Mistake

Sitting across from Hope, Gunner's knee bounces under the table. He wished the food would come so he'd have something to do with his hands, while at the same time, he wasn't so sure his stomach was ready for food at the moment.

Hope's question is heard, but it isn't enough to bring his eyes up from the table as he tries to ignore other people in the small restaurant. "I don't know," he admits. "Although the short ones wouldn't get the job done very well."

He takes a sip of water before clearing his throat. He really didn't know why he was even here or why he'd talked to Hope in the first place.

"Look, I'm...sorry. This was a mistake. I got enough going on in my head right now without somebody else tromping through it too. I'd rather work this out on my own than end up at Northside again, and that's what will happen if anybody else finds out I came to you."

"...So he's Rick's nephew?" Alec peers over Misty's shoulder at the kitchen counter, wondering what she was making for supper. He'd spent most of the day puttering in the shed, then fell asleep in the afternoon, but woke up about the same time Misty had gotten home and was more than willing to come to he house for supper with her and Jason. In his old jeans, t-shirt and bare feet, he was still just a little sleepy.

"Uh-huh." Jason sits at the table and takes a swig of Mountain Dew. "Guess he ran into some bad luck. Anyway, Misty invited him over, but he was gonna drop some stuff off at Rick's first."

"I see." 

"Yeah, apparently Misty convinced him we were all gonna play Pictionary tonight." 

Alec snickers before going to the fridge and hunting for something other than water to drink. "That should be good." 

Before Jason could respond, there was a knock at the door. Standing, he nods to Misty. "I'll get it." It was only a minute or two before he returned to the kitchen, joined by Clay. 

Clay gives Misty a little wave and eyes Alec warily, wondering if this was the brother-in-law. "Hey, sorry I'm kinda late. Got hung up at Rick's." 

Shallow?

Just letting Gunner stumble over his words Grace didn't push him, or try to make him hurry with his answer. She new he would figure it out on his own and make the right desition or so she hoped since he had made it this far already. Searching his face and see him finally come to the desition to go to lunch with her Hope was satisfied.

   "Ok, lets meet in fifteen minutes at the little Chinese place down the road ok?"

...and in fifteen minutes like planned Gunner and Hope were sitting down at the table. Food ordered, drinks had come and a strange silence seemed to follow. Searching Gunner's eyes as she took a sip of her water Hope new this was hard for him. It had been the first time and she new it would be again. With some people it just always worked that way and she understood.

   "So...tell me about these bridges you are seeing again. As long, and deep as last time, or just starting off short and shallow?"

Looking up at Rick Misty smiles. Maybe there was more than one reason she was put here. Maybe it was more than just helping the sick, maybe it it was to just help. Either way it made Misty feel good and she enjoyed the smiles.

   "It's my pleasure...you know that Rick."

Kiss and make up

Gunner hesitates, his free hand resting on the door frame while his fingers strummed a nervous beat without him even realizing it. Lunch? Now? He'd just said not today. But he really didn't have much of an excuse. He was in between cases at the moment, and oddly enough, he had some free time. And on top of that, Bree couldn't meet him for lunch today.

"Well, I don't know," he stalls. It's not all that urgent or anything." Wasn't it? The twist in his gut said he'd just lied.

"And I've got lots of work..." As his eyes lock with Hope's, his voice trails off. She could see right through him and he knew it. "But yeah, okay. I can meet you somewhere." He at least wanted an escape route, should this not go the way he wanted. "Just, um...tell me where."

Jason can't help a snicker as he remembers his an Alec's epic fail at pictionary, although they'd laughed a lot. "Yeah, I hear it's lots of fun too," he teases.

Clay sensed there was an inside joke there, but grins anyway. "I'm not sure my artistic abilities could even warrant a game of pictionary, but I'm game." He pauses. "No...pun intended."

Jason laughs. "At least we'll have even teams if we play." He gives Misty's shoulder a squeeze. "I gotta go, but I'll plan on coming over after work then." He glances back to Clay. "And it looks like I'll see you later."

In a few moments, Clay is alone with Misty again, and he gives her a small but grateful smile. "Thanks." The last batch of people he'd hung out with had all ended up drunk. But he had a feeling this was going to be a lot different.

It wasn't until Clay excused himself to use the restroom that Rick had a chance to talk to Misty alone. Coming over to her desk, he shakes his head, giving her a wry grin. "That's why you're perfect for this job. You always know how to make people feel important."

He pauses, leaning against her desk. "Thanks for inviting Clay over. He's become quite a loner the last few years and I'm not sure he's got anybody he can really call a friend. He's not the most motivated guy, but I think that's part of the aftermath of a long string of bad luck and no one to support or encourage him." He sighs. "I love my brother, and I've never been a parent, so I can't judge but...well, I guess if Clay was my son, I'd treat him a whole lot differently than his dad has. I'm gonna try to keep Clay around here - see if he'll stay with me and Janet for a while until he's got his life back together again. He's stubborn though, so I don't know how much help he'll accept. In the meantime, I'm grateful for you helping him find friends he can trust."

Happy that Grace didn't mind granting him affection, Jared returns her kiss. Realizing she was willing to let the exchange linger, he deepens his own kiss, perhaps testing to see if she'd allow him to kiss her as passionately has he had before. 

Letting go of her hand, his own comes up to gently stroke the back of her neck. It wasn't so much that the kiss itself was that intense or that extraordinary - he'd kissed and been kissed by an awful lot of women. But kissing Grace was undoubtedly different. Not because of how she kissed, but simply because of who she was. 

Only drawing away after several lighter kisses, Jared's hand still keeps Grace just a few inches from him. A smile creases his lips as his eyes study hers. "If that's what it means to kiss and make up... I think I like it."