Kenshin opened the door and spotted Sel immediately. "Selana! This one needs your help."

Sel sighed and came inside. "What do you need—where did all this come from?" she said, spotting several shopping bags and a stuffed suitcase.

Kenshin smiled sheepishly. "I'm Kayla's bodyguard, not her wallet-guard. She insisted that I needed all of this…and then she decided to get some stuff for herself. I'm afraid we'll need another suitcase or two."

"Oh…well, I'll go and get that for you," said Sel, glad to have an excuse to leave.

"Oh, and all of this is yours," said Kenshin, moving a couple of very full bags away from the rest. "Kayla was going to get some stuff for Kurt and Kevin, too, but then she had to go and get pads, and they were kind of forgotten…"

"Oh, how cute!" squealed Sel, pulling a blue top out. "Thanks!"

The group, now swollen to five members, disembarked in San Diego, California. All were in high spirits—until Kayla saw a new mother carrying her baby. Kayla looked away quickly, doing her best to hide her own pain. She'd always wanted to have a baby…

Now bored with apartment buildings, they all decided to buy a beach house. They had to stay at a hotel temporarily while all the paperwork and such was completed, and then a pretty white house with blue trim was theirs. Then came the difficulty of organizing who got which room… Kayla said immediately that Kenshin should have a room next to hers because he was being paid to stick around her, and although Kevin didn't approve of the idea, he didn't speak up. He did say, however, that he wanted to have a room next to her, too. Kayla, seeming to forget how angry she'd been with him previously, laughed and said no way. She, Sel, and Kenshin took the three bedrooms on the second floor, and Kevin and Kurt were left with the rooms on the third floor. They all dropped their suitcases in their respective rooms, donned their swimsuits, and met on the beach.

By the time Kayla and Selana had changed, all three men had already gone outside. Kayla was a little disappointed that Kenshin didn't wait for her--she was paying him to be around her at all times--but they had all arranged to meet outside, so he was just following what they had decided. Selana and Kayla didn't see them at first, but they weren't hard to find. Not far from the beach house, a flock of girls was slowly forming around Kurt, Kevin and Kenshin. Kayla was convinced that it was because of the makeover she had given Kenshin--she thought she had done a pretty darn good job. On the other hand, Selana thought that the girls were after Kurt; she'd seen quite a few women flirting with him in North Dakota. Selana pushed a couple star-struck girls away and grabbed whichever of her friends was closest, which happened to be Kurt and Kevin. Kayla followed behind her, and Kenshin spotted Kayla and followed, too.

"What are you doing?" Kevin asked, pulling away from her.

"Sel, we were just having some fun," Kurt said, smirking. "Nothing to get angry about."

Her face burned with embarrassment. "It's just...well, you two are always hanging around slutty girls, and I'd like it if we actually did something together for once."

"We don't always--" Kevin started.

"Slutty girls?" Kurt exclaimed.

"Let's go have lunch!" Kayla cut in, and headed towards a nearby cafe.

"Hold it!"

A blonde, bikini-clad girl stormed up to Sel. "You just called me and my friends sluts!" Her voice was so high-pitched it was almost squeaky, and her blue eyes flashed with anger.

"I wasn't specifically referring to you and your friends," said Sel, trying to calm the blonde down. "I was just saying that, in general, these guys seem to hang around slutty girls."

The blonde sniffed and stuck her perfect nose up in the air. "So what does that say about yourself?"

"What?" Sel shouted, and before anybody could react, she tackled the blonde.

It must be mentioned here that none of the guys did much of anything to stop the catfight. They were very much enjoying the sight of two girls in swimsuits clawing, biting, hitting, and kicking at each other in the sand. Well, give Kenshin some credit—he wanted to turn and walk away, but he had to stay because Kayla was staying. She and several of the other beach girls finally managed to separate Sel and the blonde, who were now covered in sand and scratches but otherwise unfazed.

"Let me go!" screamed Sel.

"I can take her!" screamed the blonde.

But, to the two combatants dismay, they were dragged apart from each other. Kayla enlisted the help of Kurt, Kevin, and Kenshin, and between them all they were able to carry Sel back to the beach house, where they dropped her unceremoniously on the floor.

"Why'd you have to do that?" asked Sel, getting up and brushing the sand off of herself.

"Why'd you have to do that?" asked Kayla.

"She called me a slut! You heard her!"

"And she heard you, so the way I see it, you're even now."

Sel, muttering to herself, chose not to continue the argument and headed upstairs to her room. Kayla, sighing, headed to the kitchen and poured a glass of lemonade for herself.

"Why did you do that, though?" Kurt asked jokingly. "We were having so much fun out there!"

Kayla gave him a disgusted look. "You pervert. Get your mind out of the gutter." Then, glancing at Kevin, she added, "Both of you."

"What about Kenshin?" asked Kevin, unable to keep a hint of jealousy out of his voice. "He was watching them, too."

Kayla shook her head. "Whatever." She paused, staring out of the window and off into space. "So, what are we going to do now? We can't go to the beach, and we have the whole day ahead of us. What now?"

Selana emerged from her room a few hours later, looking much happier than she had earlier. "I've got an idea," she announced, "Let's all go out to dinner, on me!"

"What's the occasion?" Kayla asked, a little amused by Sel's exuberance.

Selana shrugged. "Well, we're living in the beach house now...that's good enough!"

"But it's only two in the afternoon," Kevin objected.

"We'll just have to find something to do until we're hungry," Kurt said, smirking.

Later that night, they found a grill and bar that seemed suitable for their celebration. It seemed like a quiet place, but after dark fell, the place was packed. Even so, they still had their share of fun. Selana was particularly happy with how the night was turning out. She did wish that Kayla would have let her keep fighting that dumb blonde, but she was in a better mood now, and Kevin and Kurt had been enjoying the fighting too much.

Suddenly, she saw a flash of black hair; deep blue eyes; and a charming, confident smile. She blinked in shock, but when she looked again, she didn't see anyone matching the description. She almost panicked, but something in her knew that Nick couldn't possibly be here.

"Are you all right, Selana?" Kurt asked. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Uh, yeah," she answered, forcing a smile. "I'm just...a little dizzy, that's it. I must be drinking too much. I think I'll go back to the house and rest." No need to tell them that she thought she had seen Nick. She was just being paranoid. Everyone seemed to like it in California, anyway, and if she told them, they might want to leave just to be safe.

"Do you want someone to come with you?" Kayla asked, looking concerned.

Selana stood up. "No, I'll manage. I don't want to stop you from having any fun."

"You can't leave me with these guys!" cried Kayla jokingly.

Kurt feigned a pained expression. "I'm hurt! You make it sound as if we're dangerous!"

Kayla laughed. "How do I know you're not?"

While the playful banter continued, Sel slipped off unnoticed.

Kayla and the guys came home an hour or so after Sel. Kurt and Kevin were definitely a bit tipsy and had trouble walking up the straight sidewalk to the house, to the amusement of all involved. Kenshin spotted Sel's face in the upstairs window, smiling as she watched Kurt and Kevin stumble along. He told Kayla, and she giggled. "I knew Sel wouldn't have gone to bed this early." She waved up at Sel as she opened the mailbox.

"What are you doing?" laughed Kenshin. "We just moved in; we can't possibly have mail yet!"

"Wrong!" said Kayla, waving an envelope in his face. "And it's not for you, either! Remember, we're the only ones who even know you exist!" She laughed and ran up the front walk, pushing past Kurt and Kevin and 'accidentally' knocking them over.

Kenshin, caught up in the moment, laughed and chased after Kayla. As he'd stated when she first hired him, he was fast, and despite her head start, he caught her before she reached the doorknob. "Gotcha!" He grabbed her and spun her around, both of them laughing and out of breath, and before he knew what had happened, he'd kissed her.

He pulled back quickly, his face turning red. Kayla was just as surprised as he was, and they stood there staring at each other for a few seconds. "I, um… Sorry…about that… I…um… I don't know what came over me…"

Kurt, who had finally managed to get back up, threw his arm around Kenshin's shoulder. "Wha' happened? Wha' I miss?" he slurred, breathing alcohol.

"Hey, wha' 'bou' my kiss?" asked Kevin, thankfully too drunk to be jealous. "I wanna kiss!"

Kayla started to argue, "I don't—"

Kurt picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. "She can' open the door, Kev! She's a lady, an' we gotta treat her like one!"

"Ri' you are!" agreed Kevin, fumbling with the door. He finally managed to open it, and stepped back with a bow. Due to his drunken state, he fell over just as Kurt started to walk through the door. Kurt tripped and fell down, taking Kayla with him.

"I didn' know you liked me like tha'," Kurt said, finding himself on top of Kayla, his head even with her hips. Thankfully, Kenshin intervened at that point and, stepping over two drunken bodies, he grabbed Kayla by the arms and pulled her out from underneath Kurt. "Hey, wha' you think you're doin'?" asked Kurt, starting to get up. His drunkenness overcame him, however, and he slumped back down to the floor, unconscious.

About this time, Kenshin realized that he was still holding Kayla, and he was also holding her very close to him. Flushing for the second time that night, he released her. "I should, um… I should get those two in here…" He didn't wait for her to respond, but set to work dragging first Kurt, and then Kevin (who had also passed out) into the living room and closing the door behind them.

Not surprisingly, Selana was the first person awake. It was pretty early, even for her, and she didn't want to wake up everyone else (they would probably all wake up late and have hangovers when they did). So Sel decided to eat breakfast and go outside to sunbathe while she waited for the others to get up. As she went out to the beach, she thought about Kenshin and Kayla. She'd seen the kiss that Kenshin had laid on her friend, and she had to admit, they did look cute together. Unfortunately, she was probably the only one who remembered it because everyone else had come home wasted, but she could still try seeing if Kayla or Kenshin remembered. Selana thought it was kind of weird; she'd always thought that Kayla and Kevin would get together because it was completely obvious that he was nuts about her, but she'd never thought that Kayla would fall for someone like Kenshin. But, of course, it was Kenshin who had kissed Kayla. But even from the second floor, Kayla had looked like she'd enjoyed it.

Because she was lost in her thoughts, Selana was more than surprised when someone put an arm around her. "Kurt!" she exclaimed, glaring at him. "What are you doing awake at this hour?"

"Please don't yell at me, Sel, I have a headache," he said, but was still smirking.

"Maybe if you wouldn't drink so much," she mumbled, then added more loudly, "You should be inside, sleeping it off."

"I was going to, but I saw you outside, and I find it much more relaxing to be around you. Want to go on a walk with me?"

She rolled her eyes, but didn't object. "Fine. I was going to do that anyways. Um...do you happen to remember any...intimate moments between Kenshin and Kayla last night?"

"No. What happened?" he asked.

"Uh...nothing," Selana said, relieved. If Kurt didn't remember, Kevin probably didn't either, thank God.

"Aw, come on! Tell me!"

"No!" she squealed, and raced into the water.

Kurt started to follow her, but stopped. "This isn't fair!" he called after her. "You have your verdammt swimsuit on!"

"Who cares?" she yelled back, laughing. "Come and get me and I'll tell you what happened."

Kayla's alarm clock blared the radio at decibels that should never be heard by human ears at ten o'clock, only to be rudely smothered by her pillow shortly after. Now that it's volume was down to just 'excessively loud', Kayla reached underneath the pillow and fumbled with the alarm clock a bit until it finally turned off. She wanted to go back to bed, very badly, even though she didn't have a hangover—she and Kenshin had chosen to abstain from alcohol for the rest of their lives, and seeing Kurt and Kevin's foolish behavior only reinforced that position. Still, she was tired, and she definitely didn't want to face any of the guys. Nevertheless, with a reluctant sigh, she heaved herself out of bed and headed toward the closet.

She was pleasantly surprised to find breakfast already prepared for her, but unpleasantly surprised to find that it was Kenshin who'd made it. Avoiding eye contact with him, she sat down and ate quickly. Kenshin was the one who finally broke the awkward silence. "Sel and Kurt went out together, and I found this on the counter." He waved an envelope in the air.

"Give me that!" said Kayla, forgetting her mixed feelings about Kenshin and her embarrassment as she launched herself around the table towards him.

He laughed and danced out of her way. "It's a very interesting read, I must say…"

"You read it?" she asked, chasing him upstairs. "You—give it here!"

"You gotta come get it!" he said, evading her and dashing up another set of stairs.

"Kenshin!" she wailed, chasing after him. She finally cornered him at the end of the hall on the 3rd floor, panting but triumphant. "Gotcha!"

"What are you doing?"

Kenshin and Kayla turned to see Kevin, still in his pajamas (a.k.a. boxers), standing in his doorway watching them. "Uh…um…" Kenshin stammered, trying to come up with something.

Kayla took the opportunity to snatch the letter from Kenshin's hand. "I got it!" She stepped back, in case Kenshin started chasing her, and glanced at the envelope. "Hey, this isn't even open! You were lying about reading it!"

Kenshin smiled impishly. "Yeah, well…"

"What's that?" asked Kevin, since nobody seemed to be answering his first question.

"Um…well, it's a letter, from…um… There's not a return address…" Kayla said, puzzled. She slit the envelope open and pulled out a small piece of paper. It took her just a few seconds to read it and turn visibly paler.

"What's it say?" ventured Kenshin, concerned. Kayla passed the note to him; he read it and wordlessly passed it to Kevin.

"That—why can't he just give up?" Kevin raged, his face turning red. Kayla didn't answer, but took the note back and shoved it in the envelope.

"Kenshin, where did Sel and Kurt go?" she asked quietly.

"Sel was in her swimsuit, so I'm guessing the beach," he answered, shrugging.

"Could you go get them? And Kevin, could you—" she paused, looking him over and blushing. "Could you put some clothes on?"

"Put me down!" Selana shrieked, laughing. Kurt had grabbed her around the waist from behind. She hadn't expected him to actually come in the water, but he had taken off his shirt and teleported to her to catch her.

"Not until you tell me what happened," he answered, also laughing. He still had a headache, but being with Sel like this was worth it.

"No! I'll never tell. You cheated!"

"Cheated?" Kurt let her go, but grabbed her arm so she wouldn't run again. "I didn't cheat."

"Yes you did! You teleported."

"Now you're just changing the rules," he said, smirking.

"I guess I am," she said softly, moving closer. Her face was just inches away from his. "If you want me to show you what Kenny did, then I might--"

"Am I interrupting something?" Kenshin was standing on shore, looking uncomfortable.

Selana quickly backed away from Kurt, blushing. "No, you're not interrupting anything. What's up?"

He relaxed a little, but still seemed rather tense. "Kayla got a letter...from Eric."

"What?" Kurt and Selana exclaimed simultaneously.

"Before you ask any more questions," Kenshin said slowly, "we should go inside, where we all can discuss it."

"Good idea," Kurt replied and teleported Selana inside.

Kayla jumped at the loud bamf that accompanied Kurt's teleport, but gave a weak smile when she realized it was just Kurt and Sel. "This is it," she said quietly, handing Kurt the note. He read it and handed it to Sel, who gasped.

"Then…it was him…"

"What? Do you know something about either one of them?" asked Kevin sharply from his self-assigned position next to Kayla.

"I…I saw…Nick at the bar last night…that's why I left…I thought I was just being paranoid…" She exchanged worried glances with Kayla and looked to Kevin to see what he would say. Needless to say, recent events had driven his temper over the edge.

"And you didn't tell us?" he shouted at her.

"Stop it!" yelled Kayla. "This is no time for us to be fighting amongst ourselves. We all thought that the X-Men safely held Eric and Nick captive. If you thought you saw one of them while you were drinking, you wouldn't have told us, either."

Kevin snapped his mouth shut at Kayla's rebuke, but his eyes flashed darkly.

"So they know where we are. What do we do?" Kenshin said. Everybody turned to look at him, startled. None of them remembered him entering, but there he was, standing in the corner. Then they turned back to Kayla, waiting for an answer, since she seemed to be the boss.

"I…I don't know," she said, uncomfortable under their scrutiny. "We could try moving again…out of the country, maybe…"

"No!" said Sel. "I like it here, and they'll find us no matter what!"

"She's right," said Kurt. "We can't keep running. We have to stand and fight at some point."

Kayla shrugged. "Yeah…you're right, I suppose. But we definitely cannot split up. We have to be together at all times."

"Even sleeping?" joked Kurt, trying to lighten the mood. It worked, for everybody except for Kevin. He might not remember what had transpired between Kenshin and Kayla the night before, but he did know they were becoming very friendly with each other. Then he spotted Kayla glance at Kenshin and blush, and his scowl deepened even further.

"I think we'll be fine sleeping. Unless you'd all prefer sleeping in the same room, but in different beds," she said, smiling.

Kevin spoke up then. "Not a chance. I can hear Kurt snoring through the wall at night; I don't think I could stand being in the same room as him." He allowed himself a brief grin as Kurt pretended to take offense.

"What? Nein, mein freund, you are speaking of yourself. You're the first person I've ever known to wake yourself by snoring."

Sel laughed. "Well, that settles it, then. We'll be fine sleeping. But nobody can leave the house by themselves or anything. If we must split up, we go in twos or threes."

For the next few days, everyone was paranoid and skittish. None of them slept much, and they didn't leave the house unless they absolutely had to. Selana had gotten a gun from one of her suitcases. She hadn't thought about any of her weapons since they'd left the Caribbean, but now she carried at least her gun with her everywhere. She was sure that Kevin and Kayla did the same, they were probably just not as obvious about it.

Selana was seriously considering leaving all her friends, just to get somewhere safer, somewhere where Eric and Nick wouldn't dare go. Sure, she loved all of her friends, but she would do anything to get away from Eric. She knew that all Eric was interested in was Kayla, and if she left, it wouldn't change a thing. As a matter of fact, even though she was sure that Nick was no longer interested in her, if she left she might just be able to get Nick to follow her, which would just help Kayla out.

Kayla had left before when Kevin and Sel had thought they should stick together. Why was this any different? But every time Selana decided that she would leave, by the time she started to pack she felt too guilty to leave. So one early morning when she simply couldn't sleep, she decided to pack all of her things, so if she was sure she was leaving again, she wouldn't have time to let guilt creep up on her. It was probably a good thing to do anyway, just in case they decided to leave as a group.

"What are you doing?"

She was scared nearly half to death, though had enough sense to reach for her gun. But when she looked up, it was only Kayla. She let out a sigh of relief. "You should knock, you know. Especially now," Selana scolded. "What are you doing up this early?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Kayla answered. "I couldn't sleep. Why are you packing?"

"Just in case we decide to leave," Sel answered quickly. "You should do the same thing...you never know, we may have to leave really suddenly."

"Good idea," Kayla said with a smile, but she knew that Sel was lying. She was being way too jumpy to be telling the truth, and she had visibly relaxed when Kayla accepted her excuse. But she would ask her about it later. "I'm going to go make breakfast," Kayla announced and left the room.

Selana sighed in relief again, glad that Kayla had left. She knew that she felt way too guilty around her friends, and if she were actually going to leave, she'd have to do it in the middle of the night, or when they were all doing something else. Then she realized that if she was going by herself, she couldn't possibly carry all her suitcases...she would only be able to take one or two. That meant she had to unpack everything and put all of her favorite possessions in only a few suitcases. Groaning in frustration, she started to take out all her clothes and sort them in piles according to what she liked most.

Kayla made breakfast for everybody, ate her own share, and then sat down in front of the TV as the food got cold. Sel was leaving, Kevin and Kenshin were subtly fighting over Kayla, and Kurt was getting closer and closer to Sel. Kayla wouldn't be surprised if he caught wind of Sel leaving and went with her. In fact, Kayla would probably suggest that he go with Sel—she shouldn't be out by herself, not with Nick on the loose. Then the phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Kayla."

Kayla slammed the phone down before Eric could say anything more.

"Who was that?" asked Kenshin as he and Sel came downstairs. He took in Kayla's pale face and his jaw tightened as he hurried over to her.

Sel realized who it must've been, too, and her eyes widened. "He actually called?"

The phone rang again, and all three stared at it, wondering what to do. Finally, on the fourth ring, Kayla picked it up. "Hello?" she said again, hoping against hope that it wasn't Eric again.

It was. "Hi again. You're not going to hang up on me this time, are you?"

"It depends. What do you want?" asked Kayla, trying to keep the tremor from her voice.

Eric laughed. "Can't a guy call a girl just to talk to her?"

"Not you."

"Ah, you're still as stubborn and independent as ever. Well, I just wanted to apologize to you for letting Nick escape. I didn't want to, but alas, I had to have his help so that I could also escape."

"And why should I believe you?"

"Because I'm still angry at him for hurting you. I would never do that to you. I love you."

Kayla didn't respond. She didn't know what to say or what to do—should she hang up now?

"You look so pretty sitting there…and with any luck, in a few days I won't have to watch you through your window."

Kayla did hang up then, and she turned quickly to look outside.
"What did he say?" asked Sel.

Kayla, searching the landscape outside, couldn't find him. "He said he could see me…through the window…"

Kenshin and Sel joined in her at the window, to no avail. When Kurt and Kevin woke up, the three were hurrying around the house, pulling blinds and curtains down in front of every window.

"What happened?" Kevin demanded, instantly realizing that it was something bad.

"Eric called Kayla...and he's watching us," Selana growled, pulling the blinds on the last window.

"Is Kayla all right?"

"Yeah," Selana answered sarcastically. "We're all fine." Could he only think about Kayla?

They all sat down at the table while Kurt and Kevin ate breakfast. No one said much; there was nothing to say. Finally Kayla broke the silence.

"We shouldn't leave the house at all anymore...we're safest here, where we're all together." She wasn't only saying it for everyone's benefit; she hoped that Selana would take what she said to heart, and not consider leaving anymore. "If we split up, they might pick us off one by one. We're strongest as a group. All of us," she finished, making a point to look at Sel.

Guilt showed plainly on Selana's face, but none of the others noticed. "What'll we do for food?" Kevin asked.

"We can order take-out all the time," Kurt suggested.

"That wouldn't work," Selana said. "They could come to the door and we'd think it's the delivery boy." She was definitely sick of waiting around so much. Kurt had said that they had to stay and fight sometime, but this just wasn't the time. Not when they were trapped inside their own home and had no options. She was convinced that their best bet was to leave; they could fight Eric and Nick when they were better prepared. She was frustrated that she was the only one that could see this, and decided then that she was going to leave.

"There are five of us and two of them," Kenshin stated. "I think we can take them, Kayla."

"How do we know they didn't hire anybody?" asked Kevin, looking pointedly at Kenshin.

Kenshin shrugged. "We don't. But I'm fairly certain they didn't; they haven't in the past. They've made alliances with various others, but the biggest group you had to deal with numbered four. And that, as you recall, was a very weak alliance, broken as soon as Kurt agreed to make a deal."

Now everybody was looking at Kenshin funny. They hadn't known he was so observant or tactically skilled; he looked like he was in his element.

"So…what do we do?" asked Kurt.

Kenshin smiled. "We go swimming."

It took some convincing, but finally the quintet donned their swimsuits and hit the beach. Kenshin assured them that as long as they didn't stray too far, they'd be safe, and besides, they needed to release their stress somehow. He was right; the group nearly forgot about their problems while they were playing in the waves. Meanwhile, Kenshin kept an eye out for Eric and Nick. There were a few guys who took a shine to Kayla and Sel (from a distance, of course), but none of the group recognized them as Nick or Eric. Still, the girls were wary and stuck close to Kurt and Kevin, giving Kenshin the opportunity to scout out the area.

Eric had said he was watching Kayla through the window. There were several other beach houses around, one of which Eric and Nick had undoubtedly rented or bought. There was only one on the living room window's side of the house, however, and Kenshin narrowed their hiding place to that one.

Kayla splashed Kenshin. "What are you staring at?" she asked, smiling.

Kenshin smiled at her. "A beautiful woman who looks too dry." He splashed her back. This lead to a sort of splash tag, and before long all were involved in the game. When they retired from the beach, they were all soaking wet and deliriously happy.

"Sel, didn't you remember to lock the door?" laughed Kurt as he turned the doorknob to the beach house.

It was then that they noticed that Sel was missing. Inside, they found a note from her saying good-bye.

"I knew it!" said Kayla, hugging her towel around her shoulders. "I knew she was planning on running away…"

"Why would she do that?" asked Kurt. "And why didn't you tell anybody?"

Kayla shrugged, biting her lip and looking down at the floor. "I didn't think she'd seriously go through with it…"

"Do you know where she went?" asked Kevin.

Kayla shook her head.

"Well, I'm going to go find her," said Kurt. "Nick and Eric might've seen her leave; they might've gotten her by now." Before anybody could protest, he'd teleported away.