Tess spent Friday trying to relax. She did a little writing and worked on a new sketch. But it was impossible for her to not think about what had happened the night before. Her life had changed. There was no way she could just return to Arus and pretend nothing had happened. She had no doubt in her mind that she was meant to take this trip to Terra, she was meant to meet Griff, she was meant to be with him.

After sharing dinner with her aunt and uncle, Tess went up to the room she was staying in and dug through the clothing she had brought with her. It was going to be a warm evening, combining that with being in a crowded bar and alcohol flowing, she figured she had to dress light. After trying on several different outfits, she settled on a pair of short khaki shorts, a sleeveless black blouse, and a pair of strappy black sandals. Using a jeweled barrette, she pulled her hair back on both sides before sitting in front of the mirror with her make-up.

Paige was standing in the front of the bookstore waiting for Tess. The line to get into Flynn's stretched in front of the bookstore.

"Now that you and Griff are dating, I expect all my food and drinks to be free." Paige greeted her as they joined the line.

Tess glared at her friend. "Everything I told you last night was in the strictest of confidence."

"I know, I know, I was just teasing you. Geez."

"Sorry, I know. I'm just." Tess looked up and down the street, still unable to shake the feeling that someone was about to snap her picture. "I really like him, I don't want to screw this up."

"Well, I think you're showing enough leg to get him to comp everything tonight."

"He told me he'd be so busy he probably won't even be able to talk to me."

"Yeah, they're going to be packed. We should've gone in sooner."

"Oh, it'll be fun. I've never seen a band play at a bar."

"Do you not have bars on Arus?"

"Yeah, but I just turned 21 last November and I've just been busy."

"It'll be loud, hot, and crowded. But it'll be fun."

They reached the door where there were two large men. One was collecting money for the cover charge and the other held a clipboard and was checking IDs.

Feeling a little foolish, Tess leaned toward the guy with the clipboard. "I'm, uh, I'm Tess Whitaker, I should be on the list."

Without even looking at it, the guy waved her in.

"Is Paige Turner on the list?" Paige asked.

The guy looked down at his clipboard. "Are you with Tess?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, it says Tess and friend. I guess that's you."

Paige narrowed her eyes and looked at Tess. "Griff did that to get under my skin."

Tess laughed. "And it's working."

Kevin was standing just inside the door with another guy waiting for them. "Tess, Paige, you made it! This is Bill. Bill, Tess and Paige. Come on, if you guys want a drink before the show starts, we have to head to the bar now."

Tess hadn't noticed the small stage before, it had previously held three tables, which had been moved and replaced with a drum kit, a couple of guitar stands and amps, and three microphone stands. Several other tables had been pushed back to make room in front of the stage for people to stand. Tess spotted Griff and two other bartenders filling orders as people stood four deep at the bar. The noise level was almost deafening as music played from the juke box and people yelled over it to hear each other.

"What are you having?" Kevin shouted to Tess and Paige.

"Lager!" Paige shouted back.

Tess studied the taps for a moment. "Pale Ale!"

"Stay here by the pillar, we'll get the drinks and meet you back there!"

"This is crazy!" Tess shouted to Paige as more people crowded in.

"This is nothing! Just wait until the band starts!"

Tess looked around, seeing all the girls in various states of dress and the guys checking them out. She hadn't been allowed to attend events like this on Arus, well, that's not entirely true. She could have gone, but she would have had to take a couple of guards to stand over her the entire time. But here, she was with friends, blending in with the crowd. It felt wonderful and so freeing.

"Hey, beautiful!"

Tess jumped when she heard Griff's voice in her ear. She looked over her shoulder to see him holding her and Paige's beers. "Hey! I thought you were busy!"

He handed them their drinks. "I am! I have to introduce the band. Stay here if you can, it's a good spot to see the show!"

"We will!"

He gently, quickly brushed his fingers over her cheek before leaning in close. "Will you stay until the end of the show?"

Tess nodded.

"Good!"

With that, he was swallowed into the crowd only to appear seconds later on the stage in front of the center microphone. The music from the juke box was cutoff and the absence was sudden and odd.

"Good evening, Houten!" Griff shouted.

The crowd cheered back.

"I said, good evening Houten!"

They cheered even louder, Tess and Paige lifting their drinks in the air and shouting along with the rest. Kevin and Bill appeared behind them, adding their voices to the noise.

"There you are! Welcome to Flynn's!"

He was cut off by more loud cheering.

"We're very happy to present an incredible group that hails from nearby Mossburg. The one! The only! The Oblivious!"

Tess swore she felt the foundation of the bar shake as the crowd erupted into even louder cheers and screams. The band members walked out of the storage room to the right of the bar and through the crowd to the stage, slapping high-fives and accepting hugs from their female fans.

The band played for over three hours, wrapping up their set just after 1:00. Tess and Paige were both on their fourth beers and feeling pretty good.

The crowd thinned out, but there were still several people who wanted to hang out with the band. Tess and Paige pushed their way up to the bar, wishing for the impossible: a pair of empty stools.

"I love these sandals," Tess told Paige. "But they were not made to stand and dance in for three hours."

"Maybe Griff will rub your feet."

"If he did, I'd marry him tonight."

"Did you like the show?" Kevin asked.

"It was so much fun!" Tess told him. "You guys do this every weekend?"

"Yup. But it's always the craziest when The Oblivious play, they're the most popular group in the area. Tomorrow night, Griff has these two older guys come in and play Irish music. It's a smaller, older crowd, Very different from tonight."

The storage room door opened and the band members came out again, heading to the bar this time. The crowd surrounding the bar shifted to that end, surrounding the musicians.

"Hurry!" Paige grabbed Tess's arm and dragged her to the opposite end of the bar where two stools opened up.

Tess sighed with relief as she got off her feet and set her beer in front of her. Paige sat beside her and made a similar sound.

Down at the other end of the bar, Griff, a male bartender, and a female bartender moved quickly to fill orders. Tess was impressed watching them move fluidly, mixing drinks, pouring beers, and passing glasses to customers.

Griff had a constant smile on his face and an easy manner. He was made for this. He loved interacting with his customers and she loved watching him. Tess narrowed her eyes and glared at a woman in a low-cut blouse who leaned a little too far over the bar toward Griff, but he took an easy step back and sidestepped her advances.

As if he sensed her watching him, Griff looked up and caught her eye, winking. Tess winked back.

"Look at the two of you, all flirting and making me want to gag," Paige teased.

"He's so cute," Tess sighed, the alcohol loosening her up.

"You're not the only one who thinks that," Paige said, indicating the woman in the low-cut blouse who was unsuccessfully flirting with him.

"I am trained in basic hand-to-hand and self defense," Tess growled. "I will kick her ass."

"Whoa!" Paige laughed. "Where did that come from? "

Tess watched as Griff moved down the bar, away from the woman and letting his female bartender tend to her. A guy she recognized as the guitarist from the band waved Griff over, he said something and pointed toward her and Paige. Griff followed the direction of his finger and looked back at the man, shaking his head. The guitarist looked annoyed and said something to Griff, who shook his head again.

"What is going on?" Paige asked, watching with as much interest as Tess was.

"It looks to me," Kevin said, leaning between the two of them. "That Jeff wants to buy either Tess or you a drink and Griff won't let him."

"Uh oh, looks like Slutty McBigBoobs gave Maggie the slip and is going after Griff again." Paige said as the woman in the low-cut blouse had moved around to the other end of the bar, closer to Griff.

"Oh that is it," Tess said, sliding off the stool. "She's going down!"

Paige laughed and grabbed her friend's arm. "No she's not. You're drunk!"

"I am not!"

"Yeah, you are."

Tess took her beer and drank the last of it, slamming the glass on the bar. "Okay, maybe a little."

Griff stepped back from the woman flirting with him and rang the bell that hung behind the bar. "Last call!" He shouted. "Last call for drinks!"

Kevin and Bill went down to the other end of the bar to place their orders.

"Last call, can I get you ladies a drink?"

Tess and Paige turned to see the guitarist leaning against the bar next to Tess.

"This is the first time I've seen you guys play, you were great!" Tess told him. "I really enjoyed it!"

He grinned at her. "I'm glad to hear that. We are lucky enough to have the most beautiful fans in the world."

Tess jumped at the sound of glasses being slammed under the counter. Griff was in front of them, slamming her and Paige's glasses into the bussing bins. "Last call."

"Whatever these two are having, put on my tab," he told Griff.

"No."

Paige and Tess watched this battle of wills with interest.

"Come on, Griff, no need to block me, there are plenty of women to go around."

Griff leaned against the bar. "There are plenty of women at the other end of the bar. Why don't you head over there?" His tone was low and tense.

Kevin and his friend had returned, standing behind them. Tess noticed the way Kevin laid a hand on the back of Paige's stool, in an almost possessive stance, but, of course, Paige didn't notice.

The guitarist looked from Griff to Paige and Tess and back again. "You trying to tell me you have laid claim to both these women?"

"Excuse me?" Tess spoke up. "No one lays claim to us."

"I kinda wish someone would lay claim to me," Paige muttered

Griff snickered.

"Griff?"

Slutty McBigBoobs appeared on the other side of the guitarist. "Is it still last call? I was hoping you'd mix me one of your special margaritas."

Tess went to stand up again, but Paige grabbed her arm.

"Maggie mixes a mean margarita, Trish, she'll set you up," Griff said, not taking his eyes off the guitarist.

"It's just not the same," she whined.

"Griff."

He turned to Tess. She stood on the bottom rung of the stool and leaned toward him, grabbing the front of his shirt, she pulled him toward her and pressed her lips to his.

For a split second, Griff stood tensely, obviously caught off guard, but he quickly recovered and turned more toward her. He slid a hand up to cup her cheek before sliding it into her hair. Tess's grip on his shirt tightened as he deepened the kiss.

Neither of them realized how quiet the bar had gotten until they broke apart. Griff smiled at her, Tess returned the smile, too drunk to be embarrassed by her own behavior.

Behind them, Maggie rang the bell and everyone, except for Slutty McBigBoobs and the guitarist, applauded.

Tess sat back down and glared at Slutty McBigBoobs. Griff laughed and rubbed his hand over his face as it turned bright red.

"I think I just lost the respect of my employees," he told her.

The other two bartenders laughed.

"Who are you, kidding, Griff, we never respected you," the male bartender teased.

"I think everyone in this room actually has more respect for you now," Maggie added.

Kevin raised his beer in a salute. "I know I do, Boss."

"Did everybody see that?" Tess asked Paige.

Her friend nodded. "Yeah, I think it's safe to say everyone was watching."

"Good."

Griff set a beer in front of each of them. "Try and behave yourselves for a little while longer, I'll take you both home after we close up."

Tess grabbed his hand to stop him. "Griff?"

"What?"

"Did I embarrass you?"

He grinned at him. "No, Tess, but consider yourself warned. By noon tomorrow, everyone in town will have heard about this."

"Good."

He laughed and brought their joined hands to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand.

Griff was wrong, it wasn't noon. Apparently, everyone in town had heard about it by 10 am.

"So, I hear you had a good time last night," Dana greeted her niece at the breakfast table the next morning.

Tess blinked, staring at her aunt and wishing the aspirin she had just taken would kick in. "Huh?"

"Too good of a time, from the looks of it," Harry teased.

"You and Griffin McManus are the talk of the town," Dana told her.

"What? Really?" Tess walked over to load bread into the toaster. "Is there really so little going on around here that people are talking about us?"

"When the most eligible bachelor in town is seen making out with the new girl, its big news."

By the time Tess walked into Flynn's at 2:00 on Monday, she had hoped it would have died down. It hadn't.

"So, Tess," Jenna greeted her at the door. "You and Griff, huh?"

"We've only gone out once."

"Trish Wilson said she saw you throwing yourself at him Friday night."

"What? Who is Trish Wilson?"

Jenna followed her across the restaurant. "She's this woman who has spent the last year flirting with Griff and wearing as little as she legally can while doing it."

"Oh, you must mean Slutty McBigBoobs."

Jenna laughed. "Yeah, that sounds like her."

Tess turned to the waitress. "She was the one throwing herself at him. Where is Griff?"

"In his office."

"Thanks." Tess crossed to the closed door of the office and knocked.

The door swung open and Griff motioned for her to come in, a phone pressed to his ear. "If all goes as planned we'll close in two weeks…uh huh…I'm working with Burke Associates, they worked on the pub with us…no…no…I'm planning on it…" He shut the door behind Tess and gestured to the desk chair, leaning against the door as she sat. "There will be plenty of work to do, I'm looking at bids now, but I won't make a decision until after we close…mm hm…all right, that sounds great…I'll be in touch…no, I have to go, I have a meeting…okay…will do, thanks for calling…goodbye."

He turned off the phone and grinned down at Tess. "Hi."

"Hi. You have a meeting? I can go work in the storage room, I want to…" She was interrupted when he put his hands on the arms of the chair and leaned down to silence her with a kiss.

"You're my meeting."

"Oh," was all she could think to say as she licked her lips.

"How're you doing?"

"Good, you?"

He smiled. "I'm great. The town gossip getting to you?"

"If the worst thing people say about me is that I'm dating the most eligible bachelor in town, I think I'll be able to handle it."

Taking the back of the chair, he spun her toward the desk and leaned over the top of the chair. "Glad to hear that. Now, I think we have some inventory to go over."

Tess spent the next twenty minutes trying to sell Griff on her new inventory system. When she finished and looked up at him, he was rubbing his chin and staring at the computer screen. "Well, what do you think?"

"It's a good system," he said.

"The one you have in place now is good, just a little outdated. I found some inconsistencies and, more than once, orders were doubled."

"Yeah. We've got enough vermouth to last us two years. "

"This program should prevent that from happening."

"Hm. It's funny, I didn't realize we could be doing this better."

"Sometimes you just need a fresh pair of eyes."

He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "I'm glad I found yours."

Tess tilted her head back and looked up at him. "So am I."

Very lightly, Griff brushed his fingertips down her throat. Tess closed her eyes and sighed as his touch caused shivers to run down her spine. He made a small sound of disappointment when someone knocked.

Griff wrenched open the door. "What?"

Iona stood on the other side with a piece of paper in her hand. "Food order list."

"Ah, thanks."

"And you're going to need someone in to look at the oven, it's not heating evenly and I don't like what it's doing to my food."

"I will."

She nodded a greeting to Tess and left them alone.

"It never stops, huh?" Tess asked.

He leaned against the desk, facing her. "Like I said, it's hard to have a social life when you're running a business. And with everything that's going on with setting up the brewpub, it's only going to get busier."

Smiling, Tess took his hand. "Then I guess it's a good thing I work here, or I'd never get to see you."

"Why do you think I offered you the job?"

"Why do you think I accepted the job?"

It had taken nearly two weeks, but Declan finally had it in his hand. The small, maroon velvet box. He had designed the ring online, then deleted it and redesigned it four times. When he finally stopped doubting his decisions, he placed the order. A guard he knew and trusted had gone down to retrieve the ring for him when it was done.

Now he stood in his bedroom, alone, and stared at the closed box. Taking a deep breath, he gently pried open the lid and his breath caught in his throat. It was perfect. It was Brina.

A 3.5 carat princess cut emerald was surrounded by small, round shaped diamonds. The diamonds continued halfway down the band, set in the white gold. He tilted the box, letting the light catch on the diamonds. Pulling the ring out of the box, he held it up to read the inscription, Forever.

Declan wanted her to know that this was forever, whatever mistakes he had made in the past he had learned from them and wouldn't repeat them.

He snapped the box shut when there was a knock on his door. "Who is it?"

"It's me," Gideon called through the door.

Declan slid the box into a desk drawer. "Come on in."

"Hey, man, looks like we'll be moving in by the end of the month," Gideon announced as he entered. "Get ready for some heavy lifting."

"What heavy lifting? All you have is the stuff in your bedroom."

"Lynnai's parents are buying us a dining room set and mom and dad are getting us a living room set as housewarming gifts."

"Let me know when and where."

Gideon sat in the desk chair and spun around to face his brother. "How's it going, Dec?"

"Fine."

"You're happier."

"I am."

"But distracted."

Declan went over to the doorway and looked out in the hallway. Seeing no one, he slid the door shut and locked it. "Can you keep a secret?"

"You know I can."

He opened up the desk drawer and handed his brother the ring box.

"Is this what I think it is?"

Declan nodded.

Gideon opened the box and whistled. "Impressive."

"What do you think?"

"I think it's incredible."

"I've been thinking a lot about what you told me."

Gideon snapped the box shut and handed it back to his brother. "I tell you a lot of stuff."

"About not letting my gift define me."

"And what have you come up with?"

Declan lowered himself down on the end of his bed, facing his brother. "At first, it made me doubt myself and what I did."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know, but when you find yourself feeling stuck and questioning everything you're doing, doubt is a side-effect. I was using my gift to give me things to worry about, sometimes there were legitimate concerns, like when Tess was taken by Martyn. Then there were times, like when I thought Cady was in serious danger and it ended up being just a skinned knee. I have gotten better over the years in knowing what was real danger and what wasn't. But I realized I was using this as an excuse to worry about others, which was easier than dealing with myself and my problems."

Gideon nodded, understanding. "Thinking about what you want and pursuing what makes you happy doesn't mean you're selfish, Dec. You are an incredible leader of the Force and a great brother. As the oldest son, you've had this need to look out for all of us, but it's perfectly fine to take care of yourself too."

Declan smiled, pleased that his brother understood. "I decided to ask myself what it was I wanted to define me, what do I want."

"And?"

"I want to marry Brina. I want to have a family and I want to be the best leader of the Force I can be."

Gideon grinned at him. "You're already a great leader and you'll only get better with time. You had a lot thrust on you at a young age, no one would blame you for having a minor existential crisis. When are you going to pop the question?"

"I haven't decided yet, but I want to do something special."

"You'll let me know if there is anything I can do to help?"

"You know I will."

"Dec?"

"Hm?"

"You said you've gotten better at knowing what was real danger and what wasn't."

"Yeah."

"Have you determined what's going on with Tess?"

Declan shrugged. "I still don't think she's in serious danger, but something is going to happen to her."

"She's a smart girl, she'll handle whatever is thrown at her."

"Yeah, and with Uncle Hunk's training, she can handle whoever is thrown at her. I'll just feel better when she's home."

"Yeah, I think we all will." Gideon stood. "I'm going to go find my beautiful wife before she spends all our money on new furniture."

"Where is she?"

"In our room, online, furnishing our new home before we've even moved in."

"You're going to make me help you paint, aren't you?"

"If Lynnai gets her way, there will be a lot of painting…"

"And she always gets her way."

Gideon smirked. "And she's pregnant, so she can't paint and if you want to hang out in the basement as much as I know you do, you'll be helping."

"Have you ordered the air hockey table yet?"

"Nope, just the bar."

Declan grinned at him. "We're going to have an amazing housewarming party."

"What about you guys? Are you going to stay in the castle?"

"We haven't really talked about that yet, but I guess that's something we'll have to discuss."

"That is, if she says yes."

"She'll say yes."

Gideon saluted his commander. "Catch ya later, Dec."

Alone in his room, Declan took the ring box out of the desk drawer again. What was the best way to propose to Brina?

Brina was an incredible pilot and soldier, she was smart, funny, and could be as much of a smartass as he could be. She was also a total homebody who loved nothing more that curling up on the couch and watching TV together or hanging out with her family in Alforia. She loved romance movies and books as well as grisly murder mysteries.

He rolled the ring box between his hands and paced the floor. What would she like? How could he make it special for her?

Declan froze. He could all but see the light bulb appear above his head. It was perfect.

Hiding the box back in the desk drawer, he sat down in front of his computer and started putting together the best way to convince the woman he loves to spend the rest of her life with him.