Part 20 - Chapter 7 - The Truth

"Eileen?" Lawrence called out as he joined her on the patio. "Why did you walk out? Is something wrong?" Even before their conversation with Justin, she had been unusually quiet that evening.

Eileen sighed. "Yes, a lot of things are wrong."

Lawrence looked confused. He thought everything had been going well. "Like what?"

Eileen hesitated. She didn't particularly want to talk about it, but Lawrence was waiting for an answer. She decided it was probably better to find out now how things were.

"You didn't tell me you stopped seeing Audrey because she suddenly left town."

"I didn't think it mattered."

"Well, it does . . . What if she hadn't left, would you still be with her?"

"I don't know." As Lawrence shrugged, Eileen looked away. "I can't answer that."

"So what if she came back?"

"Nothing . . .Eileen, I only started seeing her after you and Hector got engaged. I liked Audrey and maybe we would still be together if she'd never left, but I'm not sorry she did go because I would rather be with you. It was always you I was interested in."

"I'm glad, because you're my first choice too. I never would have said yes to Hector's proposal if I . . ."

"If what? That's twice now you've started to say something about the engagement and stopped short. What is it?"

"I was going to say I never would have gotten engaged to Hector if I thought you were available," Eileen answered.

"Why wouldn't I have been available?"

"I don't know. I was mixed up . . . it's stupid now."

Lawrence was curious, but he didn't press for details. "And so is thinking there could be anyone else. Is that what's been bothering you tonight?"

"No," Eileen admitted. "I went to the police station today and told them about Hector."

"And?"

"I don't think they believed me. They didn't even want to listen to what I was saying."

"But you told them what you know."

"Yes. I told them everything I told you and they didn't seem to care. I don't know what to do."

"Are you sure, you're ok? Do you want to talk about it?" Blaine asked as he drove Reese home.

She stared out the window and didn't answer.

Once he realized she was crying, he pulled into a parking lot and stopped the car. "Reese," he said, gently, reaching over to put his arm around her.

"Take me home, Blaine. I just want to go home . . . I want to be alone."

"Is there something else you wanted to do tonight?" Zara asked, noticing that Cassie was checking her watch. It had been clear all evening that she wasn't enjoying herself.

"No, I was just hoping to be home when Blaine got back tonight."

"Uh . . . you do realize he has a girlfriend, right?" When Cassie looked away, Zara refused to let her shrug off the question. "What is with you, Cass? You haven't been acting like yourself lately. I've never seen you get so worked up over some guy."

"He's not just some guy . . .he's the guy. I think he's the one for me, my soul mate."

Zara scoffed, "There's no such thing as soul mates. It's a nice idea, but what are the odds of finding the one person who is meant for you? If you can find someone that you're mutually attracted to and can get along with . . . and is available to be with you, that's lucky enough."

"Maybe, but the first time when I saw him, when he came to the house looking for Dad, I knew then that he was the guy for me. And how else would I have known to find him locked up at the bar if we didn't have some kind of connection?"

"I don't know, Cassie. How do you know anything like that? You've always had a gift. Just because this particular premonition involved him, doesn't mean you have to be together."

"I just know, ok? . . . Can we go home now?"

Blaine walked Reese to her door. "You know, it's going to be alright."

Reese looked away, unsure. "How could they have been so awful? That story was horrible, Blaine. That's my past. That's where I came from."

"It is terrible, but it's not your fault. None of us can help where we came from. It has nothing to do with you."

"But I always thought that finding my past and knowing who my parents were would tell me something about myself and who I am. I've always felt so lost not knowing where I came from. I thought if I found out everything, I would finally know who I was too. But that story, those people... that can't be who I am."

"It isn't. Reese, listen to me. You're a wonderful person. You're smart, you're sweet, you're accomplished and you did all of that on your own. You aren't anyone or anything other than yourself. None of that other stuff matters. It doesn't change who you are. You're you."

Reese hugged Blaine close, grateful for his support. She pulled back for a moment, looked him in the eyes and then kissed him.

"Would you stay?" she asked.

"Of course, as long as you want."

"I think you should stay the night," she said, looking away shyly for a moment before meeting his eyes again. "And I think you should stay here every night."

"You want me to move in with you?"

Reese nodded. "I should have offered before when you were looking for a place to stay, but I was too afraid to . . . I'm just so used to being on my own."

"Are you really sure you want me to move in?" Blaine asked. "When I told you about needing a place to live I wasn't asking anything of you, I just wanted to let you in on what was going on with my life . . ."

"I want you here," she said, hugging him again. "I really do."

Cassandra walked into the house, after being dropped off by her sister. As she headed towards the stairs she was suddenly overcome by a sickly queasy feeling and had to sit down on the sofa until it passed.

Still shaking, she rushed into the kitchen and opened the drawer where she had stored the love potion Serena had prepared. It was still there, still untouched. All of her doubts about using it were gone now and instead she felt an intense feeling of desperation.

Her hand hovering over the bottle, she jumped when she heard her mother's soft voice in the doorway. "You're too late."