Merrick followed her out of the box and took her arm when she would have stopped to confront him.

"Not here," he said as he handed her the envelope with the photos and propelled her forward, down the stairs, and past the coat check, where he paused to get his coat and have his car keys delivered to Jade in the box. Then he rushed her out the door and hailed a taxi.

"Where are we going?" Agatha asked as she struggled to put her coat on in a sitting position. Merrick did his best to help her, his fingers brushing her skin as he did.

"We need to talk without a dozen pairs of eyes staring at us while we do. I'm staying with my aunt, so we'll go there while it's quiet." Merrick settled back in his seat for the short drive, keeping his attention focused out the window, letting her know he wasn't ready to talk yet.

When they arrived, Merrick paid the driver, escorted her to the apartment, and then to his bedroom, all without speaking. Agatha turned to face him as the door to the room closed.

"Can we talk now?" she drawled. "Is this safe enough?" Agatha threw the envelope with the photos on the bed and took off her coat.

She heard the click of the doorknob. "Now it is," Merrick assured her.

"Why did you go speak to my father?" she demanded.

"Because I received a text requesting my presence backstage during intermission. Both your mother and father were there, waiting for me." Merrick didn't seem upset, only amused. "They love you very much."

Agatha felt her blood start to boil. "I know they do, but that doesn't give them the right to interfere!"

"I wouldn't say they interfered," Merrick's lips twitched, which was cause for concern.

"What did they do?" Agatha sat on the bed and covered her face with her hands.

"Your father tried his best menacing stare. Your mother rolled her eyes, then introduced them both. She asked me to forgive her for the interruption, but she was eager to see what all the fuss was about. Your father choked a little and then turned and stomped off, muttering something and waving his hands."

Agatha groaned. Her father was a pussy cat compared to Merrick.

"Then, before she dismissed me, she told me not to worry, and I quote; 'Don't worry, it took me a while to convince Mason that he needed and loved me too,' and then right before she left, she said she would choose our song before long." Mason watched Agatha shake her head.

Agatha shouldn't be surprised that Merrick's trip backstage was at the request of her parents.

"I felt that there was a good chance that they had seen the photos, and I felt it would be ungentlemanly and cowardly of me to refuse to go." Merrick sat on the bed next to her, having read her thoughts as usual.

"You always do the right thing. That's one thing I can be sure of in this entire mess." Agatha stood because his closeness was disturbing. "What did you say in return?"

"Nothing." Merrick smiled. "You are very much like your mother when you're frustrated.

Agatha shrugged off the comment. "Why did you say you were the one that told them about us? The more I think about it. The more I know it can't be true. You don't share." Agatha crossed her arms in self-defense because Merrick's eyes were skimming her body in her silk dress, and her body was having an evident reaction to his gaze.

"From an unlikely source. One neither one of us thought about." Merrick leaned forward and dropped his hands between his knees, and he looked at the floor.

"Who!" Agatha demanded

"Arthur Brolin." Merrick grimaced as he said the name.

He was right. It was someone Agatha would never have guessed would have been the source.

"But that doesn't explain how it was you who told everyone and why you're saying it was?" Agatha frowned.

"Aunt Trisha was the one Arthur told. Then she cornered me and wanted to know if it was true. I kept it as vague as possible without lying, saying we spent some of our leave time together traveling around Europe. She didn't buy it, and I'm sure the photos made the rounds, which didn't help matters."

Aunt Trisha won the award for patience. She must have been planning this little charade for over two years.

Agatha sighed and sat on the chair across from the bed. "I'm sorry my parents requested that you join them."

"I don't blame them in the least. It's something I would have done with my daughter." His words brought a heaviness to the room.

"Can I be blunt, Roark?" Agatha asked as she stood up and joined him on the bed.

"I've never known you not to be?" he smiled.

"There have been plenty of times I've held back, but on this, I can't." She took his hand. "I get that you lost a child. I can't imagine how painful that must be, but why are you bound and determined to punish yourself for something that wasn't your fault?"

"You want children, don't you?" Roark asked as he turned her palm over and stroked it.

"Sure," Agatha said as she shivered, "but I'm guessing that you don't." He could change his mind one day, Agatha thought. Once they were together for a few years and had built trust, he could want a child.

"I can see your thoughts on your face, Agatha." Roark took her hand and placed a kiss on the palm, then closed her hand over it. It was almost as if it was a goodbye.

"I can't have children. I had a vasectomy to make sure that I wouldn't. I never wanted a woman to have that kind of hold on me again." Roark stood up and walked away from her, keeping his back to her.

Vasectomies were reversable. If he wanted to try, they could. Then it struck Agatha that he had used past tense. He had said he never wanted, not I never want. She was clutching at straws, and her brain was telling her she should walk away, but her heart was telling her that Roark wasn't as immune to love as he wanted to be.

She stood up and walked toward him, waiting behind him until he turned around.

"I wore this dress for you, Roark."

"Agatha," he said in weak protest.

"I promise to consider everything you have told me here tonight carefully," she pushed his jacket off his shoulders, "and then I will let you know what I decide. You have given me all of the facts, have you not?"

Agatha loosened his tie as he nodded. She felt like she finally had complete control.

"I will think about it and let you know what I decide. Then we will talk about it again." And with those final words, she kissed him.

He didn't want to hear her words. He had heard them all before. She needed to show him once again how she felt, and she did.

An hour later, she emerged from the bedroom and into a roaring party. Merrick had left her half an hour previous, and she had taken her time in joining the fray. She had to join it because Aunt Trisha wanted her performance.

Agatha noted Merrick across the room talking to Davis and smiled. There was no doubt that they were talking about photography. She moved to the bar and asked for water because she didn't want anything strong if she had to sing.

A few minutes later, Merrick brushed up next to her at the bar and ordered a drink.

"You seem on edge. Is everything alright?" He asked as he looked down at her, scanning her face. She was about to tell him that she had to sing when Jade joined them.

"Where did you two get off to?" she hissed.

"We left to have a quickie, Jade," Agatha said honestly and had the pleasure of watching her choke on her drink a little. "It was much more fun than the show," Agatha winked, and this time Merrick choked on his drink.

"Here comes Trisha," Jade smiled, and it was an odd look with the tears that were streaming from her eyes because of the choking fit.

"Why are you coughing all over my guests, Jade!" Trisha demanded before she turned to Agatha. "You haven't wished me happy birthday yet, dear."

Trisha leaned in for a kiss on the cheek, which Agatha supplied, as there was a tinkling noise from the piano.

"Happy birthday, Aunt Trisha," Agatha smiled. She had missed the woman.

"It's been too long. We'll have dinner while you're in town." Trisha turned to Merrick and looked him up and down. "You look pleased with yourself, Roark."

This time it was Agatha's turn to choke, but Merrick was able to keep a straight face.

"I'm pleased to be at your 65th birthday party, Aunt Trisha," Merrick said smoothly.

"God, you're so charming when you want to be!" Trisha reached up and patted his cheek.

Uncle Bryce joined them at the bar and ordered two drinks.

"Bryce darling, have you met my nephew, Dr. Roark Merrick? Roark, dear, this is Agatha's uncle, Bryce Stevens, the Earl of Pennington. Oh, and this is my other nephew's wife, Jade," Trisha added as an afterthought.

Uncle Bryce nodded to Jade and shook hands with Merrick.

"How's Grace, Bryce?" Trisha asked coyly. Trisha always loved to tease Bryce about how she would have caught Bryce if her husband hadn't entered her life.

"She's fine, Trisha," Bryce said dryly as he took his two drinks.

"Let's go find her and watch the performance together." Trisha winked at Agatha, letting her know it was showtime.

The piano started again, and Agatha scanned the room, noting her mother in one corner, her father in another, and Eli at the piano. They all exchanged looks, and Eli nodded. Agatha felt her heart in her mouth. It had been so long since she had performed for a crowd.

The song was 'The Sound of Silence,' by Paul Simon, and it called for a strong voice. The way Eli, rock god that he was, sang it made you think he would pop a blood vessel.

Her mother, Cassie, started softly with the first verse as all eyes turned to her. Then her father took the second verse with a stronger voice. The third verse was always Agatha's, and she had to be even stronger than her parents. She opened up her chest and powered through it, singing in a way she hadn't sung in years. As each person started to sing, everyone around them stood aside to clear the way, leaving the center between all the singers clear. Eli powered through the fourth verse, his rough, powerful voice causing Agatha to close her eyes in appreciation of it. In the final verse, all four lifted their voices together, letting them soar, and Agatha could feel the invisible strings of music connecting them across the room through the large, empty space between them.

As the last note died, there was a heavy silence before a massive round of applause started.

Trisha moved into the circle and lifted her glass. "To my dear friends, Elias Emerson, Cassandra and Mason Stevens, and their daughter, Agatha Stevens."

Everyone lifted their glass in a toast, and Agatha could feel everyone staring at her, especially Jade.

"I didn't know you came from such a pedigreed family," Jade said with a tight smile.

Agatha only smiled, very uncomfortable with all of the eyes that were still watching her. It was time to leave, and Merrick must have sensed it.

"If you want to wait in the hall, I'll get your coat," he whispered in her ear.

She nodded her thanks and moved into the hallway to wait for him. Thankfully he was quick, and when he returned, he not only had her coat, he had Eli too.

"I'm leaving too. I'll take you home," Eli said with a nod to Merrick.

Agatha could only follow her godfather. When she entered the elevator and turned around, Merrick was nowhere to be seen.

"He noticed I was leaving and asked me to escort you," Eli answered her unasked question. "Remember when I asked about Merrick at the hospital after the concert?" He asked as he pushed the down button.

Agatha nodded. Eli had told her he would tell her why he wanted to know about him one day.

Eli took his time, gathering his thoughts. "Every second of that hellish day, his eyes were on you."

"I know. I had to feed Merrick patient information from across the room," Agatha said with a frown.

"No, he was watching you. Amid all that chaos, he was making sure you were alright and the way he was watching you sing tonight. It's the way your father looks at your mother, and Sunny looks at me when we sing."

Agatha felt her heart soar at his words.

"He probably asked me to take you home  to curb the gossiping tongues." As the elevator opened on the ground floor and they stepped into the lobby, Eli turned to her.

"Whatever you two are working through, don't give up. What you have is rare."

Agatha nodded. There was nothing she could say. Eli had said all that she needed to hear. The question was, what was her next step?

***Check out Sound of Silence by Disturbed.