Later that evening, only five sat in the once largely occupied house - those five were Ayame, Rowen, Kia, Sage, and Natsuki. Kia was in the laundry room, secretly trying to get the stain out of the white bed sheet that she was washing, Natsuki was sitting in the family room, watching a TV show, and Ayame was put to bed, but not to sleep.

Rowen stalked around the house, finally finding Sage in the den, reading a magazine. He slowly approached him, wanting this to start off the right way.

"Sage," Rowen started, hesitating to meet Sage's eye.

"What is it, Ro?" Sage replied bleakly, keeping his eyes in his magazine.

"Umm... well, I want to say that... well; I've really thought about what happened today. And what I really want to know is... Sage... uh,"

"Spit it out already."

"Are we still friends?"

Sage immediately looked away from his magazine and met eyes with Rowen. "What do you mean 'are we'?"

"Are we still friends?" Rowen replied again, this time more quicker and full of more confidence.

Sage tried not to smile, "Of course! I mean, I hope we are."

Rowen exhaled all of the air that was in his lungs, grabbing his chest from the loss of oxygen. He rubbed his face with his other hand, bringing it down over his mouth and muffling his laugh. "You don't know how relieved I am to hear you say that, Sage."

"Well, good! So am I." Sage put his magazine on the table that lay before him and stood up. He reached his hand out and firmly grabbed onto Rowen's shaking it harshly. "Thanks for understanding, Ro."

Rowen smiled, and eventually laughed.

But their conversation was ended short.

Kia came into the room, carrying with her an empty box of laundry bleach. "Hey, Sage. Do we have any more..." she paused to look up. "Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't know. I'll leave-"

"No, that's okay, Kia." Rowen ushered her in the room with a wave of his hand; "we were just clearing up a little confusion."

Kia set the box on the table in front of her while she sat down in the couch in-between Sage and Rowen. "So you guys aren't mad at each other or me anymore?" she asked hopefully.

Both of them shook their heads, "We're fine now. No more fighting between us," Sage reassured her, smiling brightly.

Kia laughed, "Is that so!? In that case, we should lock the door and have some real fun!"

Sage and Rowen immediately stopped laughing and gave her bewildered expressions. Almost in unison, they both replied, "Wha-what!? You don't mean-"

Kia was laughing so hard, she had to use the table in front of her to support herself. "You guys actually believed me?!" she started laughing again. "You... and you," she paused to point to Rowen and Sage, "and me... now that'll be the day!" she burst into another fit of laughter.

Rowen and Sage started to laugh uneasily, Rowen running a hand through his hair and Sage rolling his eyes. But when he and Rowen both met eye contact, Sage could almost exactly tell what was going through Rowen's mind. A maniacal smile came across his features, identical to Rowen's.

Sage looked down to Kia, who was still using the table for support. Playing his air, he began to laugh even louder than he was before, Rowen not far behind. Then as swift as the north wind, Sage grabbed Kia's waist and pulled her back on top of his chest, locking his hands underneath her bosom as he leaned to the side of the couch. Rowen followed after Sage, getting partially on top of Kia, while running his hands along the sides of her legs. For the most part, at the bottom was Sage, then Kia, and on top was Rowen.

Kia was speechless, "What! I wasn't serious-" she got cut off as Rowen kissed her lips and Sage kissed her neck. For the few moments that Rowen and Sage were kissing her, Kia's body temperature rose to a new level, and one of her secret desires came that much closer to becoming reality. But when they broke away, Kia was left again, speechless.

Rowen couldn't help but smile when he got a glimpse at the look of Kia's shocked face. It was like he had slapped her again, but this time with a totally different emotion. "Do you want us to keep going?" he asked, he voice suddenly low and very seductive.

Kia blinked, "I... ah-umm..."

Sage laughed, "We know what you're thinking. We've know you for too long to not know what you want, Kia-chan," his chuckle was deep, sending an icy chill through Kia's spine as he traced his tongue along the back of Kia's neck.

"It's really up to you, Kia," Rowen let his hands fall to the buckle of her pants. He moved his hands back down to the couch when Sage brushed his hands up Kia's shirt, going only far enough to tease her.

Kia wished she could've lost her voice then and there, so that she wouldn't be able to say yes or no. But Kia squeezed her eyes shut, knowing her body's desires will want to kill her soul's conscience for what she was about to say, "No-"

"What in hell are you three doing?!" Natsuki stood in the doorway, glaring at them.

Rowen's eyes bulged, "Nothing!" He coughed and immediately pulled himself up off of Kia. "We were just-"

"Doing what? I have eyes you know!" Natsuki yelled, bringing herself into the room.

"We were just joking around, Suki!" Sage replied, swinging his one leg back down in front of him as he sat upright. "It was all a joke!"

"It sure as hell didn't look like a joke to me!"

"Well, it was. We just wanted to see Kia's reaction to it." Rowen paused, quickly moving his hand over his chest, "I swear to the gods that it was joke."

Kia looked crushed. But going along with Sage and Rowen, she hunched her shoulders and heaved a sigh, "Yeah, it was all one... big... weird joke."

At that, Sage turned his head to look at her, smiling brightly when he caught the expression on Kia's face, "We won't do it again, Natsuki," he started, glancing back to his wife in the doorway. "We promise."

"Who's we?" Kia asked.

Rowen and Sage both laughed out-loud. "You seriously thought that we were going to do that to you?" Rowen asked, looking incredulously at Kia. When she didn't respond, he flicked his eyes back to Sage and started laughing again.

"It had better be only a joke," Natsuki started, crossing her arms. "Anyways, what do you guys want for dinner? I'm going to call-"

"I don't care as long as you get me French fries."

Rowen finished the order, "And add some ice cream to that list. Vanilla ice cream."

Natsuki cocked her head to the side, "Vanilla ice cream and French fries? How about vegetables or fruit in your diet?"

"French fries are made out of potatoes... isn't that a veggie?" Sage tried, desperately trying not to laugh.

"And ice cream has eggs in it-"

Natsuki cut Rowen off, laughing, "Eggs aren't fruit!"

"Then get strawberry or peach ice cream. I don't really care as long as it's ice cream."

Sage and Rowen laughed softly when Natsuki finally leaved the room, giving up all hope with a long sigh. "All right, fries and strawberry ice cream it is then."

"Where are you going to pick it up?" Rowen called.

Natsuki stopped in the door, "We don't have those things here?" she stopped, watching Rowen shake his head. "Well... then should I go to the store?"

Sage nodded, "I can't eat dinner without my fries!"

"Yeah, there is a twenty in my wallet if you need money. Just go to the nearest fast food place, I'm sure they have fries and ice cream," Rowen assured her, waving her off with a movement of his hand.

Natsuki looked unsure about all of this, "I don't know. I don't like driving at night by myself."

"Then bring Ayame with you. She's not asleep, I'll tell you that." Sage waited for a reply, but nothing came. "Just go. We'll all be here when you get back. We're hungry and you are going to save us from our starvation... now go!"

Natsuki chuckled, "Fine, fine. But I better get something in return." She left the room, with or without the reply from Sage and Rowen.

Kia unbelievably looked to Sage and Rowen, who were both laughing. "Just like that, she's gone? No bitch slaps or threats for me?"

Sage shook his head. "Guess not."

"I think I talked something into her," Rowen spoke up, and giving a sigh that stopped his laughter. He coughed softly and stood from his seat. Giving Kia a single glance of his deep aqua blue eyes, he started to walk towards the door. But instead of walking out of it, he closed the door, locked it, and turned himself so that he was facing the two who sat on the couch. "Ready?"

"What!? I thought you just said that it was all a joke!" Kia almost yelled, all the hairs on her arms raising like static electricity.

Sage hushed her, "Do you want Ayame to wake up? Keep it down!"

"And keep your screams down too," Rowen stated, moving slyly back over to the couch and sitting down next to Kia. The smile that he held on his face was two inches away from laughter. He pulled himself on top of her again, Sage taking her by the waist and pulling her back on top of him again- all in the same position as they were before.

"What do you think we were going to say in front of Natsuki? That, yes, we were intending it to be like that but you interrupted it?" Sage rasped, moving her hair to the side so he could kiss her neck.

"But... but-but-"

Rowen moved his hands to her waist, swiftly working through the buckle of her pants. He pulled them down so that they rested low on her hips, and then he turned his vision back up to her face as he kissed her.

Kia let out a small cry of surprise mixed with pleasure as Sage slipped his hands under her arms and under her shirt, pushing it up to her collarbone. He feathered his fingertips over the outline of her bra, where fabric met skin, and moved his mouth up to her ear. Tracing his tongue along her earlobe, he whispered simple words of bliss.

Rowen, on the other hand, was too close to bursting out in laughter. If he ever made eye contact with Sage, he was absolutely sure that both of them would break out into uncontrollable laughter. And he didn't even want to think if his hand or mouth met Sage's. So he tried to focus on something else - the something else being the way he kissed Kia. Every time he pulled away and went back to kiss her, it was in a different way. Like where he moved his tongue or where on the mouth his kiss landed, heck, even if he bit her or not.

Kia was in way over her head. Her nerves were locked in overload. She couldn't believe what all of this turned out to be like. She wouldn't take in that she, her husband, and his best friend would end up in bed all together. But when she pinched herself in the leg, she realized that, yes, everything was real. The sensation, the desire, the will - all of it was real.

Rowen, not realizing it, slithered his hands down to her jeans and slid them off to her knees. He was so worked into the kiss that he was giving Kia, that his mind lost control of his body and his temptation rose to complete power. Slipping his mouth away from Kia's, he quickly traced his lips down her neck, down the front of her body, and down to her stomach. His mind didn't notice the fact that the way Kia breathed - the way her stomach was moving up and down so fast - that anyone looking upon her knew that she was nervous. But Kia's short cry woke Rowen out of his blindness made by temptation.

He stopped what he was doing and looked up. Kia had her head tilted to the side, leaning away from Sage as he lay beneath her, smothering her neck with kisses. His hands were around her, one pulling at her bra strap, and the other lightly placed on the edge of her hip.

Kia opened her eyes, confused for a moment on why Rowen had stopped. She stared down at him, her eyes filled with uncertainty and something close to worry.

Rowen quickly shot his eyes away, bringing them to rest on her openly bare stomach. What am I doing? he thought. With a certain amount of acquired speed, Rowen slipped Kia's pants back on and pulled Sage's hands away from her, pulling Kia's shirt back down over her exposed body.

"What? What's wrong, Rowen?" Kia asked, even know she thought that she knew the answer.

"This is supposed to be a joke. But it already went too far," he replied, sighing in something of concern.

"But you said before that-"

"Forgot about what I said, okay?"

Kia sat up, and turned so that she could look at Sage, "Is it?"

Sage shrugged.

"But..., no! No, no, no!"

"We aren't really going through with it, Kia. I mean, put yourself in my place." Sage waited for Kia to show signs that she was listening. When that was approved, he continued, "Do you seriously think that I really want to see Rowen like that?" Sage replied.

Kia started to laugh. "But he has a nice body!" She playfully fell onto Rowen's shoulder, "Don't you think?" Kia chuckled as Rowen pushed her off of him, rolling his eyes.

Sage laughed hysterically, "You are really serious, aren't you?"

Kia made a huge pouty face and nodded. "We could turn off all the lights and make Ayame and Natsuki go away."

"Like how can we make Ayame and Natsuki go away?" Rowen asked, amused by what Kia was coming up with.

"Well, you guys sure had an easy time getting Natsuki to leave the room! Why would it be any harder for Ayame to leave? She's almost twenty years younger!" Kia paused, showing her thinking expression. "Or! Or we could call in sick tomorrow and go to the hospital but go elsewhere! We could eat some of those fries and pretend we all have French fry disease!"

Rowen laughed, "French fry disease?! What the heck?"

"Or food poisoning would work," Sage commented. "But I think you have a plan there, my dear Kia. Rowen? What do you think?"

He shrugged.

Kia was getting way to hyper over the fact that this might actually work. Things came to her mind and left them just as quick and her voice box was as every bit confused as Rowen and Sage. "And, and, we could buy some of that juice... that, that stuff made with grapes."

"Wine?"

"Yes! Yes, wine, wine is good, thank you, Sage."

Kia kept mumbling on, but Rowen and Sage weren't noticing it, for they were laughing too hard.

"You know what, Kia?" Sage put one hand on her leg in attempts to get her from stop thinking out-loud.

"And-huh? What?" Kia stopped, looking directly to Sage. "You're going to tell me that it wouldn't work out, right? You and Rowen don't want to do this. I already know that."

"No, no it's not that. It's just-"

"Rowen? Sage! Open this door right now!" Natsuki's muffled yell was heard as she pounded on the door.

"Shit!" Sage violently pushed Kia to the side and eyed Rowen, flicking his eyes towards the door.

Just as Rowen got what he was trying to say, Sage opened the door and Natsuki came flying into the room, in her arms a couple of brown bags. She stopped in her tracks as her eyes lighted on Rowen and Kia, both on the floor. Rowen had pushed Kia to the floor, and now he was sitting on top of her lap.

"Whoa, Rowen, you should really do that elsewhere."

Rowen faked a smile to Natsuki, then he turned his head down to Kia and made sure that Natsuki couldn't see him, "Button your pants!" he rasped, his teeth clenched.

"I got your fries and ice cream. They didn't have vanilla or strawberry, so I got chocolate," Natsuki responded, throwing the bags on the coffee table in front of them. "I'm sure you guys behaved when I was gone..."

"Of course we did! Do you think I could really get past Rowen now?" Sage asked Natsuki, pointing to Rowen and Kia as they still sat on the floor.

Natsuki let out a short silent sigh, "There's more than meets the eye. But you three enjoy yourselves, I know exactly what you were trying to do before and what you three were doing while I was gone." She started to leave the room, but hesitated at the door, waiting for one of them to respond.

"What? Natsuki, we were not doing what you think we were doing." Rowen tried, staring at her back that was facing them.

"I notice a lot of things, Rowen. But it seems like all of you are doing fine. I hope you don't mind, Sage, but I'm going to leave. I'm going to leave and never come back."

"What?! Natsuki!" Sage yelled. "You can't just leave! Where will you go?!"

"Sage, I've done so much thinking today. You are right, I don't want to fight with you anymore, and I don't want you to fight with me anymore. I'm going to live my life like I know how. And I do not know how to live this life anymore. How can I get you to stop wanting Kia? I can't," Natsuki paused there, tilting her head in confusion, and looking past Sage to Kia. She sat next to Rowen, watching her with something looking like worry. "Sage, live your life like the way you want to live it. I already fucking know you don't want to be with me anymore. You would just use me to get to Kia again."

"Natsuki, it's nothing like that-"

"Sure as hell it isn't! Your lying through your fucking teeth, Sage! I think life is too fast for you. The one thing that could have actually helped you has come back and kicked you in the head. Wake up, Sage. I'm not going to be your wife anymore," Natsuki stopped to reach into her purse. She pulled out some papers and pen. "Here. These are the divorce papers. You want them? Of course you do," she answered her own question.

Sage was completely speechless. In the five minutes it took for Natsuki to go through all the papers, signing them, Sage didn't say even one word.

"Sage... it's been nice knowing you, but I deserve something better than all of this; I deserve something better than you. I hope that stupid bitch is worth it all. She is the only one I've ever heard of who is pregnant, yet she fucks with guys anyways." Natsuki looked to Kia again, "I'll give you that much credit, Kia."

"Yeah...well, good riddance. I'll be so much happier with my baby when you're gone."

Natsuki narrowed her glare on Kia. "The baby? Oh, I almost forgot about my baby." She gripped the side of her purse, "I have a present for it."

Kia didn't hear anything from that point on. Her ears rang a loud ripping sound and a muffled thud. Her eyes even seemed refusing to blink. Her heart was beating in her ears, a nice slow rhythmic beat, caught in that same second of time. No screams, no pain, nothing came to her as the blackness ruled.