Around five that morning, Tara wakes up with her phone buzzing to get up and ready for the day. She looks over at Cory and notices that he's sleeping soundly. Unwilling to disturb him, Tara slips from the bed, leaving a note for Cory, then heads for her office to look over the sales reports and deposits for the restaurant for the books. Rocco's Little Slice of Italy has been her life since she graduated from community college with her degree in management and culinary arts.

"Finally! Everything looks good, and profits are going up. If this keeps up, they may finally be able to afford a second location. God, I wish I could find a job like this back in RiverCreek. I miss seeing mom every day and my friends."

After the reports are saved and sent to the owners, Tara gets up to get ready for a shower. The noise she makes shuffling through drawers brings Cory out of his deep sleep. Shaking loose the cobwebs, Cory hears the water for the shower and tries to get his clothes together to join Tara in a hot shower.

"Good morning. Do you have room in there for me?" Cory calls out from the door.

"You know better than to ask. Would I have bought a house that didn't have a big enough shower for you and me?" Tara begins, "Get in here and hold me!"

In no time, Cory gets undressed and slides behind the curtain, and sees Tara under the water staring at him, "Come here! I can't wait on slow any longer!" Tara says with lust in her eyes.

"God, it's about time!" Cory says but stops before they collide under the water, "Ugh! We can't, not yet anyway; we need to get cleaned up and spend time with our son. So, hand me the soap, and let's get cleaned up and back on the road to RiverCreek."

Tara moans and groans with her lower lip pushed out. She's disappointed but understands that things need to stay on course, but hearing Cory suggests doing things as a family makes her appreciate him even more. Turned around under the water, Tara picks up her body wash and quickly gets showered. Cory waits his turn and doesn't waste time getting showered. Tara takes her time blow-drying her hair with a towel wrapped around her body. The last thing she does is lather up with lotions and body oils, then gets dressed in a pair of Le Petite jeans that slide over her thong that matches her bra and puts on her favorite Mustang t-shirt.

"When did you become a Mustang fan?" Cory asks after he's dressed.

"I've always loved Ford vehicles. Yeah, I know, I drive a Kia, but if I had it my way, I'd have a really nice Ford Explorer, or maybe once CJ is a little older, I'd buy a Mustang. I don't know; maybe I'll get the things I want one day," Tara says in a depressive way.

Ready and packed to return home, Cory follows Tara to his mother's house, where they spend time with CJ until mid-afternoon. CJ doesn't want to say goodbye, but Tara gets him ready, and once he's fastened in his car seat, she looks back and waves to Cory. He returns the wave and stands there until they're out of sight.

His mother looks at him and pats the couch cushion inside the living room. Cory takes a seat beside his mother to spill the details of his night with Tara, "We had fun last night. She surprised me with the same dinner she made the first time I met her dad, and we talked and danced. It was a night we needed. I still love her mom; I don't know how after being apart for years, but I feel the same way about Tara as I did in high school."

"That girl is a true treasure, it's true, and she has such a large heart for others," Lorraine says.

Cory agrees with a nod and takes his leave. Cory spends the rest of the day texting Tara, but while they're texting, she asks Cory if he would care to take CJ the following weekend since she has to work and would like him to spend time with their son.

I'll bring everything you need. Clothes, travel toothbrush, CJ will need his booster seat. I'm going to miss him like crazy, but I'm happy to know you're getting to know him. – Tara Rose

He will be fine, and I'm sure he's excited to spend time with me. It'll be good; I can teach him more about cars and maybe lunch and dinner at Trippet's Diner. I can't wait! I'm sorry if I ever did something wrong or didn't give in. – Hard Core

Be safe with him, and you didn't do anything wrong. I admire your restraint because I would have had my way with you several times.

Cory laughs to himself when he reads the message. Then, relaxing in bed, Cory lies there thinking about everything he's been through and tries to decide if he wants to register on Facebook along with other social media sites. His evening goes without any incidents, and Cory enjoys dinner with his mom and Rick, enjoying spaghetti with meatballs, garlic bread, and caffeine-free sodas.

Days go by, and Cory is up and down again. A couple of nights are nearly sleepless with events replying in his mind, and on those days, he has a short fuse with everyone who crosses his path. Time spent at Rick's helps ease Cory's misery, but he's annoyed each time CJ calls and wants to know about their weekend plans and going to look at cars. Cory takes it upon himself to control the mood swings with the mixture of Wild Turkey 101 and Dr. Pepper. Rick keeps an eye on him and reminds him that drinking isn't the way to handle the mental issues.

"Yo, 'Hard Core, ' we need to hold a sitdown about the drinking. So if you're having some issues, you could talk to me, and it stays here. If you don't think you could lean on me, then hit up your doctor at the VA. I say this with love; Cory, if you're going to hurt yourself, tell me now to get you help."

"I'm fine, I promise, but something has felt off ever since I left Tara last weekend. Maybe it's only me, but I mean, I can't get out of my head. I still feel all this anger and confusion, and not to go too graphic, but the sexual tension is killing me. Trying to take this new thing slow is grinding my gears into a ball of anger. I don't know why CJ is annoying me, but I know it's not his fault. Maybe I do need to make an appointment for therapy. Hell, I don't know anymore. All I know is I have my nurse's exam coming up soon, and I am nervous about failing it."

Able to connect the dots, Rick sees a pattern, but how to articulate it seems to be fumbling around his brain, "I get what you mean. However, I think you're nervous about failing."

Cory stops Rick with a look of confusion with his head slightly cocked to the side and his shoulders hunched, "I don't follow."

"You're afraid of failure. You've had success all of your life, no matter what it's been. When you got shot and came within inches from death's door, you experienced a comeback that wasn't handled your way. The having to wait and slow down hasn't been you since you met Tara. Once your life sped up, you didn't know how to slow down, but now that you're healing and pumping the brakes, you don't know how to react to not getting what you want. Slow isn't your game which is why you're festering with this anger, depression, and angst. For one night, let it out and see if it doesn't help. Then again, I could be wrong, and it can make things worse."

Everything runs through Cory's mind while he considers what Rick said. Parts of it make sense, and the deeper Cory thinks, the more it strikes at the nerve of emotions. The sudden impact from going almost nonstop in a hospital makes sense to forced to damn near stop fits the mold.

"You could be right. But, hey, isn't there some wrestling thing at the old armory this Friday? Maybe I could use that as an excuse to make Tara stay in town for the night or convince her to go back to her place to make it feel like a new normal staying there with her and CJ."

Cory lies on the couch thinking about things for the rest of the night. Mainly how things should have been different had the attack didn't happen. Cory worked to become an officer after medical school and give Sabrina a chance since he had no plan to return to RiverCreek. His imagination runs wild seeing a house on the outskirts of somewhere like New York living in the suburbs. A couple of kids and a chance to forget about home altogether. After he falls asleep, the images fade away from the delightful prospects of life in the suburbs returning to the day his life fell to shit.

"Cory, hey Cory, it's Sabrina. Please say you're alive." She whispers while nudging his shoulder.

She listens as he groans just enough to be heard.

"Hang in there; I'm going to slink to the other room and get some bandages to stop the bleeding. Don't die on me!" She says while he struggles to breathe.

As she darts from the room, Sabrina quickly gets pressure gauze and bandages. Before the men holding them hostage return from the front of the hospital. She treats Cory, but they find out what she's doing and stop her dead in her tracks before finishing.

"Please let me help my friend! He doesn't deserve to die; he has a little boy back home. Cory needs to be with his son." Sabrina pleads in English.

The plea goes unheard as they point the barrel of their weapons and motion for her to head into the other room.

"Don't you hurt her, or I'll kill you!" One of the doctors calls out as he gets to his feet.

The men laugh as the one leading them opens fire, killing the doctor and unloading the entire clip into his torso.

"Dumb American infidel!" The hostage leader says, "Take the woman into that room there and have your way with her after I have her first. Stupid infidels, not having armed guards here. How stupid can they be?" He mumbles as his men laugh and escort Sabrina into the other room.

The others left alive are horrified when they hear Sabrina scream in pain and plead for them to stop. The assault goes on for over an hour before silence fills the room.

During the entire time Cory screams in his sleep, Rick rushes from his bedroom to sit on the chair, waiting for his best friend to wake from the night terror. Rick is startled seeing Cory sit up, screaming at the top of his lungs, "FUCKERS! DON'T TOUCH HER! NO! SABRINA, I'M SORRY!"

Uncertain of what to say, Rick sits there until Cory looks around to figure out where he is when his terror comes to an end, and is nearly out of breath, "Oh shit, Rick, I am so sorry for waking you up."

"Nah, homes don't sweat it. Are you good, or do you need a minute to collect your thoughts?"

"I'm good. That damn day needs to vanish from my mind," Cory pauses and smacks himself in the temple from the anxiety, "What's wrong with my head? I've seen people die that were rushed to my unit and stuff on the table. Why can't I shake this one?"

Still unsure of what to say, Rick pulls himself forward to do a little digging, "This Sabrina chick, was she someone special to you, and don't you dare lie to me. Whatever you tell me stays here in this room and will never go any further."

Now upright on the middle couch cushion, Cory rests his hands over his face before he responds, "She was a nurse I was interested in, and she was interested in me, but nothing ever happened since she was an officer and I wasn't. Sabrina also helped me with things I wasn't grasping through the Regency Bachelor's Degree program. So, after I graduated from medical school, were we joking about hooking up. We spent every day together at the hospital unit. She was from Delaware, her mother was a nurse, and her father was a doctor. It felt like we had similar chemistry to what I had with Tara. That's probably the reason why I was into her."

"Sounds like it, plus coming from a medical family that was right up your alley. I'm sorry you lost her, but maybe she was your Earthly guardian angel," Rick implies, crossing his arms without realizing he's doing it, a bit annoyed that Cory hid the facts about Sabrina from him.

After an hour of sitting without talking, Rick shoves off the chair to head back to bed. Cory gets up to shower and refuses to shave, allowing his beard to grow with his hair long enough to style with mousse. The reflection isn't one he recognizes, but Cory knows he needs to reinvite himself in a way outside of his norm.

Cleaned up and ready for the day, Cory heads out to his car and drives around until businesses open, and Cory finds himself at Trippet's Diner. Inside, Cory gets settled at the counter rather than a table or booth. He doesn't see her anywhere, but the server on duty takes good care of him to earn a lofty tip. Bored after finishing breakfast, and leaves for the downtown district where Cory parks and shops for a gift for CJ. While he's out and about, Cory exchanges texts with Tara inviting her to the wrestling event in town.

Hey, I'm getting tickets to that pro wrestling thing at the armory for tonight. Would you like to go with me and CJ? Make it a family night?" – Hard Core

Absolutely! You know I will spend as much time with you as I can get, especially with CJ with us. But, gosh, I haven't been to a wrastlin' show since I lived in Little Rock. – Tara Rose

Great! I'll buy the tickets and meet me there. Afterward, we'll return to your house since you have to work tomorrow, and I'll take CJ and make a day of it. – Hard Core

Meet me at my mother's, and we'll drive there. I wish I didn't have to work, but you know, the wedding reserved this place for a private reception, so, all hands on deck. – Tara Rose

I know, but I am excited to see you and CJ. I'll meet you at your mom's around five. The show starts at about seven o'clock. Love you – Hard Core

Love you too – Tara Rose

Cory drives over to the armory and buys three front-row tickets for damn near nothing. He's blown away at how cheap tickets are for the show, but out of a gesture of kindness, Cory goes ahead and gets tickets for everyone else to make it a night on him.

Excited to share the news with everyone, Cory calls Olivia, Rick, and Lloyd and invites Simon and Mrs. Trippet. They're all caught off guard, but they arrive at Olivia's just after five o'clock. Surprised to see each other, everyone gathers at the front porch when Cory arrives and carries over five pizzas.

"Get inside and enjoy! I have something for all of you, and tonight is our night!" Cory expresses with a slap.

Packing everyone into the kitchen, Olivia pulls out the paper plates and plastic cups with a pitcher of southern sweet tea and sodas. One by one, the pizzas are split apart and eaten while Cory holds the tickets in his back pocket.

"Okay, we've eaten and caught up. Now, why did you want us all here, son?" Lorraine says, feeling left out.

"Well, Tara and I had plans for tonight at the armory, but when I found out how cheap tickets are, I bought everyone a front-row ticket to the Kingdom Wrestling show tonight. So we are only like eight feet from the ring. How cool is that?" Cory lets out with the tickets waving in the air.

"Say what!" Lloyd cries out in shock.

"Yeah! I wanted us all to have a night to cut loose and have fun. Remember what you told me, Rick? I'm afraid of failure, so if I need to find a way to break the chains of my problems, why not include the people I love. So, Simon, welcome to the family. I know you and Lloyd will be married one day. I can feel it in my gut."

CJ is the most excited, and it shows by running up, hugging his father, "YAY! I love wrestling. Nana and mamaw and me watch it every time I stay. Fun, daddy, it's fun!"

Tara cleans up the kitchen and throws away the pizza boxes. She's not too thrilled about including everyone else when Cory promised this would be their little family get-together. She keeps quiet, and no one picks up on the clue that she's slightly irritated by the out-of-the-blue change to their plans.

Cory takes the lead to the armory, but they notice the parking lot is mostly empty. So they all wave it off and head inside to give their tickets to the employee, buy snacks and drinks from the concession stand, and finally find their seats. The armory is about a third of the way full when the show begins, and the ring announcer leads the performance by singing the national anthem to open the show. After that, the small crowd gets into the action of the matches, with the main event consisting of a cage match for the KCW World Tag Team titles.

Cory and CJ both go crazy as the action in the ring rattle the cage to the point it finally breaks when the defending champions roll onto the floor to retain their championships. The babyface, or good guys, come up to the small gathering in the front row, and CJ finds himself lifted over the guardrail for a photo with the champions, and they let him hold their belts. Tara is delighted to see him enjoy his time with the wrestlers as CJ leaves with a complimentary t-shirt signed by his new favorite tag team.

"Did you have fun?" Olivia asks, taking his hand as they walk away from their seats.

"YES! YES! YES! I want to do that one day!" CJ yells in excitement.

Standing by their vehicles in the parking lot, everyone exchanges hugs and safe travels, but Tara tries not to come across as ungrateful or bitter at the spoiled time with Cory and CJ. She tries to get CJ into her SUV, but he asks to ride with Cory, "I want to go with daddy! Please!"

"Not this time, daddy doesn't have your booster seat, and it's too dark to put it in his car right now. You get tomorrow and Sunday with daddy, I promise."

CJ throws a fit, but Cory walks over to calm him down, "Hey, hey now, CJ, you have me all weekend, son. Go with mommy, and we will put your booster seat in my car in the morning. You need to stay safe, and mommy's vehicle is safer than daddy's right now, okay."

With his pouty lip pushed out, CJ nods and quits fighting Tara to get strapped into his booster seat. Tara feels even more agitated that Cory can calm CJ down without a struggle. Tara gets into the driver's seat without a hug or kiss and pulls out without waiting for Cory. Unaware of any wrongdoing, Cory stands there with his mom and Olivia, "Did I do something wrong?" He asks.

"Knowing my daughter, she wanted tonight to be you three only. Us being here must have pissed her off, which means you're in for a world of hurt when you get to her house. " God's speed, Cory, young man," Olivia says and laughs.

Cory gets in his car and pulls away, and arrives at Tara's about ten minutes after she gets inside. Prepared for the worst, Cory works up the courage to face Tara without getting his feather ruffled. Inside, he finds CJ is back in his room while Tara sits in the living room with the lights turned down low, "Come in here. We need to talk," Tara says without turning around.

"If I did anything..." Cory's cut off when Tara throws her hand in the air.

"You didn't do anything wrong. I thought about it on the way here, and maybe I'm not as emotionally mature as I thought. I felt the same old jealous side rise to the surface, but that's because I was telling myself it was all about us tonight. I was wrong. You invited everyone because it included our extended family, which was a sweet gesture. CJ wouldn't shut up about getting that damn t-shirt and his photo taken with those guys. That made his night, and I should be grateful, but I'm livid at myself over how I reacted and tried to hide it. It's how things got to how they were before, and I don't want that for us again. So, I am so sorry for acting like a child."

Stunned beyond relief, Cory stands there, fumbling to find the words. All he can do is slightly sway while Tara sits there with her hands in her lap.

"I uh, I don't know what to say. I thought tonight was the best one since I've been home. I know you expected it to be only the three of us, but yeah, I wanted to have everyone there with us. It's not only our relationship that needs to be fixed. I made horrible decisions and treated people like Rick and Lloyd like dirt, and I need to make up for that. I'm sorry too, but I don't love you any less for not being perfect. I was hoping it would be all good tonight so we could take things to where we wanted. I want you tonight."

What happens next takes Cory by surprise. First, Tara goes back to CJ's room, whispers something to him, and closes his door after she kisses him on the crown of his head. Then, coming back down the hallway, Tara doesn't move slowly to take Cory downstairs to her office and begins to shed his clothes, "You want it, you got it!" Tara nearly growls, ready to take advantage.

Cory doesn't waste his time stripping her in return and lays her on the couch where they kiss and grind each other until penetration, and Tara gasps in anticipation. Cory keeps his upper body close to Tara's to keep her from staring at his wounds. It doesn't take long for either of them to reach their point of climax as it comes to an end quickly.

Tara reaches around Cory's neck and pulls him close for one last kiss before they make themselves decent to make their way to Tara's bedroom without CJ spotting them if he comes out of his room. Cory is the first one into the bedroom while Tara puts CJ to bed, then joins Cory as they lie down and cuddle under the covers in their underwear.

"That was perfect!" Tara mentions taking Cory's hand around her body.

"It was, and I promise it won't ruin trying to keep things on track. I know we rushed it in high school, but now we're adults, and I will put CJ first. I love both of you, and I want us to work."

"I made a rash decision after a blow-up with my ex-boyfriend and former best friend, Janet. What happened afterward was all part of the bigger fallout. When Kayla was killed, it pushed me over the edge, and when we had sex, it made that depression disappear. I cried so many times over you and me that I can't count, but I never stopped loving you. I want you, again and again. I'm addicted to your heart, body, and soul. I love you, Cory. Wearing this ring has always been my way of staying connected to you."

"I love you too, Tara."

She rolls over with her arms around his neck, kissing him to work his body back to the point that Cory gives in and pulls Tara on top of him as they make love until their bodies can't take it anymore and fall asleep in each other's arms.