Uno

"You're cheating!" Kayla exclaims, catching Penelope looking at her cards yet again.  She quickly pulls them closer to her chest in an attempt to hide them from view.

"And you're sitting on me!" Penelope loudly reminds Kayla, gesturing at where she sits on her lap.

"That doesn't mean you can cheat off me!"

"You do realize that everyone else has been cheating the entire game, right?" Penelope easily deflects the accusation.

"What!" she looks around the table in disbelief, but everyone has a guilty look across their faces.  "But how?"

"I don't know how, but I don't think I've ever played a single game with them in which they didn't cheat. I'm just surprised you never realized it for yourself." Penelope answers, wrapping her arms more securely around Kayla's waist, holding her in her lap just in case she decides to try to lunge at one of their friends.

Evan confesses first, "I've been sliding my cards to the people next to me. They think it's theirs and pick it up."

Laura looks at him and starts laughing. "That would explain why I never seemed to lose any cards. You cheat!"

"Oh yea right, you've had UNO more than anyone else." Evan retorts. "How about you? What's your cheating strategy?"

"Simple. I put two cards down at a time until I only have a few left."

"How dare you! I can't believe I play with such cheaters!" Talia shrieks in forced anger.

"Talia, chill. Let's just tell them."

"No way Ryan, then they'd know!"

"That's the point babe." Ryan kisses Talia on the cheek a chorus of ews rings out from around the table. Talia just turns her head for a real kiss and sticks up her middle finger at the rest of the room.

"Hey! If I can't kiss my girlfriend, neither can you. Rules are rules." Penelope yells, throwing a handful of chips across the table at the two who are now kissing quite passionately.

Talia tears her lips off Ryan's long enough to toss a lighthearted retort back "I thought we were breaking all the rules tonight."

"Yeah, cheating in the game, but we obey the game night rules. That's common decency. Besides, who wants to see you two doing that all night." Laura says tersely, gesturing at Ryan and Talia.

"Oh come on guys, let's just finish playing." Kayla tries to save the night.

"Nah, I'm gonna go actually." Laura says grabbing her coat from the pile on the couch.

"Yea, me too. It was a great night though, and thank you." Evan agrees with Laura as he picks up some of the bigger chips off the floor and pops them into his mouth as he gets his coat.

"I guess we'll get out of your hair also then." Ryan says, not letting Talia even open her mouth in protest as he grabs her jacket and starts walking towards the door without waiting for her to follow.

~~~

When the house is empty, but for Penelope and Kayla, they flop on the couch, and turn to face each other.

"You're not going to vacuum Hunnie?"

"Nah, I'll do it tomorrow. We didn't make too big of a mess tonight."

"You really didn't know that everyone cheats?" Penelope is still confused how Kayla could be so smart and still so clueless at times.

"No, I didn't. I thought we were playing like normal people."

"We were playing like normal people; normal people who just so happen to cheat better than they play." Penelope reaches out and starts lightly stroking Kayla's arm and the back of her hand.

"I guess. So then your cheating strategy was what exactly?"

"First off I only cheat off you. Second, do you really want to know?" Penelope stretches out the word really, leaning closer to Kayla.

"Yes!" Kayla says and places a quick kiss on Penelope's lips.

Penelope leans back from Kayla and holds onto both her hands, caressing the soft skin on the back of them. "I stare down your shirt until you turn to glare at me and then I read your cards"

"You bitch! I can't believe you!" As predicted, Kayla tries to snatch one of her hands back to swat at Penelope, who just holds them tighter until Kayla is laughing too much to stay angry. "But you only cheat off me?"

"Of course. Could you imagine the strange looks I'd get from Ryan or Evan if they caught me looking at their chests, not to mention how completely ineffective it would be since they don't insist on sitting on my lap for every game."

"True. But you know you like it. You don't even set up an extra seat anymore" Kayla leans in towards Penelope and rests her head on her shoulder, her warm breath tickling Penelope's neck. Kayla looks up as she speaks. "Could you imagine Talia's freak out if she thought you were checking her out?"

Penelope laughs at the mental image supplied by that thought. "I'm straight! I'm straight! Watch me prove it by sticking my tongue down my fiancé's throat!" Penelope screams softly, mocking Talia's need for dramatics.

Kayla shakes with laughter at Penelope's impression of their friend. "Yea and Laura would probably worry you were cheating on me or something."

"Would she really?"

"Maybe. I don't know; she does tend to think the worst of things. And she doesn't know how perfect you are." Kayla rolls her head off Penelope and onto the couch, lifting her long hair off her neck and draping it over the back of the couch as she closes her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Penelope asks in concern. Usually Kayla is more active at night, especially after a game night with their friends. She hates waking up, but loves the sunrise. If it wasn't for having to go in to work early most days Kayla would become nocturnal and lose the light copper coloring the sun gave her every year.

"Yea. It's just been a long day I guess." Kayla sighs as she starts to relax into the embrace of the couch.

"Come on; let's just go to bed before you fall asleep here."

"That sounds amazing." The last word is stretched out by a sudden yawn that Kayla raises her hand to cover.

"Alright. You go on up, I'll just lock up and I'll be there in a minute."

"Okay." Kayla gets up from the couch and leans over Penelope for a kiss, which she gets. Then she heads down the hall to their room.

Penelope sits on the couch a moment longer, thinking that it was strange for Kayla to go to bed without putting up a fight. Penelope finally gets up, double locks the front and back doors, and then goes into the bedroom.

Kayla is already under the covers, her legs resting on top of the thick comforter while the rest of her body is hidden beneath it. Her head is cushioned by two thick pillows, compared to the one thin pillow on the other side of the queen-sized bed. Penelope quickly changes into her pajama pants and a loose fitting tee and joined Kayla, wrapping her arms around her waist and resting her head on the back of her shoulder. Kayla's only response was to move Penelope's arm from its uncomfortable position on her waist to higher up on her ribcage. Penelope places a soft kiss on Kayla's jaw and closes her eyes to sleep.

"Good night. Sweet dreams. I love you"

"Good night. Sweet dreams. I love you too"