A Few Weeks Later
Amber's View

"AJ wake up!"
"What?" he mumbled half asleep.
"AJ wake up I thought I heard something!" the panic in my voice seemed to penetrate his sleep because he immediately sat up and started to look around for his pants.
"What did you hear?" he asked as he pulled on his pants inside out.
"I'm not sure, but it sounded like it came from the kitchen," the panic rising in my voice as I thought of all the weird things that had been going on lately. Oh my god - I begged please don't let it be Steve I couldn't deal with that – especially after what had happened the other week with Cal.
"There's no one here," AJ yelled out a few minutes later.
"Are you sure?" I asked still not fully convinced.
"Come on out and see for yourself."
I sat up in bed, threw on my robe that was hanging on the bedside chair and headed out to find AJ. He was standing in the middle of the living room wearing a concerned look on his face. "Babe, you know I just bought a new place…maybe you should come stay with me for awhile. I'm afraid everything is getting to you – this thing with Cal and…and…"
"And what?" I asked knowing he was referring to all the things I couldn't bring myself to tell him.
"Nothing," he said a sad look coming over his face. It wasn't that I didn't want to tell him – I just didn't know how to. Besides it was all in the past and that was where I wanted to keep it. He walked over to stand in front of me and gently caressed my check. "Look," he said, "I'm smart enough to figure out that you were hurt in the past. I just want you to know that I would do anything in my power to protect you. I will never let anyone hurt you again."
"I know," I said kissing his fingers as they traced an outline around my lips. "I guess I was just overreacting in there. It must have been the wind or something."
"I still think it would be a good idea if you stayed with me - I just want you to feel safe."
"AJ I can't move in with you – besides I do feel safe." The last part was I lie and he knew it.
He gently kissed me and pulled me to the bedroom. "I believe the safest place in your apartment," he said with a naughty grin, "is in the bedroom." He began to pull me towards safety and I willingly followed.

The next morning AJ left to finish packing for their upcoming trip to Europe. I decided that since the boys would be busy for most of the day I would head over and visit with Rhonda for awhile. I changed and headed out to my car. Climbing in I started the engine and began pulling out of my parking space. I slammed on the brakes as I heard the strains of a long forgotten song coming from my car stereo.

I saw red, When I opened up the door
I saw red,
My heart just spilled onto the floor
And I didn't need to see his face
I saw yours
I saw red and then I closed the door
I don't think I'm gonna love you anymore

My breathe caught in my throat "No god, oh please no." I ejected the tape. Tears started pouring down my face and I started shaking as I read 'Guess Who?' scrawled on the tape in bold red letters.

I ran back into my apartment and locked the door. I looked around. He had been here I was sure of it. What had he seen – had he seen me and AJ? I thought of the words on the tape "And I didn't need to see his face, I saw yours…" He had seen us! There were no more doubts in my mind that those calls the last couple of days were from Steve – he had found me.

I had to get out of here. I couldn't stay here any longer. My apartment was no longer safe – he knew how to get in! The phone rang. It's him! I let it ring, I didn't want to answer it. It continued to ring until the answering machine came on.

"Hey this is Brian…I just thought AJ might be over there…" I picked up the phone.
"Brian?" I said in barely a whisper.
"Amber?" I couldn't answer back, I was having trouble breathing. "Amber are you all right? Amber come on talk to me!"
"Brian," I managed to whisper again.
"What, what is it!?"
"He's back!" That was all Brian needed to hear.
"You stay right there -I'm coming" I hung up the phone and curled up on the couch to wait. My eyes barely left the door for fear that Steve would walk in any moment. I don't know how much time had passed when I heard a knock.
"Amber, it's Brian open up." I quickly walked to the door and looked out the peephole to make sure it was him and I opened the door. "What happened? He didn't hurt you did he?" Brian asked.
"No I didn't even see him," I said relieved that I was finally not alone.
"Then how do you know he's back?" I handed Brian the tape that was left in my car. He read the message on it, and then put in the stereo and pushed play. His face visibly whitened as he listened to the song. When the song was over I pushed stop and explained to Brian what had happened last night.
"Does AJ know about this?" he asked.
"No, you called right after it happened."
"Does AJ know about any of it?" he asked suspiciously. I could tell he knew the answer by the look on my face. "How could you not tell him anything about this?!"
"I don't know," I said hating that Brian was upset with me "I just haven't found a way to tell him yet."
"He needs to know."
" I know – I'll tell him I promise I just need time."
"Fine," Brian said and then started to look around the apartment. "Well you can't stay here so we'll have to think of somewhere for you to go."
"Well, Howie had suggested the other day that I should maybe stay with Rhonda while you guys are gone. He doesn't feel that she should be by herself after what happened with Cal."
"That's a good idea, why don't you go pack a few things and I'll take you over there." I went to my bedroom and began to pack some things to go to Rhonda's.

Rhonda's View

"Are you sure you don't want to stay here with my parents?" Howie asked as he put his iron into his suitcase and tried to close it.
"I'm sure – I can stay at my apartment. I'm a big girl." Howie hadn't left my side since the night that Cal died.
"I know, but I just... you've been through a lot these last couple of weeks," Howie said, "I'd feel safer if you stayed here, that's all."
I just curled up on his bed and watched him struggle to close his suitcase. "How much did you pack? You're only going to be gone a couple of weeks."
Howie looked up as he sat on his suitcase, "Don't try to change the subject."
"I think it will be good for me to have some 'alone time'. Cal is dead. He can't hurt me anymore. I have to start living my life again. I want to go back to work and do normal things."
Howie climbed up onto the bed next to me. "You can do all of that...I just wish you'd stay here, that's all."
"Oh and I'm sure that your mother would love for me to stay in her house, sleeping in her son's bed while he's out of the country," I said sarcastically.
"Yeah actually she would. You've stayed here the last two weeks – why wouldn't she let you stay here while I'm gone?" I looked up at Howie and wondered if he really expected an answer to his question. "My mom thinks you're wonderful. Besides, mom and dad could use your help packing. They are moving in two months you know and she's actually the one who suggested it. If I hear her ask when our wedding is or when she's getting grandkids, I'm gonna…"
"Whoa – wait a minute! Wedding? Grandkids? You've talked to your mom about us getting married and having kids?"
"Um, yeah. Not right of way of course. Its more like, in a couple of years," Howie said looking for a way out of this conversation.
"You've thought about us getting married?" I was shocked. I'd thought about it, but never imagined the thought entered Howie's mind.
"Well...um…I know that I want to focus on my career right now. But I don't know, maybe in two years we could get married. I think that I'd like to get married within the next five years and start a family."
"So sometime in the next two to five years we can get married? Can I mark that on my calendar?" I asked with a smirk on my face. I couldn't believe that Howie and I were actually having this conversation.
"Sure," he said as he winked at me.
"Is that a promise?" I knew that whenever Howie meant something he would always say, "I promise."
He laughed cause he knew the answer I was looking for, "Okay – I promise. I don't think that we'll get married within the next two years, but I promise you it won't be more than five years."
"No less than two, no more than five huh? Okay, I think I can live with that." Howie and I sealed the promise with a kiss and my cell phone rudely interrupted us.
"Don't answer it," Howie said. I tried my best to ignore the phone but it would not stop ringing.
"At least let me see who it is – I'll make it quick. Hello?" Howie got off the bed and started to pack up my things.

"Um, Rhonda, its Brian."
"Hey Brian what's up?" I could tell by the sound of his voice that something was wrong.
"Do you think it would be okay if Amber stayed with you while we're away? She had a little scare today."
"Yeah - absolutely. What happened to her?"
"I'll let her tell you later. What time are you going to be home?" Brian asked.
"Howie was going to stay at my place tonight and then I was going to take him to the airport tomorrow afternoon. She can stay over tonight if she wants and we'll take the guys to the airport tomorrow."
"Great – I'll let her know. See ya later."
"Bye."

Amber's View

I came out of my room as Brian got off the phone.
"Who were you calling?" I asked
"I just called Rhon to let her know what was up," Brian said. "You ready to go?"
"More than you could ever imagine," I said as I handed him my bags and headed out the door.

Rhonda's View

Howie looked up from packing my things. "You're really not going to stay here, are you?"
"Well you won't have to worry about me now. Amber is going to stay with me while you guys are away so I won't be alone." I could tell that Howie wasn't happy with the idea but I knew that he was going to give up on trying to win this argument.
"Okay – but I still don't like the idea. I worry about you guys." I curled up with his pillow and fell asleep on his bed as he finished packing my things.

I felt a small tickle on my nose – don't you just hate when people wake you up like that? "Honey get up," I heard Howie whisper into my ear.
"What time is it?"
"It's about 6:30."
"What? I'm going to be late for work!"
"Don't worry – I called you off. Besides, you work at my club – I think they'll let you off to spend one last night with me," he said as he winked at me. "Anyway, we have somewhere to be."
"Where are we going?"
"You'll see – just trust me."

We got into Howie's car and went for a drive.
"Where are we going??"
"You'll see. Geez, I don't know who is less patient you or AJ!"
"Are we going to AJ's? We're headed towards his house."
"Nope – you'll see."

We pulled into a new development a few blocks away from AJ's house. "I want you to tell me what you think of this house," Howie said. "It not finished yet but I still want to know what you think of it." Howie took my hand and led me inside of this beautiful house. We walked around the downstairs and headed into the kitchen. "Well, what do you think of it?"
"Its…wow! But you just bought a new house."
"Correction, I just bought my parents a new house. This one is for me," he answered. "Actually...," Howie began to play with the knobs on the drawers, "actually I want you to live here with me." I stood there in waiting for a few minutes for everything to sink in. "Um...could you say something cause the silence is killing me. What do you say, do you want to live here with me?"
I didn't know what to do first – jump up and down and scream or kiss Howie to death. I chose the second option.

"Well, go look upstairs too!" he laughed. I ran around the upstairs amazed at every single room I entered. The closets were bigger than my bedroom in my apartment. Each room that I entered I decorated in my mind. Okay, dressers here, bed there. This room I can make into an office. I couldn't believe that I was going to live in an actual house. I spent so many years moving from here to there to avoid Cal but now I was going to be settled into a house, with the man I love. I looked around and took it all in. I ran downstairs to find Howie in the kitchen signing some papers with the real estate agent.

"So, you finally brought her here to see the house. It's nice to meet you Rhonda. I've heard a lot about you," said Molly, our real estate agent.
"And just how long have you been planning to buy a house Howie?" I asked.
Molly and I both looked at Howie waiting for his answer. "Did you see what the back looks like?" he asked trying to avoid answering my question.
"They're not done with some of the stuff but we can have them add anything that you want. I was thinking a pool with a deck or something like that."
"Howie – how long have you been thinking about us living together?"
"Oh look at that. I forgot some paperwork in my car. I'll be back," Molly said. I think she got the idea that we needed to be alone for a few minutes.
"For awhile now. I knew when I first saw you moving into your apartment building that there was something magical between us. It took me awhile to get over my fear of loving someone and not having them love me back in the same way. But I knew on Valentine's Day that you loved me the same way."
"You know what Howie, I never knew love could be like this. I never imagined that a guy as wonderful and loving would ever come into my life and now, now we are going to live together. I can't believe it."
"Believe it. Believe it cause we both deserve it."

Molly came back in with some books in her arms and some more papers that needed to be filled out.
"So when do we get to move in?" I asked.
"Well you still need to pick out the carpeting, appliances, color schemes…" Molly responded.
"We should be able to have Thanksgiving here," Howie interrupted.
"November, huh. I can live with that." Molly gave Howie a strange look and he just winked at her. I never noticed – I was too busy playing with the kitchen cabinets.

Amber's View

I could tell AJ was kind of upset when I told him I had decided to stay at Rhonda's instead of moving into his place.
"I just don't understand," he said exasperated. "Why did you turn me down and then turn around and move in with Rhonda. And why the hell does Brian seem to know things before me?"
"Don't start on the Brian thing again. You know there is nothing between us but friendship. I'm just trying to explain to you that Howie doesn't want Rhonda to be alone after everything she's gone through. You can understand that can't you?"
"Yeah, I guess so, " AJ said still pouting, "So are you gonna miss me when I'm gone?"
"Hmmm..." I said trying to look like I was thinking really hard about the subject.
"Come here!" AJ pulled me on the bed and started to kiss me. "Let me ask you again," he said nibbling my ear, "are you gonna miss me?" "You know I will," I said pulling his shirt off.
"Hey you two knock it off in there!" Howie's voice came from the hallway. I could hear Rhonda laughing behind him. AJ and I just ignored them.