A/N: Sorry about the delay! There is probably only one more chapter to this unless these crazy kids get into any more trouble. Thank you so much for all of the favorites, follows, and reviews! Warning, this chapter returns to rated M. Very M.

Disclaimed, as always.

Chapter 18

Dembe still hadn't spoken to Red. Liz couldn't take the tension that nearly boiled over every time they were in a room together. He still helped Red when he needed it and stood outside of the bathroom when he took a shower just in case Red were to fall, but ignored any and all attempts at conversation.

Liz knew exactly why Dembe was so mad, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Part of the reason why Dembe was so livid with him was because of her. They had become such close friends and she knew that he liked to think of himself as an older brother and protector. He couldn't fathom that Red would risk hurting Liz like he had. It made him question Red's integrity. Red was a criminal and had been so for the entire time that Dembe had known him.

However, Dembe believed Red to be honorable and above reproach in the aspect of someone that cared about him and he cared about in return. If he would betray the love of his life, then nothing was sacred.

Dembe grieved for him for weeks and it caused him to wear rose colored glasses and only remember all of the good things versus the bad.

He would get over it eventually, but there was a storm brewing between him and Red that only they could repair.

"Dembe, I am going to run to the bakery for more pastries. Do you need anything or want anything in particular?"

"No thank you, Liz. Just you returning soon." He didn't say it, but it was implied that he didn't want to be around Red any more than he had to be.

When Liz returned it was to shouting. She didn't want to eavesdrop, but this needed to happen for Dembe to heal.

"You stubborn ass! Do you have any idea what you put us through? What she went through when we thought you were dead. I held her every night, listened to every scream erupt from her throat. Held her hair as the grief became too much and she vomited. I had a front row seat to when the tears stopped and she became dead inside. Do you know what she was thinking? She was thinking that she didn't want to live without you! She was wholly devoted to you. When we found you here and in a coma, she poured over the physician's care notes so that she could be the one to care for you. To be there for you when you needed. And for what? For you to play grab-ass with Florence Nightingale? Fuck you!"

Dembe stormed out of the room, tears in his eyes. He stopped by her, kissed her on the forehead and said "I'll be back…later" and rushed out the door. He didn't slam it, but the near silent 'click' was deafening in the rage behind it.

She had no desire to go in and see Red after that. Dembe revealed so much of what she would have killed to keep Red from finding out. She was ashamed, but she loved him more than she needed to hide so she went in to the kitchen and put away the groceries, collecting her thoughts and emotions and putting them together into an array that she could manage a visit with Red without breaking down. She was done crying over spilled milk.

Red said that he would never repeat his mistake and she believed him.

Red was sitting in a chair overlooking the view of a field behind their temporary home. She couldn't see his face, but she had a pretty good idea what she was about to find.

"Dembe will get over it. He's just mad because you willed him to me like a Ming Vase." She tried for levity. They'd all had too much grief.

Red harrumphed "He's mad because I showed him what a bastard I am. He's a gentle, honest man. There is no one better. In fact, he, rather than I, would be a much preferable choice for you." He said this with tears running unchecked, silently down his cheeks.

She squatted in front of his chair "I do love him. More so than I ever thought I would. However, I am not in love with him. He doesn't make my heart race. He doesn't make me tremble at the thought of his lips on my body. I don't have a constant craving to feel him inside of me. He doesn't make me dream of having a family and fairy tales that I have no business wanting, but can't help but think of every spare moment."

She didn't make eye-contact the entire time, just ran her hands up and down the length of his thighs. By the time she finished speaking, his arousal was plain to see. She used the leverage of her weight and pulled at the back of his knees until he was stretched enough that she could clearly get to his belt and pants buckle. He grunted a little in pain, but she wasn't feeling particularly gentle at the moment.

Red didn't answer her, just let her do as she wished. She knew he wasn't healed enough for anything too intense, but she needed to feel him.

She unbuckled his pants and released his engorged erection. He hissed as she wrapped her hand around him, the tip already weeping in anticipation. She still didn't look at him, but his hands were caressing her arms as they rested on his thighs.

When she finally put her mouth around him, there was no teasing, no gentleness. She took him as far as she could, all the way to the back of her throat. His moan was long and hoarse. She breathed through her nose and swallowed around him, massaging the head of him.

His thighs were quaking under her hands. "Fuck, Lizzie, you're so amazing. Your mouth feels like lava. You're going to burn me alive. I love you so much." He continued to tell her how much she meant to him and how sorry he was. How he had missed her and couldn't live thinking that he'd ruined them.

Over and over again she pulled her head back and nibbled on the head of him and then sucked as hard as she could, then took him all the way in her mouth to the base. He was swearing and making promises for their future together, all the while he was caressing her hair, her cheeks. Thanking her and worshiping her. She may be the one on her knees, but he was the one begging.

"Lizzie, I can't hold back sweetheart. You need to move."

Instead of moving back, she took him in her hand and squeezed as hard as she could while sucking him, swallowing every drop as it erupted from him.

His whole body trembled and his shouts of pleasure were unlike anything she'd ever heard before but she knew she couldn't wait to hear again.

When it became too much, the tip too sensitive to touch, she pulled back and laid her head on his still twitching leg. He ran his hand over her head, moved a few stray hairs out of her face. "You didn't have to do that, Lizzie."

"I know Red, I know."

Tbc…

A/N: Let me know what you think!