Dirty Laundry

I woke up the next morning around four. The sun wasn't up yet but I couldnt sleep anymore. I yawned streatching and paused as I realized Smith's arm rested on my hip and his slow even breath blew against my neck. Why didn't I wake up? I usually woke up at the lightest touch, even the slightest movement. I sat up carefully and looked down at him. He was fast asleep. I scooted out of bed carefuly so I wouldn't wake him up and went to take a shower. Lucky for me Kyle was still sleeping so I had just enough time to take a quick shower and dress in a tanktop and jeans.

I had to sneak carefully past Matt when I got my clothes so I wouldn't wake him. Poor guy looked miserable even in his sleep. I went to the kitchen and made a bottle for Kyle since he'd be up soon. Sure enough as I was walking upstairs he started screaming. I walked into the room to find Smith rolling out of bed to get him. ''It's ok I got him go back to sleep''
I walked passed the bed to the crib and pulled Kyle from the crib and fed him the bottle. I paused before I walked out. Smith looked pale. I went up to the bed and reached a hand out
touching his forehead. ''Relax I'm just checking your temperature you look pale'' I rolled my eyes at the apprehension on his face. I frowned at the slight fever. ''Do you feel OK?'' I asked.
He shrugged. ''Does it matter?'' ''You're running a fever..'' ''I'll be fine'' ''At least take some Motrin'' I went to his bathroom and grabbed the little bottle and tossed it to him. ''OK'' he nodded taking two. I gave him a glass of water and he set the bottle and cup on the nightstand and layed back down.

I went downstairs with Kyle to find Landon sitting on the couch. ''Morning''
he smiled brightly ''Good morning'' I smiled back. I sat in the armchair I usually sat in. ''Do you have a fever?'' I asked him. He raised a brow ''..I dont think so'' ''Smith came down with a fever and I made him go back to bed'' ''And he listend?'' he chuckled. ''Well he looked tired too'' I shrugged. Landon reached his hand up feeling his forehead. ''Nope..but you might wanna check Matt he might have one'' ''I will after I cook breakfast'' I nodded as I rocked lightly back and forth. ''..Can..I feed him?'' he asked hesitantly. ''You want to?'' I asked. He nodded and I shrugged.

''I dont see why not'' I stood up and gave kyle to him. ''I'll make breakfast then'' I walked to the kitchen and made bacon and eggs with toast as usuall but this time I added oatmeal. Because it's awesome. Smith came down just as breakfast was finished. ''I thought I told you to go back to sleep'' ''Couldn't sleep anymore'' he shrugged. ''Well I'm going to check
on Matt'' I went upstairs to my room, Matt was still asleep. I sat on the side of the bed and touched his forehead..Sure enough he was running a fever as well. He woke up to my touch
''What are you doing?'' he narrowed groggy eyes at me. ''You have a fever..and breakfast is done'' ''Oh..OK'' he nodded yawning. ''I'll get you some motrin'' I went to Smith's room and grabbed the little bottle. He took it plopping back down on the bed ''My limbs feel like lead'' he grumbled as he pulled the blanket off. ''Then don't get out of bed. It's not good you might be dizzy..you lost a lot of blood, I'll make you some lentils'' I patted his hand. He looked up at me with crystal clear blue eyes. ''How did smith find you?'' he chuckled.

''Kismet..somthing like that'' ''Do me a favor..I've known him and Landon since highschool, don't break his heart..he's not an over emotional man but he has his moments''
he said softly. I looked down at his hand on mine and nodded. ''I wouldnt break his heart..I don't think it's possible, but I wouldn't want my heart broken so why would I break someone elses''

''Revenge?'' he snorted. ''Not vengeance..it's not worth the guilt'' I laughed. ''Now get some rest..I'll bring your food up, the remote is on the nightstand'' I stood up and walked away.
Cerberus nipped at my ankles wanting attention and instantly I felt bad. Kneeling down I hugged him scratching his ears ''I'm sorry baby'' I kissed his head. He licked my cheek jumping his front paws on my shoulders. ''I'll give you a bath later today'' I rubbed his back. I made some special lentil soup for Matt, courtesy of one of my mother's recipes, and bathed Kyle and laid him for a nap. While Kyle slept I got ready to give Cerberus a bath but Smith poked his head in ''I'll bathe him'' he insisted taking the dog shampoo from my hands.
''No your injured..go lay down or somthing'' ''I'm fine..you've been on your feet all morning..go watch tv or somthing'' ''I'm fine I'm used to it if I'm not doing somthing I get restless''

''You sure?'' ''Yeah'' I nodded taking the shampoo from him. I started the bath tub in his bathroom since he had a roman bath tub beside his shower and bathed Cerberus. Unfortunatly he got over hyper and pulled me into the tub. I sighed as I wiped bubbles off of me. Smith was there in the door with a smug expression ''You knew he was going to do that didn't you'' I grumbled. He nodded walking over and helping me stand. ''He's my dog of course I knew he'd do that'' ''A little warning would have been nice'' ''I havn't gotten a good laugh in a while'' ''You didn't laugh'' ''I dont have to'' he snorted. ''That doesn't make any sense'' I shook my head. I wiped a strand of damp hair out of my face and looked up at him only he wasn't looking at me where I wanted him to look. ''..Smith my eyes are up here'' I cleared my throat crossing my arms. The water soaked through my tanktop and he was distracted. ''..Here'' he turned away throwing a towel at me. He leaned in the doorway and I wrapped the towel around my self.

I dried out my hair and looked in the mirror with a sigh. ''I look like a drowned cat'' I grumbled
to my self. Cerberus was still in the tub playing with the bubbles. ''Here'' Smith threw a shirt at me. When he didn't make a move to leave I turned away with my back to him. Unfortunatly he didn't take the hint. A bit uncomfortable I shrugged it off, I was used to changing infront of people I used to take an auto tech class in highshool and I was one of three girls in the whole class.

I took off my wet tanktop and pulled on the dry shirt before taking off my pants. Unfortunatly the water seaped through to my skin and i had to take my underwear off too. This is so
embarrasing! He just stood there. I folded my wet clothes and picked my hair up in a messy bun. ''Enjoy the show?'' I snorted walking passed him to take the clothes downstairs to wash. ''Hardly..I didnt see anything'' he snorted. I blushed wanting to slap him. ''Pig''
I grumbled. I was surprised he was acting like this. I went into my room to get some clothes ''Why are your clothes in here?'' Matt asked. I shrugged ''This is usually Kyle's room. I spend a lot of time in here and when Smith is off at work I sleep here'' I tried to make sense. ''Oh..sorry I took your bed'' he chuckled. ''You didn't take my bed I sleep with Smith..I just keep my stuff here'' I laughed. ''Cerberus uses that bed'' I meshed my lips.
''Great..worlds best dog bed'' he burried his head into the pillows.

I re-dressed in sofies and a pale yellow tanktop and went to clean the bathroom. Smith was drying Cerberus and put the towel in the hamper. I patted Cerberus's head when he loped over to me. He was still a little damp but he was too loveable not to give love to. ''Doesn't it hurt?'' I asked looking at Smith. ''What?'' ''To walk around with those cuts..don't they hurt? I've been stabbed before and it hurt and was sore for a few days'' ''Who stabbed you?'' he narrowed his eyes. I shrugged ''A friend, we were sparring he had daggers I had kamas'' I lifted my sofies to show him the scar on my thigh. The long tanish pink line was about four inches. ''What happend to your shin?'' he asked. I looked down ''I climbed off my dad's motorcycle and the emblems on his saddle bags cut me'' I shrugged. ''What about your hands?'' he stood up taking my hands and looking at my fists. ''You saw those?'' ''I'm observant'' he shrugged.

''Same reason why you have scars on your knuckles'' I looked at his knuckles. ''You punch people?'' he snorted. ''Only when I'm pissed off'' I chuckled ''What about the scar on your lip?''
he asked. I looked at him and put my hand over my mouth ''You see that one too?'' I thought it was too small to see. ''Yeah'' ''My sister and I went fishing she accidentaly caught me''
''No piercings?'' ''No..other than my ears of course'' he put his hand under my chin angling my face up. With his other hand he moved my hand away since it was still covering my mouth.

''It hurts..a little but I'm used to it'' he whispered. He was so close. My mind kept screaming 'move away' but I stood there like a dear in headlights. He leaned in hesitantly and kissed me. Wide eyed I just stood there. I didn't know what to do I never kissed anyone before. He must have taken it the wrong way because he moved away ''Sorry'' he whispered. With trembling lips I shook my head ''No..it's not you'' ''Thats cliche'' ''No realy..I'm sorry..I've never kissed anyone'' I looked down blushing. It was embarrasing to admit somthing like that but it was true. I was still a little shocked that he kissed me. His hand was still under my chin and his thumb rubbed my jawline but before he could lean in to kiss me again Kyle woke up.

I smiled as he sighed leaning his head on my shoulder. ''I'll get him'' I raised my hand and patted his head. ''Do you hate me?'' he asked pulling away. I looked at him confused.
''No..why?'' ''I tried to kill your family..and instead I took you away from them'' ''No..mabe at first I was afraid, uncertain about you but I'm used to you now. It's not that easy for me to hate
someone, unless your my step dad or uncle then i'd be able to kill you without a thought''

He snorted at my comment. ''Well I'll get Kyle'' I turned away. I picked Kyle from his crib
smiling at him ''Hello there sweetie'' I kissed his cheek. His little hat fell off while he slept so I reached back in putting it back on his head. He nestled in my arms and I cuddled
him dipping my head to breath in his soft scent. ''I met her'' Smith walked up behind me. ''Who?'' ''My type..'' ''Oh really?'' ''Yeah, she can be a real pain in the ass but it's my fault for provoking her other than that she acts all sweet and hesitant when in reallity she's probably a beast..but when she smiles she lights up a room and she speaks softly. She has a voice of an angel and she loves children, I swear when she holds babies it's like the world stops turning and I cant help but feel all warm and fuzzy'' he took slow steps towards me. I smiled biting my bottom lip. ''A pain in the ass?'' ''Yeah..she can get real pissy''
''Really?'' ''But I cant stop thinking about her'' ''Does she have a name?'' ''I'm sure you know who I'm talking about'' he put his arms around me. ''I want to hear you say her name'' ''Shanell'' he whispered leaning his forehead on mine. ''When did you realize all this?'' ''I dont know..it's sort of been there but I'm so detatched that I didn't realize it until just now'' ''Now is definatly better than later'' I smiled. ''But she has a thing with kissing..'' ''I don't have a thing with kissing'' ''Oh really?'' ''Your the first person I've ever kissed'' I looked up at him earnestly. ''Can I be the second and third too?'' ''Of course'' I couldn't help but laugh at his antics. ''But I don't gurantee I'll be any good at it'' I blushed. ''I'm sure your a fast learner'' he leaned in and kissed me again. This time I was a little more prepared but I was still at a loss. I never really thought about kissing men until now.

Aware of Kyle he made sure to stand close without squishing him between us. With my free hand I reached up and cupped his cheek. His shadowed cheek tickled my palm
but it felt nice. ''How sweet'' we pulled away to see Landon's smirking mocking face in the doorway. ''What do you want?'' in an instant Smith was stoic. Landon held up a cell phone ''Miri'' ''Tell her I'm busy'' Smith grumbled. ''She wants to talk to you'' ''So?'' ''Just take the phone'' Landon tossed it. ''What?'' Smith growled into the phone as he left. Landon still stood in the doorway looking at me with a cheshire grin. He put his hands together sweetly and batted his lashes ''Mua mua mua'' he made kissy noises.

I rolled my eyes ''Very mature'' I looked down at Kyle who just looked around the room with big curious brown eyes. ''I don't think I've ever seen him like that with any woman..he must really like you'' he narrowed his eyes on me. ''Well I'm not a piece of meat for him to screw just for the hell of it'' I grumbled. ''I didn't mean it like that'' he chuckled. ''I meant that he..he has a hard time finding a woman'' ''I find that hard to believe'' ''No really..he's socially awkward, you must be a very patient woman'' he mused. ''Not really..I can be a real bitch sometimes'' ''I'm interested..'' ''Why do I feel like I'm a lab rat for you to study?'' ''Babe your my new study! I'm going to crack the mystery on Smith'' he crossed his arms smugly. The next thing I knew Landon was on the floor holding his head. ''That fucking hurt!'' he grumbled looking behind him where I saw Smith come in the doorway.

''Back off asshole'' ''Fine fine..sheesh'' he stood up rubbing his head. I shook my head, boys will be boys.

''I made him a bottle'' Smith handed me one of Kyle's bottles. ''Thanks'' I smiled as I sat on the bed and gave him some water. Smith paused to watch me then snapped out of it and grabbed Landon by the ear hauling him out of the room closing the door. ''Don't bother her'' was all he said as he walked away.