"Good God!"

She gave a terse chuckle. "Pretty, isn't it?"

Aaron brought a hand to his mouth in surprise and frowned. "Who on earth would do such a thing?"

She rolled her eyes. When she spoke, her voice was dripping with Lucy's ever-present sarcasm. "A real English gentleman." Another terse chuckle. "Did a lovely job, didn't he?"

Aaron shook his head and turned back to his tools. "Just one moment."

Cara shifted in her seat and cast a bitterly pointed look downstage. "Some men are real skillful when it comes to causing pain."

Both characters paused for a moment while Aaron brought the medical tray over, fiddling for a moment with the towel there before looking curiously to the back of Cara's head. "You didn't go to the police."

She laughed hollowly. "The police." The comment was full of disdain, but followed by another short laugh. "A girl like me making a complaint about a man like him, a rich man? That's funny." Her expression turned contemplative as she looked out past the audience. "I won't forget his name in a hurry, though." She paused for just a moment, long enough that the continuation of the thought sounded dramatic. "Hyde. Edward Hyde."

Aaron gave a little jolt and looked up in surprise. He quickly shook it off and looked back to Cara. "Why come to me? You have family, don't you?"

Cara shook her head and spread her legs a bit so as to lean on one knee. "No. I ain't got no family." She glanced over her shoulder pointedly. "You gave me your card."

Aaron shook his head so as to clear it, banishing his sense of disbelief. "Yes. Yes, of course, I remember."

Cara smiled sadly at him. "I've never had someone like you be nice to me before."

 Aaron closed his eyes for a moment to get his bearings. When he re-opened them, he dipped the towel gingerly in an imaginary basin and pressed it to the back of Cara's shoulder. She sucked in a breath and winced as though the contact pained her.

When Aaron spoke, his voice was low with regret. "I'm sorry." A precious pause before he continued with conviction. "I'm so sorry."

Cara closed her eyes for a moment, pretending to revel in his touch. In all honesty, she wasn't thrilled to be doing this particular scene today. Ever since the talk with Nick, she'd been dead set on avoiding Aaron. He knew her too well for her own good, and she didn't want him to notice that something was wrong. She just wanted to fix the situation with Nick so that everything with Aaron could get back to normal.

With a regretful sigh, she opened her eyes and began to sing.


Sympathy, tenderness
Warm as the summer
Offer me their embrace

Friendliness, gentleness
Strangers to my life
They are there in his face


Normally, this was the kind of situation that she would discuss in great detail with Aaron. She loved Theresa to death, but from day one, Aaron had been the more sympathetic roommate. He listened more than he judged, and he was more patient than Theresa's no-nonsense attitude allowed.

She hated that Nick's needs distanced her so much from the man she'd come to call her best friend. Furthermore, she hated that she had to lie to Aaron to help his older brother. Numerous times in the past two days, he'd asked her what was wrong. She didn't have an answer for him. She'd had to brush him off, had to play it like he was making things up.


Goodness and sweetness
And kindness abound in this place


They both knew he didn't buy it. It wasn't a question of whether or not he bought it. It had become a question of how long he'd tolerate it.

Cara knew that the answer wasn't in her favor. Aaron despised bullshit, and she hated that she'd begun dealing it out.

"There, that should feel more comfortable."

The sound of his voice, low and gentle in her ear, startled her back into character. She gave a little laugh and allowed herself a nostalgic smile as she cast a glance in his direction.

"I feel like a lady."

Aaron turned to her in surprise. "You are a lady." His tone rang firm in the auditorium, and he permitted only a moment of silence before continuing. "A most extraordinary lady."

She wanted more than anything to talk to him. Aaron was young, but he was also wise beyond his years. She knew that he'd be able to offer her a new perspective, if not an alternative solution to the problem. Unfortunately, his connection was too deep, too emotional for her to risk taking his advice.


I am in love with the things that I see
In his face


He'd helped her out so many times. She felt as though she owed it to him to bring his brother back. She wanted Aaron to have a reason to smile again. She wanted him to know family in the sense that she did, to experience that unconditional love and support that came with blood relations. She wanted to create that security for him again, and she knew that, try as she might, she couldn't create it with just Theresa's help. She needed Nick.

And, because she needed Aaron, she was willing to handle Nick.


It's a memory
I know time will never erase *


She took his hand and kissed it gently, but he did her one better and bent down to her level. She tilted her head gently upwards and kissed him full on the mouth, allowing her lips to massage his for a moment before both of them pulled back. The music to "Someone Like You" had hardly begun to play when Cal shut off the
tape player.

"Okay, kids, centerstage." Cara and Aaron obeyed hesitantly. "Now, what do you think I'm going to say to you?"

Cara shrugged. She hated this question. Unlike the rest of the cast, she wasn't partial to doing impressions of Cal, and she would've rather had the criticism than the chance for self-improvement.

Aaron was entirely another story.

"Well, it was nice. Nice. And nice is good, I'll agree, but nice isn't GREAT. Unfortunately, people don't buy tickets to see nice. If you actually want to sell tickets to this show, you're going to have to be GREAT."

A ripple of laughter went through the scattered audience of cast members, and Cal allowed a small smile to creep across his features. He loved to play the role of the hardass, yes, but he loved his cast equally as much. Especially the quirky popstar-turned-teenager that had taken over the lead role in his musical revival.

"Close, kiddo, but no cigar," he laughed. "I was going to say that Cara needs to project more on 'Sympathy, Tenderness,' first off. It's a sweet little song, but it's not going to sound like a sweet little song if we can't hear it. Secondly, Cara, you've got to look like you're in love with Aaron, not like you pity him. I pity him too, and I pity the fool that finally falls in love with him, but you're not that smart right now. Wanna know why?"

Cara grimaced. "Because I'm a whore?"

"Bingo. You are, however, a whore with feelings, and that's why you've fallen in love with our strapping Dr. Jekyll here." Aaron puffed out his chest proudly, but Cal rolled his eyes. "Not so fast, kid. Your 'I remember' lines are way too fucking condescending. I know Cara looks like she's about three years old, but you can't talk to her like she's three. She knows a shitload more about life than your pretty little Dr. Jekyll, and he's smart enough that he recognizes that. You treat her like a lady, you hear?"

Aaron flinched. "Yes, sir."

"Wonderful. Now, I believe we have a beginning to rehearse. How many of you are up for 'Bitch, Bitch, Bitch'?"

The cast cheered from the audience. It was well known among both cast and crew that the song was a favorite.

"Good, I'm glad you're in the mood. Unfortunately, you've got to prove to me that you can do 'Façade' first."

At that, a chorus of groans rang out.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't pay you to be pleased with my song selections. It needs rehearsal, and rehearsal it shall get. Now, quit your bitching and get up on this stage. You've got five minutes to assemble yourselves before I pitch a fit."

That said, Aaron and Cara vaulted off stage to make way for the rest of the cast. They started towards the doors to the lobby of the venue, but Aaron turned around for a brief moment .

"Hey, Cal?"

The director whirled around, his wrinkled Oxford shirt swinging solidly around his thinning frame. "Yeah?"

"Can Cara and I go grab lunch real quick?"

Cal glanced down at his clipboard and shrugged. "Don't see why not. Bring it back, though. I know you don't want to do any singing today, but I'm going to need you to run lines with Theresa here in a little bit."

Aaron nodded. "Thanks, man. We'll be back." He grabbed Cara's hand and pulled her gently through the double doors that separated the lobby from the auditorium. As soon as they slammed behind him, he heaved a sigh of relief. "Finally."

She laughed lightly. "Exhausted much?"

"Very much," he groaned. "That, and I'm starving. You want to make a run for the sandwich shop across the street?"

Cara shrugged. She couldn't very well explain that she didn't want to be alone with him just now. "Sure, let's go."

He nodded, and they made their way out onto the busy streets of New York.