Here's the next chapter, please review and let me know what you thought. I am going to get my hair cut, and that always makes me a little nervous, because I'm terrified that they'll chop it all off and I'll be left with this awful haircut that I'm stuck with for months and everyone will point and laugh at me, and people will do that thing where they go, "Oh, you got your hair cut….it's……(awkward pause) nice…." I hate that. Yeah, sorry I'm slightly neurotic and paranoid. Anyway, review please!

Disclaimer: The characters that you know, are not so much mine.

One hand on the trigger of the telephone

Wondering when the call comes

When you say it's alright

You got your heart right

Kirsten was still crying when the boys stumbled in the door later that night. She heard the door open and shut, and she heard Ryan berate Seth for making them late for curfew, and she knew that they were looking around the living room surprised that neither she nor Sandy was sitting up waiting for them.

"Dude, though, we got away with it," Seth said gleefully. It was Ryan who picked up on the vibe in the house. It was Ryan who first figured out that something had gone on there, something was wrong. It was Ryan who shook his head and looked at his foster brother.

"Seth, there's a reason that for the first time since…ever, one of them isn't sitting waiting up for us," Ryan reasoned with his foster brother. Ryan sighed and moved towards the staircase that led to Kirsten and Sandy's bedroom. He saw that their door was cracked, and his heart rate quickened, and he knocked lightly. Kirsten hurried wiped away the tears in vain, trying to shield her children from this for as long as she possibly could.

"Yes?" Her voice cracked and she hated that she was still crying.

"It's Ryan," he said opening the door the whole way. He paused when he saw her tear-stained face. He had been right. Something had gone on there. Broken glass was lying on the bedroom floor, and he immediately became overprotective of his surrogate mother. "Are you okay? Where's Sandy?" Ryan walked to the window and looked out, and Kirsten began to cry harder. "Kirsten? What's the matter? What happened? Where's Sandy? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," she finally got out. It was a lie. She was far from okay, but she saw the worry in Ryan's eyes and she wanted to reassure him. "Sandy's…going to stay at a hotel for a couple of days." Another lie. A couple of days could very well turn into a couple of weeks. Or months. This could be the end of her marriage. The thought made her sick to her stomach.

"Why?" There was the question that she didn't want to answer. Ryan took in the broken glass, and the broken woman in front of him and lowered his voice. "Did he hurt you?" He was thinking physically, and she could see the anger flare up in his eyes. Too many times had he seen his mother get hurt by one of her boyfriends.

But this was Sandy. Sandy wouldn't hurt Kirsten. He loved her too much. Ryan couldn't imagine his foster father laying a single hand on Kirsten.

Then again, she was lying here crying, and Sandy was at a hotel, and if something had happened with his wife, there was no way that Sandy would be anywhere but her side. Ryan's head was spinning.

"We're…He's…I'm…" Kirsten shook her head. "We're having some problems right now. It's nothing for you to worry about, really honey. It's okay." Seth appeared in the doorway and took in the sight of his parents' bedroom and frowned.

"Where's Dad?" He asked his mother moving closer to her. She sighed and bit her lip to stop from crying again.

"He's staying at a hotel for a couple of days," she told her son. There was no way that she could lie about that. They weren't stupid. She should have thought about more about what she would tell them when they got home. She should have cleaned up the mess that their fight had caused. She could have told them that he had to suddenly go away on a business trip. That he had left right after they had.

But she had been too busy falling apart to think ahead.

And now she had to tell the truth.

"We're having some…issues," she added.

"What kind of issues?" Seth asked, his voice was hard and it made her flinch and she wanted to crawl under her covers and never come out.

"Seth, please," she said beginning to massage her temples. "I can't…."

"We'll help you clean up in the morning," Ryan said interrupting. She looked as if she had a rough night, and the last thing she needed was for Seth to be blaming her for his father staying at a hotel. Ryan knew enough to know that if Sandy was staying at a hotel, not even in one of the guest rooms, he had done something to deserve to be at the hotel.

"Thank you," she said and Ryan pulled on Seth's arm. "I'm sorry…" Seth's mouth opened to argue with Ryan for dragging him away, or to say something back to his mother, but Ryan wouldn't let him.

"Don't be sorry," he quickly said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," she said gratefully. "I love you both." Her voice cracked and she couldn't help the few tears that escaped as Ryan returned the sentiment and pulled Seth all the way out of the room.

"Why did you make me leave?" Seth asked angrily. "I wanted to know why Dad isn't here."

"Seth, she's upset."

"What?"

"Couldn't you see that she was trying hard not to cry? Didn't you see that? She didn't want to cry in front of us," Ryan said, his patience with Seth wearing very thin. "And you blaming her because Sandy isn't here isn't helping her any. Something happened here tonight. Something went on between the two of them, and it probably wasn't her fault, or at the very least wasn't only her fault."

"I didn't….blame her," Seth argued. "I just…" Seth trailed off and looked in the direction of his mother's bedroom. "I should go apologize."

"You can apologize tomorrow," Ryan said. "Let her sleep it off." He looked towards Kirsten and Sandy's room and walked towards the pool house. As he walked through the kitchen, the phone rang. Ryan walked over to it and picked it up and was about to say hello when he heard Sandy's voice.

"I'm at the hotel. The Mermaid, I think it's called. Room 203. I just wanted to let you know that."

"Okay," Kirsten's voice was monotone and betrayed no emotion.

"I'm sorry."

"You keep saying that, like it's supposed to mean something to me," Kirsten replied bitterly.

"Kirsten…God, I shouldn't have…I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking…I just…it happened so fast," Sandy stuttered.

"Sandy, you slept with her." Ryan almost dropped the phone in shock. Sandy had cheated on Kirsten? Why would he do that? He loved Kirsten. He adored her. Shock wore off and it was soon replaced by anger. He hung up the phone quietly and grabbed the car keys. Halfway out the door, Seth stopped him.

"Where are you going?"

"Seth, go back to bed," Ryan instructed.

"No, tell me where you are going."

"I need to talk to your dad." Seth looked surprised.

"What did he do?" He asked. Ryan didn't think he should be the one to tell Seth. He was pretty sure that Kirsten hadn't wanted him to know, and she certainly did not want Seth to know.

"He slept with someone else," Ryan finally admitted. "I have to go talk to him." Seth faltered for a moment, shaking his head in disbelief. Ryan tried to push past him, but Seth snapped out of it and put himself between Ryan and the door again.

"I'm coming with you," Seth insisted. Ryan knew that this wasn't an argument he would win, and so he nodded and allowed Seth to follow behind him. He hoped that Kirsten wouldn't hear the car start. It was in the car that Ryan's statement began to hit Seth.

"No, you have to be wrong," Seth began. "My dad wouldn't….not to Mom. No, he wouldn't." Seth was shaking his head. Ryan just ignored him, focusing on the road instead.

The two pulled up to the old familiar motel, and Ryan jumped out first and headed towards room 203. He knocked loudly and he heard shuffling towards the door. Sandy looked shocked when he saw his sons standing there.

"What…what are you guys doing here? Does your mother know that you're here?" Somehow Sandy doubted it. There was no way, even in the state that she was in, that Kirsten would let the boys back out at two in the morning.

"No," Ryan said shortly. He was about to open his mouth to say more when Seth exploded next to him.

"What were you thinking Dad? Did you think that you could find someone prettier than Mom? Smarter? More special? Cause, newsflash, you can't." Sandy's face drained of color and he looked from Ryan to Seth.

"Did she tell you what happened?" Sandy asked in a small voice.

"No," Ryan jumped in. "I overheard." Sandy opened the door wider and allowed the two boys to come in. Sandy sighed.

"No, I didn't think I could find someone more special than your mother," Sandy started. "She's…she's the most amazing, beautiful woman I've ever met."

"Then what the hell were you thinking?" Seth asked.

"I wasn't…" Sandy replied. "I just…it's a long story."

"Well, we've got plenty of time," Seth responded. He took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"You should call your mother. Let her know where you are," Sandy said. Ryan was sure that Kirsten hadn't noticed that they were gone, but he nodded and took his phone just in case she had. He didn't want to make her more upset than she already was at that point.

She answered on the second ring.

"Sandy, I really don't want to…"

"Kirsten," Ryan interrupted.

"Ryan? Where are you? Aren't you in the pool house?"

"No…Seth and I are…well, we came to talk to Sandy," Ryan said sheepishly. The other end of the line was quiet, and Ryan held his breath waiting for her response.

"Do you know what happened?" She finally asked.

"I accidentally overheard," Ryan admitted. "And Seth and I…we just wanted….we needed to…"

"It's fine," Kirsten interrupted. "You are allowed to talk to him. I wish you would have waited until morning, but…just be careful on the way home okay?"

"Okay," Ryan promised. "We'll be careful."

"Is she okay?" Sandy asked.

"No," Ryan answered bluntly. "You hurt her." Sandy nodded. He knew that he hurt her. It killed him that he hurt her. It was just….

Rebecca.

He knew that he didn't love her like he loved Kirsten. He knew that it was simply because he hadn't gotten to say goodbye. It was because he had no closure with Rebecca. No way of ever really knowing if they would have worked or not, because she took off. It was the what if's that had always held the allure, and not really Rebecca.

Because if he was to make a comparison between Kirsten and Rebecca, there was no way that Kirsten wouldn't win. She was more beautiful, she was smarter, she was kinder, she was…hurt. He had hurt her. All because he had been stuck in a hotel room with Rebecca, and he had been lonely, and angry with Kirsten, and things had quickly gotten out of control.

"I shouldn't do this," Sandy said as he pulled back away from Rebecca. "I'm married." Rebecca nodded and pulled back slightly.

"But you're here with me," she had reminded him. "You could be home with your wife, but instead you're here. That has to mean something Sandy." She leaned forward and kissed him again, and he had an image of Kirsten that morning, lying bed, turning away from him when he tried to talk to him. He felt a sudden pang of guilt which was replace by anger. Kirsten was acting like a child. They were grown adults and she should trust him. Of course, she could be entirely justified in not trusting him, but she refused to talk to him. It was times like this that he was reminded that his wife was a spoiled Newport brat who insisted on always getting her way.

Sandy realized that wasn't fair. He realized that he had been acting like a complete jerk the past couple of weeks and he couldn't blame her for not wanting to talk to him, or see him. He had left her alone on Valentine's Day, for God's sake. Her absolute favorite holiday. He had continually put Rebecca before her, before their family.

But he needed a reason to justify what he was now doing with Rebecca in his head, and blaming Kirsten for her make- believe behavior was the only way that he could.

He thought of Kirsten the entire time. He compared the way that Rebecca moved to the way that Kirsten moved. He compared Kirsten's soft, gentle kisses to Rebecca's intense, desperate ones. He compared the way that Kirsten felt to the way that Rebecca felt, and he wished that he could stop, but he couldn't.

He hated himself when he rolled over and was suffocating in dark, brown hair instead of the normal golden blonde. He thought about Kirsten. He thought about her smile, and her laugh. He thought about what he had just done.

"I need to go," he stuttered as he stumbled out of the bed grabbing his clothing. Rebecca looked at him in confusion.

"Sandy, the roads are closed."

"I don't care," he said. "I'll walk home if I need to. I need to go home…I need to get to…"

"Kirsten?" The name was said with such bitterness that Sandy could almost hear the hate in it.

"Yes."

"Why are you going back to her?" Rebecca asked. "Is it because of your sons? I love you Sandy. I love you, I always have."

"It's not Seth and Ryan," Sandy said. "It's because I love her. And I shouldn't have…I shouldn't have slept with you. I need to go." He ran out of the motel and jumped into his car and began to punch the steering wheel. He was so stupid. What had he done? He started the car and he was suddenly aware of Rebecca next to the window. He rolled it down.

"Sandy, please don't go," she begged. Sandy shook his head, he should have gone awhile ago. He certainly couldn't stay now. Not with her.

"I can't stay, I need to go home to Kirsten," he repeated. "I love her. I have to make sure that she knows that. That she knows that I love her. I can't stay here and do any more damage to my marriage than I already have."

"What if she leaves you Sandy? What then?"

"Rebecca, we would have never worked," he said to her. And finally he realized that it was true. Kirsten had claimed that Rebecca was the love of his life, and he had blown her off, and not answered. But he should have answered. He should have told Kirsten that she was the love of his life. He should have told her that she was his world, and that the sun rose and set with her. But instead he came here. To this crappy motel on the side of the highway. And he slept with someone else. "Goodbye Rebecca."

"Bye Sandy," she said softly and he rolled up his windows and he drove away.

"I'm sorry," Sandy was apologizing to his sons this time. Apologizing for hurting their mother.

"That's not good enough," Seth said.

"Can you tell her that I love her?" Sandy asked. It was directed at Ryan, because Seth was far too angry to listen to anything his father had to say.

"Whatever that means," Seth shot back.

"Sandy, who did you sleep with?" Ryan asked ignoring Sandy's request.

"An old girlfriend," Sandy admitted. "She came back into town and…I was driving her during the rain storm and we got stuck in a motel and one thing led to another…."

"And you cheated on Kirsten," Ryan finished for him. "We know that part of the story."

"I'm sorry," Sandy said again. "I wish I could go back. As soon as it happened I wished that I could go back and change it."

"But you can't," Ryan said. "Seth, we should go. We should go check on Kirsten." At the sound of his wife's name, Sandy's face crumbled and he began to sob into his hands. Seth looked back at his father, his hero, crying into his hands and he suddenly felt pity for him.

"I'll tell her that you love her," Seth said. "But I don't know if it's going to make any difference to her." With that, he and Ryan left the motel, and left Sandy alone again.

Okily Dokily, sorry that took so long. I had another stupid paper to write. I hate getting close to the end of the semester. Everything is due all at once. Makes my head hurt. Anyway, please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter. And the more you review the faster I write the next chapter. See, now don't you want to review? I thought so.