Oh man, I am so sorry that it is taking me forever and ever to update this story. I promise that I have nothing but good intentions. My life is just ridiculously busy right now and I don't have nearly enough time to work on my writing (probably, I should have waited to post until I had written the whole entire story...too late now, I suppose). I will try my best to get another chapter up sometime this week, but after that I won't be able to update for a week or two because it is Performance Week for my school musical and I am going to be at school/rehearsal literally alllll day, every day. Fortunately, after that, I should have loads more time to write. Thanks so much for your patience, guys!

For those of you who have been reviewing, alerting, favorite-ing, and/or reading this story, thank you, also! You wouldn't be able to tell based on my unfortunate lack of regular updates, but you really do wonders for my inspiration. Also, I know that I am really behind in responding to reviews, but I will make sure to get to work on that as soon as possible. Thanks again!

PS. This chapter is dedicated to margaret fowler. Or at least, the second part of the chapter is. She's the one who inspired the idea for a Ranger POV. Thanks girl!

Disclaimer: Need I even say it?

...

"Whoa there, Cupcake," chuckled my unexpected visitor, holding out a hand to help me back up to my feet. "Don't be so excited to see me."

"Damn it, Joe!" I shrieked, scowling heavily, ignoring his proffered hand, and standing up under my own steam. "Why don't you people ever knock? I don't understand why a girl can't get any privacy even in the comfort of her own home!"

Joe laughed, clearly unfazed by my outburst. "I haven't even seen you for a couple of days. I figured you would like the surprise."

"Since when do I like surprises?" I muttered, turning away and cursing silently to myself. Now that he was here, I was definitely going to have to inform him of my impending trip to Atlantic City with Ranger. I had been planning on simply calling him from the car when we were already halfway through the drive so as to minimize (or at least delay) his inevitable anger, but if I failed to tell him now, it would be too much like lying.

"Everyone likes surprises," he grinned, folding his arms comfortably and leaning his hip against the counter.

"Hmph."

"So what's with the sexy new dress?" He asked, eyeing the shopping bag that was lying on my counter.

"How do you know there's a sexy new dress in there?" I countered, narrowing my eyes at him suspiciously.

He shrugged. "I was curious about it so I peeked inside already."

"Hunh. Well, it's funny you should ask…"

"Stephanie…" growled Morelli in his I-know-you're-going-to-tell-me-something-I-won't-like-and-I'm-already-unhappy-about-it voice.

"I got it so that I could help Ranger pick up a skip in Atlantic City tomorrow." There. I said it. Everything was all out in the open now. That had to count for something, right? My pure, selfless determination to tell the truth no matter what the consequences—

"You want to run that by me again?" asked Joe in his most deadly calm voice.

"Um. No," I answered truthfully. I mean, telling him the first time was unfortunate enough.

"I am not letting you go anywhere near Ranger if you're wearing that dress."

"I don't really think that's your decision," I snapped, hackles rising at the idea of Morelli telling me what to do.

"You're my girlfriend. Of course it's my decision."

"Oh, get over yourself. I'm not going to refuse to do a part of my job just because you're uncomfortable with it." I glowered at him, daring him to continue the argument. It was one we had had about a million times, after all.

"Seriously, Cupcake. Don't go."

"I have to go, Joe."

"Damn it, Stephanie!" He pounded his fists on the countertop, livid. "If you go, I'll—I'll—" Unable to stand still due to the rage and adrenaline clearly coursing through his veins, he began pacing the kitchen, hands still clenched. I stared at him, waiting to hear his idea of a fitting punishment for my doing my own goddamn job.

Abruptly, he came to a halt only a few feet away from me. He gazed at me with an uncomfortable intensity, a painful concentration that shook me, hard. I could tell that he was having serious thoughts. And that maybe whatever threat he came up with wouldn't be as ridiculous as I had originally believed. In fact, maybe it would break my heart. And judging by the resolve in his eyes, maybe he wouldn't hesitate to follow through.

"I've never really asked you to make a choice, Steph. I've never presented you with an ultimatum with the intention of sticking to my word. But I'm completely serious right now. I can't tolerate your relationship with Ranger anymore. Not now that it's amounted to you and him sneaking off on vacation somewhere."

"It's not vacation, it's work," I tried to interject, but he ignored me and I felt my heart sink.

"It's Atlantic City. And I don't trust him. But that's not even the real problem. The real problem is that I don't trust you. The fact that I don't think it would not surprise me at all if you slept with him—"

"Are you kidding me?" I shrieked, my hands flying to my hips in my indignation and disgust. "That's what you think of me? I would never cheat on you like that. Never. I can't even believe that you would think me capable of that."

"I've seen the way you two look at each other…"

"There's a big fucking difference between looks and sex. God, I don't even know what to say to you right now."

A pleading softness crept into his expression, belying the temper he had been displaying just moments before. "Say something that will make me believe you," he said quietly, moving slightly closer. "Show me that I can trust you. Prove to me that I'm wrong and that you don't feel anything for him and that you love me."

"Okay," I whispered, tears gathering at the corners of my eyes. "But I'm still going to Atlantic City tomorrow."

His eyes hardened for a split second and then drained completely of emotion. Nodding mechanically, he swung around and headed for my apartment door. He looked the epitome of control, but as he left, he slammed the door so hard that it bounced back open.

Not bothering to walk over and close it again, I trudged over to the couch and buried my face in a pillow, willing myself not to cry.

"Guess I made my decision," I muttered, sniffling. "This sucks."

When my dinner arrived three minutes later, the delivery guy was greeted with the sight of my dripping face, cheeks wet, nose leaking, and make up severely smeared due to my uncontrollable crying. Not even waiting for me to hand over the money, he dropped my food in shock and took off running down the hall, clearly directed towards the stairs. Guess I looked kind of scary. At least I got free food. Sighing, I picked up the bag of takeout and brought it into my apartment. I stared at it for a good two minutes before deciding that I wasn't hungry anymore, shoving it into the refrigerator, and shuffling to my bed. The only way to escape the emotional turmoil I was experiencing was to go to sleep and hopefully dream of a world where my life didn't have to be so complicated.

...

Ranger sat in the chair near to Stephanie's bed and watched her intently as she slept. Her hair was a tangled mess around her head and over her eyes and it appeared that she hadn't bothered to shower before going to bed because she had mascara down to her chin. Yet…there was something endearing about the way her body snuggled under the covers, her legs curled up to her chest with one arm stretched out across the bed and the other clutched tightly to her chest. Endearing…

He shook his head and slouched lower in the chair, squeezing his eyes shut and pinching the bridge of his nose. Stephanie Plum's sexy, witty, amusing, endearing qualities had been occupying his mind quite often lately and it was beginning to seriously distract him. In fact, it was making him dangerously close to losing focus on the more important aspects of his life, the ones he'd committed to putting first no matter the circumstances. In an effort to banish these thoughts of her from his head, he tried distancing himself from the source of the problem, but that had done nothing except exacerbate the situation. When he was far from her, he couldn't help but wonder about her. Ponder her large blue eyes, generally sparkling with some sort of mischief or excitement. Contemplate her laughing, lyrical voice and the different nuances it took on when she was feeling angry, content, disappointed, uncomfortable, satisfied. She had an addictive personality and it was so hard to stay away from her when all he wanted was to just have her, all for himself.

Whenever this thought struck him, he invariably determined to avoid her even more, secretly fearing the consequences of his growing attachment to her. After all, he was Ranger. He wasn't attached to anyone, anything, or anyplace. Attachments were dangerous.

Yet here he was, sitting in her bedroom watching her sleep. Sighing silently, he shook his head to clear it of all thoughts and got fluidly to his feet. He fully intended to slip out of her apartment and pretend as if he had never been there, but at that exact moment, Stephanie groaned and stretched, nearly catapulting herself into the air with the force of her movement. However, before she could roll off of the mattress and onto the floor, Ranger flashed forward and snagged her around the waist, tossing her back onto the bed.

"Hunh, Ranger?" she moaned, raking her hair out of her face and gazing blearily at him. A flicker of joy, conflict and relief flared in her eyes, and when she patted the space next to her, he couldn't refuse her. Saying nothing, he slid into the covers next to her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer. He felt her hot breath puff against his shoulder as she sighed, relaxing into him. Hardly noticing his actions, he began tracing patterns on her back with his fingers, hoping to lull her back into slumber. She was going to need it if they were going to survive their trip to Atlantic City.

But she was too tense. Instead of falling back into sleep, she was becoming more alert. Stilling the motion of his fingers, he whispered into her hair.

"What's wrong."

"Nothing."

Ranger waited quietly, pushing his fingertips into her back slightly to goad her into speech.

"Fine," she huffed half-heartedly. "Joe and I…" He heard her sharp intake of breath and felt her press her face into his shoulder, obviously trying to keep her emotions in check. "He's not happy about my going to Atlantic City with you," she finally managed to mumble.

"I'm sorry," he murmured into her ear, stroking her hair comfortingly. He was sorry that she was upset, but he couldn't ignore the rush of triumph that overcame him when he deduced that Morelli had broken up with her again, possibly for good.

Mine.

"I can help make it better," he growled, his lips brushing against her ear. He felt her shiver at his touch.

"Mmm," was all she was able to say before he was kissing her, pushing her lips open with his own. When their tongues twined together, Ranger felt the first tear leak from her closed eyes and he gentled the movement of his lips until he had stopped kissing her altogether.

"Get some rest," he instructed, kissing her forehead and starting to pull away.

"No, don't leave!" implored Stephanie in a surprisingly desperate voice and before he could question his actions, he settled back against her and closed his eyes, deciding he might as well catch some sleep as well. Anyway, it was worth it if it meant remaining near her, even if it would result in confusion and frustration later. He would deal with that when it came. For now, he would enjoy having the woman he loved in his arms knowing that she was all his for the time being.

...

Thanks for readingg! I'd love to hear your opinion on the chapter (: