Trisha had made it sound as if Clinton were living the high life here, but the modest dusty little house right outside of town didn't convince him that this was true. For some reason, this gave him a feeling of relief though it barely mattered.

He stood outside of the compact rental car, not even expecting anyone to stir at this hour. At nine p.m. the tiny block was quiet. He braced himself to go knock on the door until he saw movement. Someone was leaving the house, walking down the porch stairs. She dressed sort of trendy for the average person around these parts.

"Her girlfriend." He assumed, but then thought, "She looks familiar."

She wore the same big hat and shades as she did in the picture. She opened the door to the same black car he had seen in the picture and he stared at her with abandon, not realizing the consequences of this would get him spotted. A tall muscular man standing outside of a compact rental car wasn't a common occurrence around these parts. He stuck out like a sore thumb.

He cursed under his breath when he had realized the girl had spotted him. Only a few yards away across from him, she pulled off her glasses and mouthed his name.

"Oh shit," Kelly said under his breath. He knew who this girl was as she ran over to him, cautiously looking back over her shoulder. It was Gretchen. What the fuck was going on here?

She said, "Get in the car," as she walked over to the passenger's side of his car and got in. He was confused, but he followed her directions.

"Drive around the corner."

He did as he was told and they had stopped in front of another quiet set of houses, not even speaking until this point.

"What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I was about to ask you that same thing."

"How did you find out?"

"They got these people called 'Private Investigators' these days you know.she just can't run away spending up all my money and avoiding these papers I got in my back pocket."

Gretchen narrowed her eyes at him, "So that's why you're here? To make sure she signs some papers?" She shook her head, "You're so fucked up. Even more fucked up than I thought you were."

"Oh so she decides to leave and turn all butch under an assumed name in some shithole of a town while she spends forty G's a month and I'm not supposed to say anything? Do you know the girl she lives with? Are you all cool or just into some freaky shit?"

"What?" Gretchen scoffed, "What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb. I know. And I'm not gonna sit back and just let her cuckold me and trick off on other chicks. What? Did she buy you a bag so you'd be quiet? Louis Vuitton or whatever the hell you cream over? Your mom is looking for her and here she is bullshitting."

"Shut up Kelly!" Gretchen yelled, "You're so wrong."

"I have proof. And I want a divorce."

"You're going to break her."

Kelly expected to hear the word "heart" at the end of that sentence, but he didn't.

"You're so concerned about money all of a sudden?" Gretchen shook her head, "She doesn't need your money."

"Forty thousand a month? Who needs that much anyway?"

"Well she did use it though." She stared into his eyes intently as she said, "Leukemia, is an expensive ailment to treat. And she's going to one of the best centers in the country."

Kelly's stomach dropped and his throat tightened. Suddenly he found it hard to breathe as Gretchen continued speaking, "You don't know what she's been through Kelly, I don't care what you heard."

"Cancer." He said out loud.

"She's been doing so well lately but if I hadn't come when I had.shit I don't know. But all you're going to do is hurt her if you come now with this mean assed bullshit. Do you really hate her that much? Seriously?"

"Who else knows? Everyone but me?"

She frowned, "You, you didn't know?"

"I guess not."

It was a good thing he had bumped into Gretchen before he knocked on the door. Gretchen was on her way out to the late night pharmacy to refill a prescription that Clinton needed. It was too bad that the closest one was almost two hours away in Reno, but getting the medicine before morning was extremely necessary. After she and Kelly had straightened out their communication problems, she decided to trust him enough to see her sister. She gave him the option of leaving, saying that she'd make Clinton sign the papers without a problem. But he had wanted to see her, promising her that he wouldn't put any undue stress on the girl.

He rang the doorbell. A few minutes later he saw a light turn on behind curtained windows. As he sat down against the porch railing, the front door creaked open. There was Clinton wearing one of his t-shirts and a colorful silk scarf tied to her head. Startled, it seemed as if she would nearly jump back into the house and close the door. But she stood doe-eyed and staring.

"Kelly?" She half-whispered.

He stood up, "Can I come in?"

He sat at the kitchen table as he watched her put on coffee, "If you're tired you know, it's cool."

"I'm fine." She said turning on the percolator, "You want some cookies, we have some cookies."

She opened a cupboard and brought down a box of shortbread cookies. "You like these right?"

He nodded and she smiled approvingly, turning to set them out on a saucer plate.

"This place is kind of small huh? I mean compared to every place else you've lived in. Our house."

Clinton turned around when she heard "Our house". "Do you still live there?"

"Yep. But maybe not for long." It was too late but it slipped out. He was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to tell Clinton about Dallas before she signed the papers. But looking at her, he didn't even know whose rules he was trying to follow.

"They don't apply to she and I. They're too pedestrian."

She sat down placing his coffee and the cookies in front of him, "I'm not supposed to have caffeine." She shrugged, looking like a little kid, "Keeps me wired at night now. I mean I get sleepy during the day too much anyway to the point that coffee won't even help me, but if I drink this at night, it's over. Plus Gretchen has me on this diet now."

"You don't need a diet." He said as she poured cream into his cup.

"It's not for weight its so I can be healthy and build my immune system up." She looked down at herself, she knew her image now in one of his old t-shirts was different than it used to be, when her sexy curvy body was draped inside something of his. Now it swallowed her up as if she were a child in her father's clothing. Seeing her like this tugged at his heart.

"So you just came to.see me? How did you find out?"

"Gretchen told me." That was what she and he agreed to in the car for him to say.

"I can't believe she did that." Clinton said scratching her elbow as she looked down at the table, "You know she was saying 'there are some people you need to settle things with', but I didn't think she'd make you come all the way out here." she looked up into his eyes. "I'm sorry. You can go if you want."

"I came here to see you though," He said, letting the steam of his coffee waft up into his nose, warming him. "I wanted to know if you were alright."

"Seriously?" She looked at him as if he'd said the most shocking thing in the world.

He couldn't help but to laugh, "I don't hate you, contrary to what you believe."

"Well you don't have to feel guilty.I don't need pity." Clinton said crossing her arms across her chest.

"I'm not pitying you," He said, though he did feel guilty. "I just want to tell you that I'm.well I see things a whole lot differently now. And I realize that I wasn't the best husband in the world you know."

"Hey," She said stopping him, "It takes two to fuck up a marriage."

"But I'm sorry. For everything I did." He said looking up at her, "You know, I don't even blame you for that thing with Moo. My pride was just hurt. I knew you wouldn't have done that if I hadn't just made you feel like shit. I mean I wouldn't blame you if you were still with her."

"I'm not though," Clinton said grabbing a cookie off of the plate, "I don't love her and I never did." The way she looked into his eyes told him that perhaps she wanted to finish that sentence with something else, but stopped herself.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't even say it anymore."

It was something about the lilt of her voice, and the way she softly commanded him that made him look at her intently this time. The face he had always known, though slightly different now, could still be found when he looked into her eyes. This must've made her self-conscious because she fidgeted and looked away from him, "I know. I know I'm ugly now. I'm skinny and tired looking and I'm practically bald, but Gretchen has been taking care of my hair." She said touching the silk scarf tied into a chignon knot that rested gracefully at her neck.

"Can I see?"

She looked at him as if he were crazy when he asked.

"I'm serious. I just want to see."

"I don't know, it's.I just feel."

"Please."

She looked up at him, into his eyes, deep pools of blue. She decided to trust him though every part of her consciousness was warning her of impending humiliation. She tugged softly, and her scarf fell away from her head almost effortlessly. Underneath were downy soft ebony curls that clung to her head, the light of the room reflecting off of the sheen of her tresses.

"It'll grow back thicker soon.it's that goddamned chemo gave that me stupid ducky baby hair. But Gretchen makes it look good." She self-consciously ran her hand through the hair, unflattering it.

He reached out and let his fingers brush against her hair and scalp. Her hair was extremely soft, like a baby's. The expression on her face was one of surprise and almost fear, as if she would fail his inspection to brave the worst consequences.

"Wow." he said. "I still can't believe that you manage to do it."

She sat statue still, not even wanting to move. It had been forever since he had touched her. She was afraid the feeling had brought her too much joy, made her feel too good because she was longing for it shortly after he had took his fingers away.

"What do I manage to do?"

He looked at her, shaking his head, "Nothing. Nevermind."

She almost looked alarmed as she asked, "What did I do this time?"

He wanted to laugh at her naivet‚, and touch her again for the way that she stared at him intently, taking nothing for granted.

"I might be going to Dallas."

She gasped, "Oh my God, that's great! You wanted that for the longest. Congratulations Kelly."

"But."

"There's a 'but'?"

"I don't know if I should."

"Why?"

"I've been looking at my old tapes, doing some critiquing and it started me thinking about what I could improve. But the only thing is I'm used to playing with my team.so even if I go to Dallas and do better, it'll just irk me that I couldn't correct what I had to at Santa Frances."

"Well you were doing good Kel. I mean you've been shedding your blocks and you haven't been overrunning your assignments.maybe you just need to focus more."

He looked at her as if she spoke another language. He forgot that she knew so much about him, about football. Maybe it was because he had stopped talking and listening to her completely, shutting her out, thinking he was all alone.

But he had been all alone, ever since she had left.

"Kelly what did you mean about what you said earlier?"

"Hmmm?" He was snapped out of his own thoughts.

"The thing you said 'nothing' and 'never mind' to."

"Oh," Kelly said remembering as he rubbed his neck, "I forgot how stubborn you were."

"And how good my memory is."

"Yeah, well. Let's just say that, all that stuff you talked about being ugly is dead wrong."

"It is?" When he nodded she asked, "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Like, I feel certain things right now." He said staring at her, "But I don't know if it's right."

"What do you feel?" Clinton asked. When he didn't answer she said, "It's okay.I promise it's okay."

He reached over to her and stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers. Her skin was still soft. She looked at him intently, seeming surprised but not upset about what he was doing. Just as he was about to pull away she grabbed his wrist. She took his big hand in her two smaller ones and kissed it gently. The feel of her lips barely brushing against his skin stirred something in him. Memories of their past came flooding back to him. He didn't speak, afraid he'd choke on the emotion rising inside of him. She just held his hand, leaning her face against it as she closed her eyes. He noticed that tears brimmed beneath her closed lids, wetting her long lashes, liquid escaping from the corners of her eyes.

"I'm sorry," he heard her say. "I guess I just miss you."

He wanted to tell her the same thing but, more than anything, he wanted to show her. When she let go of his hands he stood.

"You're leaving?" She said looking up at him with alarm. "No!" he said with an amused expression on his face. He reached for her hand and pulled her up in one swift motion. Before they both knew it, she was in his arms. For a while it was just him holding her tightly, so tightly that she felt it hard to breathe, but she didn't care. She wrapped her arms around him, not quite mustering up the same tenacity with her embrace, "Damn this cancer." she thought, as he bent his body to lean his face into the crook of her neck. She felt a wetness on her skin, and heard him sniffling. "Oh God," she whispered as she closed her eyes, "It's okay Kelly, I swear it's okay." She ran her hands up and down his back, from his shoulder blades to the slight dip in his muscular back.

His sobbing only became more pronounced, and soon she couldn't hold back any longer herself. She began to cry too. She could never stand to see him so upset. There was only one other time when she saw him cry, way back when they were "found out" and he felt as if his father hated him. She had crawled into his lap and brought his head to her bosom, not that it was overly ample but it had brought him comfort. All she wanted to do was bring him comfort. She pulled away from him, and she smiled as he tried to hide his face by looking away from her. "It's okay," she said, pulling him toward the living room.

She brought him over to the couch and he instinctively he sat down. She gently clambered on top of him and wrapped her arms around his neck. The feeling of being this close to him gave her so many feelings: nervousness, yearning, and relief. She felt right just this way, and though her frame felt smaller, more delicate, her breathing seeming more labored, this is the same way Kelly felt. She rested her head on his chest, listening to his heart. He could tell that though she sought out to comfort him, that she was the one who needed this just as much as he did. He caressed her body, her bare thighs, and the small of her back as her head settled in under his chin. He could feel her soft hair rub against his skin, the warmness of her body pressed against his.

She looked up at him and tried to see if she could spot any changes in his face since the last time she saw him. "Nope," she thought to herself, "Same old Kelly. I'm the one who's changed."

He kissed her on the forehead softly, then the bridge of her nose, then her lips. She almost couldn't believe what was happening as she parted her lips to let him inside.again. Their tongues played against each other as they sucked and nibbled on each other's lips. She couldn't even remember the last time she kissed someone, or just had them hold her. She actually didn't think that he'd be here again, and that she'd still feel this way.

Kelly's feelings were whirling around inside of him like a hurricane. Out of all of the question and doubt he felt emerged one true thing: this feeling was the same way he felt when he first realized that he was in love with her. That was back when he still wanted to be around her all of the time, hear her voice constantly, please her, make her happy. It never took much. He wondered if she were still the same way.

The way she kissed him back told him that she'd had stored away passion that she needed to use up. Her kisses were urgent, and pressing, gentle yet pressured, and her touch was that of yearning. She seemed to want to pull herself back every so often so that she didn't let her emotions get the best of her. But tonight, he didn't want to hold back. He didn't know what to say but he knew what he wanted to do. After months and months of pushing her away, ignoring her, and placating her by giving her his body and not all of him, he wanted to pull her closer, so close that the emotion just might frighten them both. He wanted her to feel again, he wanted to feel again. He was so numb for so long, trying to get rid of the pain and doubt inside of him that he had forgotten what it was like to feel love like this. He wanted to make love to Clinton, right now.

His hands slid up her thigh, under the t-shirt that she wore, his t-shirt. Her skin was still soft as he fingered the edge of her panties on her hip. He was about to slide a finger down and around until he got to the piece of fabric covering up the sweet beauty between her legs but then he stopped himself.

"Clinton, stop me if you want."

"Stop what?"

"I want to." He didn't finish his sentence, but she already knew what he was trying to say.

She pushed herself off of him and said, "Come on." Holding his hand she led him to her bedroom upstairs.

Her room was dark, but the light from streetlamps filtered its way in through her slatted window shade, giving it an amber tinge. He grabbed her and pulled her close to him as he invaded her mouth with his tongue. He was trying so hard to be gentle, but he realized that his passion had been storing up during the me they'd been apart too. Not to mention that he had stopped having sex with Trisha a couple of months ago. Since then football has been his only mistress.

He lifted the shirt up over her head, looking at the way the light from outside hit her body in the darkness. She seemed mostly still the same, just skinnier. She tried to cover her topless body with her arms, crossing them across her chest. He just smiled and tipped her chin towards him with his fingers, giving her a gentle kiss. "Knock it off girl.let me see you."

She dropped her arms slowly as his eyes bored through her in the dark. She smiled, because she saw it, recognized it.desire in his eyes. She never thought that she'd get to see that look again, especially since her appearance was less than beautiful to her.

Recognizing something else-her own desire-she reached up and grabbed his face pressing her lips against his, slowly snaking her tongue into his mouth. She wanted him so bad. He reached around and cupped her ass in his hands, squeezing and grunting as his own hardness grew and grew.

Finally, she sat down on the edge of the bed at his prompting. He kneeled between her thighs, and she spread them so that his torso was between them as she looked up at her, still able to see her eyes shine in the darkness. She ran her fingers through his bristly hair as she looked down at him lovingly, biting her bottom lip.

Suddenly their heads jerked towards the door after hearing footsteps up the stairs. A pair of feet-Gretchen's no doubt-sounded as if they had shuffled up to Clinton's door. Luckily the owner of those feet had thought better than to knock. They heard the footfalls fade out as she walked away. They both looked at each other and laughed. Though Gretchen was home and probably knew he was in her room, they weren't about to stop now.

"Kelly." she whispered, not knowing what to say next. Soon there was no way that she could talk after feeling his lips pull at her nipple. She hissed, feeling her pussy immediately gush with wetness. He took his time sucking and manipulating each of her nipples as he knelt on the floor between her legs enjoying the sound of her soft and demure moans and subtle breathing tinged with hints of her trying not to go insane as he felt chocolate nipple harden against his tongue. As he sucked on a nipple he reached between her thighs and gingerly stroked her pussy through her panties. She shivered, "shit.Kelly." she couldn't believe how good he was making her feel. She couldn't believe that he knew exactly how she needed to feel tonight, making it happen. The manipulation of her very sensitive and hardened nipples by his soft yet strong stroking tongue brought her close to the cusp of orgasm alone, and every time he brushed her panty clad pussy she shivered. Soon he began to rub it through her panties, firmly kneading against her slit and making acute contact with her hard clit. She threw her head back as she grabbed his, pulling him closer and closer to her breast. He tried to get as much as he could into his mouth as he stroked her. Soon she was cumming. Her eyes fluttered closed and she nearly screamed with pleasure and his name escaped her lips, "Kelly.yesssss."

He pulled away with a plopping sound and began to kiss her neck and chin. Soon their lips met each other and she felt him pulling down her panties. Damn, she wanted him, and she wanted him now. "I want you inside of me." she whispered into his ear. This was all Kelly had needed to hear. When he stood up she began to unbuckle his pants as he pulled off his shirt. He was still the man made of granite. Beautifully sculpted, he had never changed. Six foot one, sandy brown hair, deep blue eyes, a face perfectly angular and a body perfectly chiseled, Clinton felt like an ugly duckling compared to him. Part of her wanted to stop him, to tell him that he deserved more but she couldn't stop it even if she had tried. His generous manhood was fully erect and ready in his beautiful nakedness, and soon she had missed that feeling of being filled, stretched, her insides prodded up to the hilt with his beautiful dick. She envied anyone who had ever had it during the time she hadn't.

By now she lay on the bed, thighs spread, body glistening with a fine sheen of sweat. He thought she looked so sexy this way, looking up at him with a meekness, but an unspoken desire. She was so innocently beautiful, the features of her face even more expressive without any of her long hair crowding it in.

Once on top of her, he kissed her on the forehead. She spread wide, his hips between her thighs. He wasn't in yet, but she had felt the tip of his cock press against the entrance of her pussy.

"Are you sure we can do this?" Kelly asked.

She kissed him hard, sliding her hand down to his cock. He shuddered once he had felt her little soft hand on it.

"I'm sure." She whispered.

He slowly slid inside of her, her hand guiding and encouraging him. They were both gasping and moaning until he was deep inside of her. "Damn." Kelly paused for a moment, trying to gather his senses. He hadn't been with anyone in what he considered a long time, especially Clinton. Being inside of her felt better than ever. It seemed tighter and wetter, though he didn't know if his mind was playing tricks on him or if his own emotions had just made everything more intense.

She looked up into his eyes and held his face as he began to stroke in and out of her, deep, hard, slow. He wanted to take his time with her. Every movement of his body and roll of his hips communicated the way he still felt about her. He balanced his body over hers, upstroking so that she'd feel the subtle pressure against her clit. She was so beautiful, the expression on her face as she stared up at him, lips parted, breathing ragged.

"Fuck," he said getting as deep as he could, she moaned and whimpered beneath him. He leaned his head down to her ear and whispered, "You feel so fucking good."

She wrapped her legs around his waist, and rode with him by thrusting her hips upward. Soon every one of her limbs had wrapped themselves around his body like ivy around a trellis. He supported both of their weight as he balanced himself on the bed, body moving up and down in the motion of a push up. She felt so good to him, that there was nothing he could do to get deeper enough, to fill her up and stretch her wider. He wanted to melt with her and meld with her into one person. Even while having her he still wanted more and more and more.

He was trying to be gentle yet forceful at the same time, and by the sounds of her throaty growls and whimpering moans, he knew he had accomplished this.

She couldn't believe that she was with him right now, being filled, her fiery passion being stoked by the man inside of her. They weren't having a quick fuck the way they used to. This was love making. She felt it and knew he did too even if the reason why he did confused her all to hell. Did he still love her? Why?

Meanwhile his thoughts for some reason went to other things besides this moment. The fact that this woman he had loved and possibly still loved was sick and could die made a surge of emotion flow through him. He began to feel guilty about the way that he had been treating her before. She was too good for him, but he wanted and needed to be with her right now. Maybe she sensed this, maybe this is why she let him make love to her.

He had to look away, feeling the tears gather in his eyes, grateful for the cover of darkness in the room.

"Kelly," she said in a low voice.

"Yes," He said, the muscles of his back rippling as he hovered over her, thrusting deep and hard.

"Kiss me please."

He sniffed, hesitating. He didn't want her to see him crying but he didn't want her to think that he didn't want to kiss her. So when he turned to face her, and his tears fell onto her face, she couldn't stop her own either.

They both cried silently as Kelly lowered himself to grind deep into her, her moans and the tightening of her thighs around his waist as she approached climax was all that he could stand. His eyes squeezed tightly closed as he came inside of her, the pressure of all that exerted energy had him seeing spots and stars beneath his eyelids as they melted into each other, refusing to let go.

Clinton was the first to wake up. As the sunlight filtered through her window she watched him sleep on his stomach, holding his pillow tightly beneath him. She smiled. She was close enough to touch him, but she seemed so far away for some reason, that she was almost afraid to try. So she just stared at him and watched him sleep until he finally stirred, his eyes eventually fluttering open to look back at her.

"You spying on me now?"

She gave a soft chuckle. She sounded like a little girl. She was glowing, literally.

"Damn Clint," he said. For some reason he felt a stirring in his dick as he looked at her pretty face. She was on her stomach too, laying on a pillow, the sheets only covering so much as up to the dip in her back. Her honey brown skin was smooth and taut. He remembered how sometimes it awed him to put his skin against hers and to observe the contrast. It was something he hardly ever thought about because all he saw when he looked at her was who she was, but when it did happen, for some reason it stirred lust deep inside of him.

"What?"

He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.

"Ahh, the 'forehead pity kiss'," she laughed, "that's great. Just great."

"What are you talking about?" Kelly said sounding slightly alarmed.

"You don't want to kiss me for real?" She licked her lips.

"Why don't you kiss me?" He said playfully as he turned over onto his back.

"I don't know my kisses are kind of sweet, maybe too sweet for the morning time.it's more like an afternoon or evening thing."

"Oh," Kelly said laughing, "so now you're bragging huh?" He reached over and pulled her on top of him as she giggled and protested, "Kelly!"

Looking into his eyes, her skin touching his, her nipples pressing into his chest, she almost felt herself getting lost in him. She felt his hardness press against her thigh, and couldn't believe that he could possibly want it again. It made her feel somewhat sexy, and turned on. She kissed him softy, feather light, barely brushing her lips against his, until the kiss evolved into something deeper, the gnashing of lips and tongues and teeth, soft moaning into each other's mouths.

"Shit Clinton," Kelly said reaching a hand up to run his fingers through her downy fluff of curls, "You know how to keep me glued to a bed don't you? Always trying to start something."

"Well I don't want to keep you from anyone if you need to go."

He scoffed, "What are you talking about Mama? Hmm?" He asked stroking her face and neck as she bent her head to meet his touch, entrapping his hand between her cheek and neck.

"I'm just saying, you must have someone waiting on you."

"No, nobody's waiting on me. There's been no one."

She stared into his eyes trying to gauge the veracity of this statement.

"I'm serious girl."

She paused before she said, "Well what about Trisha?"

Kelly laughed and it was her turn to tell him that she was serious.

"Trisha was just sex."

"But you only had it with her right?"

"Well yeah, but still. That doesn't mean anything. It just means that she was persistent and when she put it right in front of me-I was weak."

"You brought her to Thanksgiving dinner."

Kelly's body tensed up beneath hers as he felt embarrassment and shame wash over him, "Well, I guess I was trying to hurt you."

"You succeeded," She said tracing the outline of his ear with her fingertip, "You succeeded wonderfully."

"I'm sorry. I was just hurt about what you did too. I guess I never thought that you could do the same thing to me that I did to you. And the way the situation played out had shocked the hell out of me. I felt like a fool."

"How do you think I felt?" Clinton said shaking her head, "I mean, I really thought you wanted her more than me. And in a way, you can't deny that you didn't. Because you didn't want me."

He sighed, "I don't know Clint, I was going through some shit and I know, I know." he said noticing that look in her eyes which told him that he should've known better, "I should've worked it out with you but for some reason I didn't. But now I know I have to be a man." he thought about his father's words as he said this.

She lay down on his chest, nestling her head under his chin, listening to his heartbeat. Hearing these words made her feel so much better even though it wasn't even half of what she had wanted to know or understand about what went wrong with them. But it was enough for right now. But what did this mean? He had been saying "sorry" ever since he came here, but she didn't know if it was just out of pity or what. Was this an apology? What was he trying to say to her?

"But she must've been a good lay right?" She asked still on the subject of Trisha.

"Why?"

"What did you guys usually do together? I mean how was she different than I was."

He sighed, "You don't want to hear this."

"Yes, yes I do. Tell me."

"Like I said, Trisha was just sex. I treated her like a slut. She liked it. She wore skimpy lingerie, high heels, all these kinky outfits and she got wild and crazy. But with you it was different."

"Yeah, I mean we don't exactly set off any fire alarms together."

"You set off more than a fire alarm." he said.

She smiled thinking about last night.

"Can I ask you something though?" He asked.

She lifted her head up to look at him in anticipation of his question.

"Did you umm.did you love her?"

"I cared about her. I still care about her as a person. I mean if I wanted to be with her, I could've. But it's over. It's been over for a long long time. Trust me."

"So did she." he trailed off thinking about all those hickies and bites all over her body months ago, "was she a good replacement?"

"I loved you Kelly, no matter what I loved you. I used her for attention and affection, I know that's sad to say but it's true. All the while I was missing you still. Nothing could fill that void."

He felt a warmness inside of him. It was actually relief, from what, he didn't know. "So you gonna give me some more of that sweetness?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Why what ever do you mean?"

"That's up to you."

She lifted herself up and straddled his hips, then she leaned over and kissed him. His hands slid up her thighs and up to her waist, encircling it as his tongue explored her mouth. He felt his dick getting harder and harder. Damn, how he had wanted her.he couldn't believe that she had wanted him too, again. He thought she might've been tired or that last night was just a fluke, but as she slid on top of his hard cock, he knew better.

She placed her hands on his chest and started to ride him the way she used to, rolling her hips and moving her ass on top of him. His eyes were closed and he reveled in the feel of her on him again as he held her waist. She was so sexy as she lifted her head and bit her bottom lip, totally lost in her own ecstasy. He knew that most likely she hadn't been with anyone else for a long time, especially after her diagnosis. Maybe she needed him as much as he needed her.

He reached between her legs and began to flick at her hard erect clit that protruded slightly from her lips. She began to gasp and dig her nails into his chest. He didn't mind, he just kept on playing with her clit, loving the way her breathing became faster and more intense, the way she bounced on his dick. Damn, he could come from just looking at her.

But soon they were coming together, he was amazed at how intense it was since they had just started moments ago. Her muscles gripped his cock and slowly milked it on every spasm. The pressure had built but then he let go of everything he had deep inside of her, "Oh fuck!" He almost yelled. It was quick yet intense. He grabbed at the space of mattress flanking either side of him through the sheets as he came.

However, Clinton wasn't done yet. He knew that she had come already but she was still riding her way to another orgasm as her hand went rapidly over her clit. He tried to stay as hard as possible inside of her as she rode out yet another rolling orgasm.

Finally, she collapsed on top of him gasping. Soon he found that she was giggling, almost uncontrollably. And though it had threw him off guard, her laughter tickled him, it was like one of a joyful child. He began laughing too.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I just never thought I'd be interested in sex again."

"Really?"

"Sickness will do that to you. Make you feel like everything is over. But I guess it's not." she said trailing off as she looked into his eyes again.

"Oh no," he said "that look again. You're gonna wear me out."

Before she could answer there was a knock at the door that startled them both, "Clinton!"

"Yes Gretchen?" she yelled over her shoulder.

"You have to take your medicine now since you didn't last night."

"Okay, I will."

"Now!"

Clinton rolled her eyes, "She's like a pill Nazi," she rolled off of him and grabbed at the t-shirt she wore last night that lay on the floor. Kelly followed suit and began to put on his clothes. "I'm coming in, and I don't know if Kelly's still in there or if you're decent but I don't care."

Clinton sucked her teeth, "Gretchen no!"

But it was too late, Gretchen had walked in with a tray with a tall glass of water and a bunch of pills in an organized container with dozens of compartments.

"Control freak." Clinton muttered under her breath at the sight of her older sister.

Kelly had just shrugged on his polo shirt grateful for the fact that he was able to dress quickly. Clinton stood with her arms crossed in the over sized t-shirt she wore, tapping her barefoot against the wooden floor.

"Good morning," Gretchen said to Kelly before turning to her sister, "Here." She put the tray on her sister's messy bed. "You know you get extra nauseous if you don't do all of this by noon."

She sighed, knowing that Gretchen was right.

"Anyway, I picked up some food this morning from the diner so Kelly, you're welcome to stay and have breakfast."

And with that she left.

"Wow. I'm surprised she didn't make a big scene or anything." Kelly said.

"I know right? I guess taking care of me has made her too tired to be the drama queen she once was."

"She seemed mad though. At me probably." Kelly said thinking about what he and she spoke about in the car last night. He knew she'd probably be pissed about him sleeping with Clinton when he came over with the intentions of making her sign divorce papers.

"Well she obviously got that food for you because she knows I'm not all about eating in the morning. Even though she tries to make me," she pouted.

Kelly buckled his belt and sat down in a nearby chair in order to put on his sneakers, "Oh. I didn't know it was like that Clint."

"Listen, why don't you go eat, this is going to take me a minute." She said looking at the intimidating tray of medicine and pills.

"I can wait."

"No. I mean, please don't." She said not meaning to snap at him, "It's a process. Sometimes I get sick and I don't want you to."

"Okay," he said, standing up. "It's all good." He walked over to her and gave her a kiss on the forehead, "Hurry up though." He said right before grabbing her hand briefly and squeezing. She squeezed back but was sure he couldn't feel it since his grip was so much stronger than hers.

Right before he left he asked, "You'll be alright?"

"I've been doing this for months.I'll be fine."

He nodded and then left, closing the door behind him. She had been doing this for months. Without him.

He should've been there with her.

When he came down to the kitchen Gretchen had the table set and food on their plates. It was a good thing since Kelly was hungry. He sat down as she busied herself at the sink.

"How come there are only two plates, you not eating?"

"No, I am." When she walked to the table she brought back over a bowl of oatmeal with sliced bananas and a can of some type of nutritional supplement.

"What's that?"

"Her breakfast. This is actually a big one though. I'm hoping she can stomach it today since she's been eating a little better and." she looked up at Kelly, "Well it seems like she has more energy lately. Or she definitely needs it this morning." She picked up the can of Clinton's nutritional drink and began shaking it, "I got the strawberry kind, she loves the strawberry kind."

"How come she's been keeping this a secret?"

"Why didn't you ask her?" Gretchen questioned as she placed the can down and walked over to the counter again.

"No one knows."

"I'm trying to get her to tell people." Gretchen said with her back turned, "But I'm just happy that she let me help her. She really needed me."

"But she needs more." He said, thinking about how no one should have to go on for months hiding something like this from their family.

Gretchen slowly spun around, "I'm not good enough now?"

He frowned confused, "What?"

"I do a damned good job Kelly. A damned good job. So don't start criticizing."

"I know you do. You're the best. I'm not criticizing, I'm just saying."

"Saying what? If you had been a good husband she wouldn't have needed me."

"Geez Gretch, what's your problem?"

"What do you want from her Kelly? I thought you came over to get those papers signed. You could've gotten pussy from your agent."

He winced, "You're out of line and you know it."

"You're out of line! What? You couldn't have possibly wanted to scam some 'last chance' pussy from your soon to be ex-wife? She doesn't need your pity sex."

"What we do is between us," Kelly said placing his hand on his chest "you have no idea what you're talking about."

"You don't know how she feels about you Kelly." Gretchen said, her face reddening. He could see that she might be about to cry, "She's really vulnerable. Being with you means more to her than just sex."

"How do you know what it meant to me?"

Gretchen's brows bunched together and she snaked her neck as spoke rapidly, "You came over here, hot under the collar, talking about how she was spending your money with some butch and you wanted a divorce so she could stop taking your precious money. That was only hours ago."

Kelly sighed, "I had gotten some wrong information."

"And you believed it."

"I had my defenses up."

"So?" She nearly yelled. She took a deep breath and tried to regain her composure. "What's that supposed to mean now? You didn't ask her to sign them right? You couldn't have."

He looked down at the plate of food in front of him, beginning to lose his appetite.

"Yeah," she scoffed, "Exactly what I thought." She walked over to the other side of the counter where the coffee brewed. He watched her pour a mug and then ask, "Sugar? Cream?"

"What do you mean you 'thought so'?"

"I'm trying to be civil to you. Because of her." She placed the mug down in front of him, "But I'm tired of you hurting her. You're not making things any better for her by sleeping with her and delaying the bad news. You should make a clean break."

"Gretchen, this is full of complications. It's not all cut and dry."

"So make it cut and dry," She said sitting down at the table with her own coffee. "For her sake. Think of her." Before he could respond she said, "You know what? The damage is done. Her emotions are all shook up and she's all vulnerable because of whatever you did with her last night so all I can ask is that you make this divorce as bearable as possible."

Kelly leaned forward and looked into Gretchen's eyes, "What if there were no divorce?"

She eyed him suspiciously.

"I'm serious."

"Kelly." She said in an exasperated fashion, "you mean to tell me you want to be with her again all of a sudden after one night together?"

"I think I want to work on things," he shrugged. "Truthfully I've been missing her for a long time. I was actually hoping she was pregnant so that she'd have to stay in my life," he admitted for the first time to anyone. He was damned near praying that she was with child, just so he could have an excuse to be around her even with his mixed feelings.

"So you could make it miserable?"

"You're busting my balls here Gretchen."

"I'm sorry, I just cannot get over how you treated my sister. No one has ever disrespected her like that. Especially not someone who claimed to love her forever and ever."

He reached behind him, "I know you don't believe in me but I wanna rip up these papers in my back pocket and." he trailed off as he realized the papers were gone. "Shit."

"What?" Gretchen asked, alarmed.

"They were right in my pocket."

"Shit, they fell out!" Gretchen hissed, "Oh my God what if she found them?"

"I did."

They both turned to look at Clinton. She had changed into jeans and a long fitted black button down blouse that came past her hips. She wore a silk scarf tied around her head in a side chignon and big silver hoops. She casually dropped the papers on the table and sat down across from them, "This oatmeal is cold. Yechhh!"

"Clint I." Kelly started to try to explain away the situation as he picked up the papers. He noticed that they were signed. A knot formed in his throat and he tried to choke it down before he spoke, "You signed?"

"Yeah," She said popping open the can of the drink in front of her, "Gretchen, warm that up in the microwave and take out those bananas."

"Bananas are good for you Clinton," Gretchen said checking her sister's face for any signs of distress or sadness as she picked up the bowl and stood up.

"I hate them."

"No you don't," Gretchen said putting the bowl in the microwave. "You had them the other day."

"No I didn't."

"Yeah, you did."

"No I-"

"Damn!" Kelly yelled. "Why y'all acting like this is normal? Talking about bananas and shit?" Kelly looked irritated as he pushed himself away from the table and stood up.

"We don't have to talk about anything she doesn't want to talk about." Gretchen said through clenched teeth. "We don't want to stress her out now do we?"

"I'm right here," Clinton said looking around at the two of them innocently, "What aren't we supposed to talk about now?"

"I need some air." Kelly walked out of the kitchen. Soon they both heard the sound of the screen door slamming.

Clinton found Kelly on the front porch leaning against the railing. He turned to her when he heard he door open.

"Hey."

"What's up?" She asked closing the door behind her. "What's the problem?"

He shook his head, "Nothing."

She walked up to him, "Look at me."

He turned around to stare her directly in the eye.

"Now talk to me."

"I guess I just feel stupid. Embarrassed. I'm sorry, you must think I'm an asshole right?"

"No, why would I think that?"

He gave her an incredulous look, "Don't act like this please."

"Like what?"

"All indifferent, like everything is all good."

"I really don't feel bad Kelly. The only thing I feel bad about is making you wait so long for the papers. I wish you would've just told me, you could've been back on a plane the same night."

He squinted at her, the sun bouncing off of the sidewalk and backlighting him as he leaned against the railing. "So you want this to be over?"

"Isn't that what you came for?"

"Yeah originally but."

"But what?" She asked shrugging her shoulders.

"Don't do this to me. Don't shut me out because you're mad at me now. I'm sorry. I thought that you signing the papers was what I wanted but."

She hugged him around his waist and looked up into his eyes, "Kelly I'm not mad at you. I'm not trying to be passive aggressive or anything. I know you care about me. But I understand that you need your life back. I know we've said and done a lot of things to each other over the past year that wasn't right, that was down right low.but I know that we care for each other. And it's okay if you want to move on. I have no right to hold you back."

The lump in his throat came back, "You're not holding me back Clinton."

"What changed? What made you want to forget about making me sign those papers? I mean, I was wondering why you had come but I guess I was too naive to suspect that you just didn't want to see me out of the blue."

"Clinton." Kelly sighed looking away.

"It's okay. I mean, you saw me, you found out I was sick. You were afraid to tell me."

"I want to be with you."

"You don't have to do this Kelly."

"I want you." The words caught in his throat as he tried to control his emotions. "This is not pity talking. This is me, this is my heart." He was sincere, he had never wanted anything more in his life right now. He just knew that they should be together, even if it took him all the way up to now to realize this. "We could work out everything.for real. Starting with me saying I'm sorry.you want that?" He asked, "You want me to say I'm sorry? That I was the one who shut you out, that I was the one who resented you, that I was petty, I was stupid."

"It takes two Kelly. I wasn't exactly mature about this either. I should've stood up for myself more. I should've just forced you to talk to me. I mean, all it comes down is us talking to each other. Just being honest. I can't complain about how you were wrong if I just sat back and let things fall apart too. I shouldn't have just pretended like what we were doing was normal. It's not all your fault so stop feeling guilty."

"This isn't about guilt-"

"You didn't kill this by yourself."

The words hit him like an extra hard block on the field, "So this is dead?"

"I'm going to be going through so much Kelly, I can't put you through this."

"Just stop," he whispered, "don't even say that. Tell me you don't want me. Tell me you hate me, but don't give me that 'this is for your own good' bullshit. Do what you want to do Clinton but do not do that martyr shit. I can't fucking take it right now I-"

"I want to do the right thing," Clinton cut him off as she stepped back, letting go. "And that means that I have to let you go."

Kelly felt himself tear up but didn't try to hide it, "So it's like that?"

Clinton felt sadness and guilt when she looked at his face. This was for his own good. She couldn't stand to let him see her so weak, feeling as if he had to be there to protect her and care for her. It was bad enough she was like a ball and chain to her sister, she didn't want to become one to him too.

"Just tell me you don't want to and I'll just gracefully bow out." Kelly said grabbing onto her arm.

"Okay, I don't want to." Clinton said, her voice soft and low as if she were too meek to say the words, "But not because I don't love you. I do." She shook her head slowly, "I wish I could make you understand."

"Oh Clinton." Kelly whispered, looking down at his feet, "Don't say this. We can make it."

"Me being sick is just like dropping an elephant on an old rope bridge. With all of our problems do you really think we can survive this kind of stress?"

He sighed, and looked away for a moment before he said, "Remember what we used to say?"

She smiled and mouthed the words along with him: "Me and you against the world."

He lit up on the hope sparked by her smile, "You know it baby. It's just me and you."

"That's what we said the first time. Besides, you're doing big things in Dallas and I just can't mess that up for you. Besides, I can't move to Dallas."

"You moved to West Bubblefuck, Nevada though."

"Kelly my clinic is here."

Thinking about Gretchen's accusations earlier, he began to toy with the idea that maybe he had been pity fucked. "This is fucked up Clinton. We belong together. Look, fuck Dallas, I'll stay here."

"You can't stop your life for me. I won't let you. You've been wanting this forever." She said shaking her head. "Kelly just take the papers and do what you have to do. I won't give you a hard time. I promise. I'm sure our lawyers can remain amicable under the circumstances."

"Lawyers?" He couldn't believe it. She was dead serious. "Shit Clint. So this is the end?"

She reached up and put her arms around his neck, kissing him on the first place she could reach, the bottom of his chin. "You said you would bow out. Be graceful for me. Please?"