As promised, I hope this chapter makes up a little for the way the last chapter ended. Thank you so much for continuing to read this story, I'm so happy with the views it's getting!

Above: Jensen Ackles in an amazing lip sync performance of Eye of the Tiger!

Enjoy, and, please vote/ comment if you like this chapter! I want to hear what you think!

--VIVKELLER23

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Kaliah's POV

She'd hurt Dimitri she realized. Before he'd found her in that church and asked her if he mattered to her, she hadn't thought it was possible to wound someone like him. The look that had flashed on his face, the few seconds before he'd masked it, hadn't been feigned. Her words had hurt him, and she still wasn't sure why she should feel guilty about it.

How much pain had she suffered at his hands since she'd met him? How much pain would she have to endure still before he made his grand exit from her life?

If he experienced even a portion of the hurt he'd dealt her, she should think it was no less than he deserved for ruining the dreams of the girl who'd loved him without question. Without reserve. Without fear of the havoc one brief goodbye could wreak on her fragile heart.

She'd hated that look on his face though! It'd nearly brought her to her knees; the pain-contorted features of his handsome face pulled at that tender part within her that hadn't been successfully buried beneath stones of mistrust and self-preservation. It made her loathe the fact that even when she set her mind to hate him, she couldn't do it with the heart she'd spent years trying to mend back to some semblance of what it had once been.

But how did you return to who you'd once been when you could no longer stand the thought of how completely you'd fallen for someone you couldn't have?

Kaliah realized the answer with a sinking sadness. You couldn't. Like the dying and regrowing of the leaves that changed with every passing season, life forced you to grow and mature. You learned to live even with half a heart still bleeding for the love you lost so long ago.

Dimitri hadn't spoken to her since they'd walked out of the old chapel three days ago. He'd been silent the whole ride back to his place, his silence somehow communicating more than any words he could have shouted. It was as if words weren't enough to bridge the gap that existed between them. As if silence was the only way to ensure he didn't say something else to shatter the very thin glass surface they tread on.

Kaliah was grateful for that at the very least. She didn't think she could take anymore of his false promises. She'd fallen for them despite knowing the dangerous web he wove with his pretty words. She had only herself to blame for giving into him completely. She could only be angry with herself for conjuring up dreams she knew could never unfold with him.

That didn't mean she couldn't also try to pass on some of the blame to him. No one else had uttered those breathless words the night they danced.

His scalding words during his interview had worked like a charm. They'd served to cement the truth for Kaliah that she still meant nothing more than an easy conquest to Dimitri. They'd also restored hope for all his fans that there was still hope for him and Sydney to make their relationship a reality. The gossip died down almost immediately after Dimitri admitted his mistake.

She was now ten thousand dollars richer. Sydney had paid her despite having earned no money from the Reignville show. Sydney was confident she'd made a great first impression now that she'd proved she was back for good, so she'd insisted on giving Kaliah the check. All the money in the world wouldn't put Kaliah back together, but it could help her gain her independence from Dimitri.

It was with an almost optimistic outlook that Kaliah figured she'd be able to pay Dimitri back for everything eventually.

Kaliah had been stuck inside the white walls of Dimitri's condo for three days. It wasn't even close to her record. There had been a time, immediately falling Dimitri's move to Hollywood, when Kaliah hadn't stepped foot out of her room for a month. She wasn't particularly proud of that sad moment in her life, but it was impressive all the same.

Dimitri had a housekeeper, a sweet middle-aged Spanish woman who loved to sing while she worked. She was like a live action version of the happy-go-lucky servants she'd grown up watching in the Disney fairytale movies; as if everything in life was better with a song. Kaliah was beginning to think there were worse habits to pick up to help you through a stressful existence. Though not many of them would give people a reason to stare at you as if the sky had just fallen over your head.

Miss Santillan was staring at Kaliah with wide, chocolate brown eyes and a comical expression of shock on her face. "Ay, Dios mio, it is you!"

Kaliah tensed and threw a glance over her shoulder, fully expecting to see Sydney in all her obnoxious glory. It was with a sigh of relief that she realized no one else was present in the grand kitchen. Which meant the woman was definitely speaking to her. "Um, who exactly am I?"

The poor woman looked like she'd been hit upside the head. "Do you not know, sweetheart?" She placed a shaking hand over her heart. "Oh, my goodness, how sad must Señor Hale be that you are here at last, and you do not know who you are!"

She'd forgotten drama and suspense was a rite of passage of sorts among the Hispanic cultures. She'd grown up watching some of the novelas that had been popular at the time her mother had been alive to watch them with her. No doubt Miss Santillan's imagination had been influenced by some of the crazy plotlines. "No, I know who I am. I was wondering who you thought I am since I'm not usually the one to get such surprised reactions out of the people I meet."

Miss Santillan breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "Well, thank the heavens! I don't think Mr. Hale would be able to handle much more where you're concerned."

"I'm sorry, but I don't follow you," Kaliah said with a shake of her head. Handle much more? She couldn't possibly think for a minute that Dimitri had given her a second thought since becoming a popstar.

The kind brown eyes took on a pitying look. "Oh, young love, my child! It is so beautiful, yet so heart wrenching, no?" She yanked at the knot of the apron around her waist and tossed it on the kitchen counter. "Come, my dear. I believe I can show you much better than I can say it." She turned out towards the stairs without a backward glance.

Kaliah was left behind to follow. She took the steps two at a time to keep up with the surprisingly fast paced housekeeper. She wondered what the woman could have to show her. What was so important that she should gasp so theatrically?

Miss Santillan turned into the first door to the right of the hall which Kaliah knew served as Dimitri's office.

The room had the same white theme as the rest of the place. It had a white desk that looked like the top was made of smooth granite, a white swivel chair that beckoned to that childlike part of Kaliah that would love to see just how fast she could make it spin, and a set of white shelves lining the walls that held countless books organized in alphabetical order by authors' last names. Only one white shelf at the very top was left completely bare, and as Kaliah's eyes zeroed in on the two picture frames that had been set there, she realized why.

The housekeeper was too quick for her own good. She'd already propped a ladder against the bookshelves and was reaching for one of the frames when she bumped a book with her elbow. The book fell to the ground, jolting Kaliah out of her trance.

"Oops!" she cried in a perfect picture of innocence. But it was quickly ruined when she grinned and grabbed the picture frame she initially reached for. "Aqui esta!" She waved the picture like a trophy she was proud of. "Is this not you, dear?"

Kaliah stared at the picture the woman handed to her. It was a picture of her in her mother's white and gold dress. The moment had been captured by someone in the audience at the memorial service because it was taken from a far enough distance to catch the entire stage. The photographer had managed to capture the moment Kaliah laid eyes on Dimitri for the first time (since that stalker moment in the music building didn't really count).

She felt like she'd been knocked flat on her bottom, as if the ground had simply opened up below her feet. How long had he kept this picture of her? How long had he made a passing glance at it and remembered the way he'd said goodbye to her?

"It's you, yes?" Miss Santillan repeated.

It was her before he'd broken her heart. It was her before she'd lost the only family left to her. It was the girl she'd been before she'd lost a piece of herself to the boy who couldn't love her. "No." The girl in the picture wasn't who she was anymore.

But the housekeeper wasn't buying Kaliah's denial. She shook one stubby finger at her. "No, no, no. It is clearly you in that picture. You have the same almost silvery hair." She hurried down the steps of the ladder and pinned Kaliah in place with a hard look. "Why do you lie when it is plain to see you and Mr. Hale had something special?"

"That's because it's all in the past now." Kaliah placed the picture of her younger self on the desk. "It was a mistake that Dimitri decided to escape from."

"A man who wants to forget about the mistakes of his past doesn't bring back pictures of the girl he left behind, niña." She crossed her arms and raised her chin, almost daring Kaliah to contradict her. "A man who doesn't feel deeply for you wouldn't work so hard to protect you."

"Protect me?" Kaliah asked. "Protect me from what?" She spun around in a circle, taking in the very real differences in their lifestyles. "Did Dimitri put you up to this now that he's decided I don't exist?" she demanded. "What did he say to convince you there was anything important between us?"

The older woman's eyes looked like they saw too much into what she'd said. They were wise eyes, that read more than what was on the surface. "I think the two of you protest too much for there to be nothing."

Kaliah's heart thundered in her chest at those words. "I can't," she whispered. "I can't care again. I'm a mistake he wants to undo."

Miss Santillan clucked her tongue. "I don't think so. I think Mr. Hale doesn't understand what he wants more right now. But I know he was miserable without you."

"He said he-"

"He said what he thought needed to be said to stop the story from unraveling. Those words mean nothing," she said, firmly, fiercely. She seemed to really champion the idea of Kaliah and Dimitri as a couple. "But what does he say with his eyes? I have seen the way he looks at this picture when he thought I was too busy to notice. It is with a look of longing so intense, no one would believe there was a chance for Sydney and him if they saw the way he looked at you."

There had been witnesses to the dance they'd shared on the beach. Kaliah wanted to tell her that Dimitri had always watched her with too much intensity, too much care, and that was why she'd fooled herself so entirely. That was why she had convinced herself she mattered when he'd only been counting the days he'd be free to chase his dream.

"He lies as beautifully as he sings," she whispered before turning away from the room and the stupid picture frames to hide in the safety of her room.

***

Three weeks later

Sydney had carried out a guest appearance on the Ellen Show less than a week ago. The performance had gone off without a hitch with Kaliah (in sunglasses no less!) waiting on standby should something go wrong with the prerecorded song Sydney had chosen.

How funny that in Hollywood where celebrities were a normal phenomenon, Kaliah should be the one to wear the makeshift disguises.

Sydney had been proud of herself, big shock there. All she'd had to do was memorize when to mouth the words to make the fraud as authentic as possible. To celebrate, Sydney had invited Kaliah over to her place, a posh two story mansion overlooking a hill, to have some drinks. Kaliah had settled for a glass of sweet tea to Sydney's great amusement. And at the end of the night, Kaliah had gone home with yet another check to add to the previous one.

It paid to be Ariel sometimes.

Kaliah fell to her knees after spending two hours outside in the backyard, planting the new seeds Miss Santillan had purchased. Dimitri had stopped freezing her out completely. He'd even showed her his studio and asked her to sing a few songs he'd been working on with him. They'd been getting along amicably which made it easier for Miss Santillan's romantic heart to rejoice.

But she hadn't been feeling herself since shortly after leaving Reignville. Kaliah had been light headed and overly tired for close to two weeks now. For awhile, it was easy to blame lack of sleep and her impending monthly course for the change in her. It was frustrating when she grew breathless just from shoveling and walking around her makeshift garden for a few hours everyday. She woke up with sore muscles in the mornings, and even Miss Santillan was beginning to ask her if she was alright.

Kaliah was afraid to answer the woman's concern. She'd already lost her breakfast two mornings ago. She didn't want to have her fears confirmed beyond the signs she was struggling to overlook.

It couldn't happen. Her life couldn't be such a blasted penance on her that she'd have to deal with a lifelong consequence for letting Dimitri back into her life. Dimitri hadn't tried to pick up the conversation they'd had in the chapel. They'd both been just fine with pretending it hadn't happened. The last thing she needed was a complication to ruin her plans to leave the marriage before the two years were up.

Well, that and the fact that Miss Santillan would probably freak into a series of dangerous acrobatics if she realized Kaliah's symptoms were a result of something other than a late monthly visit from mother nature.

Kaliah scrambled back up to her feet, carrying the small box she'd purchased while she'd been out shopping with Sydney yesterday in the pocket of her loose cardigan. She'd meant to use the item last night, but she'd fallen asleep on the couch in the living room to the sound of Dimitri's laughter flowing from the kitchen. He had a beautiful laugh that warmed her even though she tried to remain unmoved by him. He'd carried her up to bed, or at least that was what the housekeeper claimed.

But Miss Santillan was proving to have a very overactive imagination.

Kaliah straightened her shoulders and braced herself mentally. She was overreacting. Her own stress and the hectic schedules her life now revolved around were simply getting the best of her. That was all. In a few more days, if she took time to relax and try to sleep for longer than four hours a night, she might start returning to her normal self.

Just breathe, Kallie...

Kaliah rushed inside and ran up the stairs, stopping at the top to catch her breath and settle the turning of her stomach. When the wave of nausea passed, she continued down the hall to her bedroom and, beyond it, to the bathroom that adjoined her room to Dimitri's. Kaliah checked the lock on the door that connected to his room, making certain to lock the door that lead to her room as well.

With a sense of doom, Kaliah retrieved the slender box from her pocket. It was such a light thing for something that could change her life forever. A few minutes was all it took for her fear to become a reality.

Kaliah was tired of acting like a coward.

Determined to see it through, one way or another, Kaliah took the pregnancy test from its pretty purple box. Putting it off any longer wasn't going to do her any good. If she was carrying his child, she'd have to start planning what to do soon. She couldn't hide something as huge as pregnancy for very long before she started to show it. If she was pregnant, it was best all around for her to face the fact and work hard to gain her freedom from Dimitri. She didn't for a moment stop to think Dimitri would want the responsibility of a child with her when he had his life set up among the best musicians in the world.

And if she wasn't pregnant, she could get over her fears once and for all.

She could do it. She wasn't a child anymore. She didn't need anyone...

It was with a mixed reaction of awe and devastation and disbelief that Kaliah's world came crashing down for what seemed to be the hundredth time since she'd embarked on her crazy journey as Dimitri's temporary wife. She was becoming a pro at having everything fall apart in her life and still somehow manage to come away breathing. If her life had been a movie, she would have liked to think Eye of the Tiger would have been playing in the background.

She needed to call Ronan.

With shaking hands, Kaliah wrapped the white and purple stick in toilet paper and tossed it into the trash can. The box she kept, tossing it underneath her bed until she had time to dispose of it properly. Then she reached for her cellphone on her pillow and dialed Ronan's number. It took her a total of three times before she was able to punch in his number correctly, so frantic was she that she hadn't even tried to simply call him from her saved contacts.

He answered on the third ring. "Hey, Sunshine, I was just thinking how lonely I've been here without you. I miss you something bad."

Kaliah felt tears burn her eyes as she swallowed against the lump in her throat.

"Sunshine? You okay?" Ronan grumbled something under his breath that Kaliah didn't quite catch. "Do I need to come over there and beat some sense into a stubborn popstar?"

A sob broke through. "No, nothing like that." She sniffled, trying to calm the well of tears before she lost the ability to speak rationally. With a sense of wonder, Kaliah opened her mouth to say the words that would make it impossible for her to ignore the life within her. "Ronan, I think you're going to be an uncle."