Title: A Little Respect

Author: Misty Flores

Teaser: Pursuing a relationship with Aiden after discovering Bianca in bed with Babe, Maggie begins to question even her own self worth when she finds herself at delving deeper into a baby kidnapping mystery, and an intense love triangle.

Timeline: Before Paris, Before Jonathan, and right after an 'I Never' confession.

PART THREE

Who will be there for you?

Comfort and care for you?

Learn to be lonely

Learn to be your one companion

Never dream

Out in the world

There are arms to hold you

You've always known

Your heart was on it's own

-- Learn to Be Lonely, Minnie Driver

--

"It's cancer."

She bowed her head, swinging her legs like a child, as she stared into the dark blackness of the water. The boards beneath her were rough, and Maggie's palms clenched around their edges, holding on tight as Aiden settled down roughly beside her, blocking some of the chill coming from the wind, eeking through the boat house.

She shut her eyes tightly, breathing out raggedly as Aiden fingered a stone he picked up on the way, rounding out its shape with his fingers. "Breast cancer," he continued. "She said they already did the chemotherapy, but they might have to..." he paused, and Maggie glanced up, took in his stricken face as he swallowed hard. "Take the whole thing out." He flung the stone into the darkness, and she could hear a distinct plop where it fell. "She wanted you to know."

Maggie shifted, pulling her knees against her and hugging them, resting her chin against her legs. "Does David know?"

Aiden was quiet, until he chuckled bitterly. "I don't think David would care, Maggie."

Her head lifted off her knees, a small spurt of protective loyalty to her benefactor flaring up. "I think he would, Aiden. He loved Anna."

"Right. Loved her enough to run her out of this town," Aiden snapped, eyes glittering with remembrance. "Loved her enough to abandon her when she needed him the most."

"Aiden-"

"Besides, David has his daughter now. That's all he cares about."

Maggie's throat was closed, but she kept her gaze sharp, her eyes narrowed. "Aiden, you know that's not how it all happened. I know David has problems, but he loved Anna."

Aiden's head tilted, her eyes connected with his in an intense stare, before he closed his eyes against it and lowered his head, bringing his focus back to the water. "Anna didn't want him to know," he said finally. "Just you."

Anna always had kept things from David, never trusted him with her intimate details. Maggie shuddered at the thought - to love someone so completely and still not trust them with everything.

She rubbed fingers through her hair in agitation, eyes stinging with sudden emotion. "Well then why did she want me to know?" she asked dully.

Aiden was quiet, and after a moment, she glanced up. Her dark eyed friend was staring at her. "Anna cared about you, Maggie. She saw you as family."

Family . Maggie's mouth tilted upwards, a sad smile, suddenly caught in a moment, Thanksgiving, years ago, Anna, and Aiden and Kendall and Trey and David and Greenlee. Leo smiled at her from the darkness, and she was suddenly lost in solitude.

"Do you remember that?" she whispered suddenly, voice barely above a whisper. "Actually having a family?" Aiden's eyes glistened at her. "Thanksgiving?"

His mouth slowly creased into a smirk. "It seems so long ago," he acknowledged.

"I remember being so happy," she admitted. "That I finally had one. Just the idea, the hope that I had a family, that and Bianca were the only things that kept me here in Pine Valley when I wanted to run." She breathed out raggedly. "I know that Anna kept it all together, and when she was gone... it just all fell apart."

No Leo. Trey in jail. Greenlee and Kendall taken in by families of their own, and even David had a family that had nothing to do with her.

She remembered, suddenly, an evening at the beach, eating ice cream, dreaming about leaving Pine Valley with Bianca, all to raise little Miranda. Her family.

God.

"Well," she heard, breaking the sudden tension. "We still have each other, right?"


Her head jerked up and she looked at him disbelievingly, ignoring his smirk to roll her eyes, jostle him with her shoulder, "Right," she snarked, "Cause we're such good friends and all."

"We're family," he interrupted gently, and she looked at him. "I think we could both use each other now."

He must have seen something, some part of her that needed to believe she wasn't alone, and it occurred to Maggie, just how much she really liked Aiden.

He opened his arms, and without reservation, she sank into them, sliding her cheek along his broad, leather clad shoulder, enveloped in his warmth.

She breathed him in, suddenly comforted by his solid presence, his palm a soothing pressure on her back.

"Aiden," she murmered, muffled by his shirt. "Why did you come to me?" He stilled, and she pushed back, looked up into his face. "You could have just called. We're not that close."

He considered that, his face unreadable, before the passive features dissolved into something else, and he shrugged simply.

"I knew you loved Anna. I knew Anna loves you. I needed someone to remember her the way I did. I didn't want to be alone in that."

Maggie considered the statement, what he meant, and she blinked back tears, when she suddenly understood: Aiden was lonely, and tired, and maybe a little heartbroken.

"I know what that's like," she said softly.

He had a beautiful smile. "She's in New York, Maggie. Starting treatment at the cancer center there. I was going to see her eventually. Would you like to come?"

Anna in New York. She was ashamed to hesitate, immediately thinking of Bianca. What if Bianca needed her?

Except Bianca had Babe and Lena and Kendall and Erica. And it was Anna. She wanted to see Anna. Badly.

Maggie nodded slowly. "Sure. Just tell me when."

Another smile, and she settled into his arms again, closing her eyes and holding on tight, thankful for the comfort. Aiden needed her tonight, his only link to family in this town.

Around them, the boathouse was chilly, desolate. For the first time that night, Maggie felt warm.

Anna was beautiful and kind and amazing. She didn't deserve this.

She closed her eyes against the sudden ache in her chest, and buried further into Aiden's embrace.

--

Jamie's alarm clock blared at her, knocking her out of her sleepy haze.

She lay there, a dead weight, wrapped in Jamie's blankets as the alarm continued to blare, honking at her, slicing into her brain.

Jamie's side of the bed was empty, and before she could really think, it confused her, until she remembered where he was, in jail , because of his insane obsession with his brother's wife.

She closed her eyes and grimaced.

Spreading out, she swept her hands to both sides of the bed, looking up at the ceiling.

Anna's sick.

Her heart thudded painfully, forcing her to suddenly move, shove the covers off of her and get her bearings on the edge of Jamie's bed, staring down at her French manicured toes.

She needed to talk to Bianca, she decided. Bianca would hear it and hug her and tell it would be all right, and it would be. Because Bianca said so. It was infantile reasoning, but Maggie knew it would work.

She exhaled, decision made, and got to her feet, heading out of Jamie's bedroom and to the living room. Peeking in, she glanced at the couch, and found it empty, the throw thrown haphazardly over the top.

Maggie sighed, and then pushed off the doorway, moving to her own bedroom, knocking softly at the door.

"Binks?" Nothing. Maggie bit her lower lip, tried again, another rap with her fingertips. "Hey, Binks?"

Slowly, she twisted the knob to her bedroom, pushing open the wooden door, hoping hard to find a slightly snoring lump in her bed.

The bed was made. Maggie sagged against the doorway, taking it in. Bianca wasn't here.

She shoved into the room and crawled on the bed, curling up against it, pulling her pillow into her.

Bianca's perfume had soaked into the sheets, and when Maggie inhaled, she could smell it, intermingled with the small remnants of her own scent that lingered from weeks ago.

Closing her eyes, Maggie breathed it in, skimming her hand across the sheets, and imagined Bianca there, pressed against the cloth, eyes closed, breathing in deeply beside her.

She could almost pretend her fantasy was real, this way, smelling Bianca, hearing her even breath beside her, sharing Maggie's bed and her life.

--

Shoving against the door, Maggie tried hard to balance the pile of books and groceries in her arms.

"Um... hello?" she tried, fumbling hard for her keys. "Anyone in there! HELLO?"

Nothing. Of course.

"Well, lookit the bright side, Mags," she told herself, as an orange fell over and she nearly collapsed trying to catch it. "They're still paying rent."

Not to mention she could study without being completely distracted with Bianca smelling all pretty and looking all sexy doing something silly like eating pudding.

Just the image put a hunger inside her, and for a moment, she regretted the fact that Jamie was in jail.

She found her keys, but her thighs were burning, her head an awkward angle as she kept the orange from tipping over with her chin, balancing precariously on her books.

Inside, she could dimly hear the phone ring.

"Eeek." Her fingers were shaking, blindly trying to find the key hole, jabbing at it awkwardly. Finally, two smashed fingers and a dropped orange later, she managed to stick it in, yanking it in a turn so fast she fell in.

"Oww. Nice." Pushing up, Maggie blew a strand of hair out of her face and glared hard at the phone, shoving away the crushed bag of chips, and wincing, digging out the biology book currently poking into her rib. "Biology sucks."

The phone was still ringing.

Pressing palms on the floor, Maggie hauled herself up, stepping over the stupid orange that started the whole mess and ignoring the impending headache that would come from opening the now fuzzy bottle of root beer.

Maybe Bianca could open that one.

She got the phone, collapsing against the sofa and answering with a breathless, "Hello?" Nothing. "Hello?" she said again impatiently. "Reggie, if this is you-"

"... Maggie?"

Lena.

Maggie sat up, palm falling from her face. "Lena."

"Hello, Maggie," came the polite tone. "Is Bianca there?"

Third time in three days. Geez. Someone was getting desperate.

"Uh..." Craning her neck, Maggie gave the apartment a second look. "No," she said, "She's not here. Can I tell her you called?"

"You don't know where she is, do you?"

Maggie shook her head, narrowing her eyes to give the phone a good glare. "I'm not really Bianca's keeper, Lena."

"Really?" Lena answered, tone dry and sarcastic. "Because you were always quite protective of her."

Great.Time for 'Trading Insults with the Polish Geek.'

Maggie wasn't in the mood.

"Lena, I really don't know where she is, okay?" she snapped. "She's not here, maybe she's with Babe or something-"

"Babe," Lena repeated. "Babe again. Always her best friend Babe."

The way the sentence was phrased caused an uncomfortable jolt in Maggie's stomach. "What? Has Bianca called her that?"

"Repeatedly," Lena muttered. "Babe - her bestest friend ever."

The jolt became nausea. "AUGH," she blurted.

"My sentiments exactly."

"What the hell does she SEE in her?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Lena answered tritely.

Maggie blinked, sinking into an awkward pause when she realized she was actually commiserating with the enemy.

"Umm..." Licking her lips, she tapped at the couch. "So... I'll tell her you called?"

Lena must have arrived at the same conclusion, because she just as quickly answered, "Of course," in an overly light chipper fake voice. "Bye, Maggie."

"Bye," she answered, and pressed the cancel button, letting her hand fall down, phone rolling away from her.

Bianca's best friend, Babe.

Jaime in jail because of Babe.

Maggie hated the knots inside of her, the sudden pain that seared into her chest, her innate jealousy of the perky blonde cheerleader. Her palms pressed against her forehead and she pushed hard, trying to contain her uncomfortable emotion.

"I really hate Babe," she muttered.

"MAGGIE!"

The voice came so loud and so close Maggie yelped, nearly teetering off the couch when she jerked her head back to the open doorway and found Dani there, skidding on her orange.

"Dani! You scared the crap out of me!"

Dani didn't seem to care. "Maggie, you gotta come with me."

"Why?"

"It's Jamie," Dani breathed. "He's been stabbed."

--

end chapter