"Maisy, would you like me to bring the boys down to the gymnasium?" Imogen offered quietly as she came up behind Maisy. Her back still turned to the slightly older woman, Maisy quickly closed her eyes in relief.

"That would be really helpful, Imogen, I have some worksheets I need to…copy." She said, trying to come up with some excuse on her feet, anything to get out of being cornered by Pete. He had already tried a few times in the past week to confront her, but each time, luck seemed to be on her side, allowing her to get away in the nick of time.

The empathetic smile gracing Imogen Wells' kind face made Maisy's insides twist a little. On one hand, she was embarrassed that her private romantic life must be the latest gossip circling the water cooler; she was also comforted by her new found friendship with her classroom aide. She was entirely too embarrassed to admit amid her quick obsession with Pete, she hadn't even really noticed the petite woman who shared her classroom. But now as the fog cleared, Maisy saw the possibility of a friendship on the horizon after she licked her wounds a bit.

"Bring your coats boys- it might be a little chilly." Maisy warned aloud as she began to get her boys ready for PE and lunch. Counting the small heads before handing them over Imogen, Maisy noticed she was one little human short. Looking at the impatient faces she knew which one was missing: Philip.

Philip Miller had been a problem as of late. At the beginning of the school year Philip had been a shy child, but nothing out of the ordinary. Yet, by mid-November, not three months into the school year, Maisy could see pronounced changes in his behavior. He didn't talk back, he didn't steal, he didn't hit or bite; but he also didn't speak, or play or do much at all, aside from sit quietly alone. He seemed to be slowly withdrawing from the usual activities of five year old boys, instead preferring to stay by himself for most of the day.

Searching around the room for the tiny brunette she spotted him sitting criss-cross in the corner of the brightly labeled "Reading Rug". Asking Imogen to entertain the other 23 little boys, Maisy casually sauntered towards the little boy.

"Hey, Philip." She said with a kindly smile as she sat down across from him. Looking up from the book he was pretending to read, though it was past his reading level, Philip mumbled something that sounded akin to "Hello."

"I'm glad you're reading, but it's time to go to gym class- do you think we could finish this story later?" Maisy asked, not wanting to discourage him from any interest in reading.

"Promise I can finish it?" Philip asked with wary brown eyes.

"Well, after P.E. with Mr. Dunham is lunch, but when we come back it's Story Time and I haven't chosen a book yet. I don't see why we can't read-" Maisy paused, flipping the book to read the cover, "-Toot and Puddle: You Are My Sunshine, when you all come back." She said convincingly, even though she had already chosen another story for today's lesson. Still, the companion activity was fairly adaptable, she could make it work.

Seeming to go along with Maisy's plan, Philip gently laid the book on the bookshelf. Pleased, Maisy walked with him back to the group.

"Alright boys, make sure everyone has their lunches or lunch money and our coats! Also I need a special helper to remind Mr. Dunham he's dropping you all off at the cafeteria after."

"He's at the door Miss!" A little voice chirped.

"What?" Maisy asked caught off guard. Normally she or one of the hall guides would escort the children throughout the building, yet there Pete stood, dressed in Claret and Blue sweats. Maisy took a deep breath to compose herself in front of the children as he sauntered over towards her.

"'Ello Miss Thompson." He said, his lips tight against all the words he wanted to say to her.

"Mr. Dunham, what're you doing down here?" She asked congenially, as many little boys circled around him, eager for his attention.

"Figured I'd save you the trip, busy as you are." Pete answered, trying to gage her feelings.

"Oh…thanks. Don't forget, you're dropping them off at the cafeteria after you're done." Maisy said brusquely, continuing before he could speak his reply, "And please don't let them get too dirty later? It took me ages to clean the mud out of their Reading Rugs last week." Pete's mouth once again opened, but at the beseeching look in her eyes he closed up and nodded.

"Yeah." He resigned, recognizing a lost cause when he saw one.

"Oh! By the way," Maisy returned as a thought came to her, "could you keep an eye on Philip Miller for me? Something has seemed off with him lately."

"What do you mean?" Pete asked, scrunching his brow.

"I don't know, he's just seemed off, withdrawn. Could you keep a look out for me?"

"Yeah, no problem, Love." Realizing his slip, he gave a sad half smile, before turning back to the wiggly little boys and calling aloud,

"Who's ready to get dirty?"

"I swear, he's been a right fucking prick all week." Bovver grumbled to his friend as they jogged the short walk to The Abbey to fight the cold.

"Let's just get a few drinks in him, that'll do him right." Dave said patting him friend on the back as they entered the door, the heat of the pub stinging his frozen cheeks. Spotting Pete across the bar, he let out a whistle.

"I leave you alone for one fucking week and it falls to shit?" Dave laughed at his friend as he pulled him in for a brusque man-hug.

"Bruv, you got no idea." Pete tried to laugh, shaking his head as he and his friend saddled up to the bar, the rest of the boys sitting in their normal booth.

All week since the wedding Pete had been trying to talk to Maisy with little to no success. Each time he got face to face with her something came up, giving her the last second escape she so obviously craved in his presence. He went so far as to pick up her boys directly from their classroom rather than risking having a hall aide drop them off, and yet she weaseled out of talking to him then, using the boys as a shield. Later, just when he thought he had a chance of cornering her in the car park, he had been conversation-blocked by Principal Connors, asking him to be on some bullshit committee. It had taken all the self-restraint he had to stand there courteously as Maisy drove off.

"And so she told you to just fuck off? Just like that?" Dave asked after Pete recounted how his misery came to be.

"Well, I mean, it's Maisy, she didn't swear- then- she just told me to get out and that was that." Pete said, finishing off his second pint and waving down Terry for another. "She won't talk to me, won't even look at me."

"Fickle things, women." Dave said as they returned back to the boys, three large beers tucked firmly under each of their belts.

"I don't get your fucking problem, mate. You've known the bint for a month and didn't get nothing out of it." Bov said an ugly sneer on his face.

"Bov…" Keith warned as Pete's dark gaze was fully unleashed on Bovver.

"Nah, nah, I'm serious. Unless she sucked hi-" Before he could even finish his thought, Bovver found himself flat out on the ground, Pete panting above him, knuckles bleeding. Without saying a word he stormed out of the bar.

"Where you think he's going?" Swill asked aloud to no one in particular. Bovver stood up, dusting off his pants and dignity.

"Who fucking cares."

Maisy flicked on the lights to her cold flat changed out of her soaked clothes; the weather changed so quickly. She put on the sweater her mother had knit her, the only thing that still smelt of home, and collapsed onto the couch. Noticing the light of her answering machine blinking, she hit the play button.

"Just got home from Illinois, lock the front door, oh boy!Got to sit down, take a rest on the porch. Imagination sets in, pretty soon I'm singing,Doo, doo, doo, looking out my back door…"

Maisy let out a laugh, the first in a week, at the voices of Sam and Abe, singing their favorite song from childhood; the one they sang every year on the four and a half hour ride to Arietta, New York, where their maternal grandparents lived. Quickly though, that smile turned to tears as loneliness and sorrow flooded her heart.

"Julia must have told them," She thought.

While she hadn't told her sister everything, Maisy had talked to Julia on their weekly phone call about her fight with Pete, about how things had turned so sour after a single argument that she couldn't bear to look at him for a moment without feeling like her heart was imploding.

The message cut off mid-song, only to pick up in the following message. Maisy laughed as Abe took a moment to squabble with their brother about what line they were on when they cut off. His easy-going laughter made Maisy smile, remembering the last time she had spent time with just him.

Maisy negotiated her way through the thick swarm of people crowding the sugarhouse, reluctantly stopping to say thank you to what seemed like every other person on her way to back door. It felt as though the whole county had shown up at the party, wanting to wish her well on the big move. The only other time she could remember the barn being this crowded was at the annual Spring Sugaring Party when they converted the first full batch of sap into Maple Syrup.

Giving polite smiles and nods to those she passed, Maisy finally made it to the secluded back door and took a seat on the park bench just beside it, leaning her head against the sugarhouse and drawing in deep breathes.

Normally Maisy loved having the great, huge parties at the house. Growing up, it always felt like her parents were hosting a party or event for one cause or another; school PTA, local pee-wee Hockey league, various agricultural associations. But as she stood in the midst of the crowd, a combination of family, friends, classmates, and neighbors from the close-knit community, the coziness of the crowd suddenly became stifling.

Gasping in fright when she felt the uneven bench tilt to the right, Maisy relaxed when she realized it was only Abe sitting down next to her.

"Pop's breaking out his inner Steve Miller." He chuckled stretching an arm around her shoulders. Maisy strained her ears to hear the beat of "Dance, Dance, Dance" and their father's rough and tumble voice over the din of the crowd.

"So what are you doin' out here, kiddo?" He asked, rubbing her head and messing up her hair. Giving his chest a backhanded slap, she reluctantly smiled before curling into the warmth of his red and green flannel.

"I dunno, I guess it was just a little overwhelming…all those people, there to see me." She answered with a shrug.

"Like hell- they're all here to see this!" He scoffed, waving a hand down his body to show himself off like a model on a game-show.

"Right, right- my mistake." Maisy giggled, feeling a bit relieved by his humor. After a few minutes of silence, Maisy came to realize what was really bothering her. "Everyone I've ever known is in that barn. I know who each and everyone of those people are: who I can trust, who exaggerates, who gossips. This town, these people are all I've ever known- even in college I came home every weekend, and half the people I went to school with were from here. I'm scared of going to some foreign place and not knowing anyone. How can you trust someone you've just met?"

"That's the scary part of life, Mase. All you can do is just deal with it as it comes. You're a smart girl, you'll figure it out quick. That's half the reason we used to call you "Mouse". Well, that and the TV show." Abe smirked giving her shoulder a shake.

"I'm gonna miss you, Abe." Maisy whispered, just loud enough to be heard over the loud chirping of the crickets. Feeling a thick gloom slowly encroach over him, Abe decided to indulge his little sister a bit before she left.

"Alright, so tell me again, what's so different about this school you're leaving me for? 'Cause I still don't get it." And as she began to wax poetic on the strides her new school was making on reaching out to the surrounding impoverished urban neighborhoods, Abe merely stretched his legs out and pulled her in closer, unable to admit to her that he would miss these small moments between them when she was across the ocean; that he would miss her…

The loud peep indicating the end of her messages shook her out of her reverie. Maisy picked up the phone and dialed the familiar number.

"Hello?"

"You told them?!" Maisy cried out.

"Oh, Maisy, they just wanted to know what was going on with you, nobody's heard from you for the last week. Mama was going crazy. All I told them was that you got in a fight with a friend, I didn't say who it was and I certainly didn't say it was with The Hunk." Julia said with a snort, referencing a picture Maisy had sent her from the wedding in the short hours they were together before everything imploded.

"Ok." Maisy said, feeling a little more at ease.

"So have you talked to him yet?" Julia prodded.

"No…I have no idea what I would say to him, where I would begin."

"So he's not married, doesn't have a girlfriend or kid he didn't tell you about, didn't manage to cheat in the 24 hours, so what in the world did you to argue about that would make you this mad in such a short time?"

"Let's just say he kept a big part of him a secret and only told me when I started to put the pieces together." Maisy heard her sister's trademark sigh and could just imagine the complementary eye roll.

"I'm not even going to pretend that made any sense, but think about this: You two have barely known each other for two months. Do you think that's adequate time to reveal some part of yourself to someone you just met? To roll over and share your underbelly?"

"Julia, you have no idea what you're talking about- what's the worst Mark has ever kept from you? Didn't switch the laundry over before bed? Sneaking out for a beer with the boys? Or is all this coming from first hand experience?" Maisy sneered, knowing she was beginning to play with fire and took a deep steadying breath.

"Listen," Julia said trying to refocus her sister, "all I know is that you have sounded happier in the last two months than I can remember you sounding in forever. You've only known this guy for two months and he's got this deep of a hold on you. Think about that." Without so much as a goodbye, Julia hung up, leaving Maisy to go over each word of their swift conversation.

Julia was right; she had known Pete such a short amount of time it might be unfair to get so mad at him for not revealing every bit of himself. But on the other hand, everything they felt -or at least what she felt- seemed to be on turbo charge, why shouldn't the amount of trust between them be to scale? Then again, she wasn't so sure she trusted him all that much now either.

Maisy was awoken from her thoughts by heavy knocks in rapid succession on her door. Wiping her eyes she made her way to the peep hole, her heart giving a little skip before groaning when she saw who was on the other side.

"Pete, please, go away." Maisy moaned through the door.

"Just two minutes then I'm gone. Swear!" He called, rather loudly. Fearing he would just get louder and wake the neighbors if she didn't answer, she unlocked and opened the door.

"Are you drunk?" She questioned, taking in his slightly ragged appearance.

Pete seemed to weight the question in his head, "Maybe a little." They both let out a slight laugh, briefly breaking the awkwardness of the moment before Pete opened his mouth to speak again.

"Listen, I know I went about this all wrong; I should have told you earlier-"

"Pete, please, stop-" Maisy begged.

"My dad was an asshole. I never saw him hit my Ma, but I wouldn't have been surprised if he did." That stopped Maisy short, "Where did that come from?" Of all the things Pete could have chosen to say, that would probably have been her last guess. Watching him struggle formulate his next words, Maisy's heart jumped yet again, "this is his underbelly",

"I was never really close with him. He was a miserable fuck to everyone around him. My Ma, Steve, and I were almost relieved when he died. I was thirteen when he died- it was a car accident, I think he was drunk." He said shaking his head as if he couldn't remember clearly.

"I always looked up to Steve, you know. He basically raised me. I love my Mum, but she was so busy trying to support us when we younger that she mostly saddled Steve with me. I thought he was so fucking cool." Pete laughed, "I used to try to dress like him, Bov too. We loved watching the GSE -that's the name of the firm, Green Street Elite- anyways, we used to love watching them march down the street on match day, chanting and yelling. Every once in a while if we pissed him off enough Steve would even let us tag along to the match and make us go home 'fore they met up with some other firm. I remember a couple times me and Bov snuck back and watched the fight and I wanted nothing more than to jump in with them. I wanted to be in there, catching their back.

"And don't think I'm telling you all of this for your pity, 'cause I'm not. I just want you to understand that this- the firm, it's bigger than me. It's about standing your ground, and brotherhood."

"You're a teacher, Pete!" Maisy cried, unable to reconcile this earnest, gentile man before her with the other side she was just starting to meet.

"Yeah, and Dave's a pilot!" Pete retorted with exasperation.

"You lied."

"You never asked." He said, knowing it was a weak comeback.

"It was a lie of omission. You lied to me for weeks." Maisy replied angrily.

"Because I liked the way you looked at me! I liked the way you wanted me for me! All the other girls in town hear I'm in the GSE and that's all they see, but you were different. I don't have to be anyone but myself when I'm with you- and I haven't been." Maisy took her bottom lip between her teeth and wrapped her arms around her stomach in an effort to quell the gnawing anxiousness growing in the pit of her stomach. This was everything she wanted to hear- that she needed to hear, and yet she couldn't hand herself or her heart over to the unknown just yet.

"I know I should have told you, I do, but I knew you would get angry. But then, if I knew that I would lose you, I would've told you the minute I met you. 'Cause I don't want to lose you- I miss you. I miss you jabbering on, then getting embarrassed when you realize you haven't let me get a word in edgewise in over 20 minutes. I miss how you take the piss outta my mates, and how you don't let Bovver under your skin when he's bein' and arse.. I miss the way you scratch my head when we watch TV. I miss the way you smile all the time over everything. I miss everything about you, Maisy!" Pete nearly pleaded

"How could I trust you again? You lied about probably the biggest part of your life, what would stop you from lying about the little things?" Maisy questioned, trying to remain cold while full aware that she was about to be betrayed by a weakness within. The look in her eyes gave him enough confidence to grab her hands and continue.

"Because I promise I'll never lie to you again. I swear till the day I die, no matter what happens, I'll never lie to you again, Maisy. You mean too much to me to lose you now. I love you!" He rushed, eyes wide and wild.

"Oh, God." Maisy whispered, before suddenly clasping a hand around Pete's neck and pulling him in for a kiss. Maisy could taste the bitterness of beer on his tongue, but it didn't matter to her. Alcohol helps you say what you don't think you can.

"Whoa." Was all Pete could utter as Maisy pulled away, "That did not go as planned." Maisy gave a weak laugh, every bit as stunned as he was. Her heart fluttered painfully as Pete rested his forehead against hers, his quick breathe fluttering against her lips.

"I'll never let anything like this come between us again, Mace. Complete and total honesty; but you gotta know I haven't done this whole 'relationship' thing in a long time, Love. You gotta give me a break here and there 'cause God knows I'm gonna make mistakes, prolly a lot of 'em."

"That's ok. I messed up here too, I didn't talk to you, I just cut you off. I'm sorry." Maisy replied.

"'S'ok." Pete answered grazing his lips over hers, still a little staggered.

"And by the way, I love you too."

A/N: Holy smokes! Chapter done! Sorry that took so long, I just couldn't get things the way they were supposed to be… damn muses :(. Anyways, they're back, we have a bit more insight into Maisy's past and her family, and some new characters to explore. I purposefully didn't flood the beginning with Imogen, Abe and all her other family members because I really wanted to create the sense of all encompassing obsession with Pete. Now you can expect their bond to grow closer, even as Maisy starts branching out into other aspects of her new life in England, including some more time with the boys ;)

Tell me what you think in reviews and thanks for waiting so long! Love you all to bits!