"Is he sleeping?" Xanda asked AJ as he sat in a recliner with the kitten on his lap. "Out like a light." AJ replied. "Well that's good. He needs his rest." Xanda stated as she took a seat on the arm of the chair. AJ placed his hand on her lower back and started to rub softly. "So, are you going to tell me the things that my mother will end up telling me tomorrow?" He questioned. Xanda tensed up for a moment before relaxing. "You already know. Your mom told you a little while ago." Xanda mumbled as she enjoyed the warm feelings of his hands on her back. "Yeah, she did. Why didn't you tell me, Alexandra? We're supposedly together. Doesn't that mean that we tell each other everything?" He questioned. "I don't know, AJ. Doesn't it?" She said in an accusing voice. "What does that mean?" He asked back. "You know what I mean." She stated. "No, I don't know what you mean. Care to elaborate?" He asked in a deadpan voice. "Not really." She replied as she stood up and walked away. A moment later she returned to the living room with her jacket. "Where are you going?" AJ asked as he woke the kitten up. The kitten looked from Xanda to AJ and back again before deciding who he wanted to be with; his rescuer. "Where does it look like I'm going? I'm going home." She stated. Xanda bent down and swooped up the kitten into her arms and left the house.

AJ shouted to his mother that he would call her later and ran out the front door. "Xanda!" He shouted as she tried to unlock her car door. "AJ, I'm tired and I want to go home. Please, let's talk about this tomorrow." She pleaded. "No, we're talking about this tonight. Give me your keys." He demanded. "What!?" Xanda stood in shock as AJ held his hand out. "You heard me. Give me your keys. I'm going to drive you home and when we get there we're going to talk. You're going to tell me everything because I want to hear it from you not from someone else. And..." He sighed as he looked around and up at the sky. "And?" Xanda coaxed. "I'll tell you everything." He replied. Xanda grinned and place the keys softly in the palm of his hand. She stood on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you." She whispered.

***

"So basically you let yourself fall totally in love with someone and she ended up stomping on your heart?" Xanda asked as she and AJ laid in bed talking the night through. "Basically." He replied. "So, then you just started seeing women as things to help get rid of your built-up sexual energy?" She asked again. "No, not exactly. I loved and respected women from afar but the ones who I let get close were only there for sexual reasons but they knew that from the get go." He explained. "Not all of them." Xanda stated. "No, not all of them. Some became emotionally attached. I felt bad for them but I couldn't let any of them get close. After a while the guys forgot why I slept around and never committed. Howie got tired of it and always tried to set me up with someone. It never worked." AJ stated with a smirk and a laugh. "Obviously." Xanda grinned.

"So, what about me?" She asked. "What about you?" He asked back. "Why did you decide to commit to me? It's not like we're going to last forever." Xanda said as she played with AJ's hair. "True, but you never know. There was just something about you. Maybe the fact that you had been burned as badly as me or because you honestly had no clue who I was or..." "A combination of the two." Xanda interrupted. "Yeah..." AJ trailed off. "So, is this the end of our 'deep emotional discussion?'" Xanda asked. "Yes, I think it is unless you have anything to say, Miss Soldatova." AJ said with a smile. "Yes, I think I do, Mr. McLean." She replied with a grin. "And that would be?" He coaxed. Xanda turned around so that her stomach was against the bed and her face inches away from his own. "If you ever keep something like that away from me than I swear I will hurt you. You have nothing to hide from me." She replied. "I promise." He agreed. Xanda smiled as she leaned down to kiss him. After a few minutes of heated kissing AJ pulled away and looked around the room. "What?" She asked. "Where's Roadie?" He asked her. "Oh my god, I forgot about him!" Xanda shouted as she jumped out of bed to begin her hunt for the kitten. "You forgot about your 'son'? Some mother you make!" AJ joked as he stood up to help Xanda. Xanda shot him a hateful glare as AJ grimaced. "Oh god, Xand, I forgot! I was only kidding, babe." AJ quickly explained as he walked towards her. "Yeah I know." Xanda replied.

AJ and Xanda walked down her hallway and decided to split up. Where could a small kitten go in that house? He couldn't even walk over a garden hose without tripping. Xanda was searching the bathroom of one of the guestrooms when she heard AJ calling her into the other guest room. Xanda ran into the guest room and stopped quickly. "Oh shit!" She shouted. "Yeah, well that's what he did." AJ replied as he tried to pick up the little kitty mess on the carpet. "You didn't buy him a litter box or put out any newspaper for him?" AJ asked. "No, I forgot that you had to do that. I even forgot that kittens go to the bathroom all together." Xanda replied as she handed AJ some carpet powder that had been inside one of the nearby cabinets. "Xanda! You forgot that kittens go to the bathroom?" AJ questioned with a laugh. "Well, it's not like he's a dog for anything..." Xanda replied but stopped when she realized the stupidity of her statement. "I haven't been sleeping well, AJ." She whined. "I know, babe. I guess I'll just run to the store and pick up a litter box and some Fresh Step." AJ sighed. "You can do that tomorrow." Xanda offered. "No, if we're going to attempt to be parents of a orphaned kitten then we're going to do it right." AJ stated. Xanda laughed as she held Roadie in her arms. AJ smiled at how happy Xanda appeared to be with the kitten in her life. He kissed her forehead before peering down at Roadie. "You've been a very, very naughty little kitten. See that down there? Bad, bad, bad! No potty on the carpet." AJ scolded the kitten as it purred contently. "Oh, I guess you're good." AJ grinned as he rubbed Roadie between the ears.