Kevin paced back and forth in his house; Brian and Howie were coming over to comfort him. He definitely did not need Nick and A.J.'s form of comfort right now, alcohol would only make him feel worse.
The thoughts of what happened earlier in the day ran through Kevin's head. What was going on in Kristy's head, why would she think that she could take advantage of her friend's situation like that? Should he tell the guys? Should he ask them what to do?
He sighed heavily when he heard the knock at the door; carefully he made his way over and opened the door for Brian and Howie.
"Hey," He said solemnly.
"Kevin, I know what's going on in your life, but you really look like someone ran over your dog with a bus." Brian tried to joke.
Howie gave him a sharp look, "That was stupid Brian."
Brian only shrugged before taking his cousin up into a hug. "Sorry pal."
Howie laid his hand on Kevin's shoulder and waited for Brian to release him from his hug. "What took you so long to call us?" He questioned as they moved into the living room to sit down.
Kevin shrugged as he fell into an armchair. "I thought she would come around soon, I thought this would be over by now and we would be resuming our plans for the wedding." He paused avoiding the other two guy's gaze, afraid they would know what happened in that very room earlier. "She told me she remembered me today at lunch."
"That's great Kevin!" Howie exclaimed before Kevin could add anything else.
Kevin only looked up at him, the words unable to form in his mouth.
"She didn't say what you thought she would, did you Kevin?" Brian said noting the look in his eyes.
Kevin shook his head. "She said some bullshit story about how we dated for a bit but then decided that we would be better separate." He dropped his head in his hands unwilling to let himself cry in front of the others.
Howie glanced at Brian then back to Kevin. "Why would she remember something that didn't happen? Is there something else to this story Kevin?"
He thought about it, did he really want to mention what happened to them? He knew that Brian would think that he somehow convinced Kristy that it was what he wanted too. After a few minutes of silent debate with himself, Kevin shook his head. "No, there is nothing else to tell."
Brian looked at his cousin, the sadness in his eyes showed more then he knew. If Kevin did not want to discuss something then he knew that he would not discuss it.
"So, pizza and a movie?" Brian asked, breaking the silence.
*****
Tracy and Kristy had left for the day leaving Danielle to sleep, but Danielle tossed her pills down the toilet when she was getting ready. She sat on her bed staring into the darkness pondering her next step. She sighed deeply and glanced at the paper in front of her, she found it in one of her drawers, it was just a phone number she had no idea who it went to, but the first step to finding out her true past was to dial the number.
She picked up the phone and carefully dialed the number waiting anxiously for someone to pick up when the phone started to ring. The impulse to hang up the phone surged over her when a voice answered on the other end.
"Hello?" The voice asked.
"Um…" Danielle started to say.
"Can I help you?" the person asked her.
"Well, this is going to sound strange but…"
The person on the other end stopped Danielle from continuing. "Danielle?" The person asked. "Did you remember my number?"
"Well, uh, no," She replied. "I actually found it written on some paper in one of my drawers, but didn't know who it belonged to. I thought I would call it and find out."
"Oh," The voice on the other end sounded disappointed. "So if you can't remember that you are talking to me, Leighanne, then I suppose you don't remember Kevin yet either?"
Danielle shook her head and answered Leighanne. "No. I don't remember either of you, though your voice is very comforting."
"Well Danielle it's good to hear your voice too, I don't know why you've avoided talking to any of us. We all miss hanging out with you. Jessica was just talking about you yesterday and we were talking about how distant you've seemed."
"Well, I can't get out of my apartment alone; my leg still makes it hard to go down stairs alone."
"Well when I've called Kristy has said that you didn't want to talk to any of us."
"Kristy huh?" Danielle asked.
"Yeah, Kristy. I understand that you've known her longer then us, but to just stop talking to us doesn't seem like something you would do."
"Well Leighanne, I want to know my past from other points of view, I've only been getting Kristy's and this girl Tracy that I supposedly dated and I would like to talk with Kevin, but Kristy doesn't let me out the apartment alone."
Danielle managed to get Kevin's number but they didn't get to talk much longer, Danielle heard keys, quickly threw the covers over her head, and pretended to be sleeping.
The door to her room quietly opened and a soft voice called out to Danielle. When she didn't respond Kristy slowly walked over to the bed and sat down.
"Danielle, wake up sweetie."
Groggily Danielle sat up and stretched the best she could, trying to make it appear that she was asleep only a few minutes before.
"Kristy?" She asked pretending that she was not doing anything that Kristy would be mad about.
"Well I thought I would come and check on you and tell you that I really am glad you are alive."
Danielle smiled and nodded at Kristy then laid her head back down on her pillow. "Thanks Kristy, for everything you've done for me."
Kristy pulled the covers around Danielle. "Now I really am going to get going, I have to work."
Danielle yawned and closed her eyes, pretending to sleep again.
*****
She watched in the shadows as the lights in his living room flickered, she guessed that Kevin was watching a movie. There was another car in the driveway and she assumed that Brian was over keeping him company.
She didn't want to think about how she made her way into the housing development, she could still feel the blood trickling down her leg from climbing over the gate.
Kristy told her to keep her eye on Kevin tonight, that she had other things to do so she needed Tracy to do this for her. That's all Kristy wanted her to do, watch. She watched as Kristy directed Danielle's life, she watched as Kristy made her sad attempts to woo Kevin, she watched as her own life and aspirations seemed to disappear.
Tracy shook her head and decided she needed to do something about what was going on. She needed to take control of her own life. She managed to get close to Kevin on several occasions without Kristy's help so why did she have to ask Kristy if she could even look at Kevin now. Why did she have to get permission to do anything anymore?
The other day Danielle asked about their relationship and Tracy almost gagged at the thought of being with another girl. Kristy glared at her and so she tried her best to talk about it, but Danielle looked unsure of what she was saying. Tracy was sure that Kristy would yell at her, possibly turn her over to the police for something or other for ruining her plan, but instead she simply sent her to watch Kevin and make sure that he wasn't attempting to contact Danielle.
She watched as the lights blared on in Kevin's living room, the movie must have ended and whoever he was with was surely about to leave. She kept her eyes on the house as the front door opened, she watched as Brian, and Howie exited.
She sighed quietly as she caught sight of Kevin. He always managed to astound her, he was so stunning. Cautiously she moved closer to his house, it was difficult to avoid the light on the street, but she managed to hide behind some bushes that were on his property, it was the perfect spot, there was a great view of his living room.
She watched as Kevin moved back into the living room and took a seat on the couch, she watched him flip through the channels. She turned her attention to what was on the television. Kevin was watching a home movie. Danielle's face appeared on the screen smiling at the camera and pursing her lips together. She continued to watch as the images showed Kevin and Danielle sitting together closely. Tracy shook her head, Kevin looked so happy; he didn't look that way now.
She turned her head back to Kevin to see his reaction to what he was watching. She gasped, her heart jumping into her throat as she looked at Kevin looking at her.