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Chapter 27 – Sorting Truth From Lies

"You know, this sundae isn't as happy as I thought it was going to be..." Teagan drawled with an unpleasant sigh. She couldn't understand Oriana ditching her and as much as she tried to forget, she couldn't. Without her Oriana, her heart didn't seem complete. She pushed her melting ice cream about the bowl, tapping on the edge of the china. Brian cringed at her depressed state, leaning forward to notice all the cherries were sitting in the bowl. He arched his blonde brows in confusion, causing Teagan to jump. "Riana always eats all my cherries..."

"Honey, I know that it hurts for her to ignore you like that. There's nothing you can do if that's what she decides," Brian replied, taking her hand into his. "You can't get all depressed about it."

"You don't understand," Teagan sulked, pulling her hand from Brian's grasp. "She's my life, Brian. I've had her in my life since she was born. It was always her and me. Always her and me. I can't just let her go!"

"Well, what do you want to do about it, then?"
"Get her back!"

"How?!"

Teagan was about to reply when she heard the opening of the front door, followed by a familiar tap. Teagan immediately launched from her seat in the kitchen, knowing that was Oriana's own personal opening of the door. She would always bounce it against her hip before shutting it, causing the extra small tap. Her heart immediately leapt to her throat as she pushed away the ice cream. "She's home! She's home! She's home!"

"Great..." Brian muttered as Teagan jumped to her feet.

"Duckie! Duckie! Duckie-Doo!" Teagan shrieked with delight, pitching herself into the living room. She ran at full speed through the various hallways, leaping up to the threshold of the doorway to grapple her Oriana.

"Ow! Damn, Gabby!" Oriana yelped in agony, getting thrown against the wall. She felt her heavy purple cast immediately smack backward to offer a hot throb of pain. She bit down hard on her bottom lip to keep from crying. "Woah, that's a little rough, Gabby."

"I'm sorry, I'm just so happy! You're home! You're okay! I was so worried when I saw you on the field and heard you screaming," Teagan kissed her cheeks repeatedly.

"Well...thanks..." Oriana fumbled, unable to get away from Teagan's overbearing pressure. "I'm fine, Gabby. Honestly, I'm perfectly fine... Can I breathe now?"

"Oh! Sorry," Teagan blushed, pulling away. "Duckie... you don't hate me or anything, do you?"

"Why would I hate you?"

"I don't know. It's just that you always call for me when you hurt yourself. But today, you just called for Howie and--"

"Gabby," Oriana sighed, adjusting the strap to her arm sling. She sighed softly, running her left hand through her blonde curls. "I don't even know what I was thinking. I was so upset about hurting Howie and then I was in a hell'uva a lot of pain. I am so sorry..."

"You mean you don't hate me?"

"No! I never could hate my Gabby. Never, ever and I'm so sorry."

"But---"

"Gabby, c'mon, Sweetheart. You're my right hand... Well, now you're really going to have to be my right hand," Oriana tempted to joke, motioning toward her purple cast covering the length of her arm almost to her elbow.

"What happened?" Teagan breathed.

"Broke it in five places? Mad close to have surgery," Oriana answered softly with a lean shrug of her shoulders.

"Oh my God... who went back with you when they set the bones in place?"

"Nobody important."

"You mean it wasn't Howie?"

"He would have fainted."

"Then who went with--"

"Oriana! C'mon! Let's get these pain killers into you! I got you a liter of Pepsi, you're favorite soda, right? I'll grab you a bag of ice and you can just lounge on the couch for awhile. Then we'll talk to your mother when she gets home. Alex and Howie went to pick up your car..."

"Kevin, you can breathe, it's just a broken arm," Oriana groaned as Kevin hurriedly pushed her into the living room. She yelped in surprise as she was forced onto the couch and several pillows thrown under her arm.

"I'm guessing it was Kevin who went to the back room with you," Teagan replied with a raised eyebrow as she watched Kevin hurry about Oriana. "Yo! Kevin! Stop!"

"What?" the older man asked, stopping in his tracks and looking over at Teagan.

"Take a deep breath and calm down. Oriana's broken bones before and you're acting like she's made of glass. Rest is always needed, but she can do things herself without disturbing the set bones."

"How many times?"

"Enough to know that human's are very dangerous creatures," Oriana groaned softly.

"Honestly, I think we've lost count. But you know what would make Mom less freaked out when she comes home to see Oriana in a cast?"

"No... what?"

"To have her favorite dinner and drink waiting for her. Why don't you go and start making it?"

"Teagan---"

"You haven't seen Mom freaked out and you don't want to. Now go and make her dinner!"

"Fine..." Kevin trailed in surprise, finally relinquishing his care over Oriana. He withdrew from her side, offering her pain medication and soda. Then, he moved backward into the kitchen.

"Thank you, Kevin!" Teagan called before turning back to Oriana. "He's never seen Ma’s reaction to something like this, I thought it would be best for him to butter her up."

"Think she'll murder me this time?"

"I don't know... this is the worst break. But I'm here and I won't let anything happen."

"Yeah, I think I'm just going to run for safety. I can live in my room for over a month..."

"Maybe we can hide it?"

"Hide this humongous thing?" Oriana asked with a raised eyebrow, pointing to her cast.

"I was trying to be optimistic?"

"Well, don't, it doesn't suit you."

"Yeah, but--"

"Where's your lover boy?" Oriana interrupted, shifting carefully so she could lay on the couch. Her arm was throbbing from the recent setting of her arm. She hated it.

"He's in the kitchen finishing his sundae. I left all the cherries in mine for you," Teagan replied, making sure Oriana's arm nestled into the pillows.

"How'd you know I was going to be back in time to eat your cherries?" Oriana questioned with a faint smile, gently pushing Teagan back with her foot. Teagan had always been so maternal with their relationship whenever their mothers were too busy. And, from the time they were little, Oriana would always steal Teagan's cherries from their sundaes while Teagan munched on the ice cream. It had been tradition, even now.

"Just had a feeling," Teagan shrugged her shoulders with a smile as well, sitting on the edge of the heavy oak coffee table.

"You'll be in college having sundaes and you'll still save your cherries. I think it's an obsessive compulsive disorder now. Just like I'll always save my ice cream for you..." Oriana decided, staring up into her friend's smoldering dark blue-gray eyes. She had been so worried about their friendship as the days passed. So worried that she had cried herself to sleep after talking to Howie that night. Yet, what could she say now? Was everything healed? Or did Brian just postpone the inevitable with the breaking of Oriana's arm?

"We're always going to be friends... right, Duckie?" Teagan broke the silence between them. "I hope so, because I don't know what I would do without you."

"We won't always be friends if you keep calling me Duckie," Oriana joked.

"Duckie! Duckie! Duckie! Duuuuuckie!" Teagan taunted with a cackle.

"Oh get the Hell away from me, I need a shower," Oriana groaned, struggling to rise from the couch. She reeked of sweat and mud.

"Do you want me to get the Duckie out of your room?"

"Why would you get my Duckie out of my room?" Oriana drawled with horror, hoping that Teagan wasn't thinking of stealing it. The rubber duck always sat perched upon the edge of her Jacuzzi tub within her private bathroom, waiting for the next bath.

"Because I had borrowed it when I took a bath today and left it in your room?" Teagan asked, immediately diving behind the other couch for protection.

"Duckie is not used to having tubbies in other bathrooms! What were you thinking?!"

"Um... I wasn't thinking?" Teagan squeaked, peeking her head up.

"We need to get you your own damn Duckie," Oriana scorned with a frown, finally managing to scoot toward the edge of the couch. She gingerly adjusted the sling around her neck, making sure it comfortably held her cast. She moved to stand when Howie and Alex hurriedly entered the home, searching for Oriana. "This would be my means of escape before they hound me to death, too."

"You better hurry before they catch you, then!" Teagan still stayed behind the couch.

"That's what I was thinking," Oriana agreed, moving from the couch when Alex and Howie caught sight of her. She immediately jumped back as they rushed forward. "I'm fine! Okay? I'm fine!"

"But your arm--"

"Kevin just gave me a dose of heavy pain-killers. It'll take about thirty minutes to kick in fully. So, please, just give me that long until you start hounding me. I've already been smothered. I'd just like to get a shower and clean up before Momma gets home, because she's going to freak," Oriana tried to explain, backing up again as they stepped forward, causing Teagan to snort with laughter.

"Boys, let Oriana go upstairs and take her shower. She's just fine," Kevin went to stop the boys from following her.

"Dad, how's she going to get---"

"Oriana! Oriana, are you home?!" Cassandra's panicked voice echoed through the house.

"Oh, shit," Oriana groaned inwardly, stopping just at the threshold of stairs. She watched her mother burst into the living room with a cloud of deep worry. Cassandra paused for a long moment, just staring at her daughter's disheveled form. Mud was smeared against Oriana's grimy cheeks and streaked from her incessant tears. Her curls were wild and thick with dirt. Bruising could be noted on her shoulder and opposite arm from Brian's hard tackle. It was painful to see her daughter in such a venerable state. Cassandra's worry immediately turned to rage as she stalked over and grabbed Oriana roughly by her arms, yanking her forward. "Damn, Momma!"

"I warned you about football! Damnit, Oriana, I warned you! It's nothing but a dangerous, barbaric sport that only leads to people getting hurt! Why did I ever let you play football? Look at you now! Your arm is broken!" Cassandra ranted, gripping Oriana's arms tightly.

"Momma... You're hurting me," Oriana whimpered as Cassandra flung her backward with a great force, causing Oriana to stumble. Yet, Cassandra quickly snapped her back with the same force, causing Oriana's brain to jumble. The pain intensified within her arm as Cassandra embedded her fingernails within both arms, obviously offering fresh bruises. Hot tears gathered in the depths of Oriana's murky blue-green eyes, remembering all the previous tortures from the old boyfriends, wondering if her mother had learned from them or told them to do it. "Momma, please---"

"You're grounded! I don't want you anywhere but school and home! I can't believe how irresponsible you were, Oriana! Now you've got a broken arm! Why? Because girls are not meant to play football!"

"Momma! You're hurting me!" Oriana howled in shock as her mother forcefully brought a hand to her cheek. She stumbled backward yet again, but Cassandra caught her right arm again, yanking her forward into a kneel position. Oriana winced and immediately bowed, almost ready for her mother to place a foot alongside her jaw, it wouldn't be the first time that occurred, though it would be a different person. She squeezed her eyes shut as tears started to flood her face.

"The Hell I'm hurting you!" Cassandra laughed bitterly , shaking her daughter forcefully from side to side. "You should be thankful that I'm the only parent here! Oriana Ryan! What in God's name were you thinking?! What the Hell were you doing?! Did you need to impress another boy? Like before? And did you think I wouldn't find out?! Do you know how embarrassed I was? Having one of my colleagues pull me out of the hospital when I stopped to drop off some files! I looked like an incompetent mother! But no more! Damnit, no more---"

"MOM, STOP! LEAVE HER ALONE!" Teagan blurted, pushing Cassandra away from Oriana. "You have no right to treat your daughter like that!"

"You have no right to tell me what to do, Teagan Gabrielle. Sit the Hell down! This is between me and my daughter! Do you understand?!" Cassandra screamed, startling Teagan.

"You're hurting her! Damnit, she's got a broken arm and you're squeezing it!" she yelled back, taking a step back from her second mother.

"SIT DOWN, TEAGAN!"

"LEAVE ORIANA ALONE!"

"IF YOU DON'T SIT DOWN NOW, TEAGAN, I'LL MAKE YOU REGRET IT!"

"YOU WOULD NOT--"

"SIT DOWN!" Cassandra's scream pierced the room, causing Howie and Alex to step back from the room in horror. Teagan stumbled backwards into the couch, searching the room for some sign of help. Pleased with her actions, Cassandra immediately bent down to grasp Oriana's injured arm, causing the girl to cry out in pain. "Get your ass up the stairs right now, Oriana Ryan! You're in for the beating---"

"Cassandra, what the Hell are you doing?!" Kevin exclaimed as he rushed down the stairs. The last screaming finally overpowered the studio walls and came to see what was going on. "She's got a broken arm, you're going to disrupt the set bones!"

"Get up the stairs right now, Oriana! I'm not playing games like you do! I'm going to teach you a lesson you'll never forget, so help me God! You'll be lucky if you can walk!" Cassandra screeched, completely oblivious to Kevin's presence. She shoved her daughter roughly, causing Oriana to fall against the stairs. Oriana started to scramble up the steps, but Cassandra latched onto the tender arm again, causing Oriana to howl.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Kevin finally roared, his voice echoing throughout the house. He wrenched Cassandra's hand off Oriana's arm and separated the two. "CASSANDRA, STOP IT! WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU?!"

Cassandra jerked backward in shock as the children cowered further. She started to step forward, but Kevin encircled his arms tightly around her waist.

Oriana saw the chance to recover and quickly scrambled into a jittery standing position. Her face was flushed with agony as she glared down at her mother. Her voice choked with intense emotions rattling from her very core, "YOU'RE NOT MY MOTHER! NEVER! AND IT WASN'T MY FAULT! ASK YOUR FUCKING STEP-SON WHO'S FAULT IT WAS! BECAUSE I QUIT!"

"Oriana--"

"I FUCKING QUIT!" Oriana turned around and ran upstairs, slamming the door to her room and locking it.

"Kids, go," Kevin barked.

Teagan slowly got to her feet and headed towards the staircase. She stopped by Cassandra and gave her the coldest glare she had ever given anyone. "I can't believe you would do that to your own daughter. You were going to fucking beat Oriana for breaking her arm at practice. Some mother you are," without waiting for a response, she headed up to 'her room' and slammed the door.

"Howie, Alex, go," Kevin breathed forcefully, feeling Cassandra slump within his arms.

"Going," they both mumbled, quickly going up to try and get Oriana to let them in her room.

"Brian, go!" Kevin forced yet again, knowing his eldest was lurking just beyond the kitchen.

"Jeez, okay, I'm going," Brian muttered, going the same way all the other kids did.

Kevin waited till he heard the final shut of a door before easing his fiancée onto the couch. He stood above her quivering form, just staring down at her in shock. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. Cassandra had been so close to throttling her daughter an inch from her life. That wasn't the fiancée he knew. His mind immediately drew the photographs of Oriana's bruises, willing himself not to believe Cassandra had done the damage.

"What the Hell were you thinking?" Kevin finally questioned after a long period of silence.

"I-I don't know..."

"Do you have any idea what you just did? Or would you like me to give you a mental image of what I saw?" Kevin murmured softly, keeping his distance.

"Everything's such a blur. I remember coming into the house and then..." Cassandra trailed off, shrugging helplessly.

"Dear God, Cassandra! You almost seriously hurt your own daughter! You were gripping her injured arm! I think I might have to take her back to the hospital just to see if the damn bones have shifted! What was going on in your head? I mean, damnit, Cassandra!" Kevin vented, his muscles twitching with a heated anger. "Have... Have you ever done that to her before? Have you ever hurt Oriana before?"

"Hurt Oriana before? I used to swat her butt once in awhile when she was little, but not... no! I don't beat my child!" Cassandra shook her head viciously.

"Swear to God, Cassandra? I need to know now... All those bruises in those pictures... Then I see you acting like a madwoman for something Oriana couldn't even control... Just, dear God, tell me you didn't purposely hurt Oriana. That you never laid your hand on her in anything but love..."

"I would never hurt my little girl like that! Never! And those bruises were from sports and just being her klutzy self like I told you!"

"Then what the Hell was I witnessing not five minutes ago, Cass?"

"I don't know, okay?!"

"You looked like you were about to kill---"

"I would never hurt my little girl!" Cassandra screamed fitfully, falling back into the couch. She immediately covered her wan face, bursting into hot sobs. She had never meant to take her rage that far, but seeing her daughter hurt again was far too much. She could only remember the blank stares from her colleagues as they assessed yet another bruise upon her daughter's body. More rumors circulating. It wasn't as if Cassandra hadn't questioned her daughter's so-called klutziness...

"Okay, okay. Shh, calm down, Cass. I just wanted to make sure..." Kevin trailed off, sitting down next to Cassandra and gently pulled her into his arms. "I have never seen you like that before.

"You don't understand. I've just been so stressed. I go to work all day, come home, see Oriana maybe five minutes before she goes off to whatever practice, maybe five minutes before she slips to bed, and then I have to plan our wedding... Seeing her hurt again, it just reminded me of so many things..." Cassandra sobbed openly.

"What do you mean? What kind of things?" Kevin whispered, running his fingers through her hair as he kissed her forehead.

"When she was younger... She'd always have fresh bruises, scrapes, tears, or whatever else when I got home from work. My ex-boyfriends would always say she fell or got caught up playing with the little boys again... Then I'd have to go to work where they had taken care of her... Those who didn't know me... They'd give me the most awful stares... I don't know... I'm just so preoccupied, I didn't mean to hurt her... Not my Miracle Baby..."

"I know you didn't mean to hurt her... but Cass, you did. I don't know what else happened, but there was serious damage tonight and you need to fix it."

"Oriana won't be mad tomorrow..." Cassandra drawled hopefully, relying heavily upon her daughter's loving nature. "She understands..."

"I don't know Oriana too well yet, but I somewhat doubt that everything will be fixed just by her nature of forgiveness."

"But she..." Cassandra started to sob again. "She's the only baby girl I have..."

"Honey, I know. But just hoping that she'll forgive you without you talking to her isn't realistic. You need to go up there and apologize," Kevin slowly rocked his fiancée back and forth.

"She won't talk to me tonight..."

"Then do it tomorrow."

"She's going to hate me forever, isn't she?"

"No, she's not."

"Do you?"

"Do I what?"

"Hate me."

"No," Kevin groaned against her forehead, offering yet another soft kiss. "All in all, Sweetheart, you scared the daylights out of me. That just wasn't the Cassandra I know and love... I just wish you would have told me sooner that you were under so much stress. We could have done something about it..."

"But--"

"Sweetheart, why don't you go take a bath or something?" Kevin interrupted, needing to unwind himself.

"A bath?"

"Yeah, it'll calm you down with all those aroma thingies you have. Besides, you stink," he tried to tease.

"Don't even try to be cute. Not after what happened," Cassandra groaned, pulling away from her fiancé’s grasp. She felt so utterly guilty at that very moment. Her heart ached openly for hurting her daughter. She just wanted to sleep.

"Noted. Sorry, Baby," Kevin winced, running a hand through his raven locks. "Just go on up and relax."

"Come with me," Cassandra enticed after a long moment of silence, holding a hand to her fiancé. She just wanted to be held. She could remember so many nights curling up between the girls after a bad shift at work. Oriana and Teagan would immediately curl beside her to bring warmth and she would fall asleep to the soft rhythms of their breathing.

"Are you sure? You don't want to be alone?"

"That's the last thing I want right now..." Cassandra bit her bottom lip, trying to hold back more tears.

"Sweetheart---"

"Just, come on. Come get a bath with me, please?"

"I can never say no to your beautiful face," Kevin relented, taking her hand and standing up.

"I'm sorry for everything, Kevin."

"I know you are, Cassie. Everything will be alright... I promise."

*~*~*


Brian gingerly stepped down the hallway, watching Alex and Howie pry open Oriana's door with some kind of object. He smiled ruefully at their troubles, walking to the next room that Teagan occupied. The scene downstairs was amusing. Cassandra had come so close to murdering Oriana. Brian couldn't have asked for a better scenario, until Oriana screamed for Cassandra to question him about the break. No one would forget that little piece of speech, so Brian had to bury it quickly. He swallowed his smile, gently tapping upon Teagan's door. "Teags? Baby?"

"Go away!" Teagan's voice called from the other side. After being screamed at by Cassandra, she didn't feel too much like having company and decided to throw things around her room instead.

"Baby, it's Brian. Let me in."

"I said GO AWAY!" Teagan snapped once more, yelling in anger as she pounded her fist into the wall.

"Don't you want to talk?"

"What part of 'Go away' don't you comprehend?"

"The part that has to do with you telling your loving boyfriend to go away?"

"Brian, things are flying around here and I'm punching the walls. Do you really want to come in here now?"

"I think I'll risk it?"

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Teagan replied, unlocking the door before going back to punch the wall as hard as she could. It always seemed to make the anger go away.

"I'll agree that I've been fully warned," Brian replied, pushing the door open. He immediately winced when he glanced about the room.

Everything Teagan kept inside the room had been thrown about and messily lay upon the floor. He yelped in surprise as Teagan went to slam her fist into the wall again. He rushed forward to catch her hand, causing them to spin onto the bed. "What the Hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Punching the wall. What does it look like?" Teagan retorted, pulling her hand away from his grasp.

"Then your friend isn't going to be the only one with a broken arm!" Brian screeched, catching her again before she could attack another wall.

"Does it look like I care?! Let me go, this is how I vent my anger!" Teagan grunted, squirming in his arms.

"Well, you better figure out another way to vent, because I'm not letting you near that damn wall!" Brian grunted back, keeping his arms tightly encircled around her waist.

"Fucking Hell, Brian! Stop it!" Teagan hissed, hitting him with her left hand until she forgot the pain in her right and used both. "OW! Damnit! See what you made me do?"

"Yeah, what I made you do, right," Brian scoffed, pulling her up. He carried her to a chair, forcing her down into it. He pinned her to the chair, grasping both of her hands. She squirmed further, but Brian held tight. "Figure out another way to vent, because I'm not letting you go."

"Let go of my right hand, it hurts," Teagan snapped, trying to pull it away from his hold. All she wanted to do was get rid of the anger building inside her and Brian was preventing that. It was either throwing things around and punching walls or smoking. Everyone got upset when they found out the deadly habit and she quit, going to what she had been doing. But her boyfriend was making it quite difficult.

"Just yell at me!"

"I don't want to yell at you and let go of my fucking hand!"

"Fine," Brian relented, releasing her aching right hand. Yet, he kept his leg upon her lap, preventing her from standing.

"Jeez," she mumbled, cradling her hand. It was red and starting to swell as the pain increased. "About damn time. Now get your leg off me."

"Um, no, I'm not going to let you hurt yourself. I don't know what this god-awful family's been letting you do to yourself, but I actually care about you. So, no, I'm not getting my leg off you."

"They don't know I punch the walls, and this is not a god-awful family except for that devil woman down there who tried to beat her own daughter!" Teagan growled, trying to keep her chin from trembling with the held back tears. Never before had Cassandra treated Oriana the way she had, nor had she ever screamed and threatened Teagan.

"They don't know you punch the walls? How could they not know?" Brian questioned skeptically.

"Because I either run to my house or I wait until no one's home, that's why."

"Then we'll buy you one of those inflatable buddies to punch when you get upset, okay?"

"Brian..." she tried to groan, but ended up bursting in tears.

"That's better," Brian sighed with relief, gently wrapping his arms around her quivering form.

"M-Ma's never acted like that b-before! N-Never!"

"Okay..."

"She screamed at m-me! All I was d-doing was p-p-p-protecting my D-Duckie!"

"I know," Brian sighed, not really knowing what exactly to say. He hadn't known Cassandra for long, so he didn't know her tendencies. But her reaction to Oriana's broken arm was intense.

"She scared me..." Teagan whimpered between sobs.

"Well, I'm here now, Teags. I'll make you feel better, I promise. I'll always be there to kiss away all your tears," Brian promised softly, kissing the side of mer face repeatedly.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," Teagan whispered after she calmed down a little. She bit her bottom lip and pouted at the same time.

"I'm used to it," Brian chuckled, kissing her forehead.

"You still love me?"

"Always and forever."

"Good, because I need someone to stop me from hitting the walls..."

"Well, let's go, we'll buy you an inflatable sock'em bopper buddy. Want a clown to kick the shit out of?"

"Is there anything else besides clowns? They kinda freak me out."

"Eh, we'll find something."

"Okay," Teagan nodded, leaning forward to kiss Brian's chest through his shirt. "Can we grab an ice pack for my hand before leaving?"

"Yeah, let's go slugger," Brian teased, helping her off the chair.

"You're funny," Teagan rolled her eyes with a small laugh. "Just for that you have to buy me ice cream and Lindor truffles."

"Okay, Sweetheart."

"You're too good to me," Teagan commented as they walked down to the kitchen.

"Nah, you deserve whatever you want," Brian shrugged it off.

"Maybe... Brian, can I ask you something?" Teagan said as he handed her an ice pack for her hand.

"Sure," he replied, retrieving a towel to wrap around the pack to lessen the severity of the cold against her skin.

"What did Oriana mean when she said to ask you how her arm got broken?"

Brian froze for the longest moment, just staring at his girlfriend blankly. His mind immediately started to crunch possibilities to save himself from Teagan's wrath. He finally managed to offer a sad smile, busying himself with tending to her hand. "I was in the pile when it happened. Maybe she thought I would have saw something? But, that's kind of impossible. There was so many of us. Just a stupid slip-up, I guess... Or... Lord... I don't think I want to even imagine the other idea..."

"Other idea? What do you mean?" Teagan asked with a curious raise of her eyebrows.

Brian offered the most pitiful look he could think to offer, down casting his eyes. "I just don't want to think it's possible, because she's your best friend and all... But maybe she's just looking for someone to blame? I mean, who else would she actually think to blame except me? She hates me... Now that I have her position, she'll be looking for a way to kick me off... And, then, she's jealous of our relationship. So, if you believed I did it, you would dump me..."

Teagan was silent for a moment, biting her lip in thought. Brian hadn't said a cruel thing about Oriana, nor had he given her any nasty looks. She didn't want to think Oriana would react like that, blaming someone else when they had no part in the accident. But the younger girl always took the blame if she knew it had been her own fault for getting hurt. But then, she had reacted to badly to the marriage of her mother and Brian's father, it could be a possibility. "It could be that reason... I just can't bear to think that she would do that when she knows how much I love you--"

"She wants us apart though, she's told me!"

"When has she told you that?"

"The other night..."

"The other night?" Teagan thought for a moment. "I don't remember her ever being alone with you long enough to tell you--"

"Look, don't even worry about it," Brian replied, shrugging his shoulders. "It's not important, right?"

"But you claimed she--"

"It's not a big deal."

"Brian--"

"Let's go get your bopper," Brian continued, knowing he had implanted the idea within her head. She would dwell upon the notion until it finally burst.

"You like to interrupt people." Teagan frowned a little as Brian stood up.

"I just don't want to cause trouble between you and Oriana."

"Brian---"

"Please, Teags," Brian whimpered, stepping back against her for a hug. He buried his face within the crook of her neck, pretending to be overwhelmed by the concept of Oriana hating him. "Just don't say anything to her."

"Okay, I won't," Teagan sighed heavily, not wanting to upset her boyfriend as she wrapped her arms around him. "I promise. I'll make you a deal, though."

"What deal?"

"If you can give me that heart-melting smile I love so much... once we get back from buying me a bopper, I'll give you a massage."

"Oh yeah?"

"Mm-hmm. And if you can really make me melt with that smile, I'll even try to find my edible oils to go with it."

Brian quickly did as he was told.