Title: At Long Last - A Wedding Bells Alternate
Category: Who's the Boss
Summary: What happens when you mix too much wine and a secret love?
Rating:NC-17, NSFW, M
Spoilers: Wedding Bells
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters.
This story contains content for mature audiences only - please be warned. If people want, I can try to mark the sections so you can skip those parts if you prefer not to read them but still want the rest of the story. If enough people ask I can try!
This story is complete (I think) but it has multiple chapters. I'll upload them as fast as I can. I kept them to 1200-1500 words for the most part because I think that's manageable to read without having to binge the whole thing!
I wrote most of these a long time ago. I apologize for any mistakes, but I will try to edit as I go!
I'm moving my Who's the Boss fics from various other sites to here. Feedback welcome - good or bad - and appreciated :) Enjoy.
8.
Angela wakes up to movement behind her. Tony is shifting and she turns to look at him. His eyes are still closed but now he's lying on his back. She can't resist. She turns to him and kisses his cheek, then rests her head on his chest, wrapping her arm around him, and closing her eyes. She's so comfortable with him, so at peace. She quickly falls asleep again.
The next time she wakes it's to Tony rubbing her arm.
"Hi," he says, as she stirs.
"Hi," she says, too comfortable to move. He doesn't move either. Neither of them say anything for a while.
"I suppose I better get up and get breakfast started before someone comes looking for me."
"Yes, I suppose so."
"Did you sleep well?" he asks.
"I slept wonderfully. You?"
"Yeah. I slept great."
Their conversation is a little stilted and it makes Angela uncomfortable.
"Maybe we can-" "After breakfast-" they say at the same time. They laugh nervously.
"Sorry," he says.
"You go ahead," she says.
"No, you go ahead," he says.
"Oh, well, I was just thinking that after breakfast, or sometime today, we should find some time to talk."
"That's what I was going to say. You know what I love, Angela? I love that we're on the same wavelength."
"Me too," she smiles. If he loves their relationship it's very possible he can fall in love with her.
He rubs her arm a little bit longer and she's loath to move.
"I better get up," he says.
"Yeah," she says. She reluctantly moves and he sits up. She thinks he's going to leave quickly and she's surprised when he bends his head and kisses her lips softly. Almost lovingly.
"Want anything special for breakfast?" he asks.
"Surprise me."
"I'll make you something really filling!" he says, getting up. "Something to give you all that energy back."
"I may not be able to stomach a big breakfast," she laughs.
"Um, you know, Angela, I don't want you to think I'm… what I mean to say is that… I mean…."
"What, Tony?" she asks.
"Well, I've never had no complaints in bed before. And it's just because I was drinking and I was really excited that I didn't last longer but I can. I can last a lot longer, and I can do a lot better."
Angela smiles, trying very hard not to laugh. Men are so sensitive when it comes to their performance. "I'm not complaining," she tells him. "I enjoyed myself very much last night. I can't imagine it getting better than that."
"Well, it can. I just want you to know that, in case it matters in the future, in case it features in our discussion about our relationship. Now I'm going to make breakfast." He grabs his boxers and slips them on as he gets up from the bed. He picks up his other clothes and looks at her one more time before cracking the door open a bit, making sure the coast is clear, and sneaking out.
Angela can't stop smiling. She's trying to be cautious. She's trying to shelter her feelings but she can't help but feel hopeful. He makes her so happy.
Her brow furrows though as she remembers - she didn't anticipate this happening again, certainly not so soon. She has to get back on birth control. She makes a mental note to call her doctor later in the day.
xx
When Angela has showered and gotten dressed, she goes downstairs to find everyone eating heartily. She doesn't have much of a hangover but she's not ready to eat that much food.
"Good morning, dear," her mother says.
"Good morning."
"Did you have fun last night? Tony told us you won every party game."
"We did," she says, sitting.
"Drink a bit too much?" Mona asks her with a wink. Angela scowls at her as Tony places a cup of coffee in front of her.
"Thanks," she says. Her stomach calms slightly with the first sip.
xx
Slowly after breakfast everyone goes their separate ways. Tony finds Angela in the living room curled up on the couch with a book.
"Hey, whatcha reading?" he asks.
"Oh, nothing. I wasn't really paying attention."
"Distracted, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
"I didn't wake up yesterday thinking we'd do what we did," he says.
"No, I didn't either."
"So… that's twice."
"Yeah."
"How, uh… how d'you feel?"
"I feel good. How do you feel?"
"I feel good," he says, "real good," he smiles.
"So…."
"So…."
"I guess we should go back to what we were doing? Exploring this, slowly," she suggests.
"Yeah. I guess so."
"We should be careful. Last night anyone could have seen us. And we slept in this morning, mother could have come snooping around."
Tony's stomach sinks. He was hoping for a more positive conversation.
"Yeah. Yeah, you're right," he says. They're quiet for a while. "Maybe we shouldn't sneak around like that," he says finally.
"It doesn't set a good example for the children," she says. "And Tony, the children are so young. We need to be very deliberate about this otherwise they'll be affected and that's the last thing we want."
"No, we don't want that," he says. "So what do we do?"
"I don't know."
"Okay, well, look, what are the options?"
"Well… one is that we just don't do this any more until we've fully explored our feelings and our relationship and made a choice one way or another."
"Let's not make any rash decisions…."
"Right. Um, we could pre-plan it? If we want to… I mean, we can plan in advance, book a hotel…."
"Like making an appointment? Doesn't sound very romantic."
"No, no, I guess not. Uh, well, we could keep exploring this - but the right way. The responsible way. Without falling carelessly into bed every time we drink, but still… doing it when we feel like it and when we have opportunity, and the moment is appropriate."
"That's proving very difficult."
Just then, the children come in and interrupt their conversation. Wordlessly, they decide to shelve the topic for now.
xx
Late in the evening, after the dishes are done and the kids have gone to bed and Mona has gone to her apartment, Tony leaves the kitchen to find Angela in the living room, putting a folder into her briefcase.
"Hi," he says, "I thought you went to bed."
"I did, but then I remembered I need to take this to the office tomorrow. I didn't want to forget it."
"Oh."
"Um, Tony, I want you to know that I don't mean to complicate, you know, what we do… I mean, what we've been doing."
"Oh good. I don't either."
"I mean, I don't want to pressure you into anything, if you don't want anything more-"
"No! No, you're not pressuring me. No, Angela, I want to figure this out with you. I know it's not easy, our circumstances are a little… out of the ordinary."
Angela is so relieved. Her heart is pounding and her stomach is in knots. When she rehearsed the words in her head they came out so confidently, so clearly. Now she's absolutely tongue tied and she's afraid he'll misunderstand her.
"I want us to explore this… thing between us."
"So, we'll keep exploring."
"Maybe we can explore a little faster, so that we don't find ourselves in bed before we get to work on the relationship part."
"Yeah, you're right. We should do something alone together that's not… that."
She lets out the breath she'd been holding. "Okay. Goodnight, Tony."
"Goodnight, Angela."
Angela disappears upstairs. As much as she wants to figure all of this out, she's glad they aren't doing it tonight.
Unfortunately, weeks go by and the timing is never right. Any plans or attempts they make to have meaningful time alone are overridden or interrupted by children or work or something. While they share lingering looks and touches that last longer than they should, she never gets to tell him that she's never felt more at peace in her life than when she's with him. She never gets to tell him that he brings her joy like she's never felt before. She never gets to tell him how terrified she is that this will fail.