Best Man

It was almost six in the morning, the day after the shebang that was held in the Argent Hotel's ballroom, when Tre stirred awake from a generally deep sleep in the bed from his hotel suite.

He was lying face down, with one leg sprawled over the edge of the mattress along with the arm from the same side of his body. Pulling his head out from underneath a stack of pillows, the five foot six drummer rolled onto his side, his eyes opening sleepily to peer at the bedside clock.

5:40.

"Ungh," he groaned, rubbing his thick fingers upon his forehead as he yawned.

When his ears perked to the sound of a feminine moan beside him, he lifted his head and looked upon the sleeping form of a woman and, for a moment, his heart seemed to jump into his throat.

"Caroline?" he whispered, touching his hand down upon her shoulder.

When she stirred and turned her body to face him with her eyes still closed, Tre frowned.

It wasn't Caroline.

But he also had no idea who the fuck she was.

"Hi," she muttered with a Scottish accent and a lazy grin. "Last night was great."

She had ginger blonde hair and rather striking, dark blue eyes. But, still, she wasn't Caroline.

"Uh...yeah," he replied, very uncertain. "Um, not to sound like an asshole or anything, but...can you refresh my memory about what happened? My head's a little fuzzy and I think I have a hangover coming on."

The woman smirked. "Well, you showed up in the hotel's pub around 11 and began chattin' me up for a good hour or so. A few drinks later we ended up here." Propping herself up with one arm, she grinned at him. "And, while you're tryin' to remember everything, my name's Rachel."

Tre nodded bashfully. "You from Scotland or something?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Born an' raised."

"Wait, I think I remember," Tre spoke, pulling the bed sheet closer to his body when he finally sensed their nakedness. "You're in San Francisco on business. Advertising?"

Rachel smiled. "Bingo."

Letting out a nervous laugh. "Uh, listen, I'm sorry, but I didn't mean to come on to you or anything last night. I've just been feeling a little--"

"No need to explain, love. Casual sex an' one night stands aren't all that uncommon in this day an' age."

Just nodding and biting his bottom lip, Tre began to slip from the bed, letting his eyes scan the floor for his boxers. Hunching forward, he frowned again and just pulled the bed sheet free of the both of them, luckily leaving her with just the comforter so that she wasn't exposed on the bed.

"Um...I'm gonna...be right back. I'm gonna go find get a Mountain Dew or something from the machine down the hall," he informed. "I remember seeing it last night."

"Don't you wanna get dressed?" Rachel asked with a laugh.

Tre shook his head, wrapping the sheet around his waist a few times due to its large size and then tucking it in. "No. I'll, uh...I'll be back..."

As quickly, yet calmly, as possible, Tre walked to the suite's door and opened it up, heading down the hall upon shutting the door behind him with a soft click.



"Mike...stop...stop!" Caroline giggled as she hopped around, trying to pull on his boxers with his white dress shirt also being worn on her, but unbuttoned all the way.

The five foot eleven bassist scrambled off the hotel suite's king-sized bed, hopped over a fallen vanity table chair and tried grabbing for her waist.

Unabashedly naked, he pulled her back up against his chest and snaked his arms around to her front, trying to feel her up while she struggled to button up his shirt.

"Miiiike," she whined with a big smile. "At this rate I'll never get more ice..."

"So...we're out of all the liquor from the mini bar..."

"But you just ordered room service for more..."

Mike paused for a moment and smiled against the back of her head, subtly inhaling the faint scent of her shampoo. "Oh, yeah. Well...best you get going." Giving her a slap on the ass, Mike pushed her forward a little as she finished buttoning the shirt up, however leaving the top most ones undone.

Picking up the ice bucket, she turned to look at him, then snickered. "Dork." Shaking her head, she sauntered out of their hotel room, purposely sashaying her hips from side to side to give her man a show.

Walking barefoot down the hallway, ice bucket in hand, Caroline turned the corner just as she came to the alcove where the ice and soft drink machines were.

And stopped in her tracks.

"Oh, uh...Tre," she muttered in surprise.

Tre turned and looked up at her, and he tried not to look her up and down, but damn, it was too hard not to.

Shifting her eyes toward the ice machine, she grabbed the top of the shirt closed with her free hand and bit her lip.

"Hey...um...getting ice?" he pointed to her bucket, stating the obvious.

Caroline nodded. "Yeah. You?"

"No, was going to get a Mountain Dew, but I kinda left my money in my room and I don't really wanna go back in there just yet."

"Why's that?"

"Uh..." Tre hesitated, making sure the bed sheet around his waist didn't loosen. "It's not important."

Letting her hazel eyes linger upon his bare chest, the chest she'd laid her head upon so many times in the past, Caroline cleared her throat and smiled. "I have an extra dollar if you need it," she offered, casually pulling a few dollar bills from the elastic band of the boxers she was wearing.

In order to retrieve and unfold the dollars, her free hand had let the top of the shirt go, giving Tre a brief glimpse of her cleavage. And he wasn't about to look away, simply because she wasn't paying attention to what he was looking at.

When she looked back up at him, Caroline handed him two singles and smiled gently. "Here."

Taking the money, gingerly, Tre gave her an appreciate nod. "Thanks and, uh...I know I didn't really say much last night about...um...your engagement, but...congrats. I mean, I meant to say it, but with everything going on, it kinda...I don't know..." Tre stumbled over his words, trying his best to avoid eye contact with his ex.

"It's okay, Tre. I understand it's still awkward between us. With how things ended...there'll always be an ounce of awkwardness, but I need you to know I'm happy this way now. And," she paused until the silence caused him to look up at her. "I will always love you..." she finished, then added, "Frank."

The sound of her speaking his given name sent chills up and down his spine as their eyes lingered on one another.

Caroline noticed the look and found herself feeling slightly uncomfortable as she stepped by him to stand in front of the ice machine.

"So will I," he replied quietly, still holding the money in his hand.

Taking in a short breath, Caroline wanted to pretend she didn't hear his reply so she focused on shoving her dollar into the ice machine, then sticking the bucket in the right spot as ice began to pour into it with continuous thunking noises.

After a few silent moments, Tre shoved both dollars into the soft drink machine and pressed the button for Mountain Dew, twice, as two cans of the carbonated beverage eventually fell down into the slot below.

Bending forward enough, Tre took both of them in his hand and nodded to Caroline when they looked at each other again.

"Thanks, again...and...congrats...again," he mumbled, gesturing to her with the drinks in hand.

"No problem, and thank you...again," she smiled.

Casually, Tre bowed out of the alcove, sauntering back down the hallway with two cans of Mountain Dew in his hand while the other kept his bed sheet up.

Practically tiptoeing, Caroline peeked around the corner, watching as her ex-boyfriend disappeared into his hotel suite. She sighed, holding the ice bucket close to her chest, before finally stepping away from the alcove, herself, and making her way back to her and Mike's suite.

As soon as she was inside, and the door was shut, she was greeted by her fiance's pleasant smile and two open arms as he took the ice bucket from her, set it on the table nearby and gathered her up in a hug.

"I thought you'd never come back," he joked with a fake sob. Kissing her cheek in a very lingering way, he pulled back to notice the distant expression all over Caroline's face. "What's up, babe?"

"Tre was getting some pop when I was getting the ice," she replied simply.

"So?"

"So, he was...I dunno...it was just kinda awkward."

"Awkward how?"

"Awkward as in we had this moment...like, a reminiscent/ex-boyfriend and girlfriend moment," she explained, breathing in the smell of his skin where remnants of his cologne could be found. "He congratulated us on our engagement and then it got a little quiet and weird, and I said that even though him and I ended on...not the greatest terms, that I would always love him." Then she amended, "You know. In my own way. Not...not love him, love him. Not like how I love you."

Mike was silent as he listened to her.

He wasn't upset, he wasn't angry, he wasn't confused.

He knew Tre still had feelings for Caroline. After all, who wouldn't? She was the most wonderful woman he'd ever met in his entire thirty-six years. And he also knew Caroline was telling the truth.

That she didn't love Tre like she loved him.

Not anymore.

Once upon a time, for a little while, Tre had been the only man in her life. But then he broke through to her, after the months he spent pining for her...almost achingly to the point of it physically hurting to think of how Tre had her and he couldn't.

Then things changed.

Shit hit the fan. Hearts broke -- literally, in his case. Love was made.

And in the end, he won out, and Mike was never going to let her go without a fight.

He fought for her once and if, for some reason, push came to shove again, he would fight for her all over.

Nothing and no one would take Caroline from him.

"It doesn't matter right now," he assured, nuzzling his nose against her ear. "I know you love me and I love you just as much. It's you and me, babe. For the rest of our lives, and that's all that matters."

Lifting her head, Caroline rested her chin on his chest, staring up at him with a happy grin.

"Damn straight," she cooed.

"Room service!" came a voice from the other side of the suite door, along with a knock.

"Now let's get that new bottle of booze and fuck like bunnies," Caroline giggled as Mike began to separate from her to head toward the door.

Looking at her with a laugh, Mike flashed her a huge smiled. "Another reason I love you..."

"Like you need any..."

Before he opened the door, he just looked at her, his expression slightly unreadable as he shook his head. "You're right," he agreed. "I don't need any reasons to love you. I just do."

Off Caroline's loving smile, Mike opened the door.