An hour later both brothers were sitting on the couch staring at the fire, hot cocoas in hand while reminiscing about their childhood.

"Remember the time Chet and Iola's parents had gone out of town for the night and Mom offered for them to stay with us?" Joe asked Frank with a little bit of a wistful smile.

"Yeah, that was a great night. We were like, what? Ten, eleven?" Joe nodded his head at his brother. "I remember," Frank continued, "you convinced Iola to hide in the trunk in the attic that night. Then you forgot about her for an hour."

Joe looked at Frank. "I did not forget about her! We were planning a big scare for you and Chet. But neither of you would go for it."

Frank laughed. "That's because we knew what you two were up too. You were always trying to get us with something or other." Frank shook his head. "The poor girl. When she came down after being up there alone for so long, she was screaming mad at you. And saying something about a ghost or something."

Joe got a huge smile on his face. "Yeah, she was mad. She had let her imagination get a hold of her. But I calmed her down pretty fast."

"Yeah, I was always a little amazed at that. You two always fought like cats and dogs. I wondered what kind of relationship you could have."

"A good one. She's the one that I will always remember. And not just because of the way she died." Joe paused for a moment, catching his breath at the still hard memory. "She was truly a great person and so full of life."

They sat in silence for a while just watching the fire, each lost in their own memories. "That night, after the attic incident? That was our first kiss."

"What?!" Frank almost choked on his cocoa. "You were ten!"

Joe smiled. "Yeah, so? I was a player even then."

"Man, if Chet knew that, he would so kick your ass."

"He's not going to find out." Joe looked pointedly at Frank.

Frank nodded his headed and asked, "Have you heard from him lately?"

"Yeah, he's doing good. He's in a different dorm than me. And our schedules are so busy that we rarely see each other. I did make it to every football game this year. It was nice to see him play. You hear from any others of the old gang?"

"Not so much. Phil's at MIT. You know about Tony and his father expanding the Pizza place. They seem to be doing very good with that."

"Yeah, they have one opening up near the University in a few months. I'm excited. Tony is even going to be over seeing the set up." Joe licked his lips in anticipation of the pizza. "I haven't heard from Biff in a long time."

"Neither have I. Have you heard from Vanessa?"

Joe was quiet for a minute. "No. Last time I checked she was in Europe with her mom working on a big project. They are really starting to make a name for themselves." Joe sat in a sullen silence. He did care for Vanessa, but it wasn't a very fair relationship for her. And while Joe would have loved to at least stay friends, their break up had been anything but easy.

"It's not your fault, you know," Frank tried tentatively.

"Yes it is. I care for Vanessa, but my heart was never truly in it. There was only one girl for me. And now she's gone." Joe could see that Frank was taken back by Joe's admission. While he had spoken the truth, he wasn't ready for the consequences of it yet. He struggled to his feet. "I'm gonna head to bed. Night, Frank."

He could feel his brother's eyes boring into him. But he didn't turn around. He just wanted to get to bed and sleep off this depression that had suddenly washed over him. Once in his room he closed the door and gently stripped for bed. Gingerly, he crawled into bed and tried to block out all the thoughts that tumbled through his mind.

Vanessa was a fresh pain. He had hurt her terribly, but he knew that he had to let her go. He loved her the best he could, but he thought she could do better. She thought that he was enough for her. She had argued that she understood his ways. She knew he was a flirt. It came with the territory. She knew about his past with Iola. She said she was okay with it. But Joe wasn't sure, not really about Vanessa, but about himself.

Joe thought a lot about Iola still. He was better a hiding it, and he knew he should let it go. But when he closed his eyes he would see her pixie face. He could still smell the strawberry of her shampoo.

Joe beat his pillow a few times and tried to find a comfortable position to sleep in. After a little tossing and turning, Joe fell asleep to dreams of a lost love.

HBHBHBHB

Frank watched his brother quietly go to bed. He noticed that Joe never even turned on the light. He was worried. He knew that Joe had just let him see a glimpse into himself that very few saw. And in a way it scared him. To see Joe, apparently still pining after Iola four years after her death, was a little disturbing. Joe should have moved on by now. But if Joe really believed that Iola was his one true love, it would be pretty hard. Frank didn't really know what to think about all of this, but he vowed to get to the bottom of it during this week together.

Frank cleaned up their mugs and put out the fire. He worked slowly, wondering if Joe had fallen asleep yet. He was tempted to go in and talk with his brother now. He held off. Maybe now wasn't the best time.

When Frank finally climbed into bed, he had a hard time falling asleep.