The last week of March flew past and into April. A downpour of April showers slowly made the city of Boston less gray, trees started to blossom, drop their flowers and sprout fresh green leaves, while flowers poked their heads out of the dirt. Days grew warmer and brighter. By the end of April coats were no longer necessary.
By the time May rolled around Sara's life, for the first time in years, felt settled. She had found a job working at a small privately owned bookstore during the day, and in the evenings she helped Mary out at the bar. But most of the money that she 'earned' came from the bill fold and wallets of the men she killed along side Connor and Murphy. She had become a permanent addition. Once again the Saints were a trio.
The Angelus Iussa Letum had, as promised, died out. But on occasion she would find herself saying her monologue just before she killed some of the men. Connor and Murphy allowed that, it was to her as their prayer was to them. A reminder of what they stood and fought for.
Murphy had moved back into the MacManus apartment just after one week of living with Mary. They were still together but they both agreed that living with each other just wasn't working. Murphy was just too messy for Mary's small and organized apartment.
Sara had started to refurnish the apartment. At first Connor and Murphy had protested, claiming that if they should suddenly have to move or get out of town that they wouldn't be able to take any of it with them. She had argued that it didn't matter how long they were going to be there, she wanted it to feel like home.
The first thing she had done was to go out and buy a single and a bunk bed. Connor had just raised his eyes at the bunk bed while Murphy had quickly claimed the top bunk. Which in the end turned out quite funny because the first morning when he got up he forget that he was on the top, having been so used to sleeping on a single mattress on the floor, and fallen off with a loud bang. Letting out a rather pleasant stream of curses in the process.
Sara and Connor got along but there was still some tension. It was a silent agreement not to talk about what had and almost had transpired in the first few days they had known each other. They were Saints first, friends second, and nothing more.
But it was getting harder to keep it that way. Living in such close proximity and being what they both were and doing what they did had formed a rather unique bond between the two of them. And while they individually acknowledge that it was in fact there buried in the subconscious, neither one would admit it to the other.
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It was Friday night and the bar was full. Sara dodged another pair of groping hands and squeezed between Connor and Murphy at the bar. She set down her tray and leaned over the bar grabbing a bottle of alcohol and some shot glasses from beneath. Only she leaned too far and couldn't get back up. "Um, a little help would be nice."
Connor grabbed her by the waist and pulled her back. "Ya know ya could just wait for Mary to get those next time."
"In case you haven't noticed, we're both really busy at the moment. And this was faster than trying to work my way behind the bar." Sara began pouring the drinks, swatting away Murphy's hand when he tried to steal one. "Hey, wait your turn. And anyways these are for the paying customers."
"I fucking pay," Murphy said indignant.
Sara picked the tray, fully loaded with drinks now, back up. "According to Mary, your tab is so high she's thinking of withholding all sex until you pay up." She made her way back into the throng of patrons leaving Connor's laughter and Murphy's protests behind. With practiced ease she avoided the bumps and jostles and set the tray down on the table. "Here you go boys." She handed out the drinks and reached for the cash in the middle of the table. "Will that be everything or would you like something else?"
"How about a lap dance?" They all laughed.
Sara raised her eyebrows and her eyes went dark, but she kept a smile on her face. "This bar guys, not a strip joint." She put the money in the front pocket of her apron and turned to leave.
Instead she found herself pulled into the lap of the man sitting on the edge of the booth.
"Come on now lil' missy. We were just joshing you. But seriously how about joining us for a drink?"
"I appreciate the offer." Sara attempted to pry his hands off. "But I am working at the moment."
"Well what about when you are done working."
Sara rolled her eyes. "Is it just me or are they more persistent when they are drunk?" The smell of alcohol was evident on the man's breath. She wrinkled her nose. "Sorry, but I'm scheduled to close up tonight."
"I can wait." There was more laughter from around the table. The man attempted to nuzzle her neck.
Sara felt herself getting angry and wanted nothing more than to punch the guy in the face, only she was facing the wrong way and even if she hadn't been Mary was adamant about Sara not starting fights. Avoid certain customers if needed, but always be pleasant. And if a situation did get out of hand let one of the male regulars that Mary was friends with deal with it.
Unfortunately none of those male regulars were in sight at the moment. And even if they had been the bar was so crowded and noisy there was no guarantee that they could see or hear her in her current predicament.
The man's hands began to inch upwards. Sara batted them away. "I would appreciate you letting me go and getting back to work."
"Stop playing hard to get."
"I'm not playing hard to get, I'm just not interested. Besides I don't think my boyfriend will like this very much."
"Boyfriend?"
"Yes, in fact he's right over there." Sara pointed at the first male who at that second appeared in her sight. It just so happened to be Murphy.
The guy laughed. "Nice try, I know for a fact that he's screwing the owner of this joint on a regular basis."
Just the Sara saw Connor behind him and thought fast. "I'm pointing to the guy behind him." "Come on Connor, look at me!"
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Connor downed the last of his beer. He frowned when Murphy nudged him in the side with his elbow. "Watch it would ya. Ya trying to make me fucking choke?"
"I think Sara's just gone and made a new friend."
"What the fuck are ya on about?" Connor turned and looked where Murphy pointed. His eyes widened slightly at the sight of Sara sitting rather snugly on some guys lap. "I wonder what all that's about."
The rather pained looked on Sara's face suddenly changed to one of happiness when she saw Connor looking at her. She gave him an enticing smile and waved him over. Curiosity getting the best him Connor made his way over.
Once he was there Sara tried to stand but was still held firmly in place by the arms around her lap. "Connor, babe…"
"babe?" Connor and Sara thought the same thing.
"Perhaps you can convince this nice young man that I'm not interested and need to get back to work."
"And why can't ya do that yerself?"
Sara gave him a look. "Because," she said in an extremely sweet voice. "Mary doesn't like me starting fights. And you're my boyfriend who is supposed to protect me from the unwanted advances of other men." She put emphasis on the word boyfriend.
Connor instantly understood what was going on. He frowned but on the inside he was smirking, no doubt this was killing Sara having to ask for help to get out of this situation, especially from him.
"Well ya heard my girl. Let her go." Connor rolled his fingers into fists and cracked his knuckles. The motion made the muscles in his arms flex ever so slightly.
The guy loosened his grasp and Sara literally jumped to her feet. "Thanks babe." She went to make a quick getaway. Unfortunately the guy in the booth wasn't satisfied.
"Hold it. You say you're her boyfriend."
Connor crossed his arms. "Aye."
"Then prove it."
"Prove it? There is nothing to prove. We're dating end of story."
"Yeah," Sara interjected. "We even live together." That part was true.
"That don't mean a thing."
"Then just how would ya have us prove it to ya?"
The guy shared a look with his friends and gave a sadistic grin. "Kiss her. And I don't mean some peck on the lips. I mean a real honest to goodness kiss, with tongue."
Connor place sboth hands on the table and said in a low voice. "I know getting rejected by a girl is an unpleasant experience, not to mention embarrassing when it happens in front of yer friends. But I ain't going to kiss her just so ya can get some sick pleasure out of watching." But in the back of his mind the idea of kissing her was tempting, but he knew if he did that Sara's reaction could only make the whole situation worse.
The guys stood up. "You know what. I think your lying. You aren't really dating her. Now I don't like being rejected and I really don't like being lied to."
It looked like this situation was about to come to blows. Connor scanned the bar, but Murphy was no where in sight. Neither was Mary for that matter. "Murphy now is not the fucking time to disappear for a quickie." Authors note: unintentional pun. lol.
But before anyone could throw a punch Sara stepped between them. "You want proof fine then. Here's your proof." Turning to face Connor she put her hand behind his neck and pulled his face down to hers. She kissed him, hard. Her fingers buried in his hair, mussing it up even more and her tongue entered his mouth.
Connor's shock lasted for a split second. The kiss might have only been for show, but there was no way in hell he was letting this opportunity go to waste. He quickly wrapped one around her waist pulling her flush against him; with the other he supported her head while caressing her jaw line with his thumb.
Her lips were soft and the inside of her mouth warm. Connor poured nearly a month worth of pent up sexual tension into that kiss. He didn't want it end. Unfortunately it had to, against the protests of his body.
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When the guy had demanded that Connor kiss her as proof of their relationship Sara had worried that he would take him up on that demand. Instead Connor had defended her honor, sort of. But when the guy had stood up ready to start something Sara decided they didn't have a choice. She had quickly stepped between them and kissed Connor before she lost her nerve.
The second her lips made contact with her every sense came alive and her body temperature went up. And when his tongue intermingled with hers she felt her knees go weak. Thankfully Connor had his arm around her holding her tight; otherwise she wasn't sure she would have stayed standing.
It felt like the kiss lasted an eternity, and it was nowhere near long enough. She pulled away to the sound of wolf whistles and catcalls from throughout the bar.
Left rather breathless she saw that Connor had a rather bemused expression on his face. She felt her face flush. It was obvious the kiss had had an interesting effect on him as well. She felt his hold on her relax but not let go. "Satisfied?" She managed to get out not looking away from Connor's face.
The guy grumbled and sat back down, his friends now laughing at him.
"I know I am."
Sara looked at Connor and ducked her head back down. Her hands were resting on his arms. "I need to get back to work now."
He let go and she walked back over to the bar where both Murphy and Mary were, having returned from wherever it was that they were. It was obvious from the look on their faces that they had seen the kiss but Sara barely glanced at them. "Not a word."
They both closed their mouths, as curious as they were they both knew better than to meddle.
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Author's Note: that was fun to write. Hmm, this relationship is just one big rollercoaster. I could keep this up forever if i really wanted to. But that would just be mean. Still this story has a long way to go before it ends. In fact I've already got the next chapter writing itself in my brain. Better go type it. Remember, read and review. The more reviews i get the better! And I really like them when they area little longer than just one line, one liners are still cool though, it's just the longers ones give me more insight into what you think and expect. thanks guys.