Outside Kelly's-

Brook Lynn Ashton was not a happy person. Oh, certainly there were times when she felt like she was happy. When she first arrived in Port Charles, for a brief second, there was that feeling of euphoric glee that overcame her when she saw her father for what seemed to be the first time in ages. Ned hadn't changed much, but she had. Even though he still swore that she was 'his little princess,' it wasn't true. In that moment it didn't matter. Brook was just happy to be with her dad again, whatever Ned wanted to call her was good enough for Brook. And then something else happened. She heard her grandmother's voice, and the illusion was shattered as she was forced to endure Tracy's snake-like personality. Her grandmother would pretend to accept Lois and Brook for what they were, but Brook knew that, deep down, she wasn't. After all, Tracy never accepted anything that Dillon did, and Dillon came out of Tracy, developed inside of her womb. It was a hard thing to envision, that was certain, but it was true. Dillon was her uncle, and her god brother, oddly enough. They had a very… strange family life. That was putting it lightly.

Brook looked inside the diner, one of the few places that she knew would be free of the evil Quartermaine taint. None of them, sans Dillon and her father, would ever think of going inside the place, especially her satanic grandmother. But, what Brook was looking for wasn't an escape from her family, well, it was, but that wasn't all of it. Brook was also looking for something, or someone, to talk to. Nobody was inside, though. She had been at the school for a few weeks, and even made a few friends, but she hung around with Dillon and Georgie most. She tried to be involved with the music class at the school, but none of them had her love for music. They were all in it for the possibility of fame and fortune. Even the tuba player. How many famous tuba players were there in the world? How many of them were still alive? Brook couldn't think of anyone. It didn't matter, they weren't like her. She was the daughter of a musician, and a woman who had once owned a very established record company. Music was a calling to her, not a way to get money. She had enough money. They just couldn't understand that. Music was supposed to be about the love, nothing more, nothing less.

Maybe that was why she was so attracted to him, why she couldn't deny the connection that they made. Damian was something else. He was more like her than she had ever thought possible. A doctor who could play the piano like he was born and bred to do it, but who didn't want to use that power to gain accolade. Damian played the piano for himself, for the people that he cared about, not for some money. That was what she wanted. Why couldn't he be younger? Why couldn't he be at school with her? Why couldn't he be inside Kelly's when she needed to talk to someone? When she wanted to talk to him?

Sighing, Brook gave one last look inside to see if maybe she was missing something, or someone. He sometimes stuck around to help Mike out. A doctor, a piano player, and the kid who, from time to time, would give out food or wash dishes in the back. For free, no less. But when someone was a Corinthos why would they even need money? Sonny gave Damian more than he could ever hope for. Brook could see why Lois defended Sonny as frequently as she did. Lois had told Brook stories of her best friend, about the boy that he was, about the man that he became. Other people couldn't see it, but Brook could. She respected Sonny, maybe not his motives, but his drive. He came up from nothing only to get everything. How could a person not respect that? Seeing that she was not missing anyone, that there really was not a single person inside of Kelly's who she wanted to talk with, Brook sat at one of the tables outside and played with the flower that was on the table. It must have been hard to get flowers in the middle of January. It wasn't very cold, she'd dealt with colder winters. Besides, as fired up as she was with anger it was highly possible that any cold that could have attempted to get the better of her would just evaporate when it made contact.

Ned had gotten home to the Quartermaine mansion to find that, once again, the place was a wreck. Lois, Tracy and Edward were still screaming at each other, arguing about the same thing that they were arguing about when he was away at the office. It was only during a lull when Tracy needed to take a breather, a rare lull at that, in which he had enough time to drag the information out of his former wife that Brook had stormed off in the middle of their argument. But before Lois could go into further detail, assuming she had more detail to give, Tracy caught her twentieth wind and the shouting match began anew.

He sometimes wondered if Lois was making the right choice. It wasn't that he didn't want Brook, or Lois for that matter, to stay away from his family, but he wasn't sure that she was ready to stay in Port Charles, with his family. Ned had been with them for years and he wasn't sure he was ready to actually be with them. He loved having his daughter around more than he could ever hope to describe, but being a father meant putting the happiness of the child ahead of the happiness of the parent. And Ned wasn't so sure that Brook was happy. In fact, he was almost assured of the fact that she wasn't. Ned, like most parents, kept tabs on her daughter and how she was doing in school now that he was in a position to do so. Brook passed her classes, but she remained unfocused, and her social life wasn't exactly the best. He tried to talk to his brother about it, but speaking to Dillon about family matters was slowly getting more difficult. Ned secretly wondered if Jason was doing something to corrupt his little brother, keep Dillon away from the people who loved him… like he'd done with himself all those years ago. Dillon assured Ned that he was looking out for Brook, but that didn't fill Ned with the best feelings.

Finally, Ned walked to one of the most logical places that Brook could have been. There weren't many other places for a teenager to turn to aside from the park, where he had looked at first, and Kelly's, which was his next destination. If necessary, however, Ned would have searched every inch of Port Charles to find his daughter. He loved her too much to let her go again without at least saying that he loved her. Lucky for Ned, she was right there. He walked up to her, "A girl as pretty as you shouldn't even bother looking so sad, Brook. It's very unladylike…"

Brook gave a sarcastic smile as she looked up, "I haven't been ladylike ever since mom dressed me up in that costume for Halloween when I was like four, the pink princess, I even had one of those huge hats."

"You loved that hat."

"Wait… you were there?"

Ned shook his head, "Not for the trick-or-treat part, no. But I couldn't miss the chance of seeing my little princess dressed up like the princess that she was. I came later that night, I couldn't get away from the office in time, but you swore that you were never going to take that costume off as long as you lived, and your mother wasn't in the mood to fight with you that night. I came to your place and watched you sleep for a little while. I even sang a lullaby to you…"

Brook's sarcastic smile turned into a genuine one. "I think… I think I remember that."

"Now you're just humoring me."

"No, I'm not. I really think I remember hearing you sing to me that night. I thought I was dreaming about having you there, because I wanted you to see me all dressed up, but, I guess it wasn't a dream." She reached over and touched his hand, "Thanks for seeing me all pretty, dad."

"The pleasure was all mine," Ned sat down next to his daughter, never letting go of her hand. It was moments like that which made him realize just how precious his time with Brook was, and how he had some inward resentment towards Lois for taking her from him before he had a chance to really know her. She made the decision that she thought was best under the circumstances, but why didn't she give him a chance to help her make that decision? "So, are you going to come home with me?"

"Why? So I can listen to your mother insult my mother and me some more? Thanks, but I think I'll pass. I need a few hours of just some alone time so that I can regain my sanity. Being in that house would drive anyone insane."

"They love you Brook, even my mother…"

"I don't think Tracy is capable of love. Look at what she did to you, dad. She shipped you away to some private school so she wouldn't have to deal with you. She lugged Dillon around like he was a piece of cargo for years, never letting him stick around a place long enough to make a single friend that he could stay friends with, and then, when she was tired of him, she dropped him off here with the Quartermaine's because she didn't want to deal with him anymore…"

"Don't speak about your grandmother like that, Brook. You know better…"

"Why does everyone pretend like I should respect that woman? Nobody should. She's a horrible person and she doesn't deserve anything more than the hatred that most of the town gives her."

"Brook!" Tracy was a lot of things, and Ned didn't always agree with his mother, but he always loved her, because she was his mother. Yes, he had resentment towards Tracy for treating both him and Dillon the way that she did, but that was all in the past, Tracy was still the person responsible for bringing them both into the world, Ned couldn't just overlook that.

"You know, maybe if Great-Grandma Lila was still alive things would be better… everyone talks about how she was this saintly woman who could make sense out of all the chaos that went on around her…"

"She was…"

"I wish I got a chance to really know her."

Ned lowered his eyes, "So do I. I wish I could have one more moment with my grandmother. Just one more time to tell her that I loved her, to feel her touch my cheek with her hand, to know that she would always love me in the way that the other members of the family couldn't. I don't think I could have had my career as Eddie Maine if I didn't know that, deep down, a member of my family believed in me and my choice. Lila was that person."

"I'm sorry that I can't have a better relationship with your mother, dad, but I won't apologize for treating her the way that I do. I'd feel sorry for being so mean to her if she was someone that I didn't feel such anger towards. I just wish that she would tone it down, keep her mouth shut or something."

"Many people have wished that as well, Princess. It doesn't work out that way."

"Maybe we should just move out," Brook suggested, looking at him with hopeful eyes. "You know? You, Mom, me. We can get a place here in Port Charles so that you can keep on working. You have enough money. I can still go to school here, still hang out with Dillon and Georgie… we won't have to worry about living under the iron rule of Tracy Quartermaine…"

"Honey," Ned gripped her hand tighter. "It's a great idea, and, if things were different, if your mother and I… if we cared about each other in that way, I would be happy to do it, but we can't live together, it just wouldn't work out."

"You live together now."

"But it's different. The mansion is a much bigger place than any place that I could afford to buy here in Port Charles. Even if we got different rooms we would always run into each other. We love you, Brook, and we might still love one another, but that love isn't enough to bring us back together. It hurt you once when we split up, and you were barely old enough to remember it. What would happen if we did not now? Wouldn't it hurt more?"

Brook felt the welling of tears store in her eyes. She got up, "Not as much as this hurt," trying to avoid looking at her father so he wouldn't see the pain in her eyes, Brook walked away, leaving Ned there. He wanted to follow her, but he decided against it, knowing that it would probably do more harm than good.

Brook walked with a quickened pace until she was far enough away from her father's earshot. She had checked to see if he was following her, and he wasn't. She was glad, she might end up doing something that she would regret. Anger aside, Ned was still her dad, she still loved him. Finally breaking into tears at the realization of her destroyed dream, Brook picked up the phone and dialed one of the stored numbers.

Corinthos Household-

He continued to study for the exam, his highlighter out and running across the book whenever he found something that was worth remembering. It happened quite frequently. If he had a photogenic memory things would be fine. He wouldn't have to spend as much time studying as he did. But Damian wasn't blessed with such a boon, instead, he had to do things the old fashioned way.

In the middle of his studying session he heard the phone go off. Unlike other people, Damian didn't have individual ring tones, thinking that they were stupid. The names that showed up on the screen telling him who was calling was more than enough. Sighing, he muttered to himself, "I'm never going to finish studying… am I?" There wasn't going to be an answer, and the phone continued to ring. He reached over and looked. It was Brook, "Hello?"

"Damian?" Brook wiped away some of the tears that were rolling down her cheeks.

"Brook… what's wrong?" Brook usually had a very strong, solid tone of voice. It wasn't that tone of voice that she spoke in at that moment. She seemed hurt. Brook was his friend, even if she thought that she loved him, he wanted to help her.

"I… I shouldn't have called…"

"Brook… where are you? I'll go see you. Are you at the mansion?"

"No, I'm by Kelly's, I'll wait for you at the docks… if you want to come."

"I'll be there in a few minutes. Just don't leave, all right?" Damian hung up the phone and put his shoes back on. His study session would be called to an early end, but Brook needed him, that was more important.