"What the hell is up with that?"

Philip and Shawn immediately stopped tossing the football back and forth as they followed Jason's intense gaze. The two young men could do little more than smirk gleefully when they saw just who had captured their pal's attention.

Struggling to act unamused by the situation, Philip asked with false innocence, "What's up with what, Jase?"

Waving his hand almost wildly at the couple sitting at a table at the Java Cafe, Jason responded, "That! What is up with that?"

Shawn gave a terribly fake imitation of surprise as he replied, "Oh, what do you know, Phil. There's Mimi. And, it looks like she's sitting with some guy." Winking mischievously at Philip, Shawn added, "No, wait. That's not some guy. That's Jeremy."

"How sweet," said Philip as he continued to try and gage Jason's reaction. "Don't they make a cute couple?"

His eyes widening like a pair of green saucers, Jason demanded, "Cute couple? They are not a cute couple. They're not a couple - period."

"How would you know?" Shawn questioned, hoping to get his friend to finally admit his growing feelings for Mimi. "I mean, I know that when Mimi showed up at school dressed all sexy a few weeks ago, you two seemed pretty chummy. But, I haven't seen her say more than two words to you since then."

Jason attempted to find a logical retort, but only images of Jeremy and Mimi laughing together would enter his mind. After repeatedly opening his mouth and saying nothing, Jason asked, "Isn't he your cousin or something?"

When Shawn hesitantly nodded, Jason began to push him in the direction of the Java Cafe, saying, "You should go say hi - Phil and I will come with you."

As Jason gave him a final shove in the direction of the table, Shawn gave a weak smile and greeted, "Jeremy, hey, cuz."

Philip offered a simple nod and said, "Hi, Jeremy. Good to see you again."

As Jason blatantly stared at Mimi, Shawn gave a cough obviously meant to prompt him to greet Jeremy. Sparing the older blonde only a momentary glance, Jason muttered, "Horton."

Turning his full attention back to Mimi, Jason leaned close to her and huskily asked, "How are today, Meems?"

Leaning back away from Jason's sexy green eyes, Mimi stuttered, "I-I'm fine. You?"

"Oh," breathed Jason. "I'm feeling quite studly today - if you know what I mean."

While Jeremy watched the unfolding scene with a mixture of innate curiosity and discomfort, Philip and Shawn struggled to not break into wild fits of laughter. Neither could ever remember seeing Mimi look so completely flabbergasted by a few words.

Keeping his body in close proximity with Mimi's, Jason mischievously continued, "Of course, after playing football all afternoon, I'm feeling pretty hot." Moving so that only a gap of mere inches separated his lips from Mimi's Jason whispered, "I guess I should go home and get in the shower."

"Uh-huh," Mimi mumbled almost incoherently as she felt her eyes lock with Jason's in what had to be the most powerful stare she'd known in all her seventeen years. "Shower . . . yeah, um . . . that sounds . . . good. Yeah."

A wide grin overtook Jason's face as he listened to Mimi's dazed ramblings. By spending so much of her recent time with Jeremy, Mimi may have won the battle. But, Jason knew that he would be the one to win the war - even if he wasn't ready to admit that he was fighting for Mimi's love.

Refusing to move away from the young woman who was quickly becoming both his affection and obsession, Jason asked, "Does that mean you want to come join me? There's plenty of room if you do?"

Before Mimi could stutter an indignant reply, Shawn grabbed Jason by the shoulders and pulled him back. Lowly, he said, "Down, boy."

Hoping to change the conversation and direct the attention away from herself, Mimi focused her gaze on Philip and said, "So, Belle mentioned that she was trying to convince you to go on a blind date with one of the girls she met over the summer at cheerleading camp. You should do it."

"I don't know . . ."

"Come on, Phil," encouraged Shawn. "It's been more than a month since you and Chloe broke up. You should try dating again."

Avoiding eye contact with any of his friends, Philip nervously stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jeans and answered, "Chloe and I both need a lot of time to deal with our break-up. Neither of us is wanting to rush into anything else."

"That's what you think," muttered Jason, visions of Brady and Chloe's rendezvous on his bed filling his mind. Only after he felt a total of four pairs of eyes glaring at him curiously did Jason realize that he had actually voiced his thoughts.

Shawn, taking a page from his father's book of police work, questioned suspiciously, "What's that suppose to mean, Jase?"

"Nothing," quickly replied Jason. "It didn't mean anything. It's just that I think Philip is ready to move on. That's all." In his own attempt to deflect any and all attention away from himself, Jason hurriedly looked his Jeremy and Mimi's direction and asked, "So, uh, what have you two crazy kids been up to?"

"Oh, not too much," answered Jeremy. "We were just finalizing our plans for tonight."

"Plan? For tonight?" Jason rhetorically questioned, his eyes widening once more.

Mimi dramatically tossed her hair away from her face as she cattily responded, "Yep, that's what he said, now isn't? Funny, Jase, haven't seen anyone wanting to spend time with you since Jan dumped you."

Feigning the sound of a hissing cat, Philip jokingly stated, "Retract those claws, Meems. If you scratch Jason's eyes out now, he won't be able to see the football at the game next weekend."

Having been almost entirely oblivious to the fact that the conversation had slightly progressed past his question, Jason asked, "What kind of plans?"

Mimi hurriedly responded before Jeremy even had the chance. "The kind of plans that aren't any of your business."

"What's up with all the hostility, Meems?" Jason demanded.

"What's up with all the questions, Jase?"

"What's up with you avoiding me?"

"What's up with you enjoying my misery?"

"What's up with . . ."

Interrupting before Jason could finish his redundant question, Shawn loudly said, "Would the two of you stop? Please? I swear, for the past couple of months, the two of you have been acting even stranger the usual."

"Shawn's right," added Philip. "Just what exactly is going on between you guys?"

"Nothing!" Jason and Mimi simultaneously denied, giving one another dirty looks for good measure.

Jeremy, feeling more than a little uncomfortable, stood and politely stated, "Look, I should probably be going. I'll just let you guys work out whatever it is that's going on." Turning to look solely at Mimi, Jeremy promised, "I'll call you later and we can decide when I'll pick you up for the movie."

With that simple vow, Jeremy made a quick departure from the group, leaving Jason to feel quite smug about being able to defend the territory he had yet to claim as his girl.

However, that smugness was quickly erased when Jason felt Mimi use her purse to violently hit him in the chest. Knowing that she had his full attention, Mimi ordered, "Whatever game you're playing, Jase, just stop. Okay?"

As the well-built football player was reducing to a cowering ball evading the attack of Mimi's force, the angered young woman continued her rant, "I have no idea what is going on with you, Jason, and I'm not even sure I want to know. Maybe you just enjoy embarrassing me and ruining any chance of me ever having a guy like me? Whatever your motives, I don't care. I just want to you to leave me alone!"

While Mimi stormed away, Jason unhappily threw his body into the seat that had previously held Mimi. His eyes having lost the light that filled them simply from being near Mimi, Jason looked at Shawn and Philip and with newfound determination, stated, "Somebody call Zach - we all have a movie to go see tonight."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The overpowering fragrance of the immense amount of flowers filled Chloe's bedroom. The vases, no two containing the same type of lovely flower, had practically overtaken the room.

Chloe's recently purchased vanity had all but disappeared as various arrangements took up any empty space it had to offer. From the deep shade of seduction offered by the blue irises to the enchanting tulips of an almost innocent yellow color, it seemed nearly impossible to escape the floral objects and their romantic feeling.

Her fingers softly massaging the delicate petals of an amazingly red rose, Chloe wondered just how she got herself into such crazy positions. She felt certain that if she thought about it long enough, she could find some way to blame her current predicament on at least one of Shawn's insane plans. After all, it often seemed as if the entire gang's troubles began with Shawn having a "great idea."

Turning away from her dresser and the many flowers placed there, Chloe bore her intense blue eyes into the man relaxing on her bed. Approaching him, Chloe muttered, "This is insane."

Brady threw the newspaper he had been reading to the floor and countered, "No, darling, this is the greatest plan either of us have ever known."

Chloe rolled her eyes and retorted, "You are so full of yourself."

"Yeah, but you love me anyway," slyly commented Brady, hoping to see how Chloe would respond to his light banter.

Taking the pillow that rested near Brady, Chloe used it to playfully hit his firm chest. Flopping down on the bed a safe distance from him, Chloe asked herself, "How did I get myself into this mess?"

(**flashback**)

"Marry me."

"Ha, very funny, Brady," responded Chloe, her eyes expressing the complete shock her words did not.

His eyes still remaining locked on the video game he was playing, Brady calmly responded, "I happen to take marriage very seriously and don't think it's funny at all."

"Marriage, no. Me marrying you, yes. That is funny. Now, seriously, what is your real plan?"

Defeating the last enemy spaceship and saving Planet Earth, Brady casually tossed the controller aside and turned his full attention to Chloe. "That is my real plan."

Chloe jumped to her feet and squealed, "What?!?"

Taking hold of Chloe's wrists, Brady pulled her back down to the couch and slowly stated, "That. Is. My. Real. Plan."

"Are you nuts?"

"Chloe, just think about it."

"I don't want to think about it! This is crazy, Brady! Crazy!"

Brady remained as calm as ever as he responded, "No, Chloe, it's not. Crazy is allowing yourself to live in a place that makes you miserable. Insane is allowing controlling relatives to make decisions that only you should be making. Just hear me out."

Taking a deep breath, Chloe blinked her eyes closed for a calming moment and said, 'Okay, but I'm telling you right now that I will never marry you."

Though he had been planning the conversation and explanations for quite some time, Brady suddenly found himself at a loss for words. In his heart, he knew just how important it was for him to have Chloe agree to his plan. Having her agreement would mean having her at his side.

"It all started when I went to the mansion to see my grandfather. After I got there, I discovered that he was out of town on business. So, I decided to just leave him a note."

Her usual impatience winning over her desire to remain calm, Chloe demanded, "How does any of that relate to you proposing?"

For reasons that entirely baffled him, Brady found himself almost enticed by Chloe's impatience - and everything else about her. "Just let me finish."

"Fine."

"Okay, anyway, I was searching for something to write on when I discovered a file with my name on it. Now, here's the important part. It turns out that my mother left me a trust fund that my grandfather has never told me about. A very large trust fund."

"Why would Victor keep something like that a secret?"

Sighing, Brady answered, "Chloe, you have no idea what my grandfather is capable of. He loves to control people. And, he gets to keep complete control of my trust fund until my twenty-eighth birthday - or . . . ."

"Or?" Chloe prompted.

"Until I get married."

The full magnitude of the situation hitting her, Chloe quietly said, "Oh, my, God. You're really serious about this crazy plan."

"Chloe, just think about what's really at stake here. If you and I get married - in name only, of course - I'll get access to my fund and show Victor that he can't keep controlling people. And, you get to finally escape your mother. Plus, if you agree to go along with this, I will use part of the money to send you to whatever music school your heart desires. We can show them all, Chloe. We can prove to our families that they can't control our minds and hearts."

Muttering her new mantra, Chloe simply replied, "This is insane."

(**end flashback**)

It had taken Brady two solid hours to convince Chloe to seriously consider the idea of marrying him. In the end, Chloe's desire to flee her mother's overbearing presence won out over her many doubts concerning a possible marriage with Brady. Of course, there were a few minor details that had to be ironed out, but for the most part, the plan was coming together quite nicely.

The very day following Brady's weighty proposal, the first flower arrangement had arrived. And, on each day to follow, a different arrangement had arrived. The card was never signed with a name, but merely read, "To My Love With All My Love."

It was all part of Brady's infamous plan. One of the clauses in the document concerning Brady's trust fund stated that his marriage must be one based on love and not desires for money in order for him to receive control of the funds. And, even then, he would only have access to half the money that was rightly his. Only after one year of marriage would the rest of the money truly become his.

So, in order for the rest of the city to believe the romance was true, Brady decided that Chloe should be pretending to have some secret love. And, when the time was right, she would reveal to all that Brady was that love - causing everyone to think that they had been secretly in love for quite some time.

And, for the past month, Brady had been missing from the penthouse on several evenings and always returned appearing to be in a mysteriously cheerful mood. When his family would question his whereabouts and newfound happiness, Brady would simply dodge their requests for information and allow them to assume that he had finally met someone who had stolen his heart. And, just maybe, that part wasn't a charade. Brady was beginning to think that Chloe just might have taken his heart while he wasn't looking. Of course, the beautiful brunette had yet to realize it.

However, the time for the false secrets to be over was nearing - very quickly. Soon, the true charade would begin.