Beyond Broadway 2:

Karen had just finished reading the first chapter of The Nice Girl Syndrome. It explained that you should stand up for yourself, even to people you love, which is the hardest part. It said that if someone isn't doing what's best for you, you should confront them.

Karen couldn't help but think of Derek when she read that part. She checked her phone: still no text from him.

When Karen and Derek had slept together, he had told her the next day that he had some things to work out with Ivy, and that he'd call her after that, which she was fine with. But the fact that he hadn't called yet upset Karen.

She was going to see him the next day, for the first rehearsal of their new musical, 'Le Moulin Rouge'. She didn't really know what would happen, or what she wanted to happen. Would they talk and decide to date? Would they decide not to? Or would they simply act as if nothing happened, just like last time? Karen didn't know what she wanted to happen, but she did know that anything was better than nothing, and knowing was better than not.

She opened the book again, and read on until she heard a knock at the door. Curious as to whom it might be, she got up and walked over to the door. She opened the door, expecting to see anyone else over the man standing in front of her.

"D-Dev?" she asked, astonished. Her eyes went down to his hand, where he held a beautiful bouquet of red roses. He was dressed in a suit. He looked better than ever. A confident smile was drawn on his lips, Karen could tell that he was nervous, and in her opinion, Dev had every right to be. He opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by Karen.

"What are you doing here?" she asked coldly.

"I came to see you."

"Well, you might as well leave. There's nothing between us anymore, and we're not getting back together!" Karen stated, remembering that she had to be tough and assertive.

"But Karen, I–"

"No, Dev. Just go away!"

"Karen, just let me speak!" Dev pleaded. Karen sighed.

"You have two minutes. Go!"

"Karen…" Dev began with a calm tone, his mind racing to form the right words in his head. "I love you, and I'll do anything to win you back. I know what I did with Ivy was wrong. I still feel guilty of it every day. I was drunk, but that's not an excuse. All I can ask is that you forgive me and take me back. Please?"

Karen didn't answer for a few seconds, still having a hard time believing Dev was here, in front of her. Once she processed what he had said, she felt a sudden burst of anger flow through her body.

"You mean to tell me that after almost two years of us not seeing each other, and you cheating on me with the girl who was at the time my rival, you suddenly decide to walk back into my life? And you think I would be okay with that? How did you think this would go down, Dev?"

"I wrote you a letter but you didn't respond." Dev stated. "Karen, all I'm asking for is a second chance, please…"

"I threw your letter out Dev, as soon as I got it, because I wasn't interested in hearing what you had to say. And I'm still not interested. Now, go away. I never want to see you again!" Karen said, bringing the door forward as she slammed the door in Dev's face.

Tom looked around, still waiting for the father of the newborn. He couldn't believe it. That jerk wasn't even going to come for the birth of his own child.

Tom had had a glimmer of hope in the famous director. He thought that maybe Derek did have a heart, when it came to family at least. But each time Tom let himself believe in Derek, he proved him wrong.

He was startled as he heard the doors bursting open, and saw a group of nurses and doctors rushing through, pulling a trolley bed behind them.

"He's losing blood!" he heard a doctor shout.

He wasn't going to look—mostly because he had never been comfortable around blood— but he accidentally caught a glimpse of the badly injured man.

Shocked, he sat down, all thoughts of Derek, and Ivy, and Claire, and everything else that was at the forefront of his mind vanished. The corridor was silent again. Well, as silent as a hospital corridor could be.

He just sat there. He didn't know how long it was. It could have been a minute or half an hour for all he knew. The moment of horror where he saw the bloody broken body kept replaying in his head.

He didn't even realize he had been staring into blank space with his hand covering his mouth until Julia came out of Ivy's room.

"Hey, Tom? Can I borrow your phone? Mine's run out of power." she asked nonchalantly. Her peaceful expression vanished the moment she took a better look at the distraught Tom, and now she looked concerned.

"Tom… what's wrong?" she asked, as she sat down beside him.

Tom looked at her. "I… I saw something horrible…" he muttered.

"What? What was it?"

"There was lots of blood, and I could even see part of his intestine…" he said with a shaky voice.

"Oh, Tom. You know how you are with blood. Don't worry, okay?" she said, as she hugged him.

"No, it's not that. I mean, the blood was a horrible sight, but that's not why I'm upset…" he said, trying to calm himself.

Julia looked at him, silently pleading him to her what was troubling him.

But… Tom wasn't really sure what of what he saw made him the most upset. Was it that the sight was gruesome enough to be in a horror movie, or that last time he saw a lifeless body lying there, his face empty of color, was at Kyle's funeral? Or was it that… the man he saw had once been his friend?

"Julia… the man I saw… I—we know him…" he said cautiously.

"Wh—what? Who was it?"

"…it was Ellis."

"Yes. Hello, is there an Ellis Boyd in your records?" Julia asked. She felt bad about leaving Ivy, but she was with her mother. Besides, they had to find out what happened to Ellis, if the man Tom saw was really him.

"Umm…" the woman at the counter mumbled as she checked her computer. "Yes. He's undergoing surgery at the moment."

"Is he okay?" Tom asked.

"Are you family?" the woman asked.

"No, but—"

"Then, I'm sorry, but I can't give you any more information." the woman said. She truly did look sorry as she looked at them before going back to whatever she was doing before.

Tom sighed, before making his way back to Ivy's room with Julia. They walked in silence before Tom spoke up.

"Should we tell Ivy?" he asked.

"Heavens, no. The last thing she needs right now is that kind of news. She just gave birth. Besides, are you sure it was him?"

Tom knitted his eyebrows. "I don't know. I haven't seen his since last year, and there was loads of blood, and I only got a tiny glance at him…" he said.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm sure he's fine. But until he's out of surgery or ready to see someone, we can't know."

Tom smiled, and they hugged.

"Oi, would you stop hugging in the middle of the corridor and help me find the mother of my child?" a British man bellowed from the other end of the corridor. Tom and Julia turned to see Derek standing across from them.

"What's Derek doing here?" Julia whispered, as she separated from her best friend.

"I may have called him…" Tom mumbled.

"What? After Ivy specifically told us not too?"

"Hey, it was the right thing to do." Tom said, before turning towards Derek. "Couldn't you ask a nurse where Ivy's room is?"

"I didn't listen when she said what number it was, and all the doors look the same." Derek complained.

"It's this way." Tom said as he rolled his eyes, and moved past Derek. They walked up to Ivy's room, and Tom turned back toward Derek. "Ivy doesn't know you're here, and she really doesn't want to see you. So don't… you know, be yourself." Tom said, before entering the room.

"Hey." Ivy smiled, still visibly exhausted, but looking a little better. Her smile disappeared when she saw who entered the room next.

"What on Earth is he doing here?" she asked.

"It's his child too, he deserves to see her." Tom answered. Meanwhile, Derek had gone straight to the crib, his expression softening as he saw the tiny little being that laid there sleeping.

"Fine, he's seen her. Now get him out." Ivy almost shouted. Leigh tried to calm her down, but it was no use. "I don't want him anywhere near me, and I certainly don't want him approaching her!" she said.

"What's her name?" Derek asked kindly, his eyes not leaving his daughter.

"Derek, I think it's best if you leave." Leigh said. She wouldn't have said that if his presence hadn't put Ivy in such a state. The poor girl was already emotional. Leigh hated having to say to a father to leave his daughter, but she hated seeing her daughter upset even more.

"Ivy, tell me her name." Derek begged. "Please."

"I'm not telling you anything, and you adding a 'please' at the end of your request isn't going to change anything!" Ivy snapped.

Because of all the noise, Claire woke up and almost immediately started crying. Leigh immediately went to get her, and tried to soothe her.

"Ivy, just tell him her name." Julia pleaded.

"No. He doesn't deserve it. He chose to give up being a father the moment he chose Karen over me and his own daughter."

"I didn't choose Karen over you!" Derek exclaimed.

"Yeah, well, you might as well have." Ivy said.

Derek sighed. "Thanks for the call, Tom." he said grumpily as he pushed past him, and exited the room.

"Derek, wait!" Tom said, running after him. "You're a father now, and you have to act like one."

"What's the point if no one believes I can?" Derek asked, turning around and facing Tom.

"You just have to prove them wrong." he said.

"I know. That's what I'm trying to do!" Derek said, before walking away.

"Her name's Claire!" Tom shouted. He got a small smile from Derek as he walked out the door.

Derek stepped out of the hospital.

"Claire." he mumbled to himself with a discreet smile. He liked that name.

He got into a taxi and it drove off towards his apartment. As Derek sat in the back, he took his phone out of his pocket.

Contacts… Karen…

Derek's thumb approached the 'call' button. But he didn't press it. He had things he needed to sort out in his life before dragging her into them. As of today, he had a daughter. And even though her mother wasn't planning on ever letting Derek see his little girl, he had to sort himself out. Not just for Claire, but for Ivy and Karen, and everyone else in his life.

Earlier that day, he had thought of an idea… some way to redeem himself, and to apologize to everyone he had hurt.

And for his plan to work, he had to stay away from those he cared about a while.

Karen needed to get drunk. She didn't want to go out with friends and have a party. She wanted to go out to a bar and enjoy being alone for once. She put her coat on, and made her way to the door. Surely Dev wasn't there anymore, right? It had been at least an hour.

She checked. The coast was clear. She knew where she was going. It was a nice place, not too far away from her apartment, and was one of the rare places that she hadn't gone to with a guy. Neither Dev, Jimmy, or Derek had ever been there. Well, not with her, anyway.

When she got there, the place was quite busy. She didn't mind, though. She just needed a barstool and a beer. Or maybe she'd go for scotch.

She sat at the bar, and ordered a drink. She had decided to go for scotch after all.

She took a sip of the drink, followed by a gulp, and then knocking the whole drink back. Then she ordered another one. And so on. By the third glass, she was very drunk. Her fingers wrapped and unwrapped around the glass she was holding, her eyes vacantly staring into nothing as she licked her lips.

Maybe Karen didn't need to be in a relationship. Why couldn't she just be single for a while? After all, Karen hadn't really been single in a long time! And maybe that's just what she needed.

Karen sighed. She missed Ana. And Hailey. Those were the two people that really understood her. Dev turned out to be a jerk. Jimmy was a mess. And Derek… Derek was an enigma. One second he was the perfect British gentleman who made her swoon and feel like she was the only thing in the world that mattered. The next, he was this guy that would sleep around with tons of girls and claim that it was 'just business' or 'just professional'.

She'd had a thing for him since she met him, but she knew that they weren't compatible. And there was Dev. And there was Jimmy. And when she finally decided to give it a try, and forget what her brain was telling her and go for the guy, well, he didn't even call her, proving once again that he wasn't the kind of guy that Karen was looking for.

Karen took another mouthful. Maybe that was the problem. Karen was looking for a guy. Maybe she should just stop and enjoy her life. If Hailey had taught her anything, it was that she needed to stand up for herself. And not look for someone else to do it for her.

She had to change. She had to live a life where she cared about herself, instead of worrying about others. She got up, knocked her drink back, and headed to the door.

"Karen, you forgot your bag!" she heard a voice call to her, before turning around.

Ivy looked at the now-sleeping baby in her arms. Her daughter. A smile appeared on her face. She was exhausted, but looking at her little girl made her forget all her troubles: her job, Derek…

"Hey." Leigh said, stepping into the room. "Do you want me to get you a glass of water?" she asked.

"No, thanks." Ivy said. Leigh put the glass down on the table.

"Here, why don't you get some sleep, and I'll take care of her." Leigh said. Ivy hesitated, but then gave Claire to Leigh, the baby continuing to rest gently in her arms.

"She's beautiful." Leigh said.

"You've already said that a hundred times." Ivy said.

"Well, it's true." Leigh said, smiling at her grandchild.

Michael sat on his bed, contemplating whether or not to call Julia again. He was worried about Ivy, but he didn't want to intrude or anything.

Before he could come to a decision, he heard a knock on the door.

He thought it might have been the pizza that he ordered. Since he wasn't sure when Julia would be getting back, and Michael wasn't in the mood to cook or go out, he decided to get something delivered, which would also take some of the stress away from Julia. As Michael got up, grabbed his wallet and jogged to the door.

"Hel—" he started, but couldn't finish as he gawked at the woman standing in front of him.

"Hey…" the woman said sweetly, as she put hands in her back pocket. "I think there's someone you would like to see…" she said, looking down behind her.

"You brought Artie?" he asked, a tear making its way down his cheek as he looked at the toddler holding on to his mother's leg.

"Well, he deserves to see his father." she said. Michael smiled, as the little boy ran into his arms and hugged him. He lifted him up into the air, before settling him down in his arms.

"Look… I know it's late, but umm… do you want to come in and have some coffee or anything?" Michael asked.

"I wouldn't mind some tea." she said.

"Tea it is. Come on in, Monica." he said as they both entered the apartment.