She rocked the chair she sat in gently as she looked at the clock on the mantle again. It hadn't changed much since the last time she looked at it. 4:40 am. Where in the HELL was he? He'd never stayed out this late before. She looked around the room as she continued to rock. She looked for something to do or to read, anything to keep her mind from wondering back to the thought that wouldn't go away. She didn't know why she had stayed up late that night; if she had gone to bed she probably would have fallen asleep by now to find him there in the morning when she woke up. If she hadn't stayed up she wouldn't be sitting in that chair getting sick over worrying about him. If she had just gone to bed she wouldn't be thinking of all the places he could be, and how he was planning on staying there for the night. She held back all emotions as she finally let that thought come forward. What if he wasn't coming home? What did that mean, what would she do? Was she ready to live without him, and even she wasn't, what could she do if he was ready to live without her?

He parked the car and got out as quietly as he could. He looked at his watch as he made his way to the door. 4:55 am. He hadn't been to a club tonight, he had been with his partners working on that damn project. They had finally gotten it finished and decided to call it a night without any bar hopping or girls. That was fine with him, he was too tired to put up with cheap flirting and whiny voices, he just wanted to go to bed.
As he climbed the stairs to his front door, he noticed a light in the living room on. That was unusual, but he didn't think anything of it. She had probably forgotten to turn it off. He went to unlock the door, but never got the key in the hole because the door came swinging open. He looked up in surprise to see a very pissed, very worried, and very relieved Jillian.

The moment she saw his headlights pull into the driveway she jumped out of her chair. She looked to see the time. 4:55. She heard his car door shut and walked into the front hallway to be there when he opened the door. She saw him walk by the window and crossed her arms, waiting. He made his was up the steps, but he was taking to long. She walked forward, turned the knob, and pulled the door open. There he stood, keys in hand, looking very surprised to see her. She wanted to do so many things at once. She wanted to slap him for staying out so late, she wanted to throw his arms around him for coming home, but most of all she wanted to cry but couldn't find a reason why. So she didn't move at all, she just looked at him. He stood up and was about to say something, but she didn't let him. She didn't want to hear anything he had to say before he heard what she had to say. "Where the FUCK have you been?!"

"Where the FUCK have you been?" she practically screamed at him. He was startled for a moment, but didn't have time to think or even answer before she yelled again. "Do you know what time it is? It's fucking 4:55 in the fucking morning! I'm tired as hell and I have to go to work in the morning, and now I might get two hours of sleep and it's all your goddamn fault!" she screamed as he just stood there. At first he was shocked she was even awake, but then he got pissed He pushed his way past her into the condo. "It's not my damn fault if you don't get any fucking sleep. I didn't tell you you had to stay up all fucking night and wait on me! Why the fuck didn't you go to bed?" he yelled as she closed the door and he hung up his coat. He was not in the mood for this. He didn't want to fight or be yelled at, he just wanted to go to bed.

She watched him as he hung up his coat and took off his shoes. She didn't have to wait up for him? Why hadn't she gone to bed? Who the fuck did he think he was?
"I got home late tonight, and usually by that time you're already home. So when I saw you weren't home I was….worried," she said. God what was his problem? He shot her a look before walking past her into the kitchen. He put his briefcase on the bar and opened it. Was he ignoring her now?! She crossed her arms and waited. When he proceeded to go through his files and not acknowledge her she started to tap her foot. When he finally noticed he looked at her foot, then up to her. "What?" he asked. She sighed. "Where have you been?" she asked him, quieter this time but the annoyance in her voice thicker. "I had to stay late, big project, you understand," he said as he shuffled through his papers. She was going to throw some rude comment at him about how she didn't understand, but he stopped and looked up at her. "Why were you so concerned about where I was when you're usually asleep when I get home?" he asked. She looked away from him.

She was worried? Worried? That was bullshit. He gave her a look that told her that then pushed past her into the kitchen. He opened his brief case and started to look over the work they had done today. This could have waited to the next day, but she had followed him in there and was standing there watching him. He hoped if he pretended she wasn't there she would go to bed and they could avoid a fight.