-- Caren - Dan is Reggie's girlfriend. She's a very pretty young girl, about 17 or so. :-)
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 delving deeper into a baby kidnapping mystery, and an intense love triangle.
Part Twenty-Seven
And I'm so sorry that I've fallen
Help me up, let's keep on running
Don't let me fall out of love
-- Running, No Doubt
She should have been surprised. She wasn't. The only thing Maggie really felt was tired.
Blowing out her breath, she turned, taking in the beautiful Bianca Montgomery, standing just inside.
"Hi."
"Hi," she answered, tone low and uncaring. She waited a moment, knowing Bianca would step out into the balcony, close the screen behind them.
When Bianca did, Maggie only turned back to the stars.
There was a moment of awkward silence, but Maggie expected that.
Honestly, she had been expecting this conversation ever since she left Bianca in Florida.
"It's crazy in there, isn't it?" Bianca's laughter was a little too loud, a little too fake, and tuned to Bianca's many nuances, Maggie knew her insecurity.
"Just a little," she responded quietly, shifting her weight, so her free elbow balanced against Bianca's black iron balcony, off her fractured ankle.
On a balcony. Yet again.
The irony was almost enough to make her smile.
"You know... Maggie... I didn't get to thank you... for what you did-"
"It's fine, Bianca." She opted for a smile of her own, and it was small, but sincere. Bianca shut her mouth, looking at her carefully, but Maggie's smile never faltered. "I'm sorry," she finally said, tone a bit more husky, "For skipping out on you like that in Florida." Bianca's mouth became a thin line and she glanced away. "I wanted to stay at least until you got Miranda back, but Anna needed us."
Her last word hung in the air, and in it was a shared conversation that they didn't have to have. Bianca's eyes flickered up, dark and almost wounded, and for that, Maggie nearly winced.
Another careful beat of silence, unsure how to proceed, have this difficult talk at the end of all that had happened, and all that they had shared.
Maggie wondered idly how one could love someone so much and want so badly to push them away.
"How is Anna?"
Maggie's eyes flicked up at the stars.
"The lump is benign," she said conversationally. "But the doctor's aren't taking any chances." Staring down at her free hand, she tapped the iron of the balcony. "Aiden has asked her and Robin to move here for a month or two. Stay in the extra bedroom. That way we can help take care of Anna."
"Oh."
"It can take the load off Robin for a bit," she continued, wondering why she felt the need to keep explaining. "Anna's agreed to, and I'm glad. The whole Devane family is just... they're damned stubborn, really."
Bianca didn't answer, and in the silence, Maggie found herself helplessly looking back. Her friend had her arms crossed, as if chilled, and her expression was frozen, unreadable.
Sighing, Maggie licked her lips, turning back.
After a moment, she heard Bianca move, until fabric brushed up against her shoulder and Bianca entered her peripheral vision, flawless skin illuminated by the moonlight.
"You know..." Bianca admitted, staring up with her. "I was... surprised when I found out about Anna."
"Oh?"
"It's why you went to New York, wasn't it? The first time. After you found me and Babe..."
Maggie didn't answer the question. Bianca's tone wasn't surprised, it was hurt. For some reason, the idea that Bianca actually felt justifiably wounded struck a really, really, bitter part of her.
"When exactly would have been a good time to tell you, Bianca?" she asked acidly, chuckling. "Really? When? When could I have sat you down, because you know, you were ALWAYS there, and say, 'Pardon me, Bianca, I know you're busy sniffing around Babe the tormented, but Anna has cancer'?" Bianca winced, and Maggie felt a small flash of unexpected satisfaction. "Face it," she finished, a dull murmur, "You weren't exactly around."
Bianca was quiet beside her, taking in her bitter recrimination. "And Aiden was."
The way Bianca said - accusingly - it had a connotation, and Maggie felt her anger build, dark eyes turning to lock eyes with Bianca's.
"Aiden is family," she said firmly. "We handled it together, not because we loved each other, but because family and friendship came first. Falling in love came afterward."
"I'm sorry, Maggie." Maggie shuddered, closing her eyes against the apology, too little, too late. "I'm sorry I wasn't there. I'm sorry I couldn't see it." Another beat. "I know I've got a lot to apologize for."
Her smile was almost painful. "Bianca, forget about apologizing, okay? You don't owe me a thing. I've already forgotten about it."
"How much have you forgotten, Maggie?" Maggie kept her eyes shut tight, head bowed, still and quiet. "You know, the night you left, I had a dream." Fingers touched her chin, and opening her eyes at the soft contact, Maggie discovered Bianca staring at her intensely. "I dreamt that you held me. I dreamt that you kissed me. That you told me you loved me." Maggie sighed raggedly, the night Bianca inferred suddenly vivid in her mind. Bianca's glazed expression; Maggie's own weakness. "Was that just a dream, Maggie?"
--
He stared at the check, dumbstruck at the amount of zeroes.
"Erica, I can't take this."
"Yes, you can." Like everything Erica did, her generosity was a spectacle, the other party-goers bearing witness to the extend of Erica's gratefulness. "You and Maggie gave us something that we can never begin to put a price on, Aiden. The least we can do is cover you for your trouble."
"It wasn't any trouble," he said, trying to surreptitiously fold the check, hand it back.
"Nonsense," she said, head shaking like royalty, keeping it in his broad hands, smile sincere, if not the least bit dramatic. "You and Maggie both sacrificed many things, and Maggie nearly offered her life for my baby and her daughter." He swallowed hard, the sudden spike of uncomfortable fear settling into his stomach at just the reminder. "It's the least I can do."
The money was tempting. Standing in the middle of a large crowd, all eyes on him, Aiden was torn.
Maggie needed school money. He wanted his agency. And Anna could use some of it for her illness.
But to justify everything they did with a price?
"Just take the money," Kendall drawled, bouncing the baby girl on her hip, making Miranda smile and giggle. "Or are you Devane's all so damned righteous?"
The audience laughed, and Aiden glanced down at the check, and back up at his very own benefactor.
"Save it for a wedding," Erica suggested, "If there's one coming in the future."
He had no choice. Folding it into his pocket, he leaned forward, and kissed her on the cheek, as the room erupted in applause, and he glanced around for Maggie.
--
It was a loaded question, and Bianca felt absurdly fragile, looking into beautiful dark eyes, on a beautiful dark night.
Maggie slowly reached up, and wrapped fingers around her own, drawing them away from her chin. Bianca let her, heart sinking, as Maggie said simply, "Yes, it was just a dream, Bianca."
Her tone was matter-of-fact, and Bianca remembered this Maggie, from so long ago. The defensive Maggie, the scared Maggie, the Maggie who shut down and shut her out, to keep from hurting again.
With a small intake of breath, Bianca was forced to remember just how badly she had hurt Maggie.
Just how willing she was to give her up forever.
A thousand regrets.
But Bianca had to try.
"Was it a dream we both had, Maggie?"
She felt tense, trying to sound soft and gentle, and failing utterly when her voice cracked, causing her to breathe in, shaky now, on the edge of this balcony, ready to fall over all over again.
Maggie's face was hidden in shadows.
"Bianca... we had our chance. We've both moved on."
"Maggie-" she began, shaking her head hard.
"-You've got your baby back. You've got to concentrate on her, and I've got Aiden."
She swallowed, tears suddenly stinging in her eyes, voice clogged with emotion. "I have my baby back because you gave her to me, Maggie," she managed furiously. "You brought me and my baby back to life. It was you in that room with me."
"And it's over. It's done."
"How can you do that?" she snapped, wiping a furious tear from her eyes. "Maggie, I know I don't deserve it. I know you're mad at me. But you love me. You told me you did. And if I hadn't left that night-"
"But you DID leave," Maggie interrupted, jerking her head back to meet her eyes. "You made your choice, and you would have stuck to it. The only reason you're here now is because Babe didn't turn out to be what you thought."
"It doesn't mean I would have stopped loving you."
"But you still walked away. You walked away from me and us. That wouldn't have changed. It doesn't. You know it. I know it."
Bianca was suffocating. Maggie was delicate and fragile now, wrapped in gauze and bruises, and she couldn't grab her, she couldn't shake her, because it would break her.
She could only stand and look at the love of her life, plead with her eyes.
"You've never chosen me, Bianca. You chose Lena and you stuck to it. You chose Babe and you stuck to it. And I'm choosing Aiden, and I'm sticking to it." Maggie broke off mid-sentence, sucking in her breath. "Bianca, I want you to be happy. All I've wanted from the moment I figured it out was for you to have your baby. To be happy. I'm going to love you as a friend forever. But you and I will never be what we once were." It was over. Just like that. Maggie must have seen the stricken look, because her face softened, and suddenly Bianca trembled, eyes closing as Maggie pressed a kiss to her cheek. "Good luck, Bianca," she heard, whispered against her skin.
Her eyes fluttered open when the touch faded, and she watched helplessly as her wounded Maggie hobbled to the door, struggled to open it, and leaned on it with her weight, stepping through, leaving her along on that balcony to fall all alone.
Her desperation got the better of her. When it coupled with fear, when she stood alone on a balcony, when Maggie left her there alone, she suddenly couldn't stay there.
Moving fast, she managed to catch up with her in four long steps.
"Maggie, please- you have to listen to me-"
"Bianca-"
"No," she pleaded, grabbing hold of her elbow and trying hard to hold on tight- "We can work this out-"
"LET GO of me!"
Maggie's loss of control was so very real, and it was chased by silence, as Bianca realized they weren't alone on a balcony anymore.
Around them, her party guests stared.
Bianca was breathing hard, but she let her go, stepping back as her cheeks flushed red, watching Maggie's mortification, moving from the crowds to one face in particular.
Aiden, staring at them both with surprise and suspicion.
Hands down at her sides, Bianca felt Maggie's glare, as Maggie once again left her side, hobbling as best and quickly as she could to Aiden's side.
"We need to leave," Bianca heard her say, and to her mother, "Thank you, Erica. It was a lovely party."
Aiden obeyed almost immediately, weaving through the dead silent crowd, hands on Maggie's shoulders.
The whispers began, all eyes on her as the door closed, and in the midst of the silence, Miranda began to cry.
--
He deserved an explanation. She wasn't overly inclined to give it.
The door slammed behind them, Maggie shrugging off her jacket as best she could, the piercing intelligent eyes of her boyfriend boring into her back.
"Are you going to tell me what the hell that was?"
Her body ached, her foot felt heavy, Maggie was sore and tired and cranky, and strangely, felt so angry she was ready to hit something or burst into tears.
"No," she snapped rudely, "I'm not."
"Maggie-"
She couldn't stalk. She could only wobble, but she was getting good at it, and she moved fast, moving for their bedroom, and with her only good hand, slamming it shut behind her.
She was overheated and angry.
And for a desperate moment, she hated them both.
--
"Way to kill a party, huh?"
Kendall's tone was teasing, but Bianca could barely manage the smile her sister was looking for. Weary and weak, she only sank down on the couch, palming the side of it, watching as her sister picked up a stray champagne flute, placing it on the tray with the others.
"I know," Bianca answered quietly. "I wasn't exactly thinking." She could feel her sister's piercing stare, but she only smiled painfully again. "I should go check on Miranda-"
"Anita's doing fine with her," Kendall said sharply, stopping her upward ascent with a hand on her knee. "Just tell me what's wrong, Bianca."
For a moment, she resisted it. Her love for Maggie was locked into her heart, and she had kept it there so long that she was afraid of speaking it out loud, deliberately making it real and true, when it was already so clear that it was never going to happen.
"I just had a fight with Maggie," she said, shrugging as carefully as she could.
"Well, we all saw that," Kendall said, eyebrow arching daintily.
"Well... that's the gist of it."
There was a quiet moment, and then Kendall began, "Is this about what happened before you left for Florida?"
Jerking her head up, Bianca's eyes widened in surprise. Her sister only stared frankly.
"Bianca, it doesn't take a genius to figure out something was going on." Kendall smiled grimly, pausing as Anita stepped into the room.
"Baby's in bed, tucked away," said the pretty Santos sister, before her chocolate eyes rested on Bianca. "You okay?"
Bianca glanced at the pretty young nurse, back at her sister, the two other ringleaders who risked their jobs and their friendships to bring her baby back to her, even against her own will.
Suddenly broken, Bianca closed her eyes, palms plastered against her face, exhaling raggedly.
"Binks..."
Kendall's touch was hot against her back, and Bianca wiped at her tears, suddenly furious at herself.
"Bianca - what's wrong?"
Two weights, down on either side of her, and Bianca sucked in her breath, tearing her palms from her face, suddenly refusing to pity herself for her own foolishness.
"I love her," she managed darkly. "I love her more than I've ever loved anyone, and I lost her."
"Oh, Binks..."
"And she's right." Bianca inhaled rapidly, trying to calm her broken heart. "She's absolutely right. She wants Aiden. She chose him. And if she loves him... if she really loves him that's..." She glanced fitfully at her sister. "Then it's something I have to accept, right?"
Kendall was staring at her with narrowed eyes, stunned. "Bianca, did she tell you that she loved you?"
"We..." Bianca closed her eyes, shook her head as she glanced at both Anita and Kendall. "We kissed. We kissed and we said things and..."
"And now she's with Aiden." Kendall's tone was clipped. "GOD."
Her sister jumped up, off the couch. "Where are you going?"
"I think I need a drink," Kendall snapped, heading for the liquor cabinet.
Sighing, Bianca discovered Anita wearing a curiously sad smile.
Suddenly embarrassed, she wiped at her tears, chuckled bitterly. "Do I sound like a desperate lesbian in love with her straight best friend?"
"No," Anita said calmly, "You sound like a person with regrets."
"She has a point," Bianca admitted, eyes on Anita's sympathetic brown eyes. "I was so obsessed with Babe, and Maggie... she just got lost in my desperate haze. I wanted so badly to believe that Babe and I had some connection because of what happened with that cabin, I ignored the fact that Maggie put her life on hold for me. It was easier to believe in Babe than believe in Maggie."
"It's not an unfamiliar story," Anita said gently. "The people you take for granted are the ones you realize you need."
Anita's voice was tainted with unexpected longing, and Bianca blinked, raising her head to realize Anita looked almost sheepish.
"Wait..." She found herself laughing at their pitifulness. "Are you telling me I'm not alone?"
"We make an attractive pair, don't we?" she said, laughing with her. "Great day for single people, huh?"
Bianca had to admit, the fact that she wasn't alone was almost comforting. The chuckle came from deep within her, releasing pent up emotion, as she closed her eyes and wiped away another tear.
The door slammed, cutting off their shared amusement at their own misery.
Bianca blinked, realizing Kendall was no longer in the room.
"Wait." Anita looked confused. "Where did Kendall go?"
--
"What are you doing?"
Shifting through papers, Aiden paused, discovering his beautiful girlfriend standing tentatively in the hallway, staring at him with large, scared brown eyes.
Licking his lips, he sucked in his breath, willing his own control. "Bills," he told her simply, glancing back down to his work. "Erica gave us a check and I was considering how to put it to use."
"Erica gave us a check?" Maggie's tone was hesitant, and Aiden considered if he should have been angry - if their almost fight was a fight at all.
Locking eyes, he took in the frail body, the sad, haggard face, and had no energy to dig deeper into that frown. He wouldn't make Maggie sad. Raising his hand grimly, he waved the check at her."Take a look."
Coming forward, Maggie plucked it from his fingers, offering a grateful smile, one that froze upon looking at the numbers. "Is she crazy! Why did you take this!"
"I didn't have much of a choice - she made a bit of a production out of it."
Maggie blew out her breath. "God - the woman is unbelievable. You know what? We just won't cash it."
"Maggie..."
She looked at him, mouth opening in surprise. "You want to keep the money?"
"I didn't say that."
"Aiden, we can't keep Erica Kane's money! That's like taking money from Cruella Deville! She'll come back for the skin of our babies!"
"Maggie."
"She'll make a coat out of them!"
"Don't you think you're stretching things?"
"No!" Waving the check at him, Maggie was already worked up. "Come on, Aiden! The emperor has no clothes!"
And he couldn't help it. He had to laugh. It was unexpected and brilliant, and he was suddenly laughing, hands buried in his head, ignoring Maggie's surprised glare.
"You think this is funny?"
"Maggie-" Standing, he came forward to pluck the check out of her worked up hands, brushing a kiss on her forehead. "Calm down. You have to consider this logically."
"Logically? Logically? Aiden, I'm like that stupid alchemist kid from that anime thing you watch on the Cartoon Network!"
"Exactly. We can't afford to be picky when I have no job and you're unable to work."
"We can do okay."
"What about your tuition?"
She sighed, licking her lips in defeat, head lowering. "God."
"Maggie..." Cupping her face in his palms, he only kissed her gently, before he took the check out of his pocket, and carefully tore it in two.
"What are you doing?"
"I've been approved for a loan," he said simply. "For Anna and I. We're starting our own agency. Here in Pine Valley. The two of us. And a part of it is going to your tuition this fall."
The look on her face made the trouble worth it. "Aiden..."
"It's already been done. And don't try arguing. I'll make sure you pay me back. When you're a successful doctor, I'll retire and become a kept man." She only stared at him, taking him in.
"Are you for real?"
"I think so." He made a show of pinching himself just to make sure, and then tweaked her nose for good measure. "Care to come with me to pick up Anna and Robin?"
Smiling tightly, Maggie bit her lip, shook her head. "No, I'll stay here. I'm kinda beat."
Rubbing a palm carefully along her sling, he nodded. "All right. Get some rest."
Another kiss to her forehead, and he moved around her, reaching for his jacket.
"Aiden." He paused, glancing back. His lady love had arms wrapped around herself, and she was wearing an odd smile. "I love you."
He smiled. "I love you too, Maggie."
--
She had wanted to tell him about her plan.
To take the semester off. To rest and recuperate and take him out of Pine Valley. Back to New York with Anna and Robin, starting a new life in a new city. Away from the Kanes and their influence and the bauble of claustrophobia that came with this crazy town.
Instead, Aiden was setting up roots. Loans and business and family.
Closing her eyes, Maggie leaned back against the coach, taking respite in the brief hour of quiet she would get, alone and able to pity herself for her own stupid indecision, her own flaws, and her inability to make anyone truly happy.
How long would it be until Aiden was disappointed in her? Until she fell from grace in his own eyes.? How would he react if she told him just how many times she had fallen into Bianca's embrace? Bianca's lips?
If she told him that his loving girlfriend he was planning a life with would have left him without a second thought?
The quiet of the room was her salvation, and Maggie reveled in it, dissolving herself in her own self-loathing.
The door swung open, and Maggie jerked, spearing pain up her side and in her shoulder as she looked at the sudden intruder.
"You confused litigious bitch. Where the HELL do you get off! BREAKING MY BABY SISTER'S HEART!"
Standing in her apartment was Kendall Hart.
end chapter