Crossing Boundaries [COMPLETE]

Mother Knows Best (His Mom)

Lisa, her husband, and their children (minus Chris) had just finished eating dinner but they lingered around the dining table. The grandchildren were with their father fixing themselves for bedtime.

The old woman's brain was trying to process the events of the past afternoon. Carly filled in the rest of the family with what had transpired at the Fosters.

"What was Chris thinking?" Scott mumbled behind his hands, which were clasped together.

"That's the thing, son," Lisa's gaze punctured beyond the dining room walls. "Your brother wasn't thinking." Her hand circling about the tip of her glass. "For someone whose mind never pauses from clacking, it's curious."

Everyone in the room gaped at her. The last statement was not meant to be heard by everyone. But since their eyes were already inquiring, it was too late not to continue. She let out a resigned breath. "It's just he forgets his anxiety when with her... It's more like his world stops for her."

"Mom you aren't suggesting..." Carly's voice was piping.

"I'm surprised I'm the only one thinking that way," Lisa looked at her kids.

"Not just you, honey," her husband revealed.

Scott made a comment, his tone kidding. "Moooom, the two are tight but why put malice on their relationship."

"Seriously. I raised completely oblivious children," Lisa's mood started to become better. "She might see him as a friend, but your brother... I've been around those two for decades and all I see is how her relationships dictated Chris's."

Scott and the rest bore faces as though their mom was speaking alien. "Oh for goodness sake! I liked all of Chris's past girlfriends but I felt like every time he went into a relationship it wouldn't last... Have you guys thought about the timeline of Tiffany's and Chris's relationships with other people?"

Shanna covered her mouth with her right hand, Carly did the same and Scott brushed his hair with his fingers. Finally the realization kicked in. "Tiff went to college got a boyfriend and weeks after Chris is with JB. She got her heart broken and he became single. Tiff gets a second boyfriend, Chris with MK. And then this last one, she gets married to Mike, his relationship with Jenny starts." It felt like Scott was putting puzzles pieces together.

"Too much of a coincidence, don't you think?" Lisa muttered. However, there was one more thing that bothered her. The invisible boundary the two may have unconsciously built between them. How to break it?

*

After an entire afternoon of sobbing, Tiffany dozed off. When she woke up, the sky outside was already dark. She felt the phone she abandoned on the bed. She reached for it and glanced at the time. It was a little over 3 in the morning.

Tiffany rubbed her puffy eyes. She could feel her stomach grumbling. Since she had gotten back to cooking and eating normal meals recently, her body was adjusted to having food. She listened for rustles downstairs and heard nothing but deafening silence.

The coast is clear, she thought. The last thing she wanted to do at the moment, was to see Chris. She dallied her way to the door and in the dim-lit hallway, she noticed him lying on his side, asleep.

She would ignore him there and go straight to the kitchen, but her freaking heart wouldn't just let her. She had no idea why but by impulse she lied down there, as well, facing Chris. Tiffany studied his face. Even in sleep, his features bore the burden of their confrontation. His usually gelled-in-place hair was a mess.

Looking at him now, no matter how his words stung, her heart melted for this insane of a man. The iciness from the floor sipped through her flesh and instantly thought that the hardwood's temperature could have made him feel cold for hours now.

Tiffany gently tapped Chris's chest. There was no response. She tapped him again, this time with a little more power.

Chris jerked and immediately searched for the cause of him waking up. When his eyes found hers, he pulled her to his chest. "I'm not dreaming this?" Between his arms, Tiffany shook her head. "I'm sorry," his voice breaking.

In response, she stuck her arms around his torso and tightened the embrace. She gazed into his eyes and could make out tears trying to escape from them. How could someone stay mad at this emotional being?

"Christopher Robert Evans, are you getting sappy?" Her voice was far from that woman squealing words the afternoon before. Tiffany cupped his face and run her thumbs round the edges of his light blue peepers. "Can we not do this ever again?"

Chris breathed a sigh of relief, sensing the calmness in her statement. "Do you mean lie down and talk with each other on a freezing floor?"

Tiffany's eyes thinned out. He shifted one of his hands from her waist to her soft locks, grazing them ever so lightly. "I mean fight like it's the end of the world... And that, too."

He took her back in, enveloping her in chunks of muscle. "I'm really sorry. Maybe a part of my mind thought it, but..."

"But it doesn't mean you believe what you said," she continued, her breath coursing through his sweater, warming his skin. "I realized that. I'm sorry I got furious anyway."

They heard crackles downstairs. Both lugged from the floor, Chris helping her to her feet. Without contemplating, he plucked Tiffany from the back of her neck and fixed a lingering kiss on her cheek. It was calming.

When she laid her eyes back to him after, she noticed something cryptic from his gaze. There was a sparkle in his eyes she hadn't seen before. Tiffany stroke the cheek where her hand landed rather aggressively. "Sorry about the slap."

"Well it's only the second time. They say third time's the charm," Chris said in jest.

The rustle from downstairs came again. "Don't keep tabs, Evans... And let's go. Poor Dodger must be starving." With that, Chris took her by the hand and both of them darted to the stairs.

*

Lisa tossed in bed like the Caesar Salad she would normally prepare as a side dish. It must be her 15th tossing and turning when her husband got a hold of her shoulders. "Lisa, are you worried about your boy?"

"Somewhat. Yes." She held Rob's hand. "It's just since Thanksgiving I was thinking there might be a chance for them but now, he might have blown it, again."

"Again?"

She sat down on the bed. "Every time Tiffany gets her heart broken is every chance he has blown."

"So you're saying our son should have made a move during one of those times?"

"I bore our son, hon," she answered. "Chris has always been listening too much to the voices in his head. The one thing that he does listen to when it comes to her relationship with Tiffany is should he or shouldn't he."

"I love our son as much as you do, hon. But don't you think it's too soon to wish him happiness with her. She's technically still married and if we know Tiff well, she wouldn't be jumping into anything uncertain right now, much more with Chris."

Lisa gave her husband a peck on the lips, before lying back down on the bed beside him. "Basically, Mike and Tiffany are no longer together. And from what Chris said, he served her with divorce papers peppered with a lot of settlement conditions... So yeah."

Rob made lizardy noises. "And you're happy about that so you can play matchmaker."

"Mr. Evans, listen." She motioned her hand so she would have her husband's full attention. "One, I hate that Tiffany has to go through this cruel cruel ordeal. Two, although I do feel for her and my heart goes out to her, I know in my heart ultimately, only Chris can make her the happiest. Three, if what those two need is a little push to get them to see how perfect they are for each other, then push is what I'll do. You can call it whatever you want."

"So, what's the agenda for this plot?"

Lisa married her back to the mattress and stared at the ceiling. "Maybe it's time to bring out Beth's (Tiffany's mother) real will."