Torn Apart
by Grace

 

Chapter 11

 “You know, I don’t like this” Vanessa looks at her watch “It’s over thirty minutes… We should start looking for Ben and Meg. They might be in trouble”

“She’s right” Sean supports her “Derek is dangerous and he won’t hesitate even for a second…”

“You think he would kill his own brother?” Michael asks.

“I don’t know… Maybe not… But what if…”

“Yeah, they are right. We should go and see what’s going on with Ben and Meg"

They move from their sits and head towards the door. Vanessa picks up the knife Meg has dropped earlier.

“What do you need that for?” Michael asks surprised.

‘Who knows” she says “Maybe I will need to use it” Michael looks at her scared, but he knows that she is right.

***

“Damn it” Ben sighs “He must be somewhere on that island.

“Ben, why won’t we leave that to police?”

“No. Derek is too clever to get caught by the police. Besides they will be here too late. I need to find him on my own”

“Ben, that’s too risky”

“No, Meg, I need some answers from Derek. And I need them now”

“Ben, I don’t like it”

“I know… Me either, but that’s just something that I need to do”

Meg doesn’t say a word, she just takes Ben’s hand, letting him know that she is there for him no matter what. And Ben feels that he could face the whole world with her by his side.

They continue exploring the island in search for Derek, but with no luck for the nearest half an hour.

“This is hopeless!” Meg exclaims.

“I guess you’re right” Ben finally agrees “Let’s go back home” he smiles and kisses her forehead. But just as they are about to give up, they hear a voice.

“Welcome brother dear. I’ve been expecting you”

Meg squeezes Ben’s hand and he wraps his arm around her.

“Derek…” he whispers and looks around. After a while they see a figure coming from behind the trees. It’s Derek with this ominous smile of his. Meg looks into his cold eyes and can’t believe how twins can be so different.

“You don’t seem surprised, my dear” he turns to Meg laughing “But I guess dear Ben has already told you our story, hasn’t he?”

“Yes, he told me EVERYTHING!!!” she screams.

“Oh, I’m sure he told you a lot, but I’m sure that not everything” Derek mocks.

“He told me enough to know that you are sick!” Meg says.

“Me? Sick?” Derek laughs “Oh no, my dear, he is the one who is sick”

“He is not the one who kills people without a reason” Meg says through tears.

“Without a reason you think? Well, then let me give you a few reasons” he smiles “Or I’ll give you one very good reason – Ben has everything I was supposed to have and now it’s high time he lost it”

“Ben worked for everything he had” Meg keeps defending Ben.

“And what kind of work that was, huh? Leaving his family, his dying mother to come to California?! Escaping from responsibilities?! Well, if that’s work then yes – Ben worked very hard!”

“You know as well as I do that I did not just leave family. Our mother begged me to leave England and start a new life. She asked you to do the same, then why didn’t you?”

“I had no money!”

“And you think I had?!”

“Well, apparently yes”

“I had to work day and night to save some money for a new start. And if you had done the same, maybe you wouldn’t be blaming everyone and everything for the way your life looks”

“I don’t blame everyone and everything, Ben. I blame YOU”

“You have no right!” Meg screams.

“I have no right?! And he had a right to come here and live a life in luxuries?!”

“He worked for everything he has” Meg says.

“As if you knew” Derek laughs “For how long have you known him – a year, two years? Not longer. Do you really think that’s enough to get to know somebody?”

“Yes, I do and frankly saying – I needed a few hours to get to know you. I know that you are sick and twisted and I will not let you hurt Ben more than you already have”

“YOU will not let me? I would love to see it” Derek says ironically and Ben involuntary pushes Meg to stay behind him.

“I warn you, I will not let you kill anyone else” Ben says firmly “Jade and Mark are enough…”

“Don’t forget Elizabeth” he reminds.

“What?”

“Oh God” Meg cries “You killed her too?”

“She was way to nosy” he smiles.

Meg remembers seeing the blood on the boat and her eyes fill with tears. Ben looks at Derek with hate.

“Knowing your sick mind like I do” Ben starts “I can perfectly understand why you killed Mark and tried to kill Meg… These are the people I love the most… But Jade and Elizabeth? What did they do to you?”

“Oh, they just stood in my way” he says without showing any human feelings. Meg is shocked how easy it is for him to talk about killing.

“God, Derek, you really have no heart, do you?” she asks.

“And who the hell do you think you are to be the judge of that?!”

“Don’t you yell at her!” Ben shouts when he sees how scared Meg is.

“Shut up! And trust me, it won’t stop on yelling. You’re gonna pay for everything” Derek says and suddenly walks closer, grabs Meg’s hand pulls her to his side. She tries to pull away, but with no luck. Ben immediately runs to her rescue, but Derek quickly pulls out a knife and places it on Meg’s neck.

“One move brother and she’s dead” Derek says and holds her even stronger.

“You touch her and I’ll kill you!!!” Ben shouts and sends Meg a look saying ‘don’t worry’. She knows that Ben will not let Derek hurt her, but she can’t help the tears rolling down her cheek.

“So, dear brother, you missed Mark’s death, but you certainly will not miss hers” Derek smiles ominously.

***

“That’s hopeless!” Vanessa screams “We will never find them. We have been exploring that forest for hours now. It’s already morning”

“Yeah” Michael sighs “So much for our New Year’s Eve”

“But we can’t give up” Casey says “We need to find Ben and Meg. Who knows, maybe they need our help”

“But we’ve already searched everywhere” Sean sighs.

“Well, if we didn’t find Ben and Meg then that means that not everywhere” Casey says firmly.

“He’s right” Michael agrees “We need to keep looking. Unless you are too tired” he looks at Vanessa “We can make a little break”

“No, I’m fine… Or at least I will be as soon as we make sure that Ben and Meg are OK”

 

 

Chapter 12

“Derek, let her go!” Ben shouts once again “She didn’t do anything to you!”

“Maybe… But I will finally get a pleasure of watching you loosing something instead of gaining all the time”

“Damn you, Derek! If you hurt her I swear to God that I’ll kill you!!!” Ben tries to come closer, but Derek presses the knife stronger on Meg’s neck.

“I wouldn’t try that!” he says.

“Derek, let her go! This is between us! She has nothing to do with it!”

“You’re wrong. She has everything to do with it. Because finally I have something that you want, but you will not have” Derek smiles ominously. Ben's heart breaks apart when he sees all this pain in Meg’s eyes. He would give anything to take that pain away, to protect her from all this. But it’s too late. He needs to stop Derek from hurting her more than he already has.

“I said let her go!” Ben shouts angry.

“Don’t tell me that you actually thought that I would listen to you” Derek mocks and Ben knows that he won’t gain anything by talking. Talking doesn’t work for Derek. But on the other hand Ben knows that if he does something stupid, Derek will not even think before he kills Meg. Ben keeps staring at Meg’s frightened face and thinking of a way out of this. But he doesn’t see any solution.

“I think it’s high time” Derek suddenly says and sends an ominous smile towards Ben.Derek presses the knife hard and Meg feels the blade on her neck. Her eyes fill with tears and the tears start rolling on her cheeks. She is frightened and Ben believes that she has never seen her so scared. He knows that Derek probably will not kill her, but her fright is enough to put him in action.

“You know Derek, you are pathetic. Attacking defenceless woman… You are a coward”

“Shut up!!!” Derek shouts.

“You don't have enough courage to face me, do you?” Ben says again and Derek becomes being more and more angry.

“Not only do I have courage to face you, but I also have a courage to kill you!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure”

“So you’d better make sure”

“Damn you, Derek, you can’t even admit it to yourself, can you? You’re a pathetic coward” Ben says and looks at Derek. He knows that he achieved what he intended to – Derek let go of Meg a little and started paying more attention to what Ben is saying. That’s when Ben runs into him and grabs his hand with a knife. The knife falls on the ground and Derek lets go of Meg.  Without even realizing it, Ben finds himself on the ground struggling with Derek. Meg picks up the knife, but Ben knows that she wouldn’t be able to stab anyone, even Derek.

Ben and Derek continue struggling. Suddenly Derek manages to stand up and he gets closer to Meg. He tries to take the knife from her and when she doesn’t let go of it, he pushes her strongly onto the trees. She falls down and hits her head. Ben tries to reach her, but Derek stops him and tries to stab him. Ben doesn’t seem to be caring about it and he keeps looking at Meg. She doesn’t move.

“God” he thinks “Don’t let anything happen to her”. At the same moment Ben feels pain in his arm and realizes that Derek has just stabbed him.

“Damn it” he thinks and tries to fight Derek, but his arm hurt more and more. Derek tries to stab Ben again, but Ben avoids it. Unfortunately a while later Derek is lucky again, and stabs Ben’s arm for the second time. It hurts like hell, but Ben doesn’t care about it. He needs to protect Meg from Derek and it’s all that matters…

Once again they fell on the ground and Derek tries to stab Ben in his stomach. Ben tries to fight him, but his arm hurts more and more and it becomes weaker and weaker. Ben realizes that if there is no miracle, it will be over for him…

Fortunately the miracle does happen and soon Ricardo and Ruiz come from behind the trees. Derek immediately lets go of Ben, drops the knife and turns to Ricardo:

“Thank God you’re here, that creep Derek tried to kill me” Derek points Ben.

“Damn it Derek, it’s over” Ben says and turns around to Meg.

“Don’t move!” Ricardo shouts “Either of you”

“Damn it arrest him” Derek says “He killed Mark, Elizabeth and Jade and tried to kill my fiancé”

Ben doesn’t even say a word right now. He just keeps looking at Derek, not being able to believe that his brother is actually that pathetic.

Ricardo and Ruiz look at Ben and Derek totally confused. Fortunately Tim appears and points Derek.

“It’s him” Tim points Derek. He actually didn’t believe in the twin brother, but now, when he saw it, there is no way to deny the fact.

“Are you sure?” Ricardo asks.

“Yes, it’s Derek” Tim one more time points him.

“How do you know?” Ruiz asks mazed.

“The clothes’ Tim says “I remember how Ben was dressed when he appeared in the house” Tim explains and Ricardo and Ruiz get closer to Derek. He tries to escape, but Ricardo and Ruiz stop him.

“You have a right to remain silent…” Ricardo starts when he cuffs Derek. When Ben realizes that it’s over he runs to Meg. He takes her in his arms and starts stroking her hair.

“Meg, do you hear me? Meg?” she doesn’t respond. He holds her closer “Meg, sweetheart… please, answer me” he asks again, but she doesn’t say a word this time either “Hey Ricardo, she’s unconscious… Can you get some help?!”

“The doctor is on his way” Ricardo says and soon they see a man coming closer.

“Hi, I’m doctor Riley from South Bay” he says “What happened to her?”

“She hit her head” Ben explains "She is unconscious”

The doctor gets closer Meg and examines her head.

“We need to take her to the hospital” he decides.

“Hospital?” Ben is shocked “Is it something serious?”

“I don’t know that yet. We need to have her full examined. Looks like she hit really hard” doctor says and that’s when Ben notices the blood on Meg’s head and on the grass.

“Oh God, no…” Ben sighs.

“Please, don’t panic” doctor asks “We need to take her to the boat. I’ll see if we need stretcher” doctor Riley checks if Meg has any broken bones, but she doesn’t so he lets Ben carry her. Ben carefully lifts her from the ground and carries her to the boat.

“Where is Derek?” Ben suddenly asks when he realizes that his brother is nowhere around.

“He was already taken to another boat” Ricardo explains “Ruiz and a few other guys are taking care of him” Ben looks around still worried “Don’t worry, he will not escape” Ricardo says and his cell phone rings. He answers “Ricardo Torres… Where?… Gosh… OK, you know what to do… All four of them… Ben is fine, Meg is unconscious, we’re taking her to the hospital… OK, thanks…Bye” Ricardo hangs up and turns to Ben “It was Spence. They found Mark’s body and the rest of your friends. They are all fine”

“Thank God” Ben sighs.

“They are still looking for Jade’s body. Vanessa found her but they are all too shaken right now to remember where that was”

“Jade… Poor one…” Ben sighs “What about the other girl Elizabeth?”

“Nothing yet. We’ll have to search the boat more carefully, maybe we’ll find something”

“God, I can’t believe this… I knew my brother was sick, but this killing spree is just too much to handle…”

 

 

Chapter 13

“Doctor, what’s wrong with her?” Ben asked as he saw doctor Riley leaving Meg’s room.

“She is still unconscious and we can’t say anything for sure right now”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, we just need to wait until she wakes up…”

“OK, can I see her now?”

“Yeah, I think that would be OK” doctor Riley says and Ben enters Meg’s room. She is lying on the bed with her eyes closed. He walks closer and sits on the bed next to her. He takes her hand and says:

“You know, it’s over, sweetheart, so you can open your eyes now” he starts stroking her hair, but she doesn’t wake up “Fine” he says “If you don’t want to do this now, then I’ll wait until you do” he smiles and looks at her beautiful face. He thanks God that Derek didn’t her.

Suddenly Ben feels that he is extremely tired. He closes his eyes and rests his head next to Meg’s chest. Suddenly he hears her mumbling:

“No… Ben, no… Derek, don’t…” Ben tries to wake her up, but she continues mumbling “Ben, I’m so sorry… Derek, no… no…”

„Meg, Meg” he shakes her “Meg, honey, please wake up… Meg”

He shakes her again and she finally opens he eyes.

“Ben?” she asked scared and surprised.

“Yeah, it’s me, it’s me… It’s OK” Ben says and enfolds her and she nestles into his arms “It’s OK, it’s over”

“What happened? What am I doing here? Where is Derek?” she asks frightened.

“The police has taken care of him… He’s not gonna hurt you… He’s not gonna hurt anyone…” Ben says with soothing voice as he gently strokes her hair. Suddenly she looks around.

“But why am I here?”

“You hit your head and you were unconscious for a couple of hours”

“A couple of hours?” she sighs and looks scared at Ben “God, I was so scared that he was gonna hurt you” she says and suddenly notices the wound on Ben’s arm “Oh my God, what’s that?” she asks frightened.

“It’s nothing…”

“Nothing? It was Derek, wasn’t it?”

“Look, Meg, I’m fine”

“No, you’re not… It looks awful. Please ask the doctor to look at it”

“Meg, I’ll be fine”

“Please” she looks at him with those beautiful eyes and of course he is not able to say ‘no’.

“OK, OK, I’ll do that” he says, but doesn’t move.

“Now” she looks at him meaningfully.

“Meg, I don’t wanna leave you”

“Ben, I’ll be fine. Besides there is nothing worse for me than seeing you hurt like this” she says and gently strokes his hair.

“I love you” he whispers and kisses her.

“I love you too… And now go and get your arm checked”

“All right, all right” he agrees and leaves Meg’s room. He finds doctor Riley.

“Excuse me, I was wondering if you could see what’s up with this…” Ben starts “My fiancé asked me to…”

“That doesn’t look good” doctor Riley takes a glimpse on Ben’s arm “Please, come with me” he leads Ben to his office “Please, take a sit” doctor Riley points a coach. Then he takes care of Ben’s hand what lasts about fifteen minutes.

“Fortunately it’s nothing serious” he says “But you have to be careful with your hand, OK?”

“Sure”

“And no hard physical work, understood?”

“Of course” Ben smiles “Can I leave now?”

“You want to see your fiancé, don’t you?”

“Yes, she has just woken up”

“That’s great, I’ll come by and check up on her later”

“Thanks” Ben says and leaves the office. He rushes to Meg’s room and bumps into Casey and Michael.

“Ben, thank God you’re OK” Casey says and gives Ben a hug. Michael does the same.

“Yeah. We were so worried about you” he adds “When we found out that you and Meg went after Derek…”

“I’m fine, I’m fine” Ben answers.

“Yeah? And what’s that?” Casey points Ben’s bandaged arm.

“That’s nothing. Really. I would rather worry about Meg”

“Yeah… Ricardo told us that she was unconscious. How is she now?”

“She is fine… I mean physically… She has just regained her consciousness”

“That’s good”

“Actually I’m on my way to see her. You can come with me if you want”

“Sure”

Ben leads the way and after a while they reach Meg’s room. She is lying on her bed resting. When Ben , Casey and Michael enter the room, she turns around and smiles.

“Hey guys, it’s good to see you”

“”Hi Meg” Michael and Casey hug her “We were sick worried about you”

“You shouldn’t have” Meg says “I was with Ben”

“Right” Casey smiles “He would never let anything bad happen to you”

“And he didn’t” Meg looks at Ben meaningfully and then turns back to Casey “How is the rest of you? Gabi… Vanessa… Sean…”

“They are all fine and safe at homes”

“Thank God” she sighs.

“And we are pretty tired ourselves” Casey says after a while “I think we’ll be coming home”

“Yeah, we just came by to see how you and Ben are doing”

“Thanks, that was nice of you”

“So, are you two gonna be OK?” Casey looks at Ben and Meg.

“I’ll make sure of that” Ben answers.

“All right then, see you later”

“Yeah…” Meg sighs “It’s the middle of the day and we didn’t get any sleep… Well, at least you didn’t..”

“I think we could use some sleep” Casey says “Goodnight…”

“Right…” Meg smiles and Casey and Michael head towards the door. Casey one more time turns to Ben.

“I’m sorry about your brother…”

“He deserved that” Ben says with pain in his eyes and suddenly asks “Have you seen Mark?”

“Yeah…” Casey says sadly “They’ve just brought him”

“OK, thanks” Ben answers and Casey and Michael leave. Ben sits on Meg’s bed.

“Ben, sweetie, are you OK?” she asks with concern. She can see how much pain this all is bringing onto Ben.

“I’m fine” he answers not wanting to worry her.

“Are you sure?” she looks at him inquiringly.

“Yes” he answers, but seeing her sight he knows that there is no point in lying to her or himself “No!” he says after a while “I am not OK! Like hell I’m not! My best friend is dead and it’s my brother who killed him! How am I supposed to be OK?!”

“Ben…” she starts, but she has no idea what to say.

“And when I think that he tried to hurt you… God, I don’t know what I would do if anything happened to you” he takes her face in his hands and looks at her lovingly.

“I’m OK” she says and pulls him closer for a gentle kiss “And now come here” she wraps her arms around him and lets him lay on the bed next to her. She starts stroking his hair “It’s going to be fine, Ben. Somehow we’re gonna make it”

“I know” he smiles “Just as long as we’re together”

“Don’t worry, I have no intention of ever leaving you. Ever. I’m always gonna be there for you, no matter what”

 

Chapter 14

“Finally” Meg says when they open the door to the house “I thought that they would never let me go”

“Meg, you have been badly injured… They needed to make sure that you were fine”

“I am. And the only thing I need right now is to go to bed and get some sleep… And forget about this whole nightmare…” she bursts into tears and Ben takes her in his arms.

“Hey, I know, I know”

“I can’t believe that Mark is dead” she cries “God, it was only yesterday when we were going on that island and he was telling all those sick stories of his. I refused to listen to them, but now I would give anything to hear his voice again…” she sobs and holds on to Ben as strong as she only can.

“I know… And to think that I’m responsible for all this…”

“Ben, don’t even think like this” she sends him a serious look.

“How can I not? I gave you that island…”

“So what? You didn’t know about Derek”

“I should have”

“How? How were you supposed to know that your presumed dead brother would show up and start killing people?!”

“I don’t know, damn it! All I know is that my best friend and two other people are dead and that it’s all my fault!”

“Don’t you even dare think like that!” she screams “Do you hear me?! Don’t you dare blame yourself for this! This wasn’t your fault. You’re not responsible for what your brother did!”

“But I gave you this damned island…”

“Ben, if it wasn’t on the island, Derek would have found another way to strike”

“I guess you’re right…”

“You know I am. And I hate to see you hurt like this. I know how much Mark meant to you, but you cannot blame yourself for his death. I will not let you. Do you hear me? I won’t!”

“God, I don’t know what I would do without you” he says suddenly and takes her in his arms again.

“You will never have to find out, I promise”

“I love you”

“I love you too. I love you so much” she says covers Ben’s lips with gentle kisses.

“Meg, I really think you should rest now”

“I should rest? What about you? I’m not the one who was struggling with Derek all night”

“Meg, I’m fine. Now I just need to make sure that YOU are OK”

“I will be fine as long as I have your arms around me for the rest of the night… day” she says with a weak smile.

“Oh, I think that can be arranged” he says and lifts her up.

“Ben, what are you doing?”

“I’m making sure that you’re OK” Ben says and carries her upstairs to the bedroom. He places her on the bed and lets her nestle into his arms. She lays her head on his chest and he starts stroking her hair.

“Well, if that’s your way of making me feel better then it’s working”

“It is?” he grins a little.

“Like a charm” she says and lifts her head up to kiss him.

“Good” he smiles and kisses her forehead.

“Just promise me that you won’t go anywhere”

“I promise. I will never leave you like I did yesterday. I will never forgive myself that you could have been hurt and that I wasn’t there to protect you”

“Ben, I told you that this was not your fault. You didn’t know”

“He could have killed you…”

“But he didn’t, OK? He didn’t. I’m fine and so are you”

“But…”

“I know – Mark” she reads his mind.

“Yeah… He was so young… God, he didn’t deserve it”

“I know” she says and squeezes Ben’s hand “But it was not your fault”

“But Derek…”

“No buts, Ben” she places her finger oh his lips “This was not your fault”

“Thank you” he says after a while.

“For what?”

“For being there for me like that. You’re amazing” he smiles and strokes her cheek “I love you, Meg. But I guess you already know that”

“I do. But you can tell me anytime”

“Don’t worry, I will keep saying this for the rest of your life… I love you”

***

Ben is woken up by a phone call. He looks at his watch, it’s eleven PM.

“Hello” he answers.

“Hi Ben, it’s Ricardo. Look, I’m sorry if I woke you up, I know that you were pretty tired, but I just thought that you would like to know about it”

“About what?”

“Elizabeth’s body was brought ashore today”

“Oh God” Ben sighs.

“Yeah… It was on one of the wild beaches… Some kid found her, he still can’t get over the shock”

“Does Elizabeth’s parents know about it?”

“Not yet. I called Sean, he offered to tell them”

“And how did HE take it? I mean, she was his friend”

“He was pretty down, but we only talked on the phone, so…”

“I understand” Ben cuts Ricardo short “Anyway, thanks for letting me know”

“Sure. How are you and Meg feeling?”

“We’re fine. Meg is still sleeping”

“OK, so I’ll let you rest. Bye”

“Bye” Ben hangs up. She looks at Meg and notices that she starts to stir.

“Was that a phone call?” she asks with a sleepy voice.

“Yeah”

“Who was that?”

“Ricardo”

“What did he want?”

“Elizabeth’s body was found today”

“Oh God… Where?”

“It was brought ashore. Looks like my brother threw her to the water after he murdered her”

“God, Ben, that’s terrible. I can’t even imagine what her parents will be going through when they find out. This is going to be such a huge shock for them. Gosh, this must be terrible to be loosing a daughter… your own blood… someone you gave birth to” Meg suddenly bursts into tears again and Ben doesn’t know what to say to make her feel better. He just takes her in his arms again letting her cry as much as she wants to “Ben, I can’t believe… this whole nightmare…”

“Hey, the nightmare is over” he whispers “It’s over”

“I know, but it’s hard… I can’t believe… Three people… And Mark…” she cries to his chest and he holds her close knowing that they need to support each other if they want to get through this.

 

Chapter 15

“Good morning” Ben whispers when he notices that Meg starts to stir. 

“Morning?” she yawns “Is it really morning?”

“Yes. It’s 2nd January”

“Did we sleep the whole January 1st?”

“I’m afraid so. We were home so late”

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m OK, I’m OK. And you?”

„I’m fine. I just feel so tired”

“Then why don’t you stay here and I’ll fix a breakfast for the two of us”

“You don’t have to”

“I want to” he smiles and looks at her questioningly “So?”

“Maybe I’ll help you with this breakfast?”

“No way” he objects “You’re gonna stay here and rest”

“If you insist…”

“I do”

“OK” she smiles and kisses him “You are so sweet. I love you”

“I love you too” he whispers and kisses her back. One more time he sends her a loving look and disappears behind the door. After about fifteen minutes he is back with a tray of tasty food.

“Gosh, I’m starving” she sighs “Thank you, Ben. For everything”

“Hey, I love you. And I love doing things for you”

“I know. That’s why you’re so special”

“Well, only because I wanna be special for you. Because YOU are special”

“Ben…” Meg blushes and strokes his hair. He places the tray in front of her and they enjoy their breakfast, well at least as much as they can enjoy breakfast knowing that one of their best friend was murdered one day ago.

“You know, I think that we should get up. I want to see Gabi and Vanessa”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. We can’t spend another day in bed” Ben agrees and they hear a doorbell “I’ll get that” Ben offers and goes downstairs. He opens the door and sees Gabi and Vanessa.

“Hi Ben” Vanessa says and realizes that Ben is still in his robe “I’m sorry if we woke you up”

“No, you didn’t, we were just eating breakfast. Actually Meg was anxious to see you, so come in”

“Thanks” Gabi smiles and Ben leads them to the bedroom.

“Gabi? Vanessa?” Meg is surprised to see them “What are you doing here?”

“We just came by to see you two” Vanessa explains “We were worried about you”

“I’m sorry I didn’t call you yesterday, but we were so tired that we slept all day”

“Or rather what was left of the day” Gabi smiles weakly “You came home in the afternoon”

“Yeah, it was about five” Meg confirms “I wanted to check up on you as soon as I get out of bed, but I guess you were quicker”

“We’re not gonna be long” Gabi says “We just wanted to make sure that you guys are OK”

Vanessa and Gabi hug Meg.

“We’re fine. What about Sean and Amy? I haven’t seen them, how are they dealing with all this?”

“I met Sean earlier today” Vanessa says “It’s all really hard on him. I mean Elizabeth was supposed to be his date and Mark was one of his friends. And he had to tell Elizabeth’s parents…”

“Poor guy” Meg sighs.

“Yeah… Look, we’re gonna be going now. Is there anything that we can do for you?”

“No, I don’t think so”

“We were also thinking about the memorial service for Mark…” Gabi starts.

“That’s a wonderful idea… Have you talked with a priest about it?”

“No, but we were on our way to the mission”

“Well, I’m sure that’s the best way we can… you know…”

“Yeah” Gabi says with tears and they hug once again “Se see you later”

“Yeah. Bye” Vanessa and Gabi leave the bedroom and Ben walks them to the door.

“You take her of Meg” Vanessa asks.

“Don’t worry, I will” he smiles and the girls leave. Ben comes back to the bedroom and sits on the bed next to Meg.

“It’s a sweet idea with the memorial service, don’t you think?”

“Yeah. Mark deserves that. Actually he deserved a lot more than this… It’s a pity that he will never get what he really deserved”

“I know, but we can at least do THAT for him”

“Yeah” Ben sighs and Meg gives him a big, big hug.

***

Ben enters the bedroom and sees Meg staring at her engagement ring.

“Meg” he calls softly, but she doesn’t react “Meg, honey, are you OK?” he asks again and she turns round.

“Ben… I didn’t see you” he realizes that he eyes are full of tears.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing… it’s nothing…” she tries to hide the pain in her eyes, but Ben sees it anyway.

“Well, it’s definitely not nothing since you have been crying…”

“I was… I was just…”

“You were just what?” he sits next to her on the bed and takes her hand “Meg, you know that you can tell me anything, don’t you?”

“Of course I do”

“Then tell me what’s bothering you”

“I was… I was thinking about Mark’s death…”

“Meg…” he tries to say something, but she stops him.

“No, you don’t understand… That’s what Mark said…”

“And what did he say?” Ben asks curious.

“He said ‘it was Ben’… And I couldn’t believe what I heard… And then when Derek attacked me and I took off his mask…” Meg stops for a while and bursts into tears “God, Ben, I have never felt so hurt in my entire life… When I thought that you could…”

“Hey, it’s OK” he embraces her and kisses her forehead.

“No, it’s not OK. I thought that you killed Mark… I will never forget that pain in my heart… But Ben I swear that I would have never, ever believed anything like this if I hadn’t seen Derek’s face… I would never…”

“Meg, Meg, Meg” he stops her “Do you hear yourself? God, don’t tell me that you’re blaming yourself for believing that I killed Mark…”

“I should have never…”

“For God’s sake, Meg, you saw the killers face… my face!”

“I should have known…” she cries and he sees how hurt she is by all this. He can’t believe that after everything she has been through, she keeps beating herself up.

“Meg, you couldn’t have known” he says with soothing voice as he holds her closer and closer.

“I know, I just… When I think that even for a moment I doubted you… I’m so sorry…”

“God, Meg, how can you even be thinking that way?”

“Ben, I don’t know what I’m thinking anymore” she bursts into tears “All I know is that Mark is dead and I just don’t know if I can cope with that. He was my first friend when I came to Sunset Beach… I can’t believe that he’s gone”

“I know… Look, we’re gonna make it, OK? We’re gonna get through this. Together”

“I need you, Ben. I need you now more than I ever have. Please, don’t leave me”

“How could I ever leave you, sweetheart?” he takes her face in his hands “Besides I need you just as much as you need me. We just have to help each other now”

“Oh, Ben, I would do anything to help you get through that nightmare. Anything”

“I know. And that’s why I love you. And I’ll be there for you whenever you need me”

“I love you too, Ben. I never thought that I could ever love anyone so much, but after all that happened on that island… All that made me realize that I love you even more than I did before. And you’re right, we’re gonna make it if we stick together”

“Yes. Meg, there is nothing that we can’t face together”

“I know” she says and nestles into his arms again. He leads her towards the bed.

“Come on, you need to rest. It’s been a hard day” she doesn’t object as he places her gently on the bed and lays beside her. When she feels his arms around her, she knows that they are going to be fine. Soon they both fall into a deep, peaceful sleep, having deterred all the nightmares just by feeling each other’s warmth.

 

~THE END~

 

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