Brave Enough

Twenty - Three

"Kid you need to eat something. You had like two bites of your food. You've lost a lot of weight since you disappeared," Marcus says to James who sits picking at her food.

"Oh, no Echo has been like that for a couple weeks. Sorry I mean James. It's hard to change the name. I'll get used to it I promise," Raven says with a giggle. "Ugh, I love this song. James, Maisie, let's go dance." The girls stand up and head to the dance floor. Buck watches as James dances freely with her new friends. Her happy ease relaxes him.

"I'm not sure we should bring her home," he surprisingly says. "Look at her. I haven't seen her so happy and relaxed since I met her." The thought makes Buck sad.

       "She needs to come home, Buck. Her life is in LA. We just need to get rid of Colin," Marcus says. "Where is she going?" Buck looks over to find Raven and Maisie dancing alone and James walking out of the restaurant.

       "I'll find out. Just give me a couple minutes okay?" Marcus nods and holds onto a sleeping Cleo. Buck walks out of the restaurant and finds James standing in the rain. "Baby? What are you doing out here? It's cold and raining.

       "I just needed some air. The rain won't kill me," he closes the space between them and hugs her. "I missed you."

       "I missed you too," Buck leans forward and kisses her. The rain falling around them sends shivers down her spine in mixture with the feel of Buck's warm body holding onto her making her feel safe and at home again. Buck pulls away for a moment, "if we're going to be out here lets at least get out of the rain," Buck says and lifts her up. Carrying her over to the alley where there is an overhead shaded piece. With her back against the wall and legs wrapped around his, waist Buck kisses her again. James's hands move down to the button of his pants and looks him in the eyes. "Baby we're in public."

      Her eyes beg him to let her do it. He nods and she unbuttons his pants undoing the zipper. With the weight of his hips and the wall Buck holds her up and lifts the skirt of her dress up and he uses both hands to rip her panties off of her. He shoves them into his back pocket and alines himself with her wet sex. Her lips find his again as he thrusts into her making her moan. Her hands go up into his shirt and she drags her nails across his back digging in making him groan. "Buck!" She cries out. "Ohhh." Buck smiles against her lips.

"I missed you too..." he says with his final thrust. He leans against her breathing heavily. "Is that enough air for now?" James nods trying to catch her breath. Her legs drop from his waist and she steadies herself readjusting her dress. "Sorry about your panties." Buck leans up to her ear. "They would've been destroyed later anyways."

       "I hope no one notices..." she says with a mischievous smirk. She runs back to the door and stops to smooth out her hair. Buck follows her making sure his clothes are in place before going back in. He finds her sitting in her chair next to Raven and Maisie talking. Maisie laughs at something she says while reaching out to fix a stray hairpiece. Raven says something and James's eyes light up.

"Hey, I'm going to go ahead and take Cleo to the hotel. Jerome is going to join me. Have a good night Buck," Marcus says carrying a sleeping Cleo in his arms. "Take care of her. She's been through a lot."

"Does this mean you're going home now?" Maisie asks. James looks down sadly making Buck sad.

"I mean I think I have too. Colin isn't just going to disappear if I stay here. There is always going to be that what if. Plus my family is there. Buck, he's my home and he's there. Not to mention the little situation I have going on. Mexico has been amazing and you two. You two are my sisters now. I will always love you. As soon as everything calms down I want to come back and visit. I'll bring Buck and Cleo and..." she stops. "Well, you know. I'll call and text as often as I can with updates." The girls hug.

       "Brunch before you leave?" Maisie asks.

      "Of course!" James says.

       Jake leans up to Raven, "Rave I think we should go. Koby's about to fall asleep." Raven kisses Jake and nods. "It was nice hanging guys. Sad to hear you're leaving Miss Buckley. You have to come stay with us some time." He kisses her cheek and lifts Koby up into his arms.

       "Yeah Jorge and I should probably getting going too. Someone has an important meeting in the morning. Be safe babe and we'll see you in the morning," Maisie says. She leans in, "Go and have some fun." She wiggles her eyebrows. "Well, some more fun I guess I should say," she says with a wink. James gasps and crosses her legs.

      Dropping cash on the table James stands up and staggers a bit clutching her stomach she runs to the bathroom falls to her knees and vomits. "Dammit," she cries. She washes her hands and walks back out to find Buck leaning against the wall. "We should probably talk." She says leading him out of the restaurant.