A/N: So I promised NikkylovesBD that Faith Love and Family was the next story to get an update, but this one snuck up on me, so it goes first. There is a time jump here, of about a month.

Part Fourteen

The next month passed in a blur of hospital visits and bouts of nausea, with chemo treatments every other week. Slowly, life seemed to settle back into a semblance of normal, even for Brenda, although it was a completely new definition of normal. She started helping her Dad at his office a few days a week, when she was feeling well enough, just to keep from going crazy with boredom. She was on speaking terms (barely) with Valerie again, at least enough to make living in the same house bearable. Although, the truth was, Brenda spent more time in her garage apartment than in the main house.

Things with Dylan were as complicated as ever, although they were spending more time together than ever before. He brought her lunch every day and they usually had dinner together as well. When it had come time to shave her head, he'd taken her to the same stylist who'd once dyed her hair back from the hideous blond color, back before they were even dating. Iris had helped her pick out a collection of head scarves, and Jackie Taylor got her a meeting with the best wig maker in the modeling world.

And yet, in spite of all he was doing for her, in spite of all the time they were spending together, things remained on a just-barely-more-than-platonic level. They held hands. He kissed her cheek, her forehead, and every once in awhile, there was a gentle kiss on the lips, but never anything that lasted more than the briefest of seconds. She often dozed off on his shoulder or resting in his arms, but he never spent the night, and there was never anything sexual to it. Not that she had any energy for anything sexual, but it would be nice to think that he was interested in there being something sexual.

She knew he loved her, and she knew that she loved him. She just didn't know if they were a couple, or if he wanted them to be a couple. She didn't even know if she wanted them to be a couple.

It was all driving her a little batty, especially given that she had more than enough time to waste just thinking about it.

A knock on the door startled Brenda out of her thoughts, and just in time. The door creaked open and Brenda's face broke into a smile as Andrea pushed her way into the room.

"Hi," her old friend greeted softly, holding up a bouquet of flowers. "I'm sorry I've been keeping my distance lately, but Hannah's had an awful fever…"

"And I have no immune system," Brenda finished for her. "I get it. Is Hannah okay now?"

"She's over the worst of it," Andrea sat in the armchair next to the bed where Brenda was resting. "And no worries, my doctor cleared me to visit you. It probably wasn't contagious, but we wanted to be safe."

"Hmm," Brenda moved to sit up, even though a wave of nausea hit from the attempt alone. "Can I get you something? Have you eaten yet?"

"Lay back down," Andrea ordered. "I'm here to help you, not to make you wait on me. Besides, Nat sent me some soup and your Mom just gave me a homemade loaf of bread, so you don't need to lift a finger."

"Thank God," Brenda murmured as Andrea got up and went over to the kitchenette to get lunch ready. "Would you mind putting some water on? Iris sent over this great herbal tea that really helps with the nausea."

"I'm here to serve," Andrea said with a smile; she filled the kettle, looking out the window as she put it on the stove. "Oh my God, is that Stuart Carson… and Valerie?"

"Ugh," Brenda rolled her eyes and fell back against the pillows. "Don't remind me."

"I'm always the last to know around here."

"Hey, you were the first to know about Brandon and Kelly," Brenda reminded her. "And the second to know about Dylan and me this summer."

"That's true," the kettle began to whistle and Andrea poured the tea into two mugs. In one, she used a bag of Iris's herbal remedy, and in her own mug, she opted for Earl Grey. Brenda watched as Andrea sliced the bread and ladled soup into two bowls. Caretaking seemed to come so easily to Andrea. It was easy to imagine her as a doctor because Andrea had always been the member of their group who seemed to be caring for the rest of them.

Andrea carried a tray over to the bed for Brenda, then gathered her own lunch and returned to the armchair.

"It's funny, I can still remember a time when the idea of Brandon and Kelly bothered me so much it was almost a physical pain," Andrea reminisced.

"I remember," Brenda smiled. "I always hoped you and Brandon would end up together some day."

"That's just because you didn't want Brandon with Kelly either," Andrea teased with a smile. It was true, although Brenda couldn't remember why. It may have been fear that if Kelly was dating Brandon, she wouldn't have been Brenda's friend anymore. Whatever it was, it seemed stupid now.

"I guess things worked out the way they were supposed to," Brenda said tentatively. She and Andrea weren't as close as they'd once been, and Brenda wasn't entirely sure that Andrea was over Brandon enough to be happy for him and Kelly.

"Yeah," Andrea's face had fallen a little and her words came out almost as a whisper. "I guess they did."

"Andrea?"

"It's nothing," Andrea blinked a few times, focusing on her soup. "I'm fine."

"Tell me."

"It's stupid," Andrea shooke her head. "You don't need to hear about my stupid problems."

"Your problems aren't stupid," Brenda touched Andrea's hand lightly. "Andrea, tell me."

"I think my marriage is falling apart."

~*~*~*~*~*~

"David, what the Hell is your problem?"

"There they go again," Kelly groaned, pouring herself another cup of coffee. "They've been fighting nonstop for a month."

"Except at night," Donna muttered under her breath. It was silly, that this would bother her, but the walls of the apartment weren't very thick, and David was her first boyfriend. And Donna had been alone since she and Ray had split up.

"Is that bitterness I detect?" Brandon teased. Donna groaned, banging her head against the table. A giggle told Donna that her roommate and Brandon were being an obnoxiously cute couple again.

It wasn't fun to be constantly surrounded by couples, even imperfect couples like David and Claire, when she was so pitifully single. It had gotten to the point where Steve was the only other person she knew who was single, and he seemed happy about it.

"Okay, Donna, spill," Kelly leaned forward across the counter. "I know you're not still pining over David, so what's going on?"

"I'm just sick of being single," Donna admitted with a sigh. "Even Valerie has someone right now and I'm alone and it sucks."

"Valerie has her supposed best friend's ex-fiance and all kinds of crazy," Kelly sniped, sitting on the stool next to Donna and throwing an arm around her friend's shoulder. "You're better than that."

"And yet, she has someone, and I'm all by myself," Donna grumbled to herself. It was easy for Kelly to say Donna didn't need a boyfriend. Kelly hadn't been single in years, and even when she was, she'd never had to go a weekend without a date. Nor, for that matter, had Brandon. Or Steve. Or Dylan. Even Brenda had never been short of options, even when she was pining over Dylan.

None of them had ever been lonely as long as Donna had been before she started dating David.

"Okay Donna, I know you don't believe I could possibly understand being single," Kelly rolled her eyes to show how ridiculous she thought that was. "But look at Andrea."

"Huh?"

"Andrea spent most of high school gazing longingly at this lughead," Kelly gestured to her boyfriend, who faked a pained expression. "And when she did date it was never anything serious."

"So?"

"So, who honestly thought she'd be the first of us to settle down?" Kelly asked. "She went months and months without a boyfriend, and now she and Jesse are an actual family."

"And I didn't have any serious relationships between Emily and Kelly," Brandon added; Donna resisted the urge to list the girls he'd dated between Emily and Kelly, or at least the ones she remembered – Nikki, Lucinda Nicholson, Claire, for example. "Now look at me."

Donna didn't miss the scowl on Kelly's face at the mention of Brandon's ex-girlfriend. It seemed like Kelly might not be completely over whatever had happened that fall, although Donna didn't know the details.

"You just need to be patient," Kelly concluded, rubbing Donna's arm gently. Just then, David stormed through the living room and out the door.

"Bye honey!" Claire yelled sarcastically from the other room.

"Besides, being single has to be better than that," Brandon quipped. "Doesn't it?"

Donna forced a smile.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Dylan shook his head at the sight of his mother puttering around the kitchen, throwing all kinds of food and herbal remedies into what he could only assume was a care package for Brenda. Lately, his mother was more Cindy Walsh than Cindy Walsh was.

"Oh Dylan, good," Iris turned to face him, holding up a box of tea bags. "Did Brenda mention whether she liked these ones or the others better? I want to send a box over when you go for lunch…"

"Actually, that was her on the phone," Dylan grabbed an apple out of the care package and bit into it. "She and Andrea are having a girls' only lunch, so I won't see her until tonight."

"Oh," Iris's face fell as she leaned back against the counter. "Well, then, I'll send a box of each over when you go for dinner."

"Okay."

"Can I make you something?" Iris opened the cupboards and rooted through them. "We have soup or pasta…"

"I'm fine."

"Okay," Iris said slowly, making it clear she didn't believe him. She returned to rummaging through the cupboards. Dylan slid into a chair at the kitchen table and grabbed a newspaper that was at least a week old, rifling through the pages. There wasn't anything he was actually interested in reading, but it was too cold for surfing, and he needed something to do.

After a few minutes, Iris sat beside him at the tale, setting a cup of black of coffee in front of him.

"We need to talk," she announced. "I've been thinking, and I know that I've never been much of a mother to you…"

"You're leaving," Dylan fought to keep the disappointment out of his voice. He should have known she'd be going back to Hawaii soon; she'd come for Christmas, and now it was only a few days away from Valentine's Day.

"No, actually, I'm staying," Iris corrected. "Dylan, this past year has been incredibly difficult for you, and quite frankly, I haven't been supportive enough. I shouldn't have waited so long to come home."

"But your tree house on the beach…"

"Will still be there in a few months," Iris reached out and took his hand, squeezing it lightly. "Or years, if that's what you need."

She reached out with her free hand to touch his cheek, and Dylan blinked back a few tears. It had been a long time since he'd felt that he could truly rely on another human being. It had been even longer since he'd felt like he had a real parent looking after him.

"My boy," Iris whispered, her palm cupping his cheek. "I don't know what fate's got against you. It just doesn't seem fair."

She shook her head, moving her hand to wipe at her own tears.

"Now, we will need to find a new place," she took the paper out of his hands and flipped to the real estate section. "I can't sleep on your couch forever. And your sister will probably want a room for her visits. I was also thinking a place in walking distance from the Walshes might be nice…"

Dylan stood up as she rattled off her list of requirements for the new house.

"Thanks Mom," he whispered, crouching to hug her.

"What are mothers for?"

~*~*~*~*~*~

Valerie leaned back against the lounge chair, pulling her knees to her chest. Stuart, at the other end of the seat, leaned forward, kissing her, despite her every signal to stay away. It felt weird, to be in the Walshes' back yard, kissing the man who'd almost been their son-in-law, even though they were all at the hospital with Brenda. It felt weird to have been dating Brenda's ex-fiancé for a month. It felt weird to have been dating anyone for a month.

"Everything okay?" Stuart asked, feeling her tense up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she lied. Weird as it felt to be dating Brenda's ex (actually dating, not just sleeping with), it would feel weirder to talk about her with him.

"I can tell that you're not fine," Stuart pressed. "Tell me what's bothering you."

Val turned her head away, gazing out over the lawn. It was funny how similar this yard was to the one they'd left behind in Minneapolis. There, of course, there would be snow coating everything, and there would be a play set in the corner farthest from the driveway, but the basketball hoop in the driveway, the rose buses along the edge of the property, the grill and picnic table, even the lawn chair she was currently sitting on, they were all laid out in the same way that the Walsh yard at the old house had been laid out. Somehow, Val hadn't noticed that in the five months she'd been living there.

"Val," Stuart reached a hand out to touch her face. "Please tell me what's wrong."

"When we were kids, they used to call us triplets," Val said quietly, her gaze stuck on the spot where the play set would have been at the old house. "Me, Brenda and Brandon, back in Minneapolis. We used to tell people I was their triplet. My home life kind of sucked, and I slept over at the Walshes' sometimes six nights a week. We rode to school together every morning, and our parents were best friends, and we were best friends. There literally wasn't a single day that we didn't see each other for years. And now, I can hardly have a civil conversation with either of them."

"Because of me?"

Now, Val met his eyes, and she felt a stab of guilt and fear. To really answer that, she would have to be more open with Stuart than she'd been so far. More open than she was fully prepared to be.

Because what if he couldn't handle it?

"No," she finally answered. "There was… other stuff. Before you."

Stuart was quiet for a minute, clearly hoping she'd elaborate on her own. Valerie kept quiet. Her past was a mess and a half, and she doubted Stuart, with his millions of dollars and doting parents could truly understand.

"Stuff you don't want to talk about," Stuart finally concluded. "Val, what are we doing?"

"What?"

"You know, this is exactly how it went with Brenda," he said, agitated. He moved from sharing her lounge chair to pacing to sitting in the chair next to hers. "We never talked about anything important and then one day we realized we didn't even know each other."

"What are you asking me?"

"I don't know,' Stuart shrugged, leaning forward and resting his arms on his knees. "I guess I'm asking you to let me get to know you."

"Stuart…"

"Because this just isn't worth it to me if you won't let me in."

And there it was. The sentence she'd come up against every time she'd tried to have a real relationship. Which, admittedly, had only been a few times. And every time she'd let the guy walk away, because it was easier than seeing the disgust register on their faces when they found out the truth, at least, she assumed.

It was why Dylan had appealed to her; he was the only person she knew who might be as screwed up as she was, and he certainly didn't care why she was screwed up.

"There are things about me that…" Val didn't get a chance to finish, as the sound of a car pulling into the driveway interrupted them, and she turned like a deer in headlights. She hadn't expected the Walshes to be back for a few hours. Jim was at work, Brandon was at Kelly's, and Cindy was supposed to be running errands and getting together with Jackie Taylor, except that Cindy and Jackie were both climbing out of Cindy's car, along Felice Martin, all with shopping bags in hands.

This last half hour has gone really well for me, Val thought with a mental grimace.

"Stuart, I think you should go now," Cindy said quietly as she and her friends walked past Val into the house. Val dropped her head into her hands.

"Val," Stuart murmured after they were gone. Val shook her head and stood up.

"She's right," she said. "You shouldn't be here right now."

"But Val…" Stuart stood up, arms crossed. "I don't think we were done talking here."

"We weren't," Val agreed, reaching out to touch his arm. "We'll finish this, I promise."

I just really need to talk to Brenda, first.

~*~*~*~*~*~