The story continues...Theresa has stopped the wedding and is running away from the altar. What is going to happen now?

Chapter 2

"I can't."

As Theresa uttered those words, Ethan's eyes closed with relief. She hadn't done it! He looked at Jared, mockingly. I knew she'd never marry you, he thought.

The congregation was no longer quiet. Everyone else was shocked and murmuring worriedly, but Ethan couldn't hide his smile. Gwen elbowed him in his side. "Ethan, wipe that smile off your face! This isn't funny."

Ethan couldn't hold a small chuckle and said, "Oh, but it is Gwen! I knew Theresa didn't really love him. And it's a good thing because I know this guy is bad news. He's all wrong for her."

Gwen's eyes blazed with anger, then narrowed slightly. "Why do you care?" she hissed. " You already have a wife...me! Or have you forgotten that?"

"Of course I--Theresa." Theresa rushed back up the aisle without a glance in his direction, and Ethan turned to follow her. Gwen pulled his arm to stop him.

"What are you doing?" she snapped. You are not going to run after her!"

"Gwen, she's hurting. Didn't you see her crying? She needs me." he snapped back.

"Tess! Wait!" Jared ran after his bride, Luis and the rest of the Lopez-Fitzgeralds, as well as Chad and Whitney close on his heels.

"Now see there. She has her friends and family to help her. Besides, this is for her and Jared to work out on their own. You need to stay out of it." Gwen said.

Ethan looked at her for a long minute. "I can't." he said. Then quickly followed, Gwen glowering at his retreating back.

"Theresa wait!"

Theresa heard Whitney calling to her, but she didn't stop running. I have to get out of here, I have to get out of here. Her head was swirling. Just then the side doors to the church appeared, and she ran through them without stopping to think.

Through the doors was the church cemetery, and Theresa had to chuckle ironically to herself. I felt like I was going to my own funeral. I suppose that this is the proper place for it to end.

"Theresa, are you OK Sweetie?" Whitney caught up to her just then, and the friends turned to share a hug.

Theresa sniffled. "No. But I will be. Wait a minute. Where's Jared? I would've expected him to be out here already."

"Well, I convinced everyone including Jared to let me talk to you for a few minutes first. He wasn't happy, but Chad held him back for me." Whitney said. "Now are you going to tell me what happened in there?"

Theresa sighed, and pulled away from their hug. "I just couldn't do it Whitney. I started panicking, I couldn't breath. All these memories of Ethan and the life we wanted to have were swirling around in my head. And the look on his face as I walked down the aisle...

"Whitney, I was standing there thinking I should be the happiest girl in Harmony right then. I was marrying a wonderful man that loved me. Not my money, not my position as the widow of the late Alistair Crane; he loved me. And my children. But all I could think of was Ethan and how much I loved him, and I just couldn't go through with it."

Whitney sighed and tried to be patient. "Theresa, do you realize how silly that was? Ethan is married, and has made it clear that he's not going to leave Gwen. Remember what you told me when Jared proposed? It was right after Ethan gave Gwen her ring back after that fight they had...remember? You told me it proved that Ethan would never leave Gwen for you even if the perfect opportunity presented itself... Do you remember any of this?"

"Yes, Whitney! Yes, I remember. Don't you think I know how foolish this is? But I couldn't help it. It just didn't feel right, and I couldn't do it. I just couldn't do it." Theresa covered her face with her hands and started to cry, and Whitney hugged her again.

Inside the church, Jared was pacing like a caged animal, anger and hurt making him more and more agitated. "What is taking Whitney so long?", he snapped to no one in particular. "This is my wedding, Theresa left me standing at the altar, and I should be the one out there talking to her!"

"Hey, calm down man. Just calm down." Chad said. "Whitney is just going to make sure Theresa is calm and then she'll let you talk to her, OK? Just be patient."

"Be patient?" Jared exploded. "Be patient? In case you've forgotten, this is my wedding day. My bride left me at the altar in front of the whole town! This is going to be in the papers by tonight. And you want me to calm down?"

Just then, Ethan trotted into the vestibule. "Where's Theresa?" he demanded.

"Uh, Ethan? This probably isn't the best time for you--" Luis was cut off by a livid Jared, who had just seen Ethan.

"This is all your fault!" Jared yelled, lunging at Ethan. "You just wouldn't stay out of this!"

"Break it up!"

"Stop it!"

Luis and Chad pulled Ethan and Jared away from each other, but both men still struggled against them.

"I didn't have to do anything Jared! I told you Theresa didn't love you!" Ethan snapped.

"Tess does love me!" Jared snapped back. "And the only reason this happened is because you filled her head with lies about me. I'm going to kill you!" he yelled, still fighting to get out of Chad's grip.

"Name the place and I'll be there, pal." Ethan spat back angrily.

"Stop it! Just stop it! Both of you!", Pilar stepped in, also angry. "This is a church! Behave yourselves! And let my daughter decide what she needs to do on her own! Do you hear me?"

Ethan and Jared looked at each other, rage filling their eyes, but they both nodded. "We'll behave."

"Oh. Here comes Whitney!" Paloma exclaimed as Whitney walked up to the group.

Whitney looked around at the tense group, Ethan and Jared still barely holding their tempers in check, and shook her head. "What happened here...nope. You know what? Never mind. I don't even want to know. Jared? Theresa is ready to talk to you now."

"Finally!", he sighed and ran out the door.

Theresa wandered through the tombstones trying to collect her thoughts. How was she going to explain this to Jared? How was she going to explain humiliating him in front of all of Harmony...and the whole world? This was bound to make the papers by the next day. Theresa knew that no matter how much security she had in place, there were reporters every where. It had become a fact of her life once she became Mrs. Alistair Crane.

Theresa had an even worse thought. How am I going to explain humiliating him in front of Ethan? If there was one thing Jared had made clear, it was that he wouldn't abide being second fiddle to Ethan. That he could handle anything but Ethan in the middle of their relationship. If this didn't fall in the category of "Ethan in the Middle", nothing did.

"Tess! Tess! Where are you?"

Theresa heard Jared call, and answered, "Over here." As Jared walked up to her she could tell that he was angry and doing his best to hide it. For some reason that made her more nervous.

"Tess? You want to tell me what the h happened in there?" Jared's voice was low and hurt, with just an edge of anger.

"I just couldn't do it Jared." Theresa said, looking up into his eyes.

Jared gave a small chuckle and said mirthlessly, "Yeah...I got that part. What I want to know is why not?"

As Theresa looked up at him with tear filled eyes, his calm demeanor started to crumble. "Never mind. I know why. It's Ethan isn't it? Isn't it?" His anger was becoming more and more evident. Theresa couldn't say anything. She dropped her eyes and the tears started to fall.

"Your silence is deafening, Theresa." At that, Theresa looked up at Jared, surprise on her face. He never called her that. Never from day one even when he knew she hated the fact that he called her Tess. His face was getting more and more angry by the minute, and Theresa hurried to try to explain.

"I'm sorry Jared! I just couldn't help it. Once I saw Ethan in the crowd, I couldn't think of anything else but our wedding day. I couldn't stop thinking about the life we had wanted to have."

Jared turned away in exasperation. "Theresa, give it up! Ethan is married to Gwen! He's never going to leave her! Can't you see that?"

Theresa grabbed his arm and tried to make him understand. "I know all that! Don't you think I tried to remind myself of that? Don't you think I tried to think about how silly it was for me not to marry you when Ethan would never be mine?"

"Silly?" Jared broke in incredulously, but Theresa continued.

"I thought about all of it. But I just couldn't do it. I love Ethan too much. I love him with all of my heart, and marrying you today wouldn't have been right. Even if Ethan never comes back to me, I can't promise you something I can't give."

Suddenly, Jared turned back to her, his face deadly calm. "You can't promise me something you can't give? So all this time, you've been lying to me? Using me?" his voice was getting angrier with each word he spoke, buy his eyes gave nothing away.

"No Jared! It wasn't like that..." Theresa started to explain, but Jared cut her off.

"All this time, I was giving you my heart, thinking you were giving me yours, and you were only doing it because you couldn't have Ethan, weren't you? When you said you loved me it was all a lie wasn't it?" Jared grabbed her close to him by her shoulders. "Admit it!" he snapped. "It was!"

"No Jared." Theresa struggled in his hands, and began to know something of real fear. "I never meant to hurt you! And when I said I loved you, I really meant it. I really thought I could move past Ethan! I never meant to use you!"

"Yes you did! You're just telling me more lies!" Jared snapped in a low and angry voice. "Well let me tell you something Theresa. You listen up and you listen well. This is the first and last time you will make a fool of Jared Casey!" He shoved her roughly to the ground, turned on his heel, and stormed away.

As Theresa fell to the ground, she heard a woman scream--or had it come from her own mouth? And then the world went dark.

"I can't believe you people just let him walk out there by himself!" Inside the church Ethan was fuming. Pilar, Whitney, and Paloma were trying to keep the other guests occupied, and only Chad, Luis, and Miguel were standing with Ethan in the vestibule. "Luis, you're a cop! How could you let a man like that go and be with your sister alone?" he asked angrily.

"Ethan, you did the background check on Casey yourself. You know his record was totally clean! We've been over this." Luis said tiredly.

"I don't care. I know the guy is bad news, and Theresa is in danger every minute she's out there alone with him!" Ethan rubbed the back of his neck and started to pace. "What is going on out there?"

"Ethan! Give it up man!" Chad said. "Go be with your wife, and let Jared and Theresa handle this. Jared loves Theresa; he'd never hurt her."

At that exact moment, a scream was heard from the cemetery. "What the..." Luis sprang from where he leaned against the wall, but Ethan was already out the door.

"Theresa...!!"