In the woods, the air was cool and crisp and the aroma of fresh rain hung all around them. Monica and Andrew had opted to take their walk in the woods, for Tess had indeed denied their offers to help once again. Andrew suspected that the reason she didn't want them near the dinner was because of Monica's reputation in the kitchen, but Tess would never say that to her. It was just easier to keep them both away until it was ready so that Monica wouldn't feel left out.

They had walked together for a long while, not chatting much or about anything in particular, just walking and enjoying each other's company. It was surprisingly much more relaxing than sitting around and reading, and certainly much more invigorating. The woods were beautiful any time of the year, but there was something about the autumn season, and especially after a rain, that made the colors and smells more vibrant and appealing. The reds, oranges, yellows and the occasional spit of green made the forest look more like a magical kingdom than a wood tucked away in the Colorado Rockies.

Monica had walked ahead of Andrew, claiming that she wanted to pick some flowers to make an arrangement for the dinner table. "If I can't help cook, I'll at least make some decorations. I mean, it's the least I can do with all the hard work Tess is doing all by herself, right?" He had agreed with her, and she had set off on her quest to find flowers for the table. She was only about ten feet ahead of him, darting back and forth across the muddy path whenever she found a cluster of flowers that she liked. After a half-hour or so, Monica was finally satisfied with her collection and at Andrew's suggestion, they started back to the cabin. They walked in silence for a while, glancing at each other every so often and smiling. They sun was beginning to peak through the clouds and the light was radiating through the trees, flickering and dancing in the leaves and reflecting in Monica's auburn hair.

"That's a beautiful bouquet," Andrew said, nodding towards the flowers she held in her arms, "they're all so different, but they go together perfectly." She smiled at him again and picked one from the bouquet, a pretty, red carnation and held it out for him.

"I picked this one for you."

Andrew smiled a big smile and withdrew his hand from behind his back. In it was the most beautiful red rose that Monica had ever seen. The petals were full and the color was so vibrant and so deep that it was breathtaking. The stem and leaves were of the brightest emerald green, and there wasn't a thorn in site.

"And I picked this for you," he said, exchanging flowers with her.

"How did you …" she looked at the rose, in awe of it's perfection and beauty, and then back at him, shaking her head, "I didn't see any roses on the path …" She touched it and felt the velvety softness of the petals and in that instant, a feeling rose up in her that made her want to laugh and cry at the same time. She didn't know what it was, and she had never felt anything of the sort before. It wasn't a bad feeling, but the strength of it almost frightened her.

"I … th-thank you, I … it's beautiful," she whispered, shaking her head again as if she were trying to rid her mind of something intruding. Andrew was still looking at her, trying to read the expression on her face. It was not the reaction that he had initially expected, but it touched him deeply to know that she was in such awe of something as simple as a flower. There were times when she really surprised him, and this was one.

"You're welcome," he said, and then he noticed the tears in her eyes and stepped closer.

"What's wrong?" He asked, reaching out and tucking a strand of her long hair behind her ear. Monica closed her eyes and a lone tear trickled down her cheek.

"Nothing … nothing's wrong, I …" she started after she opened her eyes, finding herself, once again, at a loss for words. She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head again.

"Hey Princess, come here …" he said softly, using the nickname that he had christened her with earlier. She took a step towards him and he took her in his arms and hugged her tight. "You know you can talk to me," he whispered in her ear, "no matter what it is, you can always tell me what's bothering you … always." He pulled back from her then so that he could look into her eyes. He brushed his thumb across her cheek, wiping the tear away and whispered again, "Please tell me." She nodded and took a deep breath before saying,

"It's not that something's wrong exactly … it's this feeling I got when you gave me this rose. I can't explain it, I've never felt like that before and … it scared me a little," she admitted shyly, unable to look away from the deep pools of green that were his eyes. Andrew nodded and replied,

"Well, when you gave me this carnation, I had a feeling too. My heart jumped I think, or skipped a few beats, maybe. It was hard to breathe for a second and just as fast as it came, it was gone again. Was it something like that?"

Monica found herself, once again, staring at Andrew in awe. She nodded, but couldn't figure out what to say in reply, so she said nothing. Andrew hadn't really expected her to say anything back; he understood how she felt and didn't see any reason for her to say it out loud. He decided that it was time to change the subject to something lighter, something that wasn't so serious. It was time to relax a little.

"So, we should probably head back. We've been gone a while, and Tess might start to worry," he said, nodding in the direction of the cabin.

"Yeah, you're probably right," she replied, shifting her bouquet of flowers to her other arm, but keeping her rose in her right hand by itself. They walked along the muddy path in silence again, looking everywhere but at each other; they were both feeling a little awkward after their 'strange feelings' moment. Neither one of them had noticed that the clouds had crossed in front of the sun again and when they were still five minutes from the cabin, the sky opened up and poured harder than it had all day, rain coming down by the bucket full and soaking the two angels within seconds.

They started running, and almost immediately, Monica lost her balance and nearly slipped in the mud. Andrew had known what was going to happen a split-second before and had caught her around the waist just in time, and he held onto her until they were safely at the back door of the cabin. Before they could open it though, the sky flashed and thunder cracked through the air so loud that Monica jumped a mile and screamed in surprise.

When they got inside, they saw that Tess was waiting by the window, looking out at the storm apprehensively. She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw them and said,

"If I wasn't so worried about the two of you, I would have your heads for coming in this house drippin' like that! The sky's been getting' darker and darker over the last hour, I can't believe you didn't come back sooner!" She wasn't angry, but she was extremely protective of them, and they both apologized for making her worry.

"Sorry, Tess," Andrew said, "we were in the woods and couldn't see the clouds coming back. We didn't notice it getting darker since it was already so dark." Tess shook her head and replied,

"It's alright baby, no need to apologize. Just be more careful next time … that lightning looked awfully close." She shuddered as she thought of what could have happened, and then noticed that Monica was shivering so bad that her teeth were chattering. Tess suggested a hot shower and warm clothes for them both. "And I'll have some hot soup ready for you when you get back down, ok? How does that sound?" She asked.

"T-that s-s-sounds g-great," Monica stuttered through chattering teeth, nodding her head gratefully. Tess seemed to notice the bouquet of flowers in Monica's arms just as she was about to turn and go up the stairs.

"Those flowers are beautiful, Baby," she said warmly, even though some had broken stems and drooping petals, "I have a vase that they would look lovely in. Why don't you let me fix them up while you have a hot bath?" Monica smiled at Tess and handed her the flowers, but a second later, her smile disappeared and she stepped back from Tess looking slightly alarmed. She looked down at her muddy hands, and then on the floor below and behind her as if she were looking for something, and then with a stricken expression, hurried from the room and up the stairs.

Andrew, who knew immediately that it was her red rose she had been looking for, looked at Tess and shrugged his shoulders in response to her curious look. He didn't feel that he could explain the rose, and why Monica seemed to be upset about losing it, to Tess just then. He was still holding the red carnation from Monica in his right hand, and averted his eyes from Tess's when she looked from the flower to him.

"I think I'll go get cleaned up too," he said hastily, not looking directly at her. She nodded in agreement, still perplexed by Monica's behavior, but she let it go. Whatever it was, Tess was sure it would be resolved soon enough without her nosing in, and with that thought, she turned and headed back into the kitchen with Monica's flowers.

As soon as Tess was out of the room, Andrew hurried up the stairs, hoping to catch Monica before she got in the shower. He was just about to knock on her closed door when he heard the water turn on from her bathroom. He lowered his fist and sighed, deciding that he could talk to her just as well after they both had gotten cleaned up and changed. He headed to his own room and turned on the shower, and as he stood under the steaming hot water, he could himself thinking about the feeling he had encountered with Monica in the woods. They were just flowers, picked from the muddy ground, but for some reason, the simple exchange had caused a stirring in both of them, and it left Andrew feeling very confused and he was sure that Monica must have been feeling the same way. He couldn't recall ever having a similar feeling like it before, and it was slightly unnerving.

He finished his shower and as he was pulling on a pair of dry pants and a clean sweater, a spit of red flashed in the corner of his eye from the direction of his bedside table. He turned to look and he saw that it was a rose, as perfect and beautiful as the one he had just given to Monica. He grinned and looked up to the ceiling and gave a nod of thanks to the heavens, taking it as a nudge to go and talk to her. He walked over to the table and picked up the rose, observing that it was even more breathtaking then the other one, and then as a second thought, put it back down. He wanted to talk to her first, and then if she got upset, he knew that the rose was a perfect way to get her in a good mood again. He was on his way towards the door when he, on a fleeting whim, backtracked to the bathroom to check his appearance in the mirror. Satisfied with what he saw, he headed out of his room and down the hall to hers and knocked on the door, feeling, for reasons unknown to him, slightly nervous.

Monica was combing her wet hair when she heard the knock on her door, and for a moment, she thought about not answering and pretending to be asleep. She knew that it was Andrew. But as much as she wanted to convince herself otherwise, she really did want to see him … she needed to see him. And so she put her comb down, slipped into her bathrobe, and was tying it around her waist as she answered the door. Andrew looked surprised when she opened it and said,

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize that you weren't-" but he was interrupted by Monica, who shook her head and said,

"It's ok, just … come in." She swung the door open wide enough for him to come through, and then shut it again behind him. She didn't say anything, but went to her closet, grabbed some clothes, and shut herself in her bathroom. She tossed the clothes on the counter and looked in the mirror, slightly annoyed with herself that she let Andrew in when she wasn't dressed and looked terrible. She thought it would be rude to make him wait long, so she did what she could to her wet hair, and decided that she didn't care what she looked like. It was just Andrew anyway.

When she reemerged from the bathroom, Andrew's breath nearly caught in his throat and he was revisited by the strange feeling from the woods. She was dressed so simply, in plaid pajama pants that greatly resembled the ones that he had been wearing earlier, and an oversized t-shirt that he thought might have been his once … but something about her and the way she looked just then was captivating. He had never really realized how beautiful she was, and in that instant, he thought he knew where the odd feelings were coming from. His thoughts were interrupted, however, when Monica spoke.

I'm sorry I walked out so quickly earlier, I was just so cold …" she said, knowing immediately from the look in his green eyes that he didn't buy that excuse for a second. She sighed and apologized again. "Ok, that's not why ,,,"

"Mon, it's ok. It wasn't your fault that you fell. It was just a flower …" Andrew said softly, knowing that she was talking about losing her rose. She shook her head in disagreement,

"No," she said, "it wasn't just a flower. It was my favorite flower and … it was from you." She bit her lip hard to ward off the tears that she could feel forming in her eyes, and she felt like an absolute idiot for not being able to control her emotions. Andrew, once again, felt his heart jump and his throat close up slightly, making breathing a little harder than it normally should have been. He was still processing what she had said and didn't notice that she had started talking again until she was halfway through her sentence.

"… doesn't matter, I know I'm just being stupid," she said, looking at the floor. Andrew couldn't recall ever disagreeing more with something in his entire life. He was frowning as he rose from her bed and walked over to where she was standing, completely overcome with the desire to make her feel better. Just like he had done in the woods, he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and this time, when he came in contact with her skin, he felt a shock in his fingers, and judging by the look in her eyes, she had felt it too. He didn't know what to think about that, but he came to the ridiculous conclusion that he must have shocked her on accident, the way it sometimes happened in the winter when there was static electricity in the air. It was stupid to think it was anything more.

He pulled his hand away quickly after that, and decided that he would politely excuse himself. It was too much to deal with all at once, and he needed some time alone to think. He told her that he would be in his room for a while, reading or something, if she needed him. She nodded her acknowledgment and watched him go, wanting very much for him to stay. He was halfway to her door, when he remembered the rose, and turned back.

"Hey," he said suddenly, "come with me for a sec …" He held out his hand, waiting for her to take it, and he held his breath in the instant before they touched, preparing for another shock, but it didn't come. They walked down the hall together and before he opened his bedroom door, he looked at her and smiled. She returned his smile with a shy one of her own, and a look of curiosity. She had absolutely no idea why he wanted her to come to his room, or what there could possibly be to see that she hadn't already seen. Her question was answered, however, when he opened the door and led her inside.

There, on his nightstand, was a rose … a rose more beautiful even than the one he had given her earlier. Monica could hardly believe her eyes, and as he put the flower in her hand, she lost the fight against her tears, and let them run down her cheeks like rain.

He watched her cry, and he hated it. All Andrew wanted to do was hold her, and as he pulled her into his arms, he felt that shock once again. He smiled to himself and dismissed his scientific theory on static electricity. It was absolute rubbish.

More soon!

Love, A