Kristina arrived at Kelly's about fifteen minutes early for her scheduled time to meet Ethan for dinner. She walked inside and took the only open table on the right. She sat with her back to the door and immediately started playing around on her phone to help pass the time, only looking up to say hello to Shawn and give him an order for a Coke. She had good news to share with Ethan and was excited for him to get there.

"Kristina, how are you?"

She knew the voice immediately and when she looked up to see Trey standing there, she quickly erased her previous smile. "Trey… hi." Not sure of why, but she briefly looked toward the door for Ethan.

"Do you think it would be okay if I sit down for a minute?" He asked.

"I'm meeting someone for dinner."

"Ethan? I heard you were staying with him." His voice was soft as if there was sadness behind his words.

Kristina wasn't sure what to say so she just nodded. For some reason, she found herself not wanting to hurt him.

"It will only take a minute to say what I need to say and then I promise I will get up and walk away." Trey took the seat across from Kristina when she agreed by simply nodding again. "I've been worried about you. You haven't returned my phone calls."

"I know, I promised I would talk to you, but honestly I was so angry with you that I thought it would be best if I gave myself some time first."

"I know that I hurt you, Kristina, but I have to say I was a bit surprised to hear you had already moved on with Ethan."

Kristina was instantly annoyed. "Trey, if this is going to be about Ethan then I really think you should go."

Trey paused and closed his eyes for a moment. Ethan was a concern of his, but he was not what he wanted to talk to Kristina about. "I'm sorry, your right. This isn't about Ethan. This is about my love for you."

"Trey…"

"I'm serious Kristina, I love you. Yeah, I only saw you as a mark when we first met, but everything changed after we started spending time together."

"Then why did you trick me into marrying you? If everything had changed then why the rush to get married?"

Trey placed his hands on top of hers and she quickly pulled them away. Realizing this made her uncomfortable he pulled his back and placed them on his lap. "I don't know. I guess I was scared."

"Scared of what, Trey?"

"Scared that you would wake up and see that I wasn't a good man and leave me. I guess I thought I was protecting myself."

"I gave all of myself to you, Trey. I had finally come to a place in my life where I felt strong enough to love again. I told you everything about myself. All about my family. The darkness I went through with Kiefer and even my fear of rejection because of what I went through with Ethan. You took all of that and used it against me."

"I know that I don't deserve your forgiveness. I betrayed you. But before I go, I wanted you to know that you made me want to change. Hell I was changing everyday that I was with you. I want to be better because of you. I have a good job here now and I plan on keeping it."

"I think that's wonderful, Trey. I hope you mean that, because I know that you can be somebody great."

Trey wanted so badly to be with the girl sitting across from him. He wished he could take it all back. Start new with this amazing woman and then maybe she would've been sitting here having dinner with him instead of waiting for…"

"Ethan!" Kristina shrieked with nervousness.

"Am I interrupting something? Kristina, I thought we were meeting for dinner." He stared straight at Trey.

Trey may have lost Kristina and he could accept that. He was as fault there. But to lose her to someone who was, in his eyes, no better than himself was infuriating. "No, I was just leaving." Trey stood up. "Kristina, thanks for letting me talk to you." He then gave one last look at Kristina before walking out of Kelly's."

"What was all that about?" Ethan asked as he took the now vacant seat.

"He apologized."

"Well I hope you told him to go to hell."

Kristina opened up a menu. "Not exactly."

"Not exactly?" He questioned.

Kristina couldn't manage to pull the menu away from her face to look Ethan in the eyes. "He told me that he was sorry and was working on becoming a better person."

Ethan's eyes rolled to the back of his head. "Yeah, okay. What else did he have to say?"

"That he still loved me." Kristina's eyes peaked over the menu to check for Ethan's reaction, but his face was blank making it hard for her to read him.

Ethan could feel his blood start to boil. He knew that weasel was still going to try to get at Kristina. "Krissy, that guy is not good for you."

Kristina didn't feel like having to explain to Ethan once again that she was not going to go back down that road with Trey. She knew that even with her forgiving him, she could never trust him with her heart again. Besides, as much as she tried to deny it, her heart already belonged to someone else. She finally sat down the menu. "Ethan, I don't want to talk about Trey. I have good news to tell you!"

Ethan blinked his way back to calmness. "Yeah, that's right, what's the good news?"

"I got an apartment!" She clapped her hands repeatedly.

Ethan's eyes widened. "That's great, love. Your first apartment on your own." He was hoping that she bought the fake excitement in his voice, because inside he didn't like it. Not at all.

"I'm so excited, Ethan. It will come completely furnished so I don't have to worry about buying any furniture, just some little things so that I can make it my own."

"Really, I am so happy for you." He lied.

"There's only one small problem though."

"What's that?"

"Well," She placed her hands on Ethan's. It was so easy for her to touch him, she never thought twice about it. "It's not going to be ready until January 1st." She smiled big and batted her lashes at him.

She always could suck him in, but she really didn't need to this time. He was happy he would get a few more days with her at his place. "Well I suppose I can put up with you a little longer."

"Thank you, Ethan! You've been such a good friend to me."

Friend. He thought. A word he had thrown at her so many times in the past, but now it just didn't seem to fit the way he felt about her anymore.

"I'm just a little disappointed that I won't be able to get a Christmas tree this year." She frowned.

Ethan thought for a minute. "Come on, let's go." He stood up and reached for her hand.

"Go where, Ethan?" Confusion was evident in her expression.

"We're going to get a Christmas tree."

"Are you serious?" She asked as she still remained seated.

"Yeah, I'm serious. You deserve a Christmas tree. We'll stop for pizza and beer on the way home."

Kristina's face lit up. "Okay… okay!" She grabbed his hand and then her coat and they took off out of Kelly's.

"I can't believe that with all the trees to choose from, you chose this one." Ethan said as he pulled the scrawny tree into the loft.

"What do you mean?" She giggled. "I think it's perfect."

Ethan walked back to the door. "Well I don't think there are even enough branches on this thing for all the ornaments we bought. I'll be right back." He went back down the stairs to go get the bags from the car.

Kristina placed the pizza on the table and went over to the TV where she turned it on to the music station. Ethan arrived back upstairs just as Kristina was cracking open two beers. "Christmas music, really, Kristina?"

"Don't be a scrooge, Ethan. It was always a family tradition in my house growing up. Mom would always try and prepare a special meal…"

"Try?"

"Yeah and when the fire alarm went off, we knew it was time to order pizza. Then we would put on some Christmas CD's and decorate the tree."

"Sounds like some great memories."

"They were."

Ethan grabbed some paper plates and put two pieces of pizza on them. "Well I am honored to help you carry on that tradition."

"Oh, I just have to do one last thing." She took off running to the bedroom.

Ethan had the tree standing up when Kristina made her appearance again. She was wearing red pajama pants that sat at her hips with little Santa Claus faces all over them and a red cami that hugged her body and gathered at her waist, exposing a few inches of her skin. Her hair had been pulled up into a high ponytail. Ethan thought his heart had stopped. She had no idea just how sexy she looked to him.

"Sorry, it's just another part of the tradition. We always wore our pajamas."

"No problem. You look great." He smiled as she came walking towards him.

"Okay then, let's get started." She began sorting through the bags.

Ethan was putting on the lights when he heard Kristina's cell phone ring. He watched her as her face seemed puzzled when she looked at it. She hit the ignore button and sat the phone back down. "No one important?" He asked. She shook her head without looking at him and began to hang the ornaments.

Several beers and another ignored call later, they were finally finished with the tree. "I have to say, it looks pretty damn good." Ethan stated as he flopped down on the couch.

"I told you it was a good tree." She sat down next to him and admired their work.

There were a few moments of silence as Ethan found himself wondering what to do next. Any other time that he would have a girl sitting next to him that he had such strong feelings for, this would have been the moment where he would make his move. But it was Kristina, someone who was finally content with just being his friend. He felt as if he was being torn into two separate directions.

"Oh, I love this song!" Kristina broke the silence as Baby, Its Cold Outside began to play.

Ethan jumped up and held out his hand to her. "Let's dance then."

"Noooo…" She bashfully covered her face.

"Oh come on, love. It'll be fun."

"Uhhhh…" She grabbed his hand and he put a little force behind his pull and her body rushed up against his.

Right away he took the lead and began moving her around the living room. She giggled and smiled when he spun her out and rolled her back into his arms. He kept her body against him with one hand around the small of her back and his other was interlocked with hers at his chest. They danced like this for a moment until Ethan repeated the next verse to the song. "Gosh your lips look delicious."

She knew they were just lyrics, but having Ethan Lovett sing them to her sent that confusing rush of excitement back through her again.

Ethan locked his eyes with her. She needed to know… she needed to know that he loved her. And there was no better time than this. It surprised him how nervous he was. But then again, he had never felt this for a woman before. Love had always been something he didn't see in the cards for him. If he hadn't experienced it before now, then there must be something wrong with him. He had become okay with that, even when he realized that he had feelings for Kristina a long time ago, never did he know what love truly was until this moment. This woman took his breath away. He never wanted to let her go.

There was something different in Ethan's eyes as she stared back at him. He wanted her. She could see it so clearly now as he looked at her. If it wasn't the hunger in his eyes that confirmed it, it was the heat that was flowing from his body into hers. So much so that it was overwhelming to her. She thought she knew love for him before, but now it had been intensified by a thousand times. Her breathing had deepened when he slowly moved in. His lips were so close to hers that she didn't even have room to try and moisten them. Her eyes closed as she prepared for connection. Her body was already tingling in anticipation of its upcoming pleasure.

Then… like a bad movie, her phone rang. The startling sound sent her eyes shooting back open. Apparently it did the same to Ethan. He looked in its direction and then back at Kristina. No, no. She thought. Ignore it Ethan, it's nobody!

He looked back at her. Looking for confirmation that they could ignore the call and move forward. She looked worried. Was she concerned about the caller on the other end? He was confused. She wasn't moving to get the phone, yet she kept glancing between the phone and him.

She couldn't believe that Ethan let some stupid phone call ruin this moment. His lips weren't coming at her anymore. The moment must've past for him. All she knew now was that if she didn't start moving her legs again that she was going to collapse right there on the floor. And wouldn't that be embarrassing? She said the first thing that came to her mind. "I got to get to bed."

Immediately forgetting about the call, Ethan hurried his next word. "What?" He couldn't believe what he heard. Had he misread the last few minutes? No, there was no way that he did. Did he?

"I've got to, um, I have to get up early for work." She could barely get out the words, she felt so cloudy.

"Oh, okay." He released his grip on her.

"Good night, Ethan. I had a great night." She turned and walked toward the bedroom, looking back several times before disappearing.

Ethan was new to this whole love thing, but he was pretty sure that it wasn't supposed to be going this way if the other person involved felt the same way. He took a deep breath and turned to clean up the pizza plates when he spotted the device with terrible timing. He looked toward the bedroom door and then back at the phone. He picked it up and right on top it said three missed calls. He knew that it was wrong, but he couldn't help himself. He needed to know who was behind Kristina's distractions tonight. He tapped the phone and if only to confirm his suspicions, there it was. Trey.

Kristina closed the bedroom door behind her. Instead of jumping right into bed, she found herself pacing the floor. After years of chasing after Ethan and trying to get him to admit that there was more than friendship between the two of them, she finally saw him take it all in. He was going to kiss her tonight. She hopped onto the bed and jumped like a small child would. Ethan Lovett was going to kiss her! She smiled wide as she covered herself up and laid her head onto the pillow. She was about to dream a happy dream when her body shot back up. Ethan Lovett was going to kiss her and she told him that she needed to go to bed? What the hell did she just do?

It was mid afternoon and Ethan was on his way to get a coffee from Kelly's. Kristina must have gotten up extra early and been extremely quiet in the morning because when he got up, she was already gone. He was passing through the docks when he ran into Johnny. "Hey, Johnny, what's going on?"

Johnny shook his head. "Uh, just had to deal with some of my grandfather's past associates."

"Thought you were done with that life?" Ethan countered.

"Yeah, well, he left a lot of business unattended to when he took off." He rubbed his eyebrows, clearly distraught by the situation he had been put in.

"Does Carly know about this?"

"No and she's not going too. I'm going to have to deal with this on the sly if you know what I mean. But I have no choice. Hopefully I will be able to dissolve the problem without her ever knowing anything about it."

"Well good luck with that. If I remember anything about Carly, she's not one to sit around with suspicion."

"Yeah, well then, you know her pretty well." He sighed. "Hey how's the Kristina situation going?"

"Oh man, I have to say that I would never have thought that it would be this complicated."

"Really?"

"I want her, Johnny. Like I've never wanted any woman in my life. I know that now and I accept that."

"Then why do I feel a but coming on?"

"But I'm not sure if she wants the same. She might still be hung up on someone else."

"Ah, Trey's still in the picture I take it."

Ethan tucked his cold hands into his pockets. "He told Kristina that he was still in love with her yesterday."

"And you're afraid Kristina is being sucked back in?"

"You know, the way we have been hanging out and enjoying each others company lately, I wouldn't have thought so, but she was so nervous when I interrupted them talking and then again when he called her phone three times last night. The last call interrupting right when I was finally going to tell her how I felt about her."

Johnny smiled. "You were finally going to tell her, huh?"

Ethan walked over and sat down on the bench. "I was so close to kissing her, Johnny. I don't know how it happened, but I think I'm in love with her. No," He shook his head. "I know that I am."

"So, tell her you idiot! Don't let anything or anyone get in your way."

"I don't want to hurt her, Johnny. If she's over me than maybe it's better if I just let her go."

"Better for who exactly? Trey?"

Ethan clenched his fists. "I hate that bastard."

"Then you better make your move before it's too late. Listen, I was around when you were too stubborn to take this thing with her any further a year ago. I know how deep Kristina's feelings for you go. I'm willing to bet my life away that she's just waiting for you to make a move."

"She hasn't mentioned once that she still feels that way."

"And she's not going to. Look, you rejected Kristina a lot in the past. I'll guarantee she's just trying to protect herself from that again."

Ethan leaned back into the bench. "Maybe she should."

Johnny rolled his eyes. "Ethel, quick whining already!"

"What? I'm not whining."

"Sure you are and it's starting to look pathetic." Johnny looked over at his friend. "You really want Kristina?"

Ethan remembered the way she looked last night. He thought about her beautiful smile and her contagious laugh. His heart ached when he thought about her moving out and not being able to hear and see her every day. "Yeah, I do."

"Then TELL HER!"

"Yeah, I will. Thanks John."

"Well I got to go. Just remember not to let anything get in your way. No matter what." Johnny walked up the steps and around the corner.

Johnny was right, he had to do this and he knew just the way he was going to do it. Ethan continued on his way to Kelly's and pulled out his cell phone and started a text to Kristina.

Hey love, come home right after work. Remember that dinner invitation I promised? Well I'm whipping up something special tonight. Come home hungry.

He was only feet away from Kelly's entrance when he pushed send on the phone. He put his phone back in his pocket and looked up before he was about to head the rest of the way. But his feet couldn't move forward. Under the archway, on the other side of Kelly's stood Trey and Kristina. Her back was to him and Trey had his hands on the back of her head and they were kissing.

"Krissy…" He muttered silently to himself. He didn't even realize that he had taken several steps backwards until he was back out of their sight.

He was turning in circles. He was too late. She had picked Trey. But had he even given her a chose? His sadness quickly turned to anger. How could she be with that jerk? He used her! He deceived her! She was a fool!

Ethan's fist connected with the concrete wall.

Authors note: Uh Oh! The next chapter is already finished in my head, hopefully it won't take that long to get it all typed out. But here's a hint. You'll finally get an understanding into why this story was rated M. Thanks for reading!