Disclaimer: See Prologue.

Chapter 11: Anywhere But Here

Cindy took one last look at the food she'd prepared and then followed Jim out to his car. They'd decided to go out to lunch and let their children and their friends hang out together by themselves.

Brenda was feeling nervous. She and Andrea had agreed to tell Brandon and Dylan their respective secrets today. Last night it seemed like a good idea, but now that the moment was almost upon her she felt like throwing up.

Brandon noticed how edgy she was. He asked her if she was okay.

"I'm fine," she lied.

Brandon decided, almost correctly, that she was probably nervous about having Dylan in the house.

Shortly after, their guests began to arrive. Just Brenda's luck – Dylan and Kelly were the first to come.

Brandon answered the door while Brenda stood in the background. Brandon and Kelly greeted each other with a friendly kiss, and Dylan and Brandon performed their own greeting with some kind of secret handshake – or at least that's what it looked like to Brenda anyway.

Kelly and Brenda said hi to each other, and then Kelly followed Brandon into the living room.

Dylan hung back.

"Hey Bren," he said, looking intently at her. She felt like he could almost read her soul the way he was looking at her.

"Hi Dylan," she replied. She returned his look and their eyes locked for a moment. Then Dylan broke their gaze and walked into the living room. Brenda watched him go.

She felt like she was 16 again when she was around Dylan and he looked at her like that. It just made her feel more nervous about the conversation she was supposed to have with him later. How was she even to begin if he kept giving her that look?

David and Donna and Steve and Janet arrived within minutes of each other. Andrea was the last person to arrive.

She sat in her father's car across the street from the Walsh house. She'd watched Donna and David go in, and a few minutes later Steve and Janet.

Now that she was here, she wished she was somewhere else. Anywhere but here. The thought of speaking to Brandon and telling him the truth made her feel physically sick. She thought about her daughter. This was going to change her life forever. What if Brandon decided to start some big custody battle? The thought of possibly losing her child made her start up the car, ready to drive off and not come back.

Then she thought about Hannah, and how she missed not having a father. Andrea knew she did. When Hannah was younger she used to find drawings around the apartment of a figure, with the word "DADDY" often scrawled in the corner. It used to break her heart. She'd done what she thought was best at the time by keeping Brandon out of their lives, but she knew it wasn't fair to Hannah to continue like this.

She turned off the engine and took the keys out of the ignition.

"Here goes," she said, giving herself a pep talk, "You can do this."

She took a deep breath, got out of the car and crossed the street. She walked up the driveway and came to the front door. She had one more moment of doubt where she again considered turning around and getting the hell out of there, but she resisted the impulse. She had to do this. She was going to do this.

She knocked on the door. A moment later it was answered by Brenda. They knew by looking at each other how nervous the other one was. They gave each other little smiles of support. This was going to be a tough day, but it was nice that they could be there for each other,at least before all hell broke loose that is.