Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Season X: Surprise! takes place before this chapter, so if you haven't read that yet, I suggest it. BUT you should be able to follow the rest of this story without it, honestly. Please review :)

Things seemed to continue like this for a while. She and Alex overlapped in classes. She continued switching seats, and he continued to take the closest seat to her, no matter where she was. He somehow always managed to arrive just after her. He wouldn't bother her much through class. She'd sense him staring. Occasionally, he would whisper something to her. Always a compliment, never anything too graphic. Then he would try to talk to her after class. She continued to try ignoring him, setting boundaries, telling him off, waiting with other people, but nothing seemed to deter him. It didn't matter what she did, he was always there, but then she'd get home. She'd lock the door. She'd focus as much of her attention as she could on her schoolwork, her family, and the love of her life. She even threw Steve a killer birthday party at the end of September.

Then things got worse.

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The first week of October, Laura came home from her Monday classes around one. She stuck her key in the lock, and then she heard footsteps behind her. It wasn't unusual to hear footsteps in a crowded, downtown apartment building, but she got goosebumps. Something felt wrong. She knew who it was. She unlocked the door and opened it as quickly as possible. She stepped inside and went to close the door, only to be stopped by a strong, white hand.

"Hey," he smiled as he forced his way inside the apartment.

Laura swallowed hard. She backed away from him. "What do you think you're doing?" she demanded.

"I missed you," he smiled. "I missed hanging out."

Laura's brow furrowed. "You can't just barge into my apartment!"

"Laura, relax. I just brought you a little gift," he said gently.

Laura took a deep breath. "Alex," she said, closing her eyes tightly, "I need you to leave me alone." She paused for a long moment and cursed the tears stinging her eyes. "Please," she whimpered.

Alex swallowed hard. His brow furrowed in pain. "Laura, I don't understand why you're doing this to us. I'll keep you safe from him. You don't have to be afraid of him hurting you if you leave him."

Laura looked past him to the door. There was no way she could get by him, which meant she had to convince him to leave without hurting her. She forced herself to smile. "Um. Look, Alex, I'm kinda busy right now. We have that big test in Psych tomorrow. I just really need to focus. Can I maybe call you later?"

Alex stepped closer to her. He smiled lovingly. He reached out and stroked her cheek. She did everything in her power not to shutter. "Of course, Babe." He tucked her hair behind her ear. "Just open this first because I wanna see the look on your face."

Laura nodded and accepted the bag. She opened it quickly. It was a teddy bear. That seemed harmless enough. "Oh, my God. I love it. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," he purred, leaning in to kiss her.

She turned her head and reared back quickly. She was willing to play along in order to get him out of the apartment, but she wouldn't do that. "Alex, I'm still married," she said, trying to sound disappointed about that.

He thankfully accepted that information in that tone. "Ok, ok… You wanna do this right. You better file those papers soon, though, Sexy, because I'm getting impatient," he teased, looking her up and down.

"I'll call you later, ok?"

"Yeah. Ok," he smiled. He pulled her in for a tight hug.

Laura hugged him back, hoping it would get him to leave, but then she felt his erection pressing into her hip. She pulled away as gently as possible and started to walk toward the door. "I'll call you tonight," she said again as she opened it for him.

"I'll talk to you tonight," he repeated as he finally stepped through the doorway.

"Talk to you soon," she purred before quickly slamming the door in his face, locking it, and sliding the chain into place. She ran immediately for the phone and dialed Steve's cell phone number.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Come home! Now!" she begged.

Steve immediately dropped what he was doing, and Laura heard glass shatter.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

"Please, just come home," she whimpered.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," he promised, hanging up the phone. He looked up at his professor and all of his classmates who were glaring at him for using his phone and for almost blowing up the lab when he had allowed those beakers to fall. "I'm sorry," he shrugged as he ran toward the door.

"Mr. Urkel, if you leave during this test, I'll have to fail you," the professor warned.

"Then fail me!" Steve called without turning around.

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When Steve got home, he unlocked the door and opened it with all his might. He slammed into the door at the end of the chain again. "Laura?" He called.

When she didn't respond immediately, he walked across the hall. He got a running start and charged straight into the door. He burst through and fell at Laura's feet.

"Oh, my God!" she exclaimed.

Steve stood and took her into his arms. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"You broke down the door! I was just coming to unlock it."

"I thought you were hurt or in danger," he explained. He looked her up and down, eyeing her carefully for bruises, cuts, or any other red flag.

"I wasn't," she said. "I shouldn't've called. Go back to work."

"I was in class. I had that big lab today, remember?"

"Oh, my God! And you walked out?!" she gasped.

"Of course, I did! You needed me!"

"Steve, you should've said something. It wasn't that big of a deal. It could've waited until you got home."

"What could've waited?! What happened, Laura?"

"He followed me home, ok? And he barged in right after me. We were alone in the apartment for maybe ten minutes, and it just really freaked me out."

"Did he hurt you?" Steve whispered gently.

"No," she replied. She hung her head in shame. "I played nice, and I flirted because I was afraid he was gonna hurt me. I told him I had to study, and that I would call him later. God, I'm pathetic."

"No," he said firmly. "No, Sweetheart. You were scared. You did the right thing. Whatever keeps you safe is the right thing."

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "I think this is gonna get worse, Steve."

It broke his heart to see her cry. "I am not going to let anything happen to you," he promised. "I will do whatever I have to to keep you safe. I would give my life to keep you safe."

"Steve, you can't protect me from everything," she said gently, not wanting him to blame himself but still wanting him to grasp the severity of the situation.

"Maybe not," he agreed, "but this I can do. First things first, you and I are gonna go to the hardware store and buy a new chain for the door." He glanced back at the open door behind him. "A stronger chain. This weekend, we'll break our lease and find a new apartment."

"No!" Laura cried. "I don't wanna do that! I love our apartment!"

"But, Laura, he knows where you are, and I'm not always here when you're here."

"We're not moving, Steve! I love this apartment. This is our home, and we're not letting him drive us out," she said with a sense of finality.

"Ok," he agreed. "Then I'm gonna set up a security system for us. I'll design it myself."

Laura nodded. She was so lucky to be married to a super genius. "That sounds good." She paused for a moment. "One more thing, Steve."

"What's that?"

"Will you come with me down to the registrar's office? I wanna see if they'll make some exceptions and let me change my schedule, under the circumstances."

Steve nodded. "Of course, I will, my love," he replied. "I'll make sure they do something about this, too," he promised.

"No," she corrected. "You are not going in there with me. You'll make a scene."

"But-"

"That's final, Steve Urkel," she warned.

"Well," he pouted, "then why do you want me to go?"

Laura looked down at her feet. "I don't feel very safe on campus alone," she answered.

"Oh," he whimpered. He stepped closer to her and pulled her against him. "Ok. They should be open for another couple hours. Let's head down there now," he suggested, kissing the top of her head.

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When Laura was finished with the registrar, she walked out with a brand new class schedule, most of which allowed her to keep the same professors. She would have some explaining to do tomorrow and Wednesday, but she was willing to do it, given the circumstances. She and Steve went to the hardware store after that. She watched him carefully as he installed the new chain and tested it thoroughly for her. Then they went together up to Steve's work so that Steve could start some research on the top-of-the line security technology he needed to purchase and create to keep Laura safe. Laura waited patiently in the corner, studying for one of her classes and staying out of the way as Steve worked. Though Harold originally questioned her presence, Steve only had to pull him aside for thirty seconds and explain the situation for him to switch to being completely supportive. She felt uncomfortable every time he looked at her with so much sympathy in his eyes, but she would rather deal with unwanted pity here than the crippling fear she was facing at home.

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By the end of Steve's day, having put in a couple of extra hours of overtime, he hadn't quite worked all the bugs out of his new system, and he was afraid of installing something so important in less than working condition. The last thing they needed was for Laura to get locked out of the apartment when she was trying to get in or for the cops to get called on Steve rushing home to protect her, so the chain would have to do for now. When he noticed Laura dozing, he walked over to her. "Ok, my love. Gimme two minutes to clock out, and then we'll go."

"Ok," she agreed.

He leaned forward and kissed her on the head before stepping away.

Laura jumped when she heard a man's voice beside her.

"Laura?" Harold said gently.

She tried to pull herself together. She hopped off of the stool she was sitting on and turned to him. "Yeah, Harold?" she asked nervously. Every time she'd seen Harold since that party, he'd been a perfect gentleman. He was still clearly attracted to her, but he hadn't so much as flirted since their first encounter. She was beginning to think he had learned his lesson, but the last thing she wanted was for that to be proven wrong when she was so vulnerable.

"If there's anything I can do for you… or for Steve… just lemme know. Steve has my cellphone number, so…"

Laura smiled softly. "Thank you, Harold," she said gently. She reached out and squeezed his shoulder.

He looked down at her hand for a lingering moment before he forced his eyes back up to hers. "Well, g'night."

"Goodnight," she replied just before he walked away.

Steve returned to her a moment later. "Ready, Sweetums?" he prompted, offering her jacket.

She nodded and slid into it before taking his arm.

"Let's go grab a bite to eat," he suggested.

"Ok," she agreed, "but I have to call him first."

"What? You were serious about that? Why?" he cried, stopping in his tracks.

"Steve," she said softly, "can we discuss this in the car?" She looked around nervously at the other people in the lab.

He nodded immediately and led her out to the car. As soon as he shut his door, he turned back to her. "Why do you want to call him?"

"Because I led him on today, Steve."

"SO?!"

"I don't want him to be able to say that he thought I really wanted him. I want to tell him how I really feel, why I said what I said, and insist again that I don't want him in my life."

"Oh," Steve sighed. "I guess that's a good idea."

"And you have to be really quiet because he thinks you're the one manipulating me and controlling me and keeping us apart, so he has to think I'm making this call completely alone, without you here to threaten me."

"Ok," he agreed.

"So you can't make a sound. No matter what you hear, ok?"

"Ok. I promise, but can I hold you while you do it?"

"My hand, but you can't get close enough for him to hear you breathe."

"Ok." He grabbed her hand and squeezed it comfortingly as she took out her phone.

She stared down at his name in her contacts.

"You don't have to-"

"No, I do," she said, pressing the call button. "I have to." She held the phone up to her ear and focused on her breathing as it rang.

"Hey, Honey," Alex answered.

Honey? "Hey, Alex," she said, doing her best to control the fear and stress in her voice. "Listen, about this afternoon-"

"God, I can't stop thinking about it," he exclaimed. "Your pussy tastes so good."

Laura's jaw dropped. "What?" she barked. She glanced nervously at Steve. It didn't appear that he had heard that.

He chuckled. "Oh, I'm sorry, Baby. I know you don't like it when I talk dirty to you. How about this? I can't wait to taste you again."

Laura could not close her mouth. "Alex, what the hell are you talking about? You and I didn't do anything like that this afternoon. We just talked."

"What?" he asked. "Baby, I know you didn't already forget how many times I made you come."

"You didn't! We didn't! I'm married, Alex! I'm married to a man that I love very deeply, and I'm not gonna leave him! I'm never gonna leave him. You are a delusional stalker who terrifies me every day. This afternoon, I only said what I said to get you out of there! I've changed all of my classes. We've changed the locks, and after this conversation, I'm definitely notifying the police. You need to leave me alone. Now," she said, closing her flip phone firmly.

Steve looked at her in shock. "Is that how you were planning on doing that?"

Laura looked just as surprised. "No. I think I just set off a crazy person."

Steve nodded slightly.

"Steve, he said… But you have to believe me. I would never…"

"What are you talking about?"

"He thinks we had sex this afternoon, Steve. Like he honestly thinks that, but I didn't. He tried to kiss me, and I wouldn't even let him do that. We didn't do anything other than talk. I don't know what he's gonna say to you. He's gonna be convincing if he ever does, but we didn't. I would never cheat on you, and I wouldn't lie to you. You have to trust me," she rambled in terror.

"I do trust you, Laura. I know nothing happened. He's delusional, Sweetheart, like you said. I'd never take his word over yours."

Laura nodded. "Ok."

"Ok."

"I love you so much," she whined as she began to cry.

"I love you too, Laura," he promised as he pulled her into his arms. "You're safe. I promise."

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After Laura and Steve had dinner in a divey diner, they finally went back home. Steve opened the door for her and closed it firmly behind them. He slid the chain in place and turned back to her. "Are you ok?" he asked. "Do you want me to check the apartment?"

"No," she replied. "I just wanna go to bed… in your arms."

"Ok. You got it, Babe," he agreed. He took her hand, turned off the lights, and led her back to the bedroom. He let go of her hand to head to the dresser when she stopped him. She grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him against her. "I didn't say I wanted to sleep," she whispered before planting her lips firmly against his.

"Mmmmm…" he moaned as he wrapped his arms around her. He led her to the bed and lay her down. He climbed on top of her and began to unbutton his shirt. It was then that his eyes met a creepy pair of eyes across the room. "Wah!" he cried, jumping off of her. "What is that?"

Laura sat up and turned on the lamp on her nightstand. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw what it was. "Oh. That's the teddy bear Alex gave me today. It was creepy how it was staring at me while I waited for you to get home, so I put it in the bedroom. I didn't wanna throw it out in case it was evidence of some kind."

Steve looked at it for a long moment, and then he turned and went out to the kitchen. He came back with a knife.

Laura's eyes widened. "What are you-"

He walked over to the teddy bear and stabbed its gut. He sliced down to the end of it and ripped it open. He pulled out a small, metallic object, connected deeper into the bear with a series of wires and showed it to her. "Is that a…?"

"Camera," he finished for her. "He tried to spy on you."

"Oh, my God!" she whimpered, reaching up to cover her mouth.

Steve sat beside her on the bed and threw the bear in her nightstand. "What did he see, Pet? Did you change in here or leave the door open when you went to the bathroom?"

"No, nothing like that," she admitted, "but it's still terrifying."

"I know," he agreed. "Believe me, I know, but he didn't get what he wanted, Sweetums. He got maybe a half hour of you walking around, and then I came home, and we left."

"He got to see us kissing," she pouted.

"And a great shot my pecs," Steve laughed as he buttoned his shirt again, "so I'm sure he's thrilled."

"Is it terrible that I'd almost completely forgotten that Myra had violated you in a lot of the same ways?" she pouted.

"No," he said gently. "I'm glad you'd forgotten. I forget a lot too. That's the thing, Laura. I have been through a lot of this before, with a lot less support than you're getting, I might add, but it ends eventually. You get to move on."

"Steve, he could've seen me naked,"

she said softly. "He could've seen me make love to you."

"Yeah," Steve agreed. "He could've, but he didn't. I stopped it. I kept you safe, like I always will."

"Steve, how many times did Myra see you naked?" Laura asked.

Steve shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't know really. She spied in my windows a couple times, and then there was the whole camera deal. I mean… my glasses are the last thing I take off before I shower, and I have terrible aim, so I always look down when I… go potty…" He was far too embarrassed to admit that she had probably been able to see him touch himself more than a few times. He liked to imagine that the fact that he always called out to Laura when he did that might have made her turn it off and avoid those moments, but he knew that was probably just wishful thinking. "Too many to count. I don't even know when she put the camera in my glasses for sure."

Laura swallowed hard. "I can't tell you how sorry I am that that happened to you."

"It's not your fault," he replied immediately.

"No, but it's not like I did anything to protect you. Heck, you even had to agree not to press charges against her so I wouldn't be charged with assault. I made that worse for you."

He shook his head. "I wouldn't've pressed charges anyway. She was sick. I didn't know it know it until you made it so clear on our honeymoon, but a part of me knew it. I wouldn't've done anything."

"You didn't deserve that, you know. We really shouldn't have fooled around behind her back, but nobody deserves to be violated like that," she said firmly.

"I know," he agreed.

Laura leaned her head on his shoulder. "I'm so glad I have you during all this. I would be so terrified without you."

Steve kissed her forehead. "You have no reason to be scared. I'll take care of you."

Laura took a deep breath. "Will you call my dad tomorrow? You guys can meet up on your lunch break, and you can give him... that?" she suggested, pointing at the drawer, completely unwilling to mention what it actually was.

Steve exhaled sharply. "He is going to be so mad that I waited this long to loop him in."

"I wouldn't let you tell him."

"Yeah, he's not gonna see it that way," Steve said, shaking his head.

"Do you need me to go with you? I mean, I have a class at that time, but I could skip."

"No," he said. "No, I know you don't wanna talk about this much yet. I can do this part. I'll tell him. He's just gonna be maaaad."

Laura nodded. "Well, tell him I begged you not to tell anybody, and when that doesn't work, remind him that the last thing I need right now is to have two of the most important people in my life fighting again instead of keeping me safe."

Steve nodded and kissed her forehead. "Of course, Sweetums. I'll make sure we keep our priorities straight, and you, my love, are our only priority."

Laura nuzzled his neck. "Thank you, Baby."