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 Thirty-Four

love can be so strange
don't it amaze you?
every time you give yourself away
it comes back to haunt you
love's an elusive charm and it can be painful
to understand this crazy world
but you're not gonna crack
no you're never gonna crack

run my baby run my baby run
run from the noise of the street and the loaded gun
to late for solutions to solve in the setting sun
so run my baby run my baby run

-- Run Baby Run, Garbage

Exhausted, Maggie slept curled up on his bed like the dead; without snoring, without moving.

Jamie had become something of an insomniac in the wake of his misadventures, much of his time spent staying away and pondering the past, living in it, facing the present never the best alternative.

Through the night, however, he just watched Maggie, mind curiously alert, as he sat on the couch with the Paid Programming buzzing on the television, drinking his coffee bitter and cold.

The hours past, as he pondered Maggie, and wondered what on earth could have happened in the short months they had been apart, that would have left them both desolate and broken.

He found himself eying Maggie's cast, the way she slept carefully on one shoulder, and felt the guilt pervade the sense of justice he had built up against J.R. and even his father.

He had no excuse for Maggie.

Flitting in and out of sleep, it was ten am when he was jostled awake by his sudden roommate, when Maggie, looking alert and dry eyed, pursed her mouth in a regretful frown and stiffly asked him for help with putting on her sling.

"Sure," he said, pushing up and rubbing distracted against his ribbed tank top, scooting over and allowing Maggie to sink in hesitantly beside him, handing him the mixture of strappy thingies and cloth. He stared at it like it were a belligerent spider. "How do you do this?"

"Oh, look-" Maggie pointed as well as she could, holding her shoulder obediently against her chest. "This one goes here, and then you hook this over-"

"Oh..." Carefully, he smoothed dark hair away from her shoulder, trying hard to fit the straps delicately against the small bone structure. But his hands were clumsy and large, and unexpectedly nervous, Jamie made too sharp a tug, one that didn't go unnoticed, when Maggie hissed, wincing.

"Oh, God- I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Springing his hands back, Jamie rushed through his apology. "Are you okay?"

Biting her lip, Maggie took a moment to compose herself, before she rubbed gently at her sore shoulder and secured the strap as best she could. "I'm fine," she said after a minute. "It's just... a little bruised-" Fumbling with the fabric, she shook her head in distaste. "I hate this thing."

"How long do you have to have it on?"

"Another few weeks," she answered. "Wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the damn cast- it comes off in two weeks." She shot him wry grin. "Cause I was so lucky - I only fractured my ankle. I didn't break it."

"That... is lucky." The answer was sarcastic, but the small grin faded at the very real pain on Maggie's features, as she shifted uncomfortably on the couch, clearly annoyed by her now restricted lifestyle. "Maggie, I'm sorry-"

"Jamie..." Her tone was frank, firm, breathless. "Don't, okay? I'm done. I'm done feeling sorry for myself. I'm done blaming everyone else. I'm done hating and loving and caring." She turned her head and caught his expression. "I'm going to move on with my life."

He almost believed her. "Is that what you want?"

"What other choice do I have?" He didn't want to say it, but his wry grin and her own roll of her eyes gave away the hidden conversation, as she breathed out, "That's not an option anymore. I need time on my own." Eyes on the floor, Maggie sighed out raggedly, gnawing at her bottom lip. "Jamie... I think about Aiden and Bianca, and I can't even... I can't even separate them in my head right now. I don't think that's normally."

"So you'd rather do away with them both completely?" She shrugged as best she could. "Maggie, these feelings come from somewhere."

"And I did a hell of a job ignoring them for a long time." Maggie flashed him a resolute, grim stare. "I can do it again."

"Easier said than done, believe me." Maggie's eyes were fixated on the floor, far away from him. "Maggie, I know you don't want to hear this-"

"I don't-"

"But they're waiting on you. As much as you don't like it, this ball is in your court. You have to make a decision-" With a rush of breath, Maggie teetered to her feet, crossing her free arm over the bound, stepping away from him to stand in the middle of his living room, back to his words.

He fell silent, mouth closing, shutting tight.

"Do you know what I want to do?" she asked into the silence. "All I want to do, is go to school, and withdraw from my spring classes. I want to get well, and I want to find a job. I want to go to the beach, and ignore everything and everybody, until I can get my head straight. Until I can breathe."

Sitting on his couch, looking up at his best friend, his roommate, and his old lover, Jamie didn't know what to tell her.

Maggie didn't always know what she wanted, but there was instances, that Jamie knew, it was what she needed.

"Okay," he said simply. "I'll drive you. Wherever you want to go."

She turned her head, met his gaze, startled surprise overtaking her beautiful face. "Jamie, I'm not asking you to-"

"Maggie, you're the most important thing in my life right now." The words were sincere, and Jamie found himself pondering them as they flowed from his mouth. "I'm not going to let you down this time."

She kept staring at him, until finally, he saw a glimmer of a small, relieved smile.

--

Bianca had learned very quickly to become a morning person.

Truthfully, motherhood had been an adjustment for her, but it had been a challenge she had taken on gladly and fiercely, grateful every time she awoke to the cry of a monitor, and for poopy stained diapers and the messy burps and accidents that came with a child.

Sometimes, she found herself just holding Miranda, clutching to her so tightly she didn't realize it was bother Miranda until the baby girl squealed in protest.

Now, her heart curiously numb, Bianca made an effort to smile for her baby girl, carefully spooning in the stewed carrots, watching as Miranda shot her a orange-y grin, smacking chubby palms against the baby chair.

"Are you happy, Miranda?" Miranda gurgled, kicking up her booty-ed feet and nearly upsetting the tray that secured her. "Yeah..." Bianca's smile was small, but she held it. "Come on, one more- just take half-"

The spoon wavered suddenly, her words coming back to haunt her, as they took Maggie's inflection, Maggie's tone.

Now one more?" Bianca groaned, eyes rolling into the back of her head. "One more for the baby?" She shot her an even glare. "Here, take half-" Maggie shoved the fork, laden with the traditional amazingly delicious breakfast, right up to her face.

The spoon moved of it's own volition, and shaken, Bianca realized her daughter was actually reaching for the spoon herself, obviously frustrated with the tease.

"Oh, baby! I'm sorry!" She gave the child a proper spoon, careful to spoon the rest away from her chin. "I don't know what's wrong with your Mommy, lately."

The phone rang, interrupting breakfast time. Reaching over, Bianca caught the cordless, balancing it between her shoulder and her ear. "Hello?"

"Bianca?"

Bianca frowned, recognizing Kendall's voice immediately, despite some sort of high pitched screaming clouding around her sister.

"Kendall?" Wincing, she held the phone a little further away. "What's going on!"

"Bianca," Kendall said, as calm as could be. "I think it would be a good idea that you come down to Fusion right now."

"-TELL HER I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE MEANING OF THIS IS RIGHT-"

Bianca blinked, straightening up, bewildered beyond belief. "Kendall?"

"One second, Binks," Kendall said sweetly, before the noise immediately muffled. Bianca waited, ears straining, as she heard once again, filtered screaming and screeching, and suddenly once again, Kendall came back. "Okay, yes, I think Mother would really like you here right now."

"-KANE ALL OVER THE PAPERS!"

Swallowing, Bianca felt a sudden sense of dread. "Kendall? What happened?"

"Well..." Kendall answered flatly, just barely edging out her mother's screams. "There seems to be a small matter of a story in a tabloid."

--

"Where are you going?"

Anna's voice was almost melodic, and it caught Aiden just as his hands were closing around the doorknob, pulling the wooden door away from it's lock. Stiffening, he sighed. "I'm going to see Maggie."

"No, you're not."

It was hard to keep the irritation from showing. Turning to face his aunt, he discovered the older woman sitting casually on the couch, one of Maggie's medical journals splayed open on her lap.

"Anna," he managed, as calm as he could. "I haven't slept a bloody wink all night because I'm worried sick about Maggie. Now, I know you mean well, but I don't think I need your permission to go and see my girlfriend."

"Maggie is with a friend. She's fine. You, on the other hand, are positively simmering with rage, and the only thing you're worried sick about is that Maggie spent the night sleeping with him in an effort to forget about you."

In reflex, the door slammed closed. "That's not fair, Anna."

"Nothing about this ugly situation is fair, Aiden." Anna remained seated, colored eyes a spark of sudden anger. "Not for you, not for Bianca, and certainly not for Maggie. Victimize yourself all you want, but the situation is not as clear cut as the cheating girlfriend and the wronged devoted boyfriend. I warned you about precisely this situation and you ignored me completely."

"Of course, I bloody did!" He snapped, moving fast toward his aunt. "I'm in LOVE with her!"

She didn't flinch from his seething glare. Instead, Anna only grew more calm, shutting Maggie's journal and eyeing him evenly. "Yes, you are. You're a smart man, Aiden. You're trained to detect the lies, the confusion and the weakness in an individual. And yet you're expecting me to believe that these past few months, you missed Maggie's heartbreak. Maggie's confusion. Maggie's insane desperation with getting Bianca's baby back, her complete sacrifice for the best friend she fully admitted to you she had once loved beyond reason-"

"She chose me, Anna! She told me!"

"And you believed a scared, hurting girl because you didn't want to think about letting her go." Anna's arms were crossed, her voice was firm. "You're not a stupid man, Aiden. And yes, Maggie has her fault in this - she was trying too hard to make everyone happy. She should have been honest with you - you were everything she wanted in the form of a figure that made her feel safe. She wanted to believe in your perfect relationship as much as you did. But you wanted so badly to be in love with someone that loved you back that you didn't care that someone had her heart first - you wanted to be the one to fix Maggie. You figured the more sacrifices you made, the more you did for Bianca, and for Maggie, the easier it would be for Maggie to forget. What you've done, Aiden, you and Bianca, is taken an already fragile heart and seared it neatly in half. So before you go pounding on Maggie's door, laying claim to your half of her wounded soul and holding on tighter simply because you can't bear to lose her to someone else, you will sit here, and you will speak to me."

The rant left no question to Anna's motives, and listening to her depleted his rage and his strength.

Overwhelmed, Aiden's knees betrayed him, as he felt them loosen and sank down on the couch, rubbing at the back of his close cropped hair sharply.

She kept silent, obviously allowing him the moment to recover from his complete despair.

As fate would have it - he didn't even get that. A few seconds into his reprieve, the door jerked open, and Robin, red faced and wide eyed, nearly stumbled into the living room, brandishing some sort of glossy magazine in her hands.

--

Waiting in the cramped hallway outside the advisor's office, Jamie shifted uncomfortably, muscular body not taking well to the molded plastic of the chairs.

"God..."

Glancing down at Maggie, he straightened with a grimace. "What?"

"Is it just me or is everyone STARING?" she whispered under her breath, scratching lightly just under her sling. Her eyes were darting warily around the semi crowded student services office.

Jamie arched an eyebrow, and ran a scan around the students. Sure enough, there were a couple glances darted in their direction, but his reaction was only a mild frown.

"Maggie, you're wearing a cast and a sling. Chances are they're just wondering what happened."

"Yeah, well, should I make a public announcement?" she asked, narrowing her glare at another staring student. The other girl immediately looked away. "God, I wish they'd just hurry up and call me..."

"Do you want pizza?" he asked suddenly. "I think I want Pizza. BJ's? Are you hungry?"

The sudden change in conversation was unexpected, but it made Maggie smile, shifting her focus just long enough to answer, "Starving."

There was a challenge in her eyes, a twinkle that reminded him of the old Maggie, the little spark plug. "Good," he said, a beat later. "So get this thingy done and we'll go get some pizza. We'll pig out and to top it off?" He waggled his eyes playfully. "The Maggie special?"

"Root beer floats!" she responded, delicate laughter following, as she shook her head, patting him gently on his forearm, before the smile faded, and she glanced down at her cast, rubbing along her sling. "Though I have to admit, they just don't have the same punch that they used to."

It was a sobering thought, one that caused a small sinking of his stomach, as once again, he was reminded of all that had been put between them.

Mouth tilting, he blew out a heavy breath, drumming his fingers along his jeans. "We'll make it a triple."

The flip of a magazine and more looking in their direction caught both of their attentions, as the familiar blurry face of the person on the cover made him squint, trying to place it.

"What the... "

Maggie hissed in, a deep, startling breath, as she shoved up as well as she could. Immediately, Jamie was up and behind her. "Maggie!"

But Maggie had already hobbled fast to the now staring group of girls, grabbing the magazine without so much as an apology, and stared hard at the cover.

"Maggie-" Catching up, Jamie forgot all about chastising his friend when he realized what she was looking at. "Oh my God..."

"Oh, God..." Maggie's hands shook, as she fumbled with the paper, nearly ripping it as she tore through the magazine, spilling a page open covered with old pictures of her, of Bianca, Aiden and Bianca in SOS- "Oh, FUCK!"

Horrified, Jamie found himself at a loss, as Maggie just continued to stare at the photos, watched by a growing audience.

"Maggie..." he began quietly, reaching as subtly as he could for the magazine. "Maggie, don't look at that-"

"Stop-" she snapped, jerking it away, flipping the page awkwardly, inspecting it with genuine mortification. "Oh, my GOD - they found a picture of Frankie-"

He looked, discovered an old clipping of the paper of her twin sister's murder - the captioning indicating Bianca's previous relationship-

He sucked in his breath, shuddering when Maggie's eyes grew brilliant with furious tears.

"God, Maggie-" said one of the girls, in a tart, angry voice. "Hasn't Bianca been through enough?"

Jamie jerked his head up, as Maggie's gaze lifted and stared at her classmate.

For once, Maggie had nothing to say. Dropping the magazine, Maggie fled, and once again, Jamie moved after her.

"Come on," he told her, catching up to put an arm around her waist, try to shield her from the stares. "Let's just get you home okay?"

"No, I'm not going home," she whispered, eyes straight ahead. "I know exactly where I'm going."

--

Kendall Hart had a raging headache and a pain in her ass - one was sitting down beside her, the other was marching up and down in front of her desk, like a tiny drill sergeant wearing really tall heels.

"Where is she! WHERE IS SHE!"

"She's coming, Mother!" Kendall rubbed at her temples, trying her best to appease her pissed off matriarch. "I made sure to stress the urgency of the situation."

Greenlee shifted beside her, crossing her arms and making a show of wanting to cover her ears. When Kendall shot her a deathglare, her best friend simply muttered, "Could have had Aiden track the guy down, but noooooooooooooooooooo."

Erica Kane looked close to hyperventilating, as she paused and once again tortured herself by staring down at the cover, drinking it as if it wasn't already burned into her retinas. "Lesbian KANE in bitter love triangle. LOVELY! LOVELY!" The magazine lowered, and those shrewd eyes were now back on them. "And for the two of you to be a part of it!"

"Oh, fun," Greenlee cracked dryly. "It's our turn again. Remind me why I helped you?"

"Shut up," Kendall snapped. "We have to present a united front or she'll divide and conquer. Thin us out by picking the weakest of the herd."

"Exactly, when is good ole' Binky getting here?"

"I can hear you both!" Erica erupted, pointing an carefully perfectly polished nail in their direction. "Tell me who started this! Who on earth had the stupidity to-" Erica lost her voice, and instead jabbed desperately at a picture of the two of them in the corner of BJ's.

"Oh, God - I look fat."

"Greenlee!" Kendall snapped, quickly losing patience. "Mother, look, we can explain-"

"Explain what?" Rolling her eyes up into her head, Kendall nearly collapsed with relief, as her baby sister, her daughter in a stroller, moved into the main Fusion office, obvious concern on her face.

Greenlee leaned forward, taking a closer look. "Okay, not fat," she amended. "You're just too skinny. Seriously, do you ever eat?"

Brushing her aside, Kendall rose to her feet, hands wrenching together when Erica Kane stared in disbelief at her other daughter.

"Bianca, what is the meaning of this?"

"Of what?" Bianca asked, taking the outstretched magazine. Biting her lip, Kendall waited, intense anxiety suddenly coursing through her as her sister seemed suddenly frozen into place. "Oh, God..."

"Bianca-"

"Oh, my God..." Bianca breathed again, cheeks flushing a sudden red. Sighing raggedly, Kendall moved fast to her baby sister's side, arm carefully at her elbow as Bianca fumbled through the pages, taking in the pictures that spread out before her like virtual poison. "Oh, no-"

"Bianca, what on earth has been going on under my very nose? What on earth was so secretive that the tabloids had to splash it on their covers before I heard about it?"

But Bianca was past hearing, and Kendall could see why, as her sister traced a picture of Frankie, a cruel caption below it.

"Oh, my God- I have to see Maggie..." she breathed, jerking her eyes up to meet hers. "I have to see if she's okay-"

"Bianca-"

"Mom, I'm sorry, I can't talk right now," she breathed, eyes on her sister. "Can you watch Miranda? I have to see Maggie-"

"BIANCA CHRISTINE MONTGOMERY KANE." Erica looked like a tiny tyrant, but the big voice was enough to freeze Bianca in place. "You are NOT GOING ANYWHERE until you tell me WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON."

--

In the years Robin had known him, Aiden had always been a fairly level headed guy. He had no rough edges, everything was sanded down, honed to controlled precision. While sometimes judgmental, and sometimes such a 'guy', he was still one of the sweetest she had encountered.

He had been tested to his limits in the past twenty four hours, and it was because of that, Robin didn't argue when in the wake of seeing the article, he demanded to be let off her mother's leash to go see Maggie.

"I have to make sure she's okay, Anna," he had sniped, jerking on his stylish black coat. "Can't you see that?"

Robin didn't dare suggest that she might have already gotten a few visitors in the wake of this, and as a result, any visit from Aiden would only make it worse. Instead, Robin, caught between her mother's sensibility and Aiden's headstrong lovesick determination, she had offered her own compromise.

"I'll come with you," she said, already reaching for her own coat, grabbing the car keys and nodding meaningfully to her mother. "We'll check on her together."

Aiden didn't bother to argue.

He hadn't said a word, and Robin, after a couple tries at trying to assuage the newest tabloid sensation, gave up in favor of holding on for dear life, as Aiden swerved all over the streets like if he had forgotten he wasn't in Britain anymore and the cars weren't supposed to be on the wrong side.

Jerking into a parking spot, Aiden was already halfway out the door as she slumped into her seat, thanking God for getting there alive, before she scrambled out with him, following him into the apartment complex and jogging to keep up.

When they rounded the corner, Robin braced herself to see Bianca, breathing in deeply to avoid the generic loyal rush, to avoid the instant fight and keep Aiden from going completely nuts.

Instead of a tiny blonde women, Robin stopped short and discovered, along with Aiden, a tall blonde man, nesting against the wooden door, thumbing idly through the magazine and sipping on a coke.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

Jonathan Lavery, she remembered, as she stood beside her cousin, and watched the handsome volatile young man look up, surprise lighting up in features.

"Aiden," he said, rising to his feet, dusting himself off. "I was waiting for Maggie. I saw the article and-"

Robin jumped, shocked as hell when Aiden suddenly lunged forward, and plowed the other man into the door, hands grabbing onto his collar and slamming him again against the door.

"It was you, wasn't it?"

"AIDEN!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Jonathan burst, wheezing as he clawed at Aiden's hands.

"You spilled to the press, you sick fuck!"

"Aiden, stop!"

Jonathan Lavery was turning purple, the magazine fell to the floor as well as the soda, and still they struggled.

"You're fucking insane! I'm not the one that shouted her name with the Lesbian Kane all over the crowded club! Get your hands OFF ME!" Jonathan jerked, and suddenly Aiden lurched back, doubling over, one hand on his stomach, as a red-faced Jonathan stared at him, hands into fists. "Stay the fuck off me!"

"What are you doing here?" Robin asked, putting herself between them both, hands on Aiden's shoulders, holding him as he recovered.

Jonathan, seething, stared at her like she was an idiot. "What do you THINK? Maggie is a FRIEND. I saw the paper I was CONCERNED. I wanted to make sure she was OKAY. I didn't know there was a LAW against that."

"Friend?" Aiden spit. "Right? The guy that burned Bianca's shirt?"

Jonathan's cat eyes narrowed to stare hard at Aiden. "I apologized to her for that. We got over it."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"We spent some quality time last night."

"Stay the hell away from her."

Jonathan regarded him, breathing hard, until he just shook his head and picked up the paper. "You know what? You're protecting your girlfriend, I get that. Just don't jump to conclusions, okay? More than one person can make a mistake."

With that, he walked away, over his spilled soda and away from the door, leaving them both in front of it.

Robin closed her eyes, breathed hard, kicking aside melting puddles of ice. Her eyes connected with Aiden's, and already she could see another doubt slipping into his mind.

"He could be lying, Aiden. There's no way Maggie would run to him for help."

Aiden just shook his head, as if he couldn't take anymore, and walked in the opposite direction.

--

Her mother had the look on her that indicated she was clearly going to veer from severely pissed off to completely hysterical.

Bianca only shut her eyes, burying her face into her daughter's neck, as her mother took a moment to absorb what she heard.

"Let me just... make sure I understand what has been going on. The three of you, decided it would be a good idea to a launch a very public campaign to break up, the very couple, who were responsible for bringing you back your child, is that correct?"

"Mom, it's a little more complicated than that-"

"Bianca-" Erica held up her hand, obviously trying to control herself. Mouth shut, she took in a deep breath through her nostrils, a bitter smile on her face. "While you and Maggie have been very close, what this paints you as, to the very public eye, is a desperate lesbian, in love with a straight woman."

"Actually, Maggie's gay now."

Erica whirled, and Bianca sighed, as Kendall nearly glared at Greenlee. "Stop trying to help."

Greenlee rolled her eyes. "Fine. Kendall started it!"

Erica shook her head, fingers on her temple, obviously trying to control herself.

"You TOLD on me."

"I'm rubber, you're glue."

"I can't believe you TOLD on me!"

"Bianca!" Erica snapped, hand extended in their direction, meeting her eyes. "THESE are your masterminds?" Kendall and Greenlee froze in mid-squabble, staring at her like a femme version of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. "I expect this kind of behavior from these two, Bianca, but for you to stoop to their level!"

"Hey!"

"Oh, who are you kidding?" Greenlee interjected, rolling her eyes, emory board in one hand.

Kendall met her even stare, and sighed, slumping into her chair. "Fine. Point taken."

"Bianca? Why did you do this? Why did you allow things to progress this far?"

"Because I love her," she said simply. "I loved her, and I'm sorry, but I wasn't prepared to lose her again. I wasn't going to lose ONE MORE PERSON. Not after Miranda."

"So you throw the woman responsible for giving her back to the wolves, get the town involved, because they've always been so understanding -"

"Mother, I know you don't believe that Maggie and me-"

"You LET me decide what to believe, Bianca." Erica's snap was hard. "At this moment, the only person in the world, I could possibly sympathize with, is the woman you have so successfully mired."

"Who?" Greenlee asked.

"Herself," Kendall muttered.

"Have any of you stopped to consider what it is you've done?"

"I'd like the answer to that." Heart stuttering suddenly, Bianca jerked in her chair, eyes falling suddenly on the two intruders: Maggie Stone and her bodyguard, Jamie Martin.

"Maggie..." she breathed, stumbling up, hoisting her baby on her hip. "Maggie, I'm so sorry."

Maggie's eyes were dull, as she pursed her lips, limping into the Fusion office, Jamie behind her.

"Why do we never hear the elevator?"

"I don't know, we should get a bell on that."

Maggie's eyes slid over, behind Bianca, and she said simply, "Would you three lovely ladies please give Bianca and I a moment alone?" Another shift of her eyes. "Erica, good morning. I apologize for the inconvenience displaying my love life so publicly has caused you and your good name."

Biting her lip, Bianca looked at her mother, but surprisingly, Erica only shook her head. "Well, Maggie, I would be inclined to blame you, if I didn't know my daughters and what they're capable of."

"Did she mean me too?"

"Greenlee, really? You sometimes just have to shut up."

Bianca sucked in her breath, turning and glaring straight at her sister and her partner in crime. "Maggie... the roof?"

"Sure. Why not? It just bleeds of irony."

Kissing Miranda gently on top of her head, she handed the baby to her mother, and after a careful nod to Jamie, gently indicated she would follow Maggie.

She felt like she was walking on pins and needles with each and every step.

In the elevator, Maggie remained the same: eerily calm. Silent.

Heart stuck in her throat, Bianca found herself wishing that Maggie would just shout at her.

But Maggie only stepped out onto the bright, bare rooftop, lingered dying roses left behind.

Picking one up, Maggie contemplated it, twirling it in her fingertips.

Wringing her hands together, Bianca felt trapped, restricted, longing to make it better and unable to even figure out how to try.

"You know on my way over here, I got a call from Opal, who called me, and I quote, 'a teasing hussy'." Bianca winced, eyes closing in sudden sorrow. "And downstairs, Simone met me and said she never met a person as selfish and hard up in her life. Which was saying because... let's face it: it's Simone."

Bianca's eyes stung with sudden tears, and she sighed raggedly, shaking her head in regret. "Maggie, I'm so sorry. I never meant-"

"I know," Maggie said calmly, never looking at her, instead looking over Pine Valley, eyes narrowed, like a hawk's. I know what you were doing, Bianca. It's been explained to me. And you know what?" A small, bitter smile curled up onto her mouth. "I'm not even mad anymore. It's just... too much energy that I just don't have." Bianca's throat throbbed with unshed tears. "I just can't do this anymore, Bianca. I can't hurt like this anymore. I feel like I'm being pulled in two directions and I can't even talk to my best friend about it because I'm just afraid of hurting more."

Bianca sucked in her breath, wrapped arms around herself.

"You said you know I loved you. And you're right. I do. I love you, Bianca, I love you more than I've loved anyone ever. I loved you so desperately even though I was SURE I didn't deserve you. I didn't deserve Aiden, and that was okay, as long as Aiden believed I deserved it, I had some self worth. But the whole town - they all think the way I do, and I didn't..." She stopped, bit her lip to contain herself. "I didn't think, it would hurt this much - to have them believe the worst thing about myself."

"Maggie-"

"I just came to ask you to please stop it. To please, just... just drop this plan. I don't care anymore what anyone thinks-"

"Maggie, Maggie stop-" Coming forward, Bianca's voice was broken, tears staining her words, as she carefully caught Maggie's brilliant gaze. "Maggie, don't ever say those things about yourself, ever. You're beautiful and brave and strong. You were my rock, do you remember that?" Maggie just stared at her, small and fragile and scared. "There was a time, I didn't know how to put one foot in front of the other and you showed me how. I cherish every part of you. You are... so... beautifully loveable, and you deserve all the love in the world."

Maggie's eyes closed, and she shook her head, tired and sad.

In that rooftop, Bianca knew nothing else but Maggie's need, Maggie's hurt. Her eyes closed, and carefully, so tenderly, she pressed her lips against Maggie's forehead, breathing in the beautiful woman, holding her so gently, so afraid to break the already fractured body.

She stood, like that, until her forehead dropped and tiny Maggie, eyes closed, and body still, enraptured her.

She wanted badly to plant her love onto Maggie's lips, to cement her declaration with her own desire, but her trembling, the feel of Maggie's sling on her hands, kept her still, until Maggie opened her eyes, shimmering pools of liquid emotion.

"I have to go," Maggie whispered against her. "I have to go, Bianca..."

"Okay..." she breathed, and closed her eyes in sudden pain when Maggie carefully pushed her arms down, foreheads clinging in retaliation, until Maggie moved back, drinking her in like a mirage.

Bianca forced herself to keep still, arms wrapped around herself to keep from wrapping them around Maggie yet again, and watched as the love of her life entered the elevator, closed it, and left her behind.

When it opened again, a minute later, her heart spiked with hope.

But it was Erica Kane who stepped onto that rooftop, her expression haunted, and when she opened her arms, Bianca fell into them, a child, crying in her mother's embrace.

end chapter