“Kyle, what were you thinking?” Sarah questioned, turning in her seat to look back at Kyle who just seemed to be staring out the window. She snapped her fingers as he turned to look at her. “Are you going to be talking to me anytime soon?”

“Sure sweetheart, what can I do for you?” Kyle replied sarcastically, snapping his fingers back at her. “I loved that little finger snap. That was beautiful.”

“Why are you acting like this?” Sarah questioned, watching him shrug his shoulders. “I am just trying to talk to you.”

“How exactly am I acting Sarah?” Kyle wondered, resting his arms on the back of the seat in Kipp’s car. “And what exactly is you want to know?”

“Kyle, she is just trying to help,” Kipp declared, looking towards Sarah who was in his passenger seat. “We are just trying to find out what happened.”

“You know, I really don’t need any help because everything is fine. There is really nothing wrong with me, but if you would like to know what happened--I guess I could tell you. Is that what the both of you want?” Kyle watched the two closely as he saw the both of them nod. “I went to a bar, Grady was there. He started stuff with me and I didn’t like it. Plain and simple.”

“And now your face is cut up and you are bleeding really bad,” Sarah pointed out with a small frown, watching as he just shrugged. “Do you know how badly you could have been hurt? This is minor compared to what could have happened.”

“I’ve had worse Sarah,” Kyle stated with a small sigh, touching his stinging cheek, “much worse. I don’t think you understand how I am feeling right now.”

“No, I don’t understand it at all Kyle,” Sarah agreed, nodding slowly before shrugging her shoulders as she thought about what to say next, “That’s also because I think you are acting really stupid and ridiculous.”

“Really stupid? You think I’m acting really stupid?” Kyle questioned, his dark eyes meeting hers in an angered glance. “I’m not stupid Sarah, you lose your flesh and blood, your child and see how you act. I can bet anything that you would be feeling and acting the same exact way that I am right now.”

“You didn’t lose a child Kyle,” Sarah informed him with a small frown, feeling Kipp shake his head slowly.

“Tell him later,” Kipp whispered, seeing her nod slowly before continuing to talk to him.

“Anyways, I just guess I never imagined that I would have to be bailing you out jail,” Sarah shook her head slowly before seeing Kyle sit forward in his seat as she spoke to him, “I never imagined you of all people to be in jail.”

“We both have been in jail before Sarah, it happens sometimes,” Kyle replied with a small shrug, “It’s not like you can’t stop it from happening.”

“You were arrested?” Kipp questioned with a small shock as he saw Sarah glare over at him. He shrugged his shoulders before looking back at the road. “Sorry, didn’t realize that was a soft spot there. Didn’t mean to do that.”

“Yes, you can,” Sarah insisted, shaking her head slowly after Kyle’s comment. She tried to ignore Kipp‘s comment just for now, she really wasn’t in the mood for explaining. “You know, all you have to do is be normal and not set yourself up for trouble. I can’t believe you still got arrested for being drunk.”

“One, there is no such thing as being normal in any person. It‘s not physically possible,” Kyle raised his index finger in the air before shaking his head slowly, “Secondly, I wasn’t drunk. The idiot was the drunk one. And with me getting arrested, what do you want me to do? Give you my thanks over and over again until your heart is content? Is that what you want?”

“It would be nice,” she nodded, feeling Kyle place his hand on the back of her neck, pulling her forward and pressing his lips against hers. Kyle kissed her roughly before letting her go.

“There is my thanks, okay? Is that a good enough thanks for you?” Kyle replied, leaning back in the seat before looking over at Kipp who seemed to be just wondering what in the world he was doing. “Good enough for you?”

“We’re here,” Kipp informed them pulling along the side of the street in front of Sarah’s house.

“I don’t really think I should be here right now,” Kyle declared, seeing Sarah open her door, “It might not be a good idea. I think I should be alone for a while.”

“It will be fine,” Sarah assured him, turning to look back at him, “If you completely insist on leaving after coming in--you can. I won’t keep you here against your will you know.”

“Only for a minute,” Kyle frowned, opening the door and getting out slowly.

“Sarah,” Kipp caught Sarah by the hand before she walked out, “Promise me that you will call me if you need anything. And by anything, I mean anything. You know, if you need someone to talk to--I will be here for you very quickly.”

“I know Kipp,” Sarah smiled before looking back at Kyle who was waiting for her, “I will call you later, okay?”

“Sounds great,” Kipp nodded, watching Sarah shut the car door before starting to walk to the house. “Hopefully they can fix what is going on with them.”

Kipp saw the way that Kyle was behind her, acting as if he really didn’t want to be here. It was like they were both just trying to get at each other. Hopefully they could realize what they had before it was too late.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I told you that you didn’t have to drive me home,” Grady protested glancing over at Avery as he sat in the front seat of her car as a reluctant passenger. “I would’ve been just fine if…”

“If what?” she questioned glancing over at him briefly, “If I’d left you in jail? What? Did you miss it so much already that you thought you’d just work your way into getting back on the inside?”

“That’s not it,” he rolled his eyes at her, “and besides it was none of your business.”

“You made it my business when you and Kyle started this nonsense with one another,” she shook her head at him. She glanced over at him again watching the way he was stubbornly seated beside her with his arms folded in front of his chest.

“I told you that I had it covered,” Grady muttered under his breath.

“Ah yes beating the hell out of your best friend and destroying the bar you two were both in is most certainly covering it there Grady,” she shook her head again with heavy disapproval, “Honestly I know that you both are hurting right now, but what did you think you were going to accomplish by tearing yourselves apart?”

“He started it,” Grady huffed back at her.

“It doesn’t matter who started it. What matters is that you two find a way to fix the damage that’s already been done without causing each other any significant amount of bodily harm,” she suggested pulling off the main road onto the path leading to his home.

“Hey, he made his bed, so he can lay in it for all I care,” he threw his hands up in the air, “He made his decision the moment he betrayed me for that bitch. He knew full well what she was capable of and…”

“And so do you Grady. You know how Susan works her way into situations and manipulates them. Heaven only knows what kind of number she pulled over him before you arrived. Chances are she had some off the wall story that lead him to take her words for truth,” she pointed out playing the devil’s advocate, “Given all that Kyle’s been through in his life chances are he was shell-shocked when you finally showed up and saw through Susan’s bullshit.”

“Even so, Kyle should’ve known better,” he added gruffly, “He should’ve thought about our friendship…about…”

“Right now I’m sure Kyle is thinking the same things about you,” she added further, “My guess is that he too is feeling betrayed and the longer you two keep up this vendetta against one another, the harder it will be to repair it.”

“Yeah, well I did what I had to do with him tonight. He brought it on himself,” he huffed impatiently not wanting a lecture. His head was aching, anger coiling throughout his body and right about now he could use a stiff drink.

“I highly doubt that,” she muttered disbelieving his words, “When it comes to you and Kyle, you both can be stubborn and impossible when it gets down to it.”

“Yeah well,” he frowned glancing over at her once again, “Whatever. Who asked you anyways?”

“I came because I’m your friend and I thought you could use a hand,” she reminded him pointedly pulling up into his driveway, “I saw what was happening and I knew that you needed me.”

“I don’t need you Avery,” he argued with her shaking his head, “I never needed you.”

“Whatever,” she rolled her eyes at him, “If you didn’t have me bail you out of jail, you might be making permanent residence in that place given your luck.”

“No, I would’ve just called my father to help me out,” he paused feeling his stubbornness take a moment of pause, “Speaking of which, how did you know I was there in the first place?”

“One of the officers remembered I was your lawyer so they had my number on file from before,” she explained seeing him reaching to open the door, “I didn’t want you stuck in there.”

“Yeah well I guess it would’ve served me right for being such a jerk, wouldn’t it?” Grady mouthed stepping out of the car.

She watched him walk out of the car before she let out a small groan. Reaching for the door handle, she pushed the door open before following him up to the front porch. She watched him fiddle with his keys before dropping them on the ground. She bent down picking them up and circling them around her finger expectantly.

“You know I don’t get why you have to be such a jerk to those people who actually take the time to give a damn about you,” she curled her lip in a frown. “I mean honestly would it have killed you to just say thank you to me for what I’ve done?”

“I didn’t ask you to do it,” he reached out to snatch his keys from her with no luck.

“Yeah, well I did it anyways, so the least you can do is say thank you,” she reminded him harshly holding the keys out towards him.

“Fine you want a thank you?” he grumbled sticking the key in the door before pushing it open, “Then I’ll write you a check. I’ll pay you back for your troubles…”

“Grady that’s not what I was going for,” she began seeing him stomp into his home. She followed him inside her frustrations mounting. “Grady, I came down to the station to help you tonight because you’re my friend and I care about you. Even if you treat me horrible, I’m not ready to give up on you yet.”

“Well why the hell not?” he questioned harshly spinning around on his heel to face her, “Why don’t you just stop caring about me when you can see it’s only a waste of time? In fact, what does your husband have to say about your always wanting to ‘help’ me out? I’m sure he’s not feeling all warm and fuzzy about your bailing me out tonight, is he?”

“He doesn’t know about it,” Avery replied softening her voice a bit.

“That doesn’t surprise me. He seems to find out about things after the fact and go nuts in the process considering…” he threw his hands up in the air full of exasperation.

“He left me Grady,” she blurted out painfully, her words bringing forth the reality of the situation she was in with Brant.

“What?” shock registered over his features. He blinked back at her clearly surprised, “What did you just say?”

“I said he left me. He’s gone,” Avery continued looking away from him. She took a step back feeling uneasy in the situation now that she’d been reminded of Brant’s leaving town. “He went away for a while…”

“Why? What happened?” Grady questioned softening his voice a bit.

“There’s this thing going on with Ken. It’s a long story, but Brant wanted to help him. He left town to do something for a while and…” she shook her head, “It’s a long story, but right now he’s gone. He left town for a while…”

“And left you behind,” Grady noted the wounded expression on her face.

“Something like that, but it’s okay. A little time will do us good. He’s doing what he needs to do and I’m doing what I need to do,” she offered up weakly looking around his house for a brief moment.

“He left you behind because of me, didn’t he? He’s upset with you for what you’ve been doing to try to help me. That’s it, isn’t it?” Grady realized by her uneasiness.

“No, that’s not it,” she argued with him, “He’s just looking out for Ken’s best interests and…”

“And nothing,” he frowned down at her, “Avery, if he’s gone because of your helping me…”

“He’s not okay,” Avery insisted feeling a pang of sadness inside of her, “he’s just doing what he has to do and I’m…”

“Going to go after him,” he cut her off abruptly catching the look of surprise burning behind her eyes, “Avery, if you’re smart you’ll stop trying to help me. You’ll start thinking about helping yourself and fixing things with Brant.”

“Grady, that’s not what this is about…it’s…” she started to explain herself to him again.

“No Avery, this shouldn’t be about me. It should be about making yourself happy--about keeping your life in order,” Grady warned her a sudden seriousness in his tone, “I’m telling you now the best thing that you can do is forget about me and start thinking about what you need to do to fix your marriage Avery. If you’re smart, you won’t let Brant walk away like this. You’ll find a way to stop him before it’s too late to take any of this back.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Dave stood outside of Deidra’s apartment knocking on her door in the hopes of finding her after Carly had convinced her to leave his home. He knew that it was a long shot, but he just hoped that she’d come home--that he would be able to talk her into coming back to his place just until the danger with Bruce was out of the way. He knocked again watching the door open. He saw her standing on the other side.

“Deidra, we need to talk,” Dave began watching her reach for the door.

“Not now Dave,” she started to close the door, but he put his foot inside before she could close it completely.

“Deidra please,” Dave insisted once more, “I know you’re upset, but I really think we should talk. I want you to come home with me. You’re not safe here and…”

“Dave, I don’t belong there,” she sighed heavily opening up her door as the realization dawned in upon her that he wasn’t about to walk away just yet. “You and I both know that my staying there is only going to cause you problems in your marriage.”

“No it’s not,” Dave argued with her, “I know you and Carly had a bit of a tiff today, but…”

“A tiff?” she repeated with a forced laugh, “Dave, in case you haven’t noticed your wife hates me. She thinks I’m evil and the last thing I want to do is get her started especially when you have Kayla there. She doesn’t deserve to listen to Carly and I fighting with one another.”

“She’ll be nice. She’s just upset about the situation, but she understands now that…” he began again desperate to keep her out of harm’s way.

“Dave, please stop,” she urged him with a heavy sigh making her way over to the couch and sitting down with a groan, “Carly hates me and nothing is going to change that. She’s never liked me.”

“She just doesn’t know you. If you give her the chance to see who you really are, then maybe the two of you can get past this business between you and…” he offered up in suggestion fearing what could happen to Deidra if he couldn’t keep an eye on her.

“Dave, let’s face it. Carly hates me and if I were to stay at your home I’d only be a problem. I’d be intruding in your life and now that you’re finally married you don’t need me getting in the way,” she argued with him, “I’m only going to cause problems and…”

“And nothing. You’re my best friend and I care about you. You’re important to me and I don’t want to see anything happen to you,” he sighed heavily his worries mounting by the second.

“Dave, go home. Right now this is the last thing I want to get into…” she groaned inwardly slumping back into the pillows on her couch. “I just want to be by myself.”

“No, I’m not going home Deidra. I’m worried about you. I only want to protect you because I know how hurt you are and I hate seeing you like that. I care about you and if anything happened to you…” he trailed off his worries taking over.

“Dave, I’ll be fine. I can make it on my own. I’ve done it thus far and I’ll keep on doing it,” she argued watching him move in closer to her. He sat down beside her on the couch, “Dave, you know me. I’m a fighter and…”

“And I know how shaken up you’ve been lately. In between Bruce and Dean, I can’t help but worry about you. I’ve always wanted to help you,” he confessed with a heartfelt plea.

“I know and I’m trying to do the same in helping you Dave. If you just go home and stop worrying about me…” she pleaded unable to hold back her tears any longer.

“Deidra, I love you. I’ve always loved you and for you to ask me to walk away from you when I know you’re hurting, well that’s like asking me to deny my heart. You’re my best friend and I don’t want to see anything happen to you,” he explained desperately watching her tears overtake her.

“I just wish that it wasn’t so complicated. That I didn’t feel the way I did. I mean first I start fighting with Carly and then I ran into Dean and…” she trailed off overtaken with her tears.

“And what? What did he say to you?” he asked worriedly.

“He just told me that he still loved me. That he wanted a second chance, but when I look at him, I feel all the hurt all over again,” she confessed leaning into Dave’s arms, her tears consuming her, “I just don’t understand why he could claim to love me and then betray me like that. I thought that I knew him…that he was special, but now I can’t even trust my own heart…”

“Oh Deidra,” he replied hugging her in his arms as her tears caused him to ache. The last thing he’d wanted was to see his best friend hurt, but now as she was falling to pieces in his arms, he wished like hell that he could find a way to repair the damage that Dean had done to her.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“What’s wrong daddy?” Matt questioned, jumping into Don’s lap as they sat on the couch. He touched Don’s cheek lightly before frowning. “You look sad.”

“I’m fine,” Don replied with a small chuckle, running his hand through Matt’s hair slowly, “What’s wrong with you. It looks like you have trouble on your mind.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Matt giggled, shrugging his shoulders, “Can you make me something?”

“It depends on what it is,” Don shrugged with a small smirk, watching as Matt got off of his lap and pointed towards the kitchen. “What do you want me to make for you?”

“I want a really big milkshake,” Matt replied with a small smile as Don got up from where he was seated on the couch, “A chocolate milkshake.”

“Chocolate you say?” Don questioned, seeing Matt nod slowly. He kneeled down on one of his knees before resting his hand on Matt’s shoulder. “Let’s make a deal. If I make you a really big chocolate shake, you have to draw me a really amazing picture. That way we can both have something we really like.”

“Deal,” Matt nodded quickly, grabbing Don’s hand in his tightly before pulling him towards the kitchen, “Can I help you make the shake daddy?”

“Sure you can little guy,” Don picked Matt up in his arms and sat him on the counter before going to the freezer to get a few things out, “You said chocolate right?”

“Yep,” Matt nodded quickly before pointing towards the fridge, “You need to get milk right?”

“Right, hold on one second,” Don held his index finger up, motioning him to wait as he went to the fridge to get out the milk. He put the items in the blender before looking towards his son. “Do you want whipped cream on top?”

“Um, sure,” Matt quickly replied before looking to the blender, “Can I turn it on?”

“Sure, when we get there,” Don answered, bending down to grab the whipped cream from the bottom shelf of the fridge. He heard the blender go on before he quickly got up. “Matt, I said not yet. Turn it off.”

“You said when we got there and well, I was there. I don’t know how to turn it off, only on,” Matt gulped, jumping down from the counter and running to the corner as he watched his father try to turn the blender off as he got covered in the chocolate ice-cream and the milk. Finally, after a few minutes, Don turned the blender off before facing Matt. His whole face was covered as he wiped the mix away from his eyes. “You look funny.”

“I’m glad you think I look funny, it‘s nice to know that you are laughing,” Don chuckled, taking a step forward, only to slip on the floor where some of the mix was and he fell right on his back. He let out a small groan as he leaned his head back on the kitchen the floor. “Ouch.”

“Are you alright?” Matt questioned, taking a step forward towards his dad as he was laid out on the floor. “Are you dead?”

“No, I’m not dead,” Don replied, quickly reaching out to grab Matt in his arms as he began to tickle at his sides. Matt’s uproar of laughter filled his ears and he smiled to himself. “Oh no, it’s time for the tummy torture.”

“No, no. Not the tummy torture,” Matt giggled, trying to push Don away from him as he continued to laugh. “Anything but the tummy torture.”

“I can’t help it, it just comes out of no where,” Don declared, his eyes getting wide as he spoke. “Oh no, here it comes. Matt save yourself, it‘s coming.”

“No,” Matt chuckled, laughing his heart out as Don began to blow on his stomach. “I give, I give. Daddy, that tickles.”

“I can’t just stop it,” Don chuckled, seeing his son’s face become red with a laughter as he blew on his stomach again, “Oh, I think it’s fading down.”

“Thank goodness,” Matt chuckled before feeling Don blow on his stomach again. He began laughing even harder as he tried to make Don stop from tickling him anymore. “I thought you said it was fading down.”

“Okay, I think it’s done now,” Don decided, getting up from the ground and picking Matt up in his arms before tickling at his stomach quickly. “Go wash up and when you come back, I will have your milkshake ready.”

“Okay,” Matt laughed, running towards his room after Don let him down.

Don turned around to face the mess that was all around the kitchen. The mix of the shake was all over the floor, cupboards, counters and most of all, himself.

“How am I going to do this?” Don asked himself, looking down at his dirty shirt. He shook his head slowly before pulling his shirt over his head. He took one long look at the shirt before wiping the rest of the mix off his face with it. He grabbed a towel from the counter and got on his knee to wipe the mess off of the floor. He heard the doorbell ring as he let out a deep sigh. “Wonderful.”

Don walked towards his front door, hearing the doorbell ring again. He finally opened the door and was slightly shocked at who he saw before him.

“Shannon,” Don held onto the front door tightly before leaning his other hand against the wall, “I didn’t expect to see you here. I didn’t really think you would want to be seeing me anytime soon.”

“Yeah, about that,” Shannon began, shrugging her shoulders as she spoke, “I was wondering if I could come in.”

“Um, sure,” Don shrugged, holding his door open to allow her space to walk in the house. When he closed the door, he saw the look she had on her face when she saw he was covered in something. “You’ll have to excuse the mess. I was making a milkshake with Matt and we had an accident.”

“Yeah,” she chuckled, nodding slowly as she looked him over once more, “It looks like you had a bit of fun. How did you know chocolate was my favorite?”

“Funny,” Don chuckled before shaking his head slowly, “Just sit down and I will be right back. I should change real quick.”

“Actually,” Shannon called out to him before he walked into his bedroom, “I think you might want to wait for this because it’s really important.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Diego let out a small yawn as his eyes slowly opened to see the darkness of the room around him. He looked to his side to see Cori sleeping, facing away from him. Tonight, he was hoping to make Cori’s dreams come true, but why did he feel so bad about doing what he had?

“What am I thinking?” Diego asked himself, letting out a deep sigh as he placed his arms behind his head. He looked up at the dark ceiling before him, watching as the shadows passed over the walls. “I’m such a jerk.”

“What are you saying?” he felt her roll over, resting her head on his chest lightly. “Can’t sleep?”

“No, I can’t,” Diego replied with a small frown, feeling her lips press over the inside of his neck. He felt her fingers pull his chin to meet her lips as he jumped back seeing the face before him. “Sarah?”

“What’s wrong?” she questioned as he lifted himself up on his elbows to look at her. “What’s wrong Diego?”

“Nothing,” he lied, feeling her pull him forward and begin to kiss him slowly. He wrapped his arm around her body tightly before leaning her back into the bed. His hand ran along the side of her face slowly before giving her a couple of tiny kisses. “You’re beautiful, I hope you know.”

“I want to be with you forever Diego,” he heard Sarah’s voice coming through his ears as he leaned forward to kiss her again.

Diego sat up quickly in bed as his heart pounded quickly over and over again. He looked to his side where he truly saw Cori sleeping next to him. It was a dream he was having, nothing else.

“Why do I keep dreaming about her?” Diego asked himself, letting out a deep sigh as he ran his hands through his hair slowly. He felt a hand on his shoulder as he jumped at the feeling.

“Hey, it’s only me,” Cori whispered, with a small frown as she slowly sat up in the bed, “Are you okay? You look like you just saw a ghost or something.”

“I just had a bad dream, I‘ll be fine,” he replied with a small frown, letting out a deep breath as he thought. He slowly got out of bed as he watched her look up at him with a worried expression. “Don’t worry, I think I just need to grab something to eat. I will be fine ,I promise. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay,” she nodded, watching him grab his pants and pull them up quickly, “I’ll be here.”

“Alright,” Diego looked back at her one last time before walking out into the hallway. What was his mind trying to tell him with all these dreams he was having? “What am I thinking?”

He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge to look for something he could eat before he heard a rustling noise behind him.

“Hey,” Cori whispered, walking up from behind him as he jumped, “Sorry, I was just worried about you.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Diego hushed, reaching out to embrace her in his arms tightly, “You don’t have to worry about me, I will be just fine. It was only dream.”

“Okay,” Cori frowned, leaning up to kiss him as he held her tightly in his arms.

When he woke up, why was his heart beating so fast? Did he really want Sarah?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Kipp put his keys in the door, hearing laughing as he leaned forward to listen to what was going on. Did Heather or Kellen invite one of their friends over? Whatever it was, it sounded like whoever was in there was having a lot of fun.

“So what did you tell him?” Heather questioned with a small laugh as Kipp walked into the house. They obviously didn’t hear him when he came in. “Come on Kellen, finish the story. Don’t leave me hanging on.”

“I told him I wasn’t gay,” Kellen replied with a small chuckle, “You think I was going to tell him that I was gay after all that happened right in front of me? Please?”

“I would have totally done the same thing,” Heather declared, placing her hand on Kellen’s shoulder lightly, “Believe me honey, you made the right move. From what this guy sounds like, I would never want to come in distance of fifty feet from him. Yuck.”

“Um, excuse me,” Kipp’s voice raised over the room as Kellen and Heather looked over at him with surprised faces. “What in the world is going on here?”

“Nothing is going on, we‘re just having a drink together,” Heather stated with a small laugh, setting her drink down on the coffee table before standing up. “I guess you should say I should get going right now. I need my beauty sleep.”

“That’s the truth,” Kellen joked, standing up from behind her only to feel her hit him in the center of his chest lightly, “I’m only playing with you sweetheart. I’m only playing.”

“You better be,” she joked, walking away from Kellen and over to Kipp. She placed both of her hands on Kipp’s shoulders before leaning forward to kiss him on the cheek lightly. “Goodnight Kipp. I’ll be back tomorrow morning to see Charles.”

“Um, okay,” Kipp nodded slowly, watching Heather walk over to Kellen. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Well, see you later,” Kellen smiled, holding his arms out as Heather leaned forward to hug him tightly. “It was nice hanging out with you Heather, I really enjoyed it.”

“No problem, we’ll have to do it again sometime,” she added with a small smile, giving him a peck on the lips, “Remember what we have planned?”

“How can I forget it honey?” Kellen asked with a small laugh before resting his hands on his hips. “I’ll see you tomorrow sweetheart. Have a good night.”

“You too,” Heather waved goodbye to both Kellen and Kipp before leaving the house and shutting the door behind her.

“What in the world was that?” Kipp was amazed at what he had just seen before him. Heather and Kellen were just about ready to tear each others necks out and now, they were just about best friends from what he saw. “What was just going on? Did hell just freeze over and bring you two closer or something.”

“Kipp, honey,” Kellen began, walking over to Kipp and wrapping his arm around his shoulders tightly, “It was nothing. Really. We were just sitting down and having a drink. We had just had a little girl talk and it was nothing much.”

“Nothing much?” Kipp questioned with a small frown, feeling Kellen lean down and kiss him gently. “What did you two talk about? I mean how?”

“It was really nothing,” Kellen shrugged, taking a seat down on the couch before patting the side next to him, “Now why don’t you stop worrying and sit down. We can have a drink together if you would like.”

“Okay,” Kipp nodded quickly, trying to shake off what happened before him. Obviously, things were becoming really different in this world. This was just another example of what has been going on that is weird lately.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Can I have Rocky Road?” Kayla questioned with wide eyes as she and Carly stood in front of the glass ice-cream counter in the middle of the ice-cream shop they’d stopped in after Carly and Dave had found themselves at odds with one another again.

“You don’t like Rocky Road,” Carly wrinkled her nose down at her daughter, “You’ve never liked Rocky Road.”

“Sure I do,” Kayla tried to assure her, “Cori gave me some the other day and I loved it.”

“She did, did she?” Carly arched a curious brow, “Well if you’re really sure that you like it.”

“I do. I want a double scoop in a dish with hot fudge and whipped cream and two cherries,” Kayla insisted eagerly, her dark eyes widening with anticipation.

“You have a pretty tall order, don’t you?” Carly couldn’t help but laugh at her daughter’s request.

“Not really. Just you watch. I’m going to eat every single bite of it,” Kayla assured her proudly, “and trust me mom they do give you two cherries here if you ask.”

“Even three if you’re an especially good girl like yourself,” a voice replied from behind them.

Kayla tipped her eyes up before recognition dawned in upon her. She spun around to greet the man before her eagerly.

“Ken hi!” Kayla waved up at him excitedly.

“Well hello Kayla,” Ken knelt down in front of her, “How are you doing princess?”

“I’m doing very well thank you,” Kayla grinned at him before tugging on Carly’s hand, “Mommy, have you met my friend Ken? He works here and he said that you can get me three cherries on my sundae…”

“Well I…” Carly stammered a bit stunned to see Ken of all people standing before her. She wasn’t entirely prepared for the thought of walking into Ken, but now that she had and he apparently had met Kayla she found herself at a loss.

“Of course she’s met me,” Ken smiled over at Carly, his eyes lighting up as he stood before her, “and in fact, if you’d like, I’d have to say you can get your mommy three cherries as well.”

“Well I don’t know if…” Carly stammered a bit watching Ken motion to the man behind the counter.

“Oh come on mommy. Live a little. In fact,” Ken waved at the man behind the counter, “do you see this little princess right here?”

“Why yes sir I do,” the man nodded in response motioning to Kayla.

“Well this little princess happens to be an extra special guest of mine,” Ken explained with a proud smile, “Anything she wants, it’s hers on the house. Same for this pretty lady right here.”

“Yes sir,” the man nodded before looking to Kayla, “What can I get for you sweetheart?”

“That’s a loaded question,” Carly mouthed turning to watch Kayla tipping up on her toes to look at all of the ice-cream before her now that Ken had promised her the world.

“She’ll be fine,” Ken assured her stepping in closer, “Just you watch. I suspect that she’s a pro at all of this and knows exactly what she’s doing.”

“Precisely which means I’m probably going to end up with a monstrously oversized banana split that will take me two weeks to finish,” Carly replied glancing over at her shoulder to see him standing behind her closer than she’d anticipated.

“So have her get two spoons and I’d be more than happy to help you out,” Ken suggested with a small shrug of his shoulders. He caught the apprehension over her features and he took a step back, “Think of it as a late wedding gift.”

“So you know,” she questioned realizing she’d done nothing to hide the surprise behind her eyes.

“Yeah,” Ken nodded with a small smile, “Word travels fast in this small town. After I met Kayla, I guess it kind of all fell into place with why you wanted to get back together with Dave so badly…”

“Ken I…” Carly stammered a bit not really quite clear on what to say.

“I can’t say I blame you. She’s a beautiful little girl,” he motioned over to Kayla, a warm smile spilling over his features as he watched her carefully selecting the ice-cream before her. She requested sample after sample from the man behind the counter--taking her time to carefully inspect each flavor and decide if it was satisfactory or not. Ken couldn’t help but laugh. “She’s really wonderful.”

“Thank you,” Carly smiled watching her daughter as well hoping that her uneasiness about having Ken this close to Kayla wouldn’t show.

“You’re very welcome. She reminds me a lot of you and when I first met her, I saw how great she really was,” Ken paused turning his eyes towards Carly once again, “and I now know why it meant so much for you and Dave to work your way to one another. She deserves a family in her life.”

“Ken, I…” she began again finding herself at a loss as she thought about the possibility of him being Kayla’s biological father. She bit back on a lump in her throat, “Thank you for understanding. It was very important to Kayla that Dave and I work things out.”

“And with good reason,” Ken nodded accordingly, “It’s very important for a child to have their parents together--loving one another and I know that’s what you have with Dave.”

“I really do,” she smiled politely noting the way that his gaze dropped down to her ring finger.

“And I’m so happy about that. I hated the thought of your being hurt and what I did before…” Ken offered up apologetically.

“It’s the past now,” Carly cut him off abruptly fearing what might happen should they keep talking about the past. Her eyes sought out Kayla again where she still stood sampling the ice creams before her. She just hoped that Ken didn’t pick up on her uneasiness given what was at risk here. If he suspected even for a second that he could be Kayla’s father…

“The past,” Ken repeated with a nod, “you’re right. I think it’s time we all let go of that and move forward.”

“Exactly,” she nodded quickly.

“I really, truly am sorry for the hell I put you through. I know that just saying that doesn’t make up for it, but it’s the truth,” Ken inhaled slowly before speaking up again. “I was wrong before and believe me if I could take that back…”

“Ken, it’s okay,” she interrupted with a forced smile, “It just wasn’t meant to be.”

“No, I guess it just wasn’t,” he sighed, “but hey things seem to be picking up for the both of us now. I mean look at you, you’re a happily married woman with a family and me, well I’m deciding to work on taking the plunge myself.”

“The plunge,” she repeated with confusion as Kayla called out to her.

“Mommy, what do you think of this one,” Kayla held up a spoonful of something that looked chocolate.

“It looks good Kayla,” Carly replied with a nod before turning to Ken, “What does that mean? The plunge?”

“I’m getting married,” Ken confessed with a small smile, “I know it’s rather sudden, but Michelle is someone who has been there for me. She knows what a jerk I was, but she’s helping me to become a better person. She really wants to see me become the best man I can be.”

“I see,” Carly nodded taking in what he was saying. She finally forced a smile, “Well I hope she treats you right. I mean, you don’t deserve anything less than the best.”

“I’m sure I have it with Michelle,” Ken continued with a small shrug, “I mean who knows? Maybe one day she and I will be lucky enough to have what you and Dave have. Maybe we’ll have a family of our own and I can be almost as lucky as Dave is. He’s truly blessed you know.”

“I’m the blessed one,” Carly replied feeling an uneasiness in the center of her stomach. Before she could say another word, she spotted Kayla out of the corner for her eye rushing over to her. Kayla held up a dripping ice cream cone.

“For you mommy,” Kayla explained as Carly politely accepted the double scoop of melting ice-cream.

“And I take it you settled in on Rocky Road,” Carly noted the other ice-cream cone her daughter was holding.

“No,” Kayla shook her head, “This one is for Ken. He looked like he could use an ice-cream too.”

“Well thank you sweetie,” Ken bent down to accept the cone from her hand, “I appreciate your thinking of me.”

“You’re welcome,” Kayla reached out to give him a quick hug, “Thank you for the ice-cream too.”

“You’re very welcome,” Ken replied hugging her back before his dark eyes drifted up towards Carly. “You know anytime you and your mommy want to come over and get free ice-cream, you’re always welcome. It’s on the house.”

“Really?” Kayla tipped her head to the side giving him a strange look, “because I didn’t see any ice-cream on the roof when we walked inside.”

“No he means that you can have free ice-cream whenever you come over,” Carly explained with a small laugh.

“Oh right,” Kayla nodded before grinning up a Ken, “You’re like so very cool Ken. Thank you so very much.”

“You’re so very welcome sweetheart,” Ken replied reaching out to tap at her nose lightly, “You and your mommy are always welcome here. You’ll be my special friends.”

“And you’ll be my special friend too,” Kayla decided with a little laugh, “Right mommy?”

“That’s right Kayla,” Carly brought her arm around her daughter’s shoulders protectively as she looked to Ken, “and for what it’s worth I wish you the best of luck with your marriage.”

“You too,” Ken stood up on his feet again clearing his throat uneasily, “All I’ve ever wanted was to see you happy Carly.”

“I am happy now and I hope you find that too,” she replied as the man behind the counter returned with Kayla’s sundae and a box in hand.

“Mr. Ashford,” the man handed the box over to Ken.

“Thank you Bob,” Ken nodded accepting his package before turning to Carly and Kayla. “You two have a good day and eat as much ice-cream as you want.”

“Okay, thanks Ken,” Kayla waved at him before carrying her sundae over to one of the tables.

“Good-bye Carly,” Ken smiled at her keeping his box close to his chest.

“Good-bye Ken and good luck,” Carly replied watching him leave before she walked over to the table to join Kayla.

“He’s really nice isn’t he mommy?” Kayla questioned brightly picking up a big spoonful of chocolaty goop and biting down on it.

“He sure can be,” Carly nodded thinking about what Ken had just done for Kayla. Still as Carly thought about the decision she and Dave had made, she found herself grateful that Ken never knew what she’d believed to be true. Feeling herself still on edge, Carly reminded herself to stay focused before she pointed to the cherries on Kayla’s sundae, “Hey that’s five cherries.”

“I know,” Kayla giggled dropping one into her mouth as Carly made a silent vow to stop dwelling on the past and focus on the future she had with Kayla and Dave. That was truly where her happiness was and would always be. Ken had been right. Things had more than worked out for the best after all.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“I’m sorry,” Deidra sniffled pulling away from Dave finding that this crying in his arms wasn’t helping anything.

“It’s okay,” he reached out to touch her shoulder gently hating to see her so very upset. His fingers grazed over the side of her face in a feathery light motion, “Dean didn’t deserve you. If he had, he never would’ve hurt you like this. One day you’ll find the right man who will treat you the way you deserve to be treated. You’ll find someone who makes you feel like you’re the only woman in the world that matters--someone who when he looks at you, he makes you feel like you’re his world.”

“You really think so,” she questioned with a small sniffle, her dark eyes searching his.

“I’m sure of it,” he nodded in confession using his thumb to brush at her tears pulling them away from her damp cheeks.

“I wish I could have that kind of faith in the world around me,” she replied poignantly, “I wish that I could feel like someone out there was that way about me…”

“They are,” he promised her with a small smile, “and when you find him, you’ll know.”

“That’s the problem,” she sighed gazing into his eyes, “I think I already had someone like that who felt that way about me, but it fell apart…”

“If you’re talking about Andy, he was a creep and Dean, well hey if he couldn’t be honest with you about who he was, then he wasn’t worthy of you either. You need someone who loves and respects you and…” Dave started his dark eyes worried about her. She looked down and he curled his finger underneath her chin, “Hey Deidra, listen to me I know that it can be that way for you. I know when the right man comes along you’ll find love and happiness in your life. You’re too good of a person not to.”

“Oh thank you Dave,” she replied hugging him tightly, “you always know the right things to say even when I’m feeling down.”

“Well what can I say? It’s a gift,” he offered up with a small smile seeing her pull back just a bit. Her dark eyes tilted up towards his, her damp eyelashes striking against her soft skin. He reached out to wipe at her ears once again only to feel her hand up over his.

“Dave,” she spoke his name in a small whisper.

“Yes Deidra,” he questioned in a faint voice as he felt her ease in closer to him.

“Why couldn’t I just have found my way to falling in love with someone as wonderful as you?” she couldn’t help but ask, her gaze dropping down to his lips before fixing on his eyes again. “Why couldn’t I have spared myself a lot of grief and just wound up with you?”

“Well they say everything happens for a reason,” he replied in a small breath feeling the first touch of her lips brush in against his.

His fingers slid into her hair feeling the inviting taste of her mouth over his. Her lips parted, tongue sliding moistly between his parted lips as her fingers fanned out over his shoulder squeezing him closer to her. He felt her ease him back onto the sofa--back into the cushions as she moved in over him kissing him with a newfound urgency. Her hands eased up and down over his shoulders sliding over his arms as he found himself ready to curl his arm around her waist. This was everything he’d waited for so many years to have--everything he’d wanted for so very long, but as his thoughts returned to Carly and Kayla, he felt a sudden jolt of reality overtake him.

“Deidra stop,” Dave gulped pushing out from underneath her. He rose to his feet bringing his hand up through his hair. He inhaled slowly taking in a labored breath despite the fact that he knew it wouldn’t do him any good.

“Dave…” Deidra blinked up at him clearly confused by what was transpiring between them.

“I have to go home. I have to be with my wife and my daughter. I love them and they are everything I ever wanted in my life. They are my dream come true,” Dave raised his hand in the air as he spun around to face her. He could see the confusion behind her eyes, but before they could discuss it any further he spoke up again, “This was a mistake. I made a mistake in coming over here like this. Maybe you’re right. Maybe you should stay with your mother for a while because this wasn’t a good idea. None of it…”

“Dave,” Deidra watched him walk across her living room rushing over to the door. Before she could say anything further he walked out of her apartment not bothering to look back. She raised her hand to her lips thinking about what had just transpired between them.

Deep down she knew that there was really no good explanation for her kissing Dave. She knew full well that he’d had a thing for her--that he’d always had some kind of feelings where she was concerned, but she’d tried not to take advantage of it. That was not until now when she was fully exploiting that emotion inside of him. Under the surface she knew full well that she wasn’t in love with Dave--she’d never been in love with Dave, yet because she was hurting over losing the man she truly loved--hurting over having walked away from Dean, she’d used a friend. She’d betrayed him in her own way and when she thought of how she’d shamelessly kissed him knowing full well that he was married and finally happy for the first time in his life, she felt guilt sweep in over her. She hated herself for always screwing the good things up in her life, but now as she reflected on the monumental mistake she’d made with Dave, she knew full well she’d blown it again. Big time!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Um, are you sure you want to talk to me when I am covered in chocolate milkshake?” Don questioned with a small shrug, letting a smirk pass his lips. “I may smell pretty tasty, but I probably don’t look too good.”

“I think you look fine,” Shannon assured him with a small wave of her hand before going on, “Anyways, I really don’t think you need to be clean to hear this.”

“Alright, let’s hear what you have to say,” Don motioned her to go on as he folded his muscular arms in front of his broad chest, “What do you want to tell me?”

“Well, whether it is the right time or not,” Shannon began with a deep breath as she took a step forward, “I have made up my mind about us.”

“And?” Don questioned, tensing his eyebrows as his heart began to beat wildly. Whether she said yes or no, he was still going to take this good. He couldn’t act like he cared if she told him she didn’t want to be with him, even though deep down he wanted nothing more than to be with her. “Well?”

“Well,” Shannon started, taking another step closer to him before leaning up on her toes to kiss him in a frenzied way. She felt him wrap his arms around her waist as she kissed him before she pulled away. “I want to be with you Don. Does that give you an answer?”

“I’m, well, I’m not sure,” Don gulped down, looking down at her as he held her in his arms, “Do you want to be with me like we have been together or do you want to be with me as in try this whole marriage thing out?”

“I wouldn’t mind a little bit of both,” she replied, teasing her fingers over his bare chest before looking up into his intense blue eyes, “but I don’t want to lose you Don. I truly realized that I want to be with you. I think we should try this whole thing out.”

“Whoa,” Don felt his knees go weak as she helped him up before he fell, “I think I just got weak in the knees.”

“It’s a nice feeling isn’t it?” she questioned with a small smile, reaching up to run her hand through his hair slowly. “To know that I truly do have feelings for you.”

“Actually, yes it does,” Don pointed out with a small smile, leaning down to kiss her in small subtle moment. He pointed towards the kitchen before smiling. “Does this mean you will help me clean up the kitchen?”

“Not a chance,” she winked, following him into the kitchen after seeing him smile down at her. She had finally made up her mind. She truly did want to be with Don.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“That’s everything sir,” the pilot explained as Brant nodded walking out of the Ashford jet onto the private airport. He took a long look around and thought about what it was he had to do. He knew that this job would take tact and skill if he was going to accomplish what he needed in order to save Ken from making the biggest mistake of his life. He just hoped that he could stay focused enough to make it through what he would have to do.

“Brant,” he heard a voice call out to him. He turned to see Avery standing at the gate waving her hand at him. He blinked in confusion unable to believe what he was seeing. She rushed over to him, a smile on her face.

“Avery, what are you doing here?” he questioned blankly tipping his head to the side, “I thought that…”

“I couldn’t let you leave like that,” she explained pressing her index finger over his lips to silence him. “When you left the mansion I was going out of my mind with worry and regret. I knew that I’d made a mistake in letting you go so I called around and I got the information on your trip. I rushed over here as soon as possible hoping that we’d cross paths…”

“But I thought that…” he stammered a bit feeling the warmth of her arms surrounding him.

“Brant, I couldn’t just let you walk away like that--especially not now when you and I have so much to discuss,” she explained with wide eyes, “I love you and I don’t want to lose you.”

“What about Grady?” he questioned searching her eyes for any signs of doubt.

“What about him? I realized that while I was always going out of my way to accommodate him that it wasn’t making me happy. It wasn’t what was right for us and I knew that I had to fix things between us. Brant, I want to be here with you. I want to help you find what you need to save Ken, but most of all I just want you,” she explained desperately throwing her arms around him and pulling him to her in a needy kiss.

“I want you too,” he mouthed dropping his luggage and pulling her more completely into his arms. He picked her up off of the ground before moving back into the Ashford jet carrying her over to one of the couches. He set her down before moving in over her claiming her lips again and again.

“I missed you. I missed you so much,” she sighed. Her fingers curled over his shoulders, her nails scratching over his back lightly as she tore at his jacket removing it from his body.

“I’ve missed you too,” he mouthed his lips devouring hers again and again.

“I never should’ve kicked you out before,” she whispered her fingers curling through his thick, dark hair.

“Kicked me out,” he repeated pulling away only to discover it was Angela beneath him. It was Angela wrapped up in his embrace ready to be with him--to make love to him in every way imaginable and…

Brant’s eyes snapped open with a jolt when he heard the sound of the pilot alerting him that the plane had landed. He looked around realizing that the jet was empty beyond where he sat. There was no Avery--no Angela and even though his heart was pounding in his chest, the warmth he’d felt surrounding him had only been a trick his mind had played on him.

Bringing his hand up over the side of his face Brant found himself trying to regain focus. Now wasn’t about trying to sort out his emotional issues or his tumultuous love life. It was about helping Ken help himself before it was too late. He had to stay focused. Now wasn’t about looking back. It was about looking forward and remembering what it was that he had set out to do. With that thought in mind Brant got up and out of his seat bound and determined to fix his brother’s mistake before it wound up costing him everything in the long run. Sorting out his own matters of the heart would have to be later. Much later.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Avery if you listen to nothing else I’m telling you, then you should listen to this,” Grady sighed heavily seeing Avery still standing stubbornly in his doorway. “You need to find a way to fix what’s wrong.”

“I wish it were that simple, but it’s complicated,” she confessed with a heavy sigh, her heart weighing in upon her, “It’s nothing you need to worry about.”

“That always sounds like trouble to me,” Grady shook his head dropping it down as he closed his eyes, “You know I never thought I’d be standing here with you like this. I never in my wildest dreams anticipated that I’d be lost without the woman I love and that Russ would be gone.”

“Neither did I,” she revealed quietly, “I guess when I was younger I just assumed that things would be the way they were forever.”

“You and me both,” he admitted with a sheepish grin, “I mean when I think back to that time the three of us spent up north--when we were at summer camp. Remember all the crazy times we all had there?”

“Things seemed so much easier,” Avery nodded at the memory.

“Life was so far from being complicated and it really felt like we had the world back there,” Grady sighed heavily, “I mean I can think clearly back to the boat races, to the swimming championships and the nights by the fire hanging out. It felt like those days would last forever--like that part of our lives would stay with us forever. In a way I wish they had because back then we all knew nothing about any of this. We didn’t have to know about everything falling to pieces…”

“Grady,” Avery stepped towards him taking note of that faraway expression on his face.

“I mean if you think about it, anything felt like it was possible back at that camp…back when we were there. It was a whole different outlook on life. No Cameron Stone trying to ruin you--no Susan to tear your world apart. There were no lies--no murdered--life was just as it was and I can’t help but wish that I could feel that way again,” he confessed poignantly, his heart sinking as the reality of life flooded in over him, “I wish that things could be like that. I wish that I had Jade with me to share all of those memories--to create new memories of our own with each other and with our children, but wishing it won’t bring her back--it won’t make any of those dreams come true, will it?”

“Grady…” Avery started wanting to reach out to him--to tell him that everything would be okay, but she knew better.

“Listen Avery, if you’re smart you’ll find a way to make sure that all your dreams don’t slip away from you. You’ve already lost too much already and if you think Brant is the key to your happiness, then you need to do what you can to hold onto that. If you really believe that he’s something special, then you need to work it out between the two of you,” Grady offered up a poignant smile, “I mean hey, I bet you never thought you’d hear that from me.”

“No actually I didn’t, but…” she started again watching him step towards her.

“Thank you for the ride Avery, but right now I would really like to be alone. I need some time,” he confessed seeing the protest building behind her lips.

“But Grady I really don’t think you should be alone. I don’t think that…” she began only to feel him press his finger over her lips to silence her.

“Avery, go home. I’ll be okay,” he tried to assure her.

“I want to help you,” she replied, her words buzzing over the pad of his thumb, “I know you’re upset.”

“You’re already helped me in so many ways,” he confessed sliding his finger over her cheek into her dark hair, “What I said about you before was completely wrong. You’re a good person with a kind heart and that’s part of what I love about you. You never turn your back on anyone…”

“Which is why I know you shouldn’t be alone right now,” she replied feeling him step forward. He cupped her face in his hands before urging her to meet his urgent green eyes.

“Avery, you need to go find Brant and work things out. You deserve some happiness in your life. I mean hey one of us needs to have that in our future,” he replied leaning down to kiss her cheek gently. She closed her eyes feeling his lips over her skin before he pulled away from her, “Now go make things happen for yourself Avery.”

“Grady I…” she began feeling him nudge her towards the porch once again.

“Trust me Avery. Everything is going to work out…for all of us,” he assured her giving her hand a small squeeze before he shut the door doing what he had to do. She needed to go back to Brant and if she had half as many brains as he knew she did, then she’d listen to his words. She’d find her own happiness and hopefully life would bring great things her way. At least that was his wish, he thought to himself as he moved to the window peeking outside to watch her reluctantly make her way to her car again.

“To better things Avery,” he whispered in a silent salute before closing the curtain and returning to his living room. He took a long look around before reality became painfully obvious to him. He knew now what he had to do in order to return to bliss again. There was no turning back.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

“Sit down,” Sarah ordered as she walked into the house with Kyle right behind her, “I will get something to clean your cuts. You don’t want them to keep bleeding.”

“Okay,” Kyle shrugged, leaning against the wall before sliding down to the ground. He watched her walk back into the room with a cloth in her hand.

“This is going to sting a little bit,” she informed him, kneeling before him before leaning forward. She wiped the cloth above his eyebrow and she heard him let out a small groan. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” he replied as he watched her lean back to run the cloth down his cheek lightly, “I’m sorry, okay?”

“Sorry about what?” she questioned, watching as he simply shrugged. “What do you have to be sorry about? I didn’t get hurt when you were put in jail, I was just extremely worried.”

“Listen okay,” Kyle begged, wrapping his hand around her wrist gently so she would stop and look at him, “I know that I haven’t exactly been the nicest person in the world. And for that, I’m sorry. Just, don’t ever think I don’t love you because I do.”

“And I love you too,” she insisted with a small frown, sliding her hand into his, “that’s why I worry about you. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

“I know,” Kyle nodded slowly as he looked away from her for a moment, “I just…I don’t want lose you too. It would kill me if somehow I lost you.”

“You won’t though,” she replied, shaking her head slowly, “I was just hoping that you could talk to Grady. You know, to try and set things straight. You guys have been friends forever and now you two are throwing it away like it was nothing.”

“I can’t do anything about that,” Kyle informed her with a small frown, shaking his head slowly, “Grady made that mistake when he let my child die.”

“Kyle, I need to tell you something,” Sarah began, watching as he looked up at her, ready for her to finish something. “Grady didn’t let your baby die. There was no baby.”

“What do you mean there was no baby?” Kyle questioned with a small frown, his eyebrows tensing as he spoke. “Of course there was a baby, she had proof that there was a baby.”

“Kipp helped me sneak into Susan’s place,” she started, watching as he quickly stood up from where he was seated on the floor. She stood up with him before frowning, “Kyle, we found our own evidence that your evidence was fake. Susan lied to you Kyle, she used your feelings to get to you.”

“That’s not true,” Kyle shook his head, not wanting to believe what she was saying. “There is no way that she could have faked that.”

“She did,” Sarah insisted, holding her hands up in the air, “I don’t know what to tell you Kyle. I really don’t know because now that we found this, maybe you and Grady could still be friends.”

“You have to be kidding me,” he laughed, shaking his head slowly, “Grady killed my child. Now whether or not it was fake, the thought of me asking him to save her for me should have been enough for Grady, but it wasn’t. Now, how do you know that Grady didn’t put it there himself to lead everyone to believe that he hadn‘t played a hand in murdering my son or daughter?”

“I’m pretty sure he didn’t Kyle,” Sarah replied, shaking her head slowly, “I don’t think he has that kind of time to think up something like that.”

“No, Susan was having my child,” he insisted, shaking his head slowly, “I could just tell she was. This wasn’t fake. I know it wasn’t.”

“Even if it wasn’t fake, it wouldn’t be good for you Kyle,” she declared, watching as he looked up with his dark eyes, “If you had that baby with Susan your life would be hell. That baby would probably be a psycho like Susan and I probably would want nothing to do with that child.”

“What? Please tell me you just didn’t say that,” he begged, feeling his stomach begin to hurt, “Please tell me that you just didn’t say that you couldn’t accept my baby. Tell me that you didn’t mean that and it was just something you said on accident.”

“I know it probably sounds bad Kyle, but that was a rape baby,” Sarah pointed out, shrugging her shoulder as she spoke, “It would have been Susan’s blood running through that child’s veins and I can tell you that I wouldn’t be the first person accepting it into my home.”

“Do you really mean that?” Kyle questioned, feeling his eyes begin to burn from the words that Sarah was saying to him. “Your telling me that just like Grady, you would let my child die?”

“Kyle, listen,” Sarah shook her head slowly, noticing that she must have said something wrong because she saw a tear slide down the side of his face. “Listen, you know what I meant. You would have said the same thing I did.”

“No, I wouldn’t have,” Kyle replied, his voice cracked over with pain as he spoke, “I can’t believe the person I love most in this world would say something like that. You are just like Grady, like everybody else. Do you care about me or do you just care about you Sarah?”

“Kyle, you know I care about you,” Sarah couldn’t believe that he was getting this worked up over that, “Please, you know where I am coming from.”

“Yeah, I do,” Kyle nodded before feeling a muscle in his jaw tense up as he felt more tears burning behind his eyes, “You are coming from every other person in this world. I can’t believe this. You are the only person I thought truly cared for me, but I was wrong. Obviously you didn’t care about me enough to care about my child now, did you?”

“Kyle, there was no baby,” Sarah insisted, feeling her throat become dry as she spoke to Kyle, “There was no baby and you have to face that fact.”

“You were just jealous weren’t you?” Kyle questioned with a small frown, shaking his head slowly. “You were jealous that she was having my baby and you weren’t.”

“That is not true,” Sarah snapped, feeling her own eyes glossed over as she spoke, “Kyle please. You know that’s not true.”

“I’m starting to believe that everything you say to me isn’t true,” Kyle stated with a small frown shaking his head slowly. “It’s funny, I would do absolutely anything for you and Grady. Anything. And I get this in return. I’m tired of it Sarah. Tired of it.”

“Where are you going?” she wondered, coming up from behind him as he opened the door. She pushed the door shut before stepping before him. “What are you doing?”

“Let me leave, I can’t be here right now,” Kyle whispered, looking away from her as he ran his hand over his forehead slowly, “I don’t want to be here right now.”

“Why is that?” she questioned, making him face her. She saw how red his eyes were as he shook his head slowly.

“Because, you just broke my heart,” Kyle pointed out with a small frown, biting down on his bottom lip as he tried to get out his other words, “I’m tired that everyone I love keeps hurting me. You don’t think that baby meant anything to me, do you? Obviously you don’t care, no one cares about me Sarah. You just proved that now. I’m tired of all of this. I’m tired of everyone.”

“Your tired of us?” she questioned, watching him take a step back so he could be away from her.

“No, but you are,” Kyle replied, gulping down as he spoke, “You let me believe that you loved me, but you obviously don’t. Everything I worked for with you was nothing. I put my whole life on the line, waiting to have that one chance to get with you. From five years old to now, I have loved you and no one else. It’s sad that you don’t feel the same way because if you felt the same way I did about you, you wouldn’t have said that. I would have taken that baby in like my own if you were with another guy before me. I just can’t believe it. I’m through Sarah. I can’t handle this anymore. I want out and away from everyone.”

“You want out of the relationship?” Sarah questioned, watching him walk towards the door. He opened the door, but couldn’t walk out because she grabbed his arm and pulled him around to face her. “Are you saying that you want this thing we have together to end?”

“I don’t know Sarah, I just need some time to myself,” Kyle bit back another feeling of pain behind his throat, “Take this however you want, but I am not going to stand here and let my heart break more and more.”

“Kyle?” she called out his name, but he didn’t even take the time to turn around and face her.

She shut the door behind her and leaned her back against it. She felt her eyes overcome with tears as she thought about what just happened. Was he just saying they were breaking up?

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Heather pulled up in front of Diego’s house thinking about his abrupt departure. While things didn’t go at all as she’d planned them, she wasn’t about to give up. She knew full well that she had to find a way to convince him how good together they truly were. Sure, she might not have given him the attention he’d needed right away, but she’d make damned sure that he wouldn’t feel like second place in her life ever again. She knew what she wanted and he was it.

Stepping out of her car Heather marched up to his front door bound and determined to get it all out on the table between them. She wasn’t going to hide behind some twisted obsession with Brant--wasn’t going to pretend that she was ready to walk away from him when the truth was that Diego Hernandez was everything she’d ever wanted and dreamt about in a man. She needed him and even though he was fighting it, he needed her as well. They belonged together and now that she was here, she vowed to show him that.

Reaching out to the door, Heather prepared to knock when she noticed a light go on inside the darkened house. She took a step back circling around into the bushes just in time to see Diego and Cori together. They were wrapped up in an intimate embrace clad in only what appeared to be a sheet. Immediately Heather snapped her head up anger flaring over her as she watched them making out with one another.

“The hell this is going to happen,” Heather sneered seeing Cori offer up a flirty laugh before Diego did the same. She was about to knock on the window when she watched Diego host Cori over his shoulder and carry her back into the bedroom, but not before snapping off the lights.

Heather folded her arms in front of her chest impatiently, her mind replaying what she’d witnessed from the shrubs outside of Diego’s home. The image burned in her mind over and over again haunting her in ways she couldn’t even begin to convey with words. At the heart of it however she came to one conclusion. Going in there and killing Cori Warner wouldn’t be the best solution. Dealing with this problem was going to have to take some tact now that Cori had moved in on Heather’s territory.

After the kiss she and Diego had shared earlier, Heather knew full well that he still wanted her--still needed her like she needed him. Now she just had to prove that to him. She had to remind him that the little twit he was spending his time with was irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. Yes, that would be the way to go about it indeed. While ripping Cori’s head off sounded like a fun plan, she knew that wasn’t an option either. Sure, she had to get Diego back, but to do it she had find a way to let Diego see Cori’s true colors. After all everyone had a secret--even that little witch that had moved in on Diego in Heather’s absence. It was only a matter of time until Heather found out what it was and when she did there would be no stopping her from getting Diego back. After all when Heather set out to do something, she almost always got it done. Diego might be confused by his feelings for Cori, but soon enough Heather would remind him all over again that they were meant to be together. After that Cori Warner would be history. She’d make very sure of it!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

...to be continued...