July 4th

April looked at the street she was parked on, not seeing Mike anywhere in sight, so she hit the horn in a pattern in hopes that would make him come out of his house faster. After that he finally walked out with a smirk on his face until he saw her in the driver's seat. "What the hell are you doing, Asher?"

"I struck a deal with Roma that I could drive my car again if he stays directly behind me, now come on, Banning."

Mike looked over to Roma in the car behind her as he just shrugged, not really knowing how she talked herself into that deal. "You're a tricky one, Showers." He told her as he climbed into the passenger's seat.

"Oh, shut up." She spoke as she put the car in drive and began driving, beginning to scare Mike. She really wasn't the best on the road.

He was sitting in the passenger's seat, trying to break with her when she was scaring him and holding onto different portions of the car while making sure his seatbelt was as secure as possible. When April saw him, she rolled her eyes. "Stop being so dramatic."

"I will be when we get there alive."

April rolled her eyes at him again before looking back to the road. "So, where's Leah?"

The two talked of the other's significant other often as a kind of anchor to keep them reminded that there was no way they were working out anytime soon. "Um, I don't know she's at one of her friend's houses."

April almost slammed on the breaks after that. "And you're not with her?"

"She told me I could hang out with you instead."

"Oh," April spoke as she began to shake her head with her eyes shut, not being able to believe how stupid Mike could be. "No, that's not what she meant."

"What do you mean 'that's not what she meant'? That's exactly what she told me."

April shut her eyes. Mike always was so stupid when it came to reading women. "No, honey, she meant that you could go with me, but in all honestly she wanted you to go with her."

"What?" Mike asked, almost panicked. "So now I'm in trouble?"

"Big time." April spoke with a nod while Mike threw his hands in the air.

"Why can't you girls just say what you want?"

April rolled her eyes before turning to look at him. "Why are men too stupid to pick up on a simple tone of voice que?"

"Oh, don't turn this on me, I'm in trouble because of you."

"Whoa bro." April spoke while taking her hands off the wheel quickly before putting them back on, knowing it would freak Mike out. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, seeing his freaked out face and smiling.

Mike just looked at her for a minute while shaking his head. "You spend too much time with Megan."

Shortly after, April found a parking spot, turning to Mike and smiling. "We're finally here."

"Thank god I don't have to be in this car any longer." Mike spoke, quickly undoing his seatbelt and hurrying out of the car.

April angrily pushed her car door open and hurried to Mike, acting like she was about to punch him. They began dancing around each other trying to find out who was gonna dish out the first fake swing and how the other was going to block it. "There you two are!"

They both turned to see Megan advancing towards them, the two automatically standing up straight again. Each of them took their turns hugging, but after April was done, she was looking around the space near her. "Where's Troy?"

Megan looked to her after she broke out of her hug with Mike. "He didn't tell you?" April shrugged, confused at what had happened. "He text me saying he couldn't come."

"Did he say why?" April asked, completely confused on why he would tell Megan, but not her.

"No." Megan spoke while shaking her head. "I thought he would have told you before he told everyone else."

Suddenly April's phone went off and she pulled it out, her face fell, making Mike hurt a little. "Well, I know now."

Mike was angered that he would treat her that way. He wanted to go find out where he was and give him a piece of his mind, but he wasn't April's boyfriend. There was nothing he could really do. "What a fuck head." Megan finally spoke, breaking the silence.

That's when he remembered that he and April were friends. He could say something as her friend. "Do you want me to find him and talk to him?" Mike suddenly asked.

"What?" April asked, the question throwing her completely off guard. "No, just forget about it you guys, we came here to have a good time and watch the fireworks. Don't let him ruin our good time."

"But he – "

"Don't let him ruin our time!" April yelled, cutting Megan off, making her throw her hands up in self-defense.

"Whoa bro."

"Stop it." Mike demanded.

The three of them found a nice spot on the grass, spreading out their blanket before the place could get insanely crowded. Mike and April went off to get the group some drinks while Megan held the spot. Of course Roma was there to follow at least ten feet behind her, so they were never really alone together which was good. It would stop them both of thinking up something stupid. "Did you ever see about getting tickets to that band you like?" Mike asked as April held the drinks for both her and Megan.

"No." April complained. "Well, I looked into it and when the tickets went on sale, but a lot of hipsters are into that band and there's a lot of hipsters in Washington so it got sold out really fast."

Mike smiled at her comment as the two continued walking. April took a sip of her drink before looking back to Mike. "Are you worried about what's going to happen with Leah?"

Mike simply shrugged while shaking his head. "She'll get over it." April opened her mouth, about to say something, but stopped herself. "What were you going to say?"

"Nothing." April sighed out like she was irritated with him.

"What?" Mike asked, getting in front of her with a confused face as April rolled her eyes, an irritated smile pulling on her lips. "Now you're mad at me?"

"Yeah," April spoke obviously. "I'm mad at you." His face just twisted into even more confusion. "Leah is a nice person and she does not deserve what you do to her."

Mike chuckled while shaking his head and looking away from her. "You don't know the Leah I know."

"What did she do?" April asked, getting in Mike's face again. "What did she do that was so bad that made you hate her this much? That made you want to cheat on her."

"Okay," Mike spoke, looking to her, now getting even madder than she was. "Let's get one thing straight, I didn't cheat on her out of spite."

"Well, it sure feels like it with how you ended everything."

Mike looked around, noticing all the people before pulling her behind one of the food tents for some privacy, knowing they couldn't have anyone listening in on this conversation. When they finally got to a private place, they each put their drinks down in the grass so they could talk efficiently. "April," Mike spoke as calmly as he could in this situation. "You were not used to get at my wife."

April looked him up and down, her chest rising and falling heavily, feeling every little curve in his fingers that were gripping her arm. Her eyes rose back to his face, knowing she was about to challenge him, and he loved a good challenge. "Then prove it."

He then pulled her in for a hungry kiss they had both been craving since their last. April was gripping at his arms so hard that she was probably leaving scratch marks. Mike cradled her head in his hand, dipping her neck in further to kiss her even better. Mike and April both knew this wasn't right. Especially when Leah and April were actually developing something of a friendship, but they just missed their hands on each other's skin.

Mike finally pulled away, his lips lingering as they pulled apart. "Leah cheated on me first." He spoke it so quick, both of them had to replay the sound in their heads again to make sure they heard right. "And ever since then – "

"That's the Leah I don't know? The one who did the same thing you're doing right now?"

"April," Mike tried.

"Stay with your wife, Mike. I get that I'm some sort of distraction to you, but leave me out of it." April shook her head at him, pulling away from his grasp on her. "I can be your friend, but I don't think I can ever be your girlfriend again."

And with that, April picked the drinks back up and walked off, not really caring if Mike followed or not. Mike just continued to stand there, thinking about everything he was protecting her from by staying with Leah. The press. Leah. Himself. Was it all really worth it? By protecting her, he was just causing her more pain.

When he finally got back to their spot, April and Megan were laughing and talking like nothing happened. April turned to Mike with a smile as if nothing phasing her like it should have from their last conversation. He smiled back at her, wishing he could have that like she did. She could totally ignore something ever happened, but the only thing he could think about was that kiss.

A little after midnight, they began to head back home, April having to drop Mike back off at his place. The car ride was silent, Mike awkwardly looking out his window while April kept her eyes on the road. She finally took a deep breath, the silence killing her. "I'm sorry for what I said back there."

Mike shook his head, still looking out the window. "Don't be. It needed to be said."

April tightened her grip on the wheel, her breath just getting deeper. "So that's what we're gonna be? Strictly friends?"

Mike shook his head, finally turning to look at her. "Nothing more."

April sat there for a moment, thinking what he had said over before deciding to pull over and unbuckle her seatbelt. "April," Mike spoke, confused by what she was doing. "I live a few blocks away."

April took a deep breath, building up the courage. "Fuck it." She whispered before climbing on top of him and giving passionate kisses all over his face. Mike kissed her back and he wanted to continue it, but he just respected her way too much to let this be some sloppy night she was going to regret. "April, stop." He spoke through breaths. "We can't do this."

"Don't you want me?" She just sounded so hurt and desperate in that moment. Almost like the day he left her. "Don't you love me?"

"I do." Mike spoke, still struggling to push her off. "But not like this."

She immediately stopped, pushing her hair back while looking him up and down again. "I don't get it." She spoke, shaking her head. "I don't get you sometimes."

Mike chuckled. "Yeah, well if you knew what I knew."

April furrowed her eyebrows at him with a bit of a smile, wondering what he was getting at. "I broke the friend rule."

Mike shrugged, smiling at her again. He really wished they would be able to get back to normal sometime soon. Actually, better than normal. "I'll let it slide."

April smiled, touching his face one last time before climbing off of him and getting into the driver's seat before beginning the drive to Mike's house again, both having a little smile on their face. They had to work out sometime.

When Mike walked into the house, he expected for Leah to be in bed and he wouldn't have to start a fight, but she was there. Waiting for him. Almost like she was just wanting to fight. April's words ran back through his head and just by the tension stinking up the air, he knew this was going to be a huge. "Hey." Mike told her, not knowing what else to say.

Leah just crossed her arms, keeping her glare in his direction. "How was your night?"

"Leah," Mike sighed out, rubbing his head with his hand. This would be the second woman mad with him tonight. "Can we not do this tonight?"

"Then when else are we gonna do it?" Leah threatened, standing up now. "Because you spend every second you can with April."

Mike took his hand off his face, throwing it in the air. "She's my friend. I can't hang out with my friends?"

"You can hang out with your friends." She spoke with a shrug. "I have no problem with you hanging out with your friends, but when you want to hang out with a pretty twenty year old more than your wife, that's a problem."

Mike opened his mouth, about to say something, but he knew it wouldn't be worth it. "I'm not having this conversation with you, Leah."

"No," she challenged while moving even closer to him. Leah loved to challenge Mike too, but not the way April did. "You want to have this conversation after I'm too busy to remember what had even happened."

Mike was gritting his teeth, all her judgement making him so mad. "What did I do, huh?" He was raising his voice now, that just seeming to fuel Leah. "What did I do that makes you like this? Because you know we weren't always like this, we were happy once and I want to know where it all went wrong."

Leah got close to his face, her eyes fuming. "From the second April Asher walked into that White House."

She spun around on her heels so quick and headed to the bedroom as Mike continued to stand there dumbfounded. He followed her, demanding to know more. When he got into their room, she was taking the pillows off the bed and unmaking it, ready to go to sleep after her long night of waiting on Mike. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on, Mike." She spoke to him obvious. "I see the way you look at her." Mike looked down in thought. He thought the way he looked at her was only visible to him. "When she's not looking it's like she's the only woman in the room and when she is, your smile takes up your entire face. You're not fooling anyone, Mike."

Mike continued to remain silent after she said that. He knew he loved April, but he didn't think that Leah would notice it. He actually didn't know that anyone else had noticed it. "No matter what you say," Leah continued, finally getting in the bed. "You love her, and she loves you."

Leah pulled the covers over her as Mike continued to stand there. She shut the lamp off, not really caring if Mike was joining her. This was actually probably going to be the last time they would share a bedroom together. Mike continued to stand there in the dark, the shock continuing to possess him. He didn't know how to move or where he would go if he even could. After tonight, his relationship with both of the women was going to change.

Leah was glancing through her paperwork when she noticed April in her maroon scrubs walking along side Megan. Leah began gritting her teeth, thinking about her argument with Mike last night. This girl just wouldn't leave her sight. She regretted ever telling her about the opening in her hospital. Now if she wasn't at her house all over her husband, she was at her hospital, being her charge nurse every other week.

When April noticed Leah, she immediately felt guilty for what had happened between her and Mike. Not to mention the fact that Mike chose to spend the day with her when he should have been with Leah. "Give me a second." She spoke to Megan, waiting until she was done with her story before approaching Leah. "Hey." April greeted.

"Hey." Leah spoke blandly, pretending to still go through her paperwork, not wanting to look at the girl and notice that April had everything she didn't.

"I want to apologize about last night." Leah stopped what she was doing, not looking at April, but looking up slightly. "Mike didn't tell me that you had asked him to go to a party with your friends. I wouldn't have invited him if I would have known."

Leah smiled slightly. A more annoyed smile than anything. April just had to be the good girl in everything. Leah finally turned to face her, April looking all over her face, not quite sure how to read her emotions in that moment. "You know April, maybe your patient satisfaction rate would be up if you spent less time talking and more time assuring your patient's comfortability."

Leah turned on her heels as April's eyes were as wide as they had ever been and she had to blink a few times to let everything she had just told her process. Megan joined April, her mouth dropped as April continued to stand there in confusion. "What the hell climbed up her ass?"

April had no idea and Leah's attitude had temporarily taken her voice. Leah bent down behind the front desk, pulling out her purse and heading to the front door where Mike was waiting. That was actually the moment she knew she wanted to divorce Mike Banning. When he saw her, he offered a smile, but she just continued to walk past him, at that moment only wanting him for a ride home. April and Mike then looked to each other, not sure what to say, but each knowing that their secret was starting to unravel with Leah.

Mrs. HappyAnarchy: I think she'll dump Troy in a few chapters so that will be something for you to look forward to haha.

NGArmyWife: Oh my gosh, I know! April is a strong one for having the power to resist it as best as she can. It is Mike Banning!

MisfitCarter: Almost to the movie! I think there will be two or three more chapters until we get to the movie action so that will be fun. I will be doing some time hopping so just keep on the look out for it.

Kagome309: I hope you liked the storm!

I know it's been a while since I updated and sorry about that. I was hoping on getting this chapter up on the fourth, but I was out there celebrating America and singing Toby Keith on the only day of the year I get to, what do you want from me? Haha. I hope your holiday was great and those of you who don't celebrate it, I hope you've had a great time since I've updated last. There should be two to three more chapters until I get to the movie so yay! I hope you all enjoyed and remember to review! Thanks!