DISCLAIMER: The characters in this story and some of the references are the property ofWarner Bros. and Shoot the Moon Productions. I will return them when I'm done.

AUTHOR: Kathy

RATING: PG

TIMELINE: Shortly after Nightcrawler

REVIEWS: Yes, that would be fine.

SUMMARY: Bath towels? How could Lee get jealous over Bath towels?

Many thanks to Becky who helped me get my bid in ontime and for being the number one beta.

B IS FOR BATH TOWELS

The mud adhered to Lee's body like wallpaper glue. He could feel it in his pores, even his teeth felt caked with the stuff. He had a sudden mad thought as to what his hair must look like.

He wiped his face and nose, that helped him breathe a little better. Billy would never believe this one. How could he ever explain it? At least he had caught Kosakova and the Russian was on his way to interrogation. That was the important thing - now to do something about this mud.

Approaching the 'Vette he grimaced at the thought of getting into the car in this condition. Getting the goop out of the leather seats would not be his favorite way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

He sniffed uneasily. What was that smell? Was that him? He lifted his arm and

smelled. OHHHH! His nose threatened to boycott his face at the odor. Well, it was not late and it was a brisk fall day. He was not far from Amanda's house and no one was home. Amanda had taken off for a few weeks after her ordeal with Birol per the psychologist's orders. Lee was glad she had, although he could not wait for her to come back. But he knew she needed some time to deal with what had happened and he wanted to help her in any way he could. The whole family had taken advantage of the boys' fall break and had gone out to Kansas to visit Mrs. West's father.

Gingerly he unlocked the car's trunk and grabbed the gym bag from the crowded area. Thank goodness he had not listened to Amanda about cleaning it out because the gym bag had clean clothes in it. Sure, it was only a pair of sweat pants and a tee shirt but it would be enough. He tried to make sure the bag did not touch his body as he walked the few blocks to Amanda's house. He entered the gate and went straight to the back door.

After he made sure the door had closed behind him, he drew the blinds on the windows above the sink. He found a garbage bag in the pantry and took off all his clothes, placing them inside. He stripped off his socks and shoes and laid them in the top of the garbage bag. There, that should keep him from getting much mud on anything. Still keeping the gym bag away from him, he headed upstairs.

He was so familiar with the back yard, but he had only been upstairs on a couple

of occasions. Did Amanda have a bathroom of her own, or was there just a community one in the hall? He pushed her bedroom door open and noticed she did indeed have one.

Lee tiptoed over the carpet to the bathroom and shut the door. He reached inside the blue flowered shower curtain and turned the water on. While he waited for the water heater to kick in he looked around.

Some makeup was very neatly arranged in a small tray on the vanity. A bottle of lotion sat alone on the back of the commode. He picked it up, recognizing the scent as one of his favorites. He entered the shower and pulled the curtain shut. The hot water cascaded down his back, freeing the mud from his scalp and behind his ears. For a few minutes he enjoyed the sensation of the liquid beating on his head and shoulders. He

noticed mud falling all around him.

He reached for a bottle of shampoo but brought his hand back quickly. 'Six bottles of shampoo? Why did it take six bottles for one woman?' He smelled each one, lingering over the one that had loved on her the best. But on him? All of these were fruity or smelled like flowers. Picking out the least offensive one, he shampooed well.

The next step was not any better; three cakes of soap, two pink and one blue. The one pink one was oval shaped and still had Dove on the side. The other one had been used more and the name was gone but it had a soft girl smell. "You've got to be kidding me," he said aloud. Reaching for the blue one he noticed it had a fresh deodorant smell. Happily he washed every body part several times until he felt clean.

He turned off the water and groaned at the mud caked in the bottom of the tub.

What a mess he would have to clean up. But first he had to dry off.

A couple of pink towels with lace were hanging on a rack by the window. "I

couldn't dry my finger with these."

He leaned over and opened the door of the vanity. There on the bottom was a stack of towels of various colors. He picked one up and started drying himself. It was a nice big towel. As he reached down to dry his feet something on the towel caught his eye. What was that? He lifted the towel closer. Stitched into the towel was the name Joe. Joe? Why the heck did the towel say Joe?

He threw the towel down on the floor and picked up thenext one. Amanda was

professionally stitched into the fabric. Joe? Amanda? His and hers towels. Oh come on now. Wasn't that something from the 50's when people slept in separate beds?

He pulled out a few more towels but they were nameless. A couple of washcloths were stitched with AKK and JFK. Monogrammed towels.

Why was this bothering him? After all it was not Joe's towel; just a towel with Joe's name on it. It was a perfectly nice one, there would be no reason to get rid of it. No it did not bother him at all.

************************

Lee welcomed Amanda back with dinner at Spencer’s and a quiet evening at his

place.

"Did you miss me?" he asked of his fiancee. He kissed her gently, savoring the taste and feel of her lips. It was good to have her back.

"Of course I missed you. But we had a great time. It was relaxing and it was nice to spend quality time with the family. But I'm glad to be back." She snuggled closer to him, planting kisses on his face and lips.

"Everything okay at the house?" he asked causally. He had not told her about his shower, he did not see any reason to.

"Oh yeah, everything in it's place. Except-- you know,something strange did

happen…"

"Oh?"

"Yeah, some of my bathroom towels are missing. I can't find them anywhere. I mean, they weren't anything special but still they were towels, something I never seem to have enough of. I just can't imagine what happened to them. I've had them since Joe and I were married. I think maybe our names were on them, but I'm not sure."

"I'm sure I don't know, Amanda. Sounds a little bizarre to me. I mean, surely they are in the house somewhere, towels just can't walk off."

He leaned in to kiss her, trying not to think of the bath towels lying in a ball in the bottom of his gym bag. No, he didn't know anything about it. That was his story and he was sticking to it.

THE END

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