Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I own nothing. Pax and Pebblehut do. But thanks for reading anyway! And thank for the very kind reviews Anony-Mousy and cheliosfan.

"Sue, Sue, Sue," Jack said, shaking his head slightly in mock disappointment. "So young...so naively unaware of the wonderful world of fast food that we live in."

"Not unaware..." Sue countered, stepping through the door of the coffee shop that Jack held open for her. "Just unimpressed. I don't see what on earth is appetizing about chicken stuck in hot grease. Isn't that right, Levi?"

Sue looked down at Levi but did not find the concurrence that she had wanted.

"Aha! Levi is on my side with this one...isn't that right boy? Everyone needs a little fried food every once in a while," Jack baby-talked him, cocking his head toward her so that she could see his lips as he dug in the paper bag for his stir-stick. Finding the small straw and sticking it in his mouth, he bent over to pet Levi.

Sue shook her head with a sarcastic smile and rolled her eyes as they sidestepped a woman and her stroller. The cold snow against the dreary gray atmosphere made her snuggle deeper into her long thick jacket and she sipped her steaming coffee. The park came into view just as they came to a halt at the busy intersection and waited for the walk signal.

"Have you talked to Lucy lately?" Sue felt Jack touch her elbow to get her attention and looked up at his lips.

"Yes, actually," she said, pulling Levi's leash more firmly as he became more restless with their lack of motion. "She said that her flight back to D.C. was postponed until tomorrow night because of the weather...so she won't be able to make it home tonight."

The light must have turned red, because Jack motioned her forward with a hand on the small of her back when she did not hear the signal beep. When they reached the other side of the road and stepped onto the sidewalk, Sue returned her gaze to Jack's face. His brows were slightly furrowed in concentration as he looked to the snowing sky briefly.

"You alright staying by yourself?" he asked, turning his head to face her, the wrinkles in his forehead from his brows still visible.

"I've lived by myself before, Jack...besides, it's just one more night," she said with a laugh, watching his lips as he observed the inhabitants of the park.

She waited to see his reply, but none came. She slowed her step to a stop as she saw his eyes set on something and all the humor from his features fell to be replaced by hard sobriety. Sue reached forward and touched his rigid arm; he looked back at her with a strange expression and immediately tried to soften it.

"Why don't we go get some dinner or something?" he said, beginning to turn.

"I already have dinner plans with David," Sue answered, getting the feeling that he was trying to block her view by the way he stood at an odd angle. "I told you that just a minute ago."

Jack opened his mouth to reply but appeared unable to think of an excuse. Sue moved her head to the side slightly, but Jack moved too.

"What is it, Jack?" Sue demanded, stepping closer in another attempt to see past him.

This time he did not resist, but turned toward Sue as she scanned the park for the something that had disturbed him. The falling snow made her search a little more difficult, but her eyes finally came to rest on a couple sitting on a bench, a black dog at their feet. The woman was unfamiliar, but the man with his arm around her shoulder and the dog at their feet she knew all too well.

"She could be his sister, Sue," she saw Jack say after he touched her arm for her attention. "Just wait until you talk to him."

"I don't want to talk to him," Sue said after looking back across the park at them. "Because I'm pretty sure that is not his sister."

Jack looked back at the park bench, slightly confused at her words. But the reason was soon evident; David was leaned over the woman, kissing her with his hand on her face. Hot anger welled up in his chest as he looked back at Sue. Tears that had nothing to do with the chilling wind were in her eyes as she watched them and Jack clenched his fist.

"I want to go home," she said suddenly, turning away and tugging on Levi's collar as he barked to his canine friend in the park on David's leash.

"You should go talk to him, Sue...or I can," Jack grabbed her by the arm.

"No, Jack! I just want to go home," Sue insisted, snatching her arm from his grasp after reading his lips.

"For the woman's sake, at least," Jack stepped in front of her.

"She knows, Jack!" Sue said thickly, the tears that she had been restraining rolling down her cheeks. "I just saw them talking...he just told her that he was planning to break up with me tonight at dinner...and she said she was looking forward to their trip to Bora-Bora to get away from the snow."

Jack did not know what to say as the anger in his chest rose even more, but the obvious pain on Sue's face made him reign in the desire to punch that David guy in the head. He swallowed down the fire in his throat and reached into his pocket for a napkin and handed it to Sue.

"Let me walk you home," he begged after she wiped her eyes with the napkin and looked back up at him.

"I don't want to spoil your evening," she replied, shaking her head and sniffing softly. "I just need to be alone for a little while."

Jack watched her carefully for a moment before nodding his head in resignation. He yearned to make it better for her as she tried to smile but ended with a shaky frown and a suppressed sob. As they came back up on the intersection, Sue branched off to the right with a halfhearted wave goodbye. She did not look to see if Jack had any departing words, not wanting to know what they were if he did.

She tried to swallow down the tears as she walked down the sidewalk past the several buildings that lead to her apartment building. Mercifully, no one appeared to notice her struggle to maintain composure and Levi walked sedately and well-behaved at her side. She was not sure that she could handle one curious or pitying look or else she may fall to pieces before she even reached her building. But she finally did and as she entered the lock code, she remembered that Lucy would not be there to meet her that night.

Levi scratched at her leg to let her know the door had buzzed and she pulled it open. Levi led the way up the stairs as much as his leash would allow and Sue followed, longing for the privacy of her own livingroom. As she came to the top of the stair and made her way down the hallway, she realized just how much she wished Lucy was there. She unlocked the door and closed it behind her, resting her head on the wood and reaching her hand backwards to lock it again.

The tears started to run down her cheeks again and she did not even bother to try and dry them. She was used to silence...her life was silent, but not the depressing inactivity when she wanted nothing more than for someone to hold her and let her cry. She pulled off her jacket and overcoat and hung it on the hook, her scarf and gloves following closely. She reached down to unlatched the leash from Levi's collar and set it down on the lamp table.

Levi followed her into the livingroom and she curled up on the couch, wrapping her arms around her legs. She wanted Lucy; she needed her best friend right now, if only to hug her. But then the sense of hopelessness fell over her as she reminded herself that it was impossible. The emotion compounded itself on the anger and the embarrassment and the hurt feelings. She let out the painful sobs that she had been holding back and closed her eyes tightly against the world.

The fact that she had always expected something like this to happen was not comforting to the fact that it did. It always hurt to feel rejected when emotions, no matter how few, had been invested into a relationship, but why on earth did it have to be Jack that was there when it did? Sue was not sure which was worst: actually allowing herself to believe that a real relationship may be in her future, Jack being there to witness her being cheated on by another man, or wanting Lucy beside her the one time that she could not be. Everything seemed to be rolling into a rubber ball, weighted down by a heavy ball inside it that ran over her different emotions in turn.

She felt something heavy against her and opened her eyes to see Levi's face right beside her own as he licked at her hands. She wrapped her arms around his furry neck and laid her head against the arm of the couch; Levi laid his head on his paws too and Sue found enough comfort in him to softly cry herself to sleep.