What Happens In Vegas

Sixteen

S I X T E E N

I watched as Beckett set out our spread of Chinese takeout on the kitchen island, my mouth watering at the anticipation of sinking my teeth into some orange chicken. He looked better after a shower and some time to distance himself from his computer; I was glad that we were going to stay in. "Nothing fishy in here, right?"

He laughed and shook his head, opening the cartons for my inspection. "Nothing fishy, your majesty." 

I gave a swift nod and snatched the orange chicken and lo mein. "Good." I sat down and dug in, wanting to gather my thoughts before I apologized to him. 

"Evangeline?" I looked up from my noodles and frowned at the guilty look on his face. "I'm sorry about what I said last night...it isn't right for me to just expect you to be okay with everything that's happening, and I shouldn't have been so insensitive." 

I gulped and wiped my mouth with a napkin. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have accused you of anything and I know that I probably should be more open minded about our very..unique situation."

He placed his hand on mine and looked into my eyes intensely. "The way you feel about it is understandable, Angel, I've just been so wrapped up in everything that I was feeling that I didn't stop to think about how you felt." 

"I appreciate and accepted your apology."

He chuckled. "Who says that?" 

"Who buys a person brand new art supplies that probably cost hundreds of dollars?"

"Touche," he laughed, pulling away to eat his lunch. 

We sat and ate with small talk here and there; it was nice to be with someone in this way. Beckett was unlike anyone I'd ever met, but I knew that even when we were drunk in Vegas together. I wasn't expecting him to apologize to me at all about last night, but I'm glad that we were able to hash things out quickly; that's something I could never do with Ryan...he always seemed to be right about everything. Could it be possible that my relationship with Beckett right now is healthier than the relationship I had with Ryan for three years? Holy shit. With Beckett, he's always focussed on how comfortable I am and about doing the right thing, but with Ryan, it was his way or no way at all and if you challenged him, he could somehow make you feel terrible about it.