"Dammit, where the hell could she be at?!" Brady exclaimed as he slammed the phone down on its receiver. He had tried calling Chloe's house for the past 4 hours, but no one was picking up. Her cell phone seemed to have been turned off as well.

"Whoa, there, Iron Man, what'd the phone ever do to you?" A voice asked as the person walked behind the sofa where Brady was sitting. He lowered himself down to where he was laying face down on the sofa.

"I'm not in the mood for your wise ass comments at the moment." His words muffled by the cushion.

"Well, atleast you finally admit that I'm wise." The voice replied as it disappeared into the kitchen. He reached over and grabbed the phone once again, deciding to just leave a message on Chloe's voicemail when it rang in his hand. He hurriedly pressed 'Talk' and flipped over on the sofa.

"Hello?"

"Brady? Hey, it's me. What's up, I just got home and saw that you've called about 30 times, what's wrong?" Chloe asked as he could hear her unzip something.

"Nothing's wrong, I was just worried when you wouldn't answer either phone. I was just going to see if we were still on for tonight?" He asked, thinking about the tickets that were in his room. Tickets to see a traveling actor's company's rendition of Les Miserables. It was a surprise gift to Chloe.

"Oh man, we had a date tonight, didn't we? Brady..I'm sorry, I can't."

"Why? I reminded you 2 days ago about it."

"I know, I know. It's just that Craig and Nancy called and they're staying an extra 2 weeks in New York and they wanted me to fly out and meet them. Kinda like a family vacation, and I couldn't say no. They even got tickets to some Broadway shows, and they've already booked a flight for me. I have to go." Chloe said, as he could hear her packing for the trip.

"I had this date planned for a month, though! Couldn't you have given me a little bit more notice or something? Why couldn't you say no?"

"Brady, come on, we can have the date when I get back. It's just 2 weeks and then I'll be back here, back home to you. I promise. Please don't be mad before I leave." Chloe sighed, hoping he'd be alright with her leaving on such short notice. She was really looking forward to it.

"I'm not mad, just…never mind. Go. Have a great time, and you can call me and tell me about all the fun you're having while we poor souls are stuck back here in Salem." He replied, putting on a good front. He really was disappointed. He wanted to surprise Chloe with the play and then a candlelit dinner filled with her favorite foods. That idea was shot to shit.

"Oh, thank you, Brady, you know I will! I'll take pictures and bring you back a souvenir. God, I gotta start packing fast, I'll talk to you soon Brady, *muah*"

"Hey, you need a ri-" His question was met with a dial tone. Guess she didn't need a ride to the airport. He turned the phone off and dropped it on the floor. He laid there, right arm resting over his face, left arm dangling off the couch. Suddenly there was this screeching music coming from the kitchen. He jumped up, ran in the kitchen to be met with the image of a girl dancing around the island in the middle of the floor, holding a bag of carrots in one hand and a bowl in the other. Her socked feet slid across the tile floor as her light brown hair flung wildly around her face.

"What the *hell* are you listening to?" Brady bellowed, reaching over to the CD player, turning it down. His voice scared her as she dropped the carrots and whipped around.

"God, Brady, I'd like to keep this heart until I'm about 90. I don't think it's supposed to skip beats like you just made it do." She said, patting her chest and trying to catch her breath.

"Aww, did I scare da po' baby?" Brady asked, fake sniffling.
"Hell, with your face, you scare puppies." She said, picking up her carrots and turning to get a knife out of the drawer.

"Well, with your mo-ya know what? I'm not going to do this. I feel a migraine coming on, and I just wanted to let you know that your music wasn't making it slow down. So if you wouldn't mind." He asked, going over to the refrigerator and pulling out a bottle of Gatorade and walking back out into the living room. He fell back onto the sofa, closed his eyes, and tried to get the image of Chloe leaving on a jet plane out of his mind. God, he hated that song.

Brady had been lightly dozing when in his consciousness, he felt someone staring at him. He opened his eyes to see her, holding out her hand toward him. She was leaning over the back of the couch, peering down at him.

"Can I help you?" He asked warily. You never could tell with her.

"Here." She said, picking up his hand, opening his palm, and dropping something into it. She smiled at him before taking back off upstairs. He opened his palm and saw 3 Advil tablets. He chuckled.

"Why, Mimi Lockhart, who knew you could be nice to me?"

"Belle, sweetie, it'll be okay. He'll call, I know he will. You had a little fight. Every couple does. It's normal. I'd be worried if you *didn't* fight." Mimi said, rubbing her best friend's back, trying to comfort her hurting heart.

"But Meems, I shouldn't have said any of the stuff I said to him. I really screwed up." Belle said, more tears coming down from her eyes.

"And he shouldn't have said any of the stuff he said, either, Belle. He'll call, believe me. You two have too much love between you to let it go to shit because of a little fight. He sees that, I know he does. His pride is just hurt right now. He'll get over it. He's a guy." Mimi said, chuckling, hoping to maybe get a smile out of Belle. She did. Belle smiled and reached around and hugged Mimi.

"Meems, I'm so lucky to have you as a best friend. You're always there for me. Thank you so much."

"No, you got it backward, girl. I'm lucky to have you. I haven't always been the best person I could be, but you've still stuck by me. I should be thanking you every day of my life." Mimi said.

"You do, Meems. By doing things like this." Belle said, hugging her best friend even more tightly.

*Knock Knock Knock*

"What the fu-? Who is it?" Brady yelled, getting up off the couch from his little 30 minute nap.

"It's me, Shawn. Let me in Brady."

"Alright, gimme a second, hell." Brady said, dragging himself over to the door. Oh yeah, his headache was there alright.

"What can I do for you, cuz?" Brady asked. Shawn stormed in, pushing past him, and going straight up the steps toward Belle's room. Brady just looked on.

"Yeah, Brady, I'd like to see Belle if that's alright. Sorry for waking you up and making your headache worse. Oh no, that's alright Shawn, it's just a little torture, nothing I can't deal with." Brady said, talking to himself while going back to his favorite place of the day: the couch. He laid back down and tried to go back to sleep. He looked at his watch before doing so. 2:15. He could sleep for a good hour or so before anybody else would be barging in the front door. He heard feet coming down the stairs but kept his eyes firmly shut. The person went into the kitchen again, once again turning on the radio, but lower this time.

'Must be Mimi, atleast she had the decency to keep it low this time.' He thought.

After 10 minutes of trying, he knew it was no good. He couldn't go back to sleep. He got up and headed to the kitchen.

"In your life you seem to have it all, you seem to have control, but deep within your soul, you're losing it. You never took the time. Assume that you're to blame, You think that you're insane. Won't you spare me. I know the breakdown, everything is gonna shake now someday, I know the breakdown, tell me again am I awake now maybe. You can find the reason that no one else is living this waaaaaaaaaaaay yeah." Mimi sang along to "Breakdown" by Tantric while moving her hips to the beat while leaning up against the island reading a magazine. She was reading an article in Cosmopolitan on how to make your sex life more spicy.

"Hell, isn't this what this whole magazine is about?" She said aloud to no one.

"Talking to yourself, Meems?" Brady asked from his position in the doorway. She looked up and saw him leaning against the doorway with his right shoulder. She took a deep breath in. While she would never admit it outloud, the black tank top, worn jeans, bare feet, and bedhead was a very great look for him.

'Quit thinking like that, Lockhart. It's Brady. The kid who put grasshoppers in the tent when Belle and you camped out. The little mean boy who put mud all in your hair and down the front of your best dress. You think he's hot? Think again.'