Over the past few months, Sunday morning sunlight sneaking past the confines of closed drapes to bathe the bedroom in a warm glow was something that Matthew Sanders didn't relish. However, waking with a clear head, something that had become a rare occurance of late, Matt was unable to prevent the smile that crept onto his handsome face as he gazed down at a sleeping Amber, who lay next to him. Gently caressing her hip with his large hand, Matt carefully pressed his lips to her bare shoulder, marvelling at the softness of her lightly tanned skin.

A contented sigh escaped Amber as she rolled over, carefully opening her eyes, almost as if she was worried that she had in fact dreamt what had taken place last night. Seeing Matt laying there, propped up on an elbow as he gazed at her, relief flowed throughout Amber, a smile tugging at her lips.

"Good morning gorgeous," Matt murmured before kissing her softly, his fingertips digging into her hip a little as the kiss developed, Matt daring Amber to let him in as his tongue ran lightly along her bottom lip.

Amber turned, her body flush with Matt's, her arms slipping round his neck as she allowed herself to give into his demands. She moaned as Matt's hand cupped her breast, massaging it with skill, rolling her nipple between his thumb and finger. Manouvering Amber onto her back, Matt's lips strayed from Amber's, finding her neck. Amber tipped her head back, feeling herself being swept away in the moment. Pressing himself closer to Amber, Matt smirked at the small gasp she let out at the feeling of him hard against her thigh. Just as Matt began to kiss his way down her body, his cellphone began to buzz on the floor, obviously still in the pocket of his pants that had been hastily discarded the previous evening.

"They'll call back," he murmured, his breath hot against Amber's skin.

However, the unidentified caller was somewhat persistant, calling again the moment their first call went through to voicemail. Matt sighed and looked up at Amber.

"Two seconds," he told her apologetically, leaving her and scrabbling around the floor for his phone.

Matt rolled his eyes, frowning when he saw who was interupting what had been promising to be a good morning.

"Jimmy, this better be good," Matt growled as he answered.

"Matthew, it's normally polite to actually haul your ass out of bed and answer the front door that I am currently kicking the fuck out of in order to get your attention!"Jimmy yelled at the other end of the line.

Matt sat back on the bed, closing his eyes as Amber wrapped an arm around him, placing feather-like kisses along his muscular back.

"Well, I would come and let you in but I'm not there," he stated casually, lacing his fingers of his free hand through those of the hand Amber had laid on his taut stomach.

"What do you mea...oh! You sly old dog you!" Jimmy answered with a chuckle as he realised just where Matt was.

Matt returned the chuckle, knowing that this was going to be the topic of conversation once they all got together later that day.

"So, what's up Jim?" Matt asked.

"We have a Code Tequila situation," Jimmy answered, his tone quiet and subdued.

Matt sat forward on the bed a little, causing Amber to release his hand and sit up. It wasn't the first time Matt had heard those words, yet he had honestly believed he wouldn't have the displeasure of hearing them again.

"But I thought Izzy was staying there with him last night? Why the fuck is he going out and drinking to the point of no return?"

The mention of Izzy's name brought Amber to sit on the edge of the bed next to Matt, worry etched on her face. Matt sighed, taking her hand in his once more.

"It seems Brian wasn't the only one who's been keeping something a secret," Jimmy began.

"Yeah I know, Amber filled me in on Izzy's story last night. But she was going to tell him yesterday,same as he intended to do with her...even though she's known all along who he is," Matt cut in.

"That's the problem, Izzy didn't get the chance to tell him."

Matt sat listening as Jimmy explained what had taken place at his, how Brian had confronted Izzy, and how he had finally shown back up at Jimmy's in the early hours, completely incapable of standing, rambling on about how he loved her, how he'd fucked up and that he'd lost her for good.

"He's a mess Matt. We convinced him to stay with us, and I thought I'd be able to talk to him this morning once he woke up. Only when I got downstairs, he had already started another bottle of tequila. I called Zack and Seward, and they're at mine keeping an eye on him slowly killing off his liver,"Jimmy concluded.

A thought suddenly struck Matt.

"So where the fuck did Izzy stay last night then if she wasn't with Gates?" he murmured to no one in particular.

Amber was already up off the bed, her cellphone to her ear, pacing the floor as she waited for someone to pick up. Inspite of the situation, Matt couldn't resist watching her, wondering if she realised she was still naked.

"Izzy isn't there with you guys?" Jimmy asked.

"No, her overnight bag was gone according to Amber when we got back here...hang on Jim."

Matt glanced back at Amber as she spoke in hushed tones, looking a little less panicked than she had a moment before. Amber hung up and turned back to Matt.

"She stayed at her mom's, she's with her now, and may stay there another night," Amber told him.

"How did she seem?" Matt asked.

"That was Grace I spoke to, she's doing ok apparently. She tried most of the evening to get hold of Brian to sort things out, but he switched his phone off. Grace said Izzy was going to give it a couple of days then maybe try to contact him again."

Matt nodded somberly.

"Did you get that Rev?"

"Yeah, well at least we know Izzy's ok, kind of. Look, I was going to ask if you'd come over, but I obviously disturbed you guys."

"Give us an hour, and we'll be there," Matt assured him, looking at Amber for confirmation that was okay.

Amber gave a smile and nodded back at him.

"Just make sure he doesn't try and leave or do anything fucking dumb," Matt added before hanging up.

Running a hand over his face, Matt let out a deep breath, glancing to his side as Amber sat back next to him, her head coming to rest on his shoulder.

"Sorry this isn't going to turn out to be the day we planned, beautiful", he apologised softly, kissing the top of her head. "And you don't have to come over to Jimmy's with me, what about Izzy?" he asked.

"I know she's in good hands if she's with her mom, and I told Grace that I would go over there this evening, they're out at the moment anyway," Amber explained, slowly standing up. "I'm going to take a shower." she announced.

Matt let his eyes wander over her naked curves, wanting nothing more right then than to pick up from where they had been interupted.

"Room in there for two?" he asked with a smirk.

"Oh I think there might be," Amber replied lightly, looking over her shoulder at him as she walked away, a purposeful swing to her hips.

Matt grinned, already up and right behind her, wondering if anyone would mind if they were a little late.

***********

If there was one thing Brian was absolutely sure of, even in the drunken haze that had enveloped him since last night, was that after a while, tequila burned like a bitch if he gulped it too quickly. Holding the bottle somewhat shakily to his thin lips, Brian closed his eyes as he prepared to take another hefty swig. He mumbled a slurred "fuck" as nothing but a thin trickle of the liquid that had fast become his best friend these last few hours escaped from the bottle. He held it out at arms length, trying to focus his brown eyes on the offending object, his worst fears confirmed.

Dropping the empty glass vessel down by the side of the patio chair he currently occupied, Brian just shrugged, reaching over the opposite side of the chair, just managing to keep his balance as he grasped the full bottle of Herradura Suprema. Brian let out a drunken snort as he thought of how pissed Jimmy would be when he discovered he had made a hefty dent in his somewhat vast collection of tequila. However, Brian was very much in a "couldn't give a fuck" mood. Right now, all that mattered was blotting out the memory of how he had single handedly managed to fuck up the best thing to have happened to him in a long time.

Well, that wasn't entirely true. It hadn't been completely all his doing, he hadn't been the only one who had been hiding something. However, there was something telling Brian that if maybe he had actually hung around and given Izzy a chance to explain, instead of walking away, acting as though he was the one who had been done a great injustice, then maybe...just maybe he wouldn't be feeling as empty as he did right now.

Somewhere in the background a door slid open. Or maybe it was just his hearing playing tricks on him. Deciding to pay it no mind, Brian smiled sadly to himself as he thought once more of Izzy. She was everything he could ever want, and even though he knew others would maybe think it was too soon, Brian knew he had fallen in love with her. Swiping his hand at the tears that began to betray him, Brian sniffed before attempting to undo the cap on the bottle, the bottle which somehow seemed to leave his grasp. Brian looked up unsteadily, aware of someone standing in front of him, the bottle he had held only moments ago now in their possession.

"I was just about to drink that," he mumbled, still none the wiser as to who the brave person was who had taken the decision to relieve him of the alcohol he wanted to drown himself in.

"I know sweetie, but maybe you've had enough for now."

Brian went to argue, when it registered somewhere in his liquour clouded brain that he knew that voice. It wasn't the voice he longed to hear, but it was the next best thing.

"Ambs?" he asked in a whisper.

"That's me honey," Amber assured him, her hand resting on his leg as she knelt in front of him.

"I..is Izzy wi..with you?" he murmured, leaning forward a little, as though he only wanted Amber to be the one to hear him ask after her.

"I'm sorry sweetie, she's with her mom right now," Amber informed him, gently brushing his unkempt black hair away from his face so she could get a better look at him.

"Oh," Brian mouthed, going to sit back, only to stop and lean right into Amber.

"I think I may have fucked up," he admitted, trying to keep his voice even.

"These things happen honey, but it can be fixed...that's if you want it to be fixed," Amber urged softly, wanting Brain to open up to her, drunk or not.

"I do...I really do," he told her, finally managing to look at her properly. "I love her Ambs," he added quietly.

Amber smiled at him then.

"I know you do sweetie, but right now, there's a few little creases that need ironing out. Izzy wasn't hiding things from you because she thought it would be fun, her childhood doesn't hold good memories for her, and she just wants to try and forget it even existed," Amber explained.

"However, " she continued "you're in no fit state to try and sort things out today. So, Matt and I are going to take you back to his, and you can get yourself sobered up, get a good night's sleep, and then tomorrow when I've finished work, I'll take you over to see Grace, because she's the best person to explain everything to you, to help you understand why Izzy keeps things hidden."

"Her mom? She's nice," Brian stated, a tiny smile finally making it's way onto his lips.

"Gracie's the best," Amber agreed. "And this silly idea you got in that numb skull of yours that Izzy only wanted to be with you because of who you are...that couldn't be any further from the truth. Izzy isn't like that, you could collect garbage for a living, and she would still want you with every ounce of her very being," Amber told him.

Brian wrinkled his nose at the thought of doing such a job, causing Amber to giggle as she recalled Izzy telling her of the little habit and how cute it was.

"So, how about I go get Matt, and we get you back to his," Amber suggested, patting Brian's knee.

Brian gazed up at Amber as she stood up from where she had been crouched, just nodding his head yes in answer.

"Ambs?" he called just as she reached the door to go back inside.

"What's wrong honey?" she asked.

"Do you think she'll forgive me for being an ass?" he questioned.

"I have no doubt she will...for some reason she seems to think you're worth her time," Amber told him, her tone teasing.

Satisfied with the answer, Brian sat back in the chair, closing his eyes, wanting nothing more than to have Izzy in his arms so he could tell her just how much he loved her.