Current mood:	relaxed
Current music:	"I´ll never stop loving you" By Doris Day

Rated: PG
Spoilers: Pilot
Disclaimer: Not mine

"Cold II"

Summary: See part one.

She didn´t answer, just hid her face in his neck again and Rex leaned back against the headboard, his heartbeat slowly returning back to normal.
He relaxed a bit, concentrating on Bree´s even breathing, her warm lips on his neck, her hand lightly stroking his hair while she snuggled up closer to him.
“Rex?”
“Yes?”
“I think we should change- we have at least to go over to Paul´s when they get back from church.”
She didn´t sound like her usual determined self at all, rather as though she would have liked nothing better than just to stay where she was, with him.
“Yes, I suppose so- how long will you need to fix your make-up and everything?”
“Not that long-“ Bree straightened up and looked at him, her arms still lying around his neck. “Will you stay here with me till I´ve finished?”
“If you want me to.”
“I do…” She leaned forward and dropped a soft kiss on his forehead, then gently entangled herself from his arms and got up.
Rex followed her over to the bathroom door and leaned against the doorframe while Bree stepped up to the mirror, sighing when she got sight of her ruined hair and make- up.
She picked up a brush and began to run it through her hair, wincing when it got tangled in the knots.
“I´m sorry.” Rex said automatically, remembering how he had gotten these knots in there on purpose.
“It´s ok, there are worse things than knotted hair.”
Her voice sounded calm again but there wasn´t the usual cheery note in it and Rex began to realize that most of his wife´s daily behaviour was her way to cover up what was really going on inside of her, the only way to cope with her every day life at all.
Now he thought about it Rex was shocked that he hadn´t realized that earlier, what was there in his wife´s life to be happy about, their children were getting more and more out of control and since he liked to remain on good terms with them in the few hours he saw them a week it usually was up to Bree to try and set them straight- and consequently both Andrew and Danielle adored their father and thought their mother to be unbearable strict.
Had he ever done anything to support her?
Had he even tried to talk to the kids himself?
When he was honest with himself Rex had to admit that he had secretly enjoyed the situation, in his kid´s eyes he was the perfect father without even trying, Bree did it for him by annoying their children so much that they automatically thought of him as the cool and easy parent.
Well, it was understandable that he liked his kids liking him- but had he ever thought about Bree in this?
Had he ever imagined how it must feel to worry about the kids all week long, to take care of their needs, do everything they wanted and still being disliked, sometimes even hated for it while he didn’t do anything but show up in the doorframe and both their son and daughter would greet him enthusiastically and tell him how much they had missed him and longed for him to come home?
It must hurt her to witness this- but when he looked at Bree in the mirror and she smiled back at him, a true, sweet smile he had the sudden suspicion that maybe she loved him so much that she didn´t give it a second thought after all.
What must be really hurting her was his own behaviour towards her- he hadn´t cared about her lately at all anymore, he had been out golfing and working late and when he had been home he had tried to relax as much as possible, reading, doing crosswords and going to bed early and Bree hadn´t fit into the picture, she was there to serve his breakfast and then when he came home his dinner and he had taken it for granted that she kept the house spotless and tended to the garden and refilled the fridge and sorted out the trouble with the kids and that had been it- he couldn´t even remember when he had said something nice to her, let alone kiss her.
And they hadn´t made love for months- he couldn´t even remember how long it had been.
First he had been too annoyed with her to even think of touching her, then he had felt more and more indifference and had felt that it wouldn´t be right to sleep with her while he wasn´t in it with his heart- and then he somehow had gotten used to not touching her anymore.
He had told himself that at a certain age sex wasn´t that important anymore anyway- it had been easier to convince himself then to try and get back on a level in their marriage where he could be with Bree without feeling guilty of using her.
She had tried to talk to him about it, she had asked him what was wrong for several times but he had kept telling her that he was tired or stressed out or both and eventually she had given up- Bree wasn´t brought up to believe that a woman should force herself on a husband who obviously wasn´t interested in her anymore.
He watched her put on fresh make- up and blush and eye shadow and mascara and finally lipstick without saying a word, he was too occupied with remembering who this woman was, this woman he had promised to have and to hold and to honour and to cherish for the rest of his life and who he had nearly lost for good.
There would be less living next to each other and more living with each other from now on again, he wouldn´t risk to find his wife with a bullet through her head when he got home ever again.
“I´ll go and put another shirt on, ok?”
“Yes, of course- could you get my short black blazer out of the dresser for me?”
“Sure.”
Rex walked over to the dresser and got a white shirt out of it, then looked through Bree´s things to find the jacket she had requested.
The scent of her perfume radiating from her clothes was so overwhelming that Rex felt dizzy for a moment and a brief smile played around his lips, he hadn´t thought about Bree in that way for an eternity and now it just caught him by surprise.
He actually looked at his wife for the first time in months when she unbuttoned her blouse and shrugged it off, thinking how he could have forgotten how very beautiful Bree was.
He looked at his watch and then back at his wife who had just finished getting dressed again.
“I think they´ll be back from church now- are you ready?”
The irony of asking her the exact same question he had asked an hour earlier wasn´t lost on him and when Bree turned around he realized that she had remembered it too.
“I´m sorry, I-“
“It´s ok, you havn´t done anything wrong.”
She led the way down into the kitchen and took the muffin- filled baskets off the counter.
Rex wordlessly took one of them out of her hand and extended his free hand and after a moment of hesitation Bree took it.
They held hands until they reached Paul Young´s doorstep.
Rex listened to Bree telling Paul and his son about her two colour coded baskets and about needing them back and sighed- of course he was glad that she had opened up to him but obviously there would be a long way to go before she would stop trying to display a perfect image for everyone else.
He spotted two of her girlfriends sitting at the coffee table and turned to Bree.
“I´ll go and look where the kids are- I suppose you want to talk to Gabrielle and Lynette anyway.”
“Yes, ok- Rex?”
“Yes?”
“I´m sorry about what I said to Paul, I- I just…”
“I know.”
He squeezed her hand, then walked away to find his children.

When Rex got back into the living room Susan was sitting at the table with Bree, Gabrielle and Lynette and he hesitated- Bree looked pale and her hands were shaking as she lifted up her coffee cup, now that he was trying to see it, it was obvious to him how much it cost Bree to keep up her calm façade.
He really wanted to go over to her and comfort her in some way, just hold her for a moment or at least take her hand and tell her that he was there for her but he wasn´t sure if he should do it in front of her friends.
He had no idea what she had been telling them, if she perhaps had shared all her frustration about his behaviour with them and they would rather see him keep away from her.
But then why should he care about it, Bree was his wife and the only opinion that mattered was her´s- what was it to him what Susan or Lynette or Gabrielle thought about him.
He felt his wife´s friends stare at him when he stepped up behind Bree´s chair and put his hands on her shoulders.
She looked up at him and tried to smile but failed and Rex cowered down next to her chair. “Hey-“ He cupped her cheek in his hand and looked at her very seriously.
“You don´t look to good, do you want to go home? You should lie down for a while.”
Out of the corner of his eye he saw Lynette exchange a bewildered look with Susan but he didn´t pay attention to it.
Bree leaned into his touch, her hand coming up to cover his.
“Ok.” Her voice was quiet and Rex thought how exhausted she must be after her breakdown earlier.
“So come on.” Rex got up from the floor and pulled Bree up from her chair.
“I´ll let you say goodbye.”
She nodded, then hugged her girlfriends and finally allowed him to wrap his arm around her waist and actually leaned against him for support.
He led his wife over to the front door where he stopped briefly beside Paul Young.
“We´ll leave now, Paul, I want to get Bree home, it´s all been a bit much for her too. Again, I´m sorry- if you need anything-“
Paul nodded. “Thank you, Rex. Bree-“
“I´ll see you on Friday, Paul.”
“Yes, I really appreciate that.”
The shook hands and then Rex took Bree´s hand and walked down the garden path with her.