Awkward

Jade can't help another laugh. "Mm... that dream might never come true. Dad's a tough cookie..." Her smiles fades as she recalls arguments with Mick. "...too tough sometimes." She sighs. "But I love him. I just wish I understood him."

Letting her body shift to the side, her head rests on Dan's shoulder. "I really don't want to go back home. I do like it here... I'm just not sure he wants me, ya know?"


As Ryan comes skidding around the corner, Leo feels a bump to his leg and he grunts, cringing as Ryan calls out. "Good grief, woman," he mumbles. Squinting, he tries to focus on her face. "Lets not... not panic, shall we?"

He sucks in his breath, wincing. "What're y...you doing here, hmm?"

Hearing Ryan's call, Eli sprints in her direction followed quickly by Miles. "Ryan what..." Eli skids down next to her, not having to finish his question. "Oh man... Leo."

Miles' eyes are wide. "Is he okay?"

Eli reaches down to feel Leo's pulse. "He's alive."

Leo coughs. "How 'bout you ask... the half-dead guy, huh?"

Miles laughs. "Still got your sense of humor."

Eli is still checking him over, kneeling next to Ryan. "We gotta get him to a hospital."

"No!" Leo winces. "Please... please no... just... just take me home."

Eli shakes his head. "You're hurt and-"

"Please?"

Eli sighs. "We're at least going to help you."

Miles looks at his watch. "Ron should still be at the shop if we want to take him there."

"Too dirty." Eli looks to Ryan. "Can we take him to your place?"


JT grins and gives Bree a loving hug. He laughs as she looks around for Gunner. "No... you didn't scare him too bad. He's here. Should be any minute anyway."

He moves to the living room to set everything around so the three of them could sit on the couch and share the pizza from the coffee table.

Gunner hears Bree and takes a deep breath. Why he suddenly felt a little awkward around her, he didn't know. Well... maybe he did know. But what she'd said to JT didn't change anything, right? Everything was still the same.

Splashing a bit of cold water on his face, he looks himself in the mirror, but gives up on making himself look any better. After looking at the photos, his appetite wasn't quite what it was a while ago, but he'd join JT and Bree as planned and no ruin their evening.

Coming from the bathroom, he wanders back down the hall and to the living room, his hands tucked partway in his jeans pockets. "Hey..." A wry grin emerges. "Bringer of the pizza made it."

He stands awkwardly and scratches the back of his head. "Um... hi."


Rosetta's whole reasoning catches Mick off guard. Having thought she was just jealous or overreacting, hearing what she had to say was a bit of a shock. He'd never known she felt this way... had these kinds of fears or feelings.

Staring at her across the table, he just blinks, his mouth partway open. Amazement appeared in his eyes. Amazement for his blindness, and amazement that these feelings could even exist. But here was his wife, admitting how she really felt.

"Rosetta, I..." He stops again and leans back in his chair, his eyebrows raised in bewilderment as far as knowing what to say. His anger was suddenly gone. There was something bigger that needed to be fixed before saving his pride.

Taking a deep breath, he lets it out slowly, and looks down at the table for a few moments. He hadn't planned on talking about this, but apparently Rosetta needed him to rewind much further than the last couple days.

Mick rises from the table, looking as though he's going to leave, but instead, he moves around the table to sit next to Rosetta. Reaching across the corner of the table, he takes her hands in his before lifting his eyes to gaze straight into hers. He could see the tears that wanted to come, and they hurt like daggers.

"I have never... ever... loved anybody like I love you." He keeps his eyes locked with hers, his tone even and serious. "I married Jill... yes, I did. I was upset about losing every friend I had at the hands for the Agency. I was lonely. I was tired of fighting. Did I love Jill? Yes." Mick swallows hard, but he won't break his gaze. "Yes, what developed between her and me was love. Would I have stayed with her, had she not thought I was having an affair? I don't know. We had problems. Lots of them, after the honeymoon stage was over. I can't say if I would have stayed with her or not. But I didn't. Bad things happened and my world was torn apart all over again. And all over again, I was alone and tired. I threw myself into my work, not even realizing who I was working for, I was so blind. Then even that fell apart. My drinking got worse, everything was out of my control all over again. And then something special happened."

His grip tightens on her hands. "You. ...You happened to me all over again. The woman I'd lost came back into my life, and I realized for the first time that there was enough room in my heart to love someone even more than I ever had before. Jill and I... I wouldn't have married her, had I not loved her. But you..." He stops, his expression almost one of anguish. "...I'm just glad that I didn't see you again while I was still married. Because, God forgive me, I don't know what I would have done. There was a piece of my heart that always belonged to you... I'd just covered it up with other things so I didn't live life in misery."

Shifting his weight, Mick cocks his head slightly so he can still see Rosetta's eyes. His voice had grown quieter and quieter. "Do you understand what I'm saying? I don't care if I experienced a wife and family before you. I don't care if you and I won't have our own kids... or that money goes into the ranch. And when you come inside at night, your hair a mess with manure stuck to your boots, I love you even more than the day before."

He stops, finally breaking his gaze. His voice wavers just a little, his fingers trembling slightly. "I'm... I'm sorry that I'm not strong enough to fight the battle against alcohol. I'm sorry that I'm not strong enough to trust others to keep my family safe. I'm sorry I'm not man enough to come and talk to you about my problems."

By now, his head his hanging. "I just... God gave me three kids and... and... and I go crazy when one of them is in danger."

His thumb rubs Rosetta's hand as a bead of sweat runs down the side of his face. With his emotions on a rampage, his craving was getting worse. He was fighting so many things at once, and he just wanted this stupid tension to end. He just wanted peace again. "I'm... I'm just sorry," he whispers. "I don't know what else I can say."