“What happened to you trusting me here?” Chris questioned uneasy as Julie glanced him over.  He watched her circle around him for a moment as he thought of her questions about Eve.  He’d hoped she’d just accept his answer about what happened with Eve, but the longer she stared at him, the more he was beginning to have his doubts.

Satisfied with his answer Julie hugged him again. "I'm so excited!" she said, as she kissed him on the cheek.

"Julie, you are just too good for words and today has been indescribable. You're finally going to be free." Chris 

"Yes...finally!" Julie said, sitting back down, then standing back up hardly able to contain herself.

"What are you going to do with all that energy? I'll be lucky if I can keep you from running laps around Port Charles." Chris said with a laugh. 

"But that's the greatest part of all! If I wanted to I could!"

"You're right. And who would I be to stop you?" Chris asked with a smile, "It makes me so happy to see you this way. It's been a very long time since a smile has made your face light up like that." 

"The thought of being able to feel the sun isn't the only thing that makes me very happy." she said, seriously as Rachel had left the room. "You make me very happy. I think I'm falling in love with you."

"Oh Julie," Chris said softly, looking into her beautiful eyes and feeling so conflicted.  He had finally been able to tell Eve how he felt about her tonight and he thought that he really was in love with Eve. If that was true, how could he be standing here with Julie feeling something that he couldn't describe but he knew that she made him very happy. "You don't know how it makes me feel to hear you say that," he said with a smile as he reached over to touch her cheek softly. 

Julie put her arms around his neck and her head on his shoulder as he held her to him, and leaned his head against hers. Here she was. This beautiful intelligent woman who could see right through to the real him. She had never been snowed by any of his tactics and here she was, falling in love with him. I He didn't know what he was feeling right now, but he knew that he wasn't ready to let Julie go, even with Eve in the picture.

Julie closed her eyes, as she began to picture her future. Chris would help her find Christina and they would raise her together with their house with the white picket fence and heck, maybe they'd even have a dog or something. 

Chris felt her relax in my arms and he smiled, "What are you thinking about right now?" 

"The future." she said, softly "You and me and Christina..."

Before Chris could answer, Rachel walked back into the visitor's room clearing her throat. "I'm sorry to interrupt you two at such an emotional moment, but Julie you and I
need to go finish up some of your paper work so that we can get you out of here and back to the life that's waiting for you." she explained with a smile.

Julie slowly kissed Chris, then walked over towards Rachel. "So where do I sign?" she joked.

"Right down the hall. I promise I won't keep you too long." Rachel replied with a smile nodding at Chris. "We'll be back soon."

"I sincerely hope so," Chris said with a smile. 

"Shall we?" Rachel questioned opening the door for Julie and her to go down the hallway to fill out the paperwork.

"Certainly..." Julie said, following her down the hall leaving Chris alone with his thoughts. 

Chris turned to the window thinking about Julie’s release and about Eve.  He sighed as he rubbed his temple.  How was he going to explain this to Eve?  Especially now after what had happened in the on call room.  He’d felt something so strong there between them, something he’d never felt before, yet here he was with Julie, the woman whom he’d promised to love and honor till death to them part.  He looked down at Julie’s latest ashtray creation on the table top and he picked it up finding his thoughts lingering to Eve again as he realized that things had just become far more complicated than he’d anticipated.

"Kevin stop this." Eve replied shaking herself free as he held her tighter than before. "What is wrong with you?  I'm sorry that I've upset you Kevin, but I'm not going to sit here and listen to you when you're acting like this.  I'm just going to go grab a couple of things and we can discuss this some other time when you cool down."

"No," he said stepping up to her, "You're not going anywhere.  I won't let you leave.  You're the most wonderful woman in the world, Eve, and I love you.  I can't let you go.  I love you too much to let you go."

"Kevin please don't make this any harder than this is." she urged him seeing how upset he was.  "Kevin I think it would be best if we just spent some time apart.  In fact, I'll come back in the morning for some things, but you need to calm down.  I'm so sorry this is hurting you Kevin."

How Ryan wanted to yell at her not to call him Kevin!!  He looked at her, trying to
drum up some sympathy from her, which usually wasn't too hard, "What's wrong with me, Eve?  Why do the women I love want to leave me?  Why to things always go so wrong?  I love you more than I can possibly say and now you want to walk out the door too.  Am I such a terrible guy?"  He knew Kevin would have eaten this stuff up, how pathetic.

"Kevin, you're a wonderful guy.  Nothing's wrong with you." she replied softening her  tone as she looked at his sad face.  "You're more than I ever could've hoped for and more than I ever deserved.  God you don't know how hard this was for me to come here tonight and tell you about how I feel about Chris because the truth is I still care about you very much.  We've gone through so much together and you've helped me grow Kevin, but I'd be lying to you if I didn't say that there was a place in my heart for Chris as well.  I'm sorry Kevin...words can't even begin to express how horrible I feel."

"How can you care about me and feel for Chris the way you do?  It's a tragic cycle with me.  First Lucy with Scott, and now you with Chris.  What makes the women that I love most cut my heart out?  I don't think I can go through this again, Eve.  I can't lose the person I care about most in this world to another man.  I just can't."

"Kevin I'm sorry.  I'm so sorry that you're hurting like this, but I don't know what more I can do or say at this point." she began feeling awful about hurting him.  "I never meant to this to happen and I wish that there was some way I could take the pain away, but I can't."

"Eve, please don't leave tonight.  Just one more night.  Please?  Just give me that much."

"Kevin," she started thinking about my promise to meet with Chris later, "I just don't think that's a good idea.  We both know that if I stay here it's only going to cause more pain down the road."

"Please?  Just one night and you can leave in the morning without a fight from me.  Please?"

"Kevin, we can't make love tonight." she replied looking back at him feeling a sense of obligation to him despite what she intended to do. "If I did stay, we can't do that because it wouldn't help either one of us. What am I saying? Kevin this is impossible. I
should leave." 

"Eve, please don't leave. I'm not trying to force you into a position where you think you have to sleep with me. Just stay the night with me. Talk to me. Let me hold you just for a little while."

"Kevin," Eve began feeling guilt tearing away at her insides as she looked at him, "all right. I'll stay for a little while....I'm not making any guarantees about the night, but I'll stay for a little while longer."

"That I can live with," Ryan said, trying to figure out what to do with her now that she was staying. 

"You know, I think I should probably go into my room and put a few things together for tomorrow." she began uneasily after a long period of silence between them. She could see he was in deep thought and she forced a smile before moving towards the room.

Things weren't supposed to be moving this fast. But what was the harm in playing a little? He smiled wickedly before remembering to be his stoic Kevin best and following behind her, watching her gather her things, "I just wished things could have worked out differently for us.”

"Yeah so do I Kevin. I guess that timing is everything and we just found ourselves crossed along the way." she replied pulling a couple of shirts out of the closet as she noticed his limbo championship trophy on the dresser. She picked it up in her hand and turned to him holding it out. "I believe this is yours."

Ryan reached out to her and took it wondering what this was supposed to be. Ryan nodded, "A symbol of better times," he hoped that she wouldn't see through him as he looked back to her, "When did things start to unravel for us Eve?" 

"I don't know Kevin. I've tried to piece it together in my mind at least a hundred times wondering why someone like me wouldn't allow myself to be happy with someone as wonderful as you." she replied softly meeting his gaze. "Kevin, you deserve nothing but happiness and I just don't believe that you'll find that with me. Granted, we had some wonderful times and I know I'm a fool to let go of them, but something changed between us. Maybe I changed, but whatever it was, I can't deny what I'm feeling." 

"Sometimes change is good. Does the fact that something changed scare you? Are you afraid of things changing between us? Is that what this is about?" he asked reaching out to her, "I'm not afraid of anything as long as I have you here with me."

"Kevin," she began at a loss taking a step back and turning away, "I don't know what I'm afraid of at this point. Maybe I'm afraid of never having taken the chance or maybe it's just things have been so strange with us. I mean think about it, we never fought and every time conflict came up, you told me how beautiful I was and we ended up making love instead of trying to work through things. While everything seemed perfect, something felt like it was missing with us."

"What was missing Eve? What is it that we're missing? Maybe we can find it. I'm so afraid of you walking out that door, Eve. You've been such a big part of my life that I'm afraid of what my life will be without you. One thing is for sure though, I'll never be as happy as I have been with you." 

"Kevin please," she started feeling herself being torn as she looked back at him, "you've made me very happy too, but what kind of life could I give you when I have these feelings for Chris. Maybe this will blow up in my face, but what I feel is so strong and he's in love with me Kevin and tonight when we kissed, well Kevin I can't ignore how kissing him made me feel." 

"So you're basing all of this on one kiss. Is that really fair Eve? Is it?" he asked, feeling frustrated and stepping away from her for a moment, "I was deeply in love with Lucy when we started seeing one another Eve. I honestly thought I couldn't survive without her. I wanted to go back to her. I wanted to fight for her, but you were there, giving me hope when I thought there wasn't any. I can't just let you slip away this easily." 

"Kevin think about what you said.  You were still very much in love with Lucy when we started seeing one another, yet you pushed yourself into a relationship with me as means of getting over it." she pointed out looking at him.  "Kevin we were both hurting and we did what we thought we could to make ourselves believe that we'd found love after being hurt like we were.  Kevin I care about you believe me, but you can't tell me that in your heart you don't still have some of those feelings there for Lucy and maybe now you think I'm the one, but what happens ten years down the road when you realize that those feelings hadn't died?"

"They have.  All it took to show me that Lucy was behind me was you. How could I ever want her after you?  You opened doors for me that I thought were long closed, Eve.  Why would I ever want to go back to that?  You helped me learn so much about myself.  I don't want to lose you because everyday with you, I learn something new about myself or about the world that I had never been able to learn before."

"Kevin," Eve began at a complete loss looking back at him her eyes filled with tears, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Don't cry. Please don't cry," Ryan said tenderly brushing a tear from her cheek with a fingertip, "I never wanted you to feel pain because of me, Eve. I never wanted you to cry because of me." he paused, "I don't want you to cry now." 

"I can't help it Kevin. I've just made a complete mess of everything like usual." Eve replied sadly gazing up at him. "Every time I give my heart to someone, I end up ruining things. I truly care about you Kevin and I care about Chris as well. This isn't fair." 

"Life is rarely fair," Ryan said softly, "I wish things were different, Eve, but I know that I should have done a lot of things differently. I should have let you know just how special you are to me. I should have let you known that you were the only woman in my heart. That Lucy was only in my past, not my future. My future belongs to you." 

"Kevin, I'm going to need some time to think about this," Eve began thinking about her promise to meet Chris later, "I'm not going to make any hasty decisions without thinking them through, but right now I can't even see tomorrow let alone my future. Maybe it's about time that I start to think about what I need to do to make me happy instead of constantly seeking reassurance from everyone else in my life." 

"That's all I've ever wanted for you, Eve. I only wanted to see you happy and I thought that you were happy with me. I thought we were happy together." 

"We were Kevin, but at the same time something felt like it was missing." Eve explained trying to make sense of what she was doing. "Somewhere along the line I think I lost touch with what was real and what wasn't. For a long time I thought we were deeply in love, but it's almost like that thing you feel when you're a teenager and your emotions are raging like crazy. I mean Kevin there's not a lengthy amount of time that I can remember us going through without us putting our hands all over one another. Like even when we talked about my son possibly being alive, you joked about not being able to make love on the kitchen table if that was the case, but in reality that's really been the tone of our relationship lately."

"It was a joke, Eve," Ryan said taking a deep breath, "I know that things have seemed strained lately. Maybe it's because we haven't been telling each other what we were really feeling. I should have told you that I loved you, Eve. I should have told you that you were the only woman for me. Whoever thought a shrink would lose a relationship over lack of communication." 

"Kevin, this isn't all on you. I'm responsible for this too." Eve explained nervously playing with the shirt in her hands. "Maybe I'm jumping the gun here, but then again maybe this is a sign...one that shouldn't be taken too lightly. All I'm asking for is time...please just say you'll give me that."

"Time," Ryan repeated, not even sure if he had the time to give her, but it was either that or lose her for good anyway.  He nodded, "I can give you time, Eve. It's all you've ever truly asked of me. What kind of man would I be to refuse?"

"Thank you Kevin. You have no idea how much that means to me." Eve replied grateful he was so understanding about this.

"I can only hope you know what it means to me," Ryan said softly, then looked around, "Are you hungry? I haven't eaten and I thought maybe we could share a meal together." 

"Dinner sounds nice Kevin." Eve  replied thinking it over for a moment. "I think we can do that."

Ryan smiled, "Good, I'm glad that you feel you can sit down to dinner with me. I don't want to push you, Eve." 

"I know Kevin and I think dinner might be good for us." Eve replied thinking about Chris wondering how they were going to meet later tonight. She smiled at Kevin hoping he didn't realize that my thoughts were of Chris. "What do you say we get dinner started?" 

"I think that's a very good idea," Ryan smiled, trying to figure out how to keep her here at all costs. If worse came to worse, he could always go back to the old standby. His favorite actually, violence. 

"You know Julie, I knew this day would come and I can't even begin to tell you how happy I am that things are working out for you and Chris like this.   I'd anticipated the process taking longer, but thankfully the courts were on our side." Rachel began leading her down the hall.

"I still don't understand how you convinced them...but I guess that doesn't really matter. Thank you. Thank you." Julie said, cutting off her own thought. It was almost all too perfect and that scared her a bit, as nothing had ever been perfect for her before.

"Julie from the moment I met you, I knew that you had a bright future waiting for you outside of this place and I promise you that everything you wanted and dreamed about will be yours."

“Rachel, I don’t even know where to begin in thanking you,” she offered gleefully,  “I mean being out again is so exciting, yet so nerve racking and it’s hard to believe it’s even happening.”

"Just don't worry about it Julie. Everything is going to work out and if you need my help in the future for any reason, please don't hesitate to ask ever." Rachel smiled at her as they approached the front desk. 

"You'll me on the top of my list the next time I'm in a jam...which I'm hoping won't be any time soon."

"Julie I think everything is going to work out for you as it should be." Rachel replied with a smile. "You won't have to worry about anyone else trying to manipulate you any longer and you'll be free to have your family with Chris down the road."

"Family...I can't wait." Julie  said, sarcastically. 

"Julie, don't tell me that you're having your doubts about your marriage to Chris and the family in your future now that you're so close to being out of here."

"No, not at all. I guess I'm just so excited all my emotions are getting mixed up."

"Well just remember that your husband loves you quite a bit and he's going to be there for you every step of the way. Everything will work out for the best Julie." 

"It sure seems that way." Julie said, her eyes widening seeing the large stack of papers. "We have to fill out all those papers?"

"Yeah well just be thankful that I was able to cut down the stack for you." Rachel replied seeing the look on her face. "Why don't you start working on these and I'll go check on Chris?" 

"Ok." Julie said, sitting down amazed at the large stack in front of her, but she tried to think on the bright side.  She grabbed the first form and started filling it out...

Rachel left Julie to begin filling out the forms and returned to the visitor's room to find Chris standing by a window looking distracted. "She seems eager to finally be going home." she commented eyeing him closely. "You two are very lucky."

Chris stared out the window thinking about how he was going to deal with this.  He was suppose to have met Eve tonight to discuss the future, but he knew that was impossible now. His wife was coming home, and he couldn't leave her. Was he in love with Julie? Was he in love with Eve? Was it possible to love both? What was he going to do?  He heard Rachel's voice, but not her words.  He turned towards her for a moment, "I'm sorry. I wasn't paying attention. What did you say?" 

"You look a little lost right now." Rachel commented stepping in towards him. "It looks like you're a million miles away Chris." 

"In a way, I wish I was," Chris said softly, then looked back at her, "Just a little shell-shocked that Julie's coming home so soon, I guess." 

"I'm sure she's eager to get her life back...." Rachel began softly looking him over. "She's going to be wanting to get Christina back soon Chris and even though her release is a big step, you're going to have to keep her from jumping off the deep end. I hope you're prepared for the responsibility this brings."

"I am," Chris said, nodding in assurance even though he  was about as unsure as he could get, "I'm just so happy for Julie. She's finally going to be able to be free. I know she'll want Christina back immediately, but deep down, she knows that we'll have to work towards that." 

"I understand that Chris, but there are a lot of things that are going to change around here over the next couple of weeks especially with Lucy Coe and Julie's going to want to jump the gun and chase after Christina and it's up to you to keep her from getting involved just yet."

"Lucy Coe? What do you mean, Rachel? Something else in the stars for Lucy?" 

"Oh let's just say that Lucy's about to get everything she's ever wanted, with the exception of Christina of course." Rachel replied with a wicked smile. "She's about to be reunited with the love of her life and as a result everything is going to change."

"The love of her life? How are you going to do that? If you haven't noticed Kevin is in love with Eve." Chris said almost hurting at the thought and then continuing, "If this endangers Christina in any way, Julie won't be the only one that goes a little insane." 

"Don't worry about the how Chris, but Lucy will find true happiness again with Kevin and I can assure you Christina won't be endangered in any of this." Rachel replied with a smirk thinking about the plans in the making. "Everything is working out as it should be. I promise you that." 

"And you're just going to let Eve hang, is that it?" Chris said not thinking about what it sounded like, "She's my friend. I don't want to see her hurt." 

"Your primary concern is your wife Chris and as for Eve," Rachel began thinking it over, "she has her own skeletons to deal with and the best thing you could do is stay away from her before it ends up bringing you down as well." 

Eve moved into the kitchen and pulled out a couple of things before turning to Kevin. "So what are we making tonight? Something simple perhaps." she suggested noticing the time. "You know Kevin, after dinner I have to run by the hospital and check up on a patient of mine for a while." she started instantly hating herself for lying but knowing by his reaction the news,  he wasn't going to just let her leave to see Chris without a fight despite his promise to give her time. 

"Going to see Chris?" Ryan asked looking at the food items on the counter and choosing one to begin preparing, "You can tell me if that's what is really going on." 

"Kevin," Eve began realizing he'd seen right through her, "look we agreed to talk about a patient later, so yes he'll be there." She answered unable to be completely honest about what was going on because she felt so horrible. 

"Is that all it is? Is this really about a patient at all? Has this been going on behind my back for a while, Eve?" Ryan asked, feeling anger grow, "How long have you two been screwing around? How long have you been playing me for the fool?"

"Kevin this isn't what you think it is." Eve began realizing she'd pushed the wrong button in him. "Kevin, other than tonight when Chris and I talked to one another and kissed, nothing else has been going on. I haven't been screwing around on you and the last thing I would ever do is try to play you for a fool. Kevin, you have to believe that."

"Have to believe that? Have to believe that?!? Like I have to believe that you need time except you're willing to run out the door to meet with your secret lover? Is that it?!"

"You know what?" Eve began tossing down the towel that she was holding as his accusations began to upset her. "I think dinner was a bad idea after all. In fact, the more I think about it, my leaving is probably the best for both of us tonight that way we don't do or say anything we'll regret later."

"You've already done something to regret," Ryan said grabbing her and pulling
her towards him, "I want the truth, Eve. How long?"

"Kevin let go of me!" Eve snapped back at him angrily. "I told you the truth and I'm not going to sit here and let you accuse me of something that I didn't do. Now I mean it. Let go!"

"No!" Ryan said tightening his hold on her, "No, I'm never going to let you go!  You're going to stay here one way or the other!"

"You don't have a choice Kevin and I swear if you don't let go of me right now." Eve replied struggling with him. "Kevin stop this!"

"No," Ryan said dragging her back through the house, "I'm never going to let you go. You see, I had plans for us, Eve, and I don't like having my plans changed."

"Kevin, have you gone mad?" Eve questioned fighting him as he pulled her along. She tried to break away, but he was too strong as he dragged her down the hall. "Kevin stop this...please you don't want to do this. Let go of me."

"I'm not going to let go of you, Eve, and yes, I most definitely want to do this," Ryan said shoving her into a room.

Eve fell back as he pushed her into the room.  She looked up at him in horror unable to believe what was happening.  She pulled herself to her feet and felt her anger raging from within. "Kevin, you're not going to keep me here like a prisoner. I'm leaving right now.”

"You're not going anywhere, not for a very long time, Eve. Get used to it. You belong to me. Don't you ever forget that."

"I don't belong to anyone Kevin!" Eve snapped back in a rage as he screamed at her. "You can forget any chance of reconciliation between us because we're through. Do you hear me? We are over?"

Ryan stepped over to her, trying to get my anger under control but finding it very difficult, "You belong to me, Eve. I own you. We'll never be over.  NEVER!"

"Kevin I don't know what's happened to you," Eve began trying to regain her composure as he shouted at her, "but we're finished and I'm leaving." Eve could see him shaking with rage, but she continued to push it. "Kevin I'm walking out that door and there's nothing that you can do to stop me! Do you understand?"

"Nothing I can do to stop you, huh?" Ryan asked grabbing her and pushing her against the wall, pinning her there with his body. He put his lips close to hers and whispered with a stern tone, "I already told you. You're not going anywhere."

Eve looked back at him suddenly very afraid as he gazed into her. She could feel his hands digging into her and she found herself powerless against his fierce grip. She blinked back tears unwilling to let him get the best of her as her tone softened a bit. "Kevin please, just let me go."

Ryan saw her fear and drew power from it.  He had forgotten how much fun this
could be.  He spoke with an even tone, "No." he watched and waited for a response from her.

"Kevin please," Eve started doing her best to stay in control as she felt her body tremble beneath his as it felt like he was crushing her. 

"Begging? How disappointing. I was hoping for something a little more original from you," Ryan said unmoving.

"Kevin this is crazy." Eve spoke up trying to keep it together as he looked back at her with that cold, dark stare. "Let go of me."

"Crazy? You want to know what's crazy? Thinking a woman like you could ever be true to a man. That was crazy," Ryan said in a flat tone, trying to goad her, wanting to see what she would do.

"Kevin, how can you say that?" Eve asked in disbelief feeling as if she'd been slapped in the face with his words. "You know damn well that I never cheated on you. I told you about Chris because I didn't want to lie to you like Lucy did in the past and for you to say something like that......" she trailed off feeling her lip quiver. "Kevin you're wrong about me and you're wrong about this and I swear if you don't let me go......."

"Wrong about you? That you've done it again? Torn my life to shreds with your truth?" Ryan asked watching her lip, "And just what is it you'll do if i don't let you go, hmm? What is it I should be afraid of from you?"

"Chris is expecting me Kevin and if you don't let me leave, he's going to start wondering what happened and he doesn't trust you already." Eve responded desperately realizing that he was toying with her and he almost seemed to be enjoying this in a strange way. "I told Chris that I was breaking the news to you. He's probably waiting for me right now and if I don't arrive as planned, he'll come looking for me."

"Let him. We'll let him join our little love fest," Ryan said smiling coolly, "I might like it."

That was not the answer Eve was looking for, she realized and it frightened her that he seemed to be unmoved by her bluff.  She gazed back at him feeling her body ache from the pressure he was applying on her as he held onto her.

"Just what do hope to accomplish by keeping me here like this?" Eve asked firmly.

Ryan smiled as he relieved some of the pressure he was applying, but not releasing her, "What do you think? What twisted thoughts about me are running around in that head of yours?"

"I was thinking about everything we've been through Kevin and how this isn't the way for us to end things." Eve explained softening her tone trying a different approach.  "Everything that we shared together shouldn't be perverted like this Kevin. I know that I hurt you, but keeping me here isn't the answer. Please Kevin, just end this now before things get out of control here."

"Out of control? I'd say they were out of control when you started screwing around with Ramsey. What is you see in that punk anyway?" Ryan said with a dismissing look, "Doesn't matter. You'll never see him again anyway."

"And why is that Kevin? Do you intend to keep me here forever locked away from the world?" Eve asked shaking her head slightly as the thought of never seeing Chris crossed her mind. "It's never going to work. I have responsibilities and friends and they will come looking for me. You can't hold me like this forever Kevin."

"Eve," Ryan said with a smile as he locked gazes with her, "What would you say if I told you that it's easy to make a person disappear? Make it look like they died in a fiery accident? But they can be very much alive and well?"

"A fiery accident." Eve repeated suddenly struck with this sick feeling as she  looked back at him. "No, no.........you can't be serious about this. There's no way that....." she trailed off feeling as if a stranger was before her.

"That what, Eve? That I actually survived the death trap that my so-called loving brother wanted me to die in? It's very possible. It's very real," Ryan smiled, watching the realization strike her, "Disappointed that I'm not dear sweet pathetic Kevin?"

"No," Eve cried out unable to hold back the feelings raging from within her as she stood frozen against the wall paralyzed with fear as she saw Ryan for what he truly was. "This can't be happening. You couldn't have been the one all these months when......oh God......" Unable to fight it, she felt tears burning in her eyes. 

"When we were making love? Hmm?" Ryan asked in amusement watching the tears in
her eyes, "When you loved my touch? When you practically begged me to make love to you? Hmm? Oh yes, Eve, that was me. And all the while you were calling Kevin's name, I was the one giving it to you just the way you liked it. Kevin could never have satisfied you the way I did. Come to think of it, the poor thing probably never could have made it half way," he said almost with laughter in his voice.

"No...no......" Eve cried out feeling her face burning with tears unable to hold it all in a second longer as the reality of the situation dawned in upon her. After all these months....everything that she'd thought she'd shared with Kevin Collins, every touch, every promise, every time they made love she was making love to a murderer.  She tried not to let him get the best of her, but she couldn't hold back any longer as tears of anguish flooded down her face.  She'd allowed herself to get involved with a serial killer and now here she was at his mercy.

"Aww, poor Eve, I've upset you. But I know just how to comfort you, don't I, baby?" Ryan asked moving his body against her, knowing that she was so terrified of him right now. That felt good. It was a feeling he hadn't felt in years.  He smiled as he lowered his lips to just below her earlobe, "Want to make all the pain go away?"

"Don't.....please don't." Eve sobbed feeling herself horrified as he touched her. Never in her life had she felt so helpless and frightened. Just the thought of allowing him to touch her, made her skin crawl.  She squirmed a bit underneath silently wishing for some escape as her heart pounded in her chest fiercely.  She closed her eyes trying to block out the feel of him as he taunted her.

"I can feel your heart beat, Eve," he whispered, moving his hands over her skin, "I've felt that same heart beat before when you wanted me. Tell me Eve. Are you scared?" he asked to look her eye to eye.

"Don't do this Ryan." Eve pleaded feeling as if she breathed too heavily he would strike.  She gazed back at those cold, dark eyes staring back at her and her body was frozen with fear. Yes, she was afraid of him....terrified and there was nothing she could do to stop the way she was feeling...no way out of this situation. She closed her eyes again wishing that this would stop, that she'd wake up from this nightmare and everything would go back to normal again, but as she felt his hands on her, she knew this wouldn't go away.

Ryan only heard her say his name. He watched her lips as she said it and smiled.  He drug his thumb across her lower lip and spoke softly, "You don't know how long I've wanted to hear you say that. I've wanted to hear you call my name out while we were making love, for it to be my name carried on your breath in passion. Say it, Eve," he whispered, moving his thumb back across her lip, "Say it again."

"Let me go. Please I won't tell anyone about this if you'll only let me go." Eve cried out feeling the hot tears burning against her cheeks as she looked into him seeing that he was blocking out her words. "Please Ryan."

"Shhh," Ryan said hearing her speak his name and it being carried on the angelic voice, "You say my name differently than most. It sounds like a prayer on your lips," he whispered, watching her lips again, "Say it again. I want to hear you say it again."

Eve gasped for a breath seeing how entranced he was as she'd spoken. She wasn't quite sure how to respond to his demands seeing as she knew of his history and she was completely terrified. "Ryan please...." she breathed feeling the word sting at the back of her throat as it escaped her lips. With each passing second the sound of his name was just a reminder of what was happening to her.

She'd never been more beautiful to Ryan than she was in that moment. Hearing his name carried by her voice was exhilarating.  He couldn't resist the impulse.  He lowered his lips to hers in a kiss, wanting to make her his instead of Kevin's like she thought she had been.

 Eve backed away from the kiss as best as she could hoping to find some kind of out as he kissed her. Feeling his lips to hers no longer brought forth feelings of happiness and love as those emotions were now replaced with terror and sheer disgust. Never in her life had she felt so sickened by  anyone's touch as she did in these moments.  Eve tried to shake herself free of him hoping to escape somehow.

Ryan pulled his lips away from hers and looked at her slowly.  His anger mounting again, "Not good enough for you know, huh? Had to be golden boy whose just as crazy as I am? I can still be Kevin if that's what you want, but I don't know why you would want such a loser."

"Ryan please. Just stop this." Eve whispered hoarsely feeling her throat ache from crying. "If you cared about me like you say you did, then please just let me go. That's all I ask....just let me be without this."

"Oh, I guess no one told you . . . . I've never really cared about anyone other than myself . . . and maybe a puppy I had when I was seven, but no one else, so that kind of kills that trump card right away," Ryan smiled, "Whoops, I said the K word and not the one that points out my disgusting twin either. Didn't mean to bring up that subject. You're already shaking as it is."

"Ryan, I know that can't be true." Eve insisted hoping to spark some kind of reaction out of him. "After all the things we shared together...the way you wanted to be with me, I know that you feel something for me." she softened her voice. "Ryan, I know you felt it when we were together and somewhere deep inside you don't want to do this. Please if you let me help you, then we can come up with something together....just release me please..."

"Together?" Ryan asked with contempt, "Together, Eve? You want to say together when it's a distant past. Only moment ago you wanted to run to Ramsey for some godforsaken reason, and now you say together. Convenient for you, isn't it?"

Eve felt his words cut sharply into her as she began crying all over again silently cursing herself for leaving Chris like she did. If only she'd stayed with him, none of this would've happened. If only she wouldn't have moved out of their apartment, out of her simple life into this nightmare, but that wasn't it for her. She had to risk it all to be here with Kevin only to end up on the receiving end of a madman's fury and now it seemed as if nothing would save her now. She closed her eyes thinking about all the plans she'd made for her future wondering if she'd even have a future now that Ryan was holding her here.

Ryan smiled, feeling power course through his veins. It had been so long since he'd been able to visibly savor someone else's pain. Too long.  He caressed her cheek slowly, wiping tears from her cheek, "Shhh."

"You're right," Eve began choking back tears, "I was wrong to think that anything I'd even attempt to have with Chris could even come close to what we had baby." she looked back at him feeling his hand on her skin. "Ryan please I was so wrong. Tell me that there's some way I can make this up to you."

"I'm sure we can come up with something," Ryan  said brushing his thumb over her
trembling lower lip, "First, you can start by telling me you love me. I've heard you say it with the K-word but I want to hear you say it with my name.  Say it Eve."

"That sounds an awful lot like an order," Chris said feeling very defensive. Something wasn't right here. He knew that whatever was about to happen Eve was in danger from it. 

"Consider it useful advice Chris." Rachel replied her eyes narrowing at him. "Your friend has a few things that she has to be held accountable for and even though she's run from it, she's not getting off as easily as she'd hoped for." she looked him over for a moment trying to read his thoughts. "Your concern right now should be Julie and not Eve Lambert and as your friend Chris, I warn you, getting yourself wrapped up in Eve will only lead to trouble down the road.....trouble which you aren't prepared to handle I can assure you."

"I don't like being told what I can and cannot do, Rachel, as I'm sure you're well aware. In fact, I often do the opposite of what I'm told. And you can consider what I'm about to tell you as friendly advice, don't touch Eve Lambert. If she is harmed in any way, the consequences will be worse than anything you can possibly imagine." 

"Chris, don't threaten me because I warn you, you won't like the recoil it brings and you won't win." Rachel replied menacingly stepping towards him. "And as for your precious little Evie, she's already dug her own grave and it's a matter of time before the walls start crumbling in on her and when that time does arrive, there won't be a thing you can do about it friend." 

"I won't let you do this to her. She's a good woman who has tried to turn her life around. And she's the best friend I've ever had. I won't let you destroy her, Rachel." 

"Chris, I'm not the one destroying Eve." Rachel explained to him taking note of how upset he was getting as the realization dawned in that he was going to be a problem. "She's about to destroy herself and Chris, nothing you do will stop her from falling once the truth is out."

"About to destroy herself? So she's about to walk into something? I can't let that happen. I won't let anyone hurt her that way. No one." 

"You need to focus on your wife Chris." Rachel repeated again with a level of irritance in her tone. "Julie needs you right now and you can't walk away from that in a feeble attempt to save Eve. She brought this all on herself and you can't change things for her." she took a step back and shook her head seeing the truth before her. "You made a mistake falling for her Chris. She's poison." 

"It's not like it was something I could control, Rachel," Chris said sitting on the edge of the table, "She's a good woman with a good heart. Despite what you may think of her, I know the real Eve Lambert. I know who she really is." 

"Chris, the woman she truly is destroys everything she touches." Rachel explained realizing that he was already too far gone for her warning to make a difference or have any type of impact on him. "You may think you know her, but you don't know the half of it Chris. She's done quite a few things that will burn her for the rest of eternity and if you know what's good for you, you'll stay away. There's no sense in going down with her."

"And you know so much about what she's done because?" Chris asked, trying to find out as much as possible so that he could help Eve. 

"That's none of your concern Chris, but I will warn you that it's going to come back to haunt her." Rachel explained not wanting to give away too much. 

"I don't want to see her hurt, and I will do anything and I do mean anything to make sure that she isn't harmed." 

"Even risk your future with Julie?" Rachel questioned throwing is out sharply. "Chris you and I both know a woman like Eve Lambert is not worth throwing your life away." 

"I suppose I should know it, but I don't. All I can think of is the woman I know and the woman I lo.." Chris started to say it but couldn't get the word out of his mouth, "Look, I don't want Eve hurt. And no, I don't want any future with Julie to be in danger, but it looks like I've already done that." 

"Look Chris, I've already told you too much already, but as for Eve all I will say is that things aren't as they seem and as for Julie, she loves you very much and if she lost you now, she could easily regress and we don't want that after everything we went through to get her out of here." Rachel explained seriously. "I won't let Julie fall again and if you hurt her for Eve, you'll be making a huge mistake because you aren't the one to protect Eve. She's beyond protection now and as for me, perhaps I should check up on your wife." 

"My wife," Chris said softly, the seriousness of his situation finally settling in on him, "I don't want to hurt, Julie. That's the last thing I want. I love Julie. I've never been able to say that about another woman, but it's true with Julie. I won't endanger my marriage to her. I'm not going to hurt her, Rachel." 

"Good, then keep it that way." Rachel replied with a nod, "I think I'll go check up on her and see how she's doing. Try to pull yourself together for when she gets back in here and I'd highly recommend you remember where your love and loyalty lie in this."

"Rachel, I don't need any reminders from you. You're Julie's shrink, not mine. Let's keep it that way." 

"Don't push me Chris." Rachel warned opening the door before turning back to face him. "Remember if it wasn't for me, your wife wouldn't be where she is right now and if you intend on helping her get Christina back, you'd better cooperate with me." 

"Or what?" 

"Or you won't like the results and I promise you that you'll have a hell of a lot more to worry about than poor little Eve Lambert and your future with Julie." Rachel answered menacingly. "You have no idea what you're up against Chris and if you even think about crossing me, you're going to live to regret it." 

"I'll take that under advisement. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to take my wife home tonight." 

“That’s what I wanted to hear.  Keep that focus,“ Rachel glared at him for a moment before regaining her composure and moved down the hallway to locate Julie. 

"Ryan.....I-I." Eve stammered taking in a breath forcing herself to go through with this despite the feelings raging from within. "I...I love you Ryan. I always have."

"I've always wanted to hear you say that," Ryan said softly, lowering his lips to hers in a soft kiss, "We're going to have so much more fun now, Eve. Now that I don't have to act like a foppish snob anymore, things will be so much more interesting."

"I'm sure they will be." Eve answered seeing that he seemed to relax a bit as she looked at him. "Ryan now that you know how I feel about you, what do you say you ease up a little bit on me because this wall isn't too comfortable. Perhaps we could go sit down...." 

"That sounds like a good idea. I wouldn't want you think that I wanted to scare you," Ryan said with a sly smile, moving away from her for a moment and extending his hand to her, "Come on. Let's go sit down."

"Alright," Eve replied taking his hand as she moved away from the wall cautiously 
wondering what was going on in his mind right now.

They walked over to the sofa where we sat down and he put his arm around her
possessively, "This is more like it."

"Ryan," Eve began leaning in closer to him and placing feathery kisses on his neck, "what if we start having me make things up to you?" Eve moved over on the sofa crawling into his lap and kissing him deeply before pulling back to look at him briefly. "What do you say?"

"Hmm," Ryan said smiling as he ran a hand along her thigh, "I think we could start making things up right now."

"That's what I was hoping for baby." Eve breathed lowering herself to kiss him once again as her arms slipped past the back of the couch.  She continued to kiss him feeling her fingers reach for the vase she knew would be there.  She pulled back for a moment seeing it was out of her reach as she grinned at him. She pulled open a few buttons on his shirt kissing him again before finally grabbing hold of the vase on the table and bringing it up to smash it into his head.

Ryan felt the object crack him in the head.  His brain was throbbing from the inside out and he couldn't see.  He didn't think he was completely knocked out, but he couldn't focus and he couldn't see. Everything was black.  He tried to get his senses back to him but he had no idea where anything was.

"You sick bastard." Eve shouted out at him angrily. Seeing this was her opportunity, she moved off of his lap and quickly darted across the room towards the front door trying to work the lock and the security code before he regained his senses.  She looked back at him for a moment feeling her heart pounding in her chest as she looked for something to protect myself with.  She noticed her cell phone on the table top next to the door and reach for it finally unable to unlatch the lock as she frantically ran out into the yard seeking escape

The nuclear bomb that had gone off in Ryan’s head slowly subsided as he could see
light again. He tried to focus and although things still weren't clear he got up to search for Eve. How dare she treat him that way?! How dare she hit him?! How dare she try to escape?!  He stumbled to the door, opening it and trying to see her.  He saw her form but couldn't focus on her.  He ran out towards her, grabbing her and dragging her down with him to the ground, "You b*tch, you're not going anywhere. No where! I told you that you were never leaving and I meant it! You're mine! And now I have to punish you for betraying me!"

Eve had managed to get through to Chris' apartment through speed dial and the  machine picked up as she'd desperately hoped Chris was there. "Chris....if you're there please pick up...." she'd begun as Ryan tackled her down to the ground.  She struggled to break free of his monster grip. "Let go of me!" Eve screamed kicking and punching at him in a fury.

"No," Ryan said fighting back with her, trying to subdue her without hurting her. One of her fists connected with his jaw and he couldn't stand it anymore. His anger couldn't be restrained any longer. He backhanded her and pinned her flailing limbs to the ground, "Stop it!"

Feeling the impact of his blow knocked the wind right out of her as she collapsed to the ground.  She looked up at him feeling the sting now more than ever as he pinned her down.  She gasped trying to catch her breath as she felt the pressure of his body crushing her.

Rage pulsed through Ryan’s veins. "Why couldn't you be smarter? I thought you would be smarter. You didn't understand. I loved you, Eve. And I thought you loved me too. Why did you have to be so stupid?"

Eve could see the fury burning behind his eyes as he spoke to her.  She knew that she'd thrown away any chance she'd had of winning him over when she'd hit him with that vase. Now seeing him stare back at her, she knew he was beyond the edge, but she couldn't allow herself to be the victim again.  She had to find a way out of this as she began to squirm beneath him trying to shake him off of her as adrenaline rushed through her body and her instincts kept telling her that she had to escape.

"You had to be cute, just like all the others had to be cute. Not any more!  I won't take it anymore!" Ryan shouted, getting off the ground and dragging her with him back towards the house, "I'm going to take control and keep control.  I'm not taking any thing else from you."

"No!" Eve screamed out into the night hoping someone would hear her as Ryan dragged her kicking and screaming back to the house.  She knew it would be over for her, if he got her back into that house again and she was terrified of what he'd do to her. "Let go of me!  Help! Someone please!"

"Shut up!" Ryan shouted, still struggling with her. She was full of spunk, he'd give her that much credit. "Let's go. Quit stalling. You know what's coming and you're looking forward to it. Let's go!"

"No!" Eve screamed continuing the fight not willing to face what was ahead of her. She kicked him in the shin as hard as she could hoping it would give her some kind way out of this, but he was so strong and it seemed to fuel his fire the more she protested. He almost seemed to be enjoying this immensely as she continued to twist and turn hoping to break free.

Ryan grinned and then laughed as he fought with her, "That hurt like hell! You definitely know how to have a good time, honey. I like that!" he said grabbing her hard and yanking her with him.

Despite Eve’s continual struggle somehow he'd managed to pull her back into the lighthouse with him as the door slammed shut behind them.  She continued to squirm and fight him, but she now knew that the ball was in his court and soon he would come out on top of this.  Doing her best to fight him as much as she could, she felt her body growing weaker.

"Are we having fun yet?" Ryan asked pulling her down the hall and shoving her back into the room they'd previously occupied. "Time to lay down some rules before you push me beyond my limits, not that I have very many to begin with."

Eve looked back at him overcome with a strong sense of deja vu as they were back in their starting ground.  She glared back at him feeling the sting on her cheek from the blow he'd given her earlier.  She could feel herself boiling with a strange combination of anger and fear as he stared at her. "If you're going to kill me, then just get it over with." she spoke up hoarsely seeing that he was getting off on this game he had going between them.

Ryan leaned back against the door frame, smiling coolly and glaring at her, "Kill you? I have no intention of killing you. At least not yet. No, I'm having much too fun where you're concerned. We may have to keep this up for quite some time."

"I swear if you touch me, you'll regret it....." Eve began in a menacing tone afraid of what he was planning if he wasn't going to kill her.  She knew that physically she was no match for him, but she wouldn't let him take her down without a fight again.

"I haven't regretted it yet," Ryan said confidently, "And if you think about it real hard, you know that you never regretted a moment of my touch either," he said smoothly watching her. She was terrified. She tried to hide it, to be strong, but she was scared.  He loved that. She was more fun that he had expected.

"Just the thought of your hands on me makes me sick Ryan. Do you hear me?  Sick!" Eve snapped back at him angrily trying to let her rage take over the fear that was burning deep inside of her. "All those times you thought I was so into it, making love to you everywhere you could come up with, it wasn't for me. It was for you because I thought I'd stroke your ego and let you believe that you were a great lover, but when it comes down to the bottom line every time I screamed out Kevin's name, you weren't the one I was thinking about. I only slept with you because the man I wanted, the man I truly wanted to be with wasn't with me and you meant nothing to me!!" 

"Nothing??? Nothing???? You expect me to believe all those times you practically begged me to touch you, to make love to you, that you were thinking of another man??? Please, we both know that a woman like you always goes after the man she wants. You think you can have any man too just because you're great in bed. Maybe I should show you just how much you did like my touch, Eve. Maybe I should prove it to. I think that's what you want," Ryan said stepping towards her while his eyes roamed her body.

Eve stepped back feeling chills run down her spine at the feel of his penetrating stare.  She scanned the room searching for something as she reached for the desk lamp picking it up and holding it defensively. "If you touch me, I'll kill you Ryan. You may think you have the advantage here, but I warn you, if you come any closer, I'll have no choice, but to do everything in my power to get rid of you."

"Like what? Kill me? Been there, done that," Ryan said with a cocky smile, "And as far as the lamp goes, we've done that dance before, haven't we? Why don't you just admit it Eve? You want me. You need me. You cannot live without me."

"No, I would never want you......never!!!" Eve screamed moving further back into the room as he continued to approach her. "I don't need you or love you Ryan and I never will."

"Yes, you will. You do need me and it just tears you up inside, doesn't it?  Makes you wonder if you're sane or not, doesn't it? Doesn't it?!" Ryan shouted.

"No you're wrong. I don't need you not now and not ever." Eve snapped back at him with a dry, hollow laugh unwilling to let him get to her. "I was leaving you, remember? I don't want you in my life because I DON'T love you and I never will."

"You do need me. You're only running from yourself, Eve. Tell me something. Which part scares you more: wanting me or having me?" Ryan asked moving towards her and seeing that she had very little room to continue running from him.

"Get it through your head. I don't want you and I don't need you." Eve answered bumping into the night stand seeing that she was cornered.  She held up the lamp desperately hoping he wouldn't come closer. "Whatever sick and twisted fantasies you have about us in your head, that's all they are: fantasies. I don't want anything to do with you ever!"

"You will, and I have this wonderful way of making my fantasies come true. You need me, Eve. Face it. It's inevitable," Ryan said smiling, "Now, why don't you be a good girl and put the lamp away," I demanded more than requested.

"No!" Eve replied shaking her head defiantly as she glared at him.  She could feel her fingers tightening around the base of the lamp as she held it firmly standing her ground. "I'm not going to do that Ryan."

"I'm going to ask nicely and then I'll never ask you anything again. Put it down," Ryan said slowly in enunciated tones.

"No," Eve replied shakily feeling the tears in her eyes as his words cut through her and the fear she'd been trying to suppress all this time was rushing to the surface.  She looked to the lamp and her hands were shaking slightly.  She inched back further feeling the wall against me as she looked back at him feeling the world closing in on her.

Ryan placed his hands over hers on the lamp and wrenched it away from her.  "What now, Eve? Shall we dance some more? Want to run again? I found that most exhilarating. Or would you rather just give in?"

"Stay away from me," Eve spoke in a whisper feeling her body tremble as he tossed the lamp aside.  She pressed up against the wall closer still as he approached her.  She closed her eyes trying not to feel his breath on her as she held out her arms throwing them at him frantically hoping to keep him away.

Ryan took her hands in his and pressed them at her sides against the wall, "That's not what you want, Eve. That's not what you want at all. Why don't you just give in? Quit playing games with me," he whispered as he closed the distance between them, pressing against her.

"Never!" Eve breathed feeling her skin crawl as he pinned her again. "I'll never give in to you Ryan. Do you hear me?" she finished unable to contain the tears in her eyes as she turned her head away from him.

"You're not listening to your own heart, Eve," he said pressing a kiss below her earlobe, "You're only arguing with what you know to be true," Ryan whispered, moving his lips along her neck, "Just give in."

"No!" Eve screamed feeling her stomach churn at his touch squeezing her leg out 
from underneath his and kicking him once again.

"Damn woman!" Ryan shouted, reeling from the pain as he shoved her hard against
the wall and moved away, "I swear I'm going to make you pay for that."

"How's it going in here? Almost finished?" Rachel smiled seeing Julie still working away at the forms in front of her. 

"Three more." Julie said, glancing towards the remaining pile of papers. "What did you say to Chris?"

"We just discussed how happy he is to have you coming home Julie." Rachel explained with a smile. "He's absolutely thrilled that the two of you will be able to finally be together."

"Of course he is..." Julie said, smiling "...he's my husband!" 

"That he is Julie and you two are going to have a wonderful life together." Rachel assured her with a smile. "I hope you realize that you can depend on me as well. whenever you need anything at all please don't hesitate to ask." 

"Thank you." Julie said, putting down the pen as she finished the last form. "Done."

 "Great, then let's get you back to your husband." Rachel suggested leading her 
back out into the hallway.

"I really appreciate all you've done for me." Julie said, following her. "I would have never passed the review without your help."

"It was my pleasure Julie," Rachel replied as they stood outside the waiting room, "Why don't you go inside and have your moment with Chris?"

"Alright. Thanks again." Julie walked into the room to find Chris with his head against the table. "What's wrong?" 

Chris looked up quickly with a smile on his face, "Nothing now," he smiled walking over to her. 

"Nice try." Julie said, putting her arms around him. "I can see right through your smile."

"Let's just say that I have a lot on my mind, but none of it matters because you're coming home." 

"I know that's not all but I'll let it go for now." Julie  said, emphasizing the 'now'. "I'm too happy too think Chris...well at least about anything not pertaining to me, you and Christina."

"You can say it Julie. Our family. That's exactly what we have. We're always going to have. No fairy tale ever ends any other way than happily ever after," I said with a smile. 

"Family." Julie repeated. "I like the sound of that."

"Say it all you want," Chris said with a smile, "Our little family." 

"Maybe someday it won't be so 'little'." Julie said, smiling at the thought.

Chris smiled and touched her beautiful face, "Little brother or sister for Christina?" he asked with a smile, "I think I could get used to that idea." 

Julie kissed him, happy with the thought of their perfect fairy tale. "Maybe we could give her both." she suggested

"Uh oh, the thought of that could be dangerous," he said with a bright smile as he pictured the children Julie and he would have, "A boy with my good looks and charm and a girl with your beauty and brains. That's a nice thing. And Christina can look out for them, and she'll probably team up with our daughter and beat up on our son," he chuckled, "Little league games? Ballet classes? Somewhere in the middle?" he asked with a bright smile before kissing her softly. 

"Our children can be whatever they want to be," she said, pulling away after a short while. "Just as long as they don't cook up any schemes." she kissed him needily and slowly pulled away. 

"Maybe we should work on getting Christina back before we make too many plans..." Chris suggested as his thoughts turned back to Eve. 

"I love you, you know," Julie said as she turned to see Rachel entering the room.

"And I love you," Chris said squeezing her hand lightly before turning to Rachel, "Are we ready to blow this Popsicle stand?" 

"Hey you two," Rachel smiled at them, "I hate to break up this happy reunion, but what do you say you two get on out of here and enjoy the rest of your evening? Unless of course you're both fond of this place and don't want to leave." 

Julie grinned widely, “Freedom at last.”

"Get out of here you two." Rachel instructed leading them out into the hall. "Have a good life together." 

Chris smiled brightly, "Time to get that life started, Mrs. Ramsey," he smiled as they walked down the hall. 

"And now to find the missing part of our family..."

"And get her back so that her mother can spoil her rotten," Chris grinned, opening the door and offering her the first step outside, "Freedom is yours." 

Julie looked at the sky and felt the cool autumn air. "It's just the way I remembered."

"No it's not. It's better. Sweeter. You've got a family now," Chris said with a smile. 

"With the exception of that," Julie said, laughing. "Let's go home."

"Let's do," Chris said with a smile, taking her hand as we walked to the car.  He opened the door for her to let her in. She got into the car and he went around to get in on the drivers side.  He smiled as he started the car and drove away from Ferncliff, "So how does it feel to be away from that place?" 

“It feels like I’m in heaven,” Julie smiled brightly, “and I never want to leave.”

“You’ll never have to,” Chris replied turning his eyes away from her to the road ahead as he thought of his own slice of heaven he’d had in the on call room earlier with Eve.  Now with Julie beside him, he found himself wondering if this was in fact the end.  Had he found Eve only to lose her?  Was life with Julie what he’d wanted?  He looked to her realizing that things were so much more twisted than he’d imagined, but one thing was for certain.  He couldn’t stop what he was feeling.  The question was, who was the woman he wanted to spend his life with? 

Eve could feel her heart pounding in her throat as she watched Ryan move away from her. Letting out a short breath of relief, she realized it worked.....it actually worked and she'd managed to get him to back off even though pain was vibrating through her every synapse as she collided with the wall.

"I warned you." Eve spoke up faintly narrowing her eyes at him in disgust.

"And I've warned you. Now, I'm angry. You shouldn't have made me angry, Eve. I can be a very unpleasant person when I'm angry," Ryan said through clenched teeth as he looked at her with narrowed eyes.

"I'm not afraid of you Ryan." Eve spoke up stepping towards him after she'd pulled herself together knowing it was now or never. "You may think I am, but I've faced worse than you and survived." she continued boldly moving towards the door hurriedly ready to run again and hopefully be successful this time.

Ryan regained hid composure and leapt out towards her pulling her towards him and
locking gazes with her, "Going somewhere?" he asked shoving her backwards, "I don't think so."

"I will get out of here Ryan....one way or the other." Eve replied determined as she remained focused on his icy stare. "The only way you're going to get your paws on me is if you kill me first, but I will fight you to the end never giving you the satisfaction you're looking for."

"Hmm, kill you first? Now, there's an idea. You see why I don't actually kill you? You're such a fountain of insight," Ryan said moving across the room, feeling hid head throb from the earlier blow he'd taken. He reached up to rub his temples, "You're pretty good with a lamp. You could have been a baseball player with a swing like that."

"Well I've had practice dealing with jerks like you who wouldn't take no for an answer."  Eve explained momentarily looking down at her tattered clothes from being dragged around the house and yard. "I've learned how to hold my own and that's only the beginning."

"Me? A jerk? I think I'm insulted," Ryan said rubbing his head and grinning at her, "Why not the usual madman? Or my own personal favorite, psycho?" 

"Well see, I could build it up for you, but why give you the satisfaction?" Eve replied watching him for a moment as she thought about what her next move would be in all of this. 

"Because it will only make things easier for you," Ryan said leaning back against the wall, "You'll realize that before I have to kill you. Actually, I've grown rather fond of you Eve. Besides I like your energy. I'd hate to have to kill you, but if you push me, it'll be the simplest thing in the world." 

"Oh I bet you'd just get off on killing me, wouldn't you?" Eve questioned glaring at him. "Just like you're getting off on this right now. You want to see me squirm and beg you for mercy just like all those other women you've brutalized, but it's not going to happen Ryan. Sure, I'll fight you off, but I will never give you control of me....ever!" 

"You will, Eve. You haven't realized it yet, but you've already given me the starting point that I need. I'm going to make you beg me in a thousand different ways. And you'll like it while you're doing it. And you're right. I'm enjoying this. I enjoy you." 

"Go to hell Ryan." Eve snapped back at him making another run for the door this time opening it before he caught up to her. Feeling him at her heels, Eve slammed the door into him and ran into the kitchen searching for something to protect herself with as she pulled out one of the knifes now more determined  than ever to get out of this as she heard his footsteps.

Ryan knew she hadn't left the house.  He smiled and started walking through the house slowly trying to find her, "Eve, where are you? Come out, Eve. It's time to play," he said walking around a corner and hearing something come from the kitchen.  He started into the kitchen slowly, "Making dinner? Something I like I hope." 

Eve looked around the kitchen hearing his footsteps in the hall outside and moved towards the door. It was locked like she was afraid of.  She looked around the kitchen hoping to find a hiding spot until she would be able to slip past him.  She moved in over by the bar and crept down anticipating his next move.

Ryan stepped inside and looked around.  He couldn't see her, but he knew she was in here. "Eve, we both know you're in here. Make it easy and just give in. You know you want to. You've seen my good side. You even cared for my good side. I could quite possibly drum up some of that if that's what you need. Come on, Eve. Make us both happy," Ryan said stepping towards the bar.

Eve listened to his words drawing in a breath hoping that he couldn't hear her. As his voice grew nearer, she closed her eyes and listened to him. At one point in time, she did love him when she thought he was Kevin, but now all that love  was replaced with something else.....something between fear and disgust.  She clenched the knife hoping he wouldn't circle around as she planned her attack.

"Come on, Eve. We can have it the way that it used to be. You and me, all alone, no one to interfere. We can have the good times again. All you have to do is quit playing these stupid games!" Ryan said getting angry as she continued to elude him.  He moved around the bar slowly. 

"Stay back!" Eve announced popping up from behind the bar and holding the knife 
in her hand waving it at him for a second or so.  She looked at him with a menacing glare as she crossed around the room. "Ryan, look I'm not playing around anymore. I'm getting out of here now and if you try to stop me, I won't be afraid to use this and unlike the lamp, you won't get this away from me."

Ryan looked at her and looked back at the knife. He smiled slowly, "What are you going to do with that, Eve? Wound me? Kill me? You haven't got the heart for it. You care too much. And you know that deep down in places you don't want to look that you care about me. So come on," he said offering himself to her like a lamb to the slaughter, "Do it."

"Don't push me Ryan or I will." Eve warned stepping across the room cautiously. She looked at the door for a brief second as her heart pounded in her chest.  While she hated to admit it, he was right.  She wasn't sure if she had the guts to do something like this. So many times in the past she'd been close to attacking someone, but to take a life, that was another story.  She tried to keep her breath steady as she moved back. "I don't want to kill you. I just want to get out of here, but I swear if you come any closer I will have no 
choice."

Ryan stepped towards her and grinned, "Come on, Eve. You know I'm really enjoying this. You're just full of surprises and I never know what's going to happen next. I think you're my most interesting subject yet." he chuckled as he stepped toward her taking her hand with the knife and placing the point of the knife to his throat, "Well? What are you waiting for? Go for it!" 

Eve looked back at him seeing the amusement in his features as he held the knife to his throat waiting for her to do something.....anything. She wanted to hurt him like he'd hurt her, but she was frozen with fear by seeing herself so close to the edge and she knew that if he went forward with this, her sanity would be lost for sure.  She drew in a breath feeling her tough exterior slipping away as he seized her hand tightly and caused her to release the knife.

As the knife dinged when it collided with the floor, Ryan smiled pulling her into his arms and grinning, "Knew you didn't have the heart for it, or should I say you have too much heart for it. You know, you almost disappoint me. There for a moment, I thought I'd met my soul mate in you Eve." 

Eve stood there thinking about what had just happened and how she'd just blown her chance to come out of this a winner, or would killing Ryan truly have done that for her?  She could feel her hands shaking as he held her against him.  She'd wanted to kill him more than she'd ever wanted to do anything up until this moment in her life, but ultimately fear had caused her to stop herself and somehow fear had sealed her fate.

"Now that we both know exactly where we stand and we both know what the other is capable of, what do you say we skip all the BS and get straight to the point? I own you, Eve. You know it and so do I. So you can stop with the avoidance tactics. I never much cared for them anyway, although you make a particularly tempting challenge.”

"No you're wrong Ryan." Eve insisted breaking her long silence as she backed away. "I don't belong to you and I never will. Just because I couldn't........" she looked down at the knife for a moment hearing it calling out to her almost inviting her to finish what she'd started seconds earlier.  She glanced back up at him seeing his cold eyes move through her knowing that she was close to her breaking point.  She was at a loss...not quite clear on what to say as she stepped backwards shaking her head. "You're wrong."

"No I'm not. Look at you. You're practically scared to death because of what you almost did. You're not even sure that you aren't capable of it. You're doubting yourself. Nothing worse than that. So why don't you just admit what you're so terrified of?" 

"No, I won't admit anything to you." Eve insisted shaking her head feeling her inner struggle as she moved away from him. The truth was that he was closer than she'd wanted him to be about this and as she looked at him her fears began to escalate again and she knew that she needed to be out of this before she lost her mind.  She tried to focus on something.....anything to keep her from going over the edge and she thought about her friends and the outside world wondering if anyone would come to her.....if she'd be able to make it out of here. An image of kissing Chris flashed through her mind momentarily and along with it came another feeling of strength as she stood taller forcing herself to stay together. "I will never belong to you and I will find a way out of this." 

"There's only one way out of this, Eve, especially since you just demonstrated that you won't go so far as to kill me. The only way out of this for you is to give in. You are mine. And no amount of begging and pleading in the world will change that. I think I've shown you over and over again that I do have patience. Well, even my patience is wearing thin, not that I had a lot of it to begin with but still," Ryan said shrugging, "End these games, Eve, and I will make life so much better for you." 

"Just stay away from me Ryan." Eve warned darting off across the kitchen and out into the other room. She looked around knowing that she didn't have the strength to kill him, yet knowing that she had to escape. She knew this game of cat and mouse between them was growing tiresome, but she needed to break out. Suddenly it dawned on her that the window in Serena's old room had a problem with the lock.  She darted off towards the room knowing that Ryan would be shortly behind, but taking the chance anyways as she entered the room locking it behind her and moving to the window eager to escape.