This is dedicated to my new kitty Sookie and my puppy Misty. For being adorable, and keeping me company while I write.

See, before Friday. As promised. Erica said update PI, so that is what I am doing!

Btw, if you've never watched Clannad, its an awesome anime. But be prepared to cry. A lot. :)

The photo on the side is of Ian and Anise when they were younger, okie dokes? Think, bout, four years ago.

First I want to thank two epic readers who I think read straight from ch. 1 to ch. 25 in one sitting, which takes a while, believe me. So BIG thanks to books_for_life and sfortier for being amazing and epic.

So, things are starting to WRAP up....kinda. There are a few more twists and turns and a little surprise but all in all I think you guys are getting closer to the end.

Thank you to EVERYONE that has been supporting this story thus far, here are a few names I was able to jot down when I saw that they had either: fanned, voted, commented, added to library, etc.

Bugstyle OXBlack_DeathXO Q-Teez EricaStanciu rockyv Lredmon77 cjones96 gymbabie017 Jillmandaable arin_jjang bookaholic210 nrc7470 kittenstar5 Vgemba StarryHeaven ebonyhatesyou nuzzie-wuzzie sashi1123

On with the story then?

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Chapter 26

When we entered the house, it was a very old style. Everything seemed antique, and it looked as though a dog had chewed off edges of furniture, but no one had cared enough to fix it. Everything here had a homey touch, almost like the house I remembered my mother and me living in when I was growing up. Suddenly I felt as something big tackled into my stomach and I fell prey to a dog that started trying to lick my face. The black lab was pulled off me by Ian who shouted “Harvey!” and hugged him. The dog looked even more excited to see Ian than vice versa.

“Friend of his?” I asked Chad and he laughed.

“Harvey was Ian’s dog, but unfortunately we found out that the queen was allergic so Greg took over for him. Harvey’s pretty old, but he still has so much energy.”

“Hmm…” was all I replied. I was still angry, but it was adorable to see Ian looking so excited. Sure I was mad, but I still loved the guy.

“Sorry guys, I can’t control him when Ian comes around.” Greg’s voice said as he entered the foyer. “I’m glad you all could make it. Let’s go into the dining hall, dinner should be served soon.” He took Christine’s arm and I caught her blush as he greeted her with a delicate kiss to the wrist. Ian held out his arm for me and I took it without even glancing at him. I still had manners, I knew how to act. I wasn’t going to let my manners slip just because I wanted to punch him in the face. “Also, I hope you guys don’t mind. I invited Anise and Hewitt to join us. I remembered how much fun we all had growing up and thought it would be nice for us all to eat together.” Greg added as we entered and both were standing there. Anise came over at a run and gave us all hugs, including me. It shocked me and I was already rigid with anger, and having her here did not help anything. Christine shot me a look begging me to play it cool. I took a deep breath and forced a smile on my face. It took me a moment to notice that Ian had released my arm and was pulling out a chair for Anise while I stood gazing into space. I jumped when I felt Hewitt gently take my arm.

“My beautiful lady,” He said politely, pulling out a chair for me as well. Ian had been about to pull out mine as well and gave Hewitt a dark look. I ignored him. He should’ve pulled out mine first if he wanted to do it so badly. I had to remind myself that both Anise and Hewitt didn’t know about Ian and me. That still didn’t excuse Ian suddenly forgetting I was around when Anise showed up. Though, I guess I knew why now. I was sitting between Ian and Hewitt at dinner. Chad was on Anise’s other side, chatting her up while I spoke with Hewitt and Greg across from me. Ian tried to push himself into the conversation, but I had no trouble ignoring him. Eventually, he just started talking to Anise and Chad instead.

“So Lana, how has it been working with these two? I hear they’ve given your aunt quite a lot of trouble throughout her career.” Greg asked and I laughed.

“Well, they’re a lot better than most people think they are. I mean, they’re young. Some things are hard to resist when you’re younger and sometimes you just forget the responsibility is there and just let loose. They’ve gotten a lot better anyway.” I said, giving Christine a wink.

“Oh, come now Lana. We were never that bad.” She argued and I gave her a flat look.

“Don’t make me remind you of the reason for the first event I had to go with you guys to. An auction to distract the press from a certain half-naked dance?” I cocked an eyebrow and I saw her cheeks go rouge. Greg bit his lip to keep from laughing, but Hewitt didn’t hold back. He had to lean over, holding his stomach.

“Christine, I always knew you were a special one.” He choked through his laughter.

“Don’t be so mean Hewitt. From what I hear, you two are just as wild.” Christine bit back, looking embarrassed and I suddenly felt bad. I hadn’t meant to embarrass her. I shot her an apologetic look and she shook her head, giving me a smile. I saw Greg whisper something to her and her blush deepened, her mouth forming an ‘o’.

The conversation then moved to include everyone, except me that is. They were all reliving past memories and that’s when Greg’s dad finally showed up to the table. He was a tall man, with graying hair and a trimmed beard. He had a sort of regal air about him that was very noticeable. He greeted all of us separately before taking a seat at the head of the table and instructing us to call him “just Harold”.

“Well Christine, you’ve blossomed into a beautiful rose. I knew you’d be a pretty one. Didn’t I tell you Gregory?” Harold said, nudging his son.

“Yes dad.” Greg said.

“I told him, Gregory, you marry that girl. You two would have beautiful children. It’s what your mother would have wanted.”

Greg almost choked on his water and looked mortified at his father’s words. Christine had turned the color of a real rose, and everyone else at the table was holding in their laughter. Harold laughed a booming laugh and clapped his son on the shoulder. “Come now boy, you know it’s true.” We were served dinner then, and both Greg and Christine looked relieved that his mouth was now occupied.

After dinner, Greg led us out onto the terrace where we could have some wine and cheese for dessert, while enjoying the cool night air and stars. I sat down beside Ian and he looked over at me, confusion evident on his face. “Lana, please tell me what’s wrong. Whatever it is, let me fix it.”

“What if you can’t ‘fix it’?” I asked him seriously, feeling my anger bubble up again.

“Just tell me.” I opened my mouth to reply, but was interrupted by Anise walking up.

“Ian, could I borrow you for a second?” She asked.

“One second Anise.” He replied, giving me a worried look and she frowned.

“It will only be a moment. It’s important.” She said. Ian bit his lip for a second and I looked down.

“I’ll be right back, Lana.” He said, going off with Anise. I took in a deep breath and released it slowly, my eyes closed. I was trying so hard not to let it bother me. But with everything going on right now in my head, all the emotions swimming around, I just wanted to bow my head and cry. I felt so pathetic, so vulnerable. I felt an arm go over my shoulders and pull me close. I looked up and saw Chad. He wasn’t looking at me, he was watching as Anise and Ian walked away from us and the look on his face told me.

“Oh.” I said, and his eyes snapped to me.

“What?” He asked.

“Anise.” I said simply and he gave a guilty smile.

“Ever since we were little. But she’s always just had a thing for Ian.”

“Looks like Ian still has a soft spot for her too.” I spat venomously and Chad shrugged.

“I don’t know what’s going through Ian’s head.” He replied and I shook my head.

“I called Fiore earlier.” I told him and he looked down at me, cocking his head to the side.

“What does that mean?”

“I asked her what Anise was to Ian.”

“Why would you call Fiore?” Chad asked, looking confused.

“Because she knows everything.” I said obviously. “She knows everyone’s secrets, everything.”

“Makes sense.” He said, looking back to Anise and Ian. “So she told you then. About the two of them?”

“Yup.” I said, popping the ‘p’.

“He has his reasons for not telling you, Lana. It’s because it doesn’t matter anymore. It’s not important. You’re the only thing that’s important to him now.”

“If it wasn’t a big deal, why would he feel it was necessary to keep it from me?”

“It’s not that it wasn’t a big deal Lana. It was a very big deal. Would you want to have to talk about that later in life? Is that something you would want to advertise every time you were with someone new?” I let out a defeated sigh.

“No.” I admitted. Chad nodded and held me closer.

“I understand that this is all bothering you because of everything you’ve been going through. But let me assure you, Lana. Ian loves you. He loves you so much that he risked me beating him up. He wouldn’t have stolen you away from me if he wasn’t serious about it.” I looked over at the two of them, talking quietly with serious expressions on their face. I could see it in Ian’s eyes though.

“I know he loves me, Chad. I know that. But,” I paused. “I think he still loves her too.” Chad didn’t answer. “Admit it Chad. They have the history, they grew up together. And I can see that she still has feelings for him too. That’s why you haven’t made your move.”

“Not true.” Chad said, defensively.

“No. Very true.” I retorted. “You won’t tell her, because you’re afraid that she’ll just say she still has feelings for Ian.” Once again, I was met with silence. I sighed and rested my head on his chest. “You know I’m right.”

It was Chad’s turn to let out a sigh. “Don’t judge Ian too quickly though Lana. Despite anything he might be feeling or the history those two have, he chose you. Remember that.” He gave my nose a flick before standing and walking over to interrupt them. However, it looked like he had chosen bad timing, because at just that moment, Ian said something to Anise that made her look at him in shock. It was actually entertaining watching from this distance because I couldn’t hear anything that was being said. I could only see the drastic changes in emotion on each face. Then Chad pointed to me and Anise narrowed her eyes over at me and then turned angrily back to Ian. Ian continued what he was saying, and this resulted in Ian being slapped in the face and Anise marching away. Chad started running after her, but not before saying something to Ian with a serious expression on his face. Ian’s expression changed to one that looked most uncomfortable before he glanced over at me, looking sad.

He started to walk over and I stood, walking away from him. I didn’t like the expression on his face. I didn’t want to hear what he had to say. I wanted to get away, and fast. I ran to a gazebo that was farther out in the garden and heard Ian’s voice calling me. “There you are.” He gasped, clutching my shoulder and turning me to look at him.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked him, feeling my face heat up from his guilty expression.

“I didn’t think it was something you needed to know.”

“Oh really? I didn’t need to know that you knocked up your little girlfriend over there and then you both ran away together like stupid lovesick teenagers? Fiore said the only reason you two came back was because you got caught. Then she lost the baby and that’s why you two split. That’s when you started your ridiculous partying stage. I can see it though Ian, you both still have feelings for each other. So why don’t you just leave me out of this stupid love triangle, because I’ve had enough damn drama to last me a lifetime!” I screamed at him, letting out all of my anger in that rush of words. I was shaking when I finished and felt exhausted. Emotions were heavy baggage. I felt like I had been lugging around a sack full of useless crap on my back. Now I had dropped it on the floor and we were both staring at each other, silent.

“Lana,” he finally said, running his hand through his hair. I waited, but he didn’t continue. He looked lost, unsure of himself.

“Do you…” I wasn’t sure if I could bring myself to say it. “Do you still love her?”

Ian didn’t look at me for a moment. “I don’t know." he finally answered. "I don’t know, Lana. I haven’t seen her since everything happened. There’s a reason we haven’t been back in four years. I couldn’t face her after that. I had abandoned her, when she needed me the most.” Ian’s expression was pained. “But I was just a kid, I couldn’t face that. I was willing to take the responsibility of getting her pregnant, I could’ve handled that. I couldn’t handle knowing that it was my fault she’d lost the baby.”

“Your fault? How could it possibly have been your fault Ian? Christine said she lost it due to stress on her body. That’s not on you.” I could see now why he didn’t talk about it. This was something buried very deep that he tried not to think about.

“It was the running away thing. Then the stress of the press, and my family. I don't think she was strong enough to handle all of that." He paused. "She wants to be together again. That’s why she called me over. I couldn’t let her finish though. It…it’s not the same as it was back then. I’m not the same person, and neither is she. So, I told her, that I’m in love with someone else.”

“Ian,” I started and he chuckled.

“Of course Chad had to come in at just the right time and point out that it was you I was talking about. That slap had all of her anger behind it.” He rubbed his cheek thoughtfully for a moment and shook his head. “But Lana, I knew you’ve been through so much lately. You already have so much on your shoulders, and I didn’t want to burden you with anything else. Especially something that doesn’t matter anymore. I. Love. You. And don’t you ever forget that.”

I was speechless and all I could do was silently nod and bury my face into his chest as he held me close. “Were you sad? When you realized you guys had lost the baby?” I asked. I hope he didn’t mind me asking.

“Of course. But I think everything happens for a reason. If we had had that baby, I would’ve never met you. And you,” he said, pulling me a little back so I could look at him, “you are the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

I snorted. “Guys don’t really say stuff like that. But thank you.” I tacked on, feeling myself blush.

“Don’t get too used to it. I have to uphold my reputation with the press.” He said, faking a cool look, pushing the hair from his eyes suavely.

“You mean the one where you’re a partying asshole? I don’t think they’ll miss that too much.” I poked his side and he poked me back.

“Hey, I’m trying to be nice here. You could try and be nice back.” Ian pouted.

“Fine.” I pursed my lips. “You’re really sweet, and sexy, and totally ninja. Okay?” I forced myself to say and he laughed, ruffling my hair.

“Yes. I’m surprised you remembered the ninja part.” He teased as I tried to fix my hair back.

“I remember everything you say. Because I love you.” I poked his chest hard and he chuckled.

“I love you too.” He kissed my lips gently and I closed my eyes as he pulled me close. It was now that I felt that maybe, just maybe, I was going to get my happy ending.

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Now, as Heather says: Things are happy again...that means something bad is just around the corner. Well of course! Duh! :P lol.

I'm also still brainstorming ideas for a sequel to this, so just be patient with me on that one.

Don't forget to fan me on my facebook page ---> in external link plz!

Vote and comment everyone! Until next time! :D