Disclaimer: Need you ask?

A/N: Well, I've finally done it. I've updated. I've got the rest of this story planned out. I think I left it with 13 chapters. I'm just getting real tired of this story. But because I'm a nice little person I'm gonna finish it for you. (Besides, I wanna know how it ends, LOL)

Chapter Nine

"Yeah . . . Sure . . . bye." Said Caitie almost laughing. She started to close the door but Ashley stopped it with her foot.

"Is Tyler here?" Ashley asked again.

"Who's at the door?" Asked Val coming in from the kitchen.

"Just some psycho who thinks she's Tyler's girlfriend." Replied Jamie. He was watching the scene between Caitie and Ashley and looking like he wanted popcorn.

"Who's really at the door Jamie?" Asked Val, not believing what Jamie said before.

"I told you, some psycho who thinks she's Tyler's girlfriend. If you don't believe me come see for yourself." Val and Lindsey came into the living room to do just that.

"Lindsey, come give Ashley a hug." Ashley said when she saw Lindsey. She said it in the voice that lots of people use when talking to little kids.

"Go away." Ordered Lindsey sounding scared. She hid behind Val's legs.

"Come on Lindsey." Said Val leading the scared little girl into another room. "What's wrong?" Val turned around and brought herself down to Lindsey's eye level.

"I don't like her, she's mean." Said Lindsey starting to cry.

"It's okay." Replied Val in a soothing voice, wrapping the girl in a hug. "Jamie and Caitie will get rid of her." She could still hear them talking in the living room.

"Could you tell me what time Tyler will be home?" Requested Ashley.

"No." Said Caitie flatly.

"Then may I come in and wait." Asked Ashley stepping inside.

"I don't know who you think you are, but there is no way in hell that I'm gonna let you inside." Jamie slammed the door.

* * *

"Good morning beautiful." Said Hank gently shaking Brooke awake.

"What time is it?"

"Seven. We have to register for classes today and registration starts at 8:30." Said Hank.

"But registration lasts all day." Mumbled Brooke, rolling over putting a pillow over her head.

"Nope, up now." Ordered Hank.

"You better have made coffee." Groaned Brooke.

"I'm not stupid, you know." Answered Hank. "It's in the kitchen."

"What are you doing up this early anyway?" Asked Brooke. "Usually I'm awake first."

I've only been up long enough to get coffee." Hank's voice faded as he walked out of the bedroom.

"Where's the coffee?" Asked Brooke a few minutes later.

"Microwave."

"Why didn't you just make coffee?" Demanded Brooke when she saw the Starbucks cup.

"My coffee maker decided to break this morning." Explained Hank, Brooke was about to say something but Hank cut her off. "And out of the three coffeemakers that we got for our wedding, none work."

"Did you read the directions?" Asked Brooke.

"What do you think?"

"No. You didn't. It's way too early and I have had way too little caffeine to be figuring this stuff out." Groaned Brooke as she tried to figure out how to use one of the stupid coffee makers.

* * *

"Finally!" Exclaimed Jamie when Tyler walked into the apartment with two bags of Chinese food. "I'm starving."

"So what else is new?" Teased Caitie, who was sitting next the him.

"Knock yourself out." Said Tyler as he handed the paper bags to Jamie to take into the kitchen

"Daddy!" Screamed Lindsey running to great him. She jumped into his arms.

"Whoa." Said Tyler giving her a hug. "Hungry?" Lindsey nodded. "Jamie has Chinese in the kitchen. What do you say we go and make sure he doesn't eat it all?"

All through dinner Caitie was dying to ask Tyler who Ashley was and what the story was with her, but she was afraid to bring her up in front of Lindsey because of how she reacted when she saw her.

"Come on Lindsey, bedtime." Said Tyler picking her up. Tyler had been reading Lindsey a story on the couch and she'd started to fall asleep.

"I'm not tired." Whined Lindsey faintly, proving just the opposite.

"Why don't we finish reading in your room?" Suggested Tyler, but it was pointless, she'd already fallen asleep. Tyler went to tuck her in. A few minutes later he came back out and Caitie saw her chance to ask him about Ashley.

"We met one of your friends today." Started Caitie.

"Really." Said Tyler. "Who?"

"She came a long way to see you." Added Jamie.

"Who's Ashley?" Demanded Caitie getting right to the point.

* * *

"Hey." Said Hank coming up to Brooke. She was waiting in line to register for her last class: English Literature. "Almost done?"

"Yep, this is the last one. You?"

"I'm done."

"You don't have to wait around for me. You can go home if you want to." Offered Brooke.

"I'll wait."

"You really don't have to." Insisted Brooke.

"Love you." Said Hank, kissing her.

"Love you too. See you at home." Hank walked away and Brooke was left to wait in line. Their apartment was only a few blocks away from campus so Brooke decided to walk back. Halfway home Brooke ran into someone, making her drop the handouts she'd gotten from registration.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going."

"That's okay, neither was I." Apologized Brooke. "I'm Brooke."

"Kelly. Do you go to NYU?" Asked Kelly, looking at the handouts Brooke had dropped.

"Yeah, I'm a freshman. You?" Asked Brooke.

"Same. I've gotta go register. Maybe I'll see you later." Said Kelly, checking her watch.

"Maybe." Echoed Brooke.

* * *

"What?" Asked Tyler, surprised.

"Who's Ashley Conway?" Demanded Caitie.

"Ashley Conway, long brown hair?" Asked Tyler, not wanting to believe it really was her. Jamie and Caitie nodded.

"Damn it! She's here?!" Yelled Tyler angrily. He didn't seem happy about her being there.

"Yeah, we've established that. Now who the hell is she!" Said Caitie as loud as she could without waking Lindsey. It wasn't a question.

"How'd she find me here?"

"She didn't say. Could your parents have given her your new address?" Suggested Jamie.

"Who is she?" Caitie repeated for the fourth time. She was starting to get annoyed.

"Not the type of person I thought she was." Answered Tyler after thinking for a few seconds.

"She says she's your girlfriend." Said Jamie, almost accusingly.

"She's not." Replied Tyler flatly. "At least not anymore." He said after a short pause.

"What happened?" Asked Val.

"Did Lindsey see her?" Asked Tyler as if he hadn't heard her at all.

"Yes. Lindsey was really scared." Answered Val. "It took me a long time to calm her down."

"Damn it! The whole reason I moved back was because I wanted to get Lindsey away from her. Silly me, I guess a whole ocean and half of North America wasn't enough space between us."

"What happened?" Caitie asked, echoing Val. Tyler didn't seem to hear her either.

"I told her I never wanted to see her again. I told my parents I didn't want to see her ever again. . ." Ranted Tyler

Val rested a hand on his shoulder and the simple gesture seemed to remind him that there were three other people in the room. "What happened?" Tyler seemed to contemplate telling them or not. "It's alright, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to." Added Val after seeing the look on his face.

"No, I'll tell you. You deserve to know. You've all been great, I left for three years and I just suddenly came back and you didn't ask many questions. You deserve to know why I came back."

"Does it have anything to do with Ashley?" Asked Caitie.

"It has everything to do with her. We went out for two years before I broke up with her, I'd even considered asking her to marry me. But she did something unforgivable. . ." Said Tyler starting to talk. His voice was calm, but anyone looking at him could tell he was pissed off.

* * *

When Hank got back to his apartment the answering machine was blinking. He hit the message button and started digging through the refrigerator to find what he needed to make a sandwich.

"Hey Brooke, Hank. It's Val. Call me whenever you get this message." Val was her usual perky self and Hank made a mental note to tell Brooke to call her. Hank decided to call Val back right away, there was a sense of urgency that slightly worried Hank. He dialed her number and waited for someone to answer, he was just about to hang up when Val answered.

"Hello."

"Hey Val. What's up? Your message sounded important."

"Just thought you might want to be filled in on what's going on here." Replied Val.

"It sounds like it's important."

"It is. Did Tyler ever mention anyone named Ashley Conway?"

"No, should he have?"

"It would have been nice if he had." Snapped Val.

"Who is she?"

"Tyler's girlfriend, well ex-girlfriend actually."

"What?"

"His ex-girlfriend. She just showed up here looking for Tyler."

"You sound jealous." Pointed out Hank.

"No, I actually have a reason to hate her. She made Lindsey cry by doing nothing."

"How could she do that?" Being shy was something completely foreign to Lindsey, she go along with everyone and almost never cried. Hank had seen her fall off her bike, skin her knees and hands and calmly walk inside, get cleaned up and go back outside a play five minutes later. Val told Hank what Ashley did.

"That bitch. I can't believe she did that." Said Hank flatly, only someone who knew him well would know how angry he actually was. Hank filled Val in on what was going on in New York since he and Brooke left Kingsport and promised her that Brooke would call. Almost as soon as he hung up, the phone rang again.

"May I speak with Hank Beecham please?" Asked a voice on the other end of the line.

"Speaking." Replied Hank, he knew the voice from somewhere, but he couldn't figure out where. "May I ask who's calling?"

"Professor Collin Lawfield at NYU."

"You teach freshman English Lit., right?" Asked Hank. He was almost a hundred percent sure he was right.

"Right." He confirmed. Hank remembered having him in his freshman year and that he was in his mid thirties and was well liked by students. "I was wondering if you would like to be a TA for one of my classes?" He asked, getting right to the point.

"Isn't it a little late to be asking?"

"I know it's short notice, but I had someone quit at the last minute."

"I'm pretty sure I can do it." Replied Hank. Professor Lawfield told him all the information he needed for the job. Just as Hank hung up the phone, Brooke came home.

"Who was on the phone?" She asked after kissing him.

Hank filled her in on Val's call and on Professor Lawfield's call.

"What days did you say the teacher assistant's job was?" Asked Brooke.

"Wednesdays and Fridays." Replied Hank. "Why?"

"That's my English Lit. class."

A/N2: You'll get chapter 10 whenever I feel like writing it. I hate to say it, but you're gonna get shorter chapters. Everyone do my best friend a favor and Visit her site. http://www.thewritersconnection.cjb.net It's really cool and you can post fanfiction, originals, and there's a message board where you can talk with other authors.

Future Stories:

"The Angst Filled Story" That's not the title, but the way I refer to it, it'll ruin the whole thing.

Working Summary: Something about a car accident. Not really sure yet, but I do have most of the plot worked out. As my best friend Hilary can tell you. She's a way better author than me so you should go read her stories under the name Michelle Drake.

"First, Special" That's not the real title either, but I have not title for it yet. It takes place in the year 2019. And it's A Dark Angel/ In A Heartbeat crossover. (I moved it to the Dar Angel Time period.) You don't have to watch Dark Angel to understand this story, I make it simple and explain everything, and if you have a question about the show, I'll work it into the story. If you watch Dark Angel, you'll be able to figure out where I got the "Title" from.

I'm rewriting Secrets and Revealed. And I've got two other stories that are buried on my computer that I'll rewrite and eventually post.

If you want to be e-mailed about updates, say so in a review. (Hint, Hint)