Ed dragged Rick outside of the tent and pushed him roughly against the low wall separating the lawn from the wooden area surrounding the mansion.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he hissed. Rick could not remember having seen his father so furious before. He looked down, unable to meet his eyes, and muttered an inaudible explanation. Now that the effects of alcohol were wearing off, he was starting to take the full measure of what he had done.

Ed forced him to raise his head and took a long look at him. "You're drunk. I never should have let you take the stand." There was no contempt in his voice, not even anger anymore, just pain and sadness for his son's sufferings. He sat next to Rick and put an arm around him, while the other started to cry silently.

"I can't take it anymore, Dad."

"I know, son, I know, but lashing out at Philip was not the answer. It can be easy sometimes to point the blame on someone else when things go wrong in our life, but the truth is that Phillip is not to blame for everything that happened recently. I'm not saying that he has been a good friend to you, but he did not make Meredith lose that baby, and he did not make her leave you. She chose to do that, and you have to deal with it, even if it hurts like hell."

Rick sniffled, his shoulders still shaken by sobs. "How come it has to be so hard for me? And how come Phillip has it so easy? It's not fair."

"Life rarely is, but by trying to get revenge, you're not evening the score, Rick, you're just demeaning yourself. That's not the Rick that I know! And what about Holly in all this? Didn't you hesitate just a little before dragging her into this? Didn't you at least want to hear her version before exposing their relationship to the whole town?"

"Holly deserved what she got and more," a voice said a few feet away from them. They raised their eyes to see Blake coming their way. Ed's eyes went from her to his son, and he shook his head.

"I should have guessed that this was your idea, Blake," he said coldly, his anger returning.

Blake stopped in her tracks. She had not expected that reaction.

"Do you mean that you're taking her side?" she asked.

"I'm not taking anyone's side, but what you did was low, Blake, and mean. Your mother didn't deserve this kind of public humiliation. I'm very disappointed in you."

Blake flushed under his glare and tried to defend herself. "She slept with Phillip, knowing full well that I had feelings for him. She carried on an affair with him behind my back for months!"

"Are you sure about that last part? Did you even bother to ask for her version of the story?"

"There's nothing to ask! She doesn't give a rat's ass about me, or else she never would have gotten involved with him."

Ed closed the distance between them and took her by the shoulders. "Listen to me. I don't know the whole story, but what I do know for sure is this: your mother loves you and the last thing that she wanted was to hurt you. "

"But she did!"

"Yes, she did, but you should have tried to deal with it differently. It's not too late for you to patch things up."

Blake snickered. "No way. I'm done with her. Thanks for your support," she added cynically before walking away.

Ed sighed and turned to Rick, who was still sitting with sagging shoulders on the low wall. "Come on, I'll take you home."

"No thank you, I'd rather walk. I need some fresh air to clear my head."

"Alright, but we're not done talking about this."

"What, I am grounded? I'm not a child, Dad," Rick retorted curtly. His embarrassment was mounting by the minute, and being scolded by his father made it even worse because he knew that he deserved it.

"You may not be a child, Rick, but you sure acted like one today."

Rick got up and looked at his feet. "I know," he finally conceded. "Thanks for not being too hard on me," he said before walking toward the woods separating the mansion from the Bauer's house.

Meanwhile, Alan and Phillip stood facing each other in the library.

"Is it true, son?" Alan asked calmly as he leaned against the mantelpiece, while Phillip started to pace to and fro, obviously furious.

"Which part?" Phillip snapped.

"The affair! Are you having an affair with Holly Lindsey?"

Phillip ran his hands in his hair then stopped walking. "It's not like Rick said, but yes, Holly and I are seeing each other. It's recent."

Alan let out a low whistle and walked to the bar after a short pause. He looked at his watch and decided that it was late enough for a scotch.

"Holly is certainly an attractive woman," he stated after a few seconds. He dropped an ice cube in his drink and turned back to his son. "I can understand why you would want to have an affair with her, even if she's a little older." He took a sip and looked at his son pensively. "Too bad that Rick blew the whistle on you two."

Phillip stared at his father, his mouth almost gaping. It was not like Alan to be so understanding. "Yes, I could ring his neck, but people would have found out eventually," he finally said.

Alan raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that with Holly and I dating –"

"Whoa, back off a minute! I thought that you were just having fun with her."

"Not at all, Dad. We're serious about each other."

"Are you really?"

"Positively."

Alan put his glass on the coffee table and smiled condescendingly. "Get real, Phillip, this woman is almost twice your age. This is not going anywhere! Besides, have you thought of all the bad publicity this will bring to Spaulding Enterprises now that you're dating the mother of your former girlfriend?"

"First of all, Blake was never my girlfriend, and second of all, my personal life is of nobody's business!" Phillip retorted, raising his voice.

"It is now that the whole town has heard about it on television." Alan picked up his glass and emptied it into his mouth. "Come on, we have to go reassure the guests and make an announcement."

"What announcement?"

"That Rick has invented the whole thing and that you're not involved with anyone, especially not Holly Lindsey."

Phillip stared at his father before smiling incredulously. Alan would never cease to amaze him. "I'm afraid I can't do that."

Alan took him by the elbow and tried to lead him out of the room. "Come, Phillip. Business first."

Phillip shrugged him off. "Not always, Dad. Not this time." He smoothed the sleeve of his suit and went to look for Holly.

Holly had ran to the closest place she knew would be safe; the mansion's attic. She collapsed on the couch where she had comforted Phillip not so long ago, hot tears of rage and humiliation running down her cheeks. She knew too well that Rick had only been a puppet in the farce that had just taken place, and Blake the master.

"Why is it that you Lindsey women are so intent on bedding Spaulding men? Is it the money?" she heard someone say.

Wiping her tears, she turned to find Alexandra standing by the door. Something in her eyes made Holly want to pull herself together, and quick.

"I don't want to discuss this right now, Alex," she said in a tired voice.

Alex took a few steps in her direction, her face grave. "I don't care if you feel like it or not; we are going to talk about this. Do you realize how this affair makes Phillip look?"

"How?"

"Like a fool! Either people will think that he's nothing but a playboy or that he's gone and fell in love with a woman who could be his mother. I'm not sure which version is the worst."

Holly stared at the woman facing her for a few seconds. Alexandra was so sure that she had the monopoly of the truth, it almost made her sick. She stood up and straightened herself out. "You know what, Alex? I don't really much care what you think." So much for easing his family into the situation, she thought.

Alexandra's eyes turned to steel. "I demand to know the whole story; when did this thing start between you and Phillip?"

"I would gladly explain if I thought that you're could show some objectivity about this. As it is, thought, this is not of your business."

Alex ignored her rebuff. "Why did you not tell me about your affair when I approached you about doing a profile on Phillip? You lied to me."

"I kept my private life to myself, which is entirely different. I was not out to fool you, Alex. Nothing was going on between us at that time. Nothing physical, anyway."

Alexandra appeared to be pondering on her answer for a few seconds. She walked to Phillip's desk and absent-mindedly shuffled with some of the papers lying around. "Phillip is such a brilliant man, so full of promise. How can you encourage him to ruin his future like this?" she finally said.

"I don't see how being with the woman he loves would be ruining his life."

"Are you going to stand here and pretend that you have genuine feelings for him?" Alex thundered.

"Do you think that I would put up with you if I didn't have to? No fortune in the world would entice me to stay with a man I didn't love if it meant having you as an in-law."

Alexandra reddened under the insult, but found no reply. Holly walked up to her and looked straight in her eyes. "You listen to me. I'm not an idiot; I know that it would have been easier for Phillip and me to walk away from each other, but we found out that we couldn't. People are going to be judging us, but we hoped that maybe, just maybe, our families could come to understand and accept our relationship. Instead, all you've been doing since you came in here is insult me and try to make me feel as if I was not worthy. Well, I have a newsflash for you; Phillip and I are in for the long run, with or without your approval."

"I doubt that Phillip will feel the same way when he realizes that his family is not by his side anymore."

Suddenly, there was a noise by the entrance and Phillip came in. It was obvious by the look on his face that he had not missed a word of the conversation. "I'm afraid Holly is right, Aunt Alex. We'd like nothing more than your support, but we'll do without it if we have to."

He walked up to them and took Holly's hand, a gesture that made Alexandra cringe.

"Then I don't know how you can continue to work at Spaulding Enterprises under such circumstances."

Holly gasped at the words but Phillip only shrugged. A movement outside the window had caught his attention. He saw Rick walking briskly across the lawn and toward the woods. "We'll talk about this later; there's something that I have to go and take care of." Not letting go of Holly's hand, he led her toward the door. "Will you wait for me downstairs?"

Holly gazed at him worryingly. "Sure. Don't take too long, thought. I can't wait to get out of here."

"I must have a word with Rick," Phillip told Holly as they made their way downstairs.

"Are you sure that you want to do this now? You two are in no shape to discuss this calmly," she replied.

"I can't let him get away with this. The other time at the restaurant was bad enough, but this time he's gone too far." They reach the entrance of the tent and Phillip leaned in to give her a light kiss. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

He then broke into a jog and Holly saw him disappear between the trees. It didn't take him too long to spot Rick wandering aimlessly on the path leading to the Bauer's backyard. Phillip stopped to catch his breath before hailing him. There was no one else in sight and no noise except from the chirping of the birds and the babbling of the Springfield River running alongside the path.

"Rick!"

The young man turned around and Phillip could see him fight the impulse to run away. He did stand his ground, however, and waited as Phillip marched in his direction.

"How dare you using Holly to get back at me?" Phillip shouted when he was merely inches from Rick's face.

Rick tried to take a step back but Phillip grabbed him by the collar. "I didn't think, I'm sorry," Rick stammered as he struggled to break free of Phillip's grip.

"That's right you didn't think, because you're always drunk these days! You can take a shot at me any time that you want, I don't care. I might even deserve it. But Holly never did anything to you!"

"I said I was SORRY!" Rick shouted as he finally succeeded in pushing Phillip away. Losing balance, he staggered backward and slipped on the wet riverbank. As if in slow motion, he whirled his arms in a desperate effort to regain his stance, and then fell into the icy waters. Before Phillip could comprehend what was happening, the strong current had already taken Rick far down the river.

"RICK!" he shouted as he sprinted down the river, frantically searching for a branch or any object which he could use to pull his friend out of the water. He finally spotted him in the middle of the river a few feet away from him, his body flattened by the current against a huge rock. His head was bobbing in and out of the water and he looked unconscious.

"Help!" Phillip screamed again, getting desperate. There was no time to go back to the mansion to get someone, he quickly realized. Taking a deep breath, he kicked off his shoes and dived into the river. The contact of the freezing water against his skin took his breath away, and he struggled against the flow with a strength born of despair. Slowly, arduously, he made his way toward Rick, who was still perched precariously on the rock. He finally reached the young man and grabbed him under his armpits.

He hadn't counted on Rick's inert body being so heavy. Before he could take a few strokes, they were both taken away by the rolling waters.

..