Love Drunk: Chapter Thirty One

Last time Jenna and Dex got closer as Lainie watched in despair! Matthew's absence was explained and Roxy turned out to be just the right medicine in his hour of need. And finally Lainie's first day at work ended in disaster, with her trapped in the burning diner. A distraught Dexter pleaded with his firefighter brother to do something which resulted in Ash charging into the fire to find Lainie! Now Dexter faces the loss of not only the mother of his child, but now his brother too!

The sound of the licking flames and the humming of the fire engine were all that could be heard...

...Dexter Maloney sat on the ground holding his breath, wondering if he'd just sent his brother to his death for nothing. Wondering if Lainie was in fact somewhere else and not in the diner at all!

A dozen thoughts flooded his brain! What if Lainie was dead? What if Ashton couldn't find her and was dying in there? What had he done? Why did he plead with Ash like that? He knew his brother would do anything for him! Even die for him! Nobody spoke, nobody moved! Ashton's brave yet stupid move had them speechless! Dexter didn't dare breathe, if he let it out he was afraid it would end their lives for sure. So he held it in, sending his oxygen to Lainie and Ash who needed it more than he did!

Keira's little sobs became apparent in between the only other two noises. Then Jenna trying to soothe her to no avail! He wanted to get up and go to her, but he was paralyzed there on the ground, waiting for a movement inside the diner.

Erin's panicked voice broke the silence as she suddenly appeared and called to Dexter sitting on the ground, numb. "Dex? Where's Ash?" her voice was shrill as Jenna tried to calm her.

"Erin, he's gone in to find Lainie he..." Erin let out a panicked cry like a wounded animal.

"No! No no no no no no no....ASH????" tears flooded her eyes as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"Erin calm down, he's doing his job. He does it every day when you're not there! It'll be okay, I promise!" Jenna lied, Ash had gone against everything he'd been trained to do! Going in there alone with no back-up! It was not in the job description!

Dexter felt he had been sitting there for a thousand years when he finally spotted someone stumbling out of the building, it was Ash...

...carrying Lainie!!!

Ash suddenly dropped to his knees trying to lay her down as gently as he could while pulling off his apparatus roughly as Dexter found the strength to get up and run to them.

"Evelyn?" he mumbled as Ash raised a hand for him to stay back.

"Dexter, stay there!" he ordered him.

"Why isn't she moving...Ash?" Dexter's lips trembled and he felt sick. Her face was black with smoke and her body was as still as death!

Erin called Ashton's name, her voice like a little girl as Charlotte and Drew appeared. "I'm okay baby, it's okay!" he reassured her as he began to give Lainie mouth to mouth resuscitation.

Dexter sat rocking back and forth on his heels as his brother tried to get Lainie to breathe...

...suddenly her body convulsed and she jerked to the side coughing uncontrollably. "Evelyn!" Dexter breathed a sigh of relief and took her in his arms as Jenna looked on from the sidelines, trying not to feel hurt over his behaviour.

"Dexy?" she croaked, "M-my diner!" she cried as he held her tightly fighting back the tears that threatened to blind him.

"Screw the diner freckles! I thought I'd lost you!" he wept and squeezed her tighter.

Erin leapt into Ashton's arms crying her little heart out. "Hey hey hey! I'm fine baby girl!" he tried to calm her.

She pulled away and glared at him, "You stupid, stupid idiot!" she cried, "How could you...you could've died!"

"But I didn't!" he winked as the ambulance sirens grew closer.

"Ashton James Maloney!" Erin shook her head, "Why do you do this to me? Have you any idea how I'd feel if anything happened to you???"

"Then let's get a place together and you can watch me day and night!" he stared into her eyes, never more serious in his life!

"You...you mean it?"

"I do, I really do!" Erin kissed him with every bit of strength she had left in her.

"I love you!" she sighed happily.
"It's the uniform!" He chuckled, "It's a chick magnet!" Erin giggled and replied,
"No Ashton, it's you! And I can't wait to get that darn uniform off of you to prove it!" she kissed him again as he muttered,
"Promises, promises!"

Lainie was taken to hospital to be checked out, Dexter insisted on coming in the ambulance with her as Jenna stayed with Keira. "They want me in overnight!" Lainie's voice was raspy from the smoke as Dex nodded.

"You want me to stay with you? I'm allowed!"

"No, you have to get back to Keira, and Jenna!"

Dexter knelt down on the ground and looked up into her eyes, "I've never been so scared in my life!"

"Ash is okay Dexy, everything is fine!" she waved a dismissive hand at him as he shook his head.

"No! I was scared...of losing YOU! Evelyn..." Dexter began as David flew in the door with Roxy and cried out,

"Oh Lainie, what happened?" Dexter hung his head and stood up, the cavalry was here!

"David!" Lainie greeted him with a hint of disappointment in her voice.

"I'll get back to Kee Bee!" Dexter smiled at her and went to leave them alone as Roxy gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Dexy you were going to say something?"

He turned and looked at her, "Nah, I just wanted you to know that you had me and Kee Bee really scared! We're both glad you're okay!" and he was gone as David looked at her with worry.

"I'm so sorry Lain I was across town seeing um...er h-how did the fire start?" Roxy asked her sheepishly.

Lainie had never thought of that! Amongst the panic and commotion, she'd forgotten to tell anyone that she thought the fire had been started deliberately! So she decided to tell them, "Someone set fire to my diner!"

"What? Who would do that?" David gasped as Roxy scowled.

"I don't know but...I'm determined to find out!"

When Dexter returned home, Ash had some news for him. "Bro? I'm moving out!" Dexter blinked in shock.

"What???"

"Me and Erin are gettin' our own place! She's spending most of her wages from the salon on rent for that bedsit and you and Jenna need your space so..."

"No Ash! No!"

"Dexter! We're not gettin' any younger. Our women want us to give them a hundred percent! How can we do that when we can't let go of each other? You've got a great girl in Jenna! I've tip-toed around with Erin for too long! It's time little brother, before we reach 40, it's time!"

Dexter knew what Ash was saying made sense. First Drew had jumped ship and now his brother! Dex wasn't ready to be alone in the flat, unless he asked Jenna to move in...

...when he got back to his room, she was waiting for him. Keira was fast asleep in her cot as he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend and breathed in her perfume.

"How is she?"

"Fine. They're keeping her in overnight so..."

"Dexter, you were...really upset!" He pulled back and looked at her.

"Of course I was, we have a daughter together! Can you imagine Kee Bee growing up without her mother? How hard and heartbreaking it would be???"

"Is that all it is?" Dexter frowned,

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, are you really over her? Have you truly let her go?"

Dexter looked her in the eyes and smiled, "Jen, I'm here aren't I? If I was still clinging on would I be here? With you?"

"I don't know I..."

"Jen you're my girlfriend, Lainie is my daughter's mum. I love Lainie..." Jen's eyes widened with worry as he added, "...but I'm in love with YOU!" and her body relaxed, yep there was a totally rational explanation for his behaviour...just as she thought!

So why was she still not convinced?

Charlotte was shaken up over the fire as Drew made her some hot chocolate. "Here you go! Oh cheer up, nobody got hurt and it's all good!" he smiled at her as she tried not to cry.

"Oh Andrew, poor Lainie! Her diner!"
"Material things can always be replaced Char! Precious human beings can't, so like I said it's all good!"

Charlotte looked lovingly at her boyfriend and said "I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you! Poor little Erin's face when Ashton was inside! And Dexter!"

"Yeah, he was pretty cut up huh?" Drew frowned, in the back of his mind he knew his best friend was still in love with Lainie despite being happy with Jenna.

Lainie was discharged that following morning and couldn't wait to get home to Keira! When Dexter brought her down she snuggled her tightly. "So David told me you think someone started the fire on purpose!" Dex gave her a serious glare. "Why didn't you tell me? Or Ash?"

"I'm sorry, I was a bit...gunked up with smoke!"

"Ash is getting a team in to investigate! Thank god Kee Bee was with me and not in your flat or..."

"Dexy don't!" Lainie shook her head.

"Well Ash is going to get to the bottom of it!" Dexter stared her down, "Freckles, this is bad!"

"I know!"

"Maybe...maybe I should take Kee Bee for a couple of days! You talk to the police, it's not safe! I think David should stay with you!" Lainie looked disgusted at this idea.

"No, Roxanne is here! And Keira will be fine here with us!"

"Okay, but I'm only up those stairs! If you need me, call me, come get me any time! Promise?" Lainie nodded reluctantly.

Over the course of the next week, it became apparent that someone had indeed started the fire deliberately. What was even more scary was that Lainie received a text just before Ash rescued her telling her to rest in peace! But on the plus side, she had fully recovered physically from her ordeal.

Something plagued her mind though, Dexter was trying to tell her something that night at the hospital! And after she had been discharged, Erin and Ash told her just how upset Dex was when he thought she was in the burning diner! It gave her hope that maybe he felt more for her than he let on, that he was just killing time with Jenna. She'd always thought that there was a spark between them but never thought she could ever turn his head. Could she have missed something?

The night in the broken lift was never far from her thoughts. How tender and loving he was with her, the way he whispered her name. Nobody had ever said her name that way, like it was the most precious word in the world! When Dexter called her Evelyn that night, it was as if he was saying something else...and she could never forget! Had she been so blind? Was Dexter really the one all along, under her nose? What was he trying to tell her before? That their bond went beyond conceiving Keira together?

When she called him that day, he was at the door in minutes. She'd asked him to come to the park with her and Keira for a chat. "Hey freckles!" he smiled and picked up his daughter who giggled happily at the sight of him.

"Hey Dexy!" she smiled back. She was going to be straight with him, she was going to tell him...

As they sat on a bench watching Keira play with her doll on a blanket, Lainie bit the bullet and spoke. "Dexy, that night at the hospital..."

"What about it?"

"What were you going to say?" Dex shrugged,

"I can't really remember freckles, it was an emotional night!"

"Dexy..." Lainie sat closer to him, "...I feel like we have a really close bond...in Keira I mean and..." she tried to work out what he was thinking by his expression.

"We do, we always will freckles! She's half of you and half of me!" he smiled, "I don't regret having a baby with you Lainie! It's the best thing that's ever happened to me! I'm glad it was you I had my first born with, I really am!" Lainie's cheeks flushed and she could feel her heart flutter.

But her heart sank when he continued, "I'm glad you're settled with David, I just want you to be happy with someone. Like I am with Jenna!" his smile grew wider as he said her name.

"Do you love her Dexy?" Lainie's voice broke.

"Freckles..." before he could finish Lainie kissed him right on the lips!

She didn't know why she did it, the urge was too great to control. His relationship with Jenna Riley had driven her to breaking point! She realised just how much she wanted Dexter Maloney when she saw him with her! As the kiss lingered on, he didn't push her off, he accepted it! When she reluctantly let him go, the look on his face turned her cold.

"Lainie what are you doing?" his body was rigid and his face twisted into a look of complete fury, she'd never seen him look like that before!

"I..." she couldn't find any words.

"What are you trying to do to me Evelyn?"

"Dexy..."

"DO NOT call me THAT ever AGAIN!" he stood up abruptly and walked out of the park as she got up and ran after him leaving Keira on the ground looking worried.

"Dexy please!" she grabbed him by the arm trying to stop him from leaving.

"Why did you do that? Why?" he looked as if he was going to cry.

"Because it felt right?" she tried to look into his eyes but he wouldn't let her. "You kissed me back Dexy! You didn't push me away!"

"I...no and it was wrong of me!" he shook his head violently. 

"Dexy, Erin told me how broken you were when you thought I was dead! You told me at the hospital that you were so scared of losing me...Dexy tell me, is there any part of you that loves me?" Dexter finally looked her in the eyes.

"Yes! You know that! You've always known...I have to go!" 

He pulled away from her and ran out of the park, leaving her completely confused and alone...

...as Keira began to cry for her.

Lainie couldn't concentrate that night, as David sat with her watching some mushy film, she suddenly turned off the TV and stood up.

"Um Lainie I was watching that?" David said nervously.

"David? I don't love you! I'm sorry but I feel I have to be honest with you. This is never going to go anywhere! All we ever do is watch television together and go to the movies or play computer games! You've never once tried to seduce me, god forbid you ever lock lips with me!" David's face fell as she ranted on.

"I think we should...finish...whatever this is we have! You're a really nice man and I don't want to lead you on or deceive you any longer!" David stood up and nodded.

"Yes, yes you're right! How can I ever compete with Dexter Maloney! It's him you love after all!" he sighed and looked at her with sadness.

"Lainie you're so in love with him that no other man will ever come close! As long as he is in your life, you will forever be alone unless you claim him for yourself! Before I left for Lucky Palms he was crazy about you even then, I felt blessed that you liked me over him. But that's really not the case is it? You two are soul mates on a journey, and god help anyone who gets in your path! As long as you are in each other's lives and don't take action, too many people are going to get hurt! So do the right thing? Marry the man and be done with it!"

As David was walking out of Lainie's life, Dexter had called Jenna over. "What is it? You sounded serious on the phone?" Dexter was pacing nervously then suddenly came to a halt.

He knelt down on one knee and pulled a small box out of his pocket, "Marry me Jenna!" Jenna's mouth fell open in shock. "Let's get married, will you? Will you be my wife?" Jenna burst into tears as Dex waited for an answer. Finally she screwed her eyes shut and squeaked, 
"Yes, yes I will!"

Lainie sat alone holding her phone, waiting to see if Dexter would call. Maybe he'd had time to think about their talk earlier...

...Dexter placed the ring on Jenna's finger as she sobbed happily...

...Lainie thought about calling Dexter and sorting things out, telling him once and for all that they should be together...

...Dexter and Jenna hugged in the middle of the room, Jenna could hardly believe they were getting married...

...Lainie lifted her phone and sent Dexter a text...

...there was much to talk about...

...Dexter carried his new fiancee to his room and placed her on the bed...

...there was much to celebrate...

Ohhhhh no! Lainie's kiss had an effect on Dexter, but not the one she hoped! So little Dexy is getting married? How will Lainie take that after dumping David for him? :/