Author's Note: Special thanks to JJ2008, BrittanyLS, and thena-ditey for the reviews! And to BravoExpressions for continuing to work through these! It's my birthday today so I thought I would give you all another chapter!
QUOTE PROMPT #124 – MARY/MARSHALL
"You know maybe I'm a selfish idiot but I'm happy with what we have. I mean I like that it's just the two of us and I don't care that the rest of the world isn't involved."
Mary sat on the porch of the beach front rental property, staring out at the waves. She had gotten the house to recover the week after Marshall had gotten married, knowing that she would want to hide away from the world. She may not be willing to admit it to anyone else, including herself, but she had lost a big piece of her heart to Marshall Mann and watching him give his away to someone else destroyed her. The isolated beach house on the Texas coast was the perfect place to recover; just her and Norah, away from the rest of the world.
"Hey, Mary? Have you seen Norah's sandals?" Marshall asked, stepping outside with the blond toddler in his arms. "We're going to run to the ice cream shop."
Okay, her, Norah, and a Marshall who had broken off his engagement the night before the wedding and run off with her and Norah.
Mary held up the aforementioned sandals. "Right here. You made her take them off on the porch so she didn't track sand in the house."
"Right, right," he muttered, taking the shoes. He frowned at the smirk on her face. "Hey, give me a break. I'm still new at all of this."
"Don't worry. You have years of practice ahead of you," she commented, airedly.
Marshall's eyes lit up. "So, this gets to be more than just a Texas vacation thing?"
Mary opened her mouth to retort, but snap her jaw shut when she realized the truth behind his fear that this was a simple fling. "You and me? I think it's kind of a forever thing. I mean, I haven't gotten rid of you yet."
He sat down beside her and kissed her lips gently. "And you never will."
QUOTE PROMPT #125 – BRANDI/RAPH
"There are some feelings that refuse to go away. They're little distractions, whispering in your ear. Some things just get under your skin"
When she first saw him in that dark night club in Miami, Brandi thought she was hallucinating. She actually put down her drink for a moment until he spotted her. Brandi fluffed up her hair and her boobs, putting a big smile on her face.
"Chico! What are you doing here?" Brandi asked him, brightly.
"Me?" he said, hugging her tightly and lingering just a bit longer than was friendly. "What are you doing in Miami?"
Brandi shrugged. "Hanging with my brother."
Raph remained close to her, even as he released her. "Again?"
"Well, you know, Albuquerque got to be too much and I needed a break," Brandi brushed off. "So, tell me, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here for working." Raph went on to tell her all about his new life. Brandi hung on every word, filling him in on her life in return. They talked into the wee hours of the night. Raph walked her to her car. "It was really good catching up with you, Brandi."
She smiled playing, touching his arm. "It was really good catching up with you, too. You know, if you want to continue to 'catch up', my apartment isn't far from here."
Raph paused, mulling over her offer. He was married, a fact that he told Brandi, but they were also separated and things weren't looking up. Finally, he cupped Brandi's cheek. "I would love to 'catch up' some more with you."
QUOTE PROMPT #126 – MARY/MARSHALL/ABIGAIL
"Then I came here, and I realized that this whole time I was just wandering around everywhere just looking for you."
"Where is he?" Mary demanded, raving to the scene of the apartment fire. It was chaos everywhere, but she managed to track down her boss' fiance.
"I-I don't know," Abigail stumbled, her eyes wide.
Mary grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "What do you mean you don't know? He was here for you! You were suppose to be protecting him!"
Abigail looked at her, dazed. "I-I-I-"
"Ugh!" Mary exclaimed, pushing her off. She sprinted towards the burning building, only to be stopped by a pair of strong hands. She screamed for her former partner. "Marshall! Marshall! Let me go!"
"Not a chance, miss," the fireman growled. "The entire structure is about to collapse."
She slumped, defeated, before rallying. Her Marshall would never give up on her and she wasn't about to give up on him. She struggled to break free again. "Marshall! Marshall!"
"Mary!" she heard a voice bellow. Mary stomped on the fireman's foot to get him to release her. She rushed past the rescue workers to Marshall. She threw her arms around him. He was covered in soot and smelled like smoke, but she burrowed as close to him as she could. When she finally spoke, her voice was quiet. "What the hell do you think you were doing?"
"There was a little boy trapped in one of the apartments," he explained, swaying slightly as he held her close.
Mary looked up at him, unable to hide the tears in her eyes. "Did you save him?"
Marshall nodded over her head to the back of an ambulance where a young boy only three or four was being checked out by both paramedics and his frantic mother. "He's safe."
"Don't ever do that to me again," Mary told him. She refused to release her grip on him. "You and Norah are the only people in my life that I can't lose. I don't care that we're not as close as we used to be. You are one of my people."
"You are one of my people, too," Marshall assured her. He buried his face in her hair. He glanced up to see his fiance standing a few feet away, watching the two of them. He inclined his head when she gave him a small smile. There would be things to sort out, conversations to be had, and wedding gifts to send back, but he knew in that moment that things were truly over with him and Abigail. Abigail turned and walked away drawing Marshall's attention back to Mary. "Come on, let's go. I really need to take a shower."
