"This isn't right," Beth said, tapping her nails on the kitchen island.

"You're telling me." Annie leaned back in her chair. "Mirian's been crying a lot. Like every day."

"No, the frosting, it was supposed to be a light pink," she sighed, stirring the hot pink frosting one last time to check for streaks of food coloring before she began to fill the piping bag.

"Really?" Ruby said.

Beth looked up to see Annie and Ruby wore matching expression of exasperation. "What? I don't want them to look tacky."

"Gangfriend basically took over Boland Motors and you're worried about cupcakes?" Ruby's brows arched.

She smiled, which only seemed to worry them. "I'm not going to sit around and wait for Rio to make his next demand," she would go crazy if she did that.

Besides, Beth had other problems to deal with.

This week was the bake sale. Beth had agreed to help during the shut down, then forgot about it completely. The only reason she remembered was because Heather called her that morning and asked if Beth could show up early the next day. With the five dozen cupcakes she hadn't baked yet.

It didn't help that Annie kept trying to steal unfrosted cupcakes every time she turned her back.

Beth looked up at the sound of footsteps, Dean paused in the doorway.

"Uh, Kenny wanted to know if he could have one," Dean nodded to the cupcake in her hand.

"No, he hasn't even had lunch."

"Alright," he took a few steps back, "I'll just tell him... that."

Annie watched Dean leave before she turned back to Beth. She crossed her arms. "How long are you planning to let Deansie stay?"

"I don't know." It was the same answer she had given the last ten times Annie asked.

"He cheated on you then lied about having cancer, this isn't exactly a tough choice," her sister said.

"He got shot, Annie," and I screwed the guy who shot him, she thought.

"So what? He's pretty much fine now."

Beth looked over at Ruby. Her sensibility usually balanced out Annie's brashness.

Ruby hesitated. "I can't tell you what to do."

Beth raised a brow. "But?"

"But Dean's a snake, even by our standards, and we've been dealing with gangbangers and blackmailers."

Annie slapped a hand on the counter. "See! Ruby agrees with me."

"No, I don't."

Beth didn't respond, just nodded in acknowledgement and started frosting the next cupcake. Maybe he was a snake, but she wasn't feeling very morally superior today.

The cold bathroom tiles leached the warmth from Annie's knees as she bent over the toilet, waiting for the nausea to pass. She had considered calling in sick, but she couldn't afford to miss work, even if she did spend half her shift running to the bathroom to retch.

Maybe it was more than guilt making her sick, she thought she had escaped flu season, her stomach turned as the cupcake she had stolen from Beth came up. Apparently not.

She stood, ignoring the way her legs shook beneath her.

At this point being sick was the least of her problems, between Greg trying to talk to her, and the due date on the rent looming, throwing up was the easiest thing to face.

The bathroom door opened with a groan. "Annie?" She recognized the voice, one of the younger cashiers.

She sighed, leaning against the stall door. "I'll be right there."

"We're, like, really busy—"

Annie swung open the door, letting it hit the wall with a loud bang. "I said, I'll be right there," she ground out.

The girl nodded quickly before scurrying away. Annie washed her hands, glaring at her reflection. She looked like hell. At least her face matched her mood.

Ruby glanced worriedly at her husband. Stan had been unusually quiet, had barely looked at her since he got home.

"How was work?" Ruby asked.

Stan looked up from his spaghetti. "Fine."

She forced herself to smile. "Just fine?"

"Actually," he set his fork down and folded his hands, "it was disappointing. We arrested a real bad guy, but the DA's dropping the case because our only witness is gone."

Her breath caught in her throat. There it was, a brand new lie between them.

"Don't worry, dad," Sara smiled. "You'll get him."

Stan looked to Sara, his gaze softened. "Thank you, baby girl."

Harry seemed oblivious to the tension, and Sara started chatting happily about her day. But looking down at the red sauce splattered on her plate, Ruby found her appetite was gone.

It was barely audible, the quiet pop of the lid coming off the desert platter. Beth's eyes fluttered open.

She considered letting Kenny steal one... But if he ate sugar now he would be a zombie tomorrow. She hesitated, considering whether staying in bed was worth the melt down in the morning.

She groaned, and pulled herself out of bed.

The sleepy haze cleared away as she walked down the hall. A tingle ran down her spine. The sound of her footsteps should have sent Kenny into a panic by now, but there was no mad dash for the stairs, or frantic sounds of him trying to hide the evidence.

She stepped into the kitchen, unsurprised to see who waited there. It reminded her of the first time Rio had shown up in her home, sitting on the counter edge, insultingly at ease.

Beth crossed her arms, all too aware of what a mess she must be. "You couldn't have called first?"

"I sent a text," Rio said, biting into the cupcake he held. "These are good, mama."

She fidgeted with the sleeve of her pajama top. "They're for Jane and Danny's bake sale."

"Mmhm," his low laughter caused a strange mix of dread and warmth to blossom in her chest, "I bet they're all, like, organic and whatnot too."

She shrugged. "The other PTA moms would chase me out if they weren't."

He slid off the counter, any sign of amusement vanished as he stalked towards her. "You got my cut?"

"I wasn't sure when you were coming, I haven't counted it out yet."

"Right, right," Rio's jaw worked as he studied her for a moment. "So you didn't think I would want it yet?"

"I didn't want to assume anything." She shrugged. "Besides for all I knew, you could've waited weeks to collect."

"Uh-huh, well then, if you need me to be clear," he stepped closer, invading her personal space. Her thoughts flitted momentarily to a bar bathroom. But she didn't step back, she never did. His voice lowered, becoming deceptively soft, "I want you to have my money ready whenever I decide to come and get it.

"Maybe if you had told me that earlier—" her words caught as Rio's hand slid around the back of her neck.

He leaned down, close enough that she could feel his breath against her ear. An unwelcome heat spiked low in her belly as she remembered the last time he had been this close he was moaning her name. "I'm done spelling things out for you, Elizabeth. If you wanna learn, I'll teach you. But if I'm just wasting my time—"

"You aren't," the words were meant to be stern, but all she managed was a breathy whisper.

"Nah?" he stepped back, just enough so that he could meet her eyes. The pad of his thumb drew soft circles against her skin as he studied her. "Alright," Rio nodded slowly. "You got common sense, I'm gonna need you to start using it."

Not quite trusting her own voice, Beth nodded.

Rio's hand dropped back to his side as he took a few steps back, allowing her room to breathe again. To make up for the sudden loss of warmth, Beth wrapped her arms around herself.

"I'll have it ready tomorrow. Is that all?" Exhausted, and now cold, all she wanted was to crawl back into bed for the night.

"Tryin to get rid of me?"

"Yes."

A half smile broke through his stony expression. "Guess I'll say goodnight then."

As she watched him walk towards the back door an impulse gripped her, and she spoke before she thought for once. "Well?"

Rio stopped, looking at her over his shoulder. "Well what, sweetheart?"

"Aren't you going to say it?" Embarrassment washed over her all at once, warming her face, and no doubt tinging her pale skin pink.

His gaze wandered unabashedly, and without any hurry, over her body before he met her eyes again. When he spoke his voice was a low purr that made the innocent words into something obscene, "Goodnight, Elizabeth."

Cold air washed over Annie as she walked out of the brightly lit store, into the dark parking lot. Trudging towards her car, she looked down at her phone. Despite it being two a.m., and feeling like she'd been run over by a truck, she still smiled when she saw the good night text from Sadie.

When she looked up her heart stuttered, and her legs froze. Someone leaned against her car, hood shadowing his face from view.

Panic clawed at her chest. Had Beth already pissed gangfriend off again?

By now she was too far away from the store to make a run for it. If she screamed someone might hear her... but she'd probably be dead before they got to her.

She was about to run, maybe she could make it. It was better than waiting to get shot—

He looked up, pushing his hood back. As she finally got a clear look at his face, the terror drained out of her, replaced by shock.

She took a few steps closer, wanting to be sure her exhaustion wasn't making her see things. "Eddie?"

He tilted his head. "'Sup."

She paused, raising her brows. "What are you doing here?"

"I, uh," he rubbed the back of his neck, glancing down at his shoes before he looked back at her with a wry smile. "I need a ride."

A\N: this might be a one shot, but it could be a multi chapter, I haven't really decided yet. Reviews are always appreciated. Thanks for reading.