Even from her room, Kimberly could hear the sounds of people mingling and chatting downstairs. She stood in front of the mirror and checked her outfit one last time. She was wearing a black dress with spaghetti straps that was tight around the chest but cinched right at the waist and then flared out, stopping mid-thigh. The neckline veered low enough to show a sizeable amount of her cleavage – which meant she'd have to be avoiding her parents – and she hoped that it didn't look too 'high school' for the gathering. She didn't want Julian to see her as a child next to his friends and colleagues.

As she descended the staircase, Kimberly saw that the house was filled. There must have been at least a hundred people there. There were people in the living room, the tv room, the backyard, and wherever else they could fit. Everyone was laughing, smiling, and just seeming to have an all around good time.

Kimberly scanned the room for Julian and spotted him near the front door, talking to two other people – an older man and older woman – who he looked genuinely delighted to see. Kimberly smiled at the image and made her way towards the kitchen. No matter how much she wanted to be, she knew that she couldn't be on Julian's arm today. Not parents were still around and watching. The best she could so was steal a quick glance or two every so often, which in all honesty was much harder than just being away from him.

She didn't know any of the people that were here (except for her parents and Julian of course) and they all seemed to know each other, so it wasn't hard for her to float through the crowd unnoticed. Kimberly approached the snack table, looking for something to eat, and was pleasantly surprised when she saw a familiar face.

She ran up to the table, tapping the woman's shoulder and praying that it was who she thought it was.

The woman turned around with a scowl on her face, but it instantly brightened when her eyes landed on Kimberly. "Oh, Kimberly!" Wendy leaned forward and gave Kimberly an air kiss on either cheek. "I'm so surprised to see you here, are you interning at the firm?"

"No, no, no!" Kimberly laughed, "I'm actually here for my parents. Since I hadn't seen them in a while, they thought it would be nice if I came here while they were staying here. And since I already know Julian, everything worked out."

Kimberly ignored that fact that it was getting surprisingly easy to lie about all things related to Julian. She wasn't sure whether that was a good or bad thing.

Wendy's eyebrow shot up, "Your parents?"

"Yeah." Kimberly smiled, pointing over to where her mother stood by the window, chatting it up with some unfamiliar lady. "My parents are Marcus and Leah VanStromme."

Wendy's jaw dropped when she looked from Leah to Kimberly. A smile spread across her face and she held Kimberly's shoulders tightly, really examining the girl. She finally shook her head in disbelief. "As I live and breathe! Kimberly you look so much like Marcus, I don't know how I didn't notice it sooner! I had a feeling that something was familiar about you when we first met though. Your father is a very handsome man, you know."

Kimberly laughed, "It's too bad he's taken, I hear he was quite the bachelor in his time."

Wendy gave Kimberly a knowing smile, biting her lip as she closed her eyes for a moment, probably thinking about Marcus. Kimberly shuddered a little bit at the thought of what exactly Wendy could have been thinking about that made her mouth twitch up deviously like that. Wendy put a hand on her chest, feigning sorrow as she shook her head. "He truly was. Your mother came in and swept him off his feet though. My heart breaks every time I think about it."

With an uneasy laugh, Kimberly picked up a bruschetta from the table, stuffing it in her mouth. She did not want to talk about her father's various escapades. That was probably the most mortifying thing she could think of – right after her parents catching her and Julian. Kimberly took a breath, "So...how do you know Julian so well?" she asked. "You guys seem to be pretty close.

Wendy grinned, "Yes! Oh, me and little Jules go way back! He actually used to be married to my youngest daughter, Daphne. Sadly, they aren't together anymore, but Jules is still a very big part of our lives."

Kimberly nearly choked on her bruschetta as she looked at Wendy, wide eyed. She was Daphne's mother? That was worrisome because despite Wendy being old, it was clear that she was a striking woman, in both looks and personality. Kimberly could only imagine what she must have been in her prime...what Daphne must look like... She forced the most realistic smile she could manage on her face and choked out a tiny, "No, I wasn't aware."

Wendy smiled sadly, "Yeah. They were really a great match, but I think they learnt that no matter how good it feels, not everything is meant to be. All dams break eventually, whether it takes one year or one thousand. You cannot stop a river from flowing in its natural path. You can try to deter it, but it will find its way back, and the same goes for life, you have to let it take its natural course. And I think that if my daughter and Julian are meant to be together, they'll find their way back to each other."

Each word felt like a slap in the face to Kimberly, and especially because she knew that Wendy's intentions were pure. Wendy had no idea how Kimberly felt about Julian, but what was worse, was that everything she said was true. You could only deter the inevitable for so long. Julian and Daphne were the same age, in the same places in their lives...it just made so much more sense for them to be together. What could Kimberly offer Julian that Daphne couldn't? All she was was an eighteen year old girl who was confused about everything except for the fact that she never wanted kids. Why on earth did he love her? She literally couldn't offer him anything, not even a family.

"Have you met Daphne yet?" Wendy asked, looking behind Kimberly.

"Have I...what..." Kimberly turned around felt her toes grow cold as she laid eyes on a woman who was the spitting image of Wendy, standing at the front door. She was exactly what Kimberly had imagined she would be. Stunning in all the right ways and perky in all the right places. Like, all of them.

Her hair was red and pin straight, falling right to her shoulders. It was a darker version of Wendy's hair and it shaped her face so perfectly that Kimberly was tempted to ask for her hairdresser's number. This woman looked put together, sophisticated, and at the same time, like somebody who could still have a good time if she wanted to.

Daphne embodied everything that Kimberly had wanted to be when she got older, and on top of all that, she was sporting one of the most beautiful smiles Kimberly had ever seen. Without even talking to her, Kimberly could justtell that she was a good person. How was she supposed to hate somebody like that? How was Julian supposed to stay away from somebody like that?

And what made it worse, was that he was standing only a few feet away from her, drink in hand, and looking at her with an awestruck expression that made Kimberly want to just curl up and die. With the way Julian was ogling Daphne, Kimberly was sure that his glass would fall out of his hands and shatter against hard ground. Had he ever looked at her like that? She couldn't remember.

Julian hadn't told her that Daphne was coming today, and she wished that he had, because if she knew then she probably wouldn't have come down. Seeing Daphne was much worse than just hearing about her. She was all of Kimberly's worst fears, and was driving her paranoia through the roof.

"Daphne!" Wendy waved at her daughter who hadn't seemed to notice Julian yet, and she came over to them, turning heads and greeting people with smiles along the way.

"Hey Mom," Daphne said, ignoring that her mother was going in for air kisses and wrapping her arms around Wendy with a big smile. "You're looking good," she said. "Have you been exercising?"

With a smirk, Wendy raised a brow at Daphne and said, "I guess you could call it that."

Daphne gave her mother a flat look. "You see, this is why I don't ask you about your life, Mom." Wendy laughed and Daphne just sighed, turning to Kimberly now. "And who is this?" she asked.

Kimberly wished she could think up something smart and witty to say to Daphne, but she had completely frozen up. Being around Daphne was just making her feel so inferior. She may have been taller than Daphne, but Daphne had the larger personality, and it was clear from miles away. Kimberly also knew that Julian was watching them from wherever he was, and that was the only thing that kept her standing there. She had to be mature about this. She had to show Julian that she was on the same level as Daphne, even if she was upset that he kept this from her.

"This is Kimberly," Wendy finally said when it became clear Kimberly wasn't going to speak. " She's Marcus VanStromme's daughter."

Daphne's face lit up and she leaned forward, giving Kimberly two unwanted and unreciprocated air kisses. Kimberly just stood there, unmoving as Daphne kissed either cheek, smiling cheerfully as she pulled back. "You know," Daphne said to her, "your dad was almost my dad. My mother here was very in love with him."

Kimberly laughed weakly, looking between Daphne and Wendy for a chance to exit. Daphne may have been a great person, but Kimberly didn't want to be there. The more time she spent with Daphne, the more guilty she felt about disliking her. Daphne hadn't done anything to her, and the only reason she was so insecure was because Julian had hid Daphne from her. She wanted to scream as she thought about how easy it would have been to converse with Daphne had she not felt like Julian still had feelings for her.

She couldn't do this anymore. She needed to leave.

Kimberly smiled at the two of them, getting ready to excuse herself when she heard the one voice that she was hoping she wouldn't.

"Daphne."

Daphne turned around and came face to face with Julian her ex-husband Carter. "Julian," she replied, her voice sultry and smooth. Her lips parted slightly as she took in the man before her, and Julian's eyes flickered down to them as they did so.

Seeing their mutual attraction made Kimberly feel sick. She knew that there was nothing she could do though. Of course Julian was going to be attracted to other people, he was only human.

Daphne gave him a sickeningly ardent smile; the kind of smile that said there was something special between just two of them, and nobody else was invited to be a part of it. She giggled softly, before wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. Julian looked surprised at first, but quickly smiled and hugged her back, not daring to look over at Kimberly who he knew was watching him.

Jealousy wasn't cute. Kimberly of all people knew that. But as she watched the two of them hug, she couldn't help noticing how well they seemed to fit together. It was so natural and it made her want to vomit.

"I didn't know if you were coming or not," Julian said when Daphne finally pulled away.

"Yeah," she said. "I originally wasn't going to, but when I told Mom you invited me she insisted I come. She says I work too much and need to mingle more. But I'm glad I came...it's nice to see you again. It's been too long."

Julian nodded, "That it has."

His eyes quickly grazed over Daphne's body, and Kimberly could tell that he was trying to be inconspicuous about it, but it didn't get past her. He was checking Daphne out, and it was clear that he liked what he saw.

Daphne looked around at the house with a familiar smile on her face. "It's so different, Jules," she said, making Kimberly throw up a little in her mouth. When Wendy called Julian Jules, it was cute, motherly even. When Daphne did it though, it was full of romance and laced with undertones that made Kimberly sick. "It doesn't even feel like our house anymore."

Kimberly froze.

"Our house?" she asked, before she had a chance to stop herself.

Daphne and Wendy both looked a little shocked at Kimberly's tone, but Julian looked somber. He knew that he had fucked up again by not telling her about this, and especially after what had happened last night. He didn't meet Kimberly's eye even though she was looking right at him in both anger and confusion.

Daphne finally answered Kimberly, nodding with a smile, "Yes, I used to live here with Julian," she said, placing a hand on his chest the same way Kimberly's mother placed her hands on her father. Julian and Kimberly both flinched, and even though Daphne continued talking, Kimberly's eyes couldn't look away from the hand on Julian's chest. "I don't know if you knew, but the two of us actually used to be married."

Kimberly took in a sharp breath and clenched her jaw, "I knew."

"Oh...kay..." Daphne looked around awkwardly, noticing the tension in the air and not knowing what exactly had caused it. She smiled tightly,"Well I'm going to around and talk to some old friends," she said, taking her hand off Julian's chest and rubbing his arm lightly. "You and I should have a chat later, okay?" Julian nodded and she leaned up, giving him an air kiss on just the one cheek, but making sure it lingered.

Jesus Christ, if one more person gave another air kiss, Kimberly was really going to lose it.

Daphne pulled away from Julian, now smiling at Kimberly. "And it was nice to meet you, Kimberly," she said. "Hopefully I'll see you before I leave." And then she left the three of them, walking outside to find other people, her hips swaying the entire way there.

Wendy sighed, "I need a cigarette," she muttered, before turning around and walking in the other direction, leaving Julian and Kimberly alone for the first time all day.

Julian looked at her nervously, "Hey," he said. "How are you feeling?"

"Um..." Kimberly looked at her feet. She didn't want to start crying, not now with everyone still around. "My chest is kind of hurting," she said, not exactly lying. "I think I'll just sit the rest of this one out."

She turned to leave and go upstairs, but Julian reached over, grabbing her arm and stopping her in her tracks. A few people gave them sideways glances and he quickly dropped it, brushing his hands on his shirt and straightening back out. "Kimberly," he said. "Don't do this because of Daphne. Have a good time."

"Julian, I'm not – I'm not mad or anything...I just –" She took a deep breath and looked up at him, tears brimming in her eyes. "It's just really hard to see the two of you together. I keep thinking about everything we've done in this house and I can't help imagining you doing it with her. Why wouldn't you tell me that you invited her? Why wouldn't you tell me that you guys lived here? Julian, why do you keep on hiding things from me?"

Julian faltered. "I'm sorry, Kimberly," he said.

Kimberly nodded and laughing skeptically. "Yeah, I'm sure you're very sorry, but right now that doesn't mean anything to me."

He sighed. Kimberly could see the words at the tip of his tongue but he didn't speak them, instead he just asked, "What do you want me to do then?"

She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Nothing," she said. "I just don't want to be here right now. I need to be alone."

"Alright," he nodded, looking at her dismally. "Just – if you want to come back down before this is over, then maybe we can talk? I don't want you to feel like I'm hiding things from you, Kimberly. I just don't know how to make you see that."

"Um...ever tried actually telling things to me?"

He sighed, "It's a lot more complicated than it seems, Kimberly."

"Julian, I'm not a fucking child! Despite what you may think, I actually can have sophisticated conversations and understand them."

A few people looked over at the two of them with suspicion and Kimberly knew that it was time to leave before they began to talk. "Julian, look, I just don't have time for any of your tricks anymore, so if you want to talk to me, I'd love that, but if not, then I have to go."

With a reluctant nod, Julian took a deep breath. "Okay, come back down when you're feeling better. I want to talk to you, and I'll tell you everything. I promise."

"Don't make promises to me, Julian, especially ones I'm not sure if you can keep."

✎_ _ _ _ _

Kimberly felt a little bad about what had happened earlier. She knew she had been quite cold even though Julian was being earnest, but she was just so sick of all the secrets. She just wanted him to be open with her. It wasn't like she had any huge secrets in her life that she was hiding from him. He knew about all her exes and what her current relationships with them were, he had even had some qualms about Owen, and she had quickly set him straight and been 100% honest in doing so. As far as her love life went – both past and present – she had been an open book with him, and yet here she stood, day after day finding out something else about him that she should have told her himself.

It just wasn't right.

She maneuvered through the crowd, asking random people if they had seen Julian around, and after five minutes, she finally managed to find someone who had seen him. They told her that they had seen him go towards the direction of the kitchen, and so Kimberly figured that he must have been in the hallway behind it. She thanked the person and then headed through the crowd towards the direction of the hallway.

She walked past the kitchen and rounded the corner with a warm smile on her face, but as soon as she laid eyes on the sight before her, she felt heart drop to her stomach. She knew that she was paranoid, but she had always thought it was because she was a little crazy, not because there was any truth to her suspicions.

Right there, sitting on the couch in the hallway, locking lips, was Julian and Daphne. Kimberly could only see Daphne's back from where she stood, but she could see Julian's face, and the sight of it haunted her. His eyes were closed and his eyebrows were drawn together, he looked both pained and conflicted, and it was worse than if he had just looked lust-filled. That way, it could have been played off as a physical attraction, but now...Kimberly could see it clearly in his face. He cared for Daphne. He maybe even loved her.

He brought his hands up to either of her cheeks, shaking his head as he pulled away from the kiss. He looked at her with uncertainty and his thumb caressed her cheek as he gave her a sad smile, "Daphne..." he said, trailing off when his eyes flashed over to the figure standing at the end of the hallway.

Kimberly felt like she should have been crying as Julian stood up quickly with wild eyes and a heaving chest, but the tears never came. "Kimberly," he said, but she wasn't having it.

She shook her head, looking down at her feet in disbelief. This wasn't happening. This couldn't actually have been happening. This was what she had been afraid of and he had assured her that it wasn't even a possibility. He had held her in his arms and told her that she was the only one on his mind. And worst of all, she had believed him.

She couldn't take this anymore. She turned around, not looking back at Julian before she ran past the hallway, ignoring his shouts.

"Kimberly!" he called. He couldn't run after her because of his leg, and she used that to her advantage. "Fuck,Kimberly! Please, just wait!"

She didn't listen to him though, she needed to get away. And so she ran past the back of the house, down the corridor, and headed straight for the front door.