Dylan is leaning against the counter, staring mindlessly out the window above the sink, when Kelly comes barreling in. He had managed to elude her since they had arrived back at Steve's house, but she'd finally cornered him in the one place he couldn't disappear. With no one else to turn to, he was forced to deal with the impending doom of their relationship head on.

"Dylan, we need to talk," he heard her say, the famous words carrying the same weight they had every other time she'd ever uttered them his way.

"Now's not the time," he mumbled without looking up at her, keeping his eyes focused on the beautiful woman bent over a crimson rose bush in the backyard.

Kelly huffed. "Dylan, it's never the time with you. Let's just get this over with. We both know what's coming. The sooner we put it out there, the sooner we can both move on to the lives that we want."

"I'm not going to break up with you, Kel. If you want to walk away, then you be the one to end it."

"Why? You don't love me. Anyone can see that."

"Maybe you're the one who doesn't love me. If you want to be with Brandon, then go. No one is stopping you. It's pretty clear that you are both in love with each other, so why don't you just be a big girl and break up with me? Or do you want me to do it so that you can go running to him, claiming that big, mean Dylan broke your poor little heart again?"

Kelly stared at him angrily, her fists clenched at her sides. "What do you want me to say? I'm not in love with you anymore, Dylan. I am in love with Brandon. I'm not sure who you love now. Is it me or is it Brenda? Maybe it's Andrea, who can keep track? Either way, we're over. Are you happy now?"

"Are you happy now, Kel?" he spat, stomping out of the kitchen and out the back door, leaving a stunned blonde in his wake. Outside, he bent over at his waste, holding his head in his hands. "I cannot believe her," he yelled through clenched teeth.

"Can't believe who?" a soft voice asked. Andrea padded barefoot across the cool grass. The sun was starting to slip below the horizon, casting deep indigo and purple streaks across the pink sky. A halogen lamp cast a glow off her sandy blonde hair.

"I think Kelly and I just broke up."

"Oh."

"I don't even understand why I'm angry," Dylan commented offhand. "I told her that she had to break up with me if she wanted to walk away. We weren't happy. I'm not even in love with her. Why am I angry?"

"Because after everything you just said, it still hurts," Andrea answered simply. "I've been there. It's one of those times where it's hard to stay, but it's a hell of a lot harder to walk away."

"I really thought after I came from London that I was ready to settle down with Kelly. She is everything any guy could ever want—beautiful, intelligent, kind and loyal."

"Dylan, you've never been just any guy."

"I don't know who I am," he admitted.

"I know who you are Dylan," she whispered. "You're an amazing man who has the best intentions. When you love something, you love it with all you have. You fight for the things, and the people, that you believe in. You're a fighter and a survivor."

"You have this funny way of making me believe the best about myself. The only person that has ever made me feel that way was Toni. I wish you could have known her, she would have loved you."

"I'm sure I would have loved her because you did," she said with a shiver. Looking up, the sky was completely dark now. Stars sparkled brilliantly overhead. "Look at the stars. Who would've thought you'd ever get a view like that in the middle of Beverly Hills? It almost makes me feel like anything is possible."

"Anything is possible," he murmured.

"Why do I have a feeling that comment was chockfull of subtext? What's going on between us?"

"I don't know."

Dylan reached up and brushed a stray of golden hair from her face. The move was so simple but yet so intimate and sensual. She leaned into his body, her eyes searching his as his hand slid down her arm tenderly. As he grabbed her hand, she could feel the cool perspiration from his skin press upon her palm. He's nervous. Dylan McKay is nervous because of me, Andrea realized, a small smile playing across her lips. His other hand soon found its way to the back of her neck, playfully tugging at a tendril as he drew her face near his. Leaning down, he captured her lips in a surprising caress.

Brenda stood in the foyer, pretending to listen to one of Steve's colleagues from the Beat as he went on and on about a play he was currently reviewing. An uneducated critic at best, his droning was becoming excruciatingly unbearable. Across the room, he could see her friend speaking quietly to her husband. With David's back to her, she could see the tenseness in his back as Donna spoke to him firmly. Though their words were not audible above the low hum of the crowd, she could tell they were fighting.

"That's great," Brenda remarked with a polite nod. She had no idea what he had just said but by the proud look on his face, he was apparently boasting about one accomplishment or another. Not missing a beat, he started in on another story, this one highlighting a recent run in with a soap actress at an after-hours club in Malibu. Not remotely interested in the social perusing of a nameless player on a second-rate daytime drama, she scanned the room for the rest of her friends. Andrea and Dylan were noticeably missing, and Kelly was chatting with Steve's father. Brandon was deep in a discussion with Steve next to the fireplace, near where David and Donna were still arguing.

She was about to make an excuse to leave the horrible conversationalist when Donna stormed out of the room. David didn't even turn to watch after her, but Steve's eyes were locked on her retreating back. Brandon looked up at his friend in confusion. She giggled to herself at how oblivious her brother was; he had been so wrapped up in Kelly that he hadn't even noticed the affections brewing between his best friend and Donna.

Finally, David turned to look around the room. His eyes are haunted by the ghost of their argument until he locks on her gazing back at him. Wordlessly, she walks away from the critic and saunters to where he is standing. "What's wrong with Donna?"

"Apparently I'm not allowed to have an opinion, even when my wife asks for it," he grumbled. "I'm so tired of arguing with Donna."

"I'm tired period."

"Yeah, I can tell."

"Great, thanks, David!" she laughed. "You sure know how to flatter a girl."

"That's not what I meant."

"I know, I was just kidding."

"Well, do you want to head back to our place? You can stay with us. I'm sure Steve could use some time alone with your brother to talk about everything."

Brenda nodded. "That sounds nice. I'd like to take a long shower and get out of these depressing clothes."

David's eyes ran up and down the length of her petite body. Shaking his head, he tried to clear his mind of any thoughts of her naked and wet in the shower. In the shower I share with my wife, he reminded himself. "Let me just go talk to Donna."

He finds her sitting alone in the dining room, her heels kicked off and feet propped on the mahogany surface. "What now?"

"Brenda is tired. I was going to take her back to our place to stay. I just wanted to see if that is okay with you."

"It's fine. I told Steve I would stay here anyway."

"What about Brandon?"

"Brandon will be here, too, so you don't need to get jealous. Not that you'd get jealous over me anyhow," Donna retorted hastily.

"You're right, Donna. Why would I get jealous over my wife? We're married, there shouldn't be any reason for me to have to get jealous."

"Maybe you should take a second look."

"Maybe we both have something to be jealous about," he shot back, turning on his heel to walk away. Without a word to anyone else, he jolted through the living room, pulling Brenda by the wrist out the front door to get the hell away from his wife as fast as his feet could carry him.

"Excuse me, Bran," Steve said to his best friend. Heading toward the dining room, he is only stopped twice to hear people tell him for the tenth time that day how sorry they were about his loss. When the third person tries to stop him, he just ignores them. He needed to get to Donna. "Don," he said softly, pulling the door shut behind him.

She doesn't say anything; she simply turns around to acknowledge that he is in the same room. The tears are rolling down her tanned cheeks and her eyes are red. The mere sight of her so distraught breaks his heart. He kneels down and wraps his arms around her. Murmuring encouragement into her soft hair, he does what he can to comfort her. Only hours before, she was the one encouraging him.

When she has finally managed to calm herself down, Donna starts to recount the fight to Steve. "What did I do wrong, Steve? Why am I not enough for David?"

"You are more than enough for David. You're more than enough for any man. He is so lucky to have you, Donna, and if he doesn't recognize that, then he doesn't deserve to have you as his wife."

"I wish we could go back to the way things used to be," Donna mused. "There is so much I would change about the last three years. I've wasted too much time on something that isn't working. I thought I would eventually be able to fix it, but I think this marriage is broken beyond repair."

"Would you really change it?"

"In a heartbeat."

"Don't have regrets, Donna," he told her. "When Janet was sick in that last week, we talked about it a lot. I told her I wish we would have done that or went there. She told me that I couldn't regret anything because this was our life. The good, the bad, it was all part of the journey we took as husband and wife."

"I have to end the marriage, Steve. I'm going to ask David for a divorce."

Kelly patted Rush on the shoulder as he started for the door. Brandon was alone now, flipping through an old issue of Steve's newspaper in the recliner. His tie loosened around his neck. Kelly imagined for a brief moment what it would be like to come home to that sight every night. "What you reading, stranger?"

"Alien attacks chimp, learns sign language," Brandon read from the paper. Holding up the paper to display the photograph of the primate with his arm around a grayish-green figure, they both burst into laughter at the absurdity of the image. "The Beat sure has changed since my days as news editor."

"A lot has changed since your days in L.A.," Kelly pointed out.

"But a lot of things are still the same. David and Donna, you and Dylan, it's just like we're back in high school."

"From the looks of what just went on, I'm not sure how much longer David and Donna are going to be married. And I broke up with Dylan about twenty minutes ago."

"Well, I guess you just killed my theory."

"Partly, but you were still half right. Some things are still the same."

"Like?"

"Donna is still the group's guardian angel, always looking for the best in people. Andrea is still brilliant, and Brenda is still dramatic. David works for a radio station, and Dylan is the most moody person in the world. You're a writer."

"What about you, Kel? Have you changed?"

"A lot has changed, but one thing still remains."

"Oh?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm still in love with you."