AN: Hey, all—sorry for my long hiatus. As you all know, life has a funny way of creeping up on you and making you do necessary things. For me, it's probably the fact that I have a lot of my relatives here, and they're not exactly what you call "low maintenance." Also, my parents went away on vacation and I had to take care of the house, plus we just finished wrapping up my birthday party. (Yay!) And now, after all that—college is starting. Grr. So, it might be a while until I can write again, but, I will try my hardest. You know what's really weird? This story has evolved just from tiny snippets of plot going through my head. I sit here and start typing and then interesting ideas come from that. So I was planning for Kristina to tell Jason in this chapter, but again—it got away from me. So it will come in the next chapter. I promise.

Thanks for your awesome response to this story! Wow, a lot of people have reviewed! I feel so special. =D

And, the reason I changed Amanda's name to Hope was because of the stuff that happened on the show, with Courtney losing the baby and everything. For all of you that watch Days of our Lives, the character of Hope was named because she was her parents' hope, knowing that miracles can happen (they were in the same predicament as Journey). But now I want to change her name to Emily, because of what she asked Jason to do for her ("Jason, promise me that if you and Courtney have a daughter, you'll name her after me."). Emily Hope, that'd be a great name for a Journey love child… *sigh*… but that means I'd have to go back and change the names. Again. I don't know if I want to do that, but if you like the idea, let me know, okay? =D

Oh, one more thing (sorry, I'm rambling). Tell me if you prefer Kristy or Tina as a nickname for Kristina. You can suggest more if you want. =D

Okay, that is all. Enjoy the show! (Next chapter should be up soon—I've already started it =D)

Disclaimer: If you're reading this, you've probably already read it. And you probably don't care, either.

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Golden Child

Chapter Eight

          It was late when Loren and I finally dozed off. We had been talking about a few things, this and that, and I discovered that he wasn't really as bad as I thought he was. As he told me more about his mother, I came to realize why, that first night, he had had that sudden change against me—it was because he thought I was prying into something that was so personal for him. We readily cleared that up and now there were no more tensions between us. After a while, I wanted to go to sleep, so Loren bid me good night and we got ready to go to bed.

          As I drifted off to a fitful sleep, somehow, I felt uneasy. Not because I was in a trailer, alone with a guy, but because I felt something was about to happen. I shook it off as a remnant of the anxiety I had felt after leaving the house and tried my hardest to fall asleep.

          It was hard, getting used to the small living quarters after living in a mansion, but it was doable. Soon, I found myself asleep, dreaming of things that were yet to come…

          "Please! Don't do this! I didn't want this to happen—I had no control over this!" I yell, begging for mercy.

          "I don't care! You are a reminder of things that I have been wanting to forget, and I don't need any reminders!" The blonde woman takes my hand jerkily, nearly bruising me, and I whimper in pain. "Oh, shush," she orders me, disgust laced in her voice.

          A flash of dark hair crosses my line of sight. "Mom! What are you doing?"

          "We don't need her here, love. Don't you worry your pretty little head about it." The woman smiles sweetly—almost too sweetly—at the young girl. I want to reach out to her, knowing she is more compassionate than her mother, so I plead with my eyes. I can't make out her face, but I know her voice from somewhere…

          "Bella!" I gasped. I sat up straight in my bed, not remembering where I was, and hit my head on the bunk above me. "Ow." I looked around me and found Loren, in only pajama pants, his hair a bit tousled, looking at me with concern. "Kristina."

          "What… what are you doing up at this time?" I looked wearily at the bright digital clock on the microwave: it read four thirty-seven a.m. He shrugged. "I'm a light sleeper. You were rustling and saying things in your sleep, and when you hit your head, I wanted to make sure you were okay."

          I could feel myself blushing, for many reasons—one, for the newly discovered fact that I say things while slumbering; two, that a boy was seeing me, in all my unkempt glory; and three, that said boy was wearing very little. I seem to have a fetish for young men without articles of clothing on their upper bodies. Oh, and at the fact that he was still staring at me, concern and worry evident in his sapphire eyes. I could tell that even in the darkness. I attempted a smile and nodded. "I'm okay." Right as the words escaped my mouth, I could feel the dull ache, from the meeting of my head and the boards above me, set in, and I rubbed my head unconsciously.

          Loren raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

          "Yeah." I lay back down, and I could feel the nerves in my head starting to be soothed by the soft material of the pillow.

          "So… what were you dreaming about?" Loren asked. "It sounded disturbing. You sounded upset."

          "Yeah… it's really kind of hazy, but I was being kicked out of some place. I think, though, that what was more disturbing about it was the fact that it seemed that… that I was alone, and that nobody loved me." I sighed.

          "Kristina, you know that's not true. You have aunts, uncles, and cousins that love you. The Quartermaines love you."

          I snorted at that. "I don't think any of them know what love really is." And then, I took on a wistful look. "Except for Emily… I miss her a lot, you know."

          Loren nodded. "Yeah, she was awesome."

          I looked up at him, from my position in the bed, in surprise. "You knew her?"

          "Yeah, my dad and she were really good friends. And you know, she was my aunt."

          "Oh, yeah." I would never understand the weird connections that this town had. "You know what's funny, you and I could probably be related."

          He sat in thoughtful silence for a moment. "Well, Nikolas is your cousin. He's my uncle. He's related to you through his father's side, while I am related to him through his mother's side… so I guess, technically, we're not related. But it just hurts my brain to think right now, so I'd rather not."

          I laughed. "Sounds like a plan to me."

          We sat—well, he sat, and I lay there in comfortable silence for a while longer, until Loren spoke up. "You know, I meant what I said. You're not alone. Even if you think no one else is here for you, I'll be here. And that's a promise."

          I smiled. "Thank you. I feel so… detached from everyone, you know what I mean?"

          Loren nodded. "Believe me, I know exactly what you mean. But you never know. You still have family out there. And they might welcome you with open arms, despite your dream, or vision, or premonition, or whatever you might want to call it."

          "I don't know, Loren," I said, uneasily.

          "Just remember, you won't know unless you find out."

          I nodded. "Hey, I'm gonna go back to sleep, okay?"

          "Okay. Sleep well."

          "Thanks." I closed my eyes and let sleep overtake me; my last conscious thought was that I should consult with Jason tomorrow—or later, whatever—and let him know the whole story. Or was it that fleeting feeling of something soft touching my forehead…

          I woke up to a burning smell. I opened my eyes, threw back the covers, and rushed out of my corner. I found Loren, frantically attempting to put out something on top of the stove. I smiled faintly and peered at what was in the pan—it looked brown, and shriveled. There were small flames dancing around the charred substance, yet Loren was freaking out and trying everything possible to make it go away.

          "Loren, here." I grabbed a glass and filled it with water, then threw it on the stove. The sizzle and steam of the water hitting heat could be heard and seen, and he looked sheepishly at me. "You were right when you said you couldn't cook. What were you trying to cook, anyway?"

          He looked away. "Eggs."

          "But—" I looked over at the fridge, and then, on an impulse, opened it. It was now full, stocked with the rest of the eggs, a gallon of milk, some bagged salad stuff, and other basic needs. I nodded, impressed. "Wow. Where did you get all this?"

          "At the grocery store. I couldn't sleep after you fell asleep, so I made the trek out to town to go get stuff for you."

          I smiled. "That's really sweet of you, Loren. Just promise me… next time, you'll let me cook, okay?"

          "Yeah, okay. I just wanted you to have something good to eat, since you looked so upset last night."

          I smiled again. How can a guy turn from hating you to doing all these really sweet things for you? I shook my head. Guys are seriously confusing. Maybe that's how I came into existence in the first place.

          After we cleaned up the mess, and I was in charge of making the eggs, we ate, and I asked him, "What are you up to today?"

          "Nothing much—what about you?"

          "I've made a decision."

          Loren nodded, encouragingly. "And that would be…"

          "I'm going to go to Jason today, and tell him everything. I know that if anyone can help me, he can."

          "Yep, Jason Morgan, he would be the right kind of guy to go to. Well, I hope everything goes well. Remember what I said—you'll never know what will happen unless you do something about it."

          "I know, I know," I said, as I stood up and began to clear the table.

          "Just wanted you to know that you're not alone, okay? And here." He stood and took the dish from me. "Let me do it."

          I smiled, once again, at him. "Okay. Just don't… don't break anything, okay?"

          "Okay."

          "Loren?"

          He turned. "Yeah?"

          "Thank you. For being there. And for believing in me."
          He shrugged. "Who else am I supposed to be there for?" Loren laughed. "But seriously, don't worry about it. We're here for each other, okay?"

          "Yes. We definitely are."

Okay so the ending was a bit weird, but review anyway! You guys are cool! =D