Nick and Cassandra walked hand in hand down the beach the next morning.
"Never leave me again?" she questioned.
"You sound unsure of that," Nick said and stopped. He looked at her. "You know that I wouldn't, that I won't."
"Good. Just making sure."
He laughed.
"Hey, Nick! Cassie!" they heard Isabella's voice call their names.
"Great," Cassandra mumbled. "Nothing's changed."
"Huh?" Nick asked.
"Even after we die, we get no time alone together."
"Hey guys," Isabella said running up to them. "Whatcha doing?"
"Just trying to spend some time alone together," Cassandra said rolling her eyes and grabbing Nick's hand.
"Cool," Isabella said. "Can I talk to you guys for a second?"
Cassandra rolled her eyes. "Sure."
"Well I just wanted to tell you guys some things about when you guys were alive."
"What?"
"Nick, when you wanted a divorce, A.J. and I were part of the reason that you guys worked things out."
"I don't understand," Nick said.
"We could only help you guys. We couldn't force love and if you two were meant to be together, which you are, then you would be together. And Nick, remember the time that you felt that you had to go pick Cassandra up from the airport but you didn't know why?"
Nick nodded.
"I gave you that feeling," Isabella said proudly. She went over and took Cassandra's arm. "I'm only borrowing her for a second." Isabella pulled her aside. "And Cassie, remember that dream where I came and told you that you had made a huge mistake?"
"Huh?"
"Kimberly?"
"Oh," Cassandra said.
"It wasn't a dream. I went to you in hopes that maybe it could be reversed, but it was already too late. You know how Bobby works."
"Yeah, and thanks for not saying this in front of Nick."
Isabella smiled. "No problem." Isabella brought Cassandra back over to Nick, but then said, "Nick, can I talk to you for a second?"
"What about?" Nick asked.
"I just need a man's opinion on something."
"Um, okay." He turned to Cassandra. "Honey, I'll-"
"I know," Cassandra said. "You'll be right back." He smiled and quickly kissed her. She watched Isabella and Nick start off down the beach. When they were out of sight, she sat down in the sand but when she did, she heard her name called softly from behind her.
"Cassandra!"
She turned around to see Kimberly emerge from behind a tree. "Oh my God. Kimberly?"
"Oh, I'm so glad I found you!"
"What do you want? No, I don't want to know-"
"You'll want to know but if I tell you, you have to swear not to tell anyone! I mean, anyone!"
"Why should I listen to you again?"
"It's about Nick."
"What could you possibly tell me-"
"It's about where he was last night."
Cassandra was now curious. She had wanted to know anyway, but she trusted him..."Where?" she finally asked.
"He was with me."
The phone rang in the girls' house and Brian answered it in the kitchen. "Hello?"
"Hey, Brian. It's Bethany. Is Mercedes there?"
"Yeah. Hold on a sec." Brian covered the phone then yelled into the living room. "Mercedes!"
"Yeah?" she called back.
"Phone!"
"Who is it?"
"It's Bethany!"
Mercedes ran into the kitchen and grabbed the phone. "Thanks, Honey." He smiled and walked out of the kitchen. "Hello?"
"Hey."
"What's up? What's with all the static?"
"I'm in my car. James just broke up with me."
"Why? What happened?"
"I told him that I wanted to go to college in Chicago really soon, and he said that he couldn't leave his job and that he wouldn't wait for me."
"Bethany, that's terrible. Where are you going?"
"I don't know. Just away, I guess."
"No. Turn around and come here," Mercedes commanded.
"But I can't," Bethany said.
"Brian and I were going to head back up to the beach house tonight, but we can stay."
"I can't-"
"Yes you can and you will!"
"I have to go. My phone's dying."
"I'll go tell Brian. I'll see you in a little while." Mercedes walked into the living room. "Brian, we can't go up to the beach house."
Brian stood up and put his arms around her. He grinned. "Oh, you want to start working things out early?"
"No, Bethany is having some problems and she needs me. I invited her to our house for a while."
His shoulders dropped and his grip on her loosened. "Oh. I thought that we were going to be alone this weekend?"
"Honey, I'm sorry. I just thought that I should help her."
"It's okay."
"Hey, we can still be alone." She reached up and kissed him.
"Well, okay. Since you put it that way." He kissed her again and pushed her down on the couch.
"Brian-"
"What?" He smiled and kissed her and covered her body with his.
As his kisses roamed down her neck, she managed to say, "Oh nothing. This is fine."
"What's up?" Nick asked Isabella as they walked along the beach. "I know you don't really need my opinion. You never need my opinion."
"I know," Isabella said and laughed. "I wanted to talk to you about what you were planning for tonight and if you needed any help."
"That's nice of you. Well, okay. You promise you won't tell?"
"Of course! I wouldn't have asked!"
"Well, I've been working on this one thing-"
"What-"
"Let me finish! Anyway, I've been working on making our bedroom rain rose petals."
"Whoa! Now that's romantic! I wish A.J. would be that creative. But what about before...that?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, what else are you going to do besides sex?"
"I wasn't really planning on anything else."
Isabella laughed and lightly smacked him on his arm. "Let me tell you something. Actually, teach you something."
"Um, what?"
"You can have anything that you reasonably want. All you have to do is think about it."
"I don't understand."
"You will. Now, we're going to walk back to Cassandra and you're going to give her the first thing that you think of. And I don't mean you either."
"Very funny!"
Nicole walked into the girls' house and walked into the living room and saw Brian and Mercedes heavily kissing. "Whoa! I see you two are feeling better!"
Mercedes jumped and it knocked Brian off the couch and he thudded to the ground. Mercedes burst out laughing. "Oh, I'm sorry." She laughed so hard, tears began forming in her eyes.
"Very funny," Brian said. "It's not, you know!"
"Hey," Nicole said to Mercedes, "can I talk to you?"
"Yeah, sure," Mercedes said, still laughing. "Honey, I'll be right back."
"Fine," Brian said. "Push me off the couch and then leave!"
"Okay!" Mercedes said and walked into the kitchen and looked back at Brian who was just getting up off of the floor.
"Did you tell Brian about Chase yet?" Nicole asked.
Mercedes stopped laughing. "We shouldn't talk about that here."
Nicole shrugged. "Okay. Where then?"
"Let's go upstairs." Mercedes and Nicole went upstairs and walked into Nicole's room. "Now, what did you say?"
"I said, did you tell Brian yet? About Chase?"
"Chase? Oh God. No, I haven't. I can't."
"I think he should know who he's married to."
"I know! But-"
"But nothing! You have to tell him. He made a mistake with Cassie and you made a mistake with Eric. I'm sure that he'll understand. He's a very...understanding guy."
"I know and-"
"And you are going to go tell him right now. You can't keep this from him. The longer you wait, the more he's going to wonder why you kept it from him so long."
Mercedes sighed. She knew Nicole was right and that she had to tell Brian about Chase as soon as possible. "How do I tell him?"
"That's really up to you. Just tell him. Go up to him and tell him that you need to talk. And...just tell him."
"You're right, you're right. I'm going to go...right now, and tell him. Just tell him." Nicole nodded as Mercedes turned and walked out of the door.
"What do you mean?" Cassandra asked Kimberly.
"It was terrible," Kimberly said, walking closer to Cassandra. "He came to see me. He said he needed me. I told him that we could never be together because you are his soul mate and you're back together. Again."
Cassandra thought for a minute, and then she began to laugh. "Oh, you never give up. Do you?"
"Huh?"
"Come on, Kimberly. How stupid do you think I am?"
Very, she thought.
"You tried to pull this shit when I was alive. Trying to show me you and Nick having sex. Well guess what? He showed me what happened after. Ha! Your plan didn't work."
"But I mean it this time." Kimberly broke down into tears.
"You're not serious. Are you?"
"Yes, you bitch! I am!"
Cassandra shook her head. "I don't think he would see you again. Not like that."
"Whatever you want to think."
Nick and Isabella had been walking back towards Cassandra and had seen her yelling at someone. They didn't know who it was because their back was turned to them but they walked away. Nick quickly walked up to Cassandra. He looked into her eyes and immediately knew that something was wrong. "Are you okay?" he asked.
Cassandra looked up and was a little dazed. "Huh?"
"Who was that?"
"Who? Oh...um, nobody." She placed her hands on his chest and smiled. "Everything's fine, Honey. Don't worry about it."
"But-" She pressed her lips to his, stopping him mid-sentence. "Okay," he mumbled and she smiled. "I have something to give you," he said quietly.
"What do you mean?"
Nick glanced over at Isabella and she nodded her head. He looked back at Cassandra and put his hands behind his back. "Hold on a sec."
"What are you up to?"
He brought his hands from behind his back and handed her a single, white rose. "Here."
She took it and smelled it. "Thank you. But where did you get it from?"
"Oh it's just something that Isabella taught me how to do."
"But-"
"Don't worry about it." He smiled and hugged her, then whispered into her ear, "You can have anything that you want."
Howie and Coreene sat in the guys' living room together. Kevin and Emalia had gone out for the day, and they hadn't told anyone where they were going. Mercedes and Brian, they had assumed, were over at the girls' house.
"Hey Coreene?" Howie finally said.
"Yeah?" she replied.
"Can you believe everything that's happened lately?"
"God, no. It's like a fucking dream."
"Huh?"
"Sorry. Excuse my language, but I'm serious. Two of my sisters get married to two of the most perfect men in the world and then all four of them die all within a year. That's a dream, no a nightmare. It has to be. I just expect Cassandra to walk in the door any second now, hanging off of Nick's arm."
"What about Isabella? And A.J.?" Howie asked, concerned.
"They've been gone for so long, I've just given up all hope on their return. But Cassandra...and Nick...they just left and I feel like that's a dream."
"But they are gone. And they're together. Don't you want your sister to be happy?"
"Yeah, but-"
"You saw her! She wasn't happy without Nick!"
"I know-"
"And A.J. wasn't happy without Isabella!"
"I know-"
"And I'm not happy without you!"
There was a long pause between them.
"What did you say?" Coreene finally asked.
"I said...I said that I'm not happy without you. I think that I've fallen for you Coreene. No, check that. I fell for you a long time ago. When we all first met. I've liked you ever since then."
"Oh, damn it, Howie. You know that I'm with Brandon."
"I know. Don't be mad at me."
"I'm not! I just say damn it because I really hate breaking up with people. I mean I broke up with Devon to be with Brandon because Devon hurt me. Brandon's a nice guy...no wait, he isn't. And I don't want to be with him anymore because he's not for me and I think he tried to hit on Cassandra, too. But you...you're everything that I've ever wanted in someone."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"I feel the same way about you." Howie leaned in closer.
"Howie, stop. I can't do anything yet. Not yet. Because of Brandon."
Howie pulled back away and nodded. "I understand."
"Thank you, Howie."
Later on that afternoon, when Nick and Cassandra had gotten back from the beach, they walked into the girls' house and Cassandra ran upstairs to change. Nick was too lazy to walk all the way into the kitchen so he sat down in the doorway.
"Nick?" he heard his name called. He turned around to see Kimberly. "Oh, thank God. I have to talk to you."
"Kimberly?" he said and stood up. "No, I don't want to talk to you. You'll probably try to pull something and get me in trouble with my wife."
"Nicky! How dare you think that of me?"
"Well, aren't you going to do that? I mean, get me in trouble?"
"Actually, I'm here to get her in trouble."
"I don't understand."
She held out her hand. "Walk with me, Nicky."
"Only on three conditions."
"What?"
"You don't try to pull anything, I'm not holding your hand, and you stop calling me Nicky."
"But that's your nickname."
"My mother and my wife call me Nicky, and you're neither."
Kimberly nodded her head slowly and they walked out of the house. They started down along the street. "I'm just going to come out and say it. You know the other day when Cassandra and you were on the beach?"
"And she was yelling at someone?"
"She was yelling at me!"
"You?"
"Yeah. I was yelling at her because we got to talking about Brian and it slipped out that she can't stop thinking about him and she can't stop her feelings for him."
"What?" He stopped and turned to her.
"Yup, that's right. Ever since she cheated on you, with him, she keeps wishing that her plan to break up him and Mercedes had worked."
"She...wanted that?"
"That's what she said."
"No. I have to talk to her."
"But I-" But Nick turned and started running for the house. She smiled to herself and ran after him.
Nicole sat in Jonathan's house on the couch while Jonathan was getting them drinks. She was thinking about everything that had been going on.
"Hey," Jonathan said and snapped his fingers in front of her face. "Hey, what planet were you on?" He sat down and handed her her drink.
"Actually, I was on memory lane."
"Everyone. And now my favorite cousin, my best friend, left me."
He put his arm around her. "Hey, you still got me!"
She laughed. "I guess."
"Hey!" He laughed. "Just think of it this way. She's incredibly happy with Nick now. She's back with her husband. It's where she wants to be."
"I guess you're right. She's happy and in love with Nick."
Nick ran up into Cassandra's room closely followed by Kimberly. He walked into her room without knocking. "Cassandra-"
"Get out!" she yelled.
"No! We need to talk."
"No! We need a divorce."
"Why?"
"Because I hate you."
"No you don't."
"Yes, I do."
"You're stubborn."
"I am not!"
"Are to!"
"Are not!"
"See?" he said. "You're doing it now!"
"Doing what?"
"Being stubborn!"
"I am not!" she screamed.
"You're in love with Brian!"
"No, I'm not! You're in love with Kimberly!"
"No, I'm not!"
"Get out!" she screamed.
"Fine!" Nick walked out, slammed the door but sat on the top of the grey, carpeted stairs.
Kimberly went and sat down next to Cassandra. "What are you going to do?"
"I want a divorce. Will you do me a favor?"
"Sure."
"Will you be like a messenger?"
"Sure."
"Tell him I want a divorce."
Kimberly nodded, walked out of the room and left the door open a little. "Nick, she says she wants a divorce."
"No," he said.
Kimberly walked back to Cassandra. "He said no."
"No? No what?"
Kimberly walked back outside the room. "She wants to know what you mean, you jerk."
Nick sighed. "She can get the divorce papers but I'm not signing them."
Kimberly walked back. "He said that he would sign the divorce papers in a second."
"Well he's not going to have to wait long," Cassandra said.
Kimberly walked back to Nick. "She said you're going to have to get the papers quickly."
Nick stood up. "I can't do this. I have to talk to her." He walked into Cassandra's room and shut the door before Kimberly could walk in. Kimberly leaned her ear against the door.
Mercedes walked down the stairs when she got to the bottom step, she stopped.
Nicole came up behind her and pushed her off. "I'm going out for a while," Nicole said. "Good luck."
"Thanks I'll need it!"
"Yup."
"Shut up!"
"Bye," Nicole said and walked out of the house.
Mercedes took a deep breath and walked into the living room where Brian was watching television. "Hey Brian?" she said. "Can we talk?"
Brian turned off the television and she sat down next to him. "Are you okay, Hun? What's wrong?"
"I may have been keeping something from you."
"Is it serious?"
"Maybe," Mercedes said, looking down at her lap.
"Oh, boy. It is."
"I'm sorry. I would have brought it up, but it never seemed right and then we got serious and then we got married. I'm so sorry, Honey, I..."
"Why don't you tell me what it is?"
She looked up at him. "I'm afraid you'll hate me."
"I could never hate you and second, whatever it is, we will work through it." Brian's face was really starting to show his concern. His eyes glowed with fear.
"Brian, before I do this, I want you to know that I love you-"
"Are you pregnant again?"
"Huh? No, why do you say that?"
"Because this is exactly what happened last time."
"No it's not that. Like I was saying, I want you to know that I love you more than anyone in my life, and I want you to know that."
"Thank you. I love you, too, Honey."
"I have a child."
"I know. I was there, remember. Charity is great, isn't she?"
"No...yes, wait. Yes she is wonderful but that's not what I mean."
"What?"
"Before I met you, when I was fifteen, Eric and I...well...you know, and I got pregnant. My parents kicked me out and that's how I ended up with Cassie. Her parents bought her, Isabella and Coreene this house and Cassie offered to let me live with them. But before that, I had the baby, but I had to give it up for adoption because I could not afford it. I'm so sorry. I love it so much. It was a boy. He was the reason that I had to leave for that weekend and I didn't know when I'd be back. I went to see him. I went with Eric. I'm so sorry, Honey. I...I...I..." Mercedes burst into tears. She sat there bawling with her face in her hands.
All Brian could do was sit there and watch her. He already knew all of this but just hearing her say it, made it take on a new life. It sounded so different coming from her mouth then just listening in on how Cassandra put it. "W-What's his name?" Brian finally asked, pretending to be clueless.
"Chase," she managed to say.
"Uh, I, I don't know what to say."
"I'm...so...sorry."
"I think...I think I need to walk." Brian got up and walked out the door. Mercedes just watched him leave.
"What do you want?" Cassandra asked Nick coldly, looking up.
"We need to talk to each other," Nick replied.
"Fine."
"I'll start. I'm not signing any papers."
"So you just changed your mind? Well, you have to."
"No."
A tear ran down Cassandra's face. "Just let me go! Please, let me go."
"Never," Nick said, shaking his head. "I can't do that. You have to let go of Brian."
"I don't like Brian. You like Kim!"
"No, I don't!"
There was a moment of silence.
"Nick, you need to move on."
"There's no where to move to."
"Please," she said, her voice shaking, "just leave. Leave and don't look back." He didn't listen to her. Instead, Nick sat down her bed next to her. "You can't be this close."
"Why not?"
"You just can't," she said, looking down.
"What is going on with you? Huh?"
"I can't keep hurting you and I can't endure you hurting me anymore."
He touched her face. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
"Then let's stop fighting. We can't start fighting now." He smiled. "We have to save some for the rest of eternity."
She smiled. "But Nick-"
"What is wrong? What have I done now? Why don't you tell me?"
"We just keep hurting each other."
"I would bring down the sun and the moon to show how much I care about you. I don't want to lose you now. We can get through this. We always do."
"Nick-"
"I know that you know that there is nothing really wrong in our relationship."
She paused and thought about that.
"Just tell me what I've done and I will grant your every wish. If you want me to leave, just tell me and I will. But I have to know, are you with me now or not? It has to be you that I'm with. No one else."
She thought for a second. "I'm with you," she said solemnly. She took a breath and was about to say something else but he pressed his lips to hers. His tongue was roaming her mouth, for the first time in a very long time, when he felt something cold slide down his cheek.
He pulled away from her and saw tears down her face. "Now what's wrong?"
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"I am, too," he said. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly.