"Just give me a chance to explain, Kelly. I can explain."

She stood there in front of him, her eyes wide with amazement and hurt. The tears threatened, as they always did, yet tonight she managed to will them to stay away. She would not allow him to bring her to tears again…at least not that he'd see.

"I've heard enough," she snapped, as she turned and walked towards the door.

"Kel, look it's just a few more days. Just until we're sure everything is situated with Jess. We just want to make sure the judge is ok with Ryder going back in her care. You know how important this is to me."

Kelly turned back towards him. She did know how important Ryder was to him. She knew how important his family was, but the problem was, she wanted to be important to him too.

"That's just it, Joey. I know your family is important…I was just hoping I'd make the list too," she whispered sadly as she quickly walked down the driveway and got into her car.

"Kelly," Joey called out, his voice fighting a losing battle over the pouring rain. "Kelly, wait, please."

He sighed heavily and slammed the door, leaning back against it. How was it that he always managed to screw this up?

As she slowly pulled away from the driveway, she allowed the tears that had been building all evening to slowly slide down her face. After the accident, when she'd realized Joey had been by her side, she'd allowed herself to hope that things could work out for them—that maybe, after all this time, they could have a real shot at a future together. Tonight, all of that was over.

He was still choosing Aubrey—no matter what the reason—he still chose her and she couldn't sit by and wait for him to be ready. She couldn't live her life in limbo. She had to move on…somehow.

The soft sounds of a love song drifted from the speakers of her car and she leaned down to silence the radio. That was the last thing she needed to hear. Now the beating of the rain on the windshield, coupled with her sobs was the only melody present.

The look on his face told her everything she needed to know.

"Honey, what is it? What's happened?" Vicki stood at the door as the rain beat down on the umbrella she was holding.

"Nothing, Mom. I'm fine," he lied. Compared to the problems some of his family members had experienced in the past few months, he was fine, even though he didn't feel anything even close to fine.

Vicki narrowed her eyes at him. Her son might be able to fool someone else, but not her. She had heard his quickened steps in his approach to the door and she hadn't missed the flicker of disappointment in his eyes when he'd opened the door and saw her standing there. She clearly wasn't who he was hoping to see.

She followed him inside, leaning the soaking wet umbrella against the doorframe.

"You're going to have to do better than that, sweetheart," she said softly, placing a supportive hand on his shoulder.

Joey sighed. He might as well be honest with her. She was, after all, one of the few people who knew what an important part of his life Kelly was an always had been.

Before he even started to speak, his mother looked up at him.

"Is this about Kelly?" she asked quietly, nodding as his eyes closed at the mere mention of her name.

"It's alright," she whispered as she sat down next to him on the sofa. "Just tell me what happened."

"I think I've really lost her this time, Mom. I think this time she's really gone."

Kelly leaned forward as she tried desperately to see the lines in the road. Each passing car threw water up on her already rain covered windshield and the storm only appeared to be growing more intense.

She sighed as she reached for her signal. Yes, she felt as if her life was over, but if she didn't get off the road tonight, it really might be.

Carefully easing the car off the road, she moved underneath the shelter of a large oak tree. Finally she experienced some relief from the incessant beating of the pouring rain.

A sudden jolt caused her to hit her brake hard. What could she have hit? She was off the road. Of that, she was certain. Moving the car into park, she shut off the engine and eased open the driver's side door. She was off the road alright..and right in the middle of a mess of mud, broken limbs, and exposed tree roots….completely stuck.

Sinking back into the seat, she slammed the door. This night could not possibly get any worse.

"I'm sure it's not as bad as you think," Vicki said, as she looked up at her son. "You and Kelly have something special. You always have. This whole mess with Aubrey is far too silly to get in the way of that."

Shaking his head, Joey looked down at his feet. "I don't know, Mom. I don't even really know if it's about Aubrey anymore. She said she didn't make my list—that she understood why I did what I did—even why I'm doing what I'm doing. She knows how important my family is to me, but she doesn't think she's important to me anymore."

He sighed as he looked up at his mother, desperate for advice. "I don't know how to fix that. Every time I try to say something to make her understand I just end up screwing everything up even more. Why does it have to be so hard, Mom?"

Vicki smiled as she softly spoke. "A love as strong as the love you have for Kelly is going to be difficult, but it's worth it. That's how you know it's real. If you're willing to fight for it, it's real."

"I'm willing to fight, but God, Mom—it's like all I've been doing is fighting. How do I get her to understand? How do I get her to see how much I love her?" He leaned back against the couch. There wasn't anything in the world he wouldn't do for Kelly, but he was truly at a loss as to what to do to fix the mess he'd created.

"Have you tried telling her?" Vicki asked.

Joey sat up, looking at his mother. He was silent for a moment as he thought. His mind replayed all of the conversations he'd had with Kelly over the past few months. They'd said so many things to each other. He'd told her so many things, but he wasn't sure 'I love you' was one of them. How was that possible?

"I…I don't know," he admitted, still a little shocked at the realization.

"Maybe you should start there," she said with a smile. "Maybe that's what Kelly needs to hear."

Joey sat still for a moment. He'd never said he loved her. He just thought she knew. He grabbed Vicki's shoulders, kissing her cheek with a smile.

"Mom, you're a genius," he said.

"I'm hardly a genius," she answered with a laugh, standing up and moving towards the door, "but I do know that when a woman knows she's loved, it changes everything. Now then…" She picked up the umbrella from the doorframe, "Why don't I go and let you make things right with that girl of yours? You give Ryder a kiss for me, Ok?"

Joey nodded, "will do. Thanks Mom."

He watched as his mother's taillights faded into the distance. Then, he rushed back into the room, picked up his phone and began to dial Kelly's cell number.

She revved the engine. The tires spun flinging mud and debris into the air and onto the back windshield.

"Damn," she muttered, frustrated by her lack of progress. Staring up at the sky through the window, she muttered, "What else could possibly go wrong?"

A loud clap of thunder echoed through the dark night, as if a fitting response to her question.

"Great," she sighed. She heard her phone ringing and sighed as she grabbed it and checked the ID. Joey. She didn't want to argue with him anymore. She didn't want to talk to him anymore. She didn't even want to talk to him. The whole reason she was in this car tonight was to get away from him..as far away as she could as fast as she could. She needed time..time to think. She was hurt and angry and so in love with him that she couldn't see straight.

That, she thought, was what made this entire situation so difficult. Even now, as angry as she was, she loved that man more than she ever thought possible.

She sighed and pressed the answer button, pressing the phone to her ear. Yes, she was angry, but she was also stranded. Joey had always been her hero, after all.

"Kelly?" Joey said, barely able to hear her greeting over what sounded like wind or rain or maybe even a combination of both.

"Yeah…Joey, Can you hear me?" she asked, covering the receiver with her hand in an attempt to block out as much of the storm's noise as possible.

"Yeah, I can, but barely," he responded. "Where are you?"

Kelly looked around. "Good question," she muttered. Glancing around, she tried to locate a street sign or a building—anything that might help her tell him where she was.

"What?" Joey nearly yelled into the phone.

"I'm really not sure," Kelly admitted, beginning to worry a little. The area around her was really wooded. It was dark and deserted. She had no idea where she was and no idea how to tell anyone else where she was. This was not the kind of place where she wanted to spend the night.

Joey walked into the foyer, certain he had heard her wrong.

"What do you mean you're not sure?" he said. How could she not know where she was? Sure, she'd grown up in Paris, but Kelly was certainly no stranger to Llanview.

"Well, I had an accident and…" she began.

Joey stopped her immediately.

"An accident? Are you ok? Are you hurt?" His heart raced and his mouth went dry.

Kelly shook her head and Joey continued to rattle off questions into the phone.

"No..No..Joey, I'm fine. It's the car. The car isn't fine. It's stuck on a root or a limb or something and it won't move." She felt her anxiety level growing as she spoke. She was really beginning to realize what a mess she had gotten herself into.

Joey still fought to regain his composure. For a moment, he'd thought Kelly had been hurt. For those few seconds, he felt as if his heart were being ripped out of his body. If anything had happened to her he…well, he wasn't sure what he'd do and he didn't even want to think about it. Still, he knew Kelly, and he knew her well enough to know when she was scared. Tonight, she was scared.

"Listen," he said calmly, "Everything is gonna be fine. I don't want you to worry. I'm going to come and get you. You just need to tell me where you were going. Do you know what road you were on?"

"I was heading towards High Ridge," she said quietly already knowing what his response was going to be. She braced herself for his reaction.

"At night? Kelly! What were you thinking going out there by yourself at night? It's not safe. The roads are horrible and in this weather…" He stopped as he heard her take in a shaky breath.

"I know…ok? I know. It was stupid. I was stupid. I just needed somewhere to think. Somewhere I knew no one would bother me," she said quietly.

Joey sighed. He shouldn't have jumped on her like that. That was the last thing she needed at the moment. She was alone and scared and he was berating her. In truth, High Ridge was a place they'd gone together many times and the thought of her going there without him…it tore him apart.

"You're not stupid," he said softly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come down so hard on you. It's just…I worry about you, you know? I'll always worry about you."

There was silence on the line for a moment.

Kelly finally spoke again. "So, can you help me?" she asked. "It's kind of dark out here."

"On my way," he responded as he jumped in the car. "I'll call you when I'm getting close. Stay in the car and keep the doors locked, ok? I'll be there as soon as I can."

"Ok," Kelly replied. "Joey," she said before hanging up.

"Yeah," he replied softly.

"Thanks for being here for me," she said.

"I'll always be here for you," he said with a smile as he shut the phone and placed it on the dash.

Starting up the car, he glanced up at the still dark and angry sky.

"You sure picked a hell of a night to take a drive, Kel," he muttered as he pulled out of the driveway.