JR drained the last of the whiskey from the bottle.

"You really think this is a way to find AJ?" gasped imaginary Marissa, "Sitting here wallowing in self-pity? You should be out there doing something!"

"What could I do?" slurred JR. "He ran away from me remember. She made him hate me!"

"No he ran away from that!" said Marissa, pointing to the empty bottle in his hand.

"No, no, no." said JR shaking his head. "It was her with her evil lesbian ways. All 'butter wouldn't melt' and then 'bam' she steels everything and everyone away from me! She always hated me you know! Always thought she was better than me! Always finds a way to twist in the knife!"

"Are you really talking about Bianca? Do you have any idea how ridiculous you sound?"

"No you don't understand!" shouted JR, pointing an angry finger at a figment of his imagination. "I'm his father. AJ should love me! There shouldn't be any competition between the bond of a father and son and yet AJ would rather be with Bianca and her spawn! That isn't right! Why doesn't AJ love me? Why doesn't Marissa love? Why does everybody always leave?"

Marissa leaned right into JR's face, anger in her eyes.

"You need to look in the mirror JR. You need to understand that this… all of this is all on you. All of it! You need to grow up; not sit here snivelling like a little baby. You blame everyone but yourself!"

JR opened his mouth to respond just as an exhausted looking Marissa walked into the parlour; the real Marissa.

JR suddenly sober from the shock of almost getting caught, he quickly hid his empty whiskey bottle under the couch cushions and turned to greet her. She had been gone all day.

Marissa had spent the morning at the police station answering questions, all of the afternoon as a passenger in the search chopper and the last three hours had been spent in a press conference giving out a heart-felt plea for information. She looked totally drained.

"They haven't found anything in the park." said Marissa, as she peeled off her coat. "There was no sign of AJ. They had sniffer dogs and groups combing the ground. It's just getting too dark to see even with the floodlights they shipped in. They are almost certain now that he isn't in the park. Jesse said they have to go back over their leads to try and find what they missed. I hate to think of our poor little boy out there alone for another night."

Marissa froze when she saw JR's face, she had noticed he'd been crying.

"Oh God, what's happened?"

"Nothing." said JR, swallowing his sobs. "I was just thinking about AJ."

"We will find him." said Marissa, taking a seat beside him.

"But he could be anywhere." said JR. "I think someone has taken him and is hiding him from us?"

JR had gone through every conceivable scenario in his head while he worked through his bottle of 'Jack' as to where AJ might be. His worse fear was that his son could be injured or dead. He didn't want it to be true, almost as much as he didn't want to accept the idea that it was him that AJ had run away from in the first place. He was happiest to settle on the fantasy that Bianca had abducted AJ and was hiding him somewhere. It was all part of her evil lesbian plan to get Marissa away from him. In his head all the blame lay solely on her.

"Bianca hasn't kidnapped AJ, you drunken idiot. That's more something you would do!" cried Marissa in an exasperated tone. "Your son ran away from your drunken outburst and if anything bad has happened to him the only person to blame is your own weak and pathetic self. Why do you deserve to have him back if you are going to continue to behave like this?"

"He's my son damn it!" yelled JR.

The real Marissa recoiled slightly from this unexpected outburst.

"No we can't afford to think like that." insisted Marissa, desperation in her eyes. "We have to find him. He's our son and we owe it to him not to give up."

"We?" said JR, a squeak of hope in his voice.

"Everyone in his family." said Marissa, putting a comforting hand on his arm.

He looked at Marissa staring at him with wide hazel eyes. She looked lost; she needed him. This was the moment he had been waiting for all along. Ha, ha, it seemed Bianca's plan had backfired. He was going to get back his woman after all.

"Don't do anything stupid JR." begged imaginary Marissa.

JR looked at Marissa with sad eyes and little pout; he looked like a poor lost child himself. But his expression morphed into a smile when she pulled him into a hug.

"It's going to be alright, you'll see." she said, as she rubbed his back.

He returned the embrace, his arms wrapping tight around her. It was hard to remember the last time he had held her body so close.

"Thank you." He said, his voice muffled in her shoulder.

He held her like that for the longest time, but JR grew more confident. He inhaled the scent of her skin, his breath damp against her neck and his hands moved up her back to her shoulders. Marissa's body stiffened at the contact but JR didn't stop.

"Marissa…" sighed JR, as he grasped her neck, then he moved in to kiss her.

She was his at last.

He crushed his lips roughly against hers. Immediately Marissa pushed him away, wriggling out of his reach so fast she fell off the sofa.

"What are you doing!" she exclaimed. "You're drunk!"

"Marissa!"

"I can smell it on your breath! You've been drinking! I know you're upset about AJ but alcohol will not help. JR what were you thinking?"

JR began to move towards her once more.

"Marissa I love you!" cried JR, suddenly looking very pathetic again. He felt humiliated and couldn't understanding why she would pull away from him like that.

Marissa quickly got to her feet.

"I'm sorry. I don't feel that way about you JR. I know that's why you didn't tell me about Bianca, because you hoped you and I would get back together, but it's not going to happen."

"You love her!" said JR, despondently. "Saint Bianca!"

The hate swelled in his belly again. This was all Bianca's fault.

"I… I don't know." said Marissa self-consciously, "I haven't had time to think. All I know right now is that we have to find AJ. That is what we have to focus on!"

Marissa took a deep breath, clearly feeling a twinge of pity at JR's wretched expression.

"Look, the police are organising another search party at first light. I'm going to try and get some sleep so I'm ready for the morning. I suggest you do the same… Or at the very least stay sober. You're no good to anyone like this – especially not AJ!"

"She's not wrong." said Marissa, her serious expression exactly mirroring that of the real Marissa.

JR looked at both of them.

"I'll go to bed." said JR eventually, not knowing what else to say.

"Okay well then good!" said Marissa. "Goodnight JR and please try and stay positive."

"And sober." added Marissa.

"Goodnight." said JR as he watched her leave, his dreams once more in tatters. He wanted nothing more than to open another bottle of whiskey and drown in it.

"Oh just go to bed." said Marissa "Concentrate on finding your son rather than losing yourself."

"Will you just shut up!" whined JR.

"I didn't say anything!" the real Marissa called back from the stairs.

JR clamped his hand over his mouth, scared at getting caught talking to someone who wasn't there. He could only breathe again when, after a pause, he heard Marissa footsteps continue their climb up the stairs.

…