Sorry for the long wait, I just didn't feel like writing before but today I finally felt like it again, so here's the new chapter. Thanks for all the reviews, they're really heartwarming, hope you'll enjoy this!

I opened my eyes slowly, blinking as I adjusted my eyes to the light that was seeping in from the broken blinds in front of the window. I didn't recognise where I was at first but slowly the pieces fit together, the cracked ceiling with the yellowish spots and the squealing bed.

I turned to the side slowly, almost afraid of what I was about to see there.

But as my eyes focused a smile crept up my face unintentionally.

Tim was laying on his side facing me. A hand supporting his face and the other tucked between his knees. His features were relaxed but even in his sleep he looked serious and hard. His facial features looked sharp and hard but his skin looked so soft that I wanted to reach out and touch him.

I suddenly found myself wondering what his eyes looked like when he first woke up in the morning. I didn't have to wait long for an answer cause soon he started blinking slowly and then he cracked an eye open, a glittering ink black eye focusing on me.

I felt stupid being caught red-handed staring at my boyfriend's brother like a love sick puppy and averted my eyes quickly, pretending I had been looking at the blankets we were laying on.

"Mornin'" he murmured as he rubbed his eyes, looking around the room with new focus.

I couldn't answer as I was still worried that he might think I was checking him out, my heart hammered against my chest and in my head I kept seeing his face as he had slept.

I heard him roll of the bed and sigh as he walked over to a small mirror hanging on the wall next to the door.

I still felt like I couldn't talk, but the longer it went without Tim saying something, panic crept up inside of me. And at the same time the logical side of my brain wondered why it should matter what Tim Shepard thought of me, why was I so desperate for him to like me?

"Ya not a mornin' person?" he asked suddenly, his voice rough and raspy, there wasn't a smile near his tone but still he didn't sound angry either.

I looked over at him and met his eyes in the mirror as he was trying to fix his short hair and he smirked at me, a confident and arrogant smirk that made his hard eyes glitter.

"Not really, no" I said still feeling uncomfortable about the whole situation, which made me take my eyes off of him and shift them to the carpet.

"We should get out of here, before the fuzz shows up" he said as he grabbed his jacket and went to the door.

I got up wondering where we were supposed to go from here, and as I walked towards Tim I noticed that some of the unease I had felt in his company this morning was starting to ebb away.

We walked out of the motel and up to the parking spot in silence. Then Tim halted and he got the car key from his pocket and tossed it to me as he backed away slowly.

"Get in the car kid" he simply stated as he turned around and walked over to the office. I watched him walk of; fascinated by the way his every step reminded me of a panther, slim and elegant.

Just as he was about to open the door to the office he looked over his shoulder and caught sight of me watching him and for a second everything seemed to stand still. He held my eyes with his cold greyish stare and then he smiled slowly, a genuine smile that softened his features and warmed his eyes. But only for a second and then he opened the door and stepped into the office.

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding and then I stumbled over to the car and got in.

I thought about what had just happened but my mind was to busy with running a picture of his smile over and over before my eyes, to try and think logical about it. I felt regret and angst bubble up inside of me for even thinking about him that way.

He was supposed to be Curly's brother and nothing more, he wasn't supposed to make my heart throb so hard and my head spin with images of him.

I loved Curly not him. I knew I did.

But still my heart wouldn't stop beating and my breath wouldn't catch as my mind kept spinning, Tim's eyes, his smile, his coldness, the calm anger that seemed to hang around him and his arrogant confidence.

"What ya dreamin' of kid?" Tim asked with a wink as he got in the car and we sped off.

I didn't know what to answer him, somehow I wanted to tell him the truth just to see his reaction, but he probably wouldn't care what I was thinking about so I didn't.

"Just wondering where we're goin'" I murmured as I kept my eyes firmly on the road ahead.

"Told ya before, we're goin' to sell the car" Tim stated "Cortez' shop's just half an hour away".

My fear of the fuzz finding us had faded away and was now replaced with the fear of what kind of character this Cortez could be. The way Tim had said his name it was obvious he respected the man but what kind of men did Tim Shepard respect? He was probably a first class hood, most likely worse then Tim him self if he had respect for him. But thinking that I calmed down a bit, because I hadn't seen the malice and rage in Tim that everyone seemed to connect him with. All I could see was emptiness.

After driving in silence for a long time we drove into a small town and Tim found his way on the streets as if he'd lived there all his life. He didn't stop, not even for the two red lights we'd faced on the almost empty main street, until we'd reached an industrial area; there he drove into a fenced and asphalted yard which was totally empty except for what looked like a large warehouse. There he stopped the car and honked the horn hard making me jump in surprise.

He turned to me, his face hard and cold.

"When he comes, just let me talk and stay cool, ok?" his eyes where like grey steel splitting through me like a sharp sword and I nodded slowly, all images of his smile had disappeared, shattered in my mind.

Tim reached out and put his big, warm hand on my shoulder slowly and his eyes searched mine and I felt like I was about to show him everything that was inside me but he just said;

"To be scared never helps any"

And then he was out of the car and I drew a long hard breath as I joined him outside, feeling like I was wearing my fright on the outside for everyone to see.

Tim looked at me and something flickered across his face and he started to move towards me with a hand halfway outstretched to me.

Suddenly a door in the warehouse opened and two men got out. Tim stopped in his steps and turned towards them, waiting for them to come to him. Much like how he had waited for Curly to take the last steps towards him outside the prison.

As the men approached I studied them, they were both long, and golden skinned, black haired men in their thirties. One of them was quite good looking and the other had a big scar across his neck, almost as long as the one Tim had on his cheek.

"Well, if it isn't Tim Shepard, the JD from Tulsa" The one with the scar said with an evil chuckle "Didn't know you were out" He reached his hand out to Tim who took it with a confident smirk and shook it.

"I knew, how ya doin' Tim?" The good looking one said as he embraced Tim in a hard hug.

"Chavez, what the fuck are ya doin' here?" Tim said giving the man a hard slap on the arm.

I tuned out as they started to talk about the car, wondering where I had heard the name Chavez before. No one seemed to notice me as I stood some steps away purposely hidden behind Tim's back.

The one named Chavez seemed to know Tim pretty well but the other man scared me, he looked mean and cunning but Tim didn't seem to mind that the man was unpleasant. Chavez presence seemed to lift the mood slightly and I was thankful that he was there cause the other man looked like he could've pulled a gun if he hadn't gotten the right prize on the car.

I felt uncomfortable seeing Tim like that, he seemed so different then what he was at home with his siblings or even alone with me. He was hard, mean and cold now, a businessman and a thief. But the worse part was that he was so distant.

Not once in the time they'd been talking had he looked back at me to see if I was ok, I had been standing behind him for forty minutes just listening when he and the creepy one finally shook hands and rolls of bills switched owner.

As the two men turned their backs on Tim and walked of I suddenly felt a warm hand seek mine and when I looked up at Tim he was holding my hand softly in his, he was barley holding it, a small wind would have torn his hand from mine but still my heart was beating madly.

"Come on kid" he drawled and dragged me of. I didn't understand what he was doing as he passed the car but still kept dragging me along. But the nearness of him, the feeling of his rough hand against mine had left me speechless and all I could do was point at the car in confusion.

Tim chuckled as he saw me point and pulled me to him roughly and to my disappointment he let go of my hand. My heart felt empty and cold again and I tried to look just like before not wanting him to know his effect on me since he obviously felt nothing.

"We're not drivin', we're walking to the station to take the bus to Tulsa" he said and kept chuckling at my stupidity.

He walked passed me with an arrogant strode still laughing and I watched him go cursing my own stupidity and the effect he had on me.