CH 12-New Discoveries
"Hey girls, lets sit here!" Theresa called to Whitney, Gwen and Sheridan.
The four of them had decided to spend the whole day shopping at the mall. It was actually intended to be a treat for Theresa. The girls thought she could use a day of fun after what happened with her and Ethan the night before.
"My feet are killing me!" Whitney complained. "Remind me to buy some flip- flops at the next shoe store we stop in."
"Well I told you not to wear those shoes Whit, but you didn't listen to me." Sheridan chuckled, sitting down next to her.
"I am starving." Gwen announced, looking around the mall at the different food stores. "I could go for a nice juicy hamburger right now."
"Oh yeah, that does sound good." Sheridan agreed.
As the girls decided what to eat, Theresa silently thought about her wonderful boyfriend. She still couldn't believe that she and Fox had made love the night before. It was the most magical night of her life, and now that they were a couple there would be many more like it.
"Theresa?" The sound of Whitney's voice brought her back to reality.
"Yeah?" She looked up at her friend's worried expression.
"You've been really quiet. You're not still worrying about Ethan are you honey?"
"I'm ok." Theresa smiled at her friends.
They had no idea that she wasn't thinking about Ethan at all. In fact it was his half brother that had her mind so occupied.
"Oh Theresa, you don't have to pretend around us." Gwen sincerely looked at her friend. "We know that last night could not have been very easy for you."
"Yeah, I still can't believe how cruel Ethan was." Sheridan added. "Of all the years that I've known him, I have never seen him act so heartless as he was last night. It was as if he was a completely different person."
"You're right," Theresa admitted. "What Ethan said to me really hurt. In fact, it almost killed me. I'm just really glad that Fox was around. He made me feel a lot better."
"You and Fox have been spending a lot of time together." Whitney commented, taking a bite of her hamburger.
"Well, he's been really supportive throughout everything that's happened. He's really sweet and caring. It's almost hard to believe that he's a Crane, no offence Sheridan." Theresa gave her an apologetic smile.
"Oh, none taken. I for one know how cold and selfish my family can be. I mean, look at all the times my own father tried to break up your brother and me?" Sheridan frowned. "But thank goodness the love that Luis and I share is as strong as it is. There is no way that Alistair can break us up now."
"But I always remember Ethan telling me that Fox was just as heartless as Alistair and Julian." Gwen recalled. "Is that true Sheridan?"
"I couldn't really tell you. Even though Fox is my nephew, I really don't know much about him. Julian and Ivy had him sent off to boarding school at such an early age, so I didn't spend as much time with him as I did with Ethan. All I know is that he always felt like the black sheep in comparison to Ethan. And because of that he was always sort of the more bitter brother." Sheridan told them.
"Well he's obviously changed." Theresa abruptly interrupted. "Ever since this whole ordeal with Ethan, Fox has done nothing but try and comfort me, and he's succeeded. I honestly feel that if it weren't for him, I would have crumbled to a million pieces by now."
They all just looked at her, shocked by her defensive reaction.
"We're sorry Theresa, we didn't mean to bad-talk him." Gwen stared at her. "But you're right, Fox has changed. He's definitely one of the few good Cranes."
Whitney smiled in agreement but slowly frowned at something in the far distance.
"That's just disgusting," she mumbled, as the others followed her gaze.
Two tables away, a couple was heavily making out. The girl was practically lying on the table as her boyfriend continued to passionately kiss her in front of everyone in the entire mall.
"That's something that should be done in the privacy of a bedroom." Whitney rolled her eyes.
"Oh c'mon Whit. Are you telling me that you and Chad have never gotten caught up in your passion publicly?" Theresa suspiciously asked her best friend.
"Absolutely not!" Whitney denied, noticing the smirks on her friends' faces.
"I feel a girl-talk coming on!" Sheridan excitedly rubbed her hands together.
The others giggled as Whitney embarrassedly hid her face.
"Ok, fine!" She gave up. "There was this one time when Chad and I made love in his recording studio. We got so caught up in everything, we didn't even notice that I had accidentally pressed the 'on-air' button and we were recording our heated moment the entire time."
"Oh my god!" Gwen laughed. "But that's nothing. One time, Hank and I were crazily making out and one thing led to another. Before I knew it, we had ripped off each other's clothes and made passionate love on the couch in the police office. We were so afraid that Chief Bennett would walk in and catch us, but thank goodness we had the entire office to ourselves that night."
The girls started to laugh uncontrollably, but Sheridan waved her hands in the air.
"That was good, but I'm sure I can beat them all." She smiled. "There was this one night when I decided to sneak Luis into the Crane mansion to have a late-night romantic swim in the pool. We spent the entire time making sweet love until father heard the commotion and came in. Luis had to hold his breath under the water while I tried to convince father that I was the only one in the pool. It took forever, but eventually he believed me and left. Poor Luis was purple by the time he came up for air. I had never been so sacred in my entire life!"
They all giggled at Sheridan's bold story, as Whitney kept a close eye on Theresa.
"I bet I know where Theresa's craziest place was," she finally announced.
"Where?" Theresa looked at her friend skeptically.
"On the very public beach with Ethan on the night before your wedding."
They all held their breaths and waited for Theresa's reaction, knowing that the statement would most likely make her uncomfortable. But to their surprise, she busted out laughing at Whitney's accurate guess.
"You're right Whit! That was defiantly the craziest place that I have ever made love." She admitted bashfully.
"I'd have to agree. The beach is quite a public place." Sheridan grinned. "I jut can't believe that Ethan agreed to go along with it."
'That just proves why Ethan is not a Crane." Gwen added. "I can't picture any of the Crane men making love on a public beach. They'd probably be too concerned about the tabloids getting a photo of their naked rears and posting it in the newspaper."
They all started laughing as Theresa once again suddenly interrupted.
"Well Fox did!" She proudly announced, but took it back when she realized what she said.
"How would you know?" Sheridan asked.
When Theresa didn't answer, they all looked at her suspiciously.
"Theresa?" Whitney slowly began. "Is there something that you're not telling us?"
Theresa bit her bottom lip, knowing that she backed herself up into a corner.
"Ok, you have to promise to keep this between the four of us." She looked at them, smiling at their interested faces.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"Fox and I slept together last night...on the beach." She blurted out, afraid to open her eyes.
When she did, they all were staring at her with open mouths.
"You guys did what?" Gwen shrieked.
"Oh my god!" Sheridan happily squealed.
"Last night?" Whitney looked at her shocked.
"I know!" Theresa giggled at their reactions. "I still can't believe it myself!"
"I didn't even know you guys liked each other that way," Gwen sat back in her chair. "But what about Ethan? Have you really just forgotten about him?"
"Well no, I don't think I could ever do that." Theresa seriously looked at them. "Ethan will always have a special part in my heart. It's just that now Fox has more than that. He has my heart, my soul...my everything! I just love him so much."
She looked up at their teary-eyes and almost laughed.
"Awwwww!" They all sang in unison. "That is so sweet!"
They spent the rest of the afternoon laughing and talking about their lovers. It was the most fun that they had in a long time.
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Fox opened the door to the mansion as he came home from his morning jog.
Ever since he woke up, all he could do was think about Theresa. She was finally his and the thought of it made him smile. In fact he couldn't stop smiling! He was honestly and truly happy.
As he drank the last bit of his water, he glanced into the living room and noticed Ethan sitting on the couch.
"Well, if it isn't the most cruelest guy in the world!" He announced coming into the room.
Ethan didn't respond. Instead he just let out a heavy sigh and continued with what he was doing.
"What's the matter Ethan? Aren't you familiar with that title? Or did you forget the way you heartlessly acted last night?" He mockingly asked him.
"Go away Fox, I don't need this right now," he mumbled.
"No, I won't go away!" Fox angrily yelled at him. "You've hurt Theresa in the worst way possible! I honestly don't understand why, but she loved you! I've had to listen to her tell me countless times about how much you mean to her, and look what you do. You basically told her last night that you don't give a shit about her. How can you live with yourself man?"
Ethan finally looked up at Fox, revealing his red and swollen eyes.
"You think I enjoyed doing that?" His voice shook as he talked. "You could never understand why I did what I did."
"Well then enlighten me, oh wise half-brother of mine!" Fox challenged him.
"Theresa means the world to me! I would rather die than see anything bad happen to her!" Ethan yelled.
"So than why are you hurting her?" Fox yelled back.
"I didn't mean to! You just don't understand Fox...I—" He suddenly began coughing violently.
"Ethan?" Fox asked concerned.
He worriedly watched as Ethan continued to cough uncontrollably, grabbing his stomach in pain. He fell to the ground as he gasped for air, still maintaining his dreadful cough.
Fox cursed underneath his breath and ran into the kitchen for a glass of water. When he returned, Ethan was hunched over and still violently coughing. When he saw Fox with the glass of water, he reached for it and drew his other hand away from his mouth. Fox watched in horror as drops of blood stained the inside of Ethan's palm.
When he finally calmed down, he placed the glass beside him and tried to control his breathing.
"Jesus, Ethan are you ok?" Fox looked at his half brother worriedly. "We need to get you to the hospital!"
He was about to get up, but Ethan weakly grabbed his leg.
"No Fox! I'm fine," he whispered.
"You are not fine man! I just saw blood on your hand!" Fox watched as Ethan rubbed his palm on his shirt.
"No, don't worry. I'm fine!" He braced his head to the wall. "It's just that sometimes my throat gets really dry. But it's nothing, I swear."
Fox stared at him in disbelief.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I'm fine." He assured him. His breathing was much more controlled now.
"Alright. Well I'm going to go upstairs and take a shower. Call me if anything else happens." Fox kept his eye on Ethan's palm.
"Sure, you go ahead." He motioned for Fox to go upstairs.
Fox slowly began walking up the stairs, but once again turned back to look at his half brother.
Why do I have the feeling that you're not telling me everything Ethan? He thought to himself. Why am I getting the strong feeling that things are a lot more serious than you're letting on?
"Hey girls, lets sit here!" Theresa called to Whitney, Gwen and Sheridan.
The four of them had decided to spend the whole day shopping at the mall. It was actually intended to be a treat for Theresa. The girls thought she could use a day of fun after what happened with her and Ethan the night before.
"My feet are killing me!" Whitney complained. "Remind me to buy some flip- flops at the next shoe store we stop in."
"Well I told you not to wear those shoes Whit, but you didn't listen to me." Sheridan chuckled, sitting down next to her.
"I am starving." Gwen announced, looking around the mall at the different food stores. "I could go for a nice juicy hamburger right now."
"Oh yeah, that does sound good." Sheridan agreed.
As the girls decided what to eat, Theresa silently thought about her wonderful boyfriend. She still couldn't believe that she and Fox had made love the night before. It was the most magical night of her life, and now that they were a couple there would be many more like it.
"Theresa?" The sound of Whitney's voice brought her back to reality.
"Yeah?" She looked up at her friend's worried expression.
"You've been really quiet. You're not still worrying about Ethan are you honey?"
"I'm ok." Theresa smiled at her friends.
They had no idea that she wasn't thinking about Ethan at all. In fact it was his half brother that had her mind so occupied.
"Oh Theresa, you don't have to pretend around us." Gwen sincerely looked at her friend. "We know that last night could not have been very easy for you."
"Yeah, I still can't believe how cruel Ethan was." Sheridan added. "Of all the years that I've known him, I have never seen him act so heartless as he was last night. It was as if he was a completely different person."
"You're right," Theresa admitted. "What Ethan said to me really hurt. In fact, it almost killed me. I'm just really glad that Fox was around. He made me feel a lot better."
"You and Fox have been spending a lot of time together." Whitney commented, taking a bite of her hamburger.
"Well, he's been really supportive throughout everything that's happened. He's really sweet and caring. It's almost hard to believe that he's a Crane, no offence Sheridan." Theresa gave her an apologetic smile.
"Oh, none taken. I for one know how cold and selfish my family can be. I mean, look at all the times my own father tried to break up your brother and me?" Sheridan frowned. "But thank goodness the love that Luis and I share is as strong as it is. There is no way that Alistair can break us up now."
"But I always remember Ethan telling me that Fox was just as heartless as Alistair and Julian." Gwen recalled. "Is that true Sheridan?"
"I couldn't really tell you. Even though Fox is my nephew, I really don't know much about him. Julian and Ivy had him sent off to boarding school at such an early age, so I didn't spend as much time with him as I did with Ethan. All I know is that he always felt like the black sheep in comparison to Ethan. And because of that he was always sort of the more bitter brother." Sheridan told them.
"Well he's obviously changed." Theresa abruptly interrupted. "Ever since this whole ordeal with Ethan, Fox has done nothing but try and comfort me, and he's succeeded. I honestly feel that if it weren't for him, I would have crumbled to a million pieces by now."
They all just looked at her, shocked by her defensive reaction.
"We're sorry Theresa, we didn't mean to bad-talk him." Gwen stared at her. "But you're right, Fox has changed. He's definitely one of the few good Cranes."
Whitney smiled in agreement but slowly frowned at something in the far distance.
"That's just disgusting," she mumbled, as the others followed her gaze.
Two tables away, a couple was heavily making out. The girl was practically lying on the table as her boyfriend continued to passionately kiss her in front of everyone in the entire mall.
"That's something that should be done in the privacy of a bedroom." Whitney rolled her eyes.
"Oh c'mon Whit. Are you telling me that you and Chad have never gotten caught up in your passion publicly?" Theresa suspiciously asked her best friend.
"Absolutely not!" Whitney denied, noticing the smirks on her friends' faces.
"I feel a girl-talk coming on!" Sheridan excitedly rubbed her hands together.
The others giggled as Whitney embarrassedly hid her face.
"Ok, fine!" She gave up. "There was this one time when Chad and I made love in his recording studio. We got so caught up in everything, we didn't even notice that I had accidentally pressed the 'on-air' button and we were recording our heated moment the entire time."
"Oh my god!" Gwen laughed. "But that's nothing. One time, Hank and I were crazily making out and one thing led to another. Before I knew it, we had ripped off each other's clothes and made passionate love on the couch in the police office. We were so afraid that Chief Bennett would walk in and catch us, but thank goodness we had the entire office to ourselves that night."
The girls started to laugh uncontrollably, but Sheridan waved her hands in the air.
"That was good, but I'm sure I can beat them all." She smiled. "There was this one night when I decided to sneak Luis into the Crane mansion to have a late-night romantic swim in the pool. We spent the entire time making sweet love until father heard the commotion and came in. Luis had to hold his breath under the water while I tried to convince father that I was the only one in the pool. It took forever, but eventually he believed me and left. Poor Luis was purple by the time he came up for air. I had never been so sacred in my entire life!"
They all giggled at Sheridan's bold story, as Whitney kept a close eye on Theresa.
"I bet I know where Theresa's craziest place was," she finally announced.
"Where?" Theresa looked at her friend skeptically.
"On the very public beach with Ethan on the night before your wedding."
They all held their breaths and waited for Theresa's reaction, knowing that the statement would most likely make her uncomfortable. But to their surprise, she busted out laughing at Whitney's accurate guess.
"You're right Whit! That was defiantly the craziest place that I have ever made love." She admitted bashfully.
"I'd have to agree. The beach is quite a public place." Sheridan grinned. "I jut can't believe that Ethan agreed to go along with it."
'That just proves why Ethan is not a Crane." Gwen added. "I can't picture any of the Crane men making love on a public beach. They'd probably be too concerned about the tabloids getting a photo of their naked rears and posting it in the newspaper."
They all started laughing as Theresa once again suddenly interrupted.
"Well Fox did!" She proudly announced, but took it back when she realized what she said.
"How would you know?" Sheridan asked.
When Theresa didn't answer, they all looked at her suspiciously.
"Theresa?" Whitney slowly began. "Is there something that you're not telling us?"
Theresa bit her bottom lip, knowing that she backed herself up into a corner.
"Ok, you have to promise to keep this between the four of us." She looked at them, smiling at their interested faces.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"Fox and I slept together last night...on the beach." She blurted out, afraid to open her eyes.
When she did, they all were staring at her with open mouths.
"You guys did what?" Gwen shrieked.
"Oh my god!" Sheridan happily squealed.
"Last night?" Whitney looked at her shocked.
"I know!" Theresa giggled at their reactions. "I still can't believe it myself!"
"I didn't even know you guys liked each other that way," Gwen sat back in her chair. "But what about Ethan? Have you really just forgotten about him?"
"Well no, I don't think I could ever do that." Theresa seriously looked at them. "Ethan will always have a special part in my heart. It's just that now Fox has more than that. He has my heart, my soul...my everything! I just love him so much."
She looked up at their teary-eyes and almost laughed.
"Awwwww!" They all sang in unison. "That is so sweet!"
They spent the rest of the afternoon laughing and talking about their lovers. It was the most fun that they had in a long time.
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Fox opened the door to the mansion as he came home from his morning jog.
Ever since he woke up, all he could do was think about Theresa. She was finally his and the thought of it made him smile. In fact he couldn't stop smiling! He was honestly and truly happy.
As he drank the last bit of his water, he glanced into the living room and noticed Ethan sitting on the couch.
"Well, if it isn't the most cruelest guy in the world!" He announced coming into the room.
Ethan didn't respond. Instead he just let out a heavy sigh and continued with what he was doing.
"What's the matter Ethan? Aren't you familiar with that title? Or did you forget the way you heartlessly acted last night?" He mockingly asked him.
"Go away Fox, I don't need this right now," he mumbled.
"No, I won't go away!" Fox angrily yelled at him. "You've hurt Theresa in the worst way possible! I honestly don't understand why, but she loved you! I've had to listen to her tell me countless times about how much you mean to her, and look what you do. You basically told her last night that you don't give a shit about her. How can you live with yourself man?"
Ethan finally looked up at Fox, revealing his red and swollen eyes.
"You think I enjoyed doing that?" His voice shook as he talked. "You could never understand why I did what I did."
"Well then enlighten me, oh wise half-brother of mine!" Fox challenged him.
"Theresa means the world to me! I would rather die than see anything bad happen to her!" Ethan yelled.
"So than why are you hurting her?" Fox yelled back.
"I didn't mean to! You just don't understand Fox...I—" He suddenly began coughing violently.
"Ethan?" Fox asked concerned.
He worriedly watched as Ethan continued to cough uncontrollably, grabbing his stomach in pain. He fell to the ground as he gasped for air, still maintaining his dreadful cough.
Fox cursed underneath his breath and ran into the kitchen for a glass of water. When he returned, Ethan was hunched over and still violently coughing. When he saw Fox with the glass of water, he reached for it and drew his other hand away from his mouth. Fox watched in horror as drops of blood stained the inside of Ethan's palm.
When he finally calmed down, he placed the glass beside him and tried to control his breathing.
"Jesus, Ethan are you ok?" Fox looked at his half brother worriedly. "We need to get you to the hospital!"
He was about to get up, but Ethan weakly grabbed his leg.
"No Fox! I'm fine," he whispered.
"You are not fine man! I just saw blood on your hand!" Fox watched as Ethan rubbed his palm on his shirt.
"No, don't worry. I'm fine!" He braced his head to the wall. "It's just that sometimes my throat gets really dry. But it's nothing, I swear."
Fox stared at him in disbelief.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I'm fine." He assured him. His breathing was much more controlled now.
"Alright. Well I'm going to go upstairs and take a shower. Call me if anything else happens." Fox kept his eye on Ethan's palm.
"Sure, you go ahead." He motioned for Fox to go upstairs.
Fox slowly began walking up the stairs, but once again turned back to look at his half brother.
Why do I have the feeling that you're not telling me everything Ethan? He thought to himself. Why am I getting the strong feeling that things are a lot more serious than you're letting on?