DISCLAIMER: L&O CI GOOD THING THEY'RE NOT MINE!

CHAPTER 6 MORE KISSING

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Someone Has To Clean Up The Mess

Alex rolls off Bobby and they both took their non-thinking positions back. Not thinking after that kiss however, was impossible. They were doing what Alex called "something more constructive," watching paint dry. After their paint fight, paint was everywhere … including the ceiling, which is what they were staring at.

"So, says a nervous Bobby, is watching paint dry really more constructive than fighting with me?"

"We really made a mess of this room."

"Eames? Did we make a mess of us?"

Alex looks over at him then back up at the ceiling. She's thinking about all the times she's wanted to kiss him versus all the times she's wanted to strangle him. Right now she wants to kiss him and strangle him, simply because the kiss was great but he's still an idiot.

"Why would you say that … how would one simple kiss mess us up Bobby?"

He rises up on his elbows and shifts his body to the side to have more access to her.

"There was nothing simple about that kiss Eames." His manly instincts or animal, kick in and he starts playing with the buttons of her shirt.

She shifts her body to face him and to call his bluff.

"After eight years, I simply wanted to know what it was like to kiss you … simple … kiss." As she says simple and kiss, she kisses his nose then his lips … quickly yet somehow, seductively.

Two can play this game … so he thought … she wasn't playing. He rolled her back over and kissed her … the old Bobby Goren was back in that moment … it scared him because this was Alex. He never treated women with much respect … not the ones he dated. He had nothing but respect for Alex … somehow this felt right and wrong. He placed both his hands on either side of her and pushed up.

"Gotta go."

"What? Wait … why?"

"I … we … us … Alex, I'm not ready for us." As he's talking … sort of … he's walking backwards tripping over various things, but quickly heading for her door.

"Bobby, please don't leave. Lets talk about this … no more kissing … I promise."

"That's just it Eames, I like the kissing part … too much. I was ready to walk away from seeing you everyday, now I don't want to leave you tonight. I'm messed up."

"So what are you going to do, go back and lie on your floor and stare at the ceiling and think about nothing?"

He stops retreating and walks back towards her. His head is down but his eyes are on her. He brings his hands up to her face and rubs his thumbs along the sides of her cheeks. He rubs his nose on hers and keeps their foreheads together.

"How can I think about nothing? You'll be on my mind and I'll want to come right back here but we should take this slow and if I stay any longer we won't take it slow."

"So you think I'm easy, Goren?"

"Yeah … I do."

She pushes him away and pretends to look pissed off, he grabs her and pulls her in for another kiss.

"I could fall in love with you Alex Eames and that's the last thing that I wanted."

"What's the first?"

"To fall in love with you."

"So I guess you're really leaving?"

"Yeah, I think that's best."

"Who's gonna help me clean up the mess?"

"Which one?"

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it. I'll call you tomorrow."

With that thought for her to ponder, he kisses her goodnight and leaves. Alex is left scratching her head. She makes her way back to the spare room to see what she could do about the mess and decides to take her place on the floor and think about it. What other mess, could he mean their relationship? He was a big boy … if he didn't want it he could say so. Was the other mess him? This just wasn't fair … it was a puzzle without pieces … she did have the pieces, it was time to lay them out. She has seen Bobby do it time and again on a case and if ever there was a case to be solved this was it. She wasn't going to let him go with out a fight. When he was "interrogating" Dec, she was in the observation room listening. She was there in case he needed her. She heard him say to Dec that he put the pieces of Bobby's life together, that's what she was about to do. Actually … it was their life together not just his. She knew she was in love with him when she went off on him in the observation room after he interrogated Stoat. She realized what life would be like without him if he had been killed. By her … she would have died herself … by someone else … she would have retired from the force. She cried for nights after that, when she fell asleep, she had nightmares, always the same one … Bobby's funeral and she was the only one there.

She mentally laid out the puzzle pieces of their life together concentrating on the last two years. His two big blows, her kidnapping and his mother's illness, they seem to come back to back. She was told that he was an emotional wreck during her kidnapping. Not sleeping or eating … only thinking about finding her and never allowing himself or anyone around him to give up hope of finding her alive. He had found out about his mother around the same time but didn't want to burden her with that knowledge … he just started to crumble around her instead. Too much, too much. The last two years … she didn't want to think anymore she wanted to be with him. She got in her car and headed to his apartment.

He arrived back at his apartment and headed for the frig and cracked open a beer. He started thinking about the last two years of his life and hers. It hadn't been a picnic for her either. Dec brought that back up … not that being kidnapped ever goes away, the fear and the violation in your own home. Her partner falling apart and losing control every time she turned around … always playing the mediator between him and their Captain. He was wrong wanting space, he needed to be with her, to tell her thank you for staying by his side when she shouldn't have. Thank you for being a friend when he couldn't see it because he was too self absorbed to see what she was going through. Thank you for calling him an idiot, because that's what he was but not anymore, he wasn't going to let her get away. He got back in his car and headed back to her house.

Alex arrived at his place and didn't see his car parked any where in site. Her crazy thoughts started to play tricks on her again … where could he be? He should have been home for at least two hours … more than that. She went inside and found the half drunk bottle of beer … did someone call him for a night cap? Some tall slutty blonde? He wouldn't … would he? She called his cell … it buzzed behind her. Great! She got back in her car and headed home.

He arrived at Alex's house and saw that her car was missing from her driveway, he reached into his pocket for his cell phone an discovered that he had left it behind. He let himself into her house once again and started to clean up the mess. When she got back from wherever she went … he intended on cleaning up the mess he made of their life.

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Fun, fun,fun ... I love messing with these two! Do you like it? Tell me please :) reviews are appreciated, even bad ones! Thanks for reading! Judeey