Chapter Six: First Fight: Jealousy

She didn't realize that she didn't have any food until he came over, so they take a trip to the grocery store together. It's a new experience for both of them. She gets all the items she needs, the basics like eggs and milk and bread and cheese. He helps her pick out the snacks, and they debate the merits of ice cream versus the merits of crunchy, salty chips. They end up getting both.

It's at the check-out line when they hear the surprised voice.

"Elizabeth?" questions the man who had just stepped into line behind them. Carlton and Elizabeth both turn simultaneously.

"Oh, hey, Alan." replies Elizabeth. Carlton eyes him with suspicion. He's about 6'2'' and he's attractive enough to be called handsome. Carlton, however, thinks he looks like a jerk.

"Fancy seeing you here," says Alan with a smirk, and Carlton feels a lurching in his stomach. He hates the guy almost immediately, and when Alan finally turns his attention to Carlton, he can tell that the feeling is mutual.

"Liz, you forgot to introduce me to your friend." says Alan, and though he is smiling, his eyes are not.

Carlton feels his blood boil beneath the surface. He doesn't like this guy calling her Liz. He doesn't like him at all.

"This is my boyfriend, Carlton Lassiter. Carlton, this is my friend, Alan Sanders."

There is a definite look of disappointment on his face at the word "boyfriend," and Carlton smirks victoriously. Yeah, that's right.

"Nice to meet you," says Carlton quickly, before Alan can get the words out.

"You too." says Alan, giving him a long stare. But then he turns to Elizabeth with a sunny smile. "Liz, we should totally catch up sometime." And then, with a nerve Lassiter can't believe, Alan places his hand on Elizabeth's shoulder. Many times in his life, Carlton has been tempted to break a person's hands. Never has it seemed so appealing, but he fights the urge as red tints his vision.

Elizabeth shrugs him off. "Maybe." she says.

"What are you doing next Friday?" Alan asks.

"She'll be with me," answers Lassiter before he can stop himself. "I'm going to take her out for the night. Special dinner, movies, the works."

"How nice," says Alan, though it's obvious he doesn't mean it. "Maybe some other time then, Liz. Still got my number, in case your schedule opens up?"

Carlton can read between the lines. In case your schedule opens up is equivalent to saying, when you break up with this moron and decide to upgrade.

"Yes, I still have it," she says. And then it's their turn in line, and Carlton is rushing the cashier to get everything as Alan keeps trying to talk to Elizabeth.

Carlton waits until they have said their goodbyes and have gotten into the car before he says anything. His hands grip the steering wheel tightly and his voice is far harsher than he intends it to be, but he can't level it out. "Who is he?" he asks without looking at her. He starts the car and pulls out from the parking lot.

She doesn't say anything, so he looks over at her and she's glaring at him. He has no idea what he's done wrong, but she's giving him that look that says he's definitely done something.

"An old boyfriend?" he demands. He doesn't want to take his irritation with Alan out on her, but he can't stop. That guy was such a jerk, and...God, he can't handle that.

"I'd hardly call him an old boyfriend," she snaps. "We went on three dates. It didn't work out. I haven't talked to him since."

"Did you decide to stop seeing him, or did he decide to stop seeing you?"

It's an impertinent question, and they both know it. "I decided to stop seeing him. He was just...no. Too needy, too clingy, annoying."

"Do you really still have his number?"

"No."

Carlton feels himself relax slightly, but then he registers her clipped tone and the fact that she's still looking daggers at him.

"Why are you mad at me?" he asks.

She scowls. "She'll be with me," she quotes. "We didn't have plans, Carlton."

"I know." he says. "But you didn't want to see him anyway, right? I got you out of it."

"That's the point! I don't need you to get me out of it. I could have done it myself."

"Yeah, but I was just making sure you – "

"Making sure I didn't agree? Why would I agree? And anyway, it would be my choice if I wanted to catch up with him or not. Not yours."

"So you do want to meet up with him."

"No, that's not what I said. It's just, one of the things I couldn't stand about him was how easily he got jealous." she emphasizes the last word and glares pointedly at him.

His heart sinks into his stomach. Suddenly, his anger melts and there's this fear replacing it. He doesn't know what to say or how to fix this. Oh, God, he thinks. She's going to break up with me. She's going to say she can't be with someone like me...I'm a waste of her time.

He doesn't know how to block the inevitable blow, so he keeps his mouth shut and they drive in silence all the way back to her house. He wordlessly helps her unload the car of groceries. They haul them into the house together, and they set the bags on the kitchen counter.

Then she sighs out heavily and looks at him. "We need to talk about this." she says, and she nods to the couch. He follows her back into the living room and they sit together. She looks at him, and he wants to tell her that he doesn't want to talk. Because he's afraid she's going to say, it's over, I'm done.

But he can't get the words out to tell her not to do this; they stick in his throat.

"All right, I'll start," she says with a small, sad smile. "I'm going to tell you why I was so unhappy with the way you got jealous, okay?"

"Okay," he mumbles back, and he focuses on looking at her hands, because he can't look her in the eyes.

"My ex-husband was always jealous, always trying to control me. If I had any guy friends, he would freak out about it. He acted like he couldn't trust me, and when I could see how mad you were at Alan, I started to wonder: do you not trust me?"

"I trust you," he defends. "I just...I don't trust Alan. You saw the way he was...he didn't care that I was with you. He was still trying to..."

"Carlton, I know. He's an idiot. But he's an idiot I could have easily have waved off by myself."

"I guess so." he says, not entirely convinced, and he still hates the way Alan called her Liz, and the way he touched her arm and the way he...

"I told you what my ex-husband did. He cheated on me, and it just...killed me. I would never put someone through that. You know that, don't you?"

"I know," Carlton replies softly, finally looking up at her. "I didn't mean to...I just hate feeling like I could..." He feels too vulnerable to keep going, but he clenches his fists and forces out the words. "I hate feeling like I could lose you to someone else. Someone better."

She smiles and shakes her head. "Carlton Lassiter, for the past few months I've only been thinking of you. Just you, nobody else. As long as I'm with you, it's only going to be you – and I'm not planning on leaving anytime soon. You make me too happy."

"I'm not leaving anytime soon, either." he replies honestly.

"I'm glad."

He groans slightly as a realization hits. "I bet you're going to say I should work on my...jealous tendencies, right?"

She laughs. "That would be nice, yes. But hey, it can be a slow progression. We've got all the time in the world."

She closes the space between them and kisses his cheek. "And hey, guess what we're doing next Friday?" she whispers in his ear.

"We didn't have any plans..."

She smiles, kisses his cheek again. "We do now. You owe me dinner and a movie, Carlton. And don't try to get out of it."

He smirks slightly and kisses her back. "I wouldn't dare."