Author's Notes: As always, thank you very much to everyone who reviewed!

Disclaimer: See Prologue.

Chapter 24: Brandon's Farewell

Jim and Cindy were stunned when Brenda finished her story. They felt like they had failed Brenda by not being there for her while she was in so much pain.

"It's not your fault," Brenda assured them. "I got through it and I'm okay now. That's the main thing."

"Does Dylan know?" Cindy asked.

"I told him a couple of days ago."

"You said Dylan and Kelly broke up," Jim began, wanting to get to the bottom of the Dylan situation.

"Is that why Kelly was so angry with you?" Cindy asked.

"I think so," Brenda admitted.

"But I promise nothing is going on with me and Dylan right now. Him breaking up with Kelly is something that was always gonna happen. He's not in-love with her," Brenda continued.

"So there's nothing going on now, but what about tomorrow, or the day after that?" Jim asked, his disapproval evident in his tone.

"I still love him," Brenda admitted.

"Oh Brenda," her mother said sympathetically.

She smiled gratefully at her mother. Her father however was not so sympathetic.

"Brenda! That man is trouble. He's broken your heart on two occasions! Who's to say he won't do it again!" Jim shouted.

"Who's to say he will," Brenda retorted.

Jim gave an exasperated sigh at this.

"Dad, I know you have problems with Dylan, but I love him, and I think he loves me. I haven't been happy without him. Dad, he means everything to me! Why can't you support me, instead of always disapproving?" Brenda said, angry tears coming to her eyes.

Jim softened.

"Brenda, I'll always support you. It's just Dylan…"

He couldn't find the words to end his sentence. Dylan just aggravated him so much. He had hurt Brenda so much. He wished Brenda had never met him. Sometimes he blamed himself. It was because of his job that they had moved to Beverly Hills and Brenda had met Dylan. That man had robbed his little girl's innocence and her peace of mind, and now he was supposed to happily welcome him back into their lives?

Brenda was frustrated with her father's continuing negativity towards Dylan. She felt like she'd had this same conversation with him a hundred times. Why couldn't her father just accept that Dylan made her happy? Didn't he know that by constantly interfering in their relationship that he made her miserable?

In London, away from her parents and their "friends" when they could just be together, they were happy. There were no dramas or crises. They were just like any other normal couple. She suddenly wished they were back in London where there was no Kelly or her father, so they could work out their relationship themselves, without anyone else interfering. Didn't they realise that it was the interfering that had caused the breakdown of their relationship the first time?

Cindy could sense the frustration from both Jim and Brenda. Half the problem was they were so much alike, she thought to herself. They couldn't see each other's point of view; they refused to. She became frustrated herself watching them.

Cindy decided to change the subject to give both of them a chance to calm down.

"I think what we should focus on right now is what to do about Kelly. I know you don't want to call the police Brenda, but she assaulted Andrea and Brandon. Poor Hannah was terrified!"

Brenda felt a pang of guilt. Her actions had indirectly caused a lot of upset for some of the people she cared most about. She knew Brandon and Andrea were both physically fine, but Hannah was just a little kid. If she was scared of Kelly, she could only imagine how scared Hannah was.

"I think we should at least talk to her family," Cindy continued.

"It's her little sister's birthday," Brenda said, remembering what Dylan had told her yesterday. "Today might not be a great day."

"But what if she comes back? Brenda, we have to do something. What if she finds you home alone?" Cindy said.

Brenda nodded reluctantly. It was true; Kelly had clearly lost it. She was a danger to others, and possibly to herself.

"I'll call Donna and David. David can talk to her mom. Something tells me Jackie would be more likely to listen to David than me," Brenda said.

Her parents nodded in agreement, and Brenda left the room to make the call.

Her parents were silent for a moment, but then Jim unleashed his frustration.

"Dylan McKay! I thought he was out of all our lives for good!"

"Jim! Now is not the right time!" Cindy admonished.

"When is the right time? When she gets back together with him? When he gets her pregnant again? When she marries him?" Jim said, frustrated.

"Jim, can't you just accept Dylan? You were starting to warm up to him before," Cindy said.

"Yeah, he fooled me once! What, am I supposed to fall for that again and watch him break our daughter's heart again without saying anything?"

Brenda returned to the room at that moment. She heard the last part of what her father had said.

"Dad, can't you see how much you hurt me when you talk like that? This is my life! I love Dylan, I always have! He makes me happy! Why do you have to cause so many problems? Why can't you just let me and Dylan figure it out for ourselves!"

Cindy could see another argument starting. She intervened.

"I think everyone is just a little emotional right now. We need to just calm down and then we can talk about this later."

The front door could be heard opening as Cindy was finishing her speech. Hannah came running into the kitchen, followed by Brandon and Andrea.

"I hate to break this party up, but I've got to leave for the airport soon or I'll miss my plane," Brandon stated.

Cindy jumped up. She couldn't believe it was time for Brandon to go already. She suddenly felt like she'd wasted his entire visit.

Brandon went upstairs to retrieve his things, and Jim went with him.

Cindy stayed with Brenda, Andrea and Hannah.

"Andrea, why don't you and Hannah stay for lunch? We should only be gone about an hour. I felt like I've hardly spent any time with her," Cindy said, looking at Hannah.

"What do you think Hannah? Do you want to stay?" Andrea asked her daughter.

"Yeah!" Hannah exclaimed.

The adults laughed.

"Then it's settled then," said Cindy smiling.

Brandon and Jim appeared downstairs with Brandon's bags. Jim went outside to put them in the car. Cindy followed Jim out.

Brandon walked up to his sister and hugged her.

"It was good seeing you again Bren," he told her.

"You'll have to come out to New York again soon," Brenda replied, and shot a look out of the corner of her eye at Andrea and Hannah. Brandon seemed to notice, and nodded his head.

Brandon turned to Andrea next.

"Well, this has certainly been an interesting few days," he joked.

"Yeah," Andrea replied.

"I'm glad you told me," he said seriously. "I'm really gonna miss you both."

"Yeah, we'll miss you too," Andrea said quietly.

Brandon moved in and hugged her. Andrea squeezed her eyes shut, afraid she would cry. She couldn't believe he was about to leave.

Brandon released her and smiled her. He then moved on to Hannah.

"So, you gonna come and visit me soon?" he asked.

"Yep!" she replied.

He picked her up and hugged her, then put her down.

"I'm gonna miss you," he said, and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

Everyone went outside. Jim and Cindy were already in the car. Brandon walked towards the car, and then turned around.

"Well, bye everyone," he said, and then got into the car.

"Bye!" cried Brenda and Hannah. Andrea was silent.

As the car pulled out of the driveway, Brenda and Hannah waved. When the car was out on the street Hannah ran to the end of the driveway, waving. A few seconds later, the car was out of sight.

The three of them went back inside.

"Well?" Brenda said expectantly to Andrea.

"Well?" Andrea repeated.

"Did you tell Brandon how you feel!" Brenda asked.

"Oh," Andrea said.

"Oh? What do you mean 'oh'? What happened?"

"Today wasn't the right time. He's going back to D.C. I didn't want to put any pressure on him," Andrea said.

"Andrea!" Brenda exclaimed.

Andrea looked at Brenda sheepishly.

"I can't believe this! You were supposed to tell him! Remember our deal?" Brenda said.

"I panicked, okay?" Andrea said.

"No it's not okay! Andrea you have to do this. You have to know if he feels the same way or not. If you don't find out, you'll regret it for the rest of your life! What if he meets someone else in D.C? You'll always wonder if you'd have told him if things would have worked out for you two. Don't let that happen Andrea. Trust me, I've been there."

Andrea seemed to be relenting. Brenda went for a final push.

"What would you tell me if I told you I was having doubts about getting back together with Dylan?"

"I'd tell you that you've been given a second chance to make things right with him, and that you should go for it, because if you don't you may never get that chance again. And if he's the one you love, no matter what happens, he's worth the risk," Andrea said.

"So?" Brenda asked.

"So… he's on his way to the airport!" Andrea replied.

"Well then you have to go to the airport. Talk to him before he gets on the plane. They don't have that much of a head start. You should get there right after them."

"What about Hannah?"

"I'll watch Hannah."

"What if Kelly comes back?"

"If she comes back I won't answer the door to her and I'll call the police. I promise. Now go!"

"Okay, okay!"

The two women went outside. Andrea ran to her car, which was parked on the street just outside the house.

"Hey Brenda!" she called back.

"What?" Brenda answered.

"What was it I said again about never talking to you?" Andrea joked.

They both laughed, and Andrea got into her car. Brenda watched her drive off, and was about to go back into the house when a familiar car pulled up outside.

The driver turned off the engine and got out of the car, and ran towards Brenda.