A/N Sorry I was gone for two weeks! I had a math final that just sprung up on me so I had to study for that and then I had a Japanese Oral Final and then everything kind of just spun out of control! I'm back though!

Chapter 6

Carley dropped the medium sized box on the floor of her temporary bedroom and sat down on the bed. After only a week and a half in the hospital, Dr. Vernon had declared that her cuts and burns were mostly healed and her carbon monoxide levels were low enough that she could leave. Her recovery was surprisingly quick, a feat that was chalked up to Carley's eagerness to get back to working. But despite her wishes and fast recovery period, the doctor recommended that she still rest for a few more days. He knew his orders would not be followed though as she had already gone back to lightly working while still in a hospital bed.

As much as Carley wanted to go back to her job and get her mind on things other than fires and ex-boyfriends, she could feel her body screaming for mercy at the end of each day and decided to only work from her temporary room until all of her bandages came off. She had talked it over with Steve and after clearing it with Danielle, who was more than happy to have her away from the station for a while, Carley was given the temporary assignment of writing the news scripts for the anchors to read on-air. While Carley was slightly annoyed that she would be writing scripts and checking facts instead of going out and finding the facts herself, she knew her body's limitations. Well, some of them at least.

"I said I'd carry it." Lee said as he entered Carley's room and set down a second box.

"Come on Lee, I'm not an invalid."

"Well, technically you are."

"Smart ass." Carley joked as she opened one of the boxes and started unpacking. She was greatly surprised at what she was able to salvage from her apartment. Everything from the living room and kitchen were completely ruined but the closet, bathroom and bedroom had a small amount of stuff that didn't get burned by the fire or soggy from the water that put it out.

"Lee, I just want to say thanks again for-"

"Carley, if you thank me one more time, I'll kick you out." Lee cut her off, trying to sound serious and failing miserably.

Carley laughed and stood up. "I'm just really grateful. You've done so much for me lately."

"You've done a lot for me too."

"What do you mean? I haven't done anything."

"Yes, you have. Things have been, I don't know, happier since you've been around. I can't really explain it but, things really have been better. I feel like it's almost like old times again, like a breath of fresh air. I missed you and you being around again has done a lot for me. This is just me returning the favor."

Carley smiled warmly. She didn't understand much of what he meant exactly, but a small part of her had noticed she was happier around him as well. She never thought of it as anything special though, she was just doing what any good friend would have done a long time ago. She didn't realize how much her presence meant to him.

She stood there for a moment, not knowing how to respond to his heartfelt words. A knock sounded at the door, interrupting the somewhat awkward turn their conversation took. Lee excused himself and left Carley with her thoughts to answer it.

"Hey Lee!"

"Hey Christa, Omid. Long time no see! You're back from your trip?"

"Yea, we got back yesterday. We didn't think it'd take a month but this guy wanted to go back to the Smithsonian for another two days." Christa said and gestured towards Omid with her thumb. "We heard you got a new roommate while we were away so we thought we'd drop by."

Lee raised an eyebrow. "How did you-" He paused in realization. "Kenny?"

"Kenny."

He shook his head and laughed. "Glad to have you back. Come on in. Hey Carley!" Lee called out as Christa and Omid followed him inside. "Carley, this is Christa and Omid. They're friends of Kenny and me" He said as she came down the stairs and into view.

"Hey, I'm Omid. Nice to meet you." Omid greeted her with a bright and inviting smile, a direct contrast to Christa's cool, unemotional gaze. Carley avoided looking directly at them.

"So you're the new roommate?"

"Yea, my apartment caught on fire so Lee is letting me stay here until it gets fixed up. He's a life saver." Carley tried her best to not break under Christa's cold stare and remain friendly. After a small moment of silence, Christa turns head back and forth between Lee and Carley smiling.

"I'm sorry to hear about your place but welcome to the neighborhood. At least, for the meantime." She said as she reached out to shake Carley's hand.

"Thanks."

"So, how do you two know each other?" Omid asked once the tension left the room.

"I'm an old friend of his. We grew up and went to high school together."

"Oh, then you must know Kenny as well. He's from Macon too."

"Yea, we were all born there and were quite the trio. Kenny of course, was always leading us into trouble and I always led us out of it."

"Omid laughed. "So what did Lee do?"

"He just went along with everything. He was kind of a pushover; it was really easy to boss him around."

"Hey!"

"What? I'm just telling the truth. Even now, you're still kind of a pushover." Carley teased as she smiled and shrugged.

"Whatever." Lee mumbled, crossing his arms and pouting playfully. Christa and Omid glanced at each other, taking note of the playful exchange in front of them.

"Well, it was nice meeting you both, but I have to go finish unpacking." Carley said as she turned back to the couple.

"Likewise. We'll see you around Carley." Omid replied and shook hands with her before she turned around and went back upstairs to her room.

After Lee, Christa and Omid sat down in the living room and chatted for few minutes about the couple's trip to every history museums across the US, Omid leaned forward towards Lee and smiled mischievously.

"So, Carley seems nice. When's the wedding?" Omid quipped, looking at Christa who was looking at Lee questioningly.

"Shut up. She's just a friend and seeing how my last marriage turned out, I don't think I'll have another wedding anytime soon." No one responded to the dark joke and after a few seconds they moved on with the conversation.

"Well, we haven't seen you this happy in a long time. Maybe it was good to bring another friend into your life." Christa said as gave him a sad smile and placed her hand gently on Lee's shoulder.

"I think so too. Carley and I were so close, almost like family, and somehow we just drifted apart a few years ago. I'm glad to have her back. It brought back a part of the past that I actually want to remember." Lee looked down as he talked, a warm smile on his face.

"Well I'm glad you got that piece of your life back. It really looks like it had a good effect on you."

"It has." Just then the door knocked and Lee stood up and went to answer it. He looked down and was surprised to see his daughter in front of him, out of breath and panting.

"I saw their car. Are they back?" Clementine managed to get out between breaths.

"You're supposed to be at Kenny's house. Did you cross the street by yourself?" Clementine paid no attention to what her father said as she ran past him through the door as soon as she saw Christa and Omid.

"You're back!" Clem cried as she ran at full speed into them, hopping up to sit on Christa's lap. "I missed you!"

"Hey there Clem! Oh, we missed you too!" Christa said as she pulled Clem into a hug, smiling widely. No one noticed Lee standing in front of them with his arms crossed, glaring.

"I'd hate to interrupt." He said sarcastically. "But did you come from Kenny's house by yourself Clem?"

"I don't know..." Clementine said as she looked at her father like a deer caught in headlights.

"Oh come on Lee, she missed us. She just wanted to see us as soon as she could" Christa said as she still held onto Clementine. It was well known by now that Christa and Omid loved to baby Clem, almost to the point of spoiling her rotten. Seeing as both of them wanted children but couldn't have any, it was only natural that they grew quickly attached to Clem and Duck and babysat them often.

Lee sighed. "Just get Kenny to walk you across next time okay?" No one answered him as Christa and Clem had already gone back to talking with each other.

"Goodness" Lee mumbled and shook his head.

Omid laughed. "You really are still a pushover."

Carley finished typing up the last few lines of the script, proofread it and sent it off to Danielle before she noticed just how late it was. "Damn. I didn't think it was that late." She thought as she looked over to see 1:45 etched in red on her alarm clock. She cleared her throat and coughed a little as she noticed just how dry her throat was. "Gotta stay hydrated."

She closed her laptop and stretched her arms out before stretching out of her crossed legged position on the bed and standing up. She set her laptop on her side table before creeping out of her room and down the stairs. It was cold for a spring night and she shivered slightly as a burst of air hit her. She didn't have a lot of clothes after the fire and had to make do with a light blue camisole and some gym shorts for sleeping.

As she walked through the living room, what looked like a big lump of covers piled onto the couch caught her eye. She slowly peeked over the back of the couch and noticed a small amount of black hair sticking out from one end. She gently grabbed one side of the blanket and pulled it back.

"Lee?" She whispered as she shook him gently. Lee rolled around and blinked his eyes up to see who was waking him. "What?"

"Lee, why are you on the couch? Did you sleep here the whole night?" Lee rubbed his eyes and sat up as his eyes tried to adjust to the lack of light. Feeling for the side table, he found the small lamp and turned it on.

"Carley? What are you doing?" He said once he was able to see her clearly.

"I came down to get some water and found you here. Is there something wrong with your room?" Carley asked, concerned. She hoped that he didn't move to sleeping on the couch just to accommodate her.

"No, nothing's wrong with it. I just..." He paused, trying to think of a good excuse. "I just like sleeping down here."

Carley looked at him questioningly and put a hand on his shoulder. "You sure? That seems pretty uncomfortable."

"Yea, it's fine Carley."

"Do you want my room? I can sleep on the couch if it makes-"

"I said its fine Carley." Lee burst out, his voice firm. Carley pulled her hand away from him, startled by his sudden change in demeanor. Lee realized what he had done and calmed down.

"I'm sorry Carley. I didn't mean that. I'll just..." He sighed and looked straight into her eyes. "I'll be fine here."

Carley nodded. "Okay, as long as its fine with you. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Lee said as he turned the light off and pulled the covers back over himself. Carley walked towards the kitchen and grabbed a glass, filling it with water. She took one last look at him on the couch before returning to her room with her glass, her expression troubled.

"Something's up with him."

A/N Just to be clear, by including everyone that I wanted in this story, I meant that the people who I wanted to have actual lines have all been added. Mark and the St. Johns will only get a mention from the other characters because I can't really fit a place in for cannibals and Mark was just really bland. So, starting with this chapter, I have included basically everyone that I wanted to! Thanks for the reviews!