Roddrick stood from behind the door separating the kitchen from the diners as her eyes landed on a familiar face. A sour taste entered her mouth as she watched the man look around anxiously, twirling his thumbs during the wait.

    Unfortunately he was seated in her section, and if she didn't get out there soon, someone would notice her hiding behind the door.

    Her steps were measured and loud as she walked towards his table. At first, she was determined to show him that she could careless that he was there and had no intentions of acknowledging their connection to one another.

    But when Brian's eyes met hers, she felt insecurity enter her again, and quickly went on the defense as she came to his table.

    "Roddrick-"

    "My name is Roddrick and I'll be your waitress tonight." The breathy sound of her name leaving his mouth disturbed her as she went for her writing pad, ready to take his order." Can I start you off with something to drink?"

    His eyes lingered on her turned away face before they looked over the rest of her.

     "I was hoping that I could come here and get a chance to talk to you Roddrick..." Brian spoke softly as her face hardened.

    "I am at work, sir. What would you like to drink?"

    "I know you hate me, I accept that. I owe you a lot of explanations, and I really hope that you would let me-"

    "We all want things we can't have. Now, are you here to order or harass me because I can have you removed immediately."The stern stare she gave him never wavered as an eyebrow rose. He remembered getting that look plenty of times before she fell into a fit of giggles or smiles, easing the seriousness she had always held.

   He knew he was going to be getting one of those now.

    "I'll take a water." He spoke hoarsely.

    "Would you like more time to decide on your meal?"

      "I'll have the pasta special." He answered quickly not even bothering to look at the menu. Pursing her lips, Roddrick put away her notepad, reaching for his menu.

    "I'll have that water out soon." She nodded before walking away.

oOo

     Milo sat unmoving in front of the restaurant Lauren brought him to.

    "Are you sure this is the place you wanted to go?" He asked her as she set the alarm to her car.

     "Of course it is, I brought us here didn't I?" Milo looked for the familiar bike lying against the side of the building, and saw that it was nowhere in sight. The sinking feeling could have been from disappointment or relief, he wasn't sure.

    "Me and Roddrick came here all of the time, I wonder if they'd remember my face now." She spoke absentmindedly, not seeing the stress that the name she called put on Milo as they entered the restaurant.

     There were a few couples ahead of them, and as the host told them that there would be a thirty minute wait, Milo had been subconsciously looking for all of the waiters as they moved around the room. He could hear his sister speaking to him, but wasn't listening.

    "Hey, did you hear me? I swear we haven't gotten a chance to talk much since the wedding and you're zoning out on me already." She nagged as she fixed her coat and jacket. Just when Milo thought he was in the clear, and would be able to relax, Lauren broke out into a gasp as she spotted Roddrick across the room.

    "Oh my God. I had no idea she worked here." She muttered to herself about different things for the next twenty minutes. As they moved up in the line, they were getting closer to the main dining room, and more visible as Roddrick spotted the short blonde after picking up the dishes from an empty table. She smiled brightly at the waving woman, and tried her best to do the same.

    "Fuck." Her face deadpanned once she saw Milo staring her way. When she watched one of the hosts move them closer and closer, she realized that they were headed for the table she had just cleared.

   Turning back and heading for the kitchen, she began to laugh. When she passed by a silent Brian who watched her pursuit, it began to carry a twinge of lunacy as she realized what was in store for her that tonight.

oOo

     When Roddrick removed the entrée from the portable hot plate used to keep certain dishes hot before Brian, her mind was elsewhere as were her eyes as she cut them to the table where Lauren and Milo sat. Her quick look caused her hand to slip and touch the side of the steaming plate. Not prepared for the sudden shock, she jerked her hand back quickly, holding it against her side as she hissed.

    "Did you burn yourself?" Brian looked like he was ready to jump out of his seat as he reached for her hand. The instant she felt the pads of his fingers against her wrist, she exploded.

    "Don't you fucking touch me!" Her eyes bulged as she pulled away from him. "Don't you ever try that again." She clenched her teeth as she pointed to him, lowering her voice embarrassed from the unprofessional language she had used. She didn't know why there was such a burst of anger remaining in her towards Brian. She had no idea that all of the trouble she had gone through to simply forget him could be erased that easily by his touch, reigniting the true anger that lay dormant inside of her.

     His face paled as he sank back into the seat, all eyes on them now.

     "Is everything alright?" A male waiter came to her side the instant he heard the outburst. He knew that plenty of the waitresses had run into touchy feely customers that didn't understand boundaries, and he was ready to make sure Brian was out of there had he offended her.

    Taking a deep breath through her nose, she turned to him, speaking tightly.

    "I'm good. Just-touched the plate."

    "Did he?-"

    "No, everything's fine. Thanks."

         He looked at her still suspicious and even offered to cover her table if she had burned herself bad.

   "Maybe you should go get it checked out."

     Realizing that he wasn't going to let up until he was sure everything was fine, Roddrick stopped being annoyed and appreciated his concern.

   "Nah, it will probably just be sore. No big deal." This time her words were less harsh as she assured him, touching his shoulder as she passed by him. She had put off Lauren's table long enough, and by then she should have had her manager screaming at her to her job because of the extensive wait.

   Bringing herself together, she made her way towards them. They too had looked over at the scene, and it took everything in her to not have a stare off with Milo as he watched her move to their table.

   "Hey lady." She smiled down at Lauren who beamed at her before grimacing.

    "Everything okay? I heard you yell over there." Roddrick turned over her hand and cringed at the red site on her hand. It felt numb as she made a fist, a slight sweat breaking out over her body.

   She really shouldn't have ignored it the way she did, and the longer she stood there she regretted not letting her coworker take over this table for the sake of treating her burn.

   "Oh my God! That looks painful." Lauren leaned in to get a better look at Roddrick's hand. Concern fell on her face as she looked up to her friend.

    "You should have run this under some water, get some ice on it or something. I haven't taken first aid since like middle school, but I'm sure you should do something quick."

    "Now, now. I'm here to take care of you, not the other way around." Roddrick hoped that if she acted nonchalantly enough, then the attention would be taken off of her.

     "Whatever you say, trooper. " Lauren pulled back with a smile as she recalled one of her many names she had for Roddrick.

   "She never lets anybody else worry or help her, she'd rather do it herself." She turned to Milo across the table. It was then that she noticed he had moved from his slumped position in his chair to sitting up straight, staring very intently at Roddrick and her hand.

   "Oh yeah..." Lauren remembered the infatuation Milo had seemed to have with finding out more about Roddrick, and the uneasiness she had with it came back to her in that moment." This is Roddrick, Milo. I talked about her a few times before. We were roommates in college." She chose to leave out the fact that his curiosity about her was finally being sated.

    When she saw is intense gaze land on Roddrick, she became nervous. "Roddrick this is my little brother Milo." She spoke quickly, noticing that she held the same look as well.

   "Yeah I-" Roddrick had to bite her tongue before she finished with the insult she had prepared. She had told Lauren that she had no idea Milo even existed the last time they met. Relaxing her face with a look of false surprise she opened her mouth with an ‘oh'.

    "You're little brother! That's right. It's nice to -um-it's great to finally meet you." She faked friendliness the very best she could.

    "Are you okay?"  Milo didn't care to follow the "stranger" script Roddrick hoped that he would pick up on. He was no longer concerned about what had transpired between them and the tension that was left behind.

    He was much more focused on the consistent sweat on her brow, the way she gripped at her hand and her slurred speech. Her eyes were slightly out of focus.

     "Roddrick? Roddrick, do you hear me?" Her eyes began to flutter as she staggered on her feet. She could see Milo stand and reach for her, but tried her best to dodge him.

   "I don't feel so well. I'm just gonna-gonna..." Her vision blurred as she no longer had the strength to stand on her feet, falling with blackness before her.

oOo

     "Prop her feet up. Come on!"

     "Oh my God. What happened to her?"

    " Call 911, Lauren."

     "Is she okay?"

     "911, Lauren?" Milo placed Roddrick's head gently on the ground. He had easily caught her, preventing her from falling to the hard floor when she fainted. Her face and neck were clammy and cold as he took her pulse. Face flushed from the pain of the burn.

    He couldn't pay attention to his sister as she stuttered over the cell phone, relaying information to the operator as he tended to Roddrick.

    "What the hell happened? Roddrick?" Another hand came to Roddrick's face, gripping her cheek and reaching for a pulse.

    "Can you please back up?" Milo whirled around irritated at the man who took to touching her so freely. "Unless you're a doctor or some shit, I think one person here is enough." He bit out.

     "And so what does that make you?" Brian was just as snarky as he ignored Milo's warning. His hand went to push back the hair that was splayed across her face, sticky from her sweat.

    "I said to get back!" Milo felt his heart skip at the familiar action." Don't touch her like that." His arms were now braced before her in a protective stance, ready to defend against any hands that weren't his or the paramedics.

    "They're on their way Milo." Lauren returned to the ground still flustered. The restaurant looked on, workers coming to check on Roddrick as the manager rushed to the ground. Milo noticed the older graying woman was frazzled as she stammered out her questions about what had happened.

    "She must have burned herself not too long before coming to our table." Milo explained. The manager rolled her eyes before rubbing her temples.

    "Don't worry; the ambulance is coming to make sure she's okay." He picked up on her annoyance instantly, and it heightened his own. If he could tell everyone who didn't genuinely care to back the fuck up and stay there, he would.

   "She's awake. Roddrick?" Brian was the first to see her attempt to open her heavy lids. When she finally managed to keep them open, all she could see were the bright lights above her invading her vision before she shut them closed again.

   She could hear sounds around her, but hadn't been able to stir herself enough to respond. Slowly all of her sense started to come back. The sound of her manager cursing under her breath. The way Lauren began saying thanks for her waking back up.

    The feel of Milo's hand gripping her good one, squeezing it gently when she turned to him.

    "I don't know if you know this, but you kinda fainted." He smiled softly when her eyes focused on his. Reflexively, she found herself holding on to his hand tightly as she began to process what he had said.

   "Why the hell would I do that?" She moaned. When a throbbing sensation in her other hand made her grit her teeth, she began to understand why.

    "First rule of getting burns is treating said burns, you know." Milo teased when she held her hand up to inspect it.

    "Shit." She said to herself before trying to sit up.

    "No, no, no. The ambulance is on their way to check on you." He gently pushed her back down onto the ground seeing that she was intent on getting up and brushing off what had happened. Accepting that she could barely move, Roddrick lied back with the soft feel of Milo's fingers intertwined with the small hairs at the base of her neck. Her head fell towards his knee during is ministrations as she sighed contently.

    "What are you doing?" Lauren whispered confused at the way they looked together. "Milo, stop touching her, you don't even know her. " Reaching over to remove his hand, he gently brushed her off without saying a word.

    Jesus, her brother must have had some sick obsessive fantasy that revolved around Roddrick.

    Brian could feel his jaw tick with a slight twinge of jealousy, even though he knew he had no right to feel it.  He couldn't mistake the way Milo looked at Roddrick, it was the look he should have given to her much more often when they were together for nearly ten years.

    A stranger didn't have that much compassion and concern for someone else.

    These two were much more than that, and he could sense it.

     When the EMS finally arrived, they were the only force to move him away from Roddrick's side. He watched as they checked her vitals. When they took her blood pressure he heard them speak in technical terms that weren't all too hard to decipher.

      "Hi ma'am, can you tell me your name?" One of them asked as the others continued their procedure.

    "Roddrick." She croaked.

     "Okay Roddrick, are you pregnant?"

      "God, no."

     "Do you have a history of fainting?"

      "Not that I know of."

   "Do you know what year it is?"

   "2013. Look, I didn't hit my head, just kind of felt dizzy."

    "You not only felt dizzy miss, you fainted as well. Your blood pressure is extremely low, so we will be moving you to the hospital to make sure we get that back up to where it should be."

     "I don't need a hospital..." She murmured." I'm fine."

    "You're going to the hospital!" Her manager exclaimed, sending a ringing through Roddrick's ears.

    Everyone turned to look at her outburst, before the paramedic continued.

    "We're also going to get that hand of yours wrapped up. You got a pretty nasty burn there."

    "It was his fault." She spoke groggily, looking to Milo."If you hadn't been over here, I wouldn't have had to look at you, and I wouldn't have burnt my hand." She stated matter of fact. Milo's eyes went to his sister's as she took in all that she was witnessing.

     "I'm sorry I'm so distracting." He whispered to her. The small grin she gave him was a treasure as he never expected to get one from her anytime soon.

         "You really are." The words were breathy, and he wondered if she even meant to speak them out loud. The wheeled stretcher that had been towed in with the paramedics was brought over and prepped for Roddrick to be placed on.

    "Are you okay to stand miss?" It was a question the EMT didn't have to ask as she immediately tried to stand. With the help of Milo at one side, and the EMT at the other, she was able to come to her full height.

    Bending at the waist, she stopped as she felt her head throb from the change of position. Milo's hand was still tightly wound around her own as they finally moved her to the stretcher.

    "I'm following right behind them." He let her know as they began moving her out. When he walked alongside Roddrick, he was quickly stopped by Lauren.

    "I think you should just let them go ahead and take her. You and I can ride over together to see how she is."

    "I'm not waiting. I'm going to go with her now."

    Milo began to pull free before, Lauren looked at him worriedly. He knew the look, and didn't have the time or the energy to deal with it.

   "You're going far enough with this Milo, and it's honestly freaking me out." The last time he had gotten attached to someone, it was just shy of destroying him and she hadn't seen it coming. If she could stop him from getting himself into trouble now, it would be for the best.

    "Look, you want to come later, then great. I'll be leaving now. Call me if you do." He wasn't going to get into the reason why he had to go with Roddrick, how he knew her, or what made him want to make sure she was okay.

    He wasn't alone either as both Lauren and Brian soon followed out the building as well.

    "Hey! Did you order already?" The manager called after them, seeing money walk out of the restaurant.

    She was ready to run out after the small party to make sure they paid their dues when an elderly couple spoke up, telling the woman to have some sympathy as they agreed to pay for their bills.

oOo

     Roddrick watched as the third nurse walked out of her room, asking the same questions as they had before.

    "This was a waste of time." She said out loud, looking at the things that were plugged into her body.  They had her give urine samples, checked this, and checked that.  They had even said that her blood pressure seemed to be stabilizing, though not as well as they had hoped.

      She was beyond ready to go, and didn't want to waste anymore time there.

     "They said your blood pressure is still a concern. You're gonna have to wait it out a bit longer, Roddrick." The sound of Milo entering the room reminded her that he had sat by her side for the past hour in a half.

    And also that she hadn't had the time to complain or thwart him away.

     This time when he came back, his face seemed to be less than pleased, aside from the fact that they were in a hospital. His hands were on his hips as he walked to her bedside.

    "There's some guy from the restaurant who followed us here. Says he knows you."

     She knew exactly who this person was, and rolled her eyes." You tell him to take his ass on somewhere because I do not welcome his presence. And if he's still here then I'm going to kick his ass. Tell him that." She made her threat and stood by it. She didn't need Brian around when she had to deal with Milo as well. She was vulnerable tonight, and hadn't rejected the guy, but that didn't mean he had risen in the ranks with her.

    "Good to know I'm not the only one on your list then..."

    "Would you like a separate one all your own?" She lashed out. "Don't think that anything here tonight changes anything."

    Holding up his hands, he nodded in agreement. "Understood."

    "Good." Roddrick's head fell back on her pillows as she noticed Lauren gone. The other woman had been in the room with her as well up until thirty minutes ago.

    "Where's your sister?"

    "Talton had car issues. Needed a lift back home. She said that she would call you later to check up on you, and that she loved you." Milo repeated what he had been instructed to say.

    " Did you know?" Roddrick asked. She knew that Lauren had mentioned Milo asking about her, so he knew that she was her friend.

    "During the wedding. I had seen you around with her before we had...met."

    "Met." She scoffed. "Do you usually scope out your sister's friends just to fuck them?" She said dryly.

    "No, it's nothing like that. It's not a hobby of mine or anything like that." He said genuinely offended.

    " A little game to play for when you get bored." She continued on.

   "You aren't a game, Roddrick. That's what I'm trying to tell you."

     "Well I've definitely been hearing something different then, haven't I? How old are you anyway?" It came to her attention that she had no idea about Milo's age. She and Lauren were just barely in their mid-twenties, and even Danny had referred to him as a kid just from one meeting.

    She began observing his features, seeing the youth that those who were barely twenty still held before they became hardened by the brunt of adulthood.

   "22." He said without skipping a beat.

    "22? Are you serious right now?"

    "I have no reason to lie about my age." Milo said undisturbed from her slight shock.

    "God had I known you were a kid, I never would have slept with you. I shouldn't have in the first place anyway." She said, shaking her head in disbelief. He felt a knick at his ego from her words as she seemed regretful.

    "You act like you're ten years older than me."

     "I'm nearly 25, you've barely been legal for long. "

     "And?" He said, still waiting for her point.

      "You're Lauren's baby brother."

     "Younger brother."

     "You...you're at a different place than I am. Even if it's not ten or fifteen years between us, you are." She tried to find a reason that would suffice for her argument.

    "I'm sure that it's not as different as you would like to think it is." Milo shrugged. Before Roddrick could retort back, in walked a doctor, putting an end to their back and forth.

     "Ms. Kennedy?" He said, peeking his head into the room. The glasses on his face sat low on the bridge of his nose as the rest of his large body followed in suit. "I am Dr. Hasinbasic. How are you feeling tonight?" He extended a hand to not only Roddrick, but Milo as well. With the information he held in his hand, he could only assume that he too would want to hear the news he had. Seeing the way he stood above her bed with a protective arm behind her head, the two of them seemed like any other young couple he had met.

    "I'm feeling better than before. Can I leave yet?" She didn't feel like beating around the bush and waiting for him to explain things that would only get herself diagnosing side to rear its ugly and irritating head.

     "Well, I'm glad to say that we have finally found the reasoning behind such a low BP like yours. A fainting episode didn't seem likely to cause such a drop, especially given no history of problems before. In your condition it is quite normal to experience fainting, and dizziness within the first trimester. But I see no reason why you won't be able to leave before the night is over with." The doctor spoke nonstop as he began explaining that Roddrick would be okay to leave the hospital, and that she would have to keep a close look on her blood pressure throughout her pregnancy to ensure that she and the baby remained healthy.

    Roddrick had honestly tuned out all of his talking, having already determined that she was completely okay, and that he was going to just be repeating what she already knew.

     "Hold on a second, did you say trimester? Like a pregnancy trimester?" Milo too had been glad to hear the good news that she wouldn't have to stay overnight. But when his mind registered all of the words that had been said, his body froze.

    "What the hell are you talking about? The doctor never said anything like that; were you even listening?" Roddrick rolled her eyes at Milo as she turned to Dr. Hasinbasic.

    "No, I did say first trimester. Your urine test results came back as positive, and from the looks of it you are relatively still in the early stages of your pregnancy." He said without a doubt.

     Roddrick's heart dropped.

    "No, that's not possible." She sat up straight, petrified from his words." You must have done it wrong, or tested someone else's pee because I am definitely not pregnant."

   "She's pregnant?" Milo whispered softly, completely confused. Now he felt like he would faint, and as he threw himself back into the chair by the bed, he could feel his skin rise with goosebumps.

   "I'm not pregnant!" She yelled. "I am not going through this again. I took three at home tests and every last one of them were negative. I can't be pregnant, and if that's what your test is telling you, it's wrong." Roddrick said panicked.

     Dr. Hasinbasic stood with a completely different understanding, the couple now looked lost and terrified upon him reporting news he thought they already knew.

    "I'm sorry if this may come as a shock to you Ms. Kennedy, but you are indeed with child." His voice became more serious as he tried to get it across to her. As her head shook in denial, he offered to do a blood test as well for confirmation, but she refused.

     Tears came to her eyes as she began to feel sick to her stomach.

     "I would be more than happy to give you information on what your next steps should be. It will help you with deciding what's best for you."

    Roddrick's mind went blank as she stared down at her blankets.

   "I didn't come in here for this." She said to herself, shaking her head as subtle tears fell down her cheeks.  She gripped the material tightly as she quietly sobbed.

     She wasn't sure when the doctor had left, or when the nurse had come back to remove her IV and grant her permission to leave. Everything around her no longer mattered as she turned over the news of her pregnancy a thousand times in her head, trying to turn it into being a lie.

    When she turned to look at Milo, she saw the look of anguish he held, mirroring her own.

    Roddrick burst into inconsolable tears.