A Kiss Goodnight
by Cowgirl

part 10

The docks were chilly at this time of night and Alexis pulled her coat tighter around her as they walked. Sonny's limo had dropped them off near the water and now waited dutifully for them to return. She didn't see anyone, but she was sure Max or Johnny was following close behind them in the shadows. They walked in silence and every once in a while Alexis would hear a content sigh escape from Sonny's mouth. The night breeze picked up the spicy scent of his cologne and carried it to her making her all too aware of her attraction to him.

Sonny walked beside Alexis and took deep breaths. The night air was just what they both needed. They walked side by side, mere inches apart and Sonny longed to reach over and grasp her hand in his, lace his fingers through hers and stroke his thumb across the smooth silky skin of her hand. He sometimes found himself almost wishing he had never kissed her. After he made that bold leap and pressed his mouth to hers, it was all over. He couldn't shake the intense feelings he had experienced when his skin touched hers, when he had inhaled her scent or when he looked into her brown eyes and saw desire mixed with fear. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath. He didn't know how he could survive being around her when all he wanted to do was take her in his arms and kiss her until they both passed out. He smiled to himself thinking about it. Alexis Davis, the lady lawyer with the sharp tongue who had resisted to the best of her abilities even having the remotest thing to do with him in the first place was now the most important person in his life. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that he could fall in love with a woman like Alexis, but here he was.

"What are you smiling at?" Alexis' silky voice broke through his reverence.

He stopped walking and waved his hand over to a bench. "Nothing, I was just...you know...just feeling content."

Alexis nodded as she sat down. "I know what you mean. I feel the same way right now."

They sat in silence, staring out over the water. Sonny looked slightly to his left on the horizon and caught sight of Wyndemere looming in the distance. He nodded his head towards it and Alexis followed his gaze. "It must've been scary growing up in that place."

Alexis sighed as she stared at the mansion lurking in the distance. "You know it wasn't always." She shook her head. "It had it's moments. Stefan..." Her voice faltered at her brother's name. She missed him so much and he was so far away. "Stefan did his best to see that I had some happiness."

"He was good to you huh?" Sonny questioned as he stretched his arms out over the back of the bench.

Alexis nodded. "Yes he was," she said softly. "He would wait until Helena was on the launch and headed into town for whatever reason and he would come and get me. He would say come on little one, we're going on an adventure."

Sonny stole a glance at her face and the pure happiness that showed on it as she remembered at least some good things about her childhood. "Where would he take you?"

"To the water...the beach that surrounds the property. Sometimes he would bring his horse and he would lead me around on it and call me a princess. Other times we would get to the beach and I would just take off running. I would run as fast as I could and he would run right along side me." She bit her lip and her expression darkened a little bit. "I would run like the wind was chasing me. It felt good to feel free with him, even for the short periods of time that we would get to enjoy one another's company. It never lasted too long. We always had to make sure we got back before Stavros noticed we were gone, or before Helena came back."

"That's good," Sonny spoke quietly. "I mean that Stefan loved you so much."

Alexis smiled. "He really did. He tried so hard to make me feel loved. He was the only one my whole life who made me feel some sense of self worth, he made me feel safe. I never had that with anyone else." She looked down at her lap and closed her eyes briefly. Opening them again she turned her head to Sonny. "Not until you," she said in a whisper.

Sonny's breath caught, he only hoped she didn't see it. "I...I make you feel safe?" he said searching her eyes.

She tucked her lip in between her teeth and nodded. She looked so much like a lost little girl at that moment that Sonny just wanted to hold her. "Yes," she answered him.

He couldn't help but smile. "Even...even being who I am and what I do...I make you feel safe?"

She smiled back at him, that embarrassed crimson spreading across her face. "You make me feel safe when I'm with you." She shook her head. "I can't explain it," she said with a wave of her hand.

Sonny closed his eyes, his mind frozen trying to memorize what he was feeling right at that moment. He nodded his head. "I hope I can always make you feel safe," he said, still not looking at her.

He felt her hand on his arm, just above his wrist. "You will."

His eyes snapped open and at that moment he didn't care about anything else. His eyes were locked on hers and everything around them disappeared. No sound was heard, the quiet of the night becoming even more silent as they stared intensely at one another. Without prompting and by the force of sheer will their heads inched closer to one another. Alexis' eyes closed as Sonny's face tilted towards hers, he could feel her breath, the tip of his nose grazed hers, eyelashes fluttered against one another their lips were about to meet and suddenly the exquisite silence was broken.

"Sonny," Jason's voice called out.

Sonny sat upright and looked to his right hand man as he descended the steps down to the dock. He glanced at Alexis who looked shaken by what might have occurred if Jason hadn't interrupted. "What's up?" he asked.

Jason stopped short when he realized Sonny wasn't alone. It didn't take rocket science to figure out that he had just interrupted something. "I'm...sorry," he said glancing between Sonny and Alexis.

Alexis stood up. "It's okay Jason. We were just about to go up to Kelly's and get some coffee," She looked at Sonny. "I'll head up there."

Sonny nodded. "Johnny will take you."

She nodded and turned to see the body guard materialize out of thin air.

She stepped around Sonny and he touched her arm. "I'll be there in a sec."

She nodded and walked away.

Sonny stared after her.

"Hey, I'm sorry if I interrupted something," Jason said cautiously.

Sonny shook his head. "It was probably best that you did."

The younger man watched his boss for a second. "What's going on between you two?"

Sonny blinked and looked to Jason. "Nothing...we were just talking." He sighed. "What were you going to tell me?"

Jason didn't believe him. He knew what he saw when he walked up. Sonny and Alexis were just about to kiss when he called Sonny. Part of him felt guilty for interrupting. He had nothing against Alexis personally, but his loyalty to Carly made him resent Alexis just a little for becoming so important to his friend and employer and he new in the back of his mind that Sonny could never feel for Carly the way he seemed to hide so desperately what he felt for Alexis." Carly's at it again," he said bluntly.

Sonny winced. "What now?"

Jason shifted. "She got into a shoving match with Faith."

Sonny raised an eyebrow. "Faith?"

Jason shook his head. "I don't know...Faith showed up at Carly's club and all hell broke loose. They're at the PCPD right now. Faith wants to press assault charges against Carly and Mac's holding her there until they can sort this out."

Sonny sighed and glanced down the docks towards Kelly's. Another moment with Alexis that should have been theirs was about to become all about Carly. He nodded. "All right, I'll take care of it. Let me go and get Alexis and we'll meet you down at the station. Tell Carly I'm on my way."

"Sonny, do you think it's wise to bring Alexis? I mean..."

Sonny's head snapped over to his friend. "Why wouldn't I bring Carly my lawyer if she's sitting in jail?"

Jason held up his hands. "Okay. I was just..."

"Well don’t," Sonny snapped. "What is it that you suddenly have against Alexis?"

Jason looked dumbfounded. "Nothing. My loyalty is to Carly in that situation and you know it."

Sonny pointed a finger in Jason's direction. "Alexis is in my life and a very important part of it and you and Carly and anyone else who has a problem with that better just learn to deal with it."

Jason nodded his understanding and watched as Sonny strode up the stairs and towards Kelly's. If he wasn't sure when he had walked into the situation five minutes ago, he was sure now. Something was happening between Sonny and Alexis. He didn't have a problem with that, but he knew Carly wouldn't be able to accept that at all and he felt torn.

Sonny reached Kelly's minutes later and headed for the door. He reached for the handle when Johnny called to him. He turned and faced his body guard. "What's up?"

Johnny nodded his head towards the limo that was now parked outside the little restaurant. "She's in there."
Sonny glanced into the window of a nearly empty Kelly's and then back towards the car. "She's in the..." He started to say, but Johnny reached over and opened the door.

Sonny leaned down and stuck his head in. Sure enough there was Alexis sitting with her legs crossed and two Styrofoam cups of coffee balanced on her knee. He crawled in and sat across from her. "I thought we were meeting inside."

Alexis raised an eyebrow. "That was before Jason came looking for you. What's she done this time?"

Sonny glanced at her and noticed the steely resolve that was in her eyes. She was fighting being mad at him. He sighed heavily. "Mac's got her in at the station. Apparently she and Faith had a little shoving match."

Alexis shook her head. "Let's go," she said as she handed him one of the cups of coffee.

He leaned forward to take it and when they were inches apart he caught her eyes. "Lex..."

She held up a hand and briefly shut her eyes. "It's fine. We'll go and get her out."

Sonny sighed and sat back in his seat. Whatever magic was floating around while they were sitting on the docks was gone now. She would never say it or consciously let him see it, but she was hurt that Carly had once again come in between their plans.

They rode the rest of the way to the station in silence. When they got there Alexis marched out of the limo first not even stopping to look back at him. She strode into the station and glanced at Carly who sat handcuffed to Mac's desk. "Are the cuffs really necessary Mac?" she asked the police commissioner who was smiling at her, knowing this routine all too well.

He shrugged. "Standard procedure counselor, you know that."

Alexis grabbed Carly's file off the desk, gave him a look and then flipped her head toward Carly. Mac stifled a laugh and undid the handcuffs. Carly rolled her eyes and stood up, dramatically rubbing her wrist she looked defiantly at Alexis. "I suppose..."

Alexis held up a hand. "Uh uh...shush." She said flippantly and pointed to the interview room behind them. "In there." She said and headed in said direction, Carly on her heels.

Both women sat down on opposite sides of the gray metal table that stood in the middle of the room. Alexis whipped out her glasses and set them on her face as she flipped open Carly's file. She stopped and glanced up at Carly.

"What happened?"

Carly's lip curled into a sneer. "How lucky that Sonny could find you so quickly," she quipped with venom.

Alexis sniffed and continued. "Did Faith start this or what?"

"Let me guess. He really didn't have to look very hard am I right? You were probably right there sitting like a good little lap dog on his couch...ooh wait...no...you two were having a cozy little dinner where he would smile at you and you would just lap it up like a freshman at her first dance."

Alexis shot her a bored look. "You want to sit in here all night that's fine with me."

"You would love that wouldn't you? Then you could go back over to Sonny's and pretend that he's actually interested in you."

Alexis took a deep breath, slowly closed the file and stood up heading for the door.

"Where are you going?" Carly asked incredulously.

Alexis stopped and turned back towards her. "I'm done. I came here to help you and you obviously don't want or require my help so I'm going home to a nice bowl of popcorn and my bed." She started for the door again. "Have a lovely evening."

"You'll be back. Sonny will shoot the puppy eyes at you and you'll come waltzing back in here because he wants you to."

Alexis continued walking but raised a hand and waved it over her shoulder. "Goodnight Carly."

Alexis walked back into the squad room to find Sonny and Jason huddled together over by Mac's desk. She waltzed up to them and slapped Carly's file against Sonny's chest. He took it from her with a quizzical expression. "What's up? Is everything taken care of?"

Alexis slowly and deliberately turned toward the two men and smiled. "I'm going home now," she said, her voice dripping with over-false sweetness. She nodded and walked out of the station.

Sonny looked after her and sighed. He didn't have to ask what had happened. Carly probably started brow beating Alexis the moment she walked in and sat down. He shook his head. He couldn't blame Alexis for leaving. Carly was ruthless to her more often than not and why should she stay there and help her.

"What do we do now?" Jason asked.

Sonny sighed and thought for a moment. He shook his head and looked over at his henchman handing him the file. "I really don't care. Call Justus or Dara or someone, I'm getting out of here."

"You're just going to leave her here?" The younger man asked incredulously.

Sonny looked at him. "That's right. Carly and I are divorced and quite frankly I'm tired of picking up after her."

"But she needs to get out of here tonight."

Sonny shrugged. "Like I said, Dara and Justus are both competent lawyers." He started to leave but stopped, turning back to Jason and swiping a hand over his mouth. "Alexis may not like Carly, but I'm pretty sure she wouldn't leave her hanging unless Carly was being impossible and I'm tired of dealing with it. Alexis is my friend and I care about her and I'm sick of standing by not saying anything while Carly verbally assaults her all the time. I'm not gonna put up with it any more."

He didn't wait for a response. He wanted to find Alexis before she decided to try to walk home by herself. He didn't have to look very hard. When he walked out into the coolness of the night air from the stuffy, airless police station, Alexis was standing out by the curb looking back and forth down the street. He walked up behind her. "What are you doing?"

"I'm seeing if I can hail a cab," Alexis said sharply.

"At this time of night. You won't get one."

She turned on her heel. "Then I'll walk...it's nice out."

Sonny reached out and grabbed her by the hand. "Hey," he said and waited until she stopped moving. "I'll take you home."

The tip of her tongue came out and touched her upper lip and she shook her head. "You'll be tied up here with Carly for a couple of hours at least," she said still not looking at him.

Sonny cleared his throat. "Nah, I'm going home." He said and headed over to his limo, opening the door. He stopped and looked up at Alexis. "You coming?"

She thought about it for a second and deciding it was better to accept the ride rather than walk the long distance home in the dark. She got into the car and slid in next to him.

They drove in silence for several blocks before Alexis finally looked at him. "Did you manage to get her out or something?"

Sonny rubbed his chin. "No. Jason will take care of it."

She raised and eyebrow. "Did you tell him to call Dara?"

"Why do you care?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Well...I don't...but you do."

He shook his head. "Nope."

She sighed. "Sonny, you don't have to let Carly sit in jail to prove a point to me."

"I'm not." He said turning in his seat a little to face her. "I'm tired of her pulling her stunts and expecting everyone else...namely me...to come and bail her out of it." He shrugged. "If Jason wants to do that...well then let him handle it...end of story."

Alexis sat back in her seat and relaxed a little, keeping her eyes on Sonny. "I still think you're doing this to prove something to me...and all it's going to do is bring the wrath of Carly down on you."

He dipped his head to one side. "I can handle it," he said looking straight ahead. "But you're half right. This is about you. You know...Carly's my ex-wife and I'll always be around if she really needs me, but you're the woman I love and I'm not going to stand for her treating you like dirt anymore."

Alexis closed her eyes. "Could you...could you not talk like we're..."

"Together? I'm not...I told you I'll go along with what ever you want Lex, but I'm not going to pretend that I'm not in love with you." He turned and flashed the smile at her.

She tried to maintain an annoyed facial expression, but when he looked at her like that she couldn't help but smile back. "You're impossible you know," she said matter of factly.

He smiled even wider and leaned close to her. "But you like that about me," he retorted, his face lingering dangerously close to hers.

She looked away from him. "Oh look at that...we're home," she covered as the limo came to a stop outside of Harborview Towers.

They rode up the elevator in relative silence, occasionally stealing a glance at one another. When they reached their floor, Sonny stepped off of the elevator first and headed to Alexis' door. When she caught up with him, he held out his hand and she promptly dropped her keys into it. As usual, he opened it without effort and she rolled her eyes. Stepping past him, she started into her apartment but stopped and leaned in the doorframe. They looked at one another for a minute before Sonny cleared his throat. "Could I say...you know...could I tell you I'm sorry again?" he said quietly.

Alexis gave him a stiff smile. "You don't have to apologize Sonny."

He shook his head. "No, I do. I'm...I'm messing this up."

Alexis sighed. "Sonny..."

"Hey, we had a nice night going..."

"Yes, we did."

"Then I let myself get worked up the second Jason said Carly's name."

She put her hand on his arm. "Sonny, it's all right."

He took a deep breath and looked at her. "I almost had you letting me kiss you," he said with a shy smile.

Alexis pursed her lips. "Almost."

He shifted his feet nervously. "You think...you know..." He looked back up at her with that little boy smile of his. "That I might get another opportunity to do try that again?"

Alexis grinned at him. "Don't push your luck buddy."

Their eyes met and held one another again. "I am sorry. Every time I try to make it nice for us...hurricane Carly come in and ruins it."

Alexis didn't say anything. She was tired of the name Carly. She didn't want to talk about her anymore.

"What did she say to make you walk out of there?" he asked cautiously.

Alexis shook her head. "The usual...it doesn't matter."

"It matters to me."

"I know that and I appreciate that, but I can handle Carly."

"You shouldn't have to...I shouldn't ask you to. I know how she is to you."

Alexis looked over his shoulder for a minute and then met his eyes again. "Well, don't worry about me. After tonight, I won't be dealing with Carly any longer. I hope you understand."

"I do Alexis and I don't blame you."

She nodded. "Well...thank you for dinner and the walk."

"Yeah.... I'm sorry it turned out..."

She put a finger to his lips. "Shh...No more I'm sorry. I had a nice night."

He nodded. "Okay," he leaned in and kissed her cheek. "See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah."

"Goodnight."

"Night."

Note from Darlene: There may be more to this but this is all I have!