Chapter 102

Nick called as I was sliding my key into the lock on the front door. "Are you home yet?"

"Yes, I just got in. How late are you staying tonight?" I was supposed to see Monroe, and then I'd feign something so I could see Nick tonight.

"I left the precinct early. Come to the trailer. Yesterday about killed me after you left. I can't wait all the way until tonight to see you."

"Sure," I said before thinking. "Give me twenty minutes."

After I hung up with Nick I called Monroe.

"Hey, Hun. Are ya a little more clear-headed today?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Sorry you had to witness another tequila outbreak."

Thankfully he'd honored my wishes of going home instead of spending the night. I couldn't have afforded any more words. He'd taken me to bed, tucked me in, and I'd fallen asleep almost immediately.

"Eh, it's fine. You remember everything?"

"Unfortunately, I remember it all." My cheeks flushed at the thought of going on about Bambi references, therapy, and bad Three Little Pigs puns.

"Then you didn't have too much then," he chuckled. "I didn't think you had since you didn't sing anything last night."

I wasn't worried as much for singing as I was for talking last night. God, I'd been very lucky. Maybe some of that luck Waldgeist gene was in my DNA after all.

"Monroe, I'm really sorry," I replied. "You shouldn't have had to have seen me like that last night. And I'm sorry I turned my phone off where I worried you."

This morning I had five voicemails messages of varying lengths asking if I was okay, safe, home, asleep, or dead in a ditch somewhere. Needless to say, he was a little worried last night.

"Apologizes aren't necessary," he assured me. "So, when are you headed over?"

"What if I came over later tonight instead?"

"Do you have other plans?" Monroe asked suspiciously. "I thought I was your plan."

"Nick and I are really close to getting this database finished, and he asked if I could spare just a couple of hours over at the trailer," I replied as my stomach flipped.

"Can't that wait until tomorrow? I kinda have some things planned here and…"

"Just a couple hours," I explained before he could finish. "I promise I'll make it quick, and then I'll be right over." But I needed to be all Nick's right now.

"Well, just as long as I see you sometime tonight, 'cause these plans of mine, well they're kinda important."

"You will. Promise."

"I'm starting to really hate this database, no offense," Monroe chuckled.

"It'll be done soon. Thanks, Monroe." As I hung up, I let out a sigh. I was starting to really hate lying.

(*)(*)(*)(*)(*)

In a matter of minutes between walking inside the trailer and setting my things down, I was lying on the trailer bed in Nick's embrace. His kiss was hot, passionate, and I was ready for anything with him. Our hands were everywhere. These days apart had been pure torture. It was all I could do not to shed my clothes and take him right on the spot. God, I loved him and he loved me. We were perfect, absolutely perfect.

We were caught up in one another. So caught up, in fact, that we didn't pay attention to anything else.

The trailer door and Monroe's voice knocked us out of our reverie.

"Can't you hear me beating the door down?" Monroe said as the trailer door swung open. "But I guess it unlocked, so that's, umm, safe. Anyway… So, you guys aren't answering your phones, and I thought, you know, you might need some help. I figured you were..."

We froze mid-kiss as Monroe glared at us both. Nick leapt up from the bed and I followed suit, smoothing down my hair and adjusting my clothes as we both stood.

"Dude, you better tell me you're practicing CPR," Monroe growled.

"No, Monroe," Nick boldly replied. "Not CPR." His shirt was completely unbuttoned. Oh, this was awful.

Monroe's red eyes narrowed into a fit of rage; red, vehement, and fulgurate rage. "Wrong answer, dude."

My heart stopped. Holy crap! We were dead and he was going to rip us to shreds! Monroe instantly turned toward Nick as the veins pulsated on his brow. Then his woge occurred. He was more wolf than I'd ever seen. The transformation ripped his shirt and jeans as he let out a growl so loud it shook the trailer.

Dropping down to his haunches, he brought his face level with Nick's. "Zeit zu sterben, Grimm," he growled. I knew the word, 'sterben.' That meant 'die.' Holy Crap!

All at once Monroe hurdled toward Nick, barreling down and slamming him against the trailer bed. Nick's breath seemed to go right out of him. With claws extended he slashed at Nick's arm as Nick gasped loudly. The pain didn't seem to stop him, and with both hands he pushed back hard, almost knocking Monroe off his feet.

"Stop it, both of you!" I yelled out, gripping the edge of the desk, but I was completely ignored.

Oh, God. They were gonna kill each other! My recklessness screamed at me to do something, anything to stop them. But how? Surely if I halted one, the other would seize the opportunity to finish what they'd started. I didn't want to hurt either of them, but this was all my fault. I'd hurt them both.

A second hard push came from Nick, but Monroe only wavered temporarily before he was back on him. Both men gripped one another, cursing and yelling. Monroe was lashing out with claws and teeth, but Nick was dodging it all. Monroe threw his fist like a battering ram, landing a punch right in Nick's gut, and he fell back on the bed again. As Monroe climbed on top of him, he drew his claws and aimed for his face.

I held my chest as I yelled again, "Don't!" Frozen in fear, I stood there watching as my recklessness begged me to intervene.

Before Monroe could use his claws a second time, Nick cast another sharp thrust into Monroe's chest, throwing him off. He staggered back a few feet, colliding into the apothecary cabinet, and knocking bottles to the ground in the process. With eyes blazing, Monroe clambered to his feet.

The gap between them was all I needed to let my own woge out. I ran forward, managing to slide in front of Nick before Monroe could charge at him again.

"Please stop!" I yelled. Monroe paused inches from me, but didn't reply. "Don't hurt him!" I begged. "Take it out on me, but don't hurt him, please!"

Monroe retracted and looked at me completely abashed. "I'm not going to harm you," Monroe said matter-of-factly. "But I'm going to kill him, so if you would kindly move it'll be over quickly."

"Monroe, you'll have to kill me first before I let you near him." I leaned back against Nick. "I mean it!" I'd wrap myself around him if I had to.

"Renée, move!" he growled at me, grasping my shoulders.

"You can't do this! I love him."

Both hands dropped to his sides. "WHAT?!" His body swelled up another half foot at least.

"I said I love him… and he loves me."

"Monroe it's true," Nick chimed in while holding his wounded arm. "We can't fight it. We've tried, but we're in love." His voice was shaky, but thankfully he spoke up.

Monroe tightened his face, flummoxed by our words. "What the fuck, dude? It's not April Fool's. Are you guys serious?" The rage was gone briefly. "Is this, like, one of those Grimm things where you play a cruel joke on the Blutbad to, you know, watch him squirm? Because it isn't funny."

Monroe was definitely not laughing and it was no joke. My expression told him so. The rage returned with rolling waves of fire in his eyes. I held close to Nick so Monroe wouldn't try to kill him again.

"Monroe, I care about you so much, but these feelings have been building up for Nick, and I can't ignore them." I looked into Monroe's eyes and my chest panged hard like my heart had been twisted into a vise grip. "I didn't want you to find out like this," I added sincerely.

Monroe shook his head in disbelief. "You don't really love him. You can't!" His words were forced from his clenched jaw, which was close to a full woge once more.

"She does love me," Nick told Monroe as he moved out from behind me and faced Monroe again. "She's made her choice."

"I haven't made any choices," I interjected. "It's complicated." They weren't listening to me at all.

"So, what, your woman rejects you, so you think you can just take mine?" Monroe growled out, his breath practically steaming as his nostrils flared.

With one hand, Nick moved me further behind him as he stepped closer toward Monroe. "That's not what happened." He craned his head to meet the inferno in Monroe's eyes. "You wanna say something, fine, but we're not gonna fight like animals over this." Monroe swelled up at Nick's brash talking, yet he didn't move. "But if you're gonna act like a Wesen, well then I have no problem acting like a Grimm. So I recommend you just respect her decision and go." He pointed to the door.

"Dude, you're so lucky that I'm back on my routine," he snarled as he looked down at Nick's arm, practically salivating. "A few weeks ago and I wouldn't have thought twice to rip your throat out and hand it to you for a comment like that."

Monroe towered over him, but Nick held his ground as if he were seven feet tall. "What? So, now you don't wanna kill me?" Nick snapped back. "Which one is it?"

Monroe eyes flashed a pissed off red. "Don't make me change my mind, dude." He turned to me as he grabbed at his wild, curly hair. "Renée, this is low, man. Really fucking low!" Monroe stormed out of the trailer, slamming the door behind him before I could respond. The tires of the VW squealed outside moments later.

"I need to go after him," I breathed out as I opened the door.

Nick pulled me back in. "Let him go cool off for a while."

I reached for his arm, moving the shredded, bloody sleeve up to reveal the long, deep claw marks where Monroe had laid into him. "Oh, God. This is so awful." He needed to go to the hospital.

"Ah, it'll be fine," said Nick as he held back a wince.

Without thinking I laid my hands on his arm, closing my eyes as I thought about healing.

"Renée, don't it's…" But his words changed to gasps. I opened my eyes and looked down at his skin. The wounds were gone, leaving only the bloodstains behind.

Nick ran his hand over his arm and his eyes grew wide. "You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to fix it," I said as my breath shook while inhaling.

Pete was gonna have a fit, but I didn't care. He was usually intuitive about these things, and his warnings still haunted me. I was probably causing ripples in the universe, but I couldn't stand it that Nick was hurt. As long as it didn't hurt anyone else, then it was worth it this one time.

I directed my focus to the mess of the trailer, picking up a few pillows off the floor and tossing them back on the trailer bed. Nick's blood was all over the quilt. It could've been so much worse. Turning around, I glanced down where broken bottles littered the floor, leaking out who knows what all over the place. Hopefully we wouldn't need what was in them anytime soon. I knelt down, inspecting the damage. If I fixed this mess, too, then perhaps it would make up for all the harm I'd caused. Miraculously most of the bottles that had broken were empty. I scooped up a few large chunks of glass, but then hovered, since there wasn't any place to put it. I could get another garbage bag from the car and…

Nick placed his hand on my back, halting my useless cleaning. "Just put that down somewhere and come here."

I set the glass on the edge of the desk as I trembled all over. Nick wrapped his arms around me. My body relaxed as I laced my fingers around Nick's neck while he kissed me. His warmth replaced my concerns.

"That was a bit much to deal with," Nick replied between kisses. "You know I could've handled him." He gave me that toothy grin I adored. "You didn't have to stand in front of me like that."

"He was going to tear you apart! I couldn't bear it! If you had died…"

"And that's why I love you."

"I love you, Nick."

But in the recesses of my mind, thoughts of Monroe came back though the haze. I loved him, too. Why was I still thinking of Monroe when Nick had me in his arms? This was so confusing. I couldn't love them both, could I? Not like this…

"You all right?" Nick asked as he stared at me. "You're crying."

"Yeah, just over-thinking," I muttered under my breath and wiped at my eyes.

"What song were you humming?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"You were humming something while you were thinking."

I rubbed my temple. "Don't know."

Nick tilted his head and hummed. "Kinda like that."

I held my hand to my mouth. Weezer. "The Sweater Song," I said.

"Don't know it," Nick replied.

"It's nothing," I said quickly. Oh, but my subconscious knew I was destroying my Sweater Guy. No, no, no… I wasn't doing it to hurt him. Really, I wasn't. I banished the thoughts. But what about Juliette? Was Nick having these guilty feelings, too? He said he wasn't, but I couldn't possibly be the only one, right?

"Have you told Juliette about us?"

"No. I can't bring myself to do it yet." His eyes shifted as they avoided mine. "But I will soon. I just don't want to upset her."

"Well, you can't live with her and be with me, right?" I pouted as he looked back into my eyes. Maybe he could? What if he and I just stole away to the trailer and loved one another like this? Nick could stay with Juliette and I could stay with Monroe. Then we could just love this way. What the hell was I saying?

"I promise I'll tell her soon." Nick looked contemplative, brushing his bangs out of the way. "I just have to find the right way to break the news to her."

"It doesn't matter what they think," I kissed Nick again. "As long as we're together that's all that matters."

Nick's kiss deepened, and I gave in to him. He hoisted me up on the desk, mouth moving against mine. I desperately wanted him. All we'd done was kiss and it just wasn't enough.

As if someone out there disagreed, Nick's cell went off. His lips left mine and he grabbed at his phone in his pocket. For someone who was supposed to be lucky, it seemed my luck had runneth out today.

"I have to take this," Nick sighed. "Burkhardt," he said in an annoyed tone into his phone. I waited as he listened to whoever was on the other end. "Yeah, I'll be there soon." He set the phone down. With a shake of his head he said to me, "I have to go."

"Duty calls," I replied while holding back the sarcasm.

Nick nodded. "We'll pick this up tomorrow." He gave me another quick kiss and we left the trailer.

I had to see Monroe. He had to know this wasn't… God, what was this? I'd never hurt him. But of course seeing what he had tonight sure didn't reflect that.

The drive was quick and Nick's mouth on mine drifted in and out of my thoughts.

"Tempted by the fruit of another.
Tempted but the truth is discovered..."

No, but it was so much more than that. I couldn't define it… Couldn't explain it. It was overpowering me.

Monroe's car was in his driveway. As I got out, a loud crash came from inside the house followed by a frightful howl that chilled me as my skin prickled. Holy hell, what was he doing in there? I sat back in the car, pulling out my cell. On the second ring, the crashing inside subsided, but the trilling continued until Monroe's voicemail came through. My finger tapped the end call button.

"Monroe, you know I'm out here," I said aloud. An eerie silence from the house was the only reply. My recklessness said to go on in, but I was stuck to my seat like glue. The recklessness fought with my body, pushing me up and out of the car. Steadily I walked toward the porch.

"Monroe, talk to me," I said loudly. The light in the living room snapped off, shrouding the room in darkness as I peeked in the window. "Monroe?" I tried the doorknob, but it was locked.

"Go away, Renée." He growled, the foreign voice grating out my name.

"Please let me explain. This is…"

"GO AWAY!" He bellowed as the stained glass on the front door rattled.

Tears dripped down my face again, and I brushed them away. Why was I still crying? I wanted Nick, right? Or maybe I didn't. But then I wanted… My brain was malfunctioning like I'd swallowed a whole bottle of tequila. Oh, it was stupid to come over. Stupid to think he'd understand, when I didn't at all. With a heavy sigh, I walked away from the porch as the loud crashes resumed behind me. I closed my car door and drove home.

My chest felt empty, like someone had reached in and pulled my heart right out. I'd fallen into a nightmare, one I couldn't wake up from. How did I let this get so far out of hand?

Once inside, I headed into the kitchen, searching for something that would make me feel better. I pulled the tarts out of my freezer. Four and a half left. Why not? Calories meant nothing at this point. No, that wouldn't fix any of this. I pulled out the half tart. I'd allow myself that much self-pity. One half. I tossed it on a plate and into the microwave. If I was gonna have a real pity party, I'd break down and buy a container of Rocky Road.

A/N: Whew! Okay... So guess Monroe knows now, huh? When a fellow Grimmster friend of mine read this chapter, she responded with two words: "Wow! Harsh." I have to agree... We've hit more extremes and now we have to see how it unfolds... But not tonight...

Leaving you here for now. More chapters real soon.

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