Yes, the usual "We're going out to party" chapter you find in all my stories. Mhm. Sounds like fun, going out on Halloween. We'll see to that :o)

Now, enjoy the chapter ^^

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

Chapter Three

After the movie, which apparently everybody but Ryan and Jesse had enjoyed, they went to the nearest club. It was indeed Halloween themed, which made the guys feel all the more uncomfortable, because Valera, Nicole and Natalia were the only ones who had dressed up.

Now Valera tuned to Dave, "See, you were making fun of me because I went to the movies like this. Now, it's my turn to make fun of you." She brought her cat ears back into place. "I might not if you pay me a drink."

Dave smiled, "Okay, consider yourself invited." The two wandered off.

Natalia nudged Nicole, "Do you really think the two are just friends?"

Nicole nodded, "Yeah. Dave is kinda hot, and Maxie has a terrible taste in men."

Natalia frowned, "You do realize she dated my ex husband?"

"You do realize you just agreed? Come on, let's dance. I take Walter as my dance partner."

Walter grinned at Travers, "Think you just lost your girlfriend to me."

Travers shrugged, "Ask me tomorrow who she went home with."

Walter blinked at him and said, "I always wanted to dance with Arielle the mermaid. I gotta say, those flippers look amazing. Can you sing, too?"

"Yeah, I made a hundred of ships crash due to my amazing singing voice."

"And shattered some glasses too, and killed many flowers…" Travers muttered under his breath. Nicole just gave him a look and walked off with Walter.

Ryan sat down at the counter next to Jesse. "Seems like it's just you, me and Travers tonight." But Jesse only took Natalia's hand and walked her over to the dance floor.

Travers took the seat to Ryan's left, "And here we lose our belly dancer. What did we do wrong?"

"We took guys with us that are too tall, I guess." He motioned to the man behind the counter for two beers. "So… any new theories on Trace?"

Travers frowned, "Many. But do you really want to talk about this, here?"

"I don't see anything else we could do."

Travers grinned, "I know very well that this could mean I'll be sitting alone here for the rest of the evening, but that girl over there has been checking you out since we've arrived."

Ryan turned around to see who the girl in question was. A smile appeared on his face, "That's Mame. Would you mind if I go over there?"

Travers sighed, "No, no. Just go. I'll talk with the man behind the counter. All it needs is a piano, a whisky and some smoke."

"Thanks, Travers." Ryan took his glass and walked over to Mame. "Hey. Sorry I didn't see you earlier."

"Yeah, you were too busy with your friends." She sounded amused, "Are these your workmates?"

Ryan sat down on the vacant chair next to her, "Yes, they are. We just went to see Gilda."

Mame rolled her eyes, "I knew the movie was on. Did your little, noisy friend drag you there?"

"Nah, she knew the movie already. Her best friend organized it. The movie wasn't that good, really." Ryan ordered himself another beer. "Can I offer you something?"

"A glass of red wine, please." She smiled. "So, you're having a good time?"

"And it's getting better by the minute… How have you been these last… 24 hours?"

She laughed, "Fine. Although I gotta say that this here is the best moment of this day." She gave him a seducing look. "Do you… plan to stay longer?"

Ryan shrugged, "If nothing else happens… You know… at my place…"

She took a sip of her wine and licked her lips. "Is there anything special at your place?"

"Not yet. But that might change during the course of the evening, who knows?"

She leaned forward, "Yeah… who knows?" She closed her eyes, awaiting a kiss, but Ryan was too distracted by what was just happening on the dance floor. Some guy had apparently tried to hit on Valera. She just shoved him away. He came menacingly closer, but walked off when Dave and Walter got in front of Valera. Mame followed Ryan's gaze, "Good to have such a big fellow with you…"

"Yeah, Walter's amazing. If only he would stop cracking jokes about my height."

Mame reached out for his hand, "Poor guy. But size doesn't matter…"

"Yeah, I know, it's all about the technique and..."

"What I meant was actually it's all about the inner spirit."

Ryan blushed, "Ah. Okay. Well… where was I earlier. Ah, yeah…" He smiled, "I think I was about to kiss you."

"I remember that…" She closed her eyes again.

Ryan was just about to kiss her when the same guy who had just bothered Valera stepped in between. "Yeah, man, that's what you think."

Ryan cocked an eyebrow, "Pardon me?"

The guy, who reminded him vaguely of Nick Townsend, grinned, "Yeah, fun's over, buddy. Make like a tree and beat it, and leave that young lady here to me."

Ryan scratched his head, "Do you remember the guys on the dance floor? The huge black guy? He's my mate. So, if you don't want any trouble, I suggest you make like a tree." Whatever that means…

The guy, who had already laid an arm around Mame, turned back to Ryan, "Are you looking to get trashed tonight, little man?"

"Are you looking to get arrested tonight?" He had noticed that Walter and Dave had seen that the guy was a harassing them, and just waited for Ryan to sign them to come over. And, Ryan noticed as well that Travers on the other side of the counter had approached slowly, ready to stand up to the guy as well. "I would really advice you to just go and leave the lady here alone. Or else you might land in hospital tonight…"

By now, Mame had gotten up from her chair and said, "Ryan, that's very noble, but I don't need somebody to protect me." Then she said to the guy, "Look, I gonna put this nice. No. Not in a million years! No. Now, leave, before it's my heel up your ass."

The guy actually wanted to retort something, but by now Travers stood behind Ryan, and Walter and Dave had also approached close enough to look intimidating. So he just spat on the floor in front of Ryan and walked off.

Mame shook her head, "Drunken idiot."

Ryan resisted the urge to move away from the spat. "Yeah, indeed. Well… three's the charm. Should we try again?"

Now Mame smiled, "I'd love too." But this time she didn't even came as far as closing her eyes, when Walter patted Ryan on the shoulder, "Good job there, Shorty! That was a very unpleasant fellow." He turned to Mame, "Hello, I'm Walter Simmons."

"Mame Collins. I was just about to leave." She didn't even shake Walter's hand, but took Ryan's, "Could you walk me to my car? I am a bit scared that the guy might still be out there."

Ryan had never gotten of a chair that fast, "Sure, Mame. Can anybody drive the girls home?" As Dave nodded, he waved them goodbye and followed Mame, ignoring Walter's big grin.

An hour later, he was lying in Mame's bed. She had fallen asleep, cuddled to his chest. He sighed deeply. And here he had thought after he had finally broken up with Erica for good it would take more than a year to finally have some… nice moments again. But no. And Mame had been even tenderer than Erica. And more, there was nothing that suggested she wanted information from him. Or just sex. He closed his eyes and smiled; that felt so good. He looked down at her and planted a soft kiss on her hair. Maybe this could grow. He hoped it could. He would take it slow, but she made very clear that she was interested in him as well. Maybe, in due time, they could get together; in a few weeks or months, when they had gotten to know each other better, and were still interested in each other. Maybe. He put the blanket over her and protectively laid his other arm around her waist. Then he dozed off. Hopefully he could sleep in today. It was Saturday, after all. The city could take a break from producing dead bodies.

Mh. Our Ryan is happy. But aren't there some dark clouds coming? Aren't there always? What will happen? Will the chump Mame gave an ice cold 'no' come back to haunt her?

Anybody seen Shall we dance? ? Omar Miller dancing? Great!