Disclaimer: See Prologue.

Chapter 25: If Only We Could Go Back

"Brenda! Are you okay?"

"Dylan! What are you doing here?" a surprised Brenda asked Dylan, who was now standing right in front of her.

"David called me and told me what happened. I'm so sorry Bren. It's all my fault!"

"Dylan, it's not your fault! You had no idea Kelly would go crazy like that."

"Just tell me you're okay," he begged.

"I'm fine," she assured him.

He let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank God for that," he said.

"Since you're here, do you want to come in?" Brenda asked.

"Sure," Dylan replied, and followed her into the house.

As soon as they got into the hall, Hannah accosted Brenda.

"Can I watch TV Aunt Brenda?" she asked. Her eyes darted to Dylan, but then back to Brenda.

"Sure sweetie," she answered. She saw her look at Dylan, and she noticed his surprised look at her.

"Hannah, I'd like you to meet my friend Dylan. Dylan, this is Hannah," Brenda said.

"Hello!" Hannah said.

"Hi," replied Dylan, still surprised. Who was this kid?

Hannah left them in the hall and went into the living room. Brenda led Dylan into the kitchen.

"Aunt Brenda?" he asked.

Brenda chuckled at Dylan's confusion.

"She's Brandon's daughter," Brenda explained.

This didn't help Dylan understand things any better at all.

"Brandon has a daughter?" he asked, shocked.

"Yeah he does. It's a long story."

"Who's her mother?"

Brenda paused, wondering whether she should reveal that. She supposed that neither Brandon nor Andrea would mind, so she told him.

"Andrea."

"Zuckerman?" cried Dylan, more shocked at this piece of information than in learning that Brandon had a daughter in the first place.

Brenda laughed.

"Like I said before, it's a long story," she told him.

They sat down at the table, Dylan shaking his head at the thought of Brandon having a daughter with Andrea Zuckerman of all people.

He got over it though, remembering why he was here in the first place.

"So, what exactly happened with Kelly? David was pretty brief."

Brenda told him the story. After she'd finished Dylan rested his head in his hands for a few moments, taking it all in.

He looked up after a minute.

"Are Brandon and Andrea okay?" he finally asked.

"Yeah, they're both fine," Brenda told him.

"What about your parents? I doubt they were too happy about Kelly barging in like that," Dylan said.

"No they weren't. My dad wanted to call the police, but I stopped him. Kelly was out of line, but I don't think it was really her. I think she just snapped. That's why I called David. Maybe he can talk to her or Jackie and they can do something. Get her help if she needs it."

Dylan nodded.

"David sounded pretty worried when he called me. He wasn't happy when he heard that I'd broken up with Kelly, but I think he understood. I hope he did anyway. David's a good friend. I don't want to fall out with him over this."

"So, you did break up with Kelly then?" Brenda asked.

"Yeah I did. It was hard, I've been with Kelly a long time now, but it was the right thing to do. The relationship was going nowhere. It wasn't fair to either of us to drag it out. Her reaction surprised me though. She was very quiet and calm about the whole thing. I was expecting her to scream at me and throw things. I guess she was saving that for you."

"Who knows? I feel sorry for her. I guess her world just came crashing down around her. I know what that feels like," Brenda told him.

"Right," Dylan answered.

There was an awkward silence between them. Each was now thinking of the same thing, their relationship. Both were wondering how to bring the subject up. It was Brenda who finally spoke first.

"I'll probably take you a while to get over the Kelly stuff," she said.

Dylan began to protest at this.

"There's nothing to get over. Our relationship's been over for a long time. I just didn't want to admit it to myself."

"Still, you probably shouldn't jump from one relationship to another," she said slowly, hinting towards their situation. Dylan picked up the hint.

"Brenda, I've never stopped caring about you. Even when I was with Kelly, you were always there, at the back of my mind. You were always the one I was thinking about," he told her in a gentle voice.

Brenda felt like her heart would melt when she heard this. She could have thrown her arms around him and kissed him, but she had to be strong.

"Dylan, I care about you too. I've never stopped loving you," she admitted. Dylan smiled at this.

"But," she continued, "I don't want to mess this up. We have a chance here but I don't want to be sidetracked by baggage from your relationship with Kelly. Whether you think it or not, I think you need some time to put Kelly behind you. We haven't seen each other in five years. I think we need to take things slowly."

Dylan reluctantly agreed with Brenda. She was right. They had been apart for a long time and a lot had happened in both of their lives since then. He didn't want to mess things up again either.

"So, what happens next?" he asked.

"I'm flying home tomorrow. I have rehearsal for a new play starting on Monday so I need to get back to prepare for that."

"I see," Dylan said.

"I wish I could stay," Brenda admitted.

"No, this is your career. I understand."

"When I'm done with the play, I could fly back out and stay with my parents," she told him.

Her parents. Dylan knew that Jim wasn't his biggest fan. They'd almost had a full-on brawl when Jim had come back to town. He knew Jim blamed him for all of Brenda's problems. Trying to reconnect with Brenda while Jim was breathing down their necks would be a nightmare. Still, it was their only option. Brenda wanted to take things slow, so it wouldn't be a good idea for her to move in with him when she came back.

"Okay," Dylan said, agreeing.

Brenda smiled at him, and he smiled back. He took her hand, which had been resting on the table, in his. Finally, after all the problems they'd had in the past, things seemed to be finally coming together. Dylan just wished Brenda didn't have to leave so soon. Even if it was just for a few weeks, it would be hard letting go when she'd only just come back into his life. He suddenly wished they were back in London again, when they had no worries, and there was no Jim to worry about; when it had just been them. They'd been able to just be a normal couple. If only they could go back to those days. But it was impossible. With Brenda in New York and him in Beverly Hills, how could they possibly live that life again?