Groaning in agony, Marcus inched his battered body up the trunk of the Redbud, and rested his head across Aria's lap. "You look like hell," Aria deadpanned.

"You look like you just got lucky," Marcus pompously triumphed, flailing his arms in the air, nearly tumbling off the branch.

Aria placed a restraining arm across his stomach. "Easy there, Tiger! I don't want you joining Sophia in her wheelchair."

"Tell that to the Prince Charming responsible for ruining my face. I used to be irresistible. Now, he's totally screwed my mojo!"

Aria examined his injuries: bruises the size of watermelons zigzagged across his arms and legs. The area surrounding his eyes was the same color as her hair. His breathtaking amber eyes were practically swollen shut. His nose was off-center and probably broken. And his face was caked with dried blood. He looked like Xena Warrior Princess had just handed him his mangled carcass on a silver platter, like he had been mauled by rabid moose(s), like… Marcus broached the sensitive subject first.

"You're probably pretty curious about Kip's reasoning for opening a Family-sized vat of Whoop Ass on me, aren't you?"

Aria stared moodily in the direction of Westhaven Circle, sheepishly muttering, "I said your name when we were…"

Marcus instantly beamed, cockily prompting, "Dude! Did you say it like a nun would say it, or did you scream it like a banshee at the top of your lungs?"

All the color drained from Aria's face, "Marcus, if you love me, not to mention have any respect for me at all, solemnly swear that you did not ask Kip that question. Solemnly swear… AND MEAN IT."

"You screamed it," Marcus couldn't resist gloating. No, she hadn't screamed his name, she'd used her normal, quiet voice, but she wasn't about to sweat the little things when Kip had misconstrued the situation so horrendously. Marcus yammered on that Kip had mostly repeated the words "e-mail to Aria," "gazebo," and "Midnight."

Aria was dumbstruck, as she replayed Kip's frantic questioning about her being "there." She had assumed he was referring to the party, but what if… "E-mail to me, but I didn't get a… MARCUS, are you absolutely positive that's what he said?"

Marcus pouted petulantly, "As positive as you can be with two hundred pounds of pure muscle raining down on you from every direction."

Exacting vengeance on Kip for beating Marcus to a bloody pulp would have to be dealt with later. Besides, Aria smirked to herself, having Mr. Waldon Edwards (if everything went according to plan) for a father-in-law was more punishment than anyone deserved. Aria euphorically pressed her lips to Marcus's cheek, catapulted to the ground, and barreled, at full speed, to the gazebo.

He was sprawled on one of the benches that lined the walls. If her entire future hadn't depended on what she was about to do, she would have given in to the temptation to belt out a couple of songs from the Sound of Music, especially the one that took place in a gazebo. Of course, when Kip had his knees to his chest and his head to his knees, and was rocking back and forth despondently, musical interludes were not an option.

Aria sat on the opposite end of the bench, sultrily purring, "Kip, I'm so sorry I'm late."

Kip lifted his grizzled, tearstained face to hers. Voice quavering, he snapped, "Save your pity, Aria! I'm not interested in Marcus's Sloppy Seconds, so get the hell out of here!"

Under less dire circumstances, Aria would have spat in Kip's ocean-blue eyes, delivered a bone-crushing kick to his balls, and gotten the hell out of Dodge, but she had already wasted too much time where Kip was concerned to blow her last chance with him because he was defensively venting his rage with brutal insults.

Aria, despite his grunts of protest, embraced him, and persisted in clinging to him with every ounce of her strength, until he melted into her arms. Soothingly, she whispered in his ear, "I never saw your e-mail, Kip. I didn't know I was supposed to meet you here. If I had, not even Marcus could have kept me from you. Marcus and I have never had a romantic relationship, and we never will. He's always been second in my heart, and you have always been first. Last night, when… when… you asked me if I was with Marcus, I thought you were asking if I was with him at Hope-Catherine's party, because, like I've already mentioned, I didn't know anything about the gazebo, so…"

"Damn, Woman," Kip passionately pressed his lips to hers, as every fiber of her being sizzled from the contact, "I think I loved you more when you were giving me the Silent Treatment."

Aria furiously crossed her arms over her chest, mischievously quipping, "So, you loved me, huh?"

Kip draped a territorial arm across her shoulders. "It seems that I was destined to love you five years ago, and I'm doomed to love you today, tomorrow, and always, and, if you ever decide to run from me again, you should probably get it into your head right now that I'll wait for you forever." Before she could argue, or ruin the moment with a catty comment about Marcus, Kip closed the distance between their mouths with another torrent of earth-shattering kisses.

Kip mused to himself that persuading the woman of his dreams to come crawling back to him, after five years of waiting patiently (WHO THE HELL WAS HE KIDDING!), had truly been time well spent, especially now that he was free to hold her and kiss her and run his hands through her hair and make love to her and watch her sleep whenever he wanted.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Gah! So Kip is a bit prick-y again in this chapter. I really do adore him, but… if the person you love says someone else's name in bed, particularly the person who you believe is making moves on your Special Someone, well… there's gonna be a Throw-Down! Regardless of Marcus's Colossal Ass-Whooping, I was very proud of the rest of this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Please review!