Aevum of Itero

Chapter 18

The car. The car. Where had he parked the damn car?

It shouldn't be that difficult to find his car. The departure of most vehicles, including one red BMW, meant there weren't many vehicles to search through.

He just couldn't concentrate to relocate it.

He wanted to scream. Pound something. Smash a windshield; okay, he wouldn't even let his thoughts drift that far.

There she was.

His beautiful Speedster, still carrying Brenda's scent from the other night.

Dylan took refuge in the steering wheel, releasing his muffled frustration until he felt calm enough to start driving.

The old Kelly had known just as well as he that their relationship hadn't done any favors for either of them. Kelly had been miserable; she had made that clear even before she had accused Dylan of calling out Brenda's name in bed. Her misery had only increased, particularly with hearing of Brandon's engagement and then marriage.

If Kelly could have done it all again, he had once heard her telling her younger sister Erin, then she would have chosen Brandon from the start.

But that was the old Kelly, the one who was lifelong best friends with Donna, the one Dylan had chosen over Brenda, the one Steve continued to worship even after marriage to Janet.

The one Brandon had been hopelessly in love with to the point that he had nearly married her.

Now that none of them had sided with Kelly, had it flipped something in her personality? Who was Zosha Blake? What had Kelly done to her?

And what the fuck was Anteros up to, sending Kelly memories of her past? Was Anteros trying to destroy Kelly's future, as Anteros was trying to destroy Dylan's? Why?

He summoned the other Dylans to inquire whether any of them had known a Kelly, or a Kelly type.

The Dylans who answered him could not say they had, though as the Dylans of the Middle Ages, Ancient Greece, Ireland, and perhaps other eras once more failed to respond, Dylan could not extract a complete answer.

It helped that Itero had pointed out that Dylan's past with Kelly had been nothing more than a falsity brought on by a crock hypnotherapist.

Anteros was playing dirty, and Dylan couldn't figure out what Anteros hoped to accomplish by letting Kelly in on the secret of the past.

It wouldn't change anything. Dylan wouldn't suddenly turn to Kelly just because she knew that he had chosen the sugar cookie with the yellow frosting.

Even though the blue had tasted far better.

Dylan drove at a slower pace than he usually did, waiting for Itero to tell him his standing there as Kelly kissed his cheek counted as making a move on one of the blondes.

He hadn't asked for it. He hadn't wanted it.

But he hadn't been able to stop it when he had been stunned into acceptance.

He clutched onto the steering wheel, convinced he was about to lose it all. Convinced he would return to a life where Brenda would begin raising a family with Monaghan. Convinced their second chance - third chance, really - had ended.

All because Kelly Taylor had kissed his cheek, right after he and Brenda had discussed continuing their relationship.

Dylan couldn't have felt more relieved to roll up the Walsh's driveway and jog towards the front door.

He had pursued Kelly whilst Brenda was in Paris. He knew that. He knew also that when it had come to the Bermuda Triangle, he had been far from innocent. Kelly could have stopped their entanglement before it began, and Dylan could have never allowed that entanglement to happen in the first place.