Stop

"Yeah...yeah, I'm feeling alright." Justin forces another smile in case the last one hadn't been good enough to convince Beth he was happy. Accepting the water, he nods and thanks her, listening to her talk about finding her mother's cookbook. Without her saying so, he knew it must have been at least a little difficult for her.

"Good for you." He meant it, too. "I'm sure it's going to taste just as good as it smells."

Taking a sip of his water, he tries to fend off the headache that wanted to come. Wandering to the table, he sits, his mind trying to relive the day even though he was fighting it. He didn't want to think about Dalton or Scott or any of that. He didn't want to think about Rebecca either. Wait, what?

Justin realizes he's staring at the table so he takes another sip of water. It wasn't like him to feel so off his game, yet oddly enough, it didn't seem to matter in this setting. It was just too...comfortable? A red flag goes up and he pays it heed, getting his mind back on track. "Anything I can do to help you out with supper?"


Ariel catches Trey's sly little comment and her eyes narrow even though her lips continue to grin. She nods and continues to eat. "Good. You don't try to pull any stunts and I think we'll get along great."

She bites off a piece of chicken from her fork, pointing the utensil at Trey in a fair warning for him to continue behaving himself around her. "I'll get a hold of you one way or another about getting together again. For now though, we're gonna take a walk around the park when we're done eating."


I love you, too.

Jason didn't even have the energy to reply with his voice. Feeling Kate's palm slide into his, another dimension of emotions was opened and they poured forth again, funneled to the one source that could absorb them. His fingers curl around her hand, grateful for her willingness to endure this with him. He knew she had to be hurting, with as much pain that was surging through his own body right now.

I don't like Trey. How can he be my brother? How am I going to tell Mom? I'd take an Agency battle over this.

His grip tightens around her hand.

The emotions are killing me, Katie...I can't take them anymore. They've gotten too strong. I don't know how to control them like I was. If ever it felt like a curse...

He knew Katie loved their connection and he didn't want to upset her with his silent comment, but right now, it really did feel like a curse.

Have to calm down... have to control them...

Jason's eyes shut tightly against the strain. Slowly, slowly, the emotions begin to ease off. Though still present, their strength began to wane. Jason's grip loosens a little, though his body starts to tremble as he's hit with a wave of chills. And though fighting it, the tears do finally come. Unwanted, they escape his eyes to run down his face and fall silently into the pillow. Still shaking, his other hand finds Katie's and pulls her arm around him even more, feeling enveloped as if by a warm blanket.


Chuck's hand on her face makes Susanne's knees feel like jello. Though she refrained, every fiber in her wanted to lean into his touch and feel his warm palm caress her cheek one more time.

"What happens after three days?" she asks quietly.

Her eyes drop as her cheeks grow warm yet again. Her fingers still nestled in his other hand, she moves her thumb a little bit, feeling over one of his fingers, over his knuckles, then back again. That alone made her heart race in the most peculiar manner.

Her gaze remains on the ground, her words still so softly spoken as if she thought a louder tone might break the moment for good. "I want to believe you, Chuck. But my better sense keeps telling me that it's either a dream or your intentions can't be what you say."

She bites her lip, feeling almost cruel for having voiced that. Swallowing hard, she gains the courage to look back up at his eyes again. The lights from the parking lot reflected off of them, making them sparkle even more and Susanne wondered if she could just stand there and gaze at them for an eternity.

"I'll go to dinner with you," she finally answers. "But stop making me feel so special... it will only make it harder on me when this is over."


Alec returns Ryan's kiss, his one hand crawling up and down her arm as he keeps her in the embrace. Looking back at her as she withdraws, he grins. "Fifteen minutes? I'd wait a lifetime."

Finally letting her go, he gives her bottom a backhanded whack before ambling over to the work bench and jumping up to sit on it and wait. Watching Ryan, he cocks his head. "Ya know... with this view, I could watch you work on engines all day long."