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Different Road, Same Journey

The moment Mary stepped into Marshall's house, she regretted deciding to come. She stopped at the door as he moved further down the hall, taking off his jacket and hanging it up. She glanced around, it was decent size house and while it wasn't messy, it was definitely lived in. Several pairs of different size shoes were lined up underneath the stairs and there were a few books, toys and clothing dotted around the room.

Marshall looked back at her when he realized she had stopped by the door and was now clutching her bag strap a little tighter as her eyes moved around the room.

"Are you hungry?" He asked. "I could order some takeout or I could make something…"

"I shouldn't have come…"

"Mary?"

"I shouldn't be there." She shook her head. "This is your home."

"And I invited you." He moved to stand in front of her, reaching for her bag like he did at her apartment but this time she wouldn't let go. "You're my friend…You're always welcome here."

"Your daughters…."

"They're at my brothers." He answered, pulling again on the bag and this time she didn't resist. "They're all going camping tomorrow night so they're getting a head start on the fun."

"You weren't meant to go were you?" Her eyes widened. "Tell me you didn't cancel to be here…"

"I've got work." He cut in. "You haven't stopped me from doing anything, Mare…I promise."

She sighed and ran a hand over her eyes. "I'm not good at this….Of letting someone take care of me…"

He placed her bag on the floor and then pulled her hand away from her face. "I know you don't need me to look after you, you're perfectly capable of doing yourself…I understand…I won't treat you like I do the girls when they're sick or upset but I can offer you a safe place and some company if you feel up for it."

She couldn't help a small smile. "It's your house, idiot…I'm not going to kick you out."

"Well, you don't have to stay with me…You could go to bed early if you're tired or I could leave you to watch TV…"

"No." She interrupted. "I wouldn't mind some company."

"Okay." He nodded with a smile. "So, do you feel like eating?"

"I don't know…I guess I should but I'm not really hungry." She sighed.

"Well, what do you want to do?" He asked.

"Let's just eat…"

"Mary?" He stopped her from walking away. "What is it? What would you be doing if you were at home right now?"

She looked up at him, wondering if she should tell him. He had understood about everything so far; a part of that must be because of his training but she didn't want to take advantage

"It's nothing that can't wait until I do get home." She assured him. "Maybe we could watch a movie or something?"

Marshall laughed a little. "What is it that you're so embarrassed to ask me about?"

"Can you let it go?" she sighed. "I'm not embarrassed…It's just a little weird."

"Weird?" He repeated, looking completely complex.

"Oh for the love of…" She started and rolled her eyes. "If I was at home, I would probably have the longest bath in the history of baths to get the smell of that basement off of me."

Marshall actually felt a little stupid for not working it out himself. "You don't want me to wash your hair or anything, do you?"

"What?! No! Of course not!" She exclaimed.

"Then why would it be weird?" He asked and then headed for the stairs. "Come on, I'll see you where everything this."

She grabbed her bag and followed her. "I didn't want to cross any lines…"

"Mare, would you relax? I've meant it when I said you're welcome here anytime and I want you to feel at home." He stated.

She sighed. "I told you before, I don't really do friends…I don't know how these things work."

"You can use my bathroom." He said, leading her towards his bedroom. "Unless, you want to have some bath toys to play with, then you can you use the girls?"

"I think I can go without all that for tonight." She replied sarcastically, taking a second to look at his bedroom as they passed through to the ensuite. It wasn't like the rest of the house, where there was something stored in every available space. It was pretty bare in there. The walls were just white and the blue curtains matched the sheets on the bed. There was a set of draws and a bedside table which had three photo-frames, a lamp and a book. She wondered whether the plain and simple decor was how he liked it or whether he hadn't had chance to work on his own room; too busy making the rest of the house a home for his little family.

"I think my sister-in-law left some shampoo and shower gel somewhere in here." Marshall commented, occupied with looking in the cupboard under the sink.

Mary stood in the doorway, surprised at the bathroom. Like the house, it contrasted with Marshall's bedroom. It was perfect…It was nicer than the whole of her apartment. The tub was wide and deep and looked like it had some kind of jets. There was a huge mirror above a counter which had a few products lined up on. The tiles were a black and gray, making it look sexy and she almost groaned when she realized she just described a bathroom, sexy. She wasn't a girly, girly who liked to be pampered but she had very little luxuries in her life so a nice hot bath and a glass of wine after a long day was something she came to appreciate.

"Found it." He stood up and held out a clear wash bag filled with all kinds of products.

"I can't use that." She looked closely. "She must have spent a fortune on all this."

"She won't mind." He waved his hand dismissively. "And if she did, she would just make me buy her some more."

"Marshall…" She tried to give it back to him but he wouldn't let her.

"Either you use yourself or I'll stay here and make sure you do, and then we're back at it being weird." He teased.

She sighed and looked down at it again, still not comfortable.

"Mare, come on…It's not a big deal. Stop fighting me..." He told her and reached into the cupboard again. "Look, there are even some candles."

"Candles?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"What? I don't use them…Kelly said that when you have bathroom like this, it deserves the good bubble bath and candles…" He shrugged. "Apparently, I let this room go to waste."

She smiled a little. "Well, I'll agree with her on that…"

"Kelly is my sister-in-law by the way." Marshall felt the need to say. "She uses my bathroom if she's here with the girls…"

"Yeah, I managed to work that out on my own." Mary rolled her eyes.

"Just making sure." He replied. "Well, I'll leave you to it…Towels are on the shelf."

She looked to where he pointed and saw a pile of big fluffy towels. "Thanks, Marshall…"

"I'll get started on some food." He said as he backed out the room. "Nothing fancy…just a few snacks."

"That sounds good."

She waited until he closed the door behind him before turning around and leaning against the counter. She stared at herself in the mirror, taking in the dark smudges that covered her face and how her hair was a mess. Her body ached all over and now she was thinking about it, she felt incredible tired.

She still couldn't work out why Marshall was being so nice to her. She couldn't figure out an ultra-motive since she had already offered herself to him and he said no. She knew Brandi had gotten herself into trouble but there was no way she was in deep enough for the Marshal Service to go to this much trouble to get close to her.

The only conclusion she could come up with was that he genuine, that he meant it when he said he was her friends. He was a sweet, caring guy and she had no idea why he would want to be friends with someone like her but for some reason he seemed resistant against her attempts to push him away.

"Mare?"

She snapped back to attention when she heard her name, wondering how long she had been stood there for.

"I brought your bag up…I'll leave it on the bed."

"Thanks…" She called back to him.

There was a brief pause before he continued hesitantly. "You okay, in there?"

"Yeah…." She replied, looking back at herself in the mirror before whispering to herself. "I will be…"

XxXxX

She had almost fallen asleep but after an hour she managed to drag herself out of the water. She was surprised at how much better she felt. As she left the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her, she could smell something cooking and was surprised that she actually felt hungry. She quickly dried off and pulled a pair sweatpants and a t-shirt out of her bag to get dressed. On her way out of the room, she noticed a UMS hoodie hanging on the back of the door. She briefly debated with herself about if Marshall would mind before grabbing it and pulling it on. He told her that he wanted her to feel at home and she was sure he would be okay with it.

She could hear him moving around and followed the sound towards, what she assumed was the kitchen but when she got to the door, she heard him talking to someone. She tensed a little, wondering who it was and if she should just escape back upstairs because she really didn't want to see anyone but then realized she could only hear one side of the conversation. Peeking into the room, she saw him pulling a tray out of the oven with one hand and holding the phone to his ear with the other.

"Ava….Princess….Just calm down and listen to me for a minute." He said, laughing a little. "Okay, did Uncle Jack give you candy tonight by chance? He did…Soda too? Well, I'm glad you've had a good time…Yes, I miss you lots too but do you remember what you have to do before you go to sleep tonight?"

Mary leaned up against the doorframe, not being able to resist eavesdropping.

"You blow a goodnight kiss to me and the angels will make sure it reaches me…" He reminded her. "And of course I'll blow a kiss for you….yep, Alexis too..." There was another pause as Marshall listened to his youngest. "Well, Princess, I know you're excited about going camping but tomorrow will never come if you don't go to sleep tonight...I bet if you tried to sleep, you will eventually and I know Uncle Jack would love to read you a bedtime story."

Again Marshall laughed at something and Mary found herself smiling too.

"You're right, no one can tell a better story then me but do you know who used to tell me bedtime stories when I was your age? Nope, not Grandpa… It was Uncle Jack so I know he's good at them." Marshall said. "Okay good girl…I'll see you when you get back and I want to know all about it…I love you too…Can you put your sister on for me?"

He shifted so he was holding the phone to his ear with his shoulder as he pulled open the fridge and got out some soda.

"Alexis? You having a good night? I know, she told me, you guys had candy…" Marshall chuckled. "No, Alexis you don't have to take care of her… Uncle Jack gave her all that stuff to make her hyper, he can deal with her and get her to bed…. Come on, it's not a problem… He knows how to handle her…Don't worry about it."

Marshall sighed, setting the soda down and rubbed his eyes.

"I thought Lizzie was going to help you with your reading?" He asked, knowing that his 14 year old niece liked to help her cousin with her school work. "Forget about Ava…Just have a good time, okay? Promise me? Good…let me talk to your uncle for a minute…Alex? I love you...Sweet dreams?"

There was another pause and this time when Marshall turned he noticed Mary stood at the door. He gave her a small smile and held up a finger to indicate he'd be done in a minute.

"Ava gave you the sad eyes for the candy, didn't she?" Marshall greeted his brother and then laughed. "Hey, you're the one who has to deal with her sugar high…She's hyper enough without it as it it…You should know by now…Kelly going to crazy if she gets home later tonight and Ava is still bouncing off the walls….But I do appreciate you helping out….Listen, can you keep an eye on Alexis? She thinks she needs to take care of Ava while they're away…Can you see if Lizzie will hang out with her or something? I know Ava won't care…You loves spending time with both you and Kelly….Thanks, man…I'll call again the morning…Night."

Marshall hung up and looked up at her again. "Hey, feeling better?"

"Yeah, it's amazing what a bit of warm water can do." She pushed herself away from the wall and walked into the room fully, seeing that he had noticed she was wearing his hoodie. "I hope you don't mind…I forgot to pack a sweatshirt…"

"It's fine." He assured her quickly.

"So, can I help with anything?" She asked. "Something smells nice."

"It's just pizza...and I already put some chips, garlic bread and salad on the coffee table in the living room." He told her. "I'll just cut this up and bring it through."

"You made your own pizza?" She stared at it

He shrugged. "It's not that hard to do and the girls love cooking so I get lots of practice…"

"Well, its looks great." She told him. "Thanks."

He smiled again. "You're welcome…Now go on…go and sit down because if I get there first, I'll be choosing what we watch and there just happens to be a documentary on the history of limestone…"

"Jesus, I was right the first time…You're such a geek." She teased, picking up the sodas before doing as she was told.

"Yep." Marshall answered, proudly.

She laughed a little and shook her head. She glanced back at him once, watching him slicing up the pizza. She still wasn't used to someone being there for her…to help her and to take care of her but if this was what it felt like, then she may just be able to get used to it.

TBC

I really enjoyed writing this chapter, so I hope you enjoyed reading it. Please review and let me know what you think!