Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters. If I did, I'd probably be lying comfortably in a deckchair in the sun, overlooking the pool of my Beverly Hills mansion. I'd be sipping on my Strawberry Margarita, and of course, I'd be writing an episode that brings Doug back to the show!
What happened so far: Susan left from her own birthday party. Doug found her crying on the roof and wanted to take her home. She asks him in, they get drunk and end up sleeping together. When waking up together, they realize what they've done to Mark and Carol. They were both late for work, and Randi and Jerry already suspect something. Susan and Doug talked about their ‚mistake' and agree on telling Carol and Mark about it. Mark shows up at County for a surprise visit and immediately sees that something's wrong with Susan because she's acting really strange when she's around him. Susan tells Mark about it, and he gets really upset. While Mark argues with Doug about the whole topic, Susan makes plans with Carol for the evening, because she wants to tell her about it, too. Susan tells Carol about it and Carol, too, is really upset.
A/N: Thank you for reviewing, verity-mac, gezzy and ashes420. It's always nice to get such an encouraging feedback. Don't worry guys, I will keep going, I'm having a great time writing this story, and it's always awesome to get such a wonderful feedback for it. Please continue reviewing, I appreciate it more than you know ;) Cat, thank you for your support and all the encouraging words :)
FOUR CORNERS
Some hours later. The night was dark and cold. Rain was pelting down and a heavy wind pushed the branches of an old oak tree against the windows of a small hotel in Chicago. Mark was lying on his queen-size bed, and listened to the sound of the rain. He was supposed to be with Jennifer, back in Milwaukee, but after the events of today, he was still so distraught that he decided to stay in Chicago spend the night at a hotel instead of driving back home. He had rung Jen and told her that he was staying at Doug's. For some reason, Mark didn't want his wife to know about the whole incident. She would never understand why he was so upset. He wasn't even sure why he cared about it....After all, he was married and had a child. Of course he and Jen had their ups and downs, but overall, everything was just fine. Ever since Mark moved up to Milwaukee, his relationship with Jennifer had improved immensely, and they were finally happy together again. Rachel enjoyed living full-time with both of her parents, and Mark didn't regret at all that he had moved to Milwaukee to keep his family together. So why did he care who Susan slept with? Apparently, he had no reason to be jealous...he loved his wife, his marriage was finally back on track and everything was the way it was supposed be. Susan and he had always been really close, but they had never been more than just friends. But still, it really bothered him that she had slept with Doug. Mark couldn't say whether he was just jealous because Doug was now somehow between him and Susan, or if he was jealous in general. He probably wouldn't care if it had been somebody else instead of Doug. He couldn't understand how Susan could let this happen. After all, Susan had always been the relationship-kind of woman. Sleeping with guys who didn't mean anything to her was so unlikely of her. Or maybe Susan had just lied when she had claimed that Doug didn't mean anything to her? He didn't think that Susan was anything else but a one-night-stand to Doug. He had known Doug for many years and he could neither understand nor approve of Doug's attitude towards his girlfriends, or better say the women he slept with. They had their arguments about this topic back in the days when Doug was still with Carol. Mark had been very mad at him for cheating on Carol. But now that Susan was involved, he was even angrier at his best friend. He sighed. Tomorrow morning, he would drive home to Jennifer and Rachel and try to forget about the whole incident for a while. Mark despised fighting, especially when he argued with his best friends, but this time, he wouldn't be the one to make the first step. He sank into his pillow and inhaled the flowery smell of the detergent. He rolled over and glanced at his watch. 1:30am. He'd better get some rest now. After all, he was supposed to work tomorrow night.
I thought that we would just be friends.
Things will never be the same again.
It's just the beginning it's not the end.
Things will never be the same again.
In another part of Chicago, Doug was sitting in the living room, with a bottle of Heineken in his hand. Music was blasting loudly out of his stereo. He had turned the volume up, even though it was almost 2am. His neighbors would probably ring again soon to complain about the loud music, just like they had done twice before this evening, but Doug couldn't care less. He stared at his answering machine, every now and then, he'd turn the volume down and hit the play button. He listened to the message Carol had left for him while he'd been taking a shower.Eventually, Doug deleted Carol's message. He had listened to it over and over again for the past few hours that he almost knew it by heart. In a way, he had known that Carol wanted him back, but then again, he always pretended that he wouldn't know....maybe because he didn't know how to deal with it....maybe because he didn't want to believe it... There was a time when he had tried really hard to win her back, but it had never worked out. It was probably better this way. If there had been a chance of rebuilding their relationship, it was definitely blown the moment he slept with Susan. Apart from this, Doug didn't really see another chance for himself and Carol. They had too much history, and he just knew knew that it would never work out again. Time goes by and people move on. They could never return to what they were a long time ago. He dug out a picture of Carol and looked at it. She was beautiful, and she was probably the only woman he had ever really loved. But that time was long gone, and maybe it was right this way. Although Carol had still a place in his heart, Doug didn't want her back anymore. He was really sorry for all those things he had done to her, because he never meant to hurt her. He was a lightheaded person with an easy-going lifestyle who made a lot of mistakes when it comes to relationships, but he didn't hurt anyone intentionally, especially not Carol. When he had heard Carol's message on his answering machine for the first time, he realized how much damage was done. He had known all along that Carol and he could not be reunited, but during the past couple of months, they had done a great job on becoming really good friends. Sleeping with Susan had probably destroyed it all. It would also put his friendship with Susan to the test, considering that Susan was definitely none of these women he'd never call back. She was something different...she was a real friend... and Doug liked her too much to treat her like all the others...She wasn't the kind of women he could simply avoid once it was the next morning. Susan was a good friend, and he didn't want to loose her.
It's not a secret anymore.
Now we've opened up the door.
Starting tonight and from now on.
We'll never, never be the same again.
Never be the same again.
Carol was lying in her bed, staring at the ceiling. The digital clock on her bedside table said 2:15am. Although Carol had gone to bed hours before, she'd been lying awake all the time. Right after Susan left, she had called Doug and shouted at him, or better say at his answering-machine. She thought she would feel better afterwards, but it hadn't helped a bit. She was still angry. Disappointed. Jealous. There were way too many things on her mind. No matter how often she told herself that Doug was indeed single, and could sleep with whoever the hell he wanted, even if that would include Susan, it still hurt her. More than she ever imagined it would. Only a about a week ago, she had realized how much she still loved him, and that she wanted him back. She cursed herself for feeling this way, after all that had happened between the two of them, but there was nothing she could do against it. She knew that she couldn't get back together with him. There were so many things that were between them and kept them from reuniting. But even if she and Doug could never go back to where they were a long time ago, she thought he would at least respect her enough not to hit it off with her best friend. Doug could have any woman he wanted, and Carol couldn't think of a reason why he'd chosen Susan out of all the people. She had never imagined that her closets friends would ever do this to her. She wasn't really sure about Doug, since words ‚loyalty' or ‚fidelity' probably didn't exist in his vocabulary, but she had never expected Susan to betray her like this. She had been best friends with Susan since ages. Susan knew her better than most other people did, and Carol had always trusted her. Whenever she closed her eyes, she saw Doug and Susan together. The thought of him touching Susan, looking at her the way he had always looked at her back in the days when they were still dating, almost made her sick. Her heart ached, and Carol would have sworn she was going to have a heart-attack or something like that, if she wouldn't know that the pain in her chest was nothing but a psychical one, caused by Doug Ross and Susan Lewis.
I thought that we would just be friends.
Things will never be the same again.
It's just the beginning it's not the end.
Things will never be the same again.
Susan was sitting on her window sill, clutching a huge pillow. For the past 2 hours, she'd been sitting there, looking out of the window, watching the rain pouring down. For the whole time, she'd been holding the phone in her hand. She had dialed Carol's number several times, but she always hung up before Carol had a chance to answer the phone. Susan didn't know what she could tell her anyway. She knew she had crossed the line. She had done something a good best friend would never do, no matter how much alcohol was involved. Ever since saw that picture of Doug and Carol on Carol's sideboard, she felt even more miserable. She had done a good job hurting two of the most important people in her life today. Susan hadn't intended to hurt anyone. All she wanted was some comfort when she wasn't feeling well. She probably shouldn't have found it in the arms of her best friend's ex. But that night, Doug had been the only person who really cared about her. Out of all the people who were at her party, he was the only one who noticed that she had left. He had been there for her when she needed someone. Doug had made her feel better. He had cheered her up, he had made her laugh, and he had really made her day. They had a great time together but then things had got out of hand. She knew all along that it would be wrong...but in that situation...that night...it felt so right. Susan lay her head down on her big red pillow and sighed. How could something so wrong feel so right?
It's not a secret anymore.
Now we've opened up the door.
Starting tonight and from now on.
We'll never, never be the same again.
Never be the same again.
...TBC...
Ok, so this was the last update for a while, since I'm going on vacation for a week. But yeah, I'll take my notepad and laptop along and once I'm back at home, I'll add new chapters...I guess this looong chapter should give you a basic idea of what's going to happen with Doug and Susan. Yesss, it's going to be Dousan indeed....