Six months later...

Jared was throwing a holiday party at his place and he invited him. It was cool because they had hung out a lot, and he was always stopping by the shop to see Marvin. Things were going well with them. Marvin was even talking about moving out of his parent's house and in with Jared. That seemed a bit rushed, but who was he to say.

He wondered if she would be there.

He figured she would, she was still best friends with Jared, though they did not talk about her. It was cool hanging with Jared versus his other friends. They all wanted to drink, smoke, and go to strip clubs. Jared liked fancy wine that he'd gotten used to and staying in and cooking. And he could cook, so it wasn't him having to do all the meal preparing.

Jared prepped most of the food for his party, but he ordered some food too. Hook did not feel out of place at the party, since he had met some of Jared's friends from hanging with him and from a previous party meeting his fraternity brothers. It was a small gathering of about twenty people, mostly couples. He was the only single man there. He had been there thirty minutes and had not seen her.

Was he wishing to see her?

Yes. He was very anxious to see her. Because he and Jared did not talk about her, he wondered about her a lot. Was she happy without him? Did she find someone else she fell in love with and forgot about him? What if she brought a date? That would be awkward.

Even more awkward, Shay showed up with Elmer. He was still working with Elmer, although he did most of the work virtually and did not come to the shop often. She wondered if Shay knew they were still working together. Of course Elmer would tell his wife everything. He had not seen Shay since the drunken night when she came on to him.

"Hey Hook, how's it going?" Elmer said as they approached him while he was trying to hide out in a corner. He was sitting alone on a sofa, pretending he was more interested in his phone than the people around him. When Elmer and Shay approached, he stood to greet them.

"Good. Nice to see you, and Shay," he said as politely as he could. He wondered if she was embarrassed or over it. That was so long ago and he was over it.

"Hook, it's nice to see you here," Shay said, and he detected friendliness in her voice, so he smirked, waiting for her to come back at him with a wisecrack. "Angel's on her way, you should talk to her."

He did not expect that at all.

Shay laughed at the look on his face. "Stop looking like that! I'm just saying that because I know how my sister still feels about you and I liked you two together...yes, I was a bitch at first, after that night, how you took care of our drunk asses...you're a good guy to me."

"Well...thank you." He still was in complete shock at this turnaround.

"And don't think because I tried to hit on you means a damn thing," she said and laughed. "I just get horny when I'm drunk."

"Never drink with me again," he said with a chuckle.

"Gotcha," she said.

"She's only drinking when I'm around," Elmer said.

Elmer found some wine and they all poured themselves a glass and sat. He talked more with Elmer and Shay and for once, he got to know Shay and she didn't seem so mean, bitchy and bitter. With Elmer, she was loving and affectionate and despite the race difference and age difference they seemed to have a decent relationship. He always wondered about opposites and making it work. They were a family, they were happy, they were in love.

Then there she was, walking in fashionably late. She looked like that night when he first met her. Her long weave was back, though, to the not so keen eye, it looked like it grew from her head. Her make-up was flawless, she wore a bright red pants jumpsuit with a black jacket over it. He immediately saw her, but she was busy saying hello to everyone.

Why was he nervous?

She finally made her way over to them with Jared on her arm.

"She decides to show up late, but here she is!" Jared said. "My bestie!"

"And I brought more wine!" she said, holding up a bottle of her favorite.

"Fill mine up!" Shay said, holding up her glass.

"Uh, sis..."

"Don't worry, I'm with her tonight," Elmer said, taking the bottle from Angel.

"Hello Hook," she said, with a smile at him.

"Hey Angel," he said back, but he had so many other things he wanted to say. Not right now, with people around.

"Ooo, the first time you two are in the same room," Jared said. "Should I separate you on two sides of the house?"

"No, it's cool," Angel said. "I mean, I'm cool. You, Hook?"

"It's nice to see you, Angel," he said, hugging her. "You look good."

She looked him up and down. "And you...I'm impressed. You went shopping and bought something, not from Walmart."

He chuckled. It was true. He wanted to blend in with the crowd so he asked Jared for places he liked to shop and he fended for himself and bought a couple of things.

"I still like my khakis and t-shirt, but I know when to dress appropriately."

"You two should spend some time alone to talk," Shay said, grabbing Elmer's arm. "We'll let you two at it."

"Are you two going to be cool up in my place?" Jared asked.

"Bye Jared," they both said then laughed.

"Ooooo, you two!" He walked back to attend to his other guests.

"Wanna sit," Hook said, and they both sat on the sofa. "Angel, you look good. I mean...I didn't expect any less, but-"

"Stop making me blush," she said with a giggle. "How are you? I'm shocked you and Jared stayed friends, but I'm fine with it of course. It was weird at first, but hey-"

"Honestly, I think I like hanging with him because it reminds me of you," he said. "He's the male you."

"Boy!" Angel laughed so hard she fell over him, laughing till tears came. She was so close to him, and he wanted to pull her in his arms but he resisted. This was a little awkward after all. He did not know what to feel. All his emotions were in a big energy ball and he felt like he would burst open if he didn't get it out.

"I miss you," he finally said, licking his lips and waiting on her response.

She composed herself, wiping away the tears in her eyes, then smiled. "I miss you too Hook."

"I wish things would have been different for us. I-"

"It's okay Hook, really," she said. "Maybe we had our moment, and that was fine, we enjoyed ourselves."

She wasn't getting it. He didn't want to just have a moment with her, he still wanted her. How was he going to express that to her when he was just so confused right now. Maybe she was over him and moved on. Maybe she wanted no parts of him anymore because she realized she deserved someone better.

"Angel, I-I really want to talk...I mean, really talk, about us, but not here. Alone."

"I'm going to need some wine?" she smiled and grabbed her wine bottle. She took his hand with the other and lead him through the house. She grabbed herself a wineglass as they cut through the kitchen and out to Jared's covered deck.

It was a nice December night, not too cold for a St. Louis night a few days from Christmas. Still, there was an outdoor heater, so he turned it on so they would be nice and comfortable. She poured herself some wine and he filled his glass. They sat at the table and neither said anything.

He was nervous as hell.

"Soooo...you wanted to be alone, here we are."

He gulped down some wine.

"Are you seeing anyone?"

"No. You?"

"No. I kept thinking about you when I tried. It was crazy."

Angel stood and walked away, looking out into the dark yard. He was making a fool of himself. Maybe Angel did not want him back, but she was going to let him embarrass himself first.

"How are the kids?" she asked.

He got up and walked to her and stood beside her.

"They miss you. Talk about you sometimes. I think they were more hurt from the breakup."

"And the baby?"

"It wasn't mine," he said. She turned to look at him. "The first person I wanted to tell was you. I was...happy, a little sad too, but just glad. I wanted you to know and I wondered if that would fix us."

"No, you know it was more going on than just that," she said, looking down.

"Whatever it is Angel, I'm willing to try again. I mean, maybe...if you want to."

She shook her head at him.

"See, this unsure feeling you have Hook...no. You need to know what you want."

"I want you!"

"Are you sure? You miss me a couple of months. You try and date someone else to forget me. You don't know what you want...and I do," she said, looking into his eyes. "I want you. But I don't want you if you don't want me."

"I'm telling you that's what I-"

"No, you're just seeing me and having old feelings, you're not even sure. The Hook I remembered was strong and confident. That's who I fell in love with...that's who I still love."

He rubbed her face, pulling her to him. "Angel, I-"

He actually didn't know what he felt anymore. Seeing Angel again and all the old feelings.
Sure, he tried to date others, but besides chicks he fucked and moved on, none of them came close to what he felt for Angel. Not just the sex, which was always amazing, just the whole vibe with the other women. Angel got him, and if she was still feeling him, then why not try and make it work again.

"Hook, I needed this time apart. It has helped me so much. And I imagined coming here, seeing you, and we just fall in love all over again, but..."

"There's no but, baby, here I am," he said, kissing her. "My Angel."

She pushed away from him. "No! It's not right. And I love myself too much to just jump back in this with you and we hurt each other again. Do you know how hard it was for me to not be with you? And not just that Hook. You took something else away from me. You made me fall in love with those girls and then you snatched them away!"

Angel started to cry. He didn't know what to say. He knew she had grown attached to his girls, and he saw the effect of that with his girls. Damn! He felt like crap.

"Ang, I'm sorry," he said, putting his arms around her. "This is fucked up and I don't know how to fix it. Fix us."

She rubbed tears from her eyes. "My father finally told me what my uncle did to me."

He was stunned. That probably was a heavy load to bear.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Great! It explained everything from all my weird childhood behavior of telling half-truths and lies and into my adulthood letting men control me. I wished I would have been honest with you. From the start. My real relationship with Matthew, Russell...my lies, my cheating. And I never should have walked away with Russell and put myself in the position of kissing him. And I should have told you, but in my warped mind, I wasn't lying to you. See, that's how fucked up I was."

"But...that's not me anymore. I've been in therapy, deep therapy, just working through all that. I've been working on me since we've been apart so that if I had the chance to get back with you, I would be a better person and never hurt you again."

"Wow, that's...impressive."

"And I gave away all the money. Matthew's money. I didn't want a dime of it and I meant it. I gave it to charities around the city that needed it, to help kids that didn't grow up with the golden ticket I had. And I didn't want that to get between us either."

He was tongue-tied. She had millions in her pocket and gave it all away? For him? She'd worked through her issues, to make herself a better person, for him? What had he done these last few months? Try to fuck her out of his thoughts?

"Hook, you know I want us, I do," she said, taking his hands, "But...we're not ready."

"But Angel, I want to try."

"We can be friends. Get to know each other all over. Just start things all over...differently," she said with a smile. "Not me a damsel in distress on the side of the road, you the friendly tow, and then us fucking each other's brains out all night."

They both laughed. He missed her so damn much.

"Okay, Angel, I like that."

"Question?" she asked him with a smile. "Do you have the girls for Christmas break? I want to see them, I have something for them."

A/N: Things are looking better for the two. Angel seems different, Hook though...needs some more work.

XOXO
Kimberly