MY LIFE IN BLACK & BLUE

Chapter 16: How Did I Fall In Love With You

Maybe it was talking to Dean, maybe it was simply the fact that I wasn't stressed anymore since the opening of the exhibition was behind me, but that night I slept well for the first time in months. I woke up once during the night to find Dean's arms all around me and all I could do was snuggle in and go right back to sleep.

And I didn't wake up until many hours later when the room's phone rang and I was startled awake. Dean reached for the phone and answered groggily. "What? Yeah, she's here. Ok. We'll be right down. Bye."

"Who was that?"

"Robin. She, Jess and everyone else are going downstairs for breakfast, they want to celebrate with you before heading back to L.A."

"Okay," I said, rolling away. "I think I'm going to my room to shower and dress and I'll see you there…"

"Or we could shower together and save time and water…." He suggested innocently.

"I don't have any other clothes," I said, looking down and realizing I was wearing my slip and that my dress was draped over the back of a chair. "And I'm SO not doing the walk of shame."

"I have some of your clothes!" Dean said brightly, "I brought them along from L.A. in case you refused to talk to me, they were my plan B."

"Resourceful, aren't we?" I asked, teasing.

"I've reached the "I'll do anything, no matter how lame, to be around you"-stage." He said, hugging me close to him before going to get a suitcase containing at least three pairs of jeans, my ugly-only-wear-while-on-tour nurse shoes, a handful of t-shirts, a couple of PJs and even some sexy underwear I had forgotten I owned.

I blushed a little but then Dean kissed me and we did ended up having sex in the shower because the guy could always kiss me in a way that made me forget everything else, even the fact that we weren't done talking just yet.

It was good 45 minutes before we made our way downstairs to the only restaurant in the hotel that served breakfast. I was still feeling bleary eyed but incredibly relaxed – good sex will do that to you, let me tell you – when we sat down.

Everyone looked at us a bit unsure, like wondering if we had buried the hatchet and what was the status between us. I smiled and tried not to think too much about that since I was a bit unsure myself.

Jess, bless her heart, decided to stir the conversation into secure ground by handling me the paper. "First reviews are out. Last night opening was a success and the critics loved your pieces, you got mostly glowing reviews."

"That's good," I said, reaching for the newspaper to read the reviews myself.

Being the awesome friends that they were, they all congratulated me again and Rick insisted we had a champagne toast. Which was awfully sweet of him. And, after gorging ourselves on every kind of available food we found, we began to part ways.

Robin and Keith were driving upstate to visit his parents; Rick, Dan and Mark were going to hang out in New York for a while – taking a break before going into the studio to start recording their new album – and that pretty much left Dean, Jess and me.

"I head out now, Tess." Jess told me as Dean paid the bill. "I need to report to the hospital for the night shift."

"Okay, I'll tell Dean…"

"Tell me what?"

"I'm heading home with Jess,"

"Can I drive you home? I want to show you something."

"I should go with Jess. I can't abandon her here."

"Oh, go with him if you want. Don't stop on my account. It's an hour's drive. I can make it by myself."

"Come on, Tess! I really, really want you to see this."

He was so eager that I gave in. We first saw Jess to her car and then Dean threw my bag into his own car and we drove off. He let me pick up the radio station –and I tuned into a Top 40 station that I knew Dean hated – we talked a little, but he mostly kept telling me that he wanted to show me something.

Eventually he turned into our old town. "You'll see soon." He grinned when I asked what were we doing there.

"Are we going to visit Nana?" I asked once he turned into our old street.

"No." He said, driving up to an old Queen Anne house that had been sitting at the end of our street since forever, abandoned. It was a neighborhood favorite every Halloween – some said it was haunted, Dean and I used to camp there when we were kids.

"The Stevenson's house?" I asked as he parked in front of it.

"Yeah..." Dean said as he got out of the car and went around it to open my door.

"Dean, we can't!" I hissed as he dragged me to the door. "Someone bought it! Nana told me!"

"I know." He said again as he pulled out a key from his jeans' pocket and put it in the lock. "I bought it."

"You what?"

"Bought it. Six months ago." He said, tugging me inside. "Nana told me they were going to tear it down and I couldn't let that happen. So I bought it. It's our dream house, after all."

"I know," I said. "We always said we were going to live together here and have 10 dogs and at least 4 hamsters." I could still remember all those times we had sneaked in and spent hours talking about the future, our future together, beyond Dean being a rock star or me being a painter, it was always about us being together.

"They finished the major renovations last week. There is new plumbing, new electrical installation, refinished the floors, everything. There is no kitchen yet, though – or furniture for that matter – I thought you would like to pick it out yourself."

"Me?"

"Yes. I know you don't like the house in L.A. that you never liked it. I knew from the start but I bought the damn house and I didn't want it to be a mistake for us to be there… but when I heard about this house… I knew it was for us. This house was always supposed to be for the two of us."

"It is beautiful." I said, thinking I would really love living here.

"Things have been bad for us in L.A. for a while, so I figured this would be a good move for you and me. You can come back to L.A. with me for a while and then we can move here once the whole house is ready. I've talked with Mark and the guys, they are okay. I think they were a bit homesick themselves. We are relatively close to New York, closer than to L.A. anyway, so Mark says it's possible for us to record there and everything."

"Uh," I said, "You have been planning for this since then?"

"I wanted to surprise you, but our fight got in the way." Dean said. "I had been thinking about this for a while, and if there is something I care about is for you to be happy. This house is about that."

"It does make me happy, and I do like your plan… but I don't want to go back to L.A.,"

"Are you still mad at me?"

"No, I'm tired to being angry at you. But I don't want to go back and just live with you. I deserve better! I want you to woo me."

"What?"

"You're going to go to L.A. and set your stuff in order, and I'm going to stay here, with my sister, getting this house ready and you're going to come to visit me and romance me."

"Pardon if I repeat myself, what?"

"Dean, we have been fussed at the hip since forever, our relationship has just changed, I think that taking it like any other couple would is good. I want romance, Dean. I'm not letting you skip on that just because I already love you."

Dean sighed and the pulled me into his arms. "Whatever. As longs as I get to keep you in my life, it's all good. I'll do anything as log as you let me love you."

-00—

End of Chapter Sixteen