Thank you for your patience, and I will say that this story has only a couple chapters left I think.
Thanks as well to all the people who have left reviews, and especially the people who have been with me from the start and my long dry spells.
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Conrad didn't say anything as he walked with Shana out into the yard. He really had no idea where he was going, he just knew he needed to be away from the house. There was a small wrought-iron bench by one of the old trees in the yard and he motioned for her to take a seat, then sitting next to her. He cleared his throat nervously before speaking, "Uh, Shana. I..." He stopped and stood up, uneasy.
Shana took a deep breath, looking out over his head to the branches of the tree. This was the one thing she never wanted to have happen, him giving her some pity talk to get her to back off. "Look Conrad, I"m sorry for being bitchy. Can we skip the rest of this talk?"
He paused, examining her face as she avoided looking at him, then sat down beside her, "You know, back in my quarters when we kissed -" A groan from Shana interrupted him.
"I already apologized. Write me up if you want, but stop punish-" Now it was his turn to interrupt, but this time with his mouth on hers. He broke away quickly and she looked at him, bewildered. "What?"
His fingers went to the ends of her hair, gently rubbing them between his fingers. His face was not nervous anymore, just a calm smile on his face. "You know, it's so much easier once it's over with," he said to himself quietly. A look of concern crossing Shana's face caused him to quickly clarify, "Breaking the rules. Once they're broken, there's nothing more to worry about." A faint smile touched the corners of her mouth as he hesitantly moved his hand from her hair to her cheek, brushing the skin there lightly, "I'm sorry."
Her eyes became cautious again, trying to interpret his expression as she leaned back, away from his touch. "why?" There was accusation in her tone, but also curiosity. She still wasn't entirely sure where he was going with this.
"For being an ass." Shana smirked just slightly in agreement with that assessment of his. "And for not realizing that I want you until I already lost you to someone else."
Shana shook her head, annoyed. "You think I slept with Patrick last night." Conrad raised his eyebrows in response. She retorted, "I slept next to him, and we've been doing that since we were little kids. I can't believe I have to explain myself to you." Anger was definitely brewing in her eyes.
"Wait wait." Conrad held his hands up in a symbol of surrender, "You don't. You don't have to explain your relationship with him to me." He sighed in exasperation. "This went a lot smoother in my head. I'm just saying, I'm sorry, I was stupid."
Considering this for a moment, she looked back at him. "What about the regs and rules? Those are still the same."
Conrad nodded, "I think we could figure out a way to work it out, if you wanted." He met her eyes, still showing mistrust of his sincerity, "I think it might be worth trying to find a way to work it out." He noted, relieved, that her eyes softened slightly with that statement.
"How do I know this isn't just because you thought I was out of reach?" Her voice was quiet, but she watched his expression carefully.
"I'm not going to lie, that is what is prompting me to do this." He reached out to hold her hand as he spoke, "But that's because I'm stubborn and denial is a powerful thing." He sighed, "When I saw you kissing him, all I could think was that it should have been me."
A gentle smile crossed Shana's lips, "You're right." She leaned in to kiss him again, taking more time to enjoy the sensation this time. "But, just give me a few moments to process all this, alright?"
"Yeah, of course." Conrad stood, brushing his hand along her jawline, pleased that she leaned into his touch this time. "I'll be at the house." He hesitated, not sure if he should do or say anything else, then decided to quit while he was ahead and walked back to the house, leaving Shana alone with her thoughts.
O o o o o o O
Back in the O'Hara house, things were already heating up. Dash had come out of the shower to find Allie and Wayne sitting on the bed with his duffel, Allie looking miserable. Wrapped only in a towel, he glared at each in turn, "So, you want to tell me what is going on?" His voice started to raise just slightly.
Allie frowned and motioned with her hands to keep the volume down. "Please Dash. Please give me a chance to explain." Wayne just continued to sit there stoicly, pretending this whole thing was not happening.
"Fine," Flint barked back, grabbing a pair of pants and putting them on under his towel, feeling on more even ground once his clothes were on. "Talk."
"You see..." Allie began then stopped, opened her mouth to talk again, closed it.
Wayne held up his hands in the pause, "For the record, I had nothing to do with it." Flint glared at Wayne, then his eyes settled back on Allie to wait.
"Alright. Long story short: Some bitch from Wayne's high school is dating Shana's brother and she was being horrible to Wayne and I might have said he and I were engaged to get a rise out of her." She winced, closing her eyes, waiting for Dash's reaction.
There was silence for a moment, peeking her eyes open to look at her boyfriend's face. She was surprised to see a look of amusement. "And so, let me guess, you've been trying to sell it?" He sighed and rolled his eyes, looking at Wayne.
"I told you man, it was not my idea." Wayne was less defensive now, seeing that the warrant officer was not flipping his lid.
"You're not angry?" Allie was shocked.
Dash crossed over to her, "I was, a little. But then I thought about it in the shower. It just made no sense. No offense meant, Wayne."
"None taken," he muttered.
"Who are you and what have you done with Dashiell?" Allie demanded as she wrapped her arms around him.
His eyes sparkled playfully, "I'm allowed to have a sense of humor every once in a while."
"Hell has frozen over." Allie laughed and kissed him.
"Shit, you can say that again," Wayne muttered under his breath, having glanced out the window and witnessing part of the conversation between Shana and Conrad.
The couple in the room turned to him, speaking in unison, "What?"
Wayne shook his head, "It's nothing," he said, moving away from the window. Curiosity shone from Jaye's eyes, but he closed the curtain and blocked the view with his body.