After several attempts to get out of bed, they finally made it to her car. Driving on the highway, Susan knew it was time to tell him the real reason they had met. But something kept her from telling him the truth. Chad was quiet and to make conversation she asked: "Did you hear from your friends?"

"Yes."

"Everything alright?"

"Oh yeah, they had a blast yesterday. They sent me lots of videos."

"Really? Don't they know how many laws they broke? Maybe better if they didn't shout it from the rooftops?"

Chad shrugged. "Your boss is okay with you taking a day off?"

"My work is flexible. I may have to answer some phone calls while I drive and the rest I do tonight."

"Must be nice."

"And you?"

Her phone rang. With an apologetic look, she pushed the button on the steering wheel to take the call hands-free.

"Hi Erin here, is he gone?"

"We're in the car and you're on speakerphone."

"O, hi Chad, my name is Erin and I'm Susan's best friend."

A bit surprised, Chad answered: "Nice to meet you."

"Where are you two going?"

"I'm bringing Chad home, so..."

Not picking up the subtle hint, Erin continued: "That's a long drive. Don't you have a car, Chad?"

Before Chad could answer, Susan intervened. "He has a beautiful house in the woods."

"That's nice for him. Did you see what happened yesterday?"

Susan swallowed and glanced in Chad's direction. A frown on his forehead confirmed he knew Erin was another leftie. Nothing strange about that. She forced her gaze back on the road. "Of course. Chad didn't go there."

"What do you mean?"

Susan bit her lip. That was clumsy. Erin immediately understood what she had tried to hide. She didn't want to talk about why Chad had visited her, not with him sitting next to her. "Nothing. I think it's awful what has happened. However, there may be a silver lining in this mess."

"You converting Chad?"

Surprised, Chad looked at her. Susan tried to smile. She had to end her talk with Erin as soon as possible. "Erin, not funny. I'll call you when I'm back. Bye." She pushed the 'disconnect' button.

"What was she talking about?"

"Nothing. I mean, er, I might have told her this morning that you're not a Trump supporter anymore."

He grunted. "It's not something I'm proud of."

"Why not?"

He shrugged and looked out the side window.

Better to tell him her secret later when they were home, at his home, she corrected herself. Her mind shifted to his dog. "Who took care of Molly?"

"My neighbor."

"That's nice of him."

"They aren't all bad, you know."

"I didn't say that."

"You sounded surprised."

"Chad, please, let's not argue about little things."

"I'm tired. I think I'll close my eyes for a bit."

She nodded, feeling an undercurrent she didn't like. They should be able to talk about everything. His reaction gave her the feeling she had to walk on eggshells and she knew that wasn't a stable base for a healthy relationship.

#

"Do you want to go home right away, or do you have time for a quick bite?"

That didn't sound very inviting. Susan gave Molly an extra hug to buy time. The dog had greeted them like they had been gone for a year. Back to her feet, she straightened her back. "Talk to me if you're mad. Don't hold it inside."

"Mad? Why would I be mad?"

"You don't want me hanging around."

"I thought you had to leave, as it's a workday for you."

"I work from home. I brought my laptop, so..." She saw understanding dawning.

"Of course you can stay. I thought..." He smiled. "I didn't think, sorry." He hugged her. "You can stay as long as you wish."

Susan smiled. She stood on her tippy toes to kiss him. "Thanks."

Kissing led to some more kissing. He took her hand and walked with her to his bedroom.

                                                                                    #

After dinner, sitting on the couch together, Chad felt Susan was chewing on something. She averted his eyes and was fumbling with her phone. Susan took a deep breath. A knock on the door interfered with whatever she needed to tell him.

"Can you hold Molly?"

"Of course."

Chad thought Susan looked relieved. He shook it off. Why would she be relieved? When he opened the door, he saw Brian. His muscles tensed.

"Hi, you're home."

"Yes."

"Where were you yesterday?"

Chad felt an unease. "It wasn't my fight, so I left."

"Where did you go?"

Chad looked over his shoulder. Susan held onto Molly while she watched him. He knew she'd love to know what was going on.

Brian followed his gaze. "What's she doing here? I thought you two broke up."

"We're back together."

Brian leaned in and with a voice only meant for Chad he said: "There're rumors the fed had something to do with what happened yesterday."

Chad frowned. "She's no fed."

"We've to be careful."

Chad didn't like the look on Brian's face. He did a step aside to block Brian's view. "Why did you come?"

"I noticed a strange car and the lights were on. I thought you weren't home, so I wanted to check if everything was okay."

Normally, Chad would thank him for his vigilance, but not today. "Let's talk outside."

"Does she know where you were yesterday?"

Chad walked to the porch while closing the door behind him. "I was with her yesterday."

"You didn't tell her you went to the Capitol for Trump, did you? She'll call the feds on you and everyone else."

"Since when are you so paranoid? Don't believe everything Trump says."

"And since when are you talking like a libtard? Don't tell me. She convinced you the election wasn't stolen." A vein in Brian's temple throbbed.

Chad knew he had to toughen up. Besides, he didn't want to hide anymore. He wasn't a coward. "I did my research and you can't tell me you believe he won when over sixty lawsuits proved there was no cheating. He's just a sore loser. That's all."

Brian looked at him, his mouth a thin line. Without another word, he walked away.

Chad felt a pain deep inside while he watched Brian walk to his truck. Opening the door, he returned to Susan.

"What was that all about?"

He shrugged. "I rather not talk about it."

He knew she wanted to argue, instead she let go. "I've got to tell you something."

Alarmed at how guilty she looked, he asked: "Don't tell me you're a fed?"

Confused, she said: "A fed? Do you mean the FBI? No, of course not." She shook her head to dismiss that thought. "No, it's about the night we met."

He smiled. "You knocking on my door is the best thing that ever happened to me."

She signaled to the couch. "Let's sit."

He felt a pang in his gut. He wouldn't lose her too?

When they were both seated, she looked at him. "That night, or better that entire week, I was angry and anxious Trump would win again. I couldn't handle another four years of him messing up this country and the people I love.

He put a hand on her arm. "I already know you hate the guy. What did you want to tell me?"

She bit her lip and fumbled with her phone. "I read somewhere on a Facebook group about a plan to talk with Trump supporters face to face. First, I thought it was a crazy plan."

Chad nodded. It was crazy. He already knew what she wanted to tell him, but better to let her tell the story because he could see it was bugging her big time.

"So I drove in my car to this street and pretended my tank was empty and my battery was dead." She looked at him, waiting for his reaction.

He knew he should be mad. She betrayed him. Except it didn't feel that way.

"Say something." Susan looked downward miserably.

"You look beautiful when you're feeling guilty."

"What? Aren't you mad?"

"Yes, of course I'm mad. Do you know how dangerous it is to knock on a stranger's door in the dark and worse, to get in his car?"

"So I've been told."

"I also have to confess something."

"What?" Susan asked.

"I wanted to teach you a lesson. That gas station?"

"Yeah?"

"There's a gas station five minutes from here."

"No way."

"Way."

"That's all?" She asked, biting her lip.

"Yes. You?"

"I've one more thing. I'm not a lawyer."

"That's a good thing. Why would you lie about that?"

"I don't know. I was nervous and didn't know where to draw the line between my lies and the truth."

He pulled her into his arms.

"So, you're not mad at me?"

He placed a kiss on her head. "No. I'm just happy you knocked on my door."

She smiled and nestled in his arms. "Me too."