(Next Day)

Chloe returned home from Jason's funeral around 1:30 that afternoon. Thankfully it was small, intimate and short and mostly uneventful. Although many of the same people who were at her funeral were there, she quickly slipped out and didn't speak to any of them. Chloe just wanted to go home and rest and not have to deal with people on this day. She had been through so much the day before, that she was glad to just be able to come home and finally start to move on from all the grieving and sadness. When she arrived home, Benjamin was waiting for her in the front entryway.

"Good afternoon... you have a visitor waiting for you in the living room."

Chloe raised her eyebrows in surprise, "A visitor? Right now? But... practically everyone I know was at the funeral. Who is it?"

"I'm sorry... I forgot to ask his name. Young, blonde haired gentleman. He insisted on seeing you, and when I told him you weren't here, he insisted on waiting for you."

"Really?" Chloe scrunched her face up in confusion. "Must be Phillip... maybe he left the funeral before I did."

At least she hoped it was Phillip. Perhaps he had decided to soften up and give her a chance. Chloe decided there was only one way to find out, and she crossed her fingers as she entered the living room. She saw the back of a blonde head who was perusing the pictures on the fireplace mantle.

She timidly called out, "Hello..."

The young man turned and grinned at her. "Good afternoon..."

Chloe sighed dejectedly, "Brady..."

"Don't sound so disappointed. Sheesh. Who else were you expecting today? Brad Pitt?"

"No, not Brad. Just not you... I'm not disappointed, just surprised."

Brady sat down on the couch and nodded. "Yeah right... I know disappointment when I see it. But that's okay, I'm used to seeing that look on people's faces when I show up at their houses."

Chloe sat down beside him. "I'm sorry. Don't take it the wrong way please... I am glad you're here. But, uhm... Why are you here?"

"I... I am intrigued."

Chloe nearly laughed out loud, but instead raised one eyebrow in his direction. "Intrigued? By me? Oooookay... wanna tell me what the heck you mean by that?"

Brady chuckled softly and continued, "I don't exactly know... But, I do know that what you said the other day may have been right."

"You mean when I said that many people think I am Satan?"

Brady shook his head. "No, not that. I think maybe a leopard can change her spots."

Chloe's expression changed from teasing to more serious. "And that's why you're here? You want to help me change those spots?"

"Well, I hate to use the word 'help'. It's not like I plan to become your self-improvement guru or your Obi Wan Kenobi or something. I just think that as a person who has been in a situation similar to yours, maybe I can be there for you. You need a friend, a friend who knows what you're going through."

Chloe sighed and nodded slightly. "Thank you... I appreciate the offer... Believe me, I need all the friends I can get. So, what's my first step on the road to bitchdom recovery?"

Brady grinned slyly and replied, "Well, it's easy. Answer me one question: How and why did you become such a bitch?"

Chloe laughed out loud. "Well, how and why is TWO questions. But, I'd rather hear about your own journey of self-discovery and recovery. So, tell me Brady Black, how and why did YOU become such a bastard?"

"Hey, this isn't about my recovery. It's about yours."

Chloe waved a teasing finger at him. "Oh no... If I just wanted to talk about me, and nothing else I could go see a shrink. But, since you're the one who 'knows what it feels like', then I want to hear about YOU first."

Brady groaned and leaned back in his seat. "Fine, fine... whatever you want. My story is pretty simple. My mother died before I was old enough to have conscious memories of her. My stepmother treated me like a 'houseguest' instead of a son. I got a big chip on my shoulder. End of story."

"Not the end of the story... you get along with your stepmom now, don't you?"

"For the most part. But, it took a lot of work from both of us. I had to admit that I was blaming her for every bad thing that happened to me for no good reason. I used my childhood trauma as an excuse to get attention from everyone. And, Marlena apologized for living in the past for too long, and being jealous of my mother and taking it out on me. Your turn..."

Chloe sighed and nervously bit her lip. Describing a pain that didn't belong to her was harder than she thought. This moment made Chloe glad that Jan had kept detailed diaries since she was much younger.

"Well... the short form? My parents are wealthy business people who couldn't care less about me. They throw money and possessions in my face as their parenting techniques. They have never given me love, and I have literally no happy childhood memories that involve those two people. My happiest memories had to do with my grandmother, and she passed away when I was 12. So, I act out... I want attention, just like you said about yourself. I mean I've only recently realized that myself, but it's true. I guess, deep down, I figured that if I got myself in trouble and misbehaved than maybe they might at least acknowledge my existence."

Brady placed a reassuring hand on hers. "And did they?"

Chloe shook her head sadly. "No, of course not. I was in a very serious car accident less than a week ago, Brady. My boyfriend was killed, one of my classmates was killed, and I was nearly killed too. Did my parents come to visit me? Nope... they're out of the country and they couldn't be bothered to even come home to take care of me. I feel like an orphan... and I honestly don't think that I even know what REAL love is."

Chloe had hot tears welling up in her eyes and she tried to suppress them from falling. Even though Jan's history wasn't something she shared, she did feel a sense of kinship. Chloe had never felt loved in her life either. She wiped her eyes and tried to shake away what she was feeling. Suddenly, she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her as Brady held her close. She sighed and laid her head on his chest. Chloe wasn't sure why, but she felt safe and comfortable all of a sudden. Even before the accident, Chloe had always felt a connection with Brady. As much as they argued with each other, she knew he was the one person who understood the kind of pain that she had been through in her life.

Brady leaned back but kept one arm around her shoulder, giving her a warm comforting smile. "You may not know what love is right now, or understand it... but I'm sure that somebody has loved you, you just have to think of that. That's what got me through all of my hard times, having my father and my sister. Your grandmother loved you, and I'm sure Jason did too."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that..." Chloe sighed. "Jason wasn't exactly the most emotionally expressive person, you know. I don't think he really loved me... at least not the REAL me."

Chloe looked downward and thought of Phillip again. Although unlike Jason in his ability to express his feelings, Chloe was beginning to believe that perhaps he had misused the expression of love. She wondered how he could love someone he didn't really know or trust.

Brady nodded knowingly. "And what about you? Did you love him?"

Chloe paused to think hard for a moment. She had always thought that she did love Phillip, but now she wondered if it was just infatuation or great affection. Chloe knew that Brady was asking about Jan, and not her, but she felt like she was responding as herself. The lines between Jan's feelings and her own were becoming blurred suddenly.

"I... I don't know. I thought I did, I think I still do... but now, I don't know anymore. Like I said, I have a hard time defining what love is. Maybe what we had together was just infatuation or puppy love. I'm young and inexperienced, so how do I know what is deep and what is shallow, right?"

"Right... I understand what you're getting it. It's hard to know what's real and what isn't. Love is strange, and difficult to understand."

Chloe chuckled softly. "Ain't that the truth? So, what about you? How much do you know about love?"

Brady's eyes widened in surprise. "Isn't that a personal question?"

Chloe shook her head and grinned. "At this point... nope. You seem to want to know a lot about me, and I think you owe me the same thing. It's only fair, so stop trying to avoid my questions."

"Boy, you are unrelenting. I guess I know what love is. I love my mother even though she's no longer with us. I love my father, and I love my sister more than anything in the world. And then there's my other family, like Phillip, Shawn, my Grandpa Victor. I care about what happens to them more than I care about myself. That's what love is to me."

Chloe raised her eyebrows curiously. "And that's it? I mean, that's a nice theory. But, are you going to tell me that you've only loved like six people in your ENTIRE life? Everybody loves their family, even if they hate their family, they still love them... I think love is more confusing when it comes to people who you're not biologically obligated to love."

Brady shrugged slightly. "Well, even if I am biologically obligated to love my family, that's not the only reason why I love them. Even if Belle wasn't my sister, she's still an amazing person, and I would still want to know her. Same goes for the rest of my family."

"What about friends? Or a girlfriend? Someone who doesn't share your DNA, Brady. That's what I want to know about." Chloe knew that part of her was just dying to know who the girl was that Brady had never told how he felt, but that wasn't the only reason she was unrelenting with her questioning.

"Geez, Jan... You're like Oprah or Barbara Walters all of a sudden. You really know how to give the third degree, don't you?"

Chloe grinned and nodded proudly. "It's research... therapy even. So, spill it. I spilled my guts about Jason... you spill yours."

Chloe saw sadness spread across his face as he sighed deeply. "Remember the girl that I mentioned yesterday?"

Chloe nodded and motioned for Brady to continue. "I have a lot of regrets about the things that I've done, but one of my biggest regrets is something that I didn't do. I never told her that I loved her, and I don't think I'll ever the chance to do it now."

"Why didn't you tell her?"

Brady shrugged and replied, "I didn't really know it myself at first. I thought of her as just a friend, or someone I knew... but the more I got to know her, the more I began to care for her. And then one day, it just hit me... like a veil was lifted from my eyes almost... I realized that I loved her, and I had probably loved her since the day we met."

Chloe's eyes widened as she watched the pain in his face grow with each word. She had never seen Brady's face look like this, and it hurt her deep inside to see him in so much pain.

"But... you could have told her after you realized it. What happened?"

Brady shook his head. "No, I couldn't do it. She was with somebody else, who was completely wrong for her I might add, and I just didn't have the guts to tell her. It wouldn't have been fair to make her question the way she felt about the other guy because of something I had to say. And, I don't think she thought of me that way anyway..."

"But, you don't know that. Maybe she did feel the same and she just didn't know it, or was too afraid to say it. And, you don't know that you've lost your chance forever. Just because she moved away doesn't mean you won't meet up with her again someday."

Brady hung his head in despair. "I wish that were true, but I KNOW that it's not. I can't tell you how I know that, but it's not possible. She's out of my life forever... and now I'll never know if there was a chance for us."

Chloe hugged him tightly and sighed. "I am so sorry, Brady. I didn't know that it was this painful. I'm sorry that I made you talk about it."

Brady leaned out of the embrace and looked at her with a weak smile. "No, don't be sorry. It actually feels better to be able to talk about it. I've never really told anyone about it, so this is almost a relief to be able to say it to someone."

"Well, you said you would be here for me... so I'm here for you. I don't really have a lot of people who truly understand me, but I think you do. And, I think maybe I understand you too."

Brady stared into her eyes, almost as if he was trying to figure out what was going on behind them. "You know... you really do remind me of her. It's amazing..."

"Well, whoever she is... if you loved her that much, then I'll take that as a major compliment. Thank you."

Brady broke the stare and grinned. "You're welcome. So, how do you feel about having taken your first steps towards change?"

Chloe leaned back on the couch with a sigh. "Pretty good, actually. You've been a big help so far, oh wise and powerful guru."

"Hey, I said I wasn't going to be your guru... I prefer the term MASTER."

Chloe's jaw dropped in mock amazement. "You are a sick and twisted human being, aren't you?"

Brady laughed and nodded. "The fact that you say that already means you know me better than I thought."

Chloe shrugged and grinned. "What can I say? It's a gift."

"A gift you might want to give back, probably." Brady checked his watch quickly and stood from the couch. "Anyway... I hate to cut our first therapy session short, but I've got an appointment to go to."

Chloe stood and smiled at him. "Don't tell me you actually have a job to be at?"

Brady grinned sheepishly and nodded. "Actually, yes. But, I work for my dad... so I get the freedom to come over here and guide you on your path to self-discovery."

"Well, then you should get extra credit for that. At least you're not off at Dot.Com wasting precious time playing video games on your lunch hour or something."

"No, that sounds more like something my dear Uncle PHillip would do."

Chloe smiled and began walking with Brady towards the door. "You don't have to tell me. I've seen it first hand."

Chloe stood with Brady at the front door and he gently grabbed her hand and held it in his own. He smiled reassuringly at her and spoke softly, "If you need anything... you know how to get a hold of me, right?"

Chloe nodded and replied, "Yeah, I think so. And you too... you know where I live if you just want to say hello. And, thank you again..."

"No need to thank me." Brady threw her a half-smile and wrapped his arms around her tightly. A moment later, he pulled out of the embrace and on the way out of it he gently brushed his lips on her cheek.

"Take care of yourself, Jan..."

He sheepishly bowed his head and quickly exited through the front door, leaving Chloe in complete shock. In all the time she had known Brady, and even as close as they had grown, he had never been that affectionate with her. She wondered what had caused him to hold her like that and kiss her on the cheek. Perhaps, the emotions brought up by discussing the mystery girl that he lost had stirred up something inside him, something that drove him to become more attached to her than she thought possible.
***