Once they walked out the door I buried my face in my hands.  It was almost too much to believe.  Yet at the same time, everything Will said made sense.  My dad had always seemed really preoccupied.  It fit the timing of his increasing disappearance from my life if he was supposed to be undercover.  Logically, it made things click for me.  I understood more than I ever had.  Yet, emotionally I felt really confused.  I was so angry at my father and Will for lying to me, but everything felt muddied now I knew more of the story.  I couldn't put everything on my dad anymore.  I had to admit it wasn't all intentional and he was probably just trying to protect me.  I sighed, not knowing how the change in perspective would affect how I felt about him later.

Even though I had declared to Will my intentions of never forgiving him, I felt my view of him shifting yet again as well.  Those reasons were really good ones for him to lie to me after all.  Still...it hurt that our friendship was based on lies.  I felt backed into a corner.  I'd let him into my heart, my life, and I felt like I knew nothing about the real him.  It felt like a betrayal to me, and I wasn't sure that would ever change.

Suddenly the lock was turning and the front door was opening.  I jumped up in fright, not expecting anyone and only relaxed once I saw Jaime entering.  I chuckled at myself; I'd totally forgotten he was coming back.  Wow, paranoid much?  

"Hey babe.  How's it going?  You okay?  You look a little spooked."

I laughed at myself again.  "Yeah, you just startled me.  I'm fine now you're here.  How was the store?  Did you get everything?"

He set the bag of groceries down on the counter and walked back to where I was sitting on the couch.  Settling next to me, he leaned over and gave me a quick kiss.

"Yep.  Piece of cake.  I also stopped by my place to grab some clothes and necessities for my stay here.  Just so you know I'm going to be..."

My mind drifted back to Will's news.  It was so huge I was having a hard time wrapping my head around it.  My mom, stabbed?  That had to be the hardest part of it to swallow.  Those doctors had lied so convincingly.  I'd been sure she died in a car accident.   There was so much to think about.

"...Annalee?  You alright?"  His hand was suddenly brushing my cheek and I flinched.  

"Yeah, sorry.  Just lost in thought I guess."

His bright eyes studied me for a minute too carefully, worrying me.  He was seeing too much, I just knew it.  

"What has you so deep in thought?  Is it maybe something to do with Will being here earlier?"  His expression remained nonchalant despite the subtle accusation behind his words.

I stared at him, jaw dropped, sputtering.  "How...how...h--" I stuttered.

"First of all, I'm not stupid.  You sent me to the store out of nowhere right after you get a text?  Second, I saw him leaving when I was getting back,"  I was waiting for the anger or hurt...but his expression stayed neutral.  "I'm not mad.  Becca was there too and I know you wouldn't just let him hang around if you thought he was a danger to you.  But I am curious to know what he was doing here."

"Oh...well...Becca actually brought him.  There's something I haven't told you.  He's an FBI agent," His wide eyes begged for more explanation, "I'm sorry, but apparently he is an undercover FBI agent assigned to watch me because of some things my father were mixed up in.  I didn't believe him, so he came because he wanted to explain everything, and against my better judgement, I actually let him."

His eyes widened in surprise and interest, and maybe a little bit of judgement.  "And what did he have to say?"

I sighed.  "My dad's apparently been involved in an operation with some gang, and since he's doing such a high profile job he was assigned to watch me.  He fed me some crap about everything between us being real and asked me to forgive him, but I couldn't do it."

After a moment, he let out a surprised puff of air.  "Wow.  That's...a lot of information.  Are you sure he's telling the truth?"

"I feel confident he is.  It's too much, too accurate to what I remember of things, for it to be fake.  At least, if it is a lie, it's very well-thought-out."

"I'll take your word for it.  So, why can't you forgive him if it's true?  Not that I think you should, but what are you thinking?"

I rubbed my eyes tiredly.  "I feel so stupid.  I should have known something was up.  Even though his reasons were good, our friendship was built on lies and I don't know how to salvage that.  He knows everything about me, all my deepest secrets, but I don't know anything real about him.  It hurts me to know he could have hid himself from me that whole time.  I guess I don't know how to forgive it.  I don't know if I can move on."

Jaime pulled me toward him and kissed my head, gently stroking my arm.  I leaned into him, enjoying the closeness.

"You know, I've never heard you talk about your dad.  Why don't you tell me about him?"  He murmured against my hair.

Thinking about it for a minute, I eventually decided I should.  Up to this point I had never given him my life story from my perspective.  I thought it was too intense to share in a new relationship, but with everything going on with me perhaps it was time.  So I took a deep breath and began the story.  

I told him about my perception of my mother's death and my father's disappearance from my life.  I shared stories of how I met Will and some of the good times.  I told him about how I was independent from the age of 16, taking care of my own needs in the wake of an absent father.  He listened to my memories with sympathy, portraying the proper emotion at the proper time.  It was comforting to share the good and bad times with someone new.  The only other person who knew all this was Will, and memories of him made my heart ache.  

I talked a long time, relieved to be sharing the load I'd been carrying for so long.  James happily listened and encouraged my emotions.  Finally when I'd run out of things to say we sat in comfortable silence, content with just being with each other.  I didn't know I was drifting to sleep until a knock at the door jolted me awake.  I shook myself, trying to clear the fuzziness from my eyes as I gently removed Jaime's arm from around me and stood.  He was still snoring away and I didn't want to wake him just yet.  

"Yes?"  I called through the door.

"Ma'am this is Officer Prestwich.  I have some news to discuss."  His deep voice was all business. 

I undid the deadlock and the other locks on the door and flung it open to see the officer standing casually in my doorway.  "What's this about?"  I quirked an eyebrow at him.

"The detectives leading your case called to let me know that the FBI has offered resources to help them with your case.  Apparently it holds some special interest to them.  They have assigned an agent to your 24/7 detail who has some experience protecting witnesses, so the detectives have given him lead.  This agent has suggested it might be best if they stay with you here so even if someone were to sneak past the detail outside they'd have a hard time getting to you.  Would that be agreeable to you?"  

I thought about it for a minute.  An agent of the FBI...no, it couldn't be.  He wouldn't go so far as to blow his cover after all these years of successfully protecting me from the shadows.  Would he?

"Of course she will accept the offer, officer.  She knows better than to risk her life over pride.  Isn't that right Annie?"  Suddenly Will was standing next to the officer on my doorstep, still looking haggard, though unlike earlier his expression was cold and unemotional.  Of course it was him.  I shouldn't have expected anything less.  I rolled my eyes and glowered in his direction.  "That'll be all Officer Prestwich.  Thank you for your help."  He dismissed the officer with an authoritative tone I'd never heard him use before.  

The officer nodded and quickly walked away before I was collected enough to tell him I wouldn't be accepting the extra protection.  I turned to Will's towering form blocking the doorway, glaring.  He just gave me a pained, yet determined half-smile.

"So you gonna let me in?"

"No I will not! What are you doing?" I finally managed to get out, grip on the door tightening.

"Since you won't let me in to protect your life willingly, I had to find a way to force myself in." He shrugged indifferently, cold mask still plastered on his face.

I felt my jaw drop. "How dare you?! You said...you said...if I didn't forgive you...you'd leave me alone!" I stuttered, dumbfounded at his audacity.

"Yeah, I did say that, but I can't do that. I must protect you. Even though you may think our friendship is over, I won't stop caring about you ever. You're my best friend and the most important person in my life Annie, and even if it means you hate me forever I'll make sure you're safe. After all this is over you can hate me as long as you want without my interference."

I searched his face, seeing only seriousness in his eyes. Even though I felt like screaming, I eventually opened the door wider and stepped back, allowing him into the apartment. His stupid speech touched my heart and I knew I didn't have it in me to deny him the chance to keep me safe for now. I couldn't promise anything about later though. I may just get angry enough to kick him out again. He gave me a soft smile before his eyes swept the room, seeing Jaime asleep on the couch. His face hardened, and I sighed. Here we go again.

"He can't stay here." Will glared at me. I folded my arms defensively and glared back.

"And why's that?"

"He's a security breach waiting to happen. Nobody in the FBI has been able to dig anything negative up about him, but some of his story doesn't add up. Why was he at that campus when you were attacked? He gave the police some bogus story about meeting a friend there but wouldn't give them a name or location. He said he heard you being attacked from blocks away?! Even if that was possible how did he find you in time? That place is a maze. He's not telling us everything Annie. We need to verify more of his story before he can be trusted."

My glare intensified. "No. I don't want him gone. He makes me feel safe no matter what you have to say about it."

Will raised his eyebrows at me. "There are two ways to do this Annie. Either he leaves willingly until we can verify everything about him or I arrest him for obstruction of justice. Keeping things from a police officer during an investigation is punishable in the eyes of the law." His mouth set in a determined line.

"Fine! Have it your way you jerk. But you have to tell him. He won't be happy."

Will's smirk returned for the first time since I'd found out about him, twisting his lips up gloatingly. "Gladly."

He walked over to the couch and shook Jaime none-too-gently to wake him up. He blinked awake slowly, stretching his muscles and yawning.

"Sorry Annalee, I didn't mean to fall...oh it's you." He stopped mid-sentence, seeing Will standing there.

"Hi. I'm here to tell you to vacate the premises. You're not to see Miss Bloom again until we can verify everything you've told us." Will's face was set in stone.

Jaime looked at me open-mouthed. "You've got to be joking. On whose authority?" He quickly stood, crossing his arms.

"On authority of the FBI, who is taking over the protection of Miss Bloom until the situation is handled."

His expression darkened to barely-contained anger I'd never seen from him before.

"So now you're hiding behind the FBI you jackass? This whole time you've had a problem with me not because you suspect me, but because you're in love with her, isn't that right? You want her for yourself and can't stand her being happy without you. Well news flash, she doesn't want you! She wants me. So back off or I'll make you." His eyes flashed even darker as his threat became clear.

My mouth flew open. What? Where did that come from?

Will towered over Jaime, eyes narrowing. "You leave now, or I'll arrest you here. Your choice. I'm being nice by letting you walk away. Don't push it." He gave him a nasty fake smile, meant to inspire fear.

Jaime seemed unaffected, but eventually folded, stepping back. He completely ignored Will, walking back to grab his bag and laptop. He walked back over to me, looking at me apologetically.

"I'm sorry all this happened. I promise I'm just leaving until I can get him to back off. I'll see you later babe." He murmured, gently cupping my cheek with his hand.

Still completely ignoring Will's presence he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine softly. I thought it would end there but he deepened the kiss, almost trying to soak me in. He kissed me with such passion and affection that I lost track of the seconds. Finally, after what seemed an hour, he backed up, turned his back, and left.

After the door shut I stood in shock for a minute. What just happened?

Finally Will spoke, though I wouldn't look at him. "Look, about what he said—"

"Is it true?" I said quietly, cutting him off.

"What?"

"Is it true? Are you just using your position at the FBI to keep him away for some stupid reason?"

"Annie, I—" 

I looked up. "I know you couldn't possibly love me, but are you worried about our friendship ending? Are you jealous of all the time I've spent with him?"

He paused for a second, just looking at me. "Yeah. I have been worried about that. But honestly, I am worried he's not telling us everything as well."

"Will, I know things aren't good between us right now. I'm still mad about everything. I still don't know if I can forgive you. But just give me time. Earlier today I thought about it again and found myself wanting to forgive you, so maybe after a while..." I shrugged, then continued, "Before I knew about all this I wasn't ever going to stop being your best friend just because of Jaime. You were still my best friend. He never affected that. So please don't think getting rid of him will make me forgive you sooner. I just need some time to figure it out."

His expression softened. "Alright. I promise from now on I won't do anything concerning your boyfriend unless I have a valid reason. I'm glad to hear you think someday you might forgive me and give us a chance to rebuild. I really miss you Annie."

Despite everything I just said, I moved forward and tackled him into a hug. "I've missed you too, even though you've been a real pain in the butt." He chuckled.

We eventually broke apart. Over the course of the afternoon I awkwardly worked around him. I didn't know what to say to him, so I chose to say nothing and kind of awkwardly pretend he wasn't there. That worked out for me fairly well until night hit and Will asked if he could shower. I let him, rather happy to have him out of my way for a few minutes at least.

I sat down on my bed and did some statistics homework on my laptop, working through the complicated problems. I went to grab my pencil and paper to work out a particularly complex problem and screamed bloody murder when I saw a huge spider right where my hand was going a second ago.

My chest started heaving as the adrenaline rushed through my system. My gosh, it was just a spider! Suddenly I saw Will run out of the bathroom soaking wet with nothing but a towel around his hips.

"What happened? Are you okay?" He shouted, running into my room. At the last second he tripped over the doorjamb and his body slammed into mine, sending us both crashing to the floor.

He knocked the air right out of me and I wheezed. We both stared at each other in shock for a minute as I registered what happened. Will was laying on me, pretty much naked.

His expression froze, wide-eyed, as he looked at me.

"Um...it was just a spider..." I muttered quietly, still staring like a deer in headlights.

Suddenly he burst out laughing. His laugh was deep and full and contagious, and I couldn't help but laugh too after a second. We laughed until our lungs were heaving for air and tears were streaming down our faces, until the laughter cooled to chuckles and we were so full of warmth I no longer remembered why I'd been feeling awkward around him. Finally, the laughter completely died down and he remained hovering over me, grinning at me fully with a softness in his eyes I hadn't seen for a while. His full dimples were showing, and I couldn't help but think how much I'd missed this, how much I'd missed laughing with him.

Then the situation began to sink in fully. "Um, do you think you could get off?" I asked, fidgeting beneath him.

"Oh yeah, sorry." He quickly moved to the side and I sat up.

I tried my hardest to keep my eyes off his bare chest, but it was difficult. He really was muscular. I remembered back to the last time I'd seen him in only a towel and suddenly I was blushing tomato red. He caught my expression and smirked slightly.

"Are you checking me out, pervert?" He joked.

"No, no, I swear I wasn't doing it on purpose..." I trailed off as he winked at me. "Oh, you were just kidding. Haha I knew that." I felt supremely embarrassed. All I wanted to do was crawl under a rock and pretend I never existed.

He winked again, giving me a knowing smirk. "No problem. Nobody could ever hope to keep their eyes off my amazing body anyway, why would you be an exception?"

I scoffed and shoved him away, embarrassment gone. He chuckled.

"Well, I'll get back to my shower now. That is, unless you need me to defend you from intruders of the crawling kind." He smiled.

I smiled in return. "No, I've got it now. It just startled me at first." I laughed self-deprecatingly.

He stood and went back to the bathroom and I sat in silence, desperately hoping he'd forget that happened sooner rather than later. Ugh, I was such an idiot. I quickly squished the offending spider and got back to work and back to ignoring Will's presence.

Once he came out of the bathroom—fully dressed this time—he had his cellphone in his hand. He was on a call and was using his "all business" voice, which meant it was about something serious. When he hung up I tried to look like I hadn't been trying to listen in. Of course, that meant I looked suspicious and strange. I was never any good at lying or pretending. He walked into my room and leaned against the door.

"Come on, you eavesdropper. I've got to go to the police station and I need you to come with me. Nobody is available to babysit you right now, so you have to stay with me."

I blushed when he mentioned my eavesdropping and sheepishly glanced at him before packing up my laptop and homework to do later. Grabbing my shoes, I asked him what was going on.

"We have some new evidence on your attacker."