Disclaimer: I do not own anything that has to do with the Black Donnellys. The only thing I own is Makenzie.

Note: the narrator is in bold and it will switch from Makenzie to Joey so you get different aspects of the story. Makenzie is in Italic Bold and Joey will be in regular bold. This story takes place after the mess with Dokey and Nicky cools down a bit.

See the thing about Mac is that she is probably the most blind person when it comes to seeing others people's feelings about her, I happen to be very good at it. I mean I love my cousin, but sometimes she can be a little slow. She wasn't the only slow one around though. What Mac didn't know was that when Jimmy had gone over to her apartment to check on her that he finally realized his feeling for her. I had know he liked her for a long time, I mean hell a lot of people figured it. But the thing was that her situation with the Donnellys was about to get a whole lot more confusing, especially between a certain two.

It was about ten o'clock before Makenzie had finally made it over to the Firecracker. When she entered the bar she was blasted with the sound of the jukebox playing some old song and the boys arguing over a game of pool. Joey was behind the bar, like he was a lot recently, and Jimmy and Sean were playing pool. She saw Tommy sitting at the end of the bar, sipping lightly at his beer while Kevin was telling him his new betting strategy.

"Hey Tommy," Makenzie said as she sat down on the stool beside him. Joey slid a beer in her direction and she took a swift swig. Heffienweizen, her favorite.

"Hey Mac, how you healing up?" Tommy asked with a slight smile.

"Fine, your brother didn't do that bad of a job cleaning me up."

"What you got a new man cleaning you up now," Tommy joked.

"You might want to watch yourself Tommy, you just might get replaced."

"What your not going to say hi to me," Kevin said, leaning out from behind Tommy.

"Hey Kev," Makenzie said with a smile. Kevin smiled back at her and then leaned over the bar and hit Joey lightly on the chest.

"Let's see if these guys want to play doubles," Kevin said as he got up from the stool.

"Don't go betting money you don't have Kevin," Tommy said as the two walked towards Sean and Jimmy. Makenzie just laughed.

Tommy was always looking out for his brothers, even if it was from each other every now and then. Makenzie took another sip from her beer, savoring the taste in her mouth. Most girls liked sweet cocktails and wine coolers, but Makenzie loved beer. She loved all beer and she also loved tequila, which got her in trouble more often than not. Tommy was watching Makenzie, her dark red hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, like it was most of the time, and her brown eyes were scaning the hard alcohol that was lined across the wall. He felt so much closer to her than he had ever felt in the past, he didn't know why for sure, but he was starting to get some ideas. She was quickly downing her beer and Tommy heard Jimmy yell, "Take it easy Mac, you can't hold you liquor!" Tommy just laughed. Mackenzie could hold her liquor with the best of them. Hell, Tommy had seen her drink Kevin under the table a few times. She gave Jimmy the bird as she set the empty glass back on the bartop. Makenzie ran the back of her hand over her mouth to wipe up any beer that had collected on her lips. Her lips were a natural dark shade of pink making so she never had to wear lipstick. Tommy liked her lips, especially the pouty bottom lip.

"What do I got something," Makenzie asked, wiping at her lips again. Tommy's eyes darted up and he quickly said, "No!" Makenzie looked startled.

"Good because I was starting to wonder if I had something growing there."

"No your good," Tommy breathed. Makenzie's eyebrows furrowed.

"Are you okay Tommy?" She asked.

"No I'm fine."

"Good because I was about to worry. You were looking a little pale for a minute."

"Really? Well maybe I should step outside for a sec."

"Okay, do you want me to keep you company?" Makenzie asked, eyeing him.

"No, that's okay." Tommy finished. Makenzie just gave him a nod as he walked outside. The hot night air hit him like a ton of bricks, knocking the wind out of him. He started to pace back and forth as he tried to gather his thoughts. He didn't know what was going on with him. Makenzie's lips never looked that alluring before.

I know exactly what was going on with him. He was finally feeling it, his attraction for Mac. It only made sense really that he would end up feeling like that about her. She was the one that was there for him through all the shit he went through with Jenny at the end of their strange relationship, especially after she left him. I mean Jenny left all of us, but it hurt Tommy the most. There were many nights were Makenzie would stay up all night listening to him talk about Jenny and how sad he was about the whole thing. And think about how that all made Mac feel at the time, because at that time she was crazy about Tommy. That girl can never make up her mind. Jimmy had liked her all along, he just never realized it. As for Tommy, well this was a new revelation... well it wasn't that new.

Tommy wiped a hand over his face and let out a sigh. Life was never easy for the Donnelly's, never. The door to the bar opened and he whipped his head around to come face to face with a pair of friendly brown eyes.

"You've been out here a long time Tommy, are you sure your okay?" She was going to drive him crazy if she kept asking him that. His dark hair was starting to stick to his forehead and the back of his neck from the sweat that started to form.

"Yeah Mac I'm fine," Tommy reassured her again. She wasn't convinced, but she wouldn't push him any further. Makenzie caught a light come on in an abandoned building that was behind Tommy. It had been abandoned for a few years and there was two shiny black cars out front. With the light on one could see into the building clearly. Nicky Cottero was in the building and he wasn't alone.

"Who the..." Makenzie started when she saw an unidentified man come into the room. He definitely wasn't one of the Italian's, there would be no point for them to meet in an abandoned building.

"What?" Tommy asked as he turned around to look at what Makenzie was looking at.

"Who the hell is that?" Tommy asked no one in particular. The other man was big, probably about 6'4". He was wearing a dark suit and his hair was slicked back, he looked Russian. But the last any of them knew, there were no Russians in town. Nicky and the man shook hands before they started heading, for what Tommy could guess, an exit.

"Lets got back inside," Tommy said, grabbing Makenzie's arm. She obliged, letting Tommy pull her back into the Firecracker.

"What was Nicky doing?" Makenzie asked quietly. She didn't want to alert the others to the fact that Nicky was in the neighborhood.

"I don't know, but don't say anything until I find some stuff out okay."

"Sure Tommy."

"You guys better not have been kissing out there," Jimmy said, trying to sound like he was giving the two a hard time. They didn't respond, all Makenzie could do was give a fake smile which Kevin and Jimmy saw right through.

See at the time none of us knew that something big was happening in that abandoned building that night. We didn't know that Nicky was making a deal with some really shady Russians that were deciding to take up residence in Hell's Kitchen. The Italian's were planning something and those Russians were involved. That meeting brought a whole new problem into Hell's Kitchen and personal hell for the Donnelly's. All that stuff that happened with Dokey and Nicky looked like amateur hour next to what was brought down on the Donnelly's, Makenzie and me after that night.

Authors note: well what do you think? Any suggestions?