AN: Guest: Thank you so much! I appreciate it! Crystal: Yeah, Dylan was also a drunken mess in the previous chapter too. Jonna Aviva: So glad you're back! I miss you! Fanfiction is just not the same without you!

Life Goes On

All is Fair in Love and War

"Find what you love and let it kill you"

"Just for a second. I just need to speak to him real quick." Dylan urged Mrs Teasley that morning outside the school.

"Dylan, I can't allow Cameron to come out here for you. He's the school's responsibility, so unless you're a parent, I cannot send him out to talk to you." She reiterated

"Fine." Dylan huffed. Walking back to his car.

"There should be a rule that school's out when the weather is this hot." Thomas groaned as he and James sat in the quad.

"Never thought I'd hear the day when you'd miss Washington winters." James chuckled

"Wouldn't you like a little London rain right about now?" Thomas asked

"No, I can take it." James teased

"That's right, tough guy. We're real men, we don't show our feelings." Thomas joked and James laughed.

"Hey guys!" Pamela came to join them, and sat beside James.

"California girl's doing just fine." Thomas groaned

"Yeah, Pam. You'd never survive a cold winter." James teased, pulling her in to kiss her cheek

"No argument there." She assured, "You struggling with the heat?" She asked Thomas

"Let's just say, I'm actually glad we're going to visit our grandparents in Minnesota soon!" Thomas proclaimed

"Cameron!" Dylan caught up with him once Cameron headed to his car.

"Oh, hi." Cameron nodded, "I see you got my letter."

"Yeah, that's why I'm here." Dylan began, letting out a deep breath, "I'm so sorry, kid. But I'm not your dad."

"But... The adoption papers. It said you were my dad and Kelly Taylor was my mother. She signed it."

"Kelly Taylor?"

"Well when I searched online, her name is now Kelly Sanders." Cameron paused, "Hang on, I got a copy right here." Cameron opened his glove compartment and pulled out a copy of his adoption papers that were indeed signed by Kelly Taylor.

Dylan read the paper. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, but I'm not your dad." He pulled the boy in for a hug, noticing Cameron's disappointment "Maybe... Kelly made a mistake."

"But... I was so sure." Cameron looked back at the paper.

"...Come on. Let's go sit somewhere." Dylan urged.

"Why'd you want to meet me here?" Brandon asked as he and Dylan ordered food at the Peach Pit counter.

"See that kid." Dylan gestured over to Cameron sitting in the booth. "He's Kelly's biological son. Born in July 1995."

"What?" Brandon's eyes widened, "You don't think...?"

"Who else could it be?" Dylan shrugged, it was one thing for Dylan to imagine Brandon and Kelly making love all those years ago, it was another to imagine they shared a child. "You think I like this? I don't like this at all... But it's gotta be you."

"Oh my god." Brandon shook his head, "And you're sure?"

"I was in rehab in October 1994... remember?" Dylan reminded

"Oh my god..." Brandon sighed, head in hands. "Valerie will have our heads."

"Just talk to him... The kid came to me lost. He just wants to know where he came from... And he has your hair." Dylan teased

"He has your hair." Brandon corrected, "He does have my sideburns though." He joked

"My sideburns." Dylan teased.

"Kelly and I didn't date for long, but we loved each other very much. We were best friends." Brandon explained

"You still close?" Cameron asked

"Everyone lost touch at the end of 1994. Dylan left... Then I left."

"So, you think you could be my dad?" Cameron asked, point blank.

"It appears so..." Brandon drawled

"Guess it's better than feeling abandoned."

"Cameron... if I knew I had a kid out there, I'd never leave him behind."

"Thanks... for taking the time to talk to me. Thank Dylan too." Cameron got up

"Wait, you don't want to stay and eat something?" Brandon asked

"No, that's alright. My mum worries too much if I'm late after school."

"Ah I understand. Mothers do tend to worry a little too much." Brandon smiled

"Especially if you're a preemie. Then they never want to let you out of their sight. Afraid a swift breeze will wreak havoc." Cameron rolled his eyes.

As Cameron grabbed his bag and left the Peach Pit, Brandon sat there, deep in thought.

Flashback - November 1994

"Hey, how was the interview?" Brandon asked once Valerie arrived home.

"Ugh... fine." Valerie sank into the couch. Brandon came to join her.

"You okay?" He asked and she turned to face him.

"Brandon..." She looked into his blue eyes. "On the drive home... I saw Kelly."

"Yeah...?"

"She was leaving Dylan's. And it didn't look like she just dropped by."

"Hey, you got it?" Dylan asked as Brandon got in the car

"Yeah..." Brandon handed him the water bottle that Cameron had been drinking from.

"Great." Dylan nodded

"Dylan... There's something else..." Brandon began.

"I remember awakening one morning and finding

everything smeared with the colour of forgotten love

and I've memorized that too."

What matters most is how you walk through fire - Charles Bukowski