Thanks for the reviews once again :-) Trapped yourself? Urghs, luckily that never happened to me so far… About the cell phones – would be boring if they just run out of power, wouldn't it? Takes away a lot of fun here – besides, Mac would never leave the house without a fully charged phone (he's too professional for that) and it should run for the time here with only a few calls made ;-)

Author's note: For the non-Americans here – 86 degrees F would be about 30 C.

This chapter (and the next ones) feature the song "Never Gonna Be The Same Again" by Bob Dylan. You don't have to know the song, I didn't know it at first when I picked it for the lyrics only. But I have to admit it has a certain something when you listen to it more often – and it fits just so perfectly especially at the end of this chapter.

About this chapter: I had SO much fun writing this :-))) Hope you have the same when you read it.

Chapter 5

"For the moment, I would say we should try to get some sleep, hum? It's getting dark outside and we can't make much progress in here in the dark, I think I'd prefer to see where I put the wallpaper and paint…"

Mac just mumbled something incomprehensible. There was no way to sleep on the couch since they moved all furniture to the middle of the living room, arranged in a pile, covered with plastic sheets.

"Well, my bed is pretty big..." Stella remarked as she noticed his look.

"You don't have to share your bed with me, that would be a bit awkward, hum?" Mac quickly cut her off, not quite sure if he wanted to help her out of the conflict to offer him a place there as a good hostess versus the fact that she didn't want him so close or if it was rather the fact that HE would feel uncomfortable with the thought of lying next to her.

She smirked. "What I actually wanted to say is that my bed is big enough for two, but I'm not a girl for one night!"

She looked over to him, afraid that she just caused his heart to stop. She knew it was a sensitive topic and she wasn't sure if he was up for jokes about it. Much to her surprise, he smiled back with an amused twinkle in his eyes about her latest statement.

"Well, I'm relieved to hear that…"

HUH??? What's that supposed to mean?

Now it was her heart that skipped a few beats. She looked at him for a second, her mouth slightly open, then she quickly inhaled and gulped.

"So, um... left side or right side?" she asked with a smile while shaking her head slightly to get over his surprising reaction. She decided to play along – in case this was a game.

And if not? Stella shook her head again. Nah, not Mac... He wouldn't go forward like this so out of the blue, she tried to convince herself.

"Up to you," he courteously replied. "I'm the guest."

"Yeah, right..." she murmured. "You can have that side, I usually sleep in the middle, so I don't mind," she explained.

"Middle?" he wondered. "Ah right, I remember: 'No men at my place' – right? You're breaking your rules here...," he teased with raised eyebrows.

"Mmm... this is different...," she weakly objected, knowing that he was somehow right, but feeling that for some yet unknown reason that this was indeed different.

Of course, Mac was a man – no doubt about that. But he was a good friend, she trusted him more than anyone else. And besides, the reason why she wouldn't invite "men" – meaning someone she would date – to her apartment, was that she had the feeling she needed it as a safe place in case something would go wrong and she wanted to end things. In that case, she didn't want them to know where to find her. Mac, besides being a friend, also was the head of the team and as such knew her address anyway.

Whom am I kidding here? Could it be that there is a SMALL difference between having him in the apartment - after all he had been here quite often for breakfast, dinner or other occasions - and offering him a place in your BED? Well, this is an extraordinary situation of course... No way to get out of the apartment, no alternative inside...

"Stella!?" Mac asked for the fourth time, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"What?!? Sorry! I was just..."

"Somewhere else, figures," he remarked. "You alright?"

"Sure, this will be just like a summer camp," she pretended a joyful smile.

He raised his eyebrows again, remembering his summer camp experiences from many years ago. And he was pretty sure that this was not what she had in mind...

"You wanna go to the bathroom first?"

"Nah, just go ahead," he replied.

Stella nodded and disappeared in the bathroom, taking a quick shower while thinking about the situation while Mac did the same in the living room. After a while, she showed up again, dressed in a short nightgown, her wet hair twisted to a bun on her head. He couldn't help an acknowledging smile.

"Your turn...," she smiled. "I put some towels on the edge of the bathtub for you!" she called after him.

XXXXX

Ten minutes later, he came back to the bedroom, dressed in his shirt and jeans again, looking a little uncertain.

"Everything okay?" Stella asked.

"Sure, yeah... I was just making sure that you didn't have any scarves or such attached to your bed," he tried to joke. She shook her head in feigned indignation and faked a smile, being about as nervous as him.

"Mac! Not on the first date…" she exclaimed. "You don't wanna ... um, take off your pants, I mean...," she struggled, trying to sound noncommittal. Although asking him to undress before coming into her bed seemed more than a just a little awkward.

"I can sleep in my clothes, no problem," he replied.

"Don't be ridiculous, Mac," she returned. "It's still more than 86 degrees outside, how do I explain that you got steamed here when they find your body in my bed in the morning?"

He looked uncomfortable. "Yeah, sure. But..."

Stella sighed, this was difficult. "Geez, Mac... We are both adults, right?" she stated in an emphatic neutral tone. Mac's thoughts went on a rollercoaster.

That's exactly the problem... Both adults – and she tells me to take off my clothes and sleep in her bed... Well, not exactly, but nevertheless, the result would be the same, wouldn't it?

"Mac, please! Don't be so ridiculous…" she repeated. "There's nothing wrong with this, we are friends, right?"

Yeah, 'friends'... But do 'friends' have to sleep in ONE bed?

He was getting hot and cold after Stella told him to sleep in the same bed with her. But as usual, she didn't stop. She could be really stubborn and didn't want to go to bed before having her way. And as also usual, he finally gave up.

XXXXX

"Well, at least you're finally in bed," she said a while later, referring to the discussion they had the day before.

"Yeah, that's right… but you don't really believe I'll be able to sleep, do you?" he smiled.

She looked at him from the side, meanwhile she wasn't sure about anything anymore. Was he just joking, was he teasing her, was he serious?

Stella found herself a comfortable position on her side of the bed, while Mac was lying on his back, occasionally peering over to his right, trying to keep as much distance as possible between them. He tried to lie there motionless, although he realized that there was nothing he'd love to do better than taking her in his arms. At a certain point, he was so tired that his eyes finally fell shut.

XXXXX

When he woke up again, he was paralyzed. Stella's head was resting on his chest, her right leg coiled around his right one and his arms tightly wrapped around her body.

Oh my God… How did this happen? What am I gonna do to get out of this before she wakes up?

Mac nearly panicked and tried to pull his leg away without waking her up.

"Mmmmh…."

Stella murmured. She wanted to stretch her arms and legs when she noticed that this attempt was blocked by something. She opened her eyes and looked directly into Mac's face. A warm shiver ran down her spine. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be fast asleep. As carefully as possible and with more than just a little regret, she pulled her leg back and slowly rolled over to her side of the bed again.

Just good that he didn't notice anything… Boy! THAT would make things REALLY awkward, she thought before falling back to sleep.

That was close… Mac very slowly released the breath he had held for as it seemed to him minutes. After a long time, he managed to fall into a restless sleep.

Now you're here beside me, baby
You're a living dream
And every time you get this close
It makes me wanna scream

You touched me and you knew that I
Was warm for you and then

I ain't never gonna be the same again

TBC