Ned woke up with his cell phone burning on his open palm.

He turned his face into the couch and took a long breath before he looked blearily at the television, which was promising that several dozen hot and lonely coeds were dying to talk to him. He dragged his hand over his face and yawned.

He had been talking to Nancy. Now everything was dark and he was uncomfortable in his jeans, the afghan tight and hot over him.

His phone chirped. He punched in the numbers from memory as he snapped off the television and shuffled into his bedroom and the welcome cool of his sheets.

"Don't bother calling me back, I'm in a bad cell area and I'm about to turn my phone off anyway," he heard her say, and he sighed as he collapsed to the pillow, almost able to mouthe the words along with her recorded voice.

She sighed into his ear. "I'm not sure how long we'll be gone this time."

"Dammit," he replied to the recording.

"I'll call you when I can."

He had been exhausted, before, before hearing her voice, but after he snapped his phone shut, he lay gazing at the other pillow for a long time before he could make himself sleep. He hadn't seen her in days; she only called him after Bess went to sleep, or at least grew quiet in the solitude of her room, but he hadn't been able to coax her into visiting him again.

Kent, Ned thought, and closed his eyes.

Kent didn't avoid Ned, didn't avoid talking to Ned, but in the morning Ned felt like Kent was almost as uncomfortable as he himself felt. While Nancy had been there, telling him how Bess had been, her anguish, he'd only been a passive observer, accepting everything Nancy said, her railing and disbelief. But with that buffer gone, he found himself studying Kent through the Venetian blinds, watching him flirt with one of the new secretaries, his coffee cup clenched in one fist.

Nancy wasn't Ned's girlfriend, and he'd noticed the new secretary, but he'd be damned if he'd flirt with her. Even with Nancy some untold number of miles away, a quiet voice on the other end of the phone line.

"Bess."

She sighed into the phone. "Hey Ned."

"You doing okay?"

"What did Nancy tell you?" Bess didn't sound suspicious, only resigned, weary.

"That Kent's being an asshole," Ned found himself saying, before he knew it.

She made a faint noise that might have even been amused. "He is," she agreed. "I'm sorry. Nancy..."

"Left this morning," Ned finished. "Yeah, she actually did call me this time, which was great. Do you get sick of hearing that same message, over and over?"

She paused, and he could feel her measuring him. "Sometimes," she replied, softly. "But we've been friends with her so long... and we know that she'll always come back to us. Is that what you're afraid of?"

"Maybe we all are," he replied.

"Come with us to pick her up," Bess said, suddenly.

"Okay," he said, after a moment.

He found himself standing beside Kent in the breakroom, stirring another sugar into his coffee, and Kent cast a sideways glance at him. "Ned."

Ned inclined his chin. "You going out with us again anytime soon?"

Kent had the grace to look away. "Yeah, well," he muttered.

"Bess is a sweet girl."

Kent nodded, and looked away, and Ned walked off without another glance.

Bess gave Ned a hug, the first time he'd seen her since Nancy had told him the news. Her smile, in answer to his, was weak, but her grip was firm. "It's okay," she said, and laughed a little. "I'm not going to break in half."

"You sure about that?"

Out of Bess's sight range, George half-shook her head, and Ned patted Bess on the back.

"Haven't broken yet, have I?"

Nancy came out of the airport, and her surprise at seeing him was unmistakable. She hugged Bess and George, then threw herself into Ned's arms, laughing when he lifted her up off the ground.

"We have to stop meeting like this."

Even though Ned had kept his voice low, George chuckled and replied with "Good luck with that."

Nancy pulled his face down to hers. "I've been sleeping on the ground for three days," she groaned, her eyelashes fluttering against his cheek. "And I thought hotel beds were bad."

"They are," he told her, searching her eyes. "Maybe this'll make up for it."

Bess and George climbed into the car, exchanging a knowing glance, as Ned wrapped his arms around her, pinning her against the back door as he kissed her. When they finally pulled apart, gasping, she grinned and traced her fingertips down his cheek.

"Oh, I think it'll take another few hours of that," she replied, then giggled when he kissed her again.

On the couch back at the girls' apartment, Nancy had changed into a pair of soft flannel pants and a tank top, and had almost fallen asleep against Ned's shoulder when he pushed her hair back from her ear and whispered to her about his exchange with Kent.

"This is bad," she said when he was finished, blinking slowly before she met and returned his gaze.

He nodded, slowly. "Yeah."

Nancy's lips quirked up in a lightning-quick smile before she closed her eyes again and snuggled into his shoulder. "But you aren't like that."

Ned wrapped his arm around her other shoulder and nestled his cheek against her hair. "I'm not like that," he agreed. "I'd never be like that."

"Because you're good," she whispered, her voice trailing off to nothing.

He closed his eyes and he could only feel the warm breathing weight of her against his side, and for the first time since he'd received her voice message, he felt himself begin to drift away.

"I don't know if I'm good," he murmured into her hair. "But I'm better now."