As Sheridan sat in the Book Café, she noticed it was quiet for a Friday lunch hour. But she was actually glad. After Theresa had called her last night, and asked if they could meet for lunch, she knew that Theresa wanted to talk privately. And she had a good idea what it was about.

When she saw Theresa walk in, she got up from her chair to hug her.

"So, what's going on?" Sheridan asked.

"Well, first of all, thanks for meeting me, I really appreciate it."

"It's no problem, I love to go out to lunch. Especially with you and Kay. I never had a sister, so it's fun to go out with you guys, that way we can gossip, too!"

Theresa laughed. "Well, I actually wanted to talk about Ethan, and Gwen."

"That's what I thought."

"I know Gwen is your best friend, Sheridan, but I..."

"You're wondering if I think she would kiss Ethan like that? Yes, I do."

Theresa sighed relief. "Oh thank god you said that! I so desperately wanted to believe Ethan, but wasn't sure."

"Gwen is one of my best friends, but she's also very spoiled. If she sees something she wants, she'll do whatever it takes to get it. I also know Ethan. Not only from being Luis best friend, but don't forget, his mother lived in the same house I did growing up. If Ivy had something to do when Ethan was there, which was more often than not, we would play and spend time together. I love him like he's my own brother. I know how much he loves you. I've never seen him like this before. He positively lights up whenever your name is mentioned. And when he sees you, well, he's, he's...."

"The same way I am when I see him, in heaven."

Sheridan laughed. "That's one way to put it!"

"Well, thank you. You've made me feel much better. And thank you for telling me the truth about Gwen. Now I know for sure not to believe the story she came in to the boutique with today."

"Oh, no. What did she say now?"

"That Ethan called her to personally invite her to the ball as his date."

"But Ethan told me that he didn't call anyone except you."

"I know. That was my first clue to the fact that she was lying. But then she kept saying how Ethan called her and they talked for hours, and he talked about how excited he was to make partner and how hard he had worked. But Gwen forgets, I've known Ethan a long time, too. He never talks about himself. He won a lot of football games in high school, and won a lot of awards, but never once did he brag. And when you did try to compliment him, he changed the subject. Ethan would never go on about himself for hours."

"It's just Gwen trying to get you to give up on Ethan. She's trying to make you think he's more interested in her than he is you. But we both know that's not true. Have you spoken to Ethan, since that night at the Country Club?"

"No, I haven't. But that's going to change tonight. I'm going over there as soon as he gets off from work to apologize and see if he'll take me back."

"You know what, Theresa? I really don't think you have much to worry about!"

On his way home from work, Ethan began to feel how long his day had been. He was exhausted. He had been in court since 8am, for three different cases. Luckily for him, he won all three. It actually made 12 hour days worth it. Was it really a twelve hour day? He asked himself. Looking at the clock was his answer. 8:12pm. Wow, it seemed like just a few minutes ago he was out of court, and had gone back to the office to finish up some paperwork. It reality, it had been a few hours.

As Ethan pulled in to the parking lot of his apartment complex, he noticed Theresa's car. His heart began to race. And then, sank again. "Oh God, how long has she been waiting for me?" He dashed out of his car and in to the building.

Walking to his door, he noticed Theresa standing in front of it, writing on something.

"Hey", Ethan said so that she could hear him.

Theresa's head turned to see Ethan. Suddenly a huge grin covered her face. "Hey", she said back to him.

"I'm sorry I'm so late, I was in court all day, and then I went back to the office. Before I knew it, it was 8 o'clock!"

"Oh, that's okay. I was just leaving you a note to let you know that I had been here."

"Thanks, I appreciate that. Did you want to come inside for a minute?" Ethan asked her, trying to ease the tension between them somewhat.

"Yes, actually, if you don't mind. I mean, if your too tired.....you know what, I'm going to go let you get some rest and I'll call you tomorrow." Theresa didn't want to bother Ethan. He looked so tired, and she was afraid if they started talking it might take a while.

As she turned to walk away, Ethan grabbed her hand. "Please stay", he said. "I've missed you."

She smiled at him. "I've missed you, too."

They walk in to his apartment together, and after he offers her a drink, they sit together on the couch.

"Theresa, I'm glad you're here. I've been wanting to apologize again for..."

"No Ethan. It's me who needs to apologize. That night at the Country club, I felt like someone had ripped my heart out when I saw you and Gwen kissing. I thought for sure the only reason that you were dating me was because you trying to get me to sleep with you, and that when you didn't get it from me, you went to Gwen instead. But even though that's what I thought in my head, my heart was telling me that you would never do that. I've known you long enough to know that your not one of those guys."

"I'm so glad."

"Now, I realize that everything you told me about Gwen was true, and then some."

"What do you mean, and then some?"

"Well, first of all, let me tell you congratulations. I'm very proud of you for making partner. You've worked so hard, and you deserve it."

"Thank you, but I'm more interested in what you're going to say about Gwen than your praise."

"Well, it has to do with you making partner. After I got the invitation to the ball delivered to me, I realized I had an appointment with Gwen that day to design her dress.

When I asked her what the dress was for, she told me that you had called her personally to invite her to the ball as your date."

"Theresa that's not true! The only person I called about my being made partner was you!"

"I know. After I received the invitation, I called Sheridan. She told about the conversation the two of you had. So I kind of knew right there Gwen was lying, but I played along to see what else she would say. Then she tried to tell me how, the two of you talked for hours, and how you went on and on about how hard you had worked at being made partner and how proud you were of yourself."

Theresa saw Ethan rolling his eyes.

"I know, right? Ms. Hotchkiss forgets that I have known you all my life and that you are the most selfless person in the world. You'd rather drill a hole in your head than talk about yourself. Well, anyway, that's how I knew she was definitely lying."

"So, did you design her dress?"

"Yes, I did. It didn't bother me to help her after she said all that, because I knew she would never wear it. Not to the ball anyway! Plus, I talked to Sheridan today at lunch. She told me all about Gwen, and how she won't stop until she gets what she wants. I wouldn't be surprised if she showed up the night of the ball!"

"I guarantee that won't happen", Ethan said confidently.

"How do you know?"

"If you go back and read your invitation, it clearly states at the bottom that the invitation is required for admittance. No invitation, no ball!"

They laughed together, and when it died down, Ethan reached over to touch Theresa's face. "I have a question for you", he said to her.

"Yes?" she asked him, her eyes closed, delighting at Ethan's touch.

"Did you also read the note I put in with your invitation?"

Theresa opened her eyes and smiled at him. "Yes, I did", she practically whispered.

"So, you'll come with me, to the ball? You'll be my escort?" he asked, as he leaned his head closer to hers.

"Yes, I will", she whispered to him, as their lips were inches apart. Ethan closed the gap between them, and placed his lips lovingly on Theresa's. Soon, the fire had been ignited again, and their tongues were dancing in each other's mouths. But a lack of oxygen made them pull apart.

"Wow", Theresa exclaimed breathlessly.

Ethan laughed. "Here we go again!"

She laughed too. But then, something popped in to her head.

"Ethan? What made you write something about designing myself a dress?"

"I don't know, it just kind of came to me when I was writing the note. Why?"

"You'll think this is very silly, I'm sure. But not long after we started dating, and I saw what a prominent figure you were becoming in this community, I went home and designed myself a dress just for an occasion like the ball. I just figured I would need a dress sooner or later. It was just really odd that I had already designed myself a dress, and you wrote that on my note."

"Its fate", he simply stated, as he looked deep in to her eyes.

"Yeah, I guess your right", she said, as she leaned to him again to recapture his lips against hers. Suddenly, Ethan pulled away. Theresa thought something was wrong, until she realized he had stopped kissing her to yawn.

"Okay, I'm going home", she said, as she got up off of the couch.

"No, please", he said half smiling and half yawning again. "Stay the night with me Theresa. I just want to hold you. I've missed holding you."

Theresa looked back at him as she put her purse over her shoulder. "While that's a tempting offer, you need your sleep right now, more than anything else. Why don't you call me when you get up, and we'll spend the whole day together tomorrow, okay?" She walked across the room to plant a kiss on his forehead. "I love you, call me when you get up." And she walked out the door.