Disclaimer: JE owns the characters.
I flipped my cell phone open as Dougie climbed into the shower. Once I got into my voice messaging, I put my phone on the speaker setting and placed it on the counter. Multi-tasking is a great thing. It would probably take longer to listen to my messages then it will to get ready now.
"You have five new messages," the automated voice said.
"That's it?" I asked my phone around a mouth full of suds from my toothpaste.
"I was expecting more," Dougie said from the shower.
I rolled my eyes as I spit into the sink.
"Stephanie. This is your mother," a familiar voice shouted out of my phone.
"Duh," Dougie laughed.
"Please tell me that you didn't marry Dougie Kruper," my mother shouted. I could hear a slight slur in her speech.
"Sorry, Mom. I can't," I said to my phone.
"For crying out loud, Stephanie. The man is a drug dealer."
"I'm not a drug dealer!" Dougie shouted from the shower.
"What was wrong with Joseph?" my mother asked.
"You want a list?" I asked after I rinsed my mouth out.
"Well, I guess it's too late now," my mother said on a sigh. "Bring Dougie over for dinner Friday night. We're having pineapple upside down cake."
I was expecting a lot more from my mother before she hung up. I guess today was just my lucky day. I didn't have a chance to really think about how well my mom was taking this because the next message came up.
"Second message," the automated voice stated.
"Ohmygod! Stephanie!" Mary Lou shouted. "Did you really marry Dougie Kruper?"
"Yes!" Dougie shouted from the shower. It was getting pretty loud in the bathroom.
"I mean, geez, Steph, I didn't think that you went for the stoner type," Mary Lou said. "Although he is really hot, so I guess that one could over look the weed thing."
"I really like her," Dougie said as he stuck his head out of the shower. "You should hang out with her more often."
I rolled my eyes at him through the mirror and turned my attention back to my phone as Mary Lou continued her message.
"Anyway. You have to call me and give me all of the juicy details. I heard that you were married by Elvis! That is so cool. Your mom must be having a coronary about all of this. Call me. Bye!"
The shower turned off as Dougie climbed out. Mare was definitely right about him being hot. I watched droplets of water roll down his perfect chest. I let my eyes travel down his body and felt my tongue slip out and slide across my upper lip. I was brought out of drooling over my new wonderland by the sound of Joe's voice.
"Dougie!" Joe shouted. "Shit, Cupcake! I knew that things weren't all that great right now. But, did you have to run off to Atlantic City with the first guy that showed interest? I mean, come on, Dougie?"
"What's wrong with me?" Dougie asked as he pulled on his boxers. I shrugged as I let my eyes drift over his body one more time. I couldn't think of a single thing wrong with Dougie while he was standing in front of me almost naked.
"I really thought that we had something good, Cupcake," Joe said, his voice softening.
"We fought all the time," I said as I felt the back of my eyes start to burn. "It wasn't really all that good."
"I guess the only thing left to say is…" Joe's voice trailed off and he sighed. "Congratulations, Stephanie. Call me this weekend if you aren't busy and we'll do Pino's and a game."
I stood there gaping at my phone. Joe just congratulated me on getting married. This was just way too weird. My mom didn't freak as badly as I thought she was going to and Joe just let me go. Without a fight. I guess we weren't really all that made for each other. I felt a little sad that things had ended this way with Joe. Yeah, they were over. But, I don't think that either one of us knew that it was over over. I was startled out of my thoughts by the screeching over the phone.
"Dougie!" Lula shouted. Why was everyone shouting on my phone? "Batman is so gonna kick yo ass, Whitey!"
"Batman?" Dougie asked as his brows furrowed.
"Ranger," I said with a shrug.
"Thanks a lot for inviting Connie and me to the wedding," Lula said sarcastically. "We had a blast! You looked fantastic! Call me when you get back."
"Lula sounds a little pissed," Dougie said when we heard the sound of her slamming a phone down. "You may need to be armed with more then just donuts the next time you head in to work."
"Fifth message," the automated voice said.
I looked back down at my phone when there was only silence. Dougie picked it up and looked at it for a moment before he turned it toward me. The time was still counting, but there wasn't anyone talking. Another stalker? Not as far as I know. I pulled the phone closer to my head to try to see if I could pick up any background noise. It was at that moment, that I heard a familiar whisper come across the line.
"Babe."
I looked at my phone when the line went dead and the automated voice told me that I had no more messages. I didn't have time to analyze the message, or the sound of his voice, because my phone beeped, indicating that I had an incoming call. Tank? He never calls me. I always have to call him.
"Yo," I said as I answered the call, still on speaker.
"He's missing."
I didn't need any more information from Tank to know who he was talking about. I started tossing our stuff into the duffle bag as I grilled Tank.
"When?" I asked.
"About two hours ago."
"Did you catch anything on the cameras?" I asked as I sat down on the side of the tub to put my shoes on.
I looked over at Dougie and waved a hand at him to hurry up. He did an eye roll that would do any 'Burg Girl' proud before he walked out of the bathroom in search of his shoes.
"He turned the cameras off as he went through the building," Tank said.
"Who last spoke to him?"
The silence stretched on from the other end of the phone and I got a little queasy feeling in my stomach. I finished throwing our stuff in the bag while I waited for Tank to speak up. I was standing in the bathroom, staring down at my phone on the counter, waiting for Tank to spill what ever it was that had sent Ranger out into the world without a word to anyone.
"Tank," I said, finally breaking the silence. "What happened?"
"Ranger walked up behind Cal and Lester looking at one of the pictures that Hal had sent them. It was of you and Dougie kissing. Probably right after you said 'I do'. None of us had told him about last night," Tank said, very flatly. "We thought that it was up to you to tell him that it was finally over."
"Shit," I swore under my breath. Then a little louder, "Have you checked Shorty's?"
"Yeah," Tank said. I could hear him typing away. "We've checked all the bars in the area. There's no movement on any of his credit cards."
"What about GPS?" Dougie asked from the doorway.
"Who is that?" Tank asked, no longer typing.
"It's Dougie," I said as I looked back over at the phone on the counter.
"Am I on speaker phone?" Tank asked through gritted teeth.
I picked up the phone and took it off speaker as I put it to my head. "Not any more."
"I hate being on speaker," Tank hissed.
"The GSP?" I asked, getting Tank back on track as I stood up and grabbed the duffle bag off of the floor.
Dougie took the bag from me and steered me towards the door as I continued on with my call. I opened the door and found Hal, Junior, and Mooner standing in the hallway. Mooner didn't look all that impressed that he was out of bed before noon. Hal and Junior were standing in their parade stance, waiting for orders.
"He took off on foot," Tank finally said as I walked out into the hall. "We aren't sure where he went since he turned off the exterior cameras when he went out the main lobby doors."
I racked my brain as we walked down the hall to the elevator. I kept the phone to my ear and listened to Tank breath and type as we headed down to the lobby of the hotel. Junior and Dougie went out and rounded up the cars as I got us checked out at the front desk. I heard my stomach rumble and made a mental note to hit up a drive thru on our way back to Trenton. It wasn't until we all got outside that I had a sudden thought.
"Tank?"
"Bomber?"
"Turn on the video cameras in my apartment," I said as I opened the passenger side door to my Tracker.
"He's on your couch," Tank said after he hit several keys quickly. "Do you want me to go get him?"
"No," I said as relief rushed through me. "This is my fault. I'll take care of him."
"Call me if you need anything."
"I will," I said as I started to hang up. Tank's voice stopped me before I hit the end button.
"Bomber!"
"Yeah," I said as I stuck the phone back up to my ear.
"Congratulations," Tank said. I could hear the smile in his voice. At least that's what I thought it was. It's kind of hard to tell with Tank sometimes. "If he hurts you…"
"Thanks, Big Guy," I said with a smile before I hung up my phone.
"I never would have thought to check your place," Hal said.
I turned and looked at the guys who had all gathered behind me as I talked to Tank. Hal and Junior seemed to be a lot more relieved at the news of Ranger being found. They really shouldn't be, since they were more than likely getting shipped off to a third world country for an undetermined amount of time. But, I was a little relieved, too. Even if things were now completely over, not that they really got a chance to be, Ranger was still my friend and the thought that he might just take off without a word frightened me.
"I'm going to catch a ride back with the guys," Dougie said as he stepped closer to me. "You need to go check on Ranger. I'll be at my house when you are done."
"You can ride back with me," I said as I reached out for him.
He pulled me into his arms and smiled down at me. I guess that was the right thing to say. He brought his hand up and brushed the back of his fingers across my cheek. I caught his wrist as it started to drop away and brought his hand back up to my face. I leaned into it and kissed his palm. I just wanted the little contact. It made me feel slightly better to feel his body heat seep through my skin.
"Grab a bag from your place after you are done talking with Ranger," Dougie whispered as he leaned his head down and rested it on top of mine. "There's a lot that we need to talk about. I'll get subs from Pino's."
"That sounds like a great idea," I said as I snuggled into him to try to gather enough of his strength to get me though the next few hours.
"Let's boogie," Mooner said, reminding me that they were still standing there.
"We'll follow you to Trenton," Hal said as he started walking over to their Bronco.
"I'll never be far away, Baby," Dougie whispered to me as he tilted my head back.
Our lips met in a sweet kiss that had my toes curling. The kiss wasn't meant to get that type of reaction, but he was being so absolutely wonderful. And the kiss was as light as air. I felt like I could take on the world once our lips parted. I was starting to think that this marriage thing wasn't going to be all that bad. Dougie had a way of making me feel better then I thought I was. He always had that effect on me.
I sighed when Hal beeped the horn on the Bronco. With one last kiss, I jumped behind the wheel of my Tracker and headed back towards Trenton. Out of all the thoughts that should have been running through my head, I was relieved that the only one that stuck out was of Dougie. Last night had been incredible.
Thoughts of last night carried me all the way back to my apartment. I had a grin on my face as I climbed out of my Tracker when I pulled into the parking lot of my apartment building. It stayed on my face as I climbed the stairs to the second floor. I walked into my apartment after getting it unlocked. The smile that had been glued to my face for the last two hours immediately fell when my eyes landed on the man that was sitting on my couch.
"Babe."
