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: it's been a while since i've done a kim faith chapter, and i think they both needed some gal talk hehe, hope you like, all one part no annoying page breaks to figure out wtf they mean ;)
It had been about a month since Kim had been home from the hospital, and she was already bored out of her mind. She was starting to feel much better, and getting used to what she could and could not eat.
The only thing that really gave away that she had had a major surgery was she could barely lift anything. Even lifting Joey was a little too much for her still. She actually missed going in to work every day.
As much as she loved spending extra time with her son, she would have been much happier if she could work. Some days when Bobby came home with stories of what he had done, she got upset because she wanted to be the person helping him.
He had told her all about the new girl, and she seemed nice from all the stories she had heard, but she was a little jealous. The two women hadn't even met, and she hoped it was not too long before they did.
Bobby kept telling her that he thought they'd get along very well. That day one of her real friends was going to be coming over. It was a Saturday, and Faith was going to be dropping by with the kids.
Joey had been very excited when he found out his friend Charlie was going to be coming by again. Joey had been really helpful since she was home. He was always asking Bobby how he could help, and helping her to clean up.
She had always known that he was a good kid when he wanted, but she never thought he'd be such a help to her.
When the phone rang as someone wanting to go up to the apartment, she saw Joey beeline for the phone. He buzzed the person up, and opened the door as soon as the person knocked.
Kim walked up behind him, not at all surprised to see Faith and the kids standing there. The two women smiled at each other. The three came in the house.
"Make yourself at home," Kim said to Emily and Faith.
"Thanks," said Faith.
"Got any new toys?" Charlie asked Joey.
"Yeah!" Joey exclaimed. "I got a new bigger fire truck and police car from my dad!"
"Oh cool!"
"Let's go to my room!"
The two boys ran toward Joey's room. Emily looked and felt out place. She didn't really want to play with the boys, but she knew that her mother wanted to talk with her friend, without any kids around.
"Emily, I've got a TV in my room, if you'd like to just go watch TV quietly in there," Kim told her with a smile.
"Oh, cool, thank you," said Emily before disappearing into the bedroom.
"Thanks," said Faith.
Kim sat down on the couch. "No problem."
Faith sat down opposite her on an arm chair. "How are you feeling?"
"Bored out of my mind."
"It's got to get pretty boring sitting around here yourself."
Kim laughed. "Yeah, since it's still a few more months before they want me back at work."
"Other then that you're feeling good though?"
"Yeah, I am starting to feel a lot better. I can't really lift anything too heavy, I can't even lift Joey."
"Oh, that's tough."
"Yeah, but I know that eventually I'll feel more comfortable lifting things, that's why I took so much time off."
"Makes sense. So what have you been doing around here?"
"Cleaning up mostly." Kim laughed. "Once I'm feeling up to it I might play with some of Bobby's exercise equipment."
Faith laughed. "That might work. How are things with you and Bobby?"
Kim shrugged. "Good, he's just treating me like I'm a piece of glass."
"That's kind of sweet."
"I know, but I'm feeling so much better, and when he's here he barely lets me lift a finger."
"Most women wouldn't complain about that."
Kim laughed. "I know you've got a point. What's going on with you and your partner?"
"Nothing!" Faith lied.
Kim raised an eyebrow. "You're full of it."
"Bosco and I are just friends."
"You're lying to me!"
"Look, even if something was happening between us, I'm not looking for anything serious right now."
"Maurice Boscorelli has learned the meaning of the word serious?"
Faith shrugged. "I don't know, really, look there's nothing there, so you're barking up the wrong tree."
"You're getting awfully defensive about this."
"Look, he's been so good with the kids, taking them out and doing stuff with them."
"And you're not enjoying the times you get to tag along?"
Faith shrugged. "That has nothing to do with him being there. It's great to be able to spend time with my kids, you should know that."
"Do you hear yourself?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You're so falling for him, Faith."
"No I'm not!" Faith protested.
"Bullshit."
"I'm not, he's just been a good friend throughout this whole thing."
"Friend with benefits?" chuckled Kim.
"One time, and you'll never let me live it down."
"So that's the only time you two have done anything not so friendly?"
Faith looked away from her friend, unable to look her in the eye. She knew that her behaviour would give her away. She knew she'd be lying if she told Kim that nothing had changed between her and Bosco, she knew very well that a line had been crossed, and it happened after the night they had spent with each other.
"What's going on between the two of you?" Kim asked her friend.
Faith shook her head. "I really don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"Just as it says, Kim, I really don't know."
Kim shook her head. "Well try and explain it to me."
"I don't, know how."
"Just start at the start."
Faith shrugged. "The kids are really enjoying him taking them out every week. It's really helped them a lot, and they don't have to go see the therapist as much anymore."
"That's great!"
"Yeah, it is, but if they keep it up I'll be seeing mine more."
"Why?"
"I think they're having too much fun with him. They keep asking me to marry Bosco so that he'll be their step father."
"Oh."
Faith nodded. "Yeah, it's unreal They just really care about him a lot, and I'm afraid that if I try anything too soon I'll push him out of my life, and worse yet theirs."
"So you do have feelings for him, then?"
"Yeah, I do. I really care about him, a lot. I don't even know what this feeling is but when I'm with him I just want to spent more time with him. But I know that I'm nowhere near being ready to date, let alone getting to a serious relationship right now."
"That's a problem."
Faith nodded. "Yeah, I mean I know that at some point, I think I want to try to have a relationship with Bosco, but I'm nowhere near ready for that."
"Does he know that?"
"Yeah, he does. I've told him so, but sometimes-" Faith stopped herself.
"Sometimes, what? You can't leave me hanging like that!"
"Sometimes we still get a little too close for comfort."
"As in?" Kim needed to know.
"Sometimes we'll kiss each other for a minute, before realizing that we're not supposed to."
Kim smiled at her friend. "You're falling in love with him."
Faith blushed. "No I'm not, he's Bosco, I can't be!"
"But you are."
"I thought it would be fun to just be single and crazy for a little while."
Kim laughed. "That doesn't really seem like you, at all."
Faith shrugged. "I don't know, I just thought. I'm not ready to be in love with anyone again."
Kim smiled at her. "You might not be completely ready for love just yet. But a part of you is already in love with him."
"I was hoping you'd tell me that I was crazy."
"I could lie to you if you want me to?"
"That probably wouldn't help. I do care about Bosco, I just don't think I could make it work right now."
Kim nodded. "That's understandable, as long as he knows, then it should be fine right?"
"Yeah, it should."
"How did you know things were right for you and Bobby?"
Kim laughed. "You don't, remember? When I was with him the first time I ran away after, it was only after you talked to me that I went back."
Faith laughed. "I know that, but at some point you had to know that you were doing this for yourself, and not to shut someone else up, right?"
Kim shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. It wasn't too long into that I knew it, I just didn't really want to admit it till I got sick."
"That long?"
"Yeah, I mean I knew I loved Bobby, for a long time, even before we got together. A part of me always wanted to spend the rest of my life with him, but it wasn't until I got sick that I knew for sure that that was really what I wanted.."
"Not when he moved in?"
Kim shrugged. "I knew I wanted to be with him for a while, and that I wanted him close. But when the doctor told me that I could die I realized that I had stop making excuses, and go to him, and tell him I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life, no matter how long that might be."
"Wow."
"Yeah, I mean I always thought that maybe I could see myself with him for a long time, and I'd even tell him so. But I wasn't sure until then, there was always something in the back of my head that told me to stay back cause I'd get hurt. Sometimes you just need something big to give you the push you really need."
Faith smiled. "I really care about, Bosco I'm just afraid that if I go into this too fast things will just end badly."
"That's understandable."
"He's the only positive male role model my kids have left, I don't want to do anything to jeopardize that. I never would have thought I'd see the day where Bosco was a positive male role model for my kids."
Kim laughed. "That surprises me too. But you'll know when you're ready to commit to him, and once you do don't fight it."
Faith smiled. "Thank you Kim."
"Wee-oo! Wee-oo! Wee-oo!" Joey and Charlie exclaimed as they went through the living room pushing the fire truck and police car they were playing with.
Kim and Faith smiled at the two boys, who disappeared back into Joey's bedroom again. Charlie was of course playing the police car, and Joey had the fire truck. The two women found it very cute that they played games like that.
Kim had thought that getting Joey those toys that size had been a bad idea, but she was glad that Jimmy had bought them. The two boys were having a lot of fun with them.
"I really hope he grows out of this fire truck, and fireman thing," Kim muttered.
"You don't want him to be a fireman like his daddy?" asked Faith.
"I don't want to have to worry about him running into burning buildings, and possibly not coming out. It was bad enough when I was married to a firefighter. I don't want my son to be one."
"I never really thought about it before, but I don't think I'd really want either my two to be cops either. I wouldn't want to have to see them in the hospital after they were hurt, or something."
Kim nodded. "Do you have the sudden urge to call your mother and tell her you love her?"
"A little bit."
"It's amazing how much getting sick changes things."
"What do you mean?"
Kim shrugged. "Since I've gotten sick I've just started seeing everything different. I'm closer with my mother, which is great. I'm talking to my sister, I never thought I'd be able to look at her again, but we're actually getting along again, and it's great to have her back in my life. I just take in all the time I have with Joey, and I wouldn't trade it for the world."
Faith smiled. "What would you do about my situation?"
"I wouldn't waste another minute, honestly. I would want to go for it and get the most of it, just in case."
Faith nodded. "I understand, really, but I'm just so afraid that if I try something then it'll change things between us."
"Of course it's going to change things between you two, that's the point. Also, things are already changing between you, how long do you really think you can keep fighting it?"
"I know that, I'm just not sure the good outweighs the bad just yet."
Kim nodded. "What are you so afraid of?"
Faith shrugged. "I'm afraid of him a little, but I'm more afraid of myself. I'm scared that I'll drive him away, just like with Fred."
"Faith, you can't honestly believe that what happened with Fred was your fault?"
"I don't know, Kim. I just think sometimes that if I had told him sooner, or something that he'd still be here, even just for his kids."
Kim took her friend's hand. "You had nothing to do with what Fred did, he did it because he was a drunk. Not because you were a bad wife."
"But I was-"
"How?"
"I worked all the time."
"You had to," Kim reminded her. "You had to work to keep a roof over your kids' heads, and food on the table, just like now. Maybe if he hadn't been drinking he could have gotten a job, and you wouldn't have felt the need to take any overtime."
"I guess you're right."
"No, Faith, I am right. I bet if you asked your kids, they probably don't blame you for this, either, they' blame Fred's drinking."
Faith nodded. "Logically, I know, but can I not wonder what if?"
Kim shrugged. " I really wish I knew."
"It's not only that that's stopping me with Bosco. I really don't think that I'm really over Fred just yet. I don't want to give him a part of me. I want to commit wholly to him once I decide he's who I really want."
"You said once."
"Once what?"
"You said once you're ready, not if you're ready."
Faith grinned. "I'm fairly certain I do want a relationship with him somewhere down the road. I just want to be single for a while before I jump into something serious again."
Kim laughed. "That's your choice, then."
"It is."
"But you really do light up when you mention him, it's hard to deny that you love him."
"I don't love him!"
Kim shook her head. "Now can you tell me that so that I'll believe you?"
Faith was just about to open her mouth to when Emily came out of her Kim's room.
"Do you think I could have something to drink?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, sure," Kim said, standing up.
She went into the kitchen, and pulled out a glass.
"What would you like?" Kim asked Emily.
"What kind of juice do you have?" Emily replied.
"Apple or grape."
"I'll have apple, please."
"Sure. Faith would you like anything?"
"If you've got coffee I'd love a cup."
Kim poured the glass of apple juice, Emily went over and took it, thanking her for the drink. She then went back into the bedroom to watch TV. Kim made a fresh pot of coffee. When it was ready she poured on mug for Faith, and then took a sports drink for herself, before going into the living room.
"You didn't have to make a whole pot just for me," Faith told her friend.
"It's all right, really," Kim assured her. "I like the smell of it."
"You can't have coffee?"
"No, I'm not sure my stomach is ready for it."
"What are you drinking?" Faith asked, noticing a bottled drink in her friend's hand.
Kim looked at the bottle. "It's a high calorie sports shake, with no sugar, it tastes pretty disgusting, actually, but it keeps my energy up."
"That just sounds disgusting."
Kim nodded. "The thing that worries me more is that it's supposed to be chocolate, and there's no sugar in it."
Faith laughed. "But if it helps you to feel better, right?"
"Yeah, exactly. The doctors think that I'll probably have to have at least one to get me through the day once I'm into a regular routine. I must say, it's a very crappy coffee replacement."
"I would imagine so."
Kim laughed. "But go figure this one out. I have to have this high calorie sports shake thing, but right now if I want something hot I have to have the light hot chocolate."
Faith laughed. "I guess it has to do with the sugar?"
Kim nodded. "Yeah, I still find it funny thought. They give you funny looks when you by a case of these things, and tin of light instant hot chocolate mix."
"I would imagine so."
"Also they want me to snack most of the time, so also got bunch of different vegetables."
"You get to snack all the time and you're eating veggies?"
Kim laughed. "I also got popcorn, but I'm not supposed to have salty foods. And all the good snack foods have salt or sugar."
"I'd hate to have to do shopping for you."
"I know, I think that's the worst part about this whole thing. I have to really take note of what I'm eating, cause if I don't, I'm in trouble."
"That's crazy."
"I still have no idea how people who have this to lose weight can deal with all of the side effects, but I understand how it is that they can lose weight."
Faith laughed. "It's not the same thing is it?"
"Not exactly, because they don't remove anything with a gastric bypass surgery."
"True enough."
"I just don't understand why so many women want to be on a diet like this. It's ridiculous. If you eat to much, you get sick. If you eat the wrong things, you get sick, and if you don't eat enough you're tired."
"Sometimes it's their only option."
Kim nodded. "I know. I guess it's different when you chose to lose a part of your stomach."
"Yeah, probably."
Kim and Faith talked for quiet a while after, catching up, and just being glad to be able to spend time together. It had been pretty crazy since Kim had gotten sick, and both were glad to have a friend to lend an ear.
It seemed like to soon when Faith had to leave, but it was getting close to supper time, and Emily was getting bored. Joey wanted to Charlie to stay the night, and Kim promised that one day they could have a sleep over, but they had to plan it first.
Once they had left Kim started supper, for her and Joey. She decided to make chicken and vegetables. Joey was actually starting to try the vegetables that were always around, and was starting to even like some of them.
tbc...
end notes: all right so now for the timeline mini jump, i've got some cool stuff coming up so pls tell me if you're still digging this fic!