Hello everyone! I hope people are enjoying the story! I would REALLY appreciate reviews so that I know to keep writing...I mean, I'll probably keep writing anyways, but its nice to know someone other than me is reading it. haha!

by the way does anyone know how to post pictures or links in here? I'm trying to put up pictures of the people I'm envisioning as my characters but it wont let me...GRRR! Let me know if u do!!!

Until then these are who my characters look like:

The guys = the guys from the movie (u-duh)

Maggie = Kate Hudson

Arthur = Ryan Reynolds

-5-

Surprisingly it was extremely easy for Maggie to uproot herself and move back home. She thanked her current boss graciously and put in her two weeks. They were sad to see her go and desperately tried to bribe her to stay with a pay increase, but nothing could compare with the deal Benny offered her. With the help of the boys and quite a few thirty packs of beer, she had packed up her life in about a day. The moving trucks came and the boys plus a moving crew helped her get all of her shit into a single truck and over to her new place.

Though Benny had offered her a suite at the hotel, Maggie decided to live in a little condo just outside the city. It was a short walk or a quick trip on the subway in worse weather to work and it was quite private. The condo she found was three bedrooms, two baths, with a fantastic up to date kitchen, a fireplace, and a small yard. It was much smaller than her last apartment but it was comfortable and homey and it suited Maggie rather well.

It took her a few more days to get situated and get all of her things organized. Her last apartment actually came furnished so Maggie had the opportunity to decorate this time around. She found that she actually enjoyed that part. It was nice to create a home for herself, a place where she felt at peace. So she went to a few department stores found some comfortable, overstuffed furniture and a few knick-knacks and formed the place around her. She would never get over her previous beachy property, but she tried her best to duplicate it here. She got furniture in light, cool colors of creamy Birchwood that made the place feel brighter. She bought beautiful color photographs of the beach and ocean as well as sunsets - which were basically her favorite things. She got a new simple bed frame for her king sized tempur pedic mattress - the only reason she owned a king size was because she frequently ended up with four oversized men in her bed, usually at the same time, and needed the space. She found everything she could that had palm trees or beach scenes and covered her condo with it. If she couldn't have the beach, she'd have the next best thing.

About a week later, things were finally organized and she was ready to start full time at the Hotel. She was very excited for this new opportunity and couldn't wait until she got to sink her teeth into the business. It was Friday and Benny had given her the weekend to rest.

She'd happily rented a few movies to spend her weekend being a bum and watching all of them from start to finish. It was probably eight p.m. when Marbles showed up at her condo and joined in her marathon.

"You are seriously watching this crap?" He asked, cracking open a can of beer.

She growled at him, "No one invited you to my smutfest."

He smiled, sipping his beer, "Yeah, but vampires? Really?"

She shrugged, "The main character is hot."

He chuckled, "Isn't he like sixteen?"

She smiled wryly back at him, "Has that ever stopped any of us?"

Marbled just laughed out loud and continued to sip his beer. They sat in companionable silence, watching the two teenagers on screen developing undying devotion and passion in a span of fifteen minutes. Marbles just chuckled cynically during most of the film while Maggie stared at him evilly out of the corner of her eye. When the movie was over, he laughed a little harder at Maggie.

"You can leave you know." She spat, standing to put in the next movie.

He smiled sweetly, "But then you wouldn't get to spend so much wonderful time with me. Plus I ordered pizza a few minutes ago while I took a piss."

She stared at him with her lip curled, "Yick. Thats sick."

"Its Tino's." He smiled.

She looked at him appreciatively, "Well...If It's Tino's." She shrugged and sat down on the couch.

"What's this one?" He asked, passing her a beer and cracking another one for himself.

"Hot Fuzz." She said.

He shrugged, "Hm, never seen it."

She smiled widely, "You'll love it. I mean it. This movie is life changing." He simply chuckled and relaxed while the previews rolled.

"So, any new developments in the love life?"

She sighed, "I've hit a brick wall and I haven't moved for the past twenty years."

He chuckled, "You know you really should just get over it."

She stared at him incredulously, "You're a shit."

He smiled, "I know."

She grabbed her beer and paused the movie, "Now I need a cigarette. You made me think and I need to kill a few brain cells."

He stood and helped her up, "Sounds like a plan." He walked her outside and lit a cigarette for her. They sat on the comfortable chairs she stole from the hotel and had their cigarette in silence.

Maggie's doorbell rang and Marbles stubbed out his cigarette and walked inside. She watched him from the backyard - a luxury was the large sliding glass doors onto her back patio where she could see almost all of her little home. He pulled out his wallet and made his way into the foyer and answered the door.

For a few seconds she let her mind wander and thought about her pathetic love life. She knew she might never care for anyone like she cared for Taylor, but that shouldn't stop her from finding someone who loved her back. The boys could tell her he loved her about a million times, but until he conceded, she never would. She sighed and decided to try. She wasn't getting any younger and she'd always wanted kids and now was the time to do it. She was too smart to jump into something without thinking it through, but she just couldn't wait on Taylor for the rest of her life.

She looked up when Marbles knocked on the window - Taylor and Matty stood behind him, carrying the Tino's box and a twelve pack of beer. She smiled lightly, something that her heart wasn't really behind and they all noticed. She tried to hide her depressing enlightened moment from them as she stubbed out her cigarette and stood to go inside. When she entered, Matty smiled at her and kissed her cheek. He took the beer and carried it into the kitchen to stick in the fridge. Taylor set down the pizzas and walked over to Maggie. He wrapped his big arms around her and went to kiss her lips, but Maggie deftly moved her head to the side and dodged it. He kissed her cheek, hesitantly and let her go. Without looking at him she walked into the kitchen and started chatting it up with Matty.

Taylor actually felt hurt. Never in his life had Maggie ever refused a kiss from him. He knew something was up and it freaked him the hell out. He turned to Marbles who was obviously trying not to laugh while sipping his beer and a low growl escaped his lips. He plopped down on the couch a seat away from Marbles where Maggie would fit and took his first slice of pizza.

Maggie and Matty came out of the kitchen with a few beers, plates, and napkins for the group. Maggie handed out the plates and napkins and Marbles chuckled at her.

"Hey this is my house and my shit. I don't want your grimy Italian hands getting everything all greasy." She smiled.

Matty tossed out the beers and sat on the edge of the couch. Much to everyone's surprise, Maggie chose the seat between Marbles and Matty. Taylor almost choked on his beer. Matty let out a sly grin and put his arm around her shoulders just to rub it in. Maggie reached for the controller, trying to ignore the men around her and pressed play. The movie started with Taylor still glaring at her. She curled up into Matty's side as the previews rolled and ignored his ice-cold glare.

Maggie woke up and rolled to her side. She was face to face with a drooling half dead Marbles. She rolled over again and there was Matty on her other side. She sighed and lifted her head and tried to spot Taylor, but she didn't see him. She sighed and slid out from under the covers and crawled to the end of the bed. She was in a pair of underwear and a tank top. She looked back at the bed and saw Marbles in his white t-shirt and probably boxers, since his socked feet were poking out from under the covers. Matty had no shirt on and she hoped he was wearing boxers, cause his feet were bare, and they drank a lot of beer last night.

She smiled and grabbed her nearest pair of jeans that were rumpled on the floor and slid them on. She grabbed a pair of flip-flops and a big jacket and hustled out of her bedroom quietly.

When she turned to the front room, she saw that there were a few empty pizza boxes and a lot of empty bottles and cans littered around her new house. She felt a little huffy, but it diminished when she remembered that she had consumed a good portion of what was in those now empty bottles and cans.

That's when something in her periphery caught her eye. She saw Taylor, lying on the couch. His huge form fit okay on the couch, except that his large feet dangled off the edge. She tried not to laugh and decided that this was karma paying him back for all the times she'd slept on the couch while Taylor had women in his room. She grabbed her keys and left, walking to a small coffee shop around the corner in order to grab some fuel for her and the boys.

She lit a cigarette while she was outside, enjoying that first, awfully awesome lungful of tar and watched as people wandered in and out of the little shop. The great part about this part of town was that it was small-time without being hick. Most of the places around there were small businesses and mostly family owned. It was a lot like an area of Ocean Beach that she remembered and the number one reason why she picked living here.

She flicked her cigarette into the street and turned to walk inside. She ran her face directly into the chest of the man who was coming out of the coffee shop. There were a lot of curse words and loud noises as Maggie went down on her ass. The man himself stumbled backwards, balancing a few cups of coffee in order to keep them from dumping all over Maggie. She was extremely grateful.

"Shit! I'm so sorry!" He said.

Maggie sat stunned on the ground for a bit, the wind knocked out of her while the man shuffled to put down his coffees. He helped her stand up and Maggie was about to let out a string of profanities that would make a sailor blush, but when she looked up at him, she was surprised who it was. The man was about 6'2" and absolutely adorable. He had shaggy light brown hair and a well-toned body. It wasn't overly muscular, just firm, and you could see that he was an active person. His skin had a slight tan to it, which highlighted his vivid brown eyes and his perfect white smile. Maggie knew the smile from quite a few years back. She knew it from her college years. An old friend from her intramural flag football team.

"Arthur?" She said, her eyes squinting, as if that helped take in his features more clearly. "Arthur Freisel?"

He looked down at her, rather confused for a few moments and then recognition hit, "Holy shit! Maggie!?" He said loudly. Before she could get out another sentence he pulled her in for a tight hug and she was surprised that she didn't mind the contact.

"How are you?" Maggie smiled, now she knew how strong he was.

"Shit, I'm doing fine! Are you okay?" He asked pulling her back and looking her over with concern, "I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking when I came out here and I totally ran you over!"

Maggie just smiled, "No worries, I'm a resilient little girl."

He looked her up and down and smiled, "Yeah, I remember." He sort of shook himself from being so obviously ogling and caught her eyes again, "Wow! I can't believe it. I haven't seen you for years!"

"Not since graduation." She smiled. "What are you doing in New York?"

He smiled, "Well I got a new job here, teaching architecture at a local college. Its not NYU or anything but it pays the bills."

"That's awesome."

"Wow." He said again, "How are you? What are you doing?"

"I just moved back home to help a friend out with his hotel business." She said. "Architecture. Really?" She smiled.

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah. I know. I was a geeky math major, but for some reason, after I got my degree instead of getting my Masters in mathematics I went to a design school and got my license. I do houses and condos occasionally for people here. That's sort of how I got the job teaching."

"That sounds awesome!"

He blinked at her a few times with his wide, gorgeous smile, "Can I buy you coffee or something? It's the least I can do after I plowed you down."

Maggie smiled but then remembered the half-corpses all over her home. She frowned, "I'm sorry I cant stay I was picking this up for a few friends and heading home."

He frowned slightly too, "Well damn." He looked thoughtful for a few moments and then looked apprehensive as he formulated his question. "You know, I've only been in town for a few months and its nice to see a familiar face. Do you think we could get together and hang out or something? Maybe catch dinner and you can show this ol'California boy how you real New Yorkers do things."

He was so cheesy that it was awfully charming. Maggie thought for a few seconds and couldn't think of any good reasons to say no. She was about as single as they came so she smiled and nodded. She pulled a pen out of her purse and grabbed his coffee cup, "Try not to lose this." She smiled as she wrote down her number.

He smiled too, a vibrant, attractive thing. "Wow, jeez. This is great. I don't want to creep you out or anything, but maybe we could have dinner tonight? You know, catch up."

Maggie smiled, happy to see an old friend again that was outside of this crazy world she lived in and nodded, "Call me in a few hours after I've had my coffee and woken up a little." She laughed, "I can give you a more coherent answer then."

He smiled and nodded, "Sure, I'd love to." He gave her another great big hug and let her go. He grabbed the coffees and waved, "See you!"

Maggie waved back and walked into the coffee shop, wondering if her life could be any more random. She grabbed the coffees and a few pastries and trekked on home. When she opened the door she found everyone just as she had left them. She smiled and carried all of her stuff into the kitchen and set things up for the boys. She piled all of the pastries onto a plate and carted them plus the coffees over to the dining room table. She grabbed Taylor's coffee and a warm chunk of homemade coffee cake and walked over to where he was laying. She waved it under his nose a few times and saw him slowly perk up.

His eyes were slits but she could see he was staring at her, "Jesus Maggs you look like hell."

She frowned deeply and scoffed, tossing his pastry on the coffee table and slamming his cup down so hard that some of it spilled. "Not like you give a shit," she growled, quite pissed, "I got you some fucking coffee, prick." She stood abruptly and walked into her bedroom. She kicked at Marbles and Matty to wake them up and growled hurriedly at them that they had coffee ready in the dining room. She tore into her bathroom and stared at herself in the mirror.

"Fuck." Her jaw dropped. She did look like shit. Her hair was a bit poofy and she had darker circles around her eyes - no doubt from the lack of sleep she got the night before. She whimpered softly and realized that Arthur was probably not going to call because she looked like the bride of Frankenstein. She sighed dejectedly and dragged her feet as she walked into her main room. The boys already had some sort of sporting event on TV so she just grabbed her coffee and walked out onto her patio. She lit up a cigarette and enjoyed it while she slowly drank her coffee.

She thought absent mindedly about what was going on. She realized that Arthur showing up in her life was a bit random, well actually, extremely random, but she decided she wasn't going to just sit and twiddle her thumbs anymore. She'd start going on dates again and maybe start taking things a little more seriously. She wasn't planning on getting married tomorrow, but she didn't want her biological clock to tick away anymore. She remembered Arthur warmly from college. He was a nice guy who knew how to party. He was one of those men that was friends with almost everyone but he wasn't an egotistical prick. She was pretty confident he didn't have a criminal history and he had nice teeth. She knew he was employed, as a teacher, so he must be patient and determined. However she did look like shit and realized he probably wasn't going to call. She sighed. The pep talk was working on half of her, but the other half was resisting viciously. She was mumbling curses to herself for being such a wretched psycho when a voice shocked her out of her pity party.

"So what the fuck was that about?" Matty said as he slid the door closed.

"What was what about?" She griped, not looking him in the eye.

"The bitchfest in there. At Taylor." Matty pulled out a smoke and inhaled deep. "He just stomped off to the bathroom, muttering obscenities. You're lucky he loves you and he wont beat the living fuck out of you."

Maggie just scoffed, "You're mistaken. I'm unlucky that he loves me. He said I look like shit. It was a fucking dick thing to say to a girl who just bought you coffee and breakfast."

Matty snorted, "Honey you do look like shit."

Maggie just smiled, "Thanks prick. You're welcome for the cozy bed you slept in and the delicious coffee I bought you, jack off."

Matty just laughed and sipped his coffee, "He'll figure it out." He said seriously.

"I'm not sure if I want him to anymore." She muttered, trying to keep her voice from trembling. She hated that Taylor got this reaction out of her. Maggie never cried. Ever. But Taylor Reese comes along and tells her that her socks don't match and she could cry for days.

"What?" Matty said, absolutely astonished.

Just then the sliding glass door opened and Marbles leaned his head out. He smiled at Maggie, "Thanks for the coffee, beautiful."

Maggie smacked Matty's shoulder, "See! A fucking real gentleman!"

Matty just laughed, "Holy shit. That's the first time I've ever heard Marbles called a gentleman."

Marbles scowled and flipped off Matty who just chuckled and finished his cigarette. Matty stepped inside and Marbles came out. He grabbed Maggie's pack from the table and lit one up. He looked at Maggie who was trying to avoid his stare and chuckled.

"What happened to you?" He said.

Maggie just shrugged. "I got asked on a date at the coffee shop. I agreed. Then I come home to have Taylor tell me I look like shit when I got him breakfast."

Marbles just shook his head, "He's fucking dense. You should know that."

Maggie just shrugged pathetically, "Why aren't you yelling at me for having a date?"

Marbles shrugged back, "You deserve it."

Maggie stared up at him in disbelief and he just smiled sweetly. She walked over to him and gave him a huge hug. He wrapped his arms around her and she sighed into his shoulder.

"You do honey." He smiled and kissed her cheek, "Boy, if anyone deserves a real-life date, its you."

Maggie just chuckled, "I've been laid Marbles. Quite recently actually."

Marbles just laughed, "I know that. I don't mean laid. I mean date. You deserve a guy who'll hold your hand and buy you flowers and all that lame shit." Maggie just laughed, "And if it cant be me, and I refuse to see Taylor get you because the shit head doesn't deserve you, it may as well be a guy who has the balls to ask out the most prettiest girl in all of the Tri-city area."

Maggie just laughed again, "Most prettiest?"

He chuckled, "You better believe it."

"So what are you guys up to today?" She asked, pulling back and going for her coffee and cigarette.

"Uh, staying here, watching the game, ruining you for all other men." He smiled, "The usual."

Maggie smiled as well, "Marbles you've already ruined me for all other men."

He winked, "You better believe it." He reached out his hand and Maggie took it, "Let's go honey."

They stubbed out their cigarettes and walked back into the house, hand in hand. The moment they entered, Taylor came out of the restroom, looking a little bit better. His eyes were soft as he looked at Maggie, but instantly hardened when his eyes traveled down her arm and saw her fingers linked with Marbles's. She saw him bristle, and tried to let go of Marbles's hand, but he held tight. Taylor's muscles flexed and he simply pounded towards the couch, grabbed his jacket and left.

Maggie felt like a complete shit. Marbles looked at her to reassure her, but she simply shook her head. She slipped her fingers out of his and walked pitifully towards her room. "I'm gonna take a bath. I'll be out in a few." She said softly and trudged towards her master bath. Both men nodded without a word and watched as she slowly and painfully walked into her room.

"I drove." Matty said, shaking his key ring.

Marbles just chuckled, "Let the fucker walk. He needs to not be so possessive of her. He'll need to let her go soon."

Matty's eyebrows knitted and he looked towards Marbles, "What's that mean?"

Marbles just shrugged and sipped his coffee, "Nothin' man." Matty didn't believe him.

Maggie immersed herself in the hot water. Her entire body prickled at the contrast but it felt wonderful. She tried to get the steaming water to loosen her muscles but it barely worked. Her eyes felt wetter than usual, but she promised herself she wouldn't cry.

One tear, She thought to herself, only one more tear for Taylor Reese and not a god damned milliliter more.

After the tear fell she regained composure. She realized that she did not have any claim on Taylor so that meant he had no claim on her. She would not stand on the side any longer, waiting patiently for him to grow a pair. She would love him, probably for the rest of her life, but she would no longer be pathetic little girl waiting for Taylor Reese to ask her to prom. She let herself soak in the tub for a few more minutes and sunk under. She let the hot water sizzle her skin and release any tension she had left over.

She finished her bathing ritual, which was only about five minutes long and got out of the tub. She dried off quickly, letting her hair dry naturally and pulled on a pair of old sweats from school and a tank top.

She made her way out into the front room and it was deserted, but clean. She smiled, thanking God for small favors and went to put her coffee in the microwave.

Marbles had left a note on the counter:

We cleaned up. Matty had some shit to do - like tame the beast. Call me later. I want details. Love you.

She smiled and threw the little note away. She grabbed her coffee and a pastry and sat down on the couch. She didn't remember watching any thing other than Hot Fuzz last night, so she put in Die Hard and melted at the sight of Bruce Willis.

The movie ended with Maggie successfully sedated and sprawled across her living room furniture. She was slowly started to get up and change the movie when she heard her cell phone rattling on the glass coffee table. She reached for it and looked at the read out.

Private Number.

She briefly thought of mass genocide if it were a telemarketer but answered anyways.

"Hello?" She chimed.

"Hi, is this Maggie?" A male said from the other line.

"Yes, who is this?"

"Ha, how soon we forget." He chuckled, "Its Arthur."

She smiled, "I knew that."

He just laughed over the line, "So are we feeling better now that we've ingested enough caffeine to kill a small bovine?"

Maggie smiled at that, "Yes, much better."

"That's nice to hear," His voice was smooth and sweet and Maggie enjoyed hearing it in her ear.

"How are you doing?" She said, stifling a yawn and sitting up straight on the couch.

"Fine now that I'm done with my meeting. I just sat through almost three hours of some rich brat whining to her father about her condo being remodeled properly. The girl's only seventeen and her clothes cost more than my vehicle." He mumbled, "But aside from the lifestyles of the rich and famous, I'm good. So do you recall my proposition this morning, or should I repeat it to the caffeinated brain?"

Maggie liked that he openly teased her like that. It was nice to be talked to like a human being and not a walking vagina. "Yes I do recall a pathetic attempt at a pick up this morning."

"Oh," He said feigning hurt, "That was my best one too. Mowing down pretty little blondes and asking them out while they possibly have concussions."

"Oh, I see," Maggie smiled, "So is that usually your type? Drooling and cross-eyed."

"Absolutely not," he said repugnantly. "I prefer to not limit myself to specifics. Usually conscious will do."

Maggie laughed hard at that one, "Well I'm glad I fit the bill. So what were you thinking of tonight?"

"Well I didn't know how classy you were, recalling that your nick name was Mad Dog back in college and I believe you were the only female to ever threaten the referee-slash-Dean of students that you would, and I quote saw his balls of with your plastic cleats if he made any further shitty calls." He paused, "I was thinking maybe mud wrestling, a rodeo, cow tipping..."

"Har har," Maggie said sarcastically, "Though the last one is rather enticing."

"I bet. Wanna have a few bottles of Bud and see how many cows we can find within New York state limits?"

Maggie laughed again, "I'm sure that's what you usually offer your dates."

"Usually it's my dad's rusty 4x4's back seat and a grip of Vaseline, but I figured you stopped doing it in the backseats of trucks after you graduated college."

She smiled, "Yes, I only bone in the finest of luxury vehicles and it must be KY or I shant return his call."

She heard his hearty laugh over the line and felt her smile grow. She forgot how much fun Arthur was back in school. He was always very good at making her laugh. "Hmm, I'll have to remember that one. Maybe my mom will let me borrow her Taurus. That's luxury, right?" Maggie just laughed. "Well I'm assuming you're still basically the same crazy girl I used to know back in school. So how about a relaxing dinner and then out to a dive bar with karaoke or something."

"That sounds like the best night I'll possibly ever have."

"I know what could make it a definite." He said, his voice lowered and enticing.

Maggie bit the bait, "Oh yeah?" She said breathily, "How's that?"

"I'll sing you some Bon Jovi to seal the deal." He growled in a sexy voice that she knew was mocking.

She bit her lip to keep from laughing, "I'll do some Britney Spears and shake my ass for you."

"Shit, that was my next offer."

Maggie started laughing again, "Alright Arthur, what time do you want to pick me up then?"

"How about seven?" He said.

"Sounds perfect." Maggie smiled. "I'll see you then."

"Oh and Maggie?"

"Uh huh?"

"Be casual and comfortable. I'd recommend some jeans too. It's supposed to be cold tonight."

"Ummm, k?"

And he hung up.