TITLE: Delicieux 3/3
Standard disclaimers apply.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I can't help but feel Lav is upset with me for making part 2 so depressing... This is my lame attempt at covering up my guilt :o)

Ah yes, I've also noticed people using the expression "There's just *something* about that Larry, isn't there?" an often lot, and this is an attempt to understand what it really is about Larry that makes us go gaga... though sometimes, I guess, things are better left un-understood :o)

P.S. I'm not quite sure whether there's such a verb as "pessimistise", but that's the beauty of fanfic - making up new words :o)

P.P.S. Everything enclosed in <----> are Ally's thoughts... Just tellin' ya:)

Delicieux 3/3

"Pas de Deux"

- - -

"I thought that you'd be
Lovin' me
I thought you were the one who'd stay
Forever
But now
Forever's come and gone
And I'm still here
Alone..." - "Blue Eyes Blue"

Raindrops scurried down the office window, hurrying to reach the sidewalk tens of feet below... The sky was painted a most unattractive gray, everything was soppy, slimy, the streets were practically empty; Boston looked dull, black-and-white, as if reduced to something unimportant...

Ally watched the tiny drops create paths for themselves on the outside of the glass, though she felt as though they were on the inside, about to run down & soak the office floor. Work echoed in her head, thoughts twisting & turning, reluctant to meet and actually *decide* on what to do. She'd call in sick the next day, she'd already planned everything out...

It wasn't really that she didn't imagine life without him - this was life, wasn't it, and there was no Larry, was there? But she was still at a loss to explain even to herself, never mind Renee, what shape or form life would take on... What was it about him that stirred, inflicted, poisoned? What had made him such a big part of her, a part that was gone?

Ally laughed quietly at herself, noticing how very grown-up her thoughts now were... this was a good thing...

...Wasn't it?

They'd met by coincidence - or maybe it wasn't at all coincidental... A spark started off a flame, which Jaimie so cleverly tried to extinguish time after time, but which was too powerful to be put out by a simple bucket of water... A flicker of attraction turned into an explosion of love, passion, adoration and whatever the hell else was mixed in.

He left her breathless.

She left him smitten.

What happened?

It had all been a farce, a too-good-to-be-true story that would ultimately end up disappointing her to the point of insanity. Men like him only exist in fairy tales, and the fairy tale she'd lived had ended...

Of course she understood everything. She didn't accept it, but she understood it. He loved his son, and Jaimie manipulated with that all too well... Ally wouldn't allow him to stay, wouldn't allow herself to be chosen by him over his child. Jaimie knew it. Ally understood it all - despite however much he loved her, he'd race back to claim joint custody of Sam... For there on out, it was just a matter of technique - a touch, a hug, a kiss, closed doors, do not disturb, and he'd drown in his own guilt & shame which would close off Ally from him. And then...

He *wouldn't* be back.






A knock shattered her reverie. She spun around in her chair to see...







Him. Again. In the doorway. Soaking wet. Breathless. Still irresistibly sexy.



Her eyes met his, locked in place and tried to drill deeper into him in a vain attempt to figure out what exactly had brought him there in such a state.



She realized she couldn't see through him. He *could* see through her. He knew everything, saw everything, understood everything.

The first man in her life who understood her. And he was leaving.

She was doomed.

Her optimistic and pessimistic brains were arguing over in which fashion to greet him, but the latter finally won out.

"Is this a new fad? Showing up on my doorstep every time you get horny?"

She couldn't believe she said that. But she did. And there was no way to un-say it.

His eyebrows arched up.

"Hello to you, too..."

"Don't be sweet with me." Ally shot back, pretending to be extremely interested in the papers lying in front of her. She didn't want to be rude with him, but this was just a way to release everything that had built up over the last few days.

"It wasn't my direct intent to be sweet, Ally. May I come in?"
"Be my guest." Ally tried to seem completely uninterested in him, not even raising her eyes while replying, but silently thanked God for making him ask that question. Still, unleashing her anger felt good.

Larry sat down.

Ally finally looked up.
"I didn't say you could *sit down*, I said you could *come in*. There's a difference between the two."

He stood up momentarily. "I apologize." Almost grinning. She was lovely when she was angry, and he understood perfectly well she used rudeness as a way to mask her true feelings. That made her even lovelier. It was one of those hidden details only a lover's eye could catch.

"Why are you here?" She wanted him to be gone ay-sap. If he didn't, she'd collapse in a sobbing heap.

"I can't just... stop by?" Larry asked back.

"When's the last time you entroubled yourself with looking in a mirror? People looking like *that* don't "just stop by"! And why are you answering a question with a question? But before you answer that with - I'm sure - *another* question, let me make it known to you that if you came here with another speech on how you'll miss me and you'll be back and yadda yadda yadda, save your breath, because - sorry to disappoint you - my life won't end without you supervising it!"

her optimistically romantic brain pessimistised back.

This was getting worse. She was on the edge. The news he had raced here to deliver had to be delivered immediately.

"Ally-" he started, but she wasn't about to pass the microphone on.

"No-no-no, don't 'Ally' me! I've grown out of the age where everything can be healed with a hug and a kiss!"

her romantic brain purred back.
Larry's mind echoed, but he was wise enough to keep that remark to himself.

"Ally-" he tried again, but failed miserably.

"Did you hear what I just said?!" she spat out. "You're acting like none of this is your fault! Like you're innocent here, victimized by that bitch, and frankly, that's not fair to ME, OR the said bitch, OR to your SON! If you didn't want problems, you shouldn't have had a kid with her in the first place!"

"Please forgive me, Ally, now I realize *you're* the one I forgot to ask *there*! It'll never happen again, I promise!" Larry couldn't hold back his sarcasm. He immediately thought it would ignite another flame, but in fact it had quite the opposite effect.

"I'm... sorry." Ally looked down. "For that." Silence encircled them both.

"Ally-"

"But what I'm *not* sorry for-" Larry rolled his eyes as Ally started off again.
"Will I *ever* get a chance to speak?"
"-No!- ... is saying this - you are so confident I'll be your spaniel, and maybe you're right, maybe I will, but this CONFIDENCE stems from being such a masterful MAN, surrounding herds of women with afterthoughts of attraction and then LEAVING them, finding an EXCUSE to just GO, not taking the slightest bit of responsibility for ANYTHING!"

She didn't think that - in fact, she thought completely the opposite, and he knew she didn't *actually* think it. In fact, her brain had lost contact with her mouth about a minute before, and what was coming out of her mouth amazed even her.

A speech prepared for men who didn't even stand on one level with Larry. *No one* stood on one level with Larry. At least to Ally.

"I'm not going to answer that very last bit because I know perfectly well that is *not* what you think... Ally, please listen to me - I'm not going anywhere..."

"I think-" she started, another speech on the end of her tongue, and only then did her brain process the information her ears had recieved a moment before.

She felt her body go numb. Some distant corner of her brain was screaming with joy. This was what she'd prayed for - the continuance of the fairy tale, proof that he loved her and wouldn't give her up for the world...

"Ally-Ally-Ally..." he rushed up to her at the point when she was fully ready to faint. Carefully sitting her down in her chair, he looked down into her eyes.

She gulped back transparent tears.

"You're... ummm, *what*?"

He smiled. "Remember what I told you a long time ago? I wouldn't walk away from you. I couldn't... ever... walk away from you. And admitting that probably sets me into the "wuss" category, but... frankly, I don't give a shit."

Ally laughed lightheartedly. She wasn't interested in details. She was interested in the facts at hand - he was staying. With her.

"With me?" she asked, totally out of context but just to be sure.

"No, I'm staying with your sofa. Geez, Ally!"

She giggled. This was paradise. He lowered his head to press his nose against hers, sending her smile all the way up to her ears. Then gently kissed her, first just her lips, then entangling his tongue with hers into something more erotic.

"C'mere," he pulled her up, a mischievous grin on his face, and wrapped one arm around her neck, the other around her waist. The kisses continued, then went down her face, her neck, her shoulders... Ally purred with delight. They had all the time in the world. She was in sensory heaven.

"I love you," He looked at her, suddenly becoming very serious. Her grin widened. "I know," she replied.
He smiled back.

She felt something unexpected run down her cheek. He gently wiped it - a tear - away with his finger.

"Don't cry," he told her, and she nodded. "Okay. I didn't plan to."
"Don't..." he repeated and smirked.

Her arms went up to his face, hands stroking the back of his neck. She pressed his head against his shoulder and let him take it from there. They ended up by the couch, and it was only rational to use up the space provided. Besides that, it was also comfy.

He sat down and raised his hands to meet her hips, pulling her down on himself. She straddled him as he brushed her hair away from her face, running his fingers over her cheek and lips, looking at her in a way which screamed of adoration. He unbuttoned her blouse slowly, tenderly seducing her, and she was eagerly accepting all of it. She bent her head down to kiss *his* neck - "Mmm..." she breathed out. "Delicious." The rest of the world seemed to float away - it was just them & the couch, which served its purpose admirably. She remembered crying in his arms the last time they made love - this time, though equally wonderful, was all laced with finesse, passion; smiles replaced tears, and they didn't have to rush anywhere, they could just enjoy the moment, enjoy each other... There were still so many more moments like this ahead of them, and Ally was fantastically happy with that.

They completely lost track of time, but didn't care at all. Ally pressed her left cheek against his right shoulder, settling into his embrace as he gently stroked her back. "Look," her eyes lit up and she smiled, pointing out the window like a little girl finding happiness in the simplest things. He looked up to see the sun peeking out from behind the clouds, and in a few moments the room was full of sunlight. He smiled and kissed her hair. "I cut a deal with God. Miracles happen twice, Ally." She looked up at him and smiled back. Perhaps it was all banale, too wonderful, but there was something breathtakingly charming about it all. Isn't love *supposed* to be wonderful?

"Hey, Ally..." he whispered.
"Hmph?"
"Lunch break's over."
"Grrr..."



- - -

"Ally. Larry. Sex. Perfect." Richard matter-of-factly dropped by when they *finally* exited Ally's office. Work had long since restarted, and everyone was back to their normal activities.

They weren't an exception. These *were* their normal activities.

"Richard..." Ally snapped back, and wrote herself a silent momento -

It's more, actually... It's... savory. Delicious.

"See, Ally, some people actually *work* after lunch break..." Larry grinned.
"You're *not* talking about yourself..." She smiled back as she pulled him back in her office.
The door shut firmly behind them. Another delicious moment was ahead.

- - -

~fin~

Feedback? Lav, es-tu contente? :o) I'd love some feedback from anyone and everyone:)