A few hours later, Mike was still laying in his bed, thinking. Susan had not come back, but Mike had tried to call her several times, each time she did not pick up. He closed his eyes for a moment, considering his options. When he heard footsteps approach his bed, he sat up, thinking it was Susan. He was not happy to see who his visitor actually was.
"You screwed up again, Mike," NoahTaylor said, frowning at him.
"Looks like it," Mike sighed angrily. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to hear your story. How'd you get caught this time?" Noah sneered.
"Didn't realize there was someone in the house," Mike shrugged. At this point, he no longer cared about anything but Susan. He'd had enough of being ridiculed by this man.
"Don't you shrug your shoulders like it's no big deal. You're never going to find out what happened to Deirdre if you keep screwing up."
"I'm not doing this anymore, Noah," Mike sighed, his mind made up.
"What do you mean? Of course you are," Noah protested. "Once you get out of the hospital, you'll move on to the next house, and the next one, until you figure out what happened to my daughter, and-"
"No, I'm not. I'm done. My girlfriend is having my baby, and I want to be there for it. I can't be if something happens to me," Mike growled, gritting his teeth.
"Well, that's nice, Mike, but what about Deirdre? I thought you loved her."
"I did, Noah. I loved your daughter very much, and I want to know what happened to her as badly as you do. But I cannot stand by and watch Susan walk out of my life. I love her too much to let her go."
"So you're doing this because she gave you some sort of ultimatum? You're just going to quit because she told you to?"
"No, I'm going to quit because she asked me to. I'm going to quit because I need to be here. This is my family," Mike said softly. Noah ran his hand over his face.
"How am I supposed to do this without you?" he sighed, resigned.
"You'll find someone else, Noah. Someone who can devote his time to discovering the truth. But that person isn't me anymore."
"I know," Noah said quietly. "I respect you for doing the right thing, Mike. And I really do appreciate everything you've done. My time is just running out."
"You will find out what happened to her, Noah."
"I hope so. But I should get going. I have a lot of work to do, and so do you. Don't let this girl get away, Mike," Noah replied, heading to the door.
"I won't. And Noah?"
"Yes?"
"Thanks."
"No problem. I'll see you around." With that, Noah walked out the door. Mike gave a long sigh and lay back in his bed. He had done what he needed to do, and now he needed to talk to Susan before it was too late.
"You told him you'd leave him!" Julie asked her mother incredulously.
"What else was I supposed to do?" Susan moaned as she angrily washed dishes in the kitchen. "I can't just watch him get hurt over and over again."
"Mom, Mike loves you. It will kill him if you leave him."
"Yeah, if an angry homeowner doesn't kill him first," Susan laughed flatly. "He has absolutely no regard for what the consequences could be. He doesn't seem to understand that I need him to be here."
"He knows that. But for some reason he feels the need to do this too. He's not going to get himself killed."
"Yeah, he's investigating something that happened to an old girlfriend. That really says a lot about where I'm at on his list of priorities," Susan mumbled.
"You're being ridiculous," Julie argued. "Not to mention unnecessarily jealous."
"It doesn't matter. He needs to make a choice, or I'll make it for him by taking myself out of the equation."
"Mom-" Julie protested, but was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Would you go tell whoever that is to go away, please?" Susan asked. "I'm in no mood for visitors right now." Julie sighed and went to the door. After a few moments she came back into the kitchen with a weird look on her face. "Did you tell them to leave?" Susan asked.
"Mom, you need to talk to Mike," Julie said quietly.
"No, I've said all I have to say."
"You really should go talk to him," she pressed.
"Why?" Susan asked suspiciously.
"Because you love him, because he loves you, because you don't want to leave him, and because…" Julie trailed off, sighing.
"Yes? Why else?"
"Because he's sitting in the living room!" she announced, turning red.
"He's what?" Susan asked softly.
"He's in the living room. He wants to talk to you," Julie explained.
"He's not supposed to be out of the hospital yet."
"He checked himself out early because you weren't answering his calls."
"Stubborn ass," Susan said, smiling fondly. "Ok, I'll go talk to him. But you make yourself scarce. I don't want you eavesdropping like you always do."
"Ok, Mom, I'll be upstairs," Julie laughed. "You kids behave. No make-up sex on the couch, now," she finished, winking at her mom.
"Julie!" Susan squealed, turning red. Julie just laughed again and headed upstairs. Susan smiled and shook her head, before taking a deep breath and heading into the living room.
Before Susan went into the living room, she stood in the hallway and just watched Mike for a minute. He was sitting on the couch, his head in his hand, nervously tapping his foot. Susan felt a pang when she saw the large bruise on his head that was now free of the bandage.
"Hey," she said softly as she walked into the room. Mike's head snapped up quickly, and before Susan could say anything else, he stood up, wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her passionately. Susan responded by running her hands through his hair and pulling him closer. When they finally pulled apart, Mike smiled and kissed her forehead.
"Hi," he said, then pulled her down to sit on the couch with him. "We need to talk."
"I know," Susan replied, running her fingers lightly over the bruise on his head. "But you shouldn't have checked yourself out early, Mike."
"I had no other choice. You weren't answering my calls."
"I'm sorry, I was just upset. I shouldn't have given you that ultimatum, that wasn't right of me," she sighed.
"No, you were right to do that. I needed some sense knocked into me. It made me realize what an ass I was being. Here you are, more than 3 months pregnant, and I'm off searching through houses, getting hit in the head with golf clubs. I do need to make sure I'm here. I want to be able to see my kid grow up, and as much as I hate to admit it, I was on a dangerous path. So I quit."
"Mike, I don't want you to feel like I was ordering you to quit, I just worry. I mean, I do want you to quit, but I can't force you."
"No, you're not forcing me. My priorities have changed, namely, you and this baby are first on my list. I already told Noah I'm done," Mike explained, taking Susan's hand.
"Really, when?" she asked, confused. She'd only left the hospital a few hours before.
"When he came to tell me what a screw-up I was," Mike chuckled. "But I just told him I couldn't do it anymore. He actually took it better than I thought he would."
"So it's over?"
"For me it is. I doubt he's going to give up, but whatever happens, it's not my responsibility anymore. I am going to be here for you," Mike promised. Susan smiled happily.
"That's all I want," she said, moving so she was sitting in his lap. "But are you sure you're going to be okay with this?"
"I'll be fine," Mike murmured, nuzzling her neck, and she sighed. "As long as I have you, I'll be fine," he finished, then covered her lips with his again, leaning her back to lay down on the couch as he lay on top of her. Susan kissed him for a few moments before she started giggling. Pulling away, Mike made a face. "What's so funny?"
"Julie told me we couldn't have make-up sex on the couch," she laughed, and Mike chuckled as well.
"Well, what about upstairs?" he suggested.
"No, she's upstairs," Susan replied, frowning. Then their gazes met and they smiled, each thinking the same thing.
"My house?" Mike asked.
"Your house," Susan agreed, and he grabbed her hand and pulled her off the couch. She laughed as he hauled her out the front door and across the street to the privacy of his house.
"Hey, Mike?" Susan said to Mike some time later as they lay in his bed, her head on his chest.
"Yeah?" he replied as he ran his fingers through her hair.
"I've been thinking."
"What about?"
"Well, I can't help but notice that this is the first time you've spent any time in your own bed, let alone your own house, in about two months," Susan said, lifting her head to look at him.
"Is that some sort of hint?" Mike chuckled. "Too much time together?"
"No, not at all," Susan replied, shaking her head. "I was just thinking."
"Yes, you said that, but I'm still not sure what you've been thinking about."
"I was just thinking that maybe, possibly, it might be easier if you, I mean if you want to…" Susan trailed off, unable to word her question. She wanted Mike to move in with her, but she was afraid he wouldn't want to.
"Susan, just tell me," Mike sighed, taking her chin in his hand and forcing her to look at him.
"Do you want to move in with me?" Susan blurted out, turning red and burying her face in his chest. Mike gaped at her for a second, then started grinning. He gently lifted her head again and pulled her to him, kissing her deeply. When he pulled away, Susan was grinning as well, but she pressed her face into Mike's neck, kissing it softly.
"Hey, look at me," Mike said softly, smiling. Susan lifted her head and smiled back at him. "You want me to move in? Officially?" he asked, brushing her hair away from her face.
"I do," Susan replied, kissing him softly. "More than anything." Mike only smiled wider.
"What about Julie?"
"She'd be fine with it, I mean, you're there all the time anyway, so she's used to it. Julie adores you," Susan replied sincerely, but then grew nervous when Mike didn't reply. "And, you know, it makes sense, really, since you're always there. It's kind of pointless to still be renting your house when you're never there, and-" Mike cut Susan off, kissing her passionately again. When he pulled away a few minutes later, Susan was looking at him hopefully. "Is that a yes?"
"That's a hell yes," Mike answered her, kissing her repeatedly. Susan squealed and wrapped her arms around Mike's neck, pulling him on top of her.
"When do you want to move in?" Susan asked breathily, and Mike laughed as he nuzzled her neck.
"Well, not right this second," he replied, raising his head briefly and winking at her. "Maybe a little later."
"Oh, I get it," Susan giggled, winking back at him. Mike rolled his eyes, then efficiently quieted her by pressing his lips to hers again.
TBC...
Boone
