"Wh--What time is it?" Laura said, sitting up and stretching. "It's about 10. Did you sleep on the couch last night?" Misty asked.

"What was your first clue, brainiac?" Laura asked sarcastically, laughing. She sat up more and Buck jumped down off the sofa and barked. "Mis, can you let him out, please?"

"Sure thing," Misty said, setting down her purse and keys as she opened the door and Buck ran outside. Hearing Misty's keys, she wondered if she had just gotten home.

"Oh, umm, yeah, just gettin' in," Misty said calmly. "What do you mean, just getting home?" Laura asked, smiling. Misty sat down next to her.

"Laura, you're 24 years old. I think you know what I mean," Misty said, laughing.

"Misty, you lil' slut... you didn't get it on, did you?"

"Unfortunately, no. I'm telling ya, I would have. But I actually let my mind take over for my hormones this time. I want to get to know him first, ya know?"

"Yeah, that's all fine and dandy, Mis, but you can't tell me that you spent the entire night just 'talking,' I know you too well!"

Misty laughed. "Welllll, let's just say we had about as much fun as 2 people can possibly have with most of their clothes on," she said, still laughing.

"Most of your clothes? No wonder you're so giddy n' giggly this morning. Sounds like you had, ummm, fun," Laura said, laughing with Misty.

"Well, enough about my night. Did you, ummm, find a ride home last night?" Misty asked, trying not to give herself away, but of course Laura had already figured out her plan.

"Yeah, Kevin took me home," Laura said. "Thanks, by the way, for giving me the opportunity to make an ass out of myself," Laura said, half laughing and half on the verge of crying.

"Uh-oh, tell me what happened."

Laura then told her about Kevin coming in for a little while, and their conversation. "And it was going really well too until I stuck my foot in my mouth," Laura said, sighing. "I just don't know what to do now."

"Well, it's not like you asked him out of the blue. He asked you first, so he couldn't just not expect you to ask him the same question. If he wasn't prepared to answer it himself he should have never asked you," Misty said. "That's what I thought too," Laura said. Misty continued. "But, considering... no, no, I shouldn't say anything. Obviously he doesn't want you to know about her or he would have told you himself."

"Her? Her who? Do you know something I don't, Mis?" Laura asked, anxious to know why Kevin got so tense. The last thing she had wanted was for him to feel awkward. Misty had been right, she really did like Kevin, and didn't want to do anything to mess it up, and Laura was afraid she had already done that.

"Laura, I really don't think I should tell--" Just then Misty heard Buck barking. "Ahhh, saved by the bark," she said, smiling. "I'll go get Buck." Misty walked out the door, and Laura decided to go take a shower. She got up and made her way to the bathroom.

A couple minutes later, Misty came back inside with Buck, and also with a guest. It was Kevin.

"Just a second, Kevin. I'll go get Laura," Misty said, walking down the hallway calling for Laura. Kevin sat down on one of the chairs in the living room. Misty came back a minute later.

"She's in the shower. Probably be out shortly if you wanna wait," Misty offered. Kevin nodded as she sat down. The silence was deafening. Misty spoke first.

"Wanna tell me what happened?" Misty asked. Kevin looked at her. "I left kind of abruptly last night after the conversation drifted to something I didn't really want to get into, and it's my own damn fault cuz I'm the one that brought up the subject in the first place. I just want to apologize to her if I made her uncomfortable."

Misty couldn't believe it. "Kevin, she feels bad too. She feels like she pushed where she shouldn't have pushed... like she was too nosy or something, and that she offended you in some way." Misty hesitantly paused. "Kevin, I know about Linda. Howie told me. I'm sure she'd understand why you reacted the way you did if you just tell her."

Kevin sighed. "I don't know... I guess maybe you're right. I'll tell her, sometime. I just can't get into it right now, know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I understand." Misty heard the water shut off. "Oh, Laura must be done with her shower. I'll go tell her that you're here." With that Misty ran down the hallway to the bathroom.

Kevin sat alone with his thoughts. I know Misty's right. If I want to be friends with Laura, I've got to be honest with her. I'll find a way, somehow, sometime, to tell her. Just then Misty flew back through the room to the door. "Laura will be out in a couple minutes. I've gotta go run some errands, I'll be back later. Good to see you, Kevin," she said, rushing out the door, not even giving Kevin a chance to say goodbye back.

Kevin again was alone, but not for long. Laura came into the room dressed in shorts, with her hair still up in a towel. Buck ran to assist with leading her to the couch. Laura sat down, still silent.

"Laura?" Kevin said, and Laura jumped up, startled. The towel she had her hair wrapped in fell off.

"Kevin! What are you doing here?!" Laura asked, feeling her way around for the towel. Kevin got up, grabbed it and handed it to her.

"What do you mean? Why are you acting surprised I'm here?"

"Acting?! Who's acting?! And why shouldn't I be surprised?"

"Misty told me she informed you that I was here."

Laura laughed as she sat back down. That little SHIT! she thought, smiling. "Misty never told me you were here. The only thing she told me was that she was heading out to run some errands."

Kevin laughed with Laura. "Does she like pissing you off and scaring the crap out of you, or something?" Kevin asked, still laughing as he sat down next to Laura. Laura shook her head. "She must, even though I don't know what the hell I did to deserve it all of a sudden," she said, knowing damn well Misty was setting something up again. Little turd... ahhh, hell I know she means well, she thought. "Well, what brings you here, Kevin?"

"I uhh, I want to apologize for leaving so abruptly last night. Misty told me you were worried you had offended me or something, and I just want to tell you that that's not the case. It was my fault for bringing the conversation to a topic that I wasn't ready to talk about." Kevin paused, and took Laura's hand. "I'm sorry."

"Kevin, I'm sorry too. Obviously something happened in the past that is still upsetting you, and that's OK. You're allowed to be upset, you're human after all. I just want you to know that you can talk to me about it, or about anything for that matter. I--" Laura hesitated but figured she had nothing to lose. "I really care about you, and I really like you, Kevin. I--I like you a lot, actually," she said softly, moving a bit closer to Kevin. She reached up and her hand met his face. She gently caressed his face, feeling every curve carefully. She smiled when she reached his chin. "Goatee," she said with a little chuckle, and continued exploring. Laura's fingers traced around his lips, and over his jawline, feeling every defining line and curve. She broke her contact for just a second as her hand moved up to his forehead. Moving across his forehead and moving her hand downward, Kevin closed his eyes. Laura's fingers moved lightly across his eyelids, and back over to his nose and down to his lips again. She put her hand on his cheek and lightly moved her thumb over his mouth.

Laura had wanted to kiss him so bad, but decided not to. Instead, she broke her contact with him and sat up a little straighter, trying to compose herself. "Well," Laura said, trying to be non-chalant but not doing a very good job, "you're a very handsome man, Kevin." Laura smiled.

Kevin blushed. "Thank you," he said, as he looked at Laura. He was suddenly beginning to see Laura in a whole new light. It excited him, but scared him as well. What Linda had done to him was a very hard thing for him to deal with, and he never thought he'd want to be that close to someone again, especially so soon. Kevin couldn't name exactly what it was, but there seemed to be something different about Laura. Then again, he thought there was something different about Linda. Stop that! he commanded himself. They are two different people. But the damage had been done. Kevin's trust had been shattered. He was so confused.

"You're welcome, Kevin," Laura said. Just then Misty returned home... with Howie.

"Hey, Kevin, I didn't know you were here," Howie said as he and Misty sat. "Yeah, I stopped by a while ago to chat with Laura," he said, with Misty winking at him. "Well, Misty came back to change clothes, and then we were going to catch a bite to eat. You two can join us if you like," Howie said as Misty ran to her bedroom to change.

"That's great, Howie! I'd like to go," Laura said, Kevin still looking at her.

"Kev? You going?" Howie asked. "Huh? Oh, yeah, sure D. Sounds great!" Kevin said, breaking his gaze.

A minute or 2 later, Misty returned, all ready to go. Laura finished combing her hair and put a little bit of gel in it. "I'm ready to go too!"

With that, the 4 of them left to go have lunch.