Time Will Tell

"Don't take this out on me, Dylan. If you were honest with Brenda this wouldn't have blown up in our faces."

"Oh, you're one to talk about honesty." Dylan scoffed

"You didn't have to encourage your son to ask out my daughter... We wouldn't even be in this situation if it wasn't for you!" Kelly snapped

"You're right..." Dylan paused "But even after 17 years you somehow still manage to provoke me."

"You came here playing with fire, Dylan. I begged you to leave it alone."

"Wait, you don't think I wanted to? I wasn't prepared for any of it. I had no idea what to expect if I saw you again. I didn't think you could still get to me."

"Well, I did. So from now on, you just go your way and I'll go mine."

"Fine by me."

"Good" She stormed off

"Typical." Dylan mumbled under his breath

"What?!" She turned around, glaring at him

"Always lying about how you feel..." He shot back

"Dylan... for once... let it go.

"Has that worked for you?" He scoffed

"We watched Casablanca, saw some stars, that's it!" Kelly said defiantly

"Whatever gets you through the night." He hissed, causing Kelly to let out an exasperated sigh

"If things were different, Dylan, maybe we could have had something. But Brenda's my best friend and when she gets off that plane you are going to remember exactly why you fell in love with her in the first place."

Dylan turned away from her, frustrated at her resistance.

"Dylan," She urged, "You and I had what we had this summer... I just think it has to be enough for both of us."

"What are you telling me... We'll always have Paris?" He groaned

"I won't forget it." She soothed

"Neither will I." He gazed longingly into her eyes, hoping she would change her mind. She looked away from him, knowing how hard it really was to act like she could let it go. She grabbed her bag and was about to head off, but he grabbed her arm to pull her back and kissed her passionately, holding her tightly as he yearned to keep her for as long as he could. She then broke off the kiss and let go of his hand and proceeded to walk off.

"Pamela." Kelly began once she arrived home. Her daughter was mindlessly flicking through TV channels.

"Look at me." She urged, but her daughter refused. Kelly sighed in frustration. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you..."

Her daughter turned to face her after a beat. "I don't care about that." Pamela got up and threw the remote control onto the couch, "I care about the fact that, because of your little high school fling, you didn't want me dating James. You made it seem like he was all wrong for me and that what you were saying was what's best for me."

"Pam..."

"And to think, it's all because you couldn't handle the McKays being back in your life. Do you know how selfish that is?"

"Pam, listen to me." Kelly urged

"No, you listen, mum... Why couldn't you at least be happy for me."

"It's so much more complicated than you think."

"Well I wouldn't know about that, would I? You're the one who failed to open a dialogue, remember?" Pamela turned on her heel and ran up to her bedroom.

"So... what really was it?" James asked his father as the two of them sat across each other at the kitchen table

"Just... an old flame." Dylan cleared his throat, "My senior year... and first year of college."

"But I thought you were with mum in high school."

"Your dad and I broke up for a while." Brenda chimed in, not wanting her son to look at his dad differently, "He then dated Pamela's mum and well... we found our way back eventually." She offered her son a faint smile.

"Why didn't you say anything?" James asked, turning to his dad

"It had nothing to do with you." Dylan shrugged

"But... wasn't it awkward for you?" He asked

"You were happy..." Dylan shrugged, "So, I was happy."

"Thanks." Dylan said once he and Brenda had gotten into bed

"Don't mention it." She replied

"Guess I should thank Valerie too." Dylan scoffed

"You know she never wanted me to take you back..."

"She has made that clear."

"Dylan... I'm just going to ask you this once. Does she know something I don't?"

"You know as much as I know, Bren."

"I'm sorry." Valerie began as her and Brenda sat in the Walsh kitchen, sipping coffee. "I just snapped. I wasn't exactly prepared to see Kelly again and it just irked me watching her pretend like she didn't know us. I mean, she has some nerve."

"Who told you about the whole rosebud poem thing?" Brenda asked

"No one... I was there Brenda." Valerie sighed, "But... Brandon saw how happy you and Dylan were together, he made me promise to let it go."

"You did a great job." Brenda rolled her eyes

"I'm sorry but Dylan should have come clean about it ages ago. I've always told you, you're too good for him."

"Funny... that's what people say to Brandon about you." She teased

"So, I hear you met each other's folks over thanksgiving?" Delilah chuckled

"Well... I'm thankful that's over." Pamela sighed, falling into James' arms

"What happened?" Delilah asked

"Long story short: our parents used to date." James pursed his lips

"Whoa, did I hear that right?" Daniel came to join them in the quad, along with Hannah and a friend of hers.

"Unfortunately." Pamela groaned

"Oh," Hannah interjected, "Sorry, this is Cameron, a new writer for the Blaze. He's a senior, just transferred here."

The gang each introduced themselves

"So, your parents used to date, huh?" Cameron joined in, making the others chuckle

"It doesn't matter." James reassured his girlfriend, "It's in the past."

"Aren't you going to tell your friends?" Cameron asked once he and Hannah were alone

"No. I think it's best we leave it alone." Hannah asserted

"Aren't you even a little bit curious about those time capsules? It's your mum's class. Might be fun to see what she was like at your age."

"No, Cam. It's not right. It's not ours to reopen."