Javier couldn't believe his eyes. He had been in Miami for almost a month and had found no trace of Katey Miller. When he had danced one night at Calor Latino; a place he was introduced to by one of the owners, a boy named Enrique whom he met soon after arriving in the US; he had mentioned a girl he knew in Cuba to Enrique and he had surprised him by knowing her.

"Si;" Enrique had said as they drank beers that sweat in the humid afternoon sun, "I know your Katey Miller hombre she works for my sister sometimes." And so, he had come down to the bar that evening because Enrique had told him she would be there. His heart in his mouth, when he first spotted her behind the counter he was mesmerized by the woman she had become. Back in Cuba, she had only been a budding flower but now she was in full bloom. (A/N—Ahhh I love tacky metaphors)

And now she was here, right in front of him...wearing an engagement ring? His eyes flew to her hand and then up to her face, his mouth setting in a grim line. She flushed a pretty shade of pink before looking back at him defiantly. Francesca, a petite Cuban girl with riots of black curls framing her face arrived at the scene, quickly taking in the tension between the pair.

"Katey, why don't you and your friend go outside and talk eh? Me and Manny can handle things from here." Katey protested, but she knew with a sinking heart that she needed to talk to Javier. Together, they silently left the building, neither one saying a word until they reached the porch out back. Katey sank onto a bench built into the railing and looked out at the ocean. Javier stood in front of her, his arms crossed, lean face emotionless.

"How is your family?" Javier looked at her, her eyes downcast, fiddling with her ring nervously and his heart softened a little. After all, what would she think about Diego? She looked up at him through her lashes and she liked what she saw. He had grown a little taller, filled out a little more. His hair was the same dark mess that she remembered and his smile was still affectionately mocking. Javier wore a white undershirt and a red short sleeved shirt half-buttoned over that. His pants were dark and his shoes nondescript.

Even in the darkness, Javier could see the blue flash of her eyes and he almost let himself get lost in them; almost. Moving to one side of her, he sat down, resting his hands on his knees, willing his body to lose its stiffness.

"My family is well, they stayed behind in Cuba, and it is only me here." Katey nodded, a bit surprised. She wouldn't have thought that Javier would leave his family behind no matter what. She wondered what could have brought him here.

Javier smiled crookedly at her, watching her trying to make sense of what he was telling her. Did she really believe that she meant so little to him? She had to know that he hadn't stopped writing to her on his own free will. Swallowing hard and wishing that he had his drink out here with him, he turned so that he was facing her. She turned as well, meeting his eyes with a shy half-smile.

"So I see that you are engaged. Who is the lucky man?" Katey began telling him about some man named Chuck, he pretended to listen; he was really trying to figure out the best way to tell her about Diego. A cool breeze ruffled their hair, and Katey finally wound down, somehow sensing that Javier didn't care to hear about Chuck.

"There is something I must tell you. I can't think of a better way to put it, so I'll just say it plain. I have a two year old son named Diego, and he is here in Miami with me." Katey looked taken aback and paler if at all possible. The rosy color drained out of her cheeks and she cocked her head back, inching away from him. Javier would have laughed if he hadn't felt dread settle in the pit of his stomach. How could she be getting angry when she herself was promised to another man?

"You...have a son? With who?" The jealousy that tinged her voice did make him smile slightly this time. His heart beat a tad faster at the notion that maybe he did still have a hold on her emotions.

"His mother's name is Eva; she was a girl I was with for a time. We mixed like oil and water, her father is a government official and paid for me to come to America with my son so that his daughter wouldn't be haunted by her mistake." Bitterness seeped into his voice and Katey winced.

Javier was always getting the short end of the stick in life it seemed. Without thinking she put her arm around his shoulders and squeezed gently. Javier drew in a deep breath at the way she felt pressed up against him and he looked at her, their heads so close he could lean out and kiss her if he dared. Standing up abruptly, he didn't see the hurt look on her face as he walked a few steps away, sticking his hands deep into his pockets, head lowered.

"Why didn't you wait for me?" His voice was pitched so low that Katey almost didn't hear what he had said. Tears flooded her eyes as she tried to come up with a response. She almost wished that she hadn't run into him after all this time, and was having this conversation with him.

"Javier...I didn't think you wanted anything to do with me anymore." Javier snorted a sound that tore the air with a sharpness unlike anything else. Katey shifted uncomfortably but Javier wasn't paying attention at this point.

"So you actually believed that I would stop writing to you just like that?" Javier snapped his dark fingers together and the sharp noise made Katey wince. She almost felt like she was facing Saint Peter at Judgment Day, Javier was being so unfriendly and harsh with her.

"Well you DID decide to not come to America with me, so I thought you eventually lost interest," she retorted her temper rising swiftly. A muscle clenched and unclenched in Javier's jaw as he stared at her without blinking. His eyes were dark and full of fire, making Katey shudder inwardly.

"I thought you understood my position, my feelings about the Revolution. But of course how could I have been so blind, so stupid? How could a gringa from America truly understand how it was before and then after?" Katey stood up then, her fists clenched.

"How dare you! I only asked you to come to America so we could be TOGETHER so your family could come as well later on and it would be better for them. I didn't ask you out of selfishness!"

"Didn't you?"

"And so how much better is it there now with Castro hmm? Is it everything you've dreamed of?" Katey's last few words were hissed and full of venom. Javier winced, a subtle facial movement that was lost in the darkness. Slamming a hand down onto the railing, he turned to face her once more, his shoulders rigid with tension.

"I didn't come out here to fight with you about Cuba; I came to see the girl I was in love with, still am. Unfortunately I find a different person then what I used to know."

"Not so different." Her words were spoken softly this time, faint. They were almost lost in another stiff breeze that whipped their hair around their faces. Katey felt torn asunder. She thought she loved Chuck; he had been good to her since she had met him. But now Javier was here in her face, demanding the same feelings she had thought were long gone.

"Katey;" Javier's voice cracked and this time she did see him wince, the flash of white teeth in the moonlight. Reaching out a hand, she hesitated before letting herself grasp it with one of her own. Javier slowly pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her.

"Le he faltado tanto"; Javier breathed into her hair, close to her ear making her wriggle slightly as his warm breath tickled her. Resting her head on his shoulder, she let him hold her for a few more moments before she felt him dipping his head down and nuzzling at her lips gently, looking for a kiss.

"No, I can't Javier....I just can't." Pushing at his shoulders with her hands, she broke away from him, and fled, tears whipping out of her eyes to straggle down her cheeks. Javier watched her go, his own dark eyes full of sorrow and anger. He wondered just how happy she was with this American photographer named 'Chuck'. He would find out and if he felt like he had a chance, he would get her back. That was a solemn promise.

Katey blindly ran down the sidewalks, hoping not to run full force into anyone. When she reached her house, she noticed with relief that Susie had left the back door unlocked.

Susie's light was still on and for a brief moment Katey was tempted to run in and cry all over her sister. But then she remembered that Susie had school much earlier than her in the morning, and so stifling her sobs, she continued on until she was in her own room.

Tearing her clothes off, she pulled a nightshirt on and going into her bathroom, wet a washcloth and patted it over her flushed, swollen cheeks and eyes. Walking back into her room, she swung one of her windows open to let the cool air in and flopped onto her bed. Her dreams were fitful and she got little sleep.

"Gracias por mirar a mi hijo Senora Lopez." Javier took his sleeping child from the stout, older woman's arms. She lived in the apartment below his, and she watched them closely as he walked up the wooden outside stairs that led to a small porch and his front door. He knew she disapproved of seeing such a young man raising such a small child on his own, but he was lucky because she was so willing to help because of that.

Once inside, he settled the small boy down onto the couple of mattress's that served as his bed and drew a light sheet over the boy. He hadn't come over with much, but he had made friends quickly with the men at the auto garage he found work at and their girlfriends and wives were enchanted with Diego. He was constantly finding meals waiting for him at work to take home, and other such homely comforts that he wouldn't have had the faintest idea of providing like sheets and pillows

Reaching into the loudly running fridge, he pulled out a cool bottle of beer and cracked the top off with a rusted bottle opener that he tossed onto the counter. The apartment was small, but it faced a small bay and when he left the doors and windows open a nice breeze circulated through. The neighbors were all families and it wasn't a bad neighborhood for a small boy to grow up.

Javier frowned then, as he went onto another porch that ran around the building, sectioned off by apartments. Letting the wind hit his heated face, he rubbed the bottle over his forehead and frowned more. Tomorrow he would go back to Calor Latino and bug Enrique until the young man helped him find Katey. After traveling all this way and getting the chance to live near her, he wasn't going to screw this up. He had to get her back and he was damned if he'd let that American 'Chuck' win this one.

Finishing his beer with a few more long draws, he tossed the dregs over the porch railing and went to bed beside his son feeling renewed. He couldn't and wouldn't give up just yet no matter how reluctant she was to remember her feelings for him.

A/N – Ack I'm sorry it's been so long guys, I got writer's block BIG time. Plus I'm working on other stuff and it's just been crazy. I started listening to Santana though and it really helped out, heh. Hope this isn't horrible! – A/N

Translations:

Gracias por mirar a mi hijo – Thank you for watching my son

Le he faltado tanto – I have missed you so much

Shout Outs –

Angelfish2 – Thank you muchly!

Princess of the Damned – Queen of the Damned was such a great flick, is that where your name came from? Thank you by the way!

Crzyangie07 – Thank you! I'm going to try to update more often

Rock and Sarcasm – Thank you and here you go!

Boy Crazy Magician – Hehe...yes I'm good at overwhelming, let's hope the rest of this story doesn't royally suck.

Jane and Adam – I'm so sorry! I plan on updating this A LOT more often, don't worry.

Kate – Thank you so much, sorry it took me so long!

Queenofdiamonds1 – Thanks, I'm glad someone else has that problem!

Stari-nite – Thanks, I know I have some of the same things as other people do, like Javier working in an auto garage and Katey wanting to teach dance but I mean it just WORKS for their characters!

Hallelujah89 – Hey there, sorry about the anonymous thing, I fixed it so now you don't have to log in. I totally wasn't aware that it was set to anything but. I'm sorry the chapter was so short, I have so much going on! Hope you liked this one. And yes the Name Game with Chuck is so evil. I had to do it :D

Chase M. Dakota – Yes I agree. She must learn how to say no to Chuck. Hmm ya never know... ;D