Who Can It Be Now Chapter 15, a 7th heaven fanfic

A/N: Just to warn you, if you see someone you recognize, just go with it. I'd tell you who, but it would ruin the end of the chapter. ;)

Lucy was driving on the highway back home after a long day of classes and working on a paper in the Crawford University library. Matt was working at the hospital in New York City. Simon was in a class Mary concluded to be something of the Art History persuasion. Ruthie was at home eating a snack with Peter. Martin, the current boarder, was having a fight with Cecilia, Simon's ex-girlfriend. Eric was doing marriage counseling in his office at the church. Annie was marinating meat for dinner. Kevin was looking at bills in the garage apartment.

Mary turned off the television set. This was pointless. She concluded that Wilson thought she would be interested in seeing how her family would cope with her disappearance, and she was, but she wouldn't even be home yet from work. It would be hours, days even, before they really noticed anything. Mary laid back flat on her bed, knees bent over the edge, and closed her eyes. Sleep was no longer necessary, but she tried her hand at it anyway. She was unable to succeed fully, but put herself into a sleep-like state nonetheless.

She laid there waiting for Wilson to return. She knew that he would be back soon. Within an hour or so, there was a knock on her door. Mary heard it, but could not force herself to move, much less get up and open it. Wilson opened the door slowly and smiled when he saw Mary passed out on her bed. He approached her and picked up one of her hands. He squeezed it and she finally opened her eyes. Wilson smiled sympathetically and sat on the edge of her bed, dropping her hand back onto the crisp white comforter.

"So?"

"So nothing. I wouldn't even be home from work yet. They won't even notice I'm not coming home for another hour. Plus, all the nights I was with you and didn't come home until really late– if I came home at all, that isn't going to help them realize that I'm dead."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah," she said sarcastically.

Wilson was worried about her disheveled manner. "Are you OK?"

She sat up. "Fine enough, I guess. Better now that you're here."

"I'm sorry that I left. Maybe I shouldn't have. I just figured you might want some alone time."

"I did." She sighed. "Now I never want to be alone again."

Wilson picked up Mary's hand again and ran his thumb over the back of it. She looked down at his fingers and then up to his face. He smiled weakly, not knowing what else to do, and she tried to smile back.

"What?" he asked. He knew she was going to say something.

"This is weird."

"What's weird?"

"You know." She paused. "Why does it feel different between us? Is it just me, or-"

"No, it's not just you. I think it's the lack of sexual attraction. I still love you, but…"

"It's more respect than wanting me naked?"

He laughed at her. "Yeah, I guess."

Mary laid back down. "That's not fair." Mary felt her sense of humor slowly starting to return. "I wouldn't have died if I would have known I wouldn't be attracted to you anymore."

Wilson laughed heartily. "Is that so?"

"Oh, definitely."

He smiled. "Someone is feeling better."

"A little bit. I'm still upset and shaken, but what can you do about it? Nothing. Better to try and move on from it than reliving it."

"You have a good attitude. I wasn't as chipper as you were. Only recently did I start to come around."

"I guess I'm just more advanced than you are," she said with a laugh. He grinned back at her; Wilson almost forgot what it was like to be with Mary. "So, what do you say? Want to sit and watch my family eat dinner?"

"Actually, I was on my way to go eat myself. Care to join me in the dining hall?"

Mary appeared timid. "What's it like there?"

"It's fine," he said, trying to calm her nerves. "It's just like one giant cafeteria where you can eat whatever you want. No one will bother you."

After a few seconds she decided she would go. "OK. Why not? I trust in you."

Mary followed Wilson as they walked through a variety of hallways. It was a little bit of a walk, but she didn't mind. She was just enjoying being with him. As they approach the dining area, Mary had some trepidation. She could hear people talking amongst themselves. As they turned the corner, Mary saw that there were about two hundred people there. Before she was able to take it all in, she heard a familiar voice calling out her name. Little Billy ran up to her and wrapped his arms around her.

Mary hugged Billy back. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you, too." He pulled back from her and smiled. "Want to meet my mom?"

Mary wasn't quite following. "Your mom?"

"Yeah, she's here. Come on." Billy picked up Mary's hand and dragged her a few feet until he came to a petite girl with medium length red hair.

"Hi," Becca said.

Mary didn't say anything. Wilson rushed over to where they were standing and stood behind Mary. His presence there let her know that he knew how she had reacted and how she was going to react. Mary looked back at Wilson, at Becca, and then back at Wilson again.

"You know what? I don't feel very much like eating. I think I'm just going to go back to my room." She smiled nervously and began to walk out.

"Mary!" Wilson went to follow her.

"Don't," Becca said to him calmly. "It's not something you're going to be able to fix."

A/N: I hated this chapter. With a passion. The whole thing just stinks. Mary's fickle and annoying. And I am resurrecting Becca, without resurrecting her actually because she's still dead. That's who you were supposed to recognize. That's Billy's mother, Wilson's wife from when he was sixteen, that I made up for my story that chronicled Wilson's life from Billy's conception to birth. If you haven't read it and would like to, click on my pen name. The title is That Was When He Saw Her.

Next chapter is one giant conversation, 1165 words of conversation to be exact. I have to edit that one though before I post it. It's not exactly right yet.

Wilson's current flame with his old one? Whatever will happen? Review.