"Gosh Court, think you could've taken any longer in there? I was scared that you may have fallen and knocked yourself out or something," Bridgette said with a teasing tone the moment I walked out of the bathroom. I hadn't expected her to be right there, so I jumped and this only made Bridgette laugh.

"Someone's a little on edge," she pointed out with a grin and I just crossed my arms, holding my previous clothes closer to my chest which turned out to be a bad idea because Duncan's scent still lingered on the clothes and ambushed my senses with the intent to conquer in mind. Just the smell of him made my heart beat speed up as I felt goose bumps break out on my arms and my muscles pull taunt; my whole being was suddenly alert and ready for him.

"Courtney!" Bridgette said, snapping her fingers in front of my face. I quickly pulled back and waved her hand away.

"What?" I demanded, shooting her a look as I headed to my room so that I could put the clothes in the dirty hamper.

Then they'll be washed and then his scent will be gone from them. For some reason, that thought made my stomach sink.

"I said your name like three times and you just kept staring off into space. What's up with you Courtney?" Bridgette asked as she followed me.

"Nothing is wrong with me," I grounded out before realizing how rude I sounded and quickly adding in, "I just didn't get that good of sleep and have a lot on my mind." It was a lame cover up and not at all a good enough reason for the way that I had just spoken to my best friend, but I guess my answer was good enough for Bridgette because she quickly broke out into a grin.

"A lot on your mind, hu? Didn't sleep well?" she repeated and I just nodded, wondering just what she was getting at. "Sounds like someone was tossing and turning all night with thoughts of Ethan on their mind," she sang out and I wasn't sure if I wanted to bang my head against the wall or sigh in relief. I chose neither of those, instead opting for a classic: denial.

"What? I was not," I quickly stuttered out, embarrassed that Bridgette was even thinking like that. I mean really! I had just met the guy last night and knew nothing except his name.

And his charming smile. The softness of his eyes when he looks at you. His calloused hands against yours. The warmth of his body invading yours while he has you pinned.

"You totally were! Your blush says it all," Bridgette said smugly and I just about choked on air when I realized just who I had just been thinking about.

Get out of my head!

"Oh chill Courtney, it's perfectly normal to have a crush on a drop dead gorgeous guy that daddy approves of," Bridgette teased and I squeezed the clothes in my arms tighter out of panic, the smell of Duncan wafting up only enhancing my panic.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I breathed out, wishing that Bridgette would just leave it alone.

"Courtney you have it so bad for Ethan! Oh my gosh! You should see how much you're blushing! Aww Court that's so cute!" Bridgette squealed and I just about died. I wanted to fight her on this and convince her that I wasn't "crushing on Ethan", but if I did manage to convince her then she would wonder what I was really blushing about and that was a road that I wasn't even ready to go down on my own. The last thing I would need was Bridgette strolling down it with me, squealing the whole time.

"Alright so maybe a little," I finally caved, wincing when Bridgette clapped her hands together and laughed. Looking at her then, I knew that it was the last time I would ever be making her waffles.

"We definitely have to set you up on another date with him Courtney because he's absolutely gorgeous," she swooned and I just rolled my eyes with a smile as I walked towards my room. Bridgette was of course hot on my heels the whole time talking about how dreamy and perfect Ethan was, but I was only half heartedly listening to her. The rest of my heart was swept away in a musky spice laced with hints of dirt and smoke. Something about the smell made my skin feel like it was on fire even though I was practically covered in goose bumps.

"If you like him so much, why don't you marry him," I teased, half turning my head towards Bridgette as we entered my room finally. It seriously felt like it took us five minutes of navigating through the hall ways to make it to my room; although we could have just possibly been walking extremely slowly.

"Because I have Geoffrey duh," Bridgette said as if I had just asked the stupidest question ever. I couldn't help but to shoot her a look because I didn't have to think back all that long in order to remember far stupider questions that she had asked me.

"Well you sure seem to be in love with Ethan," I said over my shoulder while going into my closet. Behind me, I could faintly hear Bridgette's gasping and sputtering noises as she began to deny it and I just rolled my eyes.

"What was that you said Bridgette? You write your name as Bridgette Adams? That's just creepy Bridge," I teased, loving how her exasperated sounds grew in volume even as I went deeper into my closet.

"You're an absolute idiot Courtney," Bridgette was muttering when I finally came back out of my closet with some clean clothes.

"You're the one who fell in love with a guy after knowing him for one night," I pointed out, dropping the subject of Ethan and thinking back to the night when Bridgette had met this guy her sophomore year.

"Courtney, look!" Bridgette hissed, yanking on my arm so violently that I thought for sure it was going to come out of the socket.

"What? What is it?" I asked, eyes widening in case something bad was happening. I was already freaked out enough just because I was at the party; the last thing I needed was for someone to be doing something stupid that would cause the police to show up and have my parents find out where I really was.

"Look at him Court! He's absolutely gorgeous," Bridgette cooed and when I finally saw just who she was talking about, I could only roll my eyes.

Ever since middle school, Bridgette has been obsessed with boys and was constantly finding a new one to drool after. Tonight, it was this "hunk" with shaggy blonde hair and tan skin, all wrapped up in a tight white t-shirt and blue jeans.

"What makes him so differently from the guy you were in love with last week?" I muttered as Bridgette slowly guided me past a chair where a couple was making out so we could circle this hunk. I felt like a shark.

"He has blue eyes!"

"Oh shut up Courtney," Bridgette huffed, crossing her arms across her chest and cutting off my train of thought. I just snickered and went about getting dressed, glad for a little piece and quiet.

"But really Courtney, you and Ethan are like so perfect for each other," Bridgette tried to convince me and I just sighed.

It had been quiet.

"Speaking of couples, when were you going to tell me about you and Geoff?"

I had her stumped there because her mouth opened before closing again. "You didn't think I'd forget about that, did you?" Still no answer. "How long have you two been dating?"

"I'm sorry Courtney I meant to tell you!" Bridgette semi-sobbed. In less than a second it seemed, she had made her way across the room and had latched herself onto me in a spine popping hug. "I just figured that you were so busy with your school work in California I didn't think that you'd have time to deal with me and my boy matters since I've had a tendency in the past to 'fall in love' with a new one every week," she explained lamely and I just shook my head.

"Thanks Bridgette. Way to give me great credit as a friend," I said, mocking hurt and I slowly worked my way out of her death grip.

"You're an amazing friend Courtney!" Bridgette quickly said before a look settled into her features and I took a tentative step back. "Which is why you're going to go out on a date with Ethan and not just let this opportunity slip by you."

"I should have known you would somehow twist this around to me going out with Ethan," I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"Aw come on Courtney. You know you're dying to go on a date with that fine piece of ass," Bridgette said with a wink and I felt my cheeks heat up from the way in which she so delicately described one of Ethan's best features.

"I don't have a say in this, do I?" I sighed, rolling my eyes in preparation for the cry of joy Bridgette let out as she practically jumped onto me.

"Of course you don't! What kind of ridiculous question is that? Oh but Courtney you're going to have so much fun! Just you wait, you'll totally love it. Ethan is such a great guy; I can just imagine the gorgeous babies you'll make together." Bridgette continued to go on about all of Ethan's amazing qualities and I chose to tune her out. She honestly had no idea what she was even talking about because she had just met the guy the previous night and we had barely even shared a conversation. Heck, we barely talked at all.

"I know absolutely nothing about Ethan," I whispered and somehow Bridgette heard because she went on about how that didn't matter because that was what our date was going to be for: to get to know each other and realize that we're soul mates. Everything about that idea seemed completely ridiculous. It is just simply not possible to fall for a guy after only knowing him for a night.

Then explain Duncan. My subconscious demanded and I had to resist the urge to scream because that was the one thing I could not do. For the life of me I could not even begin to explain how or why Duncan and all of my feelings associated with him happened. And it was killing me because more than anything I wanted to be able to explain Duncan; make sense of what was happening with him so that I could then proceed to deal with it. But I had no idea what was happening. I was lacking all control of the situation and it was making me crazy.

"That's what we should get when we go shopping tonight! An outfit for you to wear on your dinner date with Ethan. You know it will be at a spectacular and expensive restaurant because there is no way he would take you on some cheap first date, oh god no. He'll want to make a last impression upon you and you should definitely do the same to him by wearing a killer outfit."

"Well then we better get shopping because nothing I have here will be good enough," I quickly say, cutting off Bridgette from talking more. Right now I just wanted to get away from home and out onto the streets where I would have plenty of things to distract me from my thoughts of Duncan.

"That's the spirit! Grab your purse and let's get us to a store," Bridgette said giddily as she all but skipped to the front door. "Oh and we should probably get you some sexy underwear too because you never know," she added in with a wink in my direction. I had no comment to this because what Bridge suggested was absolutely out of the question. There was no way I was going to sleep with Ethan, let alone any chance of him even getting to see me in "sexy underwear".

"You're hopeless Bridge," was all I could say with a fond shake of my head to which she just laughed before proceeding to pull me into the elevator.

00-00-00

It wasn't until the third store that the shopping adventure began to take its toll on me. I had already woken up with my back sore and extremely stiff, and it was a condition that had only gotten worse after walking around the city and trying on countless dresses. Bridgette was walking about as if she had not a care in the world and I was jealous of her because I could not stop from worrying and being in pain.

Making matters worse, whenever I tried to tell Bridgette that I needed to stop or that I was in pain she would always spot some amazing store and just become so excited by an outfit that I felt like a bad person for even thinking about ruining that by bringing her back to the reality at hand.

"Hey Bridge, are you hungry?" I quickly said while she was judging an outfit. She paused for a moment before shrugging, clearly more interested in the outfit than her bodily needs. But I refused to give up because I needed to rest or I was afraid I was going to mess up my stitches. "How about thirsty? There's a Starbucks right around the corner and they have this new drink that's to die for."

This caught her attention as she licked her lips and a smile spread across my face. "After this store, alright?" Although I wanted to leave to rest then, I was fine to abide by her request because at least I knew that rest would soon be following.

"I'm surprised it's even taken this long. You usually have an amazing eye for the perfect outfit. I think you're starting to lose your gift," I teased Bridgette who just shot me a glare before returning her attention to the clothes in her hands. If there was one thing I knew Bridgette for, it was that she fell in love quickly. Whether it was clothes or boys, Bridgette was always quick to find "the perfect one", but today was different. Something was on her mind and I made a mental note to figure out what it was.

"Hmm, try this on. I want to see how it looks with your hair," Bridgette mumbled while practically shoving a dress into my arms. Instead of making a comment on how rough she was being, I just took the dress back towards the dressing rooms. Maybe I would get lucky and there would be a seat within my dressing room that I could rest in for a moment while Bridgette was out hunting.

A woman greeted me as I entered the dressing rooms and she offered to take my clothes to a room for me. When she came back I had seated myself on the surrounding plush chairs and she asked if I would like anything to drink. I requested water and waited for her to come back with my drink before actually going to try on my dress.

I was stiff getting out of my clothes and was once again questioning why I hadn't just worn something simple like a summer dress or even sweats. Anything would be more comfortable than the skinny jeans and fitted top I had stupidly chosen to wear that day. Both were a pain to get in and out of and definitely not the best choice of clothes, especially when considering the fact that I still had a rather large band aid stuck to my back. As I had been doing all day, when I stripped out of my clothing I quickly turned so that my back was to the mirror and I could get a look at the band aid. Thankfully no blood was leaking through which hopefully meant that I wasn't bleeding at all and not just too small of an amount to soak through.

I just wanted this wound to heal so that I could be done with it and move forward and just forget about the entire exchange. Would that mean forgetting about Duncan? The thought made my stomach cramp and I actually bent in half in feeble attempts to reduce the pain rippling through my abdomen, but nothing helped. The pain stayed with me and I could only force myself to breathe and drink water until it finally subsided.

"What is taking you so long? I found like three other dresses I need you to try on," Bridgette announced from outside of my dressing room.

"Sorry, these jeans are not easy to get out of," I quickly lied while scrambling to get on the first dress as quickly as I could. Before I even had the dress zipped up, I knew that it was not the dress but still had to finish putting it on fully so that Bridgette could see. I had barely opened the door before Bridgette was forcing her way in while telling me to take off the dress because it was "all wrong." I did as I was told, but made a point of keeping my front to Bridgette so that she would not have to see my back. I didn't want her to become concerned and even more out of it than she already was.

The next dress I tried on was a soft sky blue color and while it was better than the previous dress, it was definitely not a winner and I was out of it as quickly as I had been in it. This continued until I was onto the last dress and Bridgette and I were both beginning to lose hope.

"Just try it on so we can leave already. I can't handle any more failure," Bridgette moaned dramatically, rolling her head along the back of the chair and looking anywhere but at me. That was just fine with me because I wasn't used to having eyes on me for that long anyway, but I still didn't enjoy seeing my friend in the state she was in.

"Alright, it's on," I announced before turning to look at myself in the mirror. It was at that same moment that Bridgette looked up and both of us took in a quick breath upon seeing the dress on me.

"Oh Court, this is the dress!" Bridgette squealed, quickly jumping up and tackling me into a hug. I was so happy she had finally said those words that I too began jumping with her, ignoring the sharp pain that traveled across my back.

"It's gorgeous Bridgette. You did an amazing job," I congratulated her and I could tell that that made her happy by the wide smile that spread across her lips.

"Oh you know," she said with a mock hair flip. To that I could only laugh and playfully shove her before beginning to get out of the dress. I took my time getting out of the dress because then it was mine and I did not want to risk anything happening to it.

"Starbucks and then shoes?" I asked while pulling back on my own clothes.

"Food and then shoes; shopping always makes me work up an appetite," Bridgette told me and I just nodded, more than happy with the thought of getting to sit down for an hour while getting some food. I hadn't realized it until Bridgette brought up her appetite, but I was actually famished.

"Do you know any good places near by?" I asked while paying for the dress.

"Sign here please Ms. Cliena," the cashier said and I quickly signed my name, not even blinking at the almost $500 cost. "Have a lovely day," the woman told me with a smile before we were gone from the store and back out on the street.

"There's this really good Italian place just a couple of blocks down. They have some of the best bread sticks," Bridgette explained and I just laughed.

"Lead the way."

00-00-00

It was half way through our meal when Bridgette fell silent. That almost never happened. Bridgette always had something to say and if she didn't she would ask me a question and force me to have something to say. But no, she was just silent and it was concerning me.

"Is everything alright Bridgette?" I asked, watching as she twirled the pasta on the plate but never ate it.

"What?" she seemed startled from deep thought, but tried to quickly cover it with a wave of her hand. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. Shopping is just so exhausting," she said, but I knew that it was a lie. Bridgette and I had once gone shopping for twelve hours without taking a break and she had been absolutely fine. No, exhaustion wasn't her problem.

"Come on Bridge, I know that there's something bothering you." She just looked up at me pathetically and seemed to be debating over something as she bit her bottom lip and twisted at the napkin in her hands.

"It's nothing, really Courtney," she said with a weak smile and I just rolled my eyes.

"If you don't tell me then I guess I'll just be forced to return this dress and go to dinner with Ethan in one of my Stanford sweatshirts," I said with an indifferent shrug of my shoulders. This got Bridgette's attention as she quickly sat up in her chair and began telling me that to do that would be absolute suicide and completely crazy. "Well then tell me what's wrong so that I don't have to ruin my chances of having a successful date."

"It's really not that big of a deal, barely even worth talking about."

"Well tell me anyway. I want to know." She gave me a look, asking if I was ever going to drop it. My unwavering gaze gave her all the reply she needed before she let out a sigh and slumped back in her chair.

"It's just stupid boy troubles that I don't want you to have to deal with. I mean you were stabbed the other night. You have so many more important things to deal with than my boy problems," she began, looking up at me quickly to see how I reacted.

"Exactly Bridgette, I was stabbed the other night. Now give me something else to think about, please." This seemed to be what Bridgette needed to hear because after that she began to tell me what had been bothering her.

"Geoffrey and I have been dating for almost a year and things are pretty serious between us. He is definitely the most serious relationship I've ever had and it's all really new to me. So a few days before you flew into town, he asked me to move in with him."

I gasped. "What did you tell him?"

"I told him that I had to think about it, and I haven't talked to him since," she told me and I could see how much that had been bothering her because she was fighting back tears.

"Well… do you want to move in with him?" It seemed like the most stupid question I could have asked, but sometimes it was the stupid questions that made everything come into perspective.

"I don't know. Part of me does because I really like the guy and he's sweet and funny and cute and a really good kisser, but if I move in with him I'm making this huge commitment and I don't know if I'm ready for that yet. I don't know if I'm ready to settle down and give up my living quarters so that I can live with him. And then what would the next step be? Getting engaged? Oh Courtney I'm not ready for that. I'm barely out of high school and I'm just finally earning some of my freedom," Bridgette explained, biting her bottom lip to keep the tears from spilling over.

"Tell him that. If he really cares about you that much then he will understand and respect everything that you just told me." I wanted to make her feel better about the situation she was in, but everything just seemed to drag Bridgette down further.

"But that's just it Courtney. He really cares about me. And I'm terrified of breaking his heart because I actually really care about him too."

"Well you need to talk to him Bridgette. It's not fair that you let yourself get dragged down because of this. It will only give you wrinkles," I teased and that seemed to lift her spirits because she laughed while playfully rolling her eyes. "Come on now, lets go find me some amazing shoes to go with this amazing dress and then we can go home and blast pop music and dance around," I offered and a grin broke out across Bridgette's face.

"I like the sound of that."

00-00-00

I was afraid that finding shoes to go with the dress would be just as difficult as finding the dress itself, but Bridgette was back in her element and found them the first store we entered. Unfortunately they were not cheap, but they were by far the perfect shoes so I signed my name and took them home with me.

At that point I might have been willing to pay anything for shoes, so long as it got me home where I knew that I had pain killers and comfortable places to sit. Bridgette was more than happy to end our shopping trip too. She practically ran to the elevator and barely waited for me to get in before she had the doors shutting. Whenever the elevator stopped for someone on another floor, Bridgette would glare daggers into their backs and it was hard not to laugh at how ridiculous she was being.

"I was about ready to kill that last old couple. I swear, I have never seen people move that slowly," she muttered as I put my key into the door. I just laughed while swinging open the door and stepping into the penthouse. It was amazing how just after being there for a week I already considered the penthouse to be home. It certainly felt more like home than my house back in California did. There was no life in that house and everything was stiff and perfectly pressed. There was no room for mistakes, only the very best in perfection. Here in New York with my father, there was room for me to be silly and not care about how I looked or acted every second of the day.

"Let's get this party started!" Bridgette sang, skipping down the hall and towards my room. I followed her, but much slower because of the bags in my hand and the pain in my back.

"Just don't make it too loud. I don't want my neighbors calling the front desk," I told her from the bathroom.

Painkillers. Just seeing them made a smile form on my lips because they held in them the key to my problems, or at least the key to my back problems. I took two with a glass of water and stayed in the bathroom a moment longer to check my stitches in the mirror. Still no blood which was a good sign, but I probably needed to take it a little easier to make sure I didn't have to take another trip to the hospital.

I was on my way into my room when I heard Bridgette start up the music and couldn't help but laugh when I heard her start to belt out the words. Although I had planned to relax for at least a few minutes, Bridgette quickly forced me into singing and dancing with her. And soon she didn't even need to be forcing me. On my own I began to enjoy the music more and even decided to put on my new shoes and dance around in them which made Bridgette laugh and steal a pair of my heels and dance in them too.

The music was loud and it masked our terrible singing as we danced around and acted like the ridiculous high school girls we were just a couple of years ago. I was able to forget about the nightmare that had been my life just a day ago and all of my worries just slipped away. For a moment I was living in another world where it was just me and my best friend.

And then the door slammed open and we both screamed.

"Duncan! You dick-wad!" Bridgette yelled, holding her hand over her heart while she went over to the stereo and turned off the music. I was too frozen to even do that, stuck staring at Duncan instead for reasons I couldn't even explain.

Why is it that every time I see him I think that it's the last time I'll ever see him? Why does that leave me hurting so badly?

"Get out of my room, you brute!" I yelled, snapping out of my thoughts after Duncan had made some snide comment about our choice of music.

"Nice hooker heels," he said, waltzing into my room like a king and sitting himself down on my bed.

"They are no hooker heels!" I quickly retorted, glaring at him while at the same time panicking because I knew that later tonight when I tried to go to bed it would smell of him.

"Yeah, there's no way hookers can afford 300 dollar shoes," Bridgette said from behind me and I almost died while Duncan just laughed.

"How does daddy dearest feel about you blowing three hundred bucks on hooker heels?" He was so smug as he said that and I just glared at him before Bridgette started laughing too and I also shot her a look.

"I didn't use his money," I said, raising my chin straightening my posture.

"All the more for me to spend when I inherit it all from your dad," Duncan said and I raised my eyebrow.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded and this just made Duncan grin.

"Well Tom and I bonded real well today, so well in fact that I'm almost certain he's already thinking of places to book for our wedding."

He's lying. He had to be. There was no way in hell my father would ever do that to me. Just the thought made my eyes go wide before Bridgette started laughing and my nose wrinkled up. "I know you're lying," I said through gritted teeth. Making his way over to the door, Duncan said I could believe whatever I liked before adding in that it was time for dinner and leaving my room.

"I cannot believe he just did that. The nerve he has!" I growled while taking off my heels. Bridgette just laughed and told me to lighten up a bit before we were both headed out towards the kitchen.

"It figures that Courtney would come out of her room for dinner, she always has loved food," my father teased when I entered the kitchen and I blushed before staring down at my feet. The last thing I wanted to do was make eye contact with Duncan, especially after this morning's incident with food.

"So what's for dinner Mr. C?" Bridgette asked, plopping down on a stool at the island. Dad mentioned something about ordering in Chinese and watching a movie which made Bridge and Duncan both very happy while I just sighed.

"You alright Princess?" my father asked me and I forced a sweet smile onto my lips.

"Of course Daddy, everything is fine," I assured him while he bought my lie, one look over at Duncan told me that he had not and that made my stomach knot painfully. The last thing I wanted was him forcing himself into my personal business especially since I barely even understood what was going on.

Not to mention the fact that that person business has to do with him. My subconscious pointed out and I shot a glare at the wall.

Bridgette and Duncan were busy fighting in the living room about what movie to watch while my father placed the order in the kitchen. With no one to notice me missing, I quietly left the kitchen and made my way to the hallway bathroom. My back was acting up again and although I knew it had not yet been four hours since I last took pain killers, I took two more.

For what felt like a few seconds I stood at the sink with my hands on either side of it while staring at the mirror. I just stared at my own reflection and picked apart all the parts of it I didn't like. I have too many freckles. My nose is too pointed. My ears don't have the same shape.

There is no joy in my eyes. I thought and that made my heart ache because it was true. Looking at myself, I saw that I looked miserable.

"But I can't let anyone else see me like this," I whispered before splashing my face with some water. When I removed the towel from my face, I made sure a smile was on it. For a few seconds I stared at my smile to make sure it looked as real as possible and when I was satisfied I left the bathroom.

I was on my way to the living room when there was a knock at the door. On my way to get it, I heard my dad say something about how quick that was and I caught a look at the clock in the kitchen and saw that I had been in the bathroom for 15 minutes.

Hmm, that is fast. But I didn't dwell on that and instead kept the smile on my face as I opened the door.

My smile dropped.

Standing at the door was not a friendly Chinese man there to deliver food, but instead two officers.

"Good evening Ms. Cliena. We have some questions to ask you about the other night," one of them told me. His voice was deep and it sent chills through my body. Too numb to say anything, I just stepped to the side to allow them entry.

00-00-00

Well I hope this is satisfactory for an update. I know it's been forever since I was active on this site, but I'm starting to get back into it. I did write 7 pages of this chapter in one day technically, so I think that's a pretty good start.

My next stories will be Painted Woman and When the Dead Live so be on the look out for those. I realize that this was a bit of a filler chapter, but I'm working on the build up and I have ideas so hopefully writing won't be as difficult as it was like a year ago when I last updated.

I would love to hear some feedback, so please review.

K