Paying a Visit (Suzie)

[Derek Burke]

"There's a difference between loveless and abusive." he said clearly," If you had told Zack you didn't want to marry him, he might come after you yes, he might even be a nuisance, but you wouldn't have to go into hiding, and you wouldn't have to be protected from him."

Derek on the other hand, if a girl he loved had slipped away from him he probably wouldn't like what he would do. Which was probably a good thing he decided not to fall in love period.


"He'll come around, if he isn't in love with you yet..." he sighed, " There's no cruelty in Zach, not even an ounce, which is a miracle if you knew his family. I won't lie to you and say you're the only woman he's looked in love with, because the truth is Zach loves women period. He adores them. I will say however, that you're the only one I think who has been truly worth his time, that said when Zach does fall for a woman, truly fall that is, he'll be the best man he can be for the woman who steals his heart." He turned toward her and placed a knuckle under her chin to raise her face to his, " And Cher...you have my vote." he smiled at her then turned to see what they were making. Where she fumbled in the kitchen he flourished, he lived on his own after all, and enjoyed a good meal.

[Suzette Rousseau]

Suzie was quiet, her eyes on her hands on the countertop. Derek's words were not making her feel any better, actually. Maybe Zach was genuinely in love with all women, and were that the case... why would she be special? Maybe she wasn't even the only girl that he'd gotten pregnant, but she needed to figure something out quick, before Taylor realized she was carrying a baby that wasn't his.

She sighed, meeting his eyes when he forced it, and murmured a soft "Thank you," before she turned her attention to the room around her.

"I'm sorry, I don't.... I mean, I don't know what to make."

[Derek Burke]

He nodded, in that moment a part of him was stolen in her eyes. Sympathy washed over him, he knew of course that she would hate that. It wasn't that he pitied her, far from it, he was beginning to pity himself instead. She was courageous feisty and fierce, his friend didn't deserve her, and there would be hell to pay if Zach screwed this one up.

It was so different from his original thinking that it took him a moment to adjust, when he did he smiled at her, "Why don't you set up out there and I'll see what I can do in here?" he suggested. She probably needed space anyway and he was eager to show off his cooking prowess.