Nancy Wesley curiously watched her daughter flutter around the living room in an almost comical manner. Searching for her earrings, Chloe quietly muttered to herself as she scanned every nook and cranny.

"Chloe, sweetheart, you never did tell me where exactly you're going."

"I know," curtly responded Chloe as she finally discovered her earrings on the stand beside the couch.

Releasing a sigh, Nancy wondered if she should even bother asking Chloe any more questions. From the moment Chloe had moved into the house, she had refused to truly see Nancy as an authority figure. Instead, she tended to treat her mother as though she were some sort of required nuisance.

Still, Nancy found Chloe's behavior quite peculiar. Her normally cool, calm, and collected daughter was running around the house in a state of near frenzy. Chloe's obvious agitation only succeeded in making Nancy more curious.

When the sound of the doorbell echoed throughout the house, Chloe quite nearly jumped out of her own skin. Flashing her mother a nervous smile, she quickly exclaimed, "I'll get it!"

Craig, who happened to be passing through the living room, calmly responded, "No, I think I will."

Dashing across the room, Chloe attempted to casually block Craig's path to the front door. Offering her stepfather a terribly fake smile, she replied, "No, let me answer the door. After all, it's the least I can do after you and Nancy worried so much about me after that incident in the parking lot."

"No, really, let me get the door," insisted Craig with a smirk. "That is, unless you don't want me to know who's ringing the doorbell."

As Chloe dashed up the stairs, Craig crossed the foyer and flung open the front door in his most dramatic manner. He found himself quite surprised to see just who was standing outside. Appraising the young man and the casual suit that he was wearing, Craig said, "Jason, it's good to see you again. I take it you're here to see Chloe?"

"Yes, sir," responded Jason in an attempt to make some use of the manners his mother had insisted upon teaching him in his formative years.

As Jason was entering the house, Nancy appeared in the foyer and hissed, "What is he doing here?"

Forever the calmer half of the couple, Craig replied, "Jason is here to see Chloe - who's life he just happened to have saved."

Though she was still far from being happy to have Jason Masters as a guest in her home, Nancy attempted to place a smile on her face to appease Craig. Jason was the only young man that Nancy believed to be worse than either Brady Black or Philip Kiriakis. And, she certainly didn't like the idea of him being near Chloe - even if he had saved her life.

While Nancy both smiled and glared at Jason, Craig attempted to make sense of his arrival. After all, the last time Craig had seen Jason, he had been storming down the front stairs and out the front door. And, following that incident, Chloe's mood had been more sour than usual.

Saving Craig from further contemplation, Nancy from her own dislike, and Jason from complete anxiety, Chloe appeared in the foyer. Almost instantly, Jason's eyes drifted down from Chloe's beautiful face to her shapely legs that were revealed by the lovely dress she was wearing.

Rather awkwardly, Jason stated, "You, um . . . you look nice."

"I could say the same for you," returned Chloe.

"Any special reason the two of you are so dressed up?" Nancy asked as her inquisitive nature once again took control.

"If you must know," answered Chloe. "We're going to a birthday party." Holding up a small gift bag that she had been retrieving when Jason arrived, Chloe continued, "Hence the birthday gift."

Surprise eked on his face, Jason turned his full attention to Chloe as he said, "You didn't have to get Kaitlyn a gift. I was just going to tell her that the clothes were from the both of us."

"Yeah, I know. But, I saw a watch that would go perfectly with the outfit we picked out so I decided to go ahead and get it for her. I just thought that it would be rude for me to go to her party without at least bringing her a gift."

"Well, I'm sure she'll love the watch."

For a moment, there was a tense silence that all present were afraid to break. Jason and Chloe avoided one another's gaze while Craig and Nancy stared at them critically.

Breaking the odd silence, Jason clapped his hands together and announced, "I guess we should be going."

Chloe was more than eager to leave and offered no protests. While retrieving her light spring jacket from its place near the front door, she informed her mother, "Don't bother waiting up, Nancy. I have no idea what time I'll be getting home."

Having allowed Chloe what he considered her maximum limit of daily barbs, Craig retorted with a smile, "Oh, I do." Focusing his powerful gaze on Jason, Craig commanded, "Have her home by eleven."

"No problem," replied Jason as he followed Chloe out the front door.

Once the couple was a safe distance from the house, Jason commented, "You treat your mother like she's something you scraped of the bottom of your shoe."

Opening the passenger door of Jason's car, Chloe replied, "Maybe that's what she deserves."

"Or, maybe, you just like to make your own mother feel like trash," responded Jason as he followed Chloe's lead and got into the driver's seat of his car.

Glaring at Jason quite unhappily, Chloe said, "You don't know anything about my relationship with my mother."

"Maybe not. But, I do know that it's pretty screwed up that I'm always called the cruel one when you treat your own mother like that. I gotta tell you, Ghoul Girl, there is no way that I would talk to my mom like that."

Shaking her head, Chloe questioned, "Are you trying to make me angry?"

"Nah, I'm just being honest."

"That's a first," Chloe huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest and stared out the window.

"Look, if you're going to act all bitchy, I'll just go to the party by myself. I don't really need you there anyway."

Nearly in slow motion, Chloe turned her head so that she was facing Jason. Her arms still crossed defensively over her chest, Chloe asked, "Did you just call me a bitch?"

"No, I just said that you acted that way . . . but, hey, if the shoe fits. . . ."

For once, Chloe chose to steer the conversation away from yet another argument by merely saying, "Just shut-up and start the car. I really don't want to spend the entire evening just sitting here in the driveway."

Almost in a state of awe, Chloe weakly stammered, "I thought you were exaggerating."

Having no response to give, Jason silently surveyed the extravagant decorations that adorned the garden of his father's home. He had known from previous years to expect his stepsister's birthday party to be transformed into some social gala.

Giving no real thought to the action, Jason placed his right hand on the small of Chloe's back and said, "Come on, let's head inside. The sooner I introduce you to Bradley, the sooner we can leave."

"That's the spirit," quipped Chloe with a slight smile. "We wouldn't want you to have to spend any more time with your family than necessary."

Humor failed to be apparent on Jason's face as he glared at Chloe and hissed, "Bradley is not family. He's just some jerk whose mother married my dad. Okay?"

"Yeah, I get it," muttered Chloe as the small smile completely disappeared from her face. She was beginning to realize that she wasn't the only one who had to deal with family problems.

Jason and Chloe's journey to the inside of the elegant home was halted by a masculine figure blocking the door. Smirking almost wildly, Devon remarked, "Look at the two of you. Don't you just look so cute together?"

"Shut-up," growled Jason and Chloe at the same time.

Before his brother or Chloe could say anything else, Devon smugly commented, "And, you're even thinking the same way. If that's not love, I don't know what is."

"Shut-up!" Jason and Chloe screamed once more in unison.

Raising his hands as a sign of acknowledged defeat, Devon said, "Okay, I get the hint. I'll drop it - for now." While Jason and Chloe tossed him exasperated stares, Devon continued, "So, have the two of you already worked out your game plan? Because, I gotta tell you, I'm more than a little curious to see the two of you try to one-up Bradley and his latest Barbie doll."

Rather sheepishly, Jason admitted, "Well, we haven't really talked about it. I was thinking that we could just sorta go in the house, say hello, then leave."

Devon shook his head with mock disapproval as he said to Chloe, "You know, I used to think that my baby brother was a true schemer and capable of pulling off the most intense of plots. Unfortunately, this little episode has proven that I was terribly wrong. He can't even show off his pretend girlfriend correctly."

A dirty glare was immediately sent Devon's way courtesy of Jason. His mood worsening with every passing moment, Jason grumbled, "All right, Chloe, let's get our game plan straight."

Feeling that he had successfully corrected what he saw as his brother's mistakes, Devon proclaimed, "Well, I'd love to stay and hear all the details, but I've got to go talk to Uncle Steve about a job at his office. Have fun you two." After walking several feet away, Devon turned and added with a wink, "And, don't do anything I wouldn't do."

Ignoring his brother's comment, Jason said, "So, I guess we should decide how we want to play this out."

"I guess," mumbled Chloe, her mind elsewhere. It seemed that she and Jason Masters were either at each other's throat or . . . well, Chloe wasn't sure what exactly was going on between them if they weren't fighting. It seemed as if she and Jason would be enemies one minute and nearly friends the next.

"Okay, then I say we just walk in holding hands and give Kaitlyn her gift. Then, we conveniently bump into Bradley and his flavor of the week. I show you off, and then we leave."

"Fine," Chloe muttered. "Let's just hurry up and get this over with. After all, spending time at a party with you isn't exactly what I think of as an enjoyable evening." Even as the words were leaving her mouth, Chloe could not help but wonder if they were true or if she just wanted to believe that they were true.

Merely rolling his eyes as Chloe's typical defensive behavior, Jason used his free hand to clasp Chloe's. Pasting a smile onto his face, he led the beauty through the doors and into the house.

Again, Chloe was somewhat mesmerized by the beauty and extravagance that greeted her. The outside area was nothing compared to the lavish decorations that were inside the massive home. Distracted by the decor, Chloe simply placed a smile on her face and allowed Jason to lead her across the room.

When her companion came to a stop, Chloe tore her eyes away from the many decorations and looked straight ahead at the young lady who was standing before her. Instantly, Chloe knew that the rather delicate looking girl was Jason's stepsister. Of course, Chloe would quickly realize that Kaitlyn was far from being as delicate as she appeared.

Still holding Chloe's hand, Jason said, "Kaitlyn, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Chloe Lane. Chloe, this is Kaitlyn."

Offering the younger girl a rather sheepish smile, Chloe said, "It's nice to meet you, Kaitlyn."

"Yeah, it's nice to meet you, too," responded Kaitlyn as she appraised her stepbrother's supposed girlfriend.

Even Jason was perceptive enough to realize that Chloe was becoming increasingly uncomfortable by Kaitlyn's unwavering stare. Loudly clearing his throat, Jason handed Kaitlyn the large gift bag he had been carrying and said, "Here you go, happy birthday."

A very light smile graced Kaitlyn's lips as she removed the lovely ensemble from the bag. As she held it up, Jason said with rare sincerity, "I hope you like it. Of course, if you do, Chloe's the one you should thank since she did pick it out. If it wasn't for her, I'd have just bought you hunting gear."

"And, this is from me," said Chloe as she offered Kaitlyn a drastically smaller gift bag that contained the watch she had chosen.

After returning the clothing to the bag and gently placing it on the floor, Kaitlyn accepted the gift bag Chloe was offering her. After she removed the box from its silver bag, Kaitlyn opened it up to find a timepiece that she instantly adored. Though the rather simple watch was much less expensive than one her mother would have chosen, Kaitlyn felt that it was far more beautiful and trendy.

With a gracious smile, Kaitlyn said, "Thank you. I really do love it."

"I'm glad," replied Chloe with a genuine smile.

An almost naughty gleam flashing in her brown eyes, Kaitlyn questioned, "So, you're Jason's girlfriend, huh?"

"Uh, yeah, that's me - Jason Masters' girlfriend."

"Well, I must say that the two of you do make a very attractive couple. But, really, I just have to ask . . . how did you guys meet?"

"How did we meet?" Jason repeated almost nervously.

Before Jason could stammer any type of response, Chloe confidently answered, "Actually, we attend school together and have several mutual friends."

"Oh, it's nice that you two know the same people." Looking past Jason and Chloe, Kaitlyn continued, "Well, look, there's my brother. Don't the two of you want to go over and say hello?"

Keeping his and Chloe's hands held tightly together, Jason turned just slightly to get a clear look at Bradley. As Kaitlyn conveniently disappeared to go mingle with her friends, Jason whispered to Chloe, "Let the games begin."