Penny's POV
We were watching the movie and talking and then he was suddenly silent. I looked over, he was sound asleep. I never even thought about how exhausted he must be. I didn't have the heart to wake him up so he could sleep in the other room and I admit I liked him being there.

I looked at him sleeping peacefully, he was even more handsome than the day we first met. As I thought about that night, I remembered all of it. Then my mind fast forwarded to him passed out naked on that bed in Paris. Damn it! Why can't I get that fucking image out of my head? At that point, I just quietly cried myself to sleep while trying to focus on all that I had to be thankful for tomorrow. It worked too. I had the best dreams, not of the past but of the future.
I woke up anxious to tell Brian, but he was gone. I felt a twinge of panic, when he came walking into the room with a tray.
“Good morning!” He said cheerfully. I felt a rush of relief.
“Good morning! What ya’ got there?”
“Hot cinnamon rolls.”
“You baked cinnamon rolls? When did you become Betty Crocker?”
“I've got talents you don't know about! They came out of a can. I just read the instructions.”
“I'm still impressed and appreciate the breakfast.” I winked at him. I noticed a familiar smell and it wasn't cinnamon rolls. “I must be losing my mind, I swear I smell a turkey.”
“You aren't losing your mind, you are smelling turkey.”
“You're roasting a turkey?”
“Did you really think I was going to make you eat turkey sandwiches on Thanksgiving? We are going to have a meal with all the trimmings.”
“That's a lot of work. I'll get up and help.”
“No help is needed, Tess and Chloe took care of all the side dishes, I just have to warm it all up when the turkey is done. So, eat your breakfast and don't worry about a thing.”
For the first time in a long time, I wasn't worried.

BRIAN’S POV
So far, the day was going as I planned, with the bonus of waking up in the bed with her. I was surprised she didn't wake me up and tell me to go to the other room. Things were getting better, Penny was relaxing and trusting me more and more.

We ate cinnamon rolls and talked for a while and Penny was going to get dressed while I checked on the turkey. She seemed to be taking forever, I was starting to worry. As I walked into the master bedroom, I could hear Penny crying in the bathroom. I knocked on the door
“Penz, are you okay?”
“No, I'm not okay. I'm never going to be okay, just leave me alone.”
“What are you talking about? Let me in, did you hurt yourself?” I tried to open the door, it was locked. “I'm serious, open the door!”
“Just a second!” She said.
I heard her looking in the cabinets and slamming the doors.
“Where the fuck is the extra gauze and tape?”
“It should be in there. I didn't think you were supposed to take the dressing off your side today?”
“I need the fucking shit Brian!”
“Okay calm down. Let me in and I'll help you find it.”
“Hold on.” I heard her mumbling and then she opened the door. The original gauze bandage was on her forehead and had clearly been taken off and then put back on. She was trying not to cry again.
“Penny, what's going on? Why are you so upset?”
“I don't want to talk about it, please just help me find the bandage stuff.”
“Why? Is your forehead okay? You're supposed to take the dressing off it today.”
“No!” She was starting to cry again. “It's horrible! I'm hideous, I look like the bride of Frankenstein!”
“It just hasn't healed, keeping it uncovered will help it heal faster.” I started to reach to take the bandage off.
“Don't! I don't want you to see it, I don't want anyone to see it.”
“Please just let me look at it and make sure it's okay. You know I'll love you no matter what it looks like, right?”
“You say that now, but.”
“No buts. Please Penelope?”
She reached up and peeled the tape off, closing her eyes.
“See? It's horrible!”
“It's not horrible.” I cupped her chin in my hand. “Look at me.” She opened her eyes slowly. “I know it seems bad right now, but you'll get used to it and once it's fully healed we will get it taken care of.”
“Taken care of?”
“There are ways to have scars removed, we will find the best if you want it done.”
“Okay, can I keep the bandage on today? Just to give us a little more time to get used to it?”
“You can leave it on today, but I don't need time.”
“I'm not sure I believe you, but thank you.” With that she hugged me and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.”
After that, I found what she needed to bandage her forehead back and checked her surgery dressing.

Finally, we could get everything ready for our Thanksgiving meal. She was moving around well and I let her help. I could tell she was starting to do too much and had her sit as I brought the last of the food into the dining room, including the turkey.
We had a wonderful meal and both agreed it was one of the best Thanksgiving dinners ever. She insisted on helping clear the table, pushing herself to the point that she stumbled. I caught her and she laughed.
“Oops, I guess I made myself dizzy!” Wrapping her arms around my neck, she said “Thank you for catching me.”
Before I could speak, she kissed me. I held her close and kissed her back. The doorbell rang. We separated.
“Is this another Thanksgiving surprise?” She said, smiling.
“Not that I know of. Maybe it's Chloe and the girls. You sit down while I get the door.”
I was so happy after our kiss that I didn't even think to look out the peephole and see who it was before opening it.
“Oh, Hello Brian, I didn't expect to see you here.” Adam Gabriel looked just as shocked to see me as I was to see him.
“I'm taking care of my wife, why would I not be here? You are the one that shouldn't be here.”
“I didn't mean you shouldn't be here, I had heard that you and Penny were still split up.”
“Well, you heard wrong. Go away.”
“I just want to speak to her for a moment. I promise after that, I will never bother the two of you again.”
“No, you are not going to see her. She is going through enough right now, she just got out of the hospital. Fuck off and never come near her again!”
“Brian” I heard Penny's voice behind me. “It's okay, let him say what he wants to say.”
I turned to her. “Penny, I don't think you should.”
“He saved our lives.”
I opened the door and motioned for Adam to come in.
“You've got 10 minutes, that's it.” I said sternly.
“Thank you.” He said.
I pointed for Adam to sit down in the living room (the closest room to the door). He sat in a chair next to the couch. Penny sat in the middle of the couch, I closed the front door and walked into the living room.
“Brian, do you mind if I talk to Penny alone?”
“Hell, yes I mind and it's not happening.”
Penny took my hand as I sat down on the couch, I could feel that she was shaking.
“What Brian is saying, is that we have no secrets from each other and will not have any secrets. Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of him.” She squeezed my hand tighter when she said that. I knew she was bracing herself for more information related to Gwyn.
“Okay, if that's the only way. I ask that I be allowed to say what I want to say and not be interrupted.” He said looking directly a me.
“You can ask, but it depends on what you say. Penny doesn't need more stress on her right now.”
“You have 10 minutes, I suggest you say what you wanted to say.” Penny said, backing me up on the time limit.
“First, I want to apologize. I know what I did was terrible, but I did it to protect you.”
“Okay, is there anything else?” Penny replied.
“I hated having to do all of it. I tried many times to end it, but Gwyn always came back with more threats.”
“Tell me what you hated?” Penny asked. I saw fire in Penny’s eyes, I knew to keep my mouth shut, she had this.
“What?” He was caught off guard.
“Tell me what you hated, unless it’s too upsetting for you to talk about.”
“Well yes, it was horrible. Hearing how upset and scared you were when I told you that you weren't better. Seeing how depressed you were and throwing you in the pool. I called Gwyn that night and told her I was going to tell you the truth, but then she started using my past against me.”
“What else did you hate?” Penny asked.
“Having to drop the bottle of wine, I couldn't take the chance of her trying to poison you again. I hated having to get Jay to leave, I have nothing against him. You have to understand, I did everything to protect you.”
“Did you hate me coming to California and spending time with me?”
“I didn't hate you being there, I hated that I was lying to you.”
“Did you hate being with me after the pool and the wine, in my home as I grew to consider you a close friend?”
“Penny, I don't think we need to review everything. I truly do care about you, I am your friend.”
“You were never my friend and you will never be my friend. You lied to me, manipulated me and tried to get me into bed. You knew that Gwyn was doing the same thing with Brian. You were hoping in the end that I would be with you. They only reason I am letting you speak to me right now is you saved our lives. It is also the only reason I am not suing your ass off.” Penny’s voice was calm, but it even sent chills down my spine.
Adam sat there stunned.
I knew this was my cue. “Well Dr. Gabriel, or should I say Mr. Gabriel? Your 10 minutes are up, I'll see you out.” Even after I stood up, Adam still sat there stunned for a moment.
Once he finally got up and started to walk toward the foyer Penny said, “Oh Adam,” he looked at her. “Don't you dare tell anyone about this house, not that I'm here or that I own it. If you do, I will sue you for every miserable penny you have and make sure every criminal charge that can come out of this will. Got it?”
“Yes, I've got it.”
“Good and I suggest you forget how to get here because you will never step foot in any house of ours ever again.” The look on Penny's face showed no mercy.
Adam turned and walked out the door as I held it open for him.
As I was getting ready to close the door I heard Penny say, “Slam it.”
I did as she commanded.

Penny was still just sitting there on the couch, staring straight ahead.
“Penz, are you okay?” I sat next to her and put my arm around her.
She nodded her head, she was still deep in thought.
“Do you want me to leave you alone?” She shook her head no and leaned her head on my shoulder, holding on to me with her arm across my chest.
“Okay, I'm going to stay right here and hold on to you as long as you want. I'm here to talk when you're ready.”
“Did I do okay?” She asked.
“Are you kidding? You were incredible, you calmly told him to fuck off. I think he was hit harder than any fists could.”
“I'm so ashamed.”
“You shouldn't be ashamed, you had every right to rip him a new one.”
“I'm not ashamed of that, I’m ashamed that I believed he was my friend. Do you know what the worst thing I did was?”
“No sweetie, I don't.”
“I defended him and let him come between us.”
“We were manipulated just like you said. The important thing now is to rebuild our relationship and move on. I hope that's what you want.”
“I do want that, I just don't know if we can.”
“One day at a time, like you said. No one is running away, right?”
“I can't run away, remember?”
“Soon you will be able to drive again. I hope when that day comes, you will want me to stay.”
“Let's enjoy being together right now and make those decisions when we have to.” Her words were both encouraging and discouraging.
“Why don't we rest for a bit and have some leftovers later?”
“I am pretty tired, but you don't have to babysit me when I'm asleep. You should do something just for you.”
“I wanted to talk to you about that, but I didn't want to upset you.”
“Upset me?”
“I don't want you to think I'm trying to pressure you about us. I was thinking that maybe I could put together an area in the basement for me. You have your art studio in the extra room down there. I thought maybe I could have some equipment, guitars and stuff here, even if it's just temporary.” I waited as she thought for a moment before answering.
“I don't know, I don't think that's really necessary at this point and I already have all those boxes down there that I haven't unpacked.”
“Oh, okay it was just a thought.” I said, knowing my disappointment was apparent.
“If I could go down and get those boxes unpacked, it would be a possibility.”
“Well, you can't do that and I will not let you try. It's alright, we can think about it when your better and see where we are then.”
“If you wouldn't mind helping me, we could go down there, I could sit on the couch and you could unpack the boxes then I could tell you where it goes. Then we could discuss having your stuff down there.”
“Sure, we could do that sometime. But you're supposed to be taking a nap right now.”
“I'm fine, lets at least go downstairs and get a start on it now.” She said with a grin.

Penny's POV
As we went downstairs, Brian reminded me to be careful and go slow. I admit it was a little painful and I was tired, but I couldn't wait for Brian to open those boxes.
He made me sit in the recliner and put the footrest up. Then he asked which box I wanted opened first.
“Well, the TV, the stand and everything in their original boxes need to be set up down here.”
“I'll take care of that later.”
“There's a couple boxes behind those you need to open and get out of the way.
He walked behind the very large television box and exclaimed.
“Holy Shit!” He looked over the TV box and said. “You got me Penelope! I can't believe everything I need is already here.”
“I bought this house and planned it as a ‘home away from home’ for us before Paris. I had planned to call Jay to come out and set it all up before I left.”
“I'm surprised you didn't have it all taken back or destroyed it.”
“I couldn't send it back, because then someone would have known I was here. Setting it all on fire would have probably drawn attention and I didn't even want the neighbors to know I was here. Once I was ready to face the world again, I was going to donate it or send it to you.”
“Well, I'm glad you didn't do any of that.” He bent over and gave me a kiss on the cheek.”
“Really Junior? All I get is a kiss on the cheek?”
He bent down and gave me a kiss on the lips. I grabbed him and extended the kiss, once I started to feel my hungers rise I let go and smiled at him.
“Enough playing around! Get to work!” I could tell when he stood up, that he had started to rise too.
“Let's get you up to bed first.” He said.
“Are you kidding? Leave you unsupervised? I'm comfy right here, I can give you pointers on how to set everything up.” I winked at him.
“You're right Penz, I can't do this without you.”
I watched as he started opening everything, eventually falling asleep. He woke me up after he was done. We ate dinner and then went to bed, in our bed. I slept with my head on his shoulder, it felt so good that I didn't care if it hurt or not. There were still more hurdles, but I was getting more and more strong and confident. Despite Adam’s interruption, it was a great Thanksgiving.

Notes