The sound of a male voice made her wake up and she looked up at her clock to see that she had slept for an hour. She pulled herself out of her warm bed and she made her way down the hall. When she found her mom's door closed, she took a deep breath and stepped into the room. The bed was still made from the previous day and she looked around for any sign of her being home. With no sign present, she sighed and left the bedroom.

She heard the phone ring and when she didn't see Kari getting it, she answered it in her room. The voice on the other end was unknown and she sat on her bed.

She took a deep breath and asked "Who are you?"

"She'll be home tonight. Tell Kari to stop worrying."

Then the line went dead.

@#$%

He put the phone on the charger and walked back into his room with his hand closing the door behind him. He sat next on his bed and took a drink of water. When he took a deep breath, he closed his eyes and laid back against the headboard. His entire body was exhausted and he seriously needed to get some sleep. As he drifted into a light sleep, she stepped out of the bathroom and looked at him.

To see him sleeping like a child made her smile and she walked over to his side of the bed. She watched him sleep and her hand ran through his hair for one last time. She kissed him softly and quietly left the room. When she reached his door, she found her outfit still in the bag she put in the previous night. She grabbed it and slipped out the door.

She walked down the steps and pushed her loose hair out of her face as she walked down the stairwell. When she reached the main door, she pushed the door opened and stepped into the sun. The minute her skin finished warming, she took a deep breath and headed downtown. As she passed the city park, she looked at the swings, but kept on walking. Once she reached her apartment, she opened the door and stopped at the sight in front of her.

She stepped past the couch without making a sound and walked back to Hallie's room. When she heard the girl's radio on, she took a deep breath and knocked on the door. She stepped into the room and the girl threw her arms around her. She picked her up and walked over to the bed while calming Hallie down.

"What about him?"

She smiled and said "He's going back home and we are going to just continue on like normal."

The girl frowned and said "You're lying."

She nodded and said "He's at the hotel and sleeping. I left half an hour ago."

Hallie sighed and asked "Why? Didn't he make you happy?"

She smiled and said "More than anything, but I can't have him."

Hallie moved off her lap and sat next to her while asking "Why can't you?"

She shrugged and said "My life isn't with him. It's with you. It took me a night with him to realize that."

A smile finally reached her face and she asked "Are you insane? You deserve this guy Mom. He's everything to you."

The door opened and Kari said "It's about time. We've been worrying about you."

She smiled and said "I bet you were while you slept."

Kari shrugged and said "I hadn't gotten more than two hours of sleep today."

The doorbell rang and when she heard Daniels talking she said"I'm sorry about that. I just needed to work some things out."

The woman nodded and said "I guess it's not all that important."

PGS