Laughter

As Bree comes to sit with him on the couch, Gunner can feel the tension. And her statement confirmed his fears. Slowly he straightened up to sit next to her, his eyes remaining down. Without him even realizing it, his nervous leg began to bounce. "I....well, it... I mean... i-i-it..." He stopped his stammering and rubbed his throbbing forehead. "I don't... I...." 

Finally he had enough nerve to look at her, revealing tears behind his eyes. "I don't know." 

In the kitchen, JT was leaning back against the counter, and closed his eyes as he sighed. He wasn't sure which was worse. This, or if Gunner had been lying. 

Without giving Bree time to respond, Gunner got to his feet and wandered to the back patio door, folding his arms as he looked out into the yard. He wanted to leave. Run. Scream. End it. A bead of sweat ran down his neck. He was out of control, and he knew it. "I don't know," he repeated. "I...when I left work... it's..." He swallowed hard. "When you found me...that's...that's the last thing I remember." Was he truly going insane? Was it getting worse? Was it out of his control? A tear escaped to trickle down his face. He didn't even know how to express what he was feeling, but he knew it terrified him. The last time he'd felt anywhere near this was when Con had pulled him off that bridge. And right now...he didn't trust himself not to return to that very spot. But he couldn't tell them that. He just couldn't. It would ruin everything.


Kirk murmured his approval of Adison's hand on his back and sighed deeply. Maybe waiting had been worth it after all. He couldn't help his smile as she talked about his eyes, and gave her nose a little kiss. "Feel free to get lost... I don't mind if you never find your way back out." 

Expressing himself through more kisses, he knew it couldn't last forever, even if he wanted it to. Shifting around a little more, he switched places and rolled onto his back so Adison could be lying on his chest, just like she had the other night...only this time he could actually enjoy it. His fingers ran slowly through her hair as he smiled again. "I...think we've missed at least half the movie."


Hearing Maggie's yell, Garret straightened and was just ready to bolt for the stairs when she appeared. He looked at her with wide eyes for a moment until he realized there was no real emergency. Seeing how funny she looked, a smile, then a light chuckle slipped out, and he shook his head. Why she was begging him for help and not her brother or Laura, he didn't know. But the poor thing really was in a jam. 

At the stove, Laura bit her lip and turned away, trying so hard not to laugh. Maggie had trouble like this every once in a while, and she wasn't poking fun, but it really was quite amusing. She caught Nate's eye as he eyes watered from holding it in. 

Garret reached out and tried to help - how the girl got into this position, he'd never know. Was her arm through the neck hole or the sleeve? It was hard to tell. After a moment of tugging one way, then the other, he couldn't stand it any longer. Turning away and bending to rest his forearms on the back of a chair, his head hung as he laughed. He couldn't help it...she was impossibly stuck. 

Finally Laura couldn't keep it in and put a hand over her mouth to at least keep her own laughing to a minimum. "Oh, Hun... here..." As she came over to Maggie, her eyes twinkled with delight at seeing Garret's shoulders shake as he laughed. She hadn't even been sure he was capable of laughing until now. Grinning at Maggie, she helped her wriggle this way and that until finally the sweater came free and Laura pulled it off her head, static making her hair go every which way. "I think maybe it's time we retire this little sweater, don't ya think? And... you might wanna go brush your hair again."

One glance back over his shoulder at Maggie's hair sent Garret into another fit, and he shook his head, trying to stop.