Chapter 3: The Game of Love

"Mac, what are you doing here? I thought I told you to go talk to Stella," Danny says as Mac walks into the break room without Stella beside him.

"I'm going to. Lindsay, can you do me a favor?" Mac asks.

"No, I'm not going to save pizza for you and Stella," Lindsay teases.

"Um, no, you don't have to. Well, Danny here dared me to go talk to Stella, but she's in the women's bathroom," Mac begins.

"Yeah, Danny told us all about it. I'm not going to drag Stella out of there if that's where she wants to hide. It's your dare; you get her out so you can talk to her. Isn't truth or dare a silly kid's game, Mac?" Lindsay smirks.

"Well, yes, but it's Danny's fault, and he doesn't play fairly. Can you just go in the bathroom and make sure Stella's the only one in there? I don't want to, uh, scare all the other women out," Mac struggles to make his point. After all, Mac Taylor is a gentleman, and he knows better than to just waltz into the ladies' room.

"Sure," Lindsay senses his discomfort and stands up. Mac follows her to the bathroom and waits outside while she checks to make sure no one but Stella is inside. "All clear."

"Thanks. One more thing. Did you and Danny set this up?"

"Mac, if we were going to set you two up, don't you think we would do it in a way that didn't hurt either of you?"

"I suppose," Mac says with a smile.

"Good luck, Mac," Lindsay says walking back to the break room.

"I'll probably need it," he calls back to her. Taking a deep breath, he opens the door and walks in.

Stella is sitting on the floor on the wall farthest from the door, her knees pulled to her chest, face buried in her arms. She looks up when the door opens and immediately buries her face again seeing who was there. In the few quick seconds Mac sees her face, he can tell she's still crying; her eyes are red, nose stuffy, and a trail of tears is on her cheeks.

"Mac, this is the women's bathroom. You shouldn't be in here," she says when she finds her voice, head still down.

"I know it is. Look, I'm sorry for getting upset with you for playing MASH. Actually, I just had a truth or dare game with Danny, but he doesn't play right."

"Figures," she mutters.

"Well, Danny asked me what you said so I told him. Then he asked if I loved you too. Danny dared me to come in here and tell you what I said," Mac sits down next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders. She instantly pulls away.

"Go away, Mac. I don't need you to help me," Stella stands when he attempts to comfort her again. She crosses her arms and turns her back to him, leaning her head against the cool metal of a stall door.

"I have something important to tell you," Mac says, standing as well.

"I don't want to hear it," she winces when he puts a hand on her shoulder, and he slowly spins her around so she is facing him. Stella refuses to lift her head to look at him.

"I think you do," Mac carefully tucks a hand under her chin and raises her head, forcing her to look at him. "You're curious, Stella. Inside you really do want to hear what I have to tell you. Right now I'm sure you're thinking maybe there's still a chance. He hasn't officially said no yet. Am I right?" Stella doesn't speak, but her eyes drop letting him know he is right. "I've got good news, Stel," he gently wipes away the trails of tears from her cheeks with his thumbs.

"How do you know?" Stella whispers quietly.

"Know what?"

"That I want to know what you've got to say? What I'm thinking? That I'll think it is good news?" Stella says quite a bit louder than before.

"I know you, Stel. Curiosity often gets the best of you. I kind of took a guess on what you're thinking by the look you had in your eyes: hope in a way. After what you told me today, I'm positive you'll think it is good news," Mac lets go of her chin, brushes a curl from her cheek, and backs away allowing her to turn away or leave if she wanted. Stella didn't move; like he knew, curiosity had gotten the best of her.

"So are you going to tell me or not, Mac?" Stella smirks walking in front of him.

"Stel, you've been such a great friend, especially through everything with Claire. Without you, I'm not sure where I'd be. That night before I went on that date with Rose I knew you loved me. While you took off my tie, I couldn't stop looking in your eyes. I saw happiness but also a little jealousy. I knew then that I was moving on with the wrong person. But you also had a date that night, Frankie, I believe. And when you're relationship got more serious I didn't want to interfere. When we found you unconscious after… what happened, I wanted to tell you so bad. But I decided to wait until I was sure you were over Frankie. I guess I never realized that you were ready to move on until I found that you had put my name on your MASH list. Before I could tell you I feel the same, you ran out. It took Danny's dare to make me come in here," Mac says moving closer and grabbing her hands.

"When would you have told me if Danny hadn't dared you to come in here?"

"Either when you finally came out and I dragged you back to my office or at dinner tonight," Mac shrugs.

"Was that you're way of asking me on a date?" Stella laughs.

"No. Stella, would you like to have dinner with me tonight? I'll cook," he offers.

"I'd love to, Mac," she lets go of his hands and throws her arms around him.

"Okay, you can come home with me and after dinner I'll drive you home."

"If my car is here, how will I get to work tomorrow?'

"You could walk or take the subway or get a cab. Or I'll come and pick you up on my way," he laughs. "Have you always been almost as tall as me, Stella, or am I shrinking?"

"No, I think it's always been like this until I take my heels off," she pulls back. "The pizza's probably gone by now."

"Well, we'll take a break and go get ourselves lunch together. I love you, Stella," he smiles, putting his hands on her waist.

"I love you too, Mac," she puts her arms around his neck.

"Danny told me I should kiss you, but I don't think that's a good idea here at work in the ladies' room," he chuckles.

"Why not? No one can see us," Stella leans forward to kiss cheek.

"Alright," he kisses her cheek, then moves to her lips.

While they kiss Danny, Lindsay, Flack, and Hawkes quietly open the door and sneak in, all with cameras. Mac and Stella don't notice as they continue to make out in the bathroom. As the lights flash around them they break apart; Stella, unable to take this again, buries her face in his shoulder as he looks around. Sensing how uncomfortable she is he yells at them.

"Those are department cameras, only to be used for taking pictures of crime scenes. You all know that. If I see any pictures of this, you're all fired. In fact, give me the film right now," he holds his hand out, and they all hurriedly comply. "Now get out. And I don't want to hear a word about this from anyone, or you'll regret it."

As they scramble to the door Stella raises her head. She bites her lips before asking, "Are you over Claire?"

"I can't guarantee that I'm not going to have memories come back while with you. But I'm ready to move on."

"I don't want you to forget her, Mac. And we'll take it as slow as we need to. Plus I'll probably have memories after Frankie too," she kisses his cheek. "Kind of like that except there weren't any flashing lights to tell me I was being videotaped, nor any video cameras that I saw."

"Let's go get something to eat. I'm hungry," Mac says leading her out of the bathroom.

There is a whole crowd of people outside the door waiting for them to come out that were probably listening to their whole conversation.

"I'm not going to ask, Taylor, why you were making out with Bonasera in the ladies' room. Just keep your personal lives to yourselves at home," the chief says.

A/N: Sorry I didn't get this up yesterday. I'm so sore from painting a US map on the playground at one of the elementary schools. Thanks for all the reviews. Keep them coming. I might be evil and type two stories at one time.