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xtremeroswelliaTitle: Wherever You Will Go series, fic #21: The Grand Facade (1/2)
Authors: Demelza and X_tremeroswellian
Email(s): demelza81@yahoo.co.nz and X_tremeroswellian@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to us. They belong to Edward Allen Bernero and John Wells and a bunch of other people that we've never met before. Please don't sue.
Rating: PG-13 for language and sexual content
Summary: Kim struggles to decide what to do about what Joey told her and Carlos while Tatiana witnesses a fight between Faith and Fred while she's out shopping.
Spoilers: Up through and including "The Unforgiven."
Author's Note: This is the twenty-first story in a series of Third Watch fics we're writing titled "Wherever You Will Go." The first one is "Confessions," the second is "Here With Me," the third is "Pain," the fourth is "Tears," the fifth is "Fear," the sixth is "Sadness," the seventh is "Reunion," the eighth is "Warning Signs," the ninth is "The Ball," the tenth is "Interlude," the eleventh is "Hush," the twelfth is "Haunted," the thirteenth is "No Good Deed," the fourteenth is "Unexpected Surprises," the fifteenth is "Better Than Ice Cream," the sixteenth is "Just Another Day," the seventeenth is "Weight of the World," the eighteenth is "Faith's Lament," the nineteenth is "Broken Glass," and the twentieth is "Secrets and Lies." You may want to read those first before continuing. All fics in the series can be found at the WYWG website: http://wywg.topcities.com/index.html .
The Grand Facade (Part One)
The sun hadn't even risen yet as she and Bosco ran side-by-side through Central Park. They hadn't spoken other than a brief 'hello' when they met up. She hadn't slept well that night. Not that she'd been sleeping well for a long time now, but she wasn't sure she'd even managed to doze off. Surprisingly, Fred hadn't seemed upset that she wanted to go out jogging. Of course, when she'd told him the night before, she'd ommitted the part where she was meeting Bosco.
He hadn't even woke up when she left their bed. She'd changed in the bathroom, pulled on the NYPD t-shirt Bosco had let her borrow a few days ago when she'd stayed at his place for the night and hadn't yet returned. Over the t-shirt she wore a long-sleeved gray sweatshirt. It was hot, but she didn't want him to see the bruises on her arms and wrists. She wore a pair of black shorts under the sweatshirt.
She wasn't sure how long they'd run when they finally stopped. She dropped onto a park bench, trying to catch her breath. "Next time...we start out slower," she said between breaths as she looked over at him.
Bosco stood with his hands on his hips as he tried to regain his own breathing, a wide smile on his face. "Yeah...good idea..." he replied, laughing slightly.
She grinned as she laid her head against the back of the bench and stared up at the sky. She let her eyes close as she focused on breathing.
He slowly walked over to the bench and sat down beside her, heavily landing against the back of the bench as he let out a long, even breath. "You okay?" he asked, looking sideways at her.
She lifted her head and looked at him. "Yeah. Just exhausted now," she said with a wry grin as she closed her eyes again. "You okay?"
Bosco shook his head. "Nope. I'm royally and utterly drained...I don't think I've jogged that much in...forever..."
She chuckled. "Me either. Great, wasn't it?"
He laughed. "If you like living through a personal hell every morning at *5 am*..." he said, though she knew he was joking from his tone.
"I used to do this every morning when I was in high school," she told him.
Bosco shook his head. "You're nuts..." he replied, looking sideways at her. "Every morning?" he asked, as if somewhat disbelieving.
"Yep, every morning." She glanced at him. "I was on the track team."
He raised his eyebrows. "Now that, I did not know...no wonder you wanted to join the force."
Faith smiled slightly and closed her eyes again, letting out a breath. "It feels good to run again," she said, her voice soft.
"How come you stopped?"
She swallowed hard. "Kinda lost interest."
"Oh," he replied. "Bit like me with badminton..." he said, grinning.
She opened her eyes. "You played badminton?"
"Once. This huge guy, like six foot ten or something, whacked me in the nuts with his racket on a back stroke... never played it again."
Faith stared at him for a moment, then couldn't supress the chuckle that escaped her lips. "I'm sorry," she said, unable to stop laughing.
He shrugged. "No biggie..."
She shook her head, a grin still on her face. After her laughter stopped, she glanced at him again. "Thank you," she said quietly.
Bosco's brow creased slightly. "For what?"
"For coming here with me." She bit her lip. "I wasn't sure that...I could do this again."
"Jog, you mean?" he asked, slightly confused.
"Yeah," she said softly, gathering her legs and pulling them up to her chest.
"I'm not sure I follow, Faith...why wouldn't you think you could do it again?"
Faith swallowed hard, hesitated, then looked at him. "Because of the reason I lost interest."
"Okay..." he said quietly, glancing out around them.
"I quit running right after..." She bit her lip and looked away.
Bosco quickly turned back to her, hating himself. "I'm sorry, Faith...I didn't...I should have...realized..."
She looked back at him, gave him a small, sad smile. "How could you have?"
"High school...Brightman...I should have put one and one together, I'm sorry..." he apologized again.
"Don't be. I shouldn't have brought it up." Faith looked away from him, feeling bad for making him feel bad.
"Would you quit doing that..." Bosco said after a moment, feeling frustrated as he turned to look at her. "You need to stop being so hard on yourself."
"It's just...what's the point in dragging it all up over and over again, you know? It just makes you feel bad, it makes me feel bad...what's the point?"
"Because talking about what happened helps...that's why..."
Faith looked down at the ground for a moment, then closed her eyes, exhaling deeply, not sure what to say.
"You always told me that, Faith...you wouldn't have said it if it weren't true..." he added.
She gave him a half-smile. "Not fair to turn my own words against me, Boz."
He smiled back. "Sure it is."
"This is all new to me," she said quietly.
"What's that?"
"Talking about this. I mean, other than you, the only people who know are my mother and--" She cut herself off before saying 'Harold.'
"It gets easier, after a while," he tried to assure her.
"I hope so."
"It will."
Faith gave him a small smile. "Thanks." She let out a low breath and looked up at the sky, which was growing lighter by the moment. Sunrise would be in a few minutes. "You want to grab a cup of coffee somewhere before we split?"
Bosco nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great."
She rose to her feet, then held her hand out toward him.
A little surprised, he then smiled back at Faith and placed his hand in hers as he rose up from the bench.
Faith helped pull him to his feet, but he tripped on a half-buried rock in the dirt and she quickly put her hands on his shoulders to keep him from falling.
As he stumbled forward, and she helped him to not fall, Bosco instantly put his hands on Faith's hips. "Sorry..." he said instantly, looking back at her.
She swallowed hard, her heart skipping a beat. She gazed at him wordlessly as they remained standing close, her hands still on his shoulders, his hands still on her hips.
He swallowed hard, his heart starting to race a bit faster in his chest as he gazed into her eyes. It feels so right being this close to her, he thought, feeling himself let out a low, relaxing breath.
It would be so easy to just lean forward a couple inches and kiss him. God knows that's what she wanted to do. A sudden memory of her conversation with Fred the day before flashed into her mind.
//"I don't believe you, you were too scared to be on your own once, you'll be too scared to be on your own now."
"I wouldn't be alone," Faith replied, her voice calm.
"If you're talking about those damn kids, there's no way in hell an unstable woman like you would *ever* get custody of them!"//
I can't lose my kids, she thought, sadness welling up within her. Even if it meant she could never be with Bosco, that she had to stay with Fred for the rest of her life. She couldn't lose Em and Charlie. She closed her eyes for a moment, then slowly pulled away from him, taking a deep breath. "Um...so, coffee then?" she asked softly, unable to look at him.
Bosco nodded, slipping his hands into the pockets of his gray sweats. "Yeah...coffee..." he repeated.
They walked across the park, headed toward a little cafe on the other side. "So any plans for the day?" she asked, desperately wanting to break the silence that had fallen between them.
Bosco thought for a moment as they kept on walking. "Nothing special. I was thinking about going round to see Ma."
She nodded. "That'll be good."
"Yeah..." he replied after a moment. There was another long silence. "She keeps asking how you're doing."
"Yeah?" Faith glanced at him, surprised.
"Yeah, she...wanted me to ask if you...wanted to come over to dinner sometime..." he said, swallowing hard.
She paused in her steps. "Um...yeah, dinner sometime would be good. Tell her I said thanks for the invitation."
Bosco gave a half smile. "I'll pass it on." After a long moment of silence, he glanced sideways at Faith. "What about you? What are you planning to do today?"
"Oh, uh...Fred has the day off. We're gonna go to Wal-Mart and get some groceries and things." She shrugged and didn't look at him.
Like an instant reflex, Bosco's hands clenched into fists at his side. "Oh," he replied, his voice quiet, distant.
Faith glanced up at the sky, which was turning beautiful shades of pink and purple as the sun began to rise. She paused in her steps and titled her head back, staring up at it, a feeling of awe coming over her. It had been a long time since she'd seen the sunrise.
I know she's not happy with him... Bosco's mind suddenly trailed off. Why doesn't she just leave him? He treats her badly, and if what Davis and Sully said is true...I don't understand why she just puts up with his shit. She deserves better, much better than that.
"Bosco, look," she whispered, unable to tear her gaze from the sky.
Shaken from his thoughts, Bosco quickly looked at Faith, then up to where she was looking in the sky. "What?"
She reached out and wrapped her hand around his arm without even looking at him. "The sunrise..." she murmured.
He swallowed hard, eyes glancing down at where her hand rested on his arm before trailing back to the sunrise. It was beautiful, the way the golden amber rays made the clouds appear in all sorts of shades of red, orange and even some crimson. "It's...amazing..." he whispered, just loud enough so Faith could hear.
She turned her head to look at him, feeling an odd sense of deja vu wash over her. Suddenly a vivid flash of the dream she'd had when she'd fallen asleep in the squad yesterday popped into her head.
//"Bosco?" she whispered.
His eyes met hers. "Yeah?" he softly asked back, wanting in that moment to press his lips to hers again.
"Promise me that someday...this is gonna be real," Faith pleaded, a tear escaping the corner of her eye and rolling slowly down her cheek.
"I promise, Faith...we'll be together, forever..." he said back, his hand moving to touch her face as he gently wiped away the tear. "I promise." //
Faith closed her eyes as a gentle breeze blew the hair out of her face. If only dreams actually came true, she thought sadly.
"If you were given one wish..." Bosco's calm, quiet voice began, before letting out a soft sigh. "What would you wish for?" he asked, turning to look at her.
She turned to gaze at him. "I think you know the answer to that," she said, her voice very soft, sad.
"I do," he replied, his voice lowering before he swallowed. "I wish it could come true."
"Me too," Faith whispered. She hesitated a moment, then wrapped her arms around his waist, tears prickling her eyes.
Putting his arms around her, Bosco closed the gap between them as he hugged her. His eyes closed and he secretly wished in that moment to whoever was listening that they could be together, that he could be able to be the one to make her happy.
"I'm sorry," she murmured, squeezing her eyes shut tightly.
"What for?" he whispered back, his eyes still shut, just wanting this moment as they were in each other's arms to never end.
"Because it isn't right for me to keep leaning on you and..." She shook her head, a tear running down her cheek. "When we can never..." Faith bit down on her lip. "It's just not right."
"I don't care about all of that...you being happy is what's important to me...and if you ever need someone to lean on, I wanna be the one you turn to..." he said, gently wiping the tear from her chin where it had stopped. "That's how much I love you."
"Bosco, promise me that...no matter what happens, you'll always be my friend," she whispered, her voice barely audible.
He swallowed, nodding. "Always, I promise," he whispered back.
"And if anything would ever happen to me, I need you to make sure that Em and Charlie know how much I love them." She looked away, tears blurring her vision.
Startled by what she was saying, Bosco pulled back slightly, but just enough so that he could look at her. "Nothing's going to happen to you, Faith. Nothing," he said firmly, shaking his head. "I won't let it. Do you hear me?"
She turned her gaze to look at him again, her eyes still full of unshed tears, but her voice calm, too calm. "Things happen, Bosco."
"I won't let it," he said again.
"We're in a dangerous line of work." This time there was a hint of pleading to her tone. "Bosco, please just promise me, that if anything happens to me...you'll tell them."
He stared at her for a long moment before finally nodding. "I will...I promise..." he said back. "But nothing...nothing's going to happen to you..."
Faith just nodded, then hugged him again, needing to feel his arms around her, needing that calm reassurance that only he could give her.
Holding her tighter in his arms once again, Bosco could feel his chest start to tighten all over again, a grave fear coming over him all over again. "Nothing's going to happen..." he whispered again, this time feeling a single tear stream down his cheek as he then closed his eyes, squeezing them shut. "I won't let it...not ever..."
She buried her face into his shoulder, knowing that as long as she was with him, she was safe. Bosco wouldn't let anything happen to her as long as he was around, she never doubted that.
But it wasn't the streets that she feared.
It was her husband.
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Kim sat with her elbow perched on the door, up against her side window. Her head was resting against the tips of her thumb, forefinger and middle finger. All she could think about was what Joey had told her the day before. She couldn't believe that Faith was being treated the way she was by her husband.
Her thoughts were momentarily yanked out of alignment as the paper cup of coffee in her right hand started to burn her skin. She winced, releasing the grip she held on the cup, feeling her hand stinging, but her mind quickly trailed back to Faith again. She couldn't believe a woman as strong as she was would put up with that kind of shit from her husband. No woman should have to, she thought, slowly lifting her cup to her mouth and taking a small sip of the hot beverage that only burnt her lips and made her set it back down on her lap, though still holding onto it.
"Kim? Hello? Are you there?"
Kim blinked several times, slowly turning to the woman sitting in the seat beside her. "What?" she asked, her brow creasing as she looked at Alex.
Alex's eyebrows furrowed as she frowned. "What's with you today?"
"Nothing," she replied, defensively.
She sighed. "Okay." She turned and gazed out the passenger side window. She twisted the ring on her necklace around her finger.
Letting out a soft sigh, Kim looked over at Alex. "It's Joey...he told me and Carlos something he saw...and I just...I don't know what to do about it."
Alex turned to her again. "What did he see?" she asked, confusion in her voice.
"Well, you remember the night of his birthday party?"
"Yeah..." she said slowly, her frown deepening.
"He..." She took in a breath, gaze dropping to her hands as she turned the cup around on her knee. "He saw Faith being pushed...by her husband," she looked up at Alex again, letting out a breath. "She was crying, too."
"Shit, I knew it. That bastard," Alex said angrily, shaking her head.
"What do you mean, you knew it?" Kim asked, her brow creasing.
She sighed heavily. "Sully and Ty took a call day before yesterday, a domestic call. At the Yokas's place. Ty said Faith told him that nothing had happened, they'd just had an argument."
Kim shook her head. "I'll bet my bottom dollar that it wasn't just an argument..." she said, shaking her head angrily again.
"You and me both." Alex folded her arms across her chest. "So now what?"
"I don't know...we can't tell anyone..." she replied. "Except, maybe...I don't know, I was thinking, I should go talk to her about it."
"Wait, why can't we tell anyone?"
"I really...I don't know. If Faith found out everyone knew about what happened at that party...we have to keep it between us."
She sighed, feeling frustrated. "Okay, so you'll talk to her then?"
Kim nodded. "Yeah. And the sooner, the better...I just hope that no good...husband of hers, isn't there."
* * *
Part Two
Faith pushed the shopping cart down the aisle of breakfast cereals. Fred trailed behind her, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jean jacket. She reached out and pulled a box of Lucky Charms into the cart and started to continue down the aisle.
"Lucky Charms?" Fred snarled, removing his right hand from his pocket as he increased his pace to go around the shopping cart and yank the box out from on top the six pack of toilet paper rolls. "This isn't essential, we don't need it," he growled, scowling at Faith.
"It's Emily's favorite cereal."
"More like yours!" he snapped back.
"Fred, I don't even eat breakfast," she replied, shaking her head in disgust.
He let out a short 'huh!. "You feed your fat face on them in the middle of the night. That's why we have to waste money on a new box every damn week."
"I knew I should have come here by myself," she mumbled under her breath. She turned and started to push the cart down the aisle again.
"What, so you could waste my hard earned money?" Fred said back, having heard her as he started trailing her.
"*Your* hard earned money?" she repeated, laughing a short laugh devoid of humor.
"Yes, *my* hard earned money. I don't see you doing any of the damn housework when you come home."
"Yeah, well I don't see you out on the streets chasing down murderers and rapists, either," Faith snapped.
"Well excuse-fucking-me for being there for our two children, Faith!" he snapped back, shaking his head angrily.
"Just don't think that you're the only one who does anything, Fred. You're not the only one who works."
This time he remained silent as he scowled back at her, angered thoughts rushing through his mind and he balled his hands into fists at his side.
She grabbed a two dollar box of the generic Lucky Charms brand off the rack and threw it in the cart, putting as much distance as she could between her and her husband before things got out of hand.
Rolling his eyes as he watched his wife put the generic of lucky charms in the trolley, Fred let out an angered sigh. "I thought we already discussed that?" he asked, anger and a ring of sarcasm in his voice.
"It's two bucks cheaper. It's the only cereal she'll eat. So either we buy it or you can get up and cook her pancakes every day for the next week til we go shopping next," she replied flatly.
"Don't speak to me in that tone of voice," he said, warning. "You can buy your stupid cereal, just stop lying to me about it."
Her eyes narrowed and she gripped onto the handlebar of the cart a little tighter, wishing she'd had to work that day instead of be with him. She couldn't wait until the next day.
"Course, we all know why you're buying them for Emily...trying to get her on your side...." Fred mumbled, his voice growing quieter as he then started cursing.
"No, unlike you, Fred, I'm not a manipulator," Faith replied coolly.
Fred stared at her, his eyes narrowing in anger. "Don't be smart with me."
"Yeah, the truth hurts doesn't it?"
"You fucking..." he snarled, but shut his mouth when a woman with a young child in her shopping cart went past.
She glared at him briefly, then turned and left him in the aisle, taking the cart with her. She went to the cooler section, grabbing a gallon of milk, and a quart of orange juice. She wished she was back in the park, jogging with Bosco. A feeling of calmness swept over her as she closed her eyes and thought about him for a moment. What she wouldn't give to be married to him instead of Fred. Her eyes flew open at the thought, startled by the idea.
Just then she found Fred standing in front of her. He slammed his hand down on top of hers where it lay on the handle of the cart. Pain jolted up her arm and she quickly pulled away from him. He glared at her fiercely and she glared back.
"Don't you fucking walk away from me, do you hear?" he warned through gritted teeth.
"You know what, Fred? You'd better keep your damned hands to yourself because people are already getting suspicious," she answered, her voice quiet, a hint of warning to her tone, as well.
He stared at her, not saying anything for a long moment. "What I do in my own home, and to my own wife, is none of anyone's fucking business," he said back.
"Yeah, well, you tell that to Sully, Davis and Bosco," she replied darkly. "Because I think they'd disagree."
He said nothing, just shook his head at her.
She turned away from him and returned her focus to shopping, wanting to get done and get the hell out of there. She grabbed a loaf of bread and a bag of apples and set them in the cart. As she was headed out of the food section, there was a clearance table of toys in the middle of the walkway. She spotted a couple of Harry Potter figurines and glanced at the price tags. Two for six bucks. She smiled, knowing Charlie had been wanting those two particular toys. She quickly picked them up and set them in the cart.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Fred's loud voice demanded, standing only a few feet behind her.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" she replied, headed toward the check-out.
"I'm not paying for those damn toys, he doesn't need them, Faith."
"You don't have to pay for them. I have my own money."
"I could give a rats ass. You're not buying them for him," he said back.
"You don't get to tell me what I can and can't do with the money that *I* earn," she snapped.
"Oh can't I?" Fred asked back, snatching the toys out of the cart.
"You'd really deny your son something he wants just to be spiteful to me, wouldn't you?" Faith demanded, shaking her head.
He opened his mouth to say something, but instead closed it, shaking his head as he tossed the toys at her. "Why don't you just go ahead and suit your fucking self what you buy then. Waste money!"
She flinched as one of the toys hit her in the shoulder. She caught it before it dropped to the ground and placed it back in the cart. "I will," she replied quietly, glancing around at the people staring at them.
Fred looked her up and down for a split moment, before shaking his head. "You know what, if you want to waste money, why don't you take it all! We can even go to the bank after we're done here and you can take out all our savings, too! That make you happy!?"
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Standing no more than a few feet away, Tatiana instantly looked up from where her hands were resting on her shopping cart. She recognized the voices to be that of Faith Yokas and her husband, she remembered him from having met him at Joey's party. She didn't really know the man, and if what she was hearing right now was anything to go by, she did not want to, either.
"Fred, keep your voice down," Faith said quietly.
"I will not keep my voice down!" he shouted back, causing Tatiana to wince, and make her stomach start to knot in fear as she looked between the arguing couple.
"Do you really want to be drawing this kind of attention to yourself?"
"I think it's good we're having this discussion out in public, maybe this time you'll actually listen to me when I tell you to stop over spending!"
She watched as Faith looked at the ground. She could tell the other woman was embarrassed and upset. She felt bad for her and wanted to say something, but she stood rooted in place. "Let's check out and go home," Faith said softly, a defeated tone to her voice.
"You know what? Why don't you go right ahead! Go home in a damn cab for all I care! I'm outta here, I'll see you when I see you," he said, walking around the cart and shoving it back so it hit her in the stomach before he went down the check out and headed out of the store.
Tatiana saw Faith close her eyes for a moment and her heart clenched for the other woman. She started to walk in her direction, but Faith turned and headed abruptly to the check-out, not once looking in her direction. She watched helplessly as the police officer headed out of the store after she was done checking out, a sinking feeling in her stomach.
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Sully walked out of Swersky's office where he'd been asked in, in relation to the incident at Faith's home a couple days ago. Their superior was worried, and asked that he and his partner let him know if they ever thought the life of their colleague was in emminant danger. It saddened him to think that anything bad could ever happen to Faith. She was a strong, and extremely caring woman, and certainly didn't deserve the treatment she was receiving from her husband.
Taking in a breath, he made his way down the hall, suddenly grabbing hold of his partner's sleeve when the younger officer walked out of the squad room. "Hey, Davis, can I have a word?" he asked, pulling him into roll call and closing the door behind them as they went in.
Davis frowned and looked at him. "Everything okay?"
He stared back at his partner for a long, silent moment. "Swersky asked us to keep an eye on Yokas, he's worried about what happened the other day. Said he didn't like the way Fred was behaving around her a little while back."
He nodded, looked at the floor. "Have to agree with him there."
"There was...something else..." Sully begun, pausing when he looked at his partner, waiting.
Davis glanced up at him, his eyebrows furrowing. "What?"
He bit back the smile that was forming on his lips, "Tatiana and I...we're..." He let out a soft sigh, looking back at his partner. "Well, I'm gonna be a dad."
His eyes widened and he stared at Sully. "Seriously?"
He smiled, nodding. "Seriously. I'm, gonna be a dad...I never thought, that for a single moment, in my life I'd ever be a parent...and Tatiana just found out she's pregnant."
Davis whistled lowly. "Wow. That's...that's great, Sul. Congratulations." He paused. "You are happy about this, right?"
Sully titled his head to the side slightly in that, 'Do you really have to ask something like that?' look he always had when he was at his most happy and serious moment. "Of course. We both are."
He grinned broadly. "That's great."
"What's great?"
Davis turned to see Kim standing in the doorway. He shot a look back at Sully.
"I ah..." Sully stammered, thinking as to whether or not he should tell Kim. "Tatiana and I...well, Tatiana, she's pregnant. I'm going to be a dad!"
Her mouth dropped open, then she smiled broadly. "Sully, that's so great! Congratulations!"
"Thanks," he said back, feeling his face flush slightly. "We're both excited about it...I can't believe I'm going to be a dad."
Davis smiled, then looked past Kim, wondering where his girlfriend was.
She looked at him. "Out in the bus," she informed him.
"Ah. I'll just..go say hi." He slipped out of the room.
Kim glanced at Sully. "You'll make a great father."
"Thanks," Sully replied. "Not to sound rude, but ah...what are you doing here anyway?"
"Actually...I'm looking for Yokas...you seen her around?"
"No, not since yesterday. She and Bosco have the day off," he replied, his brow creasing as he frowned. "Why?"
"Oh." Kim shrugged, and forced a smile. "Joey's wanting to have Charlie over for a sleepover. I wanted to see if he could come over Friday night."
"Oh," Sully said back, shaking his head slightly. "You might want to call her place, see if she's home then."
"Yeah, I'll...I'll do that. Thanks, Sully." She turned to go, then paused and looked at him again. "Congratulations," she said again, smiling.
He nodded, smiling. "Thanks."
"You're welcome. See you out there," she said over her shoulder as she headed out the door.
"Anytime," Sully said back, watching as she left. He let out a long sigh, before heading out the door himself.
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Faith sat at the kitchen table next to her son, trying to help him with his math homework. She glanced over her shoulder to where Fred and Emily sat side-by-side on the sofa, watching a movie. They were both smiling and laughing, occasionally commenting on the plot and characters. She closed her eyes briefly, then turned her attention back to her son. "Charlie."
Charlie looked up from his homework, turning the pencil around in his fingers. "Yeah, Mom?" he quietly asked.
"We need to talk about what's going on with you at school," she said, keeping her voice low so Fred didn't hear them.
He frowned, letting out a soft sigh. "Do we have to?"
"Yeah, baby, we have to." She gazed at him seriously. "You want to tell me what's been going on? Why you keep getting in these fights with the kids in your class?"
He turned back to his homework, gripping onto the pencil. "It's nothing...I don't wanna talk about it."
"It's not nothing, Charlie. Mrs. Dawson said if you get into anymore fights, you'll be suspended."
"So. I don't care. I hate that school anyway," he mumbled, still not looking back at her.
Faith rested a hand on his shoulder. "Why? What's going on?"
He let out a long sigh. "I told you. Nothing."
"Charlie, you used to love school."
"Well I hate it now. I hate all the other kids, and when both their parents come to pick them up...." He cut himself off, shaking his head. "I don't want to talk about it any more."
She stared at him for a moment. "So you want me and your dad to start picking you up from school?"
"No," Charlie replied, rubbing his right eye as he let out another sigh. "But their parents don't fight...you and dad are always fighting..." he said softly.
Faith swallowed hard and looked down at the table, feeling guilty. "I know. I'm sorry about that." She bit her lip, then leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "What if I told you that I'm not gonna fight with your dad anymore?" she asked softly.
Charlie sniffed, looking back up at her. "It's Dad, not you..." he replied. "He's always mean to you."
"It's not your dad's fault, at least not all of it. We'll try harder, okay? I promise."
"Okay," he nodded, quickly climbing to his feet and wrapping his arms around her.
Faith hugged him tightly, squeezing her eyes shut, vowing not to cry. I'm so sorry, she thought.
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Kim had just turned the last corner leading to Faith's apartment when she looked back over her shoulder at Alex who was accompanying her. She swallowed hard, pausing in her steps for a long moment before heading the short distance to Faith's apartment door. She knocked on the door, then took a step back, turning to Alex once more and letting out a sigh.
"So are you going with the Joey-wants-to-have-Charlie-sleepover reason if the asshole's here?" Alex asked quietly, glancing at her.
"Yeah, I just hope he's not...just the thought of him hurting her, I wanna punch his lights out," Kim said back, feeling her hands ball into fists at her side. She had to control herself, though, getting hot headed wouldn't solve anything, she reminded herself.
"You and me both," she replied, folding her arms over her chest.
At that moment the door opened and Fred Yokas stood in front of them, a brief look of annoyance crossing his face. "Yeah?"
Kim suddenly fell a loss for words, but quickly cleared her throat. "Is Faith in?" she asked, hoping he'd just go inside and Faith would come to do the door instead.
He folded his arms across his chest. "She's not working today, she's spending the day with her family."
"Yeah, well this is an emergency," she flatly replied, crossing her own arms across her chest.
Fred raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really? What kind of emergency?"
Alex glanced sideways at her partner. "Actually, Kim was wanting to talk to her about having Charlie spend the night with Joey this weekend." She smiled at him, trying to pretend she liked him.
Kim looked sideways at Alex, then back to Fred.
"That's an emergency?" He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Faith!"
A moment later, Faith came up behind her husband. "What?"
"Your friends are here," he informed her, his tone sour.
She looked to the doorway, her eyes widening slightly as she saw Kim and Alex. "What are you guys doing here?"
"I ah, was wondering if Charlie could come stay over, Joey's been asking me all week if he could," Kim replied, smiling faintly.
"Oh, uh..." She glanced behind her to where her husband was. "You guys want to come in?"
Kim looked sideways at Alex, swallowing, then turned back to Faith. "Okay," she said, smiling again. "If it's okay, that is?"
"Yeah, come on in." Faith stepped back and let them in.
Fred sighed heavily. "Keep it down, Emily and I are watching a movie," he said, disgusted as he returned to his place on the couch.
She gave her friends an apologetic look.
Alex peered around Faith and saw Charlie coming up behind her. His eyes widened when he spotted her. "Hi, Charlie," she said, smiling at him.
Charlie smiled back at Alex. "Hi."
"I hope you don't mind our dropping by and asking," Kim apologized to Faith, glancing down at Charlie and giving him a smile, before turning back to Faith once again. "I went by the station, but they said you'd taken the day off."
"No, it's fine. Do you want something to drink?" she offered.
Alex glanced sideways at Kim, giving her a look and nodding slightly toward the kitchen. "How have you been?" she asked Charlie, kneeling down and smiling at him.
"Okay," he shrugged. "School sucks."
Catching the look and nod Alex gave her, Kim nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great. I could give you a hand?"
Faith saw the look pass between her friends and nodded slightly, feeling a bit confused. "Sure." She headed toward the kitchen.
Kim glanced back at Alex as she followed Faith.
"So, uh...we've got water, iced tea and milk..." Faith said, turning and looking at her friend as they stood in the kitchen.
Kim looked back at her. "Iced tea would be great..." she replied, trying to find in her mind the best way to tell her what Joey had said.
"Okay." She went to the refridgerator and pulled out the gallon of iced tea. She grabbed a glass from the cupboard above the stove. She poured the liquid into the glass and handed it to Kim, sensing that the other woman was wanting to say something.
She gratefully took the drink, taking a sip before letting out a breath, holding the glass with both hands. "Listen, Faith...there's...there's something Joey told me..."
"What's that?"
"He ah...that night, at Carlos'...he saw...Fred... push you up against the counter," she replied, looking down at the glass in her hand.
Faith froze, her mind flashing to the moment at Joey's birthday party when she'd seen him walk into the kitchen, a frightened look on his face. Her heart skipped a beat. How could she have thought that Joey wouldn't say something to his parents? She took a deep breath. "That's not what happened," she said quickly.
"Are you calling my son a liar?" Kim asked back, though not angry.
Her eyes widened slightly in surprise. "No, not at all, Kim, I'm just saying he misunderstood what he saw, that's all," she said quickly, shaking her head, not wanting her friend to be angry with her.
Letting out a soft sigh of relief, Kim shifted her weight to her other foot. "And what did happen then? Because, he was pretty upset when he told me, pretty upset about something he supposedly mistakenly saw."
Faith forced a smile. "It was stupid, really. I spilled some water on the floor and I went to wipe it up, but I slipped and I fell back against the sink. Fred tried to catch me because he thought I was gonna fall, but--" She shook his head. "I can understand where Joey thought...but yeah. It was just an accident."
//Joey nodded solemnly. "He was yelling at her, and being really mean. She was crying."\\ Kim shook her head, remembering what her son had said. "No. He heard Fred yelling at you, he saw you crying, Faith."
"Yeah, we were arguing when I spilled my drink, but he didn't push me."
Again, she shook her head. "Why are you covering for him? Joey wouldn't lie about what he saw, he said you were crying, and your husband was yelling at you...yes, you say you were having an argument..."
"Look, I'm sorry Joey heard us arguing, but it really wasn't a big deal. I was upset, I get that way sometimes. Don't make this out to be something it's not." Faith turned and poured herself a glass of tea and sipped it, avoiding eye contact with Kim.
She sipped some of her own glass of tea, feeling bad in a lot of ways for having upset Faith like she had done, and also for dragging up something that she probably didn't want anyone to know about anyway. "Listen...I'm sorry...just when he told me, I'm really worried about you, Faith..." she began again, keeping her voice soft as she glance out over to the living area, a part of her relieved that Fred and their daughter had the tv up as loud as they did. She turned back to the other woman, taking another sip of her drink.
"Don't be." She took a deep breath and lifted her gaze to look at Kim. "Fred and I are having some problems, but..." Faith looked away again. "We'll work through them. We always do," she said tiredly, a tone of resignation to her voice.
"Yeah...I know...I'm sorry...I shouldn't have...said anything, I'm really sorry," Kim said back, her voice still low and she let out a soft sigh.
"It's okay." She chewed her lower lip. "So are you guys on duty?"
She nodded. "Yeah...well, we're on a break. We thought we'd drop by, see how you're doing."
"Well, I'm fine. I was just helping Charlie with some homework," Faith told her.
Kim forced a half smile, "Is it...still okay, if Charlie slept over? Joey's been asking and asking, and I'd been meaning to ask."
"Oh, yeah. That'd be fine. This weekend?"
"Yeah, that'd be great...which day is best for you?" she asked back, taking another sip of her drink.
"Friday night would be good. If that works for you."
"That works great," she smiled.
"Okay, great then. Should I drop him at your place, or--?"
"Whichever is best for you...oh wait, I'll be picking Joey up...so, what if Carlos came and picked Charlie up?"
Faith hesitated for a second, not because she didn't trust Carlos, but because she wasn't sure how Fred would react to him. "Sure. That's fine."
Kim smiled, "That's if you don't mind...we can both come by here after I pick Joey up, if that's easier?"
"You know, whatever works best for you. Don't worry about it," she said quickly, forcing a smile.
At that moment, Alex ducked her head into the room. "Sorry to interrupt, but we have a call, Kim."
Kim quickly turned to her partner, "What? Damn..." she turned back to Faith, setting her glass down on the bench. "How about I ring you tomorrow morning with the details after I talk with Carlos, find out what his schedule is?"
"Sounds great." Faith nodded, then glanced at them. "Be careful out there, okay?" she said to them both.
Alex gave her a quick smile. "We will."
"We will, thanks...have a nice evening..." Kim replied, following Alex as they headed out of the apartment. She waved goodbye to Charlie as she went, smiling back at him as he smiled at her.
Faith closed her eyes and leaned back against the counter, exhaling slowly. She'd never realized how hard keeping up appearances could be.
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Alex sat in the driver's seat, still feeling tense from just having been in the same room with Fred Yokas. She glanced over at her partner. "So...what'd she say?"
Kim rose her eyebrow slightly, but in frustration as she turned to look at Alex."Flatly denied it. Said they were arguing, but he never pushed her...like I believe that...Joey didn't lie, he wouldn't lie...not about a thing like that."
"Of course he wouldn't." She shook her head, gripping the wheel a little tighter. "You know, maybe somebody should just kill Fred."
Kim laughed, but it was a serious laugh. "Well, we do have some good gang affiliations..." she quietly remarked, staring out her side window.
"I just don't get it. She's never seemed the type to put up with that kind of crap from a guy, you know? I mean, she's a cop."
"I know...it's like, somehow something's changed her..." she agreed, shaking her head though. "And I'll bet it's something he's done, or doing..."
"Like what?" A thought suddenly occured to her. "Oh, shit. The kids. I bet he's using the kids against her."
Kim quickly turned back to Alex."I wouldn't put it past him...that bastard...you know, I always thought Jimmy was bad, but he never used Joey like that, not to get me to crumble like that, to stay..."
"God, poor Faith," Alex muttered, shaking her head again.
"You can say that again..."
There was a long moment of silence.
Alex glanced at her sideways. "So, um...how are things with you and Carlos?" she asked, turning her eyes back to the road.
Kim stayed looking out her window., "Good..." she replied, a sudden smile stretching over her face. "I'm going to tell Joey about him...about, us..." she then added, turning to her partner.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah...I really...I like him a lot, and if Joey knows...it'll make things easier."
Alex nodded, taking in the new information. "Yeah, that's true. So things are good with you two then?"
Another wide smile."Yeah. Real good. We spent the day together yesterday, well, and Kylie and Joey...he's not the total jerk I once thought he was."
"Good to know." She still doubted her friend's judgement when it came to Carlos, but she was trying to keep an open mind.
"You know, we should go out on a date sometime...the four of us..." Kim suggested, glancing out her side window when she thought she saw something.
Alex quickly glanced over at her, thrown off guard by the suggestion. "Uh...yeah. Sure. Sometime. That'd be..great."
"Great," Kim smiled at her partner, before looking out her window again.
"Yeah, great," she muttered to herself, her voice inaudible to her partner. "Just great."
Authors: Demelza and X_tremeroswellian
Email(s): demelza81@yahoo.co.nz and X_tremeroswellian@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: The characters don't belong to us. They belong to Edward Allen Bernero and John Wells and a bunch of other people that we've never met before. Please don't sue.
Rating: PG-13 for language and sexual content
Summary: Kim struggles to decide what to do about what Joey told her and Carlos while Tatiana witnesses a fight between Faith and Fred while she's out shopping.
Spoilers: Up through and including "The Unforgiven."
Author's Note: This is the twenty-first story in a series of Third Watch fics we're writing titled "Wherever You Will Go." The first one is "Confessions," the second is "Here With Me," the third is "Pain," the fourth is "Tears," the fifth is "Fear," the sixth is "Sadness," the seventh is "Reunion," the eighth is "Warning Signs," the ninth is "The Ball," the tenth is "Interlude," the eleventh is "Hush," the twelfth is "Haunted," the thirteenth is "No Good Deed," the fourteenth is "Unexpected Surprises," the fifteenth is "Better Than Ice Cream," the sixteenth is "Just Another Day," the seventeenth is "Weight of the World," the eighteenth is "Faith's Lament," the nineteenth is "Broken Glass," and the twentieth is "Secrets and Lies." You may want to read those first before continuing. All fics in the series can be found at the WYWG website: http://wywg.topcities.com/index.html .
The Grand Facade (Part One)
The sun hadn't even risen yet as she and Bosco ran side-by-side through Central Park. They hadn't spoken other than a brief 'hello' when they met up. She hadn't slept well that night. Not that she'd been sleeping well for a long time now, but she wasn't sure she'd even managed to doze off. Surprisingly, Fred hadn't seemed upset that she wanted to go out jogging. Of course, when she'd told him the night before, she'd ommitted the part where she was meeting Bosco.
He hadn't even woke up when she left their bed. She'd changed in the bathroom, pulled on the NYPD t-shirt Bosco had let her borrow a few days ago when she'd stayed at his place for the night and hadn't yet returned. Over the t-shirt she wore a long-sleeved gray sweatshirt. It was hot, but she didn't want him to see the bruises on her arms and wrists. She wore a pair of black shorts under the sweatshirt.
She wasn't sure how long they'd run when they finally stopped. She dropped onto a park bench, trying to catch her breath. "Next time...we start out slower," she said between breaths as she looked over at him.
Bosco stood with his hands on his hips as he tried to regain his own breathing, a wide smile on his face. "Yeah...good idea..." he replied, laughing slightly.
She grinned as she laid her head against the back of the bench and stared up at the sky. She let her eyes close as she focused on breathing.
He slowly walked over to the bench and sat down beside her, heavily landing against the back of the bench as he let out a long, even breath. "You okay?" he asked, looking sideways at her.
She lifted her head and looked at him. "Yeah. Just exhausted now," she said with a wry grin as she closed her eyes again. "You okay?"
Bosco shook his head. "Nope. I'm royally and utterly drained...I don't think I've jogged that much in...forever..."
She chuckled. "Me either. Great, wasn't it?"
He laughed. "If you like living through a personal hell every morning at *5 am*..." he said, though she knew he was joking from his tone.
"I used to do this every morning when I was in high school," she told him.
Bosco shook his head. "You're nuts..." he replied, looking sideways at her. "Every morning?" he asked, as if somewhat disbelieving.
"Yep, every morning." She glanced at him. "I was on the track team."
He raised his eyebrows. "Now that, I did not know...no wonder you wanted to join the force."
Faith smiled slightly and closed her eyes again, letting out a breath. "It feels good to run again," she said, her voice soft.
"How come you stopped?"
She swallowed hard. "Kinda lost interest."
"Oh," he replied. "Bit like me with badminton..." he said, grinning.
She opened her eyes. "You played badminton?"
"Once. This huge guy, like six foot ten or something, whacked me in the nuts with his racket on a back stroke... never played it again."
Faith stared at him for a moment, then couldn't supress the chuckle that escaped her lips. "I'm sorry," she said, unable to stop laughing.
He shrugged. "No biggie..."
She shook her head, a grin still on her face. After her laughter stopped, she glanced at him again. "Thank you," she said quietly.
Bosco's brow creased slightly. "For what?"
"For coming here with me." She bit her lip. "I wasn't sure that...I could do this again."
"Jog, you mean?" he asked, slightly confused.
"Yeah," she said softly, gathering her legs and pulling them up to her chest.
"I'm not sure I follow, Faith...why wouldn't you think you could do it again?"
Faith swallowed hard, hesitated, then looked at him. "Because of the reason I lost interest."
"Okay..." he said quietly, glancing out around them.
"I quit running right after..." She bit her lip and looked away.
Bosco quickly turned back to her, hating himself. "I'm sorry, Faith...I didn't...I should have...realized..."
She looked back at him, gave him a small, sad smile. "How could you have?"
"High school...Brightman...I should have put one and one together, I'm sorry..." he apologized again.
"Don't be. I shouldn't have brought it up." Faith looked away from him, feeling bad for making him feel bad.
"Would you quit doing that..." Bosco said after a moment, feeling frustrated as he turned to look at her. "You need to stop being so hard on yourself."
"It's just...what's the point in dragging it all up over and over again, you know? It just makes you feel bad, it makes me feel bad...what's the point?"
"Because talking about what happened helps...that's why..."
Faith looked down at the ground for a moment, then closed her eyes, exhaling deeply, not sure what to say.
"You always told me that, Faith...you wouldn't have said it if it weren't true..." he added.
She gave him a half-smile. "Not fair to turn my own words against me, Boz."
He smiled back. "Sure it is."
"This is all new to me," she said quietly.
"What's that?"
"Talking about this. I mean, other than you, the only people who know are my mother and--" She cut herself off before saying 'Harold.'
"It gets easier, after a while," he tried to assure her.
"I hope so."
"It will."
Faith gave him a small smile. "Thanks." She let out a low breath and looked up at the sky, which was growing lighter by the moment. Sunrise would be in a few minutes. "You want to grab a cup of coffee somewhere before we split?"
Bosco nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great."
She rose to her feet, then held her hand out toward him.
A little surprised, he then smiled back at Faith and placed his hand in hers as he rose up from the bench.
Faith helped pull him to his feet, but he tripped on a half-buried rock in the dirt and she quickly put her hands on his shoulders to keep him from falling.
As he stumbled forward, and she helped him to not fall, Bosco instantly put his hands on Faith's hips. "Sorry..." he said instantly, looking back at her.
She swallowed hard, her heart skipping a beat. She gazed at him wordlessly as they remained standing close, her hands still on his shoulders, his hands still on her hips.
He swallowed hard, his heart starting to race a bit faster in his chest as he gazed into her eyes. It feels so right being this close to her, he thought, feeling himself let out a low, relaxing breath.
It would be so easy to just lean forward a couple inches and kiss him. God knows that's what she wanted to do. A sudden memory of her conversation with Fred the day before flashed into her mind.
//"I don't believe you, you were too scared to be on your own once, you'll be too scared to be on your own now."
"I wouldn't be alone," Faith replied, her voice calm.
"If you're talking about those damn kids, there's no way in hell an unstable woman like you would *ever* get custody of them!"//
I can't lose my kids, she thought, sadness welling up within her. Even if it meant she could never be with Bosco, that she had to stay with Fred for the rest of her life. She couldn't lose Em and Charlie. She closed her eyes for a moment, then slowly pulled away from him, taking a deep breath. "Um...so, coffee then?" she asked softly, unable to look at him.
Bosco nodded, slipping his hands into the pockets of his gray sweats. "Yeah...coffee..." he repeated.
They walked across the park, headed toward a little cafe on the other side. "So any plans for the day?" she asked, desperately wanting to break the silence that had fallen between them.
Bosco thought for a moment as they kept on walking. "Nothing special. I was thinking about going round to see Ma."
She nodded. "That'll be good."
"Yeah..." he replied after a moment. There was another long silence. "She keeps asking how you're doing."
"Yeah?" Faith glanced at him, surprised.
"Yeah, she...wanted me to ask if you...wanted to come over to dinner sometime..." he said, swallowing hard.
She paused in her steps. "Um...yeah, dinner sometime would be good. Tell her I said thanks for the invitation."
Bosco gave a half smile. "I'll pass it on." After a long moment of silence, he glanced sideways at Faith. "What about you? What are you planning to do today?"
"Oh, uh...Fred has the day off. We're gonna go to Wal-Mart and get some groceries and things." She shrugged and didn't look at him.
Like an instant reflex, Bosco's hands clenched into fists at his side. "Oh," he replied, his voice quiet, distant.
Faith glanced up at the sky, which was turning beautiful shades of pink and purple as the sun began to rise. She paused in her steps and titled her head back, staring up at it, a feeling of awe coming over her. It had been a long time since she'd seen the sunrise.
I know she's not happy with him... Bosco's mind suddenly trailed off. Why doesn't she just leave him? He treats her badly, and if what Davis and Sully said is true...I don't understand why she just puts up with his shit. She deserves better, much better than that.
"Bosco, look," she whispered, unable to tear her gaze from the sky.
Shaken from his thoughts, Bosco quickly looked at Faith, then up to where she was looking in the sky. "What?"
She reached out and wrapped her hand around his arm without even looking at him. "The sunrise..." she murmured.
He swallowed hard, eyes glancing down at where her hand rested on his arm before trailing back to the sunrise. It was beautiful, the way the golden amber rays made the clouds appear in all sorts of shades of red, orange and even some crimson. "It's...amazing..." he whispered, just loud enough so Faith could hear.
She turned her head to look at him, feeling an odd sense of deja vu wash over her. Suddenly a vivid flash of the dream she'd had when she'd fallen asleep in the squad yesterday popped into her head.
//"Bosco?" she whispered.
His eyes met hers. "Yeah?" he softly asked back, wanting in that moment to press his lips to hers again.
"Promise me that someday...this is gonna be real," Faith pleaded, a tear escaping the corner of her eye and rolling slowly down her cheek.
"I promise, Faith...we'll be together, forever..." he said back, his hand moving to touch her face as he gently wiped away the tear. "I promise." //
Faith closed her eyes as a gentle breeze blew the hair out of her face. If only dreams actually came true, she thought sadly.
"If you were given one wish..." Bosco's calm, quiet voice began, before letting out a soft sigh. "What would you wish for?" he asked, turning to look at her.
She turned to gaze at him. "I think you know the answer to that," she said, her voice very soft, sad.
"I do," he replied, his voice lowering before he swallowed. "I wish it could come true."
"Me too," Faith whispered. She hesitated a moment, then wrapped her arms around his waist, tears prickling her eyes.
Putting his arms around her, Bosco closed the gap between them as he hugged her. His eyes closed and he secretly wished in that moment to whoever was listening that they could be together, that he could be able to be the one to make her happy.
"I'm sorry," she murmured, squeezing her eyes shut tightly.
"What for?" he whispered back, his eyes still shut, just wanting this moment as they were in each other's arms to never end.
"Because it isn't right for me to keep leaning on you and..." She shook her head, a tear running down her cheek. "When we can never..." Faith bit down on her lip. "It's just not right."
"I don't care about all of that...you being happy is what's important to me...and if you ever need someone to lean on, I wanna be the one you turn to..." he said, gently wiping the tear from her chin where it had stopped. "That's how much I love you."
"Bosco, promise me that...no matter what happens, you'll always be my friend," she whispered, her voice barely audible.
He swallowed, nodding. "Always, I promise," he whispered back.
"And if anything would ever happen to me, I need you to make sure that Em and Charlie know how much I love them." She looked away, tears blurring her vision.
Startled by what she was saying, Bosco pulled back slightly, but just enough so that he could look at her. "Nothing's going to happen to you, Faith. Nothing," he said firmly, shaking his head. "I won't let it. Do you hear me?"
She turned her gaze to look at him again, her eyes still full of unshed tears, but her voice calm, too calm. "Things happen, Bosco."
"I won't let it," he said again.
"We're in a dangerous line of work." This time there was a hint of pleading to her tone. "Bosco, please just promise me, that if anything happens to me...you'll tell them."
He stared at her for a long moment before finally nodding. "I will...I promise..." he said back. "But nothing...nothing's going to happen to you..."
Faith just nodded, then hugged him again, needing to feel his arms around her, needing that calm reassurance that only he could give her.
Holding her tighter in his arms once again, Bosco could feel his chest start to tighten all over again, a grave fear coming over him all over again. "Nothing's going to happen..." he whispered again, this time feeling a single tear stream down his cheek as he then closed his eyes, squeezing them shut. "I won't let it...not ever..."
She buried her face into his shoulder, knowing that as long as she was with him, she was safe. Bosco wouldn't let anything happen to her as long as he was around, she never doubted that.
But it wasn't the streets that she feared.
It was her husband.
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Kim sat with her elbow perched on the door, up against her side window. Her head was resting against the tips of her thumb, forefinger and middle finger. All she could think about was what Joey had told her the day before. She couldn't believe that Faith was being treated the way she was by her husband.
Her thoughts were momentarily yanked out of alignment as the paper cup of coffee in her right hand started to burn her skin. She winced, releasing the grip she held on the cup, feeling her hand stinging, but her mind quickly trailed back to Faith again. She couldn't believe a woman as strong as she was would put up with that kind of shit from her husband. No woman should have to, she thought, slowly lifting her cup to her mouth and taking a small sip of the hot beverage that only burnt her lips and made her set it back down on her lap, though still holding onto it.
"Kim? Hello? Are you there?"
Kim blinked several times, slowly turning to the woman sitting in the seat beside her. "What?" she asked, her brow creasing as she looked at Alex.
Alex's eyebrows furrowed as she frowned. "What's with you today?"
"Nothing," she replied, defensively.
She sighed. "Okay." She turned and gazed out the passenger side window. She twisted the ring on her necklace around her finger.
Letting out a soft sigh, Kim looked over at Alex. "It's Joey...he told me and Carlos something he saw...and I just...I don't know what to do about it."
Alex turned to her again. "What did he see?" she asked, confusion in her voice.
"Well, you remember the night of his birthday party?"
"Yeah..." she said slowly, her frown deepening.
"He..." She took in a breath, gaze dropping to her hands as she turned the cup around on her knee. "He saw Faith being pushed...by her husband," she looked up at Alex again, letting out a breath. "She was crying, too."
"Shit, I knew it. That bastard," Alex said angrily, shaking her head.
"What do you mean, you knew it?" Kim asked, her brow creasing.
She sighed heavily. "Sully and Ty took a call day before yesterday, a domestic call. At the Yokas's place. Ty said Faith told him that nothing had happened, they'd just had an argument."
Kim shook her head. "I'll bet my bottom dollar that it wasn't just an argument..." she said, shaking her head angrily again.
"You and me both." Alex folded her arms across her chest. "So now what?"
"I don't know...we can't tell anyone..." she replied. "Except, maybe...I don't know, I was thinking, I should go talk to her about it."
"Wait, why can't we tell anyone?"
"I really...I don't know. If Faith found out everyone knew about what happened at that party...we have to keep it between us."
She sighed, feeling frustrated. "Okay, so you'll talk to her then?"
Kim nodded. "Yeah. And the sooner, the better...I just hope that no good...husband of hers, isn't there."
* * *
Part Two
Faith pushed the shopping cart down the aisle of breakfast cereals. Fred trailed behind her, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jean jacket. She reached out and pulled a box of Lucky Charms into the cart and started to continue down the aisle.
"Lucky Charms?" Fred snarled, removing his right hand from his pocket as he increased his pace to go around the shopping cart and yank the box out from on top the six pack of toilet paper rolls. "This isn't essential, we don't need it," he growled, scowling at Faith.
"It's Emily's favorite cereal."
"More like yours!" he snapped back.
"Fred, I don't even eat breakfast," she replied, shaking her head in disgust.
He let out a short 'huh!. "You feed your fat face on them in the middle of the night. That's why we have to waste money on a new box every damn week."
"I knew I should have come here by myself," she mumbled under her breath. She turned and started to push the cart down the aisle again.
"What, so you could waste my hard earned money?" Fred said back, having heard her as he started trailing her.
"*Your* hard earned money?" she repeated, laughing a short laugh devoid of humor.
"Yes, *my* hard earned money. I don't see you doing any of the damn housework when you come home."
"Yeah, well I don't see you out on the streets chasing down murderers and rapists, either," Faith snapped.
"Well excuse-fucking-me for being there for our two children, Faith!" he snapped back, shaking his head angrily.
"Just don't think that you're the only one who does anything, Fred. You're not the only one who works."
This time he remained silent as he scowled back at her, angered thoughts rushing through his mind and he balled his hands into fists at his side.
She grabbed a two dollar box of the generic Lucky Charms brand off the rack and threw it in the cart, putting as much distance as she could between her and her husband before things got out of hand.
Rolling his eyes as he watched his wife put the generic of lucky charms in the trolley, Fred let out an angered sigh. "I thought we already discussed that?" he asked, anger and a ring of sarcasm in his voice.
"It's two bucks cheaper. It's the only cereal she'll eat. So either we buy it or you can get up and cook her pancakes every day for the next week til we go shopping next," she replied flatly.
"Don't speak to me in that tone of voice," he said, warning. "You can buy your stupid cereal, just stop lying to me about it."
Her eyes narrowed and she gripped onto the handlebar of the cart a little tighter, wishing she'd had to work that day instead of be with him. She couldn't wait until the next day.
"Course, we all know why you're buying them for Emily...trying to get her on your side...." Fred mumbled, his voice growing quieter as he then started cursing.
"No, unlike you, Fred, I'm not a manipulator," Faith replied coolly.
Fred stared at her, his eyes narrowing in anger. "Don't be smart with me."
"Yeah, the truth hurts doesn't it?"
"You fucking..." he snarled, but shut his mouth when a woman with a young child in her shopping cart went past.
She glared at him briefly, then turned and left him in the aisle, taking the cart with her. She went to the cooler section, grabbing a gallon of milk, and a quart of orange juice. She wished she was back in the park, jogging with Bosco. A feeling of calmness swept over her as she closed her eyes and thought about him for a moment. What she wouldn't give to be married to him instead of Fred. Her eyes flew open at the thought, startled by the idea.
Just then she found Fred standing in front of her. He slammed his hand down on top of hers where it lay on the handle of the cart. Pain jolted up her arm and she quickly pulled away from him. He glared at her fiercely and she glared back.
"Don't you fucking walk away from me, do you hear?" he warned through gritted teeth.
"You know what, Fred? You'd better keep your damned hands to yourself because people are already getting suspicious," she answered, her voice quiet, a hint of warning to her tone, as well.
He stared at her, not saying anything for a long moment. "What I do in my own home, and to my own wife, is none of anyone's fucking business," he said back.
"Yeah, well, you tell that to Sully, Davis and Bosco," she replied darkly. "Because I think they'd disagree."
He said nothing, just shook his head at her.
She turned away from him and returned her focus to shopping, wanting to get done and get the hell out of there. She grabbed a loaf of bread and a bag of apples and set them in the cart. As she was headed out of the food section, there was a clearance table of toys in the middle of the walkway. She spotted a couple of Harry Potter figurines and glanced at the price tags. Two for six bucks. She smiled, knowing Charlie had been wanting those two particular toys. She quickly picked them up and set them in the cart.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Fred's loud voice demanded, standing only a few feet behind her.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" she replied, headed toward the check-out.
"I'm not paying for those damn toys, he doesn't need them, Faith."
"You don't have to pay for them. I have my own money."
"I could give a rats ass. You're not buying them for him," he said back.
"You don't get to tell me what I can and can't do with the money that *I* earn," she snapped.
"Oh can't I?" Fred asked back, snatching the toys out of the cart.
"You'd really deny your son something he wants just to be spiteful to me, wouldn't you?" Faith demanded, shaking her head.
He opened his mouth to say something, but instead closed it, shaking his head as he tossed the toys at her. "Why don't you just go ahead and suit your fucking self what you buy then. Waste money!"
She flinched as one of the toys hit her in the shoulder. She caught it before it dropped to the ground and placed it back in the cart. "I will," she replied quietly, glancing around at the people staring at them.
Fred looked her up and down for a split moment, before shaking his head. "You know what, if you want to waste money, why don't you take it all! We can even go to the bank after we're done here and you can take out all our savings, too! That make you happy!?"
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Standing no more than a few feet away, Tatiana instantly looked up from where her hands were resting on her shopping cart. She recognized the voices to be that of Faith Yokas and her husband, she remembered him from having met him at Joey's party. She didn't really know the man, and if what she was hearing right now was anything to go by, she did not want to, either.
"Fred, keep your voice down," Faith said quietly.
"I will not keep my voice down!" he shouted back, causing Tatiana to wince, and make her stomach start to knot in fear as she looked between the arguing couple.
"Do you really want to be drawing this kind of attention to yourself?"
"I think it's good we're having this discussion out in public, maybe this time you'll actually listen to me when I tell you to stop over spending!"
She watched as Faith looked at the ground. She could tell the other woman was embarrassed and upset. She felt bad for her and wanted to say something, but she stood rooted in place. "Let's check out and go home," Faith said softly, a defeated tone to her voice.
"You know what? Why don't you go right ahead! Go home in a damn cab for all I care! I'm outta here, I'll see you when I see you," he said, walking around the cart and shoving it back so it hit her in the stomach before he went down the check out and headed out of the store.
Tatiana saw Faith close her eyes for a moment and her heart clenched for the other woman. She started to walk in her direction, but Faith turned and headed abruptly to the check-out, not once looking in her direction. She watched helplessly as the police officer headed out of the store after she was done checking out, a sinking feeling in her stomach.
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Sully walked out of Swersky's office where he'd been asked in, in relation to the incident at Faith's home a couple days ago. Their superior was worried, and asked that he and his partner let him know if they ever thought the life of their colleague was in emminant danger. It saddened him to think that anything bad could ever happen to Faith. She was a strong, and extremely caring woman, and certainly didn't deserve the treatment she was receiving from her husband.
Taking in a breath, he made his way down the hall, suddenly grabbing hold of his partner's sleeve when the younger officer walked out of the squad room. "Hey, Davis, can I have a word?" he asked, pulling him into roll call and closing the door behind them as they went in.
Davis frowned and looked at him. "Everything okay?"
He stared back at his partner for a long, silent moment. "Swersky asked us to keep an eye on Yokas, he's worried about what happened the other day. Said he didn't like the way Fred was behaving around her a little while back."
He nodded, looked at the floor. "Have to agree with him there."
"There was...something else..." Sully begun, pausing when he looked at his partner, waiting.
Davis glanced up at him, his eyebrows furrowing. "What?"
He bit back the smile that was forming on his lips, "Tatiana and I...we're..." He let out a soft sigh, looking back at his partner. "Well, I'm gonna be a dad."
His eyes widened and he stared at Sully. "Seriously?"
He smiled, nodding. "Seriously. I'm, gonna be a dad...I never thought, that for a single moment, in my life I'd ever be a parent...and Tatiana just found out she's pregnant."
Davis whistled lowly. "Wow. That's...that's great, Sul. Congratulations." He paused. "You are happy about this, right?"
Sully titled his head to the side slightly in that, 'Do you really have to ask something like that?' look he always had when he was at his most happy and serious moment. "Of course. We both are."
He grinned broadly. "That's great."
"What's great?"
Davis turned to see Kim standing in the doorway. He shot a look back at Sully.
"I ah..." Sully stammered, thinking as to whether or not he should tell Kim. "Tatiana and I...well, Tatiana, she's pregnant. I'm going to be a dad!"
Her mouth dropped open, then she smiled broadly. "Sully, that's so great! Congratulations!"
"Thanks," he said back, feeling his face flush slightly. "We're both excited about it...I can't believe I'm going to be a dad."
Davis smiled, then looked past Kim, wondering where his girlfriend was.
She looked at him. "Out in the bus," she informed him.
"Ah. I'll just..go say hi." He slipped out of the room.
Kim glanced at Sully. "You'll make a great father."
"Thanks," Sully replied. "Not to sound rude, but ah...what are you doing here anyway?"
"Actually...I'm looking for Yokas...you seen her around?"
"No, not since yesterday. She and Bosco have the day off," he replied, his brow creasing as he frowned. "Why?"
"Oh." Kim shrugged, and forced a smile. "Joey's wanting to have Charlie over for a sleepover. I wanted to see if he could come over Friday night."
"Oh," Sully said back, shaking his head slightly. "You might want to call her place, see if she's home then."
"Yeah, I'll...I'll do that. Thanks, Sully." She turned to go, then paused and looked at him again. "Congratulations," she said again, smiling.
He nodded, smiling. "Thanks."
"You're welcome. See you out there," she said over her shoulder as she headed out the door.
"Anytime," Sully said back, watching as she left. He let out a long sigh, before heading out the door himself.
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Faith sat at the kitchen table next to her son, trying to help him with his math homework. She glanced over her shoulder to where Fred and Emily sat side-by-side on the sofa, watching a movie. They were both smiling and laughing, occasionally commenting on the plot and characters. She closed her eyes briefly, then turned her attention back to her son. "Charlie."
Charlie looked up from his homework, turning the pencil around in his fingers. "Yeah, Mom?" he quietly asked.
"We need to talk about what's going on with you at school," she said, keeping her voice low so Fred didn't hear them.
He frowned, letting out a soft sigh. "Do we have to?"
"Yeah, baby, we have to." She gazed at him seriously. "You want to tell me what's been going on? Why you keep getting in these fights with the kids in your class?"
He turned back to his homework, gripping onto the pencil. "It's nothing...I don't wanna talk about it."
"It's not nothing, Charlie. Mrs. Dawson said if you get into anymore fights, you'll be suspended."
"So. I don't care. I hate that school anyway," he mumbled, still not looking back at her.
Faith rested a hand on his shoulder. "Why? What's going on?"
He let out a long sigh. "I told you. Nothing."
"Charlie, you used to love school."
"Well I hate it now. I hate all the other kids, and when both their parents come to pick them up...." He cut himself off, shaking his head. "I don't want to talk about it any more."
She stared at him for a moment. "So you want me and your dad to start picking you up from school?"
"No," Charlie replied, rubbing his right eye as he let out another sigh. "But their parents don't fight...you and dad are always fighting..." he said softly.
Faith swallowed hard and looked down at the table, feeling guilty. "I know. I'm sorry about that." She bit her lip, then leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "What if I told you that I'm not gonna fight with your dad anymore?" she asked softly.
Charlie sniffed, looking back up at her. "It's Dad, not you..." he replied. "He's always mean to you."
"It's not your dad's fault, at least not all of it. We'll try harder, okay? I promise."
"Okay," he nodded, quickly climbing to his feet and wrapping his arms around her.
Faith hugged him tightly, squeezing her eyes shut, vowing not to cry. I'm so sorry, she thought.
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Kim had just turned the last corner leading to Faith's apartment when she looked back over her shoulder at Alex who was accompanying her. She swallowed hard, pausing in her steps for a long moment before heading the short distance to Faith's apartment door. She knocked on the door, then took a step back, turning to Alex once more and letting out a sigh.
"So are you going with the Joey-wants-to-have-Charlie-sleepover reason if the asshole's here?" Alex asked quietly, glancing at her.
"Yeah, I just hope he's not...just the thought of him hurting her, I wanna punch his lights out," Kim said back, feeling her hands ball into fists at her side. She had to control herself, though, getting hot headed wouldn't solve anything, she reminded herself.
"You and me both," she replied, folding her arms over her chest.
At that moment the door opened and Fred Yokas stood in front of them, a brief look of annoyance crossing his face. "Yeah?"
Kim suddenly fell a loss for words, but quickly cleared her throat. "Is Faith in?" she asked, hoping he'd just go inside and Faith would come to do the door instead.
He folded his arms across his chest. "She's not working today, she's spending the day with her family."
"Yeah, well this is an emergency," she flatly replied, crossing her own arms across her chest.
Fred raised his eyebrows. "Oh, really? What kind of emergency?"
Alex glanced sideways at her partner. "Actually, Kim was wanting to talk to her about having Charlie spend the night with Joey this weekend." She smiled at him, trying to pretend she liked him.
Kim looked sideways at Alex, then back to Fred.
"That's an emergency?" He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Faith!"
A moment later, Faith came up behind her husband. "What?"
"Your friends are here," he informed her, his tone sour.
She looked to the doorway, her eyes widening slightly as she saw Kim and Alex. "What are you guys doing here?"
"I ah, was wondering if Charlie could come stay over, Joey's been asking me all week if he could," Kim replied, smiling faintly.
"Oh, uh..." She glanced behind her to where her husband was. "You guys want to come in?"
Kim looked sideways at Alex, swallowing, then turned back to Faith. "Okay," she said, smiling again. "If it's okay, that is?"
"Yeah, come on in." Faith stepped back and let them in.
Fred sighed heavily. "Keep it down, Emily and I are watching a movie," he said, disgusted as he returned to his place on the couch.
She gave her friends an apologetic look.
Alex peered around Faith and saw Charlie coming up behind her. His eyes widened when he spotted her. "Hi, Charlie," she said, smiling at him.
Charlie smiled back at Alex. "Hi."
"I hope you don't mind our dropping by and asking," Kim apologized to Faith, glancing down at Charlie and giving him a smile, before turning back to Faith once again. "I went by the station, but they said you'd taken the day off."
"No, it's fine. Do you want something to drink?" she offered.
Alex glanced sideways at Kim, giving her a look and nodding slightly toward the kitchen. "How have you been?" she asked Charlie, kneeling down and smiling at him.
"Okay," he shrugged. "School sucks."
Catching the look and nod Alex gave her, Kim nodded. "Yeah, that'd be great. I could give you a hand?"
Faith saw the look pass between her friends and nodded slightly, feeling a bit confused. "Sure." She headed toward the kitchen.
Kim glanced back at Alex as she followed Faith.
"So, uh...we've got water, iced tea and milk..." Faith said, turning and looking at her friend as they stood in the kitchen.
Kim looked back at her. "Iced tea would be great..." she replied, trying to find in her mind the best way to tell her what Joey had said.
"Okay." She went to the refridgerator and pulled out the gallon of iced tea. She grabbed a glass from the cupboard above the stove. She poured the liquid into the glass and handed it to Kim, sensing that the other woman was wanting to say something.
She gratefully took the drink, taking a sip before letting out a breath, holding the glass with both hands. "Listen, Faith...there's...there's something Joey told me..."
"What's that?"
"He ah...that night, at Carlos'...he saw...Fred... push you up against the counter," she replied, looking down at the glass in her hand.
Faith froze, her mind flashing to the moment at Joey's birthday party when she'd seen him walk into the kitchen, a frightened look on his face. Her heart skipped a beat. How could she have thought that Joey wouldn't say something to his parents? She took a deep breath. "That's not what happened," she said quickly.
"Are you calling my son a liar?" Kim asked back, though not angry.
Her eyes widened slightly in surprise. "No, not at all, Kim, I'm just saying he misunderstood what he saw, that's all," she said quickly, shaking her head, not wanting her friend to be angry with her.
Letting out a soft sigh of relief, Kim shifted her weight to her other foot. "And what did happen then? Because, he was pretty upset when he told me, pretty upset about something he supposedly mistakenly saw."
Faith forced a smile. "It was stupid, really. I spilled some water on the floor and I went to wipe it up, but I slipped and I fell back against the sink. Fred tried to catch me because he thought I was gonna fall, but--" She shook his head. "I can understand where Joey thought...but yeah. It was just an accident."
//Joey nodded solemnly. "He was yelling at her, and being really mean. She was crying."\\ Kim shook her head, remembering what her son had said. "No. He heard Fred yelling at you, he saw you crying, Faith."
"Yeah, we were arguing when I spilled my drink, but he didn't push me."
Again, she shook her head. "Why are you covering for him? Joey wouldn't lie about what he saw, he said you were crying, and your husband was yelling at you...yes, you say you were having an argument..."
"Look, I'm sorry Joey heard us arguing, but it really wasn't a big deal. I was upset, I get that way sometimes. Don't make this out to be something it's not." Faith turned and poured herself a glass of tea and sipped it, avoiding eye contact with Kim.
She sipped some of her own glass of tea, feeling bad in a lot of ways for having upset Faith like she had done, and also for dragging up something that she probably didn't want anyone to know about anyway. "Listen...I'm sorry...just when he told me, I'm really worried about you, Faith..." she began again, keeping her voice soft as she glance out over to the living area, a part of her relieved that Fred and their daughter had the tv up as loud as they did. She turned back to the other woman, taking another sip of her drink.
"Don't be." She took a deep breath and lifted her gaze to look at Kim. "Fred and I are having some problems, but..." Faith looked away again. "We'll work through them. We always do," she said tiredly, a tone of resignation to her voice.
"Yeah...I know...I'm sorry...I shouldn't have...said anything, I'm really sorry," Kim said back, her voice still low and she let out a soft sigh.
"It's okay." She chewed her lower lip. "So are you guys on duty?"
She nodded. "Yeah...well, we're on a break. We thought we'd drop by, see how you're doing."
"Well, I'm fine. I was just helping Charlie with some homework," Faith told her.
Kim forced a half smile, "Is it...still okay, if Charlie slept over? Joey's been asking and asking, and I'd been meaning to ask."
"Oh, yeah. That'd be fine. This weekend?"
"Yeah, that'd be great...which day is best for you?" she asked back, taking another sip of her drink.
"Friday night would be good. If that works for you."
"That works great," she smiled.
"Okay, great then. Should I drop him at your place, or--?"
"Whichever is best for you...oh wait, I'll be picking Joey up...so, what if Carlos came and picked Charlie up?"
Faith hesitated for a second, not because she didn't trust Carlos, but because she wasn't sure how Fred would react to him. "Sure. That's fine."
Kim smiled, "That's if you don't mind...we can both come by here after I pick Joey up, if that's easier?"
"You know, whatever works best for you. Don't worry about it," she said quickly, forcing a smile.
At that moment, Alex ducked her head into the room. "Sorry to interrupt, but we have a call, Kim."
Kim quickly turned to her partner, "What? Damn..." she turned back to Faith, setting her glass down on the bench. "How about I ring you tomorrow morning with the details after I talk with Carlos, find out what his schedule is?"
"Sounds great." Faith nodded, then glanced at them. "Be careful out there, okay?" she said to them both.
Alex gave her a quick smile. "We will."
"We will, thanks...have a nice evening..." Kim replied, following Alex as they headed out of the apartment. She waved goodbye to Charlie as she went, smiling back at him as he smiled at her.
Faith closed her eyes and leaned back against the counter, exhaling slowly. She'd never realized how hard keeping up appearances could be.
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Alex sat in the driver's seat, still feeling tense from just having been in the same room with Fred Yokas. She glanced over at her partner. "So...what'd she say?"
Kim rose her eyebrow slightly, but in frustration as she turned to look at Alex."Flatly denied it. Said they were arguing, but he never pushed her...like I believe that...Joey didn't lie, he wouldn't lie...not about a thing like that."
"Of course he wouldn't." She shook her head, gripping the wheel a little tighter. "You know, maybe somebody should just kill Fred."
Kim laughed, but it was a serious laugh. "Well, we do have some good gang affiliations..." she quietly remarked, staring out her side window.
"I just don't get it. She's never seemed the type to put up with that kind of crap from a guy, you know? I mean, she's a cop."
"I know...it's like, somehow something's changed her..." she agreed, shaking her head though. "And I'll bet it's something he's done, or doing..."
"Like what?" A thought suddenly occured to her. "Oh, shit. The kids. I bet he's using the kids against her."
Kim quickly turned back to Alex."I wouldn't put it past him...that bastard...you know, I always thought Jimmy was bad, but he never used Joey like that, not to get me to crumble like that, to stay..."
"God, poor Faith," Alex muttered, shaking her head again.
"You can say that again..."
There was a long moment of silence.
Alex glanced at her sideways. "So, um...how are things with you and Carlos?" she asked, turning her eyes back to the road.
Kim stayed looking out her window., "Good..." she replied, a sudden smile stretching over her face. "I'm going to tell Joey about him...about, us..." she then added, turning to her partner.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah...I really...I like him a lot, and if Joey knows...it'll make things easier."
Alex nodded, taking in the new information. "Yeah, that's true. So things are good with you two then?"
Another wide smile."Yeah. Real good. We spent the day together yesterday, well, and Kylie and Joey...he's not the total jerk I once thought he was."
"Good to know." She still doubted her friend's judgement when it came to Carlos, but she was trying to keep an open mind.
"You know, we should go out on a date sometime...the four of us..." Kim suggested, glancing out her side window when she thought she saw something.
Alex quickly glanced over at her, thrown off guard by the suggestion. "Uh...yeah. Sure. Sometime. That'd be..great."
"Great," Kim smiled at her partner, before looking out her window again.
"Yeah, great," she muttered to herself, her voice inaudible to her partner. "Just great."
