Who knew that you would get TWO chapters in one day?! My brain was just far too full with delicious plot to wait, so I hope you enjoy this treat!

Once again, Happy Christmas!

It was a very long moment after Sam had disappeared before anything was said between the two young angels and their supervisor. They just sat in an awkward silence, nobody really knowing what to say. Tess felt a little guilty about Sam, and she didn't miss the betrayal in her charge's eyes. She hadn't meant to hurt anyone, she had just been very confused and needed to talk to someone who could advise her, and who better than her own supervisor? She cleared her throat and then spoke softly, looking directly into Monica's eyes,

"Angel Girl, I need a minute alone with Andrew. Could you excuse us please?" Monica looked as if she would rather die than leave the room, and she almost said as much. But Andrew turned towards her, squeezed her in a gentle hug and kissed her forehead lightly.

"It's ok Baby, just go …" He whispered, so only she could hear. She hesitated another moment before turning reluctantly and leaving the room. Andrew's hands tightened into fists and his eyes flashed angrily at the pain that he could clearly see in Monica's. He turned around slowly, taking calming breaths so that he wouldn't do or say anything too irrational. Tess started in on him the moment that Monica was out of earshot.

"Andrew, I don't really know what to say to you," she said, shaking her head with disbelief, "except to ask you what you think you're doing with her?" Andrew narrowed his eyes.

"Excuse me?" He asked angrily, pulling out a chair from the table and sitting finally. He met her gaze with a challenging stare.

"Andrew, she's just a baby …" Tess said, "she hasn't been around for the hundreds of years that you have. Maybe she doesn't realize, but you know very well what's allowed and what's not as far as relationships are concerned, and I'm very disappointed in you." Andrew knew that it was coming, the "rules" talk.

"You know better," she continued, "and I never would have expected this from you. Some other angel maybe, but not you Andrew. Monica has not had to deal with a whole lot of pain in her existence yet. I've tried to see to it that she remain as innocent and unscarred as possible, which is hard work, but I think that I've done fairly well …"

Andrew knew that Tess was extremely protective of Monica, and had been since the moment she became her supervisor, and that they shared a special mother-daughter like bond.

"I refuse to see her get hurt, Andrew … especially hurt by someone that she loves and trusts unconditionally like you." The words hit Andrew like a blow to the face, and he finally understood where she was going with this conversation.

"Tess ... I would never do anything to hurt her, not in a million years. I love her …" he said sadly, his heart nearly breaking at her words. Surely she didn't think he would ever do something to hurt Monica on purpose? "I don't understand …"

"Andrew …" Tess sighed, "If you were anyone else … I would chalk it up to naivety, and tell you to un-feel whatever "love" you think you're feeling. But I can't use that on you, because you're a little too smart for that. So I need to hear it from you, exactly what's going on between the both of you, and I need you to be completely honest with me."

"Tess … I understand that you're trying to protect her. I've known how you've felt about her for a very long time now, and I would never do anything to compromise your trust in me." He paused, trying to work up the guts to say what he needed to say, "Since the first day that I met her, I've loved her in the same way that you and countless others do. She's very special to me. In the years that followed, as we worked together more and more and grew closer … I can't explain the shift in my feelings any more than I can understand it, but it happened and I've lived with it for a long time. I knew that the things I was feeling for her we're different, maybe even wrong. So I kept it to myself, fearing that if I told her what was in my heart that she wouldn't look at me the same, and I would lose my best friend. I couldn't stand the thought of not being with her everyday, so I kept my mouth shut …"

If Tess was surprised by his revelation in the least, she hid it well. She motioned for him to keep talking, and she continued listening.

"A few days ago … she came to me and said that she had been feeling differently and told me everything that was on her heart, including that she was having feelings for me that she might have if she was in love with me, Tess. I never thought that I would hear those words come from her mouth, and I could hardly believe my ears. She did what I never had the guts to do. If it was just me, then I would probably agree with you, but I can't …"

Andrew breathed a huge sigh, not really of relief, but just glad to get all of that off his chest. He had no idea what Tess would say next, though her eyes had widened in surprise when he told her that it was Monica who had confessed first.

"At first," he continued, "she was afraid of what she felt for me, but now … Tess there's no doubt in my mind that I'm in love with her. When she said the words 'I love you' to me … I could feel it right down to my heart, and I could see the honesty in her eyes. There's absolutely no way that either one of us are just imagining this …"

For a moment, Tess had been lost in his story, as if it was right out of one of Monica's silly romance novels. Tears had sprung to her eyes as she listened to him, but she blinked them away angrily when she realized what he was saying. She just shook her head again.

"Angel Boy, look …" she said, her tone softening in an attempt to reason with him, "I know that you think you're in love with her, but … it's not possible for that kind of love to exist between angels, Andrew it's just not …"

"It can't exist and yet … it does," he argued, ignoring the exasperated sigh coming from Tess. "I'm sorry, but I refuse to believe that this is just in our heads."

"Whether it's just 'in your head' or not, Andrew … there are rules and reasons why romance is not allowed and just because you think that you're feeling something does not mean that you can just deliberately disobey them. Do you understand that?"

"Fine!" Andrew replied, nearly shouting at her, his anger escalating quite rapidly. "Then we're breaking the rules. Whether it's wrong or right, I love her, and I don't care!" He stood up from the table, nearly knocking his chair over and was halfway to the door before Tess's wary voice stopped him.

"Do you even realize what you just said?" He did realize, and a part of him regretted saying it so bluntly, although he would never take it back.

"Tess," he said softly, "I'm sorry but … nothing that you say is going to make me stop loving her. And you know Monica … I doubt it will have much of an effect on her either." And he said nothing more, just turned back towards the door and walked through it, his stomach clenching tightly when he saw Monica sitting on the couch looking distraught. She rose immediately and walked to him, searching his eyes for answers to the million questions that she had.

"Andrew …" she whispered fearfully, "what happened?" The need to hold her in that instant was far stronger than his desire to tell her of his less than cheerful conversation with their supervisor. He said nothing, just pulled her into his arms and held her as tightly as he dared. She could hear his heart beating quickly in her ear and she could feel her own heart speeding up to match his. A long moment later, he finally released her and led her back to the couch, pulling her down to sit with him. Her mind was racing still, and she thought she would scream if he didn't tell her what was going on. Andrew gazed at her, and the look in his green eyes sent a chill down Monica's spine.

"Princess …" he said softly, swallowing hard, "I love you, and nothing and nobody can take that from me, do you understand that?" Although she was still confused, and his words scared her, she nodded.

"Andrew, please … what did she say to you?" She asked the question, even though she thought she already had a pretty good idea. "She's mad isn't she? I knew she would be, I-I knew …"

Andrew pulled her close again and whispered,

"She's not mad at you, Baby … she's not happy with either one of us, but it's me she's mad at." Monica's voice trembled slightly when she asked,

"Why?"

Andrew didn't really know how to answer her question in a way that wouldn't scare her even more. He sighed heavily. "I told her that I loved you, and she lectured me on the rules and basically told me that loving you was deliberately disobeying them. And I don't know what that means exactly … but I don't think it's a good thing."

Monica might have cried if not for the terrible sick feeling that overcame her. She felt light-headed and suddenly claustrophobic, as if the room was closing in on her and she was powerless to stop it. She took some steadying breaths, and pulled away from his embrace to look into his eyes again.

"What's … what's going to happen?" She asked, but Andrew shook his head and shrugged. Neither one of them had seem Tess enter the room.

"For the moment," she interrupted, "nothing. But seeing as how my attempt to talk some sense into the pair of you hasn't worked … we'll just have to see. And just so you know," she continued, "if you can't find a way to resolve this, you might not like the consequences."

Andrew glared at Tess, his green eyes flashing dangerously. "What consequences?" He asked coldly. Tess had been hoping that she wouldn't have to be the one to tell them what they would be, but she couldn't back out now.

"Well," she began carefully, "I didn't suggest this, and it wouldn't even have crossed my mind unless Sam had said it first …" Andrew's fierce gaze all but forced her to continue,

"He said that if the 'problem' can't be resolved in an acceptable timely manner, he would have no choice but to …" and she paused, well aware that what she was about to say to them was probably something that they never thought they would hear. After all, the last thing she wanted to do was hurt them. She took a deep, trembling breath of her own and reluctantly finished her sentence,

"… separate you."

The silence was deafening. Andrew instinctively gripped Monica a little tighter, not daring to believe what Tess had just said. It was ludicrous to think that they would be separated as punishment. It was absolutely absurd and Andrew could feel the anger that had been building inside him all morning rushing to the surface at full force.

"WHAT?!" He exploded, releasing his hold on Monica and rising swiftly from the sofa. He wanted to shout or throw something, or both. He looked at Monica and his heart shattered. She was just sitting there in shock, her eyes glazed over and unseeing, trying to process what had just been said. She couldn't even cry.

"Andrew … calm down," Tess said softly, but she sucked in a startled breath as he rounded on her.

"NO," He fired back, shaking his head incredulously, pointing to Monica's trembling form on the couch,

"Look at her! And you thought I was trying to hurt her?" He demanded angrily, "No, you've definitely just done worse than I ever could have imagined …"

"Andrew, it doesn't have to be like this … if you agree to--"

"To what?" He interrupted coldly. "To stop loving her? You must be joking. It's not a light switch that I can just flick on and off, I hate to break it to you." He was being plain rude now, but he didn't care. He almost wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the whole situation. He was just on the verge of spitting out another angry comeback when Monica interrupted them both,

"When?" She croaked, her voice cracking with emotion. Tess looked at her, and knew immediately what she was asking, though Andrew looked confused.

"I don't know, Baby … Sam said he would be back in a few da--" but she cut herself short, glancing to the ceiling and back within a few moments. She looked back to Monica, hating what she had to say,

"I'm sorry … tomorrow."

More Soon!

Love, A