Tired of hiding from Remy all day, Cyndi decided to simply leave the mansion with Marie. She was in desperate need of advice and she knew she could only get it one-on-one with her good friend while shopping...besides, some of Marie's best ideas came to her while she was wearing the metallic strips off on her credit cards.

"So, tell me exactly why you don't want to date him." Marie replied in her deep southern drawl as they walked through the busy food court.

"Isn't it obvious? I feel like I'm going nuts or something. Doesn't anyone see why I won't date him?" Cyndi exclaimed. Marie remained silent.

"He's a man whore. I love him to death, but he's a damn whore. Simple as that. And I don't think he'd know a loving, normal relationship if it bit him in the ass." Cyndi replied with a sigh. It was true, Remy had never been on more than a handful of dates with each of the girls he had been with and while living at the mansion had not engaged in a serious relationship...not once. Calling him a whore wasn't exactly the nicest thing to do, but there was truth to it. And the truth hurt her.

"But, he cares about you." Marie reasoned. This was also true, but on the other hand, that was what friends did. They cared for the others well-being. Marie would have to come up with something better.

"And I care about him, too. But, why can't a woman just be friends with Remy LeBeau? Why is it so insane to think I genuinely just want his friendship and nothing more?" Cyndi asked as they walked into Macy's.

"Because we all see the way he looks at you, Girl. You're too busy noticing all the other women in his life to stop and see that he might just love you." Marie said. Cyndi halted at that statement, causing Marie to walk straight into her and gasp.

"What?" Marie asked innocently.

"He does not love me." Cyndi replied flatly as they stood in the entrance of the department store.

"But how do you know? You never notice the good things, Cyndi. You focus on the bad just so you can justify not seeing him as anything more than your friend. That's how you keep yourself safe. You're so scared and everyone sees it. You're so transparent. And you know that I'm right." Marie said, putting her hands on her hips. When Cyndi opened her mouth to speak, she was cut off by Marie's ranting.

"And another thing, you're just as bad as he is, you know. How many dates have you had so far this month? How many men have you brought home? You guys do this to each other to make each other jealous!" Marie exclaimed triumphantly.

Sigmund Freud had nothing on her!

When Cyndi heard the words, it suddenly became as obvious as it seemingly was to everyone else. That's exactly what she and Remy were doing and for once, she had nothing to say.

"Though to your credit, you've had a few boyfriends. But still, you two are practically the same person." Marie said as they started walking into the store. Cyndi didn't say much the rest of the time. She couldn't. Her head was swarming with these thoughts and revelations, she felt as if she was losing control of her own life.

Her talk with Marie had only made things more complicated.

So much for the advice.

XXXXXXX

After coming home empty-handed from her day at the mall, Cyndi realized something she had been fighting for years. Remy wasn't just her friend. He never was. They were each others one serious relationship, the one that no man or woman could ever come between. They cared about each other so much, in fact, that when the other did date someone else...they grew increasingly jealous and tried to sabotage each other. It was all so clear to her now. No one was ever good enough for him and no one was ever good enough for her.

But love? Did she love him? The word was so...official. So scary.

Maybe she was simply claiming ownership of him because they were so close! That was it! Besides, Remy didn't love her. At least not that way. Not seriously. Though she knew she was held on a higher pedestal than other women in his life and given a hell of a lot more respect...she had a feeling that whatever he felt for her was simply physical. But then again...how could she be sure? Nothing made sense anymore.

"Aghhhhhhh!" Cyndi cried out in frustration as she laid in bed and threw a pillow over her mouth to muffle her yelling.

"I'm in hell..." Cyndi mumbled to herself as she threw the pillow off of her face and let out a deep sigh.

Meanwhile...

"Dis must be wha' hell feels like..." Remy thought to himself as he sighed softly and wandered aimlessly around the mansion. He hadn't seen her all day and this was very out of character for them. Usually they met up to go out for lunch, but when he went to look for her, Jean had told him that Cyndi and Marie had gone out.

He wondered what could possibly be going through her head today. Was avoiding him her answer to what had happened. Was it so horrible that they gave in to temptation just this once? Or maybe it was just his temptation...

And a horrible mistake to her...

Still, her avoidance of him all day was very telling and only confirmed his negative thoughts. It was all driving him crazy. Slowly and painfully.

"Why would she wan' ya, Cajun? She can have anyone she wan'. She too good fo' ya." Remy told himself as he walked through the hallways.

When he finally grew tired of walking, Remy found himself stopping right in front of Cyndi's room. With a glance up to Heaven and a sigh, he knocked on the door. He heard her start to walk to the door and suddenly, his blood ran cold and his heart thumped loudly in his chest.

He didn't know what to do...

So he ran.

When Cyndi opened the door...no one was there. She stepped out into the hallway only to find that it was completely empty. She shrugged and walked back inside to sulk in her room.

3 days later...

Cyndi had done a terrific job of keeping away from Remy and had actually managed not to see him for days, despite having rooms so close to each other. She knew his daily rituals and habits, so keeping them in mind, she made sure she was nowhere within the vicinity of where he would be.

It was now Thursday and through the grapevine she learned that Remy had come down with the flu and was cooped up in his room.

"How long can you avoid him?" She asked herself as she walked into the kitchen. Maybe she could do something nice for him. Do something she would usually do for him, maybe then things would go back to normal!

So, with a new outlook on things, she rifled through the pantry and pulled out a can of chicken soup. She prepared it, poured some into a bowl and went upstairs with it. She made a pit stop at her room and searched for her dark purple throw that Remy always liked to use when they watched TV together. When she found it, she draped it over her shoulder and went into her bathroom to find her supply of cough drops and throat spray. Then she struggled to carry it, but also brought her dehumidifier. Once everything was gathered together and made her way to Remy's room and knocked softly.

"Come in." Remy said hoarsely and then began to cough loudly. She took a deep breath and opened the door, walking in tentatively. Remy practically shot up in his bed when he saw her and so did Bridgette who was sitting beside his bed. What the hell?

"I heard you were...sick." Cyndi said quietly, her face falling a little and her heart sinking as much as she tried to fight it.

"Oh...ummm, yea." Remy said with a blush.

"Who's your friend, Remy?" Bridgette asked sweetly as she aimed a mega-watt smile towards Cyndi.

"Dat's Cyndi. Ya kinda met her last week." Remy said his voice scratchy from coughing all day.

"Oh! You're the one with the face mask. Now I remember you. How are you?" The blonde replied.

"I-I'm fine. Listen, Remy, I just brought you some soup and stuff. Figured you might be hungry." Cyndi mumbled as she glanced over at his nightstand and noticed a to-go cup of Panera chicken noodle soup, a bottle of Pellegrino, Vick's Vapor Rub which Cyndi was sure Bridgette had taken the pleasure in applying to Remy's chest and cough drops.

"Dat was real nice o' ya, Cyn...Remy kinda ate already though." He said softly. Cyndi nodded and turned around to leave. She felt so stupid. And since when did he call her by her name?! Since when?

"It was really great seeing you again!" Bridgette called after Cyndi before the door shut firmly behind her. Remy sighed softly and mentally wanted to kick himself in the ass. Why had he answered his phone when Bridgette called?

"Mon Dieu, Chere..." Remy thought to himself as he went into another coughing fit and slumped back down in the bed.

Once the door was shut behind her, Cyndi walked to her room and dumped the soup down her bathroom sink and deposited all the other items on her desk. Why was she feeling so low? Why did she care?

And then she did something unexpected.

She cried.

XXXXXXXXX

After Bridgette had gone home about an hour later, Remy forced himself out of bed and walked down the hall to Cyndi's room. When she didn't respond to his knocks; he simply let himself in.

"Chere?" He said gently as he peeked into the room and spotted her sitting in her window sill and gazing out the window.

"Please go away." She whispered with a soft sniffle; never looking at him.

"We need ta talk, Chere." He said, fighting another cough.

"Don't you mean Cyndi?" She asked bitterly.

"Wha' was Remy gonna call ya? Chere? Amour? Like not'in happened?" He asked, his throaty voice rising just a little in volume.

"What happened was a mistake. We both know it. I would just really like it if things could go back to the way they were." She said.

"Den why ya cryin'?" He asked softly.

Silence.

"Dat's wha' Remy t'ought." He said as he folded his arms across his bare chest before he started coughing again.

"Why was Bridgette here? I thought she was a one night stand." Cyndi mumbled glumly as fresh tears began to stream down her face slowly.

"She kinda jus' stopped by. An' she don' mean not'in. Remy already told ya dat." He said as he walked closer to her and knelt down beside her. She nodded slowly and turned to look down at him. Remy didn't speak for a moment as he reached his hand up and wiped the moisture from her cheeks tenderly.

"We need ta start bein' honest wit' each other, Chere…" Remy whispered softly as he held her cheek in his hand, his thumb stroking her cheekbone slowly.

"Bridgette can't come here anymore." Cyndi said softly. Remy nodded understandingly.

"Alrigh'." He whispered.

"I dunno why it bothers me so much, Remy. It just does…you're mine. You're my best friend." She admitted, sucking in her bottom lip as soon as the sentence passed her lips and hit the air.

"Am I?" He asked softly. She nodded slowly.

"I don't share well. Ask my 1st grade teacher…" She reasoned. A smirk tugged at the corner of Remy's mouth.

"You need to get back in bed." She said softly as she wiped her face once more for good measure and got up from the window sill, Remy shakily standing up with her. His legs felt like Jell-O and his fever was high so he nodded in agreement and let Cyndi walk him back to his room where she tucked him into bed.

"Do you need anything?" She asked softly.

"Dat blanket ya had befo'…" He requested sleepily before letting out a loud cough. She smiled a little and went to get it. When she came back, she draped it carefully over him and leaned down to kiss his hot forehead.

"Get some sleep. We'll talk more when you're not delusional from your fever." She whispered against his skin before she stood and turned to walk away. But as she turned, Remy's hand shot out from under the blankets and grabbed her wrist softly, keeping her there.

"Stay wit' me?" He asked gently. She thought his question over for a minute and agreed to stay until he fell asleep. So, with that, he scooted over in his bed and made room for Cyndi to snuggle in with him. She sighed happily at how warm it was in there with him and Remy got close to her, resting his head on her shoulder and draping an arm over her to hold her near. Instinctively, she held him to her until he drifted off to sleep, clutching her and her blanket close to him.