Marie's POV

I can't believe this is my life. I made one little mistake. ONE! And now I'm a fugitive from the law. But not a cool fugitive like Harrison Ford. No, I'm the fugitive who gets depressed, stops leaving the house, and sees a schoolmate for the first time in more than a decade while looking like she was kidnapped by wildebeest and has been roaming the plains, surviving on grass.

Yeah. That's my life now.

Honestly, I suppose I'm lucky that it was Stephanie picking me up. I imagine most bounty hunters wouldn't have left me alone so I could shower and change, let alone bring me non-chocolate junk food and apparently a hot guy. I might be going back to the Courthouse, but at least I was keeping my dignity mostly intact.

I had just put the finishing touches on my hair when I got a text from Stephanie that they would be there in a few minutes. I wasn't wearing anything fancy, just nice jeans and a red top, but at least my hair was clean and combed. I'd had to condition it three times to get it into a manageable state, then wash it again to get out all the conditioning residue. By the time I'd finished, I'd had to rush to made sure I was at least halfway decent before leaving the house.

I saw Stephanie pull up in a beaten down Toyota, and a large black SUV park right behind her. I slipped out the door so no one could see my living room, then turned around to lock the house. When I turned back to face the street my breath caught in my throat. Stephanie wasn't kidding, this guy was seriously hot. I tried my best to not look like a complete idiot as I walked to the car, glad I'd picked a pair of basic boots instead of heels.

"Hey Marie. You're looking happier."

I nodded silently, not trusting myself to speak without babbling like a compleat idiot.

"I'll call Vinnie and have him meet us at the courthouse, he can bond you right out again, and you'll be home in a couple hours." I nodded again, then looked up at her.

"Wait, a couple hours? I thought I'd be in and out in a few minutes. Will you stay there with me, how will I get home?" I started to panic a bit. I really needed a sugar hit.

Stephanie seemed to read my mind, so she handed me the WaWa bag. I pulled out a Butterscotch Krimpet and put half of one in my mouth.

The handsome man grinned at me. Lord, he's even hotter when he smiles. "I'll take care of it Steph." He pulled a card out of his pocket. It simply said 'Lester Santos', and had a phone number on it. "Call me when you get out, and I'll give you a ride home. You can pay me back by splitting the peach pie with me." Then he whispered in my ear, "I do love to eat peaches. They taste so...sensual."

I'm pretty sure I said something, but I'm also pretty sure it was nonsensical. I got into Stephanie's car, blushing like I hadn't since my prom night when Danny Bartaloski and I had performed some very awkward groping on each other in an attempt to have sex for the first time.

Stephanie smiled at me. "He's charming, but he's a tease. I think he likes you, just don't expect him to stick around."

I decided I could live with that. And all of the sudden I was really glad I'd stolen that chocolate.