Time is often a mystery - even to the most mysterious of people. And, for Chloe Lane, time was an uncertain thing that was surely passing too quickly. Glancing at her reflection in the mirror, Chloe wondered how, in less than six months, she had gone from being the girlfriend of Philip Kiriakis to planning a marriage with his nephew.

For Chloe, the only thing more baffling than time was love. It seemed that the fall was ironically the time for love to blossom. While most aspects of nature were fading into winter, love broke all the rules and added a lovely touch of color to a bleak world. As the cool autumn breezes began to blow, Chloe's dearest and truest friends were all discovering a beautiful garden of emotions.

Jason and Mimi were somehow blind to the garden they were standing in. Instead of using the short time granted to them by life to enjoy the fragrance of true love, Jason and Mimi were merely using their time to pluck the petals from the flowers and attack each other with the thorns.

As for Shawn and Belle, Chloe had watched over the past few months as they were forced to fight harder to conceal and control their feelings for each other. It was painfully obvious that the two were in love - even Zach knew it. Of course, that only caused him to enjoy flirting with Belle even more. He seemed to get some kind of joy out of watching Shawn suffer from a serious case of jealousy.

However, whether he knew it or not, Zach, himself, was becoming the object of someone's affection. At first, Chloe had convinced herself that she was just reading into things, but time had proven her wrong.

It seemed that whenever Jason would meet up with Zach, his younger sister Erin was never far away. The shy, almost nerdy girl had quickly developed a crush for Zach. And, being what Chloe would consider a typical male, Zach didn't have a clue that he was crushing the girl's heart daily by his flirtation with Belle. Of course, it would be Zach's face that was getting crushed if Jason ever found out his best friend was the guy his baby sister daydreamed about.

Taking a deep breath, Chloe enjoyed the soft floral scent that confronted her. It seemed that, much like her friends, Chloe had found herself in a garden - but hers wasn't only metaphorical.

Brady had continued to send a bouquet of flowers to Chloe each and every morning. And, Chloe's house mates were becoming increasingly curious. In fact, Chloe was half afraid that either Zach or Nancy would burst if her secret admirer was not soon revealed.

And, considering the calendar showed that it was October 20, Chloe knew that Zach and Nancy wouldn't have to wait long to learn of Chloe's supposed relationship with Brady.

A quiet rapping on her bedroom door drew Chloe from her thoughts of how to deal with Brady, marriage, and her senior year of high school.

"Come in."

"Hey," softly greeted Brady as he slowly entered Chloe's bedroom, closing the door behind himself. "I saw Craig and Nancy leaving, so I thought that I would let myself in."

"So I see. May I ask just why you decided to do that?"

"Is it a crime for a young man to want to see his fiancée?"

"No," retorted Chloe. "But, in our case, it is a little suspicious."

Placing his hands over his heart, Brady responded, "Ah, you wound me, my love."

Chloe gave a soft laugh and questioned, "Seriously, Brady, what are you doing here?"

"I just came over to hang out and discuss the final details of our so- called marriage. For instance, where do you want to honeymoon?"

"Honeymoon?"

"Yeah, I was thinking Bermuda or even Paris."

Giving Brady a skeptical look, Chloe responded, "You're joking, right?"

"About Paris?"

"About taking a honeymoon. That's ridiculous."

"Why is that ridiculous?"

Throwing her hands into the air, Chloe responded, "Because we are only getting married so you can have access to your money and I can finally get away from my mother."

With steps softer than the clouds above the city, Brady approached Chloe. The careless smile had disappeared from his face and a terribly solemn expression had taken control of his handsome features.

When less than a foot separated him from Chloe, Brady reached his arms out and placed his firm hands upon her waist. Staring intently into Chloe's beautiful eyes, Brady slowly pulled her to him, thankful that she offered absolutely no resistance.

His voice low, Brady said, "Forget the money, there's something I have to tell you."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The three young men sat close to the television, intently staring at the video game the darkest haired male was playing. In a way, it seemed almost frightfully similar to many instances in their youth. Though Shawn's Sony Playstation was a great deal more advanced than the Nintendo the boys had played at Jason's house, the same camaraderie was still present among the young men.

"It's been forever since I've actually played this game," commented Philip as he watched Shawn skillfully maneuver the electronic ATV.

"Same here," stated Jason. "In fact, the last time I played this was at Mimi's birthday party."

Attempting to keep a straight face, Shawn casually commented, "Speaking of Mimi, you two sure have been spending a lot of time together lately."

Jason's eyes narrowed just slightly as he sensed the pending conversation. "What's your point?"

"No point," Shawn answered. "I was just making an observation."

A few minutes of taut silence passed as both Shawn and Philip attempted to keep bemused smirks off their faces. Finally, Philip just wasn't able to keep himself from asking, "So, Jason, are you ever going to admit that you have a thing for Mimi."

Keeping his gaze focused on the television screen, Jason imperturbably answered, "No, because I don't have a thing for her. If you want to bother someone about denying his feelings, ask Shawn why he hasn't asked Belle out yet."

"You know what? I'm working on it, okay? In fact, I'm going to be asking Belle to the homecoming dance the next time I see her."

"But, the dance isn't for another month," observed Philip.

"Exactly. I want Belle to know that I'm interested in something more than a few dates on the weekend. I want a lasting a relationship with her, and I'm ready to admit it. - unlike Jason."

"Why do you guys always turn things around like that? How does your wacked- out relationship with Belle concern me at all?"

"Well, I denied my feelings for Belle just like you're denying your feelings for Mimi."

Throwing his head back in frustration, Jason loudly declared, "But, I don't have feelings for Mimi!"

"Sure, you don't," responded Shawn sarcastically as he turned off the television. "I'm going to run downstairs and call my grandparents to see when I should pick up my brother. I'll be right back."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

"What is it, Brady? What do you have to tell me?"

It was almost as if a battle were taking place inside Brady. A very large part of him was dangerously close to admitting his possible feelings to Chloe. However, there was a smaller, yet somehow stronger, part of Brady that took control and kept him from putting himself on the line in such a way.

Still, there were some feelings that couldn't be stopped from showing.

"Chloe, you and I have become really close over the past few months. We have this amazing connection that I honestly don't want to lose. I know that you hate it when I criticize your singing or your emotions, but I really hope you see that I'm not doing it to hurt you."

Her voice unusually soft, Chloe answered, "I know that, Brady. Somewhere along the way, we've become really good friends." However, as Chloe's mind flashed back to a very intense kiss she had shared with Brady at Jason's house, she wondered if friends was the appropriate word.

"I just want you to know that no matter what, I'm going to be here for you. I know that things have been a lot harder with Nancy than you like for people to know, and if you ever need me, I'm here. I'm going to protect, Chloe. I promise."

Chloe found herself deeply touched by not only the words Brady spoke, but the emotion she knew was not far from surfacing. In an attempt to lighten the mood, Chloe remarked, "I wonder what the rest of the world would say if they saw this softer side of Brady Black."

"How about we keep me being a nice guy just between the two of us?"

Smiling, Chloe answered, "It's a deal." Changing the subject, she questioned, "Were you really serious about taking a honeymoon?"

"Well, yeah," answered Brady as he watched Chloe move to her bed and carefully lay down on the left side of the bed. "But, it'll probably have to be some place close. I was thinking that we could have the wedding on a Friday night. Then, we could go away for the weekend and be back in time for us to both attend classes on Monday."

As Brady joined her on the bed, Chloe commented, "This whole thing is definitely going to send Nancy into the biggest fit of her life. I think I'm almost going to enjoy seeing her freak out when I tell her I'm getting married at seventeen. I just hope that we don't have to use 'Plan B'."

"Me, neither," responded Brady. "But, I'll do whatever it takes to get us to the alter."

For a moment a comfortable silence conquered the room. However, the peacefulness was broken by the rare sound of Chloe giggling.

Giving Chloe a quizzical glance, Brady asked, "What's so funny?"

Fighting through the giggles, Chloe answered, "I don't think you want to know."

"Just tell me."

"I just remembered why exactly it was that I didn't lay on the side of the bed where you are."

Confusion clearly written on his face, Brady asked, "Why is that?"

"Because, that's where, before you got here, Sugar proved that she wasn't as housebroken as we thought."

Jumping from the bed, Brady began to try and feel the back of his shirt to see if it was wet while yelling to his laughing companion, "Chloe! Couldn't you have told me that before I laid down?"

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Philip was still on the bed rolling with laughter when Shawn came back to his bedroom. Feeling just slightly annoyed that he had obviously missed out on something, Shawn questioned, "All right, what's so funny?"

Shooting Philip a glare that he hoped would silence him, Jason gruffly answered, "Nothing, nothing at all. Since when has Philip needed a reason to giggle like a girl?"

Getting off the bed to approach Shawn, Philip fought through his laughter to say, "First of all, I do not giggle. And, second . . ."

"Shut-up, Phil," warned Jason.

Completely ignoring his pal, Philip declared, "Jason finally admitted that he has the hots for Meems!" His declaration made, Philip fell back down on the bed, the look on Jason's face only succeeding in making him laugh harder.

Shawn backed against his bedroom door and promptly slid to the floor as he caught Philip's contagious laughter.

"Oh, you guys are a riot," grumbled Jason as he sat down in the chair at Shawn's desk and dropped his head down on the hard surface. Just when Jason thought the worst was over, the singing began, "Jason and Mimi, sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g . . ."

"Shawn, don't make me beat you up in your own home," growled Jason without lifting his head. Upon hearing Philip let loose with another round of cackles, Jason stated, "Phil, I don't know when you turned into a hyena, but you'd better cut it out with the laughing. Got it?"

"Loud and clear," Shawn answered for Philip who was laughing too hard to answer.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Taking a deep breath, Jeremy made his confession, "Belle, I think I may be falling for Mimi."

"Oh, my gosh! This is so great," squealed Belle, as she effectively got the attention of half of Dotcom's customers. Lowering her voice, Belle continued, "Mimi is such a wonderful person and now she finally has someone to love her!"

"Whoa, Belle, slow down. It's not that serious - yet."

"Yet?" excitedly questioned Belle. "So, it will be in time? Oh. I can hear it now, Jeremy and Mimi sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g . . ."

"Belle," interrupted Jeremy with a smile. "Let's take this one step at a time. Understand?"

"Loud and clear."