A/N: Again, I'd like to thank Dionne Dance for all of her help with this. I'll proceed from there as best I can.

Ch. 7

Angie had appreciated Ichabod's gesture. She truly had. After experiencing Thanksgiving with the DeLorenzo clan, he was one of the few people who could truly understand how hurtful and humiliating it was that Steve had left her for his knocked up girlfriend. Her family would probably think that he rightfully left her because she couldn't have kids or something. Without Ichabod, Enzo and Carla, she felt that she probably would've gone insane. Still, there was more drama to come.

Two days later, Mr. Quarles had called Angie to set up yet another appointment, this time to discuss finances, and the meeting had been even worse than the previous one. Having to once again recite the story of her relationship with Steve hurt, especially when it came to describing Steve's affair with Rachela. She knew she had to do it - the amount of money she might get depended on the events of what occurred, but thinking about it all really hurt.

The whole time during the meeting, Angie kept mentally flashing back to the incident at the Apple store. Steve had chosen to have a child with one of the worst people on the planet. Someone selfish and cruel and, in Angie's opinion, disgusting.

This, in turn, made her wonder if she was even worse. If Steve would choose Rachela over her, what did that say?

Then she remembered how Ichabod had fainted when she had gone to kiss him. Fainted! How he had frozen when she suggested they spoon to keep warm on that first night in the apartment. She had been forced to reach over and spoon up to his unresponsive body! And, of course, there had been the lawyer - that old, fat, greasy man had hit on her. He must've considered her to be on his level to do so.

Angie had never really thought that she was beautiful, but she hadn't thought that she was hideous either. She considered herself to be rather average. Clearly, though, she was wrong. The realization felt like a punch to the stomach. It also made Angie feel like an ugly, old hag.

Before heading back home, Angie stopped at a Starbucks. She was tired and a coffee would definitely put her in a better mood. While waiting on line, someone called her name. Angie looked around. Standing a few feet away was a familiar face.

The man was someone that she'd gone to school with. They hadn't been particularly close but they had known of each other. His name was Bradley, and he had blonde hair and blue eyes. Back in their school days, Bradley had been more of a jock whereas Angie had been more studious.

The two made small talk while on line, and Bradley ultimately asked Angie if she wanted to go for dinner later on that evening.

The first thing that popped into her head was the fact that she had made plans to have dinner with Ichabod, Carla and Enzo and that it would be wrong to break them.

But goddamn, she was tired, and having a night out with someone different might be really nice. After all she had been through, didn't she deserve it?

Angie made up her mind to push off the dinner with Carla and Enzo in favor of going out with Bradley. Besides them, she would also have to tell Ichabod too.

00

"Hey," Angie greeted him, as she walked through the front door.

Ichabod smiled at her and Angie smiled back, then checked her watch.

"Hey, I know we were planning to eat with Carla and Enzo but something came up. Would you mind going another day?"

Thinking it was something to do with the lawyer or that maybe Angie had some tests to grade, Ichabod agreed.

"That's fine," he said. He could live without putting together more furniture for the time being. That was usually the task that Carla set him to after dinner was served.

"Great!" Angie grinned, before scurrying off to her bedroom. She and Ichabod were sleeping in separate rooms, despite the fact that they did almost everything else together.

Angie emerged half an hour later, wearing a pair of leggings, boots, a tight shirt and a cardigan. She had done her hair and makeup as well.

Ichabod was surprised by her appearance.

"You look nice," he said, staring at her.

"Thank you. I'm going to be out for a little while. Wanna come down to Carla's apartment with me? I have to leave anyway so it's faster than calling her."

"Sure?" Ichabod answered, now confused about what was going on.

He and Angie walked out the door and made their way down to Carla's unit. Angie seemed to be in a hurry as she was walking faster than she usually did. As soon as they were in front of Carla's door, Angie knocked loudly.

"Carla? You there? It's Angie!"

There was the sound of footsteps, then the door opened. Carlita was standing there.

"Hi Angie," She looked at Ichabod and smiled, "Hi Ichabod!"

"Hi Carlita. Is your mom there?"

"Uh-huh. She's in the kitchen with Enzo." Carlita turned around, "Oh, wait. Here she is."

Carla came to the door.

"Hi Angie, Ichabod. What's going on?"

"I know you probably started cooking already, but do you mind if I cancel tonight?"

"Yeah, sure. Is everything okay?" Carla looked concerned.

"Do you remember Bradley Collins from school?"

"Blonde jock Bradley?"

"Yeah, blonde jock Bradley. I met him at Starbucks earlier. He just got out of his term doing special ops – he made it all the way up to Lieutenant Colonel! He just came back to Queens! He asked me to go out for dinner tonight so I'd like to go."

Carla's jaw nearly dropped. She had thought that Angie and Ichabod were starting to have a true relationship. From the stunned and hurt look on Ichabod's face, he clearly must have thought that too.

Not knowing what else to say, Carla agreed.

"Um. Okay."

"Thanks!" Angie turned to Ichabod, "I'll see you later."

"Alright," Ichabod replied, still looking like a kicked puppy.

Angie didn't notice it, though. A second later, she walked off.

00

Angie met Bradley at a diner in Hell's Kitchen. The two sat at a booth and ordered some coffee and began to talk.

At first, it went well. Bradley had many interesting stories about his deployments, like how one prison guard was told that he wasn't intimidating enough, so he grew a Hitler mustache and started speaking with a German accent in an attempt to scare the prisoners. It worked.

Or there was the time Bradley and his fellow soldiers had boarded an aircraft carrier to take them to Iraq. They'd gone down for breakfast and the Rear Admiral had joined them. Apparently it was too early for him and the sun was in his eyes. Rather than getting up and moving, he placed a call to the carrier's crew and asked them to turn the boat 20 degrees north. He'd moved the whole ship solely to get the sun out of his eyes.

Of course, Bradley had seen horrible things, too. He didn't mention them besides some vague references, and Angie didn't push.

He had asked Angie about her life and she discussed teaching History. And that's where it had gone to hell.

Bradley didn't agree with most of Angie's thoughts on the subject, even if they were standard historical facts that most schools taught. He wasn't mean about it, but he began to lecture on the subject, and the date began to drag. Angie's mind began to drift. She began to wish she was snuggled up next to Ichabod on the couch watching and discussing the news. She missed spending time with someone who respected her opinions and could admit when he was wrong.

00

Back at the complex, Ichabod had gone back to the apartment he shared with Angie. At first had felt shocked by Angie's actions. Things had been going so well between them! But now he mainly just felt sad and betrayed.

He had hoped that being alone would be a better alternative than embarrassing himself at Carla's apartment. He didn't want the children or Enzo or anyone really to see him as upset as he was.

Over time, though, he realized that being alone just made him feel even worse. At least if he was around Carla and Enzo he would have someone to talk to. Slowly, he made his way back out and down to Carla's apartment. She answered the door immediately when he knocked, and she instantly noticed his expression.

"Oh, Ichabod," she said, softly. "You look like you've been crying."

"No…" he replied.

But then Carla hugged him and he broke down again.

"I don't understand," he whispered, after what felt like forever. Carla let him go. She sighed.

"Angie just… I don't know what Angie's thinking," she admitted.

Carla's response didn't help much but Ichabod managed to calm himself down slightly.

She wrapped an arm around him and led him inside.

"The kids are watching Happy Feet if you want to join them. I know you like that movie," she offered.

Ichabod didn't trust himself to speak more than a few words, so he mumbled an "okay" and followed Carla to the couch.

Carlita, Cosimo and Carlo were all in the room. The twins were lying on their stomachs on the floor.

At first they barely noticed Ichabod's presence, as they were so entertained by the movie. Carlita caught on though.

"What's wrong?" she asked, coming closer to him.

Her question caught the twin's attention and they both sat up and turned around.

Ichabod took a deep breath, trying to keep himself calm.

"Nothing's wrong," he answered. The kids wouldn't understand his problems anyway.

They did, however, understand that he was upset about something. Carlo stood up and walked out of the room. He returned a moment later holding a penguin Pillow Pet doll.

"Here you go," he offered the doll to Ichabod.

Ichabod accepted it.

"Petey makes me happy so maybe he'll make you happy too," Carlo explained.

"Thanks, Carlo," Ichabod replied.

He held the doll close to his chest. Having it did make him feel slightly better, oddly enough. He tried his best to focus on the movie. Happy Feet always made him better. Now, though, his thoughts kept turning to Angie. Obviously, he wasn't good enough for her, nor was he what she wanted. He had been stupid to think that there was something more than friendship there. He also wondered what would happen if Angie married the man she was seeing. Would he have to find somewhere else to live? Would this new man even allow them to be friends? Could he bear to just be friends? Ichabod didn't really have any other friends besides Carla and Enzo, and he knew that Enzo would never roommate with him.

With that thought in mind, Ichabod began to feel nervous as well as sad. It was a terrible combination. He felt almost like he couldn't breathe, like he was having the worst panic attack ever except that his body hadn't given out. At least if he fainted, he would have the silent comfort of unconsciousness for a few minutes…

Suddenly, someone called out his name. It was Carla.

Ichabod looked at her. Tears were streaming down his face and he was breathing heavily.

Carla frowned and came over.

"Why don't you come in the kitchen with Enzo and I." She held out her hands to help him up.

Not knowing what else to do, Ichabod walked next to Carla until they reached their destination. Once there, Carla pulled out a chair for Ichabod to sit on. He was thankful for it.

"I told Enzo what happened," Carla said.

"It's alright," Ichabod whispered, resting his head in his hands. "Angie deserves to be happy."

Enzo rolled his eyes.

"Angie feels like shit after Steve left her for the demon lady. Someone paid attention to her so she took it and ran with it. She'll be back."

"I thought she was happy with me," was Ichabod's response. "Everything seemed… I guess I was wrong…" He trailed off.

"She is happy with you. I think she was afraid to move too fast with you, that doing so might scare you."

"Either way, I plan on having words with her," Carla added. "You really seem to care about her. You're a better choice than Mr. Collins over there. He may be a hero but in high school he was a jerk."

"Hey, I was friends with Bradley!" Enzo protested.

"Didn't he used to glue quarters to the ground to watch the girl's butts when they would pick them up? And he put laxatives in Mrs. Burns' coffee."

Enzo laughed, "Yeah, he did. That was funny. The old hag shit her pants right in the middle of fifth period." Then he caught sight of Ichabod again. "But, uh. He was a jerk, yeah. You're right Carla."

Ichabod didn't answer. He wasn't even really paying attention. He was too absorbed in feeling miserable.

Carla rested a hand on his back.

"It'll be okay," she promised.

00

Angie returned to the complex close to midnight. Bradley had talked her ear off for hours yet he never seemed to have anything interesting to say. He was good looking, sure, and she respected him as a veteran, but she didn't think they'd be going on a second date.

She had just entered the building when her phone beeped. She had a text message from Carla.

"Come to my apt", it read.

Angie shrugged and made her way upstairs. When she got to Carla's floor, she was surprised to see Carla standing in the hallway.

"Is everything okay?" Angie asked. She wondered if something had happened inside Carla's apartment.

Carla glared at her.

"Everything is NOT okay. You and I need to have a little talk."

"O…kay. Do you want to go inside?"

"No. The kids are sleeping. Ichabod's in there sleeping too. Finally. He was crying for a good three hours."

Angie raised an eyebrow.

"I don't understand. Did he get hurt?"

Carla looked at her, stunned.

"Are you that fucking stupid? You're the one that hurt him!"

"Okay, okay, Christ, you're gonna wake up your neighbors!"

"Fuck my neighbors! You devastated him! After all you've been through I'd have thought you were better than that!"

Angie took a step back, fearing that Carla might take a swing at her.

"Whoa, wait. Calm the fuck down," Angie put her hands up. "He's upset because I went on a date?!"

"The man loves you! Can't you see that?! Did you even look at the necklace he gave you?!"

"The necklace?" Angie looked down at the pendant that hung around her neck. She held it up and noticed that there was an inscription on the back. It read, 'Lost without you'.

It all made sense. What Carla was saying was true.

"He loves me…" Angie repeated. "I wasn't sure what to do."

Carla's expression softened.

"What do you mean?"

"I wasn't sure if he really liked me or if he was acting that way because… I don't know. He's awkward. Maybe he thought that was how he was supposed to act. And even if he did, I didn't want to scare him off."

"I feel like a total moron." Angie paced the hallway. "I didn't see the inscription. I told Ichabod I thought I knew what he meant when he put it on me."

"He's not from a different planet," Carla replied. "Though… you're right, he is kind of awkward."

Carla looked thoughtful. "It's been obvious to me that Ichabod is crazy about you since that day at the ice rink. When I told him the two of you would be good together, he turned bright red, and said he didn't think you would be open to that this early in the breakup."

Angie stepped back and looked at Carla. "You think he's been interested in me romantically for that long?"

Angie was confused. Her mind had been in such a fog since Halloween. Ichabod thought she knew that he loved her since Christmas? How long had he felt this way? It had taken him a while to make that pendant at school. What did he think of her now?

She cringed, now recognizing that Ichabod had been trying in his own shy way to move their relationship forward. He had to feel that she was playing with his emotions.

"He's probably really confused," she finally said.

Seeing the cringe, Carla's face turned red with frustration. "You ARE that fucking stupid! Even Enzo noticed he was mooning over you the day you guys made cookies. ENZO! Are you so tied up in self-pity that you can't see what's right in front of your eyes?"

Carla took several deep breaths, attempting to calm down. "Enzo actually tried to reassure Ichabod tonight. ENZO! I'm going to tell you this one time, Angela DeLorenzo Warner, so you need to listen with BOTH ears! If you don't grab onto that sensitive, handsome, WONDERFUL man, and hold tight with both arms, SOMEBODY is gonna take him away from you…fast. If I wasn't so crazy about your idiot brother, I'd snatch him away from your undeserving ass myself."

Angie got very quiet, thinking back on the many times, even while Steve was still around, that Ichabod had been right there for her when she needed emotional support. How he had seemed almost jealous of the attention she had given Enzo during that first visit. How he had not seemed eager to leave when the experimental machine was completed.

Carla had finally expended most of her anger and continued calmly. "Hey, didn't you say he grew up with missionaries, that his dad was a minister?"

"Yeah, right," Angie said, remembering the conversation they'd had a few weeks prior at the restaurant.

"Some of those remote areas are really conservative…and have very severe penalties for adultery. He may be guilting himself for having feelings for you while you are still technically a married woman."

Angie quickly looked up at Carla. "That would explain a lot. I never meant to hurt him. And by the way, I had already decided that I'm definitely not going to see Bradley again. All I did tonight was wish I was home with Ichabod."

"Well you'd better go tell Ichabod that. He was really upset, Angie."

Angie nodded.

"Yeah, I will. Where is he?" She pushed open the door.

"I let him sleep in my room since I was planning to stay up. It's more comfortable there."

"Okay." Angie walked inside.

She found the door to Carla's room relatively quickly. The lights were off, but the moonlight coming through the window allowed her to see that Ichabod was on the bed, curled up and holding… a penguin to his chest? Angie shook her head, thinking that she was seeing things wrong.

Angie sat down on the edge of the bed and gently rubbed Ichabod's arm to wake him up.

"Huh?" he asked, turning over. When he saw Angie's face, he sat up.

Even in the poorly lit room, Angie could see that Ichabod's eyes were puffy.

Carla had been telling the truth about him crying.

"You can lie back down. I just came to tell you that I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you and I won't be seeing Bradley again."

Ichabod blinked, surprised by Angie's statement.

"Carla told me what happened, and how upset you were, and how you feel about me, and I feel that way about you too," she continued.

"But then why did you –" Ichabod started, but Angie shook her head.

"Bradley paid attention to me. Steve hadn't said much of a kind word to me in months, but Bradley did. It's hard to explain… It made me feel good. Like I was still attractive and wanted."

"Ah. Enzo said that was the reason."

"Enzo was right. He knows me. Again, I'm sorry. I wasn't sure if you liked me… like that. God, I feel like such a kid…" she sighed, "But I think it's clear… It's clear that we both have feelings for each other, and… and if you want… Maybe we can be more than friends."

Ichabod felt his heartbeat speed up again. He briefly wondered if he was dreaming but then decided that he wasn't.

"Of course I want that," he whispered.

Angie smiled and hugged him. Ichabod hugged her back.

"I'm lucky to have you," she said.

"I'm lucky to have you too," Ichabod replied.