Chapter Twenty-four

"I can't believe we have to go through this again." Billie sighed as she looked in the mirror. She smoothed back her hair and realized she looked really pale. Sighing louder, she moved to add some blush to her cheeks.

By no means did she care about impressing Ms. Montrose – not really. Right now the only concern she had was keeping Ty with her.

"I'm sorry." Quinn whispered as he stood at the doorway and watched her.

"Quinn. Please don't. It's not your fault." Billie insisted as she applied lipstick and pursed her lips. When she finished she was still frowning. He hated to see her like that.

Quinn shook his head at her. "No. It is. You warn me to slow down and I never really listen. I have you looking at houses and start the process to adopt Ty before we're even married." He walked back into the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed, looking dejected and beyond apologetic. "You always tell me I move too fast and I'm sorry…"

She followed him into the bedroom and sat beside him. She took his hands in hers and gave him a smile. "How could you apologize for wanting us so badly you can't even wait?"

When she put it that way, it made him feel a bit better. "I guess that's not such a bad thing is it?" Quinn laughed softly.

"No." Billie replied as she leaned in to kiss him. "It's definitely not."

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As he walked into the bedroom she was standing there, zipping up his duffle bag. Rafe looked on, a bit confused. He hadn't a chance to tell Alison his plans yet.

She felt his eyes on her and she turned to face him, forcing her lips into a smile. "There you go." She said as she patted the bag beside her. "You're all set."

"How did you know?" He asked as he moved closer to her.

"I know you." She said with a shrug, the smile still on her face. "How long will you be gone?"

"I'm not sure." Rafe said with a sigh. "I don't know how long it will take me to get through to him."

Alison laughed as she replied. "Well in that case I'm not sure I packed enough."

With that, Rafe pulled her into his arms and held her close. He touched his lips to hers and kissed her slowly and tenderly. He was smiling as he pulled away.

He was surprised when he felt her inch closer, her fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt and her own mouth seeking his desperately. He was even more shocked when he moved to place a kiss on her cheek and found it damp with tears.

"Hey." He whispered as he leaned back to take a look at her. "Hey…" He said again as his hands moved to frame her face. "What's the matter?"

"I'm sorry." She replied, so softly he almost didn't hear.

"Shh. It's alright." He said as his eyes searched hers in an effort to find an answer to his question. He felt her tremble and became even more concerned. "Alison? What is it? You're shaking."

"I know." Alison whispered. "I'm sorry. It's silly." Suddenly embarrassed, she tried to free herself from his arms but he refused to let her go. "It's just…"

"Talk to me. Please." He demanded softly as he ran a hand gently through her hair. "Tell me what's making you so upset."

Her words flooded out. Now that he asked her she was helpless to stop them. "I'm scared Rafe. It sounds so crazy but I am. I don't want you to go and I know that's completely unreasonable…"

"What's scaring you?" He asked her then.

She didn't even try to stop her tears as she answered him. "You – going off there by yourself for starters. This must be bad…" Alison shook her head at him as she finally was able to step away from him. "It must be really bad if you're willing to go over there and help Caleb and I'm frightened. For the first time in years I'm terrified that I'll lose you."

Alison sobbed as Rafe reached for her again. Again she shrugged him off and kept talking, her voice choked with tears. Her hands swiped at her cheeks in an effort to keepthe tears at bay. She took a deep breath to try and calm herself. "I'm sorry. I know you have to go – I want you to go. I'm so proud of you, Rafe." She said as she walked towards him and ran a hand gently over the side of his face. "I know how difficult it must have been to make this decision."

"OK. Hold on a second." Rafe's arms curled around her and he held her still. He stared deeply into her eyes and spoke softly. "It's going to be alright. You know this isn't going to be easy. The reason I'm not sure how long I'll be gone is only because he's going to be less than thrilled to see me."

"Rafe." Alison's voice held an accusing tone. "Please. Don't try and keep the truth from me. You know it's more than that."

Rafe had his own doubts and fears but he knew that voicing them now wouldn't help matters. He inched closer and tried to change the subject. "Where is this coming from? Huh?" He smiled against her lips as he added. "If I didn't know better I'd say you doubt my abilities."

She kissed him then, even though she knew he was trying to get her to drop the topic at hand. "I don't doubt you at all – you know that." She sighed and tried to keep her voice from shaking as she continued. "I'm sorry but I can't help it." She pulled back and gazed into his eyes she admitted. "I have a very bad feeling about all this."

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The conversation was awkward to say the least. From the moment Ms. Montrose came in and shed her jacket she revealed a dress that was less about business and more about – well – suffice it to say it was clear she had other intentions.

As she spoke she gazed at Quinn unabashedly. Billie couldn't believe her nerve. She inhaled sharply and tried to calm herself.

"We had a few concerns…" Ms. Montrose said with an artificial smile. "Nothing very –um…" She trailed off as she stared at Quinn. "….serious, just a few things we need to make sure of before we make our decision."

Billie's blood began to boil. Quinn felt her tense up beside him and gripped her hand in his. He fought to remember the correct pronunciation of her name as he asked. "Ms. Montrose. What concerns you exactly?"

Ms. Montrose cleared her throat. "Oh please Quinn – call me Dawn." She gushed a bit as she said his name. She took a deep breath and continued. "Our biggest concern is that this relationship of yours – it seems to have developed very suddenly."

"What about it?" Billie nearly spat the words out. She had had more than enough of this.

"I'm just concerned – I mean are you sure that you're going to go through with the wedding this time?" Dawn batted her eyes at Billie and gave her an evil grin. "Quinn deserves better than that don't you think?"

Despite her anger, the pain shot through Billie's heart as if she'd been shot. She was suddenly worried that maybe Quinn had the same thought. Her head dropped and Quinn could see her bottom lip start to quiver. He began to get angry. He had been willing to let some of this flirting slide but now Billie was obviously hurt and upset. It was no longer harmless.

"Ms. Montrose." He said pointedly using her full name as he stood. His voice was soft and dangerous. "I'm not sure what your problem is. I met Belinda a little less than a year ago. But that didn't stop me from falling head over heels in love with her and her son." He watched as Dawn opened up her mouth to correct him and he cut her off sharply. "You're going to tell me that Ty is her nephew and biologically that is true but that woman – " He said, his voice rising as he pointed in Billie's direction. "She is his mother in every sense of the word and a damn good one at that."

"I didn't mean to suggest…" Dawn stammered.

"Don't give me that." Quinn replied, unable to be polite anymore. "I hate to be harsh – but it's obvious that you are trying to get me to notice you." Dawn's face flushed beet red but he had no sympathy for her. "Get this straight. This isn't about you and your desperate attempts to put Billie down so I'll see how spectacular you are."

"It's not about how long it took me to fall in love with Belinda – but I can tell you it was so fast my head spun. It's about how much I adore that kid of hers, and how I want us to be a family." His blue eyes were on fire and he took a deep breath, trying to reign in his temper. "You don't like Billie – that's fine. But know this. That fact will make you very unpopular with me."

"I'm sorry." Dawn whispered softly as she scrambled to get her papers in order. She had been so sure that he had given her signals that he was interested the last time they spoke. She knew that she couldn't stop this adoption from happening. Legally there were no obstacles in the way. But she had been hopeful she could have swayed him. She couldn't believe she'd been so wrong.

"Don't apologize to me." He said, his tone far from friendly.

Dawn stared over at Billie who had been standing by dumbstruck. "I really am sorry." She said in a shaky voice.

Billie simply nodded as she watched her race to the door.

Quinn stood by, holding Dawn's coat in his hands. She grabbed it and made her way into the hallway – completely and totally mortified.

Quinn turned to face Billie then, worried that she was upset. A smile broke across his face when he realized that as the door clicked shut behind Dawn, Billie had burst into laughter.

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"Tell me what's bothering you exactly." Rafe prompted.

"You're only going because it's bad – Rafe. I know you." Alison replied. "If it wasn't serious you'd leave him alone. You're either worried that he'll hurt me or the kids or…" She didn't think she could say the words.

"Or what?"

She blinked back tears and stared into his eyes. "Or that whatever's wrong with him has consequences for you."

He should have known she'd figure it out. Rafe fought to find the words to comfort her. Before he could speak again Alison smiled up at him.

She put on a brave face. "It's OK. Go. I know you have to. But do me a favor please?"

Rafe knew he'd promise her anything at the moment. He hated to see her upset and scared. "What?" He asked as he bent his head to kiss her nose, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

She titled her face up to his and sighed when his lips touched hers. She kissed him back and murmured. "Take Kyle with you."

Rafe pulled back sharply and said softly. "NO."

"Rafe." She pleaded. "You can't go alone and you can't take Grant. I need someone to look out for you."

"Trust me Alison, I'm better off alone than with that kid." He replied.

"If that's true then why are you wasting your time training him?" She countered.

Rafe sighed. The truth was Kyle showed incredible promise. He couldn't admit what he knew deep down. Kyle would be an excellent slayer. His instincts were good, his powers were getting stronger every day. If he was being completely honest, he'd have to say that he couldn't have picked a better person for Becky to become involved with but she was far too young. He wasn't ready to let her go yet.

"Kyle's so much like you Rafe – that's what your problem with him is. He might even be more like you than Grant is." Alison said softly as she tried to convince him.

She was crazy, Rafe decided. How could Kyle be more like him than his own son? "What do you mean?"

Alison rolled her eyes, knowing he was always so literal that he wouldn't get the point. It was one of the most frustrating things about him. "Grant is like you in so many ways but he's never been lonely – not really." She inched closer and reached up to run her hand through Rafe's hair. "Kyle knows what it's like to be truly alone – just like you. It's what drives him I think." She whispered as a tear rolled down her cheek. "It's what I know haunts you."

Rafe was humbled, first by the fact that he was wrong and second by how well Alison knew him. It constantly surprised him.

Alison kept going, trying a different tactic. She wasn't going to rest until he agreed. "I'd feel so much better knowing…"

"Shh. Stop." He whispered as he cut her off with a kiss. "OK. I give up. I'll take him."

Alison sighed with relief as he pulled away. "Thank you."

He reached for his bag and stood and took another look at her. She always said she knew him well but he also knew her. He could see how she was still frightened and trying to be brave. He really didn't think there was so much for her to worry about but still he knew he'd have to reassure her.

"I'll be back." Rafe whispered as he kissed quickly and moved to the door. "I promise you I'll be back."