Nick and Cassandra walked up to his room. Cassandra carried the diamond dress and held the green blanket tightly around her while Nick had his dress pants on and carried the rest of his tuxedo. "Hey, Cassie?" he said. "Let's talk."
She walked out of the closet in a pair of his shorts, but they reached the ground on her, and one of his blue t-shirts. "Okay," she said. "About what?"
Nick laughed when he saw her. "Aren't those my shorts?"
"Yeah. So?"
"Aren't they supposed to be shorts?"
"Very funny! Not really, but they're yours!"
"What's your point?" he said, still laughing.
She only gave him a look. "Anyway, what did you want to talk about?" she asked quickly changing the subject.
Nick took her and sat down on the end of his bed. Memories of the fire came flooding back into his mind. He really wanted to know who was responsible for the fire and, especially, Isabella's death. Could he tell her about the cloth yet? He still couldn't pinpoint whose it was. "I want to know who is responsible for the fire and Isabella's death."
"Yeah, I do, too," she agreed, giving him a confused look.
"But I'm serious. I want to find out."
"So you agree with me that Lucy didn't kill Isabella?"
"Yeah. That one day that you were talking to, I think Nicole, I was there listening and so was Isabella. There's things you need to know."
"Like what?"
"That Lucy couldn't have killed Isabella because when Isabella ran for the door, she turned to look at Lucy and then got shot. In the back."
"She did? So then I was right! If she was shot in the back-"
"Then Lucy couldn't have killed her," Nick finished.
"Great!" Cassandra paused. "Then who did?"
"I don't know, but-" He stopped. He wasn't sure if he should tell her or not.
"Honey? What is it?"
"There's something that I didn't tell you-" He closed his eyes and saw the cloth.
"What?"
Suddenly, he saw the person wearing the cloth. He gasped. "I remember," he mumbled.
"Remember what?"
He took a deep breath. "Remember that night that Isabella died, you went outside and I went in the kitchen to call the police?"
She gasped. "You did do something with Lucy's body?"
"No, no! I found a piece of cloth by the back door."
Cassandra let out a sigh and her shoulders fell. "So?"
"The cloth was Bobby's."
Kevin and Emalia sat on the couch watching television. Emalia sat with her feet on the coffee table, flipping through the channels with the remote. She gave an exasperated sigh of frustration and shut off the television. "This is so pathetic!" she said. "There's absolutely nothing good on!"
"We could go somewhere..." Kevin suggested. "Like the movies or the park?"
"That would be okay, I guess." Emalia was still afraid that he was upset with her. Afterall, she never meant to hurt him and the guilt was overwhelming. She turned her face away from him and blinked her eyes a couple of times.
Kevin seemingly read her mind. "Oh, Em, I'm not upset anymore. You have to believe me. Even when I was upset, I still loved you, and I'm sorry that you thought that I didn't." He put his arms around Emalia's shoulders and kissed her on the top of her head. "I do love you, Emalia. For always."
"And I never, ever stopped loving you...oh God." Emalia started to cry. It felt good to release the tension of the past week. As Kevin stared into Emalia's green eyes, wet with tears, his own eyes involuntarily started to water. Emalia weakly started to laugh through her tears. "I'm sorry. I really am so sorry. I shouldn't be crying."
"Shh. It's okay. Cry. It's okay."
"Are you serious?" Cassandra asked Nick, wide eyed.
"Yes I am."
"W-Why didn't you tell me before? You know, when we were alive? All of this could have been prevented!"
"Because I couldn't remember whose it was."
She stood up and began to pace in front of him. "This changes everything!"
"But what about who killed us...sorry! I mean, me?"
"I have a feeling that the same person has something to do with it."
"But he wouldn't kill you, though."
He was wrong and she knew it. A memory of the night that Nick and Richard had gotten into a fight, entered her mind. Richard had said that Bobby would kill to get her back. "No, I think he would. I know him too well."
Nick shrugged. "You would know better than I would."
"Yes I would. But this doesn't help us very much."
"Huh?"
"Because it's just a theory."
"How are we going to find out?"
Cassandra shrugged and sat back down next to him. She smiled slightly, but behind her smile, a plan was forming. She knew that Bobby had something to do with all of this and she was going to get him before he got anyone else.
Emalia cried on his shoulder and Kevin hugged her close. He still felt hurt at what had happened, but he wanted to trust her so very badly. No matter how she really feels, he thought, I love her.
Emalia wiped her eyes and pulled her hair back from her face. She sighed and let it fall back around her face. "We should go somewhere. What were you thinking?"
"I was kind of thinking the park."
"It sounds fine to me." Emalia took a deep breath and Kevin took her hands and helped her off the couch. She turned to the door but he pulled her back to him and kissed her gently. Emalia almost felt like she could start to cry again but she stifled her tears and returned his kiss. She loved him so much but her heart was too overloaded with guilt to concentrate on how much she loved him. Kevin watched as she left the room and shook his head. They were both wondering the same thing:
Will anything ever be the same again?
Bethany was on her cellular phone in the girls' kitchen when the phone on the wall rang. "I gotta go!" she quickly said and slipped her phone away just as Mercedes ran into the kitchen and grabbed the phone. "Who is it?"
"Oh my God, Brian!" Mercedes screeched.
"Oh, Brian. Tell him I said hi."
"Oh God, Bethany says hi. Oh, how are you? Where are you? When are you coming home?"
"Mercedes," Brian said quietly, "calm down. I'm fine and I have good news."
"What?" Mercedes' heart pounded. She was hoping that he would tell her that he was right outside the door or that he was coming home later on today or...
"I may be home in a couple of days!"
Mercedes dropped into a chair and she breathed heavily into the phone. "A couple of days?"
"Yeah."
The happy way that Brian sounded made Mercedes angry. Why couldn't he just tell her? "A couple of days? Brian, where the fuck are you?"
Bethany gasped. "Mercedes swore!"
Mercedes shot her a look. "Brian-"
"Mercedes calm down. I'm doing you a favor. Just trust me."
"Can I?"
"I trusted you when you left."
Brian had caught her on that one. "Well fine but-"
"Honey, I have to go."
"No!"
"I have to go. I love you."
"I love you, too, but-"
"Good bye."
Before she could even say good bye, he had hung up. "What the hell?"
"Mercedes-"
"What?"
Bethany held her hands up in defense. "Sorry, I just wanted to tell you that in your mad rage, I heard Charity crying upstairs."
Mercedes sighed and stood up. "No, I'm sorry. I'll be right back."
"Do you want me to go check on her?"
"No, thank you."
"Okay." Bethany watched as Mercedes ran up the stairs and disappeared. Jeez, she thought. First Nick and Cassandra thought that they had the perfect relationship and look at them. They're both dead. And then Mercedes and Brian thought that they had the perfect relationship. Yeah, right! She's swearing. That's not very good. That can only mean disaster. James and I still have the most perfect relationship of them all. He just doesn't know it yet. Bethany smiled to herself. I've definitely won this one.
Emalia sat at a park table with her sun glasses on. Kevin was a few yards away buying them each a sandwich. She looked around the park and saw that there weren't many people out. There was one couple sitting on the double swing and a woman jogging down the pathway. Kevin walked back up to the table and set the sandwiches down. Emalia quickly unwrapped hers and took a bite.
"Whoa, hungry?" Kevin asked.
"Shut up." She smiled. "Actually, I am. I haven't eaten much today."
"Well you should have eaten."
"I would have if there was something to eat."
"Then you should have gone to the store."
"That was Cassandra's job!"
Kevin laughed. "It was so not Cassandra's job and you know it! She hated the store worse than she hated Richard or Bobby!"
Emalia laughed, too. "I know. I just need someone to blame our empty refrigerator on."
Kevin shook his head. "You are something else."
"I know. You are, too." Emalia leaned across the table and kissed Kevin passionately. When she pulled away, she gave him a sour face.
"What?"
"Eew, you taste like onions!"
"Oh I do, do I?" Kevin pulled and onion out of his sandwich and threw it at Emalia.
"Oh gross!" Emalia pulled out a tomato and threw it at Kevin.
"Oh yuck! You know I hate tomatoes!"
Emalia laughed as Kevin got up and started chasing her around the park with an onion.
That evening, Nicole and Jonathan sat in the girls' living room as a crash of thunder sounded over the house. "Who went out tonight?" Jonathan asked her.
"Oh, um, Mercedes, Bethany, Coreene and Howie. Why?"
"What about Kevin and Emalia?"
"I suspect that their over at the other house entertaining other thoughts."
Jonathan nodded. "How come we didn't go out with everyone else?"
"So we could do this..." She grabbed his face and planted her lips on his.
"Hmm. How could I have forgotten?"
She smiled and weaved her tongue in his mouth. An incredible thunder clap made Nicole jump into Jonathan's lap. He laughed and wrapped his arms around her.
Cassandra flew down the stairs, stomping on each one. Nick went after her. "Where are you going?" he asked.
Not turning around to look at him, she said, "There's something I have to do."
"What?"
She headed for the door. "I have to do something."
He jumped and grabbed her arm. "Wait."
She shook her arm away. "Back off. This doesn't concern you."
"I think it does. Where are you going?"
"Just stay here! I'll be back!"
"Cassie-"
"Nick!" She paused and glared at him for a second then ran out of the house. She ran into A.J. "Oh, A.J. I have to go and do something. Keep Nick contained. Please."
"You got it. I understand."
"Thank you." Cassandra began to run down the sidewalk.
"Hey," he called after her.
She stopped and turned around. "What?"
"Don't get caught in the storm!"
She only smiled and ran down the street.
Emalia looked up at the sky. The clouds were getting darker and the wind was beginning to pick up. "Hey, Kevin, I think it's going to start storming out."
"Yeah, I do, too. I think that we should go before we get rained on." Kevin stood up and grabbed her hands and led her over to his car. All of a sudden, Kevin felt large raindrops begin to hit his head. He quickly jumped into his car as it started to downpour. "Whoa," he commented. "Big storm coming."
"Kevin?" Emalia said. "That's a very good observation."
Kevin gave her a look. "Oh shut up."
Emalia laughed. "Hey, it beats you chasing me with an onion."
Kevin started laughing hysterically as he started the car. "You hit me with a tomato!"
"You deserved it!"
"Let's drop it before I have to kick you out of the car."
Emalia crossed her arms and her mouth dropped open. "You wouldn't."
Kevin started to drive away. "Don't test me!" He laughed.
Cassandra stormed into Bobby's room but he wasn't in there. Rage engulfed her and her face was hot. The rain began to pour in through the open window and she laughed to herself as a bunch of papers got soaked. She took all of her anger and knocked all of the wet papers on to he floor. They soaked the light blue carpet making large, dark spots. She shook her hands of the water and glanced at the desk next to the bed. Next to the keyboard was a picture of her and Bobby. They were in a park and he had his arm around her they had broad smiles on their faces. It angered her even more. In one quick movement. She slammed her fist into the picture and the glass shattered. The glass scratched the picture and fell to the ground.
All of a sudden, two people burst through the door. Cassandra watched as the two of them fell on to the bed and started heavily kissing. "Bobby and Julie. Hmm."
"Shit," Bobby said. "My window. Hold on." He got up and closed the window as a flash of lightning streaked the sky. He went back over to the bed and jumped on Julie. Cassandra sat down in his rocking chair and watched. Anger rising within her as she watched her ex-boyfriend and her husband's ex-girlfriend making out.
When Bobby started kissing down her neck, she turned her head and gasped. "Bobby!" Julie screeched. "Bobby, stop!"
"What?" he asked, annoyed.
"Look!" She pointed to the rocking chair that was rocking by itself.
"There you are!"
Cassandra turned around and saw Nick. She sprang from the chair. "Nick. What are you doing here?"
"Look," Bobby said. "It stopped."
"That's really freaky."
"Oh, well. I guess it was the wind."
"Yeah, I guess." She pulled him back down and kissed him again, but they couldn't hear the fight on the other side of the room.
"I knew you'd be here," Nick said to Cassandra.
"I thought I told A.J. to keep you contained."
"You did," Nick said. "Except, I convinced him to let me go."
"How?" Cassandra asked, putting her hands on her hips.
"I made him horny."
Cassandra stared at him disbelievingly. "Excuse me?"
"No, no, no!" Nick babbled. "I mean, I made him horny for Isabella. And as soon as he was...occupied, I snuck out."
"Damn it," Cassandra mumbled. "Curse his uncontrollable hormones."
Nick laughed, but quickly became serious. "Why couldn't you tell me?"
"I just couldn't!"
He grabbed her arm. "Let's go."
"No!" She tried to struggle her arm away but he only held on harder.
"I'm not going to let you come back here again. You have to stay away from him."
"That's ridiculous, Nick! You can't tell me what to do!"
"I can and I am! It's for your own good."
"How would you know what's for my own good?"
"Because I'm your husband and I know you and-"
"You can't do anything so-"
"And I love you."
She stopped and looked at him. He loosened his grip on her arm but didn't let go completely. "Listen, Nick, it's my life...death...oh, whatever. You can't try to keep me from the truth!"
He grabbed her shoulders. "I'm not. Baby, I want to find the truth as much as you do, but look at how upset it makes you! I take it that the glass on the floor is your doing?"
She sighed. "Fine."
Nick took her hand and began to drag her out of the room. Before they got out of the door, Cassandra stopped and looked back at Bobby and Julie making out. She glared back at them. "Cassandra," Nick said, "what are you doing?"
She glared at the night desk and knocked Bobby's plant off. It crashed to the ground, the pot shattering and the plant and dirt flying everywhere, especially onto the picture. "Oh nothing," she said to Nick, smiling. "Let's go."
That night, Nick noticed that Cassandra kept tossing and turning in her sleep, but when he turned over to look at her, he saw that she wasn't asleep. "What's wrong?" he finally asked her as he looked at the ceiling.
She rolled over. "I'm so sorry, Honey. Did I wake you up?"
"Well, maybe."
"I'm sorry. It's just that I really want to know the truth about everything and I know that Bobby knows about it. If I were to go to Bobby's, I would eventually have to tell you and then you'd be mad at me."
"It's okay," he said, looking at her. "I just don't want you to get so upset."
"How about if you go with me."
"You mean, go now? To do what?"
"I need your help."
"Why?"
"I need to go into his dreams."