a/n: Hey guys! It has been a while since I've been on here, so much has happened! I moved across my lovely state, and now reside in West Texas for a new job; so far I am loving it! I've been writing here and there, and I've finally gotten something done! This one is for my bestie, Danie (CelticPrincessx3), go read some of her stuff if you haven't yet! This is one of the two requests she had made for her birthday, and I do hope that she enjoys it!

Italics are flashbacks!

Disclaimer: as per usual, I own nothing but the idea. Song credits go to Blake Shelton and Ashley Monroe.

all I need

"Yes… just uh – email all those forms to me. I'll figure out the mess on Monday. Good night."

Placing the handset on his receiver, he leaned back in his chair and breathed an exhaustive sigh. His line of work was somewhat stressful; this week had been especially tiresome. He'd taken over his father's Senate seat a little over four years ago, and boy did it keep him busy. He thrived on it, for the most part.

But lately, it had just been running him ragged.

Hearing his email tone go off on his desktop, he rolled his eyes, grabbed his whiskey glass and got out of his seat. Work was just going to have to wait until Monday morning. Closing the heavy oak door behind him, he leaned against it for a while.

"You work entirely too hard!" she complained, in between kisses on his neck, "I knew taking over for your dad would do this to you."

"I'm the oldest, this was inevitable." He sighed as he so desperately tried to stay concentrated on some forms, which was getting harder and harder to do with her straddling him, "Baby, c'mon, you know that I need to finish this work before the new session next week."

"Paperwork smaperwork," she rolled her green eyes, "you said that we'd have fun this weekend! Besides you have all day tomorrow to be a slave to the man."

"Slave?" he laughed, "I know was I said, but –"

"You promised!"

"Ugh," he rubbed his eyes, "I know what I said, but that was before this new piece of legislation hit my desk… it's extremely important sweetheart."

"I know that it is…" she pouted, "but it's just going to be dinner and a few drinks. Please?"

"Bu-"

"Please?!"

"Okay, okay! But just for a little while, alright?"

"Promise." she smirked.

She was radiant.

The room lit up when she entered it… hell, he lit up whenever he saw her. For 6 years, she was his entire life; he lived and breathed for her. Everything was perfect for the two of them. Then he had to go and leave his law firm and take over for his dad.

Of course, he'd only done it to get the old man off of his back. Plus, his term was coming to an end a few months later, and he really didn't think that anyone would vote to keep him in there. Unfortunately for him, they did and here he was almost two years later, gearing up for his second re-election campaign. All of this, essentially led to their doom. He eventually grew to love what he did, and began to spend more time working and spending less time with her.

And well… the rest is history.

Now, whenever he wasn't drowning in work, he walked around his big immaculate house and wallowed in self-pity. They purchased this house two years ago, after his first re-election; this was going to be the place where they lived the rest of their lives together. Now it was just a constant reminder of what should've been. Walking into the kitchen, he eyed his cell on the counter.

It could just be the alcohol talking… but he just wanted to hear her voice.

I never thought you'd pick up the phone
It's Friday night, you should be out on the town
didn't think you'd be
Sitting at home all alone like me

Just his luck, she didn't answer.

In all honesty, he wasn't surprised. She always had something glamorous going on most nights. Part of him missed having her clinging onto his arm at these events, eyes were always on her; but hers were always on him. Damn he missed her.

Ring…Ring

Without bothering to look at the caller ID, he swiped right on his phone, "Look Hayes, I told you that I'd look at the papers on Monday. I'm done for the weekend."

"Not working on weekends? That's new!"

"Oh! Hey… yeah, it's just this weekend; at this point it's all a blur."

"I've always told you that you work too hard." She sighed, "But I know that it's your re-election year…"

"Yeah… well I decided to take a little break for the weekend. Regroup a little."

"Well that's good. Anyway, I'm calling because I noticed a missed call from you?"

"Oh… um, that was an accident. I hung up as soon as I realized it, sorry."

"You've always been a horrible liar, what's up?"

Nothing on TV, nothing to do
Nothing to keep my mind off you and me
And the way it was
Are you thinking 'bout it now because…

"I – um…"

"Is everything alright?"

"Everything's alright… you know how it gets around this time."

"That's it, I'm coming over. Order us a pizza, I have the wine."

"You don't have to do that, I really am okay."

"I know, but I am. Be there in a few."

…I could be there in five?
One more, one last time

That taste, that touch, the fire I miss
Those "kiss-me" eyes, your red wine lips on mine
Like it used to be
Baby, I want you, and you want me

He'd be a fool to say that he wasn't excited for her to be coming over. Granted, she was only coming because she probably thinks that he's having some sort of mental breakdown. But he'd have to take what he could get at this point. He was finally going to get to see the only girl who had ever truly owned his heart.

He just hoped that he didn't screw things up like he did the last time they saw each other.

"I told you that I couldn't do it tonight!" his blood was boiling, "Any other night, yes, tonight, no. The guys are coming over to finalize some new pieces of legislation."

"Oh okay… let me just call my little sister and tell her to cancel her engagement party." She threw her purse on their bed, "you said that you would move that around!"

"Oh, I didn't tell you? I couldn't get a hold of every single citizen to let them know that I couldn't review their healthcare bill, because my girlfriends little sister got engaged."

"You're a jerk." She wiped a tear from her eye, "Don't bother waiting up."

That was nearly 7 months ago, he hadn't seen or heard from her since.

He still read her articles in the paper and her weekly blogs online. She was doing great for herself, he was extremely proud of her for finding her place in Louisiana. His smallish city was hard for a Chicago girl like her to get used to. But once she got her job and started making friends; everyone fell in love with her.

Hearing his doorbell ring, he grabbed his glassed and headed for the front door. Taking a deep breath, he reached for the handle and opened it. She was still as beautiful as ever. No makeup, her red hair tied up in a messy bun, sweat pants and a long sleeved shirt. God, she still looked like she could be on the cover of a magazine.

"Hello?"

"Hm?"

"Are you going to let me in? Or am I just going to stand here holding boxed wine all night?"

"Oh… of course, sorry, I was just – um, come in." closing the door behind them, he followed her down the hallway, "the pizza is in the kitchen. Pepperoni with extra cheese."

"Ah, you remember," she smirked, "so what's up? You didn't sound great on the phone."

"I – um, well like you said; you know how re-election year is. Campaign manager is driving me insane, I've got one hundred things to do; on top of the things that I still have to do in the Senate."

After she served them with pizza and a glass of wine, she sat next to him, "Well, I'm 100% positive that you'll do fine. These people love you, I mean this is your second re-election."

"Well, things are a little different this go around."

"How so?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Well, to be honest… I had you."

Placing her glass down, she slowly looked over at him, "how exactly did I make the difference?"

"You were just you. The people gravitated to you and I just happened to be the guy you were with. The women loved your outfits, I think the guys just liked looking at you."

She smiled, "you're too much sometimes. You did all the work, I just got to cling to your arm."

"Always so modest." He laughed, "I read an article that literally compared us to Jack and Jackie… I have the clipping somewhere."

"That's insane." She giggled, "Louisiana's own Kennedy family… I can see how they would come to that conclusion. Hopefully you don't meet the same fate as Jack though."

"Well, I sure hope so."

I can be there in five
one more, one last time

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure thing."

By then they had moved to the living room. Old movies were playing on the flat screen. They had lost count of the glasses of wine they had had. It's safe to say that they were enjoying each other's company.

"Why haven't you gone out on any dates lately? You are Louisiana's most eligible bachelor after all."

He shrugged, "Mostly because Louisiana doesn't know that I'm a bachelor."

We don't have to be lonely tonight
(Need you, want you, I'm right here)
We don't have to be lonely tonight
(I know we shouldn't but I don't care)
I don't wanna be right, don't wanna be strong
I just wanna hold you til the heartbreaks gone
When the sun comes up, we can both move on
But we don't have to be lonely tonight

"It's basically been 7 months and no one has figured it out?"

"I mean it helped that there weren't any major dinners and stuff. Plus, I never really went to a lot of your functions… so it wasn't really a big deal if you showed up alone. Oh, and I'm also really good at changing the subject."

She nodded, "Do you want to know the other reason people probably don't know you're a bachelor?"

"Because you never said anything either."

"Because I never – well, yeah."

"Why is that? You deserve to have someone to take you out dancing all the time."

"I don't want to be out dancing all the time with someone who…"

After a few moments of silence, he spoke, "Someone who what?"

"Well, someone who isn't you."

He turned his body to fully face her, "you really mean that? Even after the whole engagement party debacle?"

"Yes! Even though it was a total drag without you."

"How come you didn't come back then?"

She shrugged, "My mom convinced me that I was better off without you. Since I was basically alone all the time anyway."

Nodding, he took a drink of his wine, "I can see where she's coming from. She had a very valid point."

"I shouldn't have let her dictate my life like that though. You're my entire world. I miss you so much… these last 7 months have been absolute hell without you."

"I know the feeling." He reached for her hand, "I should've said this months ago… come back home. I can't promise that things will be 100% better. But I can promise that I'm going to try my best to be the man that you truly deserve to be with."

We don't have to be lonely tonight
(Oh, I need you and I'm right here)
We don't have to be lonely tonight… tonight… tonight
Yeah… yeah

"Maria?"

She leaned over to put her glass next to his on a nearby table. A few seconds later her green eyes met his blue ones. One of the things that drove him insane was that he could never put a finger on what she was thinking. Something she – of course – was very proud of.

"You know… it was silly of me to even suggest. You're obviously doing well for yourself, I would just throw you off track. Just because you miss me, doesn't mean you want me back, right?"

He began to get up, when he felt her soft hand on his bicep, "You've never been a patient one." She smiled, "I was trying to think of what to say… and what I've come up with, is that that is the single best thing I've heard in 7 months."

"R-really?"

"Yes." She said, now standing next to him, "You're all I'll ever want, Ted DiBiase Jr., you're all that I'll ever need."

"Oh, Maria. You have no idea how happy it makes me to hear that. I love you so much. Always have, always will."

"I love you too. Now kiss me."

"You don't have to tell me twice."

With that their lips met, her legs wrapped around his waist and they soon found themselves in his – their bedroom, making up for lost time. His world was finally complete again, and he'd be damned if he allowed anything to break it again.

a/n: there we have it! That came out longer than expected. But I do hope that it was worth the read.

Happy belated birthday, Danie! I feel horrible for taking so long…. I will have your other story up soon!