A/N: Yay! Update time! That's what these lovely weekends are made for. Thanks to all the readers who stuck with me and are still sticking with me. I've gotten an overwhelming amount of sweet reviews, and I just want to say THANK YOU. Enjoy!

If you want an image to what Riley might look like in the dress, PM me because the link won't work when I put it on here.

IMPORTANT: Try not to go too much off the pictures, I couldn't find ones that would fit the description perfectly. Just try to combine the pictures with how I'll describe the dress in the story.

Rated: T (Just in case)

Chapter 5 – Chocolate Cake

Gabriel was at a loss for words. Utterly speechless. He couldn't even form a sentence.

Riley was waiting by the door, applying red lipstick in the hallway mirror and she hadn't noticed him yet.

He was gaping at the dress she'd finally put on. The black, sleek dress hugged against her curves tightly. The opaque black material stopped just above her chest with a low cut, and above it was lacy material that followed the neckline of the dress and covered both her arms down to her elbows. His eyes slowly made their way down to the bottom hem of the dress, which stopped at mid-thigh. She hadn't packed any high heels apparently, but she was adorning black flats that made her slightly shorter than normal.

Gabriel walked over behind her and caught her eyes in the mirror as she pressed her lips together to smooth her lipstick out. "You done checking me out?" Her grin spread across her face and her cheeks were dimpled with the same pink that had appeared after their kiss in front of the fireplace.

"Not quite yet, actually," Gabriel answered. He was remembering how it felt to have his lips on hers, hand in her hair and body pressed warm against hers. In their short time apart getting ready for the party, he found himself missing her completely and couldn't remember why this this train of thought was treacherous. In fact, he was already formulating excuses to get nearer to her as soon as possible. He grasped Riley's arm and turned her around gently, sliding his hand down her arm until her hand was in his. "I'm really liking this choice of wardrobe, Agent Neil. You're looking beautiful tonight."

"Not so bad yourself, partner." Her breath had caught in her throat, and her eyes had widened at his touch. She was surprised by the honesty she found in his voice. She still wasn't quite over what had happened yet herself. His touch, though delicate in her fingers, was sending an electrifying shock that reverberated all through her. He looked handsome as well, and she was loving the way the tux looked on him. She'd seen him in suits during missions before, but this tux was tailored perfectly for him. "You clean up nice." Really, really nice.

While still keeping their fingers interlocked, Riley pulled up her other hand to straighten his tie, letting it linger on the warmth she could feel through the fabric of his shirt when she was done. The air seemed heavy again.

In an effort to bring the situation back to normal, she spoke up. "How far is the lodge from here? Do we need to take the car?" She heard the hitch in her own voice. It wasn't like the fact that they were holding hands was affecting her at all. Not even a little.

"No," he started, his own voice low, "I only took the car before because I was carrying your laundry. Well, actually, I still need to take back your load from the dryer, so we might need to ride there." He tried not to show disappointment when she dropped both her hands and stepped out the door.

"But it's such a nice day. We can just take the laundry back tomorrow morning. I'm sure they won't mind." It looked much nicer outside. The earlier clouds had parted and the sun was lowering in the sky, but it wasn't quite setting. She took a deep breath of the fresh mountain air and turned back to Gabriel who was gazing admiringly at her.

Riley wasn't even sure she could remember what it felt like when her face wasn't flushed.

"Alright then, first thing tomorrow. It's only a short walk down the road anyway," he answered. They made their way past the driveway and heard the gravel crunch under their feet as they walked down the dirt road in silence.

As the lodge came into their view, Gabriel hooked his arm into Riley's. "Looks like they're really taking this whole party thing seriously."

"Wow," Riley breathed. She paused in her steps to admire the decorations on the lodge. There was a big banner around the giant lodge announcing the anniversary party and the log building was covered in stringed lights which were barely visible in the early evening light. There was a little area set out on the lawn where the dance floor was extended. "It's a lot nicer than I thought it would be."

Gabriel moved his hand to rest against her lower back and pushed her forward from her sudden standstill. As they neared the lodge and crossed the threshold, they were greeted by Ms. Bates. The blonde woman was dressed up in red and was positively beaming. "I'm so glad you folks could come! You both look amazing. Do you like how the lodge looks? I wasn't on the decorating committee but I appreciate their hard work. They sure took a lot of time on those lights. They still might be the same ones we used from Christmas, but they look beautiful all the same. Oh, dinner should be served pretty soon. We're waiting for a couple other people from the town nearby to come. There were plenty of lodgers, you see, but the more the merrier, right?" She was talking a mile a minute and making their heads spin.

Gabriel cut her off before she started up again. "Oh yes, most definitely. Now, if you excuse us, we're just going to go check out the decorations near the dance floor." She seemed to accept this and let them be. Once out of earshot, he leaned down and whispered, "Does she even know how similar she is to the other Ms. Bates?"

Riley chuckled. "I'd prefer Ms. Bates than Norman Bates, at least." Gabriel locked their arms together again and led them to a table that was stocked with champagne glasses. They clinked their glasses together and he gave her a smoldering, dimpled smile over his glass.

Riley stared at him and watched his throat work as he sipped his drink. To hell with distracting her, she could barely even think straight at all anymore. When his mouth had last left hers, Riley knew she was in trouble. He was one of the best kissers she'd ever had the fortune to meet, and the memories of those blissful moments were consuming her mind. Her lips were still tingling, and yet the kiss had been over an hour ago. She had honestly tried to think of other things, but gave up every time he rested his hand on her.

Which kept happening all too frequently.

Before dinner started she excused herself to visit the bathroom. As she was walking through the crowd, she ran into a tall man in a tuxedo similar to her partner's. In fact, Riley was almost sure she'd bumped into Gabriel at first, but realized this stranger had a radically different look about him. It was almost refreshing. After listening to her apologies, the man introduced himself as Christopher Pellegrino.

He shook her hand, saying, "Please, call me Chris."

They'd made small talk and Riley found the man to be charming in his own way. She learned that he'd come to visit the park for the past two weeks and was an avid hiker. After talking about his adventures for a few minutes, he finally asked about her. "Are you here with anybody?"

Riley nodded towards Gabriel, who was stuck talking to Officer Bates at the moment. "It seems I'm with him tonight," she sighed. Chris must have taken her melancholy attitude to mean that she was unhappy with her date rather than frustrated with herself.

"Boyfriend troubles?" he asked knowingly. He had a smug sort of smirk on his face, but it was not nearly as attractive as when Gabriel did the same.

Wait, she found that irritating smirk attractive?Her mental slip, along with Chris' implication, had anxious butterflies swirling in her stomach.

"No! Oh no, not at all. We're not dating, actually." That was as far as she got before Gabriel came up and pulled her aside. "Sorry, excuse me for a moment Chris!" she called back.

Gabriel was frowning at her with a crease in his brow, but she was glaring right back. "Gabriel, that was rude!" she protested and shook him off.

"Huh?" he asked, looking back towards Chris. "Wait a minute, you think I was rude just then? You just left me over there with her," he paused, pointing at the talkative park ranger, "and you think I'm ill-mannered?" He ran a distressed hand through his hair. Riley almost felt sorry for him. "Can you please just promise not to leave me alone like that again?"

Riley raised her eyebrows in a teasing fashion. "You've become too dependent on me, Gabriel," she said, shaking her head. "Using that poor lady as an excuse for me not to leave your sight," she sighed. When Gabriel sputtered, she continued. "You could've just told me you wanted to spend more time together." Her disapproving look almost faltered when Riley saw that Gabriel thought she was serious.

"I never – what? But she…and I don't want…" He broke off at last when she started grinning. He rolled his eyes at her mind games. "Very funny. I meant alonewith her. I'd just rather have a conversation with a woman who actually lets me participate." He tried to keep his angry glare on her, but couldn't hold a grudge when the sound of his partner's soft laughter graced his ears.

"Sorry. I'll try to keep you away from her." All to myself. She decided not to say that last thought out loud.

She wasn't jealous, but she was maybe a teeny bit possessive. After all, it wasn't like she'd met anybody else in the crowd besides Chris, and she knew Gabriel could converse with her and sound much less self-absorbed than the other man. Chris was certainly proud of his accomplishments, but he was a littletoo proud.

When one of the park managers announced that the food was ready, all the guests took their seats at a group of long banquet tables. Gabriel sat adjacent to Riley, waiting until he knew Ms. Bates was seated at the other end of the room before he actually plopped down. She'd talked his ear off earlier and he hadn't known how to leave her without seeming rude. When the officer had asked if he was dating Riley, he'd denied it and immediately taken the opportunity to say that he needed to check on her, thus forcing him to interrupt his partner's conversation with her new acquaintance. He only came to see Riley in the dress, after all, and certainly not to endure an evening of mindless chatter.

After the food was served and the guests around them dug in, the two partners sat in a comfortable silence while eating. Well, Gabriel was eating his meal.

After he'd finished, he'd looked to his side to see Riley was just picking at the small pile left on her plate. "Not liking it?" he whispered.

She shook her head. "It's good. I just sort of lost my appetite," she whispered back. She was avoiding his gaze. Their silence had given her the opportunity to get lost in her thoughts, which, were obviously directed to her feelings concerning her partner.

She wanted to shake herself out of this daydream she was losing herself in. She was Gabriel's bodyguard, for crying out loud. She shouldn't be hanging on every single word he said, but she just couldn't tell if it was her imagination or not that was making it seem like Gabriel liked her.

Usually, he teased her mercilessly and judged her over-protective ways. He was never this civil or pleasant to her. In fact, that's what nearly convinced her that everything was in her head.

Maybe he'd been right before, maybe she got too caught up with their make-out session to think straight. But that couldn't be possible either; she did not like him like that. She just didn't. He was a hell of a kisser, but she wasn't supposed to get her feelings involved. If she got her feelings involved, she couldn't work to the best of her ability. She was trying with a great effort not to let that happen.

After answering Gabriel's question, she picked up her fork and pushed a mouthful through her small smile to satisfy him. He was still wearing a concerned expression, however, and placed a hand on her knee. "Really, Riley. Are you sure you're okay? You've been glaring at your plate like it's stolen your boyfriend for the past fifteen minutes."

She stifled a laugh. At least he knew how to bring her out of a funk. Her leg started to feel unnaturally warm because he'd started rubbing small circles on the side of her knee with his thumb. Riley was glad he'd turned away, more attentive to the servers bringing out desert plates.

He probably wasn't even aware he was touching her. His fingers were moving of their own accord and wrapping around the inside of her knee, gently massaging in an effort to comfort her. His touch was both soothing and – to Riley's annoyance – incredibly distracting. He either wasn't paying any attention at all or was doing the exact opposite, because he started tracing pattern up the inside of her leg, which then transitioned to tracing a line from her knee to the hem of her skirt. Well, it would've been her skirt had she not immediately scooped his hand with her own and squeezed hard to snap him out of it.

"Ow! What?"

"You should pay a little less attention to stuffing your face and more to what your hands are doing," she scowled, giving him a menacing look that would've made any other man run.

Gabriel, she was learning, was no ordinary man. "Sorry. I promise I'll make a better effort next time." He gave her a shit-eating grin and laughed when she smacked his arm.

"What makes you think there'll be a next time?" she scoffed.

"What makes you think there won't?" he retorted with a suggestive wink.

"Not a chance," she'd said just a little louder than their steady whispers.

"Alright, alright. Calm down," he shushed her.

"Make me." She saw Gabriel glance to her mouth. Why had they sat so close, anyways?

His tone sounded as if his resolve was waning quickly. "I can certainly do that, agent."

No. They weren't doing this again, and certainly not in this crowded room full of strangers. She tried for light and playful again. "Well you can certainly shut me up by doing one, really sweet thing."

"And what would that be?" he asked impatiently.

She leaned closer to whisper in his ear. "I would so love it if you could be a gentlemen," she paused to draw out the moment, "…and get me a nice slice of chocolate cake from the desert table." Seeing his forlorn expression, she sat back and added, "Please?"

Not knowing what else to do, Gabriel begrudgingly obliged. When he returned to the table and handed her the cake, Riley's face brightened.

"You've got some fudge on your face." Riley turned to him and he could see a chocolate smudge across her cheek. He took the opportunity to use his thumb and wipe up the fudge sauce. He was about to bring it back to his mouth when she caught his hand first and took it back. He tried to swallow past the lump in his throat when she took his thumb into her own mouth and licked it clean.

It happened in span of a few seconds, but it felt like all time had slowed down to Gabriel.

She released his hand then and said, "You tried to take the mac and cheese off my face the other night like that. Quit trying to steal my food."

"Maybe I wanted a taste. You make it look delicious." She cut him off with a look and hurried to finish her cake, sliding the plate away from him. She chose not to reply to his suggestive comments while taking extra care to eat less sloppily.

A while after desert, they'd started arguing again over this and that. They were so caught up in fighting with each other that they didn't notice everyone getting up and moving to the dance floor. The guests were mostly mingling and not paying attention to the couple fighting at the tables. Everybody began dancing when the music played and the partners finally realized the party had moved elsewhere. However, both were too fed up with one another to do anything about it.

Not too long after they sat brooding and staring at the happy crowd, Riley saw Chris making his way to her. He offered his arm to her and asked her to dance, which she accepted without so much as a glance at Gabriel. She deserved to enjoy herself at this party.

"You didn't look like you were having much fun over there," Chris observed. Puffing out his chest, he remarked, "I knew I could get you to cheer up if you danced with me. Besides, it's much more fun over here on the dance floor than over with that chum in the corner."

Riley looked over to "that chum" to see him staring out of focus, not looking all that upset about his missing partner. She turned back to Chris and danced closer to him.

What Riley didn't know was that Gabriel had already accessed Chris's phone and started messing with all of his personal settings, changing contact names and lock-screen passwords so that Chris would think he'd picked up someone else's phone by mistake. The nerve of that guy. Couldn't he see that Riley was with him? Well not with-with him, but they'd arrived together, so that should've counted for something.

Gabriel rose to make his way to Riley and he was just a few steps away when a hand at his arm swung him around. He calmed his natural fighting instincts as he realized it was Office Bates who'd stopped him and tried to mask his grimace with a smile. She smiled back to him, asking if he'd had a moment to dance.

He didn't have the chance to say no as she grabbed hold of him and started swaying to the music. She made him very uncomfortable for some reason, but he was making an effort not to be rude to her. "Hello, Gabe. I hope you're having a good time tonight. I was just looking around for a good dance partner, and when I saw you – boy did I think I was lucky! You can call me Sally by the way."

"Okay, Sally. I'm having a good night." He said as he continued to make small talk with her. She was at least letting him contribute to the conversation somewhat, but he really didn't plan on chatting with her for too much longer. He glanced over at Riley. She was smiling at her dance partner, but something didn't seem quite right. She was fake smiling, he realized. Now, if he could just think of an excuse to get to her…

"I'm actually quite relieved that you told me you were unattached to that woman," Sally said when she caught Gabriel staring. "I was scared I wouldn't have the chance to sneak a dance in with you at all tonight."

Gabriel cleared his throat when she winked, but a sudden idea popped into his head. "Oh, I never said we were unattached. I just said we weren't dating. Actually, we're happily married." Oh, Riley was so going to kill him.

Sally blushed. "Oh forgive me, Gabe. The way I saw you two fighting at the tables earlier had me thinking differently. Well I am glad I got to dance with you. She's a lucky woman to have you." She smiled cheekily and patted his arm. "You should go steal her from that man - Chris, I think his name was. He comes here all the time trying to convince women to go hiking with him. I'm sure you don't have anything to worry about, though, seeing as your wife loves you." With that, she graciously left him alone on the floor.

Gabriel was starting to get worked up by now, as he knew that he and his "wife" were not in fact legally attached. He might have a small reason to worry about his date being stolen by a womanizer. Not that Riley couldn't take care of herself, but she had been looking uncomfortable a minute ago. He looked at her again across the dance floor and saw a tight-lipped smile. Maybe she needed an excuse to leave Chris.

He justified his next actions with that reasoning in mind.

He went to Chris and Riley and interrupted whatever they were talking about. "May I steal my wife for a dance?" Riley's eyes went wide. To his surprise, though, she went along with it quite eagerly, letting go of Chris to reach for Gabriel's outstretched hand.

Maybe their dance was going worse than he thought.

Chris frowned when she moved away. Gabriel never thought he would see a grown man actually pout. With his shaggy brown hair and neatly-trimmed beard, Gabriel thought Chris looked more like a hobo than an outdoorsman. "Hey! You didn't tell me you were married," Chris scowled at Riley.

"Well you never gave me the chance. You were too busy telling me about your latest trip remember?" She smiled sweetly. Only Gabriel recognized the insult. "It was nice talking to you, Chris."

"You guys can't possibly be married. Everyone saw you bickering. You don't need to make excuses just to please this guy either, Riley. You can still dance with me if you like." He waggled his eyebrows in a truly unattractive fashion. He just wasn't getting it.

"Thanks, but I'm going with my husband now. I haven't gotten the chance to dance with him yet." With that she grabbed Gabriel's jaw and leaned it down to hers for a quick peck on the cheek, hoping that would be convincing enough. Chris just rolled his eyes and was about to let something even more unintelligent come out of his mouth, so Riley grabbed Gabriel close to her again.

She looked into his eyes for a split second, asking permission.

At his almost imperceptible nod, she fused their lips together once more. This sort of thing was beginning to be a regular occurrence for them. Gabriel had stood stock-still during her small, unexpected peck before. He grew annoyed at the way Chris dismissed them so easily though, and he would've taken her into his own arms if she hadn't moved quicker.

Riley was trying to make the kiss look convincing enough for Chris while still being acceptably decent in public. It was a rather chaste kiss as compared to their last few, and it lasted barely five seconds before they separated. Thankfully, they caught sight of Chris moving deeper into the crowd and away from them. "Thanks," Riley breathed.

"Anytime," Gabriel quipped. Riley furrowed her brow. He wasn't his usual mindless self. He really did seem unaffected this time. Not that it was a spectacular kiss by any means, but Riley couldn't bring herself to be quite as nonchalant as he was acting.

She followed him when he grabbed two more champagne glasses. Both agents downed the glasses quickly. Riley was excited before when he came to her rescue. He'd been intent on dancing with her before, eager to take her away from that self-absorbed hiker who hadn't moved his hands off her waist since they'd started dancing.

She moved to the part of the dance floor that was outside where she could see the stringed lights better against the darkening sky. After shrugging out of his jacket, Gabriel followed and caught her forearm, turning her into his embrace to sway to the slow song that had started up.

Gooseflesh arose where his hand was scorching her, and so she shook him off to place her arms around his shoulders. It wasn't any better after that, though, because he placed his warm hands around her waist. She couldn't bring herself to look at him and pointedly avoided his gaze.

"Listen, Gabriel. I'm sorry I used you to get away from Chris like that," she began. "I promised I was going to be more professional."

"Sorry?" Gabriel questioned. She heard him let out a quick laugh and brought her eyes back to his. "You should be sorry."

She was frowning, awaiting his outburst, when he tugged his arms round her waist more tightly. He continued, "That was the shortest kiss yet, and it was nothing as compared to before."

She couldn't tell if he was teasing or not, for he kept his face neutral.

"Hey, I'd like to think it was just fine. It certainly wasn't mind blowing, but it wasn't bad," Riley said. He was trying to wind her up, she was convinced now. Attempting to keep the unexpected hurt out of her voice, she asked, "Are you saying I'm a bad kisser, then?"

"Of course not. You're just fine," he sniffed, giving her a disapproving look. "I mean, you said there "wouldn't be a next time," so you won't get to prove it. I guess that last kiss was justfine." He knew he'd gotten under her skin when he felt her arms clench around his shoulders.

He felt himself being dragged downward when she fisted her fingers in his hair. He smiled and met her halfway – he couldn't not smile at his partner's eager-to-prove-him-wrong attitude.

It really worked in his favor sometimes.

Thankfully, none of the other dancers had made their way out to the outdoor floor, so she made out with him unabashedly, trying to prove him wrong. Gabriel shoved one of his hands through her soft hair, bringing her mouth ever closer to his. The other hand that was at her hip fisted into the thin fabric of the dress. Gabriel found he was becoming ever so fond of the outfit. The dress hugged her so tightly, it felt as if he could feel Riley's skin underneath, and so he kept his hand there to keep her steady.

When he removed his other hand from her hair, it traveled down the length of her dress to toy with the bottom lining. His fingertips danced on the edge of the fabric and skirted along her thigh, making the bare skin there tingle delightfully.

Still going strong in her effort to prove Gabriel wrong, Riley was teasing him with her mouth. She slipped past his lips and traced his tongue with hers. Gabriel hadn't even noticed the quiet moan he'd let out. The hand not gripping his shoulder momentarily came up to frame his jawline and tilted his head at a more comfortable angle. Riley was shorter in the shoes she was wearing, and the greater height difference wasn't quite working to her advantage. She stepped closer to him so that she could stand on her tippy toes to meet his ravenous mouth, moaning herself when the movement caused his hand to inadvertently tighten his grip on her upper thigh. He pulled her weight into his arms and he was nearly lifting her off the ground.

"Any complaints?" she asked against his mouth.

"None at all," he replied out of breath. He wasn't quite finished, though, and took another minute to savor the taste of her mouth under his. They were still attached when Gabriel placed her feet back down on the ground. He released her lips finally, but still held her close.

They hadn't finished their dance yet, after all.

An uncomfortable silence arose between them soon. Gabriel spoke up first.

"I have to say, I was still right."

Riley turned to him, eyes still a bit glassy and soft. "What – what do you mean?" she asked, anxious about the serious tone of his voice. He'd just said there was nothing to complain about…right?

Oh, she should seriously get a grip. Riley couldn't decide if she wanted to scream at herself for doing the exact opposite of what she was supposed to or scream because she'd gotten tricked into voluntarily kissing Gabriel.

He held her gaze for a beat to build suspense.

"The chocolate cake did taste delicious," he raised his eyebrows and made a show of licking his lips. Her mouth was still infused with the flavor, and it was part of what made the kiss completely irresistible this time. He decided that the flavor would always remind him of Riley.

Riley wrinkled her nose and let out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. "I still don't see why you couldn't get your own," she mumbled, but just rested her head on his chest.

The song was coming to an end soon, but Gabriel thought that he could probably stay in this single moment in time forever. Her hands wrapped around his waist, and he hugged Riley to him in response. His heart felt like it was being tugged out of his chest when he heard her sigh. "You're really going to have to stop doing that, you know," she whispered.

"What, kissing you senseless?" he breathed.

"No, stealing my food like that," she replied. Then, he heard her sudden intake of breath as she fumbled over her words. "I didn't mean- yes, that too. That's exactly what I meant." She hated when Gabriel made her flustered.

"We're still complete professionals though, so it wasn't a problem," Gabriel heard Riley mumble, more to herself than him. She was probably reminding herself that they were to keep a metaphorical distance between them.

Thank god it wasn't a literal distance, Gabriel thought.

"Good, then. Glad that's settled." Gabriel had forgotten all about the point of the last kiss. He just knew that he needed to keep finding ways to kiss her in the future, Lillian and her orders of professionalism be damned. He could still maintain a working relationship with Riley, only he'd get the side benefit of stealing her lips every now and then. At least, for as long as they were able to stay in the park.

"Great," Riley answered. She wasn't so sure she wanted everything to go back to normal either. The moment they headed back into work, everything was sure to change and their perfect moments in the park would be shattered. She hoped it took a long time for the Cyber Unit to give them the "OK" to come back down to D.C.

Besides, she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep her feelings strictly professional. He really did have a gift when it came to kissing her.

Both of them were swaying to the music, not noticing the time pass. Before they knew it, they'd danced with each other all night, talking to each other all the while. They started to leave once the lodge managers turned off the music and thanked the guests for coming.

They'd had a pretty good night together, all in all. Gabriel took her hand in his as they walked up the dirt road to the cabin. They paused at one of the outlooks to see the valley below painted with bright moonlight. They could see all the stars from here. "This is much better than in the city. I haven't seen a sky full of stars in years," Riley said.

Gabriel agreed. "I used to love this sort of view. Sometimes, I hack the satellite pictures up there," he pointed to the sky, "and I stargaze even when the city lights block the view." They stayed until their necks hurt from the odd positions.

"We should stargaze on the roof of the back patio when we get back," she suggested. Gabriel smiled down at her. Nothing could make this day better.

And that, of course, was when he heard a rustle coming from a bush nearby them. Riley turned around at the noise and pulled her gun out from somewhere. They heard leaves crunching and twigs snapping as a dark form started running towards them.

How could the guardsman have found them already?

The situation didn't look good. They were cornered at the steep edge of the lookout with nowhere to run. As the figure stepped out into the moonlight, both agents held up their guns in defense.

It seemed they weren't going to enjoy a nice walk back together after all.

A/N: I Know I'm mean! But, I had to leave the chapter there. I promise there are better chapters to come, and I'll try to get them up when I can. I hope you're liking the story so far. I wasn't the happiest with how this chapter turned out, but let me know what you guys think of it so far. Also – did you like Riley's dress? I certainly want one like it for myself.

Thanks once again to diana_of_wales for all the help – I couldn't publish this story without you.
Also, thanks to all the wonderful reviewers who I especially appreciate for taking the time to tell me our thoughts. All readers are lovely!