"Why'd you move to Greenich?" Lilian asked in the car.

Dwayne had helped her pack her things and said that he wanted her to come stay with him for a while at his new home in Greenich.

"I let Dany keep our home in Florida. I'm not going to make my little girl move and have to start her life over just because I want to keep a house. I had to go through that, I don't want her to have to either," he answered, keeping his eyes on the highway.

She nodded and decided to leave the conversation at that. She turned her attention outside the passenger window, watching the road pass by.

The silence was uncomfortable, before Dwayne spoke up again. "How's your eye doing?"

"It hurts," Lilian admitted with a sigh, raising a hand up to gently press against her face. "Remind me to tell Trish and Maria the next time I get drunk not to pick a fight with the biggest lady in the bar."

Dwayne chuckled softly, not pressing the issue as Lilian clammed up again. "How's your throat?"

"It's good. Great. Better than it's been in months."

Again, silence.

With a frustrated sigh, Dwayne slammed the brakes to the floor and swerved into the shoulder of the road. Lilian gasped, reaching for the handle and bracing herself as the car came to a stop.

"What the hell is wrong with you!"

"Me? What's wrong with me? You're the one not talking!"

Lilian stared at him, her heart slowing down somewhat. "Excuse you? None of this would be happening if..."

He looked at her knowingly. "If you hadn't have overreacted."

She rolled her eyes and turned to face the window again.

"No!" Reaching over, he gently drew her face to his view. "I don't want to fight with you anymore, Lil."

She looked down, too scared to meet his eyes. "Sorry," she mumbled quietly.

Dwayne sighed again, shaking his head. "You have nothing to be sorry about." She merely sat there, her hands folded in her lap, her eyes downcast.

With her quiet reaction, he shut off the car. Opening the door, he stood up. Before Lilian could say anything, she watched as he threw the car keys as far as possible into the woods.

"What are you doing?" she yelled, listening as the keys jingled with a landing somewhere within the brush.

"We're gonna talk. Because we're gonna be here for awhile."

She stared at him, green eyes unblinking for several moments. "You're fucking nuts, Dwayne."

"Yeah. I've heard that one before. Now, do you want to tell me what's bugging you and why you broke up with me?"

"Because you sent me that message," she said through gritted teeth.

"I don't buy that," he answered.

"Well too damn bad. I'm not asking you to. That's the truth; you can make whatever you want out of it."

He got out of the car, walking over to her side, he opened her door. "Maybe I will. But I don't think that's all of it. What I think is that this article has you really shaken up, what I want to know is why."

"Why? WHY! Do you not care about anything? How apathetic can you possibly get?"

"Well, then, damn it, tell me! Tell me what's wrong!"

With a furious sigh, Lilian ripped her seatbelt off, getting out of the car and standing as close as possible to him. "How do you think I feel?"

"How am I supposed to guess how you feel when you won't tell me what's wrong?" He didn't back down from her angry aura; rather, he met it headfirst.

"Fuck, Dwayne! They called me a home wrecker! They said I was the cause of your divorce!"

"But you're not!"

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?" she yelled, her voice carrying despite the sound of cars whizzing by. She swallowed slightly, trying to will the tears that were forming away. "Don't you think, D, that that hurts me just a little bit?"

"Of course, Lil. I know that it hurts you," he said, his voice much softer now. "It hurts me too." Dwayne took her hands into his, pulling them up to his chest. "I didn't mean for that message to come across as though I wanted to end our relationship. I'd never want to do that. And I'm so sorry for your eye. If I hadn't have been a jerk on the phone, maybe you wouldn't have gone out to that bar."

"I can't believe I drank beer," she finally said. Lilian could feel his laugh vibrate through her hands that he still had held against him. "I guess I just thought that finally being with you was too good to be true. I wanted to end it before you so that I wouldn't get hurt. Turns out, I did get hurt, and I hurt you too."

He nodded. "Last night was horrible."

"If I remembered what happened, I'd probably have to agree with you."

Dwayne laughed, resting his head against hers. "Well, next time, just pick on someone smaller than you."

Lilian snorted, shaking her head. "I feel so horrible. Maybe I should find that lady and apologize. Apparently I asked her if she was gonna eat me."

"You said a lot more than that from what I understand," Dwayne teased.

Lilian thought for a moment then said, "Hmm. I think I'll let it go. Hopefully she didn't realize who I was."

Dwayne shook his head, looking deep into her eyes. "So… are we okay?"

Instead of answering, she leaned up and kissed him softly. She pulled back, smiling. "I hope so."

He grinned. "Good."

"Now...can we find your keys and get off the side of this road? I feel like we're road kill waiting to happen!"

Dwayne laughed and quickly retrieved the keys out of the grassy area. They were back to his house in no time at all. He gave her a brief tour of the three story house that he was still in the process of furnishing and decorating.

"I'd be more than happy to help you," she offered. "I don't know if I'd be willing to paint all these rooms. I value my brain cells too much."

He gently ruffled her hair, stating, "I think the blonde hair dye has gotten to you already!"

She playfully gasped, smacking him lightly in the chest. "I'm hurt! You messed up my hair and insulted me within a span of two seconds!"

"Aw, poor baby," Dwayne soothed, smoothing her hair down and kissing her.

"Mmm," Lilian moaned, closing her eyes as Dwayne's hands found their way to her bottom. "D… I think we better stop before we christen this room."

"But see, that's my intention," Dwayne replied against her lips. "I want to christen every room in my new house."

"I'll bet you do," she said, pulling away.

He pouted. "You don't want to?"

"Personally, I'd rather wait till your house is completely done. It's a beautiful house, D."

"Thank you," he said proudly.

"Now," she started, turning towards him, "How much longer until your house is done?"

He chuckled. "Well, my kitchen is done."

"Really?" she asked, eyes sparkling.

Dwayne mocked surprise at her sudden giddiness. "Lilian Garcia! I am shocked at your boldness!"

"What?" she asked innocently.

"Oh, don't you dare feign innocence. I know you better than that."

Lilian giggled, standing on her toes and kissing him on the cheek. "Well, I guess that idea is out."

His eyes widened. "You were honestly thinking of…"

She shrugged, turning and walking out of the room. "I guess you'll never know," she called over her shoulder.

He ran to catch up with her. "No, I want to know!"

"Do you now?" she asked, spinning around when he clasped a hand on her shoulder.

"Yes!"

"Do your showers work?"

A sly grin slowly appeared on his lips. "Yes..."

"Good, you should go take a cold one."

The grin quickly vanished. "What? Why are you being mean to me? I don't get it."

"Oh, I'm not being mean, ya big baby!" Lilian said. "I'm playing hard to get."

"Ooh… hard to get?" he asked, a grin spreading on his face,

"Yeah... what about it?"

Without warning, he grabbed her around the waist, lifting her quickly so she was resting over his shoulders. "Hey! Let me down!"

"Nope."

"D!"

"I think you need to learn not to tease me."

"And how exactly are you gonna do that?" Her eyes widened as they entered the bathroom, Dwayne's obvious intent being to put her in the shower. "OW! My eye! Dwayne! You're hurting me!"

He immediately set her down gently. "Oh my God, Lil, I completely forgot. Are you okay? I'm so sorry."

She smirked and tore off into the hallway, heading up the stairs.

Closing his eyes he stood up and reopened when he was at the mirror. "You're a jackass," he told himself before chasing after.

He caught her right as she was almost to the top of the stairs. "Damn it!"

He laughed. Picking her up, he flung her over his shoulder and headed back for the shower.

"Dwayne, if you put me in the shower I will kill you!" Lilian shouted, slapping his back gently. When he kept carrying her, she tried going for the injured eye tactic again. "Ouch! D, my eye!"

"I'm not falling for that one again," he said with a smirk as he stepped onto the landing for the second floor. Instead of heading for the bathroom, however, he made a turn and went into his room, gently flinging her down on the bed.

"Oof," Lilian grunted, laying there as Dwayne climbed on the bed as well.

"You've been a bad girl, Ms. Garcia," Dwayne stated, laying next to her on the bed.

"Oh, yeah? How so?"

"Well, for starters, you insulted some nice lady at a bar last night."

She rolled over to her side to face him, her fingers toying with the sleeve of his shirt. "And what else have I done that's been bad?"

"Well, you got yourself drunk."

Lilian shrugged as though it was no big deal. "So what?"

"You broke up with me," he stated matter of factly.

Her green eyes narrowed. "Fine, you win, I've been naughty."

He smiled. "Of course I win, I always win. I'm The Rock, remember?"

She giggled. "Yes I remember. I remember of those days of dreaming about you. Dreaming of becoming Mrs. Lilian Rockcia."

"'Those days?'" he repeated softly, lifting a hand to stroke the side of her face, taking extra care as he touched the swollen purple area around her eye. "So you don't dream of it anymore?"

Lilian swallowed slightly, sitting up at his statement. Dwayne did the same thing, watching concerned as she leaned back against the wall.

"I… I don't know, D." As innocent as his statement was, it brought up a lot about their future.

Sensing her discomfort, Dwayne smiled, taking her hand in his. "Hey… I'm just kidding. I didn't mean to freak you out."

"I… I know. It's just… it's early in our relationship, you're coming off a divorce, I've been divorced, and… I don't know, D. I'm sorry."

"Hey," he whispered, tilting her face so she would look at him. "It's okay." He kissed her gently, the pads of his thumbs stroking her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," she repeated, her voice barely audible.

"Hey, don't be sorry. Every time I turn around, you're apologizing for something. You don't ever do anything wrong, Lil."

She frowned and looked down at her nails. "I know, I'm sor-"

"There you go again," he said, laughing a little. "Why are you always apologizing to me?"

"Because I always act like such an idiot around you. I used to get all fangirl-like when you were around, when we first met. Now I just say completely stupid things."

"You acted like a fangirl around me?" She nodded. "Hmm, I never noticed that."

"You didn't? How could you not? I think the heat from my cheeks could've fried an egg."

"Wow," Dwayne said softly. "I'm flattered."

"You're flattered that I acted like a fangirl around you?" Lilian asked skeptically.

"Well, no," Dwayne replied. "But I'm flattered you noticed me."

"What are you talking about, you big goof? You're freaking hot."

Dwayne laughed, patting the bed next to him as he laid down. She complied, sliding across the bed until she was resting in his arms. "You really thought I was attractive when you first started?"

"Yeah! Of course! Why?"

"Cause if I'm remembering right, 1999 was the year of the big sideburns."

Lilian snickered, remembering his none-too-flattering hair style. "You? Well, do you remember some of the outfits I used to wear!"

"Yeah, those modest little dresses." He playfully rolled his eyes, grinning. "I knew what you were hiding."

"Oh God, like that's the only thing you noticed. What about my hair? I can't believe I dyed it like that. And my lipstick? Wow. I think I was trying to come across like I was in my 30s instead of my 20s."

He kissed the top of her head, chuckling. "That's true, but what about my 400 dollar silk shirts?"

"The ones with the tigers on them? That you always left unbuttoned?"

"Yes, those."

"Well, they were tacky, but I liked the unbuttoned look. That was incredibly hot."

"And my sunglasses?"

"Made you look homosexual."

He laughed, shaking his head at her innocent look as she made that statement. "You know, Garcia, you really know how to wound a man."

She shrugged, curling up closer to him. "Let's just both admit that we've made some critical fashion errors."

"We should have been sent to the fashion police for some fashion advice."

"And who would that be? Vince?"

"Vince? You mean King of the Too-Short Pants and Too-Tight Blazers? Yeah, okay."

Lilian giggled, stating, "True."

Dwayne didn't answer, rather he whispered something they hadn't said to one another yet. "I love you."

Lilian smiled up at him, whispering back, "I love you too."

Dwayne smiled back at her, holding her a little closer. "You look tired," he told her.

"Yeah… something about drinking too much last night. I don't want to sleep now, though. I won't be able to sleep later."

"Well, Lilian," he said softly. "I can think of other things to keep you amused later…"

"Well," she smirked, "In that case, good night."

End Part 9