Apologies - life getting in the way again but I will finish this story I promise!

Chapter 14

Annie was sulking.

After her disastrous visit with Beth and her run in with Rio she was feeling a combination of rage, shame and a healthy dollop of stupid. I should just have a rule never to open my mouth near Rio, she thought.

She reached for the tub of ice cream she had been demolishing. She'd offered to speak to Rio to explain but Beth had firmly declined her assistance.

"You'll only make it worse" she had sighed. Annie felt compelled to agree. Why do I mess everything up?, she wailed, inwardly. Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Must be my pizza, Annie thought, brightening somewhat at the thought of melted cheese.

"Hang on…" she called out, dejectedly. She pulled herself off the couch, pulling her blanket around her and shuffling towards the door. God I hope it's not a hot delivery guy, she thought. She felt and looked like a mess. Mascara smeared, bedhead and wearing mismatched pajamas, still somehow clutching her ice cream tub.

She opened the door with the words "that was quick-", and then dropped her ice cream to the floor with a small shriek. "Noah!" She stood and stared at him for what felt like several minutes.

Noah raised his eyebrows at the sight before him, "is now a… bad time?

Annie stood, mouth slightly agape and shook her head as if to ensure she wasn't imagining things.

"Do you want me to come back…?" began Noah

"Shit" muttered Annie and then lunged forward, pulling him into the apartment, narrowly avoiding the ice cream on the floor.

"Okaaaay" said Noah as she slammed the door behind him.

"Noah" said Annie, still looking shocked.

"Annie" replied Noah with a cheeky smile, "it's good to see you".

Annie became suddenly aware of her current state, rocking a hangover meets baglady look. "I'm sorry, I- I didn't know you were coming. I'm a bit of a mess-"

Noah stepped towards Annie and caressed her cheek "you look fine to me", he smiled.

Annie looked up into his gorgeous brown eyes and sighed contentedly. She then grabbed him closer and kissed him passionately, blanket falling to the ground.

Noah returned her kiss, moaning gently as he felt her tongue, cool and sweet from the ice cream. His arms embraced her, bringing her closer to him, his hands moving down towards her lower back.

Annie came up for air and groaned "I missed you", jumping up, legs straddling him. "I missed you too" replied Noah, his voice hoarse with excitement. Annie kissed him again as he walked towards her bedroom with Annie still straddling him. He carried her to the bed and set her down gently, not breaking their kiss.

Annie started unbuckling Noah's pants with enthusiasm as Noah stood up to take off his shirt. Annie stopped her de-panting efforts and looked up at Noah, Ooooh he's been working out she thought, almost salivating at the sight of him. She returned to her task and managed to unbuckle his belt and get his zipper down, greeted by a pleasant and familiar bulge.

"Hey", said Noah with a cheeky grin, "not so fast. How come I'm the only one half naked here?"

Annie grinned and in a swift movement liberated herself from her baggy pajamas. Noah's cheeky grin disappeared as his eyes hungrily took in the sight of Annie's naked body before him. He sighed raggedly and looked deep in her eyes, dark with passion.

Annie reached out and playfully slapped the elastic on his underwear. He grinned at her and whipped them off and crawled onto the bed, kissing Annie all over her naked body.

Annie closed her eyes, her passion threatening to overwhelm her. "Noah?"

"mmmh" came a southward rather muffled reply as he continued to kiss Annie's naked body.

"I think I need to skip the starter and get to the main course".

Noah looked up "really?" he asked. Annie nodded enthusiastically. Noah smiled and moved up to face her and plunged them both into ecstasy.

Beth sat in her hospital bed, feeling anxious. She was still waiting to be allowed to go home. It was her second full day there and she had already had her fill. She stared down at her phone. Rio still hadn't been in touch. It made her anxious.

She tried to compose a message to Rio again. She must have started and deleted a message at least ten times. "Rio", she began, "I need to explain…" she sighed again and pressed the delete button and slammed the phone down, giving it the evil eye. Why is this so hard?!, she thought.

"Enough. Stop being so chickenshit", she chided herself. She grabbed the phone and simply wrote: "Rio. We need to talk. Beth". She pressed send triumphantly and felt rather pleased with herself. Short and to the point. At least he couldn't misinterpret it in any way.

She glared down at the phone. "Answer me goddammit" she muttered.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Could it be?, she thought, her heart beginning to pound like a jackhammer in her breast. "Come in", she called out, trying to keep the butterflies from her voice. The door opened to reveal Dean. "Hey there! Thought I'd come and check on you and the little one."

"Hi Dean", Beth replied, trying to keep the disappointment from her voice. "How nice of you to come and see me".

"Of course!" replied Dean, "I mean. It's you… mother of my children, love of my life and all that jazz…" The room fell silent as he gazed at Beth, longingly.

"Dean…", began Beth.

"Beth", interrupted Dean, "I know that this isn't the time. And I'm not pressing you for an answer. The last thing I want to do is stress you out. But I'm not going to apologize for my feelings. I do love you. That is not gonna change."

Beth took a deep breath. "Dean, there is something I have to tell you. Now might not be the time. But frankly I don't know if there will ever be a right time." Beth paused. Terrified of what Dean's reaction would be. "Rio is back."

Rio sat in his office, draining his third glass of the day. It was only 10am. He was working on drinking through his hangover from the night before. Hair of the dog and all that. The hangover hadn't done anything to improve his mood. He was still livid following his encounter with Annie.

How could he trust Elizabeth again? How could she not tell me?! It was clearly an engagement ring. A new one. Upon closer inspection he had noticed the initials "DB + BB". So fucking tacky, he thought bitterly.

Suddenly his phone buzzed. A message from Elizabeth. Fuck her, he thought, and poured himself another drink and drained it.

He knew that part of the anger he was feeling was directed at himself. He had told her they should be platonic, so how could he complain? Elizabeth was free to make her own choices. But there was something about the thought of Dean playing happy families with Elizabeth and his kid that made his blood boil.

Deep down he knew that feeling anger was a better than the alternative: acknowledging the green-eyed monster within.

The phone buzzed again "fuck off!" he shouted. He just wanted to be left alone. He wasn't ready to speak to Elizabeth yet. He picked up the phone, ready to hurl it across the room when he noticed that it was a message from Turner.

He groaned, rubbing his chin wearily. "No rest for the wicked", he chuckled sardonically and got up, staggering slightly, "time to sober up".