AN:

Tob2008: That's actually genius! But I'm hesitant because I have a Jake/Dylan/Kelly triangle coming up in my other story Wild Thing, so I feel it would be redundant here. (I know I haven't got back to that story, since I've been focusing on this one - I never expected this to be 34+ chapters initially :D

Jram502: hahaha okay enough Matt :D And I love jealous Dylan too!

First Guest: I agree, I want to change it up. With Mark Reese, I have more opportunity to take a darker turn as it's more fitting for this story. Plus, Mark's character can be seen as the bad guy, and I want someone edgy where I can believe he may not have the highest moral stances. Whereas it wouldn't be as easy with the other guys. Like you said, I can also play with it and create a history and some friction between him and Dylan since they are both rich kids from LA, and Mark can be seen as the guy who could rile others up.

2nd Guest: Pam is going to find out about Kelly's past with Brandon but holding off for the time being. The kid needs a break, she has enough to deal with :D

Scars

The scars of your love remind me of us

They keep me thinking how we almost had it all

The scars of your love, they leave me breathless

I can't help feeling we could have had it all.

The 5 teenagers had dinner together at the Beach Club since it was only a couple of days until their senior year.

"I can't believe it's just one more year and then we graduate." Delilah exclaimed

"Everyone makes such a big deal out of your senior year... But I don't feel any different." Daniel shrugged

"Well we can always ask Hannah how she felt." James joked

"Or your older brother." Thomas teased.

"Speaking of Cameron, he's actually pretty cool." Pamela considered.

"Shoot! Dan, look at the time." Delilah turned to her brother.

"Oh yeah, guys we gotta get going." Daniel explained.

"Sure... see you tomorrow." James nodded.

Once the twins had left, it was only the 3 of them.

James had his arm around Pamela, and Thomas was growing annoyed at their playful embrace. As the couple continued to kiss, laugh and act like adoring lovebirds, Thomas started to tense up, glaring at Pamela whenever James wasn't looking, especially when he was kissing her. She could feel his eyes on her, and did her best to remain nonchalant.

Once James excused himself to go to the bathroom, Pamela turned to Thomas and glared at him.

"What is your problem?" She said through gritted teeth, "Stop giving me that look! Do you want James to get suspicious?"

Thomas glared back at her, and leaned forward, "I just want to know how you can let him touch you where I did only days before."

"Go to hell." She hissed

"I think I will go. You two... makes me sick." He got up, threw the money for his part of the check on the table and took off.

Pamela exhaled, struggling with recent events and the whirlwind of emotions. When James finally arrived, he looked around curiously

"Where's Tommy?" He asked

"He left." She sighed, "He uh felt nauseous."

Delilah was in the high school DJ booth. She was about to make the welcome back to school announcement on the mic when James came into the booth.

"Hey!" He greeted. She met him with a big smile. "Here's those CDs you wanted." He handed them over.

"Oh this is perfect." She said taking a quick glance. "It'll fit right in with my playlist."

"Glad I could help." James grinned. Before he could head out, Joey Miller entered the booth. "Whoa." James got a good look at him, "What's with the band-aid?"

"Why don't you ask Del." Joey looked at her.

"What are you talking about?" Delilah looked confused.

"This right here." He said, pointing to his noise. "Is the work of a recent graduate. A graduate who wanted to keep your cousin's secret."

"Her cousin... You mean Pam." James turned to Delilah who looked like she had seen a ghost. "Is everything alright with Pam?"

"Yeah..." Delilah did her best to sound confident

"You always were a bad liar, Silver." Joey chuckled.

"What is going on?" James put his foot down

"That's what everyone else wants to know." Joey kept his eyes on Delilah. "Why don't you tell everyone exactly how summer vacation went in your announcement."

"Joey, stop." Delilah shot him a warning look.

"Fine, I'll do it." Joey went to grab the mic. But Delilah stopped him.

James got in between them to protect Delilah. "Joey, what the hell is going on?!"

"You wanna tell him or should I?" Joey gave Delilah a chance.

"There's nothing to tell." She fidgeted.

"Fine, I'll tell him." Joey turned to James

"Joe!" Delilah yelled.

"This summer, your girlfriend's been playing tonsil tennis with someone very close to you. In fact, rumor has it that they've spent some time in between the sheets while you were off in Minnesota."

"What are you talking about?" James said dismissively.

"Ask Pam's cousin." Joey sighed. James turned to Delilah who looked extremely sorrowful, she couldn't bring herself to look up at him.

"Or better yet..." Joey paused, "Ask your cousin."

Unfortunately for Delilah, with her inability to lie, her face expressed everything James' needed to know about the validity of Joey's claims.

James marched outside and found Thomas standing by his car, talking to some guy. James rushed over to him and grabbed Thomas with both hands by the t shirt. A startled Thomas was unable to react as James slammed him onto the hood of the car.

"Is it true?" He roared, pinning Thomas down on the car. Thomas exhaled, realizing what was happening.

"Did you sleep with her?" He roared again, "Did you sleep with my girlfriend?!"

"Jimmy, can we talk about this without your hands around my neck." Thomas closed his eyes

"You son of a bitch, I could kill you." James snapped. "You thought you could screw my own girlfriend like you do everything in a skirt!"

"Look, I thought you were done with her." He said nervously, "...you didn't call..."

"Oh so somehow you screwing Pam for fun is my fault?!" James shoved him before releasing him.

"It wasn't for fun..." Thomas' breath was uneasy. "She was alone. She needed someone... I was there."

"Oh so you cared about her?" James scoffed. Still fueled by his anger, he began to walk off. Thomas ran after him.

"Jim, wait a minute." Thomas said urgently, "I'm sorry, okay? But we're brothers."

James turned to face him, shocked by Thomas' audacity. Without a second thought, James made a fist and punched him. He walked off as Thomas put his hand on his now bleeding nose.

James came home after school, slamming the door shut behind him. Dylan and Brenda both looked at each other, surprised.

He got upstairs to find Pamela in his room.

"What are you doing here?" He hissed

"Your parents let me in..." She said quietly, her hands were shaking.

"Get out." He growled, but she just stood there.

"James..." She whispered, "Please let me explain."

"No." James said bluntly.

"Please, just give me a chance!" She began to tear, "I love you."

"That doesn't really mean much right now." He shook his head.

"I made a mistake, okay? I thought we were over." She reached for him, but he stepped back.

"Oh so that excuses you sleeping with Tommy?" He scoffed

"I know it's no excuse, but it will never happen again." She cried

"Doesn't matter... We're done." He stated

She began to bawl her eyes out, "No, James, you have to give me another chance!"

"No, I don't." He sighed. The certainty in his voice started to make her fearful.

"This can't be it!" She cried fearfully.

"Pam..." He said quietly, "You need to leave."

She started crying uncontrollably, burying her head in his chest, reaching her arms up around his neck. "Please." She begged, "You have to forgive me."

As she cried, he closed his eyes. He struggled with her crying. He found himself wrapping one arm around her waist and the other cupped the back of her head to comfort her.

Once she started to calm down, he placed his hands over hers and pulled them off of him. She fearfully looked up as he moved her hands away.

"Goodbye, Pam." he drawled. She shook her head nervously. But he walked out, leaving her in the room.

Pamela came running down the stairs, crying. As she closed the door behind her, Dylan and Brenda were even more confused. They both head upstairs to find James.

"What happened?" Dylan asked when he saw James at his desk.

James remained silent, fiddling with a pencil.

"Pamela was crying. Did you guys get into a fight?" Brenda asked. James exhaled deeply.

"We broke up." He said quietly

"What?" Brenda's eyes widened

"I thought you were committed to making things work." Dylan crinkled his forehead

"I was." James paused, "...That was before I found out she slept with Tommy."

Pamela, still shaken up over the breakup, was driving home when she saw Tommy's car parked outside the Peach Pit. She parked herself and headed in.

"Hi." She breathed out, joining him at the counter. He looked at her, and then turned back to his burger. She reached up, getting a good look at his nose.

"Does it hurt?" She asked softly. He tilted his head back, dodging her hand.

"It's fine." He grumbled.

"Well, if it's any consolation, James broke up with me." She said sorrowfully, letting out an uneasy sigh. Thomas was silent. "Guess it just wasn't meant to be... But hey, at least we got each other right?"

"Oh now you want something from me?" He scoffed. "You can't come crawling to me now that your boyfriend dumped you."

She was surprised by his response.

"I thought... we could be there for each other. We connected this summer, didn't we? I thought we had something."

Tommy let out an exasperated sigh. "No we don't." He turned away from her, unable to look at her as he spoke. He hid the hurt in his voice with a vindictive growl. "James knows me well. You were just a conquest."

"No." She shook her head in disbelief. Her voice was shaky.

"I just.. wanted to prove I could have you if I wanted to." He still refused to look her.

"You're lying!" She spat, trying not to sob.

"Am I?" He groaned, not looking up from the counter.

She slowly got up, feeling hurt and foolish. She headed out the door.

Thomas finally turned to look at her as she walked away. Swallowing a gulp, trying to remain as unbothered as he could.

Dylan had parked outside the Peach Pit After Dark, just as Kelly was walking out of it.

"Hi." She shot him a faint smile. He looked at her, unable to reciprocate the pleasantries.

"Did I miss something?" She asked irritably as he walked past her.

"I can't talk. I'm meeting someone." He brushed past her and she could see he was frustrated.

"What is wrong with you?" She urged

"Kel, I don't have time to waste. Clearly, you don't either." He retorted

"What does that mean?" She crinkled her forehead

He was going to continue on walking but his jealousy got the better of him.

He shook his head and turned to her, "You just got divorced and already you've got someone to keep the bed warm?"

"Excuse me?!" She folded her arms

"You heard me." He drawled. Alright, he shouldn't have started it like that, he thought to himself. But he kept picturing her kissing that guy over and over again and letting him into the house. The idea of the two of them in a steamy embrace in between the sheets was something Dylan was struggling to get out of his head. What's more is that he knew exactly who the guy was - which only made Dylan's blood boil.

"You have got a lot of nerve." She sneered

"Oh do I?" He groaned, "How long have you known him before you let him into your bed? Huh?!"

"You know what..." She let out a deep sigh, "I don't need to stand here and take this... It's a lot of jealousy coming from a married man." She crowed.

"Hope it was good." He hissed, resenting that remark. The only thing worse than being jealous of Kelly's partners, was her catching onto it.

Dylan got off the phone with Cameron.

"What did he say?" Brenda asked

"He wants to have dinner..." Dylan breathed out.

"Okay." Brenda nodded

"He wants to have dinner... with us, James... and Kelly and Pam."

Throw your soul through every open door

Count your blessings to find what you look for

Turn my sorrow intro treasured gold

You'll pay me back in kind and reap just what you sow.