Fanfic: New Beginnings

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Chapter 5

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David Duchovny ran towards the direction of the office. This was great. Tèa had caught him now. She probably tried to call on the cell phone, but David had turned it off. He didn't want Tèa to disturb him during his visit. Too bad he couldn't say that he didn't have a signal, you could pick up a signal just about anywhere in Los Angeles.

David walked into the cool office and saw the phone on the desk. Sighing, he picked up the phone and brought it to his ear. What would he tell her? Say that he got lost? Got off on the wrong exit? Wanted to try a new shortcut?

"Hi honey," David said, trying to sound causal.

"David, the china shop is only a mile from the house and you've been gone an hour. And your phone was turned off so I thought maybe you would be here, and well, you are," Tèa said. David could hear a certain unsteadiness in her voice.

"Tèa, I'm going to be honest with you-"

"Well, could you please? I don't like it when I'm lied to, especially when you lie to me about where you're going," she interrupted.

Tèa was angry with him. And David could understand that. He had woke up early, got dressed, and lied about where he was going. He deserved this certain coldness from her. But if he explained himself, maybe she would understand...

"Tèa, I'm so sorry for lying this morning...I just wanted to go on the set and I knew that you wouldn't approve of it and try to convince me not to go. I wanted to see everybody and how things were going here-"

"Well, how is everyone? Chris? Robert? How about Gillian? How is she?"

"They're doing great, they're filming an episode for the sweeps in February."

There was a moment of silence.

"Good to hear," Tèa finally said, "tell them I said hi, and I need you to be back here soon since I'm going to be going be out shopping for the day and I need you to be here to watch West."

David sighed into the phone. "Okay, I'll be home as soon as I can."

"Good. Well, see you later!"

"Tèa?"

"Yes David?"

David took a deep breath and asked; "You're not mad at me for sneaking off this morning, are you?"

After a few moments she answered; "No, I'm not mad. You could had told me where you were going though. Gotta go, bye sweetie, love you." And with that, the phone clicked.

David slowly put the phone back on the hook and sighed. Well, she wasn't as pissed as he thought she would be. He took a moment to look around the office and to think about what was going on in Gillian's trailer.

Something was wrong with Gillian. She didn't have the same glow she had to her, she was sick looking, and looked like she had lost her best friend. Or had her heart shattered into a million pieces. David thought in the back of his mind that maybe he was the reason for her current condition, and it pained him dearly to see her this way. David would never do anything to intentionally hurt her, for where he cared for deeply. But just thinking all she could had went through since then, it made him want to cry.

David snapped out of his thoughts and realized that he had to be going. If he didn't, it would surely piss Tèa off more and he'd be in the dog house. Literally.

He heard over the loud speaker that filming was to start in 5 minutes. He smiled thinking back to the days where he would get so annoyed by that announcement. He would either be eating, on the phone, or talking to Gillian whenever he would be called to set. "I'm being summoned by the almighty surfer God," he would used to say and then come in whining to Chris. Chris would sigh, give him a look, and tell him to get to work or be fired.

'Well, it couldn't hurt if I was a little late,' David thought as he exited the office and walked toward the set. It had been a long time since he watched a scene of the show being filmed. It shouldn't take long to film.

Besides, the scene they were filming needed something done to it.

Gillian walked to the set, lost in thoughts. Being so close to David like that had brought back memories. Painful memories. Memories of them being able to hold on to another, being near each other, kissing each other...

"Stop it," Gillian told herself sternly. "You told yourself you would forget David and damnit, that's what you're going to do."

As she walked onto the set, being greeted by several crew members, she couldn't help but to think about why he was here. She first thought that maybe it was because he wanted to see everyone on the set. That's what it seemed like. But David had his eyes focused on *her*. He would look over to her as she stood in her place in Scully's apartment. He had came into her trailer and had stood close to her. So close to her that she could smell his sweet scent.

"You can't let him affect you, Gillian. You just can't," she said under her breath. David was just another guy, another friend. He was just here to visit them and ask them how they'd been.

She approached Scully's apartment and saw that Robert was already in his place. His eyes met hers for a moment before Kim Manner's voice broke in. "We've been waiting for you Miss Gillian. Are you ready?"

Gillian nodded and took her place. She took a deep breath and got into her character. 'You can do this, you can kiss Robert, you can do it...'

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, we are ready to rock and roll here, Scully and Doggett get ready. Doggett, you do have those breath mints, right?" Kim Manners said through the megaphone. The staff broke into a laugh as Robert pulled out a box of Tic Tacs from his pocket. Gillian blushed and looked down at the floor. They would have to tease her like this wouldn't they?

"Okay...seriously, we are ready to go. Lights...roll camera..."

Gillian looked up and pulled a lock of her auburn hair from her face. From the corner of her eyes, she saw David standing near by, his eyes looking to her. She turned her attention to him and studied his face. He noticed her looking at her and winked. Gillian hated it when people winked at her, she always felt...uneasy by it.

"And action!" Kim Manners called out.

Gillian slipped into Scully and carried out the scene. She remained focus on playing Scully, playing the emotions and the actions just as they needed to be. Before she knew it, Robert walked over as Doggett and pulled her into his arms. As she sobbed into his shirt, her thoughts drifted back to David. 'What must he be thinking of this?'

She heard Doggett's line and searched for her own. "Yes...no wait..I'm not fine..." she stammered out. She frantically tried to remembered her next line. She didn't want to bloop this one up. 'Go with your emotions,' she remembered what Chris Carter had told her once if she ever got stuck on a line.

"I'm just tired of being treated like this...you know...everything is perfect with Mulder and I and then he's gone. And now...he leaves this behind which tells me he's here, but he's not coming back right now...that maybe he doesn't want to come back right now. Yet, he can show up at random and do this to me. I hate it whenever I lay alone at night when I know he's out there and he has our child...and I wonder if he's fine and how William is doing and if he's thinking about me."

Gillian was surprised by her amazing ad lib. She had spoken from the heart on that one. She hoped that Robert would catch her drift and would follow along.

"Dana, he is. He's out there thinking about you every single day and taking care of your child...he probably wants to be with you as much as you want to be with him," Robert spoke as he brushed a few strains of hair from Gillian's face.

"I'm tired of being alone," she spoke breathlessly.

Robert looked at Gillian and leaned toward her face. "I know what you mean," he said as his lips neared hers. Gillian swallowed and leaned in. She had felt Robert's lips graze hers whenever she heard a male voice call; "CUT!"

Robert jerked back from Gillian and looked toward the direction of the voice. Gillian was confused. The scene that Robert and her had done was excellent. It had been better than the first time. She then realized that it wasn't the director's voice that had stopped the scene.

It was David's.

"Whoa whoa...that doesn't seem right!" David shouted as he moved from the back of the crowd to the front to see a very angry Kim Manners. David looked up at Gillian and then turned to see Chris Carter staring straight at him.

"David, we are in middle of filming! What in God's name do you think you're doing?!" Chris demanded through his clinched teeth. David kept his cool and pointed his finger toward Gillian and Robert. "I know it's none of my concern or anything but Scully has just made this confession about Mulder and you would think that Doggett would respect that and not try to seduce her by kissing her. I just want to suggest that maybe you should rewrite that because it doesn't seem right."

The crowd was stunned by David's suggestion. Chris's face fell and he sighed. He looked toward Kim and then turned to see Robert and Gillian's reaction. "You know, David's got a point there, it doesn't seem like Doggett's the type that would kiss someone after a confession for someone else," Robert pointed out. He stepped away from Gillian and walked off the platform. Gillian remained motionless and looked at David. Why the hell was he doing this? In best interest of the show? A simple suggestion? Or was it for her?

"Gillian, do you believe that David has a point?" Chris asked her.

"Yes, I think he's right," she spoke without thinking. She saw David smile at her. She couldn't resist but smile back in return.

Chris sighed out loud. "Fine, we will return in 1 hour for a scene rewrite. Back in 1 hour! That's a wrap for now!" The bells rang and the crowd of crew members and staff broke away. Robert walked in the direction of his trailer while Chris, Kim, and other members walked in the direction of the conference room. David stood there with his hands in his jean pockets and looked at Gillian.

"David, why did you suggest that?" Gillian asked when the set was pretty much clear. David shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. "You looked like you were ready to kiss the school nerd," he answered her. David waved, turned around and started to walk out. Gillian saw this and finally got up the courage to say; "Hey! Where are you going?"

"I've been summoned by the almighty wife, see you later Gillian," David said as he turned around to see her face.

Gillian sighed as she watched him walk out. After she heard the sound of the set door close she whispered;

"Thank you, David."

As David turned into the driveway of his home and saw Tèa sitting out on the front porch with Maddy, he knew he was in trouble. The look on her face explained it all; "You snuck out to the set, told me you were coming home and you're late."

He walked up to the porch slowly. She wasn't looking at him. She sat in the rocking chair, watching West play with a stuffed Elmo toy. Sighing, David walked onto the porch and slowly took a seat in the rocking chair beside her.

"Tèa-"

"No, I don't want to hear it. It takes 30 minutes from here to the set and you told me an hour ago that you would be back, but you lied *again*."

David winced at the sound of her voice. She was more than angry with him, she was furious. But why wouldn't she give him a few minutes to explain himself?

"Tèa, no-"

"I *said* I didn't want to *hear it*," she cried as she stood up and took a hold of Maddy and opened the door. David whirled around after her.

"If you would just give me a minute to explain..."

"David, you promised me you wouldn't go back to the set that you couldn't stand it there anymore, and now you want to go back and see everyone and you know, that's fine. The point is that you didn't have to lie to me about it. *Twice*. And you know I do not like being lied to," Tèa said as she put Maddy in the playpen. She was near tears. His whole lying to her had brought her to tears. David sighed and walked over toward her as she wiped her eyes.

"Tèa, I am sorry that I lied...I really am...I was just afraid you would give me the whole 'David, I don't you to be going to the set' speech again. I missed everyone there and I wanted to visit them."

Tèa nodded her head and took a tissue from the tissue box to blow her nose. She looked up to him with sad eyes. She then turned to look at their daughter playing in the pen with her Elmo doll. Looking at David, she said; "These fights are becoming frequent."

David nodded. "I know."

She sniffled and then looked away from him. "We have to keep it together, we have to do it for our daughter's sake." With that, she turned to walk into the kitchen leaving David in the living room with Maddy.

He knelt down to see Maddy playing around in the pen. As he watched her, he closed his eyes, remembering how happy he and Tèa had been so happy after they had her. And after Maddy got deathly sick, how that event made their marriage stronger. It was until it was time to decide to go back to The X-Files for a season 8 when both of them changed. David knew he loved her, they got along great most of the time and there was something about her that he couldn't describe that he loved about her. But now, the only thing keeping them together was their little girl. He was lucky that they hadn't separated. They thought at one time that would be the solution, but they weren't sure how Maddy would take it. After all, she was still a baby and things still didn't make sense to her.

He got up and walked outside feeling the need for fresh air. He took a seat in the rocking chair and watched cars pass by their home. Thinking about his current situation with his wife was bringing him down and he felt the need to talk to someone about it. Who? Gary Shandling was out filming a new movie, his therapist was not seeing anyone til the following week, and he was sure that everyone else was either busy with something or wasn't in town.

A thought hit him. Would he talk to him? It was worth a shot. He grabbed his cell phone, turned it on and then dialed a number.

"Listen, are you doing anything tonight? I need to talk."

~~~~~~~~

Sunshine Golf Course

"Nic, thanks a million," David said as he watched Nic Lea hit a golf ball toward hole 12. David thought maybe Nic would be around and would understand the situation he was currently in.

"Ahh...David, it's no problem. I need to show off my new golf club anyway."

"What new golf club, still looks like the same one you use to me."

Nic looked at him and sighed. "You're something," he said as he got into the gold cart. David got in beside him and was taken aback whenever Nic floored the gas and sped across the golf course.

"Speed demon."

Nic laughed. "Ahh..so what are you doing here anyway? You call asking me out on a date and then we have to talk."

"Nic..." David said looking at him seriously.

"Oh." Now he understood what David needed to talk about. He stopped the golf cart and turned to face David.

"Go on...what's Tèa up to now?"

David looked at Nic. It seemed like everyone knew David had problems with her. David sighed, looked down at his hands and began to explain.

"Nic, things aren't going well. All she wants to do is fight with me...and it seems like she wants to end with me. But for West's sake, she won't."

Nic nodded and sighed. "Well, what did you all fight over?"

"I lied to her this morning saying I needed to go out and buy another china glass when I went to the set to see everyone."

Nic looked at him. David turned his head, looking across the green golf course. Running a hand though his hair, David looked back at Nic.

"I had to see everyone Nic, I was driving me crazy."

"Correction. You wanted to see *Gillian*. Not *everyone*."

"Oh here come that bullcrap again," David muttered angrily. He hated whenever people accused him of liking Gillian. No, he had convinced himself that she was just a close friend. 'Yeah, not after what happened in her trailer...' he thought bitterly.

"David, I've known you for years. I know your ways and everyone on the set knows that you and Gillian are something together. I mean, we all seen you kiss-"

"And what? After that kiss it's supposed to mean something?"

"Damnit David, what was that? A kiss shared between friends? Cut that out, we all know there's something there and that's why you and Tèa fight," Nic said to him, giving him a look. He knew that David obviously had care for Gillian, it was too obvious.

"Gillian's a wreak, Nic," he admitted softly. Nic looked at him sadly. "Yeah well...you know why too."

David looked at Nic, confused.

"She's a wreak because you're gone."

David leaned back against the seat and put his face in his hands. God, he had done it. He was hurting Gillian when he didn't want to. His heart began to ache, he hated to hurt her.

"How do you know?" David asked.

"I went back to the set a few weeks ago to see if Chris would write me back in," Nic said with a slight smile. "I was trying to get on his good side, you know...and I couldn't help but see that Gillian had changed."

"Changed? How?"

"Well...I noticed that she never smiled, never laughed, always looked either mad at the world, or was depressed like you wouldn't believe. It didn't take me long to figure out why she was like that either. She misses you a lot, David."

David nodded. "Yeah, but I can't see her. Not with Tèa watching my back like some kind of guard dog.

"Well, if you want my advice, buddy. I think you and Tèa need to get things straighten out, you need to do it for your daughter's sake. And don't go back to the set."

David raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"It'll only make things worse if you do," Nic said softly as he turned on the gold cart again. David nodded and then step out of the golf cart.

"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" Nic shouted as he saw David turn and start to walk back to the office.

"Going fix things," David replied, not looking back.

Nic scratched his head and then sighed. He only hoped that David didn't screw up again.

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Chapter 6

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Gillian returned from her 1 hour break feeling a little indifferent. She was so confused on why David had stopped that scene between her and Robert. It wasn't like him to stop a scene, it would have to be a good reason. But why stop that scene? Why did he have a problem with it? Sure, he had a point whenever he said that it didn't seem right, but why should he care? He didn't work there anymore, it should had been no concern to him.

'But aren't you glad that he did?' she thought to herself. Gillian sighed. Yes, she was grateful that David stopped the scene before she had to kiss Robert. She wanted to run up to him and give him a huge hug for it.

As she returned to the set, she noticed that not everyone was back yet. She noticed that Kim Manners was looking at some papers. She walked over to him.

"Where's everyone? Did I come early?"

Kim looked up at Gillian. "Oh, we've stopped for the day. Chris and Vince are still in there trying to re write that scene, so Chris sent everyone home for the day. But we come in bright and early to finish the scene that David insisted on that re write," Kim explained to her.

Gillian folded her arms. They were let out for the day? That was odd.

"Hey Gillian? Why do you think David stopped that scene?" Kim asked her, breaking her thoughts. She pursed her lips and sighed. "Well, I honestly have no idea why he did."

Kim nodded and studied her face. Gillian got a feeling on uneasiness.

"Gill, is everything going okay for you?"

She looked at him funny. Why on earth would Kim be asking her that? "Yeah, why?" He looked at her, giving her a stern like look. "Because I know how you are...David came out of the middle of no where, I know something had to happened between the two of you."

"And what makes you think that we did anything?" Gillian asked angrily. "He wasn't here that long for us to do anything, Kim."

"I was just asking, sorry," Kim said, turning his head back the the papers he had. Gillian sighed, turning her back to him. Why was it so noticeable that something was going on with and David? All they did was stand close to each other.

'Yeah, and that felt good,' she thought.

"Listen, I gotta go, see you tomorrow," Gillian said, turning around to walk toward the set doors. She heard Kim Manners call out.

"Take care of yourself."

~~~~~~

Gillian Anderson walked out to her car, thinking about how everything was a big whirl. David showing up, stopping the scene with Robert, Kim suspecting something. Were things so damn obvious? She got in her car and sat there in the silence, closing her eyes and losing her thoughts. David had showed up. He was back. That 'thing' between them was there. It was driving her crazy. He drove her crazy. In both good ways and bad. He always seemed to make her smile, seem to brighten her spirits, the way that his touch always sent chills down her spine...

Then he could always make her so angry. His whole ego, his stubbornness, his cold way about him, it drove her to tears. She had always hated it whenever he did that to her. Everytime they'd fight, she'd cry. But they always did seem to make up.

She sighed, and turned the ignition. She needed something to drink. A good cup of coffee would sound real good to her now. After that, she soak in the tub, play with Piper and try to get a good night's rest.

Gillian pulled out of the Fox Lot and drove toward Starbucks. When she arrived, she checked to see if she looked alright. She noticed the dark circles under her eyes, but she couldn't do anything about it then. She got out the car, walked in and went to place her order.

As she stood in line, she noticed a man who was at the register who looked familiar. Tall, brown hair, built. 'Who is he?' Gillian wondered to herself. Shaking her head, she got down in her purse to get her money out so she wouldn't hold line. $1.32 would be the price for the coffee with cream, no sugar.

As she counted out 32 cents, she dropped the 2 pennies and they rolled over toward the cashier. Sighing, she walked over and bent down to pick them up. As she was raising up, she knocked into the man who was at the register, knocking his drink all over him and her.

"Oh my God...I am so so sorry!" Gillian apologized, slowly raising up. She gasped as she saw who was the man she had knocked into.

It was none other than David Duchovny.

Fate could be sick sometimes.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Gillian?" David asked as the woman who had knocked into him and his cup of coffee. He saw that the coffee was all over her and some had spilled onto his shirt.

"Oh my God..David I am so so sorry...I was..."

"It's okay, it's okay...it got all over you..."

"I spilled your coffee, I am so sorry," Gillian apologized as she grabbed napkins from the counter and bent down to clean the mess off the floor. David grabbed napkins and bent down at the same time to help her, but to end up bumping heads.

"Ow!" Gillian said with a laugh as David's head bumped into hers. They both rubbed the places where they hit each other and burst out laughing.

"God...I am so sorry..." David said laughing. They looked at each other again and laughed again. The girl working at the register peered over and signed. "Look, you're holdin' up line," she said, "we'll get a mop and clean that up for you. Do you want another coffee?"

David slowly got out of the floor and dusted off. "Yeah sorry, make that 2 coffees please." He looked down at Gillian and smiled. "A regular and one with cream, no sugar." The girl sighed and went to get his order.

"David, I should be the one buying the coffees, I'm the one-"

"It's okay, come on I'll help you up," he replied, outreaching his hand toward her. Gillian looked at him for a moment and then put her hand in his. They remanded like that for a good 5 seconds, having their hands connected and looking into each other's eyes. She felt herself being lifted off the floor and then coming up to David's face. They looked at each other, their hands still connected.

"Okay, they're ready," the girl's voice said, breaking David and Gillian's gaze. David let go of her hand and then reached the girl a 5 dollar bill. "Keep the change," he said and took the two coffees in his hand. He smiled at Gillian.

"Please say you'll stay and talk."

Gillian nodded and followed David to a booth in the main back of Starbucks. She couldn't believe what was going on today...all this with David...it was mind spinning. She took a moment to look at herself. Coffee was in her hair and on her clothes, she could smell it on her. But Gillian didn't care at the moment, when she was with David, it seemed that was all that mattered. Plus, he had asked to her come sit with him. Maybe to talk to him about what happened at the trailer.

They sat opposite each other, taking sips of their coffee in silence. David looked up and started their conversation.

"How have you been?"

Gillian looked up and wiped her mouth of the coffee. She looked down at the counter, sighing.

"I guess I've been okay," she lied.

"Gillian...cut the bullshit, I know you're not okay," David said, giving her a look. She looked up at him. Why did he always know she was lying? Damn him.

"What makes you say I'm not?" she challenged.

"What makes me- Gilly you looked like today standing on the set that you weren't even there, that your mind was somewhere else...please...don't lie to me."

"Fine, you're right...I'm not."

"What's wrong?"

She sighed, taking another sip of her coffee. "I'm...I'm not sleeping well at night...what am I kidding, I'm not sleeping at all. It just seems like that my life is...I can't even describe it, I mean, I have Piper, but with the work, I hardy see her like I requested and I just feel like I keep missing something...there's something wrong with me. It's an hole down in here," she put her hand to her heart," in here and it's missing something. And I keep having this feeling of dread and despair about everything...shit, am I confessing that I'm depressed? God..."

Gillian put her head down on the counter, feeling the tears starting to come. Hell, she knew what was wrong, she missed David so damn much. That was the sole thing wrong with her. She felt David's hand reach out and touch hers, sending a chill. She looked up and looked at his hand.

'His wedding ring is gone...'

"Gilly...why didn't you call me? You know that I would be there if you needed to talk."

"That's the thing, David. We we..we got in that fight in the trailer and...we hadn't spoken or anything. I guess that's why I never picked up the phone and called you," she admitted to him, breaking his gaze and looked at the empty coffee cup. Why was she admitting this him over coffee at Starbucks?

"Gillian, I'm real sorry about that night..." David said, pulled back from her. "I shouldn't-"

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry. I was the one who ran off, remember? I ran from you after we..." she trailed off, looking at him.

"Kissed," they both finished together in unison. David leaned back over to her, taking her hand, gently rubbing her palms and fingers. Gillian closed her eyes, relaxing to the feeling of David massaging her hands. 'God why is something that I feel guilty about feel so good?'

"So I guess you've been a wreak, how's Piper?" David asked her. She opened her eyes and looked at him.

"She's great, she's a very happy and very hyper little girl who seems to enjoy life," Gillian answered and then added; "Unlike her mother."

David sighed, and pulled her face to look at him. "Listen to me, you've been having it rough these past few months because of a lot of changes..Piper is growing up, work is becoming a living hell and everything's a big whirl and a big mess to you, you will get better, I promise you that, but you're going to have to straighten up and look around what's happening to you," David whispered. He noticed a tiny tear roll down her eyes. He took his thumb, wiping it away and let his fingers linger on her lips. He felt her hands touch his face.

The tension between them was back. That unexplainable passion that the two of them had together had formed and now was not a good time to act on upon their desires and urges. David leaned over, kissing her nose and looked at her. He noticed that she had an awful coffee stain on the side of her face. He began to laugh as she looked at him confused.

"What in the hell is so funny?" Gillian asked. They had just had a serious discussion and now he was laughing.

"There's this coffee stain on your face where it spilled on you, hold on, let me wipe it off," David said, taking a napkin and putting it to her face. He started to wipe it off when he couldn't help but to notice her lips. He knew that he shouldn't- he couldn't kiss Gillian. Not here, not anywhere. No, he couldn't kiss her. But the urge..the desire, it was there.

As he wiped the coffee from her face, he pulled the napkin away from her to see if he got it off her face. He smiled a little, looking at her. "It's off," he said softly.

"Thank you," she whispered, looking at his face. She gave him "Should we?" look. He knew that she knew what he was thinking. David gave her the "Screw it" look and bent his head to her lips. Gillian didn't pull away, she remained still and closed her eyes. She felt David's lips gently touch hers in a soft kiss. A thousand sparks went through her body. She now felt wide awake, happy, touched. This was what she had been wanted for a long time.

David gently pulled away from Gillian with a small smile. For the first time, he saw her really smile. He saw her smile disappear from her face and she broke the gaze with him.

"What's wrong?"

Gillian looked up him with a smile. "That kiss?"

He nodded.

"Had to be the best kiss I've ever had."

He grinned. "Better than the one we did for the season finale?"

"You mean the one that took 20 takes?" she asked laughing.

David smiled at her. There was the Gillian he knew. The same happy, fun loving, and sweet Gillian that he knew and loved.

"I guess I better get going," David said getting up. "But I'm really happy that I got to see you and talk to you."

Gillian got up and hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry about the coffee," she said pulling back. He smiled at her. "Well, maybe that sort of thing should happen more often," he answered. She took his hand, squeezing it. "I'll walk you to your car," she offered. He nodded.

They walked out to the parking lot. They noticed that their cars were parked beside each other. David started to laugh. "Old times," he said going over to his car. Gillian walked over to his side and watched him ready get in. Again, she noticed that the ring was gone.

"Problems with Tèa?"

David looked up at her, confused. He looked down and saw that he wasn't wearing it. It had been taken off about 2 months ago, whenever Tèa and he had that huge fight and he stayed with Gary Shandling for a week. David sighed and nodded.

"You don't want to talk about it?"

David shook his head. "Not right now, listen I'll talk to you later, okay? It was real good to see you."

"It was good to see you too," Gillian said, folding her arms across her chest. David looked at her. "Please take care of yourself, and if you need me, you give me a call, okay?" Gillian nodded and looked at him. Why all of a sudden was he the good guy? Offering all this help? Deep down, she really appreciated this, just being around him made her feel better, not to mention that kiss.

She didn't realize that David had bent down and was kissing her again. She was startled at first, but then gave in to his intoxicating kiss. She felt his arms wrap around her neck and opened her mouth to him. In the back of her mind she knew that she shouldn't be kissing him. This would be the second kiss in less than 10 minutes. He had a wife, a child, a life.

'But it feels so good...'

She felt his lips part from hers. They were both breathless from that passionate kiss. David looked at her before he got in his car. As he started the engine, he smiled.

"What was better? That kiss or the one before?"

"This one...yes, that was better."

He grinned and then slowly pulled away and back on the road. Gillian leaned against her car, feeling lightheaded, dizzy, and overwhelmed.

She licked her lips, still being able to taste his lips on hers. She sighed happily and wore a huge grin on her face as she walked back to her car feeling more alive than ever.

~~~~~~~

David Duchovny drove back to his home feeling like a guy who had got off his first date with his long time crush. God, he missed being with Gillian. It was good to see her again, and he was happy that he was to see her smile. And those kisses...especially the last one, there were no words that could describe it. Feeling her soft lips against his, letting his tongue wander around in mouth...he got chills thinking about it.

But he felt guilty. He had originally planned to get a coffee and sit drink it while thinking about his problems with his wife whenever he bumped, or rather she bumped into him. He hadn't meant for it to happen, but fate could be sick sometimes. In a way, he was glad it happened, but in another, he wished it didn't.

David knew that he couldn't ignore that kiss, especially since he had been the one who kissed her first. But he felt like he needed to tell Tèa. Would that be wise? He would feel better if he got it off his chest. But she would freak out if he knew. Maybe he shouldn't tell her that he and Gillian kissed. But if she found out the other half of the story...

He sighed, knowing that kissing Gillian was a mistake in ways. But he had to stay with Tèa for the sake of his daughter. Another part of him wanted to be with Gillian. 'But there is nothing there,' he thought. 'That kiss meant nothing to you or to her. You have to remain with your wife, and that's all you can do.'

David pulled into the driveway and looked at the clock. He was in time for dinner, maybe they could talk over dinner. Maybe work something out. He could only hope. As he walked in, he realized that he wasn't smelling dinner. It was 5 o clock, right? He couldn't had missed dinner.

"Well, look who finally decides to come home," he heard Tèa voice in the living room. He turned and saw her sitting in the rocking chair with a book. David walked into the living room and saw that she was not happy to see him.

"You're a really hard guy to get a hold on, it's pass 7. You left at 4 and you decide to come back 3 hours later, boy David I tell you, this is some marriage," Tèa snapped sarcastically. Before David could answer, she started again.

"David, you have been gone all day. I was supposed to go shopping and you were going to stay with Maddy but oh no, you just decide 'Screw Tèa, I think I'm going against what she wishes me to do and go to the set and lie to her twice and then not telling her where I'm going.'"

"Damnit Tèa! You don't have control of everything that I do! I am my own person and I shouldn't have to tell you where I am at all times," David said angrily. She stood up now, her hands on her hips.

"Well I would like to know where you're at so if something would happen with West that I'd be able to get a hold of you to let you know what's wrong, and it would be nice if you had your cell phone on!"

"Tèa, I am not in the mood to hear this." David walked out of the living room to upstairs.

"I know that you were with Gillian, David. I can smell perfume on you and it's not mine, damnit."

David froze and turned around, looking at Tèa. Oh God. Did he smell like Gillian? How did he? Oh yeah, when they hugged each other at Starbuck's, her perfume must had rubbed on him. He hoped that he didn't have lipstick on his face. No, wait, Gillian wasn't wearing lipstick. David was in the clear on that. He walked down the steps and looked at Tèa.

"I was with Gillian, we bumped at each other at Starbuck's," he admitted.

"Oh? You just sorta 'bumped' into each other? Is that how you got her perfume on you? By bumping into each other?"

"No no..we had hugged in the shop. I sat down and had coffee with her. Gillian was talking to me and as I got up to leave, we got up and hugged."

"Is that all?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

"What do you mean 'is that all'?" David snapped.

"Oh good God David do NOT give me that! You know damn well what I'm talking about!" Tèa threw her arms in the air and spun around, she was furious. David was still lying to her. And she about to find out what he and Gillian had done.

"Fine, we kissed. You happy?" David muttered angrily. Tèa spun back around and walked right up to him. He was sure she'd slap him, tell him it's over and throw everything out. Instead she looked at him.

"David, do you call this a marriage?"

He looked down at her and sighed. "No, I call this a living hell, Tèa."

"But can't you see? We HAVE TO WORK THIS OUT!" She screamed in face. She turned around, holding back her tears. David gently put his hands on her shoulders and looked down. She bit her lip and turned around.

"David, if we didn't have Maddy, this would had been over a long time ago. A *long* time ago, but can't you see that we can't be separated? I try and I try to make this work but it's not. And you don't want to work it out-"

"Who said that I didn't want to work it out?!" David yelled. "Do you think that I purposely meant to run into Gillian? No. I had went to get me a coffee and to think about what the hell was going on with you and me and then she showed up. We talked and we kissed because...you know."

"Oh yeah, I know. It just seems that you love her, not me."

"Tèa, honey, it doesn't work that way with me and her," David took her face in his hands and looked at her. "Gillian and I are two very different people, we used to be together a long time ago, but you came along and changed that. Tèa, we have our fights, and that kiss with Gillian today, it doesn't mean anything. You are the one I love, and I want to work this out." Okay, so maybe he lied a little, fine, he didn't mean some of it, but for he was doing this for Maddy's sake. Besides, he already convinced himself that the kiss didn't mean anything.Tèa sniffled and looked at her husband.

"Do you really mean that?"

"Yes, honey...come here," David took her in his arms, giving her a tight hug. He felt her hug him back and planted a kiss on the top of her head, "Oh honey, I'm sorry. But we are fighting more often," she admitted softly.

"I'm sorry too, and yes, we are. But we have to work something out," David said.

Tèa slowly pulled away from her and wiped her eyes then looked at David. "If I promise that I don't pick anymore fights with you over where you're at and things, you have to promise me something in return."

'Yes! Things are going to work out!' David thought to himself. Nic was right, he just needed to work things out with his wife and everything would be okay between them. And hopefully David would feel better.

"Anything," David replied.

"Promise me that you will not go back to the set and that you will never see Gillian Anderson again."

David's heart dropped. What? Never? Ever? He couldn't see Gillian again?

"And if I do?" he asked.

"Then it's over, and I'll ask for custody of our daughter."

Damn her, using Maddy as the downfall. David sighed and slowly nodded.

"Oh David," Tèa said as she hugged him. "Sweetie, I love you."

"I love you too," he said, hugging her. She pulled away and gently kissed his lips. Smiling, Tèa started back for the kitchen. "I'll fix us something and we'll find something to watch together on the dish, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," David said nodding. He watched her walk into the kitchen happily. He knew that she thought that she had won this little battle of theirs. He sighed and walked upstairs to change.

He entered into the bedroom and went to grab a shirt from the chest whenever he noticed a something down in the bottom of the drawer. He lifted up some of his clothes to bring out a small photo album. 'Where did this come from?' he thought as he flipped through the pages. David saw that these were pictures taken at his housewarming party that he and Tèa had a while ago. He smiled at the pictures of all his friends, acting goofy. He came to the last picture in the album and sighed.

It was a picture of him and Gillian standing out on his deck, with their arms wrapped around each other's necks. Apparently Gary had taken this one. Taking it out of the slot, David studied the picture in his hands. He and Gillian looked so happy in that picture together. He looked at her bright smile and his goofy one. Her eyes were lit up and his was too.

He put the picture back into the album and hid the album back in the drawer. David looked at the mirror and slowly brought a hand to his lips, he was still able to feel Gillian's lips on his.

Only that would be the last time he'd be able to kiss her. Or to see her.

Sighing, David grabbed a shirt and headed into the bathroom thinking that he really shouldn't make promises that he couldn't keep.

~~~~~~~~

Gillian let her body relax in the hot and soothing bath water whenever she had finished playing with Piper. It felt good to be able to soak in a nice tub of water with her favorite bath things. Piper's nanny had mentioned to Gillian that she seemed to be in a better mood. Truth was, Gillian was feeling better. It was all thanks to David.

As she laid in the tub, she thought about him and his memorizing kiss. God, where did he learn to kiss? Everytime that they hooked up it seemed that each time, there was a different feel to each kiss. She smiled, thinking back to Starbuck's. If only that could happen everyday then she knew that she couldn't be happier. Gillian closed her eyes, drifting around in her thoughts.

Did that kiss mean anything to him? It meant little to her. 'He's married to Tèa and he has his little girl, so he couldn't had meant nothing behind it,' she thought. Sighing she opened her eyes and bit her lip. She wished that maybe it would mean something to him. But she knew that he couldn't had meant anything. But it was more than just a friendly kiss.

'Oh snap out of it, you don't love him.'

Gillian splashed her feet around in the water and sighed. No, she was sure she didn't love him. There was no way about it. David was married, had the wife, kid, the dog, everything. And he had chosen Tèa over her, so she couldn't do anything about it.

'His wedding ring was missing and he did admit he was having problems with Tèa.'

True, the ring was missing and he did admit to her in the parking lot he was having problems. 'But you shouldn't but in his life,' she thought. 'He did say he didn't want to talk about it.'

But they could be getting a divorce. But was David using Gillian as a way out of his problems? She hoped not. Maybe he was, maybe he just wanted to be with her today to get things off his mind. The kiss would help him escape.

'Or he could love you.'

Gillian sighed and splashed water on her face. David was just a guy. That was it. A guy.

A guy that she seemingly couldn't live without, if she did, she'd go crazy.