Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine; some of the events aren't mine either. They're borrowed from BVE without permission. No harm, no foul, no money made.

Author's slightly embarrassed note: OK. Funny definition of August...as you can see, I HAVEN'T forgotten this story. I HAVE been trying to finish it. Writer's block can be a real bitch sometimes. Here is part four. Happy reading -- and thank you for your patience.

~*~

There was a long, long moment of wordless anger, then Eric turned on his heel and stalked away from the pool. Taylor watched him leave and cursed. So much for 'talking'.

"Tayl...oh!" Alyssa's call ended in an exclamation as she rounded the curve of the path and entered the clearing.

Taylor just glared. "Something you wanted?"

"Well I..." Alyssa smiled a little nervously. "Just wondering if Eric found you."

Taylor turned her back to Alyssa and started to make for her pile of clothing. "He found me."

"And...?"

"And nothing," Taylor snapped. "He's a rude, arrogant jerk."

"Oh."

And, Taylor realised, there really wasn't anything more to be said.

~*~

The drawback, Taylor realised, was that as much as she tried to insist to herself she didn't care, and that if Eric couldn't be straight with her now there was no life in their relationship, she couldn't help but look at him, across the temple fire pit, and wonder. What would it be like? What would he be like? Why did she feel as if she'd made the biggest mistake in her life by blowing him out like that?

The only consolation was that if she felt confused and miserable, he looked more so.

That was, Taylor reflected, no consolation at all.

And it got no better as the evening progressed. Ransik's story made for depressing listening. Taylor couldn't imagine being driven to the madness Ransik had been -- and she wasn't sure she wanted to try. Glancing around the rest of the gathering, her reaction wasn't out of place, either. Even the others from the future -- Jen, Trip, Lucas and Katie -- looked shocked. Perhaps the only person who wasn't shocked and horrified was, predictably, Eric.

His expression puzzled Taylor. It was a mix of things, she decided. A little surprise, a little chagrin, a little...sympathy, was that? She frowned. The rest of his expression seemed to be knowing. As if he could understand where Ransik was coming from.

Taylor shivered. Good guys weren't supposed to comprehend the evil bad guys -- even if the evil bad guys were in the middle of repenting. Unless... No. That was ridiculous.

"Penny for them?"

Taylor started and found Wes looking down at her, small smile on his face. "Huh?"

That small smile evolved into a bigger grin. "You were miles away."

"Oh." Taylor shrugged. "Guess."

Wes gestured to the empty seat beside her. "Mind if I...?"

"No -- sure." Taylor vaguely wondered at what point the meeting had broken up.

"You want to talk about it?" Wes offered.

"Err?" Taylor blinked. "Talk about what?"

Wes inclined his head in the direction of Eric who, it seemed, was on the receiving end of a similar 'deputation', his being from Jen. "I figure that big lug's gone and done something dumb -- again."

"Again? He has a habit of screwing up relationships before they start?" Taylor enquired, the bitterness in her voice coming as a surprise to herself.

Wes simply smiled faintly. "His track record in that area does leave something to be desired."

"Oh great." Taylor shook her head. "You know, I'm not sure I wanna hear this."

"It's OK -- I'm not here to talk him up; he's got some really bad habits, he's grouchy, he's miserable...and if you think he's hard on you, try sharing an office with him." At that, Taylor was forced to chuckle. "And he hasn't put me up to this either."

"I figured that, seeing he's getting the second degree from your girlfriend right now," Taylor pointed out.

Wes smiled again. "It's more in self-interest than anything else. You've gotta be able to work together tomorrow...and I figure the fastest way for that to happen is for you to know a bit about him."

Taylor had to admit there was a certain logic to that. "OK -- I'm listening."

"He's not had it easy," Wes stated, smile fading from his face. "I don't know the whole story, even after nearly a year of working together he doesn't one hundred percent trust me. Not with exactly who the hell Eric Myers really is under the bullshit and hardass."

Taylor stared at Wes, almost incredulous. "If he doesn't trust you..."

Wes stalled her with a shake of the head. "It's not 'won't', it's 'can't'." He sighed and cast a glance across the fire pit to where Eric and Jen were talking. "Eric's always...pretty nearly always, as far as I can tell, been on the outside looking in. Never been accepted as part of the crowd. Always been a loner. How much of that was because genuinely no-one wanted him around and how much of that is because kids didn't see they needed to make the effort I don't know." Wes shrugged. "I didn't meet him until he was fifteen -- by which time he'd long since figured the rest of the world were probably going to treat him like scum so he might as well get his retaliation in first."

"What about family?" Taylor found herself asking.

Wes shrugged again. "Don't know -- I'm not convinced he's got much in that line, and what he does have he doesn't know too well." He sighed. "I could probably make a few guesses about that, but that's all they'd be. Like I said. We've worked together nearly a year, and I still haven't entirely proved to him I'm not going to stick a knife in his ribs when he stops watching me."

Taylor winced at that.

"He's getting better," Wes continued, smiling a little. "And I think he does like you -- he's just scared."

"Of me?"

"Of feeling. Of being hurt." Wes smiled again, faintly. "Same things as most people in a new place in their lives. You just need to treat him a bit like stroking a porcupine."

Taylor couldn't help but giggle at that. "You do that a lot?"

Wes chuckled. "Enough to know you stroke with the spines, not against 'em." Taylor nodded, smiling. "So, think you can give him a second shot?"

Taylor sighed, smile fading. Could she? "I can try."

TO BE CONTINUED...