Theresa crept quietly up the stairs so she wouldn't wake anyone up. But as she walked up the stairs, she fell over something that was laying on the stairs, making a big noise. Luis came out of his room with a baseball bat in his hand ready to take a wack at an intruder. Luis tried to see who it was, but it was too dark.

"Whose there?" He called out.

"Me," a little voice responded.

"Me who?" He said going to turn on the lights.

"Your sister."

Luis turned on the lights to see that it was Theresa.

"Theresa?"

"Hey Luis!" She said as she got up and hugged him.

"Where are you coming from at this time of night?"

"It's only 11 p.m." She told him.

"I know, but still. Where were you?"

"At the Crane mansion."

"What the hell were you doing there?" He said a little mad. Ever since Theresa left home he thought that Ethan had something to do with her leaving. He didn't like Theresa having any connection to the Cranes.

"I went over there to have dinner with Fox and his family."

"Wait a minute! Who the hell is Fox?"

Pilar then came out of her room to see what was going on.

"Theresita, when did you come home?" She smiled.

"I came home earlier, but no one was home."

"I was at the Bennett's, Miguel was at school..."

"And I was at work," Luis informed her.

"I see. Well I'm back for a little bit." She smiled.

"A little bit?" Pilar asked as her smiled faded away.

"Yes, Mama. I plan on returning to North Carolina."

"But, Theresita..."

"Mama, can we please talk about this tomorrow. I just want to go to sleep now."

Pilar nodded her head as she kissed her daughter's cheek and returned to her room. Luis followed Theresa into her bedroom and sat down on her bed.

"Yes?" She asked as she took off her necklace.

"Theresa, whose Fox?"

"He's my boyfriend. He's also a Crane," she said slowly.

"Theresa, you can't see him again."

"What?" She said turning around and starring him dead in his eyes. "I'm not a little girl anymore, Luis! I'm 18 and I can do what I want. I don't live here anymore."

"Theresa, I forbid you from seeing him!"

"No! You can't tell me who I will and who I won't date. Nobody stopped you from dating..."

"That's different!" He fired back at here. "I was older."

"Not much older than I am, Luis. Please, be happy for me." Theresa sat down on her bed beside her brother and began to cry.

"Come on," he said softly. "Stop that."

"Luis, it's no secret that Ethan hurt me. He's the reason that I left Harmony. He hurt me bad, Luis. I thought that he loved me."

"Like..."

"Yes, just like Matt. Luis, I'm wiser now. I know that what Fox and I have is real. More real than any kind of love I've ever experienced."

"I want to meet this Fox before things get more serious between you too."

"You will," she smiled. "He's coming over here tomorrow."

"Okay, well get some rest."

"I will."

"Night, Theresa."

"Night."

Once Luis had left, Theresa grabbed her coat and slipped out of her window. She had to speak with Fox. Something was bothering her and she knew that she would not be able to sleep until she found out what was going on. Theresa wasn't sure if she should ring the bell since it was so late. Instead she climbed up to Fox's window and tapped on it as lightly as she could. Fox wasn't sleeping when he heard a light tap on his window.

"What the hell?" He said to himself as he got up to see what it was. "Theresa?" He was confused as he saw he standing outside his window.

Fox opened his window and helped her inside.

"What are you doing here?" He asked her.

"I had to see you. I hope your not mad at me." She said lowering her eyes.

"No, I'm not. I can't ever be mad at you," he kissed her forehead. "What did you need to see me for?"

"Well, Fox, I noticed that there was some tension between you and your family tonight. And I remember that you said that you guys don't get along. I need to know why, Fox. I know it sounds stupid, but I need to know."

"Theresa," he began slowly, "I'm not sure I want you to know. I'm not so sure that you'll understand."

Theresa placed her hand in his and smiled, "Make me understand, Fox. I can tell that this is troubling you. Please, share it with me."

"Well, I'll try. I told you when we first met that Madison's mother, Lisa, was murdered."

Theresa nodded her head.

"Well it's because of Lisa's murder that I hate my family so much. See about two months before Madison was born I was preparing to come to work at Crane Industries. My father, grandfather, and Ethan were all against me and Lisa being married. They hated that we were having a child together too. They all tried everything to get us to divorce, but nothing worked. Our love was too strong for any kind of crap like that. A few weeks before Lisa went into labor she began to get these letters in the mail. They said crazy things and made threats that they were going to kill her. I assumed that it was my father and all of them just trying to put a scare into us. I made a complaint with the police department and they didn't do much to prevent it from continuing. There were more letters coming each day and every letter was more violent. Lisa and I packed up and left. I told my family that they had gone too far this time and that I would never return. Lisa and I went to North Carolina, thinking that we would be safe. But we were wrong. Lisa gave birth to Madison shortly afterwards. Although we moved the threats continued and once Madison was born, the threats were against her too. We had no idea what to do. Lisa was so afraid that my family would do something to her or Madison. She begged me to speak with my family and because I could see that she was a wreck from this all I went back to Harmony leaving her and Madison in North Carolina. I had Ethan meet me in a a hotel, just the two of us. I pleaded with him to have father and grandfather stop all of this. Ethan told me that they weren't doing it. He was really surprised that this was happening. He said that they tried to break us up, but that they never sent any death threats. Ethan didn't even know that Lisa gave birth. I then asked him for help, to try and protect us from whoever was doing this, but Ethan refused. He turned his back on me, his own brother."

"Why?"

"Because he had his own plans."

"What?" Theresa was now more confused than ever. "What kind of plans?"

"Theresa, he was apart of this, but he didn't murder her. He drugged her and raped her as Madison cried out for her mother."

"Oh my God! Where were...?"

"Where was I? I was back here in Harmony. I was trying to get my father and grandfather to help me, but of course they couldn't because they didn't want anyone to have anything against them. Once again they were too worried about themselves."

"Fox, I'm so sorry."

"It's okay, Theresa."

"Did they ever find who killed Lisa?"

"Yeah, they did. He was a former employee of Crane Industries. I fired him and he wanted to get back at me."

Theresa gasped, "I'm sorry."

"Now do you see why I hate them so much?"

"I do, Fox." Theresa paused and thought for a minute.

"Theresa, what's wrong?"

"Fox, do you think they would ever do that to me?"

"I wouldn't put it pass them. But don't worry, if they try anything I'll be there to rescue you. I'll never leave you."

Theresa hugged Fox and got up to leave.

"Where are you going?"

"I should get home. No one knows I snuck out."

"Why don't you spend the night here?" He said taking her hand and leading her toward the bed.

"Fox, I don't think we're ready to," she said a little uneasy.

"Theresa, we don't have to sleep together. I didn't mean it like that."

"Oh," she said feeling ashamed.

"Come on, let's go to bed."

Theresa snuggld up against Fox and fell asleep.

Theresa woke up the next morning with a smile on her face. The sun was shinning bright as she opened her eyes and felt Fox's arms around her.

"Good morning, Mr. Crane," she smiled.

"Good morning, future Mrs. Crane."

Theresa giggled, but stopped once she saw the clock.

"It's almost noon!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, it is."

"Mama and Luis are gonna kill me! They don't know that I was here!"

"Well, give them a call and tell them that you spent the night with Gwen over here. I'll ask Gwen to cover for you."

"Okay, I just hope Luis won't come over here screaming and yelling at me."

"I'm sure your mother will understand."

"I hope so."

As Theresa called home Fox put on his robe and went to talk to Gwen. Fox returned in a few minutes.

"What did your mother say?" He asked her.

"She said that it was okay. She just said that I should've called to let her know. What did Gwen say?"

"She's gonna cover for you."

"Good."

"Are you hungry?"

"A little."

"Let's go downstairs and grab a bite to eat."

Fox walked with Theresa downstairs. Everyone was rather surprised to see Theresa there.

"I thought you went home last night, Theresa?" Ivy asked.

"She was spending the night with me," Gwen said suddenly as she smiled at Theresa.

"Oh, I see. Did you girls have fun?"

"Yes," Theresa said as she took a seat next to Fox.

Ethan knew that Gwen was with him all last night, so he wondered why she covered for Theresa.

"Gwen, honey, can I speak with you in private?" He asked.

"Yes, dear."

Theresa felt uneasy. She knew that Ethan would question Gwen about why she covered for her. Gwen didn't come back to finish her breakfast, but Ethan did. When he returned he didn't take his eyes off of Theresa. Theresa quickly finished her food and kissed Fox goodbye. She told Fox that she would see herself out. As she walked towards the door, Ethan stopped her.

"Theresa, wait!"

Theresa turned around feeling very uncomfortable. Ethan wasn't the same person she thought he was.

"What do you want?"

"Theresa, you have to stay away from Fox."

"Oh really? From what I understand, I should stay the hell away from you."

"Theresa, whatever Fox said, it's a lie. He's just lying. You have to believe me. Trust that I wouldn't be that evil of a man."

Theresa wanted to believe that what Fox said was untrue, but she loved Fox too much and knew he wouldn't lie.

"Ethan, stay away from me. I mean it."

"Theresa, he's lying to you about everything! He's keeping important secrets from you!" He shouted to her as she ran from the mansion.

[i]Is Fox lying?[/i]

Spoilers*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Theresa keeps a close eye on Fox as her suspicion grows!

Theresa asks Madison to help her out!

Ethan tries to change Theresa's mind!

Much feedback is appreciated!!!

~Mandi~