A/N: I'm sensing a theme with the titles now...but hey, sue me. This one comes from the movie 'It's A Wonderful Life' and is said by the fantastic James Stewart. It also features later on in this chapter, and if you remember, Alex said that she and her Dad watch it every year on the anniversary of her mother's death. It's a pretty awesome film but I felt like that particular quote was apt; George is told to kiss Mary by a stranger, which in reality he'd like nothing better than to do it. It's a loose tie, but if you've seen the movie, hopefully you can see the parallels. Especially since I know you're probably thinking 'YES DAMN IT! KISS HER BLAKE!"

Chapter 18 – You Want Me To Kiss Her?

"Good morning Hale!" Chloe cried across the sportswear store as she spotted Alex stepping of the escalator with some ray bans in her hands and looking around with wonder. Her friend elongated all the vowels in her exclamation, making her sound like a commentator and Chloe bound across the room, greeting her in a violent hug, nearly toppling them both. "Long time no see buddy. What are you doing here?" she asked, oblivious of the attention from the general public she'd garnered at her display.

Alex grinned. "Funny story actually. I'm looking for Blake," she said, looking around. "Is he about?"

Chloe eyed her suspiciously and shrugged. "He's meant to be on checkout duty but I think he traded with Braden and hid himself in stock again. That's where he usually is. You can't go out there – do you want me to get him?" The girl spoke at one hundred miles per hour in the usual cheeriness she always exuded.

Alex nodded. "Would you mind?"

"Sure thing," her friend grinned, revealing her braces. "But you owe me. How about you actually meet up with me and the rest of the gang for a game – it's been a while…"

"My curveball isn't what is used to be."

"No but I bet the amount of time you spend dancing your pirouettes are awesome," Chloe said rolling her eyes. "OK how about…just a game of throw and catch. And maybe some running."

"Round a diamond?" Alex asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, and you could bat the ball when someone throws it at you…"

"You know, kind of like a game of baseball then?" Alex said. Chloe paused and flashed another wicked steely grin.

"Yeah. Kind of. Think about," she added as she backed away. "I'll get Collins. Maybe you can cheer him up," she added in a stage whisper. "I don't think he's feeling very good."

Alex breathed a sigh as she left her and began to pace down the rows of trainers before finally standing at the back of the store where she could see the small dance section Blake had mentioned, and a vast wall with football team jerseys all hanging from wire hangers. Naturally the Baltimore Ravens were displayed foremost above the others, and she didn't think that the orange Orioles baseball jersey would be shoved at the back in this town either. Americans were fiercely patriotic, and supportive of their states' team. She'd gotten a lot of skin when she first told her old team she was a Sox fan.

"So you're a football fan too now?" said a voice behind her. She spun on her heels, recognising who it was and smiled.

"Quite the opposite. Dad likes it though," she said taking in Blake's work uniform – a dark navy polo shirt with a bright logo stating the name of the store.

"You wanted to see me?" he said, crossing his arms.

She paused and blinked before nodding. She had, for no apparent reason. He'd been...avoiding her somewhat over the past week or so, in a way she couldn't quite put her finger on, but she was missing his company acutely. It wasn't as if they weren't together, but he'd not offered her any lifts home besides his usual Wednesday ride, and he'd told her he had to take Chase to school in the mornings as a favour to his Mom. Not to mention he'd seemed less than enthused to watch a game of baseball with her. It was as if, without being unkind, he'd taken a step back and gone cold.

"I was walking past," Alex said sighing. "The TV exploded this morning, for whatever reason. Dad's fit to burst a pipe but he thinks he knows what's wrong."

Blake's eyebrows shot up, and he smirked, not unkindly. "Can your Dad fix it?"

"Of course. He says it's just a matter of punching it in the right way," Alex joked, looking at him as if it were obvious.

"Right," Blake laughed softly. "And what brought you here?" He caught a glimpse of himself in one of the store mirrors; sporting a relaxed mask with a forced smile he looked as much a Collins as he ever did. Avoiding her and putting some distance between them was hard, especially when it was so easy to be natural in her presence, and he didn't like acting indifferent.

"I had to get out," she said with a sad smile. "Back home there was a six foot tall angry man throwing his tools around."

Blake frowned and looked thoughtful. "No, I wouldn't like the idea of facing William like that either. Egotistical jerks I can handle – I've had a fair amount of practice," he said wryly, remembering Cooper as she grinned. "But not angry men."

"That's ok – I don't much like the idea of going back to face him. I'm out under the pretence of getting some shopping but the refrigerator's full. It'll be a while before he calms down and figures that out." She fiddled with her sunglasses in her hands and sighed. "I just saw the store and thought I'd stop by." Alex cringed at the sound of her own voice; she sounded lame and desperate, for Pete's sake.

Perhaps the reason their relationship felt so strained to her was because she had touched a nerve that was a little too close to the real Blake, and he hadn't liked it much. Which would account for the pushing away. But how could she confront him on it, when really he was doing nothing wrong? He'd been kind enough since, joking as he had done then, but there was something a bit formal about their interactions. Professional, almost. And after finding herself looking forward to his company, it was a surprising step back she wasn't comfortable with.

"Anyway, I'll let you get back to work," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose and still looking down, wondering why she'd come at all.

"It's ok," he said. "It was good to see you." And it was, even if it brought problems with it. He knew he'd spend the rest of the day in the stock room thinking about her. But then again, he'd been doing that already.

"See you Monday."

Blake nodded and said goodbye as she grazed past him, closing his eyes as she walked away. He was angry with himself, for doing just as his mother had wanted, but it hadn't been easy. He'd had an idea while she'd been talking about her father and shopping, but it had got caught in his throat. He was tired of denying himself things that he wanted because of his parent's say so. And he wanted to spend time with Alex. As a friend. That wouldn't hurt his point surely? Especially seeing as his Mom and Dad would be at a function tonight. They need never know. He despaired at himself sometimes – he verbally attacked a guy he'd know a few minutes in front of people he didn't know in her defence, and yet when push came to shove he was timid as a mouse. He was supposed to be Blake Collins. Collins' didn't back down from a challenge or a fight. When did he become such a coward? Blake took a deep breath. Come on, he willed himself. Ask her.

"Alex!" he called out, seizing the moment and turning on his heels. She turned to look at him with a confused frown, waiting patiently as he sprinted over. He laid a hand on a shoe display and picked at the laces. "I just thought...my parents are away at some kind of function today..."

"I know, you said on Wednesday," she interrupted, folding her arms and staring at him intently.

"Yes," he said slowly, a little dejected she'd cut him off mid sentence, and disrupting his flow. "Well. I just thought – if you really needed to get out of the house for a few hours, I get off at two. You could hang out at mine, watch some baseball. With me," he added with a hopeful smile, that she didn't quite pick up.

"What about Chase?"

"He's at a friend's and he's sleeping over. So there's no one to fight for the television."

Alex looked pensive for a moment, and he found it difficult to read her expression. Sometimes it was as plain as day, and other times he found she had developed a skill for disguising it under a blank, nonchalant face.

"Our house is a bit of a tense environment," she admitted.

"I'll cut some carrot sticks," he said with a serious expression, repeating her father's words. She rolled her eyes.

"Fine. I'll drive over to yours later," she smiled, stepping on to the escalator and looking back as she descended. "See you at three then."

See you at three, Blake breathed to himself, having finally let go of the breath he'd been holding in as he waited for her answer. What was he doing? Playing with fire, definitely. If his Mom came back, he'd be practically defeated, and she'd undoubtedly run through her embarrassing speech about how Collins' needed to bypass their feelings to be the best they could. If his Mom knew to the extent to which he'd been spending time with Alex over the past few months...well, it didn't bear well to think about it. But he missed Alex, and he didn't care about admitting that to himself. He turned around and headed straight for the stock room, knowing that his fat boss would no doubt lay into him heavily for slacking off.

"Collins!" cried Chloe from underneath a pile of unmarked sweatbands that she was pricing, and making him jump. She lifted herself up and staggered to her feet, ignoring his look of alarm and squaring up to him. "You and Alex are good friends now, yeah?"

"I suppose so," he replied, unsure at what she was getting at. She hunched her shoulders and looked at little sheepish.

"Look I know dance is important to the both of you. But I was wondering if you could do me a favour. Well, can you convince her to play a game with me and her old Little Leaguers? I bet she'd listen to you," she said nudging him, and biting her lip. He raised an eyebrow, and started to walk away with Chloe following him.

"You're kidding right? If I said jump, Alex would just punch me in the face." Chloe looked crestfallen so he sighed and gave her a friendly smile. "I'll try, but you should know that I'm the last person Alex would listen to," he smirked, and he pushed open the staff only door to get back to work.

XXXXX

Alex tugged off her sneakers and put them neatly by the door, remembering this wasn't her own home. The Collins home seemed even lighter in the afternoon sunshine, but the days were getting shorter and colder and the crisp light wasn't going to last much more than a couple of hours. She'd donned a sweater – one of her favourites – and then realised as she drove to his house that perhaps she might've made an effort. She'd dismissed it, but it still lingered in the back of her mind and as she'd pulled up outside of his house – right behind the Mustang – she paused to tweak her hair in the mirror.

"This is ridiculous," she had muttered to herself as she pulled her hair out of its hair band and letting it fall about her shoulders. "You're just watching baseball with a friend."

But it didn't just feel like baseball with a friend – it felt like something entirely indistinguishable. He was treating her differently, despite his nice smiles, and having just gotten used to 'moody and snappy' Blake, and then acclimatising to 'sensitive, thoughtful' Blake, 'false and distant' Blake was a little too much. Perhaps she should have stayed home.

On the other hand, she mused as she sat on his couch – he was getting drinks – he might pull his head out of the clouds and start acting normally. She missed that Blake.

"Here we go," he said, coming in from the kitchen with two orange juices. "We're so rock and roll."

She laughed, sitting cross legged on the couch. "To think, other kids our age are doing meth and snorting Twizzlers."

Blake smirked and grabbed the remote, switching it on to the right channel and turning it up a little. It wasn't a League game, just a friendly, but he found that he was enjoying it more and more each time he watched it. And of course, it gave him something in common with Alex.

"After you left today," Blake started with his eyes on the screen, trying not to think about how close she was to him, "Chloe asked me if I'd convince you to play baseball again."

Alex's eyebrows shot up with a sceptical smirk. "Did she now?"

"I mean it this time," he laughed softly, remembering his joke the other night. "Genuinely. She said...get this...that you would listen to me."

"Ha!"

"That's what I said." He paused, frowning a little and folding his arms. "Why don't you?"

She shrugged and took a sip of her drink. "It's just not part of my life any more. I love the game, I'm not bad at it, but I came to a crossroads and I picked dance. That's my commitment now." Alex cleared her throat and watched as the runner was ousted at first base. "Chloe is a great girl; she just doesn't understand that my heart isn't in it anymore. Not in that way anyway."

Blake nodded beside her, understanding completely. Had he of had the choice, he knew dance would have been it. It was where his heart was almost certainly. But unlike Alex, he hadn't had to make that choice; it had been ballet from the moment he took his first step. He liked that in a way – it was uncomplicated, and he had no ties to anything else in the ways she did. And yet he'd still had to make some sacrifices along the way.

XXXXX

"I'm sorry to say this," Blake called through from the kitchen as he got them another drink. "But this game isn't very exciting."

Alex smiled to herself as she scanned the Collins' VCR collection. "Sometimes friendly's can be just that – a little too amiable."

Blake reappeared in the doorway and set down their glasses. When he spotted her, he frowned and joined her. "What are you up to?"

"I was just thinking, we could watch a film instead," she mused softly, tapping her finger on each title before pausing pensively. "If you want," she added, a little uncertainly.

"Yes," Blake replied, eyeing the time and noting that his parent's wouldn't be home for hours yet. "I mean...yes, we could. I mean, I think it's pretty obvious where the game's heading." Thank goodness they hadn't laid any actual bet on it, because the team he'd been quietly rooting for were being beaten into the dust. "Which one?"

She paused and made a thoughtful noise as she pulled a few out and looked at them. "I don't mind." Alex seemed to smile to herself. "These are all alphabetised," she smirked, looking at Blake. "How long did this take?"

"This is an ongoing task," he deadpanned. "Chase likes to rearrange them to annoy me."

She laughed again, making him smile. "Oh, It's A Wonderful Life," murmured Alex. "That's a great film."

"I've never seen it," admitted Blake, moving to the coffee table to drink some of his orange juice. When he looked around, Alex was staring at him strangely.

"You've never seen this movie?"

"No."

She blinked. "It's a classic."

He sat down on the couch. "I don't have much time for classics. I doubt anyone else in this house has watched it either. You can put it on," urged Blake. "If you want."

"It was my Mom's favourite," she said quietly, sliding it into the VCR player and going to sit beside him. Her expression had grown a little wistful and he watched her carefully as he spoke. "She used to make us watch it every year on her birthday and Christmas. It's the film me and Dad watch on the anniversary of her death," she added, knowing that he knew about the film thing. It was a relief to not have to explain it all.

"We don't have to watch it then," he said very quickly.

"Thank you," Alex smiled, nudging him, testing the waters a little. "But you should watch it. Besides, I want to. It's a good film. Mom loved James Stewart. He's great in this."

Blake picked up the remote and pressed play; the opening title of a black and white film appeared, with the sound of bells cracking over the speakers. He rose to turn down the lights again, and when returned to his seat, he found Alex had nestled down to get comfortable but had taken care to make sure she wouldn't be touching him.

She was right – it was a good film, and he immediately began to feel sorry for George and all his dashed hopes and dreams. He must have grown pretty quiet because Alex nudged him and asked if he was alright.

"I'm fine," he replied lamely.

"You looked really thoughtful. You were frowning at James Stewart really hard."

"I just...feel sorry for him. Why doesn't he just leave and do what he wants?" Blake asked. Alex smiled.

"Because he's too good a person, Blake."

Blake shook his head. "I wouldn't stay, and give up my dreams."

"Not even for Chase?" argued Alex. He paused and looked at her, unable to answer.

"Well, that's different I suppose..."

"How?"

"Because Chase would understand. As a Collins, he'd understand."

Alex laughed to herself, but didn't say anything more, turning her attention back to the screen. After a while, she nudged him again. "This is a good bit. You'll hate it though."

Blake didn't ask why – he just watched. George was angry; he'd gone to visit the girl...what was her name? Mary, that was it. They were both talking to their mutual friend on the telephone, their heads bent together with the receiver by their mouths and the earpiece shared between them. They were close, and the tension on the screen was electric and they looked at each other.

"He says it's the chance of a lifetime..."

"Now you listen to me! I don't want any plastics and I don't want any ground floors and I don't want to get married, to anyone, not ever, you understand that? I want to do what I wanna do! And you're...and you're..."

"This is the strangest reconciliation I've ever seen," Blake admitted, as George kissed Mary. Strange it may have been, but it didn't leave him unaffected; he was clenching his fists where he had them folded across his chest, and gritting his teeth so hard with the tension he thought his jaw might crack. He'd held his breath too.

"I thought that too when I first watched it," Alex sighed, with a dreamy look. "But he's angry at himself for falling in love with her. He thinks she'll hold him back. It was never going to be a sweet, romantic scene."

He stole a glance at her – is that how they'd eventually turn out? With all the emotions behind them, would the conclusion to all their tension be a strange angry confrontation? He hoped not, but at the same time, he didn't see how else it could be. Not unless he could clear away everything else so it was just Alex and him. Nothing else. No dance, no William, no Frances...

The thought of his mother reminded him exactly why he couldn't. But as the girl sat next to him, smiling at the screen fondly, that was becoming increasingly difficult.