Chapter Five



Lucas, Cassie and Richard parked their bikes in front of the loft. Cassie quickly dismounted and hurried towards the building, eager to see her brother after all the long months they had been apart. Richard and Lucas followed closely behind Cassie, who was trying her best not to break into a run. She rushed up to Rex and Shawn's loft, hoping her brother was there. After knocking impatiently on the door, Mimi answered. She saw Cassie standing in front of her and her mouth dropped open.

"Cassie!" she said in a stunned voice, "Are you really here?"

Cassie managed to give Rex's girlfriend a weak smile, "I'm really here. Is my brother here?"

Mimi nodded wordlessly and let Cassie, Lucas and Richard into the loft, "Rex! Rex, you need to come here right now." Rex emerged from his bedroom, looking to Mimi before he noticed Cassie. Mimi nodded in Cassie's direction and he inhaled sharply when I saw her.

"You're not dead." his face broke into a grin and he ran over to her and enveloped her into a big hug. She hugged him back, feeling her own smile widen. She hadn't realized how much she had actually missed Rex until that moment. Mimi watched the scene unfolding and she felt her eyes grow wet. She was so happy for Rex. He had lost so much, there was no one who deserved this more than he did. He finally pulled away from her and his eyes were questioning.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I didn't want you to keep getting accused of the murders." Cassie began to explain, "I thought if I faked my death, everyone would stop accusing you. I thought you might have an alibi. Then, I left Salem and I met Richard." she turned to smile at Richard, who smiled back encouragingly.

Rex looked a little angry at his sister's response. He grabbed both of her shoulders, his eyes burning into hers, "Don't you ever do something like that again." his voice was low and thick with emotion, "Do you have any idea what you put me through? I know you tried to do the right thing but I missed you so much, Cass. Everything started falling apart after you died and it was so hard for me to imagine going through life without you. If it wasn't for Mimi....." his voice trailed off and Cassie felt her eyes well up with tears.

"I'm sorry." she whispered, "I only wanted to stop everyone from treating you the way you were. I knew that you were a good person and that you were too sweet and caring to kill anyone. I knew that you were innocent and so was Tony-" her voice cracked when she said Tony's name and she couldn't hold in the tears. She burst into loud, heart-broken sobs and Rex felt his own tears beginning to fall down his face. He wrapped his arms around Cassie and they cried together. Mimi, Lucas and Richard watched silently. Mimi went over to stand beside Lucas and Richard. She gave them a little smile.

Cassie wiped the tears out of her eyes, "I wish I had been here to tell him good-bye and to tell him that I loved him. I'm glad he had you though." Rex looked away from his sister and she felt a feeling of alarm gnawing at her insides, "Rex, what's wrong?"

He shook his head and looked up at her, his eyes red and filled with regret and sadness, "That's just it. He didn't have me. There was all this evidence against him and everyone thought he was the Salem Stalker, even me. After everything he did for me, I turned my back on him when he needed me the most. At first, I wouldn't even go to the hospital. I was too ashamed. Then, when I finally decided to go see him, it was too late." Cassie's eyes widened at the news and she stared at him in disbelief.

"I can't believe you." she tried to keep the anger out of her voice but she still made the words sound harsh and accusing, "How could you ever think he would kill me? Or anyone else, for that matter? Are you that stupid? So, he died having no one. Of course you couldn't go to the hospital after thinking he was the murderer. He was going to tell the world who he thought did it and you still treated him that crap after what he did for you! No wonder you didn't want to go to the hospital at first, it must have taken a lot to work up the nerve to decide to go there and look him in the eye. It's no wonder you can't look me in the eye right now, after the way you treated the most wonderful father we could have ever had!"

By the time she had finished talking, she was yelling, completely ignoring the wounded expression on Rex's face as he continued to stare at the floor. She bolted at the door and Richard went after her. Lucas eyed Rex with concern and Mimi went over to Rex and wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm sorry, Rex." Mimi whispered in his ear, her lips resting on his cheek for a few seconds. Rex shook his head, the ashamed and remorseful look not leaving his face.

"I should have known she would react like that." Rex admitted, "She bonded with Tony, they were so close. I can't blame her for saying all those things. I just hope she can forgive me."

"I'll try to talk to her." Lucas promised and Rex looked up at Lucas gratefully. Lucas could tell that he wanted to be alone with Mimi so he loft the loft, going back down to see Cassie pressed against Richard's chest, her tears not slowing. Lucas approached them awkwardly.

"I'm sorry about what happened, Cassie." Lucas told her, "Look, there's someone I have to go see. I'll talk to you guys later." Richard nodded but before Lucas could leave, he grabbed the sleeve of Lucas' leather jacket.

"Get a picture of that guy." Richard whispered, "Then we'll go after him. We're not going to let him kill anyone else." Lucas agreed to get a photograph of Brandon, knowing there had to be one somewhere in Sami's apartment. Remembering Sami, he almost smiled. He got on top of the motorcycle and left Cassie standing in front of loft, crying into Richard's arms.



Sami sat in front of the television, her eyes slowly closing. It was late evening and she had spent the whole day working at Basic Black. She was exhausted was half-asleep when the knock sounded on her apartment door. Sitting up and yawning, she walked over to the door and pulled it open. Lucas stood in front of her, his eyes lighting up when he saw her. He can't really be here, Sami decided, I must be dreaming. Deciding to take advantage of the dream, she stood on her tip-toes and snaked her hands behind his head, lowering his head until their lips were touching.

Lucas raked his hands through her hair, making up for every night he had went without seeing her. He stifled a moan as her tongue moved inside his mouth, claiming every dark recess as her own. She bunched up the leather material of his jacket in her hands, realizing that this was definitely not a dream. His hot mouth pressing against hers urgently was too real. But she gone past the point of caring and continued kissing him like she had wanted to kiss him for the longest time. They finally separated, both of them breathing hard. Lucas smiled at her, his eyes dancing with amusement.

"I wish you greeted me like that all the time." he teased and Sami felt her face heat up. She looked him over, eyeing the shadow of dark brown stubble lining his jaw and the way she could still see his biceps ripple beneath the leather jacket. He had been almost irresistible before and now he was desirable beyond reason. But once she stopped thinking about how much he reminded her of a Greek God, she remembered the reason why she hadn't seen him in so long.

"Why are you back?" she whispered hoarsely, "The killer, she's-"

Lucas put on hand over her mouth, barely fighting off the impulse to replace that hand with his lips, "Take a breath, dollface." he cringed inwardly when he realized what he had just said. Dollface? That just went to show that he had been spending way too much time around Richard. Richard called Cassie dollface all the time.

"Lucas, you could be killed." she hissed, unable to keep the fear out of her voice. A part of her was so glad he was back in Salem but she knew that part was being selfish. It was for his own good that he was gone. Now that he was back, the killer could get him at any time.

"Sami, I'm going to be fine." he assured her, "I know who it is. They aren't going to get me."

"How can you be so sure?" she demanded, her hands still gripping his jacket, not wanting to let go of him.

He rubbed her back reassuringly, "I made some new friends. They're going to make sure he gets what he deserves." he remembered that he needed to get the picture of Brandon. Sami was staring at him in shock.

"He?" she repeated, "Lucas, please tell me it's John."

Lucas sighed, deciding he didn't have the strength to tell her who the killer was. He had told Cassie that her father was dead not long ago. It would be even harder to tell the woman that mattered most to him that her ex-husband had murdered her grandmother and father, "It's isn't John. I actually can't tell you who it is."

"Lucas!" she screeched angrily, "You have to tell me."

He smirked at her, "Maybe if you keep giving me the same treatment you did when you answered the door, we could work something out." Sami flushed as she remembered the way she had kissed him with reckless abandon like she couldn't control herself. And the truth was, she hadn't been able to do. She silently cursed him for coming back. She had needed time to forget how much she cared about him. Although, deep down, she knew that no amount of time would ever be enough to make her forget what Lucas did to her whenever he was around.

She finally let him inside the apartment and they sat down on the couch. Sami turned the TV off with the remote. Lucas looked at the yellow flannel nightgown she was wearing and his left hand moved up to stroke the soft blonde hair that framed her face. She took a deep breath when his hand touched her hair but she didn't pull away.

"I missed you." he told her in a soft voice, letting his other hand rest on her hip. She stared at him in complete silence and he hoped that she would say it back. God, Sami, please just say it back.

She finally found her voice but took her eyes off his dark brown ones, knowing that her eyes would betray how much she wanted him, "I missed you too."