Status: slow updates. but i promise I'm workin. i love you guys.

My Baby, My Darling.

Skeletons in the Closet.

"I'm just saying! If one was to go on a tour at a museum, you might as well dress like a tourist." Gabe explained, adjusting his safari hat.

"You're an idiot, Gabe." I laughed, listening to him explain the reasoning as to why he was dressed from head to toe in tourist attire. Apparently, he and Travis had gone to some museum as extra credit for his US history course at community college. They showed up for their scheduled tour in Hawaiian shirts, safari hats, sunglasses, khaki shorts, knee high socks, and hiking boots. When they walked into the my mom's after the museum tour, I couldn't help but bust into hysterics from behind the hostess stand. I was currently on my break, and we were sitting in one of the booths of the cafe as they explained their story.

"I may be an idiot," Gabe smirked, taking a sip of his Iced Tea, "but I got some hot girl's number in our tour group. She likes a guy in uniform, I guess."

"No, dude." Travis chimed in from beside him, laughing. "She gave you her card because she's a psych student. The girl wanted to use you for the thesis of her final this sem."

I burst into another fit of laughter, "Oh, my god. Gabe, she thought you were a mental patient!"

"Whatever," he scoffed, still smiling, "that will be a great conversation starter for our first date."

I raised my eyebrows at him, incredulous. Nothing brought this guy down, I swear. It was one of the many things I loved about him.

"But enough talk about us," Gabe gestured between him and Travis. "Tell us about the McHale wedding yesterday." he reached in front of him and grabbed a handful of fries from the basket, shoving a few into his mouth.

I shrugged, still trying to recover from my fit of laughter. "It was okay." I started, trying to remember what happened. My eyes widened, "But, guys. Guess who showed up as Annie's date."

They shrugged, Travis sipping on his Root Beer as Gabe shoved more fries into his mouth.

"Brian." I raised my eyebrow, anticipating their reactions.

"Wait, the asshole that cheated on you. Ex-boyfriend Brian?" Gabe narrowed his eyes, trying to understand. Travis merely blinked at my face, grabbing a few fries from the basket.

I nodded slowly, "Yeah."

"What happened? Is he still an asshole?"

"More of an asshole than when I left him." I muttered, wishing I had a cup of coffee in front of me. "He just started talking all this shit about Dexter and his history with girls. He even went on to talk about this girl named Monica. Do you guys know her?"

Gabe and Travis both paused in their tracks, turning to look at me with a deer in the headlights expression.

"Weird." Gabe mumbled, slowly picking up a fry and nudging Travis with his elbow.

Travis cleared his throat, averting my eyes, "Yeah, who's Monica? Never heard of her."

I narrowed my eyes, "Alright, cut the crap. You guys know something. Spill it."

Gabe shrugged nonchalantly, "It's not our story to tell, Che Che."

"Oh my god. Just tell me, Gabe. Travis?" My eyes traveled  between the two of them. They weren't budging. "What is going on?" I hissed. They merely shrugged, continuing to avert my eyes. "Gabe, you better tell me or else. Don't underestimate me, I will cry. I'll do it, I swear to god. And from here on out, I will only call you Junior. I'm not kidding."

Gabe slammed his hands onto the table, "Alright. I can tell you some things. But the rest, you'll have to get from Dexter. Bros don't talk shit about other bros in front of their girls. Bro code!" Gabe hit his chest with his fist.

I narrowed my eyes at him, waiting for him to continue.

"Monica was Dexter's girlfriend a few years back. They were pretty serious, from what I heard. All I know is that they broke up three years ago and Dexter turned into some alpha dog since then. That's all I know. I've never met her, and this all happened before Travis and I even met Dexter."

I raised my eyebrows, letting his words sink in. I let out a deep breath. I could tell there was more to this story. "My break's over." I sighed heavily, sliding out of the booth. "Pay for your fries before you leave." I waved over my shoulder before making my way into the back kitchen.
---

I pushed open the front door of my house, stumbling inside. I was exhausted after working for 10 hours straight, well past closing. After everyone went home, I still had to do inventory and make sure everything was locked up. I made sure the door was locked before making my way upstairs. My parents would come home tomorrow, so the house was empty, entirely silent except for the sound of me pounding up the stairs. As I walked into my room, my phone vibrated in the pocket of my work pants. It was Dexter calling. I accepted the call and held the phone up to my ear.

"Hey, I just got home from work." I breathed as I kicked off my shoes and made my way into the bathroom.

"So did I. Well, from class I mean. I just left the hospital. Did you want me to come over, or are you too tired?" his tone held concern.

I shrugged, moving my phone so that it lied between my shoulder and my cheek. "I was just about to get into the shower and then make myself some dinner. Come over and have dinner with me. The house is too quiet for my liking. You remember where the key is right? Just let yourself in."

"Yeah. Okay. I'll be there in about 15 minutes then. And Chelsea?"

I unbuttoned my jeans and kicked them off, "Yeah?"

"I'll cook. I'm sick of having bacon and eggs whenever I come over." I could practically hear him smirk over the other end.

I scoffed. "It's my specialty! But fine. If you think you can do better, be my guest."

He laughed on the other end, "Alright.  I'll see you soon, sweetheart."

I rolled my eyes at the nickname and hung up the phone. I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it into the pile with my pants. I turned on the shower and took off the rest of my clothes when the water got to my liking. I hopped into the shower and started with my usual routine. I was in there for about fifteen minutes when I heard Dexter's voice erupting throughout my bathroom.

"God, woman. How long does it take you to shower?" 

I peeked my head out of the shower curtain and raised my eyebrows at a smirking Dexter, casually leaning against the door frame of my bathroom in his hospital scrubs. To be honest, the sight of him at that moment was one of the sexiest sights I had ever seen.

"Calm down," I laughed. "I'll be out in a few minutes. Just wait in my room or something."

I watched as he spun around slowly and disappeared from the door frame. Even the way he walked was sexy! This boy would be the death of me.

I finished up my shower and made my way out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around me snugly. I walked into my bedroom and saw that Dexter was lying down on my bed, his back against the headboard as his hands rested behind his neck casually. His ankles were crossed as he grinned up at me widely. I raised my eyebrows and cocked my head, my damp hair cascading down my back.

"Comfortable?" I raised my eyebrow as I entered my bedroom, leaning against my dresser, facing him.

He smirked, "Yes, your bed is almost as comfortable as mine."

I rolled my eyes as I spun around and started rummaging through my drawers for my clothes. "I'll bet."

"That towel's really working for you by the way." he laughed lightly.

I blushed heavily, glad that I wasn't facing him at that moment. I pulled out my clothes and let out a heavy breath, trying to put a confident expression back on my face. I spun around to face him and raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? Now what makes you say something like that, sweetheart?" I mocked his voice.

He swung his legs around to the side of the bed, standing up. He made his way over to me and smirked, pushing a strand of damp hair out of my face, "Because it's working for me, too."

I snorted, trying to stifle laughter. "Oh my god. You are so cheesy!" I wrapped my arms around his neck, which wasn't hard considering that there was no space in between us. "But you know what, it's really working for you, sweetheart." I nodded, mocking him.

He laughed, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah," I nodded, moving up and kissing his lips. He moved his lips along with mine, a smile forming on his lips. I pulled away, looking into his eyes.

"It's working for me, too." he smirked, looking down into my eyes and connecting our lips once more. I moved my lips along with his and moved my hand to the back of his head, playing with the hair on the nape of his neck, causing him to groan lightly. He moved his arms around my hips, so that he was now pulling me even closer to him, our hips grinding against each other. His tongue grazed along lips, begging for entrance, which I granted without hesitation. Our tongues danced together as we explored the insides of each other's mouths, fighting for dominance. His arms moved to my hips and lifted me so that I was now sitting on my dresser. He moved to the space in between my legs as his lips moved from my lips, down to my neck, causing me to moan lightly as he kissed all the sensitive spots, one hand rubbing my hip, the other tangling itself in my damp hair. I panted heavily as I reached for the hem of his shirt and, without thinking, pulled it up over his head, exposing his beautiful, chiseled upper body. His lips reconnected with mine as I ran my hands along his flat, toned abs. The touch of his skin only turned me on even more. I moaned as he started to leave marks in my neck and I could feel him smirking against my skin. One of his hands gripped my cheek as the other moved down to my thigh, slowly gripping my knee, causing me to gasp. His lips moved perfectly in sync with mine for what seemed to be an eternity. We lost track of time, becoming fully focused on each other.

And then, his lips were gone. He rested his forehead on mine as we both tried to catch our breath. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion and looked up to meet his eyes, seeing that his eyes were looking at my chest, specifically, my towel. I looked down and saw that his hand had caught my towel just as it was about to fall off of my small frame, barely covering my breasts.

He grinned sheepishly, "Sorry. I just, I  didn't know if you were...I got carried away. I didn't want it...to happen like this."

I moved my hand to my towel and quickly fixed it do that it was snugly tucked around me again. "No. It's...you're...it's fine." I breathed heavily, searching his eyes to figure out what had just happened. We stayed staring at each other for a few moments, his eyes gazing into my own with complete sincerity.

He stepped away from me, still shirtless, and rubbed the back of his neck, averting his eyes. "I'm just, I'm gonna go...make breakfast, I mean dinner." he pointed out the bedroom door and tried his hardest not to look at my towel, a sheepish grin on his face.

I nodded slowly, giving him a small smile as I watched him make his way out the door. "Alright."

He pointed out the door and nodded, quickly walking out of my bedroom, stumbling against the door frame on his way out. I put my hand over my mouth, trying not to laugh. 

I sat still on my dresser for a few moments after he left, trying to figure out what exactly had just happened. I'd made out with Dexter before, so this wasn't new territory for him or me. I silently thanked him for saving my towel from falling off of me, exposing all of my body for him to see. I was in no way ready for that yet. It was territory that I had never entered before. Yes, I'm still a virgin. Which I highly doubt Dexter is. That was one of the reasons it never really worked with Brian. He wanted to take the next step, but I wasn't ready. To say the least, he got it elsewhere. And to be honest, I'm still recovering from that. What if the same thing happens with Dexter? He's a guy, he has needs. I'm just not sure if I'll be able to fulfill them. I don't think I'll be able to face that kind of expectations again.

I pushed these thoughts out of my mind as I dressed myself in tight-fitting yoga pants and a coachella tee. After brushing out my hair, I made my way downstairs. A beautiful smell emanated from the kitchen. Shit, he was a freaking chef too? Dammit.

As I made my way into the kitchen, Dexter's bare back was exposed to me as he sautéed contents in a pan. I leaned against the door frame of the kitchen and admired the sight for a few minutes.

"What's cooking, good looking?" I grinned, meeting his eyes as he spun around to look at me.

He cleared his throat, averting his eyes, "Pasta with clam sauce."

I made my way over to where he was standing and hopped so that I was now sitting on the counter beside him, "It smells great, Dex. Where'd you learn to cook like this?"

He shrugged, grinning down at me. "My mom, actually."

I nodded slowly, realizing that I had never met his mon before. Not even at Ben's wedding. I furrowed my eyebrows, "Why haven't I seen her before? I mean, you don't talk about her either."

"She, um, died when I was twelve." he furrowed his eyebrows in concentration as he continued to stir the contents in the pan.

"Oh." I crossed my legs, turning on the counter so that I was now facing him.

He nodded slowly, "It was a car accident. Drunk driver."

"I'm sorry, Dex." I bit my lip, immediately regretting that I had brought it up.

"It's not your fault." he shrugged, pulling two plates out of a nearby cabinet. It amazed me how he had only been in my kitchen twice before, but remembered were everything was. He started to pour some pasta into both plates, emptying the pans contents.

His mom was killed by a drunk driver. That explained why he was always so cautious and alert when he was driving, especially with me in the car. He didn't want what happened to his mom, happen to anyone else.

I was learning more about Dexter the more time I spent with him. It was hard to believe that the guy I met at the party nearly two months ago was the guy I was now sitting with in my kitchen, having dinner that he cooked. How was it possible to change this drastically over such a short period of time. I had a hard time deciphering which was the real Dexter McHale. The party boy, or the respectful gentleman that helped me out of car doors and saves my towel from falling. I was right about one thing, Dexter McHale had a lot of skeletons in his closet. I just wasn't sure how many more I could take before falling for him even harder than I already had.