Love Drunk: Chapter Thirty Five

Last time Dexter was coming to terms with being dumped by Jenna two weeks before their wedding! His way of coping was to throw himself into the band and the tour that was coming up! After saying their goodbyes, Roxy, Ash, Drew and Dexter left Moonlight Falls and their loved ones behind. How are the girls and Matthew coping with their absence?

Time! Just a word that was said in passing, a part of life that passed by or was used to its full potential. Depending on who or what had it, the use of it varied. Lainie Robertson used the past two months of her time to mope, to pine for a man who fathered her child. To wish that this man was standing next to her at that very moment. Instead he was thousands of miles away singing his heart out to an arena full of people.

Lainie found life harder with him so far away. No matter what, he always brightened her day with his pretty big blue eyes and his heartwarming smile, those rock star tattoos and the face fuzz that said "Yeah I'm a loveable rogue, deal with it!!!" and it made her feel oh so warm inside.

She tried to keep the diner going, Erin quit her job at the salon to take Roxy's place and they got along well. Lainie wanted her to stay because she seemed to understand what she was going through, Erin was missing Ash just as much as Lainie missed Ash's brother. "So he's pretty proud of himself, stupid male, only a guy could think that's cool. You know?" Erin tended to talk, more than Charlotte which was amazing!

"So how many stitches?" Lainie smiled at the thought of Ash hitting himself in the head with his drumstick. Getting a little overexcited was something he did when he played his drums.

"Only four, but he's puffing out his chest and sporting them like a medal of honour, big dummy!" Erin huffed as she mopped the floor.

"And how's Dexy?" Lainie brought up the handsome lead singer rather innocently as Erin let out a small giggle.

"I was wondering how long it would take until you mentioned him!" She smiled at Lainie, totally getting where she was coming from. Erin knew what those Maloneys could do to a girl! "He's fine!" As they continued to clear up, Erin added "He misses you Lain! Misses his freckles!"

"Oh I doubt that, when he left he was pretty mad at me. I was glad he broke up with Jenna but it wasn't my doing, you know that..." Erin held up her hands and butted in,

"Whoa whoa whoa! I do, and I told you long ago that Ash and I were with you on that one! It's only natural that you wanted Dexter to be single, everybody knows you're both crazy about each other. And that little girl of yours, such a doll, she needs her mummy and daddy to make her a brother!" She nodded, pleased with herself as Lainie blushed, thinking about being with Dexter Maloney like that again. It made her tingle thinking about his hands wandering all over her, his soft kisses all over her body and his scent...that subtle fragrance that clung to his perfectly inked skin!

The look of sheer yearning must have showed on her face as Erin gave her a puzzled look, "You with me there Lain?"

"Huh?" Lainie shook her head and her cheeks flushed.

"I said you should come out to Paris with me and Char! Dexter would go crazy! You and Kee?"

"No no no!" Lainie laughed, "No I think I'll stay right where I am. He'll be back in a month anyway!"

"Suit yourself!" Erin shrugged, "But for the record? You should totally go!" Lainie thought about it, but she knew it was a bad idea. Dexter wanted to see her, he'd been skyping with Charlotte to see Keira. But the last few times he had asked for her, he wanted to talk! He missed her! But she felt things were better when they didn't talk, so she stayed away to give him what he asked for...

...time! Dexter sat in front of the laptop and laughed, his daughter was trying to reach him through the screen! "Dexter Maloney, your child is wriggly!" Charlotte squeaked as she tried to hold Keira still on her lap.

"Yeah she takes after her father! I can't stay still for a minute either! And she's curious, definitely MY daughter!" He laughed again. Then he grew serious for a moment and asked Charlotte the same question he always asked...

"How's freckles?" Charlotte tried to avoid the question, he could tell.

"Oh you know! Keira don't put that in your mouth!"

"She gunna come on here and talk or..." Charlotte let out an exasperated sigh.

"Dexter Maloney I have told you! She doesn't want to see you! She said you need space from her so she's giving you what you need!"

Dex let out a frustrated growl and threw his hands up.

"NO! That's so not what I need right now! I need HER! I have to explain, I was a jerk and I need to explain..."

"Dexter leave it. You'll be home soon, there will be plenty of time then!"

"We have to go, this one needs her beddy byes!" Charlotte bounced Keira on her lap as she giggled.

"Is she...did you talk to her about coming out to Paris?" It had been Dexter's idea to ask Lainie out to France, he wanted to see her so badly!

"I'm sorry, she won't come!"

"Did you ask her? Tell her I asked..."

"Dexter I tried and so did Erin! She won't come! Stop trying to force this..."

"I MISS HER!!!" he shouted, then seeing the look of shock on his daughter's little face, lowered his voice and added "I love her, I know that now! She's...she's the one!"

Charlotte gave him an impatient frown, "Well we all knew this information Dexter Maloney so welcome to the Lainie and Dexter love each other club! You are most welcome, say bye daddy!" Keira babbled baby talk to her daddy and slapped the screen with her tiny, chubby hands.

"Bye baby! Daddy loves you!"

"Same time tomorrow!" Charlotte replied matter of factly and shut off the webcam, leaving Dexter with a blank screen.

He had one more month left and then he could come home! With Lainie being so distant, he was thinking that maybe he shouldn't come home at all! The band were supposed to be in France in the middle of the tour, but their schedule had been changed and Paris was going to be their final stop, so it seemed that Erin and Charlotte were coming out at the end to be with them. Dexter so badly wanted Lainie and Keira to come too, Charlotte and Erin asked her on his behalf but to no avail. He would just have to wait until he returned to Moonlight Falls before he could tell Lainie everything finally!

It took Dexter a while to realise that Lainie was determined to stay out of sight. After another radio interview, he sat in his hotel room thinking. At that moment in time, all he wanted to do was to forget! Forget he was in love with her, forget they had a beautiful little girl together, forget that they were his world!

Dex thought about Jenna a lot too. He knew that she had been a good substitute while he was on the rebound. If he'd married her, he thought they could make a go of it! Leaving Evelyn Robertson behind for good! So that was what he was going to do! He was going to stop thinking about Lainie...

...and live his life!

Keira was now eleven and a half months old. She was standing upright without her walker now and she was making sounds that resembled actual words, but she hadn't managed to say anything coherent yet. She missed her daddy, Lainie could tell. Dex and Keira had a strong bond, one that rivalled that between a mother and child. Sometimes Lainie wondered who actually carried her and gave birth to her because she and Dex were so close!

Lainie thought about Dexter all the time. She wanted to see him, she wanted to go to France, but time apart was all that made her miss him less. She found it easier the longer she went without seeing his face or hearing his voice.

Matthew would sit in the diner and stare into space. He and Roxy were now officially boyfriend and girlfriend, and he was lost without her. He seemed to lose interest in his shop while Roxy was away, he seemed to lose interest in everything as he hadn't even ordered his lasagne yet! Matthew had lost a small amount of weight and he looked pale and tired.

Lainie sat down beside him and smiled, "How you doing?" Matthew sighed and shrugged.

"Oh you know! Terrible!" Lainie laughed softly, knowing exactly where he was coming from.

"Yeah I know the feeling. Erin is great but I miss my best friend. And of course Dexy leaves a huge gap in my life!"

"Yeah love sucks!" He chuckled. "But I wouldn't change a thing!" As he grinned from ear to ear, obviously thinking of Roxy, Lainie thought about her feelings for Dexter.

Charlotte came bursting out of the kitchen looking exasperated and interrupting her thoughts, "Lainie? She won't settle! She left her duck at the park and...when I went back to get it? Gone!" Charlotte squeaked.

"It's okay Char, Dexy has a spare one in his flat. It smells like him so it should calm her down. I'll go and get it if you give me the key!"

When Lainie walked through Dexter's flat, she ached to see him come out of his room covered in paint and looking tired after being up all night doing a portrait. But he was thousands of miles away, no chance of that happening!

She was overwhelmed by the scent of him still lingering in his room even though he had been away for two and a half months. It clung to his bed sheets, to the clothes he had left lying on the floor obviously in a hurry...

...and to the yellow duck that sat next to their daughter's cot. Lainie's portraits took pride of place on his wall again. For a while when he was with Jenna, they were in storage. But now they were right where he could see them as he lay down on his bed and went to sleep.

As she looked up at them with glowing red cheeks, she kicked something under Keira's cot...

...a box! She knew she shouldn't touch it but...

Over an hour later, Lainie arrived back at the diner as Charlotte gave her a dirty look. "Lainie your daughter has been cranky all this time! What on earth took you so long???" Lainie blushed and handed her the duck.

"Sorry, no excuse!" She mumbled, feeling extremely guilty for what she had just done.

Closing time came after a very long day. Erin was talking up a storm again as Lainie was miles away. 
"Lain, what is wrong with you? I'm obviously talking to myself here!" She huffed.

"Sorry, I..." Erin could tell something was bothering her and wouldn't let her be until she told her.

"I need to know I can trust you!" Lainie looked her straight in the eyes, "Because what I'm about to tell you, you can't even tell Ashton! Understand???" Erin nodded nervously, wondering how she would be able to keep anything from Ash!

Lainie sighed, "Okay...when I went to get Keira's duck? I found a box full of journals that Dexy has been writing since he was a teenager!" Erin gulped, knowing where this was going.

"He really pours his heart out in these things! I read about his dad's death and his time in Bridgeport and..." Lainie frowned thinking of the girl who gave him his tattoos in such a brutal way. "...then there were the ones that covered my arrival and everything that happened since then and..." Erin looked expectantly at her, knowing what she was going to say.

"...Erin he's been in love with me for...well ever!" This information didn't seem to surprise Lainie, she expected it to when she read Dexter's feelings in black and white, but rather than be excited and shocked she felt an overwhelming calmness wash over her! Erin was still looking at her, waiting for some sort of conclusion.

"Lain? We all told you this! Many, many times!"

"I know but...the way he talks about me it's as if I'm some goddess that is perfection personified! Well, that was until he and Jenna broke up! Then he calls me a b*tch and calculating and...well it turns out that I AM the cause of their break-up! She dumped him because she said he wasn't over ME!"

"Lain I know..."

"And the last entry from over three months ago confirms that! He said he accepted that Jenna was right and that he wasn't over me, he never will be!!!"

"Lain? I know!!!"

"Erin! I have to do something, I'm killing him! I've been torturing him and I didn't even know it! If I'd known..." Lainie trailed off as Erin smiled, glad that she finally realised how much she meant to Dexter! And now she was going to take action?

It was time for the girls to head out to Paris and meet the band. Lainie still refused to go, now citing the diner as an excuse. She had enlisted her mother and Dexter's mother as babysitters while Charlotte was away.

As Lainie was saying farewell to Charlotte and Erin, Matthew came rushing down the stairs in a panic, "WAIT WAIT WAIT!!!" He yelled, taking the steps three at a time.

"Matthew are you okay?" Charlotte gasped.

"No I...I'm coming with! Roxy called this morning and...I'm coming with!" Lainie looked at him in confusion as he frowned and refused to give any more information. So she shrugged and smiled.

"Well you guys all have fun! Give my love to the superstars!" She winked as they all headed into the taxi.

Lainie carried Keira up the stairs. Obviously Matthew couldn't bear to be apart from Roxy a moment longer! She wished she could have gone with them but now she had invaded Dexter's privacy, she felt that another couple of weeks away from him would help her overcome it, and not blush when she saw him! Besides, she had something she needed to do...

...to fix this mess that they were in once and for all!

Erin, Charlotte and Matthew all arrived in Paris as Drew and Ash were waiting outside the hotel to meet them.

Matthew mumbled to them "Where is she?" As Drew said something back quietly, looking rather strained. Matthew nodded and headed inside.

After settling into Ash's room and saying hello properly, Erin knocked on Dexter's door to see how he was. He was happy to see her and invited her in...

...and his first words were "How's freckles?"

"She's fine, how are you?"

"Oh you know, missing my two girls terribly!" He nodded sadly and jammed his hands in his pockets.

"They miss you too!" Dexter let out a bitter laugh.

"Really? Cuz I got the impression that Lainie doesn't want to know me! And who can blame her huh?"

"Dexter, she...well let's just say things will be different when you get back!"

"Yeah they will! Because I am moving on once and for all! This has been the last blow my heart can take so..."

"Dexter..."

"No no, I won't mention her again! Promise! Lainie who huh?" He laughed sadly. Erin was lost for words, just when things looked as if they were going to progress, Dexter had given up!

Erin, Charlotte and Matthew had been with the band for a couple of days and it was finally their last show. Roxy had been poorly so the boys had to perform without her a couple of times but she was now feeling better. Matthew had rushed out of the house when she called with just the clothes on his back and his passport to be with her. He held her tightly and asked her once more, "You're absolutely sure about this?"

"Yes Matty, I'm positive!"

"Okay, that's good enough for me! Go and get dressed, I'll see you downstairs!" He kissed her tenderly on the forehead and left her alone. There was something she and Matthew had to do before the gig that night.

It was a sellout show, the crowd were amazing and the band were on a high. Since their tour the album had gone gold and they were number one in ten different countries. Dexter was approached by a fan who turned out to be his worst nightmare...

...Selena! "Hello Dexter!"

"Oh god not you again!!!" He cried and screwed his eyes shut.

"I have your album, it is wonderful!" 

"That's great, now if you'll excuse me I have to go find a spoon to gouge out my eyes, it's a hobby of mine. Something I took up to avoid being around YOU!" He growled and tried to leave, but she pouted and whimpered.

"Dexter why are you being so...cruel???"

"You really don't know?" He raised an eyebrow at her, "Well for starters you made Lainie go into labour three weeks early, you nearly killed my daughter before she was even born..." Selena cut in with a squeak,

"You had a little girl?"

"Yeah, no thanks to you! She is beautiful and healthy and adorable! So...oh just go away Selena! I can't even stand to look at you! I'm sick of having these meaningless conversations with you! We had sex one time and it was...hideously embarrassing! I wanna forget so..."

"I HATE YOU DEXTER MALONEY!!!" She screamed, turned heel and ran.

"Oh yeah?" He shouted after her, "NOT AS MUCH AS I HATE YOU, YOU...YOU PSYCHO!!!" Just as the words left his mouth he heard a faint giggle behind him...

...it was a girl! She was cute, freckles! Red hair and green eyes. Freckles like Lainie, eyes as green as Jenna's...a nice combination of the women he had loved and lost. 

She smiled sweetly at him and handed him a piece of paper, and in a whispery French accent she said, "Hi um...would you...sign this for me?" 

After staring at her for a very long time, he eventually replied "Sure!"

Dexter and the girl, Faye, spent the entire evening talking and laughing. He decided the only way to truly get over Lainie was to revert to his old ways! Become the Dexter he was at university. He found this girl attractive, he liked her perfume, she had an infectious laugh and she made him want to kiss her every time she giggled! 

So that's what he did when she invited him back to her home, and a kiss became more...

...more than he'd planned! 

If Dexter was truly honest, he never really planned anything! And he still wasn't sure if that was good or bad! Faye seemed to like his out of the blue plan, she seemed to like it very much!

Ash was going to kill him, had he not learned anything from his experience with Selena???

He could feel Faye's soft skin against his, her breathing was steady and ticklish on his back as she brushed her lips over his shoulder blades and whispered something in French that Dexter couldn't quite understand...as he drifted off to sleep!

In the morning, as he snuck out of the girl's house a realisation hit him like a bolt of lightning!

Last night with Faye was nice, but she wasn't Lainie! Nobody was ever Lainie! One moment in a dirty old lift had ruined any other sexual encounters he'd had since! Even when he was with Jenna, something was missing! He was never going to get over Lainie!

He was never going to forget her! He might as well stop trying! As he walked the streets of Paris early that morning, he bumped into his brother who was out for his morning jog. "Dexter! Those are the same clothes you had on last night..." He frowned and let out a disappointed groan.

"Dexter tell me you haven't slept with some hysterical fan!"

"I spent the night with a young lady, yes! But she was not hysterical, and she was very very cute!"

"I thought that part of you was dead and buried! I thought you'd grown up!" Dexter smiled smugly at his brother.

"It is, just one last fling to get it out of my system! I had an epiphany! I'm going to go home...and tell Lainie that I love her and that she has no choice in the matter, she will be mine! We belong together!" Ash looked at him, bewildered! 

"And you got all that from sleeping with another woman?"

"You catch on quick dear brother! Really, you should be a...psychic or something!" 

Dexter let out a rather amusing laugh and left Ash looking confused in the street.

A few days later, the band and their entourage were packed and ready to head home for Moonlight Falls. 

Dexter couldn't wait to get back to Lainie and tell her how he felt...

...while back home, Lainie had made arrangements to put this whole matter to bed, once and for all!

Ooh, Dexy is finally going to tell her? We shall see, what has Lainie put into motion? Next chapter you'll find out! ;)