“What did you just say? You‘re pregnant?” Kyle repeated walking further into the room to see the surprised reactions on both Diego and Sarah’s faces. His eyes immediately fell upon Sarah, the weight of the moment taking it’s toll on him. She’d been moody, irritable and downright cranky lately, yet it was all starting to come together. She wasn’t trying to push him away with her strange mood swings. She was pregnant.

“Kyle I…” Sarah found herself at a loss panic pressing down upon her after she’d just made love to Diego. If Kyle had any idea what was happening, it didn’t show in his face. She took a small step towards him desperately praying that the moment wouldn’t turn into something horrible. She nodded, “I just found out that I’m pregnant.”

“But…” Kyle stammered a bit, feeling as if the wind had gotten knocked out of him. He shook his head wondering if he was losing his mind, yet he could see by the expression on her face there was a seriousness about the moment that changed all the rules. Instinctively he moved towards her reaching out to touch her arm gently, “why didn’t you say anything sooner? Why didn’t you tell me that you thought you might be pregnant?”

“I guess I didn’t want to bother you given everything else that’s been going on. You’ve had so much on your plate that I figured you’d just think I was jumping the gun or being unreasonable again,” she replied with a pained expression reaching out to him, “Kyle I wanted to tell you, but we’ve had so many ups and downs and…”

“My baby,” Kyle thought it over before a small smile pressed over the corners of his mouth, “Sarah I just… Do you have any idea how long I’ve waited for this? How many years I spent dreaming about this very thing happening for us.”

“Well surprise,” she threw her hands up in the air feigning enthusiasm, “I’m having your baby.”

“Oh Sarah,” Kyle pulled her into his arms excitedly spinning her around as Diego took a step back silently watching the exchange.

“I um,” Diego cleared his throat uneasily, “Sarah, I think we still need to talk…”

“Later,” she pleaded with her dark eyes praying that Diego wouldn’t give their secret away now that she’d welcomed Kyle back with open arms.

“I’ll be waiting,” Diego nodded stepping out of the room to give Kyle and Sarah a moment of privacy. He lingered in the doorway for a second before glancing over his shoulder at her, “Just please remember what I said.”

“Diego I,” she paused before nodding. She felt the weight of his gaze upon her, but now that was irrelevant. Now that Kyle knew the truth about the baby, she had to keep making him happy. She had to give him the dream that they were both wanting to share with one another. Reaching out to touch the side of his face, she smiled at him, “Kyle I know how hard you wished that you could be a father and this is fate’s way of making it happen for us. Just when things felt like they were falling to pieces, this happened and it’s only going to strengthen what we have.”

Kyle felt Sarah’s arms wrap tightly around him and he let out a breath. Joy erupted from within. His happiness surrounded him until his thoughts returned to the moments he’d shared with Heather right before encountering Sarah. Here Kyle was ready to throw in the towel, ready to rethink the decision he’d made about reuniting with Sarah and with Heather, well…that was one thing that immediately brought guilt crashing in over him. All night long he’d flirted with her, taken to enjoying his time with her more than he’d wanted to after Sarah had been so cold with him, yet now to learn that Sarah was having his child it caused his heart to sink. He’d come so close to throwing away what they’d had with one another tonight. He’d been so ready to walk out of the relationship and stop looking back, but now the future was ahead of him--bright and clear with the promise of their child lingering.

“So why do I feel like hell about it,” he thought to himself squeezing Sarah tighter in the hopes that she couldn’t read the things swirling in his mind. If she had any idea how close he’d come to giving up, it would only spell disaster. Pulling back ever so slightly, he saw the tears pooling in her eyes. A single tear slipped down her cheek and he brushed his thumb against her cheek lightly wiping her damp skin.

“I’m so sorry I was so cruel before,” Sarah’s lower lip quivered as her tears continued, “I know I said horrible things and I’ve been being horrible, but I promise you I’m going to change Kyle. I want for us to be happy again and I know our child is one step in the right direction in making that happen. We can have those dreams you longed for and I’ll try to be a better girlfriend…”

“I‘m the one who should be apologizing,” Kyle felt an ache in his gut as he searched her eyes, “I never should‘ve made you feel like you couldn‘t talk to me about this. I never should‘ve let circumstances get in the way of the promises I made to you about us being together. I know I was in over my head before with Susan, but I swear to you that I‘m doing to dedicate myself to you and this baby. I promise you that I’ll find a way to make things right for us Sarah. I’ll do the right thing for our family and everything that’s happened won’t stop us from moving forward. From now on I’m going to be everything that you need--everything you both need.”

“All we’ll ever need is you Kyle,” she confessed with a small sob hugging him tightly as she prayed that she could lead herself to believe that Kyle was it for her. She loved him. Oh how she loved him, but tonight she and Diego had come together again in a way she couldn’t pull together the strength to resist. They shared passion and promises, but she had to stay strong. She had to stay away from Diego and give Kyle what he needed. They had to find a way to make things work. It was the only option she had at this point because she was in no position to want to let go of Kyle now or ever.

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

“Hey pretty girl,” Kellen touched Heather’s face gently dabbing it with the wet washcloth that one of the waiters who’d passed on by had brought for him. He saw her eyelashes flutter a bit before her glossy green eyes fixed on his. “How are you holding up?”

“Kyle,” she questioned in a small groan closing her eyes again, “Kyle is that you?”

“No sweetheart, it’s me Kellen though I wish your Prince Charming was here for you instead,” he smoothed his fingers through her long, blonde hair watching a shiver race over her, “because he’d know how to make you feel better.”

“I want Kyle,” Heather sighed tipping her head back further into the couch, “Where is he?”

“He’ll be back,” Kellen promised wondering what the hold up was with Kyle anyways, “So tell me Heather. You and Kyle…you had a big night tonight, didn’t you?”

A slow smile spread over her lips lazily and she spoke up again, “We shared sex tonight…”

“Come again?” Kellen’s eyes widened in surprise, “You what?”

“We had sex with one another,” she sighed exaggerating her words a bit, “I offered him a blow job, but he wanted sex on the beach instead.”

“Whoa and here I thought that I’d walked in on the main event just in time to see the good stuff happening,” Kellen noted with an amused expression, “but the beach huh? Wasn’t it a bit cold out there tonight?”

“No silly,” she shook her head, laughter bubbling over her, “Not that kind of sex. We shared my drink and it was yummy too. Very yummy, but nearly as yummy as Kyle is.”

“I’d imagine that,” he replied feeling the side of her face still burning up, “I saw you two kissing earlier.”

“He’s a great kisser,” Heather sighed opening her eyes once more, “A very good kisser, but he always was as far back as I can remember.”

“And just how far back would that have been,” Kellen questioned curiosity burning over him.

“Longer than I’ve known you,” she explained with a tiny giggle, “He married me you know. He’s my husband. Just ask his mom.”

“Married you?” Kellen’s brow perked up before disbelief poured over him, “Heather, honey while I could see that you two were considering taking a trip to the honeymoon with one another on the floor a bit earlier, I’m sure that you didn’t get the chance to experience that whole marriage thing.”

“Yes we did,” she curled her lip in a pout attempting to sit up off of the couch before falling back down, “When I was a child he and I decided we’d get married. His mom had a mini-wedding for us and I got to wear my Barbie Bride costume…”

“I see,” Kellen arched a curious brow, “And Sarah?”

“Was too busy to be bothered with him just like she is now,” she explained with a tight scowl, “She never saw how good she had it in him, but I do. I see how wonderful he is. In fact I’m going to marry him again one day. He loves me you know?”

“Yeah, I kind of saw that,” Kellen’s voice softened sympathetically knowing full well Heather was out of her mind as her words were barely recognizable. Still he couldn’t forget what he’d witnessed with Kyle, “I know he loves you too sweetheart.”

“He does. My Kyle loves me,” she grinned widely before closing her eyes once more, “but now it’s nap time. Let me know when Kyle comes back. Tell him I’m right here waiting for…”

“Waiting for what?” Kellen asked seeing her head fall to the side. He reached out to her again realizing she’d passed out, “Heather? Sweetheart?”

“There you are,” Kipp’s voice entered the room as Kellen looked up to see his lover standing in the doorway with a worried expression, “What’s wrong with Heather?”

“She’s drunk,” Kellen explained quickly, “and I think she’s caught that bug that Charles had, but don’t worry Kyle said that he’s taking her home. He’s just getting his keys and then he’s going to take care of her tonight.”

“Kyle?” Kipp gave Kellen a strange look before noticing Heather’s state of undress, “Oh my God. Kellen, what’s all this?”

“Short version. She decided to do some kind of mini-striptease there and clock Cameron in the head with her shoe while you were talking with your mother,” Kellen explained with a cryptic expression, “and the rest, well you’ll have to ask Kyle about that because my lips are sealed.”

“Yeah well whatever,” Kipp moved in closer to take a long look at Heather and seeing that she wasn’t looking too well, “Kyle had better get back here soon or we’re taking her home Kellen.”

“Oh trust me. Kyle will be back. He’s got too much invested in her not to return. Believe me on that,” Kellen added knowing full well that after what he’d witnessed between Kyle and Heather had taken place, there was no way that Kyle was going to ignore Heather because sparks like that were far too great to walk away from.

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

“Just ignore them Hart,” Jenna pleaded with him knowing full well that he was far too stubborn and determined to let it slide that his father was with Beth at the party. Truth be told Jenna has been a bit bothered by that fact as well, given that she’d taken to being worried about Walt recently.

“I can’t ignore what they’re doing and I need them to know that it’s not going to get them what they want,” Hart announced making a bold step towards his father ready to lash out at both Walt and Beth.

“Hart wait,” Jenna watched him march over to the dance floor where Walt was dipping Beth in his arms. It didn’t take long for her to realize that this was a scene in the making. She took in a small breath before deciding to follow Hart over to stop him from making a big mess of an already unsavory situation.

“Well, why doesn’t this surprise me?” Hart blurted out stepping in front of his father and Beth, “When I think of the two people in this world that I dislike the most, I guess it should only be second nature for you both to gravitate towards one another given that you’re both miserable people.”

“Hart,” Beth’s eyes perked up at his arrival. She flashed him an icy smile, “well hello to you too.”

“Save it Beth,” his gaze centered in on his father, “I’m assuming you know that she’s Sam’s mother now, huh?”

“Hart she and I were only sharing a dance,” Walt frowned watching his son closely, “Regardless of whose mother she is it should be irrelevant.”

“Just like you are,” Hart grumbled in response glancing over at Beth briefly, “both of you.”

“Look Hart it’s none of your business who I spend time with and if you’re going to get so worked up about it, then it’s your problem,” Beth curled her arm in Walt’s possessively, “Your father is an adult and he can make his own decisions about things.”

“That’s true, but he’s an idiot if he keeps spending anymore time with you,” Hart mouthed feeling Jenna reach for his arm.

“Hart,” Jenna spoke his name quietly worry flashing behind her dark eyes.

“I’m finished here,” Hart decided knowing that while he’d wanted to lash out at his father and Beth it simply wasn’t worth it. They weren’t worth it. “Come on let’s go get some air. This place is starting to stink given some of the guests at this party reek of classlessness.”

“Come on,” Jenna tugged on his arm leading him away from Walt and Beth before he changed his mind. She glanced over her shoulder at the both of them seeing Beth smiling and that only reaffirmed Jenna’s beliefs that Beth was trying to strike a nerve in Hart--only the payoff wouldn’t be far as encouraging as Beth was hoping for. That much Jenna was sure of.

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

“I’m not taking no for an answer,” Nate replied seeing Cori’s dark eyes narrow in at him as he shook his head slowly. “I’m going to bother you all night until you say yes, so you better tell me yes soon because I can be quite annoying when I want to be.”

“I’m sure you can be very annoying,” Cori agreed seeing him eye her over carefully with his light green eyes. She folded her arms out in front of her chest rolling her eyes at how hard this guy was trying. “You are being very annoying right now and I wouldn’t even want to see you at your worst.”

“So, you will agree to dance with me?” Nate questioned sliding his hands into his pockets nervously seeing Cori eye him over slowly before looking over towards the dance floor. “That’s what that comment meant right?”

“No, not quite,” she shook her head slowly before reaching out to touch his shoulder, running it up against his muscular neck. “I’m not going to dance with you Nate.”

“Come on,” Nate begged feeling her tug at the collar of his white shirt and he reached out to grab her wrist in his hand. He caressed the back of her hand with his thumb before shrugging his shoulders. “Please can I have a dance? Just one and after it, if you still don’t like me then I will leave you alone.”

“Listen kid, you’re way too young for me,” Cori informed him seeing the way that he looked at her before his nose wrinkled. “You got really nice eyes and nice hair, but you are a little too tall and too muscular. I go for the shorter and older type.”

“How old are you?” Nate questioned with a small frown thinking that maybe he read how old she was very poorly. “I’m not a kid either, I’m twenty-four years old. I may be young, but I make up for it with different things.”

“I’m very close to your age,” Cori answered Nate’s question partially before shrugging her shoulders and thinking of a way to try and get him to leave her alone. “Listen, I like people at least twenty years older than you.”

“You have to be kidding me,” Nate chuckled seeing the seriousness behind her eyes as he pushed his sleeves further up his arms before reaching out to touch her shoulders. “I’ve never felt something towards another person like I did when I saw you today. You’re so beautiful…”

“Listen Nate,” she went to give him another no, but saw the way his green eyes stared into hers. There was something about the way he looked at her that made her want to say yes for one dance, maybe just so he would leave her alone. “I guess I could…”

Just as she was about to finish her sentence she saw someone walk into the building out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look as a smile appeared over her features seeing Rob with Alicia at his side. Rob looked so cute with his tuxedo on, she couldn’t help but want to go talk to him.

“Is that him?” Nate questioned spotting the man that Cori was staring at as Nate touched her shoulder gently pushing a piece of hair behind her ear with his other hand. “It looks like he has a wife honey.”

“Don’t point out the obvious,” Cori spotted another waiter walking by as she pushed him back making him collide with the other waiter as they both fell to the ground. She stepped in closer to him, seeing him covered in butter sauce and marinara sauce. “Why don’t you try and find someone who will like you now.”

Cori gave him one last look before rolling her eyes and walking over towards Rob. She didn’t think that he would be here tonight, but it was a good thing he showed up because she had gone through every store to pick out a real good dress. Now he would get the chance to actually tell her what he thought about it and hopefully he thought good things.

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

“Listen Lindsay, I am so sorry about my mother,” Daniel apologized stepping towards the dance floor with her at his side. “You know, she hears something and automatically takes it to the next level. I didn’t mean to pull you into something like this.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Lindsay hushed him feeling him reach his hand out to hers as he reached the dance floor and turned to face her. “My brother is the same exact way, he’s the one here with me and always usually thinks the worse. Actually, my whole family is like that.”

“I don’t really know about my whole family,” Daniel informed her with a small shrug thinking about the whole Ashford family line. “I just moved back around here and everyone I see, I only see for a couple of days. My uncle Rex is down in Texas, my uncle Nick is doing something--which I never really caught what it was. My uncle Bradley died when he was a baby. I don’t know, my mom talks a lot.”

“Oh wait, that’s right you’re an Ashford,” Lindsay smiled starting to dance with Daniel as he watched her with is dark eyes. “My brother is best friends with you cousin Brant. They have been friends for a very, very long time.”

“I’ve probably seen a lot of pictures of him then,” Daniel pointed out with a small smirk seeing Lindsay’s light blue eyes looking up into his. “I swear I've seen eyes like yours before, so I’m pretty sure my mom has shown me a picture of Brant and your brother when they were younger.”

“They were real goofy when they were younger,” Lindsay informed Daniel thinking about all the stories Don had told her about the two of them over the years. “My brother has some really great stories from when they first met to this day. They sounded like they were really crazy.”

“Well, from my mom talking all the time,” Daniel paused for a second, a small smile appearing over his young features as he shrugged. “I guess my family is kind of crazy too, so it’s all good.”

“There are a lot of crazy people out in the world,” Lindsay pointed out with a small shake of her head before resting her hand in against his shoulder. “You seem like you are pretty decent guy though, you have nothing to worry about.”

“Well, I’m glad someone has confidence in me,” he added with a deep sigh thinking about how everyone had pushed on him lately to be the best he could be. “I think that a lot of people don’t realize that I’m trying to be good, it just sometimes gets hard.”

“You have to be kidding me,” Lindsay spotted something out of the corner of her eye as she turned Daniel around to block her and she let out a small gasp. “I can’t believe this.”

“Okay,” Daniel let out a small laugh seeing her hide from something like he had hid from Tara earlier. Deciding to play with her a bit and make her calm down, he tried to make a joke of the subject. “So maybe I’m not as great as I thought.”

“No, you’re fine,” she tried to assure him seeing her parents out in the corner of the room as she tried to hide behind him better. “My parents just got here and they weren’t supposed to come back this soon. I wasn’t expecting to see them here, I was supposed to call my father later. If my parents see me dancing with you, I told you--they always automatically think the worst of everything.”

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

“Kevin,” Ria grasped onto Kevin’s arm tightly seeing him take a look back at Chris who was slowly getting to his feet and worrying that Kevin might try to take Chris out again, Ria tugged him towards the opposite corner of the large room. “What were you just doing Kevin? I’ve never seen you hit someone so hard.”

“He deserved it,” Kevin snarled seeing Ria look up at him with her dark eyes as he waved his hand off feeling a burning in his knuckles from hitting Chris so hard. “I would have done it again if you didn’t come and save him.”

“About that,” Ria touched the side of his face making him look back down at her when he took a look over at Chris. “Why did you go and hit him like that Kevin?”

“I was trying to find out where Angie was,” Kevin replied seeing the look that Ria gave him as he shrugged his shoulders thinking about the situation that just happened with Chris. “Foley started spouting his mouth off like he always did and he disrespected my baby girl. He made some comment about how she was the reason he couldn’t be with Angie and he damned her. No one does that and I’ll be damned if I start letting someone.”

“Your baby girl?” Ria muttered not knowing what he was talking about at first as he looked down at her for a moment before looking away uneasily. “You mean the baby that Angela lost all those years ago?”

“Yeah, the one that should have been here with me right now,” Kevin nodded thinking back to Christmas fourteen years ago when his daughter had been born a month early and he had missed her coming into the world and leaving because of being shot for some stupid case with Craven. “It’s people like him that rub it in and make me want her back so bad. You know, she would be turning fifteen this Christmas. She would probably having a boyfriend and he would be showing up at the door while I had a shotgun.”

“That you would,” Ria agreed letting out a small laugh, but still knowing that Kevin was really hurt by the subject as he tried to hold back his emotions shrugging his shoulders as he spoke. “You really miss her don’t you?”

“I think about her every day of my life,” Kevin nodded thinking about his baby and how much he wished she was still with him. “I wonder if she lived and had the chance to live if she looked more like me or more like her mother. Would she have had my eyes, my nose, my smile--just anything that showed she was part of me?”

“She would have been very beautiful,” Ria tried to assured him rubbing at his shoulders gently seeing the way he itched his chin feeling a bit more uncomfortable about the case. “What is it with Chris and the way he acts towards you.”

“He’s just jealous because he has a small…,” Kevin felt Ria’s hand slide in over his mouth so she could keep him from finishing his sentence. He felt her hand move away from his lips as he let out a small laugh. “It’s true, I told you the first time I met him I walked in on him sitting on the couch naked in a cowboy hat. I would know what he looks like sadly. You’ve got him who is this big,” Kevin held up his thumb and index finger showing a small amount. “And you got me who is this big,” Kevin held up both of his hands showing a much larger amount. “He’s just jealous of that.”

“Kevin,” she hit him in the shoulder seeing him let out a small laugh before shrugging his shoulders. “What are you doing making fun of someone and comparing him to you?”

“Hey, you know I’m not lying about my size,” Kevin pointed out arching his eyebrow at her and seeing her look away from him before slowly nodding. “Anyways, I always wondered what it was that made Angie liked Chris and Cary. They were both on the smaller side and usually Angie looks for ones on the much bigger side.”

“And you know all this how?” Ria couldn’t help but ask seeing him lean back against the wall and shrug his shoulders before she spoke up again. “This is kind of scaring me that you know all the men that Angela has been with and how big their privates are.”

“Believe me, with every man Angie has been with she has always set it up where she knows I will walk in on her and them,” Kevin replied with a bit of seriousness behind his tone before he felt a muscle in his jaw tighten at the very thought. “She always wanted me to get jealous and unfortunately for me I was one of the people on that big list she looked for. She must have been searching for people she thought would be the best in bed.”

“That’s weird,” Ria thought aloud thinking about the ways Angela went about as Kevin spoke about her. She saw him nod agreeing with her over that very face as looked back up at him. “I’ve never done that. You know, taking a guy for how they measure up isn’t really necessary for a woman and now I’m just trying to put it more politely for Angie there.”

“Hey, you may not have been looking for a big guy,” Kevin smiled taking a step forward, wrapping his arms around her waist loosely. He bent down to press a small kiss against her neck before whispering something in her ear. “But you found one.”

“Kevin,” Ria hit him once more in the chest hearing him let out a small laugh as she frowned up at him and tugged gently at his dress coat. “I told you we should get off of this subject.”

“I’m only telling you the truth honey, that’s probably the only reason Angie stayed with me so long,” Kevin blurted out seeing Ria look at him oddly as he thought about what he said before shrugging his shoulders. “That’s why I know I don’t belong with her and I belong with you because you love me for me. It doesn’t matter what I’m like, I always know you love me.”

“You better believe I love you or I will kick your butt,” she played along with him tugging at the collar of his jacket and pulling him down to her for a kiss. She felt him tug away from her as Kevin stumbled back and Ria saw Cameron behind Kevin. “What in the world?”

“Give us a minute please,” Cameron pulled Kevin into the kitchen and threw him up against the wall looking into Kevin’s dark eyes as Kevin let out a small hiss. “What is your problem Adonis? Do you want to get your ass kicked?”

“Excuse me?” Kevin questioned with a small scowl touching the back of his head, feeling a pain in his neck after being thrown up against the wall and hitting his head. “Would you like to tell me why you pulled me in here and threw me up against the wall or what?”

“What is going on with you and Angel? I know you move on to another girl when she hurts you man, but come on,” Cameron hit Kevin in the shoulder from where he had gotten shot as Kevin let out a small groan and Cameron frowned patting Kevin on the back. “Sorry about that kiddo, I forgot that was the one that got hurt. Just listen to me kiddo, I know you two have always worked it out in the past and if you want to be with your babies you better do something quick.”

“Believe me Cameron,” Kevin grumbled rubbing the place where his shoulder and chest met. It was a weird coincidence that everyone kept hitting him there today, it hurt when everyone did that. “If those were my babies, I would have never let Angie go, but unfortunately they aren’t mine. So, I’m gone.”

“Get back here,” Cameron pulled Kevin and stared him in the eyes as Kevin rubbed the back of his neck slowly. “Kevin, you know those babies are yours because I know you are a sure shot. One time unprotected and…”

“Cameron, that’s disgusting you talking about me like that with all the stuff I do,” Kevin cleared his throat uneasily taking a step back away from Cameron before letting out a small laugh. “Angie isn’t having my babies, trust me when I say that because if you know me well enough Cameron, you know that I wouldn’t have been with another woman if they were my babies. I want a child more than anything, but they aren’t mine.”

“It would help you get over her Kevin,” Cameron called out as Kevin stepped in towards the doors and stopped in his tracks when he heard Cameron say that. “You know if you guys just got over this whole thing you two could have a family. Like the one you were planning on having with my little niece Kevin. I know I miss her too and if I miss her, I can only imagine what you are going through every day of your life.”

“Don’t use my daughter against me,” Kevin begged looking over his shoulder at Cameron before turning to face him to look at him more clearly. “Please don’t try to guilt me with my baby because I miss her every day of my life and no matter what I do, I’m not going to get her back and it kills me knowing that Cameron, but at least I can keep her in my heart. No one is going to take the place of my daughter, she was a piece of me and when she died a part of me died and went away.”

“Don’t you want to know what it’s like though Kevin? Don’t you want to be able to go conferences at school with Angel and being a parent? Don’t you want to go to plays where one of your children stars in it? Do you want to be there at a basketball game, baseball game, the fair and ride with them when they are scared?” Cameron tried to make Kevin feel worse as Cameron’s dark eyes searched Kevin’s eyes. “Don’t you want hold them in your arms Kevin and tell them it’s going to be okay? Be their hero, the one that will take them to school. The one that will tuck them into their beds at night and the one that will kiss them on their heads? You want to be the man that sleeps in their bed when they're scared with them and I know you do. You want to be that guy that has them fall asleep in your arms and I know you would love to be called daddy.”

“That was my dream Cameron, for so long,” Kevin nodded feeling his throat become tight as he thought back to conversation he had shared with Angie back on the island when he had offered her all those things and more, but she only came back and broke his heart again showing him what he really meant to her. “I just can’t do it anymore Cameron. My heart is broken and I’m trying to piece it together slowly, Angie broke my dreams and my heart, I can’t offer her much more than my friendship and there it’s even hard. I’m making a new dream with someone else Cameron, I’m going to get over it.”

“You can’t stand being her friend because you love her Kevin,” Cameron tried to remind him seeing Kevin give him one last look before shaking his head and walking towards the door. “She’s going back the island Kevin, you need to be with her.”

“I already know that,” Kevin informed Cameron with a small frown before shrugging his shoulders and offering up a small sarcastic smile. “She told me earlier during the party and she basically told me goodbye for the last time showing you that she doesn’t care about me Cameron. I’m a broken man and if I stay with Angie and try to piece things together, the only thing she is going to do is rip my heart out and stomp on it like all the other times. I can’t do it anymore Cameron I swear. I‘ve got a new opening to a good future and I‘m taking it.”

“I’ll tell everyone Kevin,” Cameron whispered watching Kevin stop before he walked out the door again. Cameron bit down on his bottom lip before cracking a half smile. “I’ll tell everyone how much you love truly love Angie, if you don’t try and fix things that is. If you don’t believe me, just try me and then I will really get to see a broken man.”

“You son of a bitch,” Kevin grabbed Cameron throwing him up against the wall and pulled him up from the ground as Cameron’s eyes widened feeling Kevin’s hands holding up his weight. “You know what I did was mostly your fault. I couldn’t have known what I was doing with her and I told you the whole truth. You were there and you know it, so why don’t you just let it go and let it go now. You‘ve done it too in the past Cameron.”

“Why would I keep quiet when I could change the truth with the power I have?” Cameron pointed out with a small wink feeling Kevin set him down on the ground and Cameron fixed his jacket. “I knew you would come to your senses. I may have done stuff like that, but I never did anything to Angel. You did though and I will even let your little girlfriend know what you have been up to Kevin. I’m sure she would love to know all about the real Kevin Brandon Adonis. The man that…”

“I told you Cameron, I can’t fix something that’s not meant to be,” Kevin stated once more trying to further his point pressing his hand up against Cameron’s mouth to silence him. He tried to hold back his anger seeing Cameron’s eyes searching his before throwing his hands up in the air. “If she wanted to be with me, she would be. You know that, but in all honesty--I don’t want her back. I told you she said she was giving me a final goodbye tonight at the party.”

“She’s at the party? This party?” Cameron finally took into his head what Kevin said seeing Kevin nod slowly as Cameron walked around Kevin and out the doors.

“Cameron,” Kevin called out Cameron’s name as he ran out the kitchen doors too trying to catch up with Cameron when he realized that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea telling Cameron that. He felt Ria touch his shoulders as he looked around the room nervously. “I have to find Angie before Cameron does, she’ll get hurt if I don’t Ria.”

“Alright,” Ria nodded waiting for him to explain why because from the look on Kevin’s face it was real bad. “Do what you have to do, I will be here.”

“I’ll be right back sweetheart,” Kevin gave her a small kiss before running towards the direction Cameron had gone off in. He just hoped he could warn Angie about Cameron before Cameron found her first.

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

“Hey look,” Don tightened his fingers around Shannon’s as he saw his father talking to someone at the other end of the room. “My parents are here, I wonder what they are doing here right now.”

“Well, you know this is a party,” Shannon pointed out elbowing him in the ribs gently hearing him let out a small laugh as she eyed him over with her dark eyes. “I think pretty much everyone in town was invited to this whole party.”

“I know that Shannon,” Don frowned not liking the newfound sarcasm his wife had come up with to lighten the whole situation between the two of them while they were talking about what was going on. “I just mean they were out of town and I didn’t think that my father was planning on coming back anytime soon. I actually thought he was coming back in a couple of days, so it seems a little weird considering.”

“Oh yeah,” Shannon nodded slowly, arching her eyebrows up at Don before shrugging her shoulders and nodding over towards Rob and Alicia. “They must be aliens or something because your parents would never decide to come home earlier to come see their children. You are absolutely right.”

“Would you stop joking like that?” Don begged with a small frown letting go of her fingers and wrapping his arm around her shoulders instead. “You are mixing my words around and making me sound like a complete idiot.”

“Well, not a complete idiot,” Shannon pointed out placing her hand on his abdomen offering up a small smile before nodding over towards his parents again. “You want to go say hello to them?”

“I think that’s a good idea,” Don nodded slowly walking with Shannon over towards the door and reaching out to touch his mother with his free hand while the other held onto Shannon. Alicia turned to face him and a smile appeared over her light features as soon as she saw her son. “What are the two of you doing here?”

“Well hello to you too,” Alicia frowned seeing Don let go of Shannon as she rested her hands against her hips. “I thought I would hear something like I’m glad your home, but I guess I don’t get that anymore from my little boy.”

“Oh mommy,” Don frowned playing along with his mother and reaching out to wrap his arms around her tightly and letting out a small laugh. “I always love it when you show up unexpectedly. I just thought that dad had an important meeting and everything was so busy.”

“Well, he got a couple of days off,” Alicia informed her son seeing Shannon wrap her arm around Don’s waist as Alicia smile and looked up into Don’s blue eyes. “He decided that it might be a good idea not to skip this thing because everyone seemed like they were coming to this whole thing.”

“That’s good mom,” Don nodded down at Shannon before motioning his mother to wait for a second. “Could you give me one second alone with Shannon? I will be right back.”

“What is it?” Shannon felt Don turn her around as he motioned her to be quiet for one second when his mother went back to talking to someone else. “You should stay here and talk to my mother. I am going to go look for Brant.”

“Don,” Shannon rolled her eyes letting out a small groan after hearing what Don’s plans were with his mother and her. There were so many other options he could have took with spending his time at this party, but of course with Brant being here--that meant all of Don’s attention would be on him. “I told you that Brant could take care of himself.”

“Most of the time,” Don added carefully before shrugging his shoulders and walking back towards the hallway that Brant had disappeared down earlier. “I’ll be back later, I promise.”

Without waiting for an answer from Shannon, Don quickly turned on his toes walking towards the hallway that Brant had disappeared down. He knew that Shannon would later understand why he went and that’s because he wanted to make sure his best friend was okay. If Brant was hurt, it was going to be all his fault and he couldn’t let the person he felt was his brother get stuck being hurt. Not now, not ever.

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

Brant sank back into the blankets carrying Angela with him minutes after they’d both collapsed in the aftermath of their lovemaking. Now as she lay over his chest, Brant teased his fingers down over her spine loving the warmth of her over him. This was too perfect, too real to fade away like the other hallucinations that had overtaken him, yet the longer he held onto her, the more he wanted it to stay with him from this moment on.

“I can’t believe that you’re here--that you are with me like this,” Angela teased her fingers over the center of his chest, her eyelids growing heavy as she lay against him. She traced lazy circles over his damp skin before snuggling further into him, “I kept dreaming about this for so long, but never before tonight did it feel this real.”

“Maybe this isn’t a dream,” Brant finally whispered pressing a kiss against her temple before seeing her lift her head up to meet his dark gaze, “Maybe this is destiny.”

“Destiny,” she repeated with a tiny, awkward smile, “I stopped believing in that long before I met you.”

“Yet it didn’t stop you from taking a chance on me…on taking a chance on us,” he mouthed wrapping his arms around her just enough to pull her up over him. He tipped his head up claiming her lips again with fiery intent, “It didn’t stop us from burning hotter than hell when we were together.”

“That’s probably where I’m at right now given that you were the last thing on my mind when I came to this party tonight,” she sighed falling into the warmth of his arms once more, “I mean I’d thought about you, but even now, well to think that at any second I’m going to wake up and realize that I’m somewhere all alone, it breaks my heart all over again.”

“You’re not alone,” Brant whispered warmly, sliding his hand down beneath the sheet, to caress her soft curves, “You’re with me. We’re together again if only in my mind…”

“You mean my mind,” she wrinkled her nose at him before turning to her side, “It’s my fantasy here that’s guiding the direction of this.”

“Oh no sweetheart,” Brant reached for her again, drawing her into his arms fully. He claimed her mouth fiercely leaving no room to mistake his intentions. “This is all that I’ve wanted to remember with you. This is most certainly my fantasy.”

“If you weren’t a married man, then this would be perfect, but…” she paused letting reality creep into the moment between them, “Of course I can have my way with you all I like in my dreams because you’re not the same married creep that lied to me on the island. You’re just my fantasy version of you.”

“Wait a second,” he shook his head at her frowning slightly, “You think I’m a creep?”

“Yeah, as a matter of fact I do,” she nodded her nails grazing his chest lightly before dipping beneath the blankets to seek out the source of his desire for her, “I think you’re far from being the nice guy I thought you to be…”

“You never thought I was a nice guy,” Brant corrected pressing her back into the mattress, his hand rounding out over her hip and pulling her up towards his ache for her. He nibbled on her earlobe teasingly before letting out a low groan, “That’s part of the thrill for you. Admit it.”

“I admit nothing when the fantasy is all mine,” she wrapped her legs around his hips drawing him nearer to her invitation. Her eyes met his as her lips parted in anticipation.

“You’re all mine,” he mouthed dipping down to slide his tongue between her parted lips before he pulled back for a brief moment, “Although something’s different…something’s changed…”

“That’s right,” she pushed her hand into his chest sending him back onto the sheet again, “it has changed. I’ve changed because of you, but rest assured I’m still rolling with the punches.”

“And with me too I can see,” he couldn’t help but smile, his eyes fixed upon her brazenly naked body over him. There was just something about the shadows masking her body that made her all the more irresistible--something about being near her in his mind that had him thankful that he was out of it. This was one hell of a hallucination or dream that he was certain never to forget. His gaze centered in over her passion swelled breasts watching the way that they seemed to be crying out for his attention all over again as she leaned forward reaching for his wrists.

“Last time you were calling all the shots with me Brant, but this time, well this time I’m going to show you that I’m not as meek and mild as you took me for,” she mouthed leaning forward enough to feel him whisk his lips against her aching flesh. She let out a soft moan grinding herself over him in one molten moment of bliss before she secured his wrist to the bedpost with one of the loose sheets. She swatted at his chest lightly before grinning down at him, “Now remember this is my fantasy not yours.”

“Right,” Brant nodded with mild amusement before offering up his other wrist to her knowing full well that this was one hell of a way to go. Maybe he was crazy…maybe he was finally past the point of no return in the sanity department, but either way he was about to enjoy every single second of Angela even if she was only a mirage in his mind created by the madness that had surrounded him lately once his life fell apart. If he was truly crazy, then he hoped to heaven that he‘d never find his way back to sanity--not when these illusions were so damned good.

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

Deana stood by the bar with Avery, her dark eyes darting over to the balcony area where Russ and Grady were still outside talking with one another. Avery could see the uneasiness behind Deana’s expression and she spoke up in the hopes of alleviating Deana’s concerns about what might be happening with Grady.

“He’ll be okay,” Avery offered up with a small, supportive smile, “He’s just a little upset about the history he and Cameron share with one another.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured,” Deana paused an uneasiness settling in over her, “I mean I heard some of the rumors, but…”

“Cameron’s not exactly someone that any of us want to get close to at all,” Avery explained with a small shudder, “The man is a creep and he’s bad news. Whenever he’s around trouble usually follows.”

“So I’ve heard, but with Grady,” Deana hesitated for a moment, “I guess I just didn’t expect him to blow up like that even if that man has done some horrible things.”

“It’ll take a lifetime for anyone to forget all he’s done, but with Grady,” Avery searched for the right words, “It may end up taking a little longer.”

“And with good reason,” Deana nodded her eyes straying towards the door once more.

“So Grady mentioned you have a son,” Avery tried to change the subject, “How old is he?”

“He’s five, though with the way he talks you’d think that he was older than me at times,” Deana laughed lightly thinking about her spirited son, “I mean he’s already ready to take on the world and I’m the one struggling to catch up.”

“Yeah that’s what I hear,” Avery replied with a soft smile, “I’m almost afraid to see what happens when Erin really gets moving. I’m sure Russ and I are going to be in for big trouble there.”

“Oh but it’s so worth it,” Deana added brightly, “I mean when everything else in my life is kind of up in the air, it’s Zane that keeps me grounded. He reminds me of why I want to better myself--why I want to be a better mom and furthermore he keeps me from letting all the trivial stuff get me down. I mean they say that we’re good for our little ones and their egos, but he’s incredible for mine. I’d be lost without him.”

“And I’m sure that won’t be something you’ll ever have to worry about,” Avery offered up with a small smile, “It sounds like he’s a great little boy since Grady was talking nonstop about him earlier.”

“He just has a way with people,” Deana paused thinking about her son, “which reminds me I should probably call and check in on him.”

“Go ahead,” Avery watched Deana’s eyes drift to the doorway again, “When they come back inside I’ll tell Grady where you went.”

“Thanks,” Deana smiled at her before walking away.

“No problem,” Avery nodded wondering how Russ was doing in talking his brother down out there when she felt a small tug on her arm.

“We need to talk,” a voice whispered sharply in the back of her ear. She felt another tug on her arm and she spun around to see Kevin hovering over her. Before she could say another word she felt him lead her out of the room into one of the darkened hallways. She opened her mouth once more to say something, but instead he cut her off abruptly, “Look I realize that you probably don’t want to be bothered with me tonight, but we need to talk. I don’t know what you’ve done now, but something tells me that we have to make sure that Cameron doesn’t find you here.”

“Cameron,” Avery repeated giving him a strange look, “Why would I be worried about Cameron?”

“Because you obviously,” Kevin stopped himself a sudden realization overtaking him. His gaze traveled down to the red gown that she was in and he felt a sudden moment of stupor fall over him. Angela had been in black. She’d had on a beautiful black gown, yet the woman in front of him had a red dress and an expression behind her eyes that let him know that he’d made a huge mistake. “You’re not…”

“Not what?” Avery asked in a curious tone, “Kevin, what’s going on and how do you know Cameron?”

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

“Russ I can’t pretend that when I see that man that I don’t want to tear him to pieces. He stole my life from me and between him and Susan I know that I won’t be able to get it back,” Grady walked over to the edge of the balcony, his thoughts lingering to Jade, “Jade and I had everything ahead of us and they stole that from us.”

“I know and it’s unfair. Believe me I hate what happened to you because nothing should’ve ever taken that love away from the both of you, but we can’t go back. None of us can go back in time regardless of how much we want to,” Russ sighed heavily knowing the pain his brother was in, “but you have to think about the future. Jade wouldn’t want you risking your freedom and your life for revenge. Sure, Cameron should suffer for what he’s done to you. He should burn for it again and again, but if you let him steal what’s left of your life, then he wins.”

“Even so it’s like they have won in their own way. Jade is gone and Cameron still runs around as if he can still run the world. I mean did you see him out there when he threw it on everyone that he was hosting this party? He was just rubbing it in that he can still cause chaos without lifting a finger,” Grady further argued, “He’s still out to work an angle…”

“And I’m sure that sooner or later he’s going to get caught up in his own game and lose,” Russell informed him with a heavy sigh, “You can’t let that man take away the best part of you.”

“Losing Jade did that for me,” Grady closed his eyes thinking about his lost love, “We were going to have it all you know. She was pregnant when she disappeared.”

“I heard,” Russell nodded sympathetically, “and I’m so sorry.”

“So am I,” Grady’s eyes reopened and he looked to his brother feeling a sudden rush of remorse over him, “though you’re the last person I should be complaining to given all that you’ve been through. I mean you had your whole life ripped away from you and now…”

“Now I’m working on picking up the pieces,” Russell added with a small sigh, “which is what I see you trying to do. Jade would want that. She would want you to find happiness again and love…”

“I just feel like every time I get close,” Grady paused thinking back to the night he’d slept with Avery, “something happens and it just reminds me why I’m not meant for it. I fall in love with those I can never have.”

“You’ll always have a part of Jade with you,” Russell tried to encourage him, “She’s in your heart and she’s wanting for you to try to keep it together if only for her.”

“I know,” Grady forced himself to look away from Russ hoping that his brother couldn’t read the thoughts in his mind, “but I screwed up big time after she died. I did so many horrible things…”

“I know. Avery told me,” Russ replied watching Grady let out a gasp.

“She did? I mean you know about what I did to her? What we did…?” Grady’s eyes widened in surprise wondering if Avery remembered what had happened between them.

Russ nodded, “She told me everything about how you were at your wit’s end. How you almost killed yourself over the grief you were feeling and I know how horrible you must’ve felt. I know that this year hasn’t been a good one, but I have to believe that there will be some bright things around the corner. We can’t let the people who try to take us down ruin our lives Grady. You can’t let Cameron hold that power…”

“I know,” Grady let out a small breath realizing he and Russ weren’t on the same page with one another, “and I’m trying that. I mean I know I might be rushing it, but with Deana, well she’s impossible, but wonderful in her own way…”

“It’s easy to see why you like her,” Russ nodded with a thoughtful expression, “She’s sure spunky.”

“And beautiful,” Grady nodded feeling a warmth over him at the mention of his date, “and if I was a better man then I’d try to pursue something, but all she will get out of me is problems.”

“Only if you make just problems for her,” Russ corrected with a pointed expression.

“Okay, I get that part, but still what can I offer her or her son?” Grady slumped over the side of the railing. “I’m a mess.”

“Well maybe it can work both ways. Maybe you both can bring out the best in one another,” Russell spoke up encouragingly, “The last thing you want to do is sell yourself short Grady. You’re a good man and a wonderful brother. I’m sure that when Deana gets to know you--the real you she’ll see that too.”

“I hope you’re right, but I have to say I’m not all that great,” Grady replied with a sad expression.

“Of course you are. I mean hey if I think there’s still hope for you, then I’m sure the rest of the world will as well. Just believe in yourself Grady. Maybe then you’ll see that there is still a chance for happiness out there in this world just waiting to be yours,” Russ piped in hoping to get his words through to his brother.

“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” Grady nodded looking to the night sky as he wondered if he could ever truly get over the pain of the past. Only time would tell.

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

Michelle looked around the dance floor seeing if she could find anyone familiar as she searched to see if she could possibly see Kevin or Valerie. If she saw Kevin, there was no knowing what she would do considering that he probably hated her guts right now, but with a little work she was sure she could get him thinking better of her. She knew how to get his attention, well at least back in the day she knew what he really liked and what he didn’t so it couldn’t be so bad these days. He still had to be a little bit the same.

If she found Valerie around here somewhere, it would be even better because if Valerie was here to help her try and figure out what she would do when she ran into Kevin, it might seem a lot clearer to her--more clearer that way than just walking around and hoping to come up with something good if she found Kevin.

“Hey, watch it,” Michelle snapped running into someone on the dance floor as she turned to see Ken behind her, reaching out to touch her to make sure she was okay. “Kenneth?”

“Michelle?” Ken pulled his hand away from Michelle now noticing who she was right now. It figured he kept running into the people he really didn’t want to be talking to or even seeing tonight. “What in the world are you doing here?”

“I’m here doing what everyone else is doing,” Michelle shrugged her shoulders, looking up at him with her dark eyes before letting out a small laugh. “I’m here for the party silly.”

“Silly me,” Ken cleared his throat uneasily hoping that Wendy would be out of the restroom soon because Michelle was definitely one of the people that he didn’t feel like being around tonight. “I didn’t know why you were here because last time I checked, I thought you were just a visitor here or something like that. Who knows these days? I really don’t care anymore.”

“Right,” Michelle got every other word he said as she smiled up at him and reached out to squeeze his arm in her hands lightly. “I really missed you Kenneth. It was sad what had to happen that day at the wedding.”

“Sad for you that is,” Wendy stepped in next to Ken, wrapping her arm around his and making him take a step back with her. She could tell that Ken was having a hard time coming up with something to say to her as she motioned him to follow her. “Sad that you lost someone as special as him because you are never going to get a good man like him ever again. Maybe in your dreams, but that’s it. Now if you will excuse us we have a party we have to attend to.”

“Fine, whatever,” Michelle threw her hands up in the air angrily before rolling her eyes and looking around the dance floor slowly. “Where in the world are you Valerie.”

At this party, Michelle had accomplished nothing and you would think something would happen with the help of Valerie, but Valerie had disappeared and had done absolutely nothing to help her out. Michelle spotted Valerie towards the other side of the room flirting with some guy as she let out a deep breath. Michelle was going to talk to Valerie right now and she was going to fix things as soon as possible.

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

“Oh great,” Seth groaned leaning back against the stage as he spotted Michelle walking through the crowd out of the corner of his eye. He felt Blake turn around in his arms and look out to where he was staring at as he let out a small groan. “This is just wonderful.”

“What is it sweetheart?” Blake questioned trying to see what Seth was looking at and once she spotted Valerie, Michelle and Zack all talking to each other she knew what it was that was bothering Seth right now. “Oh, well that must be a great sight to see today. Can anything get any worse today?”

“Don’t say that,” Seth hushed her with a deep sigh thinking the worst about the situation as he saw Valerie and Zack laugh with each other and Zack reached out to brush his fingers up against her shoulder. “Oh god, this means that there are only worse things to come.”

“Let’s just hope that maybe they are just talking and starting a group of their own where they will stay away from us,” Blake pleaded seeing Zack laugh out again before looking over at her and offering up a small wink of his eye when he saw her looking at him. “Or not.”

“This is ridiculous,” Seth let go of Blake taking a step forward and shaking his head slowly. “I don’t know why this had to happen tonight of all nights. The day that you are actually supposed to be having the time of your life and they come and do this now of all times. I’m going to go talk to that son of a…”

“Don’t worry about it buddy,” Ken stepped in behind Seth placing his hand over Seth’s mouth and pulling him back slowly. “You shouldn’t be worrying about those losers over there.”

“You just don’t understand Ken,” Seth began in an angered tone as he turned away from facing Zack, Valerie and Michelle. “Those three are all together and that means one things--triple the evilness. They are all going to try and do something to take down me and Blake. You don’t know how evil these…okay, you know how evil Michelle is, but still.”

“Don’t worry about it buddy,” Ken whispered taking a step back and wrapping his arm around Wendy’s shoulders loosely. “I mean, I came face to face with Michelle a couple of minutes ago and she couldn’t say a thing. If they are planning on doing something tonight, she doesn’t even know what she is doing so I wouldn’t worry about it. If they are planning something, it’s not going to be tonight. I know, it will be alright.”

“I don’t think that Michelle has the guts to try and do something tonight,” Wendy spoke up softly moving away from Ken and walking over towards Blake to place her hand on Blake’s shoulder gently. “I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you because those three are bad people and bad people get what they deserve.”

“No they don’t,” Blake rolled her eyes, wondering what it was that had Zack coming back to town and coming to see her. “I have no idea what Zack is doing, but I know that he is going to be trouble. Usually the bad people are the ones that live the longest. I just wish I knew what it was he was planning.”

“Don’t worry about it honey,” Seth hushed stepping in front of Blake and pulling her into his arms tightly, feeling her head rest against his chest. “Whatever happens, he can’t tear us apart because we are meant to be. What he has planned, whatever it is--we’ll be ready for it. He can’t break what we have.”

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

“Robbie,” Cori came up behind Rob placing her hand on his shoulder as he turned to face her and immediately she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, feeling him pat her on the back gently. “I can’t believe you are home so early, why did you come back already? I didn’t think you would be home already.”

“Yeah, well,” Rob tried to speak up only to have his breath taken away with her squeezing at his neck like that as a small laugh broke out from his lips. “Okay, Cori. Loosen up with the arms and I will tell you why I’m home so early.”

“Sorry about that,” Cori laughed uneasily letting go of him and taking a step back to look up into Rob’s light blue eyes. “I was just so excited to see you that I had to know.”

“It’s alright, it was nice to see you here too. I’m glad you are getting out now,” Rob informed her with a small nod sliding his hands into his pockets before clearing his throat. “Now like I was saying, I came home early because I had someone else fill in for me at the meeting. I wanted to come back for this amazing party and I wanted to see what my children were dressed in tonight.”

“That’s cute,” she pointed out in a bubbly tone before shrugging her shoulders and looking him over as he stood there before her in his tuxedo. “You know, you look really, really cute tonight in that. I think gray is really your color you know.”

“Why thank you,” Rob winked at her fixing up his tie and shrugging his shoulders when he spoke up again. “I was actually starting to think that my appearance would be bad because I’m not into the whole good fashioned-bad fashioned things these years.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she hushed him throwing her hands up in the air and watching him push his hair back before looking back at Alicia who was talking to Dorothy. “Actually, you look very good tonight. How about a dance?”

“A dance? You mean with you?” Rob questioned seeing her nod quickly as he shrugged his shoulders and looked over towards the dance floor. “Well, I don’t know. I’m not into this whole new music and I’m more of a jazz guy. I don’t move very well on the dance floor.”

“Oh come on,” Cori frowned reaching out to grab his hands in hers before tugging on them gently. “Please will you dance with me? I’m sure that you are a good dancer because you proved that the other night. So come on, please?”

“Cori, I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” Rob tried to think of another way to explain to her that he really didn’t feel like dancing right now and that it wasn’t the best of things to do together. Especially at a big party like this, people always start to suspect things quickly even when what they think is happening really isn’t true.

Rob looked over towards the dance floor and spotted his daughter dancing with a young man as his eyes narrowed over towards Lindsay, seeing her smiling up at the boy. Who was that kid?

“Sure, let’s dance,” Rob nodded grabbing her hand and leading her over towards the dance floor to try and get a better look at his daughter and this boy that he had never seen before. Maybe he could get close enough to see if that was Lindsay’s new boyfriend because she had been acting a little differently lately. Maybe with the help of Cori while he danced with her he could find out if that was Lindsay’s secret boyfriend.

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

“Alicia dear how are you?” Dorothy questioned reaching out to embrace her friend, “Pres mentioned that you would be out of town for a while with Rob, so I was surprised to see you here tonight.”

“We decided to cut home early since Rob is working on a few big things at the gym,” Alicia explained brightly, “but I’m glad that we did because this is truly a beautiful party.”

“Yes it is,” Dorothy nodded in agreement, “It’s something that we’ve needed in this town for a while now.”

“I have to agree with you. There has been so much doom and gloom that it’s nice to have some festivities where people can just get together and enjoy themselves,” Alicia replied looking around the room and taking in the surroundings until her eyes fell upon Rob and Cori with one another on the dance floor.

“My my,” Dorothy brought her hand up over her chest with a gasp, “What is that all about?”

“She works for Rob,” Alicia explained doing her best to try to keep from showing her uneasiness over Rob dancing with his clearly smitten assistant. “She’s someone he’s trying to help out since she’s found a rough patch in her life. He offered her a job and she’s getting some more self-respect.”

“I don’t think that’s all she’s getting,” Dorothy frowned, “Look Alicia, I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news, but I saw them together at dinner the other night and she seemed, well rather clingy.”

“What?” Alicia turned to look at her friend once again.

“I just thought you should know given that I don’t trust that girl one bit. Rob might be trying to be nice, but she’s got home wrecker written all over her. I’d be careful if I were you,” Dorothy added feeling Preston move in beside them.

“Hey Alicia, how are you doing,” he waved at her.

“I’m fine,” Alicia replied not knowing how to respond to Dorothy’s thoughts. Despite the fact that her friend was probably right about the situation, this was the one time she really didn’t want to think negative. Sure, she knew that she would have to talk to Rob later, but still.

“I hate to interrupt, but I was just going to ask Dorothy to dance. You don’t mind do you?” Pres questioned with a small smile.

“No of course. You two have fun,” Alicia waved seeing her friends walk away before her eyes fell upon Rob and Cori. Could it be that she’d underestimated Cori and her power of influence? Would Rob be seeing what Alicia and Dorothy both thought they were seeing or was Alicia just jumping the gun? Doubt flooded over her and she didn’t like that--not at all.

“Hey there pretty lady,” she heard a voice whisper behind her neck. She spun around to see a familiar face and smiled.

“Walt what are you doing here?” she couldn’t help but ask with a pleasant expression.

“Why I’m about to take a chance and see if the most beautiful woman in here would be willing to share a dance with me since her husband isn’t around,” he explained with a wink before holding out his hand, “What do you say? Would you care to dance? For old time’s sake?”

“Well,” Alicia glanced over at Rob and Cori before finally nodding, “Sure why not. I mean this is a party after all.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Walt lead her out onto the dance floor where she hoped she’d be able to get a closer look at Rob and Cori. If Cori was in fact ready to start some trouble in her family, Alicia promised that she would find a way to put an end to it--immediately.

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

“Where do you think Kevin and Ria ran off to?” Chase questioned feeling Trisha’s arms wrap around his shoulders loosely as he held onto her waist tightly. “They have been gone for a while and I haven’t spotted them around here once.”

“I don’t know,” Trisha sighed looking around the room to see if she could see Kevin. She picked Kevin to look for because if most people didn’t notice, Kevin stood out more than most people did. A muscular, six foot six hunk wasn’t too hard to find. “Knowing them, I would guess that they are in a dark room somewhere going at it like rabbits.”

“Are they really that bad?” Chase questioned with a small laugh seeing her nod slowly, her eyes getting wide as he looked down at her with his light blue eyes. “How do you know all that?”

“Chase, do you know how many times I have walked in on them going at it?” Trisha laughed trying to think over the amount in her head before shaking her head slowly. “I mean, sure it’s not bad seeing Kevin in that situation because he really is h…”

“Can we move away from the talk of seeing Kevin having to be in that situation?” Chase begged wrinkling his nose as he looked down at her and shook his head slowly. “I don’t want to imagine what Kevin looks like when he’s doing that.”

“If you were a girl, you probably would,” Trisha pointed out in a playful tone before thinking back to when she was younger. “Anyways, they have been doing this since they were younger. I mean sure, Ria said they never slept together, but still. Have you ever seen the Star Wars movie?”

“Yeah?” he arched his eyebrow at her in a questioning way as he saw her let out a small laugh. “Is this going to lead us somewhere or what because that was totally off topic.”

“Alright well, Kevin was probably seventeen and she was probably early fourteen and I swear I walked in on some things there between them,” Trisha informed Chase seeing him look down at her awkwardly before clearing his throat uneasily. “I mean like there was this one time I walked in on them watching Star Wars in her bedroom alone.”

“And they were about to…” Chase saw her shake her head as he looked down at her and let out a small laugh. “Okay, what were they doing then?”

“I don’t know how to put this nicely,” Trisha searched for the right words to say before shrugging her shoulders and biting down on her bottom lip. “Let’s just say I think Ria was playing with Kevin’s light saber underneath the blankets if you get my point.”

“Oh, can we please stop talking about this?” Chase chuckled shuddering at the thought of seeing Kevin and Ria like that considering that he thought of them like family already. “I mean really, what makes you think they would be doing that here in a public place?”

“They have a bar here right?” Trisha saw Chase nod as she looked over towards the bar to see only a few people there, but not Kevin or Ria. “Well, Kevin loves this drink called a Malibu Maguire. If you get him to drink like four of those, you have no idea what he is going to do.”

“I’ve never heard of that drink before,” Chase informed her with a small shrug before feeling someone touch his shoulder gently, teasing her fingers over his shoulder. Chase let go of Trisha and turned to face the blonde woman that was behind him. “Can I help you miss?”

“I just wanted to tell you,” the woman reached out to tug on the collars of Chase’s jacket slowly as Chase felt a bit uncomfortable feeling Trisha step in behind him. “You put on a great show the other night.”

“Um, thanks,” Chase pulled away from her feeling the color fade from his face as he turned back around to see Trisha staring up at him. He knew that she was going to ask him what that was all about as he let out a dry laugh. “That was weird.”

“What was that supposed to mean?” Trisha questioned seeing Chase’s blue eyes widen as he gulped down and shrugged his shoulders. “Chase?”

“It’s my job. I do some local DJ stuff at a club you know,” Chase quickly got out before shaking his head slowly and reaching out to grab her in his arms tightly. “Don’t worry about it though, let’s just have a good night together. I don’t have to work tonight, so we have nothing to worry about.”

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

Diane looked towards the corner of the room as she heard the loud music filling her ears. Ben had left to go to the bathroom and she stood their waiting for him, watching all the people around her having a good time with one another. She wished that she could be able to have fun like them, but for some reason this party wasn’t turning out to be everything she thought it would be like.

“I need to talk to you,” she felt someone pull her back and push her into the corner roughly as she stared up into Cameron’s dark eyes. He put both of his hands on each side of her as he stared down at her angrily. “What is going on in your little stupid head? Do you have a death wish?”

“What are you talking about?” Diane felt a bit of nervousness behind her body as Cameron scowled down at her and she tried to get out of his cornering only to feeling him push her back into the corner angrily. “Just leave me alone Cameron. I didn’t do anything to you.”

“No, you didn’t do anything to me,” Cameron agreed taking a deep breath as he felt her hands push him in the center of his chest to try and make a distance between them. He only moved in closer to her in return seeing the worry behind her dark eyes when he smiled. “You did hurt my brother JT though, so when you hurt him, you hurt me.”

“I didn’t do anything to JT,” Diane replied seeing him look down at her as if he didn’t believe what she was saying. She felt his hand grab her right wrist in his hand tightly as she tried to get away from him. “I don’t know what he told you Cameron, but it’s a lie and you shouldn’t trust anything he says.”

“He’s my little brother and when my family is hurt I don’t like it,” Cameron stated with a small growl watching her closely before shaking his head slowly. “I don’t know if you were thinking when you hurt him like that, but you can’t just break his heart like that. I won’t allow it.”

“I didn’t do anything to him Cameron,” Diane whispered seeing him let out a small laugh as she pulled her wrist away from him angrily. “Anyways, whatever he feels right now he deserves because he is an asshole. Just like your whole family…”

“Get back here,” Cameron grabbed her wrist tightly pulling her back towards him angrily. “You can’t talk like that and get away with it.”

“Get your damn hands off of her,” Ben grabbed onto Cameron tightly throwing him back and away from Diane. Cameron hit the wall roughly as he let out a small hiss. “You stay away from her you asshole. If I ever see you touching her again, I will kill you I swear.”

“Fine, just let her know that I’ll be back,” Cameron smiled widely seeing Diane hiding behind Ben, seeing him protecting her holding her back behind him. “I promise you that.”

“Leave now,” Ben ordered pointing in a different direction as he saw Cameron start to walk off and Ben turned around wrapping his arms around Diane. “Honey, are you okay? What was that?”

“It was nothing,” Diane lied to him thinking about Cameron and what he said before shrugging her shoulders and looking up into Ben’s blue eyes. “I’m okay.”

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

“Thanks for bringing me back to your place,” Evie smiled stepping into JT’s darkened apartment, “I know my roommate can be a real bitch about my bringing men home and I think that we’ll have a much better time in here by ourselves.”

“About that,” JT turned on the lights to reveal his living room to her, “I think I should probably make myself clear on a few things. That kiss that we shared in the restaurant was nice--very nice, but I didn’t bring you here for some one night stand. I thought that maybe we’d tone it down a bit and watch a movie or something.”

“A movie,” she curled her lip in a pout not liking the direction that he was taking with her, “JT, why are you putting me off? Are you worried about us at work or something?”

“Maybe it’s because I like you,” he replied flashing a half smile over at her, “Would it be so bad for me to say that?”

“Yeah right,” she groaned inwardly, “I highly doubt that’s the case. What is it? Do you have a girlfriend or something?”

“I told you,” he began slipping into his kitchen and opening up the refrigerator to pull himself out a beer, “I don’t believe in the whole commitment thing right about now in my life.”

“Which contradicts your not wanting for us to get hot and heavy with one another,” she mouthed giving him a very long once over before her gaze fixed on his beer, “Where’s mine?”

“Here you go,” he handed her a can of fruit punch, “I’m sure you’ll like this.”

“I’m not a little kid you know. I can have a little fun,” she watched him move over to the sofa.

“I’m sure you can, but given that I’m not about to go to jail for giving you a drink before you’re legal, you may as well get used to not drinking around me. Come to think about it,” he stood up again making his way back into the kitchen. He returned a few seconds later with a fruit punch in his hand as well, “I shouldn’t drink either.”

“You really aren’t any fun, are you?” she curled her lip in a pout plopping down on his sofa and folding her arms in front of her chest. “Here everyone was saying how hot you are, but you just seem to be…”

“Trying to get you to cross over from the dark side of things,” he teased with a wink moving over towards his DVD collection, “So what are you in the mood for? A comedy? Action perhaps?”

“How about horror? Do you have any good horror films on hand?” she suggested sliding her legs out over the couch before grinning up at him.

“Horror, well I think I can swing that,” he shrugged popping in a DVD before moving in to take a seat in one of the chairs.

“Hey, come on,” Evie rose up on her feet walking over to take a seat on his lap, “I won’t bite.”

“Eve, I don’t think that now is…” JT gulped knowing full well he never should’ve brought her home in the first place, yet there was a part of him that was tempted--a part of him that couldn’t get over the way she looked at him or the way that she kissed.

“Now is the perfect time,” she curled her fingers around the collar on his shirt yanking him towards her, “so do us both a favor and shut up and kiss me.”

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

“Why would you say that?” Avery asked again her dark eyes searching Kevin’s with a burning curiosity, “Why would you say that I wouldn’t want to run into Cameron? How do you know him and…”

“Look Avery, I’m sorry. I just thought that you…well, I guess I just…” Kevin trailed off realizing the major blunder he’d just made in confusing Avery for Angela.

There was really no big way to decipher between the two women given that they’d looked almost completely identical. They had the same face and a similar build, yet Kevin had spent most of his life in love with Angela. He had known her better than anyone else had, yet somehow he’d found a way to mistake Avery for Angie. Guilt started to trickle in over the thoughts he’d had about Russ doing the very same thing when he’d been on the island. Kevin had found it hard to believe that a man like Russ could’ve made that kind of mistake, yet here he stood with Avery doing something that was almost the same.

“You what Kevin?” Avery searched his eyes more completely, “What are you doing? I want to know why you asked me about Cameron.”

“I just…” Kevin stammered again feeling completely dumbfounded. He inhaled slowly, his brown eyes fixed with embarrassment and urgency, “I just have to go.”

“Oh no you don’t,” Avery tugged on his arm pulling him back into the corner with her. She could see that he was eager to escape, but she wasn’t about to let him walk away from her. “You’re not going anywhere until you tell me what’s really going on Kevin, so start talking.”

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

“Thanks for the pep talk Russ,” Grady patted his brother on the arm gently, “I really appreciate it because well if you weren’t here I’d probably wind up killing Cameron tonight.”

“And we can’t have that. I know things are difficult, but just remember that you can’t let him get the best of you,” Russell reminded his brother surveying the room for any sign of Avery. He spotted Deana returning from one of the far corners of the room, “Your date looks like she’s looking for you.”

“I should probably go over and apologize to her for acting like an ass earlier. She didn’t have any idea about Cameron and I and I was kind of a jerk,” Grady decided giving his brother another look, “Thanks again Russ.”

“Don’t mention it,” Russ watched his brother walk off to rejoin Deana. Maybe there was still hope for some kind of happiness for Grady after all. At least that’s what Russ was hoping now that it seemed that Grady was focused on trying to pull himself together again. He just prayed that Cameron and that raw hatred between them didn’t get in the way of that.

“Now back to enjoying the night,” Russ thought aloud taking another look around the room for Avery. He thought he spotted her near the exit to the ballroom and with a smile he moved towards her direction hoping to share a dance with her. Right now he could use a nice distraction to all of the craziness that seemed to surround this party. Holding her in his arms would do just the trick. He was almost to the end of the ballroom, knowing that he’d just seen her, but she’d slipped out of his line of vision.

“Where did you go,” he asked himself ready to turn around and see if she’d gone over towards the bar when he’d spotted her out of the corner of his eye. He spun around and found her standing out in the hallway with Kevin beside her. Fear suddenly swept over him as he watched Kevin brush his fingers against her shoulder in a movement that gave Russell plenty of reason to worry. Whatever they were talking about, Russ realized he was going to put a stop to it starting now before Kevin wound up saying or doing something that could cost Russ his happiness with Avery after all.

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

“Oh baby,” Brant let out a low, guttural moan feeling his body spent by the passion he’d just shared with his dream lover. He felt her release his wrists finally giving him usage of his hands after she’d tortured him mercilessly for what felt like an eternity. Now as she snuggled in beside him, he couldn’t help but wish that this was real--that somehow he’d stumbled upon the greatest lover he’d ever known and he could make up for lost time. He felt her head fall upon his chest again and he let out a tiny, amused laugh, “You are far better than I remembered and I have to say if I had you here with me in every day, I’d have to make sure to exhaust myself with you time and time again.”

“Don’t tell me I wore you out because that would be absolutely no fun for the fantasy,” she nipped at his damp skin feeling the salty taste of his skin upon her lips. “You’re supposed to be able to keep up with me, remember?”

“I could keep up with you for days and never get tired of this,” Brant laughed lightly feeling the mood lighten between them, “and if you would’ve told me where you were going to run away to, I would’ve found a way to locate you--a way to let you know just how much I missed this when you were gone.”

“But you had your wife,” she frowned, her body tensing up in his arms, “That’s what this was all about. You screwed me over knowing full well you were a married man at the time and…”

“And nothing,” he shook his head at her, “You didn’t give me a chance to explain myself. I wasn’t a married man…at least not then and now, well now I’m not really in that boat anymore. When I found you, yes I wasn’t honest about what was happening at first, but then I realized how far from my initial intentions things were for me. I like you Angela. I like you a lot, but you threw me out before you gave me a chance to get to know you.”

“I threw you out because I knew you were another jerk who would ruin my life,” she tore herself away from him scooting to the far side of the bed, “And I was right because you changed everything for me. For you it was just some stupid fling, but for me, it’s something that’s going to stay with me forever.”

“Hey, you’ve haunted me forever,” he confessed facing her fully, “You’ve been in my dreams for months now and even here I mean this should tell you something…well, that is if you were really real.”

“If this were real I would’ve told you to go straight to hell because you deserve nothing less,” she pulled the sheet up over her body, her heart hammering in her chest, “You don’t deserve any of what my mind just conjured up.”

“Yeah well whether I deserved it or not, it didn’t stop me from wanting it--from wanting you,” he paused an eerie feeling suddenly sinking in over him. From the moment he’d walked from the door into darkness he’d thought about how this had to be some kind of dream--some kind of hallucination brought on by the darkness, but now as he looked over to her seeing her damp hair pressed in against her cheek, the way her wounded expression caused his stomach to tie in knots another thought occurred to him. “This isn’t a dream, is it? I mean this is really happening…”

“Of course it can’t be really happening,” she paused clenching the sheet tighter against her body, “Can it?”

“I don’t know,” Brant hesitated realizing that he sounded like a complete idiot, yet after what he’d just experienced with Angela he knew full well that this couldn’t be something as trivial as a dream. He extended his fingers out to make contact with her silken skin and he watched her shiver in response, “I mean would we be arguing about our intentions in a dream?”

“Not in any of the ones I’ve had lately,” she paused biting on her lower lip nervously, “Unless…”

“Unless what?” he asked seeing horror flash behind her eyes. She shuffled out from underneath the sheet bringing it with her in a panic.

“No, there’s no way,” she shook her head adamantly, “There is no way in hell that I would just hop into bed with you after what you did with me. The only way this would be feasible is if you and I weren’t really together. We couldn’t be in bed with one another…”

He watched her wiggle her finger at him wildly, the beginnings of a panic attack overtaking her. He pushed the sheet aside, stepping out of bed in all of his nakedness. Her eyes widened as her gaze dropped to the root of his masculinity--to the very part of him that she’d taken no shame in toying with up until a few minutes ago, but now…

“Oh my God,” horror washed over her completely and she turned away with a gulp, “Brant, how can you be here? How can we be here together when…”

“I don’t know,” he stepped forward reaching out to her before falling back to sit on the edge of the bed, “I honestly don’t know. One minute I was looking for something and then I found the door and…”

“I was looking for something too, but then I got locked inside and…” she spun around to face him again immediately wishing that she hadn’t, “Oh God, we’re really stuck in this room with one another in Coral Valley, aren’t we?”

Brant’s solemn brown eyes met her before hope flashed behind them. He nodded with a sigh, “Yeah we are. I mean I know why I’m here, but what about you…”

“I came looking for,” she stopped herself refusing to give him anything further, “It doesn’t matter what I’m looking for. I can assure you that it most certainly wasn’t you.”

“Yeah, well I think that’s a little late now given that you and I picked up right where we left off with one another,” he motioned to the bed behind him where they‘d just been intimate with one another, “I’d say that time hasn’t changed a thing for us Angela and that’s something worth talking about. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“See now that’s where you’re wrong. A lot of things have changed,” she argued with him, her fingers curling tightly around the sheet she was holding, “Things that neither one of us can do anything about…”

“Look, I know I was a real ass back when we met, but what we shared just now that should tell you something there. You still want me and I still want you,” he decided with an impassioned plea surprising himself as the words came out, “I haven’t stopped thinking about you and…”

“I haven’t stopped thinking about you, but that was for different reasons. If I would’ve thought that you were really here, then I wouldn’t have let myself… We wouldn’t have…” she yelped taking a small step backwards and nearly tripping over with the sheet that surrounded her.

“Angela, I think we need to reevaluate this situation. I heard what you said and you know what I said and when we thought this wasn’t real, well, we were in a place where we both were being honest because we thought we were being honest to ourselves and not to one another,” he scratched his head lightly trying to make sense of the situation himself, “We were being truthful about everything we felt.”

“Not everything,” she shook her head a momentary shiver creeping up over her spine, “Brant I wasn’t kidding when I said things have changed. You said I was different and I am…”

“Not that different,” he rose up from the bed knowing that the movement would make her uncomfortable, but right about now he didn’t care. All he wanted was to hold her, to pull her back into his arms and convince her that they could try all over again to have a new beginning. He was certain that what they’d just experienced was clearly fate trying to tell them something about how wrong they were to have parted before, but as their eyes met, he could see her hesitance to let him inside.

“Brant you don’t get it,” she argued closing her eyes tightly, “but maybe you should. Maybe you should see what it is that’s changed.”

“Angela, I don’t care what’s changed. We have a chance to try this again and make some of it in terms of a relationship instead of…” he felt her place her hand in the center of his chest pushing him away from her with a gentle nudge. Her fingers pressed in over the front of her sheet as she moved in underneath the dim light overhead.

“Brant, when we were in bed, I’m sure you noticed that things were different with me. You had to have felt that I don’t seem the same…you had to realize that,” her breath caught in her throat as she dropped her sheet to the floor revealing herself to him fully, “Take a good look at me Brant.”

“I am and you’re beautiful,” his gaze cascaded over her leisurely unable to quell the feelings of desire she’d awakened inside of him.

“You’re not looking hard enough Brant, but let me help you,” she marched in towards him reaching for his hand and bringing it in over her tiny, swelled abdomen. Tears burned behind her eyes as she spoke up between broken words, “Do you get it now? Do you understand what’s changed Brant?”

“Angela I…you‘re…” realization registered behind his dark eyes, a newfound confusion settling in over him.

“Pregnant with your babies and when you stand there telling me that things haven’t changed you hold in your hand proof that they have,” she blurted out unable to repress the tears the blurred her vision now that she stood before the demons from her past as Brant stood before her in vivid color once again finding her at her most vulnerable.

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

“Hey honey,” Kellen pushed back some of Heather’s blonde hair as her eyes started to open slowly and she let out a small groan. “How are you feeling Heather Babes? You’ve been out for quite a while you know.”

“I feel like crap,” Heather groaned placing her hand over her eyes before moving it away and seeing three of Kellen above her. “Why are there three of you?”

“There is only one of me Heather Babes, the world would be complete if there was three of me,” Kellen tried to lighten the situation hearing her let out a small hiccup as he let out a small laugh. “I would totally be passing out too after what happened with you and Kyle. That was some hot stuff honey, I hope you know that.”

“I don’t feel so good,” Heather informed Kellen placing her left hand over her stomach as Kellen let out a small frown when she started to turn very pale. “Kellen, I think I need some fresh air.”

“Okay, good idea,” Kellen wrapped Heather’s arm around his shoulders as he wrapped his other arm around her waist. He lifted her up off the couch and helped her onto her feet, feeling her stumble forward making him hold onto her tighter. “Just hold on Heather Babes, we are going to get you some air.”

“You know Kellen, you got some nice muscles,” Heather reached out to squeeze Kellen’s bicep in her hand gently before letting out a small laugh. “You know this kind of reminds me of that movie when we were younger…”

“Don’t bring that up Heather Babes,” Kellen hushed her opening the door to the room and shaking his head slowly. “We don’t need to bring that up right now, especially right now.”

“Kellen,” Heather frowned letting out a small laugh when she looked up at the ceiling and saw dots above her. “Wow, what pretty colors are up there. How do you think they get it to sparkle?”

“What colors?” Kellen looked up towards the white ceiling seeing nothing as he let out a small gasp feeling her almost slip out of his hands. “Okay, now I can tell you are really out of it Heather Babes, just hold on.”

“I think I’m going to puke,” Heather groaned feeling Kellen tug her along the hallway quickly making her let out a small frown. “Not so fast, the carpet is in my way.”

Kellen was about to open the door when he heard someone tap on a glass and he turned with Heather to see Kyle and Sarah hugging before he stepped up on the stage with Sarah.

“Excuse me everyone, I have something important to do. You see I‘ve gotten to know a lot you very well and I consider most of you my family, so I‘m just going to do this right now in front of all of you,” Kyle cleared his throat uneasily seeing everyone give him their attention as he reached out for Sarah’s hand and slowly getting down to one knee. Kyle pulled a ring out of his pocket and heard a few gasps from the crowd around him as he looked up at Sarah and gulped down uneasily. “Sarah is pregnant with my child and there is only one way to do all this correctly. Sarah Marx, will you marry me?”

“Yes,” Sarah smiled widely as Kellen watched on seeing Kyle stand up after slipping the ring on her finger, bringing her into his arms tightly as the people around the room started clapping.

“You have to be kidding me,” Kellen let go of Heather seeing her fall down to the ground as Kellen watched Kyle and Sarah on the stage closely. “There is no way…”

“Ouch,” Kellen heard Heather whisper as he reached down to try and help her up slowly. There was no way that this could be happening now after what he just saw between Kyle and Heather. There was definitely something going on with Kyle. “Why did he do that?”

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

...to be continued...