Not Exactly

Author's Note: This story is a continuation of the tag for Utopia Now from Season 3. I decided to rewrite history a bit and move certain things up from their original timeline. Enjoy and God bless! Thanks to my wonderful betas as always, Natalie Bower and Tracey Arcieri. And a huge shoutout to my friend, Lorri White, whose help was invaluable.

In the hallway outside of the bullpen...

"Lee..."

"Hmmm."

Amanda reached out to touch Lee but pulled back and sighed before she spoke, "About last night…"

Lee nodded his head up and down. "I know, I know. It was just two cold people…"

Amanda chimed in simultaneously, "Two people just—"

"Seeking a little warmth." Lee brought up his arms. "Right?"

Amanda grinned. "Not exactly…" She turned away and took off.

Lee watched dumbfounded with his mouth hanging wide open as Amanda hastily retreated away from him. He found himself rooted to that one spot for several minutes, unable to believe what he'd just heard. He ran his hands through his hair and shook his head, trying to figure out what she meant.

Lee shrugged his shoulders and re-entered the bullpen with Amanda's words still running through his brain. He was heading over to talk with Francine when he heard Billy call out to him. He stepped into his office and Billy motioned for him to have a seat. Lee's mind whirled as Billy began speaking to him about the last twenty-four hours.

His heart was beating a mile a minute. Lee knew he'd been trying to fight off his growing feelings for Amanda for a very long time. It was quite apparent he was losing said battle, more so now, because all his thoughts were totally fixed on her and their near kiss.

"Scarecrow. Scarecrow." Billy waved his hand in front of Lee's face. "Stetson, are you even listening to me?" Billy banged his fist against the desk.

The unexpected noise brought Lee out of his reverie. He shook his head, trying to focus his thoughts back on Billy. "Huh, what?"

"Damn it, man! Did you hear anything I just said?" Billy huffed out as he glared at Lee.

Lee sheepishly looked down. "I'm sorry, Billy. I guess I was a little distracted. I must be more tired than I thought," Lee partially lied.

Billy handed Lee the folder which contained his report. As he took it, Lee forced a yawn, emphasizing his lie.

"Alright, alright, I understand. We've all had cases that stretched out longer than we expected. Just run your report up to Dr. Smyth's office and head home. You'll feel better after a good night's sleep," Billy suggested with a smile.

"Thanks, Billy. And again, I'm sorry. Enjoy your weekend."

"You too, Lee. See you on Monday. You and Amanda did a great job."

Lee grinned as he stood up and left Billy's office. At the mere mention of Amanda's name, his heart skipped a beat. He needed to head home because he definitely had a lot of thinking to do.

A little while later, Lee walked into his apartment. The whole way there he couldn't think about anything but Amanda. Their almost kiss and her words kept replaying as if they were on a constant loop. He needed to try and clear his head. Lee felt like he was going crazy.

"Enough, Stetson! Stop this already," Lee chastised himself.

"Who knows, maybe a shower will help." Lee rubbed the back of his neck and shook his head as he mindlessly moved towards the bedroom. Once he stripped down, Lee immediately cranked the hot water on before stepping into the pulsating spray. After a few minutes of the water cascading down his body, he finally started to relax.

After his shower, Lee entered his room clad only in a towel, feeling slightly better. He headed over to the closet to get dressed before he made his way to the kitchen.

After a quick perusal of the contents of his fridge, he decided to heat up some leftovers for dinner. While he waited, he poured himself a glass of wine.

Unexpectedly, he began to laugh. I definitely could go for one of Amanda's BLTs right now. I'm sure without a doubt, it would be the best BLT ever.

"Wait, what? Where did that come from? Damn, what's wrong with me? I just can't get Amanda out of my head," Lee groused as he took a huge swig of his wine.

The timer went off, letting Lee know his food was ready. After gathering everything, Lee sauntered into the living room, turned the television on, and was happy when he found an old John Wayne western to watch. However, as hard as he tried to enjoy the movie, his mind kept going back to Amanda, his feelings for her, and their near kiss.