PICS and IT DIDN'T HAPPEN

36. The Couple

"Careful!" Mr. Finnigan shouts as I climb one more branch above while Milk meows from the tree.

I brought the kittens to Mr. Finnigan's home so they could play with Finnigan's dog, Toad.

The play date was going well until we heard Toad barking at the top of the tree.

Somehow Milk had gotten himself up on the tree and is now stuck there. He has always been the daredevil of the triplets.

So I have climbed up. I grab onto the branch above and make one more climb and reach the branch Milk is at. I can't go to him since he's at the edge where the branch is thin.

I reach my hand out to him. Slowly he comes to me. Once my hand could touch him, I grab Milk and stuff him into my t-shirt and start climbing down.

After the successful rescue, we all head inside where Finnigan makes me a cup of tea.

I look around in the living room. Each time I'm here I discover something new, like the photo of Mr and Mrs. Finnigan on a boat I'm looking at now. The backdrop is a dense jungle.

"That's from our Amazon trip," Finnigan says, arriving with a cup of tea and handing it to me.

I sip the tea. It's deliciously sweet. "I didn't realize you two were such an adventurous couple," I say. Most of their photos in the living seem to have taken in a trip.

"Toni loved to travel," Finnigan says. "We met on a flight to Cairo. I was going there for a work meeting. She was there to see the pyramids. Right then I knew the key to her heart."

"A trip around the world?" I say.

He laughs. "That's right. A trip around the world that'll take a lifetime to travel."

I sit down and place the empty cup over the table. Coffee crawls onto my lap and starts napping. "What it's like to have someone that special?" I ask Finnigan.

"It's like getting to spend all your life with your best friend who is also your crush."

"How do you know if someone's that special someone for you? How did you know Toni was yours?"

"Well, we liked each other, loved each other's company. From the moment I laid my eyes on her I'd fallen for her. But of course, true love takes time, patience and understanding. Each day after I met her I loved her even more. The longer we were together the more our love grew."

"Can we like someone very much and not trust them?"

"It's possible. Liking someone is not the same as trusting someone. However, a long lasting love can't exist without trust."

I quietly stroke Coffee while thinking about Finnigan's words and my relationship with Frank.

"I wonder what it's like to trust someone," I mumble.

Finnigan hears me and says, "When you trust someone you become a team."

"A team?"

"A team. Like you and Raylan."

I laugh.

"Him and I would be the world's worst team," I say.

"That's not what I see. I could tell from watching you two, especially on the day you helped me, you two trust each other a lot."

Well, I suppose I do trust him... I can always trust him to annoy the hell out of me.

After hanging out a while longer at Finnigan's place, I take the kittens to Raylan's to drop them off.

When I turn to leave Raylan's room, Raylan comes in. "Hey, good, you're here," he says, "You free tomorrow?"

"Yeah, why?"

He pulls out from his pocket a bunch of tickets to one of the most anticipated film release of this summer. "Benjamin and William's uncle got us some tickets for the premier tomorrow. We've some spare, too."

"I'll take two," I say reaching my hand out to grab the tickets but Raylan pulls his hand back. "The tickets are only if you're going with your friends, no one else," he says with a stern glare.

"I know," I say, reaching my hand out again, and he takes his hand back farther. "Last time I checked you have two friends."

"Tess is at her grandparents'. Becca and I can go. Now, give me the tickets," I say jumping for his hand. This time he lets me take them. I take two tickets out of the bunch and return him the rest. Such a stingy guy.

The next day, Becca and I join the guys at the premier and watch the movie. It's a good one. After a satisfactory time in the cinema we walk out of the exit, discussing where to go for dinner.

"Ellie," I hear a familiar voice call out for me. I look to my side and see Frank. He's with his friends, including Bianca.

End of chapter

A/N - Catchu tomorru :)