At about 2am Tony's cell phone startled them both awake. He had left it on the side bench out of reach. Both Tony and Michelle jumped up darting their eyes frantically trying to see whose phone it was and where it was. Michelle felt completely dis-orientated; it took her forever to even work out where she was. Tony was the first to find the phone and Michelle stood within arms length of him watching and listening intently to see what was going on. As Tony picked up the phone he gave Michelle a look as if to say 'who could this be?'. Michelle swayed a little with tiredness and Tony instinctively put his hand out and placed it on her arm to steady her. He was gentle and kept his hand on her forearm waiting for their eyes to lock.

Michelle looked at Tony's hand and then into his eyes. Through the tiredness and alarm of being woken so suddenly she could still see how warmly he looked at her. That was the look she yearned for from Tony, his eyes seemed to say so much. She felt so confused after all the things he had said that upset her so much, yet his actions since then were filled with so much love and care. She watched him answer the phone and place it to his ear.

It was Tony's older brother Jeff. Tony and Jeff were about 12 years apart in age and very close with each other. Their parents lived in New York and although they were close they didn't get to see each other much. Jeff was the single parent of a 15-year-old daughter, Emily. Emily's mom had left Jeff when Emily was only 8 months old and they had not heard from her since. Tony spent a lot of time helping Jeff with Emily. Emily was going through a rebellious stage and Jeff was increasingly having a more difficult time with her. Tony had tried to spend as much time with her as possible but both Tony and Jeff knew the biggest issue was that Emily had no stable female support and influence in her life.

Michelle watched Tony's face as he talked on the phone. He started by telling Jeff to calm down and then he just listened for a awhile before saying that he would be there in a few minutes. He hung up the phone and turned to Michelle.

"That was my brother Jeff. Emily has snuck out of the house to go to a college party down town and he is not sure how to handle it. He knows he will only make things worse between them if he goes into the party himself and makes her leave. I said I'd go and help him out as much as I can."

Tony felt torn and worried. He was worried about Emily, but he also didn't want to just up and leave Michelle. Michelle broke his train of thought...

"Why is he worried he will make things worse?"

"Because we know why she keeps taking off like this. She hasn't had a mother figure in her life and the best we can guess is that she is going through lots of things that she feels like she can't talk to her Dad about. If Jeff or I went in and made her leave it would make her angry and probably close off even more to us as well."

"Is there anything I can do Tony?"

"No, it's ok thanks Michelle. I am so sorry to have you woken up – I don't want you to have to worry about all this. I'm sorry, I wanted you to have a good sleep tonight." "Tony it's fine, besides I am awake now. Maybe I could even go in a bring her out of the party – sounds like it wouldn't upset her as much as having one of you guys go in. You know I am always happy to try and help you out."

Tony thought that was a very good idea but he felt guilty. "That's the thing Michelle, you are always doing everything to help me, when will you let me look after you? You are so tired and have been through so much, the last thing you need is to be traipsing all over town for my family. It's already my fault that you are so tired Chelle, I've pushed you too much this week – how could I expect you to help me now?"

Michelle took a seat on the couch and began putting on her shoes. "Look Tony I don't need you to look after me, I know what I can and can't handle. But this isn't about you or me it's about your niece and brother and making sure they are ok. If I can help then I want to – it's more important than a couple hours sleep." Michelle new she sounded harsh but she just didn't know how else to get her point across. She wanted Tony to care and look after her but only if he wanted to. If he had only kissed her last week because there was no one else around and he figured she had done the same thing then that wasn't the type of 'care' she wanted from Tony. She wished he wanted to look after her because he wanted to be with her but not for any other reason, like feeling guilty about work. Her feelings for Tony were so deep and real and she was getting so sick of feeling this way – it was like Tony had her heart in his hands and he was just playing with it. It really hurt that one-minute he seemed to care for her and then the next her didn't. She broke eye contact with him when she finished talking and put her head down.

Tony mumbled – still undecided if he wanted her to hear what he said or not, "you do need someone to look after you and it should be me."

Michelle only heard mumble, "Sorry Tony I didn't hear you."

Tony walked over to Michelle and sat next to her on the couch. "I said.....thank you it would mean a lot if you came with me." He flashed Michelle a quick smile. He was glad she was coming with him, he didn't want to leave her at CTU in the middle of the night. Although on different occasions he and Michelle had chatted about family before, and she knew all about Jeff and Emily she had never actually met them. Jeff knew all about Tony's feelings for Michelle and Tony was secretly glad Jeff would finally meet her, he knew Jeff would love Michelle. Michelle was the only person in the world that Tony would take with him in a situation like this. Opening up his family and allowing someone else in took a lot of trust and Michelle was the only girl he felt comfortable doing this with. He had never even contemplated taking Nina to meet his family. Tony hoped he would be able to use some of this time with Michelle to repair some of the damage he had caused. He knew he had hurt her, and he had so much explaining to do, any other person would have told him where to go by now, but not Michelle, she was too loyal and caring. He wanted her to know he appreciated that about her and would never take it for granted.

Once Michelle's shoes were tied Tony stood up and extended his hand to help Michelle up. She hesitated for a second but then put her hand in his and pulled herself up so she was standing. She followed Tony out of the room and down to his car in the garage. It was cold outside and so Tony took his jacket off and handed it over to Michelle. She looked at the jacket – she was cold but she just didn't want to depend or take any kind of caring gesture from Tony anymore. It was these little things about him that made he heart skip a beat but she didn't want to hurt anymore. The rejection of not being good enough for Tony to want to be with stung and she could feel herself trying to close up and protect herself. She pushed the jacket back towards Tony, "I'm fine, you will be cold without it."

"Chelle..." Tony spoke firmly and loudly. He opened the jacket up, walked behind Michelle and started placing it over her shoulders. "I want you in this, its cold - no arguments." He stepped in front of her and pulled the jacket out to the side whilst she slipped her arms through and then he stood in front of her and did the zipper up for her. Once again they caught each other's stare and held it. There was so much that needed to be said between them – all of those words could just be melted away with a kiss but neither of them understood that. Tony knew how much he loved Michelle but couldn't understand how she could possibly want him and he knew he had really hurt her by the way he had acted over the last week and especially yesterday. After what he had said about just kissing her because she was the one there - he felt like the worlds biggest sleaze and wondered if she would ever believe that that wasn't what he meant at all. Michelle simply thought Tony didn't care for her like that, that he had just kissed her because she was the one around but he probably wished it had been Sarah or Carrie or someone else instead. She questioned whether Tony was trying to punish her for the kiss because he regretted it by playing with her feelings. Either way her confidence had taken a real beating this week and she did not feel like she was good enough to be Tony's girlfriend. As they climbed into the car their heads swarmed with thoughts of each other.

"Michelle thanks for coming, it feels nice to have you here with me." Tony glanced over at Michelle and gave her a smile before putting his eyes back on the road.

"Thanks Tony, I don't want to be in your way. I'm sorry I fell asleep at work. Did I walk to the bed?"

Tony put his hand out and very gently traced his thumb on the back of her hand. "Chelle, you are never in my way. I know why you are feeling like that, I wish I could take back the last week and show you how I really feel. God I have been a bastard to you. All I ever want is more time with you. I carried you to the bed, I didn't want to wake you and I couldn't just leave you there...."

"You carried me?" Michelle couldn't believe it. "You stayed here at CTU because of me?"

Tony pressed a little more firmly as he traced her hand. "Is that ok? Do you mind that I carried you?"

"No.....it was just such a sweet thing to do. I wouldn't expect anyone to do something like that for me. I feel so annoying, you should have been able to go home to your own bed without having to worry about me." Michelle spoke softly and lowered her head and watched Tony's hand as it traced hers.

"Michelle, it was the least I could do, especially after everything I have put you through this week. I am so sorry for everything. I am so sorry for things I said yesterday – I didn't mean most of it. The Kiss Chelle..."

Michelle cut him off, "Don't say it Tony. I can't bear to hear it again. I know how you feel and I just...."

Now Tony didn't let her finish. They pulled into the driveway of Jeff's house as Tony cut her off. As he spoke he cut the engine and turned to face Michelle. "We have to talk this through Chelle. You don't know how I feel – tell me what you think I am feeling."

"I know you are feeling regretful for the kiss we had. That for you it was just about the moment and it didn't matter who I was. I am sure you probably wish it were Sarah or Carrie or someone. I don't know maybe I have just disappointed you, or you are angry with me."

Tony felt sick. He knew he had treated Michelle badly but he felt just so horrible hearing her say all of this. He knew he just had to open up to her – it was the least she deserved, no matter how hard it was for him. "Chelle, you could never disappoint me, I am disappointed with myself. I wanted that kiss....more than you will ever imagine. I have just been trying to protect myself because it's hard to believe YOU could actually like me. I could never have kissed anyone else Chelle, you are the only one I want. You have to understand that...." He took her hand in his. He griped it tightly and tried to get eye contact with her. She had been looking out the window, but now she turned o face him.

"If you wanted me, why haven't you come to me? I am so confused. Don't you understand how much I have needed you this week Tony – even just as a friend if that's all you wanted."? A couple tears ran down Michelle's face and she pulled her hand out of Tony's grip to wipe them. She wished that just once she could get through one of these conversations with Tony without crying.

"Don't you think I needed you too Chelle? God, I needed you so much – I still do. I was just so scared I was going to get hurt....."

"By me?" Michelle butted in.

"Yes, what if you decided you didn't really want me? Or that the kiss meant nothing to you? Or you didn't care for me the way I care for you? I don't know what you wanted from me..."

"Tony, firstly – I am not Nina or any other girlfriend that's treated you bad. I am not going to hurt you or treat you badly. Even before the kiss you use to be so comforting to me. You always showed affection. This week it's been nothing like that. I kissed you because I wanted and needed you, I had no other motive. I just like you Tony for you because of who you are. All I wanted from you was a hug. You arms around me. Just for you to want to be close to me." There, she had said it. She had told him how she cared for him and that all she wanted was his arms around her. Even though they had never had anything more than a quick 'friends' hug, she knew that to be wrapped up in Tony's arms would probably be the best feeling in the whole world.

Tony felt speechless. Michelle was even more beautiful and amazing than he had imagined. She cared for him for who he was. She had admitted to him that she had wanted and needed him. She wanted to feel his arms around her. That was all more than he could have ever hoped for. God was he going to wrap her in his arms so tightly and never let go. He was going to be everything she wanted and needed. A shiver ran down Tony's back just as he even thought about holding Michelle in his arms like that, he had all the courage in the world right now to tell and show Michelle just how much she meant to him. He was never ever going to be responsible for making her cry again, he wanted to see her smile. He just couldn't believe how lucky he was that Michelle really did like him, and for him - no other reason. He looked at Michelle who was again looking away. He could see the tears rolling down her cheek and she was trying to wipe them and compose herself. He didn't know how to start – should he take her in his arms now or say sorry or explain how he felt? She was so hurt by him and he knew how much rested on him fixing things between them. All he wanted was to tell her how much he was falling in love with her – he wanted her to know it and believe him, but where did he start?

Just as Tony raised his hand to put it on Michelle, his brother startled him by knocking on his side window. For a second Tony had forgotten where they were. It could not have been worse timing. He opened the door and Jeff started talking immediately, barely taking time for a breath. He looked at Michelle who was trying to pull her self-together....then she opened the door and stepped out. Tony got out as well to start the introductions.

"Jeff this is Michelle......Michelle this is my brother Jeff. Michelle is going to help us Jeff. We even thought maybe Chelle could go into the party and talk to Emily – she is less likely to get upset that way rather than her Dad or Uncle coming in to collect her."

Jeff stepped in and shook Michelle's hand. He smiled in a way that Tony knew he approved of her immediately. He felt so proud to be introducing Michelle to his brother, in a childish way it was like he wanted to show her off – have Jeff see the beautiful amazing woman who liked him. Jeff was the first to speak...

"Nice to meet you Michelle. Thank you so much for coming out, especially at this hour of the morning. Are you sure you wouldn't mind going in and talking to Emily?"

"It's a pleasure to meet you Jeff. I am totally happy to talk to Emily if you think that will help. Just let me know what you need me to do."

"I think it will just be so good for her to maybe have another woman to talk too. She gets so frustrated having to deal with just her Dad all the time. Come with me guys, I know where this party is and so I will drive."

Tony and Michelle started to follow Jeff to his car on the other side of the driveway. Tony pulled Michelle back a little so they were walking behind. As they stopped at the car to get in, he opened her door but then leant in towards her and spoke softly in to her ear before she climbed into the car. "I want to finish our conversation as soon as we are done with all this. I just want you to know now that there is nothing I want more than to hold you so close in my arms. I need you to be in my arms Chelle."

He pulled his head back and looked into her eyes. She looked surprised at what he had just said and crunched her eyebrows as if asking him if he really meant what he said. So he spoke very softly, almost just mouthing it, "I want you Chelle." He ached for them to be sharing this moment alone, so he had the chance to make things right between them. He looked over at Jeff who was sitting in the drivers seat ready to go. Tony knew he had to help him get Emily back now so his brother could stop stressing and worrying, but as soon as they had done that his only priority in the world would be to make things right so he had Michelle in his arms.