CHAPTER ONE

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January 2, 2004 (Buffalo)

After spending the majority of her morning at the doctor's office going over the results of her last blood test, Valerie couldn't help but inwardly smile to herself when she got back to her apartment around noon and saw a bottle of unopened strawberry bubble bath waiting for her by the tub.

That's just what the doctor ordered...I'll have to remind myself to thank Angie the next time I see her.

Unfortunately before the brunette could even think about turning on the water to the tub, the sound of her cellphone going off in the next room caused her to let out a small groan before reluctantly making her way towards where the small device laid on her bed, vibrating.

"Hello?"

"Well, look who finally got around to answering her phone...I thought you might've fallen off the face of the planet for a second."

What the..?

After taking a second to figure out who was on the other line, Valerie couldn't help but smile when she realized exactly who it was. Steve.

"Sorry. I've been meaning to call you and Janet back but I've been really busy lately trying to get a few things settled down around here...how have you been?"

"Can't really complain....although, I didn't get much sleep last night since my four year old daughter decided to wake me up around three o'clock this morning with the chicken-pocks."

Remembering the slight discomfort that the chicken pox had caused her as a child, Valerie outwardly responded back with "Ouch, that's got to suck" before asking how everyone else was doing.

"Everyone here is doing as good as can be....Janet just started taking Lamaze classes a couple of days ago so she's been keeping herself busy lately by breathing all over the furniture. While Kelly and Dylan have been keeping themselves busy by practically torturing the hell out of me with their make out sessions--which I know their doing on purpose since they laugh every time I tell them that there making me sick."

After slightly laughing at Steve's comment, Valerie couldn't help but playfully roll her eyes when the image of Dylan and Kelly practically joined at the lip--during their wedding reception, two years ago--popped into her head. I guess some things never change.

With that thought in mind, after noticing that Steve didn't finish the rest of his biweekly wrap-up, Valerie outwardly asked: "And how's David?"

A question she wished, a second later, that she had never asked after hearing Steve's answer:

"That's-uh-actually what I was calling you about....his divorce became final today."

Double Ouch.

It had been almost a month and a half since Steve had told Valerie that Donna had left David. And even though she hadn't had the time to pick up the phone and call her ex-boyfriend yet, she knew from Steve's biweekly phone calls that the end of his three year marriage to his high-school sweetheart was causing David to become more than slightly depressed. "How's he holding up?"

Their was a brief pause on the other line before Steve reluctantly replied: "Under the circumstances, I think he's doing better than he could be doing....he's even getting back into the swing of things by performing once again at the After Dark on the weekends."

"That's great.." Valerie cheerfully replied. "I'll have to see about taking some time off from work and heading out to California to see him in action. It's been awhile."

At the sigh of relief that was heard over the phone, Valerie quickly got the feeling that she had just accidentally stepped into one of Steve's traps.

"I was hoping you'd say that."

Figuring she better make herself as comfortable as possible for whatever Steve was about to rope her into, Valerie slowly took a seat on the king-sized bed in the middle of the room and then reluctantly asked: "Okay, I'm probably going to regret asking you this later. But why were you hoping I'd say that?"

Having known that Valerie had grown to know him pretty damn well over the last couple of years caused Steve to chuckle slightly to himself before saying: "I'm not about to ask you for your kidney or anything, so calm down over there. I was just hoping that you'd be up to visiting California some time in the near future 'cause David's going back to the After Dark this Sunday night and I think it'd be nice if you were there with us to support him."

Even though Valerie hadn't been lying when she said that she would try and get some time off to go to California soon, a few things were stopping her from telling Steve that she would be there this weekend for David's gig. One important thing being the fact that Sunday was only three days away and--with her recent increasing medical bills--she was sure that she wouldn't be able to afford a ticket to California this close to the date she'd be flying out.

So, with that thought in mind, she quickly began to protest: "Steve, I would love to be there for David this weekend, but I can't. I already took half of this week off--"

"Which means you probably wont have any problem taking half of next week off, either." Steve interrupted her, before she could finish her statement. "Come on, Valerie...! We haven't seen you for almost a year and I know that this would mean a lot to David if you could come.....hell, he's been there for you thousands of time, so I would've thought that you--more than the rest of us--would want to be the first in line to be there for him, right now....I guess I thought wrong."

Knowing that her friend was trying to guilt-trip her into going caused Valerie to frown slightly. Steve was never one to play fair.

With that thought in mind, she mentally made a list of coworkers who could cover for her for the next couple of days before outwardly saying: "All right, I'll come this weekend. But only on two conditions...the first one being that you pay half of my ticket and the next one being that you let me stay at your house for the entire time that I'm there. That way you'll have your way and I'll be there for David's thing and I'll have my way and get to spoil Madeline for a whole five days."

Even though she knew that Steve wasn't too fond of the idea of her spoiling his daughter, Valerie wasn't that surprised when the older man agreed to all her terms without putting up so much as a fight. "You've got it, Malone...and since it took me less time than I thought to persuade you into coming, I'll do you one better and pay for your entire flight out here. No ifs, and's, or buts about it.

That doesn't sound like the Steve I know.

After taking a second to get over her confusion, Valerie smiled slightly to herself before quickly replying: "Okay, but just remember when you're paying for it: that I'm just staying until Wednesday and also that I'm still going to be staying at your house and spoiling Maddy day in and day out."

"Damn!" Steve grumbled; knowing that his plan had been foiled. "Can't blame me for trying.."

"Yes, I can." Valerie playfully joked, before noticing that the time on her bedroom stand was telling her that it was time to take her medicine. "But anyway, so that it wont cost you that much: I'll let you go now so you can go and find me a ticket and I can go take a shower...talk to you later?"

After a second of continuing to playfully grumble about his daughter turning into a spoiled princess, Steve reluctantly replied: "All right...I'll call you back later tonight with all of the information."

"Thanks Steve...talk to you later."

"Not if I talk to you first."

Jan 5, 2004 (Los Angeles International Airport)

Unfortunately because of the fact that they had waited until the last minute to look for flights, Steve wasn't able to get Valerie a ticket out to California until the day of David's gig; which Valerie figured he would try and do since he was still worried that she might be trying to spoil his daughter.

He can be such an overprotective father sometimes...he never lets me have any fun. Valerie half-jokingly thought to herself, before making her way towards baggage-claim; where she told Steve she'd meet him once she stepped off the plane.

As soon as she got to the spot, where they were supposed to meet, it wasn't hard spotting the 5'10 man. Mostly because of the fact that he was standing off towards the side of the baggage claim--so nobody would run into him while trying to get their bags--and kept moving his head from side to side; trying to spot Valerie before she could spot him.

Too late.

With that thought in mind, Valerie quickly made her way towards where Steve was standing with his back facing her. And in the most sultry voice she could muster, she playfully said: "Waiting for someone, big boy?"

A question which caused Steve to turn around in confusion and then chuckle when he saw who had greeted him. "Just you, gorgeous."

After slightly laughing, Valerie stood on her tippy-toes to give the older man a small hug and then after stepping back, she couldn't help but platonically check her friend out.

He looks pretty much the same, although he's picked up a couple of pounds since the last time I saw him.

As if reading her thoughts, Steve playfully chuckled before replying: "As you can see, I've been skipping the gym more and more as of recently to visit McDonald's."

"Which I can't blame you for." Valerie jokingly replied, before telling Steve they better start making their way closer to the baggage claim so they wouldn't have to wait longer than they had to for her bags.

"Yes, your majesty."

Fifteen minutes later, after locating Valerie's two small suitcases and Steve's recently washed BMW, Valerie and Steve found themselves speeding up the highway; having mindless chitchat while doing so.

"So, I thought you told me a couple of months ago that you were going to get rid of this car?"

Waiting until he had gotten into the next lane to respond, Steve replied: "I was. But then Janet realized how much I loved this bad-boy and decided just to trade her Mazda in for a family van."

"You must be so proud." Valerie jokingly commented, before turning her attention towards the passenger side window; noticing, after spotting a sign on the side of the road, that they had just passed the exit to Steve's house. "Um, I might be wrong, but don't you live back there?"

Waiting until after he had switched lanes once again, Steve quickly replied: "Yeah, I do. But since David's going on at nine and it's now seven-thirty, I figured we could just kill time before his performance by meeting everyone at the After Dark for dinner....I hope that's okay with you."

While looking down at the clothes she had on, Valerie outwardly replied: "It is...I was just hoping that I'd get a chance to change before we had to meet up with everyone."

A comment which caused Steve to quickly take his eyes off the road for a second, before reassuringly replying that Valerie had nothing to worry about. "You look fine."

Even though she knew he was talking about her clothes, Valerie couldn't help but sadly smile to herself as a flashback of these last couple of months popped into her head. Well, I guess my mom was right...looks can be deceiving.

Eight O'clock

After practically speeding the rest of the way to the After Dark, Steve and Valerie were allowed to cut ahead of everyone in line--once the club's bouncer, who was also a friend of Steve's', noticed the two quickly approaching the club.

"You know.." Valerie began, while trying to ignore the looks of disbelief being thrown at her from behind, "One day, you're going to cut in front of someone with an anger management problem and their not just going to let you enter the club without having a nice long conversation with their fists."

While chuckling slightly at the comment, Steve confidently replied: "No one in this town would ever do that to me...there scared shitless of Janet and I because of our job."

After furrowing both eyebrows in confusion and asking Steve how scary could a man--who ran his own magazine be--Valerie couldn't help but roll her eyes in amusement when the older man quickly responded back with: "Janet and I always put profiles in our magazine on interesting real-life people that we've met. And because of that, no one messes with us because they think that if they were to say something or do something towards us, Janet and I would put something false in our magazine like the fact that they had a sex-change operation two years ago after discovering they were the father of twelve kids."

While laughing at the comment, Valerie quickly asked: "But you would never do that right?"

"Of course not...! But they don't need to know that." Steve playfully commented, before leading Valerie towards the front of the club where Kelly said her, Dylan, and Janet would be saving them a table.

Unfortunately though, as soon as Valerie saw them, she couldn't help but fidget self-consciously; while mentally thinking to herself: If Steve didn't notice, hopefully there's no way they will be able to either.

"Well, thanks for ordering without us." Steve loudly spoke up, once they reached the table; causing the other three to look up from their barely eaten plates of food with small grins on their faces. "I'm feeling very loved right about now."

While throwing his hands up in mock surrender, Dylan playfully said that Steve couldn't blame him or Kelly for it because it was the mother of the other man's children who practically forced them to order with her after saying that she hated eating alone.

"All right, you have an excuse this time, but don't let it happen again."

After rolling her eyes at Steve's words, Kelly locked her gaze on Valerie and couldn't help but smile while saying: "Don't tell me...the cat's got your tongue?"

Knowing that the blonde was just teasing her caused Valerie to let out a small laugh before going around the table giving small hugs to everyone that was there--excluding Steve. And then after deciding Steve should have the seat next to Janet, she took a seat directly next to Kelly.

"Well, I would ask you how you've been, but it looks to me like Buffalo has been treating you very good. You've lost a lot of weight."

Even though she had lost over 12 pounds in the last three weeks, Valerie just nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders before telling her ex-enemy that she had lost some weight--but mostly due to stress.

"That does it to me everytime." Kelly joked, before continuing the conversation with: "You want me to flag down the waitress so you two can order?"

Before Valerie could even open her mouth to answer, Steve--claiming he was so hungry he could eat a horse--quickly flagged down a waitress; telling her he wanted a basket of buffalo wings and a plate full of cheese fries.

"And you, ma'am?"

Knowing that she hadn't eaten anything since seven o'clock that morning caused Valerie to open her mouth to tell the waitress to give her what Steve was having. But at the last second, she stopped herself; realizing that she wasn't even hungry. "No, I'm fine.....I ate on the plane."

Taking the lie as the truth, everyone nodded slightly to themselves before waiting until the waitress had left to change the topic of conversation.

"So, is everyone ready to listen to an hour of purely heartbreaking music?"

Huh?

Noticing the look of confusion on Valerie's face, Kelly quickly explained what she meant: "Dylan and I stopped by here earlier to get a glimpse at what David would be singing tonight, at his rehearsals. And after two songs, I practically had to run towards the bathroom to keep from crying. It was purely heartbreaking."

Even though she knew that David was usually the one who always tried to put a happy smile on every situation, Valerie wasn't that surprised at hearing that her ex-boyfriend's music, as of late, was something that could make you cry.

He just got his heart broken by a woman he's known for almost his entire life. It wouldn't be right if he was singing anything but unhappy songs.

With that thought in mind, Valerie quickly shifted the conversation off of David's music and onto Janet's pregnancy until forty-five minutes later when David was seen making his way through the crowd.

"Here he comes."

After quickly turning her attention away from the diet coke, which she had just ordered a brief twenty minutes ago, Valerie couldn't help but sadly smile when she saw her friend making his way towards the stage.

He pretty much looked the same physically speaking. But from the slow way he was walking, she could tell that he wasn't feeling the same, mentally.

"I have a feeling we're all going to need some tissues after this."

While somewhat agreeing with Janet's comment, Valerie continued watching David as he sat down on the piano bench and reluctantly started his introductions.

"Hey everyone. Welcome to the After Dark.....my name's David and I would just like to thank everyone for coming out tonight....the first song I'll be performing for you is called Never again, and it was written for a very special lady in my life; who hopefully couldn't be here tonight."

After raising both eyebrows in surprise at that comment, Valerie continued to sit motionless in her seat as David slowly began to sing.

Feeling a hand on her arm, Valerie slowly turned her eyes away from the stage to meet Kelly's identical blue eyes. "I guess it's a good thing I stopped Donna from coming tonight, huh?"

After outwardly agreeing with the comment, Valerie turned her attention back to the stage and then afterwards, while listening to David's next verse, she inwardly thought to herself:

A very good thing.

An hour and a half later

"Well, the young crowd is starting to come in which means we should probably start heading home now."

After slowly turning away from her conversation with Janet, Valerie threw a confused eyebrow at Dylan and Kelly; who were in the process of getting up. "You're not going to stay and wait for David?"

While sharing a small look with the others, Kelly nonchalantly replied: "I think tonight I'm just going to give him what he wants and let him have some space....I'll probably come back tomorrow to talk to him after I get off from work. Hopefully by then, he'll only chew part of my head off instead of the whole thing."

Huh?

Not really understanding where Kelly was coming from with that comment, Valerie waited until she and Dylan had left--saying they'd see her hopefully the next day--before turning her attention back towards Janet; wanting to know what Kelly had meant by that statement.

"You didn't tell her, did you?" Janet asked a guilty looking Steve after hearing Valerie's question.

"I didn't think she'd come if I did."

Without even bothering to hide it, Janet dramatically rolled her eyes at her husband before turning back to Valerie and saying: "Ever since Donna left David, he hasn't really wanted to talk to any of us about...well, anything. He just wants to be left alone. But since Kelly and nosey over here wont stop trying to get him to talk to them, he's now snapping at every single one of us each time we get close enough to say hi; which in my honest opinion, everyone deserves but me."

After sarcastically smirking at this comment, Steve opened his mouth to tell Janet that he wasn't one of the only ones who was being, as she said, nosey. But before he could even get the first word out, he stopped himself as he noticed something from the corner of his eye. "David just went over to the bar...here's your chance to talk to him, Val."

What?

While staring at the older man as if he had suddenly grown two heads, Valerie quickly replied: "You expect me to go over there and ask him how he's doing after you two just told me that you guys can't even get an inch near him without getting blowed off..? Am I the only one seeing something wrong with that?"

"No, I'm seeing a lot of things wrong with that, as well."

Without even bothering to act like he had heard his wife, Steve quickly replied: "You don't have to ask him how he's doing. Just go over there and start a conversation with him; tell him that you're back in town for a couple of days and heard that he was going to be performing tonight, so you decided to stop by and see him....you don't even have to mention his divorce to Donna."

Even though part of Valerie was telling her that it was a bad idea, the brunette couldn't help but look over at Janet to see what she thought.

"Couldn't hurt matters worse than it already has....but if I was you, I'd make my mind up quick 'cause mama needs to wake up early tomorrow for work."

After throwing an apologetic smile at the other woman and mumbling to Steve "Here goes nothing," Valerie stood up from her seat and made her way over to where David was sitting at the bar with his back facing her.

Hopefully he atleast lets me say hi before cursing me out.

"Hey."

After turning around to see which one of his friends had came to stick their nose in where it didn't belong this time, David allowed a hint of surprise to appear on his face, when he noticed that it was Valerie behind him, before quickly erasing the expression and putting a mask of annoyance on his face. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Miss. Valerie Malone...I figured it wouldn't be too long before you came back here. I mean, I'm sure you came running once you heard the news that you might be able to get in my pants once again."

What the..

Without even bothering to pretend like that comment hadn't surprised her, Valerie opened her mouth to tell David that that wasn't the reason why she had came to see him. But before she could even do so, he continued on with: "Let me guess...Steve told you all about my divorce and then practically guilt-tripped you into coming back here because supposedly I need all of my friends right now to help me through this painful time I'm going through...is that it?"

Knowing that David always knew when she was lying or not caused Valerie to slowly nod her head in agreement, before opening her mouth to say something else. But unfortunately, once again, David angrily interrupted her before she could do so. "When is he going to get it through his thick skull that I don't want to talk to him or anyone else...? I just want to be left alone. Got it!"

After practically jumping as David slammed his fist down on the bar table in front of them, Valerie couldn't help but look on in worry as David pushed away from the bar and made his way backstage; where he had previously came from.

Once he was gone, she continued to stand there--hoping that he would come back out soon, claiming that he was wrong for the things he had said. But when David didn't, Valerie slowly turned around and made her way back to where Steve and Janet were still seated; not looking surprised at all at the events that just took place.

"I think it's time we all leave now."

"I agree!"

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