Long Way

When Martin calls me the next morning, I've already been awake for two hours.

"Hello?" I said.

"Where are you?"

"In my bed."

"Are you being coy right now?"

"I'm not inviting anyone to join me, so no."

"Too bad."

"You aren't in my driveway again are you?"

"No. And neither is your car, by the way."

"That fucking kid."

"Feeling a little salty this morning, babe?"

"Little bit, yeah."

"What I was calling you for was to tell you not to bother coming in today. I've got it covered on this end."

"You're sure?"

"Positive. I'll see you tomorrow." He hung up without another word. I dial up the guy that does my nails and make an appointment for a half-hour from now, then I hop up out of bed and get dressed.

Declan is still laying on the couch when I come out to say good morning to Willa. He stirred a little when I walked past.

"Good morning, sweetheart," I whispered to Willa, petting her head. She licked my hand, and then jumped down from the chaise. I walked over to Shawn's bedroom door and peeked inside. Empty.

"Dammit," I said to myself.

"Never came home," Declan said groggily from the couch.

"I see that." He sat up a little, revealing a bare torso. His hair was completely muffed. He gave me a once over.

"So you're being Martin's girl today?" He asked, motioning towards my Petracelli Enterprises hooded sweatshirt.

"Not that it's any of your business, Declan, but no. Martin called this morning and told me not to bother coming in, so I'm going to meet Sharon and Craig at the salon and get my nails done."

"When will you be back?"

"Whenever I get here. Again, none of your business."

"I think it is."

"I don't. Especially since you still haven't told me where it is that you've been for almost two months."

"It's complicated, D. And some things are better if you don't know."

"I bet." He laughed a little bit.

"I'm gonna break you down, D. You can't hold up that tough exterior with me for very long." Right at that moment, Shawn came in the front door. He observed the situation between me and Declan, and snickered a little.

"Nice," he said to me, walking past me towards the kitchen.

"Where the hell have you been all night?" I yell at him.

"None of your business."

"Excuse me? None of my business? I don't know what the hell you're thinking, Shawn, but whose house are you living in right now? Whose car are you driving? I think I have a right to know where the hell you were all night."

"Just don't worry about it. I'm fine, your car's fine. Don't worry about where I am or what I'm doing."

"You are seventeen years old, Shawn. You're out of your damn mind if you don't think I'm going to worry about what you're doing."

"Whatever."

"Were you with Travis? I swear to God, if I find out that you're smoking that shit that he smokes, all hell is going to break loose."

"You think he's the only one in this city that smokes that shit? I could get it anywhere if I really wanted to."

"That's a really stupid decision, Shawn. But if you want to end up like Travis for the rest of your life, there is nothing I can do to stop you."

"What the fuck, Aunt Didi?!"

"You watch your language with me."

"You're sitting here lecturing me on bad decisions that I haven't even made, and look at the bad decision you've got on your damn couch right now!"

"I am an adult."

"Oh whoop-de-doo." He leaned down closer to me and lowered his voice. "What are you doing letting that idiot stay here anyway?"

"It's not permanent, it's just for a few days."

"Yeah, and in a few days he'll have you right back to how it was before, and the time before that, and the time before that."

"I appreciate your concern, Shawn, but I'll worry about that." He rolled his eyes.

"Now, I know you don't like Declan, but for my sake will you please try to get along with him while he's here?"

"For you, yeah. But you're right, I don't like him."

"Thank you."

"I'm going to bed."

"Don't even think that you're off the hook for this, Shawn!" I yell at his back as he walks back into his room and closes the door.

Declan sits up on the couch and looks at me, standing in the kitchen.

"I'm out of here," I say, completely exasperated, turning on my heel and walking out the door.

I drive to the salon where one of my best friends, Craig's husband works. I see Sharon's car already parked outside when I pull up, so I park next to her and go inside.

"Hey you," Kevin, Craig's husband, says to me when I walk in. I look around and see Sharon sitting at a station right next to his. Craig is sitting next to her in a chair, talking to her.

"Hi," I say to him with a smile. He takes me back to his station and I shove my sleeves up and say hello to Craig and Sharon.

"What are you getting?" I ask Sharon, peeking over her shoulder.

"Just an acrylic overlay." I nod.

"What are we doing for you today?" Kevin asks me.

"Um... How about gel polish?" He smiles.

"Sounds good to me."

"So what's new?" Craig asks.

Craig was one of my best friends in high school. He was the only gay guy in our class, and he got picked on relentlessly because no one knew for sure if he was or not. Jeremy and I immediately took him under our wing, and the three of us were extremely close. Over the years, I've stayed close with both of them. Jeremy and Craig are still friends, but they don't keep as good of contact with each other as they used to. Craig married Kevin in California the day it became legal to do so, and moved him back to Boston to work out here.

"I saw Declan," I said. Sharon whips her head around to look at me.

"And?" she said.

"Well, he's kind of back staying with me."

"How did that happen, might I ask? Seeing as how you were with me until three in the morning."

"He was waiting for me on my back porch when I got home lastnight."

"Stalker," Craig says in a high pitched voice.

"Right?" Sharon agrees with him.

"He said he didn't have anywhere else to go, so I told him he could stay with me."

"In your bed?"

"On my couch!"

"Did he make any move on you, or anything?" Craig asks.

"No..." I lie.

"That's not very Declan-like."

"He did kiss me."

"Well, Jesus, honey, that's making a move on you then!" Kevin says, making Craig and Sharon laugh.

"I just don't know what to do. I don't know how long I can keep him in my house without something going wrong."

"Something going wrong? You make it sound like one day he's going to have an unfortunate accident in the shower or something." I laugh.

"You know what I mean."

"Did you tell him about Martin?" Sharon asks.

"Hell no! Oh my God, no. That's none of his business right now, and I might not ever tell him."

"Did you tell Martin that he was back?"

"No."

"So what's the deal with you and Martin now?" Kevin asks. "Are you guys, like, together or what?"

"I don't know. I don't think so. He's just basically acting like it was a one night stand and that's it, and we've never talked about it since."

"Well I think if you're going to have Declan in your house, and Martin on standby not knowing whats going on, bad things are going to happen. You need to figure out who's going to be in your bed," Sharon says.

"I know."

"So you need to talk to Martin."

"Just find out where things stand," Craig says. I nod.

"I don't know if I want either of them in my bed, to be honest with you."

"He can't be in your house. Bad things happen when he's in your house."

"Well, I can't kick him out. He has no place to go."

"He'll manage."

"And what happens if he brings whatever he's running from this time, to your back door? That could be bad news too."

"You don't think I've thought of all this?" I say. "Trust me, I know the consequences of trusting Declan Desoto all too well."

"And yet you're still trusting him."

"A part of me always will. It's almost ten fucking years! What am I supposed to do? Forget ten fucking years of my life?"

"What color do you want, honey?" Kevin asks me. I glance at the colors of polish that he's showing me, and pick one out called Russian Navy.

"You're not supposed to just forget ten years, Diana. But you have to think. You're almost thirty years old. You want to get married and have babies and settle down. Is Declan going to give you that? Or is he going to give you babies, marry you, and skip out on his family whenever he damn well feels like it? And the same with Martin," Sharon says to me.

"Maybe I need to change what I want."

"For what? You're going to change what you want out of life for some guy that probably doesn't care one way or the other?"

"I don't know. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"We're only looking out for you, honey," Kevin says.

"I know that."

"Exactly. If you decide that you want to be with Dec, then I will be standing on the rooftops screaming my support for you guys, you know that," Sharon tells me. I laugh and watch as Kevin puts the top coat of gel on my nails.

"Under the light you go, my dear." I put my hands under the light and think to myself for a few minutes.

"Another problem I have is Shawn," I say.

"What about him?" Craig asks.

"He's back living with me, driving my car all over town, and lastnight he never came home."

"Jesus."

"Yeah. He got back this morning and told me not to worry about it, and that it was none of my business where he was. Then he got on me about Declan, because you know how he doesn't like him. Which I never understood because they're so much alike."

"That's probably why they don't get along." I rolled my eyes.

"I just don't want him to be like Travis, and so many things are leading me to believe that that's how he's going to be. It scares the shit out of me." I pulled my hands out from under the light, and Kevin wiped the sticky coat from my nails.

"And you're done."

"They look beautiful," I tell him.

I pay him, then Sharon, Craig, and I walk outside together. We all chat for a few more minutes, then Sharon and I get in our cars and drive off.

When I get home I see that my car is gone again. I swear to myself, then go in the house where Declan is standing at the kitchen counter in front of a pizza box.

"Hey," he says. "You hungry?"

"Is that from Giovanni's?"

"Sausage, onions and peppers. Just the way you like it." It's all I can do to keep from telling him that I love him. He puts two large pieces of pizza on a plate and hands it to me.

"Thank you," I tell him, walking into the living room and sitting on the chaise. I see that he has the Pats game on.

"How'd the Steelers do?" I ask him when he comes in.

"They don't come on until later." I nod.

"By the way, your dad called."

"And you answered?"

"Of course, I wasn't going to just let it ring." I exhale deeply and eat my pizza.

My dad is an export of Pittsburgh. He eats Philly steak, roots for the Steelers, and HATES it when men answer my phone. He thinks that Declan is a good enough guy, but I'm sure that just like all of my friends, he probably thinks that his baby girl can do better. Truth is, I probably could. But Sidney Crosby hasn't knocked on my door yet, so this is what I'm dealing with. Besides that fact that I cheer for the Bruins, and can't stand Sidney Crosby. But I'm sure that my father thinks that he would be my ideal match.

I look down at my plate and see that both pieces of pizza are gone. Declan catches me looking and grins.

"There's more where that came from."

"I know. I'm putting off calling my dad back."

"Because of me?"

"I just don't like having to explain myself to people, and yeah, it's because of you."

"Shawn didn't seem to happy to have me here this morning."

"Does that surprise you?"

"That kid's got a bad attitude."

"So do you."

"It suits me better." I roll my eyes, and pick up the phone, taking it into my room.

My dad answers on the first ring.

"Jesus, what, do you sit on that thing?"

"Obviously you don't, seeing as some man answered your phone." I pinch the skin between my eyebrows.

"Some man? Dad, get a grip. You know it was Declan."

"What does he want?"

"It's not permanent. He's only staying for a few days until he can find another place to go."

"Oh so that's great. He's homeless."

"It's not permanent," I repeat.

"It never is with Declan."

"Dad, what do you want? Why did you call in the first place?"

"I wanted to know if you were going to come over tonight to watch the game."

"Maybe, I don't know. Probably."

"Should mom set an extra place at the table?"

"No, I just ate."

"Fine. I'll see you later. Be careful with Declan."

"I will."

I hung up the phone and walked back out to the living room, and plopped down on the chaise with Willa.

"He didn't invite me to come watch the game," Declan said. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"That's probably for the best. Your family doesn't want to see me, and I should lay low for a while."

"What are you laying low from?"

"Like I said, darlin', it's probably better that you don't know."