The next few weeks had gone by slowly for Kelly. Brandon had gone back to Washington to finish up at the paper, and she regretted not seeing him after that night at the Peach Pit. But Chris had made it next to impossible for her to go anywhere.

She hadn't seen any of her friends since that night, in fact. When they'd gotten back to the Beach Apartment, he beat her. Until she couldn't stand. At that point, she fell and hit her head, blacking out. When she woke up the next morning, the bruises on her cheeks and a black eye were impossible to cover up. She called into her PR firm and told her assistant that she was sick and would be working from home for the next few days, at least.

It had been three weeks, and the bruises had healed, but the painful memories had not gone away.

"Still working from home?" he spat angrily, taking a swig from his beer bottle.

She looked at her watch, "Only for another hour or so."

"'Bout time you went back to work," he commented. "You've been moping around here for weeks, and it's pissing me off."

Kelly fought off the urge to tell him that it was time he got himself a job and stopped mooching off of her, but she held herself back. Today was not the day. "I'll be gone the rest of the day, so you can have some space," she answered as diplomatically as possible.

Immediately, he jerked his head towards her. "Since when? I don't remember you discussing it with me."

"Remember last week when Donna called? We set up a time for us to go shopping. The baby is due at the beginning of December. It's only a couple of weeks away. David has the nursery set up, but Donna wants to buy clothes, toys, stuffed animals and a few essentials."

"Why can't David go with her? It's his kid too. He's gotta be a man and take responsibility for knocking her up," he slurred.

Kelly bawled her fist together before getting a hold of her temper. Calmly, she spoke again, "David has been busy. He's been working non stop at the recording studio, training the temps. He's going to take a few months off once the baby gets here." She heard the phone ring, knowing it was a client, but before she answered, she turned to him, "Donna and I have been friends since we were little kids. We've talked about becoming mothers and how we want the other there for us. It's no big deal." And before he could say anything else, she answered the phone. "Kelly Taylor," and she disappeared into the bedroom to take the call in private.

"I'm so glad we did this," Donna smiled as she and Kelly strolled arm in arm through the store.

"Me too," Kelly smiled back. "I was going stir crazy in the house. And Chris was-"

"Was what?" Donna asked.

"Getting on my nerves," she covered quickly.

"Kel, I know something more is going on between you two," she pleaded. She sat down in a wooden rocking chair and motioned for Kelly to sit in the one next to her. "You can talk to me, you know that. Right?"

"I know," she nodded. "Things are just a little weird between us, that's all." She hated lying, but she honestly couldn't see a way out with out getting hurt again. And she didn't think she go through that hurt. "It's nothing for you to be concerned about."

"You sure?"

"Yeah," she leaned over and hugged Donna. "Of course I'm sure." She stood out and held her hand for Donna to take, helping her out of the chair. "We should get going. I told Janet we'd be there early to help with dinner."

Brandon tapped his hands against his knees as Steve drove them back to the Walsh home.

"So, man, you glad to be back?"

"More than you'll ever know," he smiled. "So, how's . . . . things?"

Steve smirked into the darkness of the night, never taking his eyes off the road. "Good."

"You're going to make me ask, aren't you?"

He chuckled. "Yup."

"How's Kelly?" he rolled his eyes. He wished he didn't sound like some High School kid who had a crush on the gorgeous blond, but he did.

"Honestly? We don't really know. Donna is the only one whose talked to her on a fairly regular basis for the last couple of months. I know she talked to Janet yesterday, but . . . "

"But what?"

"Kelly was distant. The conversation was short, but she definitely wasn't the Kelly that we've known for years."

Brandon went quiet, an unsettling feeling at the pit of his stomach.

Kelly nervously played with the hem of the apron as she nervously waited for the timer on the oven to beep. Donna, who was chopping vegetables at the counter, and Janet who was setting the table, exchanged knowing glances and smirked slightly.

"He's here!" Maddy yelled as she bounded into the kitchen to announce the arrival.

Kelly jumped with surprise, turning around to face the little girl.

"Hello?" he called, entering the house.

"We're in here, David," Donna smiled when she saw the look of anticipation disappear from Kelly's face.

"Don't sound too happy," David laughed as he came into the kitchen and kissed his wife quickly before picking up Maddy and throwing her in the air, catching her. He smiled when Maddy giggled. He placed her back down on her two feet. She ran into the living room to keep watch at the window, waiting for her father and Brandon. He took a few paces and kissed Janet on the cheek, greeting her hello. "Hey Kelly."

She smiled at David, "Hi you."

"THEY'RE HERE!" Maddy shrieked, running straight for the front door.

"Don't run into the driveway, young lady!" Janet hollered after her, following closely behind.

Kelly's breath caught in her throat. She wordless watched as David helped Donna towards the kitchen door. She felt like she was glued in her spot.

She could hear Steve greet Maddy hello and laughingly asked his daughter if he was chopped liver when she wiggled out of his embrace and ran straight for Brandon. She smiled a little, hugging herself when she heard Brandon and the little girl interacting. She knew he'd be a great father one day. She'd almost had that with him too . . .

She felt her feet moving underneath her and before she knew it, she was standing in the doorway, a smile across her face as she watched her friends interact.

"Look at you!" He whistled at Donna, pulling her into a hug. "Sexy lady."

"Yeah right," she rolled her eyes, pushing him away and looking down at her large belly. She had expanded greatly since seeing Brandon only a few weeks before. "I'm a whale."

"You're gorgeous."

"Careful, man, that's my wife you're talking about," David smirked, playfully punching Brandon in the shoulder.

The two embraced quickly in a hug. "Good to see you, man."

"You too."

Kelly swore her heart stopped beating when he looked at her in the doorway. "Hello Ms. Taylor," he smiled gently, walking towards her.

"Mr. Walsh," she bit her lip to stop the large smile from spreading across her face. But she was loosing the battle and giggled as she saw Brandon's smile widen. She took a few strides toward him and they embraced.

She felt the hot tears form and a few escape. "It's good to see you."

He looked her up and down with hungry eyes, licking his lips. She shivered. "You look great," he summed up.

Kelly looked down at the ground, as if she were embarassed. "Kelly Taylor? Bashful? I never thought I'd see the day," he teased her. When she looked up, he noticed that she looked like she was holding back something. Something painful. "Seriously, Kel. You look amazing. As beautiful as ever."

She managed a half smile for him. "Thank you," she said so quietly that he almost didn't hear her. She leaned in and hugged him again, taking him slightly by surprise. "I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too."

Maddy had been sent off to bed and shortly after that, David took a very tired Donna home.

Steve and Janet were cuddled up on the loveseat, turned to look at Brandon, "So what're you going to do with this old shack?"

"Most of it's already done," he smiled. Janet had quite the decorating skills. "I'm going to replace some of the light fixtures and probably update the kitchen and bathrooms. You did an amazing job in here, Janet."

"I can't take all the credit," she smiled. "Kelly helped me with most of it. You really should get her imput on the kitchen and bathrooms. She has an amazing eye for the details."

"Really?" he turned to look at the woman who was sitting at the opposite end of the couch. "I never knew that. How did I never know that about you?"

"I'm a woman of many talents," she countered back. She glanced down at her watch briefly, and the blood drained from her face. "It's late. How did it get so late?" she asked, standing up quickly.

Steve and Janet exchanged glances and sighed quietly.

Brandon looked at Kelly, then at Steve and Janet, and then back at Kelly. "Are you OK?"

She looked at him distractedly as she grabbed her coat that had been drapped over the back of the couch. "Yeah, fine, I just have to go home. Chris is probably worried sick."

"Let me walk you out," Brandon said as he watched her haphazardly try and put her coat on.

"No, that's OK," she rushed towards the door still struggling with her coat. Once it was successfully on, she dug in her coat pocket for her car keys. "I'll talk to you later. Thanks for dinner." And with that, she was outside, the door quickly closing behind her.

Brandon stood in the foyer, staring at the closed front door, confused.

Brandon woke up to the sound a car pulling into the driveway. He could see the reflection of the headlights on the guest bedroom wall disappear as the engine turned off. He peered out the window from behind the blinds and saw Kelly sitting behind the wheel of her car, tears streaming down her face.

He pulled on a white t-shirt, not bothering with a jacket. The weather seemed absoluely tropical against his skin in comparison to the DC weather he'd been subjected too only earlier that day.

"Kelly?" he asked quietly, knocking on the window of her car, trying his best not to startle her as he approached the car.

"OH!" she jumped, placing a hand against her rapidly beating heart. Slowly, she opened the door and stepped out. She shut the door behind her, locking the doors out of habit.

"What're you doing here?"

"I drove around for a while. I didn't know where to go. And somehow, I ended up here," she explained. She really didn't know how she got here. She just started driving on the framiliar route and ended up in the Walsh driveway.

"It's OK," he answered, his brows creased with concern. Noticing her shiver against the cool breeze, he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and lead her to the house and into he warmth.

Once inside, he shut the door and locked it behind them. He helped her take off her jacket and noticed her moving gingerly. He looked her up and down, noticing how sore and slowly she seemed be moving.

The tears continued to fall and he wanted to make them stop. "Ssh, it's OK. I'm here." He wrapped her in his arms and heard her take a sharp breath, as if he'd caused her pain. "Kelly?"

"I'm fine," she tried, taking the jacket out of his hands and reaching up to hang the jacket on the coat rack. Her shirt gently moved upwards and exposed the bruised skin on her back.

"Did he do this to you?" he asked calmed, through gritted teeth as he allowed his fingers to gently move over the discolored skin. She didn't respond, so he gently turned her to face him. The tears continued to fall, and she knew that she couldn't lie anymore. She nodded her head gently.

"Stay here," he commanded her, heading for the door, ready to go kill the man that had done this.

"Brandon," she sobbed. He turned around and saw the pain in her eyes. "Please, stay with me."

TBC . . .