Author: G. Hotchkiss
Title: Falling in Place
Chapter: 1
Disclaimer: The characters mention in the story don’t belong to me but to NBC and 
Passions.  I’m borrowing them for the purpose of this story and I really am not trying to claim 
them.

The salty sea air felt good on Kay’s face as one tear after the other rolled down her cheek. It 
was a Saturday afternoon and Kay had decided to walk on the beach before going home. A 
summer storm hovered in the distance, promising relief from the August heat. The restless 
waves eased Kay’s broken heart. Her thoughts automatically wondered towards Miguel and 
the mess her life had become as she sat alone on the beach. It had started to fall apart when 
Kay told Miguel how she truly felt about him. She, Miguel, and the rest of Harmony High, had 
ended up at a huge party after graduation. Someone had spiked the punch, and Kay drank 
more than her share. Kay only vaguely remembered telling him how she felt, but the next 
morning was crystal clear…

~

Kay was sitting in the kitchen holding her head in her hands when Miguel came in and sat 
down.
“Kay-“ Miguel was cut short when Kay winced.
“Not now Miguel, my head is going to explode.” Kay murmured.
“It’s about last night..”
“Look, I didn’t know it was spiked so lay off okay… Where were you when I had this 
conversation with my dad.” Kay mumbled. “Never thought I’d be so glad to see her smiling 
face in the morning…” 
“What? You lost me” Miguel said with a confused look on his face.
“Hmmm?”
“Whose face were you glad to see Kay” Miguel asked
“Charity’s. Did you know she was a morning person?” Kay asked looking so miserable and 
disgusted at the same time that Miguel smiled. “Morning people should be shot. Or at least 
ordered to stay away from people who aren’t.”
“Okay… But why were you glad to see her.” Miguel asked gently.
“She explained that I didn’t get drunk on purpose. That she had a glass as well before what’s 
her name told her it was spiked.”
“How much did you drink Kay?” Miguel asked.
“Enough to feel like hell this morning. Why?”
“Because I wanted to know if you really meant what you said last night, or if you were just 
drunk.” Miguel said as he stared out the window. At first Kay had no idea what Miguel was 
talking about, but then fuzzy memories began to float to the surface.
“Miguel, I barely remember last night so if you could tell me what I did, it would help a lot.” Kay 
clamped her eyes shut and prayed it was a bad dream.
“You dedicated a song ‘to the one guy you ever loved’.” Miguel swallowed hard. “Me.” A single 
tear rolled down Kay’s cheek. She didn’t know what was worse, the pain in her head, or the 
pain in her heart. The memory of his reaction the night before was clear enough now. He had 
chosen Charity.
“Kay?” Miguel asked after a long pause.
“Just go Miguel.” Kay whispered. “I know you love her, and talking about it won’t change 
things.”
“Kay I just-“
“Go Miguel. It’s been too long since you’ve acted like you were my friend, so don’t start now.” 
They sat in silence for a moment before Miguel got up to leave. There was still so much to 
say, but there were no words to say it. As he reached for the door he looked over his shoulder 
at Kay. With her eyes tightly shut, he could tell Kay was barely holding back her tears. She 
had never looked so lonely, or so beautiful. 
“Good-bye Kay” He said, and then he closed the door behind him.
“Good-bye” Kay whispered as her heart shattered, and her tears began to flow.

~

The gentle sea breeze toyed with the few strands of hair that had come loose from the French 
braid in Kay’s hair. As she brushed them back in a vain attempt to tame them, she noticed that 
she wasn’t alone on the beach. A moment later she recognized Theresa and the misery 
written all over her face.
“They say misery loves company.” Kay called to her. Theresa’s head jerked up in surprise, 
and then a faint smile played on her lips.” Want to see if they’re right?” 
“Sure” Theresa replied before taking a seat next to Kay. Theresa was wearing cutoff jean 
shorts and a baggy black tee-shirt splattered with various colors of paint. Even dressed so 
casually she was beautiful.
“You look about as happy with the world as I am.” Kay commented as she gazed at the ocean. 
She was still wearing her wine colored tee-shirt and jean shorts she had put on for work that 
morning.
“How happy would that be?”
“Let’s see. I spilled at least three drinks today at the Book Café because I kept staring at the 
guy of my dreams. This wouldn’t have so bad on it’s own, but he happens to be in love with 
someone else –and she was there.” Kay swallowed hard and felt the stab of pain that always 
accompanied thoughts of Miguel.
“Miguel?”
“He tell you what happened?” Kay asked.
“No, I guessed it was him. Does he know how you feel?”
“Yeah, doesn’t change a thing though.”
“If we are going to trade sad stories I must warn you that I can top that.” The challenge in 
Theresa’s voice made Kay smile.
“Oh really?” Kay asked with a side glance at Theresa.
“Uh huh. You see, I thought I was going to get a brake from the drama my life has turned into 
by helping Sheridan paint the mural at the Youth Center. We’ve been working on it from 8 in 
the morning to three in the afternoon all this week. Wednesday Ethan decided to pitch in. We 
got into a dual with our paint brushes and paint got everywhere-“
“Sounds fun.” 
“It was.” Theresa replied softly.
“Go on.” Kay urged, glad to be distracted from her own problems for a while.
“Sheridan had left the room just before the dual started, and somehow we ended up in each 
other’s arms. I’ve loved him for so long that I finally got sick of him not knowing, and I kissed 
him.”
“What did he do?”
“He kissed me back.” The bittersweet smile on Theresa’s face make Kay’s stomach knot up.
“And”
“And he told me that we shouldn’t have done that. He made it painfully clear that he didn’t 
want a relationship with me. Now, or ever.” Kay winced. The pain in Theresa’s voice was 
familiar. Kay knew all to well how the throat constricts, the chests tightens, and the eyes burn 
because you are fighting back tears. They sat in silence for a moment, each lost in their own 
thoughts.
“Why is it that we never consider that scenario when we day dream?” Kay asked in all 
honesty.
“Because those are called nightmares.” Theresa replied.
“I was told it’s called a ‘realistic scenario’ for an entire year.” Kay countered.
“By someone who has never felt this way I’ll bet.”
“My sister.”
“My mom, and my best-friend told me that daily.” Theresa smiled at the similarities. “It never 
really stopped me from hoping though. Not even when I was helping him plan his wedding to 
Gwen.” The wedding that, to Theresa’s delight, had never happened. Gwen’s mom had made 
sure of that for reasons never revealed.
“Bet I can top your story.” Kay said with a bitter smile.
“Try me.” Theresa dared.
“We found out yesterday,” Kay took a deep breath. “that Ethan’s my brother.”
-
It’s just the beginning but I hope you like it. Send comments to g_hotchkiss@hotmail.com