Always For Keeps ( For Keeps part 2)

Twenty Nine. Luke

Song for this chapter: Edwin McCain- I'll be.

Mandy.
"What are you doing here?" I ask.
"Well you haven't been home and you haven't been answering your phone. Stacey told me you'd be here today."
"What do you need?" I ask completely annoyed.
"You don't have to be so mean." She pouts.
"Well considering the last time I saw you, you were horrible to the woman I love... I don't have time for your crap."
"The woman whose husband is also in love with her?" She laughs.
"Look, I have nothing to discuss with you except our son. Unless you have news about him, please leave." I say and move past her.
"Fine." She says. "No signs of me going into labor anytime soon. I feel like a fucking whale." She sighs.
"Well keep me updated, please."
"Okay." She takes a deep breath. "I'm sorry about upsetting Scarlett at the wedding. It was uncalled for." She says.
"Yeah it was. I'm not the one you owe the apology to." I tell her.
"Well tell her for me." She says.
"Okay." I say and nod.
"I'm sorry about everything really. I have been a hardcore bitch." She says and I can't help but smile.
"Well you can say that again, but it's okay. It's been a weird situation." I say and she nods.
"Okay, well I just wanted to see you." She shrugs.
"Okay. Well thanks for your apology. I'll talk to you later." I tell her. She hugs me awkwardly.
"Okay. See ya."
Then she is gone.
That was weird.

I head into the lab and get right to work. Later in the day Scarlett texts me a little. I can't wait to hold her tonight. Last night was hell without her next to me, but luckily no nightmares came.
When six o'clock rolls around, I'm ready to see my girl. I decide to get some of our favorite thin crust pizzas before I head back to the hotel. I'm sure New York has pretty amazing pizza, but it will be hard to top this pizza Scarlett loves from here.

When I open the hotel door, I smile as I see Scarlett asleep on the couch.
"I said show her a good time, not wear her out." I tease Cooper.
"Sometimes they go hand in hand, buddy." He laughs and stands from the computer. He rubs his eyes.
"I brought pizza." I say as I set it down. "It's her favorite."
"Awesome. I'm starving." He says.
I move to Scarlett and gently kiss her. She smiles but keeps her eyes closed.
"Do I smell Howard's?"
"Of course, babe. Are you hungry?" I ask. She opens her eyes and hugs me.
"I can always eat pizza." She laughs.

We sit together and eat while Cooper discusses plans for France. I'm flying into Paris, where we will spend a couple days. Then we will head to Nice. After a couple days there, we will fly back together to New York. Cooper promises to keep his plane on standby for when Mandy goes into labor. Rich fuck, of course he has a plane.
I tell Scarlett about Mandy's apology. She smiles and tells me she appreciates it.
The rest of the night we cuddle in bed and watch TV while Cooper works. I can't help but look at the beautiful woman in my arms, and wonder more about her. I know she didn't have many friends growing up, and I honestly can't imagine that.
"Who was your first boyfriend?" I ask out of nowhere. She looks at me like I am the craziest person alive.
"What?" She laughs.
"I want to know more about you." I shrug.
"Okay. Um- actually, it was Cooper." She shrugs.
"What!" I almost yell.
"Yeah, I mean boys asked me on dates before, but I never had a boyfriend."
"I'm sorry, were the boys you knew blind?" I ask completely baffled.
"No." She laughs. "We moved around a lot. I would go on a date and it would usually end with them wanting more than I wanted. I didn't want to sleep with them." She shrugs.
"That's crazy!" I laugh.
"Maybe. I didn't have friends growing up." She says and my heart breaks a little for her.
"Who was your first best friend?" I ask.
"Sammy. She was a bartender in New York with me when I was nineteen.
"You didn't have your first best friend until you were nineteen?" I ask.
"Girls didn't like me." She frowns. "One time, when we moved to Texas, I thought I made some girl friends. People seemed so nice. There was a boy in my gym class and he gave me a tour of the school. The same day, a group of girls asked me to a sleepover. They kept going on about how pretty I was and how excited they were to meet me." She bites her lip and takes a deep breath. "I met them at the address they gave me and they tried to jump me. Luckily, since I never had friends, my weekends were spent boxing with my dad. They got maybe two hits on me." She clears her throat. "Anyway, I guess the boy who showed me around was one of the girls' boyfriends. They wanted to teach me a lesson. I cried the whole walk home. After that, I never tried to make friends." When she finishes, I pull her into a hug.
"I'm so sorry that people were mean to you." I say.
"It's okay." She shrugs.
"It's not okay." Cooper says from the doorway. I didn't even realize he was there.
"Well it's all in the past." She smiles.
"You should have Cam ruin all their credit. And put them on the FBI's most wanted list." Cooper says as he sits next to her. She laughs.
"That would be pretty entertaining."
"You're amazing. The most amazing woman in the entire world." I say.
"I appreciate you two." She smiles.
"I'm a little jealous that Coop took your virginity." I tease.
"I still have the sheets." He laughs and Scarlett smacks his arm.
"Oh God, you better not!" She blushes.
"I told you I would keep them!" He holds up his hands in mock surrender.
"Gross!" She shakes her head.
"You'll have to show them to me." I joke.
"No!" She says pushing my shoulder. "Who did you lose your virginity to?" She asks me.
"My ex girlfriend Madison when I was sixteen. She was the hottest girl in school." I laugh. "She dumped me for her now husband. I actually went to their wedding."
"Aww." She laughs.
"What about you, Coop?" I ask.
"A girl at my prep school. Her name was Caitlyn. She was a firecracker." He laughs. "She beat the fuck out of a guy once because he smacked her ass. She was barely five foot." We all laugh.
"And here I am, with the only men I've ever slept with." Scarlett shakes her head.
"Aww." I say. "We feel special." I say.
"Very special." Cooper smiles.
"Whatever." She rolls her eyes. "I love you both." She says.
"I love you."
"I love you, too."
Cooper and I both tell her.
"Can we go to bed now? I slept like shit without you guys last night." She pouts.
We both laugh but everyone gets ready for bed.

Long after she is asleep, I hold her tight thinking of my broken girl as she braved the world so alone.
I have to blink back some tears. It's hard losing people you love; friends who you spent countless hours with. But at least I was blessed to have them for the time I did. Poor Scarlett had her parents and her books.
I know our situation, Cooper and I loving the same woman, is completely unconventional, but I know we both love her so much, that we would spend the rest of our lives like this because we are what she needs. Both of us.
Cooper and Scarlett are my family. And I would do anything for them.