"Secret Keeper"

**Note to reader: This chapter takes place directly after the Australia Day round-robin story we all wrote together and refers to certain events that occurred there.

Kate unlocked the front door and walked into the darkened house. It was late – after midnight, and Colin had obviously gone to bed. Her mind was still reeling from what had happened between her and Sid that night. She had been so upset with Colin for trying to start a fight with Sid at the celebration earlier that evening and had told him she’d find her own way home and he left there early without her.

She had never imagined that she and Sid would end up together – naked – in a meadow – having the most incredible sex she had ever experienced in her life. She just prayed Colin never found out about it. He was angry enough during the concert when he saw her and Sid just innocently dancing together. But, if he found out about this...he’d kill Sid for sure!

Kate quietly tiptoed up the stairs and into the bedroom where Colin was fast asleep in their bed. She slipped off her shoes and stopped in front of the bed. Colin stirred at bit, but didn’t wake, so she then made her way silently into the bathroom and gently shut the door.

"Oh my God Kate, what have you done," she thought to herself, as she studied her reflection in the bathroom mirror. "Colin can never...never find out about this. Ever." She ran her hand over her face and held it there for a moment, thinking about how she was going to be able to face him in the morning. She could still smell Sid’s cologne on her skin and couldn’t help but tremble at the thought of his hands and mouth all over her body. He was intoxicating. Letting out a loud sigh, Kate quickly disrobed and stepped into the shower.

Standing under the showerhead, allowing the warm water to flow over her head and down the back of her body, Kate closed her eyes and let her mind fill with Sid’s image. She smiled thinking about how he made her feel and she longed to be with him again. "No, this is wrong," her mind screamed, "Colin is your boyfriend. You can’t do this to him!" She opened her eyes, stared at the shower wall, shaking. She was so confused.

Quickly washing her hair and body, Kate stepped out of the shower, toweled off, and slipped into bed next to Colin. She lay there awake most of the night, thoughts of both Sid and Colin racing through her mind.

Colin had heard her come home that night, but decided to give Kate her space. He was still quite upset and hurt by what had happened earlier in the evening, and knew that if he tried to talk to Kate now he might only make things worse between them than they already were.

He really didn’t think he had been overreacting this time, though. That cocky bastard had his arms wrapped all around Kate! Still, she claimed they were merely dancing together – all innocent-like. Maybe he was only seeing what he wanted to see. Maybe it was only innocent. Somehow, Colin seriously doubted it. He didn’t trust Sid – not one bit.

When Kate slid into bed next to him, Colin’s body stiffened. He lay on his side, his back to her, not wanting to face her yet. Tomorrow they would have to talk, but for now, he’d let her be.

The next morning when Kate woke up, Colin was no longer in bed next to her. She had quite a bit to drink the night before and was suffering from a bit of a hangover this morning. Her head aching a bit, she pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and made her way down to the kitchen, where she found Colin sitting at the table, eating a bit of toast and vegemite and drinking a cup of coffee.

"’Morning," she said, quietly, as she walked over to the counter to pour herself a cup of coffee.

Colin swallowed his bite of toast, then quietly replied back, "’Morning." He wanted to talk to her about the night before, but would wait and let her make the first move. He watched as Kate took a sip of coffee and sat down with it in the chair across from him.

"Colin," she finally spoke after a moment of awkward silence, "we should talk about what happened yesterday.

His eyes met hers and he nodded. "Yeah, I guess we should." He paused, waiting for her to continue.

Kate crossed her arms, stared at Colin a moment. "How and where to start?" she wondered to herself. Finally, she spoke again, "Yesterday....when you saw me dancing with Sid...." Christ, this was going to be tougher than she thought!

"Yeah?" Colin asked, when she paused.

Kate took another sip of coffee, set down the cup, then continued, "It was just dancing, Colin. Nothing more." Well, not then, anyway, she added in her thoughts.

Colin let out a sigh. "Kate, I can’t help getting jealous when I see you with other guys like that. I’m sorry. I know that I might have overreacted by storming up to Sid like that, but from my perspective it looked like he was trying to make a move on you."

"You can’t keep getting angry like this every time a guy looks my direction, Colin. We talked about this already. You could have been arrested yesterday. If that happens, I’m not sure if I’d be around to bail you out."

"I know. I’m sorry, Kate. It was....stupid." He stood up and walked around the table. Kneeling down beside her, Colin took her hands in his and looked into her eyes. "Kate, sweetheart, I love you."

Kate returned his gaze, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. "I know, Colin," she replied, softly. "Just promise me you won’t go trying to start a fight with Sid again. He’s a friend." She hated lying to Colin like this, but he couldn’t know how she really thought of Sid.

Colin bit his lip. "Fine," he replied after a moment. "If it means that much to you, I will do my best to get along with him." If that bastard makes one inappropriate move, though, all bets are off! Colin thought to himself.

Kate smiled, leaned in and kissed his forehead. "Good," she said, "Because he’s still coming to dinner Friday night. Remember? We invited him the night of the New Year’s Eve party."

Colin could feel the heat rise in his cheeks. He took a deep breath, let it out. "Dinner. With Sid," he thought a moment, then added, "This should be...fun."

TBC....