Chris almost didn't believe his eyes when Caroline walked into the bar. He watched her as she ordered a beer and sat down at a table, not even noticing that he was there. He downed the rest of the beer he had been nursing and stood up, making his way towards her.

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Caroline took a long drink of her beer desperate to forget the fact that Chris had been around earlier that night. She cursed herself for the feelings that just the mere thought of him stirred up.

"Fancy seeing you here."

She groaned and turned her head slowly, looking up at the last person she wanted to see. "I can't believe this shit. Out of all the bars in this town...go away Chris."

He ignored what she said and sat down across from her. "Please...just talk to me and hear me out."

"There's nothing that you can say that I want to hear. Leave me alone."

"Caroline if you hear me out and what I have to say doesn't change the way you feel then...I'll go away and you'll never hear from me again."

Caroline knew from the time they were together just how determined he could be and she also knew that he wouldn't give up until she gave in. "Fine but if you expect me to listen to you then I'm going to need more alcohol and make it something a lot stronger than this beer."

Chris smiled and quickly stood up. "Be right back."

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Aleister walked into the house and made his way upstairs to his daughter's bedroom, smiling when he saw Dusty asleep in the rocking chair holding a sleeping Lennon. He walked over and leaned down to kiss Lennon on top of the head before kissing Dusty.

Dusty's eyes fluttered open and she smiled at Aleister. "Hey. Sorry, I must've fallen asleep." She stood up and put Lennon in bed before turning to him and wrapping her arms around his neck. "I'm glad you're home."

He smiled and placed his hands on her hips. "Yeah? How glad?"

She giggled and glanced at the clock. "She's only been asleep for about a half hour so we should have a little time before she wakes up. How about we go to our room and I'll show you just how glad."

"I have always loved the way you think baby." Aleister took her hand and led her out of the room.

{}{}{}{}{}

Chris watched as Caroline downed her third shot of Jack Daniels. "Ready to listen yet?"

"Do I have a choice?" Caroline mumbled, glaring at him and he sighed.

"You always have a choice Caroline."

"Yeah, yeah...start talking before I change my mind." She grabbed the bottle that he had brought back to the table and poured herself another shot.

Chris reached for the bottle and poured a shot for himself. "When I met...her I became blind. She said and did all the right things and I thought that I wanted her more than you."

"Yeah, that's just what I want to hear."

"It was lust Caroline and I mistook it for more than that. It wasn't long after we got together that she started talking about marriage and having kids and all I could think about was that I couldn't picture myself being married to her or having kids with her because she wasn't you."

"You knew she wasn't me when you started fucking around with her! Stop with the bullshit already and just admit that you were a complete bastard who thought you were going to have us both." Caroline hissed, pouring another shot and downing it.

"I...okay, you re right I did. I knew that wasn't fair to you though so I thought that I was doing the right thing by ending it between you and I."

"Did it ever fucking occur to you to end it with her instead of me? I fucking loved you more than anyone I had ever loved in my life and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you until went and tore my heart out."

"I know baby and I am so sorry." Chris said, reaching over to take her hand and he flinched when she jerked away from him. "Caroline..."

"No! It's not going to be that easy! You can't just think you're going to apologize to me and I'll forget about everything that you did to me and fall back in your arms like I used to do."

"I don't think that baby."

"Yes you do! You've always been my biggest weakness Chris and you know that which makes you think that you can treat me any way you want and I'll accept it. Well, I won't! You hurt me so fucking bad and I don't know if I can ever forgive you for it."

Chris downed another shot of his own and sat back. "Caroline I know that I hurt you and it kills me a little more everyday knowing that I'm the one who put that pain and tears in your eyes. All I'm asking for is a chance to show you how sorry I am and try to make things right."

"I don't know if I can give you that chance." Caroline whispered, getting up and walking out of the bar before he could stop her.

{}{}{}{}{}

Aleister moved off of Dusty and collapsed on the bed beside her. "Damn baby you're going to kill me one of these days."

Dusty laughed and turned on her side, running her hand up and down his bare chest. "What a way to go though huh?"

He opened his mouth to say something just as Lennon started to cry. "Right on time."

"I'll get her." Dusty started to get out of bed and stopped when he grabbed her arm.

"Let me go get her." Aleister sat up and kissed her before getting out of bed and walking out of the room.

{}{}{}{}{}

Chris ran out of the bar and grabbed Caroline's arm just as she got to her car. He spun her around and backed her against the car, leaning down to kiss her passionately.

Caroline struggled against him, trying to get away until he put both hands on her hips and pushed his body closer to hers. Finally giving in, she moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck as she deepened the kiss while running her fingers through his hair.

He slowly pulled away from the kiss and smiled at her. "Your place or mine?"

Knowing it was useless to try and resist him, she sighed. "Yours because I'm staying with Dusty and Aleister."

"We'll take my car, come on." Chris took her hand and led her over to his car, silently praying that she wouldn't regret this the next day.