Forty-five minutes later, Dean, Jay, and Seth walked back into Meg's house to find bowls of Chinese food gracing the counters. Roman and Meg were sitting at the table with a deck of cards. "How many times do I have to tell you, a full house does not beat a straight flush? Come on, Roman!" Meg was laughing as she handed the man his cards back, apparently not for the first time.
"I think you are making up these rules, Meg. There's no way you remember them all." he laughed.
"Look them up! General poker rules, not even Texas-hold 'em." She chuckled.
"You mean it gets more complicated?"
"Sounds like you two are having fun." Dean greeted. Seth's eyes grew wide, remembering Dean's earlier rant.
Roman smiled at the group coming into the house. "Hey, guys! Sorry I missed the call. Was it a 'good one'?"
"Dinner's ready." Meg said, interrupting the guys conversation as she put her cards face-down on the table. "I'll get some plates." Dean raised an eyebrow at her quiet avoidance of him. She didn't meet his eyes or speak directly to him.
Roman caught his eye and shook his head. Seth grabbed the cards and said, "If you are so awful at poker, maybe I should try a hand."
The guys ribbed each other as they listened to Meg getting the plates. "When I bumped into Meg at the restaurant, Chris trying to get under her skin." Roman realized his mistake in mentioning Meg's ex when Dean's face flushed bright red. "She handled herself just fine. She ignored him and didn't give him the attention he wanted. He didn't get the rise that he expected." He tried to calm the other man down to no avail.
"I'm fine. Roman helped me carry the food. And Chris didn't upset me as much as I expected he would." She had a stack of plates in her hand. "It was bound to happen." Meg spoke softly, assuring the infuriated man.
"He needs to leave you alone." Seth backed up both of his friends.
"The ass is going to leave you alone. He's got no choice." Dean swore.
Roman glanced between Dean and Meg. "If he's smart, he'll back off. Boy's gonna get hurt if he keeps it up."
"You know I'm not afraid to dance." Dean said. The sound the guys made really wasn't a laugh. It was more of a 'we know someone's gonna get whooped and we're looking forward to it' sound.
This is exactly what I was afraid of. Meg set the plates on the kitchen counter. "There's plenty of food. Hope ya'll are hungry." She began rummaging through for silverware and glasses, making herself busy while the guys continued their conversation.
Roman came up behind her and said quietly, "You know I had to tell him. This couldn't be a secret." Meg nodded. "Then why are you upset?"
"I just want peace and calm for a while. I want us to be settled, solid, before that jackass causes more drama. Yet it seems like it is starting already." Meg shrugged her shoulders, keeping her back to the room so no one could see her face. She whispered, "I don't know what Chris has said about me and I don't want to know. I just… never mind. Just… never mind." She slipped out the back door before anyone could stop her.
"Dean! Dude! Your woman just left!" Meg could hear Roman yelling to the other room as she took off.
The waterfront was always calming. Sitting on one of the benches on the dock, looking out over the marsh grass, Meg searched for peace. Bullfrogs croaked. Herons flew in to catch fish and flew away. Crickets chirped. A gentle breeze blew across her face. The sun was turning the sky lovely shades of orange and pink on the other side of the trees. Waves lapped against the pilings. Meg folded her hands in her lap and took in the serene setting. Peace… Just be… Peace… It will be okay… Calm… Peace…
"Where else could she be?"
"Are you sure she didn't double back and come inside?"
"Her truck is still here."
"She's not in the house or garage. We would have found her."
"Dammit! She has to know we're worried!"
"Why the hell would she take off like that?"
"What was she thinking?"
"Who knows how a woman's mind works?"
"Come on guys. This is Meg we're talking about. Be respectful of Dean." Roman muttered.
"He's just as frantic as the rest of us!"
"SHIT!" Dean dropped onto a chair with his head in his hands, ignoring his friends.
"What do we do now?"
"We can't leave."
"That's exactly what you do. You guys go home. She'll come back when she's ready. This is between she and I anyway." Dean sighed.
Roman sat beside him, patting his shoulder. "We were all here. We're all her friends, your friends. She left all of us. If we upset her, she needs to tell us. Running away isn't the way to deal with any of it. It wasn't before and it still isn't. You can tell her and so can we. Meg has to realize that we all have her back. Dude, it isn't Meg against the world. It isn't the two of you against him, either."
"And if the two of you are going to stand a chance, she's got to stick around." Jay said.
Dean looked at his friends. "That's what I'm going to tell her. I'm here for her. I'll fight for her, for us. But she's got to… yeah. Anyway, ya'll go on. I'll pass the message along. Thanks for helping look for her. And helping with the house." He watched the guys leave. Then he waited. The sun set. He waited. It was dark. He still waited. Three and a half hours after Meg fled the house, she returned. The door creaked open and she stepped inside the dark house. She closed the door behind her and leaned against it silently. "They left." She didn't move. "We looked for you." She didn't answer. "You weren't here, the fire house, the park, walking any of the streets in town…" He leaned forward in his chair. "We searched, Meg. We couldn't find you. Do you have any idea?"
"I'm sorry." she whispered.
He snorted. "You're sorry. You're SORRY?" Dean stood up. "You ran out of your own house without a word and didn't return for hours leaving the people who care about you in a panic and all you can say is you are SORRY?!" She could hear him approach. He stopped just short of touching her. "Meg, I care so much for you. So damn much." The hurt and torment in his voice was obvious. "Not knowing where you were, if you were okay, what was going on, it tore me up. I would have done anything for you, Meg. I would have held you if you needed comforting. I would have beaten the hell out of anyone that caused you pain. I would have listened to you if you needed to talk through something. But to have you shut me out...that I can't handle. You told me we would have open communication and you walked away. You broke your promise." Meg reached out her hands to grab hold of his but he pushed hers away. "No, you wanted time to yourself. Take the night and think. I'm ready to go all-in. The good, the bad, the ugly. You need to decide if you want that, Meg. Because I can't do silence and running away. Neither can our friends. We aren't going to chase you and play these games. Grow up and fight for us or walk away." He moved her to the side and opened the door.
"Dean?" He paused on the back step. "I was at the waterfront, sitting on the dock. That's my 'spot'. Where I go to find peace. I don't have one here, yet. I'm sorry. It was wrong and insensitive of me. I don't want to lose you."
He spoke over his shoulder but didn't turn to face her. "You won't lose me. I think that tonight we just need…"
She grabbed his shoulder. "Please."
He stepped away. "If you look for peace someplace without me, what does that say, Meg?" he asked quietly. "We'll talk tomorrow. No, this isn't goodbye. It's goodnight."
So now you know who the ex is. Mystery solved. I doubt anyone was expecting CJ...
But Dean and Meg have hit a bump in the road and he's left her to contemplate what's gone on. Life can't be all sunshine and roses, can it?
