All night

Hearing Wes' promise, Cindy can feel her walls crumbling even more. She had to trust him. She had to believe him. He was home. For good. He was really home.

"Oh, Wes..." Retreating slightly, she puts a hand to her mouth, just studying him again, assuring herself that it really was him. Overcome with emotions, she suddenly throws her arms around his neck, burying her face against his chest. Sobs break forth as she trembles, crying for sorrow... crying for joy. Forgetting they were on the floor, she just hugs him tight, fearing if she let go, he really would disappear and she'd wake up.

"I missed you so much," she chokes between tears. "I prayed so... so hard you'd be okay..." 

Lifting her face, her lips meet his to give him the kiss she'd longed to feel for so long. "I can't believe you're alive," she sniffs. "That you're here..." Returning to her tight hug, she cries some more, just soaking him in like a sponge. 

Stirring slightly, Rosalyn stretches her legs before sighing deeply. Her eyes still closed, she nuzzles her head further into her pillow even though her body was trying to wake itself up. She could tell it was time to get up. Actually, it felt a little later than that. Had she not heard her alarm? Maybe. But she was so comfortable, and Jade would cover for her if she was late to the kitchen this morning. 

Shifting a little more, she suddenly realizes she's not in her own bed and it was not her own pillow she was resting in. On the contrary, she was up against something very warm. Her head lay on Chad's shoulder, her arm still draped around him, her hand tucked under his open shirt against his warm skin. One leg was tangled with his own, and her other arm felt impossibly numb where she'd slept on it, apparently all night. 

All night. Oh, this was not good. She finally pries open her eyes to confirm everything she'd just figured out. Yes, and there was faint morning light outside. She groans and just tucks herself in beside Chad a little tighter. "Do I have to get up?" she mumbles.

If what Hope said was true, that she was satisfied with just friendship, then why did Scott see in her eyes what he did? Was she just that willing to ignore her feelings just so she could at least be friends with him? While that made him feel good, it was also frustrating. 

Scott's eye focuses on Hope's hand that lay on his arm. Her touch made him feel good, and he didn't like that. "I'm glad you want to be friends, and that's fine. I like being friends with you too." He shifts his arm out from under her hand as he leans his elbows on the table, deciding it was better just to remain seated. "But I still think we outta spend less time together. I can't handle it." There. He'd admitted it. It was because of him, not her. He was the one with the problem. He was the one that couldn't stand being so close to her all the time. 

Trotting over to her two favorite people, Domino carries in her mouth a squeaky rubber bone. Sensing that her master was not in the mood to play, she aims for Hope instead. Putting her front paws on Hope's leg, she looks up at her, her stumpy tail wriggling with excitement.