AUTHOR: trista groulx (the dustytiger)
DISCLAIMER: kim, faith, fred, joey, bobby, jimmy, bosco, davis, sully, none of these characters are mine, i'm just borowing them to play with them for a little while, they belong to their creator and the actors and actresses who portray them, i promise i'll be gentle, don't sue
RATING: PG-13 tops currently
CONTENT: kim/faith friendship, fred/faith divorce, kim/bobby r, faith/bosco sex/ust
SPOILERS: 32 bullets and a broken heart (missing scene/continuation)
SUMMARY: Kim and Faith become friends after they share their heartaches that Valintines day.
AUTHORS NOTES: figure it was about time to fill in the blanks for content... for those of you who aren't down with the lingo (cause i know it bugged me for about a year before i clued in) ust is unresolved sexual tention, and i must say one of the better of the fanfic classifications... so this would be the morning after the eventful night before... hehe
Bobby had just dropped Kim off at her place, after their night together. She was almost floating, she was so happy with the way everything had happened. It had taken them a while but they were finally on the right path.
Kim was surprised when she heard a knock at her door. She was half expecting it to be Bobby, back to tell her he loved her. She opened the door, and was surprised to see Faith, and she looked stressed.
"Hi," said Kim. "What brings you by?"
"I did something really stupid," she replied.
"Come in, I'll make some coffee."
Kim went into the kitchen and put on a pot of coffee. Faith was sitting on the couch. She looked pale, and very nervous.
"So what did you do?" she asked.
"I slept with Bosco," Faith replied.
"What!"
"Fred started drinking again, and I didn't know where to go. I didn't want to be at the apartment when he came home. I didn't know where to go, and I didn't get an answer here. So ended up at Bosco's, one thing lead to another, and I slept with him."
"So you're not happy about this development then?"
"No, he's my partner, and I'm still married," Faith reasoned.
"I'm sleeping with my partner and it seems to be working out all right for us."
Faith nodded. "That's different, Bobby loves you."
"How do you know that Bosco doesn't?"
"Are we thinking about the same man? Maurice Boscorelli doesn't know the meaning of the word love."
"All right, I'll just go get the coffee."
Kim went into the kitchen, and poured two cups of coffee. She brought them both out, then some milk and sugar. Faith took a mug, and fixed her coffee the way she liked it.
"I don't know what I was thinking, Kim. I slept with Bosco," Faith explained.
"If you didn't want to do it, then why didn't you ask him to stop?" Kim asked.
"Because at the time I wasn't thinking. He was telling me I was amazing, and pretty, and that he wanted to be with me. And I was thinking why would Bosco want me? But I was curious, I wanted to know what it was like to be with him."
"And?"
"Kim, he was amazing! But I can't pursue anything, he's my friend, my partner! Even if he wasn't I'm married!"
"How much longer are you going to married for?"
Faith shrugged. "That's not the point. I was married last night, I'm still married this morning."
"So what did you tell Bosco?"
"I told him that we weren't right for each other, then left."
"Where did you go when you left?"
"I was going to go home, but I couldn't make myself go inside. So I just wondered around the city aimlessly all night."
Kim hugged her friend. "Maybe if you get some rest, you'll be able to figure this all out."
"I can't sleep, I can't shut off my brain."
"Do you work today?"
"Yeah."
"Are you actually planning on going?"
"Yes, why wouldn't I?"
Kim gave her friend a strange look. "Faith not only have you not slept in many hours, but you're going to have to work with Bosco. Do you really think that either of you can pretend like everything's the same between you?"
"I don't have much of a choice in the matter."
"You could call in sick?"
"And tell them that I'm too tired to come in because I slept with my partner and haven't actually slept in about twenty four hours?"
Kim shrugged. "Or you could lie?"
"I guess I could do that." She looked at her hands. "Oh my God!"
"What?" asked Kim, concerned.
"I lost my wedding ring!"
"When did you have it on last?"
"Probably after work."
"So then it's either in one of the places you went walking, in a cab somewhere, or it's in the most logical place, at Bosco's."
"I can't go back there," Faith told her friend.
"You don't really have much of a choice in the matter do you? Unless you want to tell your husband you lost your wedding ring while you were fooling around with you partner."
"Or you could ask him if he's seen it?"
"I don't think so. I hardly even know him. Yeah, um, hi, it's me, I was just wondering if Faith might have lost her wedding ring here last night, while you were, uh, talking?"
"Talking is that what the kids are calling it these days?"
Kim shook her head. "I'm not asking him if he found your wedding ring in his bed."
"What am I supposed to do here?"
"You can't build a time machine and make it not happen, so you have to be honest with him."
"How could I be so stupid?"
"Because you were hurt, and he told you what you needed to hear?"
Faith nodded. "Wow you mind if stayed her for a little while, to lie low?"
"I wouldn't mind at all."
"What am I going to tell Fred?"
"I really don't know, does he know where you are?"
"I told him I decided to stay at friend's house, I just didn't tell him whose. I can't see him right now, even if I wanted to. What am I supposed to tell him happened to my wedding ring?"
Kim shrugged. "You'll have to figure that out before you see him. What about the kids?"
"I haven't even thought about what I'd tell them!"
"You'll figure something out by the time they get off of school, I'm sure. If you want to stay here you're more then welcome to, there's not a lot of room, but while I'm at work you can sleep in my room."
"Thank you, Kim. Why weren't you home last night?"
"Bobby took me out, then we spent the night at his place," she replied, unable to stop a stupid grin from coming across her face.
"It went well then?"
"Amazing. But I'm sure you don't want to know the details."
"There are details?"
Kim laughed. "He had candles and everything in his room, and he even bought me roses."
"Someone reads too many romance novels."
"Even so, it was really nice of him."
"He's a great guy."
Kim was still smiling. "He is, and I love him so much."
"How do you do it?"
"What?"
"Just be the same at work the next day?"
Kim shrugged. "I honestly don't know. Bobby and I have always talked about everything in our lives, between runs, so I guess we've always been able to keep work and home separate."
"What about after the first night you were together?"
"Honestly, I was falling apart inside that day. I didn't know what to tell him or how to tell it to him. But I've had a lot of experience with Jimmy, going to work the next day, and pretending like nothing happened between us again in front of the guys. So that may have had something to do with being able to handle that whole thing with Bobby."
Faith nodded. "I don't know if I could do it. I thought I could, but the more I think about it, the more I wonder if I could work with Bosco again."
"Would you really want to work with someone else?"
Faith shrugged. "Not really."
"That's a huge factor too."
"I have a lot to think about, still."
Kim nodded. "I'll show you around."
Kim quickly showed Faith around the apartment. When they got to Kim's room, Faith went in, and laid down. Kim closed the door, and let her friend sleep.
xxxx
Later that day Kim and Bobby were just about to leave the scene of an accident. A bus had been called but ended up not being needed. Kim was getting into the rig when she heard Bosco calling her name.
"What's up?" she asked, Bosco.
"Have you seen Faith today?" he asked.
"For a few minutes this morning, why?"
"Oh, cause she didn't come into work today, and I'm a little worried about her."
"I'm sure she's jut not feelings well. She was looking a little pale when I saw her."
"All right, anyway, if you see her before me, which I'm sure you will, could you give this to her?" He handed her a ring.
"How did you get this?"
"I know she told you how it got where it was found. But if you're gonna play stupid, she dropped it at my place last night. Could you just give it to her, please?"
Kim nodded. "All right Bosco."
"And tell her that I'm sorry for what I did. She should know what it's about."
"No problem."
"Do you seriously not know where she is?"
Kim looked at the ground, not able to look him in the face to lie to him. "Sorry, I don't."
"Look, if you do, or if you see her again, can you please ask her to just talk to me, the longer she avoids me the worse it's gonna be to face it."
Kim looked him sadly. "I think it's more of a matter that she doesn't know how to deal with everything that happened last night."
"So you do know?"
"Yeah, she told me this morning, when she came by."
"Everything I told her was the truth, I care about her very much."
She nodded. "I'm sure it was the truth, and that you care about her. But she's got a lot to deal with right now."
"I know she does, and I feel like shit for adding to her problems."
"Hey Kim!" called Bobby. "We got a call."
"Sorry," she told Bosco. "Gotta go."
"Thank you!"
She went back to the rig, and got in, and they raced to where they had to go.
XX
Meanwhile at Kim's apartment, Faith had just woken up, because her cell phone had been ringing non stop for about five minutes. Faith stretched out, and found her purse, and pulled out the phone.
"Hello?" Faith said, annoyed.
"Where are you?" her mother asked on the other end.
"I'm at a friend's house, why?"
"Where's Fred?"
"I have no idea, we had a fight last night, so my friend let me stay. What's wrong?"
"I got a call from the school today saying that no one picked up the kids. They're with me right now, and I don't mind keeping them here another night, but I'd at least like to know what's going on."
Faith sighed. "I saw Fred going into a bar yesterday, and I didn't want to go home, so I went to talk to my friend. We talked, and she told me that I could stay here until I was ready to deal with Fred. When I called Fred he was pissed off, and I think he was drunk, I haven't talked to him since. I assumed he would sober up and pick up the kids today, I swear."
"So what's going on with you and Fred."
"I want to get a divorce. I told him, that if he started drinking again that I would leave him. So I'm leaving him."
"So what are you going to do in the meantime, hide out at your friend's while I watch your kids."
"No, Mom, of course not. I just needed some time to get away from everything. Let me call her, and see if she wouldn't mind if the kids came her for a little while, all right?"
"All right."
"I'll call you right back."
She hung up the phone, then dialed Kim's cell phone number. She picked up on the second ring.
"Hi," said Faith.
"Hi, how are you doing?"
"Getting better. Fred didn't pick the kids up from school, would you mind if I asked my mother to bring them over here?"
"I wouldn't mind at all. Are you going to be going home tonight?"
"I don't know."
"If you don't I'll find somewhere for everyone, don't worry about it, all right?"
"Thanks, Kim, I appreciate it."
"No problem. If your kids want stuff to play with, Joey's got lots of stuff in his room, he's just a little picky about where they go, so ask them to put it back where they found it."
Faith laughed. "All right, he won't mind sharing?"
"No, as long as his stuff is put back where it goes."
"All right, thank you so much."
"It's not a problem, see you later."
Faith hung up the phone, and was glad that Kim was being so nice about everyting. She knew that she'd have to face the music at home soon, but she just needed a little bit more time away to think about everything that had happened.
"Hello?" she said when her mother picked.
"Hi," her mother replied.
"I just got off the phone with my friend, and she says it'd be all right if the kids came over here, so I'll give you directions."
"Aren't you worried about where Fred might be?"
"Honestly, no, Mom. He's probably at some bar somewhere, and I don't want him around them if he is anyway. If I don't hear from him but the end of the day tomorrow I'll file a missing persons report."
"I hope you have nicer things to say about their father when your kids get there."
"I just needed to vent, when they get here the three of us are going to have a talk, and I'm going to explain to them, calmly what's going on between Fred and me."
"All right."
Faith proceeded to give her mother directions to Kim's apartment, and waited for them to arrive.
XX
After Kim had gotten off the phone with Faith she had had to explain to Bobby what was going on. That Faith was hiding out at her place. He was happy that she was being so nice to her new friend.
"That's what I love about you, Kim," he told her.
"What?" she asked.
"That you're a good person who is willing to help people out."
She smiled. "She's my friend."
"Even sometimes people who aren't your friends, like Sunny. It's stuff like that made me fall in love with you."
"You're going to give me a complex you know that?"
He laughed. "Do you want me to drop you and Joey off tonight?"
"That would be nice."
"What are the chance that you'd let me up?"
"I really like that idea. I really like waking up to see your face, and feel your arms around me. But, I think I'm going to have a full house as it is, and adding another person to the mix may not be such a great idea."
He nodded. "All right."
"But I'm defiantly going to take a rain check on that, and as soon as my apartment is my own again, you'll be the first person I'll invite."
"Would it be a bad idea to pull over so I could kiss you right now?"
She laughed. "Probably."
"Just know I want to."
She smiled at him, and took his hand. He smiled back at her, then the radio crackled to say they had a call, the moment was over.
XX
At Kim's the kids had just gotten settled, and were sitting on the couch. They pretty much figured out what was going on as soon as they were brought to someone else's house instead of their own.
"Are you and Daddy getting a divorce?" asked Charlie.
Faith nodded. "I think so, sweetie."
"Why?" asked Emily.
"Because he broke a really important promise to me, and I can't forgive him for it."
"So are we still going to see both of you?"
"Of course you are. Also, I'm going arrange for you two to get private therapy, so you can talk to someone about all the things that you're thinking about this, all right."
"What did Daddy do?" asked Charlie.
"Remember when we all talked about drinking alcohol in therapy, and Daddy said he was going to stop?"
"Yeah."
"He started again, and you remember all the bad things that can happen when you're drinking it?"
"Yeah."
"He's drinking again, and I don't want him to do it around you, and Emily, and me."
"Why does it bug you so much?" Emily asked.
"Because my father used to drink when I was younger, and I don't want you two to see what I had to see."
Emily nodded. "Does Daddy know what's going on?"
"Yes, he knows that I want to get a divorce. He doesn't know where we are right now. I want us to stay here tonight, and tomorrow we'll all go home. You guys are going to be there all the time, and your father and me are going to take turns staying other places until everything is settled."
"Then what?"
"Then a judge is going to decide how custody works."
"What if he gets better?" asked Charlie.
"What do you mean?"
"The doctors said that he was sick, and that's why he drinks it. So what if he gets better?"
"Then we'll see what happens. But right now the best thing for everyone is for us to live in two different places. I know this is going to be really hard to get used to, but you have to believe that I think this is the best thing for everyone."
Charlie had started to cry. Emily took his hand.
"What's wrong?" Faith asked him.
"Well if I get sick, are you gonna stop loving me?" he sniffled.
"It's not that kind of sick, Charlie. A part of me still loves your father, and I promise I'll always love you. I just can't live with someone who has what's wrong with your father. I don't know how to explain to you how what you father has is different from a cold that you can catch."
"Oh," he said, not very convinced.
"Charlie, it's something wrong inside of his head," Emily told her brother. "When he sees alcohol, he has to drink it, and he just can't stop. But when he drinks it he gets mean, and loud, you know what I mean, Charlie. You don't like Daddy when he's like that do you?"
"No."
"And neither does Mommy, and he told her that he was going to get better for us, and he didn't. So Mommy and Daddy can't live together until he's better."
He looked up at his sister, then looked at his mother. "Is that true?"
"Yes, it is, Emily you did a very good job explaining that to him. Where did you hear that?"
"One of my teachers at school. She thought I wasn't paying attention in class, so she asked me to stay, and I thought I was in trouble. But she just wanted to know if something was going on at home. After I told her she explained to me what it mean that Daddy drinks too much."
"She really did a good job of that. I know you guys want to be at home, but we'll back there soon."
Charlie nodded. "Are there any toys around here?"
"Yeah," Faith replied. "My friend has a little boy who's six years old, and there's supposed to be some toys in his room. But you have to put everything back where you found it when you're done or he'll get upset with you."
"All right!" said Charlie, going off in search of some toys.
"How are you Em?" Faith asked her daughter.
"I knew this was going to happen," she said. "I still have some homework, so I'm gonna finish it."
"Do you ant some help?"
"No, that's all right."
Faith felt horrible. She knew that her kids were not happy with the way thing hasd turned out. She had wanted everything to work out so badly so they would not have to deal with any of it.
But it was too late for that now. Fred had chosen the bottle over his family, and Faith was not about to let that go. She was going to go the next day to get all the paperwork underway to get the divorce.
She knew that Emily was really upset about the whole thing, and didn't want anyone to help her deal with it. She just hoped that if she put them both into counseling then they may be able to better understand everything going on.
tbc...
end notes: as i said some big time faith angst is gonna be coming up so you're gonna wanna stay tuned, oh the drama mixed with the bobby/kim fluff i'm happy with where this is going! even if i never thought it'd get this long