Disclaimer-Bianca, Maggie, Miranda, Kendall and Greenlee belong to ABC/AMC. I am just using them for entertainment purposes.

Thanks for all the kind words, everyone, it means a lot to me. Here's the next chapter:

Paris, Fall 2005

I believe it's meant to be, darling
I watch you when you are sleeping
You belong with meDo you feel the same
Am I only dreaming
Or is this burning an eternal flame

The Bangles - Eternal Flame

Chapter 16 - Phone calls from hell

"Maggie! Kendall! Now!"

Maggie stared at the phone then put it back to her ear. "Greenlee! Do you have any idea what time it is?!"

"Of course I do, it's nine o'clock. What the hell kind of question is that?"

"Time difference, Greenlee. There's a little thing called time difference! It's three a.m. over here. We're all in bed. Asleep. Call back tomorrow afternoon!"

There was a snort through the line. "Yeah, like I'm supposed to believe that you and Bianca are... suhleeping." Maggie could almost see Greenlee using air quotes with her last drawn out word. "Hey, you know what? Put her on the phone."

"Isn't there someone you can annoy on your own continent?"

"Oh, ha-ha. Nice to see time spent in Paris has made you so funny. Has it made you tall, too?"

Rolling her eyes, Maggie hung up on the little firebrand. "Like you're so tall," she muttered to herself.

The phone rang a moment later. "Gotta love that redial button," Greenlee said once Maggie answered. "Listen, Shorty, I want to talk to Kendall. Like now!"

"Greenlee," Maggie began in a deliberate tone. "First of all, I'm not going to walk all the way across the apartment to wake up Kendall and put her on the phone just so you can shriek at her. Second, I'm not going to walk all the way across the apartment because it's THREE O'CLOCK IN THE MORNING! Call back tomorrow!" She paused. "And who the hell are you calling Shorty?!"

Suddenly, Bianca sat up. Wide awake. Alert. Almost scarily alert. "Give me the phone," she snapped, holding out her hand to Maggie. She used the other hand to sweep back a dark curtain of hair.

"Ooh, you're in trouble now…" Maggie practically gloated before handing the phone over.

"Greenlee-."

"Hey, Binks-!"

"Be quiet and listen to me." There was startled silence on the other side of the Atlantic. "You are going to hang up the phone, do you hear me? You will hang up and not call back for 12 hours. Have a martini, have a snack, have Ryan, I don't care, but you will not call back for 12 hours. Do you understand?"

"Bianca-."

"Do you understand?" she repeated in a tone one reserves for explaining to a 5-year old why Spongebob Squarepants lives in a pineapple under the sea. It was... a mother's voice.

Greenlee's response was incredibly meek. "Yes."

"Good. Now, what are you going to do?"

"Hang up."

"And call back when?"

"In 12 hours."

"Good night, Greenlee."

Before she knew what had happened, Greenlee sheepishly followed Bianca's orders and hung up the phone. She would call back in 12 hours for sure, but the tone of Binky's voice had her mentally agreeing to not call a minute before then.

"Wow, Bianca," Maggie said in awe as she watched the brunette hang up the phone. "Now, that was tough talk." She grinned and waggled her eyebrows. "Very sexy, too, I might add."

"Please," Bianca retorted, stretching out beside Maggie again. She put her head on Maggie's shoulder, threw an arm across her waist and yawned. "I'm too tired."

"No, really. How did you do that? You were all Obi Wan Kenobi or something." Maggie deepened her voice. "You will hang up and not call back for 12 hours." Then she switched to an airy falsetto. "I will hang up and not call back for 12 hours."

"Okay, you've been watching too much of the Star Wars trilogy lately."

"Seriously, Binks, that was so Jedi mind-trick! Can you teach me how to do that? I can use it on Kendall sometime. Keep her out of our kitchen…"

Bianca pulled back to look Maggie in the eye. "You're going to make me kiss you just to shut you up, aren't you?"

Maggie grinned again. "I have my own Jedi mind-tricks…" she said with a wink.

Try as she might, Bianca couldn't hold back a smile. She leaned down and gave Maggie a sweet lingering kiss, then kissed her again before settling down once more against Maggie's side. Maggie wrapped her arms around Bianca's shoulders and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head, then relaxed back into the pillows. There was silence, but Maggie could tell Bianca wasn't sleeping. The hand playing restlessly with the hem of Maggie's t-shirt told her so.

"What's wrong, Binks?" she asked softly. "You wanna talk?

The hand stilled for a moment. "Mom called today."

"Oh, yeah? What did she want?"

"Just keeping me updated on what's going on back home." Bianca smiled to herself. "She likes to use that as an excuse to call me all the time."

Maggie smiled, too. Erica just misses her baby girl, as any mother would. "And what's going on back home?" she asked.

Bianca sighed softly. "I didn't know this, but I guess Tim's little sister, Amanda, showed up at the Chandler mansion."

"Tim has a sister?" Maggie was surprised.

"Well, it's complicated," Bianca replied, rolling her eyes a bit.

"And what in Pine Valley isn't?"

Bianca chuckled. "Apparently she's mixed up with J.R., Jamie and Babe."

Maggie felt Bianca tense up when she said Babe's name. "I'll bet that's interesting," she murmured. Maggie still had some pretty strong feelings about Babe, herself. Mostly anger and hate... "What else?"

"Um, Maria left town."

Maggie's head came up off her pillow. "What?!"

"Yeah, after Edmund died and she had kind of a melt-down, she decided she needed to get out of town. That's probably the best thing she could do." She grinned against Maggie's shoulder. "I know leaving worked out pretty well for me."

Maggie smiled and pressed another kiss against the top of Bianca's head. "What about the kids?" she asked.

"Well, Brooke sent Maddie off to boarding school, which, I understand is exactly what the girl needed. And Sam wanted to stay, so he's living with Tad because there's a family tie in there, too."

"Well, of course, everyone's related to everyone else in that town." Maggie paused. "Brooke sent Maddie off to boarding school?"

"Edmund made Brooke executor of his will and the kids' trust fund. Apparently, the two of them were becoming all Children of the Corn, so Brooke took matters into her own hands."

Maggie chuckled at Bianca's description of the Grey children. "Good for Brooke." She paused thoughtfully for a moment. "So, who do they have left at the hospital, now? Dr. Joe can't do it all, can he?"

"Well, he has for this long, what's changed?"

"Good point..." There was silence and Maggie felt the hair on her arms stand up. "Don't do it, Binks."

Bianca raised her head to look in Maggie's eyes. "What?" she asked innocently. But Maggie knew her too well. Just as Bianca knew Maggie.

"Don't say his name. Don't you dare mention David to me."

"Maggie..."

"No! Don't, Bianca, please. What he did... I still can't deal with it. I won't deal with it. Not yet."

"Honey, you're going to have to eventually."

"Eventually. But not now. I'm still too angry to think about it right now."

"Okay, okay." Bianca put her head back down on Maggie's shoulder. "When you're ready to talk about it, I'll listen."

"I know," Maggie replied, giving Bianca a little squeeze. "And when I'm ready to talk, you'll be the one I talk to."

After a moment, Bianca went back to the news Erica had relayed. "Tad and Aidan are still in the PI business. They were following up on some possible clues about Dixie maybe being alive."

"What?! What is it with people in that town coming back from the dead? Maria came back from the dead. Anna... Didn't Tad come back from the dead once? Cripes, who hasn't come back from the dead back there?"

Bianca grinned again, which Maggie could feel against her t-shirt. "But Maria and Tad came back with amnesia. Don't forget that."

"Oh, yeah, the old amnesia angle. Jeez, can't these people get original? Whatever happened to good old multiple personalities and stuff like that? It's like bad soap opera story lines…"

"Oh, Maggie, multiple personalities are so passé. I much prefer the long lost twin no one ever knew about until she shows up in town one day."

Maggie chuckled. "Now that's original." She grinned as the kitten leapt onto the bed and curled up in a small space between her and Bianca, watching them closely. "Any other earth-shattering news from the Hellmouth?"

Bianca couldn't help laughing. "Maggie…"

"Well, the whole town is like a vortex, sucking in all kinds hellish catastrophes." They both laughed for a moment. "Okay, what else?"

"Well, you know Phoebe Wallingford died."

"Yeah. I know Jamie was pretty close to her, too. That must have hit both him and Brooke pretty hard."

Bianca paused, contemplating her next words. "Mags?" she said softly. "Did you know Jamie wanted to be a doctor?"

Maggie snorted. "I know Jamie liked to play doctor." There was silence from Bianca. "Oh, my God, you're serious!"

Bianca nodded. "Yeah, I guess he told Phoebe all about it."

"Jeez. I had no idea, he never mentioned it to me. We talked a lot about our futures, our lives..." Maggie thought about that revelation for a moment, still a little amazed. "Wow, Maria's gone and Jamie wants to be a doctor... Remind me never to get sick when we're visiting Pine Valley."

"Maggie!" But she laughed as she slipped her hand into Maggie's, lacing their fingers together. "I guess Maria's sister is in town, too. Julia Santos. Or rather, Julia Keefer."

"I've heard about her. I guess she and Kendall don't really like each other…"

"Yeah, that's one way to put it." Bianca sighed, remembering things her mother had told her. "And Myrtle, thank God, is still Myrtle."

"Well, the town would fall apart without her." Maggie squeezed Bianca's hand. "Any idea from your mom as to why Greenlee might be calling?"

"Not a clue. Besides, since when does Greenlee need a reason to be a pain in the ass?"

Maggie chuckled. "Good point. What do you bet the phone rings at exactly three o'clock tomorrow?"

"She's probably sitting on the couch with the phone in her hand, staring at the clock." They chuckled at the vision of Greenlee sitting intently on her sofa, eyes glued to the clock, telephone clutched tightly in her hand, counting the minutes until she could dial the number again. In the comfortable silence, Bianca played with Maggie's hand in hers. Beneath her cheek, she could feel the strong, steady beat of Maggie's heart, the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she breathed. "She misses Kendall."

"Whether they want to admit it or not," Maggie said sleepily, "they really are best friends."

"Yeah, just like Lucy and Ethel…" Bianca paused, smiling with contentment against Maggie's skin. "I love you, Maggie."

The only response she received was the soft sound of Maggie snoring lightly, having finally succumbed to sleep. Smiling again, Bianca nuzzled closer into Maggie's neck and closed her eyes, quickly following her into slumber.

She was awakened that morning by kisses being placed gently along her throat. Slowly opening her eyes, she saw Maggie leaning over her, dressed in her running clothes and giving her those gentle kisses.

"Morning, beautiful," Maggie said softly.

"Good morning. Where's Miranda?"

"Still sleeping, believe it or not. I think you've got another hour before she wakes up. Go back to sleep. I'll be home soon." She pressed her lips to Bianca's, giving her a proper good morning kiss. "I love you."

Before she could rise, Bianca grabbed a fistful of Maggie's windbreaker and pulled her back down so that their noses practically touched. "I love you, too," she whispered before kissing her soundly.

When she finally released the blonde, Maggie stumbled back, hit the footstool by the bed and fell to the floor. "Damn, you can still knock me on my ass, Binks," she exclaimed, climbing back to her feet.

Bianca just laughed as Maggie tossed her a wink and left for her morning run. Then she took her beautiful girlfriend's advice and rolled over, burying her face in Maggie's pillow. She breathed deeply of Maggie's scent still clinging to the linen, closed her eyes and fell back to sleep.

Bianca threw the front door open, rushing inside and dropping her briefcase on the way, hoping she wasn't too late. She saw Maggie come hurrying out of the den, jumping onto and over the sofa and meeting her at the entry to the living room. Arms wrapped themselves around her waist as Maggie hugged her close. Bianca's arms slid around Maggie's shoulders of their own volition and she returned the embrace. Man, every day should end like this, she thought. Oh, wait, it does. That made her grin.

"Did I miss it?" she finally asked as Maggie pulled back to look up into her eyes.

"No, I figure the phone will ring in the next 10 minutes or so." Maggie reached up and gave her a heart-stopping kiss. "Enough time for us to do a little necking if you want..."

"Hmm, very tempting offer, Ms. Stone. But you know we'll lose all track of time and miss the whole thing. Rain check?"

Maggie put on her best Stone pout. "Oh, okay..."

"Oh, God, not 'the look', Maggie. Please."

She tossed in the sad puppy dog eyes for good measure. "Is it working?"

Bianca appeared to be struggling with herself. "A little," she finally said, pulling Maggie close and capturing her lips in another heated kiss.

Well, one kiss led to another, which led to yet another. Finally, they were standing between the entry hall and the living room necking. Maggie usually gets her way when it comes right down to it. Not that Bianca was fighting her off...

The phone rang. Maggie let her go so fast to run back into the den that Bianca nearly lost her balance.

"I got it!" the blonde shouted, racing to the phone on the desk.

Kendall, sitting on the couch watching TV and making no move to answer the phone, gave Maggie a look. "It's your house."

Oh-so tempted to stick her tongue out at Bianca's sister, Maggie restrained herself when she caught sight of Miranda on her blanket with the cat, watching the two of them curiously. A little out of breath, she grabbed the phone. "Hello!"

"Maggie," Greenlee snapped. "I want to talk to Kendall right now and I won't take no for an answer. Got it?"

"Oh, hey, Greens. Sure, no problem," Maggie replied sweetly. "Hang on, okay?" Lowering the phone, she could hear Greenlee growling in frustration. Hiding a grin, she turned to Kendall. "It's for you, K."

"Stop calling me 'K', you little brat." She snatched the phone from Maggie's hand. "Hello?"

"Kendall?"

"Greenlee?"

"It's me. Greenlee."

Kendall rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I got that."

"Well, good."

There was long silence. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"You called me, remember? What do you want?"

"How are you?"

"Are you kidding me? This is a social call?"

"Well, I thought I'd try being friendly first, but I can see that's not going to work."

"Oh, please. You? Friendly? Friendly like a shark trying to play nice with a surfer off the Great Barrier Reef."

"We've got a business to run, Kendall!"

"We do? You mean Simone hasn't bankrupted us yet? I would have thought that would happen before my plane hit the runway."

"You need to get back here and help me run Fusion, Kendall. I'm not doing it alone so you can run off to Paris just because tall, dark and stupid broke your heart!"

"I'm visiting my sister!" That was weak.

"Your sister?!"

"Yes, my sister needs me." And that was unbelievable.

Greenlee actually snorted. "Please. Your sister is apparently having wild sex with the once-straight Maggie Stone on every horizontal surface of the massive apartment they're living in. You're probably cramping her style!"

"Trust me, my being here hasn't cramped anything..."

"Oh, my God, are you kidding?" Greenlee almost giggled like a schoolgirl. "Really?"

"I don't kid about stumbling across my baby sister and her girlfriend making out every time I see them. They have this sick fascination with the kitchen."

"The kitchen? They've done it in the kitchen?!"

"I said they make out in the kitchen!" Kendall threw up a hand in frustration. "Great, now I'll never be able to go in there!"

"Kendall, get your skinny ass back here and help me!"

"Don't threaten me, Greenlee. I don't respond well to threats!"

"Ha! You don't respond well to anything! Be a man and get back here, Kendall!"

"Isn't there some do-gooder Boy Scout waiting for you?"

"Come home, you stick!"

"Don't call me a stick, you midget!"

"Kendall! Come home!"

"No! You want to see me so bad, you come here!"

"Come home!"

"Come here!"

Maggie and Bianca watched Kendall's end of the conversation in total fascination. "My God," Maggie whispered. "They're 12-year olds."

"This is a train wreck. I find I can't look away..." Bianca replied with a shake of her head. "I'm just afraid Greenlee's going to give in and be on the next plane over here."

"Please, don't even joke about that." Maggie watched Kendall pace around the den, shouting into the phone at Greenlee. "Jeez. And she calls us an old married couple…"

Bianca grinned. "I think it's love."

"Oh, God, there's a visual I'll never get rid of..."

"Kendall," Greenlee said softly, all the fight finally having gone out of her. "Please come home. There are people here who need you."

"Oh, yeah? Name five."

"I'll name one. Me."

Kendall sighed. "I'm with my sister, Greenlee. I need to be near my sister."

"I'm your sister, too, you know." And with that, Greenlee ended the call.

Those words hit Kendall in the heart. With a deep, thudding pain in her chest, she replaced the phone in its cradle on the desk and turned to face Bianca and Maggie. The two eavesdroppers suddenly appeared interested in other things, Maggie checking out her cuticles and Bianca picking at a loose thread on her skirt.

"I'm going to go to my room," Kendall said softly, heading out of the den.

"Kendall?" Bianca called before she got too far. Her sister stopped in the doorway but never turned around. "If you need to talk..."

"Thanks, Binks. I appreciate that."

And then she was gone. Bianca's eyes stayed on the doorway, hoping Kendall would be okay. Maggie sensed Bianca's inner turmoil and slid her arm around the brunette's shoulders, pulling her against her side. Bianca put her head on Maggie's shoulder, resting a hand on her thigh. Maggie put her hand on top of Bianca's and laced their fingers together so their matching rings were side by side.

"You okay?" Maggie asked. "You want to go after her?"

"No, she needs the time to herself right now." Bianca sighed, turning on the sofa so she was lying down, her head in Maggie's lap. "But as much as I love my sister, and I can't believe I'm saying this, Greenlee's right. She needs to go home and take control of her life again."

Maggie looked around the room. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm going to miss her when she's gone."

Bianca looked up at Maggie in surprise. "Really?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, who'll interrupt us then?"

That weekend, Bianca, Maggie and Miranda took Kendall out for a day of fun. They decided to spend the entire day exploring Ile de la Cité and Ile St-Louis, the two islands that sit in the Seine River, where the city of Paris was originally borne in 300 BC. Notre Dame sat on Ile de la Cité, along with Sainte-Chapelle, a Gothic cathedral built by Louis IX, who would later be known as St. Louis after being canonized, the Marché aux Fleurs which was a year round flower market and Crypte Archéologique, a Gallo-Roman archeological site dating back to the third Century, when the Parissi tribe settled there. The Pont Neuf connected this island to the Right and Left Banks.

They ended up spending more time on the less touristy Ile St-Louis, strolling along the island's main street, enjoying the many shops and galleries there. They ate lunch at Au Gourmet de I'lle, toured the St-Louis-en-I'lle church, bought some desserts at Calixte and traversed the Pont Neuf three times because Maggie insisted.

As they crossed the bridge for the 3rd time, Maggie regaled them with some history about the once-pedestrian only bridge that connected the two sides of the city. "Did you know that Pont Neuf means 'new bridge'? Which is kinda funny, because this is the oldest bridge in the city, it was built back in the 1500's-."

"Where do you learn all this stuff?" Kendall asked in awe.

As Maggie opened her mouth to reply, Bianca slapped a hand over it, muffling any response she could formulate. "Kendall, please," she warned her sister. "Don't get her started."

Too late. When Bianca removed her hand, surreptitiously wiping her palm on her jeans, Maggie began a running commentary on the bridge, the Pont des Arts bridge they could see off to their right, the homes of the wealthy on Ile St-Louis and the history of Henri IV. She also managed to toss in the fact that the St-Louis-en-I'lle church was designed by La Vau, the same man who designed Versailles and Maggie's favorite chateau, Vaux-le-Vicomte. Bianca stopped her before she mentioned the sexually active squirrels. Then she smacked her for licking her hand.

As they explored, Kendall appeared to be enjoying herself, which had been Bianca's intention from the start. She knew the decision of whether or not to return to Pine Valley was weighing on her sister, and she wanted to ease that weight if only for a day.

When they finally returned home, Bianca went to put Miranda to bed and Maggie opened a bottle of wine. She and Kendall went onto the balcony, where the night had not yet turned too cold, and they sat at the table, enjoying the view of the Eiffel Tower.

"Hey, Mags," Kendall said softly, "can I ask you a question?"

"You just did," Maggie replied with a grin.

Kendall gave her a look. "Okay, how about another one?"

"That's two."

Kendall rolled her eyes in exasperation. "How did you know you were gay?" she blurted out.

Maggie gave her a look of mock-horror. "Kendall, you're not coming out to me are you?"

"What?! Dear God, no! Hello! Jean-Paul? Remember him? I guess- maybe I asked the wrong question. I don't care whether you're gay or not- well, I do because I don't want you hurting my sister but, I was just wondering when your feelings her changed. How did you know you were in love with her?"

"My feelings for Bianca never changed. I've always loved her." Maggie smiled. "The way I feel about Bianca... this is going to sound really corny."

"Lay it on me, I can take it."

"I've never felt anything like this before in my life. It's like everything I've done in my life before now was just routine, leading me to this point when I could be with her. She's the reason I get up in the morning, the reason I breathe in and out each day. She and Miranda are the reason I am. We love each other, we're intimate, we're raising that beautiful child together. I can't imagine not being in her life and her not being in mine. I can't begin to comprehend what my life would be like had I never met her. I barely remember my life before her and I never want to know a life without her. I want to make her laugh, I never want to see her cry, I live to make her happy. She consumes my every waking thought, and an awful lot of my dreams. My heart doesn't beat for me anymore, it beats for her. We belong together, we were made for each other. I know this because I feel it in my heart. I'm silly, crazy, madly, head over heels in love with Bianca."

"She's your soulmate," Kendall said finally, as if that answered everything. "The one you can't live without."

Maggie smiled. "Yeah. She is."

"And, you're right, corny to the tenth power, kiddo. But thanks, it helped answer my question."

"You know, I read something on an Internet forum once. Somebody said, you don't just fall in love with a body, you fall in love with a soul. It was impossible for me not to fall in love with Bianca's soul."

Kendall contemplated that for a moment and found it to be true. The she gave Maggie a devilish grin. "Of course, the body didn't hurt, did it?"

Maggie choked on her wine. Hard.

"That's for reminding me that you're intimate with my baby sister."

Later that week, Bianca opened the front door just as Cody, Kathleen and Ian were pulling on coats and gathering up backpacks.

"Hey, guys," she said with a smile. Apparently, the night's study group had been held in their apartment. "Are you finished?"

"Well, we are," Kathleen replied, returning Bianca's grin with a cheeky one of her own. "But you might want to check on Maggie. The girl is ferocious when she's in study-mode."

"Yeah," Ian added. "I don't even think she noticed we left."

"That's Maggie," Bianca replied. "I'll see if I can get her attention later. Did you eat?"

"Yeah, we stopped on our way over for sandwiches," Cody informed her. "Hey, don't wait until later to stop her. She's got this information down cold, I don't even know why she's still studying. She passes every test easily and I'm afraid her head'll explode if she keeps this up."

Bianca laughed. "I'll see what I can do."

The others continued on to the door, piling out in a wave of good-byes. "Tell Maggie bye!"

"Good night, you guys," Bianca called as they exited. "See you later."

The door closed behind them and Bianca dumped her briefcase on the floor, her keys on the entry hall table. She wanted nothing more than to kick off her heels and leave them on the marble floor, but she wouldn't give Maggie the satisfaction of knowing she'd succeeded in turning Bianca into a total slob.

"Hey, sweetie," she called, entering the den and seeing her girlfriend hunched over her laptop, books opened all around her. There was no response. "Maggie?" Still nothing. "Hey, Mags!"

Maggie's head came up. "What!" she shouted in surprise, then caught sight of Bianca. "Oh, hey." She kissed Bianca on the cheek while never taking her eyes off the computer screen.

"Um, honey, did you notice your study group has left?"

The blonde looked up from her laptop, a little shocked to notice that, other than Bianca, she was alone in the room. "Oh, wow, when did that happen?"

Bianca smiled. "A few minutes ago. Why are you still studying?"

"Huge test, Binks. Gigantic." Maggie turned back to her computer, once again completely engrossed up in her studies.

"Yeah, I was told by Cody that you have this stuff down. He's afraid your head is going to explode."

"Yeah, Cody. Cute kid."

"Maggie, have you eaten?" And yet again, there was no response. Bianca shook her head. She had to do something to distract Maggie from Genetics overload. "Hmm," she murmured to herself. "Hey, where's Miranda?"

Maggie's eyes were glued to her monitor. "Kendall said something about her, Jean-Paul and ice cream," she replied absentmindedly.

"Oh, okay." Now the plan was forming in her head. Bianca knew one sure-fire way to distract Maggie...

Operation Distraction had begun. Bianca hurried upstairs and changed, pulling on a pair of tight blue jeans and a t-shirt before returning to the den. She found Maggie in the same position, staring intently at her computer, glancing down at one text or another on occasion. It was quite possible she was even talking to herself.

Bianca moved over to the desk and put a gentle hand on Maggie's shoulder. She brushed back Maggie's hair, let her fingers linger a moment on the sensitive nape of her neck. Her fingertips grazed Maggie's earlobe, gently catching her earring to make it sway. She made an effort to put herself into Maggie's line of vision at every opportunity. She needed the phone. She needed paper. Is there a stamp in the top drawer? Have you checked your e-mail? Sitting in the chair next to the desk and watching Maggie intently. Propping her chin in her hand and making googly eyes at her. Any excuse to get close. A touch here, a brush there, a caress, a stroke. Sighing, breathing, smiling...

Nothing. Not a single response. Maggie may as well have been a statue in the Louvre for as much reaction Bianca was getting.

Time to raise the stakes. Up the ante. Pull out all the stops...

Huffing in indignation, Bianca stalked back up to the bedroom and changed clothes again. Something a little more revealing, a tad more distracting, a lot more sexy... A dab or two of Angel on major pulse points...

She walked back into the den wearing Maggie's Rangers jersey. She'd ditched the t-shirt and jeans and wore just the jersey. Kind of like a nightshirt. Being taller than Maggie, the thing was a touch more revealing on Bianca. Surely this would work. Who in their right mind could resist it?

Apparently, Maggie could.

Bianca made every excuse to be in Maggie's way. Parading around the den with that jersey not even reaching mid-thigh, exposing a great deal of perfect skin. Reaching across her for the newspaper, leaning over her shoulder to grab a pencil, pressing against Maggie's back in the process. Taking the chair next to the desk again and making sure Maggie got a whiff of her perfume. Leaning forward to give Maggie an eyeful as she attempted to do the crossword puzzle in the International Herald Tribune. Nibbling sexily on her pencil as she tried to figure out an eight-letter word for illicit lover.

Nothing. Not a blessed thing...

Bianca shook her head. This was some of her best stuff. The subtle seduction, making Maggie crazy with a ghost of a touch or a smoldering look, letting her hair brush across her hand as she bent down, her fingers sliding up her arm, her breath on Maggie's cheek. Suddenly, Bianca was worried Maggie wasn't even alive anymore. "I don't believe this," she muttered to herself, getting up to move to the sofa. "The other day, I'm sitting here minding my own business and she's flipping out. Today I couldn't be any more in her face and she doesn't even notice me."

As she reached across Maggie one last time to put the pencil back, Maggie grabbed her quickly by the waist, spinning her around and pulling her onto her lap. Bianca squealed in surprise.

"Trust me," Maggie murmured, her lips brushing against Bianca's throat. "I noticed you. I noticed you in the jeans and I certainly noticed you in this." She grabbed a handful of jersey, pulling Bianca down for a devastatingly passionate kiss. When they finally came up for air, Maggie leaned her forehead against Bianca's, trying to catch her breath. "Paramour," she whispered.

"What?" Bianca asked in confusion.

"The eight-letter word for illicit lover. Paramour." Maggie gave her a grin. "I have to say I love the way you work a crossword, my love. That little lean-in was... impressive. It was a very nice view..."

Bianca laughed just as their lips met in another kiss, then another. Maggie's arms tightened around Bianca, Bianca's hands slid into Maggie's hair. Genetics was finally forgotten. Bianca broke the kiss momentarily.

"I'm thinking of framing this jersey," she whispered.

"Like hell you are," Maggie replied, pulling her close again.

Study time was officially over.

Over the next few days, Bianca and Maggie didn't see nearly as much of Kendall as they normally did. She was spending time with Miranda at the park, at the Louvre, visiting shops and museums. Bianca told Maggie she thought Kendall was sorting out her feelings, trying to decide whether or not she was ready to return to Pine Valley. Jean-Paul had been by more often to accompany Kendall and Miranda on these outings, and it appeared he was coming to grips with Kendall's decision, as well.

And while Bianca knew it was time for Kendall to return home and take charge of her life again, the thought of her sister leaving was hard. It had been wonderful having her around, in spite of the fact that she seemed to walk in on her and Maggie every single time they found themselves making out. She'd even made mention to Bianca on more than one occasion about a certain pair of jeans and what they did to Bianca's sense of decorum and modesty.

After another day at Cambias, this one surprisingly stress-free, Bianca let herself into the apartment, calling out a greeting. Once again dumping her briefcase and keys, she gave in completely and lost the heels as well. The transformation was complete, Maggie had turned her into a bit of a slob…

"Where is everyone?" she hollered.

"I'm in here!" Maggie called back.

Bianca followed Maggie's voice to the kitchen and pushed open the door. The sight that greeted her nearly stopped her in her tracks. While she wasn't sitting on the counter the big blue and red 35 and the name 'Richter' on Maggie's back told her it was Maggie's turn to tease her with the jersey, making Bianca just as weak in the knees as if she had been seated on the Italian tile countertop... How could something that over-sized on Maggie's slight frame be so damned sexy? Drinking in the sight of Maggie making preparations for dinner, Bianca caught her breath. Oh, God, she thought, the Levi's, too... she sooo knows which buttons to push... She grinned. And Kendall is sooo right about what those jeans do to my sense of decency...

"You're thinking you might get lucky tonight, aren't you?" Bianca murmured as she moved up behind Maggie, slipping her arms around her waist.

"Well, a girl can always hope. And it seems to work pretty well for you," Maggie replied. She settled her hands on top Bianca's where they clasped at her waist and leaned her head back on Bianca's shoulder. "And how was your day?"

"Getting better as we speak." She dipped her head to press a kiss against Maggie's neck.

"Bianca?"

"Yes?"

"Quit trying to cop a feel."

"What do you mean?" Bianca asked innocently.

"I can feel your hand in my pocket."

Grinning, Bianca kissed Maggie on the cheek. "Kendall and Miranda out playing again?"

"Yeah, Kendall and Jean-Paul took the Munchkin to Parc de la Villette for a play date, then out to the French equivalent of Chuck E. Cheese or something."

"So the evening is ours?"

Maggie turned in Bianca's arms. "Yep. And I've got some ideas...," she said, accepting Bianca's kiss eagerly.

"Mmm, I'll go change."

They kissed again. "Dinner'll be ready soon," Maggie told her.

"Be right back."

Bianca quickly went to trade her business suit for jeans and a sweater, then returned to find Maggie had set the table and finished making dinner. She had the lit candles and poured the wine, then served the meal after Bianca had seated herself. They ate Maggie's excellent Boeuf Bourguignon while sharing the news of their day, laughing over Maggie's tale of Riordan's lab experiment gone terribly awry and Bianca's story of finally putting the blowhard Bertrand in his place, in front of the entire board.

They cleaned up the kitchen together, Maggie resisting the urge to leap up onto the counter, Bianca resisting the urge to put her there.

But watching her girlfriend bending over to load the dishwasher with those soft, faded Levi's stretched taut across her rear-end had Bianca sweating. Oh, my God! Bianca thought to herself. That does it, I'm going to check first thing tomorrow about acquiring Levi Strauss. A lifetime supply of 501's for Maggie if I have anything to say about it!

"Bianca?" Maggie called out, waving a hand in front of Bianca's eyes. "Hello, are you in there?"

Bianca snapped out of her trance. "What? Oh, sorry."

"It's okay, you just zoned out for a minute. Is everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah, everything's fine. I just had… a thought about business for a sec."

Maggie gave her a horrified look. "Really? Am I not enough to keep you occupied?"

"Oh, sweetie, you are more than enough," Bianca assured her. "If you only knew how much…"

"Good." Maggie took Bianca's hand and led her to the den. "I thought we'd watch a movie, if that's okay with you."

"Sounds like a wonderfully relaxing idea."

"Okay."

Maggie chose a DVD, set up the player and settled onto the sofa with Bianca. Before long, they had moved into a cozy position, Maggie with her back against the arm of the couch, Bianca between her legs, her head lying back on Maggie's shoulder, kind of a semi-spoon position. As the movie, Closer, progressed, Maggie slipped her arms around Bianca's waist, holding her close, her cheek pressed to Bianca's soft hair. Bianca had one hand resting on Maggie's bent knee, picking unconsciously at a frayed thread near the seam. The material at the knees, butt and hem of the jeans was so worn and frayed that it wouldn't be long before holes started appearing at major stress points. Bianca was looking forward to that. A good yank would probably take a pocket half off her ass. As it was, if she picked at this thread on Maggie's knee long enough, she could probably create a good knee-rip before the end of the movie.

"Oh, my God!" Bianca suddenly exclaimed, noticing Maggie's complete fascination with the movie they were watching. "You've got the hots for Natalie Portman!"

"What?! No, I don't!" Maggie rolled her eyes rather unconvincingly. "You're crazy..."

Bianca laughed and sat up, turning to face her girlfriend. "Yes, you do!"

"Bianca-."

"Let's look at the facts."

"Binks-." Maggie was quickly turning several shades of red.

"You're current favorite comedy is Mars Attacks, starring Natalie Portman-."

"Jack Nicholson's in it too," Maggie retorted, attempting to defend herself.

"We had to go to four different video stores one night to find Where the Heart Is, starring... Natalie Portman."

"It also had Ashley Judd in it, I recall you drooling through the entire movie."

Bianca got up and went to the entertainment center. "Let's take a look at our video library, shall we? Hmm, Mars Attacks... Garden State... Closer, which...-" She pointed at the TV, currently showing a scene featuring Ms. Portman. Then Bianca swept her arms open wide. "The entire Star Wars series..."

Maggie jumped up. "Wait a minute, those are all fantastic movies! Mars Attacks, starring Jack Nicholson and Annette Benning, excellent satire. Zach Braff wrote and directed Garden State, it was great. You loved it! Closer, well, Clive Owen. Need I say more?"

"And I suppose you loved Jar-Jar Binks in Episode 1?"

"Hey, with a name like Binks-!"

She never finished her thought as Bianca caught her right upside the head with the nearest soft object she could find. Miranda's large stuffed Winnie the Pooh. Maggie stumbled back a step, then launched herself at Bianca, knocking them both to the floor and wrestling Pooh out of her grasp. As she attempted to bonk Bianca with the stuffed bear, Bianca reached up and caught her wrists in an iron grip.

"Holy-! When did you get so strong?!" Maggie exclaimed as Bianca quickly reversed their position and now sat straddling Maggie's waist, pinning her arms, and poor Pooh, above her head

Bianca grinned in triumph. "I've been working out."

"I didn't realize getting laid was strength training." Maggie worked one hand free and caught Bianca's belt loop in her fingers. With a quick tug, she pulled Bianca off balance and reversed their positions again. "I'm still stronger."

"Ha! You think!"

The wrestling suddenly became tickling and Bianca was soon gasping for breath as she giggled and shrieked under Maggie's tickle assault. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't cover up all the ticklish spots that Maggie knew so well.

"Do you give up?" Maggie asked, her fingers dug into Bianca's sides, tickling unmercifully. "Bianca?"

"Never!" Bianca shrieked with another giggle. She tried to fight back and cracked her head on the coffee table leg. "Ooh, shit," she groaned, wincing.

Maggie immediately stopped her tickling and put a hand to Bianca's head. "Man, B, are you okay?" Before she knew it, she was on her back, Bianca looming over her, hands once again pinned to the carpet above her. "Aw, crap."

"You may be stronger," Bianca told her, still trying to catch her breath. "But I'm smarter."

"Please. How do you know this wasn't my plan all along?"

"What, to be pinned to the floor beneath me?" As she said it, the lightbulb went on over Bianca's head. "Aahh, very sneaky, Stone," she said in appreciation. "And very well done, I might add."

Maggie waggled her eyebrows at Bianca. "I know what I'm doing," she said, raising her head to catch Bianca's lips with her own.

As Bianca released Maggie's hands and returned the kiss, Kendall spoke from the doorway.

"You guys got a minute?" she asked.

"She's got your mother's radar," Maggie murmured against Bianca's lips.

"And yet she's not freaking out about catching us this time."

"Oh, please," Kendall retorted with a wave of her hand. "I've seen it so many times now it's seared permanently onto my retinas."

Bianca eyed her sister carefully. "What's wrong, Kendall?"

"I think," the curly haired beauty replied with a sigh, "that I'm going to go home."

"Wow, K," Maggie said as she and Bianca got to their feet. "Are you sure?"

Kendall smiled and nodded. "It's time."

TBC-