A/N: Thank you for the reviews, faves, and everything else. It's so hard keeping these two apart that I may just...not, who knows, I sure don't. Hope you enjoy, review if it tickles your fancy. :)

Day 45

"See, isn't this great!"

Chris could barely hear his friend over the loud music thumping through the club. He was pretty sure it was pumping through his veins at this point. He felt like he was vibrating along with the music, that's how loud it was. He was used to loud music, he was in a metal band after all, but this was something even beyond that. Plus, it was club music, which wasn't something he necessarily enjoyed. In fact, he was very much not enjoying himself right now.

"Yeah, sure, great," he lied, not even sure if his friend, Greg, could hear him. Greg was someone he met through Rich, and while he liked the guy, this wasn't his scene, not even close to it. Since he'd started dating Stephanie lo those many years ago, this scene had become less and less a part of his life, and he didn't know how to do this anymore. He wasn't used to putting himself out there anymore, and the dating game had lapped him a few times since he'd first asked out Stephanie.

"Hey, you."

Chris stumbled for a moment, not expecting Stephanie to just show up in front of him. He would be remiss to say this wasn't his normal reaction because it was. He always felt flighty around Stephanie. She was gorgeous, that was the first thing anyone noticed about her. She had these eyes that sucked you in then turned your insides to mush with how warm they were. Then when you got to actually know her, you were just a goner.

"Wow, way to sneak up on a guy," Chris laughed, looking at her.

"Oh, sorry, I thought you saw me, I guess not," she said. Sometimes she was a little absent-minded, but that only added to her charm.

"No, I didn't, so what's up?"

"Nothing," she shrugged, "just saw you, thought I'd say hi."

"That's it."

"That's it," she confirmed, giving him a smile and a wave, "I'll see you later, have a good show if I don't see you."

She was about to leave when he grabbed her arm, "Hey, let me ask you something while I have you here."

"Sure, of course, my attention is all yours," she hugged the clipboard she was holding to her chest and smiled at him.

"Let me take you out to dinner."

She simply raised an eyebrow and spoke, "Dinner?"

"Yes, dinner, I want to take you to dinner."

"Under what context would this dinner be?" she asked, the side of her mouth starting to lift. "Is this a strictly business dinner where you would like to discuss something pertaining to your character or is this a dinner where you expect a kiss at the end of the night?"

"Can it be both?"

"Nope," she shook her head, the smile brightening on her face, "it has to be one or the other. So what's your choice, Chris?"

"Do you like me, Steph?" he asked, taking a tiny step closer to her. She raised both eyebrows this time, staring at him, her smile growing into a grin. She shrugged one shoulder up as he took another step towards her.

"What if I did?"

"Then I might just get the kiss out of the way now and make the dinner all about business," he told her, leaning his head down slightly so he was eye-to-eye with her.

"Or you could just kiss me now and kiss me after you take me to dinner," she suggested to him. He started to smile himself. "Okay, what is that smile for?"

"You just agreed to go to dinner with me," he gave her a short peck on the lips before pulling away. "I'll pick you up after the show is over, wait in your office, you'll be fine in what you're wearing."

She looked down at her jeans and t-shirt, "This?"

"It's going to be late by the time we get out of here, we'll have to find a Denny's that's open, so yeah, you're dressed fine. I never said that it would be fancy. We can save that for the second date."

"There's already a second date?" Stephanie asked him, pretending to be surprised.

"Up here, we're already in bed," he pointed to his head. "Later, Stephanie."

Everything was easy with Stephanie, and it was these two months away from her that showed him that, but he couldn't go crawling back to her. It was the principle of the thing, and besides, she didn't support him like she used to with the music thing, though, if he were honest with himself, he wasn't exactly giving her much of a choice. He'd foisted it upon her, but she was the one who pretty much gave him the ultimatum.

What did it even matter now anyways? It'd been almost two months, and he should be over it. Should be, but wasn't, no matter how hard he tried, she popped into his brain all the time. He convinced himself it was simply because of the duration of their relationship that she still invaded most of his thoughts. You weren't going to purge a nine year relationship overnight. There were going to be days when you rolled over in bed, reaching for her while the specter of her presence was the only thing your hand touched. There were going to be times you saw something she would like and instantly wanted to buy it for her. There were going to be moments where you needed an opinion and hers was the first one you sought out.

That was just how it was going to be for a while, and two months wasn't nearly enough. He hadn't heard from her in nearly a month. The only time before that when she found a t-shirt she knew he liked in the back of the closet and wanted to know if she could send it somewhere. He'd told her his new address, and that was it. The t-shirt came a few days later, and nothing after that.

He kept tabs on her of course; he was always going to want to hear about her, and it was fortunate he had so many friends in the company who could gently observe her, and tell him what was going on. It was even more fortunate that he had Nattie, who could call herself a friend of Stephanie's to really get the inside scoop. It was through her that he knew exactly how Stephanie was doing at all times.

"You know, if you're going to call me a million times a month, you should buy me a separate phone that you pay for," Nattie answered the phone without even saying hello.

"I don't even call you that much."

"Chris, this is the third time this week, yes you do," Nattie laughed, "so what do you want to know now?"

"Just, the show seemed stressful on Monday, kind of put together last minute, did her dad make her change the entire show?"

"You know entirely too much about this business," Nattie sighed.

"It's because I was essentially part of that family for nine years, I know how it operates, so what was Vince's problem now, just unsatisfied with what was written down? I hate when he does that, it makes Stephanie so stressed out, and she gets these chronic headaches because of it. We've found that working out actually helps her release that, but I fear that there isn't a gym handy for her."

"Chris," Nattie said slowly. "Do you even hear yourself?"

"What?"

"You are so worried about her," Nattie explained. "Chris, why don't you just give up this charade before you both do something you regret? You're both being idiots right now, can't you see that?"

"Does she ask about me?"

"I'm not going to answer that."

He couldn't help the smile, "She asks about me."

"Shut up," Nattie said in a sing-song voice. "Yes, she was stressed on Monday, but I think she's okay now, I haven't talked to her, but well, you know how she is. But Chris, you know she's thinking about dating again. She's been thinking about it for a little while, and she said that she wouldn't be against someone in the company."

"Has she said anyone specifically, like is there anyone she's said she has her eye on?"

"No, she said nobody appeals to her here, which, I'm sure is good for everyone because well, I don't know, nobody seems good enough here, but that's because I'm biased, idiot," Nattie muttered the last part, "but just because she doesn't find someone here doesn't mean she isn't going to find someone somewhere, and what then, Chris, because I'm going to tell you the truth, you're going to want her back, and when you do, she might be with someone."

"So might I," he argued. "I never told her to wait for me or stay faithful to me, I can't control what she does."

"No, but it's going to hurt you if she goes out there and is with someone else. That's why you call me, Chris, you call me because you want to make sure your heart stays intact a little while longer. When she finds someone, how often will you call me then, Chris, hmm?"

"So, tell me more about yourself, you're really a rock star, really?"

Chris looked to the girl who was perched on his lap. A girl was perched on his lap. Stephanie was never much of a lap-sitter. With her being tall, it just never looked right, she would tell him, plus, she wasn't a little girl. She would much rather curl up into his side and lay her head against his shoulder as he held her closely with one arm. She'd always wanted a porch swing, so he'd bought and installed one for them, and they spent many summer nights gently swinging as they felt the air cool and the stars come out.

"Yeah, I'm really a rock star, I have a band, we're getting pretty big," Chris said, wishing he didn't have to explain it to this girl. The thing with Stephanie was he never had to explain anything. She just always kind of knew. She was in the business, she saw Fozzy start from practically nothing, so he never felt the need to explain because she lived it with him, good, bad, in between, all of it.

"Wow, that is so hot," this girl said.

"What's your name again?" Chris asked her. "I don't think I heard it right the first time.

"Marianne," she told him, "but you can call me Mar."

"Okay, cool," Chris tried to look and sound enthused, but he wasn't. This felt wrong. This felt wrong and it felt like cheating, and he knew it wasn't cheating because he and Stephanie broke up two months ago, but it still felt wrong, like she was going to walk in any second, see him, and be upset. He couldn't handle that, but Stephanie wasn't going to walk in here. She wasn't going to see him, and she might not even care if she did walk in.

But he cared.

"How old are you, Marianne?"

"24," she answered with a giggle. Yeah, she was pretty much old enough to be his daughter.

"I've gotta go, sorry," he nearly pushed her off, and stood up, needing a breath of fresh air. He exited the club, his body finally feeling like it wasn't going to be thumping along with the music. The air was so much cooler and fresher out here than it was in there. He leaned against the building, watching as people walked by, some in pairs, some in groups, laughing, talking loudly, happy. He and Stephanie would never be caught dead here. They would maybe go to a rock concert sometimes, but afterwards, they would usually find a small café, get some coffee and pastries, and talk. He liked talking with Stephanie. She could keep up with him because she knew him.

What the hell was he doing?