Kelly checked her watch. 6:30. He had said 6:00, hadn't he? Surely she hadn't screwed this up? The way her mind had been recently, she didn't feel sure of anything anymore. Placing her hand on her leg to stop the shaking, she took a sip of the white wine in front on her. Sensing a presence behind her, she turned.

"Hi," she smiled.

"Hi, yourself," Joey said, sitting across the table from her. "You look good."

"So do you," she said, smiling at him. She literally felt the tension leaving her body. Leaving Llanview last year hadn't been easy, but she'd told herself it was for the best. If only she'd known then what she now knew…she would have never left the comforts of home. Joey was her safe place. She'd always known that and he'd never know how grateful she was to have him to come home to.

"Hey," he said, softly, breaking her from her daydream, "Where'd you go?"

"Oh, sorry," she replied, snapping back to attention, "I was just thinking. So..tell me what's been going on with you. Life has to be different since…"

Joey laughed a little, "Since my wife was arrested for extortion among other things."

Kelly winced, "I'm sure I would have come up with something a little less harsh."

He smiled, "I'm sure you would have, but let's just be honest. She's in jail…where she belongs and life is…life is good. I'm getting back to what I love to do. I'm working for the Banner again."

"That's really great," she smiled. Joey had always loved photography and she was truly happy he was getting a chance to pursue his dream again.

"What about you?" he asked, looking at her hand, "No ring yet, I see?"

Kelly forced a smile, "No. Not yet."

"Well, what's he waiting on?" Joey asked, trying to seem supportive. "Doesn't he know what a catch you are?"

Kelly laughed a bit. She didn't really know what Scott thought anymore. In the beginning, their life had been nearly perfect. After everything with Joey, Scott had been just what she needed. Attentive and caring and he was interested in everything she did. Thinking back, It had started early…the phone calls, the questions, the jealousy. At first, she'd thought it was kind of sweet. She'd even mentioned it to Dorian who had told her to be glad she had a guy that knew she was a catch. That made sense for a while, but then it didn't anymore.

"So where is he?" Joey said, causing Kelly to take notice of his presence again.

"Where is who?" she asked, trying not to appear as out of it as she felt.

"Who?" Joey laughed, "Mr. Charming…What's his name? Scott."

Kelly forced another smile, "Yeah, he's got a meeting tonight. He couldn't come."

He was charming….to everyone else. At work no one had a clue what he could be like when things didn't go his way…when you dared have your own opinion…when you did something he didn't approve of. No one knew what it was like on weekends when he came home from work early so that he could get a head start on his drinking. No one knew that Scott.

"You want to get out of here," Joey asked, after he had tried in vain twice to get Kelly's attention.

"Huh?" Kelly asked.

"What is it with you tonight?" Joey smiled. "It's like you're in another world."

Kelly sighed, "Sorry, I guess I'm just tired. This place is just really busy and with all the people and the music…it's just like sensory overload."

"Well, that settles it," Joey explained. "I know just the place. Come on."

Kelly moved to stand as she felt her bracelet fall to the floor. She moved to retrieve it, but was stopped by Joey.

"I got it," he said, crossing the table to her side and kneeling beside her to help her refasten it around her wrist. The soft lights from the bar shone on the clasp and cast an unmistakable glow on the shades of blue and green that adorned the bones of her wrist. Joey held her wrist in his hand for a moment, looking at it, before looking up at her. "Kel, what happened to your wrist?"

"It's nothing really. It's silly," she said, laughing nervously. "I was shopping last weekend and the stupid trunk shut on my wrist. I think that's what's wrong with that silly clasp too."

Joey stood up, helping her to her feet. He didn't buy the story for a second, but he also didn't want Kelly spilling a story like this in a crowded restaurant. There were better places to talk—and he knew just the place.

He watched her as she stood there. The sunset cast eerie shadows across her face, but the warmth of the rays seemed to relax her in a way she hadn't been all evening. Part of him hated to interrupt the moment. She seemed peaceful and to ask her questions, to make her talk, it would surely end that peace.

"Kelly," Joey said, lightly touching her shoulder.

Almost immediately the tension seemed to return. It was as if she sensed what was coming next. She turned to look at him, her eyes almost pleading with him not to ask any questions. "It's beautiful up here," she said, smiling.

"That's why I brought you here," he said softly. "This was always a place where we could be honest with each other—a place where we could talk and say anything no matter how hard it is."

"Let it go," she said, turning away from him again.

Joey gently took her shoulders and turned her back towards him. "You have no idea how much I wish I could," he said quietly, brushing her hair back off her shoulders, "but you know I can't. I can't walk away from this. I can't walk away from you."

"It's not what you think." Kelly walked over to the sky light, sitting on the edge. "I'm not some battered woman. I'm smarter than that."

Joey took a breath. His body was full of contradictions. Part of him felt physically ill. The thought of someone—anyone putting their hands on Kelly and hurting her made him ill—yet it also made him angry. So angry in fact, that it was a good thing Scott had a meeting. He wouldn't trust himself around him at the moment. "Tell me what it is like," he said, sitting beside her.

"Scott has a lot going on," she said quietly, looking up at Joey and quickly seeing that her excuses weren't making any headway with him, "and I'm not making excuses for him, but he's just…he's been under a lot of pressure lately. Work has been crazy and his family has been pressuring him to advance at the office. He's been working really long hours and when he comes home, he just wants to relax."

"Relaxing is fine," Joey said looking at her, "you're still not explaining this," he said, lifting her wrist.

"Scott drinks sometimes," she admitted, looking down at the cement. "Sometimes he drinks a little too much and he gets upset."

Feeling his blood pressure rising, Joey forced himself to ask, "How upset?"

"Like," Kelly took a breath, "Like if he comes home from work and I'm not there and I forgot to leave him a note, he gets worried because he doesn't know where I am and then when I get home he's really upset."

"Kelly…" Joey began..

"No, see. He's really worried about me," she said, feeling herself begin to shake, "and I normally do remember to leave a note, so it doesn't happen a lot anymore."

Joey shook his head. "Kelly. He is not your father. You don't have to answer to him."

Kelly sat quietly for a moment, not speaking.

"When did it start?" Joey asked.

"I don't really know," she said, her eyes filling with tears, "He was always kind of clingy, but at first I thought it was kind of cute, but then…somehow it stopped becoming cute."

Joey placed his hand on her shoulder, trying to stop the shaking. Her skin felt cold. Slipping off his jacket, he draped it around her shoulders. "Better?"

"Thanks," she said, looking up at him. "Tonight..when I called and said I had business here in town….that was a lie."

Joey nodded, "Ok." He wanted to let her talk. She needed to talk and he needed to hear anything she was willing to share.

"I had to get out of there. Before…he had always yelled and screamed. He'd grabbed me before," she held up her wrist, to illustrate her point, "but the other night…" She stopped, not realizing how difficult it was to continue.

"What?" Joey asked, "What happened?"

"He came home from work early. I had gone out to the store to pick up some groceries and when I got home he asked me why I was dressed up." She looked up at Joey. "I wasn't. I had on a linen skirt and a blouse. It was warm out and I was just thinking about something light."

Joey hated seeing her like this…explaining herself…fearful.

"Anyway, he asked me who I went to see and I told him that I just went shopping. He said I was lying and he just went on and on. He was yelling and pacing and angrier than I had ever seen him. He kept screaming and he backed me up against the wall and he raised his hand…" The tears fell from her eyes as she remembered how terrifying it had been. Looking up at Joey, she managed to continue. "I've just...I never seen him that angry before."

It was Joey's turn to fight for composure now. "Has he hit you?" He wasn't sure he wanted to hear the answer, but he knew he had to ask. It didn't really make a difference. Whether he slammed her against a wall or screamed in her face or hit her-none of it was going to happen as long as he was around, but somehow...he had to know. He had to understand.

Kelly paused before answering. "Only a couple of times," she said quietly, "And he didn't mean to...he had too much to drink and..." She didn't get a chance to finish before Joey interrupted.

"You're not going back there." He had often thought about the man Kelly was with. If she'd come here and told him that she was in love-that she was happy…maybe he could have been happy for her. It wouldn't have hurt any less of course, but he could have lived with it—with the choice he'd made. But this, this was different. He couldn't sit back and watch her be hurt—he'd hurt her enough and he couldn't let this happen to her.

"I can't just not come back," Kelly said softly, standing up and walking towards the edge of the rail. "He needs me. He's not a bad guy, really." She looked back at Joey, catching note of the expression. She knew what he was thinking and she admitted the words sounded less convincing as she heard them come from her own mouth. "Scott needs help…I know that, but if I leave..he'll never get help."

Joey walked to stand beside her. "You can't help him with this," he said gently, but with authority he'd not heard in himself in quite some time. "I won't stand back and watch this happen to you."