Brooke stood outside the door, too afraid to ring the doorbell. She didn’t recognize the other car that was in the driveway. But then again, she’d been gone for two months. Any one of the guys or the girls could’ve gotten a new car. The rain just kept pouring down on her, but she still stood there. She was afraid to see his reaction. She knew he’d never hurt her. At least, physically. But she just did the absolute worst thing you could ever do to a person. And he had no idea what had hit him.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“We’re lucky,” AJ pointed out for the thousandth time that day. He, Eric, Brian, and Ang sat around his kitchen table, eating pizza. They had barely said two words to each other through the entire meal. Each of them replaying over and over again the day’s events in their minds.
“Yeah we are,” Eric agreed. “That guy could’ve easily thrown our butts in jail for obstruction of justice. All of us.”
“Thank god for lawyers like Brad,” Brian commented. “I’ve never seen a guy sweet talk someone the way he did. We basically screwed around with a murder case for three years and we’re not even getting hit with so much as a fine.”
“Would you guys stop!!” Ang exclaimed. “I’m sick of it. Yes we’re lucky. Yes it’s about time we told the truth. But do you realize that I still woke up in a hotel room with a dead guy? That we know that I didn’t murder him but someone did? And that guy is still out there waiting for us to make a mistake?” They all just stared at her, surprised at her outburst. She had been so quiet all day and all of the sudden she just exploded. “I mean, how do we know he didn’t watch us go to the cops today? It’s probably the same person that’s been screwing around with me for three fucking years now. In case you all haven’t noticed, I’m scared to death. Terrified that this guy’s going to kill me!”
“Baby, you’re fine,” Brian soothed, scooting closer to her. “No one’s going to hurt you. I promise. I won’t let them. We’ve got so much security around right now, no one could even get close to you.”
“I’m scared, Bri,” she whispered, sounding like a lost little girl. “I don’t want anything to happen to us. Any of us.” She glanced up at the other two. “And I’ve pulled you both into it too. Anyone that I come in contact with is in danger.”
“We can all take care of ourselves, Ang,” AJ told her. “We know that we have to be careful.”
“I think the only person you need to consciously steer clear of is Aidan,” Brian said, a moment later. “I mean, you can never be too careful. And I don’t think that we need to drag a two-year-old boy into this.”
“They’ve already gotten close to him,” Ang stated, her eyes widening in horror. “Those pictures. They have pictures of Katelin, Aidan, and I at the beach that one day. I swear to God, Bri, if they hurt that little boy, I’ll never forgive myself.”
Before anyone could say anything else, the doorbell rang, causing them all to jump. Everyone was a little on edge after the day’s events. “I’ll get it,” Eric stated, standing up from his chair. They listened to his footsteps through the front hall and the sound of the door opening. “Hey Sarah.”
“Hi Eric,” she greeted. “AJ here?”
“Yeah,” Eric replied. “He, Ang, and Brian are in the kitchen.”
Sarah thanked him and walked in to the kitchen, Eric trailing right behind her. “Hi guys!” She smiled, slightly, as she entered the room.
“Hey babe,” AJ jumped up and gave her a kiss, frowning when she lightly pushed him away. “Where’ve you been?”
“Out to dinner with a friend,” Sarah replied, sitting down across from him. “What have you been up to?”
“Just eating some pizza,” Ang responded, standing up. She grabbed Brian’s hand and pulled him up with her. “We should get going. I’ll talk to you guys later.”
AJ stood up and began walking them towards the door. “Bye guys. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Later Aje,” Brian waved as he and Ang walked out the door, Eric following closely behind them. “Lock the doors!” Eric called just before getting into his car and speeding away.
AJ followed his instructions and locked his doors, walking back into the kitchen to sit with Sarah. “What’s wrong, honey? You seem kind of down.”
“I had an early dinner with Krista before,” Sarah told him.
AJ’s eyes widened. “You what?”
Sarah sighed. “I just needed to clear some things up with her, AJ. And you too.”
AJ didn’t like the tone in her voice. She sounded almost afraid to tell him something. “What is it, babe? You can tell me.”
Sarah squeezed her eyes shut, summoning the strength to tell him what she needed to. “I can’t marry you, AJ.” She opened her eyes to see AJ staring at her, an unreadable expression in his eyes. They stood there in silence for a minute. “Say something,” she whispered a few moments later. “Please.”
“Why?” Was all AJ could manage to get out of his mouth. “What do you mean, you can’t marry me?”
“I can’t,” she repeated, the tears spilling down her cheeks. “I love you AJ. But I know you still love her. And I’m not blaming you for that. But I think that you two need to work things out. She loves you so much still. And I know you feel the same way. Somewhere, deep down inside of you, you’re still as in love with her as you were three years ago.”
AJ couldn’t help the tears that trickled down his cheeks. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Sarah was right. He was still in love with Krista. But he honestly did love Sarah too. Maybe not in the same way. But he did love her. “I love you, Sar. Really I do.”
She reached up and wiped a tear off of his cheek. “I know you do, AJ. But not the same way you love her. I mean, you had a child together. And you still need each other so much to get through that and I don’t want to be the one to stand in your way. I love you AJ and I know you love me too, in some way, but I can’t be the one to stand in your way. You two were meant to be together. And I think that it’s time you worked things out and just got on with your lives together.”
They both sat there and cried for a few moments. Sarah had been completely right. But he didn’t know if he could ever get back what he had with Krista. Too much time had passed. But maybe he should give it a try. He’d never know until he did. Deep down, he knew that he and Sarah weren’t meant to be. He loved her, but not in the same way he had been in love with Krista. That’s not something that just goes away. Sarah slowly slid the engagement ring off of her finger and placed it in his hand, closing his fingers around it. “I love you, AJ. Please don’t ever doubt that. That’s why I’m doing this.” And before he could say anything else, she stood up from the chair she was in and gave him a light kiss on the lips, before walking out of his house and out of his life forever.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“Well isn’t this cozy,” Lanie remarked, sitting down at the table and glancing at the four people surrounding her. To her left was Nick, her right, Jay and then across from her, Katelin. “A nice, family dinner with the most dysfunctional family in the world.”
“Lanie,” Nick warned.
“No Nicky,” she grinned. “I’m serious. Now, all we need is the gold-digging stepmother and we could have, like, our own t.v. movie of the week.” She looked at Katelin. “I mean, come on, we’ve got Jay, a good guy who, I honestly have no idea why he’s with you to begin with. You’re a nineteen year old, washed-up dancer, who’s never gone to college, with a two-year old son. It must be the money, right Jay? I mean, you took one look at her and saw dollar signs shining in her eyes, right? I mean, what was that inheritence, Kate? Something like fifty million? Bet you were glad when that plane blew up, huh?”
“Lanie, just shut up!” Nick yelled, slamming his hand down on the table and causing the four of them to jump. “Jesus Christ, what the hell is your problem?”
“Nothing,” Lanie huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “I just can’t stand having to compete with her anymore.”
Nick glanced back and forth from Lanie to Katelin not knowing what to do. Lanie was being a complete bitch. He knew that. He saw Katelin’s eyes bright with tears. But he couldn’t bring himself to get really angry with Lanie. To kick her out of his house and out of his life like he should have. He didn’t know what it was but she had this power over him. His face visibly softened and he sat back down in her chair, grabbing her hand. “You’re not competing with her, baby. I love you. You know that.”
Hearing that, Katelin’s heart shattered into a billion pieces. Lanie just sat there and said the meanest, most hurtful things to her and he had the nerve to forgive her? She couldn’t believe her ears. She glanced over at Jay who looked equally as surprised at the way Nick had done a complete one-eighty. One second, he looked as if he were about to smack her across the face and the next he’s professing his love to her. What the hell kind of hold did Lanie have over him?
“Maybe I should go,” Jay stood up from the table.
“Jay, you don’t have to,” Katelin stated, grabbing his arm.
“No, really,” he told her. “I actually promised my brother I’d stop by his new place and check it out.” Katelin stood up and followed him out of the kitchen and into the foyer. “You sure?”
“Yeah,” He told her, grabbing her hand in his. “Don’t let her get to you, baby. Show that you’re better than she is.” Katelin nodded, glancing at the floor. “Good,” Jay smiled. “Now, maybe when I’m done at my brother’s I’ll stop by here. You know, say goodbye before you leave for New York in the morning.”
“Thanks,” Katelin whispered, glancing up at him. “I’ll see you later.”
He leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. “Bye.”
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Brooke finally rang the doorbell. A minute later she heard footsteps through the house and the door was thrown open. She stared in shock at the person on the other side. “Adrienne? What are you doing here?” Adrienne shook her head sadly. “Don’t you think you’ve put him through enough in the last few days? God, Brooke, how could you?”
“I don’t want to have this conversation with you,” Brooke told her. “I need to talk to Kevin. Is he here?” Adrienne nodded. “Well then can I come in?” Adrienne sighed and moved out of the way so Brooke could walk inside the house. She set her umbrella on the ground and looked around. “Where’s Kevin?”
“In the den,” Adrienne replied, pointing towards the back of the house. “Tell him I said goodbye and to call me if he needs to.”
Brooke nodded and watched as she walked out of the house, trying to suppress the feeling of jealousy flaring up in her. “Kev?” she called, tentatively. She was scared that all he was going to do was throw her out of the house. She didn’t hear an answer and walked in the direction that Adrienne had told her. When she got to the den, she saw Kevin sitting on the couch, not even looking up when she walked in the room. “Kev? Baby?”
“Don’t ‘baby’ me, Brooke,” he growled, finally meeting her gaze. His eyes were dark. Tired. Sad. He couldn’t do this anymore. “How dare you? Come in here and act like everything’s okay. You married another man, Brooke. I mean…Jesus Brooke…do you realize how that sounds? How that feels? You didn’t just go and cheat on me with another man. You married another man.”
Brooke stood there with silent tears running down her face. “I’m sorry, Kevin,” she cried. “I was so drunk. I know that’s not a good excuse but it is my excuse.”
“You were drunk?!” Kevin exploded. “Well, damn, Brooke. That makes this all better then. Tell me, are you in love with J.C.?”
“What Kevin?” She asked, her eyes wide.
“Are. You. In. Love. With. J.C.?” he repeated, slowly. “Better yet, are you still in love with me?”
Brooke didn’t answer him right away. She just stared at him, not even knowing what to say. She never thought about it this way. And then, all of the sudden, it hit her like a ton of bricks. But she couldn’t form the words to tell him.
“Well I guess that’s my answer then,” Kevin sighed, trying to supress the tears that so desperately wanted to fall. His fiancée wasn’t in love with him anymore.
“Kevin…” Brooke began, reaching out for him.
“Don’t Brooke.” He jerked back from her touch as if he’d been burned. “Just don’t.” Without another word, he turned around and walked out of the room and upstairs.
Brooke just stood there, tears streaming down her cheeks, as the reality of what just happened sunk in. That was it. It was over. Four years and it was over. She glanced down at her hand and the huge diamond engagement ring on her finger. Squeezing her eyes shut, she slowly slid the ring off and began walking back towards the front door. Stopping in the kitchen, she placed the ring on the counter, in a place where she knew Kevin would see it, and then turned around and walked out of the house.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“Hello?” Howie answered his phone breathlessly.
“Howie?” He heard a woman’s voice on the other hand. “It’s Ellen DeMarco. Is Christine there by any chance?”
“Mrs. DeMarco?” Howie was surprised. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine,” she answered, confused. “Why do you ask?”
“Christine told me you were in the hospital,” he responded. “She was on her way up there to see you.”
“That’s odd,” Ellen remarked. “I’m fine. I was never in the hospital. Where did she get an idea like that?”
“Apparently Melissa called her hysterical yesterday,” Howie explained. “Told her you were in the hospital and she needed to get up there immediately.”
“Now that’s strange,” Ellen stated. “I haven’t been able to get in touch with Melissa either.”
***** ***** ****** ***** ***** *****
Katelin switched off the television and was about to go upstairs to bed when she heard the doorbell ring. She glanced at her watch and saw that it was almost midnight. Who’s here so late? she thought as she walked towards the front door. Lanie was already upstairs doing god-knows-what with Nick. She shook her head, not even wanting to entertain those thoughts. She peeked out the window and grinned, seeing who was on the other side. “Hey,” she greeted, opening the door. “I didn’t think you were coming back.”
Jay walked in and pulled her into his arms, kissing her lightly. “I told you I would, didn’t I?”
“Yeah,” Katelin answered before he captured her mouth with his again. She got lost in the kiss for a minute before pulling away. “Stay the night?” she asked, breathlessly.
Jay looked at her closely, studying the expression in her eyes. “You sure?”
Katelin quickly looked towards the top of her stairs and then back at Jay again. She nodded slowly, biting her bottom lip. “Yeah. I’m sure.”
Jay pulled her close to him again and kissed her before she grabbed his hand and lead him up the stairs. They were barely able to break apart so they could open the door to her bedroom and then they both stumbled inside, closing the door behind him.
From the end of the dark hallway, Nick watched, anger building inside of him as he digested what was going between the two of them. She was going to sleep with him. Make love to him. Do with Jay what she had done with Nick just the night before. Why was he so jealous? He had just done the same thing. Had sex with his girlfriend. He hadn’t seen anything wrong with that at the time. But this, seeing this unfold, it was killing him inside. And he decided right there and then that he couldn’t do this anymore. He needed to make a choice. Katelin or Lanie. Lanie or Katelin. Because if he didn’t choose soon, he was going to go crazy.
***** ***** ***** ***** ***** *****
“What are you up to, Paul?” Christine asked as she began to walk inside the house. When Paul didn’t answer, she looked inside and gasped. “Oh my god! Melissa?!!!”