Begin Again Season Two

Episode 13: Jealousy

"Rufus, Darling, what are your plans for tonight?" Lily asked as she came up from behind Rufus. He was sitting on the couch. She walked around the couch, and plopped herself down onto his lap. She draped her arms over his shoulders, and began placing gentle kisses down his neck.

Rufus smiled at her. "Why do you ask? Do you have something special in mind?" He grinned, and wriggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively. "Because whatever it is you have in mind, I'm all for it! I don't have plans. Not a single one!"

Lily smiled. She had known what Rufus would think she was referring to. She felt bad for playing things so sneaky, but sometimes a woman had to do what she had to do to get her man to do what she wanted him to do. "I'm so glad you feel that way, and that you don't have plans! Tonight we're going to go out to dinner with Jimmy and his new girlfriend, Bree."

Rufus raised an eyebrow. "What about that other girl he was gushing about the last time he was here? Lexi was her name?"

Lily nodded. "You have a good memory! That didn't work out. This girl is a cocktail waitress at a gentleman's club he visits."

Rufus rolled his eyes. "How classy."

Lily playfully hit him. "She could be a very nice girl for all we know. At least she isn't a stripper."

Rufus shook his head. "I meant Jimmy. Only perverts frequent places like those."

Lily raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Like you never went to one. I don't believe that for a second!"

Rufus nodded. "Yeah, when I was young and sex crazed. Now that I've grown up a bit, I've matured, and learned to treat women with more respect."

"I still don't think you'd turn down going to one of those places if you were invited to one," Lily said, her arms crossed over her chest.

"I would!" Rufus insisted. "Trust me, Lil, I have no desire to see any naked woman's body but yours. No other woman's body could ever compare to yours anyway, so why bother even looking?"

Lily smiled. She took Rufus' face between her hands, and kissed him passionately on the lips. "How was I ever stupid enough to let a catch like you go?"

Rufus grinned. "Don't worry. You reeled me back in."

Lily grinned as well. "And this time it's for keeps!"

They kissed for a moment, then Rufus broke the kiss.

"Wait a minute, we're going out to dinner with Jimmy tonight?" The reality of what Lily had said to him finally kicked in.

Lily smiled sweetly. "It's just for a couple hours. Maybe more. I did promise a movie after as well."

"A movie too? Come on, Lil, you know how I feel about that guy! He's annoying and weird!" Rufus complained.

Lily crossed her arms over her chest. "Rufus Humphrey, are you really the kind of person who would judge someone and call them weird just because they do things a little differently than you do, or think a little differently than you think?"

Rufus crossed his arms over his chest as well, and looked away. "He's loud and boisterous. He's annoying."

"He's a great guy once you get to know him!" Lily insisted. "He's just got a weird sense of humor is all. You'll grow to love him just like I did."

Rufus looked at her, and eyebrow raised. "You love him?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Don't go getting all jealous and possessive now. Yes, I love him, but as a friend. I love everyone in my life. Not all of it's romantic, you know. You're the only one I have those kind o feelings for."

Rufus laughed. "Please! I know you don't like Jimmy in that way. I'm just surprised to hear you say you love him even though it's only as a friend."

"Well, he's been a good friend to me. He's funny, and makes me laugh," Lily admitted. She ran a hand over her hair. "He's charming in his own goofy sort of way."

"I thought I made you laugh," Rufus said with a pout.

Lily wrapped her arms around him. "You do!" She kissed his cheek. "No one makes me laugh as much as you do." She kissed down kiss neck. "Or makes me feel as good as you do."

"You made me think you were planning a quiet night just the two of us," Rufus grumbled. He looked away from her, his arms still crossed over his chest.

Lily sighed. "I'm sorry, Darling, but I knew it was the only way to get you to agree to a night out with Jimmy."

"I didn't agree. You just tricked me," Rufus grumbled.

Lily grabbed his chin, and gently moved it so that he was forced to look her in the eyes. "I promise we can have that night alone together once we get home from the movie. Just you, me, and our bedroom."

"You're not going to invite them in for coffee after?" Rufus asked, half serious, half sarcastic. "Then maybe you can make them dessert, and they can stay over like a sleepover! Wouldn't that be fun?" His voice dripped with sarcasm.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous! Why do you hate him so much?"

Rufus sighed. "I don't hate him. I just think his personality is a little too abrasive for my taste. Also, I'm still holding a slight grudge on him for taking you around to spy on Lisa. That was so not cool."

Lily shook her head, and brushed off his words with her hand. "I thought she was cheating on you, and he was helping me find out for sure. I asked him to. Besides, he was doing a good thing. We thought she was cheating on you. Would you have liked us to just ignore it if she were cheating on you, and never tell you?"

Rufus sighed. "Even so, spying on someone is never the answer. You should have just went straight to Lisa, and not brought anyone else in on it."

"Well, don't blame Jimmy or that. Blame me. Like you said, I should have just talked to Lisa first instead of spying on her."

"Jimmy should have told you it was none of his business," Rufus said. He sighed. "But I suppose since he means so much to you, I can give him a chance. What happened happened what feels like ages ago, so I'm willing to let bygones be bygones. Even so, don't expect him and I to be the best of buds. I still find him incredibly annoying. I'll be civil to him though. I won't be a jerk."

Lily kissed his cheek. "That's all I ask. Thank you." She then brushed her lips against his ear. "And I promise you, tonight you'll be greatly rewarded for doing this for me." She kissed down his neck. "You can count on it."

Rufus moaned. "I'm going to hold you to that."

~Begin Again~

Rufus sighed as they entered the restaurant. He couldn't believe they were at a five star restaurant, about to meet up with Jimmy and his cocktail waitress girlfriend. Lily had insisted they go somewhere nice. Of course Jimmy and his girlfriend could never afford a place like this, but Lily insisted she and he pay for Jimmy and his girlfriend since Jimmy was such a good friend. Rufus had no idea what made Jimmy such a good friend. As far as he knew, Jimmy and Lily mainly talked on the phone. Jimmy didn't come over often, and Lily never went over to Jimmy's. They got together for coffee a few times, but that was it. Rufus didn't know what had suddenly made Lily want to have a dinner and movie night with Jimmy, but he hoped it wasn't going to turn into a habit. He'd be lucky if he survived this night as it was!

"There he is!" Lily said with a smile as she waved Jimmy and his girlfriend over.

Rufus took in Jimmy's girlfriend. She was a knockout of course. She was blonde and busty. Incredibly busty. Her hair was poofy though. It was too poofy. In fact, it looked like she was straight from the eighties. Even her outfit looked eighties. She was wearing a rose colored tube dress that looked like something a girl wore to the prom back in the day. In fact, he was pretty sure that Lily once had a dress similar to that. It was ruffly, poofed out at the bottom, and made of what looked like imitation silk. Bree wore matching rose colored imitation silk heels with it, and even had a rose colored imitation silk purse. Her breasts were practically bursting out of her dress.

"Close your mouth, you're drooling!" Lily muttered to him in his ear. She elbowed his ribs—hard.

"I'm not drooling, I'm just shocked to see someone dressed that way," Rufus grumbled as he rubbed his ribs.

"I bet," Lily said, sounding as if she didn't believe him for a second.

"Jimmy! Hello! I'm so glad you and Bree could join us." Lily embraced Jimmy and kissed his cheek, then turned to Bree and took Bree's hands in her own. "It's so lovely to meet you. You look...great!" Lily smiled big.

Rufus knew that smile. It was the smile she used when she was lying through her teeth. He knew that Lily was thinking about Bree's hideous two sizes too small outfit.

He smirked. Oh what he wouldn't give for something to happen to Lily like it did to Jim Carrey in the old movie Liar, Liar, where she couldn't lie. He'd love to hear what both Jimmy and Bree had to say if she said exactly what she thought of Bree's outfit!

"It's so nice to meet you too! Jimmy's told me a lot about you," Bree said. "All good, no worries!"

"It better be all good!" Lily joked with a laugh as she eyed Jimmy.

Jimmy grinned.

The host came then, and led them to their table.

As Rufus followed behind Bree, he couldn't help but notice the obvious outline of Bree's butt cheeks, for she was either wearing a thong, or nothing at all. Suddenly, he felt another hard blow to his rib cage.

"Ouch!" He looked over at Lily, and rubbed his ribcage as Lily glared at him. "I couldn't help but notice!" he insisted.

Lily narrowed her eyes at him and shook her head, then took his hand and practically dragged him to the table, where she made sure that he sat in the furthest seat away from Bree.

As much as it pained his ribs, Rufus kind of liked Lily being jealous. After all, it showed she still cared.

~BA~

We ordered some wine, and then we looked over our menus. "They actually serve snails at this place? Who eats those? Seriously? Talk about gross!" Jimmy said.

I bit my tongue. Though I might have agreed with him on snails being gross, I didn't think he should be so loud and vocal about it in a five-star restaurant. Then again, that was Jimmy's personality for ya—loud and abrasive.

"I don't like sea food," Bree stated.

"No? Not your taste?" Lily asked, looking up at her.

Bree shook her head. "It's not that, really. I actually love the taste of it. It just gives me really bad gas. Seriously, I'm farting all day and night for weeks with just a few bites of it!" Bree said.

"Everything gives me gas. I just embrace it," Jimmy said with a shrug.

I wanted to bury my face in my hands. I glanced over to Lily who was smiling her fake smile again. I wondered how much she could take of this before she snapped. Little Miss Prim and Proper surely wouldn't last long. It would be interesting to see how much of Jimmy and Bree she could handle before snapping. After all, she was Lily Rhodes in a public place. She had a reputation to maintain, and in Lily's case, reputation was everything.

The waiter came with some bread and butter then.

Jimmy dug right in. He pulled off a slice of bread from the roll, slathered it with butter, then shoved the whole thing into his mouth at once. "Mm. This is good," he said, his mouth full of bread. Pieces of bread flew out of his mouth and landed on the table in front of him.

I wrinkled my nose, and looked at Lily. She grinned at him. "It's that good? Hm... I'll have to try a piece."

Jimmy swallowed his bread, then let out a long and loud fart. "See? I'm getting gas already, and I barely had one slice of bread!"

Bree giggled.

I looked at Lily, who was smiling her fake smile again, and forcing laughter. Even though forced, her laughter was quiet and weak, and lasted for all of two seconds. She was bubbling with annoyance. I could see it all over her face! I could hardly wait for that volcano to erupt! It was sure to be a good show.

~BA~

Dinner arrived, and things only got worse. Jimmy had an itch on his back, so he took his fork and scratched his back after sliding the fork underneath the collar of his tuxedo tee shirt. Rufus had almost burst out laughing when Jimmy had taken his coat off revealing that beauty!

Rufus looked over at Lily, who was looking at Jimmy with wide eyes. It was only a matter of time now, he figured.

"Ah! That's the spot!" Jimmy said, scratching his back with the fork a couple more times before removing his fork from his shirt, then going back to eating with it.

Rufus wanted to vomit.

During dinner, Rufus found that Bree wasn't the most intelligent girl in the world. She wasn't super dumb like some of the television shows and movies liked to portray stupid people. Still, she was a little bit out there. Heck, she was even weirder than Jimmy! At one point in the conversation, she had even told Lily that she believed unicorns really did exist at one point, but their horns broke off, so now they are just horses. She said one of the things on her bucket list was to find a unicorn horn.

Rufus had nearly lost it. The look on Lily's face, and the way that Lily had smiled, and told her in a "play along with her" kind of tone that finding a unicorn horn would be cool, had nearly made him pee his pants. However, Lily's subtle to Jimmy and Bree, but not so subtle to him hard elbow in the ribs had snapped him out of it.

When dessert came, Bree dug into a huge slice of chocolate cake. "Wow! Look how big this thing is!" she gushed. "I mean, it's bigger than my breasts!" She then, to Rufus' great horror, and he was sure Lily's even greater horror, pulled down her top, and then held one of her bare, firm, large, implant holding breasts up to her slice of cake. "See? I mean my breasts are huge, but this slice of cake is even huger!"

Rufus quickly moved his chair out of the way of Lily so that he was out of reach of her rib hitting elbow. He couldn't help but stare at Bree's naked chest. He was in pure shock that she would just whip them out like that.

Lily cleared her throat. "You might want to tuck those back in. People are staring, and you're not supposed to expose yourself in public," she said quietly and calmly.

"Oh! Sorry." Bree giggled, and tucked them back into her dress. "I go nude all the time at home, and sometimes even at work, so I don't think much of going topless. Sorry. I sometimes forget not everyone does that or is used to it!"

Rufus cleared his throat. "I think we're all ready for the check."

"Yes," Lily said stiffly. "We are."

Rufus glanced over at her. Gone was her fake smile. Instead was her lips forming a straight line. He looked away and grinned. The volcano had erupted. It was a very small eruption, but it was enough. Now he hoped they could skip the movie and get the hell out of there.

~Begin Again~

Lily put her purse down on the island once she and Rufus had arrived back at their apartment. "I can't believe she just popped them out like that right at the table!"

Rufus laughed. "Me neither!"

Lily glared at him. "I bet you loved that! I saw the way you were staring at them."

"How could I not? They were huge! Besides, I was in shock that she would do something like that. I've been living in the city for most of my life. You'd think I'd be used to weird people like that, but I'm still not."

"So, you only found her weird, not hot?" Lily asked.

Rufus smiled, and slowly walked toward her. "Lily, those boobs were not only fake, but they were unnaturally too big. Yours, however, are real and perfect!"

Lily smiled a little as Rufus caught up to her, and placed his hands over her breast. He then kissed her cheek.

"You know I only have eyes for you," he said as he gently stroked her cheek. Bree was a beautiful woman, yes, but her beauty still didn't compare to yours. No woman's ever could."

"I still didn't like the way you were staring at her," Lily said with a pout. "It was part of the reason I pretended to be sick. I wanted to get home instead of going to the movie so that you could no longer stare at her, or sit closely with he at the theater." She began to stroke Rufus' hair.

Rufus' eyes lowered. "I'd rather be home with you anyway. After all, your body is real, and so much better than hers. So is everything else about you."

Lily smiled. "I love you, Rufus Humphrey."

"And I love you Lily soon to be Humphrey," Rufus said with a grin. "Now, can I still have my reward for going out with you tonight?"

Lily grinned. "I think you've earned it." She squealed, and laughed as Rufus picked her up. She then kissed him as he kissed her and carried her up the stairs at the same time. She loved a man who knew how to multitask. Especially when it came to pleasing her.

~Begin Again~

Scott was more than relieved when it came time for his break. He had brought his own lunch today since Rufus had made dinner the night before, and there had been a ton of leftover pot roast.

Scott heated it up in the microwave, then sat down with his lunch in the bookstore's break room. Who would think working at a bookstore could be so draining? The Christmas rush was still going strong. Between restocking, helping customers find what they needed to find, and checking out about a hundred people who had enough items to give to all of the US and maybe Europe (not really but it seemed like it), he was finally on his lunch break. He felt like he had been working for the full eight hours, when in reality, he had only been working for three.

"Rough day?" Travis asked, coming into the break room and sitting down in front of him. He had a bag from Taco Bell, which was one of the places to eat in the food court. He took a sip of his soda then burped. "It is brutal out there!"

Scott wrinkled his nose. "Why aren't you eating in the food court where you got that?" He nodded toward Travis' Taco Bell food.

"It's a mad house in the food court. I don't like eating with a bunch of strangers. Besides, it would take me my whole lunch break just to find a damn table. That place is packed! There's even more animals out there than there are in here," Travis answered.

"Of course you'd just have to have the same lunch break as me," Scott grumbled.

Travis grinned at him. "Just lucky I guess."

Scott rolled his eyes.

"Seriously though, who would think so many people liked to read?" Travis asked as he began to eat his lunch.

Scott nodded. "I know! Gosh, when I started working here I thought we'd get a hundred people a day; not a hundred people an hour!"

"Tell me about it!" Travis said. "I had to pick a place to work or my Dad said he'd kick me out. I picked here thinking not much work would be required. Boy was I ever wrong." He took a sip of his soda, then dug into some of his cinnamon twists. He offered Scott the bag. "Want one?"

Scott shook his head. "No, thanks. I wouldn't want you to start thinking we're friends." He chewed his pot roast. He would talk with Travis like a civil human being, but that was as far as things would ever get between them.

Travis shrugged. "Your loss!" He took a loud, crunchy bite from his cinnamon twists. "Mmm!"

Scott ignored him, and continued eating his pot roast.

"So, does working take your mind off of her?" Travis then asked.

Scott looked up at him, an eyebrow raised. "Off of who?"

"Britney Spears," Travis joked. "Veronica! Who do you think?"

Scott's eyes narrowed at him. "You don't get to talk about her with me."

Travis shrugged. "It was just a simple question." He looked Scott in the eyes. "I know you don't believe me, but I regret what I did every single moment of my life. I never meant to hit someone, and I certainly never meant to kill anyone. Trust me, my days of drag racing are over."

"Yeah, well, it's a little too late, isn't it?" Scott snapped. "You must not have been too sorry. You kept on driving. You had to have known you hit her."

"I told you, I was scared. I can't go to jail. I'd get killed there!" Travis insisted.

"Yeah, well, maybe then we'd be even. A life for a life," Scott said dryly.

Travis looked visibly hurt. "So, you really wish you would have killed me that night you came to my place with a gun." He said it as a statement; not a question.

Scott thought about it for a moment. "No. Killing you is not the answer. I wouldn't feel bad if you were to die, but I wouldn't want to be the one to kill you. Killing someone is wrong. If I killed you, I wouldn't be any different than you are."

"At least I'm remorseful," Travis stated.

"So you say." Scott didn't quite know how to take Travis. He sounded sincere, but then again, the devil had everyone fooled as well.

"I am! If you could feel for even just a second the turmoil I feel inside, then you would know I'm telling the truth," Travis insisted.

Scott was getting depressed with all this talk about Veronica's death. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Travis nodded, and held his hands up. "All right. I understand." He finished his soft taco, then moved onto his other one. "You know, if you ever need an escape, I know a guy who can hook you up with some E."

"E?" Scott asked, confused.

"You know..." Travis leaned closer to him and whispered, "Ecstasy."

"You gotta be kidding me." Scott said, looking at him from a head tilted down position. "I don't do drugs, and neither should you."

"I had the same attitude, but I took someone after I... After the accident, I needed something to relax me, so I had my contact hook me up with some. Trust me, one tiny pill is all it takes to make you forget all your problems." Travis grinned. "It's a major stress killer. You're left feeling so relaxed, and like you can handle anything thrown your way! My guy can even get us other drugs as well."

"And how are you allowed to do drugs when you're on probation?" Scott asked. He couldn't believe Travis. He was an even bigger loser than Scott had originally thought he was!

Travis shrugged. "The judge didn't say anything about no drugs, nor did my probation officer."

"Um, I think it's one of those things that's a given. It something that goes without saying." Scott shook his head. Idiot!

"Yeah, well, what they don't know won't hurt them." Travis took another bite of his taco. "Mm!"

Scott finished his pot roast, and took a long swig from his Pepsi can. He realized he could go tot he cops about this, and get Travis in trouble. He should! But for all he knew, Travis was setting him up. He'd tell on Travis, and the police would arrive only to find no drugs, and Travis acting all sweet and innocent. Then, Scott would look like the bad guy. Or, if Scott said yes to the drugs, Travis could tell on him. "I think I'll pass, thanks." He opened up a mini bag of chips, and began to eat them.

Travis shrugged. "Suit yourself. You know where to find me if you ever change your mind."

"Thanks, but I won't," Scott said.

They ate the rest of their lunches in silence.

Travis then stood up. "Later," he replied before leaving the break room, and heading back to work.

Scott sighed, then sat up, and disposed of his garbage. He couldn't believe Travis wanted him to do drugs. He was such a loon! That was it. After Christmas, Scott was out of here. He couldn't handle this crazy ass city any longer.

~Begin Again~

"Thank you for allowing me to drop the documents off here. I couldn't make the meeting. I know it's a lame excuse, but my cat was sick, and he just means the world to Taylor and I. He's our world! I had to take him to the vet."

Lily smiled as she let the new associate Gary of Bass Industries into her apartment. He was young and very good looking. He was in his early forties, and had all the ladies' in the building attention. He was certainly one of the best looking men Lily had seen in a very long time! Well, other than her soon to be husband of course. "It's all right, you don't have to apologize. I have a cat of my own, whom I feel the same way about. Waffles. He's probably taking a nap upstairs somewhere. He's a little black cat. He's my baby!"

"Mine's a Persian. He was originally Taylor's, but now that we're living together, of course that means the cat moved in with me too. I grew to love that little guy!" Gary gushed. "You don't strike me as an animal person for some reason," he then added.

Lily nodded. "I'm usually not. I mean, don't get me wrong. I've always loved animals, but I never felt the need to have one. I preferred enjoying other people's animals. You know the kind that go home eventually."

Gary nodded in understanding.

"But I used to have a cat when I was real young, and I just loved him. Now that I found Waffles, all those feelings are coming back!"

Gary smiled. "Cats have a way of doing that to you."

Lily nodded. "They sure do."

"Well, anyway, I won't keep you. Gosh, it's getting cold out there! What a beautiful view you have though," Gary said, walking over to the window and looking out over the snow-covered city.

Lily came up behind him. "Yeah, I love it. I especially love it at night. The city is just so beautiful."

"It sure is," Gary said. He then turned to Lily. "Could I trouble you for something to drink before I leave? I think it's this winter weather that is leaving me so parched all the time lately."

"Of course! What would you like? We have just about everything now that my son Scott is living with us," Lily said as she headed to the kitchen. "That boy loves to eat and drink. Thankfully, he's not much of an alcohol drinker. He's a good boy."

Gary smiled. "That's nice. Any kind of juice will do."

Lily opened the fridge. "Grape or orange?"

"Grape would be delightful, thank you," Gary replied.

So, Lily took the grape juice out, and poured him a glass.

She then headed over to hand it to him, and ended up tripping over a pair of Jenny's high heels. Upon stumbling, the glass in her hand shook, and spilled grape juice all over the front of Gary's coat.

~BA~

I gasped, and covered my mouth. "Oh my gosh! Gary, I am so sorry! I'll pay to have it dry cleaned."

Gary grinned. "It's all right. No worries. It was an accident. I've had this coat for a week already anyway."

"Oh my gosh, Gary! Now I really feel bad!" I cried.

"Honestly, Lily, it's fine. The look on your face as you tripped was worth the stain on my coat," Gary teased.

"Haha, very funny!" I said with a smile. I headed to the fridge, and took out some club soda. I then put it on a clean dish rag, and then walked over to Gary (looking out for high heels this time). I then began dabbing the stain. Thankfully, it seemed to be taking it out.

"Seriously though, the look on your face as you were falling was absolutely priceless!" Gary teased.

I laughed. "Shut up!"

We were both laughing when Rufus and Jenny came into the apartment. They had been out shopping together, and having a father daughter lunch.

"What's going on here?" Rufus asked, sounding half friendly, half annoyed. He nodded at Gary. "Who's that?"

Gary and I quickly pulled away from each other.

"Hello, Darling! This is Gary. He's a new associate for Bass Industries. He was unable to make today's meeting, so he came over to drop off the documents I needed that he didn't bring to the meeting," I explained.

"Then why are you two all close together and laughing?" Jenny asked, her arms crossed over her chest. She tapped her foot. "Shouldn't he have just dropped off the documents and left?"

"I was thirsty, and your mother here was nice enough to get me a drink," Gary explained kindly.

Jenny laughed. "Oh, please! She is so not my mother. Thank God!"

"She's my stepdaughter," I explained.

"Not yet," Jenny said coldly.

"I tripped over Jenny's high heels on the way to handing Gary his drink, and it made me spill grape juice all over him. I just got the club soda to try and get the stain out," I explained to Rufus. I motioned to the wet spot on Gary's coat.

"Stop lying, Lily! You're having an affair, aren't you?" Jenny asked. "You two look far too cozy and close for him to just be dropping papers off!"

I shot her a look. Now I was getting annoyed. There was only so much of Jenny's snottiness that I could take. I know she was Rufus' daughter, but I could only be pushed so far. "Jennifer, I am not having an affair, thank you very much! He is exactly who I say he is and he is here for the exact reason I said he is!"

"And, if you don't mind me chiming in here, I am happily in a relationship with my live in boyfriend, Taylor. Yes, I'm about as gay as it gets, so you have no need to worry about Lily and I having an affair!" Gary said with a chuckle.

"Wait. Is your boyfriend the Taylor who own's Taylor's Delights, that bakery on west 15th street?" Rufus asked.

Gary smiled. "Why, yes, he is! You know him?"

Rufus grinned. "Yeah! I go in there quite often. He's always gushing over his boyfriend Gary, so I figured maybe he was the one you were referring to."

"It's a small world!" Gary said. He and Rufus talked for a moment more, then Gary said his goodbyes.

"See?" Gary asked. "The stain is out. No worries!"

I smiled. "Thanks for being so good about this."

"Of course! Life's too short to be angry," Gary said with a smile and a wink.

Rufus and I saw him out.

I was relieved that the problem had quickly been diverted. Even so, I was worried about Jenny. She seemed to harbor a real hatred for me, and it wasn't healthy. I didn't know how much longer we could go on living like this.

~BA~

Once Gary was gone, Rufus turned to Jenny. "Jenny, you are going to learn to treat Lily with respect from now on! And pick up your shoes! You're lucky Lily didn't get hurt! You may keep your own apartment a mess, but this is Lily's and my place, so you will keep your things neat and out away while you're under our roof."

Jenny rolled her eyes. "It's Lily's place, not yours. She gets bored with men quickly, Dad. You should have learned that by now. You just wait. Soon this place will be back to not being yours anymore." With that, she grabbed her shoes, and stormed up the stairs.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause any trouble," Lily said, pulling Rufus close, and gently stroking his hair out of his face.

"It's not you; it's Jenny. I think she needs help. Gosh, how did our children get so messed up?" Rufus asked.

"They have parents like us," Lily joked.

"Speak for yourself!" Rufus teased.

Lily laughed, and they kissed.

"I'll admit though, I was a little jealous when I fist saw you with Gary. He's a handsome guy, and he's younger than me. I thought I might have some competition! I thought he was trying to woo you," Rufus admitted.

"No one could possibly woo you away from me anymore, Rufus! There's no one as handsome, sexy, loving, or amazing as you are. You're the only man for me, Rufus Humphrey, and I can hardly wait to be your wife again. This time for good."

"And I can hardly wait for you to be my wife again this time for good," Rufus said.

"And, hey. We're even now. I got to be jealous over Bree, and now it was your turn to be jealous over Gary," Lily said with a smile.

Rufus grinned. "And neither of us should ever be jealous because we're the only ones for each other!"

"Exactly!" Lily agreed.

Rufus' eyes lowered with love for her, and her's lowered with love for him.

They kissed.

Lily signed contently. She loved Rufus so much, and he loved her. And there was no way in hell she was letting little Jenny Humphrey ruin things for them. Not this time, and not ever again.

~Begin Again~

Jenny watched Lily and her father kissing as she stood on the stairway. She hated Lily so much she wanted to scream! And throttle her. She had a better idea.

With a smirk, she headed to her room, and found her scissors. She then headed into Lily's room, and went into her closet. There it hung, all red, sparkly, and pretty—Lily's Christmas ball dress.

"How's this for respect, Dad?" Jenny muttered to herself as she brought the scissors to the dress, then began cutting away. She'd teach her father and Lily! If she couldn't get her father to leave Lily, or for Lily to leave her father, then she was just going to have to settle for making Lily's life a living hell. Lucky for her, making people's lives a living hell was something she had become an expert at. After all, having been around Blair Waldorf for years, she had learned from the best.