The fire proceeded crawling lizard like down the steps, one by one, and it slithered up the rail posts, then crept down the rail with a crisp, chuckling sound. Cassandra saw the flames hit the bottom of the stairs.
"Cassandra, turn around," Nick requested. Confused, Cassandra slowly turned around. He gently pressed his enitre hand to the back of her head, and then pulled away. He looked at his hand, and it was dripping in blood. "You have a huge gash in the back of your head."
"I must have gotten it when I hit my head on the floor."
"It looks really bad."
"Don't worry about it-"
"No, I will. It is streaming blood. How do you feel?"
"Well, I know it's hot in here, but I have this sudden chill, like it is freezing in here."
"You must be losing too much blood." Nick bit his lip, then took off his shirt. "Lay down."
"Nick, I don't think this is the best time for that-"
"You know what I mean. And you call me the smart ass."
"What? What did I hear you say?"
"Nothing. Just lay down." Nick bunched up his shirt in a pillow shape and let Cassandra lay down on it. "Now I'm no doctor, but that should help a little."
"It should," she agreed.
"Good. Are you comfortable?"
"If you want to put it that way."
"All right, try to rest. I know it's hard, but try. I'll try to look for the door I asked the workers to put in if they could and they said they would try." He kissed her lips softly then began to feel his way around the basement.
"Be careful," she said.
"I will." All of a sudden, Nick found a string to the basement lights. "I think I found us some real light."
"Nick, no-" Nick pulled the string before Cassandra could carry through with her sentence. As soon as he pulled the string, sparks went flying and the light bulb blew up. Cassandra could hear the glass trickle to the ground with a crisp sound. She heard Nick yell, not in terror, but in pain. "Nick? Nick, are you okay?"
"My eyes!" he yelled.
"Stay there, I'm coming."
"Oh it hurts Cassandra!" He began to frantically rub his eyes.
Cassandra sat up and felt a major pain rush through her head. She went to stand up, but lost all strength in her legs. So she rolled onto her stomach and grabbed Nick's shirt.
"Just don't move," she said. Cassandra pulled herself across the floor with her arms. "Nick, Honey, do me a favor and hum as loud as you can so I can find you." Nick began to hum their song, and Cassandra followed the sound. She started off towards the sound. The floor was cold, and the flames were following right behind her. She lifted one arm at a time, and slowly, but smoothly, made her way closer and closer to Nick. She constantly crawled into things lying on the floor.
When she finally made it to Nick, he had already passed out and had stopped humming. "My poor baby," she said. Cassandra lifted him into her arms and tied the shirt around his eyes to protect them from anything else. She rocked him back and forth and stroked her fingers down his bare chest, hoping that it wouldn't be the last time. "Hold on, Baby. You're going to be all right, come on Baby, I need you." She bent down and kissed his lips, her tears falling onto his face.
"Look Bethany," Mercedes said in the bathroom. "If you have a problem with Cassandra and Nick, let me know now."
"Everyone thinks that I am jealous of Nick and Cassandra's relationship, so what if I am?" Bethany replied.
"They are just teasing, but you seem like you have a big problem with them."
"They thought they had the perfect relationship, and now look at them. I know my relationship with James is perfect, it's the best."
"Whatever."
"What? You think that you and Brian have it better?"
"I didn't say that."
"But you mean it."
"Look, I don't know what your problem is, but I think you should chill."
"Anyone who think that thye are better than me can just die."
"Bethany! I think we should bring you home. All this excitement had eaten your mind."
"Maybe you're right. Let's go back. We have an early flight tomorrow."
Miraculously, Nick woke up after about five minutes.
"Oh Nick, the sparks got in your eyes. I used the shirt you gave me to protect your eyes. I thought for sure that you were a goner! Do you feel better?"
He unwrapped the shirt from his eyes. "I can see, but it hurts. I would never leave you alone like that."
"You wouldn't try to, you mean."
"I have to find that door!"
Nick said trying to get up, but Cassandra pulled him back down into her arms. "Nick, give it up. You are in serious pain, and in no condition to go feeling around for a door."
"At least I found one door," he said.
"You did?"
"I hope I did. I mean, the door to your heart is very important to me."
Cassandra just wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. Nick could even be romantic and make her feel better, at the worst of times, and this was surely the worst. "Oh Nick, I love you more than life itself."
They kissed lightly.
"We are going to die aren't we?" he asked her. He sat up and grabbed her in his arms this time.
"The fire is all around us," Cassandra said. "We have about two minutes before-"
"Don't finish, it's not worth it-"
"We die," Cassandra finished. "I thought it was worth it." Cassandra began to cry on Nick's shoulder.
"Don't cry, please, I can't stand to hear you cry. I could go on forever telling you how much I love you and why, but I am not going to because you already know how I feel about you. I know how you feel about me, so let's save ourselves the trouble and just say I love you."
"I love you," she said softly.
"I love you," he whispered back.
"Bethany and I want to go home," Mercedes said as she and Bethany walked up to the table.
"So soon?" Brian asked.
"Yes, don't argue."
"But the party had just begun," Kevin complained.
"Well, I will take Mercedes, Bethany and James back to one of the houses," Brian said.
"No, the beach house," Bethany said abruptly.
"Why the beach house?" James asked.
"Um, it's so much more romantic near the beach. And besides, we have a flight tomorrow."
"Okay, that sounds fun," said Brian. "Let's swing by and get Cassandra and Nick."
"No, we can't!" Bethany almost yelled.
"Why not?" James asked. "Bethany, is there something wrong?"
"Yes, no, I, I, I just think we should leave them alone. They had to work some things out."
"Okay," Emalia said. "We can go to the movies and we will probably go home after that, because it will be late then."
"Okay, let's go," Bethany said, eagerly.
"Did you do it?" Bobby asked Julie.
"Oh yes I did. There is no way that they're getting out of this one." Julie and Bobby, sat in a fancy restaurant at a candlelit table.
"Did I ever tell you of what a good job you did that one time to keep Nick and Cassandra apart? You even got her ring!"
"Actually, no you didn't."
"Well, I for one, am very proud of you. You know how much I love you, right?"
"I think so, but why don't you tell me. Again."
"I love you so much! More than you'll ever know."
"I bet that you said that to Cassandra," Julie asked inquisitively.
"Maybe I have, but I'm sure that you said it to Nick a couple of times also."
"Yeah, but neither of us meant it."
"That's right," Bobby said.
"I can't believe that Austin failed us."
"I know. We paid him, then he goes and kills himself."
"Hey what about that old guy that messed up our plan the last time?" Bobby asked. "You know, that old neighbor next to A.J. and Isabella's house?"
"Oh, well, Bethany took care of him before she left."
They both smiled at each other and touched wine glasses together. They both took a sip, then leaned over the table and engaged in a passionate kiss.
"Nick, we are really not going to live, are we?" Cassandra asked.
"No," Nick said. "May I touch you one last time?"
"Of course. You needn't ask."
Nick brushed his fingers through Cassandra's hair a few times. Then his hands fell gently to her face. She closed her eyes and swallowed back tears, as his hands softly ran over her eyes, down the sides of her face, and then brushed her lips. He pulled her face close to his and gave her a short, passionate kiss.
Nick smiled. "A.J. was right. You don't appreciate things half as much as you do after you have lost them."
"You will never lose me Nick, never!" Cassandra felt her tears began to flow down her face. "Never."
"Listen, will you do me a favor?" he asked.
"Anything for you my darling dear."
"Block out the sound of everything burning and try to hear the music we heard in our heads that day on the boat." He paused. "Do you hear it?"
"Yes, yes, I hear it. It's so beautiful."
"May I have this dance?"
"Yes."
Nick grabbed Cassandra in his arms. Cassandra began to cry softly on his shoulder. "I'm glad that I can hold you now because I know our time has come. So you will die in my arms tonight. I'll be there for you, I swear to you. Anytime you want me, anytime you need me, I'll be there. I want you to want me for all that I am."
"I feel the same."
"I swear that I would and will do anything for my queen."
"Nick, I love you. I can't live or die without you. Please, God help us."
"I'm here for you Cassandra. It will be quick and easy."
"Why us Nick? Why us?"
"I don't know."
"What did we do?" Cassandra asked and began to cry even harder.
"Shh, stay calm, my Cassia. At least we are together."
"Nick, I wish you hadn't come after me when I fell down the stairs."
"Why?"
"Because maybe you could have gotten away from this horrible death."
"I would never, and will never leave you alone. If I had to live life without you, that would surely be a horrible death."
"You are too good to me," Cassandra said as they continued to dance to their soundless music.
"No," he said. "If anyone is too good to the other, it would be that you are too good to me."
"Nick, thank you."
"For what? I made you come down here and I got you trapped down here. It's all my fault. I should thank you. I mean, you risked your life to find me over here and you trusted me when I said that nothing would happen. I'm so sorry I've let you down."
"God no. You haven't let me down at all! Don't ever think that. I forgive you, if you forgive me?"
"Forgive you for what?"
"Anything and everything. I walked out on you, and ran away from you, and you still put up with me."
"I forgive you," he said.
"And I forgive you," she said.
"You know, you are a pretty good dancer," he said abruptly.
"Nick, I love you," Cassandra said. She gave Nick one last long, and desiring kiss."
"I love you, too. I must be the luckiest man alive. Cassandra....."
"Nick....."