Shanachie Theater A little over a week ago...

Correy stood outside of the theater, just staring up at the marquee. His hands in his military styled coat, brightly colored beanie on his head. Blue eyes watered with the sting of the icy wind that blew. So much needed to be said, so much left undone. He'd come this far, could he finish what he came to do' Right now, he wasn't sure. Standing outside of the theater was one thing. But Jon was inside. Correy took a deep breath, and then another. His stomach was in knots. How would Jon take the news" Only one way to find out and Correy took the rest of the steps to the theater. He pulled open the door and stepped inside.

Jon was inside, chatting amicably with the other cast and crew. It was the last night of Peer Gynt, and there'd probably be a cast party later. The play that started out as a disaster had recently become a hit, and as much as Jon loved working, he was looking forward to a much-needed break for the holidays.

Correy could hear the chattering, so he turned in that direction. It didn't take long for him to get closer to the stage. He whipped the beanie from his head and cleared his throat. Seeing Jon again made him feel even more nervous. Maybe if he just turned around, nobody would notice he had even been there.

Jon almost seemed to sense he was being watched. Almost feeling eyes on him, he swung his glance toward the aisles and blinked when he noticed a familiar figure standing there. He excused himself quietly from the conversation and started toward the stairs that led from the stage to the floor.

Correy could hear the steps behind him and he turned around. "Hi," he nearly whispered as Jon came closer. "I hear the show's going great," he smiled and wrung the beanie between his hands.

"Closing night. You know how that goes." Jon offered an easy-going smile, though he had butterflies in his stomach. It was times like these when his acting abilities really paid off. Swallowing his pride and that feeling of awkwardness, he reached out to give his cousin a hug. "How you been, Corr?"

While Jon was able to act his way through it, Correy couldn't. He stiffened slightly when hugged, then relaxed to give Jon a proper hug back, with a pat to his back before he stepped back. "I'm doing alright." Correy tried his best to smile, but it was short lived. "How're things going with you?"

Jon had no idea how much Correy knew about what had been happening in his life lately and the less he knew was probably best. He didn't want to worry or upset him, especially since everything was already said and done. He'd already made enough of a mess of things. "Okay..." There was that all purpose word that could mean any number of things. "Looking forward to a little break. Maybe go on vacation somewhere. I don't know. What about you?"

Correy pursed his lips and sat down in a seat. It stung that he was no longer in Jon's inner circle of trusted people. "Holiday's about over and going to head back to school. Tomorrow." He shrugged then and gestured to the broad array of seats close by. "I think we should talk."

Jon had very few in his inner circle of trusted people these days. Only one really. He'd sent his sister a letter, apologizing and explaining what had happened, but they hadn't reconciled yet. He was waiting for her to contact him, if she ever did. Jon frowned a little, the mask slipping away, almost revealing his true feelings. The guilt and the remorse and the sadness. He took a seat one over from Correy and nodded, wondering if he should explain and apologize or just let Correy say what he needed to say.

Correy saw the slip of the mask, but didn't let on. Turning in his seat when Jon sat, he folded and unfolded the beanie between his hands. "I have to know, Jon." He sat back then, staring up at the stage. Perhaps just hearing the words and not seeing his face would help. "What did I do?"

A frown flickered across Jon's face, guilt bubbling up. He wasn't sure he could explain, could put what he was or had been feeling into words. He shook his head again and followed Correy's gaze to the stage. "You didn't do anything. I just....I've changed, I guess. The..." He couldn't bring himself to mention the shooting, the moment in time when everything had changed. "I'm not the same person I was before. I don't remember anything. I don't even remember who that person was."

Correy nodded, he could accept that. "Understandable, you were different after....it happened. You didn't know and I was too much, right?" Correy hoped so.

"It's like it was someone else, not me." He shrugged again. "I thought maybe if we weren't together, I'd have time to figure it out. I'm sorry I hurt you." He turned to face him again, looking sincerely sorry, and this time it wasn't acting.

"Did you?" He couldn't help the question as it slipped from his lips. Still, he stared up at the stage. There was nothing up there, the black curtains were down and the lights were off. Slowly, when Jon turned to him, he turned to Jon and a smile appeared. "You did what you had to do."

He shrugged again. "I never meant to hurt you or anyone else. I'm an idiot."

"No, no, you were confused. You'd been through so much and I admit that I'm pretty intense. You weren't being an idiot, you were doing what you had to do to sort things out. That's all. I don't blame you at all." Correy shook his head and pled with Jon.

"I don't know if I've sorted anything out really. It's all still a blank. I don't want anyone's pity. I just want to move on with my life." He was trying to explain, but even this much was difficult.

Correy sighed and sat back, his gaze returning to the empty stage. "Nobody pities you, Jon. We're concerned, but we don't pity you." At least, Correy didn't. "And are you moving on?"

"I'm moving on." He reassured his cousin, the bitterness he felt toward the reactions of some of his family members left unsaid. They might be concerned, but they could never understand. "I've made a lot of mistakes, Corr," he admitted quietly. "All I can do is say how very sorry I am."

"I'm sorry, too." Correy sighed softly and turned to look over at Jon. "We all make mistakes, Jon. It's how we learn, right?" His brows were raised a bit. "It'll be alright, I'm alright."

Jon turned the Granger ring on his finger, a sign of nervousness, though his smile looked warm and reassuring. "Yeah, that's how we learn. It takes some of us longer to learn than others, I guess. We Grangers tend to be hard headed."

"Just a little," Correy agreed with a nervous laugh. His smile faded though and the question he'd really been meaning to ask simply popped out. "Are you seeing anybody?"

Jon's smile faded with Correy's and at the very pointed question. His relationship with Vicki had been kept mostly under wraps. Very few knew about it. Not even Lena knew yet. But when asked, pointedly, he couldn't and wouldn't lie about it. "Yes."

"Yeah..." He smiled reassuringly, pushing the memories aside. "I'm okay." The smile faded as he came to the rest of the story. "They told me they'd give me my memories back....but I put the whole family in danger. They tried to hurt her and..." He shrugged again. "How do you make up for that' How do you apologize for that' She's never going to trust me again."

"Did you ask her to get involved?" Correy knew the answer before Jon could answer and didn't wait for the answer. "You were doing what you had to do, what you thought was right. They misled you and tricked you, but that's a vampire's way. You didn't hurt her, Jon and you sure the hell didn't tell them to hurt her. So stop beating yourself up. Lena will come around when she realizes how much she misses the friend she has in her brother." He knew this for a fact. Correy had missed Jon's big brother advice and protectiveness for a while now. "Trust me?"

He listened to Correy with a worried look on his face. Vicki had told him not to worry, that Lena would come around in her own time. He had taken Vicki up on her suggestion and sent Lena a letter explaining everything. It had helped alleviate some of the guilt. The ball was in her court now. He'd done all he could to assuage her. He nodded his head. "Yeah, I trust you."

"Good, then listen to me. It's going to be alright. Despite the weirdness of our family, we pull together. You'll see." He reached to hug Jon once more, then leaned back. "Everything works out, one way or another. You just have to have a little faith in yourself."

"Hard to have faith in yourself when you don't even know who you are half the time or who you're supposed to be," he remarked, with a slightly sad smile. Other people seemed to believe in him. Correy and Vicki for starters. He wasn't really sure about anyone else.

"You know who you are," Correy leaned in and whispered conspiratorily. "And you know who you're supposed to be." He leaned back again with a grin. "You're Jon Granger, better or worse. Everything else is irrelevant."

He chuckled. "Yeah, whatever that means." But it really didn't matter. He'd done everything he could to make things right. The rest was out of his hands now.

"Well, you're still acting, doing the things you love to do. What more is there to life than that' You really need to put the past behind you and look forwards to your future." Correy let out a soft chuckle. "Speaking of which, you've still not said anything about your mystery woman."

"That's exactly what I'm trying to do." He smiled, a little mischief gleaming in his blue eyes. "She's something of a secret, but I'll tell you this much....She's a redhead." Correy would probably know how important it was to Jon to keep his private life private and out of the public eye, and as long as he could keep Vicki a secret, the better. Of course, he had no idea Correy had already met said redhead.

"Red, fiery!" Correy had kept his voice low and he leaned forwards. Something in his head clicked. Like a photograph, then something that was said. His eyes narrowed and he canted his head. "About so tall and named Vickie?" He raised his hand well above his head because he was sitting.

Jon furrowed his brows, wondering how Correy knew that. He paused a moment before confirming. "Yeah, how'd you know?"

"Met her at the RDI. She was....flirting with some girl named Tera and..." he shook his head then. "She was talking to her about you getting her a job. I didn't think anything because Jon's a common name." He shrugged then. No way he was going to mention Cian's name.

"Tera?" he repeated. "Oh, right. The girl who appled for the P.A. job. I have an interview with her in a few days. Vicki was flirting with Tera?" he asked, looking surprised at that bit of news.

"Oh yeah, it was pretty hot," He grinned then and sat back. "You dawg," his brows waggled and he laughed. "I can't blame you. Though Cian might not like it much. He's pretty stuck on Tera."

He was looking really confused now, just as Cian had been in the inn. "Wait, I'm not....Cian?"

"Yeah, Tera and Cian were all cuddly and gooey with each other." Correy nodded, not ashamed in the least for spreading the family secrets to others in the family. "Kind of cute."

Jon hadn't seen Cian in years and didn't even remember what their relationship had been like, as estranged as it was. There had been a time when they'd been as close as brothers, but Jon didn't know or remember what had happened to mess it up. He wasn't concerned about Cian's relationship with Tera, but he was a little confused about his own with Cian. "I don't....I haven't seen or talked to him since....I don't really remember him."

"Don't worry about it. We've got tons of relations that I don't remember or even know. I'm sure it's cool. So tell me about Vickie?" He wanted to know, it felt good to be in the circle of trust once again.

Their chat continued on for another hour or so as they caught up with each other's lives, almost like old times again, before everything had become such a mess. Things were definitely looking up.

((Many thanks to Correy's player for the above scene!))