Chapter 10.

She watched for a few moments and smiled, Don was sitting there hands across belly looking for all the world like a cat that had caught a canary between his teeth. Much more of a grin and he'd be the Cheshire cat. Damned if she couldn't see him sitting on top of some strange big mushroom with everything vanishing piecemeal except for his smile and hair. Now that was a scary thought.

Jon just leaned back, his chair propping against a piece of equipment, his eyes closed and his hands nearly mimicking the playing of a guitar as he intently got into whichever song they were listening too. She couldn't help but wonder if he had played the flame one or the pain one. Had it been that pain one Jon wouldn't look so serene. She'd lay money on that.

But Richie.. He looked like a kid at Christmas, his lips moving along to the song, his fingers, like Jon's, air playing the chords. It was his eyes that caught her though, those eyes burned with a need for that one song to be ok. If it was ok for that one man meant it was ok for the masses. Hmm, why did it matter so much for that one song to be accepted? Not that she could ever ask.


She turned for a moment and grabbed her sketch pad and charcoals, then stepped a pace back from the window, her coal finding the right niche as she began to sketch. It was like seeing two brothers, so alike yet not, in tune with each other’s thoughts. She barely saw their lips move, yet she knew they were communicating somehow, some strange pidgen speak they only understood. As the pencil moved, her mind shut off to the surroundings, honing in on the mental glow that surrounded two heads bent together as fingers kinetically moved in tandem.


Jon glanced over his shoulder at the Amazonian artist and blinked, scrolling in his seat as she dashed over the paper with charcoal. He watched her fingers fly and her middle finger swish through the chalk until dust bits flew off the page in her fury. Just what did she see without sound?

Richie crossed his arms, distracted as Jon arched back to the window. Looking up, he saw Alex, her eyes intent on her page. Her long fingers a blur as she showed more emotion in an one hour session with Jon in the room than she'd done with him in days.

She seemed to pause in her flurry and look up, the far away look in her eyes receding as she met his gaze. He watched her swallow, shrink back both in body and emotions, flipping the pad closed. She turned away from him, her pale gold eyes haunted with something he couldn't decipher.

Jon snapped his fingers in front of Richie's face. "Earth to Richie."

Richie laughed. "Sorry, just not used to my art chick coming forward to show herself." His gut twisted. Was she interested in Jonny? Was it him that got her juices flowing? Not that he cared, mind you...but if it was Jon that got her to come out of her shell he was going to be pissed.

Jon shrugged. "People get a kick out of watching the creative moment happen, bro." He stood and stretched. "All right, As good as it is to be here I have calls that can’t be ignored."

Richie stood, walking him out. "Thanks for coming down to check things out."

Jon nodded. "Hey, I'm always ready to stick my nose in where it don't belong, you know that."

"You wouldn't be you," he grinned slapping his back. "Lex, Jon's going to get out of here. We're working for a bit longer, or would you rather get going?"

She glanced up, "I probably should ." I don’t want to, but if I stay with you in this good mood I’ll do or say more than I should.

Richie held out his arm, to herd her forward. "So, what got you all sketchy when we were working?"

She slid the tote onto her shoulder and tried to figure out a reasonable answer that didn't reveal too much. "Just two brothers doing their thing."

"It's my pretty face," Jon quipped.

"No way, man. You're just a bunch of angles."

"What?" Jon laughed. "And you're fluffy?"

She bit her lip and kept her gaze forward. Boy they didn’t have any problems with confidence did they? Jon knew what he had and damn near flaunted it, but Richie, well she'd never seen him so loose and free before. She quickly slid those moments of them together into her *Man is he trouble category*.

Richie lifted his chin and tapped beneath. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Distinguished, that's the word."

"Riiiiight." Jon nodded. "How could I be so wrong?"

Jon studied Alex. She’d barely said a word, her face a constant mask of watchfulness and coolness. He watched his friend huddle around her, making sure he was between him and Lex, as Richie called her. Keeping her to yourself are you? Bout fuckin’ time ya showed interest in something that wasn’t empty headed. He didn't smell any sort of interest in him from Alex. She seemed indifferent to everything, to be honest. But, considering that was how he played things...he picked up on a few other nuances. She was careful not to touch Richie at all. There was a definite air of professionalism, but she seemed to hold herself so carefully, that he wondered if his best friend was getting to the Amazon.

He held out his hand, laughing when Richie hauled him in for a hug. “We should definitely do dinner,” he turned to Alex. “You too of course.” He stepped back, pulling his iPod out.

As they exited the building Jon threw his hand up in a wave and called out a “see ya when I see ya asshole,” his stride taking him down the sidewalk quickly. He took one more glimpse back just to see Richie still close to his ‘little artist’ and grinned. Maybe things were finally looking up for his friend. It was about damned time.

She glanced up at as Jon called out his good byes and turned, “Well I should be getting back to the office. I….” Her voice trailed off as the squeal of tires intruded on her thoughts, her eyes going wide as she noticed a car that didn’t seem to have a driver barreled their way, its headlights nearly blinding even in the late afternoon sun. Blood turned ice cold as instinct won out, her hands reaching for Richie, pushing for all she was worth, his hands grabbing at her as he began to fall.

She tumbled with him as they hit the pavement, her eyes squeezing shut as the faintest breeze of hot hair waffled by her face, followed by the loud groans and squealing of two tons of metal hitting the concrete wall beside them. She tucked her head into the safety of the body under her as thousands of sparkling shards from the breaking glass rained down around them both.

He tried to catch a deep breath as he heard the sounds of the accident, his hands wrapping around the body on top of him, and when her head tucked into his body tighter he couldn’t resist sliding his hands up to cup the back of her head. Good fuck what the hell had happened? Twisting his head he noticed the car, his eyes widening. He’d seen the car at the same time yet she’d thought fast enough to save them both?

He turned back, and noticed the wide-eyed worry and fear in the golden depths of her eyes. For the briefest moment he wondered where the glasses went only to push the thought away as he noticed how unsteady she suddenly seemed.“You okay?”

She managed a crooked grin as she moved to stand, her finger going to push up the glasses that were no longer on her nose. "I think so, seems something cushioned my fall."

Richie sat back, his fingers gripping his thighs. Alex had been cool under fire. Even now she was pulling her phone to call 911. His only worry had been about what had happened. [i]Useless, as always.[/i] Richie stood and shook his head. "Anyone would have done it."

She shook her head, she knew better than that. Not everyone would have, hell in her business they were more liable to push you in front of the car to avoid being hit. That he’d wanted to protect her said a lot and it deserved something being said. She muttered a moment then glanced up. It was after hours, she could be a little forthright, he deserved it. "Not everyone would, you did so thank you."

He stared at her; the gratitude was evident in her burnished gold eyes. He stepped forward, the instinct to pull her close was strong.

Richie nodded his gaze moving to the car and a safer thought. "I guess we'd better go see if someone in that car needs help."

She nodded and turned, not exactly the way she had wanted to end her day, but it had to be done. The scream of the ambulance intruded on her thoughts as the vehicle pulled up. Stepping up to the attendants she quickly explained what had happened. She glanced over at him, shook her head and allowed for a brief instant a true smile to flash on her lips. Had he not pulled her down she would have been hurt, majorly hurt. She stopped the thoughts, one brow arching. Why did he look so darned glum? They had come out of this relatively unscathed.

Richie watched her for a moment as she finished talking to the paramedic. She claimed she was okay, but as he watched he noticed the pallor under her normally golden skin. She was more shaken up than she was letting on; he could see the slight tremors as she stood there, her gaze flicking down to where her glasses lay on the sidewalk.

Her gaze flickered around the area as the flashing lights that always called up the start of a crowd seeped into her conscious. Reaching into her tote she pulled a couple of large pads out. Holding them out she murmured, "Here, you might need something just in case."

"Paparazzi coming in? Hell." He’d didn’t mind the paparazzi usually, thrived on it in fact. But in the here and now they were just not wanted. "Fucking vultures," he muttered and flipped open a few pages so he had more than just his face covered. His hand lifted to take hers as the need to take care of her came crashing to the fore. "C'mon Lex. Let's get you inside the studio away from the craziness."

She took his hand then nearly pulled away at the intense sensation that careened along her fingertips to her shoulder. "They don't care about me, I'm not famous ya know."

"Believe me, they'll care." Richie slid his hand around her waist and pulled her close to him. She bumped into him and their fingers linked as he crowded into her for a second. It was only a moment but the scent of her scrambled what was left of his brain before she stepped back.

She backed away a step, everything about him crowding into the empty spaces and making her brain forget what she was doing. Even after a brush with a concrete sidewalk, he was sturdy, strong and smelled too damn nice. Taking a deep breath she glanced up and nearly lost herself into the darkness of his eyes. "Close call huh? You okay?"

She hit the wall and she was asking him if he was ok? Would this woman never cease to confuse him? “Yeah Darlin, I’m okay. Lets get inside and away from those vultures ..”