"Caitlyn."

Caitlyn jumped, turning around to face her good friend. "Antonio! What are you doing here?" She asked, hugging him as he lifted her up.

"Surprising you girls!" Antonio replied, smirking when he saw Nate's face. "That your new beau?"

Caitlyn blushed, nodding her head as she let go of him. "Yeah, that's Nate..."

"Nate?!"

"Antonio, we're cool!" Caitlyn assured her good friend. "He's not like what the media portrays him as. Nate's sweet and we love each other."

"No, boys like that love themselves, darling," Antonio mumbled.

She tilted her head, giving him a pointed glance. "Turns out that he was acting like that because he didn't have me."

"Because you were with Larkin?"

"Yeah. Now, why are you here, Antonio?"

Antonio gulped before fishing into his pocket to retrieve a box. "I'm tired of running around Mitchie like a headless chicken, wondering what her next move is going to be. I want us to be official and stop hiding. I want to marry her."

Caitlyn gasped as Antonio opened the box and showed her the ring. Tears sprung to her eyes when she realised that Mitchie was trying to fix things with Shane but-

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

Caitlyn groaned. "No! Nate, he isn't proposing to me! He wants to propose to someone else but needs my advice."

Nate flushed. "Oh, right. I'm Nate."

"Antonio."

"Oh, Mitchie's bodyguard?"

"That's the one."

Nate nodded before backing off. "Well, you guys talk. I will be... somewhere else, then." He sighed, leaving.

Caitlyn groaned.

"Did I disturb something there?"

She shrugged. "He's been feeling down lately. Worried about his brothers so I've been having sleepovers with him but he's just become too clingy, to be honest."

"That means he loves you."

"One minute he loves himself, the next he loves me?"

Antonio laughed. "Well, I was nearly murdered because he thought that I was sliding in his girl's DMs. I ain't marrying you!"

Caitlyn giggled. "I'll talk to him. And please, be sensitive with Mitchie. I don't know what her answer's going to be."

"Okay. Thanks." Antonio sighed.

...

"Hey, you."

Shane looked up from his hammock and grinned at Mitchie. "Come sit," he told her, getting into a sitting position.

Mitchie dipped into the hammock, laughing. "Was not expecting that to be too deep!"

"It's low enough to escape if I need the toilet." Shane laughed with her. "How are you?"

"I'm good. You?"

"I'm fine."

"Shane... I think we need to talk."

Shane sighed. "Mitchie... I guess you now know that I've never stopped loving you."

Mitchie smiled a watery smile as she placed a hand on Shane's cheek. "Same here."

"But things have changed too much. I've changed."

"The drugs aren't the issue. You're not an addict anymore, Shane."

Shane sniffed, wiping a tear. "But I can't forgive myself. For everything. I also can't put you through all the pain that I put my family in."

"Shane, we can start again. Can't we?"

Shane laughed bitterly. "We can't. We need to rebuild our friendship first and that would take ages before we get back to where we were in the beginning."

"You're right. But you should know that I am willing to try."

"Okay."

"When you're ready, Shane. I don't want to push you."

Shane kissed the side of her head and got off the hammock. "Ethan and Ruby have scheduled a meeting with me. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, you will." Mitchie smiled. "I love you."

Shane halted, taking a deep breath before he mouthed it back to her with a smile.

...

Nate smiled when he saw his girlfriend enter his room. "Hey."

"Sorry about before..."

"It's fine. That girl's lucky."

Caitlyn winced. "Well, it's Mitchie."

"What?! Do you know what this will do to Shane?" Nate asked, standing up.

"I know! I told him not to be too hopeful! I know Mitchie still loves him!"

"And Shane still loves her! What do we do? Do we stop this? Stop them?" Nate asked, panicking. "This could set Shane back a few years."

Caitlyn took a deep breath. "I think we should let it play out. Pick up the pieces."

"You're right. I don't want Shane to hate me for meddling."

"Same. With Mitch."

Caitlyn's phone rang and she sighed, contemplating answering it.

"Who is it?"

"My mom."

Nate frowned. "Answer it then."

"I can't."

"Why not?" He laughed.

Caitlyn sighed. "Because I already know what it's about."

She took Nate's laptop from his bed and unlocked it, searching something up and showing him.

"Catherine's murder trial is being reopened. New leads, new evidence."

"Catherine..."

"Yeah." Caitlyn sighed, shrugging. "This is being dragged up again..."

Nate grabbed her hand. "You should talk to your parents. This reopening could be the one chance to get the person who destroyed your family and your sister's."

"You're right..."

...

Peggy subconsciously wrapped her kimono around her burgundy bikini piece, hoping that it wasn't too revealing as kids still snuck around this time of night as Dee and Brown were still away.

"Hey, gorgeous."

Peggy blushed, kissing Barron's cheek as she sat beside him at the lake.

"Hey, hottie."

"I got some marshmallows and wine. The fruits were locked up." Barron told her, showing her a picnic basket.

She grinned. "Red or white?"

Barron scoffed. "Who do you take me for? Of course, it's red."

"The one I like?"

Barron winked. "The one you like." He whispered, opening the bottle and pouring them both glasses.

He opened the packet of marshmallows and chucked one at her, making her squeal then giggle before chucking one at him. Luckily, he caught it in his mouth.

"Show off!" She chastised teasingly.

"And you love it, chica," he told her, placing a hand on her waist.

They were about to kiss when Peggy heard her name being called.

"Peggy..."

They both groaned, Peggy leaving a short kiss on his cheek before calling out.

"Yes, Tess?" She sighed.

Tess stepped into view, blushing. "Oh, I didn't know that you were... I can come back later."

"No, what is it, Tess?" Peggy asked, sending an apologetic glance at Barron.

Tess shook her head. "No. You guys enjoy your night."

Tess left them giggling and smiled when she spotted Mitchie strumming her guitar on the outdoor stage.

"Hey, stranger!"

Mitchie looked up with a smile. "Hey! What's up?"

"Oh, not much. Can't sleep with Ella's snoring and Peggy's on a date. Lola has also gone AWOL."

Mitchie laughed. "Same here. Lonely bee. Caitlyn's always at Nate's cabin and Shane's always busy. Mara and Nat are also doing their own thing, especially Mara, who's got Jason to blame for that."

Tess chuckled, sitting beside her. "What about your mom?"

"Well, she normally goes to the hospital to visit Brown and Dee around this time so that she can give them some food instead of that horrible hospital food."

The blonde nodded. "Well, we got each other now."

"Yeah," Mitchie smiled.

Tess sighed. "Can I ask you something?"

Mitchie nodded, a confused smile playing on her lips.

"Well, it's more for a friend. She has this problem. She's a model, like Ells and I, and her agent has told her that she needs to lose a bit more weight than needed."

"Oh." Mitchie whispered.

"Yeah, so she's started to... well, you know."

"Oh, dear. Well, I don't know if I'm the best person to say this but tell her that she can get through this and she's not alone. I went to rehab to sort out my issues but if she's in a controlled place with people ready to support her then..."

Tess wiped a tear. "I don't know if she has people to support her."

Mitchie turned to face Tess, bringing her in for a hug. "Tess, I'm here to support you."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

...

Sander groaned when he heard rapid knocking on his door.

"Barron you... Why don't you unlock the door yourself-"

"Because it's not Barron," Lola whispered as tears streamed down her cheeks.

Sander looked outside before pulling her in and closing the door behind her. He wrapped her in his arms and rubbed her back.

"Lolz, what's wrong?"

"Well..."

"Well?"

Lola sighed. "Louis called off the engagement."

Sander wasn't sure whether to leap in joy or to be shocked and angry at why a guy would do such a thing to a beautiful girl.

"Why?"

"We've been having issues lately. We thought that having LJ would solve them then getting engaged but nothing's changed the fact that he's an abusive, cheating jerk."

Sander was seething inside. "He abused you? Cheated on you?"

"We wanted to move on. The cheating was the one time but-"

"Abusing you? How and when?"

"He hit me sometimes... Called me names... Just for the first year but then it got better-"

Sander shook his head. "That's not love, Lola!"

"Then what is?!" She sobbed.

"This,"

And he kissed her.