89. My Best Friend is Sleeping with the Enemy... My Sister: Revenge of the Nightmares

I woke to the sound of a jackhammer banging against my eardrums. Ugh. Hangover from hell. Excellent way to celebrate the birth of the Lord. Crap.

I felt around for Colby, but all I felt was Scarlet's soft fur. "Colby?" It came out as a whisper and I knew he wouldn't hear it if he wasn't in the room. Apparently, he wasn't. My mouth was so thick and sticky. I felt disgusting. With much effort, I pushed myself upright. Scarlet huffed but didn't move. I glanced at the clock. 5:30? What the fuck? I stood up and grabbed the crutches leaning against the wall next to the bed, going to try to find Colby.

Dalton was passed out in the living room, his upper body on the floor and his legs propped up on the couch. I glanced in the guest room and Dax was sleeping on his stomach, on top of the blankets, naked. I looked away quickly. Geezus. Colby was gone. My breathing and heart rate started going up. I felt the panic coming. I no longer cared about the headache or the nausea that had come as soon as I was vertical. I grabbed the phone and called his cell, and it rang on the nightstand next to our bed. Oh God. This must be how he felt when he came home after I was taken. That thought made me sicker, and I was sure I was going to vomit. I went to the door slowly, shaking. My fingers could barely grip the door handle, they were trembling so much. Where are you baby?

I looked around, trying to decide what to do. I didn't want to call anyone and cause unnecessary panic, but I didn't want to do nothing. I tried to wake up Dalton, but he was completely out. I waited a couple more minutes, and decided to risk Daxton's nakedness. I quietly went into the guest room, closing the door behind me in case Scarlet came looking for me. I sat on the edge of the bed, angling myself so that his ass wasn't in my line of sight.

"Dax?" I touched his shoulder and he made some muffled sound that clearly indicated he was not awake. I leaned over and put my hand on his shoulder again, whispering closer to his ear. "Daxton?"

Obviously, I surprised him. It was one quick motion really.... He popped his eyes open, looked me in the eyes, and rolled onto his back, pulling me on top of him and crushing his lips to mine. Oh holy fuck. Please be sleeping. He kissed me deeply and my lips automatically moved with his before I could even comprehend what was happening. Then I jerked away and he closed his eyes, smiling. I sat up and he just laid therw with his eyes closed and a sweet smile on his face. What the hell? I stared at him in confusion for a minute, and he opened his eyes sleepily.

"Mike? What are you doing in here? What's wrong?" He yawned and sat up a little. He noticed his lack of clothing, which at that point was the least of my concern, and he quickly tossed the sheet over himself.

"What?"

"What are you doing in here? Is there something wrong? I was just sleeping, and then you're sitting in here looking at me like you have no idea who I am. Are you okay?" Does he not remember kissing me?

"Were you just dreaming?"

"I think so." He smiled again, obviously remembering the kiss that he assumed was a dream. Great. Fucking great. I can't deal with this. I rubbed my temples to ease the headache.

"Did Colby tell you where he was going?"

"No, he's gone?"

"No I just came in here to watch you sleep naked. Dumbass! Of course he's gone! Why the fuck else would I ask that?!" I didn't mean to snap at him, but I frankly tired of it.

"God what the fuck. Please don't act crazy just yet. I'm soooo hungover. Ugh. Let me get dressed and I'll go out and look for him. Okay?" He looked at me like he was worried about me, and I felt a little guilty for being a bitch. I smiled and thanked him, pushing myself up with the crutches. I wobbled out and closed the door behind me. I went to the kitchen to make coffee, and Dax came out of the room, carrying his shoes. He sat at the kitchen table to put his shoes on, and he was about to leave when we heard the door. I looked at the clock on the microwave. 6:10. Dax beat me into the living room.

"Hey. What are you doing up?" Colby was covered in sweat and his face was red from being out int he cold.

"Where the fuck have you been?!" I shrieked. Dalton groaned but didn't really move much. Dax rolled his eyes and mumbled something unintelligible as he want back to bed, yanking his clothes off as he went.

"What's wrong? I'm sorry. I thought you'd still be sleeping. I just needed to think. I went for a run. Did something happen?"

"Yes! Yes something happened! You fucking left with no note or anything. You left your phone. The house looked exactly the same. Did you know Dax sleeps naked? God! I couldn't find you and I panicked and I was afraid to go outside and no one cared and..." He pulled me against his sweaty chest when the tears started interrupting the rant.

"Shh.... I'm sorry.... It's okay." He kissed the top of my head and picked me up gently. "Come take a shower with me."

"No. No shower." I leaned up and kissed him, gently at first, then.... not so gently. You'd think, what with living with a football star, I'd be immuned to the sexyness that comes with the sweat-- nope. Not immune. It still gets me.

Colby dropped me playfully on the bed and Scarlet jumped down and ran out of the room just as Colby was shutting the door. I giggled but it was cut short when he climbed on top of me and kissed me. I tugged his shirt off and he groaned as I scraped my nails down his chest and abs. He leaned down and kissed me sweetly on the lips, then he smirked. He pinned my hands above my head and started kissing my body, nibbling every few kisses and generally making me wiggle uncontrollably underneath him.

"Stop squirming or you'll be sorry." He quirked an eyebrow at me and I squirmed more. He chuckled and started biting harder. He found my most ticklish spot on my side at my natural waist, and he started licking and biting. And sucking. He had me pinned down so that I couldn't wiggle away from him, and he was leaving the biggest hickie he could on my side. That didn't actually matter, because no one would see it, but it was tickling me so much I felt like I was going to explode. When he was satisfied with the disgusting purple mark, he chuckled and continued further down.

"Knock it the fuck off in there! Christ! Some of us are hungover out here!" Dalton's voice filtered through the walls. Apparently, my screams and moans were too much for him to handle. I was embarrassed slightly, but also amused.

"Our house asshole." Colby yelled back. I laughed and he grinned evilly.

I was exhausted by the time we actually made it to the shower. Colby looked happy. Really happy. Not just 'I just had mind-blowing sex' happy either. Genuinely happy.

"Starting tomorrow, I'm going to be supremely busy. The team leave New Year's Day to fly out to Anaheim. Are you going to be okay here?"

"No. But I don't have a choice. I'm sure D will stay with me if no one else will. It's fine. I'll figure something out."

"Yeah what about ScarySpice?" Colby had started making up random names for the dog. I didn't even bother to argue with him about it.
He turned off the water and stepped out, wrapping a towel around his waist. He helped me out and handed me a towel. I wrapped it around me and grabbed another to dry my hair. "I guess we'll have to put her in a kennel. The vet boards dogs, so she can stay there. I hate to do that, but everyone we know that could watch her is going to the game."

"Well, maybe that girl that took care of her would watch her. I mean, I don't want her coming here, but..."

"Yeah I'll call them tomorrow. It's probably too late now anyway. What's Sophie doing with Holly?"

"I have no idea. Call and ask her. I'm gonna go get some water. Hurry up. You know Dax is leaving today right?"

"Fuck. I forgot. I'll be out soon." I leaned up and kissed him gently but he left his lips against mine longer than he normally would.

"I love you Fisher. D was right. You are the piece that keeps us all together. Thank you for being my sanity." He kissed me once more and strolled out to throw some clothes on. I watched him slip on some jeans and a plain v-neck undershirt. So hot. "Stop gawking at me and hurry up." He smirked and walked out. Typical.

I rushed to get ready, opting to just throw my hair up in a loose bun with pencils holding it up. I slipped on a pair of old jeans with slits up both legs for the casts, even though I only had one cast left. I pulled on one of Colby's t-shirts and went out to face the mocking that I knew would be coming.

"Geezus I'm amazed you can even walk Fish." And there it is. God Dalton can be such a dickhead.

"My baby's just THAT good D." I winked and he frowned. It made me laugh. Dumbass. "Hey Dax what time are you leaving?"

"I'm going to the airport in a couple hours. It's gonna be packed with morons, I wanna get checked in early. I know they'll over-book the flight and I don't wanna get bumped to business class with the screaming kids and assholes."

"You're such a snob." I laughed.

"Sometimes." He shrugged. "I don't wanna leave." He mumbled the last part. Colby and Dalton were in the living room looking at something, leaving Dax and me at the table alone.

"I don't want you to leave either. None of us do." I smiled genuinely but it didn't make him smile. I frowned. "What's wrong?"

"I thought you'd be better. I mean, I knew it would be bad, but not this bad. I just.... I don't want to leave you yet."

"You can't put your life on hold to take care of me anymore Dax. I love having you here, but you have to live your life. It's going to take a really long time for me to be okay again. The nightmares, that's every night. I'm sorry I didn't warn you ahead of time. I guess I just hoped, ya know. They were getting a little better."

"Well, I'll meet you guys at the game. I'll have to let you know exactly the details when I get back home. Thanks for letting me crash here. Really. It feels like home, being with you. Colby too. Not the evil spawn of satan dog though. She's not very welcoming at all." He smiled and I smacked him playfully.

"We're a strange family, aren't we? Football player, baseball player, UFC fighter, and me." Suddenly the memory came back, of him talking about how important I am. Princess. Like I held them all together. My stomach lurched and I jumped up, barely making it to the trash can to puke.

"Fisher?!" Dax jumped up as soon as I did, and Colby ran in a second later. He literally pushed Dax out of the way to get to me.

"He called me a princess. Fucking a princess. That's what he said. He said he should have waited til after you won. He felt bad for ruining the football season, taking me. He didn't feel bad about killing the others. He felt bad about the football season. And baseball season. He wondered if you'd be abetter fighter because you were angry. He knew about this. About us. He watched me." I was sobbing but tears weren't coming. It was like I didn't have any. I did have bile though, and I puked again. Colby held me tightly to his chest. Dax gritted his teeth and Dalton just stared at me, blanched of all color. He'd been away for a while, so he didn't see this.

"Dalton I need you to move in here with her while I'm gone." Colby sounded far away. He was talking quietly, but he just sounded so.... distant. I shook my head and rubbed my eyes.

"I'm okay. Sorry. Sorry."

"Don't apologize." Dax was nearly growling. He was furious. "I can't leave. I can't leave her like this." He wasn't talking to me. I don't know who he was talking to, himself maybe, but Colby and Dalton seemed to feel the same way.

"STOP!" I yelled, louder than I intended but it got the desired effect-- they stopped and stared at me. I pushed away from Colby and just held his hand. "Look, this is just how it's going to be for a while. Daxton, you're leaving. I love you, but you have to leave. Dalton, if you don't mind staying here for a while, I would really appreciate it. It'll make everyone feel better. I know you all want to take care of me, and I appreciate that, but you're going to have to take turns for a while so we can have some sort of normal life. Agreed?"

They all nodded, reluctantly. We talked for a while about the plans for the game and how we were all getting there, hotels and all that. I started a list of things I needed to do. I'd gotten really bad about the lists, but otherwise it keeps me awake and I don't function properly. Dax left us to go to the airport, refusing to let me go see him off.

"Fisher, we need to go see the Chief. Today. Wanna go now?" Colby's voice was serious and I hated it. I wanted to enjoy the holidays carefree.

"Why today? I don't wanna go." I pouted and whined. He didn't change his expression at all.

"I have two a days starting tomorrow. And meetings and gym time. I'll be gone 15 hours a day from tomorrow til we get back from the game. We need to go today."

"Fine." I frowned but got up to change my shirt. I love his clothes, but I can't actually go out in public in his giant t-shirts.

"I'm gonna go to my apartment and take care of some stuff. I'll be back tomorrow. Cool?" Dalton was asking Colby, of course, because my opinion doesn't seem to matter when it comes to them protecting me. I huffed at his snub but responded anyway from the bedroom.

"That's fine D. Come over whenever you want." I rolled my eyes. Over-protective punks. I love 'em though.

Colby and I left not long after Dalton. The Chief was busy when we got there, so we had to wait for a while. Colby wore a baseball capthat he pulled down over his face, looking down to try to hide his identity in the waiting area. I did the same thing. We've been through this before.

"Chief's ready now." An older woman in a bright red suit waved us to the back to his office. I appreciated that she didn't use our names. The last time they knew who we were, there were rumors all over town about why we were there and one rumor even speculated that I'd been attacked again. Mom and Sophie both heard that and called in a panic. needless to say, we're a bit more careful now.

"Colby, Fisher, come in. How was your Christmas?" Chief was really nice to us, but he looked like one of those guys that didn't take alot of shit from people.

"Pretty good Chief. How was yours? Family's okay?" Colby shook his hand. Chief stood to hug me gently across the desk. We all sat down, our faces getting serious.

"It was good. Thanks for asking. What brings you two in? Fisher, did you remember something else?" Chief leaned up in his seat to watch me. Colby held my hand reassuringly.

"Yes." I whispered. I told him everything I'd remembered in great detail. Colby cringed and stiffened frequently but he never let go of my hand. The Chiefwanted me to talk to a sketch artist, and I flipped through books of mug shots while we waited. The sketch artist, a tiny woman with plain brown hair and outdated glasses, came and I spent the nexttwo hourstrying to get the sketches done perfectly.

I was starving when we finally left the police station, so we went to dinner at a far too popular restaurant. For once though, I was glad for the distraction of the adoring fans that swarmed Colby, offering wishes of good luck for the game. Most of them also wished me well, and told me they'd missed seeing me on TV and on the jumbotron. I'd taken the ring off and put it in my pocket as we parked outside the restaurant. It's not that I'm embarrassed, I just didn't want to have to hear about it from strangers.

Dinner was pleasant though. Someone tried to pay our tab for us, but Colby refused. He was very peculiar about NCAA rulles violations, and he wasn't interested in pressing his luck with bending the rules. We've had fans get really miffed at his refusals before, but this time they were appreciative of his ethics. He signed their hats for them to say thanks, and we left to go home and sleep away the long day.

I groaned when we walked in the house. "This place is disgusting. There's shit everywhere!" Ugh.

"Leave it. You can deal with it tomorrow, or leave it til we get back from the game. Or from Paris. Or til we move. But please come to bed with me now." He leaned down to put his forehead against mine. I kissed him sweetly and he smirked, yanking me off my feet to kiss me deeply. he carried me to the bedroom, my legs dangling back and forth like a pendulum. I giggled when he gently tossed me onto the bed and yanked my pants off. I waited for him to pull my shirt off and he let me undress him.

We slept in underwear, wrapped up in each other so that the only way to tell where one ended and the other began was by the color of our skin. His perfect tan against my faded one. Of course, his tan wasn't actually perfect-- he had a ridiculous tan on his arms. He was naturally darker than me anyway, and he was shirtless as often as he could be. He aslo tanned in a tanning bed, which made me giggle, but the lines on his arms were inescapable. He had tan lines for his jersey and wrist bands that held the plays.

Our wedding pictures are going to look strange. Wedding. Holy fuck. I'm engaged. I drifted to sleep with a ridiculous smile on my face.

I love loving him.