“I’m home.” Emily called out throughout the apartment, but got no response. She pressed her lips together and began to wonder why Tabitha wasn’t home yet.

Walking into the kitchen, she checked to see if she was cooking dinner and just didn’t hear her. There was no one in the kitchen and again she frowned, “Maybe, the bathroom.” She mumbled to herself.

Heading back out into the living room and up the stairs, she knocked on the bathroom door and slowly opened it. Still there was no one home, “Sleeping?” She asked herself and went to Tabitha’s bedroom to again find an empty room.

Emily shrugged her shoulders and decided that she must have headed out for something. Tabitha was normally home by this time and cooking dinner, so she wondered if she should cook something instead. As she headed down the stairs again, she heard the door unlock and Tabitha entered.

“Hey!” Tabitha smiled. “Home already?”

Emily nodded, “Slow night so they let me off early. What’s that?” She pointed to the plastic bag that her friend was carrying.

“I’m exhausted from tests this week, so I thought I’d bring us home some dinner. The Chinese place that I like doesn’t deliver past the freeway. I had to go pick it up.” She said as she walked into the dining room and placed the bag on the table.

Emily entered into the room, “I’ll get our drinks. Soda?”

“Yes, please.” Tabitha nodded as she began to pull out the containers. “It’s alright if we eat out of the boxes, isn’t it? I mean you never eat anything I like and vice versa.”

Coming back into the dining room, Emily nodded in agreement as she set two soda cans down on the table. “No glasses either, I take it?” She smiled.

“Read my mind.” She sat down and pulled her chopsticks apart to start eating her kung pao from the box.

Emily began on her chow mein and the two remained somewhat quiet as they calmed the pained hunger in their stomachs. Once they slowed to where they were only grazing, Tabitha decided it was time to talk to her friend again.

“Have you called Caleb?”

“No.” Emily answered simply as she ate one of her pot stickers.

She pressed her lips together, “Have you given any thought to going back home?”

“No.” She again answered nonchalantly as if it wasn’t a major concern for her days before.

“Emily, you can’t keep putting off this decision, you know? Eventually, you are going to have to decide if you are heading back or not. Making these people wait for you is cruel and it’s probably unbearable for them.”

She nodded her head, “I know and you pushing me to make a decision now doesn’t help. I am thinking about what I want to do, but you demanding that I make a choice as if I have a time limit only makes things more stressful. I know that I need to be quick about it and I am thinking it through, but throwing the stress into the situation only makes it more hopeless. So, knock it off.”

Tabitha sighed as she continued to eat her spicy food, “I just want you to make the right decision that’s all. I don’t want you to regret not making one or thinking that it’s alright to keep people waiting.”

“I won’t and I don’t. Just trust me to make my own decisions in life. I know I have a bad track record, but that’s from being rushed to make them and not thinking them through.”

“Alright, alright.” She nodded, “I won’t push anymore. To be honest, I’m sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for the answer.”

“Why?”

Tabitha shrugged, “It’s confusing for me, and I can’t wait to know which happiness I’ll have and pain I’ll suffer, because whatever you decide I get both.”

Emily stuck her chopsticks into her container and looked at her friend, “Happiness and pain, what do you mean?”

“Well, if you go home then I’ll miss having you around, but I’ll be happy that you are with people that love and accept you. If you stay then I’ll be glad that you are here, but sad for Caleb and his family, also I think it might not be the best decision for you. I’ll feel guilty for being happy over my own selfishness.”

Emily reached out her hand and placed it on Tabitha’s. “You don’t need to feel guilty if I stay, it wasn’t your decision and you should feel free to be happy for yourself. Don’t worry, Tabitha, I’m going to make the right decision for me not for Caleb or for you. I am looking to please myself with this decision to thoroughly think it through and make sure I feel a hundred percent satisfied with it.”

She smiled softly, “That’s all I needed to hear. I’m sorry that I’ve been nagging you so much about it. Like I already said, I am on the edge of my seat just like everyone else. I don’t want you to feel unwanted, I’d be really happy if you stayed, but I’d be just as happy for you if you went back. I don’t want you to consider me in this decision.”

She scooted her chair closer to her friend and wrapped her arm around her shoulder, “Tabby, how can I not consider you? Aren’t you my best friend? You are my sister and I can’t tell you how much I missed you these past few months. It felt like there was an entire piece of me missing.”

Tabitha looked her in the eyes, “This time we will talk to each other on the phone and I’ll come to visit. It won’t be like it was before, we won’t have to ignore one another.”

Emily squeezed her shoulders, “I don’t want to lose you again. All my life you have made me feel better about myself no matter how badly I have done. I treated you poorly and I’ll never forgive myself for it. This past year, I regret nothing, except tossing you aside. I want you to forgive me for that.”

She patted Emily’s hand that was resting on her shoulder, “I was never mad at you and I never hated you. I was hurt, but I…”

“Say you forgive me.”

“I forgave and forgot a long time ago.”

Emily smiled, “It will never happen again. I’ve learned my lesson. My life without you is incomplete, and I don’t even want to go through that again. Alright?”

Tabitha returned the smile, “Alright.”

Placing a brief kiss on her cheek, Emily scooted back over and began to eat her dinner again. Without another word spoken between them, they both finished their meal and began to clear off the table, before heading to the living room to watch their television programs before bed.

--

Sitting in the white television room, the three onlookers stared at the free show before them. Arion and Aries looked at each other quizzically as Madison and Darick bickered across from each other. Even though it seemed like the same old argument there was a more playful tone to each of their voices. Grady noticed it as well and instead of offering a worried glance, he smiled inwardly as he hoped that he had accomplished victory.

“You spilled it, you clean it up!” Madison snapped.

“I pay people to clean up after me!” He snorted, “Anyway, you knocked my elbow! Had you not been fucking around beside me, it would have never fallen onto the carpet to begin with!”

They both looked down at the dark brown coffee stain forming on the white carpet. “It’s going to stain if you don’t get it cleaned up soon!”

Darick shrugged his shoulders, “If you are so worried about it, then you should find someone to clean it up or do it yourself.”

“You piss me off so much!” Madison shoved his shoulder as hard as she could.

He was barely stunned by her push and turned around to shove his hand in her face. When he caught her face, he pushed her head into the back of the couch as Madison attempted to pry his fingers away. “Stop fighting it and I’ll let go.”

Instead, Madison swung her hand out, which caused the back of her hand to collide with the side of Darick’s stomach. He yanked his hand back to protect himself as Madison sat up to punch his shoulder. “Asshole! I’m a female! Weren’t you taught not to manhandle women?”

“When you start acting like a woman I’ll treat you like one, until then you get what you give.” He punched her shoulder, but much lighter than she had hit him.

She grabbed her shoulder and frowned, “You are so going to pay for that later.” She growled as she stood up and stormed out of the room.

The other three men in the room had all witnessed the two argue many times before, but this time it seemed like Darick was much calmer about the situation. Normally, he would have followed after her to continue the argument. Instead, Darick kept his seat and looked over at them as if it were their turn to entertain him.

“How much longer will she be here?” Arion asked.

“Until the Spring.” Darick answered, although he didn’t like the way that his friend had phrased the question. “Does it bother you?” He asked as if he were daring Arion to take issue with the situation.

“No. I was just curious.” He shrugged and took a drink of his coffee.

“Do you always treat her so roughly?” Aries asked, still a little shocked to see how physical the two had gotten. It was not something that he had seen often before, and even in his own family physical touching was either friendly or for severe punishment.

Darick didn’t seem to want to answer his question and instead frowned a reply to him. “Don’t mention anything to Abigail.” He finally mumbled as he began to drink out of Madison’s coffee cup.

The three of them didn’t even understand why he would make such an order, and it only made them more suspicious of the situation. However, they knew better than to question him further. This was not something he would ever discuss with them. Darick was a man of mystery and he liked to keep his private life to himself, and not even his closest friends knew everything about him. They doubted that Maxine, Sabrina, or Madison knew much about him either.

“Madison said you made a stain on the carpet.” Maxine said as she walked into the room with a spray bottle and cloth.

“I didn’t make a stain! She bumped my elbow and made me spill the coffee.” Darick barked as he stood up.

Her eyes were drawn to the floor, “Neither of you bothered to pick the cup up?” She sighed as she reached down and picked it up, then began to spray her solution onto the floor. It smelt of vinegar and lemon and she quickly used the cloth to get up any extra liquid by pressing it into the ground. Standing up, she looked at Darick. “That’s good for now. I’ll have the carpet cleaners come by while you are in class this week. It’ll be wet there, so don’t walk around without shoes on.”

Darick frowned at her and cursed Madison for going straight to Maxine with this. He knew that even though Maxine didn’t yell at him, she would make him feel bad for even making the stain at all. When Maxine left the room, he turned around to his friends.

“Leave!” He shouted, before he turned around and headed up the stairs. “I’m going to kill her.” He mumbled to himself.

Arion and Aries shook their heads as they went to the front door and pulled their thin windbreakers on. Grady was right behind them and did the same.

“That was weird, wasn’t it?” Grady asked as they exited out of the mansion to head to their cars.

“What was?” Arion asked.

“The way that Madison and Darick were acting. I mean it was a lot like how they argued before, but Darick seemed less upset and there was a lot less cussing.” Grady tried to see if they got the same feeling.

“Just made me uncomfortable as always.” Arion shrugged, he didn’t want to believe that there was anything strange going on between the two. “He said she’s leaving this Spring, so stop trying to get your hopes up for anything. You lost… even though I don’t know what you were trying to win.”

Grady frowned, “I am not trying to win anything.” He turned to Aries, “Come on, you must have noticed it was different.”

Aries cocked his head to the side as if he were thinking, then shook his head. “Nope, seemed the same to me.” He decided to go along with his brother, as he didn’t want to deal with Arion bitching at him later. Besides, there had to be a reason that Arion didn’t want to admit it and he figured it was due to killing Grady’s ridiculous dream. “What do you care anyway?”

“You know why I care.” He snorted, “You both are being asses right now. If Brad were here, he would agree with me.”

“Speaking of Brad, he told me that he doesn’t see you much anymore.” Arion tried to change the subject.

“If he isn’t trying to trick his family and Lydia, then he is concocting ways to get Brianna back. Also, his dad gives him a lot of work. The only time I really see him is at school now, and he’s not the same person.” Grady said seeming rather upset to admit it.

Both the twins nodded in agreement. “Would be nice to have the gang back together, before all the girls showed up.” Aries wished.

The other two agreed, but said nothing as they walked toward their cars and prepared to head home. Grady sat in the front seat of his car and looked at the mansion for a moment as he tried to figure out if he had just tricked himself. Shaking his head, he decided he would come back again to see if anything changed later.

--

Brad sat at his desk in the study as he looked over the divorce papers in front of him. He had paid a lawyer outside of his family’s influence to take care of it for him, so they wouldn’t be notified. He had ensured secrecy by paying the man nearly double what he had asked for, but he knew that it would be worth it.

Since their was no child involved, Brad wanted to make it a clean break. She kept what was rightfully hers and he kept what was his. They had been married a matter of months and had never shared a bedroom let alone a bed, so he figured it was fair. The last thing he wanted to do was put her through a painful divorce and make enemies of her family.

“Hey.” Owen said as he walked into the study and shut the door behind him. He made his way over to Brad’s desk where he sat down and began to pick at the candy bowl.

“Need something?” Brad asked as he closed the file so that his cousin wouldn’t be able to read it. Even if Owen knew that he had plans to divorce Lydia, he didn’t want him to have a time frame.

He shook his head, “Bored out of my mind, thought I would bother you. Need me to do anything for you?”

“Not at the moment. Lydia is not here?”

“She’s here, but she told me to do several rather painful things to my body and then slammed the door in my face.” He grinned, “She’s really coming around.”

Brad smirked at his cousin before shaking his head, “You are hopeless, you know that right?” He didn’t give him time to answer, “My mom has been on my ass about getting you to call your parents.”

“The phone works both ways. They can pick it up and call me just as easily.” He leaned forward and picked a few more little pieces of candy from the bowl.

“Someone’s going to have to be the bigger person and do it. Since you are the one that just left with things as they were, I believe it falls to you to make the first effort.” Brad picked the file up from his desk and opened the drawer. He placed the file inside and then locked the drawer once it was closed. “I don’t know who is more childish, you or your parents.”

“This coming from a man who won’t even get over a girl he dated over a year ago.” Owen snorted.

“That’s done.” He said as he picked up a Kleenex and blew his nose, “We have discussed it and have gotten closure.”

He raised his eyebrow, “Oh? Are you… are you planning to try with Lydia then?”

“If I wanted to then I would have every right considering she is my wife.” Brad was toying with him, but it was one of his favorite pastimes.

“You… I mean, yeah, I know. What I was… I thought you said that I could have a go at her?”

Brad smirked, “I did and you seem to be failing terribly. I have cheated on her and ignored her and my chances are still better than yours.”

Owen pressed his lips together in annoyance, “You aren’t seriously thinking about making this marriage work, are you? I mean you obviously have no feelings for her at all, and the two of you are constantly suspicious of each other. It’s not something to base a marriage around.”

“Marriage advice not only from a seventeen year old, but from the man who slept with my wife. That’s rich, Owen.” He chuckled, “That’s really rich!” He slammed his hand against the desk as he laughed.

Owen was not amused, “Ok, I’m not the best person to give my opinion on the matter. I admit that, but I am saying this as unbiased as possible.”

“You don’t know how to be unbiased. Your entire life revolves around the things you want. I mean Lydia does not like you in the least, and you still think that you have a chance with her. You are so blind to how revolting she thinks you are and believing that her disgust is truly based in love for you. I mean, come now, Owen. You are making an ass of yourself here for your own pride and ego.”

“And you running around after that girl wasn’t based on pride and ego?”

Brad clenched his jaw, “Erase such a thought from your mind immediately. If Brianna had been born to a wealthy family, she would be my wife right now. I wouldn’t have hesitated. Don’t think for once that she is simply a prize that I wish to win as you do with Lydia. I won’t tolerate such blatant disregard for what was between us. Do you understand?”

He nodded his head, “I didn’t mean any offense, Brad. Good grief, chill the fuck out.” Owen adjusted himself in his seat before getting more candy from the bowl. He noticed that Brad was still angry and knew that he needed to cool the flames. “I didn’t realize that you cared for the girl so much, I’m sorry.”

The tension in Brad’s face eased, “There must be girls at school that are to your tastes, why don’t you turn your attention to them?”

“There are girls, but they are interested in the Lansing name and not Owen.” He sat back in his chair and sighed. “Truth be told, I was thinking about calling that girl that my mom tried to set me up with a while back. They were really excited about arranging a marriage between us, and she wasn’t that bad really. She was just…” He shrugged.

“Approved by the devil woman that spawned you?”

Owen smiled, “Yeah, that’s probably where the problem came into play.” He sighed, “I mean look at you. They picked your spouse and you aren’t happy.”

Brad frowned upon hearing his cousin’s words, “Don’t think because it didn’t work for me that the same will happen to you. All of our parents are happy, three of my friends are happy with their own arrangements. I am a rarity.”

He nodded, “It’ll be hard considering that I’ve seen this all first hand.” Standing up, he cleared his throat. “I’m going to head out and see what damage I can cause. I’ll see you later tonight.”

--

Madison dropped onto the couch next to Darick, who was reading another book. She had finished her own nearly an hour ago, and he had just told her to find another one to read. There was nothing that caught her interest, mostly due to her wondering what had happened between them. They had slept together, she understood that, but she wanted to know why it had happened. She wasn’t in love with him, though she had once been attracted to him. It was almost as if they were holding onto something that they never had to begin with.

“What?” Darick asked in a flat voice after he grew tired of her stare.

“We… we haven’t talked about what happened between us.” She said, a little afraid to bring the subject up at all.

He turned the page in his book, “We had sex. Nothing much to speak about.”

She brought her feet underneath her on the couch and turned toward him, “You know that’s not what I’m talking about. Besides, it’s hardly that we had sex. Unless I missed something, you were a virgin.”

“Virgin is a stupid label. There are no other labels for people who haven’t done something. It really only applies to women anyway considering their delicate state for the first time, and was simply something once used by men to know that they were the only true owner of their wives. It’s a ridiculous and outdated term that should be forgotten along with all the stupid customs and beliefs that go along with sex and marriage which define ownership in some form or fashion.” He continued to read his book.

“While I agree with that, you changed the subject.” She sighed, “What I meant was what is going on between us now that we’ve done that?”

He looked up from the book and there was a slight blush on his cheeks, but Madison decided not to mention it. “Why? What do you want?”

“You are asking me what I want? I thought you would just tell me what’s going on and we would be forced to do that.”

Darick frowned, “Can’t exactly force someone to be with you, can you? I may be bossy and arrogant, but I’m not so fucking stupid to think I can force anything between us.”

“You forced our friendship.”

“Are you going to answer the question or not?” He closed his book.

Madison licked her lips briefly, “I’m not staying here just because of that. I really do have to leave in the Spring. So, what do you think we should do? I ask that, because I’m not sure myself.”

He looked into her eyes for a moment as he thought over the circumstances. “I don’t know.” He tossed his book onto the coffee table.

“It’s not as if we can go on like it never happened, but it’s not as if we can be more than what we were before either.”

He nodded his head slowly for several moments as he thought, “Then let’s just do what comes naturally until you leave. If that’s remaining as we were or briefly being something else. I don’t wish to be forced into any mold.”

Madison looked down to the ground before giving a nod, “I suppose that’s the best that we can do.”

Darick knew that as much as he wanted to keep her here and for her to feel something more for him that it was all a fairytale. Madison didn’t feel that way and she wouldn’t be staying.

A pair of lips touched the corner of his own and he looked up at her, “What are you doing?”

She shrugged, “You said to do what comes natural. I’m just trying to figure out if that’s natural or not. Was it awkward for you?”

“Very.” He grunted.

“Oh.” She pulled her feet out from under her and placed herself against the back of the couch.

A weight pushed against her and she was laid down with her feet still dangling off the edge of the couch. Darick held himself up above her with her wrists in his hands and gently kissed her lips. “Is that awkward?”

Madison rolled her eyes up and made a humming noise as if she was thinking. “I don’t think so.” She shook her head, “No.”

Leaning down again, he kissed her a little harder this time. “What about that?”

“Hmm. No, that wasn’t either.”

The next kiss involved much more than their lips as Darick sucked on her bottom lip gently, before allowing her tongue to invade his mouth. His body pressed more firmly against her own as she responded to his kiss, and soon found herself wanting the use of her arms.

Instead Darick sat back up, “How about that one?”

“No, but my feet hanging off the side is a bit awkward.”

He lifted his body up and looked at her feet, which she pulled up and placed on the couch under him.

“And I need my hands.”

He looked at her as he lowered himself down some, “What for?”

Madison giggled, “What a thing to ask.”

He released her wrists and immediately Madison pulled him down to begin to kiss him again. After a few short moments, Darick reached his hands under her waist and attempted to sit them both up. Madison had to help in getting herself into a better position, but they tried not to stop their kiss. Soon, she found herself straddling his lap and holding his face, while Darick’s hand explored her back.

Madison began to kiss down his cheek to his neck, where she gently sucked for a moment, before moving her way back up to his mouth. She could feel a slight nagging sensation in the back of her mind telling her not to do this, but she was at a loss of what else she should do. Her hands began to slide down Darick’s chest toward his pants, and when they got to his belt, his hands captured her own.

“That’s enough.” Darick told her and pushed her off him back onto the couch. Standing up, he mumbled something about using the bathroom and disappeared quickly from the room.

Bringing her brows together, she tried to figure out what had just occurred. Did he have the same nagging sensation telling him to stop as well? Did he feel guilty about Abigail? She shook her head as she knew there was no telling when it came to Darick. She knew what they were doing was wrong as well, and was in some ways relieved that it had been put to a stop. However, she felt somewhat rejected that he had ended it, as she wondered if there was something wrong with her.

Knowing she wouldn’t get an answer in that moment, she stood up and began to search for another book. When Darick returned they didn’t speak to each other again as they both sat on the couch and read their chosen materials.

--

Caleb knocked on the bedroom door and entered when the person inside called him in. In his arms were several blankets that his mother had sent with him. He smiled at Brianna as he placed them on the edge of her bed. The room was still painted the bright colors to show that it had been meant for a child’s room. It was hard for him to come in as it reminded him of that which never happened.

“My mom said you mentioned it was cold last night, so she found a bunch of blankets. I told her one would be enough, but… well, you know her.”

Brianna grinned as she put her hand on the top of the stack of blankets, “Thanks. I guess being cold won’t be a problem anymore.” It felt strange to be living in the same house as her ex-boyfriend, but at the same time it felt comforting as well.

“Well, I‘ll leave you to it then.” He didn’t know what he was leaving her to do, but he wanted to escape both her presence and that of the bedroom.

“Your mother told me that Emily is with her friend and you went to see her. Is she coming back?” Brianna felt very alone in this house and wanted to make some sort of friendship. She had been there to comfort Caleb after the death of his child, but the circumstances were very different.

He turned back around to her and shrugged, as he looked at the twin size bed that had only a frame holding it off the ground and no foot or head boards. “She’s thinking about it, but it doesn’t look good right now.”

She nodded her head slowly, “I’m sorry, Caleb. I know that she means a lot to you, and I hope that everything works out in the end.”

“Thank you. What about you? What happened with Ian? I mean you mentioned some of it, but I feel it wasn’t the whole story.”

She sighed as she sat down on the bed next to the blankets, “I guess I went into one detail too many. I didn’t want to hide anything from him, because I wanted him to know the truth so that Brad couldn’t use any of it to shock him. When I last talked to Brad, I kissed him as a way of saying goodbye… I think that sent Ian over the edge.”

Caleb pressed his lips together, “You should never tell when you cheat on a person, it only hurts the relationship further. Keep it to yourself and make up for it in secret as best you can.”

“Then when they find out, they’ll think that you had something to hide.”

“At least you proved you were sorry after that by being a good person.”

She folded her arms, “I didn’t cheat anyway. I gave someone that I loved a goodbye kiss, something that I should have done a long time ago. Instead, I took money from his family and made him think I was some kind of monster.”

He sat down on the bed with the stack of blankets between them. After a moment of silence, he chuckled.

“What?” Brianna asked as she turned her head toward him.

“I was just thinking about the last time you were at my house. It was in high school, wasn’t it?”

She nodded, “Yeah, your family had a barbeque. We snuck up to your room and made out.” She grinned, “Care-free days.”

“They weren’t care-free, we had problems back then too. It was more of a care-free moment. My mom caught us and chased us out into the backyard. We had to stay in her sight for the rest of the day.”

Brianna giggled, “I remember that. She never did trust me with you.”

“It was funny, I was the one always trying to push sex between us and you were always trying to keep it away. Maybe she didn’t trust me with you.” He smiled.

She returned the gesture and sighed, “I wish things had worked out differently sometimes.”

“How so?”

“I don’t know. It seems college started and the entire world flipped upside down in an instant, and I want my high school years back. Which is funny since I couldn’t wait to get out of high school.”

Caleb smiled bitterly, “You’ve changed a lot since those days. You used to be optimistic and hyper… and naïve, I guess. I kind of miss that girl.”

“I miss her too. You’ve changed as well though. You are more serious and less emotionally driven, it was both of our downfalls really.” She laid her head on the stack of pillows beside her. “I guess there is no going back though. Once you’ve opened your eyes to the world, it’s impossible to close them.”

“Do you hate me?”

Brianna lifted her head up and raised an eyebrow, “Excuse me?”

“For getting Emily pregnant and thereby forcing us to break up? I feel like I cheated on you in a way. I mean I accept now that I slept with her and saying I was drunk is no excuse. I put myself in that situation, but are you bitter about it?”

“No. Not anymore than I would hope you are about Brad.” She stretched her arms over her head, then dropped them back down into her lap. “I am sorry that I didn’t believe you, and took Emily’s side instantly. I guess I thought immediately how I would feel if I was in her shoes and was being rejected by the father. It made me mad to see you act that way.”

“I was a real ass, I admit it.” He stood from the bed, “I shouldn’t stay in here for too long. Mom will get suspicious considering our past record of bedroom deeds.”

Brianna chuckled, “The door is open this time.”

He looked toward the door and grinned, “This sounds strange, but did you love him?”

“Him who?”

Caleb shrugged, “Brad and Ian, I suppose.”

She nodded, “I love them both equally. I screwed up both of the relationships, it’s all my fault and I am well aware of it. Ian and I always had this wall between us because of Brad, and I wanted to get rid of it. Whenever I tried to climb over it, the damn thing just got bigger until it was too high to climb.” Her eyes turned up to him, “Do you love Emily?”

“Yes, very much. Despite everything that happened between us in the beginning, she is a good person. She was just confused and afraid, like she is now. She does stupid things when she gets that way.”

Brianna smiled at him, “Then for both of our sakes, I hope they come back to us. Feel free to come and talk to me about it whenever you need to.”

“The same goes for you.” He began to walk out the door, but stopped and turned back to her. “Brie? It’s nice having you around here. I know I seem like a zombie these days, but I do enjoy seeing you again.”

“It’s nice to be here.” She grinned as she watched Caleb shut the door behind him.

--

Abigail couldn’t be sure of it, but she thought she saw Madison and Darick jump apart when she entered into the bedroom. She thought perhaps it was just Madison putting Darick’s plate down in front of him, but even then her face had been awfully close to his own. If it had been something more, the two were good enough actors or liars to pull off a look of being unaffected when they were caught.

This wasn’t the first time that she had seen something strange occur when she walked into the room. It had happened the day before when she had caught them in the study as well. At that point, it looked like Madison had literately jumped off Darick’s lap. Any doubt that she was seeing things was slowly coming to a screeching halt.

“I didn’t know you were coming for dinner.” Darick grumbled as he put a fork full of steamed spinach into his mouth.

“Not dinner, just to visit.” She smiled at Madison who had sat down on the opposite side of the table. Abigail walked toward her usual spot and took a seat between the two. “I was wondering when we were going to go out next?”

He shot a look toward Madison that didn’t go unnoticed by his fiancé, but Abigail remained silent. “Next week.”

“Well, make sure to call me with a specific day. It’s getting warmer and I was thinking this summer that we could go out to the beach.”

Darick nodded his head, “That’s fine.” Again, he had looked up at Madison to judge her reaction.

Madison sat calmly as if this was a conversation that she was used to hearing between the two. She offered no glances nor any hints of jealousy as she ate her meal.

“Madison,” Abigail turned her attention to her, “I was thinking about coming over tomorrow. Maybe you and I could make lunch together again?”

“Sure, that sounds like fun.” She grinned as she picked up her drink and took a sip of water.

“I have to piss.” Darick announced and walked toward the bathroom, his hand briefly touched the back of Madison’s neck.

Abigail had seen enough to have drawn a conclusion and it had barely taken ten minutes to figure it out. The two weren’t even trying to hide it from her. She decided to test it out. “You have to leave sooner or later.” She said as Darick locked himself inside the bathroom.

Madison turned her attention to her with a questioning look upon her face. “Excuse me?”

“I’m no fool and I know that Darick needs to get this all out of his system. I’m not trying to sound like a jealous girlfriend, on the contrary I am attempting to be very understanding. However, even my patience and understanding have limits.” She folded her hand on the table.

“I think you have the wrong idea…”

“Do I?” She raised an eyebrow, “Look, I’m not going to tell the two of you to never see each other again. I’m not going to start a scene. Get it all out of your system, but don’t hurt him when you leave. Don’t make him love you more than he already does, please. Remember that I am the one that has to catch him when you let him fall. I will be here cleaning up whatever mess you make and trying to turn his love toward me. Don’t break him.”

Madison stared at her with disbelief as she didn’t know what to say. “How did you…” She stopped herself from asking.

“I took a guess to be honest.” She wasn’t going to explain all the small signals she had seen. In truth, she had been suspicious long enough and had only really needed one small hint in order to open up about it. “I had to chance it and let you know that I am aware of the situation. How long has it been?”

“A couple days.” Madison felt guilt in her heart and wondered how long Darick was going to piss for, before he walked in and ended this torture.

“I suppose that it’s better than a year. Do you love him?”

“No.” She answered right away, “We don’t know what we are doing. It’s stupid, I’m sorry.”

Abigail shook her head, “Due to the fact that this is an arranged marriage between Darick and I, certain things have to be let go. He is in love with you and it’s something that I have to learn to deal with in order to be comfortable with him. I accept it, and it appears that for now, I am the third wheel.” She stood up from her chair, “Tell Darick I got a phone call and had to leave quickly. We are going to have to break our date tomorrow.” There was pain in her eyes that was beginning to eat at Madison’s heart. “I’ll return to clean up the mess once you’re gone.”

“I’m sorry.” Madison said when she heard the door open.

“You should be.” She spoke calmly, “You don’t even love him and yet you toy with his emotions, and make him have an affair. It’s you that is the bad guy in this situation. You, who has taken his feelings and used them to your own advantage. You, who will destroy him when you leave when you knew it was wrong from the start. You should be very sorry, but not to me. I can survive this just as I have survived many of Darick’s abusive acts, but he may not.”

The door slammed behind her and Darick stepped out of the bathroom almost instantly. The almost horrified look on his face had told Madison that he had overheard the entire conversation between them.

He walked back to the table and sat down. His eyes locked on Madison as he waited to hear what she had to say. When she said nothing, he sighed. “I’m not stupid. I know you are leaving and that Abigail is my future. It won’t be as much of a doomsday scenario as she makes it out to be.”

Her eyes looked into his own, “What have we done? You’re cheating on your fiancé and I am the mistress. What a horrible, evil act to do. She is my friend too.” She put her head into her hands.

“Don’t fucking cry over it!” Darick snapped, which caused Madison to pop her head up immediately and glare at him. “I made this fucking decision not you and it’s my consequences. Don’t be a fucking crybaby and feel bad. Let’s just finish what we started until we have to end it.”

“Don’t yell at me over this! Haven’t you got a decent fucking bone in your body? Have you ever heard of comforting people who are upset?”

He snorted and began to eat his meal.

Madison too began to eat, but there was a small grin on her lips that she tried to fight. She still felt bad for Abigail and what she had done, but Darick had once again made her forget her problems for a split second by causing an argument. “You’re an asshole.” She said between bites of food.

“You’re a bitch.” He retorted.

--

Being in Justin and Naomi’s home was strange after living apart from them for so long. The worst part of it all was knowing of Justin’s betrayal and Dorian wasn’t entirely certain what he still had planned. Even though he and Madison had officially broken up, he still wondered if there was more that his brother needed to do.

As he sat on the bed in his old bedroom, he thought about going to talk to him. They had barely spoken two words to each other since he arrived, and the obvious tension did not go unnoticed by Naomi. She tried to get them to liven up, but eventually Dorian had to excuse himself to his bedroom.

He made up his mind to talk to his brother and as he stood up there was a knock at his door. The room was small as it wasn’t really meant to be a bedroom; more like a small study. Opening the door, Justin looked at him and motioned that he wanted to come inside. Dorian allowed him in and shut the door once his brother was in. There wasn’t much room for them to navigate around, so they both sat down on the bed.

“I think we need to talk. You need to know some truths.” Justin spoke once his brother had sat down.

“Do I?” He didn’t like how this conversation was starting out.

“Our family isn’t the only one out to harm Madison. The Mitchells have taken some notice of her and are trying to find dirt on her.”

“How do you know that?”

He shrugged, “It doesn’t matter where I got the information from, I promised that I wouldn’t name names.” Justin sighed, “I think they are getting close, and there is one thing that has come to their attention.”

“And that is?”

“There was no Madison Knox until about two years ago. This girl is not the person that she says she is.”

Dorian nodded, “I know, she told me everything.”

Even though Justin was surprised that his brother knew, he didn’t allow it to show on his face. “I suppose you aren’t going to tell me what happened, so I won’t bother asking. You are alright with it? That she is living her life as someone else.”

“I can’t say it didn’t make me question our relationship, but I accepted it yes.” Dorian folded his hands in his lap and sighed.

“Then the question remains why you aren’t with her now. Why aren’t you stopping our family from causing her more harm? If she has a past that needs to be hidden, why aren’t you getting them to stop searching?”

He was shocked by his brother’s line of questioning. It was almost as if he was scolding him instead of asking inquisitively. “I…”

“If they pulled this shit with Naomi, I would be all over their asses. No one screws with my wife like this and in the end gets me as their prize. So, I have to wonder if you even love Madison.”

“I love Madison!” Dorian snapped, “Don’t you ever question my feelings for another person.”

“Then what the hell are you doing just sitting here? Do something about it, you stupid coward.” Justin stood up.

“I don’t know what to do. I mean I am going to talk to the dean at CHU to make sure she’s safe there, but…”

“That’s not good enough, Dorian!” He exhaled loudly as he put his hand to his head, “You walked out on her and I don’t care what the situation was like. She needs you right now, and I wouldn’t imagine leaving Naomi even if she pushed me out the door. I’d be sleeping on the doorstep.”

Dorian hung his head, “What can I do?”

“Go talk to the dean, then talk to the family. Be stern and make sure they know you mean business, but first and foremost…” Justin picked up the phone from the corner, “transfer back to the harbor. Be here to help her. You get an education here just as much as you would there, so don’t even hand me that shit about better doctors. You make yourself a better doctor, not someone else.”

Dorian looked at the phone, “You just don’t understand. I am learning under some of the best…”

He tossed the phone into his brother’s lap, “It’s your decision, but don’t mope around my house feeling sorry for yourself because of your own mistakes, Dorian. You have the power to calm this storm as you are the catalyst for it. You aren’t powerless as a matter of fact, you are the only person with any power at all. Fix it.”

He looked down at the phone, “I’m not going to transfer hospitals.”

“Like I said, it’s your choice, not mine. You need to think things through. Naomi says your spot is still open, and you were a good doctor, so they’ll take you back. All you have to do is ask.”

“I told you, no.”

Justin sighed, “Fine. Then enjoy your depression. Enjoy knowing that you left Madison when she needed you most. Enjoy that you left her to the vultures of our family and only you could get them to stop, but you chickened out. In order to win her back, you are going to have to prove that you can be the wall that protects her from your family.”

Suddenly the phone was thrown across the room, and Dorian jumped to his feet; his face was inches away from his brother. “She’s leaving! All this shit has caused it where Madison has to run away! The people after her are close to getting her, and she can’t stay here!”

“Then go with her! You have a choice, make it! Don’t sit around and wait for time to make it for you!”

Dorian grabbed his brother’s collar. “Don’t you think I already know that? Don’t you think that I am suffering with the decision everyday? You think it’s so easy, don’t you? It not! I worked hard…”

“I worked hard for my degree too! I worked hard to be everything our parents wanted so I could be the millionaire heir, but look at me now! Naomi and I are trying to save money to afford a child!”

“It’s not as easy of a decision for me as it is for you!”

Justin yanked his brother’s hands away from his shirt, and pushed past him to walk to the door. Placing his hand on the door knob, he looked back at Dorian, who had been shoved onto the bed. “You think giving up my family, friends, and wealth was easy? It was no easier for me than it is for you, but I made my decision. If it were mine to do over again, I’d pick Naomi every time. Do you want to know why?”

Dorian looked up at him awaiting his answer.

“It has nothing to do with being in love. That woman is my friend. She was my friend when I was rich and my friend when I was poor. She doesn’t need me to be anyone but myself, and she loves me because of who I am, not who my family is. Can you say that about anyone else, but Madison? If you can, then stay here. If not, leave with her.” He slammed the door behind him as he left.

--

Peter looked over the report on his desk that the investigator across from him had left. In his study, he knew that his wife was attempting to listen from outside the door, but he had given up excluding her. He wasn’t going to invite her in, but he wasn’t about to keep all the information from her either.

He felt bad for his wife since she had grown an attachment to Madison, but he wasn’t about to let the girl ruin everything. She wasn’t the type that he wanted his son spending his time with. It had been alright when he thought it was just his son using her for his own ends, but it had been taken too far. He wasn’t going to be humiliated with having to give his company to one of his daughters, while having a disowned son.

Alyssa didn’t want that anymore than he did, but she felt conversation would be enough to push Madison away. He was willing to talk with the girl, but he wanted to make sure he had a back up plan in case it failed. She was already destroyed in town and would be leaving soon, but he wanted to ensure her hasty departure. As much as Alyssa hated the idea, she knew it was necessary for the time being, even if she argued against it.

After a moment, he looked back up at the man and folded his hands over the report. “Explain this in your own words.” He looked up at the thick man, who looked like he had spent his younger years in bar fights. If his teeth weren’t missing then they were gone, but there was no denying Cohen’s ability to get results. He was as clever as he was hideous.

“I went to her hometown and the schools she reportedly went to. They have records of her being there, but there isn’t a single person that remembers her. I talked to teachers and to several people in the community, it’s not a big town maybe two thousand people at the most. That size population, you are bound to run into people that know each other, but there was nothing.” Cohen looked proud of himself, and waited for Peter to ask his next question. He liked it when the client coaxed the information out of him.

Peter was no stranger to the man’s somewhat playful way of handling business, and was quick to respond. “What about the house and family?”

The dark haired man in his late thirties grinned, “The house she was reported to live in has been occupied by one family for over thirty years, they do not know who she is. All mail that is sent home from the school goes to a PO box that is paid for every month, but I couldn’t track who was making the payments. The person is smart enough to hide their tracks. I was also unable to find out who was picking it up for her, since she obviously can‘t make a flight out there every week.”

Peter tapped his index fingers together for several moments, “I see.”

“After finding out about the home and the PO Box, I wanted to check to see if the house information was wrong. I checked records for the city and found that no Knox family has ever lived there in the time that Madison would have been alive. Her life here is a complete and utter lie, sir.”

“So, Mister Cohen, what do you propose we do now?”

He smiled, “I was about to get to that.” He leaned forward, “You see, sir, after I finished up on my little tour, I started looking around here. There had to be something in this town, considering she has actually been here. I went to the police station to see if perhaps she had ever been arrested or if there were other details that would be of interest to you.” He reached into his briefcase that was on his lap, and pulled out a pink piece of paper.

Peter took it from him when it was offered. It was simply a flier with a woman’s picture with the word “reward” and a number to call at the bottom. “And this is?”

“It’s a picture of a young Madison, she’s probably around fifteen or sixteen at the time.”

He looked at the black and white photo, it did have a resemblance to her. She was wearing what he assumed to be a prom dress or some sort of dress for a dance. Obviously one that was taken from some low income clothing store. “You called the number?”

“Yes, sir.” He picked up another piece of paper from his briefcase and offered it to them, “It turned out to be another investigator, who was more than happy to listen to my tale. He informed me quite happily of the very delicate situation that we have at hand, and asked for my utter discretion in giving the information to you.”

Peter was annoyed that he hadn’t offered him everything the moment he walked in. However, Cohen was known for playing games in order to surprise his clients, especially when he had gone the extra mile to find information. He took the piece of paper and smiled when he read the name and information that was typed upon it.

“They’ll be in town in a few days and suggested that you be there. They wish to thank you personally.” He rubbed his hand over his chin which he often did when he knew his reward for the victory was close at hand.

“Well, well. No wonder the flier was cryptic. Not exactly the type of person who wants the world to know something of his went missing, is he?”

“Not the type that wants to be in the limelight either.” He shook his head and looked up at his soon to be ex-employer, “He would like for it to remain quiet and between him and your family. Apparently, the young lady is in a great deal of trouble.” Cohen smiled, which showed his blackening teeth.

“He’ll be taking her with him, won’t he?”

He nodded, “That seems to be what they want out of all this, and I doubt he would leave without rewarding you as well.”

“Excellent work. Your payment will be doubled.”

“Pleasure working with you.” Cohen stood up and made his way to the door, when he opened it Alyssa stood without shame. He bowed his head slightly at her as he walked past her into the hall.

Alyssa entered the room and shut the door; it had been too thick to hear much through. “Did he find what you wanted?”

“Yes, he did. It’ll be over soon.” Peter stood up from his desk and walked around to take his wife’s hands. He kissed her cheek gently, “I love you and I don’t wish to hurt you.”

“I know.”

He grinned, “Let’s go have dinner then.”