AN: Okay, first off thanks for all of the replys. I'm glad that fans of NLT have returned to check out the sequel and hopefully I won't disappoint anyone. Secondly, I'm sooooooooooo sorry for taking so long to update! I've been really busy with keeping up with my university due dates and tests and stuff like that. There's only one week left of lectures then I'll be getting ready for exams and then I start summer school so I'm surprised that I even got this chapter out. But even though I'll be busy, hopefully it won't be this long till I update again. I'm planning on writing a one-shot so I'll probably have that up before I update Save the Best for Last. Anyways, I've rambled on long enough so on with the story and I hope you enjoy. Remember to ready and review..you guys do inspire and motivate me to keep going with my writing.
I Disclaim
Trish desperately tried to quicken her pace so that she could keep up with Randy's fast walk.
"Randy…wait up" she called out. She was sure that he had heard, so she was positive that he was just plain angry with her. Becoming fed up with his silent treatment; Trish slowed her pace down to a walk. The rain continued to fall heavier and heavier as the night wore on and she was sure that she would be feeling the remnants of a cold in a few days. She had some many things running through her mind at that very moment, she was overwhelmed with thoughts….so many thoughts, she didn't know which one to analyze and figure out first. She let out a sardonic chuckle to herself as she once again quickened her pace to get to the car faster. All the while, she took the opportunity to curse herself for actually believing that anything in her life could ever be happy for so long. She looked up once again to see the familiar back trudging a large distance ahead of her. She decided to try her luck again.
"Randy…please wait". Her voice cracked and the vulnerability she felt in that moment was evident to any stranger walking by, but he didn't look up. He didn't stop. He didn't even turn around. No acknowledgement whatsoever. At this moment, Trish was seriously wondering whether Randy would actually drive off and leave her in a deserted parking lot so late at night in a place she wasn't familiar with. With that thought, she heightened her pace even more, going as fast as her stilettos heels could take her. Now she was just pissed.
'Who the hell did he think he was? Acting like he was the only one affected by Adam's sudden reappearance…' she thought to herself. She heard the soft hum of a musical tune and realized that it was her cell phone. Trying to multi-task, she grabbed her phone from her purse and pressed talk and she continued on.
"Hello" Trish asked with a shortness of breath.
"Hey T, it's Ames" Trish let out a big sigh.
"Thank God…I've been trying to call for the longest time".
"Yeah, sorry about that, my batter died on me….I knew you'd be worried. Listen I've got Josh with me and I'm trying to talk some sense into him but he's really upset about what happened tonight between Randy and Adam and he doesn't want Matt or myself to bring him back to your room tonight" Amy informed Trish sympathetically.
Trish could feel the tears begin to prick her eyes. 'How is it possible for everything to go so wrong so fast' she thought.
"Trish…" Amy began, hoping that her tiny blond friend was still on the line.
"I'm here…I just don't know what to do or say…I'm so completely lost Ames and right now I don't think I'll ever find my way back. And what's worse is that I'm pretty sure there's a lot more bad stuff to come" Trish replied as she sobbed into the phone.
"Sweetie, I know this is hard for you and I can't imagine what you're going through right now and I'm pretty sure Randy is taking all of this pretty hard as well but Matt and I will be there for the two of you any way we can. You should just go home and rest. We'll keep your kids for the night and we'll figure out what to do when we wake up tomorrow. But for now, let me handle Josh….It'll be alright, I promise." Amy assured Trish confidently.
"You sound so sure of yourself but forgive me if I don't one hundred percent believe you right now" Trish muttered.
"I'll let it slip this time around" Amy joked. It earned a tiny smile to form on Trish's lips. She could always count on Amy to be there for her no matter what.
"Okay, I guess I better be going before I lose out on my ride, I'll talk to ya later Hun, bye." Trish hung up before Amy could question Trish's comment about losing her ride. The last thing she needed Amy to worry about was how to help Trish out with her potential problems between herself and Randy.
She shoved her phone back into her purse and hurried her pace when she noticed that Randy was already sitting in the car and was starting the engine. She quickly debated on what to do. She wasn't sure if he was leaving so she figured she had three options. She could run to the exit and block the way with her body to ensure that he didn't leave without her. Of course, he could always run her over. Or she could run like a mad woman and wave her hands in the air wildly to attract attention from her, at least long enough to distract him so she could get to the car. Or she could just pray to God and hoped that her feet (and heels) could get her there in time without having to suffer any embarrassment. She settled on the latter and made a dash towards the car. She was doing fine until she stepped into a huge pothole that was only a few feet away from their car. She went crashing down to the ground and the searing pain she felt shoot up her left leg was almost immediate. She was sure that she at least torn something. Even with the heavy water pellets falling against her face and body, she couldn't mistake the hot tears that were now trailing down her face. She placed her palms on the ground and took a deep breath as she prepared herself for the event of having to pick herself up. After a couple of seconds, she readied herself for any pain she might feel while attempting to stand but the pair of hands that picked her up from behind lightened her burden and her pain. Her body was swept up into his arms and she turned her head slightly to see Randy staring at her with concern. She could tell that he was worried but she could also tell that he wasn't worried enough for him to stop being angry with her…if only she knew what for though.
It seemed like in only a few large strides, they had reached their car. Randy opened the passenger door with one hand and slid her into the seat. He reclined it back and put her feet up onto the dashboard as he gently undid her stilettos and began massaging her ankle.
"Does it hurt a lot?" he asked softly. Trish's head shot up as she looked at her husband. She was honestly surprised that he spoke to her.
She only nodded and slightly shifted her foot away from his touch.
"I just wanna go home right now" she sighed deeply before staring out the front window. Randy sent her a grim look and shrugged his shoulders. He strapped her in and shut the passenger door. Trish didn't miss the way he took the extra effort to slam the door. It didn't happen that often, but she still hated it when they got into fights, especially since he was much better at the silent treatment than she was. When she was mad, she'd try to brush him off and avoid him but then by the end of the day, she's just blow up and start yelling and when she was done, he'd apologize and life was great again. When he was mad, it was a whole different story. He had a lot of patience when it came to him waiting for an owed apology…and this time, Trish had nothing to apologize about, she may not like having him mad at her, but at the same time, she didn't feel that he had any reason to be mad at her.
Trish let her thoughts drift back to the restaurant scene. It kept replaying in her mind over and over again until she realized that they had finally made it back to the hotel. She didn't even wait for him to come and help her; she unbuckled her seat belt and opened the door. She paused for a second as she mentally calculated the best way to go about getting out of the car and into their room without having to endure the least amount of pain, but once, the same familiar strong arms grabbed her by her waist and carried her in. When they got into their room, Randy set her down and moved to the kitchen to grab some ice. He came back and rested the ice on her swollen ankle while he stroked the side of her leg. Trish rested her head against the back of the couch but she could feel his eyes on her.
"I kept telling you that you'd one day fall if you kept trying pull a Michael Johnson in stilettos…" he began softly. Trish didn't show any reaction to his comment.
"Do you want to go to a doctor?" he asked as he stood from his position on the floor and took a seat next to her on the couch, forcing her to look right at him.
"Randy, I'm fine…" she said with a bit annoyance. Her ankle was hurting like hell and right now, so was her heart. After everything that had happened tonight, she was hurt that he would think that it would be better to get mad at her for some unknown reason, rather than stick together and work through this…especially with Josh.
Trish let her gaze meet his and she could tell that he was sympathetic but she was too tired to talk about anything and sort things out. He started this, so he could wait till morning to work when she actually has the energy to yell at him for being an ass.
"Now that you know that I won't be dying or anything, you can go back to being mad at me now…I'm going to bed" she said as she used her hands and pushed herself up, making sure to apply only a slight amount of pressure on her injured leg.
"Trish…" Randy began.
"Randy don't start this now…the only reason I'm even in this situation is because I was afraid that MY husband would actually abandon me in the parking lot of a restaurant!" Trish yelled. Yup, there was her fiery temper becoming unleashed.
"I would have never have left you" Randy replied in an offended manner.
Trish began hopping away in a fury, when she decidedly turned back around to face him.
"You know what? You already got my fired up so we might as well just finish it" she said with aggravation. She continued on.
"What the hell did I do to get you in such a pissy mood tonight?" she asked as she crossed her arms over her chest and waited expectantly for his answer.
Randy shot up from his seat.
"After everything that went on tonight, you're actually gone ask me why I'm mad at you….you mean you can't tell?" he asked incredulously.
"First of all you idiot, I'm not going to ask you, I already did. I know I don't stutter so either you're suffering a hearing impairment or you're just trying to get me more pissed off than I already am" Trish shot back.
If there was anything that Randy could admit, it was that his wife always had a way with words and no matter how hard he could try, he'd never be able to top her when it came to their arguments.
Trish waited a couple of minutes as she and Randy just stared at each other. When she finally gave up waiting for an answer, she cautiously turned to make her way to their bedroom.
"He intruded on our night with our family and friends and you didn't say a damn thing…" he said quietly and she could hear from his voice that he was fighting tears.
"I was trying to protect you and our children and you just stood there as our son looked on and thought I was the bad guy…"
"I didn't say anything because he's still young Randy…he won't understand things the way they should be understood…he's a child Randy, he's see the good in everybody. Amy went out there before me so she could warn you guys but then you had disappeared and by the time I came out with Josh and Adam, it was too late…"
"Randy…if you think that I purposely tried to make you look bad in front of …"
Randy cut her off and moved closer to her and placed his hands on her cheeks.
"I know Trish…I'm sorry. I should have never taken it out on you. I'm just feeling really insecure about the situation right now. I mean, Josh has obviously taken a liking to Adam and right now I'm not really in his goods books because of the way greeted Adam…."
"And you're scared that when Noah eventually finds out that you're not his biological father, he won't love you anymore…" Trish finished Randy's thoughts. Randy gave her a sorrowful smile.
"That's exactly it" he said.
"You have nothing to worry about" she tried to reassure him.
"But I still don't want you to talk to him" Randy pressed her.
"Fine, I won't talk to him" Trish momentarily gave in. She felt like the night was seemingly never going to end and she didn't want to start another fight.
"Now can we please go to bed, I think I've been on my feet long enough" she said trying to lighten the mood. It didn't really work but she did earn a small smile from the legend killer.
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Four hours later and Trish was still staring up at her ceiling. She wiggled her ankle around to make sure that the pain was gone. Now she felt stupid for actually dramatizing the whole thing as though she had actually broken something when it was actually just a sprained ankle. With some rest and some strong pain killers, it was now as good as new. Trish turned to her side and looked at her husband. He had been tossing and turning for the longest time and it wasn't until a half hour ago that he seemed to fall into a deep slumber. They all had had a rough night but she couldn't figure out why she couldn't sleep. She was tired as hell, but she couldn't let herself succumb to slumber. She looked at the clock that read 2:30 am and let out a sigh. She has tried everything. She sang herself lullabies, she counted sheep, she even said some peaceful mantras that Amy had taught her during her yoga phase but nothing seemed to work. Trish knew something that would work but she wasn't sure if she was ready or if it was even safe for her to do. She needed answers and she needed them now. She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply as though to clear her thoughts but they weren't going anywhere. She raised herself up on her arms and leaned over to look at Randy's sleeping form. He had definitely gone for it and she was sure he wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. She looked at the clock once more before slowly removing the covers from on top of her and quietly making her way out of the room. She grabbed a pair of cargo pants to pull over her booty shorts and decided that her tank top was fine to keep on. She grabbed the pocket knife that Randy and Matt were using during their fishing trip earlier that week and she slid it into her large side pocket. She wasn't sure what compelled her to actually make her move and she was sure besides Randy blowing his top, her friends would probably give her hell for doing this by herself, but it seemed that the only way she was going to find peace was to get some answers and as soon as possible. She moved quietly and grabbed the napkin with the number scribbled across it. She looked back at her husband's sleeping form before exiting the room, making sure to grab the keys on the way out. She'd be back before Randy even woke up…and like the saying goes, what you don't know can't hurt you….and hopefully for Trish, Randy will never find out.