Author's Notes: Kelly fans will probably
pretty much hate this chapter. Sorry about that. This may
be a good time to mention I accept any flames gracefully. As a
moderator at possibly the most active Star Trek message board on the internet, I get abused on a regular basis. It's all cool. ;-)
Disclaimer: See Prologue.
Chapter 16: Who's There?
Brenda had gotten up early to wish Brandon luck. He looked pretty nervous going out the door, but she was sure he'd be fine.
After Brandon left her thoughts quickly turned to Dylan. Would he come over today?
She couldn't help wondering how things between him and Kelly had gone yesterday.
When she'd gone back into the house Donna had told her that Kelly and Dylan had left. The tone of Donna's voice implied she wasn't telling her the full story. She felt everyone else had acted awkwardly around her, trying to not to make eye contact with her. She had a feeling Kelly had made a big scene about finding her and Dylan together.
Everybody had left shortly afterwards. They never did get around to watching that video yearbook.
When she heard the door knock a while later, she half-hoped it would be Dylan. When she opened the door to reveal Kelly Taylor, she was visibly stunned.
Kelly saw Brenda's surprise at seeing her there.
"She was probably hoping I was Dylan," she thought bitterly to herself.
Ever since she'd walked in on that oh so tender scene between Dylan and Brenda yesterday she'd been fuming.
What was it Dylan had promised her when they got back together? Oh yes, Kelly, I will never let you down.
Ha! Never let her down? Except when he took off with no warning to Mexico to "go surfing", or met up with Valerie in Hawaii and never said a word about it when he got back and she had to hear it a year later from his mother who hated her but absolutely adored Brenda Walsh, or when he went mooning over his ex-girlfriend the second she arrived back in town.
She wasn't blind. She'd seen him follow 5 seconds behind Brenda at the Peach Pit last week when she'd left to take a call. What was that all about? "I was just saying hi," was his answer. What, he can't "just say hi" in front of everyone else?
No, he and Brenda have to have their secret little meetings and share their secret little looks. No, she wasn't blind, or stupid.
When she and Dylan had finally gotten back together, she thought it would work. She'd forgotten how much she and Dylan got on each other's nerves though.
Sure the sex was great, but she always felt like he didn't respect her opinion, like she wasn't worthy of seeing into his soul. Not like Brenda was.
She could admit it; she was always worried that somewhere in the back of his mind, Dylan was thinking about Brenda. They seemed to share this cosmic connection that she just didn't get. When she'd heard they'd gotten back together in London she'd been upset, but she resigned herself to the fact that maybe they were just meant to be together.
But then they'd broken up again, and he came back, came back for her. That had to mean something, right? That maybe it really wasn't all about Brenda when it came to Dylan, that maybe she and Dylan really were soulmates after all.
Dylan had never really told her why he and Brenda had broken up, just that things between them were "bad" at the end. She'd never really thought anything more about it, but when Brenda came back and Dylan had reacted to her return she had to wonder.
There was clearly a lot more going on between them than simply two old friends meeting up again at their high school reunion. There was an intensity between them yesterday that made her nervous.
She and Dylan had spent the remainder of the day after leaving the Walsh's alternately screaming at each other and ignoring each other. Sadly this was starting to feel like a familiar pattern with them.
Kelly had had enough, so she decided to and tackle Brenda herself. If Dylan wouldn't tell her what was going on then maybe Brenda would. At the very least, she could make it very clear to Brenda how she felt about her hanging around.
So here she was, standing in Brenda's doorway, telling her they need to talk.
Brenda nodded her head and asked her in and ushered her into the living room. She felt apprehensive about Kelly's sudden visit. She had a feeling this wasn't a social call.
"What do you want to talk about?" Brenda asked, hoping she sounded casual.
Kelly got straight to the point.
"What were you talking about yesterday?" she asked sharply.
Brenda was taken aback by her bluntness, almost bordering on rudeness.
"It's private," Brenda replied.
Kelly nodded her head, a smile on her face. It wasn't a happy smile though, it was scornful, sneering.
"Private, that's just great," she responded. "Yeah, everything's private with you and Dylan."
"Kelly, maybe you should talk to Dylan about this?" Brenda said
"You don't think I haven't tried?" Kelly began, but then she stopped. No, she wouldn't give Brenda the satisfaction of knowing the problems she'd caused.
"I want you to stay away from Dylan," Kelly said suddenly.
"What?" Brenda asked, incredulously.
"You heard me," Kelly replied.
"Kelly, that's just crazy," Brenda told her.
"I'm not gonna lose him Brenda. Not to you," she said, and marched to the door.
She looked back at Brenda.
"You had your chance, and you blew it," she spat out, and with that she stormed out of the house.
Brenda sat down on the couch, shaken after that exchange. Kelly was really worked up about what had happened yesterday. She had been absolutely venomous.
Had she really caused such a rift between Dylan and Kelly? Surely her short talk with Dylan yesterday couldn't have rocked the foundations of their relationship that much? Not if their relationship had been solid to begin with anyway. Had they been having problems before this? Kelly's reaction seemed so extreme and over the top, so desperate, as if losing Dylan was something she'd feared for a long time.
Her thoughts were interrupted by another knock at the door. Brenda sighed. She didn't feel like facing Kelly again. She got up reluctantly though to answer the door.
"Kelly, I don't thinkā¦" she began as she opened the door, but then froze.
Standing in front of her was not Kelly Taylor; it was Dylan McKay.
