Natalie groaned as the sudden pounding on her apartment door woke her from her deep sleep. Glancing over at the beside clock, she groaned again realizing it was only a few minutes after 7:00am.
Grabbing a robe from the floor, Natalie tied it around her and padded barefoot toward the front door. She had started to move into the apartment a few days before the whole Jared drama had occurred, but it was really only her immediate family that knew her new address. With the hours she had been keeping at BE and Vicki returning from her spur of the moment trip around Europe, Natalie figured it was about time she got her own place, and so far she had no complaints.
Throwing open the door she was met by her sister holding two cups of coffee and a take-out bag from the local bagel shop. "I brought us breakfast," Jessica said as she crossed the threshold and walked toward the kitchen.
"Why are you here this early Jess? You know it's my only day off." Natalie whined as she followed her twin into the kitchen and took the coffee that was handed to her.
Jessica busied herself with taking the bagels and cream cheese out of the bag and spreading it out on the island, but Natalie persisted. "Come on Jess, what's up?"
Sighing Jessica spun around to face her sister. "I just don't know how much longer I can keep this up Nat. Nash keeps remarking that he hasn't seen or heard from Jared in days, and asking me if I have, and I have a feeling he suspects something."
"Suspects what Jess?" Natalie questioned, a sense of dread welling up in her.
"I don't know…. That I am having an affair with him or something. Nash knows I have been acting strange these past few days, and I can't help but freeze up whenever he mentions Jared's name… I just don't know what to do."
"First things first, did you get that DNA test run on Bree?" Jessica had decided that she needed to know for sure that Jared wasn't the father and had planned on taking a DNA sample to an out of state lab that did walk-in testing under the table for a small fee. Jessica nodded and smiled in relief. "Yeah, they came back positive. Nash is definitely her father."
"That's excellent news!" Natalie also felt a sense of relief at this news, as if it ever came out Nash wasn't the father, it would implicate them. "Okay, as for Nash, you just have to be strong. Try not to freeze up when he mentions Jared's name, but if there's no way you can't you just need to talk to him. Explain that the mere mention of Jared's name brings up all these feelings of being helpless like you were when Tess was in control. This is going to sound awful, but you need to do the whole sob story thing."
"Should I tell him what happened?" Jessica asked softly as she started to bite on one of her fingernails.
Natalie sighed. "Jess, I can't answer that for you. Nash is your husband, not mine. I don't have to see him, or be with him every day."
"But what if it was you… and you were married right now, would you tell your husband?"
"For me to be married right now it would have to be to John, and considering he would arrest me on the spot, no I wouldn't tell him. However, that being said, a secret like this would have been likely to ruin our relationship, and/or possibly come out."
"So if I don't tell him my marriage could be in trouble?"
"Again Jess, I can't answer that. But at the same time, this IS your third marriage… I really, really, really hope this one works out, and it seems to me it will…. But what if it doesn't? Would Nash be able to keep that secret? Would you start to feel obligated to him because he knew? And what would happen if everything does come out? He'd be an accessory after the fact. These are all things you need to think about being making that decision. I hated having to drag Rex into this mess but knew we had no other option. And the only reason I did was after ensuring he had an airtight alibi so if on the off chance we ever did get implicated, he would be in the clear."
"It's just so hard Natalie… I feel like I am constantly watching over my shoulder, waiting for someone to come up and arrest me. And now with Nash thinking I am having an affair with Jared… and the memories… the memories of him being on top of me, and what he planned to do to me… It's just really taking its told on me."
Natalie put a comforting arm around her sister and pulled her into a hug. "Sweetie, I know it's not easy. I'm feeling that same panic too, but we have to be strong. Jared was going to rape you… his death was accidental. You have to remember that. We took great care to make sure there were no traces of us on him, or traces of him at the cabin. Except for a few hours, we have an alibi. We have to try and go on living."
"But what if we get caught? What if they realize what we did?"
Natalie sighed, as much as she wanted to be supportive and calm her sister she didn't need this freak-out right now. She was just as worried, and just as upset over her conversation with John, to have to try and be the strong one. "We'll deal with that if it happens."
Jessica must have sensed her sister's change in mood, and was quickly apologetic. "Oh my god Natalie, I am being so selfish. Here I am going on and on about how I feel and how hard this is on me, that I am forgetting you're in this too. You're the one who dropped everything and risked her freedom to help me. Oh god, you must hate me."
"I don't hate you, I could never hate you. You're my twin sister Jess… a part of me. Of course I was going to do everything in my power to help you. Hell, I would take a bullet for you, it's just how this sister thing works. We are in this together."
Tears began to well up in Jessica's eyes and she hugged Natalie tightly. "I know we had our differences in the beginning, but I thank god for bringing you to Llanview. I don't know what I would do without you. I love you so much Natalie."
Natalie hugged her back, suddenly feeling guilty for the doubts she had had about Jessica side of the story the day before.
"I love you too Jess," she replied softly.
As she walked into Capricorn to meet Rex, Natalie groaned as her eyes came to land on Marty and John sitting in a booth to the side. She had managed to change her routine these past few days and had successfully avoided running into John. She had started to grab her morning coffee at a nearby coffee-shop rather then the diner, and had been sending her assistant to Rodi's to pick up any lunch or dinner. There had been two messages from John since their last encounter at Rodi's – the night she realized her need to pull away from him – one questioning why she had rushed out of there so fast, and the other with an offer of meeting up and grabbing a beer. As much as it killed her she had quickly deleted both messages, and tried her best to put them from her mind.
But it wasn't easy.
Though she and John hadn't exactly been close these past few months, she always knew she could go to him if she had to. That despite it all, the best friend she had once had was still there, but now, she couldn't. So Natalie did what she did best, threw herself into her work.
Until tonight.
Rex had been back from NYC for a few days and had been bugging her to meet up with him. As much as she didn't feel like being out in public and trying to act like she was having a blast, Natalie knew that her brother was worried about her and wanted to make sure she was alright. So she had agreed to meet him there after work for a drink, specifically picking the place because it wasn't Rodi's.
Sighing, she walked toward her brother and pretended not to notice John and Marty as she walked by their table. However, this proved impossible as John noticed her and greeted her as she walked by.
Feigning surprise, she looked up and forced a wide, and very much, fake smile at them. "Hey John, Hey Marty. How are you guys?"