Disclaimer: For legal purposes let's assume I don't own anything.

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"Truth is not always the best basis for happiness. There are people who perish when their eyes are opened."

-Wilhelm Stekel

A slight tap on her shoulder caused Theresa to look up. "I need you right now," she cried.

Luis looked at his sister and felt her pain. He saw the look in her eyes that told him that she had lost the love of her life. He had that look the day Sheridan married Antonio. "What has Ethan done now?"

"He told me that he wanted me back."

Luis looked at his sister with confusion. "I thought that's what you wanted. I thought you've been fighting to get Ethan to marry you since you were a little girl."

"I thought that's what I wanted too."

"What's changed? Why is my little sister crying at the beach?"

"Fox," she managed to choke out before she was overcome by tears.

000

"Fox, give me your keys," Julian demanded. "I will not have you driving home in your state."

"Why should you care? I'm a screw up. I'm the black sheep of this godforsaken family. You'd probably rejoice if I ended up dead. Better yet, if I ended up as a vegetable."

"NO!" Julian bellowed. "You are my son, and I love you."

"You have a funny way of showing it."

"And you have a funny way of showing your love for Theresa!"

"You don't know anything about our relationship!"

"Then tell me!" Julian screamed, causing other patrons to look up from their alcohol.

"Her precious ETHAN asked her to marry him!" he said with venom in his voice. "And she told him no," he added bitterly.

000

"He broke up with me," Theresa stated flatly.

Luis stared at his sister. Her face was swollen from the tears she had shed. Her expression was vacant. She was emotionally drained and he was unsure how he could put that smile back on her face. "Did he tell you why he was leaving you?"

"He thinks that I'm still hung up on Ethan. That I'm with him so that I don't hurt him. He practically told me to go to Ethan." Theresa sighed as the memories haunted her mind. "Except, I don't want Ethan. I want Fox."

Luis knew that there had to be something else that Theresa wasn't telling him. There was no way that Fox would give Theresa up, especially to Ethan. "Why does he believe that you want to spend your life with Ethan?"

"Because I told him," she declared as she was overcome by another wave of tears. "I told him that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. But instead of saying Fox, I called him Ethan."

"Theresa, are you sure you didn't mean Ethan? Are you just afraid of hurting Fox?"

Theresa stared at her brother as he spoke. She closed her eyes and tried to comprehend his logic. "No. I don't think so."

Luis shook his head. "Fox spent over a year watching you scheme to get Ethan. He saw you practically throw yourself at him. You spent your time with one another telling him how you and Ethan were fated to be together. Of course he would think that you would want to spend the rest of you life with Ethan."

"I..." Theresa began to protest. "I... you're right. Of course Fox would resent me. Of course he would believe that I would want Ethan. But I don't. I want him. I love Fox."

000

"I don't believe for one second that she wants to be with me."

"Why not?"

"Because she was only dating me because she thought Ethan abandoned her. And now that Ethan is her knight in shining armor yet again, why would she choose me?"

"But she did."

"No, she told me that she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Ethan. She called me Ethan. We spent a week together and all I could think about was that one moment in time. The moment when everything collapsed around me."

"But she stayed with you for that week. She never once mentioned Ethan's name when she was with you then, did she? You destroyed your future with her because of that one moment."

"No, Ethan destroyed it when he was born. He always got everything that he wanted. Mother's love, Alistair's approval, and now, now he has Theresa."

"Because you gave her to him. That's not like you Fox. You are a Crane. You go after everything you want and never give up until you've won."

"Yeah, but you told me to give a woman up, if I truly love her. I gave Theresa up because she would be much happier with Ethan. He is everything that I'm not."

"Exactly. That is why she needs you. Why she loves you. You already had her. She was happy with you. I was talking about Whitney because she had Chad."

"And Theresa has Ethan."

"Theresa is the kind of woman who goes after everything that she wants. If she wanted Ethan, she would have dropped you in an instant."

Fox stared blankly at Julian. "She didn't want to hurt me. She and I were friends and that was what she wanted, the friendship, not the significant other thing we had going on for the past few months." Fox felt his heart sag in his chest. "Bartender, give me something that will numb all the pain."

"No more booze for you Fox. It's not the answer," Julian stated coolly.

"Father, you have never been one to say no to liquor. Why should I break family tradition?"

"Because you're better than me."

"Not much to be better than," Fox spat back.

"Fair enough," Julian conceded. "And in so many ways you are better than Ethan."

000

"You should look at this from Fox's point of view. Perhaps he sees something that you don't. Maybe subconsciously you desire to be with Ethan but on the outside you refuse because of your history with him. You don't want to get hurt again. Do you think that there is a possibility that you are with Fox because it's the easier choice?"

Theresa stood up and brushed the sand off her clothes. "Thank you. I appreciate that you're trying to help me, but I can't do this anymore. I know what I feel in my heart."

"And do you believe that Sheridan would have chosen Antonio if he wasn't the easier choice? They didn't have the same obstacles to overcome. They are like you and Fox. Simple, but not what you really want."

"How do you know that's not what I really want? Maybe I want simplicity."

"And if Fox is anything like me, he wants you to be happy. He doesn't want to stand in your way. He doesn't want to wonder if you're thinking about Ethan when you're with him. Just like Sheridan thinks about me when she is with Antonio." Luis sighed as he thought of his lost love. "But what do I know."

"Everything," Theresa whispered softly as the siblings started their walk home.

000

"Nobody is better than Prince Ethan." Fox stood up and immediately sat back down. His head was spinning from the alcohol in his system. "I think I'm a little drunk," he hiccupped. "Would the golden boy be caught drunk?"

"No, he's too busy trying to do the right thing. The thing is though, he is only making a mess of his life and everybody else's. He is miserable, Gwen is miserable, and for some time, Theresa was miserable. Why can't you see it? You made her happy. Perhaps it's because you met Theresa Crane, the one whose spirit I helped to destroy. But in the year that you were her friend, she began to reemerge, Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald, the eternal optimist."

"And during that year," he began as he slowly tried to get up again. "She spent her time trying to win Ethan's heart."

"And you were trying to win Whitney's. That was the past. When you and Theresa started dating, she was no longer inching her way beyond her walls. She tore them down with a sledge hammer. She gave you her heart; you were just too blind to see it. You still hold her heart in your hands. Either give it back to her or take better care of it than Ethan did." Julian helped his son to his car and drove him back to the Crane Mansion.

The next morning, Fox opened his eyes and groaned as his head felt heavy. The light streaming through his windows made the pain worse.

"Good Morning," Julian's voice broke through his haze. "Why are you still in bed? You have a woman to reconcile with. Here, take this," Julian said as he handed Fox aspirin and a glass of water.

"What happened?" Fox said as he took the medication from his father.

"Long story short, you broke Theresa's heart and then got drunk. Now you have to go to her and beg for forgiveness."

000

The sound of someone knocking on her front door woke Theresa from her slumber. She opened the door and was surprised to see Fox standing there. "What do you want? Did you forget your keys? Did you want to get your things already?"

"I didn't think that you would want me barging in here unannounced. I've come here to beg your forgiveness. I was an idiot last night. Please take me back."

Theresa looked into Fox's eyes and choked back her tears. "I'm sorry," she breathed. "I can't take you back."