Chapter 5

6 weeks later -

He was looking right into her beautiful eyes. She was smiling, and they were close, so close that Tony could see his reflection in her eyes, and could feel her breath on him when she exhaled. He leaned to her ear and whispered gently but sweetly to her.

"I love you." He said. She was in bliss. He'd wanted to tell her for so long, but the working environment made it so difficult. She smiled and gazed into his deep chocolate eyes, and leaned in. Their lips met, and the world faded out. All that mattered was their lips connecting at that precise moment. Sounds got distant, and Tony felt himself slipping into utter ecstacy. They parted lips and Tony looked at the beautiful woman that stood in front of him. "Michelle, I missed you so much."

Tony's eyes shot open. He was panting heavily. He looked over at the clock, it said 4:37. He got up and went into the bathroom down the hall. He splashed water on his face. He wondered what on earth made him have a dream like that. He hadn't had one of those in over 3 months. He walked back to the bedroom, and climbed back under his blue bedspread that his mom sent him one Christmas. He turned onto his side, and caressed Allie's shoulder ever so gently, and lightly kissed it. He snuggled under the covers and closed his eyes. At 6:00am, his alarm sounded and his coffee pot clicked on. He reached over to turn his alarm off. Once he did, he noticed that it didn't wake Allie up. He reached over and rested his hand on her hip. She was faced the other way.

"Allie, come on, we have to go to work soon." He said leaning close to her ear. She moaned and rolled over.

"Uhhhhhhhhhhh, no, I don't want to go. I need sleep." She said putting a pillow over her head. Tony let out a tiny laugh. He reached for the pillow, and lifted it up so he could see her eyes. She was staring at him with her big blue eyes, and she smiled. "Don't look at me, I have bed hair." She said pulling the pillow over her face again. Tony could see her laughing through the pillow. Allie had a laugh that went right down to her toes.

"I can see you laughing. You're not fooling me." Tony said yanking the pillow off her head and throwing it on the floor.

"Darn." She said laughing and sitting up. She used the sheet to cover herself. She looked around the room for a minute or so. "Is this awkward for you at all?" She asked getting serious. Tony gave her a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, our first sleep over and everything." She said. Tony smiled.

"I'm just as happy now as I was when we first started dating." He said. Allie smiled. She leaned in and gave him a kiss on the lips. Then she swung her legs off the bed, and walked into the bathroom and began freshening up.

While she was in the bathroom, Tony went into the kitchen. He was wearing green boxer shorts and a smile. He went over to the coffee pot, and poured himself a rather large cup of coffee. After adding all his necessities to his cup, he took a big sip and walked into the bathroom, where Allie was in the shower. An evil smile crept across his face. He quietly set his coffee cup on the counter and tiptoed to the shower curtain. He paused a minute, then really quickly ripped open the shower curtain.

"Ahhhhhh." Allie said jumping and almost slipping. She put her hand over her chest and was panting hard. The water was running all over her body, and in her face. Tony looked at her from head to toe, taking everything in. "You scared the shit out of me Tony!" She said. Her heart was still racing. He laughed.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist. It was the perfect moment, and I couldn't pass it up." He said. He paused for a second and they just maintained eye contact. Tony had a playful look in is eyes. "Room for two?" He asked. Allie smiled and backed up.

"Of course." Tony pulled down his shorts and stepped in. He let the water cover his body for a second, and then stepped towards Allie. She ran her nails through his chest hair, and he put his hands on her face and kissed her very passionately. Thirty minutes later, the faucet clicked off, and Tony reached his arm out of the curtain to grab a towel on the bar next to the shower. Allie squeezed out her hair, and opened the curtain. In the twenty minutes that followed, Allie and Tony went about their morning getting ready for another day at CTU, while occasionally stopping to do something like squeeze the others butt, or kiss on the cheek. When they were ready to leave, Allie got into her car, and Tony got into his. They pulled out and both arrived at CTU at 8:35 am.

They walked into CTU and Tony held the door open for her. She smiled and thanked him kindly. They parted ways and Tony went into the lounge area and fixed himself another cup of coffee. Allie went right to her station and logged in. She began working, as did Tony. They went about their normal business day, without making it seem like they had something going on. By lunch time, Allie went into the lounge and made herself some soup that was sitting on a shelf. She opened the can and poured the soup into a bowl. She covered it with plastic wrap and put it in the microwave for 3 minutes. She grabbed a seat and started reading a magazine. When the microwave beeped, she got up and uncovered it. She brought the soup over to her spot at the table. She was the only one in there, so she continued reading while it cooled. When it was cool enough, Allie began to eat. She was eating and reading simultaneously when the door to the lounge opened, and in walked Kim. Allie looked up and her and Kim made eye contact. They smiled at one another, and Kim opened up the refrigerator.

"So," Kim said. "How are things?" She asked. Allie looked up from her magazine.

"Things are good. How about you?" Allie asked.

"Oh, well everything's fine." Kim said taking a yogurt out of the fridge. She sat down next to Allie. She put her yogurt down on the table and looked at Allie. When Allie noticed she wasn't opening it, she looked over at Kim. She looked very reserved, like she was the bearer of bad news.

"Are you sure everything's ok?" Allie said concerned. Kim took a deep breath in.

"No. There's something I have to tell you." Kim said.

"Well, then just tell me."

"How's things with Tony?" Kim asked.

"Meaning what exactly?" Allie asked wondering where this was going.

"Everyone knows you two are together." Kim said. Allie rolled her eyes.

"Honestly, do people around here have nothing better to do?" Allie said rhetorically. "How does everyone know, that's the question." She finished.

"Michelle has been telling people things, and I think you have a right to know what they are. That's why I came in here, so I could talk to you." Kim said. Allie got really nervous, and her throat got tight.

"What has she been saying?" Allie asked apprehensively. Kim took another deep breath. She looked into Allie's eyes before speaking. She had a look of fear and sadness in her gaze. Allie was preparing herself for something really bad.

"Well," She paused. "She is telling everyone that Tony is just using you to make her jealous, so he can get her back." Kim said. Allie just stared at Kim, not blinking, barely breathing, letting what Kim said soak in. When she finally realized what Kim had said to her, she cleared her throat and blinked a few times very fast.

"Well, I appreciate you telling me. I appreciate it a lot. I like to know who my real friends are, know what I mean." Allie asked. Kim put a hand on her arm.

"Are you going to be ok?" Kim asked.

"Oh yeah, everything's fine, besides, it's probably not even true. Michelle has this thing with me. She probably is jealous, but I highly doubt that Tony is using me." Allie said. After a few minutes of silence and thinking it over more closely, Allie needed to be alone. "Will you excuse me." She said getting up from the table. She walked out of the lounge and down the hall to one of the empty holding rooms. She leaned against one of the walls, and began breathing very heavy. Tears welled up in her eyes, and after a few seconds began spilling uncontrollably down her face. After several minutes of silent crying, she left the holding room and walked to Tony's office. Several people saw her going there crying, including Michelle. When she got up there, the door was open. She walked straight in and immediately closed the door behind her. Tony stood up when he saw that something was wrong.

"Hey, what's the matter?" He asked walking over to her and resting his hands on her arms. Allie looked up, and Tony saw that she had been crying hard. She sniffled in a few times before responding.

"No secrets, right?" She asked.

"Of course, tell me what happened?" He asked.

"I just heard that - " She cut herself off because she could feel more tears coming. "That you were only using me to make Michelle jealous so she'd go back to you." Allie finished. Her statement was accompanied by countless tears sliding down her already moist cheek.

"Oh baby," Tony said pulling her into an embrace. Allie cried even harder. "I could never do that to you. Don't you know that?" He said.

"I told myself that it wasn't true, but a part of me was concerned because Michelle is so jealous." Allie said looking up at him. Her mascara had run all over her face. Tony smiled. He wiped tears away from her eyes.

"You're cute when you cry." He said.

"Thanks a lot." Allie replied. Tony pulled her in for a small reassuring kiss on the lips, and a hug. He held her very close. So close that she could feel his heart beating.

"Listen," He started. He paused before finishing. When his voice came back it was in such a low whisper. "I love you." Allie looked up at him in amazement. She was shocked. There were no words coming out of her open mouth, but Tony read her eyes. He smiled. "AndI would never do that to someone I love as much as you."

"I love you too." She said. They hugged again, not caring that Michelle was watching everything.

"Why don't you take a break, get cleaned up, and get back to work in a half an hour or so." Tony said. She smiled.

"Thanks." She said.