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DISCLAIMER:- It's been a while so I'd better re-write it - No I don't own the characters, ummm except me and maybe my family, but the rest belong to NBC, OK. Don't sue please, I'm broke, it's the holidays and I can't even go to the movies with my friends.




DELUSIONS
PART 7
by Krystal McDermott




"Okay, so where are we going now?" I can't really help it. I'm a naturally curious person. I have to know, even though Jarod and Miss Parker are obviously still pretty testy and no-one else seems to be in a very chatty mood either.

"Melbourne." Miss Parker replies dryly.

"But....Lyle was....wasn't he...didn't you...?" I stammer out, pictures of a thumbless man and team of huge, bulky sweepers chasing me down the middle of the Victorian Markets flash through my head.

"Krystal, relax." Sydney puts one hand on mine. "If we just saw Lyle here, he could hardly be in Melbourne, could he?" Hmm, good point, should of thought of that. Good ol' Sydney he always knows how to calm a person down.

We reach the airport with a screech of tyres, which is good because I very much doubt I could have coped with driving all the way down to Melbourne, been there done that last year, not an experience I want to relive anytime soon, especially considering the moods some people are in, not to mention any names MISS PARKER!. "Okay, everybody out." I grab Jarod's arm as he walked beside me. Judging by the look on his face, I figured he's forgiven me for the comment about the 'shipper' thing. Maybe the Oreo McFlurry helped. But he could hardly hold a grudge about that for long, it's not as if I'm the only one out there that holds the opinion that he and Miss P are destined to be together, and that one day they will realise that and will destroy the Centre, runaway together in the middle of the night and .............. Ok I'm getting off track here. Time to go back to reality Krystal. "Where are we going to stay when we get there?" Jarod smiles.

"Don't worry, Krystal. I'm sure Miss Parker has it all figured out." Oh my God! he said Miss Parker has it all figured out. He trusts her, he really trusts her. Now if that's not a sign, what is?

As we're racing through the airport, stopping once to buy a suitcase for all the newly acquired clothes (I love my new clothes), I rack my brains to try and think of someone, anyone I know in Melbourne. There is my old Auntie Carol, but she's not exactly the sharpest pencil in the box, if you get my drift. It isn't until we're actually on the plane and in the air that I suddenly remember. "Broots," I try to keep my voice innocent. "Could I please borrow your computer again, just for a sec?" Sydney looks at me out of the corner of his eye and I can feel the heat of Miss Parker's glare on the back of my neck. "I just want it for a sec," I gabble quickly. "Promise." Grumbling, he hands it over and I type in a quick message and send it off. Thank God for email.

A few minutes later, Broots yelps in surprise. Miss Parker turns another one of her glares on him. "What?!"

"I got an email."

"Is that a surprise?" The Ice Queen is in great form. Probably still pissed off about those shoes. "I'm sure you get dozens every day."

"No - it's for Krystal." I grab the computer without looking at anyone and open up the message. 'Great! Looking forward to it. Jump in a cab and give the driver the address I wrote below. KB." I sigh in relief as I scribble down the address and delete the message, handing the computer back to Broots, who checks it carefully, presumably to make sure I haven't damaged it. Heck I spend hours everyday sending email to the pretendfic group I think I can manage to send one without doing any damage. Sydney is still eyeing me and, when I turn to look out of the window, I realise that Jarod is staring at me as well, between the seats. I pick up the book which I'd decided was the least boring of those that Sydney had purchased and try to ignore everyone else. I have always had an interest in human psych, maybe I'll find the book partially interesting.

We make record time leaving the airport too. Obviously I wasn't the only one thinking that Lyle might have been on the plane, hiding somewhere in the baggage compartment perhaps or maybe in the bathroom or maybe he was even in the cock pit the entire time and my paranoia is getting the better of me again.

Miss P expertly hails a taxi, slightly annoying two older people who have obviously been waiting for a while. Well do you think a male taxi driver is going to pass up the opportunity to drive Miss P around, especially in that skirt? Jumping in, I give the driver the address I wrote down, before any of the others can speak. Obviously he knows where we're going because he doesn't ask any questions, just pulls away from the curb. But then, if Miss Parker was glaring at me like she is at him, I probably wouldn't be tempted to say much either. No make that I definitely wouldn't be tempted to say anything.

The car pulls up in front of an old, Edwardian style house, with the ocean visible at the end of the street. Miss Parker pays for the trip, using the Centre's credit card of course, while Jarod pulls the cases out of the boot. We all stand for a moment, looking at the house, before I walk up to the door and knock. A voice yells something out and, after a few seconds, the door swings open. "Great, you're here. Come on in." None of us have said anything but somehow she doesn't need introductions. Well, she wouldn't. She knows these people as well as I do and it wouldn't take a genius to figure out who I was. As we go in, Sydney closes the door behind us and KB leads the way down the hall.

Entering the kitchen, Miss Parker turns and fixes a glare on me that makes me want to sink through the terracotta tiled floor. "Aren't you going to introduce us?" Oh yeah. Sure. Guess I forgot that they probably don't know her as well as she knows them. Smart Krystal. With a little stuttering, I manage to name each person and there's a few minutes of awkward silence. Finally we all sit down around the table in the room. Thank God, sitting down, now no one will notice if I collapse from shock. "How did you know we were coming?" Miss Parker's probably been dying to ask that question since we first walked in. After this is all over, I bet you there will be another episode of The Pretender where Miss P is dying from her ulcer, again.

KB looks at me and I'm practically begging her with my eyes not to give me away. She grins and I figure that I'm safe............for The moment. "Lyle suggested you might come." Lyle? Damn! Just when I thought things were finally going right! That one thumb psycho-freak shows up. There's slight pandemonium in the kitchen, while KB sits in her chair and...frankly...smirks. Now what's with that? I don't get it. "Would you all please shut up?" The question cuts across Jarod's frantic questions, Miss Parker's yelling and Broots' begging. Sydney's expression has become somewhat tense. Obviously he'd been trusting KB as much as I had. KB's one question makes the room immediately silent and you've gotta have respect for someone who can shut Miss Parker up when she's in full flight. Hell I certainly could never do it. In some ways I guess I'm a lot like Broots. "Thank you. When I say, Lyle suggested it, he did. But he left for Queensland about three days ago. And, no, he didn't stay here."

"Why?"

"Why what?" KB looks at Jarod, who suddenly seems to be finding it hard to talk. With that expression trained on him, I can see why.

"Why did he come?" Miss Parker takes up from where Jarod left off. Hmm, maybe they're thinking more on the same wavelength. Another sign that they're madly in love with each other. Sorry my shipper mind is running away with me again. "He was looking for you. Isn't that obvious? I said I'd keep my eyes open," for the first time, she smiles. "Of course, I never said what I'd do when I did see you." I should of known, KB would never turn us in.

Two hours later, things are a little more settled. Obviously KB had been planning ever since she got my message, 'cos there are rooms all set up for us. And, even better, I get a room to myself. Yay. No more sharing with the Ice Queen. The three men are still stuck with having one room, but KB's house isn't exactly huge so they'll have to make do. They should just be grateful that they're not stuck at my house, otherwise they'd all be on the lounge room floor.

I unpack a few of the clothes that I bought earlier and try to get some of the creases out. Yes, I like my clothes to be perfect, I'm weird that way. Finally, I go and look for KB. I find her in front of her computer, typing frantically at something on the screen. Reading over her shoulder, I recognise the situation and tone and realise that I'm reading a work in progress. As soon as she knows I'm there, she turns off the screen. "Having fun?"

"No." She looks at me and smiles again.

"I talked to Jarod. He told me what was going on. Don't worry, Krystal. I'm sure everything will be fine."

Suddenly I start thinking about my family. With everything else that's been going on, I've been able to avoid it. I do that I push things aside so as I don't have to deal with them but, suddenly, I can't help myself. I start crying. It's not like me to cry and I hate myself for doing it but, I can't stop the flow of tears. "I'm worried about them, and I don't even know where they are. Lyle might have got them. He might have..."

Everything nasty that I've ever seen Lyle do on TV or read about him doing in fan fics suddenly comes into my mind and now I'm really worried. No, not worried. Beyond worried. Terrified.




TBC....

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