A/N: Thank you all for the amazing support for my new story it means the world to me!

Teddy's POV

Shit, shit, shit. What do I do? I've been thinking about this girl for the last six years and she has been under my nose this entire time? My sister has been talking nonstop about the infamous 'Stroke' for at least a year.

"What the hell did you do Teddy?" Phoebe asked as she watched her friend run away.

I has dazed and confused. "Is everything alright here?" Jamison, our CPO asked. Unsure of the scene that was unfolding in front of him. I like Jamison; he's good at blending in and giving me personal space.

"Why don't you ask my brother?" Phoebe asked before she left hot on the trail of the girl of my dreams.

"Sir?" He asked.

"I'm fine. Stay with Doll." He smiled at the use of her nickname.

"Please don't leave the gallery Mr. Grey. It is secure."

"I'll be right here." I didn't know what else to do. I wanted to talk to Stroke, I mean Lauren, but it was an important night for her and I didn't want to ruin it by upsetting her even more. She ran. Why would she run? I turned towards the painting, Angelo Grigio, Gray Angel. How could she have known? I never told her my last name.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Said the woman who joined me in front of the image that has haunted me since I was twelve years old.

"Almost as beautiful as the artist." I sighed. The woman turned towards me. She looked at me for several seconds before she said anything.

"I'm Sandra Connors."

"I'm …" She shook her head and put fingers over my mouth which caught me off guard. The woman seemed shaken and had tears in her eyes.

"I know exactly who you are. My daughter has been telling me all about you since she met you in Italy, Teddy." Now it was my turn to gasp. "Let me show you something." Sandra took my hand and began to lead me into the crowded gallery. I was stunned by what she showed me. Painting after painting. Scenes from that day. Scenes that before tonight I thought I had imagined. They were beautiful and colorful. It was like I stepped back in time and landed on that day.

"It was real." I nearly whispered.

"Every moment. Every feeling."

"But how did you know who I was?"

"Lauren has been working on the last painting for the show. She hasn't let anyone see it until tonight, just before it was hung. She almost called off the opening because she was struggling with it. You see, all of these were memories of what happened that day but the last painting is more like her dream of what could have been if that day had ended differently." Now I was the one with tears in my eyes. The guys tease my endlessly about all of the songs I have written about this girl. This figment of my imagination. Some of the songs are sad, full of regret. Some of the songs are about love and things that are possible when you meet the right person. Some are what I think when I dream of her. Justin and Chris love our song, Angel. They say it gets them laid every time we play it. I'm sure they tell the girls that it was written just for them. I don't really mind, I know the truth and my buddies reap the rewards. Although, now I'm not sure if I like the idea of them using my song to get screwed. Actually it's her song, and now that I know she is real I know I don't like the idea.

I still had my back to the painting, the last in the collection. "I know it might sound crazy, but my daughter fell in love that day Teddy and a piece of her has been missing since you ran away. Please don't break her heart again." Sandra turned me to face the painting.

"Oh fuck," my hands flew to my mouth, my heart was nearly pounding out of my chest, and I could hardly breathe. "It's me." The painting again was in shades of gray with a young girl sitting on the ground with her knees to her chest. The only color in the painting was the heart that I was holding in my hands. I was running away from the girl I remembered from that day, but instead of it being a twelve year old me, it was me now. "How?" Did she see me in the paper? Had Phoebe shown her a picture of me? Did she know who I was all along? It didn't make any sense. I knew from her reaction earlier that she had not seen me since that day.

"That's how she sees you in her dreams." Sandra answered as she wiped a tear away from her face. "She couldn't decide what to call it." She said as she continued to cry. "She finally decided on Grigio Sogno, Gray Dream."

"That's me."

"I don't understand." I knew without a doubt that Lauren wasn't the only one that had her heart stolen that day.

"Do you know who I am?" I asked as I tuned to face the woman who was standing next to me in tears.

"The boy in the painting of course." She sounded a little irritated.

"Sandra, I'm Theodore Grey."

"Holy shit," was the last thing Sandra said before I caught her in my arms.

Phoebe's POV

What the hell did my brother do now? I'm so pissed off at him. If he hurt Stroke I will never forgive him. Maybe it was one of his idiot friends. Chris and Justin are notorious around school. I followed behind her into the gallery office. She was on the floor with her knees bent up to her chest crying. "Stroke." I said softly. I didn't want to scare her. She looked so pretty tonight. For once she wasn't wearing clothes splattered with paint. Her hair was swept to the side and tied in a knot at the back. She actually had in earrings and a little make-up on. "Are you okay?" I know; stupid question but I didn't know what else to say. All I said was 'Stroke, I'd like you to meet my brother Scull' and she totally freaked out. Could they know each other?

"What's your brother's name?" She asked after I handed her a tissue and she blew her nose.

"Teddy." She sighed heavily and then buried her face in her knees again and began to cry softly.

"I don't understand Stroke. What did Scull do to you? I'll kill him for you."

She laughed and looked up at me. "Why do you call him that?" It was the first time I had seen her smile since she saw my brother.

"He's a rower." I shrugged and slid down the wall to sit next to her.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything." Stroke was my friend and unlike most people I never had to wonder with her if she was being genuine or not. She is the most sincere person I know.

"The summer of 2024, were you at the Olympics in Rome?"

"Yeah, it was kind of a once in a lifetime trip for our family." She looked at me like I had said something odd.

"That's what he said." She said her words just above a whisper. "I don't understand. Your family probably travels all over the world. What made this trip so special?"

"You don't get out much do you?" We both laughed and she shrugged her shoulders. Lauren is a bit of an enigma, unlike most teenagers she doesn't watch television but she reads a lot of books and knows every movie ever made. It's one of the reasons I thought that she and Teddy would be perfect together. "Our cousin and his wife, Sophie, both competed in the games that year."

"Liam and Sophie, are your cousins?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, that's why it was such a special trip. How often can you say you know two people in the Olympics much less that you are related to them?"

A knock at the door interrupted us and then it partially opened. Jamison scanned the room. "Miss Grey, I'm sorry to interrupt but is everything okay?"

"We are fine Jamison. Thank you." He nodded and left the room. "Sorry, that's our security detail for tonight."

"Do you always have someone with you?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Most of the time, but thanks to Teddy's great escape we have a little freedom."

"Great escape?" Stroke asked as I thought about the day my brother took off in Italy. He seemed to change after that day, but no one ever speaks of it. Much to the delight of our father he decided he wanted to home school, spent hours writing the saddest songs, and watching old movies.

"Yeah, I was ten. It was the day before the opening ceremonies and Teddy snuck out of the hotel. Our parents were going crazy. If mom hadn't been pregnant with Alec, dad would have gone thermonuclear. Mom just kept telling him that he would be home when the street lights came on." I don't know what I said but Lauren put her head back down and really started to cry again. "Hey, hey." I put my hand on the back of her back and began to rub. "What's wrong Stroke?"

"That's why he ran." She sobbed.

The door opened again. "Miss Grey, we have a situation with Miss Connors' mother."

"Mom?" Lauren and I scrambled from the floor and ran out into the gallery. We headed to where a crowd was forming and pushed our way through.

Teddy was on the ground, holding Sandra, my art teacher and Strokes mother in his arms. Someone handed her a glass of water. "What did you do?" Stroke seethed at Teddy, who looked awful.

"I'm sorry. I just told her my name." Stoke pushed Teddy out of the way and put her arm around her mother. "I didn't mean to upset her." Teddy stood and I took his hand. What the hell was going on? Teddy went white as a ghost when he saw Stroke. Stroke ran off and cried and now her mother, who was talking to my brother, fainted. None of it made any sense.

"I think you both should go." Lauren told us as she stared at my brother who looked sad, maybe even heart broken. She looked away from us and helped Sandra take a sip of water.

Teddy knelt down next to them. "We will go now, but I really think we need to talk." He was pleading with his eyes.

A tear rolled down her face. "We can't." She said as she turned to look away from him.

"I don't understand." Teddy wasn't the only one. He looked at her with so much love in his eyes.

"My father is Dean Nixon." Teddy fell back on his butt like he had been hit with a two ton truck.

"Son of a bitch." He cursed.

"Come on Teddy. I think it's time for us to go." Yes, I know the history of Dean Nixon, but I wasn't sure why it mattered so much to Teddy. It's between Mr. Nixon and dad as far as I'm concerned. I helped my bother to his feet while Lauren helped Sandra off the floor. I held his hand as we walked out of the gallery. Teddy handed the valet his keys but when his car was brought around I forced him into the passenger seat. Surprisingly he didn't fight me and let me drive his 'baby'.

"Dean Nixon. Dean Nixon. Why? Six fucking years." Teddy pounded his fists on his dashboard. "Dean fucking Nixon."

What did he mean about six years? I didn't know what to do, because I still wasn't sure what the hell just happened so I just drove home. Mom and Dad would know what to do.