DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, Fox does. I'm using spoilers from the first season about Kirsten and Sandy's youth.

Chapter III

"Where do you think the boys are?" Kirsten asked.

"As far as they're not here I'm cool. Pass me more charcoal, honey." Sandy was currently preoccupied with the grill, cooking lunch for Kirsten and himself. Kirsten was sitting on the table next to the grill, doing nothing of the actual cooking and passing Sandy the occasional item whenever he asked.

"I'm been serious, Sandy." She commented passing him a small bag with charcoal.

"Me too!"

"Sandy…"

"Come on, Kirsten, this is our day, remember? Kirsten and Sandy, as people! Not Seth's and Ryan's parents, or Caleb Nichol's daughter, Sophie Cohen's son, Newport Group's Head of Residential Development, or highly-paid lawyer of the more boring firm in all of California… just you and me."

"I know and I love that it's just you and me. But I have to admit that, while it's a LOT of fun to wake them up and all, I feel a bit guilty about kicking them out of the house for the day."

"I feel kinda guilty too…" Sandy admitted "But see it this way: our boys? I love them, but they're like piranhas! Specially the one with the dark hair! If they had to run us over with our own cars to have the house alone for them and their girlfriends, they would."

"Sandy…" Kirsten laughed "You're so mean."

"I'm just trying to put a smile on that gorgeous face of yours." He turned from the grill to face her and plant a kiss in her lips.

"You always do." She whispered, laying her forehead against his once the kiss ended.

"Then I'm doing my job. And don't worry about the boys, Seth knows the drill, Ryan will understand… I mean, the poor kid got Christmukkah, didn't he?"

"Yeah, he has a fine mind for understanding the bizarre."

"See?" Sandy laughed. He knew both him and Kirsten were thinking the same: how easy it would be to exchange the word "bizarre" for "Seth". Whatever they called it, Ryan got it "He took your credit card or mine this year?"

"Mine. Left it at the table. I also put a block to how much he can spend; I don't want him bringing home a yacht or something."

"That's our kid!" both smiled knowingly.

"Yeah, they're probably with Summer and Marissa now."

"Of course they are. They're my boys! They're big with the ladies."

"Right! That's you baby, Sanford Cohen, womanizer!" Kirsten was laughing really hard now, a fact Sandy appreciated as much as been called Sanford.

"You about done?"

"Why?" she replied making a sexy voice "What do you have in mind for me, Don Juan?"

"Honey, don't act hot if you're going to laugh at me." Sandy smiled.

"Big with the ladies…" Kirsten laughed again, much to Sandy's chagrin.

"Well, I did get the hottest girl in Berkley." He reminded her.

"When we met I was wasted."

"And I was high, but it was still love at first sight, wasn't it?" he teased, embracing her.

"I guess… I was not THAT drunk." She conceded.

"Well, I WAS that high… otherwise I would've never come up with the nerve to ask you out at all."

"You needed to come up with nerve to ask me out?" she asked, a little confused.

"I've told you that before!"

"I thought you were joking… you acted so confident and all… you were frightened to ask me out? Really? Why?"

"Honey, I was terrified to ask you out! In case you haven't noticed, you're way, WAY out of my league."

"That's not true!" she complained.

"Come on, Kirsten… everyone thought you had lost your mind… dating the poor guy from the Bronx with the crazy eyebrows and silly grin… moving in his mail truck… and then to actually marry me and have my son… it just never made sense to them."

"Do you care about it making sense to them?" Kirsten asked seriously.

"No. I only care about it making sense to us."

"Good, because I don't care either." Kirsten kissed him in the lips slowly, enjoying his closeness, his arms around her waist, a hand on her back, his tongue dancing with hers.

"I love you." Sandy breathed when they parted for air.

"I love you too… and Sandy?"

"Yeah?"

"I was never out of your league… you were the best thing to ever happen to me, you still are. And I happen to think you're sexy as hell." She smiled.

He smiled back at her. He knew they never made sense to many people, the gorgeous heiress from Newport and Sandy Cohen? She could have anyone, the hottest guys in school, but she chose him. She had once told him she wanted to be with him because he was smart, tender, polite, sweet, because he made her laugh and he forced her to constantly revaluate herself, because she had never met someone who could make her shiver just by looking into her eyes. And also, she had told him she thought he was one of the most attractive men she had ever met, and that she was crazy about him. And Sandy was proud that after eighteen years and two sons, she still felt the same way about him, as her lips tracing his neck told him.

"Dude! This is like… so much fun!" Sandy Cohen rolled his eyes at the young man standing by his side and laughing like a maniac.

"Yeah, tones of fun." Sandy muttered. His friend Kenny had dragged him to a bar, promising him the time of his life. Turned out Kenny was meeting a guy from the art program at Berkeley who he had met at a party a couple of weeks back for a bet over a pool game. Kenny and Sandy were playing against this guy, Paul, and his friend Travis. At first they were doing fine, but when the drinks and weed starting coming, Kenny had gotten quite high; Sandy, on the other hand, could hold up better, watching as Paul made his shoot while taking a sip of beer, his roll of marihuana in his other hand.

"I think, gentlemen," Paul addressed them "that you're really embarrassing all the lawyers to ever grace the Earth."

"Oh, come on, Paul! I think we're probably embarrassing only those in California!" Sandy joked. He and Paul were getting along quite well; Travis was more the silent type.

"Whatever dude, you're still losing five-hundred bucks on the table."

"Painfully aware of that, man."Sandy answered.

"So where did you get the weed?" Kenny asked a little too loudly "It's good!" he started laughing again.

"He's stoned." Travis commented.

"And drunk, should be a hell of a hang-over." Paul laughed. As the waitress came, Paul handed her an empty cup "Thanks, Colleen. Can you please tell the bartender to make it a double and just the way I like them?" he winked as Colleen rolled her eyes and left.

"Your turn, Kenny. Try not to make a hole in the table." Sandy advised. They kept playing for about ten minutes, Sandy and Kenny still losing. Paul was about to make his shot when a small hand holding a drink materialized in front of his face.

"Hey! About time!" he laughed while he took the drink and got swatted in the arm "Ouch! What was that for?"

"What have I told you about annoying Colleen and customized drinks?" Sandy was speechless when the owner of the small hand came into view. She was the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. Her hair was long and blond, reaching to her waist. Her eyes were blue and her face quite soft and elegant. Her body was amazing too, and he could see it quite well considering her outfit. She was wearing a pair of jeans that looked like they were painted over her body, and a blue tight top that reached up a little whenever she moved, allowing him sight of the piercing in her bellybutton. He was speechless, especially when Paul laughed and embraced her waist with his arm, pulling her to his chest.

Damn, she was taken.

"Come on, gorgeous, don't be mad. Your shift's over?"

"Yeah, Tag was sick so I had to cover up for him in the bar."

"You do make great drinks…"

"Yeah, whatever. Hey Travis!" the blonde girl broke away from Paul's arms and went to hug briefly Travis.

"Right, I haven't introduced you yet! Sorry, but I AM kinda rude. Come here, kid." Paul reached for the girl, while Sandy couldn't help but think she looked nothing like a kid "Kirsten, these are Kenny Meyers," Paul made a break to point to Kenny who was looking quite interested in the contents of his glass "he's kind of out of it, though, and this is Sandy Cohen. This is my roommate, Kirsten Nichol." Sandy was at his feet at once, and offered his hand to Kirsten, she took it and he could swear he felt a bolt of electricity, knowing full well how cliché that sounded.

"Sandy?" she asked, smiling "I don't think I've ever heard of a guy named Sandy."

"Actually, Sandy's short for my real name."

"And that would be?"

"Sanford."

"Oh…"

"Yeah, I know. Never forgave my parents for it." He gave her a charming smile while she laughed softly. She had the sweetest laughter ever, Sandy thought completely mesmerized. He realized he was still holding her hand and let go; she just smiled and turned to ask Paul how was the game so far.

One hour later they were still playing, although Sandy's attention was no longer on the game. Kirsten was sitting by a nearby chair drinking a beer and occasionally taking a smoke from Paul's roll. Sandy was desperate to strike a conversation with her, but Paul was constantly at her side. That was probably for the better, he reminded himself, this girl is taken, Paul keeps touching her and they have kissed already once… why couldn't he help but stare at her?

"Hey." He had been so preoccupied with his thoughts he didn't noticed Kirsten was standing next to him now. He had been standing by the beers.

"Hey." Well, he wanted to talk to her, now he had his chance "What's up?" Real smooth, Cohen, he thought to himself.

"Not much. Waiting for the macho thing to wear off so I can go home. Paul wants me as a witness to your downfall."

"The macho thing?"

"You know, your pool game."

"Why do you think this is a macho thing?"

"Come on! You have been playing for like two hours already, you're betting 500 bucks, and you keep taking digs at each other."

"That's just for fun." Sandy defended himself.

"Ok, then why don't you just call the whole thing off?" she asked, a glint in her eyes. Sandy noticed right away she already knew his answer.

"I… can't…"

"Why?"

"Because…."

"Because you don't want to lose."

"Well, that's hardly a macho thing! I'm just competitive!"

"Maybe… but if you were playing me, you wouldn't be as desperate to win as you are playing Paul."

"If I was playing you…" Sandy realized he had no way to finish the sentence, not a gentlemanly way, anyhow. He looked curiously at her. A minute ago there was nothing he wanted more than to rip her clothes off, now there was nothing he wanted more than to talk to her, listen to what she had to say, be challenged by her "I guess it is different between guys."

"Don't take it the wrong way," she smiled "it's just nature. Males had to square off all the time for their mates, their lands; some of it stays on your blood. You see a guy, you have to measure yourself with him right away, and of course, come on top."

"Aren't women competitive as well?"

"Oh yeah, but there's a lot more of backstabbing there." She laughed and he couldn't help but join her.

"Let me guess, psychology?"

"Art History, actually."

"Really? There's were you met Paul?"

"We had a painting class together, one of my electives."

"And how long have you two been together?" he asked nonchalantly.

"We're not." She laughed, as he stared at her in shock.

"But… I mean… you two live together and are like… you know…"

"He's my roommate. I don't live at the dorm and I couldn't afford my apartment anymore, so Paul offered me to go live with him. And while I won't deny to have had… you know… we're not like boyfriend and girlfriend or anything, we're just really good friends."

"Oh… that's good!" he chirped in way too happily.

"Is it?" she raised her eyebrow at him.

"Yeah…" Sandy smiled at her again, coming into his own. The truth is a woman as gorgeous as Kirsten would scare the hell out of him, he wouldn't dare to make a move… but something was different about Kirsten Nichol. She was smart, funny in her own quiet way, gorgeous and sexy… and he was quite high, so he was feeling the rush in his veins "You know, in case some people were interested in you been free…"

"Some people?"

"Yeah… some people could, maybe sometime, ask you out…"

"And where could I find these people?" oh my god, she was flirting back! Sandy was doing his best not to grin like an idiot, but she was clearly interested.

"I don't…"

"Hey gorgeous!"Sandy at Kirsten turned to face the person intruding in their conversation. Kenny was still quite drunk and staring over at Kirsten.

"Kenny…" Sandy warned.

"What? Come on man! I'm just saying she looks good. You're really fine, baby."

"That's nice." Kirsten muttered under her breath.

"Buddy, why don't you join the guys…?"

"No, its okay Sandy, I'm just going to stay here and hung out with Kirsten." Kenny made a circle past Sandy and headed for Kirsten, who was staring at him a little shocked, not quite sure about what to do.

"Kenny…"

"Hey pretty girl, why don't you give me a kiss…" Kenny made a move to kiss Kirsten, prompting her to let out a small shriek as she stepped back. Sandy took the moment to block Kenny's way again, putting himself between them.

"You come near her and I swear I'm kicking your ass, Kenny."

"Come on man!"

"I mean it Kenny, back off!"

"What the hell is going on?" Paul demanded as he and Travis run to them.

"Geez, man…" Kenny muttered.

"Is he bothering you?" Travis asked Kirsten.

"I… I…" Sandy could see she was clearly more nervous, following her gaze, he realized she was staring at Paul and seemed anxious about what he could do.

"You asshole…" Paul made a go towards Kenny, preparing to beat him up.

"Paul, no!" Kirsten advanced towards him "He didn't mean a thing, he's wasted."

"Are you okay?" Paul asked worriedly.

"Yeah, Sandy already took care of it, I'm okay." Paul gave Sandy a piercing look, then he looked back at Kirsten.

"We're leaving, now."

"Paul, you promised to swing by Zoey's place." She reminded him.

"She'll understand."

"No way, Paul, I can go on my own."

"Travis, could…?" Paul started.

"I don't need a bloody babysitter." Kirsten declared, annoyed.

"I could take you." Sandy addressed Kirsten, causing surprised stares around him.

"You don't have to…"

"I know, but a beautiful girl shouldn't walk by herself at night. Come on; let me take you home, I'll be a gentleman." Kirsten stared at him for a moment, trying to decide.

"Ok… only if it isn't too much of a bother."

"Not at all… you can keep explaining to me how men are like Neanderthals on our way." She smiled at him.

"Let's go."

"Okay, give me a second." Sandy made his way towards Paul "Man, I'm sorry."

"Not your fault, but next time leave this guy at home."

"Promise."

"Travis will drop him by the campus."

"Good."

"You better be a gentleman with her." Paul warned.

"I AM a gentleman."

"I know, just had to get it out of my chest. She freaks out when these things happen… usually everyone here behaves quite well, they know her and all. When drunks try something… she's just not used to it… so, keep that in mind. Try to get her to relax."

"I promise. See you around."

"See you around."

Sandy walked back to Kirsten, she was waiting for him, staring at her shoes.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Kinda tired. Ready?"

"Of course… so," Sandy started walking, casually dropping his hand around her shoulders. He smiled inwardly when he realized she was not pulling away "where are you from?"

"These are so good!" Kirsten took another bite at her hamburger "I'm not eating until next Christmukkah, but these are amazing."

"Good. You can thank the cook later." She laughed at his silly joke; he was taking a zip of his beer.

"This is great."

"Yeah, it is. So simple… hamburger and beer, a boy and a girl…"

"Seth would have some commentary about you addressing us as boy and girl."

"I know he would! That's why we kicked him out!"

"That's mean. You know what we're missing, though? A pool table."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you know, keep embarrassing the lawyers of California." Kirsten laughed at his feigned offended attitude. In truth, the pool table had been kind of a joke between them; they'd met when they were in college, in a bar, he was playing pool with a couple of Kirsten's friends. He had walked her home that night and after giving her a peck in the cheek before leaving, he asked her on a date. The next night he fixed them dinner in his small apartment; been that his recourses were limited, he had to settle for hamburgers and beer. During their conversation the night before she had told him she was from Newport Beach, so he was afraid she would be disappointed. Instead, she had loved it; they had lain on the rug, talking for hours, throwing ketchup at each other, sharing personal stories. That night, Kirsten had spent the night; before anything happened, thought, Sandy had made her promise this was not just a one-night stand, he had made her promise there would be something else, a chance to see what was happening between them. And when morning came, she was still in his bed and still in his arms. He then had take her to her class, picked her up for lunch and never ever let her go again. And when they had hanged out at the bar with their friends, she would always be in the side of her friends in the art program, he with his buddies of law school, and Kirsten's side would inevitably come on top.

"We were not that bad!"

"You sucked, Sandy!"

"That's not true! I think Paul kept handing us weed so we would be too deep in it to see the table straight."

"We were smoking too and could actually play the game."

"Well… well… we…"

"Yeah?"

"We sucked big time!" Sandy laugh, cleaning a spot of mayonnaise she had in the corner of her lips with a napkin.

"That's all I'm saying."

"Have you heard from them?" Sandy asked, suddenly wistfully "Paul? Zoey? Travis? Wyatt? Whatever happened to those guys?"

"Paul e-mails me from time to time… he and Zoey got divorced."

"Really? God! I thought those two were going to make it."

"I know, me too." She replied, a little sadly "How does it come down to that, Sandy?"

"Down to what?"

"You know what I mean! One day, you see this person and you just can't imagine your life without him or her… you fall in love, get married, become parents together… and one day you can't even stay near each other… I just don't get it."

"Good." Sandy answered seriously, taking her hand in his "You shouldn't get it. I don't want you to get it."

"I don't mean it as applied to us." She reassured him.

"I know. I just had to make sure. We lucked out, honey… what can I tell you? We were lucky, the one rare marriage that makes the distance…"

"No, we're not lucky." She said, very determined.

"Gee, honey, thanks, I love you too." He laughed sarcastically.

"Come on Sandy!" she smacked him lightly in the arm "We didn't leave it to luck; we fought for it… for this. It required work, it was not always easy… to this day, and we have to make an effort sometimes…"

"You're right… but the fact remains, it's worth the effort… I want to be with you until my last breath…"

"Me too."

"Good… now, what do you say we go 'work at it' in the bedroom?" he gave her a seductive smile as he motion for her to stand up and follow him.