any other way," Alec replied.

"C'mon, Boo Numba Two, let's go dance while Alec shares his fantasy," O.C. said, grabbing Kris' hand.

"It wasn't a fantasy, O.C.," Alec said cockily.

Kris rolled her eyes big while being led to the dance floor.

After he explained his comments to Sketchy, he watched Kris move on the dance floor, mesmerized. She really could dance well, her moments seemed to just flow together. Max chuckled slightly at the transfixed Alec and went off to find another victim to play pool with her. Sketchy had long since passed out. Alec was blatantly checking Kris out and enjoying what he saw, but he wasn't the only one.

A man stepped in between O.C. and Kris to dance in front of Kris. Kris looked really uncomfortable and tried to go around the tall, black-haired man, but he blocked her way, placing a hand on her back and trying to bring her body closer to his. She struggled and Alec bolted down to the dance floor.

"Hands off my girl," Alec warned fiercely, taking Kris' hand in his. Kris looked at his menacing eyes and realized how he could have been a soldier once. His eyes were deathly cold and his stance stated that he was ready to fight if he had to.

"Sorry, man, I didn't know," the black haired man said, releasing her and walking off the dance floor. Alec turned to her, wrapping an arm around her waist.

"You okay," he asked gently, his cold stare gone.

"Yeah, thanks," she said.

"Boo! What a jerk!" O.C. cried out, coming towards them.

"I'm fine, O.C. No worries. Go dance with that cutie I saw you eyeing," Kris said, smiling.

O.C. smirked and left.

"So, um, do you wanna dance?" Kris asked hesitantly. In the six months Kris knew him, Alec never went near the dance floor, so she had never danced with him, ever.

"I'm not really good," Alec warned.

Kris shrugged. "I don't care."

Craig David's Key to my Heart, a Pre-Pulse song, blared from the speakers, and Kris and Alec danced. Kris was thrilled with the close contact with Alec and relished the feeling of his hands on her sides and they moved to the beat. He wasn't a bad dancer, just uptight. As Alec relaxed, he danced better and became more daring. He moved his hands to Kris' back, drawing her closer and touching his forehead to hers and they moved. She didn't protest but rather started to sing the words of the song to Alec, who she was pretty certain had never heard this song before.

"And ever day and night I think about you constantly. Now I know for sure how much you really mean to me. Sometimes a get a rush, and I see how we were meant to be..."she sang to him. He smiled as he heard the words. She wasn't drunk, so he took it as a message and held her closer as the song ended and a slow song began. It was Water Runs Dry by Boyz II Men, another Pre-Pulse song.

"Do you wanna stop dancing?" Alec asked.

"No," Kris replied, resting her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his neck.

She had no idea why she was acting so bold, but she had a realization when Alec stopped that jerk from dancing with her. She really like the sound of "hands off my girl." She knew that Alec had said it to protect her, but something inside her sparked. It was as though her heart had been asleep for the past year but was now finally ready to take a chance. Then again, it was Alec and she didn't want to be a tissue - thrown away and forgotten after being used. But she wasn't like the other girls, and she knew that too. She stopped thinking and savored the feeling of Alec's warm body against hers.

Alec had no idea why Kris was acting the way she way, but he liked it. She was almost being aggressive, and it was refreshing. He didn't know what the next move should have been though. Should he kiss her now? Kiss her at her apartment? Kiss her at her apartment and ask to come inside? He would usually know how to play this kind of situation, but that was the crux of it all. He didn't want to play with Kris. She had seen thought all his games and was still there, in his arms, right then. That amazed him.

The song ended and a fast song replaced it. The intimate mood shattered. Kris slowly pulled out of Alec's embrace, and Alec let her go.

"I'm getting tired. Let's go to my place," she said, leading the way back to the table to pick up their jackets.

Alec wasn't sure if this time it was an invitation for something more than a movie and sorbet, neither was Kris. They got their jackets and began walking towards Kris' apartment.

"What did you tell Sketchy about us?" Kris inquired as they walked down a dark street.

Alec smiled, he liked the sound of us. "I told him that we've slept together lots of times," he answered.

"Unbelievable..." Kris sighed.

"He took it figuratively, not literally. I meant for him to take it literally."

"Sure you did," Kris said incredulously.

"Scouts honor," Alec replied. Kris couldn't help but grin, maybe they would figuratively sleep together tonight.

They turned the corner, only to find a scarily familiar black car and two trench- coated men waiting for them. One of them was White.

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