A/N: This is a spoiler fic. It contains at least one MAJOR spoiler of things to come on OLTL. If you are spoiler free, steer clear of this fic until after the week of May 9th. But then do come back and enjoy GreensBeing Reminded or Life Behind the Camera
"Sing something," Jen said from behind the camera, following Marcie around the auditorium at Llanview University. "Come on," she pestered. "Marcie Walsh, the country's next American Idol." Marcie laughed, turning to face the camera. "Yeah, like I could ever do that." "Sure you could," Jen said as Marcie tried to evade the shooting lens. "You're amazing. Your voice is great." "And that wouldn't mean a thing once I got on that stage and got shot down by... what's his name." Jen laughed. "He has something to say about everybody on that show. It's for ratings. You can't let it get to you." "Easy for you to say." Marcie said. "You wouldn't be the one up there." "So I'd go with you," Jen said lowering herself into one of the seats in the auditorium so that the camera would have the perfect shot of Marcie performing. She laughed. "What?" Jen said, camera following Marcie's pacing of the stage. "I would totally go with you for moral support. So what if I have the singing voice of a screech owl." "Thanks Jen" Marcie said. "But I still think I'll pass. I'll stick to Search and Destroy at Ultra Violet." "You'll win that everytime." Jen said. "Rex is starting to get pissed." She laughed. "Rex is always pissed. He just hates me" "He does not hate you." "No he's just madly, passionately in love with me." Marcie laughed. Jen smiled. "He is not!" "I didn't say anything." Jen giggled. "You didn't have to." Marcie said. "Besides. We all know that Rex will always only be in love with one person. You." Jen didn't respond for a moment. "I'm not with Rex anymore," she said "We're wasting all the film on this, I'm gonna have to dub it all out." "Leave it in," Marcie said. "Because it'll make up for the amount of time you won't have me singing." she teased. "Come on, just one song?" Marcie shook her head. "Please. Marcie. Please." "Nobody better see this," Marcie became shy. "It's just for me," Jen said "Nobody else. Not while I'm still breathing at least." "Not funny," Marcie said. "Right. Now... sing something." "OK. Alright. But only because you're my best friend in the world." Marcie began to sing, Hello Young Lovers. "Not another soul Jen" Marcie smiled. "Not a soul" Jen said "I promise." >>>>>> "Will you put that thing away?" Rex said trying to work the room at Ultra Violet. "Where's your sense of adventure?" Jen said, letting the lens follow him around the dimly lit room. "It disappears at Happy Hour." Rex said. "Oh come on" he said, seeing Jen roll her eyes. "Fine, what do you want to know." "I don't want to know anything" Jen said "I just want you to act like I'm not even here." "That's hard," Rex smiled. "It's hard for me not to pay any attention to the most beautiful one in the room." "Rex," Jen said. "What!" he said "You act like it's not true. And aren't documentaries supposed to be about the truth?" "That's not the truth" she said "It's a matter of opinion." "It's my opinion" Rex said "That makes it the truth." "God" she let out a deep breath in exasperation. "OK... OK fine, we'll leave in your opinion." "What are you making this thing for anyway?" Rex said leaning himself against the bar. "It's gonna act as my last will and testament." Jen joked. "Whoever's nice to me on this video get what I have an estate." "Death talk," Rex said. "Do you have to be so morbid?" "I'm just joking." Jen said. "Chill out. You can talk about anything." "What I want to talk about can't be put on film." Rex said suggestively. "Rex!" Jen exclaimed. "What! I'm being honest. I thought you wanted honesty." "Wholesome would work too," she said "You know me" Rex said. "Am I even the smallest hint of wholesome?" "Touché," Jen said. "Fine, then just give me you. Something that when I look at this video twenty years from now I can say 'yeah, that's Rex'." "Well when you watch this thing... in twenty years, I'm gonna be with you. You know that." "I'm with Riley." "A lot can change in twenty years. Hell... a lot can change in twenty minutes." "Not this," Jen said. "we're wasting tape. Say something constructive." "Something constructive." Rex joked. The camera panned away as Jen turned from him "OK, OK, OK" Rex got back into the picture. "You're gonna be watching this in twenty years and... you say we're not gonna be together, which I'll believe it when I see it, but... if we're not, and you sit down and watch this twenty years from now. I want to you to remember this. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you. I love you Jen. Now and twenty years from now. Forever. As long as I live. I would give anything for you." >>>>>> "And here comes Mark Solomon, hitting lap number, five and he comes up for air, climbing out of the LU swimming pool." Jen said, camera panning in on Mark as he climbed out of the pool. "They really let you bring that thing into the gym?" he laughed, towel going around his neck. "I draw the line at the locker room." "Not that I wouldn't love to walk in there, but I might get killed by the football team." "Or jumped," Nick said coming up behind them. "Nice suit Solomon," he teased. "Oh it turns you on," Mark joked. "Admit it." "You do know that you aren't getting the money shot, right?" Nick said to Jen, getting into the picture. "Sure, you'll get the girls to swoon, but it's gonna be all looking and no touching. He's gay." "I think I filled her in on that fact." Mark laughed. "Now what's this all about? New documentary?" "Just a keepsake this time." Jen said. "Why, you planning on going somewhere?" Nick asked. The camera moved as Jen shook her head. "Not a for a while. It's for down the road, something to look back on. Memories." "Why would you want to remember him," Nick nudged Mark with a laugh. "Oh very funny," he said "what's the matter, jealous?" Nick laughed. "Me? Jealous? Only of the fact that Jen here could be getting some in depth info and memories from me right now." "OK... OK," Jen said "I'm not looking to make this into a college porn film." "And I would have been so willing," Nick teased. "Nick I never knew you cared." Mark laughed "Eww, not with you." he shivered with a cringe. "Eww..." Jen laughed. "I never thought I'd see you two getting a long like this." "Well... life's too short, ya know" Nick said. "Besides I set the ground rules. No touching and no looking anywhere below the neck." Mark laughed. "That goes the same for me," he teased. "I know it's hard, Nick, but... that's the way it's gotta be." Nick shoved him playfully and they both laughed. "I gotta hit the showers. Do feel free to follow along." he joked with Jen. "I think I'll pass," she laughed as Nick stepped away. "Same goes for me," Mark said. "Wait up Nick!" he laughed. Jen laughed. "Hey," she heard Nick laugh. "Two stalls down, curtain closed, Solomon." >>>>>> "The life saver," Jen said. "Faster than a speeding bullet, able to resuscitate patient in a matter of seconds, he's Super doc." "Hardly," Michael said, camera settling on him. "Is that camera glued to your hand of something?" "I'm making memories," Jen said, "So sue me. It's not like I brought it into the hospital or anything. We're in Angel Square." "And I am starving," Michael said "So if you'll follow me, I'd appreciate making your memories at the diner so I can order a burger." They walked into the diner and took a seat at a booth in the corner. "Bad day?" Jen said. "Busy," Michael replied. "Just busy. I can't talk about it or anything... patient confidentiality and such." "Got it" Jen said. "So other than that..." "Not much to talk about." Michael said simply. "There's gotta be something," Jen said. "You're turning out to be a pretty boring video segment. A corpse sees more action." "Gee thanks," Michael replied. "OK... I talked to Marcie today. Things are the same. I called John the other night but he couldn't talk. He's 'on the case'. Whichever one that is now." "Probably helping Riley's dad put me away for murder." Jen sighed. "I doubt it." Michael said. "But we can definitely steer away from that part of the conversation.." "We don't have to," she said "It's my life." Michael paused. "So... is that why you're making this video? In case you go to jail?" "I want to have something that I can look back at when everything finally clears and it comes out that I didn't commit murder. I want to look back at this years from now and see... everyone who believed in me. Who trusted me, my friends. Not that I'd ever forget any of you, I never will. Not til the day I die. I'll always remember that you loved me. And that you all mean so much to me." "So then why the video?" Michael said. "I think... everybody needs to be reminded once in a while." Jen said. "No matter how much you know somebody cares about you, it's always nice to hear it. Which is why you should talk to Marcie." "Geez," Michael said "You get right to the point." "There's a lot going on and I just think... you should at least tell her that you still love her. She still loves you." "Thanks for the opinion Jen," Michael said plainly. "I'm not trying to poke my nose in..." "Yes you are." "OK, fine I am." she said "But only because I care about her. And you and you two are miserable without eachother, so call her." "You're a good friend" Michael said. "Marcie's lucky to have you." "I'm the one who's lucky," Jen said. "I owe Marcie a lot. And I can never repay her." "I'm sure she knows how much you love her." Jen took a deep breath, "But like I said. "It always helps to hear it again." >>>>>> "Are you really taping?" Riley said, walking around the stage at Ultra Violet, guitar strapped across his shoulder. "Well yeah," Jen replied. "We gotta document, right? One day, we're both gonna get out of Llanview and I at least want to be able to look back and remember some of the good stuff." "Dark, before hours UV?" Riley laughed, sitting on the edge of the stage and tuning his guitar. "No," Jen laughed, setting the camera down, film still rolling. "You. All our time here. The love project, managing to make it through a summer from hell, the fall from hell..." Jen laughed. "Pretty much the year from hell." She paused, looking over at Riley, who had stopped playing. "I don't think I would have ever been able to make it through any of this if I didn't have you here. You... helped me get through a lot. You showed me that... if I was honest with myself that's all that really mattered. And that I didn't... have to be the wild party animal that I was for a long time." Jen laughed. "Hey, you pushed me to make the films. Even if they didn't go anywhere and I never became a famous film maker..." "You still have plenty of time," Riley said. "And your stuff is good. I believe in you. You're gonna make it big one day. I know you are." "Thank you," Jen smiled. "For being there. For... loving me in a way that... for a long time, I never thought I deserved. For believing in me." "You shine Jen," Riley cupped her cheek. "God you just... radiate. You picked me up when I hit rock bottom and it's because of you that I was able to turn my life around. You saved me and you'll never know what that meant to me. You deserve so much more than I... or anyone can ever give you." Jen smiled, shook her head. "No. I have everything I ever wanted. I have you and... if I were to die tomorrow, I would have had... everything I ever dreamed of." "And I'm gonna give you more," Riley said. "You're gonna live a long long time and... I'm gonna give you the world." "Forget the world" Jen said. "I'll settle for what I've got." Jen looked over at the flashing red light on the camcorder. "Has that been recording the whole time?" she laughed. "Talk about getting our lives on tape..." she made her way over to the device and clicked it off.
The television screen turned snowy as the video came to an end. Nobody moved, or spoke, or even looked at eachother. "It was like she knew" Mark said softly. "It was like... she knew to get us all together on that tape, that it would... get us all here together like this."
Marcie was in tears and Riley couldn't talk. "She was one of a kind," Nick said softly.
"Damn right she was." Rex choked. "You'll never find another person like Jen. Never. Not in a million years, not ever."
"That was her way... of telling us all again," Marcie cried and Michael wrapped his arms around her. "Remind us that she loved us all." She looked at Riley and at Rex "And she did... she loved us all. All of us."
"And now she's gone." Riley said. "She's dead. After everything... after that video was shot... and we fought and Jen took off... and she died, thinking that I hated her. That I thought she was a murderer when I didn't. I never thought she could ever be capable of killing anyone. And I never told her that."
"She knew it," Marcie said. "She loved you, Riley. She loved you so much."
"She was in love with you," Rex admitted softly. "I tried to... get her to leave town. Before she was killed, I told her to get out of town and she wouldn't. You know what she said to me, she said. 'There's no way I can go with you, Rex.' she said 'I can't leave Llanview and I can't leave Riley.' She wasn't gonna leave you man. She loved you... more than she could ever love anyone. Even me."
"She wanted us to find this." Mark said. "She wanted us to know."
"So now that we have, what?" Riley choked out.
"Memories," Nick said. "We have this... we have memories. We'll make copies... everyone will get one."
"Jen would have wanted that. Keep friends close." Marcie cried. "For that reminder. She'd want us to have that reminder."
The room grew silent again. "I always knew she'd go places." Rex said softly.
"I told her she'd be a star. That she'd be happy forever." Riley added.
"I think she was," Michael said. "If she watched this before... she died." he swallowed.
"The camcorder was with her, viewed." Mark said. "She watched it."
"Then she knew." Michael said. "She got her reminder. That we loved her. That she loved us. And she was happy before it happened. The last thing she felt was loved."
"She was," Riley said.
"She is," Marcie corrected him. "She always will be. By us... by her friends. By all of us."
The snowy television screen went black as the tape reached it's end and the room grew silent, remembering Jen. Her passion for life, working behind the camera. Her passion for her friends and those she loved. And her gift to all of them serving as a reminder that she did love them all and that she knew she had been loved in return.
THE END