As always, thanks for the reviews:)

And a special thanks to you who pointed out the hilarious typo I've been making all this time, writing worm instead of warm! I can't stop laughing when I think about it! "Rangers worm body" HAHA it's too funny! But i promise, there will be no more discribing Ranger as a slimy insect ;)

I hope you enjoy the fifth part! And I don't own anything!

I woke up at 9.30 and dragged myself out of bed, heading straight for the coffee pot. Damn Ranger was right, too much coffee then a shower. Maybe I should do something different? go crazy, take a walk on the wild side… yep, today I was taking the shower first! Take that Batman!

When I got out of the shower I almost ran into the kitchen to get my hands on some coffee. Maybe this walking on the wild side wasn't gonna last after all. What's for breakfast then? Frosties? Pop Tarts? I opened the refrigerator and laid eyes on something beautiful… the cake! This is probably the best thing about birthdays and Christmas… the leftovers! I took out the cake and cut myself a nice big piece. Aah, coffee and Wonder Woman cake… breakfast just doesn't get any better than this.

After I finished eating and got dressed I went trough the agenda of the day. First I had call in to the office for some skip update. Since things were going slow chances were that there would be no skips today. After that, I had to go to my parents' house for lunch. The only way I could get out of dinner last night was to promise I'd come for lunch today. Other than that, dinner with Joe was the only thing planned. I was really looking forward to it. It's been a long time since I went to a fancy restaurant… especially with Joe. I picked up my cell and called Connie.

"Hey Steph" she answered cheerfully.

"Hey Connie. I'm just calling to see if you've gotten any skips for me yet?"

"No sorry, not a single one. People aren't just breaking the law as much these days"

"Well they should, I got rent to pay and cookies to buy." I muttered. Lucky I had distraction jobs for times like these.

"To bad we can't make them miss their court dates" I let out a small laugh.

"Yeah, that would be something. Well, gotta go! I might stop by later today. Bye!"

"I'll see you then, bye!"

Well then I guess there's nothing left to do but head over to the old folks. Huge mental sigh. Maybe there's something important on TV that I just have to se first. You know, world breaking news or and episode of Family guy, I better check. Yep, Ren & Stimpy! Can't miss that can you.

An hour later I pulled up to my parents driveway, I saw mom and grandma Mazur in the window waiting for me. Well here we go.

"Congratulations sweetie!" My mom called out pulling me into a hug.

"Thanks mom"

"Why didn't you bring Joseph along with you?" So it began.

"Because he's working mom" I rolled my eyes.

"I saw that young woman! Well he has got to eat lunch doesn't he? Why couldn't he spend it here?" Oh god why, WHY was I born in the Burg?

"Mom, Joe and I are not together any more" at least not officially.

"Oh don't be silly Stephanie, tell him to come along next time!" she retreated to the kitchen.

"Well Joe's good, but I wanna know where you got the army guy with the great package?" Grandma asked me licking her lips. Eeeew! Not that I didn't understand her.

"I don't know, probably of shipping someone to a third world country" her eyes got big.

"Wow, I saw something about that on CNN the other day. They chopped up people into small bits and shipped them off in tiny boxes to other countries to sell as regular meat."

"Ew, that's disgusting! Are you sure that was CNN and not… candid camera or something?"

"Pretty sure" She said happily.

"Well I'm sure that's not what Ranger does" pretty sure at least.

"Bummer! Maybe he could have gotten me a job as a shipper, boy would I have some gossip to bring to the beauty parlor then" She wondered of into the kitchen. Sometimes I wonder if she and my mother really are related. It seems too impossible to be true most of the time.

My dad was in his usual corner, todays paper covering his face. But when I entered the room he actually lowered the paper a bit, looking over the edge. And then he smiled at me with a warm look in his eyes. I guessed that was his way of saying Happy birthday, I smiled back at him. Then the paper was back up and everything back to normal. It was small, very small, but it made the whole lunch worth dealing with.

I was out of my parents' house at 2 pm, my hands full of leftover bags. Now I had two cakes, a pineapple upside down cake and some lasagna leftovers. I wont have to buy any food for days! YEY! But then again, don't be so sure… after all, my name is Stephanie Plum. I would probably be in some pastry shop tomorrow morning.

I stopped by the office, chatting with Lula and Connie and eating donuts for a while. Apparently Lulas' hot date was hot on the outside but close to and imbecile on the inside, but that didn't stop her from dating him, they were going out again tonight. But hey what do you expect? She's a woman, any sane woman would keep seeing a gorgeous-hunk-imbecile… at least until all your girlfriends and enemies, like Joyce Bernheart, hade seen you together. After too many donuts, according to my hips, not to my appetite, I headed back to my apartment to get ready for the dinner with Joe.

After the shower I did the shaving-thing and the lotion-thing, in hopes of making my skin smooth as a babys'. After that I put on some makeup, aiming for elegant instead of hoochy. I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to get my hair to cooperate and eventually succeeded after twisting it up into my most elegant hairdo (which actually isn't all that elegant but hey, my hair is a bush you can't expect all that much) and I was finally satisfied.

I had decided to wear a longer version of the little-black-dress and some black strappy sandals that had the perfect heal height, not FMP's high but not flats. When I viewed the result in the mirror I was actually pleased. I looked nice. Okay good. Then I heard a knock on my door. Peering to the keyhole I saw a stunning Morelli standing outside. He was wearing a dark blue tux and a gorgeous tie. His face was shaved and his hair looked better than usual. To speak clearly, he looked like sex on a stick. I gulped and opened the door.

"Hi Joe" He was leaning against the doorframe. His eyes wandered up and down by body and went al chocolaty. Uh oh.

"Damn Steph" he took at step closer, not taking his eyes of me "you look… amazing." He pulled me towards him and kissed me very lightly at the base of my neck. Great, now my knees were Jello. I pushed myself away from him, a few more moments and we might not have made it to dinner.

"So are we going or what?" I smiled

"Sure thing cupcake" He placed his hand at my lower back and led me to the elevator.

He took me to Chantelles, one of the finest restaurants in Trenton, maybe he had sensed his present wasn't completely right and wanted to make up for it. Well either that or he desperately wanted to get into my pants.

As we sat down I couldn't stop smiling and looking around. When we got our menus I let out a small giggle. Joe looked at me amused.

"What's with the giggling?"

"It's so fancy! I can't stop smiling. Or worry that I'm gonna do something extremely clumsy and embarrass myself completely." I whispered. He leaned forward

"Frankly I'm a bit worried about that myself" he winked at me.

I opened my menu, hoping to find something delicious but quickly forze in my tracks... almost everything on the menu had a French name, and I so don't speak French. Okay I could say "Ona servesa por favour", no wait… that was Spanish. Language had never been my strong side. Okay I knew Italian but that was different, that's in my blood. Plus I knew the rude hand gestures better than the words. Suddenly I realized that eventually I'd have to order, which not only meant I had to find something I knew what it was, but also pronounce it to the waiter. Fuck! I looked up at Joe who seemed to share my thoughts, starring down on the menu with a confused frown on his forehead.

"So when did France invade Trenton" I said and smiled at him.

"Not a clue, I most have been sick that day" We both laughed silently.

"But hey, not understanding the menu is a true sign that you at a fancy place, right?"

"Oh most definitely" he went back to the menu. This should be fun I thought to myself, French food is delicious and pronouncing French words wrong is kind of a part of being American. You know, the whole rolling-the-R-thing, totally impossible! I don't know how they do it.

"I would like the uhm… the f… file" I could se Morelli trying not to laugh so hard he was shaking when I tried to order. That bastard.

"You know what, just give me a big stake, something tasty and a great sauce to it okay?" I wasn't gonna let Morelli get the satisfaction of hearing more of my French. The waiter just smiled at me.

"I think we can arrange that" Well apparently I wasn't the first one to order this way.

"And I'll just have the same" Joe said before the waiter disappeared.

"What so I don't even get to hear you try?" I pouted my lip

"Not a chance Cupcake" he chuckled.

"Hey, I don't know if I said it but thank you for brining me here" Suddenly I saw something flash in his eyes, and not a good thing. Worry? Regret? I couldn't figure it out. Then I remembered. He had said he wanted to talk to me about something. Shit.

"Yeah… sure, you don't turn 32 everyday do you?" he smiled uncertain.

"No… you don't" now I was uncertain too. Waiting for him to bring up what ever was going trough his head. But he just sat quiet staring at the table. We rarely had awkward silences but this was definitely awkward. I couldn't take it any longer.

" Just spit it out will you. You said you wanted to talk… so talk, I'm listening" He winced at my sudden words and looked at me nervously.

"Uhm yeah… there's something I need to talk to you about" I had a feeling this wasn't the regular your-job-is-to-risky-discussion. OH GOD! Please say he's not proposing! Wait, did I just think that?

"I don't really know were to begin" he continued, "you and I… we are something special you know. We've been at each other since forever, arguing, playing, being friends and… more than friends. I mean everything from chu-chu-train to you running me over with the Buick. We've had some good times together." He cracked a small smile. I nodded towards him so that he would continue. I didn't know where the hell this was heading.

"And lord knows we've had our ups and downs. And we've really tried to make things work… countless times. But it always ends the same, we both want the other one to change, and let's face it, we're both to stubborn to actually change…" He sat quiet for a while not looking me in the eyes. I didn't breath. "We are good together but we are not good for each other. Don't get me wrong here, I still love you and you can make me want you so bad it's hurts, without even knowing it…but… for the first time in my life I want more than that." Now he looked me straight in the eyes.

"But…" before I could say anything else he reached out and put his hand on mine.

"Please Steph let me finish, this isn't easy for me" his eyes looked worried and vulnerable.

"I want you to change, to quit your job and move in with me and all that… but I have realized that I can't ask that of you. It's to big a part of you. But that doesn't change the fact that that's the kind of life I want. I have wanted for so long that this would work out but I've come to realize that it never will… and I think we should stop pretending right here, right now."

I sat stunned starring at him. I never ever in my life thought I would here those words come out of Joe Morellis' mouth. I knew he had a point… but did I really want this to end? Also I could see in his eyes that this wasn't all… there was something he wasn't telling me.

"There's more isn't it?" I asked quietly. He froze. I could feel this wasn't going to be good.

"Yes… there is. I've been thinking about this for some time now. And a while back I… I met this woman." I felt anger rushing trough me. That son of a bitch!

"You CHEATED on me?" I stood up in my chair.

"NO! no no no!" Joe also stood up, putting one hand on my arm to calm me down. "Please sit down again and let me explain." Even tough I was on the verge of fury I sat down.

"I didn't cheat on you! A lot of men in the Morelli family are cheating scumbags, but I promise I would never do that to you!" Some how I knew he was telling the truth and began to calm down.

"Then who is the woman you talked about?"

"Her name is Bonnie, she lives outside of N.Y. As I said we met a while back and I liked her right away, she's sweet, pretty, kind, funny… basically she's everything I've ever looked for in a woman. You are the woman I'll always dream of… and I know I will always love you. But she's the kind of woman I wanna spend the rest of my life with. But I haven't touched her yet, I needed to clear things out with you first."

At first jealousy hit me like a blow in the stomach. Who was this bitch and boy was I gonna kill her! But then I heard the warmth in his voice when he talked about her. He really liked this woman. Then I started to think about all the things he had said tonight. He was right, we were good together, but not good for each other. We always wanted to change one another to fit our own states of mind. And I myself had noticed that our relationship had turned more and more into friendship, even tough we still had the hots for each other. Deep down inside I had know this for a long time but not been able to face the facts. Joe and I aren't going to end up together no matter how hard we try. Every word he had said was true, we needed to stop right here right now and move on with our lives. Even if it hurt. Also I wasn't as innocent as I pretended to be. Even tough I love Joe, Ranger were slowly taking up more and more of my thoughts and no matter how much I tried to deny or hide from it, I was falling for him. No, we couldn't go on like this, it was time for a change. I looked up at Joe, he looked like he was waiting for a death penalty.

"You know what… you're right. Even though I've tried to deny it, I have known for a long time that you and me aren't meant to be. I love you, but I'm not in love with you. And just as you say, we need to move on with our lives." I saw relief in his eyes I think he let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

"And even tough it feels weird, I'm actually happy that you found someone you like. You deserve to find a good woman, and I hope everything goes well between you two" I couldn't believe I just said that, but in some weird way it felt right. From the look on Joes face he couldn't believe it either. He got out of his chair and came over to my side.

"Stephanie… you really are amazing" then he kissed me on the lips and for the first time in history… he kissed me in a friendly way. He broke away and looked at me, smiling his biggest smile. Then he whispered

"Thank you for understanding. I love you"

"I love you too." As he went back to his chair the food arrived.

"You know, I was terrified to come here tonight. I was afraid you would slap me and storm out."

"Well you had a reason to, storming out was my first option, not to mention the slaping part of course" I winked at him. He laughed.

"But… we will still be friends right?"

"Of course, we will always be friends, and we'll always be there for each other" his voice was serious and I could feel that he meant it. I smiled.

"But on the other hand, did you really think I was gonna storm out on a stake like this? And without dessert? Fat chance!"

The dinner actually turned out nice, we had more fun than we'd had in a long time. It felt nice.

Morelli and me... friends… go figure huh.

I made up the whole "Chantelle is the best resturant in Trenton" part since I don't know about any resturants in Trenton (exept for Pinos' and Shortys').