Please?

Scott looks over to Katie, pained to see her in his state. He furrows his brow as he listens, his face losing its smile. Though it hurts, he moves himself closer to the edge of the bed, rolling over onto his side.

As Katie buries her face in her hands, he reaches out to run his fingers slowly through her hair. He couldn’t help the feeling in the pit of his gut that warned him he didn’t have a chance here…it had been a miracle in the first place that Katie had taken an interest in him at all. If her feelings for him had hit her that hard and fast, was it really something that could last? Or was it true that her heart would never be able to let go of Jason?

Swallowing hard, Scott closes his eyes for just a moment, taking a deep breath. When he was around other people, he was just the tech guy…the computer nerd…the geek. But when he was with Katie…she treated him like a human…like a friend…like a man. No one else had ever made him feel like that before, and he had nothing else now that could compare. If he had it for three days or three years…it was worth it.

“Katie…” His fingers continue to comb her hair, his voice soft and low. “Don’t be angry at yourself. It’s not your fault.”

He pauses his stroking to shift a finger under her chin, forcing her to look up at him. “I don’t like it when you cry,” he whispers. “’Cause there’s nothing I can do to stop it.” He searches her eyes. “I’m not going to give up…this is gonna be heck on both of us, but I’d never live with myself if I let this scare me away. Just let me be your shoulder…please?”


Jason picks up a stray straw wrapper to fidget with as he sits in the booth, uninterested in what’s going on around him. His mind wanders…he thinks of things he doesn’t want to, but the thoughts come anyway.

He begins to contemplate what was happening to him internally. When he’d been in Texas, it had started becoming evident that he’d been living under masks. Since he was a kid, he’d been able to pull on whatever emotion or expression he wanted, to cover up what he was really feeling. It was a ploy to get people to leave him alone and assume he was fine if he really wasn’t.

Then Katie had come along…someone who had been able to see straight through the masks to the true feelings underneath. She had gotten close enough to him that she’d been able to feel them herself…draw them out…absorb them. No matter the mask, she knew what he was feeling and when. The masks became obsolete…they no longer worked…and Jason had realized that living under the falseness of them was no way to live. He’d continued with that perspective for a long while, regaining a relationship with Katie…deepening that relationship with her…and gaining a closeness to others he’d never had before.

Then everything had fallen apart. While in prison, he’d experienced things he’d never want to repeat. He’d been treated as low as possible, witnessed murders, been the brunt of teasing that went beyond verbal jabs. It had hurt. He had loathed the pain. But masks would do no good. No one there cared what they perceived him as – it didn’t matter. The only way to stop the pain was to lock it away. It had taken a while, but Jason had mastered the exercise. He’d successfully built a barrier that was impenetrable. Nothing in, nothing out. And as such, he’d begun to fight back. Without feeling the remorse, or guilt, or raw pain from becoming who he had to survive, he became someone he no longer knew. He’d locked out his emotions from himself, and locked them away from Katie. He hadn’t wanted to feel the pain, and he hadn’t wanted her to feel it either.

And so…he had remained that way. No emotions…no feeling. No feeling…no pain. But as such, a coldness had formed, making it harder than ever to open up. And when he did, the pain was so severe that he avoided it at all cost.

But this had created a vicious cycle. One that led to new anger…new frustration…new pain that had emerged from the very fact that he had locked away the root emotions. And they sat on the surface, dictating his mood…dictating his actions. He was miserable…plain and simple. And the emotions that were buried under the surface were boiling, the pressure ever building. He could bring them out if he wanted to…but it hurt…and it had become harder than ever. It was no longer natural to simply be himself…let his true self show. It was an effort. He’d done such a good job at hiding himself that now, instead of having to work at burying his emotions, he had to work at actually showing them.

It was an awful position that pained him more every day, sending him on a downward spiral of something he wouldn’t want to admit was depression. And he had no idea how to get himself back out again. Had he changed permanently? Was this his lot?

Snapping his head up, he’s startled by Aerith’s approach. For a minute, he’s taken aback. He didn’t recognize her. How long had she been working here?

He lets his eyes fall back to the table. He needed something to eat, or drink at least. He hadn’t had any breakfast, and he knew he needed sugar. “I guess I could use as glass of orange juice,” he finally replies. “He gestures with his hand to measure. “Regular glass though, not a juice glass. Mabel knows – just tell her its for Jason.”

He scoots the menu back to her. “I won’t need this, thanks.”


Cindy giggles as Wes picks her up and spins around. She receives Wes’s kiss and puts her hand to the side of his face, beaming as he draws away. “I love you too.”

Her smile broadens as he talks to the baby, and she pulls him back close again, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I’m so happy…we’re really going to have a family…” Another kiss seals her joy. She couldn’t have found a happier moment.