I really should've done this a while ago, but, I didn't sorry. Happy fourth of July by the way. Anyways, I do believe recap is in order. Paine comes home, after another one of her notorious outings with Baralai, and catches her not-so-innocent husband, on the couch with another women. That pretty much sums it up. Don't cha think?

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Paine's POV - -

I watched as Deon recoiled from me slapping him in the face. Sure, it was a little mean. Okay, a lot. But this cheating bastard totally deserved it.

"Paine- it's not what it looks like, we were just..." Deon said, taking precautionary steps backwards.

I love it when guys try to find an excuse when they're caught in the act. "Don't lie unless it's believable." I said, with a snide smile on my face.

"But Paine," he tried again, so lamely, that under different circumstances, I might've laughed. Might've.

"Out," I said, pointing in the direction of the door.

"Come on Paine," he tried to reason with me. But that only riled me up more. A lot more.

"OUT!" I screamed. "And take this stupid blonde with you." I said, sending the speechless blonde death glares.

"Yell at me all you want Paine, but don't put this all on me." Deon said.

"What do you mean, your cheating on me. I can see it." I said, momentarily forgetting my own sneaky deeds up until recently...

"I saw you. With Baralai, the Praetor of Yevon. You were kissing him!" Deon clarified.

My jaw dropped. He had actually seen me? Us?

"I'm not the only one whose being unfaithful, huh Paine?" He said with a mean smirk on his face.

"I guess neither of us really know what love is..." I whispered. "Did you do this," I said, pointing to the blonde, "because of what I did?"

"That, the cheating, and you don't even talk to me anymore. I'm lonely. I need-"

"Pshh. I don't need to hear this. I'm sorry Deon, but, but, I just don't love you anymore. I don't think you did either." What we had was a perfectly created illusion of love. And I was the one who made it, for my own reasons. To deny my own feelings for a particular Praetor.

"We did have something Paine. I'm sorry it had to end like this. I hope you two are happy together..." Deon trailed off.

This was how it was going to end. "I'm sorry, I couldn't give you the love you deserve. The family you wanted too." I added. I was feeling so much right now, I was so tired, from the drinks at the bar, to what had just happened.

"We're both a bunch of cheats. And since you were the one who bought this house, I'll leave. It's over isn't it? It's really over." he said as he walked towards the door.

I nodded, my vision blurry by tears that I didn't know I had cried. "It is. I'm really sorry."

He nodded at me, gave me a smile, that I knew. That I could see the large amount of sadness the smile had tried and failed to hide. Grabbing his coat, he turned to his blonde friend. "Come on, Eve, lets go." Opening the door, the two walked out. At least together. So Eve was this girls name. The one who had made the whole 'breaking up with Deon' thing so easy, yet so hard. Even if I didn't love him the way I love Baralai, I did love him. And it hurt a lot. I had played with emotions and false affections and I had lost. I wasn't going to do that again. Brushing the tears that had dried on my face, I walked out the door intend on going to a certain someone's house.

- Baralai's POV - -

It was mildly amusing to see Paine drunk off her feet. To be drunk off mine. At least some of the beginning hangover had begun to dull. These outings were starting to make me feel dirty though. We both knew and realized that it was more than just friends hanging out for drinks. It almost made me wonder if Paine knew that I was in love with her. She knew that there must be some kind of reason why I had here hired on to the Bevelle Council. I wanted to see her smile, everyday. Maybe not a genuine smile, but a Paine smiled. Thats what I really wanted. I also realized, that I was taking a man's wife away from him, and as the Praetor of Bevelle, that wasn't all that acceptable. I never thought that I would have to fight someone for Paine. I had stupidly assumed she would always be there, when I was ready. But I was wrong. Maybe she really did love Deon. Maybe I was just trying to find some other way, that I could be with her. If only I could tell her how I fell...

Knock Knock. Looking at the clock on my wall, it read 11:45. Getting up, I walked to the door, wondering who would come on a house call at this time of night. Opening the door, I saw Paine. She walked right past me, and slammed the door shut.

"Whats up?" I asked, almost afraid to ask.

"Deon cheated on me." She said as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

"What!" I said. In my head though, my thoughts were swimming. Maybe I could end up with Paine after all.

"With a blonde. And you know what? I'm not sorry about it. I'm not sorry about what me and you did, or about what him and that girl did. Because to me, it seems were all the same. I cheated on him , he cheated on me. As if that gives you a proper reason. I made a mistake marrying him. You know why I did?" she asked me.

"I always did try to figure that out." I said.

She looked me dead in the eyes. "Because of you." she said, her eyes turning cold.

"Me?" I asked. "Why me?" I wondered aloud.

"You haven't figured it out by now?" She asked me.

"No." I said.

"What if, what if I said, that, that I loved you. And I married Deon because I thought that then, somehow, I wouldn't love you anymore."

"And what if I said that I loved you too, and that you shouldn'tve been so stupid."

She smiled. "Deon understood, that I didn't love him like I do you. Us two made a mistake, I married him, to cover up something else."

"Good thing I didn't marry anyone," I said.

"I would've killed you," she said to me, and I believed her.

"I don't think you have anything to be sorry for. Besides cheating on Deon with me. And marrying him under false pretenses."

"Thanks for making me feel better." Paine said to me sourly.

And then there was silence. We had both said those three words, and neither of us did anything. Paine got up, and walked to the door.

I sprang up, went over to her, and grabbed her hand. Then I pulled her close to me, and kissed her on the lips. When we broke apart, Paine had a different look in her eyes. Almost like a sparkle.

"Paine, we both love each other, and if you marry me, your going to make me one happy guy." I said, looking her right in the eyes.

"Do you even have a ring with you?" She asked me, smiling. A genuine smile.

"I don't need one, yet. Maybe later. Don't leave me hanging Paine." I said.

She kissed me. "Hows that for your answer?"

I picked her up, bridal style. "Good enough." Like I would've let her say no.

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Well, there you have it people. The end to this mini story. Yes, it was small. Thats okay. I'm sure there some great thing about being small, that I could say, but I don't know one, or don't remember one. Sorry about that! Thanks too all your reviews. They meant more than a lot to me. Wow, summers gotten me lazy. Hehe. Hasn't it gotten all of us? Well, later people. I have to go eat some BBQ, in honor of our wonderful holiday.

-RKL!