Lopez's House. Los Angeles, California.

"When is the coffee going to be done? It has been boiling for almost thirty minutes now."

Mercedes cranes her neck to check the coffee boiling on the stove, finding steams already puffing out through the small hole in the lid while the lid clinks madly against the pot. Engrossed in mopping the coffee she'd mistakenly spilled on the floor earlier, she hadn't realized the coffee has completely boiled over. She spares a second to glance back at Pamela, flashing her friend an apologetic smile before quickly snatching a napkin nearby. Carefully, she takes the pot of coffee off the stove, realizing a moment too late when the heat of the stove's flame flared across the back of her hand, that she should've put off the stove first. The ache of the burn sears through her arm, causing her to hastily and clumsily, set the pot of coffee at the edge of the kitchen counter. Before Pamela can even take a step towards the counter, the pot tilts and falls, hot, black coffee splashing all over the kitchen floor.

Mercedes yelps and jumps back, her legs fortunately avoiding the liquid burn of the coffee. Somewhere in her mind, she hears Pamela, who is standing at the entrance of the kitchen with empty trays, assuring the guests everything is fine. Mercedes doubts Holly is still awake and for that, she's glad. It would've been embarrassing for her if Holly were to see the kitchen like this; the counter stained with coffee, crusts of bread and donuts lying messily on the table, a chair knocked over and black coffee splashed all over the tile floor of the kitchen.

"This kitchen is a mess," Pamela cries, cautiously sidestepping the coffee and the bucket of water to set the trays she's holding on the counter. "What do I do with you Mercedes?" She bemoans with a shake of her head, a frustrated look on her face.

Exasperated, Mercedes throws her hands up in the air. "Well, you shouldn't have left me here all alone. I can't handle these things on my own, you know that Pam." She looks away from her friend's severe expression and blows air on the back of her hand, trying to soothe the ache of the burn but to no avail; the ache only increases. Relenting, she strides over to the fridge and retrieves a pack of ice. While she attends to her aching hand, Pamela starts mopping the coffee off the floor.

"You should learn these basic things Mercedes," Pamela scolds, working ferociously. Mercedes doesn't say it but she has always admired her friend's enthusiasm and energy whenever she does household chores or when she's working at the hospital. Witnessing her friend helping a pregnant woman give birth is something she'll never forget but unlike her friend who takes joy in doing these minor things, Mercedes prefers to use her energy to do something much more productive and beneficial. 'Time is money,' as they say and cleaning or cooking doesn't exactly fill your pockets with money. "When you get married and have a family, no one is going to be there to cook for your husband or your children. House maintenance is important in every marriage," Pam pauses briefly to swipe a tendril of hair from her sweaty face to the back of her ear. "I'm not going to be there to serve you for the rest of my life."

"I'll keep that in mind," Mercedes grumbles, rolling her eyes. She knows her friend is saying these things for when she does get married in the future and in her friend's mind, that's means marrying Colby. But Colby has never complained about her lack of house management skills. He once told her he'll be content with eating burnt food everyday as long as he has her in his life. "Seriously Pam, I tried. But you know household chores aren't exactly my specialty. I can't be in the kitchen for even ten minutes without burning something or in this case, spilling coffee onto the floor. I'm just not good at that. You're the expert in these things, not me."

Although they've been living together for almost five years now, Mercedes has rarely even lifted a broom to sweep her room or Pamela's. Even when she was living with her mother and sister, she never partook in household chores. It isn't something her mother enforced on her. Her mother was a hardworking woman who preferred her children to be studying for their exams rather than cleaning or cooking. For like her mother always says; 'she won't allow her daughter's lives to be as miserable as hers.' Although Mercedes herself--and her mother to some extent--knows their lives wouldn't have been as hard as it was if only her father hadn't abandoned them, she still held her mother's words to her heart and studied hard to top every subject in her class, determined to not go through the hardships her mother went through and relieve her family off their burdens.

Hence her childhood was filled with nothing but studies and a little sister who refused to leave her alone from the moment she was born. Mercedes has never felt the need to cook or clean and truth be told, it was only when she moved in with Pamela she even learned how to make proper toasts and adopted the habit of making her bed every morning instead of evening or two days after like she previously used to do. That's why the first few months of living with Pamela under the same roof had been so difficult.

From the moment Mercedes met her friend at the hospital she works in now, Pamela had struck her as a lone wolf who preferred to live alone, a shy, nerdy girl who wears spectacles and prefers reading boring science books to going out to the club. Because she didn't want to leave her job at the Sports Club and move away from Colby and Los Angeles to Texas with her family, Pamela offered her a place to stay to which Mercedes graciously accepted. The hardships started from there. It was obvious in the first weeks itself that Pamela isn't used to having someone at her house, much less one who didn't even know how to make toasts, much less scrub the bathroom while Mercedes, simply found it exhausting living with a person that expects so much from her.

After months of pressurizing and petty arguments, Pamela finally accepted her lazy behavior and stopped forcing chores on her, even going out of her way to prepare a cup of coffee for her each morning before she goes to the hospital. From time to time, Mercedes would help around but even then her friend will always be by her side, instructing her on what to do and what not to do. And even after all the lessons Pamela has tried teaching her, Mercedes still finds kitchen work too overwhelming and hectic. Looking at the mess she herself has created now, and the fact that her friend is paying the price for her clumsiness yet again, she regrets ever volunteering to help in the kitchen in the first place. She isn't certain the person she'd done it for has even noticed her efforts.

"Has Colby eaten anything yet," Mercedes asks her friend, dumping the cloth of now melted ice into the sink. She waits for Pamela to finish cleaning the last bit of coffee off the floor before casually walking over to stand by the entrance of the kitchen. There are only a handful of guests still around in the house unlike today when crowds thronged the funeral service at the church to offer their sympathies to Holly and her family.

Colby's father hadn't been the most charismatic person in the neighbourhood when he was alive. Mercedes herself had received a sting of his hostility from the moment Colby's family moved in from Davenport, Iowa, Colby and her becoming friends and schoolmates after. She specifically recalls the day Colby introduced her as his girlfriend and how Colby's father, Richard, barely even smiled at her before unceremoniously excusing himself to his room. Later that day when she was fretting over the incident, Colby assured her his father doesn't care about what he does with his life to care about the girls he dates.

Mercedes didn't believed it at first; she assumed Colby just said it to calm her nerves. It was only when she got closer to Holly that she realized the family is as fractured and cracked as a broken piece of mirror. Holly and Colby are the nicest and carefree people in the family and by some extent, Jon was too when they were teenagers. Richard was the odd one and occasionally when she'd visit the house and sit down for dinner with them, she notices Richard didn't exactly belong at the head of the table. To add to all that, he picked unnecessary fights everywhere. He even picked a fight once with Mercedes's mother for borrowing an umbrella from Holly to which the whole town became convinced that Colby's father has reached his male menopausal stage too early.

The neighbourhood doesn't love or hate him. He's just there, like fleeting thoughts on everyone's mind and Mercedes judges Colby's father must have wanted the same thing. Which is why they were quite surprised when so many people attended the funeral ceremony. But after a while, she realized the guests, which consisted more of women than men, attended the funeral for Holly's sake. The few men which attended were clients at Colby's father's shop and although Richard didn't have the best interaction with any of them when he was alive, his professional relationship was one few people praised.

In recent years, the neighbourhood's perception of him had changed somewhat once he opened his shop and started giving people discounts and loans but the majority of them still gossiped about how cold he is and even to this day, people still talk about the 'supposed mysterious activities' Colby's father engaged in whenever he traveled.

Mercedes can't quite recall a time Colby's family were as rich as people claim they were when they first moved to Los Angeles. Things were good back then, that's an honest truth. But nothing as extravagant as the wealth Fergal's family has. She often finds it absurd whenever her mother will tell her to stay away from Colby simply because there were rumours going around of Colby's father's dealings in 'illegal stuffs' and now that Jon doesn't come around the neighborhood often, the rumours has extended to him too. No matter how much she dislikes Jon and thinks only the worst of him every time, she can't imagine Jon being involved in drugs or any other illegal activities. It's the only thing she agrees with Colby about his brother.

"You should give him time. Let him be for now," Pamela advises. "He has just lost his father and he's quite agitated over the fact that Jon isn't picking up his calls. I don't know what's wrong with that idiot. He didn't even attend his father's funeral and he isn't picking up Colby's call above all people."

Mercedes could care less about Jon. It still amazes her their friends still cared enough to call Jon to inform him about his father's death when it's crystal clear he doesn't care about anyone in the family. He didn't even visit Richard when he was admitted to the hospital and to top all that, he'd gotten himself arrested in Las Vegas for smacking someone's head against a wall at a bar. What he was doing in Las Vegas above all places, she doesn't know but she does know Colby had to pay for his bail and his father's hospital expenses. Mercedes has always felt Colby is just wasting his time for a father that has never appreciated or supported him, a father who always preferred Jon over him even though everyone knows Colby is the one that cares most about the family. Jon and Richard's relationship has always been baffling for her so she'd stopped trying to figure it out a long time ago. If only Colby had understood his father doesn't care about him and stopped trying to please him, they wouldn't be here today. He would've gotten the job at WWE, made a life for them and his mother and they could finally get out of this miserable neighbourhood. But he doesn't listen. He never does.

"I can't wait anymore Pam. He hasn't talked to me since he arrived. I took a cup of coffee to Holly earlier and he didn't even look up at me."

"What do you expect?" Pamela inquires absentmindedly, squeezing dirty water out of the mop. "After everything that has happened between you two, he won't come back to you that easily Mercedes. Give him time. He'll come around."

Mercedes huffs. She can't quite get what Colby still expects from her. She'd called and apologized to him, shamelessly crying to him about how much she loves him and truth is, she does. She still does, and he still hanged up on her without a word. It has been hours since he arrived but he hasn't spared her so much as a single glance. She can't help but feel nervous. Colby has never done this to her; ignoring her as if she doesn't exist.

It's almost as if he's thinking of something when he stares into space like he's doing now while Joe talks away, oblivious to his friend's wandering thoughts. 'He must be thinking of me,' but a part of her doubts it. He looks worried--too worried--and fidgety, as if he has committed a crime that's utterly unforgivable. She wonders what.

He can't be blaming himself for Richard's suicide--it will be stupid of him to--and yes, Holly is inconsolable right now and Jon may not be picking up his calls but isn't the natural thing to cry? She certainly would if she were in his shoes but his entire posture and his clenched fists around the balcony rails looks like he desperately wishes to go back in time and change something but can't. As if he deeply regrets something and wishes for a situation to be different. Thinking of what that may be makes her head hurt.

Deciding she's thinking too much, she's just about to stop thinking and reach for a donut on the table behind her when a thought suddenly strikes her. A thought so minuscule, it's almost nonexistent and insignificant. But it may be a possibility. After all, Colby was there--wherever that place is--for close to a week. Colby will never cheat on her but she'd broken up with him before he disappeared. And that woman. . . . 'What if she's the one Colby is thinking of right now? Did something happen she doesn't know?'

She suddenly jerks upright, mind reeling. "No. He must be hungry. I'll take something for him and Joe." She quickly fills a tray with donuts and croissants, pouring the last bit of what's left of the coffee from earlier into a cup for Colby.

Pamela stops working to grab Mercedes's arm, halting her. "Why are you getting hasty all of a sudden? Give Colby time. I'm sure he will. . . ."

Mercedes cuts her off, "I'm just going to take food to him and Joe, nothing more. If I don't act now, Colby will never forgive me. I've to show him I deserve his forgiveness."

"Just give him some time to cope with everything that has happened. You wouldn't want him shouting at you and taking his anger out on you, do you?"

Mercedes thinks about it for a minute, "Colby won't do that to me," she firmly decides, taking the tray and stepping out of the kitchen despite Pamela's objections. As she draws closer to the balcony where Colby stands, her phone rings. Placing the cup of coffee carefully on the tray, she takes her phone out of the pocket of her black jeans, groaning when she sees it's Fergal calling. "Hello."

"Can I see you?"

It's in times like these she appreciate Fergal's straightforwardness. "I can't Fergal," she lies, "I'm not in town. I'm in Texas with my family. My little sister had a bit of problem at school. I've even asked for a few days off from work," the last part is true.

"When will you be back?"

"Next week."

"Alright. I'll see you when you get back but," he takes a breath in and sighs out loud, "can you call me when you're free? I really need someone to talk to."

"Okay, I'll call you then." She tells him although she isn't sure she'll be able to if things go well with Colby. She has to make sure Colby forgives but considering the distraught tone in Fergal's voice, her plans with Colby will have to wait. She has to find a way to balance things. And fast.

"I love you."

"Love you too Fergal," she responds before hanging up, sighing raggedly. It astounds her how much of a perfect liar she has become. Tucking the phone in her pocket, she walks to the balcony, earning Joe's glance first before Colby turns to look at her too. His brows dips at the sight of her as if it's only now he has realized she's even in the house. "I brought something for the both of you. Thought you might be hungry Colby."

Colby accepts the cup of coffee from her with a small smile. The same smile he's been giving everyone that has offered him their condolences, Mercedes realizes. She wonders how much have changed. How much he has changed. "Thank you," he whispers in a hoarse voice, turning his back to her again.

"Thanks Mercy. These croissants are great," Joe says, biting into a donut before taking all the croissants from the tray.

"You're welcome." Mercedes smiles at Joe and looks back at Colby, battling between leaving and what she should say next. Joe somehow realizes the tensed atmosphere and excuses himself, offering to take the tray from Mercedes to the kitchen. Mercedes gladly gives it to him, moving to stand beside Colby. "How are you?"

"As you can see, not good at all." Colby replies, slightly grimacing when he takes a sip from the cold coffee.

Mercedes berates herself for not heating it up first. 'So much for wanting to impress him.' "I know we aren't on best terms at the moment but I just want you to know I'll always be here for you. No matter what you need. If not a couple, we're at least friends, aren't we?"

"I'll be fine Mercedes. Thank you though for staying with my mother last night and not leaving her alone. Joe told me all that you did for her. Thank you."

Mercedes's heart feels like it's about to burst. 'He noticed after all.' "No need to thank me. I'll always be there for whatever you need." He just nods with a faint smile and Mercedes, realizing he is going to say nothing more, takes her friend's advice and leaves him be, quietly walking away.

'He's just worried about his family,' she assures herself, exiting the house and stepping out into the night before taking out her phone. She shouldn't concern herself about the woman Colby was with. Whoever she is, she doesn't matter. Colby loves only her.

He loved her even at a time when she didn't and now that she does, now that living without him is an impossibility, after everything she has done to keep him by her side, she won't let him slip from her grasp. 'She's going to make their lives all better,' she vows, dialing Fergal's number.

Quinn's Mansion. Los Angeles, California.

"This doesn't work. . . . this isn't it. . . . I missed something. . . ."

Rebecca asserts to herself with nose wrinkled up in disagreement before she rips the paper off the easel, crumpling and tossing it among the bunch of ragged papers scattered at her feet on the marble floor. Adjusting the easel properly, she sets her pencil against the white, smooth blank sheet, hand moving deft and frantic. But yet again, her focus wavers and the pencil slips to the side, drawing an unwanted line across the face she's sketching, destroying her work for the tenth time.

Steeling herself not to knock down the easel in pure frustration, she calmly rips the paper away from the easel and throws it away. She marvels at the amount of self-control she was able to exhibit in that tiny moment. Back in the day, when she was still learning her ways around painting and sketching, she'd sometimes cry when her pencil breaks or when her completed sketch accidentally tears or flies into the swimming pool. She'd give up and retire to her room where she'd lock herself up and refuse to talk to anyone. It would take days for her to come out and weeks for her to take a pencil or a brush to sketch or paint anything again. But not anymore.

She steps back and allows herself a moment to breathe before she sets out to work again, holding the pencil tight as if it might just fly away if she doesn't. She clears her thoughts and imagines only a single scene of him in her head; sitting on the lush grass with his legs dangling in the river as he looks up to the sky littered with stars, a drunk, contented smile on his gorgeous face. It's an iconic image when she sets her pencil and brush down three hours later, taking a few steps back to inspect her handiwork. She smiles despite herself at the painted image of him in vibrant colours, realizing in that moment how much she misses him. But with the longing for him also comes the recollection of him leaving her without single a word. It hurts and aches to even think about, causing her to sit down on the small stool in her large painting room with a heavy sigh.

The room is dark--as she often prefers--save for the lights glowing outside at the pool area which throws flickers of light on her sketch. She'd moved from her previous room to this one because she wanted a bigger room to store her paintings as they'd grown too plenty to store in her bedroom alone. So she'd chosen this bedroom with another room attached to it which she can use to gather her paintings in one place. More than that, it also has a spectacular view of the swimming pool and the sky with all its stars at nights she has come to love over the years. Since the room wasn't occupied by anyone in the past, her brother and her used to forsake their own playing room downstairs to come into this room instead to play with their toys when they were kids, and also hide from their father during a game of hide and seek. Their mother used to scold them, for she always feared they might slip into the pool and drown.

It's the only place which also provided a sanctuary from the boring parties her mother used to throw for her business partners and girlfriends at the mansion, particularly at the large swimming pool in the courtyard. The room holds so many fond memories but now she can't look at the pool and think of anything else other than the river back at Daniel's house and everything she and Colby shared there. She longs for the brief life she had there. She misses Daniel. She misses Colby.

But she has to move on. No matter how hard it will be. She can't allow herself to be stuck in the same predicament she was in after Jeff left her. Deep down, she doesn't want to revisit that phase in her life again, much less for a man whose heart was never supposed to be hers in the first place. Her brother, as cruel and harsh as his words were, was accurate in everything he said. Her father wouldn't be proud of what her life has become and for that, she's going to set her life back on track. 'For her family. For Colby. For herself.'

"Becks?" Ashley calls out from her bedroom. Before she can even respond, a knock sounds on the door of the painting room. Her friend pries the door open enough to poke her head inside, "May I come in?"

Rebecca laughs a little, "You're already in, Ash."

"Guess what I have." Ashley grins, revealing milky, white teeth, raising her eyebrows twice in quick successions.

"What," Rebecca inquires with a lazy smile, setting her pencil beside the palette of colours on the floor.

Ashley moans, looking exasperated with her. "Rebecca Quinn, don't be so boring. Play along for once. Just try to guess what I have in my hands behind me."

"Fine," Rebecca shrugs, feigning a thoughtful look on her face as she scratches her head. She can't imagine anything Ashley has at this time of the night except food. "It must definitely be food you've there. And since you love Indian food. . . . jelabis?"

"Nope."

"Samosas?"

"Nope," Ashley replies, shaking her head. "Try harder Becks."

"Let's move away from India. Burgers? Coffee? Tea?" Ashley shakes her head at all of them. Rebecca sighs in defeat. "I give up. What do you have behind you?

"Ta-da," Ashley cries before revealing a single red rose. In the dim lights of the painting room, it has a near scarlet hue to it.

Rebecca beams, accepting the rose with a radiant smile, "What a sweet friend I have!! Thank you Ash," she says to her friend, inhaling the sweet fragrance of the rose.

"That's not all," Ashley tells her before she dashes from sight, leaving an intrigued and curious Rebecca behind. She appears later with two cups of ice-cream stuffed with spoons. She closes the door behind her and places the cups of ice-cream on the floor, sitting cross-legged. Rebecca rises from the stool to sit opposite her friend, setting the red rose between them.

"God Ash, the ice-cream looks delicious," Rebecca says excitedly, mouth already watering. She looks up at her friend's face, slightly dark due to the dim lights in the painting room. "I can't recall the last time we did this. It must be ages ago, right?"

Ashley ponders over it for a minute, "It's been quite a while to be honest. Like two years ago? It's most definitely after that lying, conniving, wretched, deceitful, miserable. . . ."

Rebecca feigns concern and places her palm on her friend's chest, "Ash, Ash. Relax. You might have a heart attack if you keep going like that."

Ashley takes a deep breath in and exhales, "Sorry Becks. That scoundrel just boils my blood to a thousand degrees when I think of him. But anyway, we're doing it now and that's all that matters. A quick question though; do you believe in magic?"

Rebecca's boisterous laugh echoes around the painting room. It seems her friend has made it her mission to make her smile tonight. "What kind of question is that?"

"Just answer me, you silly girl."

"No."

"Then, I'm going to show you real magic." Ashley widen her eyes and makes a frightening look on her face. While Rebecca continues to laugh, Ashley crosses her hands behind her back. Abruptly, her hands appear at her front and out of her fingers spurs out candies, cutting Rebecca's laugh short. When she realizes they're mint chocolates, Rebecca gasps in joy and snatches three off the floor, fingers already unwrapping one. "Where did these come from?"

"That's real magic," Ashley vaguely replies with a smug look on her face, pleased with herself she was able to pull off the trick. Leaning in, she grips her friend's face and starts kissing her on the cheeks, "Happy birthday in advance to my silly girl, the most kindest, caring, loving friend ever. May you live to be a billion-trillion years old. I wish you all the love, peace, success and happiness in this world. I love you so much Rebecca Quinn," she seals her words with a kiss to her forehead.

Rebecca promised herself she won't cry again after she calmed down from the grief her brother gave her earlier. But now her tears comes unbridled, captivated by the sheer amount of love on her friend's face. "I love you too Elizabeth Ashley Fleir," she gives her friend a kiss on the forehead as well before she pulls her in for a tight embrace. Ashley's cup of ice-cream gets knocked down in the process, "Oops. Thank God it hasn't melted yet."

"We better start eating it then before it does," Ashley suggests after she has wiped the tears off her and Rebecca's face, sitting back. "Open your mouth."

Rebecca smiles as she does, opening her mouth for Ashley to pop a spoonful of her ice-cream into her mouth. Ashley is the only person who doesn't make her feel like a child when she cares for her. It's not overdone; it's just the perfect amount of caring, and she loves it.

"That's weird," Ashley squints at Rebecca's painting, "I've read Peter Pan's book a million times and watched like tons of all the cartoon and movie adaptations of him but I don't recall him ever sitting by a river."

"That isn't Peter Pan Ash," Rebecca replies, looking back at her painting. She notes now Colby looks too small in the painting--she should've done it on a much larger paper--but there's no way anyone will think it's Peter Pan looking at the painting. Ashley is hitting onto something. She doesn't doubt her friend is still wondering about the person she was with when she called her. Ashley is too inquisitive to give it a rest. "That's Colby," she tells her, beginning the inevitable conversation.

Ashley's eyes shines with inquisition and amusement, "And?"

"And I slept with him."

Ashley almost chokes on the ice-cream in her mouth, her eyes widening in astonishment. Rebecca snickers. It's a rare thing to have Ashley in shock. "Holy mother of God bless me!! Becks, do you realize this is the most exciting thing you've told in like two years? You finally broke your virginity!!"

Rebecca is glad no one is awake in the mansion for her friend is practically shouting now. "I broke my virginity at a football park when I was sixteen, remember?"

Ashley laughs it off, "Dry desert, a hiatus or virginity, whatever you want to call it, they all boil down to the fact that for the first time in two years, you finally slept with someone. And also. . . . wait-did you already know him or was he just a stranger you met?"

"Not really a stranger," Rebecca replies, shoving a spoonful of ice-cream into her mouth. "We knew each other quite a bit but you can say we were strangers in some sense."

"Wait-wait," Ashley shushes her, practically shaking with joy. "So you met this guy whose name is Colby and you slept with him? Don't tell me it was because of the sex you got into an accident? God Becks, was it that good?"

"Jesus no!!! The accident is a totally different case. Besides, the sex wasn't anything special. It was just the normal sex everyone has," she says nonchalantly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, eating her ice-cream idly.

Ashley sees right through her. She always does. "Nah-nah Becks. It wasn't just sex. You were crying all the way back. There's something more right?" Ashley slides the red rose to the other side so she can scoot closer to her. "Give me the details, right from the beginning to the end, you silly girl. Who is this Colby? Where did you guys meet and most importantly, how was the sex? You have to give me the exact details of the sex, mind you. Don't you dare leave anything out."

Rebecca bites her bottom lip, considering where to begin. "When I woke up, I found my car smashed to a tree. Thankfully, I survived somehow but you know me, I was still hell-bent on killing myself. He saved me from being run over by a truck and what happened afterwards, I don't know for I slip into unconsciousness. He managed to get help from Daniel, the man who gave me medical care. And. . . . yeah, things took off from there."

Ashley snaps her fingers knowingly, "Attraction at first sight."

"Hell no!! The only attraction we felt towards each other was to fight. You know how I am when someone tries to take care of me."

"Uh-uh, don't tell me you threw a pillow at him like you did with poor Leticia when she forbade you from going to prom."

"No. . . . well yes. But that's after I spilled coffee over him. It wasn't intentional," she adds quickly when her friend's eyes widen at her. "I was batting the coffee away and accidentally, it spilled over him."

"Why would you do that? I mean, he saved your life and thank goodness he did."

"Because he was being too caring." Hearing herself say the reason she was acting so bad with him at first sounds so stupid now.

Ashley doesn't appear too proud of her either, "You spilled coffee on him because he was being too caring? You're officially crazy Becks."

"You should've been there Ash. He was like; 'you need to eat something,' when I didn't have appetite at all for food. 'You need to take your medicines, you need to rest, you should call your family,' and 'you need to rest,' for like a million time," Ashley smiles as she rambles on, "He was just a replica of my mother and Fergal. It was so annoying. To top it all off at that time, he came into the room without knocking."

"Why was that such a problem?" Ashley asks.

"Because I was naked."

"You were naked? Like really, really, really naked? Not the naked with the underwear on because that's called being half-naked."

"I was really, really, really and a thousand really naked. I wasn't wearing anything at all. I'd just finished taking a shower and was drying myself with a towel when he came in."

Ashley eyes her amusingly, eating her ice-cream, "What did he do then?"

"He stood there for a good two minutes just staring at my naked body. . . ."

"That means he liked what he saw."

Rebecca pauses as her cheeks heat up at the memory. "I don't know and I didn't care at that time. So in defense, I threw my towel at him."

Ashley throws her head back with a loud laugh, "You threw the towel at him? Geez Becks, what did you want? What were you thinking?"

Rebecca chuckles at how idiotic she'd been at that time. "I did it in the heat of the moment. I rushed, I know but it was the only thing that came to mind. I was so angry and irritated. He even apologized but I was having none of it for I simply thought of him as annoying and a pervert. Then later that night he gave some encouraging words and I just couldn't stay angry at him. I realized then that he was nice."

"And what were those encouraging words?"

"He told me I shouldn't waste my life for Jeff, that he doesn't deserve my tears, much less my life. He said, 'you're worth more than a thousand reasons why.' He was so nice Ash. Too nice."

"Of course he is. After all that you did to him, he still stayed. He's just a pure sweetheart. God bless him." Ashley tells her dreamily with an equal dreamy smile on her face.

Rebecca blinks at her friend. She has never quite thought of it that way. She knows he stayed to take care of her but Ashley is right; he didn't leave even when she assured him it will be alright if he did. He'd every reason to with her hostile behaviour towards him but he was still patient and tolerant enough to stay. Daniel may have had a part in why he did but Daniel couldn't have stopped him either if he really wanted to leave. So why did he when she told him to wait this time? Or something happened that she doesn't know? What could be so grave for him to leave without a word to her?

"Let's skip to the sex part, shall we? Was it good?"

Rebecca blushes, "It was. I know I hadn't had sex in a long time but I know the difference. It was amazing. There was the river, the stars above us and a bottle of red wine. One thing led to another and I ended up in the river with him holding me close and before I knew it, he kissed me. Then everything that happened afterward. . . ."

Ashley giggles and squeals childishly, "How romantic!! You're going to give me details of the sex some other time but for now, tell me. What happened the next morning? Did he want more? What did he say to you?"

"He wanted sex again but I said no."

Ashley's smile falters, "But why?!!"

"Because he has someone he loves. An ex-girlfriend he cried over in front of me the night before. I just couldn't do it again knowing perfectly well he loves someone else."

Her friend looks baffled, "But Becks, with the way things happened, it was obviously just the two of you having fun, right? I mean there were no strings or feelings attached. It was just. . . . sex, right?"

"What are you driving at Ash," Rebecca inquires.

"Becks, you know I have flings all the time. It comes a time where you'll just have a one nightstand with someone and because the sex was so good, you want it again. It's perfectly normal for him to want it again but you. . . . wait, you didn't think of the sex as pure fun, did you?"

Rebecca's face reddens, "No."

Ashley gasps, shoulders slumping. "Holy shit Becks!! Have you fallen in love with him?"

Rebecca gives her friend a sharp look and groans. It unnerves her sometimes how well Ashley knows her. She stares nervously into her cup of ice-cream which has now melted, seeing only white in her vision. Her lips quivers before she says it, clear and loud. "Yes. I've fallen in love with him. I love him," her heart constricts at the confession. All this time, she has never accepted the feelings she has for him as love. Perhaps she'd been afraid accepting she loves him will make the pain greater and have her think of herself as a fool for falling in love again after everything Jeff did to her. She should've run away at just the mention of love but yet again, her heart is one step ahead of her mind. "Ash, stop looking at me like that. Say something. You probably think me gullible for falling in love again, don't you?"

Ashley shakes her head, "Of course not Becks. Don't say such things. Falling in love is not a crime. Just because Jeff left doesn't mean everyone else will."

Rebecca scoffs bitterly, "Well, it seems that is the trend these days, at least in my life for Colby left too. He left me without a single word. As if I don't matter at all to him and maybe I never did."

"That's why you were crying back there, right? But why did he? Can you guess why he did?"

Rebecca shrugs helplessly. "I've no idea. The bottom line is he did. He didn't care about me to give me a reason. Perhaps, he just saw me as a friend; a friend he couldn't bear to have her think of him in any wrong way and that may be the reason he stopped me at the bus station. Maybe I interpreted his words the wrong way and assumed he wanted something more. But I kissed him and he smiled at me after so I thought we had an understanding. Then all of you arrived. He looked a bit uncomfortable with my family there so I asked him to wait for me. When I turned again, he was gone."

"But Becks, maybe something came up," Ashley suggests. "Perhaps something happened he'd to urgently take care of. Listen, why don't you call him and clear all of this up. I'm sure he must have a good explanation for why he did that to you."

"I don't have his number. I don't even know where he stays. All I know is he lives here in Los Angeles which he didn't bother to tell me even though he had plenty of time to. I also know he was in WWE but Vince refused to hire him for some reason. . . ."

Ashley's eyes shoots up, "We'll call Stephanie then and ask if anyone there has his number. My phone is in my room. I'll go get it."

Rebecca places a hand on Ashley's thigh to halt her, "No Ash. Don't. I don't want to call him. Let's leave things as they are. Please Ash. He's probably home with his ex-girlfriend. He must be talking things through with her as we speak."

"Becks, I think you're giving up too easily in this and the ex-girlfriend he has. . . . she's an ex-girlfriend not the girlfriend. He would've pushed you away when you kissed him if he didn't want something too. I think you should call him and talk things through with him before you jump into conclusions. You're hurting about this and that isn't good for you, Becks."

Rebecca shakes her head, "No, Ash. I've decided I will leave things as they are. This isn't about me giving up; this is about me wanting to get my life back on track. There's nothing for me to fight for with Colby. I rushed things with him, I didn't think things through when I slept with him and he. . . . he hasn't given me any reason whatsoever he wants something with me. He gave me so much hope when he told me he didn't think of what we did as a mistake and then he left, without a word to me."

Ashley squeezes her thigh soothingly, "I'm done looking for love. I'm done always fighting for someone to love me. I'm not a hard person to love but it seems everyone finds it difficult to love me in one way or another. I'm done running after a man and begging him to love me. If someone can't love me, I'm not going to beg him to. I've so many things to fix in my life. Adding Colby to it will be a mistake I'm not ready to make."