Title: Yesterday to Tomorrow: Chapter Nine, Ripe Circumstances
Rating: PG-13 [mild swearing]

Summary: Sometimes admitting something is easier said than done.

Previous Chapter Shadows of memories

Current Chapter Ripe circumstances

Next Chapter Domus

Deciding to tell him was one thing. Getting up off the grass and going inside to do so was another thing. However luck or fate would have it that she would not have to make that move herself, as she felt those green eyes on her once again. Perhaps he had been watching her ever so often, because there was a different feeling with his stare then. Which turned out fortudiuous as Chris left the house and headed over to Alyssa.

Hearing him approach, confirmed what she was feeling and Alyssa turned over, though she did not sit up. He smiled down at her before sitting on the grass near her, offering her a bottle of water. She accepted but didn't open it nor sit up.

"You haven't chased me off yet, so that must me it's all right for me to intrude now," he commented.

She nodded, "It is. I was going to come find you soon. Though I'm rather comfortable where I am at the moment."

"And you said you don't like the sun here," Chris chuckled.

"I don't. I like the grass," she retorted, smiling slightly.

A silence fell between them. A certain tension seemed to settle into it, unlike anything they'd had before. Alyssa looked away from his gaze for a moment, looking to the sky.

"Sometimes I wonder if I could have ever done right by her. I got straight A's. I was involved in all sorts of things in school. I only dated the boys from her church. And yet that never seemed to satisfy her," Alyssa began. "When I met you, at the deli, she was beginning to distance herself even more from me. It took my father three weeks to convince her it was all right for me to not spend all my free time in Bible study, to get a job, to have friends."

"The day you walked into that deli changed my life, Chris," her eyes left the clouds to look at him. "I don't know what it was. Ripe circumstances. Fate. Chance. Whatever. You walked into that deli and took my breath away. And that night when you took me to the rehearsal studio with Soundgarden.... I think part of me felt like I had something in common with you. There was such internal rage and despair, that you let out in your music."

"You're the reason I made it through high school," she claimed. "All of my friends at church were jealous too. Especially since I had all the inside scoop on Soundgarden."

He chuckled at her last statement, though didn't say anything else, knowing she had more to say.

"We've been through so much. My parents' deaths. Addictions. Your marriages. College graduation. Struggles with writers block. The birth of your kids. I've lived a lifetime already with you, mostly silently by your side," she continued. "And I wouldn't change it for the world. Chris... Chris, I love you. More than just as my best friend. More than just as a brother. I love you with my very soul."

His eyes wavered some as a slow smile stretched across his mouth. His green eyes were imbued with a new light, one that Alyssa wasn't all that familiar with. But he did not speak. Instead, he leaned towards her and kissed her mouth very softly, very gently. Chris did not linger in the kiss, nor did he embrace her, but Alyssa sensed that it was with some restraint that he didn't.

"You are my soulmate, Alyssa. I've been foolish, pushing it aside. So very foolish. From day one, I've known," his hand reached for hers. "You are the reason I breathe today, the one I am meant to always be with. I'm only sorry it took me this long to realize it."

Alyssa's reply was only to kiss him, moving closer so as to deepen it. Her free hand dropped the bottle of water and reached to touch his cheek. Lips parting she felt truly complete when their tongues tasted each other. It was heaven. Pure bliss.

And all came crashing to a halt in a breath.

"I knew it!" a voice seethed.

Both broke apart quickly, their eyes seeking the source of the exclamation. Alyssa couldn't help but gasp, her free hand covering her mouth. Chris squeezed her other hand gently.

"Knew what?" he asked coolly.

"That you're having an affair with her," the venomous voice declared.

"Am I?" his voice remained flat.

"Wait till Vicky hears about this," she threatened.

"And how would that make a difference?"

"She'll leave your ass."

"Karen, she already has. Or have you not noticed her lack of presence around the house?" Chris stated.

The woman seemed a little peeved she would not be breaking up the marriage. Alyssa had to look away to keep from grinning at her. She'd never really cared much for the babysitter, probably because she seemed so intently jealous of Alyssa's and Chris's relationship.

"Where are the kids? I'm not leaving them with you and her," she glowered at Alyssa.

"Vicky has them," he replied. "And she's staying at the Hilton currently, if you really must run off to her and give her all the sordid details."

"Oh trust me. She'll hear about this," the woman declared before stomping back into the house and presumably out to her car.

"I had better go and call Vicky," Chris claimed, releasing Alyssa's hand as he stood. "Give her a head's up that bitch on wheels is on her way there."

"I should go home," she declared, getting to her feet as well.

He shook his head, "Don't leave me in this empty house alone. We're not done discussing what we are either."

Alyssa bit her lip but nodded, "All right. I'll stay. Unless it gets ugly on the phone. Then I'm walking."