When they woke later that morning, Ciara went down and made the coffee and tea while AJ took a shower. Ciara tried not to think about her nightmare, but was deep in thought over it when AJ had come down to join her in the kitchen. She was staring out into the back hard with her teacup to her lips when AJ took the cup out of her hands.

“Tell me about the dream.” AJ said softly.

“Do I have to?” Ciara said as a tear fell from her cheek.

“It might help.” AJ said.

“Alex…” she choked up and put her head in her hands to compose herself.

“Nothing can hurt you now, Ciara. Not if I can help it.” AJ said.

“Did you know that the paramedics had to have the firefighters cut through my dad to get me out?” Ciara asked. AJ drew a deep breadth as he squeezed her hand. “You knew?” she asked, shocked.

“I was hoping that you would never, ever remember that.” AJ whispered.

“I don’t remember anyone else being in the car with me.” She replied.

“You were losing a lot of blood. They were doing everything they could to save you.” AJ replied.

“I don’t understand.”

“Baby, you don’t have to understand. You went through so much back then and even now. You’re safe now.” AJ stated.

“Can we visit my father’s grave?” Ciara asked.

“Yes… how about I make us some breakfast while you take your turn in the shower?” AJ asked. Ciara nodded.

---

“Ciara, I am going to warn you. There’s a gravestone there with your name on it.” AJ said as they left the house.

“I know… it’s all right. Can we stop for some flowers for daddy?” Ciara asked.

“You’ve got it.” AJ replied and helped her into the car.

---

“Hello Mrs. Wilson.” AJ said as he led Ciara into the flower shop.

“Alexander, how are you? How’s your mother?” The older woman asked.

“She’s wonderful, thanks for asking. You remember Ciara, don’t you?” AJ said and introduced the two.

“Ciara? Nah, it can’t be… the last time I saw you, you were just a tiny little thing.”

“Mrs. Wilson… you make the most wonderful apple pies.” Ciara remembered as they shook hands.

“It is so good to see you again, Ciara. You’re looking wonderful.”

“Thank you Mrs. Wilson. Do you have any fresh daisies?” Ciara asked.

“Certainly…” Mrs. Wilson said and showed them to the flower case. “How many do you want, dear?” she asked.

“All of them.” Ciara replied as she went to get some money out of her purse. AJ stopped her.

“Here, Mrs. Wilson, I’ll help you with those.” AJ replied as he helped Mrs. Wilson take approximately four dozen daises up front to be wrapped.

“Thanks Mrs. Wilson.” Ciara replied as she went to pay for the flowers.

“No, no, dear… I know these are for your papa… I’ll say an extra prayer for you today. You take these because I want you to have them.” Mrs. Wilson replied.

“You are too sweet, Mrs. Wilson.” Ciara held back tears.

“You and Alexander come by for some Apple Pie tomorrow, okay?” Mrs. Wilson asked both of them.

“We will come by for dessert around seven tomorrow night?” AJ answered for them both.

“Mr. Wilson and I will see you around seven then.” Mrs. Wilson replied and gave them both a hug.

---

When they got to Ciara’s father’s tombstone, AJ helped her place the daisies at the foot of the tombstone and left her alone with her thoughts and prayers. Her name had been sanded out of the tombstone. AJ thought that her mother must have had that done, because he knew it was recently done.

After a half hour, AJ went back to her side. She was looking at a picture of her and Jarod with her dad.

“Ciara… you okay?” AJ asked as he watched her dig up a little earth and put the picture in it and cover it back up and lay some of the daisies over it.

“Just saying a proper goodbye to daddy.” She said as AJ handed her his handkerchief. She wiped her eyes as he helped her stand up. “Let’s go spend some time with your mom. Okay?” Ciara asked.

“You betcha. She would love to see you.” AJ smiled as he gave her a hug.

"What happened?" Rachel asked. Ciara proceeded to tell Rachel the events of the day.

"I have some news of my own." Rachel said once Ciara was finished.

"Ooohhh, do tell." Ciara giggled.

"You know how Kev's been staying in my room and stuff?" Rachel giggled. She didn't have to say anymore.

"Oh my god… when did you two? How was it?" Ciara asked.

"Today… Brian and Howie and Nick went to the lake. Kevin and I stayed behind and talked and before we both knew it, we were in the shower, naked. It was amazing." Rachel explained.

"Oh My God! That's wonderful… I'm happy for you." Ciara exclaimed.

"Ciara… he told me he loved me today and he told me why, but the best part was he actually meant it. I could see it in his eyes and his expression. He couldn't wait to tell me after the guys left. He was so sweet. He sang to me and… wow… I'm falling and falling hard." Rachel said.

"Now I wish I was there so you and I could share some ice cream right now." Ciara laughed. Rachel joined in.

"No, you need this time with AJ and to get the rest of those memories back and fit the pieces together. We'll hook up in a week or so. If the guys let us." Rachel was so giddy. Ciara heard Kevin in the background say "Hey Baby… how about another shower."

"Uh oh… I'd better let you go." Ciara giggled.

"Okay… remember… listen to AJ… I've given him all instructions where your health is concerned." Rachel replied.

"Yes mother… go take a shower." Ciara said and hung up the phone as she laughed. Rachel wasn't one for falling so fast for a guy and to go as far as to… Ciara shook her head in disbelief… what was it about Kevin and AJ? Ciara smiled as she thought about AJ. He had indeed made her feel alive again and helped get her memory back. He cared about her and it didn't matter to him if she had a lot of baggage to deal with.

AJ returned with dinner a few minutes later.

"Hey… how did you make those?" Ciara laughed as she looked at the toasted cheese.

"Have you ever seen the movie `Benny and Joon'?" AJ asked.

"You so did not make these with an Iron." She giggled.

"Did so…" AJ replied and showed her the Iron. "Don't worry… I have a separate iron to smooth out my clothes." He explained.

"You, my friend, are insane." She laughed.

"We'll see what you say after you taste my sammich…" he winked at her and she blushed as he tore a piece of the sandwich off and fed it to her.

"Mmmm… what type of cheese is this?" she asked.

"Sliceable cheddar and Colby. It's awesome, isn't it?" AJ asked. Animal was heard coming into the room. "Uh oh… quick… hide the food." AJ laughed as he went and shooed the cat out of the room. "So… what did you and Rachel talk about?"

"You and Kevin… You do know that Kevin has fallen in love with her, right?" Ciara asked.

"As hard as a rock." AJ replied.

"K… just checking." Ciara replied. They finished dinner talking about AJ's relationship with the rest of the guys. AJ put a movie in for them to watch after that in which Ciara was asleep twenty minutes later.

"Daddy!" Ciara screamed as she woke herself up from a nightmare.

"Ciara… ssshhhh, it's all right." AJ said as he comforted her. She cried in his arms as they laid back down in the bed and fell back to sleep.

---

"Jarod, she wants to go to the crash scene." AJ said the next morning. He called Jarod as soon as he got up. Tara was still sleeping. He had gone down to the kitchen for coffee when he decided to call Jarod's office.

"Boy, she's really pressuring herself, isn't she?" Jarod countered, "Do you think she can handle it?"

"I still can't handle it, J. I don't know how she'll react when we get there." AJ admitted.

"Explain that to her. Maybe then it'll ease both your fears." Jarod suggested.

"You think it'll work?" AJ wondered.

"No. She's stubborn." Jarod and AJ both laughed. "Look, Alex. Maybe having her with you will help you deal… you know, help you accept it." Jarod tried to be supportive.

"Have you been back there?" AJ asked.

"Yes, several times. Had to come to terms with it myself." Jarod admitted.

"Okay, okay… I'll go. But I won't like it." AJ said as he looked at his watch.

"I've got a meeting to get to AJ. One of you call me later and tell my sister I love her." Jarod said quickly.

"Okay man. Thanks for the chat. See ya." AJ replied.

After AJ got off the phone, he went to wake up Ciara to start the day.

---

"Are we here?" Ciara asked as AJ parked the SUV in a parking lot. He knew if he drove to the exact spot, he wouldn't be able to drive away.

"I thought we'd walk. I'll handle it better." AJ explained.

"Okay." Ciara said and went to get out of the car.

"Wait a second." AJ said placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"You're not getting cold feet, are you? Because if you are, I can go by myself." Ciara offered. She was feeling brave enough to go. She wanted to go… she felt she had to go. She owed it to herself to go.

"No… I was thinking about you. This is big. Are you sure you can handle it. I mean you won't react like you did in New York… will you?" AJ asked.

"Well, we won' know unless we go take a look." Ciara told him.

"You sure?" AJ asked. He really was more concerned about her and her reaction than he was about his own.

"Yeah. Let's go." Ciara told him. They walked hand in hand to the scene. Ciara gripped AJ's hand tightly as the images came back to her.

"What are you remembering?" AJ asked.

"All the blood coming from daddy's head and face… the car spinning. I thought it would never stop." Ciara tried to explain. AJ held her in his arms.

"What else?" AJ encouraged her.

"Momma crying… You holding my hand and singing "I'll Never Let You Go" to me to calm me down. Jarod begging daddy to stay awake and telling you to keep me awake and to sing to me. I remember daddy telling me I couldn't go with him. That you and momma and Jarod needed me. I remember sirens and this man telling you you were doing very good and to keep singing to me. I was pinned behind daddy." Ciara stuttered.

"It's all right," AJ said to her as he remembered everything along with her.

"Well, no, it's not, but it's getting there." Ciara replied. After a few minutes, they walked back to the car. Once AJ opened the door for Ciara, she broke down in sobs. AJ held her in his arms and sang `I'll Never Let You Go' to her.

Ciara had now remembered the accident in its entirety and it hurt and depressed her deeply. The firefighters and paramedic had to cut through her father to get her out. But she didn't think anyone else knew because she didn't remember AJ, Jarod, or her mom still being in the car with her. She felt a wave of nausea come over her.

"I think I'm going to be sick Alex." Ciara told him as she got out of the SUV and knelt down. AJ got out with her, but quickly reached back in for the bottled water that he had brought with them. He wet his handkerchief and put it on the back of her neck.

After she got sick, AJ helped her back into the SUV without saying a word. She was asleep by the time they got back to the house. He did his best not to wake her after he went back for her once opening the door.

---

"Alex?" Ciara questioned a few hours later. She woke up a little disoriented for the last thing she remembered was being in the SUV with him.

"I'm here." Alex replied. The room was dark. Ciara had slept the rest of the afternoon and into the evening.

"What time is it?" she asked as she sat up.

"Late." AJ replied, checking the clock on the nightstand as he turned on the light. It read 9:28pm.

"Have you been there all this time in the corner?" Ciara questioned.

"Yes. How are you feeling?" AJ was worried about her. He had brought his laptop up and had emailed Jarod and Rachel as well as his mom and sent out some other email while she was sleeping.

"My head hurts." She admitted.

"You should eat something before you take anything for it. You're warm." AJ explained as he checked her forehead.

"I want to go to my father's grave." She told him as he took his hand away from her forehead.

"Tomorrow if you're feeling better. I don't think we both thought today would take as much out of both of us as it did. Now, how about a sammich? I make a mean toasted cheese." AJ grinned.

"I bet you do." Ciara thought she had said under her breath, but he heard that and held back a chuckle. "Um, I think I'll be able to eat that." Ciara replied. AJ went to get up from the bed when the phone rang. It was Rachel checking on them.

"Hi Rachel, I'll let you and Ciara talk." AJ quickly handed the phone to Ciara and went downstairs.

"You two okay?" Rachel asked after Ciara took over the phone.

"In a manner of speaking." Cara replied.

Dinner conversation consisted of AJ explaining how he and his mom decorated his house and why some rooms weren't even decorated yet. Afterwards, they cleaned up the dinner dishes and AJ gave her a formal tour of the house. They ended up back in the bedroom, where AJ kept some old photos of them and such.

"Now, don't start looking at these until I come back. I'm just going to go get us some ice tea. I'll be right back." AJ stated and left her alone in the bedroom. She tried to wait for him and even threw an afghan over the albums and went to her backpack to take out some pen and paper.

AJ wasn't gone long.

"Whatcha doing?" he asked.

"Trying to occupy my time until you got back. It was hard." Ciara admitted.

"Well, I just didn't want you to become overwhelmed by memories. I think it would be easier on you if I was with you. I know you say you remember everything… well, I think these photos may help you place those memories." AJ explained. However, you have to promise me something."

"What?" Ciara asked.

"If this becomes too much, you'll stop. These photos aren't going anywhere. We can always come back to them another time."

"You've got a deal." Ciara said and opened the first album. The first few pages were of them playing in the pool. They were only four years old. Then came sleep over pictures. Ciara noticed over the next several pages that whenever they were sleeping, AJ had his arms wrapped protectively around her. She thought back to a few months prior when she and Rachel were at a party and some woman read her palm. Could the woman be right? Ciara was becoming reacquainted with her soulmate?

"… Ciara?" AJ said sternly.

"Huh? What?" Ciara snapped out of her daze.

"Where did you go? You okay?" AJ asked.

"I'm just noticing that in almost every picture that we're sleeping, I'm nestled safely in your arms." Ciara said and showed him the pictures.

"Really? I never noticed. Guess I loved you very much even when we were little. Maybe I was trying to protect you from what was to happen?" AJ said as he flipped the photo pages and began to see what she had seen.

Animal strutted into the bedroom.

"Do you want to continue?" AJ asked Ciara.

"Um, nah… not right now. I want to go to the scene of the accident." She said out of the blue.

"No way." AJ immediately replied. "I can't even bring myself to go there." AJ was adamant about not going.

"We can go together then. Please? It'll be good for both of us." Ciara replied. She wasn't giving in. She wanted to go.

"It's too late to go tonight." AJ countered.

"Then we'll go tomorrow. Right now though, I really just want to go to bed and fall asleep in your arms." Ciara replied.

"Sounds good to me. Let me just go and make sure the house is locked up. I'll be right back. C'mon Animal." AJ scooped up the cat and took him back downstairs.

Ciara changed into a night shirt and some pajama bottoms. The bruising from the car accident was a little deeper in color. She was checking it out when AJ returned.

"It'll be gone before you know it." AJ spoke from the doorway.

"I know, and it looks worse than I feel. I should call the mechanic tomorrow and tell him to junk the car. No point in fixing it. It's a junker." Ciara was solemn.

"You miss him, don't you?" AJ asked, referring to Rick.

"Not as much anymore. He'd want me to let the car go. That's what I'm doing. House all locked up?" she replied and then questioned. She really didn't want to talk about Rick.

"Yup. You forgot your pain meds though." AJ presented her with the bottle of prescription pills.

"Don't want them. The doctor said to take them only when I couldn't stand the pain. The pain's not too bad." Ciara explained.

"Well, okay. I'll leave them on the nightstand just in case." AJ replied as he stripped down to his boxers and wife-beater, then climbed into the bed and brought Ciara into his arms.

"Thanks for bringing me to Orlando, AJ." Ciara said before drifting off to sleep.