Jake jumped up onto the couch and licked Stasia’s face. She yawned and stretched, “Oh NOW you want to go out!” She scratched him behind the ears. “OK, as usual, you win.” She set him on the floor and stood up. She tossed the core of her apple into the trash on her way to the sliding glass doors across the back of the house. She hand her hand on the door handle when it dawned on her that the alarm was still armed. She made her way over to the key pad and she punched in the code.

She slid the door open and followed Jake as he dashed out into the yard. He rounded the corner of the house. She laughed and walked down toward the pool. It was a beautiful night and there was a warm breeze blowing throw the trees as she looked for Jake, “JAKE! WHERE DID YOU GO?” She stood quietly looking at the moon light reflecting off of the water. She smiled, fall in Florida had one thing over fall in Michigan, it was much warmer.

She heard Jake barking at the front of the house and started walking in that direction to see what had him so worked up.

She came around the corner of the house to see Lonnie parking his car. Lance climbed out of the passenger side, “What are you doing out here alone? Where’s Ron?” He kissed her lightly.

“Ron had a hot date!” She winked at Lonnie, “You didn’t hear that from me.”

“Of course not...thanks for the information, it will come in handy later.” He hugged her.

“I’m out here because Jake had to come out. Where’s Justin?”

“He decided to swing by Morgan’s on his way home.”

“What’s that all about?” Her eyebrows were bouncing.

“Millie, don’t read more into the situation than there is.”

“Who, ME?” She looked around, “I think I’m going to sit out on th patio for a little while. I’d like to read, and since the weather is so nice, this seems like a good time to do it.”

Lonnie looked down at her, “Mind some company?”

“Are you going to pump me for information about your brother’s date?”

“Umm...”

“If you want to sit and read, fine. But I will not tell you about the date.”

“FINE! You are no fun! No fun at all!”

“I know it!”

Lance laughed at them, “I’m going to make a few phone calls, I’ll be out in a little while.”

She leaned up on her toes and kissed his cheek, “OK.”

Stasia and Lonnie walked around to the back of the house with Jake trailing behind. They sat down and talked quietly for a little while before Stasia got up to grab their books. Lance was sitting in the den, watching MTV on mute and talking to his momma. She grabbed her book and the book she had chosen for Lonnie.

When she walked back out onto the patio, she didn’t see Lonnie or Jake, “LON? I’VE GOT THAT BOOK FOR YOU!”

“Hang on! YOUR dog took off for the bushes!” Lonnie’s voice came from the pool house.

“He has been weird tonight, I’m sorry!” She walked toward his voice, “JAKE! COME!” She scanned the bushes for his little body. “JAKE!”

When Jake didn’t respond, she started getting annoyed, “JAKE!” She looked around, “LONNIE?”

There was no response. She began walking back to the house, assuming that Lonnie had found Jake and taken him back up to the house.

Lance walked into the kitchen on his way outside, he was going to give her the book he had bought for her in New York. She was going to be so excited to have a new copy of ‘A Separate Peace’. Her copy was so worn, he had been looking for a new copy since the night they had wound up sleeping in his bed and scaring Jess. He laughed at the memory as his cell phone rang, “Hello.”

“You may have had service cut off, but not before I saved the numbers.”

“What?’ He remembered the card he had bought to go along with it and walked back toward the den to get it.

“I would have used her phone to call you, but you had the service turned off. I assume it was you.” The book and card crashed to the floor.

“What do you want? Do you want money? I’ll give you money. I’ll give you whatever you want, just don’t hurt Stasia.”

“I DON’T NEED YOUR MONEY! I’LL HAVE HERS! HA! YOU ARE A BUNCH OF FOOLS!”

“What do you want?” Lance began running toward the back of the house. He grabbed Stasia’s new cell phone off the counter and dialed Mary’s number quickly. Lance was waiting for Mary to pick up.

“I want to tie up loose ends. Do you want to watch her die?” Just then he heard Stasia scream both over the phone and from the back yard.

Lance ran out the door, his head whipping frantically in every direction. He saw her near the pool crouching down. Lance ran as fast as he could, his heart pounding in his ears. “STASIA! STASIA WHERE ARE YOU?” He came to a screeching halt when he realized she was crouching over Lonnie who was laying face down on the tile deck around the pool. Next to Lonnie was Jake’s tiny, limp body.

There was a man, standing in the shadows behind her with his hand wrapped tightly in her hair. He dropped both phones on the grass as he slowly walked closer. “Stasia.” Lance’s voice was quite and as clam as he could force it to be.

“LANCE PLEASE STAY BACK!” Stasia begged, “PLEASE DON’T GET NEAR HIM! PLEASE GET AWAY FROM HERE! JUST RUN!”

The man pulled her forward by the hair and she stumbled over Lonnie’s limp arm. He chuckled, “You don’t have to worry about him Anastasia...this is about you and me...we have a score to settle.”

The blade of the knife in his hand caught lance’s attention. His thoughts were swirling, he didn’t know what to do. How did this guy get onto the grounds? How was he going to stop the man from using the knife that was now pressed against her neck. “What do you want with her?” Lance took another step closer holding his hands up he only stopped when the the blade of the knife made a crease in her flesh, he hadn’t drawn blood, and Lance was going to do anything in his power to keep that from happening.

The evil glint in the man’s eye was frightening, “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your little boyfriend Anastasia?” He pushed her forward again. “This is the man you decided to screw?” He looked Lance up and down.

“John, why are you doing this to me?” Her voice was quiet.

“I SAID INTRODUCE ME ANASTASIA!” Her pulled her hair savagely.

Her eyes closed tightly, “Lance, this is John Gross.” She whispered.

Lance searched her face for some understanding, “John Gross?”

“I suppose I’ll have to explain.” He rolled his eyes, “Anastasia and I worked together in Michigan, she got me fired.” He grinned evilly, “But then again, that’s not the whole story.” The laugh he let out was animalistic.

Stasia jerked her head to the side, “JOHN! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? I HAD TO TELL JOSH AND JACK ABOUT THE MONEY! YOU DESERVED TO BE FIRED!” She was trying to twist away from his arms.

Lance stepped forward again, “What do you want from her? Why don’t you just let her go, you can leave. We won’t try to stop you. You can have anything you want. Do you want to leave the country? We’ll get you out of here. I can have a jet ready in half an hour. Take my car. I don’t care what you want, I’ll do it! Just don’t hurt her!”

“What? And interrupt this little family reunion?” His eyes were gleaming at the obvious excitement he was feeling at the bomb he had just dropped on her.

Lance’s eyes grew wide as the color drained from Stasia’s face, “What are you talking about?’

Stasia pled with him, “John, PLEASE don’t do this. A job isn’t worth this.”

“I thought you were smarter than this ANASTASIA! I DON’T CARE ABOUT THE DAMN JOB! Don’t you recognize your own father?”

“YOU’RE NOT MY FATHER!”

“OH YES I AM!” He growled.

“WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?” Lance’s heart was breaking at the pleading in her voice.

“Why weren’t you in the car with Noah that night? That would have been so much easier. But then again I didn’t even know about you until his funeral. DAMN YOUR MOTHER! She tried to hide you from me! She didn’t want me to know about you at all! She was pregnant when she ran away, that BITCH! YOU ARE MINE!”

He pulled her face around so he could look down at it, “You should have been in that car with your good for nothing brother! He used to think he could protect that bitch! She deserved every beating she ever got...so did he. I went to a lot of trouble to get rid of him! It would have been neater to take care of both of you at the same time! Oh well, you are the last bit of that messy past.” He shrugged.

“I thought the best day of my life was the day I found out that bitch mother of yours was dead. I was going to kill her anyway - but it was nice to not have to deal with that. Taking care of Noah and that witch he married was simple.” He shook his head, as if thinking back to that night, “I almost got hurt in that accident! Do you know how hard it is to hit another car and not get hurt, while assuring everyone else dies?” He shrugged again, “It’s not easy.”

“You, my dear, have been more difficult.” Lance watched her cringe at his words, “I was all set to take care of you, but that bastard Josh sent you to Europe after the funerals. I wasn’t about to follow you over there, so I set up shop at Barnett & Adams and waited for you to get back. By the time I was ready to finish all of this mess, you disappeared. It took some work to find out you were bouncing all over the country with this kid.”

Lance saw her eyes darken, there was a look of defeat he never thought he’d see in her eyes. They were black. The realization that this man was her father, that he killed Noah and Nik and was now planning on killing her, was too much for her. Lance could tell by looking at her that there was no fight left in her. He knew her heart and he knew that this man had just ripped open every old wound she had. He wasn’t going to let her give up, he was not going to let her die. He was not going to let this man kill her too.

“OK, Mr. Gross, what do you have to gain by killing Stasia? Why would you want to kill your own children?”

“SHUT UP BOY! Don’t call me Gross, it’s not my name!”

“OK, MR. BLAKE!” Lance was panicked, this man was irate. He had been sure that this guy had been telling the truth, but when his eyes flashed and Lance realized they were the same steel gray as Stasia’s, he knew it was true. This freak’s eyes were doing the dance Stasia’s did when she was the most excited.

“IT’S NOT BLAKE YOU FOOL! HER BITCH OF A MOTHER CHANGED IT WHEN SHE RAN! SHE THOUGHT SHE COULD TESTIFY AGAINST ME? NOONE WAS GOING TO BE ABLE TO PROTECT THAT BITCH! SHE THOUGHT CHANGING HER NAME WOULD KEEP ME FROM FINDING HER!”

“You left us.” Stasia was quiet.

“IS THAT WHAT SHE TOLD YOU?” He threw back his head and laughed, a cold, bone chilling laugh.

Lance’s thoughts were spinning. He knew he had to do something, but he didn’t know what to do, and he didn’t have many options. If he upset this guy, Stasia would die. He could wait for Lonnie to wake up, if he wasn’t dead. The thought that Lonnie might be dead made him sick to his stomach. Either way, he had to stall, and he had to get Stasia angry. If she was angry, she would fight, she would fight to live.

He took another step closer, “You actually think I’m going to let you cut her throat? THINK AGAIN! You better kill me first, because if you harm one hair on her head while I am still breathing - you will die!” He began slowly walking nearer to where they were standing.

“NO LANCE!” Stasia screamed, “GET OUT OF HERE!”

He knew what he had to do to make her mad, “ANASTASIA! SHUT UP! YOU ARE GOING TO GET YOURSELF KILLED! SHUT UP AND LET ME TAKE CARE OF THIS!”

He saw her eyes flicker. There was a spark in her eyes, he had to fuel that spark, “Lance?”

“I SAID SHUT UP! I’m going to save you!”

“YOU TALK TOO MUCH!” He slammed the butt of the knife against Stasia’s head, where the crowbar had hit here all those weeks before. Her body crumpled limply to the ground.

Her father lunged at Lance, “YOU WANT TO DIE FIRST?” Lance threw himself on the ground and rolled away. The man had lunged forward with such force that he fell to his knees. He pushed himself off of the ground.

Suddenly the bushes around the pool house came to life. Mary, Alyssa, Dan and Mike ran crashing out with their guns drawn. “FREEZE!” But he was already back on his feet with the knife held high above his head. He was about to sink the knife into Lance’s back as he tried to scramble away.

Before any of the FBI agents could react, before Lance could get away, Stasia locked his legs between her father’s and brought him crashing back to the ground. She reached over her head and grabbed the table near her head, she brought it crashing down on her father’s head.

Lance scrambled to his feet and Stasia slowly stood up glaring down at the man laying below her. Through clenched teeth she screamed, “YOU WILL NOT HURT ONE MORE PERSON I LOVE!”

Stasia began to sob uncontrollably, her body began shaking violently. Lance ran to her and pulled her to his chest as Alyssa handcuffed her father and Mary checked on Lonnie. He held her as tightly as he could, their knees bent and he lowered both of them to the ground.

He let her cry. She had every right to cry. Lance’s head snapped around when he heard her father groan next to them. Alyssa slammed her knee into his back.

Stasia sobbed into Lance’s chest, “He tried to hurt you. I won’t let him hurt you.”

Lance kissed her head, her cheeks, “I know...I know...”

She began rocking, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, “I love you.” Sobs racked her body, “I love you.”

The room was dark when Lonnie opened his eyes, his head rolled on the pillow and looked around at his surroundings. He wanted to know how he’d gotten into a hospital bed. He felt as if his hands were tied down. He raised his head a little to look at his hands, realizing that they weren’t tied down, they were just being held tightly.

Stasia was clutching his right hand tightly in hers. She was sitting in a chair next to his bed with her head resting on th mattress next to his hip. Lance was sleeping quietly in a chair next to her, his hand resting on her leg. Lonnie’s head rolled on the pillow to see his left hand caught in his brother’s vice-like grip. Ron’s head was resting against the back of his chair and his mouth was hanging open.

Lonnie squeezed Stasia’s hand lightly and her head flew up off of the bed, her sudden movement jarred Lance who began looking around in every direction. Ron’s head fell forward and his eyes popped open. Stasia’s face lit up when her eyes landed on Lonnie’s open eyes.

“Hi Big Guy.” Her voice was soft and gentle she smiled warmly at him.

“Hey Feisty. What happened?”

She stroked his hand lightly, Lance squeezed her knee, “You were attacked Lon. At Justin’s house, do you remember that?”

Lonnie closed his eyes and then nodded, “I was looking for Jake, and found him growling at a bush next to the pool house. I picked him up and walked back to the house, I got to the pool and heard a noise, before I could turn around, I blacked out.”

“You were hit on the head, hard.” Stasia’s eyes closed.

Ron looked at his brother with sad eyes, “I should have been there. It should have been me. Stasia was my responsibility.”

“Shut up Ronnie. Stasia is OUR responsibility. Was it him? Was it the stalker?” Lonnie held his aching head.

Stasia sighed and nodded her head slowly, “Yeah Lonnie, it was. I am so sorry, it’s my fault you are laying her.”

“No it isn’t. Why do you have a bandage on you head?” Lonnie was concerned he reached up and touched the gauze on the side of her head with a big hand.

“My head got in the way of his hand. He just reopened the cut. I got four new stitches, but I’m fine. Nothing new, I’m used to the headache.”

“Did he get away?” He looked to Lance.

“Not this time.” Lance finally spoke. “Stasia stopped him.”

Lonnie smirked, “I get paid the big bucks to protect her, and she catches her own stalker?”

“I didn’t catch anyone. I just hit him over the head with a table.” She shrugged. “Mary and the other agents caught him.”

“Who the hell was he? Why was he doing all of this to you?” Lonnie tried to push himself up into a sitting position.

Stasia closed her eyes and whispered, “He was my father.”

Lonnie’s jaw dropped, “What did you say?”

“He was my father. He killed my brother and Nik and was going to kill me too.” She opened her eyes painfully to look at him.

Lance saw the raw emotion still showing in her eyes, she hadn’t really had much time to deal with the reality of the entire situation. He knew her thoughts had to be spinning out of control.

“Stasia, I’m sorry.” Lonnie’s voice was full of concern.

“Lonnie, you did everything in your power to protect me from this. There was nothing else you could have done. He is insane and would have gotten to me much sooner if it weren’t for you and Ron. Mary is questioning him right now. He is crazy enough that he seems to be spilling his guts, and enjoying it. He’s proud of what he’s been able to accomplish.”

Lance stood up, “I’m going to go get the nurse. She said we had to let her know if you woke up from your little nap. I’m also going to let the guys know that you’re awake.”

Stasia stood up next to him, “We’ll leave you guys alone for a little while. I’ll be back later to check on you Lon.” She kissed him on the top of his head, “Thank you Lonnie.”

“Thank you Stasia.”

Lance took her hand in his and walked out into the hall. They stopped at the nurses station to tell them Lonnie was awake and then made their way into the small waiting room, which was packed full of people.

JC stood up as they entered, he pulled Stasia into a tight hug and kissed her temple, “Is he going to be ok?”

“He’s awake. He doctors are going in to check on him now.” Lance answered.

Justin, Chris and Joey all walked over to hug Stasia. Lance was standing off to the side when JC walked over and pulled his friend into a hug, “Are you ok? My God, I don’t know how you got through this night.”

“JC, it’s still not over. She broke down for a few minutes right as they were taking him away, but then she kicked into ‘Lonnie is hurt mode’ and she hasn’t gotten out of it yet. ‘M worried about her.”

“I can understand that.” JC looked at Stasia, who’s head was resting on Joey’s shoulder, “She’s strong Lance.”

“Strong enough to deal with the fact that her long lost father killed Noah and Nik and tried to kill her twice?” Lance ran a hand over his face, “She gave up. It was the most frightening thing I’ve ever seen, the look of defeat in her eyes, it almost killed me.”

“Well the way I heard it, she was the one that finished him off, so what happened?”

“She had given up, until he lunged at me, I thought she was out cold and she was actually just waiting to pounce. She used this leg lock move and then hit him over the head with a table.”

JC grinned, “I can’t believe YOU of all people don’t get it.” He took the younger man by the shoulders and looked into his eye, “Lance, she fought for YOU, she decided to live, FOR YOU!”

Lance slowly nodded his head, “I’m never going to be able to live up to that.”

“You already have. She made the choice a long time ago to be with you and to put up with everything that comes along with being in this group and having this lifestyle. Lance, she made the choice to live for you the day she let you kiss her, you just reminded her.”

“I don’t deserve her. She has had to fight and claw for every bit of happiness she’s had in life. Everything I’ve ever wanted just fell into my lap. My family. Music. Money.”

“And Stasia.” JC shook him lightly, “She fought for you. She wanted to protect YOU, don’t make her regret that decision by questioning your worthiness. I can’t think of anyone in the world who is ACTUALLY one hundred percent worthy of a girl like her, but you know what? You’re ninety-nine percent worthy. Don’t clue her in on the other one percent by being an idiot.”

Lance closed his eye and hung his head, “Thank you.”

Stasia was trying to fill in the blanks in the story the guys had been told when Lance sat down next to her. “Lonnie and I were looking for Jake. I had just been yelling back and forth with him, I called him and he didn’t answer, so I started back up to the house. Lonnie and Jake were both laying lifeless next to the pool. I screamed when I saw them and that’s when he grabbed my hair.”

Lance sat on the arm of her chair and rubbed her back, “I was in the house and my phone rang. He had gotten all of the numbers out of Stasia’s address book on her phone. So I picked up her phone and dialed Mary. He asked me if I wanted to watch her die, that’s when I heard her scream. So I ran out the door and found them all down by the pool. I wasn’t sure if Lonnie was alive or not. He had a knife and was holding it up by her throat. He WOULDN’T SHUT UP!”

Stasia smirked up at Lance, “I was totally giving up, until Lance here PISSED ME OFF!”

Chris raised an eyebrow, “Pissed you off?”

“Sad thing is, Lance knows me better than I know myself. I didn’t realize I was giving up, I had just done it. I had no fight left, so he went all caveman on me. He told me to shut up and he’d take care of everything.”

All four guys turned to look at Lance, Joey spoke for all of them, “You’re lucky SHE didn’t kill you.”

Lance smirked, “I was worried for a while. I didn’t know if she knew what I was doing. I didn’t have any idea she understood, until she saved my ass.”

“Look at it, I couldn’t let anything happen to that!” He looked down into her eyes and realized that he was looking into crystal clear, understanding.

Stasia straightened her suit coat as she paced the length of Mary’s hotel room. They had been waiting for her to join them for twenty minutes. Lance was leaning back in his chair watching her carefully, “Millie, you’re wearing a path in the carpet.”

She pulled the knuckle she was chewing on out of her mouth, “What could possibly be taking her so long? She never makes us wait. What if he got off?”

Lance stood up and walked to where she was standing. His voice got soft and gentle, the way it got when he was talking to her, and only her, “Anastasia, there is no way he is going to get off. He confessed to killing Noah and Nik. He confessed to plotting to kill you, and to throwing me in for good measure. He attacked you, twice and attacked Lonnie. He’s going to jail, forever.” His hand stroked her hair.

“But...”

“There are no buts. Stasia, you won. I know it will never bring back Noah and Nik, but he’s going to pay.”

Her eyes met his and she smiled, “You’re here just to keep my feet on the ground aren’t you?”

“I’m here because this is where I belong.”

The door opened and Mary came strolling in, “The Judge is waiting for us. He thought you would want to be there for his decision. I know the guy, so he’s holding everything for us. Put on your public faces though, because the press is everywhere.”

“We’re going back to the courthouse?” Stasia looked shocked.

“Yes we are, you’ve earned the right to be there.”

The three of them walked out into the hallway together, where Lonnie and Ron were standing on either side of the door. Lonnie smiled down at her, “You ready for this Feisty?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

The car pulled up in front of the courthouse and security cleared a path to the door, Lance got out of the car and smoothed his tie and he held his hand down for Stasia. The fans that had gathered behind the press cheered loudly. Lance and Stasia both smiled, but didn’t wave as they made their way to the door. They understood the seriousness of what was about to happen, so a nod of the head was all they could muster up.

Stasia was sitting in the front row, right behind the prosecutors and Jess who had been allowed to assist as special counsel to the prosecution. Lance was on one side of her, Mary on the other. They were both holding her hands tightly. Lonnie sat on one end of the row, Ron at the other. They all turned at the sound of a commotion at the back of the courtroom. Chris was pushing Joey forward, Justin was attempting to straighten his tie, JC was leading the group confidently toward the row directly behind Lance and Stasia. Security hung at the back of the room as the guys slid down the row, each of them shaking Lance’s hand and kissing Stasia’s cheek. JC leaned forward and put his head between Lance and Stasia, “Sorry we’re late.”

Stasia’s eyes were twinkling, “We weren’t expecting you at all. I can’t believe you came.”

Chris’s chin was suddenly resting on Mary’s shoulder, “We were not going to let our two best friends sit through this alone.” Mary patted the top of his head and then shoved him back by the face.

The bailiff walked in and directed all of them to rise for the judge. Stasia reached for Lance’s hand as they stood. He laced his fingers through hers and squeezed her hand tightly. The judge took the bench and they sat. JC leaned forward and put his hand on her shoulder.

The judge cleared his throat, “As I sat here, and listened to the facts of this case as they were laid out by the prosecution. I could not help but imagine what Anastasia Blake has been through in her short life. I, luckily, have never had to deal with even one of the horrific events she has been forced to face.”

Chris leaned forward and squeezed her other shoulder. Stasia took a deep breath as the judge continued, “I will hopefully be able aid in making some of her past horrors a little easier to bare. I find the defendant guilty of two counts of first degree murder, three counts of attempted murder, three counts of breaking and entering and three counts of battery.” He turned to face the defense table, “You sir, are going away for the rest of your life.” Jess raised her arms in triumph.

Stasia buried her face in Lance’s chest and began to cry softly. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered quietly into her ear, “You did it. It’s over. It’s over.”

The other guys watched Lance and Stasia held one another. JC and Chris smiled at one another. Justin and Joey were shaking hands. The gavel fell and they all jumped to their feet. They hugged and kissed her.

Lance and Stasia walked out of the courthouse hand-in-hand with their friends surrounding them. The press swarmed and the group made their way to the waiting cars. They sped down the road and toward Josh’s house.

Josh was waiting on the porch when they began to climb out of the cars, Stasia ran up the front stairs and into his waiting arms. “I am so proud of you Stasia.”

She got phone calls from Lyn, Morgan, Angela and Dani who couldn’t make the trip. Stasia walked out into the backyard where the guys were all sitting. Josh had thrown an impromptu lunch. Josh and Lance were sitting together at a table looking through old photo albums. Stasia walked over to Justin and Chris. Justin pulled her down onto his lap, “Stasia, you owe me for the table you broke.”

“I’ll get you a new one.”

“Kiss on the cheek and we call it even.”

“SOLD!” She kissed him, “I want to thank you guys. You have been amazing. I have never felt so supported. Justin, we stayed at you house you were remarkably supportive. You are the best baby brother I’ve ever had.”

“You’re not such a bad little sister.”

“Justin...”

“Said LITTLE, which has nothing to do with age.” He hugged her waist.

She turned to Chris and took his hand in hers, “You saved my life. You gave me a second chance at living, I will never be able to thank you for that! You are the only person I know who understands my obsession with eighties music. You are the one person I can relate to on a complete peer level.”

“If he is your peer, I’m afraid.” Justin teased.

Chris was quiet, he nodded and Stasia understood completely. She got up and walked over to JC who looked up at her and smiled. “Hi.”

“Hi JC. I wanted to say that I am so grateful for everything you’ve done, including talking to Lance that night.”

“I didn’t do anything you two wouldn’t have done for me.”

“You talked him down, so to speak. We are both so happy to have your friendship. You being there today made it easier for me.”

“We’ll ALWAYS be there for you. Like it or not, you really are one of us now.”

“I like it.”

Lance suddenly shouted, “HEY JOEY! Get over here!”

Joey walked over to Lance and Josh, sipping his beer as he walked across the patio. “What’s up?”

Lance pushed the photo album he was looking at toward Joe. Joey bent closer to the book and then looked up at Josh who smirked and nodded. He pointed at a picture and Lance nodded. He gently peeled back the plastic covering the pictures and pulled out a photo.

“OH STASIA!”

“Yeah Joe?” She walked over.

“Remember the story Josh was telling us about you breaking that guy’s nose?”

“Mmm hmm.” She settled onto Lance’s lap.

“Remember in Hawaii when you ripped us for the way we looked when the first album came out?”

“Yes.” She slipped her arm around Lance’s neck.

“Remember when you said there were no pictures you knew of that would embarrass you?”

“Yes Joe, I remember.”

“How then, do you explain THIS?” He held out the picture in his hand and she tried to snatch it away.

“JOSH!”

“Stasia honey, it was funny I had to take the picture.”

She stared wide eye at the picture of her in her blue prom dress, her hair was a mess and her make-up was smudged. She was sitting in the emergency room having a cast put on her hand. The look in her eye was angry.

“Millie, you look precious.” he kissed her neck.

“That is not playing fair.” She closed her eyes.

“Stasia, you realize I’m going to have to have copies made.”

“Go ahead, you want to start a war...go RIGHT AHEAD!”

“I have to. I have no choice. This is too good to pass up.”

“I understand your motivation. I can respect that, but be forewarned, IT’S ON!”

“OK.” He kissed her forehead.

She smiled up at Joey, “You are one of a kind, don’t ever change. I’d never forgive you.”

Lance looked down at the book in his hand as he walked into the bedroom. Stasia was sitting on the edge of the bed brushing her hair. “Hi Harry.”

“Millie I have a gift for you.” He held out the book which was tied up with big blue bow.

She shot him a questioning look as he handed her the book. She pulled the bow off and slipped it around Jake’s neck. He opened one eye and rolled over. They both laughed as she ran her fingers over the cover. “A Separate Peace?”

He smiled, “Your copy needed to be replaced.”

She opened the cover of the book and her eyes filled with tears at the inscription.

My Millie,
I would chose to be with you, that’s if the choice were mine to make,
But you can make decisions too, and you can have this heart to break.
You have given me your heart, and I will protect it with all that I am.
You and I understand the thought, you and I understand the song...
It is the song of our hearts.
And So It Goes...
Your Harry

She let the tears roll down her cheeks. He sat next to her and pulled her into his arms. “This is forever. We were meant to be. We have been through hell and back, and we are still together. There is NOTHING we can’t handle together.”

“You are home for me. I would do it all over again if it meant I could still be with you.”

“You don’t ever have to fight again. We never have to go through this again.”

“I never knew I would feel like this. I never thought I would see this day, the day that I stood face to face with Noah’s killer, and know that I am going to be ok, because I’m not alone.”

“I will always be with you. You are never alone.”

She touched her lips to his and lost herself in the fireworks going off in her head. Lance caressed her cheek and pulled back. Their eyes locked, gray and green became one. They saw the truth in one another’s eyes, they saw their future.