Disclaimer: Nope, don't own any of the characters (except for Richard). The rest belong to NBC's Passions and JER.

Chapter Four - Treasured Promise

Kay sat on the swing, swinging herself slowly, as tears fell freely down her face. After getting into it with Simone, she ran to the nearby park that they all used to hang out at when they were kids. Once she sat on the swing, tears started falling, threatening to never stop. She usually never cried. She was always strong. Except this time Simone's words struck a nerve with her.

As much as I deny it, Simone was telling the truth, Kay thought bitterly. No one will ever love me more than Charity.

"Why? Why her?" Kay asked herself, looking up at the stars that painted the dark blue sky.

"Why who?" a voice suddenly asked. Kay turned around, startled, to find Miguel standing there, hands in his pockets, looking confused at her.

"It's nothing, Miguel," Kay sighed. The last thing she wanted to do was tell Miguel what really happened between her and Simone.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Miguel asked, sitting down on the swing next to her. "Things looked really intense between you and Simone."

Kay was silent for a moment. "We just got into a fight. All best friends do that sort of thing," she replied.

"Not us," Miguel said, a small smile forming on his face. "Seventeen years, and we've never gotten into a fight. You might have been really pissed off at me for a short amount of time, but it never lasted longer than a couple of hours."

"I think the longest I've stayed mad at you was for three hours. And I only stopped being mad at you because you broke your leg during football practice," Kay said, remembering the memories of Charity-free days.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Miguel asked again. "Kay, you're my best friend. You know you could tell me anything."

Kay let out a bitter laugh. Miguel looked at her quizzically. "What was that laugh about?" he asked.

Kay looked down at her lap, debating whether or not to tell Miguel. "You said I was your best friend," Kay explained.

Miguel gave her a confused look. "Because you are..." he prompted.

"I don't know. It's just that it doesn't even seem like we're best friends anymore. I mean, this is the first time it's been the two of us in a long time," Kay said.

Miguel was silent for a moment. "I didn't know you felt this way. I just thought that you understood that with Charity..." Miguel's voice trailed off. "I'm sorry."

"No problem," Kay said, waving her hand dismissively. She turned her head away from Miguel's, as new tears started to fall.

"You're mad at me, aren't you?" Miguel asked. He reached over, and turned Kay's head, so she faced him.

"Yes. No... Miguel, what happened to us?" Kay blurted out. "We used to be inseparable, and now look at us. I used to know every single thing about you, including what you had for breakfast. Now it's like... I don't know you at all," Kay said in one breath. "And I hate that."

"It's like I don't know you anymore either," Miguel reluctantly admitted. "There are some nights when I just have this sudden urge to call you like before, but then I think that you wouldn't understand because we hadn't even talked that day."

"Then why did you say I was your best friend? Isn't that Charity now?" Kay bitterly asked.

"The promise," he said simply.

* * *

"Anyone know where Miguel went?" Charity asked, as she gathered up the empty chip bags.

"I have no clue," Jessica said.

"I think he went after Kay," Reese said, as he adjusted his glasses. "She looked pretty upset too."

"What was she upset about?" Charity asked, worriedly. "I saw her take off in a hurry, but I just assumed it was because she was blowing off some steam after the thing with Simone."

"What were those two arguing about anyways?" Jessica asked. "The only thing they ever fight about is Kay's crazy schemes to get Mi-" she suddenly stopped, realizing that she was talking to Charity.

"Crazy schemes to get what Jess?" Charity prompted.

"Um, Kay's crazy schemes to get some money," Jessica improvised. "I, uh, guess she was always borrowing from Simone, and Simone just, uh, wanted her money back."

"Really?" Charity responded, raising a perfectly plucked eyebrow. "Why doesn't she just borrow from Aunt Grace or me?"

"She's embarrassed, I guess," Jessica said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, whenever she's short on cash, just tell her she can count on me," Charity said, as she cleared away some empty plates. "I guess I'll just take these out to the trash," Charity said, motioning her head towards the garbage pail.

Once she left, Reese turned around to face Jessica. "Are you sure that's really why Kay was upset?" he asked her, inquisitively.

"Yeah," Jessica said, her eyes shifting away. They slowly fell upon Richard and Simone, who were hanging out by the swing Miguel had given Charity. The two shared a laugh, and Simone placed her hand directly on Richard's chest. Jessica frowned.

"Is something the matter Jess?" Reese asked.

"No, nothing at all," Jessica said faintly, wondering why she got upset at the very fact that Simone was flirting with Richard.

Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald

The first time I ever saw Kay cry was when we were six years old. We were walking over to my house after school, when I caught a big whiff of Mama's famous empanadas. We were still halfway down the block to my house, and I didn't want Luis eating them all, so I dragged Kay over to my house, and she tripped over a rock and scrapped her knee really bad. We were a couple of houses away from my house, and she just started bawling her eyes out. I told her that I would get Mama, and she'd make it all better. But she still kept crying. I tried to get her to stop crying by making fun of her so she'd punch me to shut up, or by telling her I'd only be a couple of seconds. And just when I was about to leave to get Mama, I looked down at her, and I just couldn't go.

I looked at her knee, which was now all covered in blood. Her eyes were rimmed red, and tears just kept streaming down her face. Her lip was quivering, and I knew she was trying to be brave for me. And that's when it hit me. I couldn't leave her. Not now, not ever. I told Kay that I would always be her best friend, and that I would never, ever leave her. The tears stopped falling, and she sniffled a quiet "Promise?" I told her I promised that I would always be there for her. I sat down beside her, and we sat there for awhile before Theresa found us, and told Mama.

There are some promises you hastily make in the moment, and this definitely wasn't one of them. I meant what I said to Kay that day, that we would always be best friends. And after seeing her tonight, crying like she had been the day of the promise, only made me realize how much I've taken our friendship for granted. And that's something that's going to have to change.