Chapter 12:

Gwen held on to Hank's smooth kiss for a few seconds longer, before she finally let go. She looked up at him and smiled.

I can't believe I just did that, Gwen thought to herself. Sure I am getting over Ethan but am I ready to give myself to someone new? She wasn't sure, but she knew deep down that when the time came for her to give her heart a new owner, she definitely wanted it to be Hank.

Hank smiled at Gwen. She is so beautiful, he thought to himself. I'm falling for her. Hard. But he didn't mind.

Back inside the mansion, Theresa met up with Ethan, who was talking to Ivy.

"Hello, Ivy," Theresa said in her nicest voice. She had been working for Ivy as her assistant for some time now, but she still didn't feel very close to the woman. And she wasn't sure how Ivy felt about Theresa dating her son.

"Hi Theresa," Ivy said in a low tone. "Excuse me for a minute." Ethan and Theresa nodded as they watched Ivy walk off in the direction of Sam Bennett, who was sipping champagne by himself.

"How are you gorgeous?" Ethan asked Theresa, planting a kiss on her lips.

"I'm fine," she said softly. She tried to play it cool, so Ethan wouldn't notice a thing. She didn't want him to know about her kissing Hank, especially since he had rejected her. That's why she was back here with Ethan.

Just then Sheridan and Luis met up with the couple.

"Having fun, Theresa?" Sheridan asked kindly.

"Yes. Thank you for inviting me," Theresa responded.

Sheridan smiled before turning to her nephew. "Have you seen Gwen since we saw her last? I really need to speak to her."

"I think she's still outside," Ethan responded.

"Hank must be with her," Theresa added.

"Why do you say that, Theresa?" Luis asked.

"Because after we talked, I saw him going outside, and he was calling Gwen's name."

"Why?" Luis questioned. Was something going on between Gwen and his best friend? He wanted to know. He was surprised Hank hadn't told him himself.

Theresa gulped. She had to tell them now why Hank was outside with Gwen. And why he had walked away from her.

Before she could speak, they were interrupted by Julian Crane.

"Excuse me, Theresa, is it?" he asked the brunnette. "May I speak to you for a minute?"

Theresa nodded unsurely while Luis, Ethan and Sheridan all glared at him, thinking it had something to do with her dating Ethan now. The Cranes sure weren't happy about that.

Julian led Theresa to a unoccupied corner of the room. "I know about you and that young man," he said sternly.

"You mean Ethan?" she asked.

"No, that Bennett," came the reply.

"How did you....?" Theresa began to ask. When she was kissing Hank, Julian had been upstairs lecturing Ethan on his dumping Gwen.

"I'm a Crane, Theresa," Julian cut in. "We have secret videos where we can see anything. Everything."

"It was just one kiss," Theresa protested. "It didn't mean anything."

"Make up your mind. My father, Alastair, is just coming to terms with you and Ethan being in a relationship now. But you decide if you still want Ethan."

"I do," Theresa nodded. "I do."

"Fine then. No more indecent acts like that. You want to be with a Crane, you can't go around kissing other men. We don't need any more scandals."

"Yes, sir," Theresa nodded, almost shivering from the glare she was receiving from Julian.

He nodded a final nod before leaving her alone.

"What did he say, Theresa?" Luis whispered, grabbing her elbow and taking her to a corner where no one could hear what they were talking about.

Theresa looked up at Luis, the only man she knew she could completely be honest with - her brother.

"He said that if I want to be dating a Crane, I shouldn't go around kissing other men."

"What?" Luis asked, baffled. That wasn't what he was expecting to hear. "Who was he talking about, Theresa? Who did you kiss?" Luis gave her a stern look. As a fatherly figure to his siblings, Luis had tried his best to instill values of committment and trust in Theresa, Paloma and Miguel. And Theresa had just violated her committment and honesty to Ethan.

"Hank," she whispered. "But please don't tell Ethan."

"Hank?!" Luis asked, shocked. "Why would you kiss Hank?!"

"Because I wanted to. Nevermind. The point is he rejected me badly and went outside to talk to Gwen."

"He rejected you badly?" Luis, who was taking the role of a parrot, asked. Hank might have been his best friend, but even he doing something against a member of his family spoke trouble for their friendship.

"Yeah," Theresa nodded. She began to tell him every mean word that Hank had spewed at her. As she was talking, she could feel Luis's anger rising.....

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{a/n: i was going to make the song of this songfic included in this chapter, but it was too long. so i split what would have been this chapter into two. it gets better. trust me. next up, the songfic, and Gwen and Hank get interrupted, and tensions arise. Don't miss out!}