Chapter Three

Kendall

So this is the place Bianca fell in love with yesterday. I'm betting her new found love of this restaurant has more to do with a certain chocolate toned model than with the actual food. I take a seat at the counter and try to decide between the apple and blueberry pies.

"Excuse me," someone says from behind my right shoulder. I turn around and come face to face with the incredibly blue eyes of Jason Morgan. I could say the death of his sister is what's causing his gaze to scan my face with such intensity, but I get the feeling his expression never changes.

Before I can respond to his greeting he says, "I just wanted to thank you for talking to me yesterday."

"You're welcome." He gives a short nod of his head and turns around. "Wait, why don't you have some pie with me?" He turns back around, the intensity still there. He quietly and seriously considers if he should have pie or not. "It's just pie," I say.

He relents and I think he can see the amusement in my eyes as he responds with what I imagine is supposed to be a smile. The fact that he is here at all is amazing because if our situations were reversed . . . well, I don't even want to think about that. He takes the seat next to me and the waitress pours him a cup of coffee. I go back to my deliberations of apple or blueberry while he sips quietly.

"You should go with the blueberry," he says.

"Really?"

"Definitely," he responds, his almost smile making another appearance.

Gia

Okay, it's just lunch. I can totally do this. It's only take-out at her office. I mean what could possibly happen? Nothing is going to happen. Wait, what if I want something to happen? God, why did I say she was beautiful? For once couldn't I just keep my mouth shut? It's not that she isn't beautiful; it's just that I would have been perfectly happy to pine away for her in tortured silence.

Clearly, the world is out to get me. That's the only explanation for why when I decide that I like girls more that guys I meet the perfect girl. The perfect girl who actually likes me back!

Seriously, who does that happen to? I'm not ready to deal with this yet. I should get, at the very least, one year of unrequited love and/or inappropriate crushes on straight girls to cut my teeth on. It's not fair.

Calm down. I am acting like a crazy person. Deep breath. All I have to do is walk through this door and let whatever happens, happen.

Bianca is sitting on the edge of her desk talking on her cell phone. Who knew a business suit could look so cute? The black pinstriped skirt covers just enough leg to still be considered business attire and the pink silk tank makes her skin glow.

She looks up as she disconnects her phone call and I let my eyes travel the length of her body. Once I reach her face I can see the evidence of my appraisal in the red spots on her cheeks.

Okay, maybe I don't need that much of an adjustment period.

--))--((--

Carly

I hate this place, but I especially hate it today. Mac Scorpio beckoning all of the people close to Emily down to the station can only mean bad news. The tension in the room is palpable and the hope I see on everyone's face is unbearable. They still think there's a chance they'll say, "We found her. Everything is okay." I can even see it in Jason's eyes and the pain I know he will feel breaks my heart.

I insisted to Sonny that we come down here. "We need to be there for Jason." I told him.

The Quatermaine's are standing by the entrance looking everywhere except at one other. Nikolas, Lucky, and Elizabeth are huddled together at our right while Jason paces the tile between us all. Mac Scorpio finally makes his appearance and the scowl on his face tells me everything I need to know.

"About one hour ago," he begins, "we recovered Emily's body."

"Are you sure?" Jason is the only one strong enough to ask.

"Yes."

Jason walks out of the station, Monica collapses into Alan's arms and Nikolas looks as if he's cast in stone. He shuts down right before my eyes. Elizabeth collapses heavily into a chair. Tears streak down her face. I take two steps toward her before I stop and remember where I am and who I'm with.

Sonny is staring at me now. His eyes strain to find the answer for a question he has yet to form. They track back and forth from me to Elizabeth and my body ripples with tension. I fight to maintain eye contact with him while Elizabeth's need claws at my soul. The weight of a battle I know I can't win finally breaks me and I look in her direction. The need to go to her is excruciating. I want to kneel between her legs, wipe the tears from her eyes and soak her grief into my body. I turn back to Sonny knowing the truth of my soul lay bare in my eyes.

Jason

I can't breathe. I thought the night air at the docks would help but it doesn't. There was a moment before Mac spoke where I just knew he would say it was a mistake and tell us how the police had gotten it all wrong. I hate that moment. I'm confused about how my body is still functioning. I don't understand why this pain hasn't crippled me.

"We've got to stop meeting like this," a voice says from behind me. It's Kendall. As soon as she looks at me she can see the pain. Even if I had the strength to hide it I think she would have seen it anyway.

"What's wrong?" Her hand grabs onto my arm as she moves closer.

"They found Emily's body," I choke out. Before now, I never realized you could hurt too much to cry.

She doesn't say anything. There's no, "It will be okay," or "You'll get though this." She just hugs me. After a while she steps back and pulls me to the bench. We sit there in silence until I'm ready to speak.

"I don't understand this." My eyes look up to the sky as if expecting the stars to give an explanation.

"I don't think we're supposed to," she says.

That's the only thing I can believe.

Carly

I follow Sonny through the penthouse door. We haven't spoken a word since we left the police station and the silence is causing a sliver of fear to coil through my blood.

"I'm going to bed," he says as we walk further into the living room.

"That's it?" I ask. What if he says yes?

What if he says no?

"What do you want me to say, Carly?" His voice is rough.

"I don't know." I can hear the desperation in my voice but I don't care. He stares at me, contemplating his next move.

"Do you love her?"

All the air leaves my lungs and quickly evacuates the room. Of all the things I imagined him saying, that was nowhere on the list.

"Yes," I answer, the simplicity of the word deceiving us both. He looks away from. The muscles in his jaw strain as he clenches his teeth.

"Do you feel better now that you made me ask?"

Yes. No. How can I explain how it feels to finally be able to tell the truth when that truth hurts him so much? In the end I can only stay quiet. Realizing he isn't going to get an answer he walks around me and out the front door.