Title: A Little Respect
Author: Misty Flores

Teaser: Pursuing a relationship with Aiden after discovering Bianca in bed with Babe, Maggie begins to question even her own self worth when she finds herself delving deeper into a baby kidnapping mystery, and an intense love triangle.

Part Thirty-Two

Don't know how to take it, don't know where to go
My resistance running low
And every day the hold is getting tighter and it troubles me so
(You know that I'm nobody's fool)
I'm nobody's fool and yet it's clear to me
I don't have a strategy
It's just like taking candy from a baby and I think I must be

Under attack, I'm being taken
About to crack, defenses breaking
Won't somebody please have a heart
Come and rescue me now 'cause I'm falling apart

-- Under Attack, ABBA

Robin stood in the hallway, arms crossed tightly over her chest, wearing a severe expression, as Maggie's sobs became painfully audible.

She had been debating with herself for a full minute - a lingering hope that somehow Aiden had been wrong about this dwindling every second she listened to Maggie cry.

The next moment, she was surprised when a hobbling little women moved past her and into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her with a decidedly weak thump.

Movement at the corner of her eye alerted her to her mother, wearing the tense, concerned expression she always seemed to wear in the recent months, whenever the subject of Maggie came up.

"Something tells me she wants to be alone," she remarked dryly.

Her mother sighed, obviously warring between giving Maggie her privacy and wanting to comfort the girl. Shaking her head slightly, Robin wondered again at her mother's good heart.

Even when she had been prepared to give up everything to move to New York with her mother, her mother had insisted on Robin's needs first, Robin's focus to remain healthy, a daily battle thanks to the virus in her blood.

While Robin's condition had tainted her trust of people and her heart, her mother had kept it whole.

"Let's give her a while," she suggested calmly. "We can all rest and then when she's ready to talk, we'll be ready to listen. Ream her. Whatever."

Cat eyes sparked in the dark, from her to the closed door. "Perhaps it is best not to overwhelm her," her mother responded, in a low voice. "But Robin, for the love of God, don't judge-"

"I'm not-" Biting her lip, Robin caught herself, sucking in a breath of calming air and managing a tight frown. "I'm not going to judge her, okay?" At her mother's skeptical look, Robin continued, "I'll be nice."

Her mother's glance was skeptical, but true to her instincts, Anna only nodded, and moved back to her room.

Anna's battle with her cancer had taken its toll. She was thinner than she used to be, and tired from the medication and the wear of the sickness on her body. Robin wasn't surprised when she fell asleep against her will, a couple hours later, exhausted from both her doctor's visit and the stress of worrying about Maggie.

Coincidentally, it was at that time that the door rattled, and Robin looked up from a 'Happy Days' rerun to discover Maggie, eyes clear and empty, staring at her from the shadows of the hallway.

There was an awkward moment as they both studied the other, unsure how to react to each other without the warm comfort of Maggie's relationship with Aiden.

Aiden's girlfriend was an impossibly tiny girl, and it hadn't occurred to Robin, until now, just how little she really was.

She guessed it was thanks to Maggie's larger-than-life, incredible spunk.

Not that Robin could do much better. They were both shrimps.

Sucking in the doubts and immediate need to get angry over her hurt cousin, Robin nodded slightly, patting the cushion beside her. Wary, Maggie lowered her free arm, and after a moment's hesitation, moved deliberately over to the couch, keeping quiet as she settled in gingerly beside her.

Robin had been no stranger to matters of the heart. Each lover she had tasted had changed her, molded her, some more than others.

Thinking of the pile of medication in the cupboard kept especially for her, she let out a labored, painful exhalation.

Maggie was quiet beside her. Her face was downcast, free hand rubbing almost rhythmically over her sling.

In that conflicted, beaten face Robin found a lingering hope for Aiden.

"You know I'm HIV positive." The statement wasn't a question, and when Maggie's eyes lifted to hers, she seemed almost surprised. Robin smiled tightly. "I know we haven't talked about it, but, obviously you know."

Maggie lowered her head, indicating a slight nod.

Robin sighed. "I wasn't sure at first. I mean, I was positive either Aiden or my mother had told you, none of us hide it, not from family, but I usually try to keep the stimulating talk about my T-Cell count to a minimum." Obviously unsure where Robin was going with this, Maggie didn't respond. But her tear-soaked eyes were watching her, her friend quiet beside her. "But I always used to wonder, when you came over, if you knew. Because most of time... when people find out - they... they act differently. You never did. You treated me... like I was normal."

"I'm in school to become a doctor, Robin." Maggie's voice was low, weak. "I know how you can and can't contract HIV. And I never thought you weren't normal."

"I know." Robin smiled gently. "I never told you, but I appreciated that. I guess that's kinda why I liked you so much for Aiden. You just seemed to fit. Instant family. It was... genuine." Maggie let out an unsteady sigh, and Robin followed suit, feeling an almost maternal surge when the younger girl curled her free foot underneath her thigh. "Before the HIV, I used to be... different." Raising a palm to her mouth, she closed her eyes briefly, forcing herself not to think of the men in her life before leaving for Paris. "A little less cynical. A little more hopeful. A little more loyal. Changing - being treated differently because of something you can't help, it does something to you. I'm still not sure if it made me a better person or worse. I had to learn not to care, what people thought of me. I had to learn to guard my heart, just a little tighter." She locked eyes with Maggie. "It makes it hard to fall in love. It makes it hard to be loved. But somehow, I enjoy the freedom it gives me." Maggie's gaze faltered, lids lowering back toward the floor. Biting her bottom lip, Robin took in a breath and tentatively asked, "Maggie, are you having second thoughts?"

There was a terrible moment of silence, where Robin wondered if all this exposition and seriousness, a foreign tactic for a woman who now made a habit of wearing her mask of sarcasm and European ambivalence, was the wrong approach.

Finally, she heard a hitch of breath, and a careful, small voice. "What would happen," came the unsteady return, "If I was?"

Robin pressed her lips together, met Maggie's stare, her loyalty for Aiden warring with her promise to her mother and to herself, to remain gentle and unassuming, no longer vivid parts of her personality.

"I mean..." Maggie's face buried into her hand, trembling slightly. "I love Aiden. I do - he makes me happy and safe and protected and I love him, I do." Moist, desperate eyes turned on her. "But Bianca gets near me and... I lose it, Robin. I just lose it. Each time I swear that I'm done with her for good, that I'll give her up... She's like a bad habit I can't break. I don't know how to stop loving her. No matter how much it hurts me. Or anyone else."

For a long moment, she just stared at Maggie, unsure what to say or do now that Maggie had admitted her own indecision.

Finally, she found herself reverting to form, grabbing hold to an idea that seemed so logical it seemed ludicrous.

Despite herself, she smiled. "So we make a list."

--

Ryan Lavery was an incredibly handsome, incredibly infuriating pain in the ass.

Sometimes, Kendall Hart wondered if she would never be over him. Other times, she couldn't get away from the self righteous prick fast enough.

"Seriously, have fun with your handful," she told her friend, rolling her eyes when Greenlee just gave her a glare.

"Ryan loves me," Greenlee said stubbornly. "I'm hurting him by thinking Jonathan could hurt me."

Kendall clucked her tongue, favoring pushing into SOS than to have to bother with rolling her eyes yet again. "In that case, Greenlee, let's just drop the whole thing! I'm sure Ryan will be really comforted in your impending death when he realizes you stopped the investigation to avoid hurting his feelings."

"Stop making it sound stupid," Greenlee snapped, jerking her clutch purse underneath her elbow. "This is marriage. It's making compromises."

Sometimes Greenlee had the brain of the size of a pea.

"Okay, fine," she murmured, scanning the crowd for anything interesting, "Ryan's compromise can be to be an insufferable twit- yours can be to be dead!"

"Speaking of which, how did Ethan react to your lovely plan to seduce Maggie's boyfriend away from her?"

"He was fine with it."

"Really." Greenlee's tone was dry.

"Of course!" Kendall shrugged. "I mean, I didn't exactly tell him the specifics-"

"And what did you tell him exactly?"

"Shh," she said immediately, digging an elbow into Greenlee's ribs, frozen upon the sight of a handsome British piece of man meat sitting on a bar stool, downing what looked like his third round of shots. "Well, well. Trouble in paradise?"

Arching a speculative eyebrow, Greenlee grabbed hold of her elbow, coming in closer, watching Aiden's actions with a cluck of her tongue. "Now that is not the look of a man in a happy relationship." Craning her head, her look toward Kendall was a mixture of respect and fear. "You are an evil, evil woman, Kendall Hart."

"Compared to you, I'm a friggin' saint," she snapped back, already moving forward. Greenlee's hold tightened.

"Woah, what are you doing?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Kendall said, eyes locked on her prey. "I see an opportunity, I'm taking it!"

"Kendall, he's been through a lot today, don't you think-" Rolling her eyes, Kendall straightened her shoulders, sending a scathing, skeptical glare Greenlee's direction. With a sigh, Greenlee gave up. "Who am I kidding?" she said finally, dropping her arm. "I want to see this."

"Let's go, Ethel." Moving fast, Kendal latched onto Greenlee, and maneuvered her through the crowd. "How's my hair?"

"Weird, but you wear it like that every day."

Pausing, just a few feet from Aiden, Kendall took a moment, sucking in her breath and letting it out slowly, building the confidence needed for this kind of invasion.

"Well, look who the cat dragged in."

The statement did its work. Maggie's lover straightened slowly, dark, angry eyes narrowing as they took her in, processed the sexy smile and the cocky shake of her head.

"I'd rather drink alone, Kendall."

It was his nice way of telling him to leave her alone. Kendall wasn't going to be nearly that easy to get rid of. A glance at Greenlee, and she slid in beside him, carefully balancing her purse beside her, bringing Greenlee with her. "Two of what he's having, please," she told the bartender. "He's paying."

She had loved Aiden once, for every reason she was pretty sure Maggie wanted to love him now. He was smart and strong, loyal and genuine, loved with his whole heart.

On his irritated, handsome face, was a man with a good heart, a good soul.

A soft moment of romantic nostalgia overtook her, and Kendall's purposed expression fell, cold gaze melting slightly in sympathy.

"Would have rather not known?" she finally said gently. The corners of Aiden's eyes crinkled, before his jaw hardened and he looked away. "What happened isn't my fault, Aiden. All I'm guilty is telling the truth."

"What truth?" he snapped, shoving the empty shot glass away from him. "Your truth? You have to admit Kendall, your motivations here are skewed."

Greenlee coughed into her drink. Kendall ignored her.

"Yeah, you're right," she agreed. "I don't do anything without a selfish motivation. I have something I want-"

He took another shot, wincing at the sting in his throat as he nodded. "Sure. Your sister's happiness."

His astuteness was startling. Losing her composure for half a second, she waited an extra beat, keeping her expression purposely cool. "Pardon me?"

"Bianca, Kendall -" Aiden crossed his arms at the bar, words slurring slightly in his determination to get drunk. Licking her lips, Kendall eyed him, testing his sobriety. "You and your quest for the truth - nothing to do with your sister and her less than friendly feelings for my girlfriend?"

Not drunk. Not yet, but definitely lowered inhibitions. Enough to remember what could happen. Enough to want to forget what already had.

"I didn't push Maggie into Bianca's arms," she said carefully, taking a small wedge of lime from between his hands, sucking on the sour fruit.

"Stop it." He almost growled that sentence, hands nearly trembling with emotion. "Stop putting things in my head, Kendall."

"So you still don't believe it?" Crossing glances with the uncharactistically silent Greenlee, who was hanging onto every word from behind her still filled shot, Kendall leaned further into the torn man. "Then what are you doing here? Instead of being home working it out with your little lover?" Aiden's glare settled on her like a disgruntled cat, sexy and angry, disoriented just enough to do something he could later regret. "How upset are you, Aiden?" she asked softly, fingers lingering on his bicep, intense eyes directed to his eyes, his lips. "Mad enough to get even?"

He continued to stare, and Kendall nearly smiled when she felt it - the sexual tension, the moment of weakness, the human need for comfort.

Eyes deliberately open, Kendall dipped her head, until her breath mingled with his, savoring the moment.

"KENDALL!"

The moment was broken. Jerking her head away, Kendall swiveled in her chair, to discover a hulking Ryan, shadowed by his crazy brother, red-faced and puffing.

"Ryan!" Greenlee said, sliding off her stool.

Ryan only had eyes for her. "Where the hell do you get off, hiring Aiden to investigate my brother!"

--

Maggie had always thought Robin a little odd. Now, she was under the very real fear that the woman had gone a whole lot crazy.

"Excuse me?"

But Robin was already on her feet, looking through Maggie's school things, sorting the items on her desk to produce a notebook. "A list!" Robin repeated. "Mind if I use this?"

Too startled at the fact that, instead of trying to kill her for cheating on her cousin, Robin had resorted to making LISTS, Maggie only nodded.

"Great." Settling down again beside her, Robin flipped to a clean white sheet, and smoothed it out, tapping at it with the pencil she had also picked out. "See, whenever I'm confused, I make a list."

Maggie couldn't help but shake her head in wonder. "Robin... this isn't like what kind of ice cream I want-"

"I know! I know-" Robin drew a line down the paper, carefully etching a name on either side. "But this is good! Look-"

Biting her bottom lip, Maggie discovered Bianca scrawled on one side of her tablet, Aiden on the other. The image burned inside of her, and feeling the rush of emotion again, Maggie had to force herself to look away.

"Okay - so, we'll list the pros of each relationship, and then the cons, okay? Yeah?" Robin was acting like someone had stuck an Energizer battery inside of her. Ramrod straight, Aiden's cousin flashed a weird smile that Maggie supposed was supportive. "Okay, Bianca first." Pen pointed to the paper, Robin waited.

Maggie blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"Con's first?" Robin asked, and before a very distracted Maggie could respond, she plowed ahead, "Okay, cons."

Maggie could only open her mouth, close it again, gaping like a fish.

"Well, okay - you can't get married. Legally." Carefully, Robin etched the con down on the paper: NO MARRIAGE. "And Bianca's a Kane. Which means - you'll be in the tabloids. A lot." She added 'FAMOUS' to the list. "So no privacy." 'NO PRIVACY' was added. "Oooh! Oooh! And you'll have to deal with Erica Kane, who from what I hear? No picnic!"

Maggie had to nod with that, blowing out her breath. "Put down Kendall Hart and Greenlee Lavery," she added. "Might as well."

"Okay." Robin turned the tablet. 'CRAZY FAMILY', she had written.

Maggie looked at the list, which Robin flourished proudly. "Okay? Now - AIDEN?" Robin turned back to writing. "Okay, with AIDEN - you get - a penis." She wrote 'PENIS' in large letters.

Maggie nearly burst into a fit of inappropriate laughter.

At her incredulous look, Robin arched an eyebrow. "Okay, we had to bring it up, all right? And they're lovely things." Maggie rolled her eyes, sighing as she waited this out. "And, he's cute, smart and witty."

"I thought we were doing cons," Maggie replied dryly.

"We'll get to it," Robin continued, scrawling, 'CUTE, SMART, WITTY'. "And, you get to marry into a lovely family who all have very nifty British accents," Robin continued, adopting one of her own, a perfect mimic of her mother's tongue. 'MARRIAGE', and 'COOL ACCENTS' were also added to the list. "Not to mention, they're all very nice, very well spoken, and very SANE." Carefully, Robin consulted her list, and showed Maggie. "See? It's there. In black and white."

Maggie stared at the list, eyes roving from Aiden's 'SANE', to Bianca's 'CRAZY'. "Look, Robin, I appreciate this, but I don't think this is the solution."

"What are you talking about? 'Cool British Family' or 'Crazy Kane Divas'. Not a hard choice." Overwhelmed, Maggie couldn't begin to conjure up a response. Robin stared at her for a beat, and then back down at her list, playing idly with her pen. "I'm not helping, am I?"

Tired and emotionally drained, Maggie still managed a smile for Aiden's cousin. "Not even close," she admitted solemnly. "But it was a great effort. "

Putting down her decidedly skewed list, Robin turned to face her. "How can I help you?"

The question nearly undid her. Robin was sincere, and the fact that Aiden's family was so willing to at least try and understand her twisted motivations and compulsive behavior only increased her guilt. Rubbing against her clammy face, Maggie let out an unsteady breath. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"Just..." Maggie closed her eyes, an attempt to steady herself. "I was going to look for Aiden. I'm worried about where he might be and... he might need someone."

Robin's stare was somber, conflicted. "I think he might want to be alone, Maggie."

"I know." Maggie shut her eyes, tightly against the pain that had settled so routinely inside her. "And God, I know that I'm the last person who has a right to care about him right now, but it doesn't change the fact that I do- you shouldn't be here with me. You should be out there, with him."

Robin put down her pen, a deliberately movement. "Then what?" she asked calmly. "We get drunk and badmouth you? I don't think he's there yet." Maggie couldn't answer. She was tired, so tired, weighted down by her own self loathing and pity that there was hardly room for much else.

But Aiden still lingered inside her, his perfect expression of heartbreak. The fact that the intensity of it frightened her only worsened the situation.

"He needs his family," Maggie said softly. "You shouldn't be with me. I'm just the cheating girlfriend."

Robin was quiet beside her, but Maggie's eyes closed with relief when she bobbed with a shift of weight, and, later, the front door closed.

--

"You listen to me, Kendall! You have NO RIGHT - NONE - to involve yourself IN MY BUSINESS. STAY OUT OF MY LIFE!"

Ryan was nearly spitting in his furious agitation, large finger pointed into Kendall's face, nearly crowding the smaller woman with his muscular frame.

Aiden's reaction were not as quick as they should have been, senses dulled by the alcohol, but after another second of taking in the scene, Ryan and Jonathan both crowding her, Greenlee tugging on Ryan's arm, he nearly skidded off the stool.

"Woah, mate - calm down!"

"Yeah, and get a life!" Kendall snapped, pressed against the bar. "It wasn't me that hired him!"

"Then who did!" Ryan snapped, even as Aiden pressed between them both, carefully depositing himself in front of Kendall, forcing her to stay behind him. Noting the movement, Ryan rolled his eyes. "Aiden, I'm not going to touch her-"

"But coming in and yelling at her in a crowded bar, that's okay?" he retorted, taking a step forward, forcing Ryan back with him. "Look around you, Ryan! You're creating a scene."

Behind his brother, Jonathan craned his neck, scanned the curious crowd. "Like they don't already think I'm a monster. You hear that?" he said to the crowd, tossing his arms up in surrender. "I'm a monster, people! That's me! Jonathan Lavery: Monster!"

"Jonathan, calm down," Greenlee tried. "Ryan, YOU hired Aiden, remember?"

"I hired Aiden to find out who poisoned you," Ryan nearly spit, hand up to stop his wife. "NOT to play conspiracy theory with MY brother."

"You hired me to find out the truth." Aiden's posture was rigid, and in the back of his mind, it surprised him a little, military training coming back in a flash, despite the liquor that addled his brain. "I intend to do that."

"Truth?" Ryan shook his head almost violently. "You let Kendall TAINT you, Aiden! She's getting into your head just like she's getting into your pants!"

"Woah, wait-" Hands on his shoulders, Kendall tried to push around him. "What's going on with Aiden and me is NONE of your business."

"Yeah?" Jonathan asked tersely. "What about your girlfriend, Aiden? Any of her business?"

Aiden felt a flash of something, a mixture of guilt and anger, and it singed him in his gut, snapping something inside of him that made him suddenly want to lunge toward the young prick.

"SOD OFF!" Shrugging off Kendall's hands, Aiden ignored Ryan's hands on his chest. "You don't know SHIT about Maggie and me, all right?"

"Okay, I think things are getting a little out of control," Greenlee began, trying to reach in.

Aiden barely heard her. "Stay out of my life-"

"STAY OUT OF MINE!"

"HEY!" Kendall cut the air with her hand, suddenly in between all three men. "Can we kill the testosterone? Greenlee? Control your husband!"

"Control your one night stand!"

Hands were on his, pulling him back, and only their feminine touch kept him from swinging violently against them.

"What's going on here! AIDEN!" Two brown haired, dark-eyed women now stood in front of him, both grabbing him with immediate possession, two feet further.

"Oh, great!" he heard, an aggravated Kendall quipping, "It's the sanctimonious Santos sisters, sent to judge us for our sins."

"You know what? SHUT UP, Kendall!" Maria snapped, jerking her glare to meet her rival's daughter. "Things are tense enough in here without you sparking the plug."

"Aiden!" Anita's hands were calm and careful, squeezing into his own reassuringly. "What's going on? What's wrong?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, Maria? Am I not acting decent enough for you?"

"Aiden, what the hell are you doing?" Maria asked, ignoring Kendall completely, dragging his attention to his former lover. "Why are you defending them? You're playing right into their plan."

The word caught him, blinking into his consciousness, forcing his sudden focus. "Plan? What plan?"

"Oh, you don't know?" Hands on her hips, Maria shook her head. "The plan Kendall cooked up to break you and Maggie up."

--

Taking a sip of tepid tea, Maggie leaned over her counter and glanced over the shadows that danced over her moonlit living room, darting over her couch, her coffee table, the stools and the mug she held in her hand.

Familiar, inanimate objects that represented years of memories, vivid as if she were relieving them now, malleable, rushing through her mind as she sucked in another hesitant mouthful of tea.

On the coach, she had made love to Aiden, the same coach Bianca had slept on, found comfort in her sleep. Covered herself and Aiden with the same blanket she had used to cover Bianca.

In this kitchen, Bianca had once protected her from broken glass - the scar on her foot was a tiny line now, tainting her dainty feet.

Swallowing down the bitter liquid, Maggie held the aroma to her nose, seeping it in, trying hard now to ignore the memories, stabbing her intentions and obliterating her future.

Maggie had never stayed long in any place because of the memories. Memories of her mother and Frankie had kept her running, unwilling to create any lasting memories beyond the ones of her childhood - for this very reason. They festered inside her heart, trapped her.

Maggie had wanted to run once and Bianca had stopped her. Maggie had run from Bianca and Aiden had caught her.

In her tiny kitchen, overwhelmed with her memories, she wondered what the hell she had been thinking, letting them both talk her into staying put.

Not particularly inclined to turn on the lights, Maggie rinsed her cup out in darkness, snapping the button on her LCD watch to view the time, and reaching automatically for the pills that bore Anna's name, taking a bottle of water from a cabinet as well.

Carefully, she moved to Jamie's old bedroom, pointedly ignoring the racecar sticker with his name on it she had jokingly once placed there, left only because taking it off would have meant peeling off the paint, and rapping softly with her knuckles.

"Anna?"

Nothing. Maggie bit her lip, contemplating whether or not to wake her up, before she looked again at the pills and finally carefully pushed open the door.

"Anna?"

Her soft words roused her hero, as the tired, pale women twisted on the bed, staring sleepily at the shadowed form in the door.

"I'm sorry," Maggie whispered, indicating the pills in her hand the water, "But it's been four hours, and I think you take these-"

Anna blinked sleepily at her, and frozen, Maggie felt very real fear, that she would judge her now, for what she had done.

Standing there, Maggie realized she wasn't quite sure what she would do, if Anna hated her now.

Anna smiled slowly, nodding, and responding in a dusty voice, "Thank you."

Maggie let out the shaky breath she hadn't been aware she had been holding.

"Okay," she replied, clearing her clogged throat with a cough, coming forward to carefully try to break through the childproof cap.

Her fingers were shaking, and after the second drop of the bottle, Maggie choked in a sudden sob, dropping it in frustration.

A calm hand stilled her. Without a word, Anna quickly opened the bottle, and dropped two pills into her waiting palm. Taking them quickly, she drank the water, and set them both on the coffee table beside them.

In the silence between them, Maggie felt her very real fear return.

"Are you going to talk to me?" she asked, in a halting voice.

Anna's eyes glittered up at hers. "Would you like me too?"

Maggie stared into the wise face, and feeling like a lost child, she shook her head mutely. She had had enough of talking.

"Then we can talk whenever you wish," Anna told her simply, carefully palming her hair. "For now, let's simply rest. Come here."

Drawn into Anna's arms, Maggie felt the press of warm flesh, the safety of boundless love.

Sobbing harshly, she held it inside of her, trembling as Anna simply held her, in Jamie's bed, an oasis from her confusion.

--

Having had problems with alcohol in the past, and her lingering headache from the days before staying vivid in her memory, Bianca found herself wary to step into SOS. Not that drinking was an addiction or even a potential addiction, but her need for her sister's company was almost combated by the fact that SOS was filled with people.

She was in an antisocial mood, the state of things left a lingering longing to be at home with her daughter, wrap her arms around her little girl and never let her go.

Remnants of her conscious warned her against what she was doing, and common sense told her that what she had put Maggie through on that rooftop would only serve to push Maggie further away, but Bianca understood drive and dedication.

At this point, she had no other option.

"Um... excuse me? Are you going in?"

Bianca froze, the familiar voice creating a sudden tension in her spine, and she turned slowly and encountered Robin, Aiden's cousin.

The woman recognized her immediately, eyes turning suddenly cold. "Bianca."

"Hi, Robin."

Robin was a small, pretty girl, with her mother's intense eyes, and slender build, but her eyes were harder, her stance tougher, and the crooked smile that lingered on the woman's lips mimicked her mother on a bad day.

"Do we have anything to say to each other?"

Licking her lips, Bianca let out an easy breath, somehow carelessly expectant of the rant. "I have a feeling you do."

Robin arched an eyebrow, smile broadening in an almost cruel way. "I do. I have a lot to say to you."

"Then say it," Bianca said simply.

Robin shook her head, obviously ready to dive right into it, when the doors swung open, and they were nearly plowed into by a departing couple.

The noise and shouts that carried from inside were enough to break Bianca of the confrontation immediately.

"What the hell is going on in there?" Robin asked, and when Bianca shrugged in bewilderment, the other girl moved forward, Bianca immediately on her heels.

What she saw inside took her breath away, stomach sinking. "Oh, my God..."

Taking in place inside SOS, the most popular club in Pine Valley, was what could only be described as a HUGE ASS SCENE.

Somehow or other, Kendall, Greenlee, Ryan, Jonathan, Maria, Anita AND Aiden, had all decided it would be a good idea to stand there, and shout at each other at the top of their lungs.

In front of an audience.

Bianca's eyes darted around the crowded room, and she shook her head again. "Oh, God, no-"

"What, this surprises you?" Robin snapped beside her. "You started this shit."

"Robin, NOT now," she returned coldly and moved fast, headed for the crowd of family and friends and rivals. "What's going on?"

Anita Santos wore a huge frown, and she shook her head hopelessly, "Bianca, thank God."

"Oh, great!" Kendall crossed her arms, eyes like flint. "Guess what, baby sister? Your friend Anita squealed like a stuffed pig."

"What?"

"This was a plan?" Aiden snapped, and suddenly, Bianca was confronted with Maggie's boyfriend, quiet fury in his face. "This is how you repay me, Bianca? After everything Maggie and I did, you manipulate and deceive, you try to steal my girlfriend!"

"Bianca, I swear, I only told Maria-"

"Who has amazing timing," Greenlee sniffed.

Overwhelmed, Bianca blinked, shaking her head as she darted glances from Aiden's angry face to the group now surrounding her, sides quickly noted and placed.

"Answer me, Bianca!"

Letting out a slow, unsteady breath, she forced herself to remain calm. "Aiden, you're drunk, okay? Can we not do this here?"

"He has a right to be angry, Bianca-"

"Maria, stay the hell out of it!"

"Oh, right!" Robin, apparently, was only too happy to join in, glaring at Kendall. "Because you're the poster girl for sticking her nose out of business that isn't hers?"

"Who the hell is this?" Greenlee asked.

"Okay," Bianca began unsteadily, "Guys-"

"Bianca," Aiden wouldn't let her move around him. "Answer me. Is this really, who you are?"

"Aiden, think about this, okay? There is a crowd WATCHING us-"

"The crowd can SOD OFF!"

"Greenlee? What the hell is going on?" Ryan asked.

"Seriously, who are you!"

"I'm Aiden's cousin," Robin said curtly, "You must be Greenlee. Maggie talked about a pain in her ass-"

Behind Ryan, Bianca noticed Jonathan Lavery eating a cherry, wearing an odd grin.

"You know what, Maria? I don't understand where the hell you get off-"

"Where I get off? I'm not trying to break up a relationship, Kendall!"

"No, you're too busy breaking up your own? How's Zach Slater, Maria?"

"Oh, God, SHUT UP, KENDALL!" Anita barked, loosing her own composure.

"Aiden, let's just go-" Curling an arm around her cousin, Robin tried to tug. "This isn't what you need-"

"I'm not going anywhere until Bianca ANSWERS me," he snapped. Cold dark eyes were fixated on her, and Bianca took in a sad sigh, keeping her place as Aiden came in closer, hands closed into frustrated fists. "So tell me, Bianca - is this who are you? This person who breaks up relationship for the hell of it?"

"That's not what this is-"

"You know what, Kendall? NOT ONE WORD!" Aiden's finger was up, pointing at Kendall warningly. "Bianca put everyone up to this - I want to hear it from her."

The room was fixated on her now, and Bianca was no trapped. In her mind, she understood exactly what this was, how badly this had spun out of her control. Pine Valley deeply entrenched in her own matters of the heart, and in Aiden, she saw the face of a heartbroken man.

She owed him the truth.

Carefully, quietly, she met his stare head on, away from any manipulation and lies. "I'm the person that loves Maggie," she said finally, calm and firm. "And I'm the person that Maggie loves."

"Bullshit."

"Aiden, if I could have done this without hurting you, I would-"

"Maggie loves me," he said tersely. "What you're doing is manipulating her, you're using her old feelings for you-"

"The feelings you knew she had-" Bianca interrupted quietly. "The ones she never stopped having. You blinded yourself deliberately, Aiden. You didn't want to see it. This isn't all my fault."

"Where the hell do you get off-"

"Hey, nosy girl - stay the hell out of it."

"You know what? If you can stick your curly headed phro in this, I think I can have a say-"

Aiden stayed quiet, looking down into soft brown eyes, just like his. Into a figure with dark brown hair, just like his. Into a stubborn, kind soul who wanted a chance for happily ever with Maggie.

Just like him.

He wouldn't hurt her, and Bianca knew it was only because she was a woman.

She closed her eyes as he walked away from them, leaving his family and friends and her own, squabbling like children.

Only Robin noticed him leave, as her eyes locked with Aiden, and she shook her head slightly, pushing past her to go after her cousin.

"Okay..." Bianca whispered, battling a sudden headache. "OKAY! KENDALL!" Snapping her fingers, she got her sister's attention. "That's enough, okay?"

"Bianca, I'm sorry." Anita looked truly sincere, and tired, Bianca only shook her head.

"Let's just drop it now. Please?" Bianca once again appealed to her sister, motioning to the watching crowd, and finally, her sister seemed to come out of her fiery haze. "God..."

The steam had finally dissipated, and while Maria shot her a particularly nasty look, she left at her sister's urging.

Beside them, Ryan looked completely confused. "What just happened?"

Jonathan Lavery only grinned. "Bianca. Fight for your woman. Right on."

Shaking her head in disgust, Bianca turned and exited the bar.

--

Aiden felt heavier than he had ever felt. The dizzy feeling had faded, and it left behind a sober, quiet man consumed with thoughts.

Robin, walking beside him, had tried to talk to him, but he cut her off, shortly, as politely as he could.

There was only one person he wanted to talk to.

Aiden was tired of playing the blind fool.

Quietly, Robin took his keys, and inserted them into the keyhole. "Are you okay?"

"Just open the door, Robin."

Her cousin hesitated, but finally did, jerking the knob and pushing forward, into a darkened apartment.

Seconds later, Maggie emerged from Anna's bedroom, hair disheveled, eyes heavy with sleep.

"You're back."

One look, and the pain came back. Shutting his eyes tightly, Aiden breathed in sharply, and ignoring the quiet Robin, he told her simply, "We have to talk. Now."

They ended up in their bedroom, as Maggie sank down on the bed they shared, as he crossed his arms and told her simply, "Tell me everything you never told me. Tell me because I deserve the truth."

She looked at him, his beautiful Maggie, and inside those eyes was a naked pain that mirrored that ache that nearly swallowed him whole.

And she told him, about Bianca - about what happened on a rooftop with flowers and what happened on the night her sister died. About being carried away with feelings and confusion and promising herself each and every time it was over, only to be sucked in again, like a child caught in a riptide.

In his head, he could picture it, Maggie in Bianca's arms, Maggie loving Bianca the way she told him she loved him.

He had believed it. He had believed her.

He demanded answers, and he asked questions, and Maggie told him the truth.

In it, he lost his strength.

Sinking down beside her, he stared at the blank wall, unsure how to face the wall that had been placed between them.

"You told me you loved me."

"I meant it."

"Did you?" He asked, bitter and empty. "Do you still want to be with me, Maggie?"

Maggie sucked in a sob soaked breath, fragile beside him. "I don't know. Aiden, I'm so confused..."

He shut his eyes tight, wanting to ignore this, avoid it, make it all go away.

"Maggie," he began, marveling at how much it hurt just to say the name, "How can you expect me to want you now?"

It was bitter and angry and cruel, but Aiden was human and broken, and he could think of nothing else to say.

Maggie was silent beside him, until he got his answer. "I don't expect you to," came a dry, dead voice. "I'm not who you thought I was. I never will be again." A bitter, weak laugh came out of her, like china fracturing, bit by bit. "Everything you think is true. I never loved you. I've used you for all these months and I didn't give a damn about you. All I am is a crazy lesbian in denial, who runs to men and uses them for their money."

Shaking his head, her self deprecating words worked a hole in his head. "Maggie..."

"I played you Aiden, and the jig is up."

"Stop it."

"Tell me that's not what you believe."

It was too much, too soon, Maggie battered and tired and when he turned to look into lifeless eyes, he realized that in that moment, his Maggie just stopped trying.

"Maggie-" She was already up, reaching for a sweater and moving toward the door. "Where are you going?"

"Does it matter?"

"Maggie, you can't leave like this-"

"I can take care of myself," she snapped, jerking out of his grasp, like his touch burned her.

Overwhelmed, Aiden could only watch her go, sinking down on their bed, his head buried in his hands.

--

It was frigid and dark.

Grateful for Jamie's forgotten, left behind jacket, Maggie dug her fingers further into the deep pockets, watching her tennis shoes as they bobbed up and down on the sidewalk, one foot in front of the either, letting the cracks on the sidewalk determine her pace.

Step on a crack, she thought idly, pausing to hop gently over a line, then another, grimacing when it became actual effort to get to the other block of cement.

In the action, she found an ironic déjà vu, a barely there memory of standing outside her apartment like this, in this jacket, skipping crack, overwhelmed by Bianca and her feelings, lost and unsure what to do or where to go.

Shivering, Maggie brought her feet together, glancing up away from the sidewalk and looking over her street, quiet and a little desolate in the late evening hours. The moon was bright and full, and the moonlight cast shadows and beams over cars and street lamps.

Maggie stood on the sidewalk, and remembered that it was that day, months ago, when Aiden found her, told her about Anna and her sickness.

Licking her lips, she didn't even have the strength to cry.

At first she thought she was just imagining things, until the car with the bright headlights shined upon her, and then shut off, and a familiar, darkened shadow of a form lowered the window, as the car rolled up beside her.

"Maggie? What are you doing out here at this time? It's freezing!"

Maggie only stared, taking in the kind brown eyes and the comforting, boyish face.

With nowhere to go, Maggie did the only thing she could think of.

Moving fast, Maggie opened the passenger side of the door and got in. Clicking her seatbelt, she didn't look at Jamie's wondering face.

"Just drive," she told him.

After a minute, he did.

--

End chapter