I know, I'm a horrible person for waiting this long lol. But, I have finals then summer so I'm feelin waaaaay more creative than usual. If you think I should right more stuff, review and tell me about this pair, others I've done, or ones I haven't on my profile. FIRST STORY I EVER ACTUALLY FINISHED ON PURPOSE! lmao, enjoy you lucky, lucky people :]

The pair was able to get back into their routine relatively quick, and Stan was glad for the change. He could still see the way that Marshall would look longingly over at Mary when he thought she wasn't looking, but noticed that after a while, Mary would smile as if she could feel the weight of it on her back. Once in a while she would catch him and be locked into a staring match with him, but usually just smiled this radiant smile at him and left it at that. It was one of the smiles that lit her whole face and it made him wonder just what had happened in the office earlier that day. Deciding that if whatever had happened made it this calm in the office, he owed Marshall and Mary the rest of the day off so it stayed this good. Walking out of his office, both Mary and Marshall instinctively looked up and got up waiting for their instructions, but stopped when they noticed he said day off, not day in. They gathered their things, but when Marshall started to leave ahead of Mary, she panicked.

"Hey Doofus?" she yelled to the elevator just as Marshall was getting on to which he turned around.

"What you doing tonight?"

"Nothing…why?"

"Let's get food and go to my house, we need to talk" she said and smiled reassuringly at him. He hesitated for a second before reaching his hand out to stop the doors from closing.

"Ok, let's go"

The ride to Mary's house was anything but entertaining. They let an awkward silence fall over them and just stared out the windshield until they pulled up in the driveway. Noticing that Raph's car was still there, both Mary and Marshall tensed and tried to talk at one another at the same time.

"Look Mare, its ok we can grab food tomorrow night…"

"No, you're not leaving, he is. Just come inside with me please?" she almost begged, and Marshall knew he wouldn't deny her anything. Sighing he agreed. Walking in he kept kicking himself for the fireworks he knowingly would start by just being there.

Walking through the door, Marshall could see Brandi and Raph in the kitchen, but by the murderous glare Mary shot them, that was the last place they should have been.

"What part of 'get the fuck out' did neither one of you dipshits understand?" she asked, and he noticed the way her hands clenched as if she were trying not to hit them.

"Well Mary, I thought you just said that because you were upset…"

"No shit Raph! You slept with my sister twice, and you think because I took you back the first time that I'd do it again? God, you're dumber than I thought because you're the one that broke off the engagement dumbass"

"Mare…" Marshall said warningly, but they just kept arguing. This time though, he was thrown into the mix.

"And what is he doing here Mary? This is a family problem and only family should be here" He stressed the word family and it pushed Mary to the edge of her rope.

"Well guess what Raph; Marshall has always been my family when you guys decided that walking all over me was fun. He was there to pick up the pieces and keep me from killing all of you. Plus, you shouldn't be here either; you're no longer anywhere close to being considered family"

Brandi decided that it was time she made her presence known, and all she did was fan the fire.

"How would we know you were upset Mary? You never let us see when you're broken so it's your own fault Chico wanted someone that didn't need a warning label on their forehead…"

"You want a warning label Squish?" she asked dangerously, "You got it"

Mary disappeared into the back of the house and they heard her moving things but no one was brave enough to go and see what she was doing. The only time they dared to move was when they heard the scraping of a metal garbage can outside, and Marshall was the first one to reach the pool before trying to stifle his laugh at what he saw.

"Mary, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Brandi screamed as she saw Mary standing over the garbage can.

Mary stood beside the can with it filled with both Brandi's and Raph's clothing, 4 boxes of matches, and a bottle of vodka, and Marshall didn't think he could have found her any more attractive than in that moment.

"Querida…" with that one word, Mary poured some vodka into the can, struck a match, and stepped away as she threw it in the can. She and Marshall started laughing, but their laughter was drowned out by Brandi's scream of bloody murder and Raph's fluent string of Spanish. After they all quieted down, Mary asked Brandi one last question,

"Guess the warning label probably said flammable, huh Squish?" she asked, and watched her run inside with Raph right on her heels.

As the fire died down, Marshall made his way around the pool and to Mary, wondering where her head was now. They stood in a comfortable silence as they heard Brandi and Raph yelling to one another as they got their clothes together. Neither dared to say anything until they heard Raph's car pull out of the driveway and silence stretch across the house.

"Guess they're really gone?" Mary asked, putting a lid on the garbage can.

"It seems that way…"

"Look Marshall…" she said and hesitated.

"What do you need?" he asked sincerely. Mary sighed,

"A friend and a pizza"

"I'll go order the pizza, and I'm already here" he said, and smiled as he went inside to find a menu.

Mary stood by the pool just watching the water lap at the edges and wondered just how much Marshall would do for her. I can't keep being scared of him; he's the only one that hasn't hurt me. He deserves so much better. He might deserve better, but he basically hit you in the head with the fact that he will always be yours. Buck up and go get your one in a million. But what if he changed his mind…You know Marshall; you just refused to see what was right in front of you all along.

Mary shook her head trying to get those voices to stop trying to start World War III when Marshall came back out to let her know the pizza is on its way.

"You ok Mare?"

"Yeah Marshall, but we have to talk" and with that she led him back inside to her living room and plopped on one end of the couch while he plopped in the middle a lot closer to her.

She played with her fingers, and Marshall gently laid his hand over hers so she would relax and look him in the eye. When their eyes finally met though, he felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him. Her eyes shone with unshed tears, and just as he was about to reach for her to hold her, Mary had other ideas instead. She pulled one of her hands out from underneath his and placed it on the back of his neck as she drew him closer and hesitantly pressed her lips to his. She did it again, and when Marshall didn't respond she started to pull away but felt him move one hand into her hair and the other to grasps her waist. She then felt him kiss her back and she couldn't help the moan that escaped the back of her throat. As her tongue snaked out to open his lips, she felt him pull back and hold her at arm's length.

"Mare, I get that you're going through an emotional time, but this is just cruel," he said sighing and leaning back against the couch a little farther from her.

"You think that was because I'm going through crap? How is this different from any other day in this hellhole I call home?"

"It's different because you just pushed away everyone you've always had to rescue and reassure. Maybe now you need some of that yourself…"

"I didn't kiss you because I was lonely numb nuts, I kissed you because I wanted to"

He looked up to meet her eyes and only saw sincerity behind her words despite the sarcasm.

"Oh…"

"Yeah 'Oh'. You may be a genius but you're as thick as a tree trunk"

"Funny you mention tree trunks. I happen to know that…"

"Really? Did you really think that for one second that I would find what you were about to say even remotely interesting?" she said rolling her eyes and settling her head against the back of the couch closer to him again.

"No, not really"

"Good, because I wouldn't want you to think that I enjoy all of that random crap that only an encyclopedia should know"

And with that, she leaned forward again and captured Marshall's lips with her own. He slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her half on top of him as he continued to battle with her for dominance of their heated kiss. As she started to reach for the buttons on his shirt, he picked her up from the couch with him and made his way down the hall.

"Where are we going…" she gasped as he nipped just below her ear and soother the sting with his tongue.

"Room" he said as he made his way down her neck.

"You better be worth the wait Doofus or I'm gonna be disappointed" he sighed as she fell back on his bed.

He looked down at her adoringly as he started to unbutton his shirt.

"Believe me," he rasped and made her shiver in the best possible way, "The last thing you will be is disappointed" he said as he threw his shirt on the floor.

She just stared up at him before pulling him on top of her.

"Ride 'em cowboy" she replied; and that was her last coherent phrase for the next several hours.