A/N: Here's a little more filler before things pick up again.
To all those who have read and reviewed: Have I told you lately that I love you? ;-)

Chapter 33

It was a Wednesday afternoon and Jess was using the free time between classes and work to drive to Deb's salon for a shampoo and trim. She spotted a free space less than a block away from her destination and parallel parked in it, trying to ignore the impatient honk of a Buick that got stuck behind her as she carefully maneuvered the Triumph into the spot. Good, that's the third time in a row that I haven't stalled out once from start to finish, Jess thought proudly as she got out of the car and locked it. She crossed the busy street and entered the salon, shooting a glowing grin toward Deb, whose chair occupied a prime spot near the front door.

"C'mon back to the sinks," her older friend prompted with a jerk of her brunette head toward the back of the room. She got Jess smocked up and in the shampoo chair. "So how's the leg now?" she asked as she tilted Jess' head back, privately noting with satisfaction that her face now bore no signs of the attack two weeks ago other than a slightly pink but rapidly fading scratch on one cheekbone.

"It's good. Got the stitches out a few days ago. I thought it would hurt when the doctor did it, but it actually kinda tickled." Jess informed her with a little laugh.

Deb poured out some shampoo and began lathering Jess' hair, pressing her fingers down hard to massage her scalp. Jess closed her eyes, enjoying the personal touch.

"So you heard anything more from the police about a trial date?" Deb inquired as she worked.

Jess nodded. "Yeah, first week in June is what they told me. And I don't need a lawyer or anything, I just have to testify. The other girls will need lawyers, though."

"Yeah, Allie and my parents have been talking to one," Deb confessed, then changed the subject. "Been seeing Stacy much lately?"

"Oh yeah," Jess confirmed with a tiny smirk. "We haven't been hanging out in this area much, of course, but we do hang out almost every day, especially now that Mom's ok with him seeing me again."

Deb smiled triumphantly as she rinsed the second application of shampoo from Jess' hair. "See? Told ya she'd come around eventually. Stacy's just too nice of a guy for anyone to stay mad at for long. Ok, which conditioner do you want?"

Once the washing was done and Jess was in her styling chair, Deb went to work with the scissors, talking as she made delicate snips. "So you heard that Tony Alva and Wentzle Ruml left the Zephyr team and turned pro, right? They're riding for Logan Earth Ski now."

"No kidding, when did that happen?"

"I heard about it on Monday when Kathy came by for lunch. She says 'hi' and hopes you're doing well, by the way. Actually, several people have been asking about you."

Surprised, Jess met Deb's eyes in the big mirror on the wall of her station. "Oh, really? Like who?"

"Oh, Skip and Nathan and PC from the shop, and Allen Sarlo's girlfriend Mindy…"

For a moment Jess looked confused, then brightened with realization. "Oh yeah, I know her, she comes into the boutique a lot. She's sweet, not one of the Dogtowners with a bad attitude."

"Yeah, you got that right. Hey, why don't you two hang out more?" Deb asked curiously.

Jess thought for a moment. "I think she mostly hangs out with the big surfing crowd up in Malibu, if I remember what Stacy said correctly. And I think she's a little younger than me? Not sure about that, though. But if I see her again maybe I'll see if she wants to go out to lunch or something."

"There ya go," Deb told her approvingly. "I think you can trust her as a friend. She's never been too crazy about Angel and Karen and that crowd anyway, far's I know."

"Great. I'll talk to her for sure, then."

After Deb was done with her hair and she had paid, Jess hugged her friend goodbye and left the shop with a promise to call during the weekend since she had no firm plans yet. She crossed the street, got in her car, and drove it the few blocks to work, parking in the lot next to the boutique. Her boss Evie was in a good mood like usual, letting Jess pick the music to play on the store's stereo (she chose some ELO, not too light and not too heavy) and giving her the plum assignment of arranging displays to their most artful advantage using the various items and props they kept in the back. As Jess was arranging silk flowers and scattering confetti over the glass top of a revolving rack, Evie queried her about classes.

"Semester's almost over, right?" her boss asked from her customary perch behind the counter.

"Yep, next week is finals. Ugh, can't wait," she added with a sarcastic sneer.

Evie laughed sympathetically. "Fun. How many do you have to take?"

"Four, one for each class. I think I'll do ok with them, though."

"Been studying hard, huh?"

Jess gave a half-smile, scrunching up her nose. "I usually take my notes with me when Stacy takes me someplace that he's skating, if it's going to be an all-day thing," she confessed.

Her boss cracked up. "That fascinating, huh?"

"Well, he is fun to watch but it can get old after a while. And I feel dumb just sitting there with all the other girls just staring at him, so I figured why not make the most out of the down time?"

"Smart. Hey, I heard from my brother that Stacy's doing really well at all the skating contests."

Jess nodded confirmation. "Yep, he took third for freestyle at the World Championships."

Evie's eyebrows shot up. "You mean as in the whole woooorrlld? Right on!"

"Yeah, I'm really proud of him, but he seems so…casual about it all for some reason."

"Well, from what I've seen of him, he's a pretty casual guy, yanno?"

Jess nodded again. "True. Ok, that's the last of the racks. Can I split a little early today? Got a paper that's due tomorrow and I'm not quite done with it yet."

Evie consulted the wall clock. "Yeah, why not? Although I really shouldn't reward you for procrastinating, girl!" she told Jess jokingly.

"Hey, it really is close to being done," Jess started to protest, but Evie just laughingly waved her toward the door. "I don't think we'll be swamped before closing time. You go be a good student. See you on Friday."

Jess retrieved and signed her timesheet, then headed out the door, sing-songing a goodbye on the way out. Again, she got in her car and started it, reversing out of her parking spot and navigating the streets of Venice to her house without incident. I'm starting to do things automatically now, she thought as she pulled into the driveway, noting that her mom wasn't home yet. She let herself in and went straight to her room, determined to get her paper finished before dinnertime. When there was half a page left to write, the phone on her bedside table rang, almost making her pen screech across the page.

It was Stacy. "Hey, what'cha doin' right now?" he asked, sounding a bit wound up.

"Oh, just some English homework, but it's almost done. What's up?"

His answer was another question. "Do you like surprises?"

Jess narrowed her eyes and brought the tip of her pen to her lips. "Mmmaybe," she replied cagily.

"C'mon, yes or no? It's something really cool, I promise." His vocal tone was all slyness and promise and instantly Jess was intrigued.

"Ok, so tell me what it is," she urged.

"But then it wouldn't be a surprise anymore. Just come up here to my place as soon as you can, ok?"

Jess sighed like she was being put upon, but her heart was already racing. "Fine, I'll be there in about thirty minutes."

"Can ya make it twenty instead?" Wow, this must be something really good if it's got Stacy this worked up, Jess thought bemusedly.

"Ok, ok, twenty. See ya then." She hung up and put the pen down on her notepad. The paper could wait. Gotta hurry up and change and throw on a little makeup just in case the surprise is a nice dinner out somewhere. He hasn't taken me back to that steakhouse since the first time we went there, she mused as she opened her closet and looked for something suitable.

Twenty-two minutes later she pulled up in front of Stacy's, shut off the engine and put on the parking brake since he lived at the top of a hill. After checking her hair and makeup one more time in the mirror, she emerged from the Triumph and walked up to the front door. Stacy answered, looking fine as always in faded blue jeans and a polo-type shirt with the usual horizontal-stripe pattern, this one a brown on cream scheme. He took in Jess' knee-length brown peasant skirt with brightly colored Mexican embroidery and her ivory off-the shoulder flowing blouse and said with a grin, "Oh great, we sort of match again."

"We have got to quit doing that, people will think we planned it," Jess quipped with a bright smile and a quick kiss on his lips that was chaste, since Stacy's mother had walked up behind them.

"Hello, Jessica. Don't you look pretty?" she quipped with a sweet smile that made the corners of her eyes crinkle.

"Thank you, Mrs. Peralta." It's easy to see where Stacy gets his sweetness and most of his looks from, Jess thought to herself as his mom asked her if she wanted anything to drink.

"Actually, we're on the way out for the evening," Stacy told her politely but urgently, already steering Jess toward the door with a hand on her elbow.

His mom suddenly got a look of comprehension on her still-pretty face. "Oh yes, the- yes, have fun, then!"

The couple bade her goodbye as they left the house. "We'll take my car," Stacy declared. They got in his Volvo and he backed out of the driveway, popping a tape into the stereo before he got to the street. Hmm, that usually means a bit of a drive, Jess mused.

"So, are you going to tell me the surprise now?" she asked impatiently.

Stacy just smiled mysteriously, looking straight out the windshield as he put his shifting hand on her knee for a second. "I'll tell ya when we get there. Just relax and enjoy the drive, ok?"

Jess shook her head with a chuckle, but refrained from asking anything more. She settled for simple small talk about finals and other school-related things. As they chatted Stacy drove through north Santa Monica and then headed east toward Brentwood and Beverly Hills. Guess we're not going to Vista Point or the steak place, Jess thought. Hmm, the plot thickens.

Eventually Stacy turned left and started to take them into the hills around Bel Air. Dusk was starting to fall on another rainless day and the canyons and ridges above them reflected the reds and oranges of the sun as it began its descent toward the Pacific. They wound their way north-northeastward for a few minutes, taking several turnoffs that led them higher into the mountains where the houses were incredibly fine and increasingly sparse. At last, he made a right into a driveway that sloped downward from the road and ended beside a spread out and very new looking house that was all dark wood trim and glass, the better to take advantage of the view of the city below them. This is almost as nice as Vista Point, Jess thought as Stacy brought the car to a halt. She didn't see any other vehicles or signs of life. "It's a little late in the day to skate someone's pool, don't you think?" she muttered with a bit of trepidation. Some surprise, she thought privately. Crap, I should have brought my homework.

Stacy gave her a wink and another sly smile. "Let's go," he told her as he exited the Volvo. With a little shrug she followed suit, joining Stacy as he walked past the hood of the car. He slipped one arm around her waist and she noted he was still grinning. As they kept walking, Stacy guiding their steps, she also noticed two other things: first, he didn't have a skateboard with him and second, he wasn't making for the back of the house like a furtive would-be trespasser. To her increasing surprise and confusion, he led them right to the front door and produced a set of keys from his front jeans pocket, holding them up triumphantly before Jess' face before selecting one and using it to open the door.

"Stacy, what is going…on…oh my god!" those last three words were uttered breathlessly as they walked into the house and Jess got a load of their surroundings. The place was decorated as though it was occupied concurrently by James Bond, Casanova and Frank Lloyd Wright. All the furniture was covered with leather in deep colors, the walls were covered with originals by Hockney and Richard Estes, various houseplants and three-dimensional objects d'art filled numerous ledges and nooks, and an enormous light fur rug covered the floorspace in front of what looked like a working fireplace.

Baffled but excited at the same time, Jess turned to face Stacy, her hands on her hips. "Ok, what is the deal here?"

"You like it?" he replied with a smug grin.

"I love it! Whoever lives here must be loaded…have they adopted you or something?" she demanded half-jokingly.

Stacy cracked up. "Nope, I wish! Ok, I'll 'fess up. The house belongs to a close friend of Bunker Spreckles' – you know, the guy who hangs out with Tony?" When Jess nodded yes, he continued. "Anyway, this guy is out of town for a little while and Tony was looking after the place for him, but today Tony decided to go to Hawaii for a week. And since I'm pretty much the only friend he has that he trusts with a place like this, he gave me the key. Cool, huh?" he finished with a huge grin.

All this was still sinking in for Jess. "So…you mean to tell me that we have this place to ourselves? Nobody else knows about it besides Tony and Bunker?"

"That's exactly what I'm tellin' ya," Stacy replied as he turned to face her and slipped his arms around her waist. He leaned his forehead against hers while bringing one hand up to stroke the back of her newly-trimmed hair. "You know how we were just saying the other day how nice it would be if we could find somewhere to be alone together? Well, here we are." As he spoke he pulled her even closer so her chest, pulsing with her slamming heart was pressed against his own, which was doing the same. "We've got all evening, my mom thinks we're going to dinner and a movie and then whatever," Stacy whispered as he leaned in and kissed her long and deep.

"That's great," Jess told him when the kiss ended. "I don't have to be in until midnight."

"Good." Stacy kissed her again, the tip of his tongue forcing her lips apart so he could gently explore the interior of her mouth. He pressed the front of his jeans against her pelvis, showing her without words how turned on he already was. "C'mon, let's go check out the bedroom," he compelled her in a soft voice as he reached out to take her hand and lead her to the inner sanctum of their private retreat.