They went back to the apartment and ordered take out Chinese for dinner, watching Aladdin while they ate. Mouse could tell her sunburn was getting really bad, but she didn't want to worry Henry and Leo, so she ignored the pain, resolutely pushing it aside, enjoying the chow mein and singing along with the movie in the darkened family room.

Finally, it was Leo's bedtime, and she excused herself to take a shower, letting out a sigh of relief as she stood under the cool water, turning her shoulders this way and that and letting the jets soothe her burning skin.

Eventually, though, she had to get out, and she could feel her skin heating up as soon as she turned the water off. Her nose was a flaming red strip, but it wasn't as bad as her shoulders and back. Except for the narrow white stripes where the straps had been, her flesh was scarlet, and warm to the touch. And it hurt. A lot.

She was going to have to go out and get something for it, there was nothing else to be done. She pulled on a loose fitting blouse with shorts, deciding the world wouldn't end if she ran to Duane Reade without a bra on. She was very, very uncomfortable doing it, but wearing a bra just hurt too much.

She opened her bedroom door, hoping to slip out unnoticed, but was so thirsty that she realized she'd need to grab a bottle of water from the kitchen first. She was closing the refrigerator door when Henry appeared, grabbing a beer from next to the water bottles.

"You sure you don't want one of these?" he asked with a smile.

"Actually, sounds good, but I have to pop out to the drugstore first," she explained. "I'll open one when I come back."

He nodded, and reached around her for the bottle opener. He misjudged, and brushed against her, causing her to let out a whispery yelp of pain as he touched her burned back.

"Whoa, Mouse, what? What did I do?" Henry was beside himself.

She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak, but it hurt so much that she had actually teared up, a fact which Henry noticed immediately. He stared at her face and flipped on the kitchen light. "Mouse, are you crying?" he asked. "Oh god, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he began.

"No, it's all right," she began, shaking her head.

He was having none of it, however. "Let me see your back," he said, brows drawn.

"I'm fine, I just need some Solarcaine or whatever," Mouse said, looking down.

"Mouse, let me see," he insisted, putting the beer bottle down.

"I can't. Not without taking my shirt off," she explained.

Henry sighed and left the room, returning within seconds holding a bath towel. "Okay, take your shirt off, lie down on the couch, and cover yourself with this," he said. "That's an order. Move," he commanded.

Mouse did as she was told. "I'm ready," she called when she had prepared herself.

Henry came into the family room, switched on the lamp, and knelt to examine her. She turned her head to the side and closed her eyes. This move wasn't lost on Henry. "Mouse, I've spent the last fifteen years taking photographs of women wearing way less than what you're wearing right now, okay?" he told her softly. "So there's no need to be embarrassed."

He looked at her back, and the backs of her arms and legs, sucking air through his teeth. "Oh my god, Mouse, this looks terrible. I think you have first degree burns on your back. Has this ever happened to you before?"

Mouse shook her head. "I've never forgotten to put sunscreen before," she admitted. "I was so focused on Leo, you know? I didn't want him to get burned..." she trailed off. "He was wearing sunscreen all over," she laughed. "And I made sure he was wearing his SPF shirt, and his hat and everything, too."

"Well, thank you for that," Henry told her with a chuckle. "And this was probably your first time out in the sun in a year, right?" At Mouse's nod, he continued. "Yeah, this looks pretty painful."

"I just need some spray," Mouse said. "I can run and grab some from the drugstore, and I'll be fine, honest."

"I can't let you try to take care of this on your own," Henry scolded. "Especially since you got this way taking care of my child, you silly girl." He patted her head. "Just sit tight for a few minutes, I'll call out for some stuff, okay?"

Mouse heard him on the phone to the drugstore, arranging for some things to get delivered. Then he came back, applying cold compresses to her shoulders and back, which felt heavenly.

Mouse let out a deep breath when she felt the cool washcloth on her back. "Oh, thank you, Henry, that feels great," she murmured.

And Henry tried not to think about how sexy the sound was, and how, even though her back was deep red, it was still a beautiful back, and the way it narrowed to her waist, with the twin dimples at the base, was like poetry. He pressed the cold compress on her flesh and wrenched his thoughts to other things.

And as he tried, so did she, try not to think about how nice it felt for Henry to be touching her, for him to be pressing on her tender skin, to be ministering to her so gently. She was sad that he had to see her for the first time when her skin was inflamed and angry, but glad nonetheless that he seemed to enjoy it. She closed her eyes and resisted the urge to turn over, because she really did want to turn over, so he could touch her on the front like he was touching her back. She imagined what it would feel like for him to press the cool cloth on her breasts, to rub it on her smooth stomach, or even lower.

Her eyes flew open.

What on earth was she thinking?

Under his hands, Henry felt Mouse tense up, and wondered what was going through her mind. He was glad she couldn't tell what he was thinking.

Just then, the bell rang, and he went to answer the door and retrieve the various medications and unguents from the drugstore.

"Here we go," he said, opening the bag. "Relief is on the way, Mouse." He uncapped a bottle and sprayed her back liberally, then coated the backs of her legs and arms.

"Oh my god, nothing has ever felt so good," Mouse moaned when she felt the cool spray hit her body. As soon as he stopped, she asked, "How long before you can spray me again?"

He laughed. "Um, an hour?" he read from the back of the bottle. "Hold on a minute," he told her. He left, returning within moments with one of his large T-shirts. "Put this on, it's cotton, and nice and loose," he said.

He went to the kitchen while she did as she was told, returning with a beer for her, along with a pain pill. "Here, you've definitely earned this," he said. He sat down next to her. "Now, what would you like to watch?"

"Oh, no, you don't have to babysit me," Mouse said. "I'll be fine, honest. I can go to my room now."

"Come on, Mouse, don't be ridiculous, you can't spray your own back," Henry said, quite reasonably. "At least for the next couple of hours, until the pain pill kicks in. Now come on, let's watch a movie, it'll be fun."

"Really? You sure?" Mouse asked.

Henry nodded, so they clinked bottles, and Mouse picked the classic Die Hard, which they enjoyed tremendously, quoting the lines and laughing along together. Since Mouse couldn't comfortably lean back, she lay on her tummy on the floor, and eventually Henry joined her. He popped some popcorn and brought out second and then third beers for them, and then opened a bottle of wine.

"I guess we're just going to have to watch Die Hard 2," he declared when they were confronted with most of the bottle of wine at the end of the movie.

"Really?" Mouse asked again, this time accompanying her question with a laugh.

"Well, yeah," Henry replied, gesturing at the bottle. "We can't just, go to bed and leave the wine undrunk, can we?"

"Oh my god, Henry, there's nothing about us that's undrunk right now, I think," Mouse responded, still laughing uproariously. Her words struck her as hysterical, and she nearly choked as she drank her wine, in fact, and Henry made her start crying when he whacked her on the back as she coughed.

"Oh, shit, I'm so sorry!" he hissed. "I can't believe I did that! I forgot, Mouse, I forgot!"

"I know that, Henry," Mouse responded, wiping her eyes. "Jesus, that hurt, though."

As the movie started playing, Henry realized that it was probably time to spray her back again. "Lift your shirt, okay, Mouse?" he asked. "I need to put the medicine again."

"Oh, okay," she said amiably. Her embarrassment had evaporated, it seemed, and she lifted her shirt, putting her face down on her folded arms after. Her back looked better to Henry, too, less angry than before.

"What a beautiful back you have," he said softly as he capped the bottle.

"What?"

Had he said that out loud?

"Nothing," he said, rising to put the bottle on the coffee table.

"Oh god, Henry, I think I'm really drunk," Mouse said as he lay down next to her. "Maybe because of the pain pill or something. I'd better lay off the wine."

"Me too," he said. "I didn't even take a pain pill, though."

Then, a little while later, "I think I better get to bed, okay, Henry?"

"Yeah, okay, me too." He rose to put the bottle and the glasses in the kitchen, and when he returned to the family room, the TV was off, and Mouse was gone.

"Mouse?" he called. He walked down the hallway in the dark, his hands held out in front of him. "Are you here? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he heard her say. Her voice was coming from somewhere near her bedroom door.

"Okay then, good night, Mouse," he said, still feeling his way.

"Goodnight, Henry," he heard her say.

He found her by touch, standing next to her door. He patted her head, and felt her arms come around him. He was careful not to put his hands on her back, but all he could think about was how wonderful she smelled, and how beautiful and happy she looked lying on her tummy watching Bruce Willis and drinking her wine.

He heard her sigh, felt her exhalation on his face, and smelled her sweet breath, which was warm with wine, just before her hot lips touched his in the darkness of the hallway.

"Oh god, oh Jesus, Mouse," he murmured against her mouth as he kissed her. He was careful of her sunburned back as he pressed her head against the wall, holding her jaw in the V of his hand, resting his other hand on the gentle swell of her hip. He kissed her over and over, hearing the soft noises she was making into his mouth, swallowing her moans with his own as he touched her tongue with his. He thought again about how young she was, how this was so wrong, how she was a child, but while that was happening in one part of his brain, the rest of his brain was shutting down, and all he could think about was how good her mouth tasted, and how marvelous her tongue felt, how he couldn't wait until she wasn't sunburned anymore--

Mouse reached for him with her hand, palming at the front of his sweats, making him jump with surprise, with how good it felt.

"Henry," she whispered. His hand, which had been on her hip just a moment before, was under her shirt, squeezing her soft and beautiful breast as she leaned into him.

With every ounce of will power he had, Henry pulled away from her, letting her go, leaning his forehead on hers.

She released him, chest heaving for breath.

"Good night, Henry," she said again. She turned and went soundlessly into her bedroom, closing the door behind her. It clicked as it closed, a decisive sound.