Karen paced around the hospital waiting room, anxious. She wanted to throw up. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream.

Her older sister, Kathy watched as she paced the floor. Karen could never keep still if something was bothering her. "Karen, you're making me dizzy. Please stop pacing."

"I can't." Karen said, continuing to walk around. She kept her head down and counted the tiles beneath her. One white, one blue, and so on and so forth. "I need to stay focused."

This night started out great. Karen was at a restaurant with her friends, celebrating her twentieth birthday when her boyfriend of six months, Richard collapsed onto the floor and wouldn't wake up.

"Come sit down!" Kathy ordered, raising her voice slightly. "You look like a crazy person." Karen reluctantly did what she was told and took a seat next to her sister, who then grabbed her hand. "I know you're scared."

"Terrified." Karen clarified. "Absolutely terrified, Kath."

"He's going to be okay."

"He has to be." Karen said stubbornly. "He can't leave me. Not right now."

Everything had been going so well with them. Karen was thriving at school, Richard was getting a lot of praise for his writing with the head of the network, their relationship seemed more solid than ever. And it just felt like the rug had been pulled from under her.

"He won't." Kathy promised.

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, watching as nurses, doctors, patients and their families all moved around the emergency room.

"Can someone please give me information on Richard West?"

Karen's head snapped up at the mention of Richard's name. She turned around to find the source, and saw a petite blonde woman, holding a chubby toddler on her hip, talking to a receptionist. Karen had never seen her before. Who was she?

"Ma'am, she'll be here to talk to you soon." The receptionist replied.

"Thank you." The woman sat down across from Kathy and Karen and readjusted the restless baby in her arms.

"You said you were here for Richard West?" Kathy asked cautiously. The woman had a sparkly ring on her finger and a baby in her arms. Red flags were coming from every direction.

"Yes. Why, do you guys know him or something?"

"I'm his g–" Karen was cut off by Kathy squeezing her knee.

"We work with him, on the set of Law of Land." Kathy said, only telling a half truth. She worked with Richard, not Karen.

"Oh how lovely. I'm Mia, Richard's wife."

If she wasn't sitting down already, Karen would've fainted. Her knees buckled and went weak at those words. Richard had a wife? How could that be? How could he have a wife and a girlfriend?

"Nice to meet you." Kathy said.

"Do you guys know what happened?" Mia asked. "He got into a car accident, but that's all his doctor told me."

"We don't know." Kathy replied truthfully. "We were at a restaurant, hanging out after work and he collapsed."

"Was he drinking?"

"Yeah." Kathy said.

"Typical Dick." Mia scoffed, slightly annoyed and embarrassed. "He's always drunk these days. All he needs is some food and water, and he'll be as good as new."

"He has a drinking problem?" Karen asked, speaking up for the first time in a while. She knew Richard liked to drink. She had seen his drunk side plenty of times, but she never thought of it as a problem. "This is a common thing?"

"I shouldn't be talking about this, I'm sorry." The woman looked frazzled. "Where is his doctor?"

"Missus West?"

Mia looked up and saw a middle aged woman walking over to her. "Hi, are you my husband's doctor?"

"I'm Doctor Evans, yes I am your husband's doctor."

"Is he okay? What's going on?"

"Your husband has alcohol poisoning. We had to pump his stomach and give him a breathing tube."

"Is he still unconscious?" Karen asked. Mia cut her a harsh glare for speaking. She wasn't family, why was she talking?

"Why don't we go somewhere private to talk." Mia suggested, not wanting Kathy and Karen to hear any more than they already did.

"Follow me, Missus West."

Mia walked off with the doctor, leaving the siblings alone. With them out of sight, Karen ran off in the opposite direction. She found the nearest trash can and emptied the contents of her stomach.

Kathy jumped out of her seat and followed her sister. Not really knowing what to do, she just held Karen's hair back.

"He has a wife. A wife, Kath!"

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know. You know I would've never introduced him to you if I knew he was married."

"He has a baby, a tiny little toddler." Karen added, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She sat down on the floor, with her back against the wall. "I'm a home wrecker."

"No you aren't." Kathy protested, getting on the floor as well. "You didn't know he was married."

"It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does."

"How could he do this to me? He can't do this to me."

Karen's head was spinning. Her throat was on fire, her chest so tight, she thought it might burst out of her chest. Her entire life had been tilted on it's axis today and she didn't know what to do.

"What we're going to do is pretend that asshole doesn't exist anymore."

"Kathy, you work with him."

"So? If he thinks we're going to be friends after this, he's wrong. I will completely ice him out. From this day forward, Richard West does not exist."

Karen shook her head. "It's not that simple."

"I know you love him, but please don't tell me you're going to forgive this asshole and pretend this never happened."

"Of course I'm not."

"Good. So why would it-"

"I'm pregnant." Karen confessed, shutting her sister up.

"Are you serious?"

"I found out a few days ago. I saw my doctor this morning to confirm, and I was going to tell Rich tonight, but this happened."

Kathy looked at her sister sympathetically. "Oh, K."

"What am I going to do? I'm a sophomore in college, I work a crappy job in a museum, my child's father is a thirty year old married man, who practically binge drank himself to death tonight. Mom and dad are going to murder me, they don't even know about Richard!"

"How am I going to finish school with a baby? How am I going to raise one? I don't even wake myself up early enough to get to class most of the time. And how is Richard going to care for a baby if he's a drunk?"

"Take a deep breath." Kathy instructed. "Do you know how far along you are?"

"Six weeks." Karen answered.

"Do you want to have this baby? Because you don't have to."

"Kathy, you aren't suggesting what I think you're suggesting."

Kathy shrugged. "I'm just reminding you that you have options."

"No, I want my baby. I want to have this baby."

"Fine. Then we'll figure it out."

"How?"

"We'll figure it out." Kathy repeated. "Trust me."

.

"Karen, I need you to run that by me one more time. You're saying Jade is my daughter?"

Karen had been sitting in silence for the past ten minutes. Richard had been talking to her, or talking at her, but she didn't say anything.

She suddenly felt like jumping out of her seat and running away. She went twenty one years without dealing with this, she could handle twenty one more.

"Karen? Answer me, please." Karen didn't say anything. She just sat there. "KAREN!" That made her flinch.

"This is your first time yelling at me, you know. You usually handled me with kit gloves. You never even let anyone else yell at me."

"You're telling me that I have a daughter?"

Karen inhaled deeply. "Yes. I'm saying Jade is your daughter, you are her father."

"But I mean...how is this even-"

"Possible?" Karen finished. "Well you and I were having sex, so..." Richard cut Karen a harsh glance. "Sorry, that wasn't an appropriate response."

"You got pregnant, and you kept it a secret. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't tell you!"

"Why not? Did you lose your voice for twenty one fucking years, Karen?"

Karen stood up and sat back down, not knowing what to do. She regretted even opening her mouth at this point.

"What I did, was for a damn good reason, Richard!"

"What? What could you possibly have to say that would justify this?"

Karen stood up and circled the couch. "I was going to tell you that I was pregnant on the day of my twentieth birthday party. Do you remember what happened that night or were you so fucking out of it, that you've blocked it out?"

Richard opened his mouth to reply, but he quickly closed it.

Richard's face fell as he remembered that night. It was the last time he had ever heard from or seen Karen.

"I'm sorry."

"We were together for six months and you didn't even think to mention that you were married. Or had a child. How could you?"

"I knew that if I told you, you'd want nothing to do with me, and that wasn't an option I was willing to settle for."

"So you made me your mistress. Classy."

"You were so much more to me than that."

Karen shook her head, not wanting to fall for this man's charms again. "Save it!"

"It's the truth. My marriage to Mia was a disaster. My son was the only bright spot to come out of it."

"And even if I was okay with being your woman on the side or you weren't married, I wasn't going to raise Jade with a man who had a drinking problem."

"I've been sober for twenty years. After that incident, I went to rehab."

"Congratulations." Karen said sincerely. "That's one hell of an accomplishment."

"You would've known if you didn't cut me out of your life."

"That wasn't a risk I was willing to take. I was scared and I wasn't going to have my daughter raised in upheaval. I'm sorry."

Richard sat down, trying to process all of this. It felt like the wind had just been knocked out of him.

The woman he had been in love with all those years ago just re-entered his life. With a daughter in tow, his daughter to be exact.

"Does she know that I'm her dad?" Richard asked.

Karen shook her head. "No. No one knows except Kathy, not even my other siblings."

"Were you ever planning on telling her about me?"

"I don't know. When she was younger, I told her that you weren't in the right state to be a father. Eventually she just stopped asking."

"So why are you here?"

"Because she's going to be working with you."

"So you wanted to get the preemptive strike before the shit hits the fan." Richard added. Karen nodded. "Are you going to tell her?"

"I don't know." Karen answered truthfully.

Richard didn't know what to say or how to feel. He had another kid, a daughter. With Karen. Part of him wanted to be excited just for that alone. But the other part of him was furious. She robbed him of twenty-one years with his daughter. Not just him, but his entire family. His deceased father and aging mother missed out. His son, his siblings and other extended family entered his mind as well.

Then the sadness and guilt settled in. He knew Karen had a point. Richard was in no condition to be a parent back then. He was lying to everyone and leading a double life. He was struggling with alcoholism, despite the fact that he was able to keep up a shaky facade for the most part. But did that mean he had no right to know about his child?

"I would've done whatever I needed to do for you." Richard said.

"Really? Because your own wife wasn't enough back then, so how could I have possibly been?" Karen countered.

"Because you're you."

That caught Karen off guard, but she steadied herself. "That sounds nice and all, and it probably would've been a panty dropper twenty one years ago, but cut the shit, Rich. You wouldn't have changed for me. You changed for you and you alone. The way it's supposed to be."

"Fair enough, Care Bear."

"Stop calling me that."

"I'm sorry. Old habits die hard."

They sat in heavy silence for a long time, not knowing what to say. While it felt like a weight had been lifted off of her chest, she was still anxious.

"I'm not going to tell her." Richard said. "I won't be a creep and stalk her around set, I'll remain a complete professional."

Karen sighed in relief. "Thank you."

"No problem. Besides, I think you should be the one to tell her. After all, I am just a stranger."

"And I will."

"Good. Sooner rather than later. You've had her entire lifetime to keep it to yourself."

"That sounds fair."

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go talk to my writing team. You can see yourself out."

"Rich, I–"

"Nice to see you again, Karen. Have a nice day." And with that, Richard quickly hurried out of the office, leaving Karen alone.

"Why did I have to find out that you're dating Beck Oliver on the fucking Internet?"

"Hello to you too, Ryder." Jade greeted, dryly. "I'm doing great, thanks for asking."

"Hi Jade." Ryder greeted, pushing the door open to her condo further, so he and their other friend Tori could enter. He kissed Jade's cheek. "Why did I have to find out about you dating Beck Oliver on the Internet?"

Jade sighed. Charlotte all but made Jade take a blood oath, swearing her to secrecy about her fake relationship. She couldn't tell a soul that it wasn't real. But lying to her best friends was going to be hard.

"I'm sorry, but it was really sudden. We went out a few times, and people got wind of it, news spread, and tabloids caught on."

"How long has it been going on?" Tori asked.

"Not long." Jade said shrugging. "A few weeks."

"How'd you meet him?"

"Club."

"Classy." Jade gave Ryder the finger in reply.

"Well I fucked him on the first night too, so I'd say I'm super classy." Jade replied, Ryder's sarcasm rolling off of her. Nothing he said upset her, because she could give as well as she got.

"You're so vulgar, Jade."

"You love it."

"Touché."

"But that's not why I called you guys over here. I have major news, way bigger than sleeping with Beck Oliver."

"What?"

"Guess who's going to be starring on LA Med?"

"No way."

Jade nodded. "Yes way. Jade Spencer, four episodes as Margot Philips on LA Med. Char sent the first script over this morning.

"Have you gone through it yet?" Ryder asked, smiling. He was proud of his friend and they way her face lit up when she talked about acting was a great sight to see.

"My character is smart and cool and she's younger than the rest of the characters, but in my head, she's totally the most mature and wise beyond her years. I've seen the crazy shit they've pulled the past two seasons."

"This is amazing!" Tori exclaimed. "You're going to be working for Richard West! You're going to be acting with Bella Andrews and Beck...you're going to be working with Beck Oliver?"

"I guess so. Well not with him, because my character doesn't have scenes with his. Not yet at least. Who knows what the next script will call for."

"So did you get the job because he's your boyfriend now?" Tori asked.

"What, no. How could you even ask me that?"

"Sorry, it's just...you didn't even tell us that you were auditioning for this role."

"I didn't audition, they poached me." Jade clarified.

"...Because you're Beck Oliver's new girlfriend?" Ryder added.

"No! Me seeing Beck Oliver and me getting to be on the show have absolutely nothing to do with each other. Believe it or not, I take this shit serious. I'm a professional, I went to performing arts school, with you guys in case you forgot. My first love has always been acting. I wasn't a nepotism hire and I don't need to sleep with anyone for roles."

The natural high she was experiencing a few minutes ago was quickly fading away. If her own best friends assumed she only got the role because of Beck, what would the rest of the industry think of her?

"Jade, we didn't mean to insult you." Tori said, frowning. "We know you're a great actress, we know how much you care about the craft."

Jade didn't respond. Instead she walked into her kitchen. "I need a drink."

.

Later that night, Jade couldn't sleep. She was still a bit upset about her conversation earlier that day with Tori and Ryder. She knew that they were excited for her and didn't mean any harm, but it still hurt her feelings that their first instinct was to assume that she didn't get this role on her own merits.

Turning over in bed, she grabbed her cell phone. 12:35 AM was staring back at her in big white writing. She unlocked her phone and scrolled through her contacts until she found Beck's number.

The phone rang for a long time and Jade contemplated just hanging up. But after a few more rings, he did pick up.

"Hello?"

"Beck?"

"Yes."

"It's me, Jade."

"I have caller ID, Jade, I know it's you."

"That was kind of dumb of me."

"It's fine. Are you okay? It's late and I'm in bed."

"I'm just...I don't know how I feel about this anymore. This stunt, I mean. I don't think it's a good idea."

"What's wrong?"

"The story of us dating drops a week before I start shooting LA Med. I told my friends this morning and they assumed I only got the role because of you. These are my best friends, if they think so low of me, what will everyone else think? You can afford to screw everyone in Hollywood, I can't."

"Take a deep breath." Beck said. "Relax."

"I can't relax."

"Try." Jade did what she was told. "The damage is already done. Everyone thinks we're dating already, so we can't really pull out of this now."

"That's not settling." Jade deadpanned. "We're trapped like cattle."

"Don't make it sound so bad, angel face."

"I just...I don't want my big break to be overshadowed by you. By us."

"Maybe it's not my place to say this because I'm not in your shoes, but so what? People in this town are going to be brutal regardless. You're young, you're gorgeous, and you're new to the acting scene, so everyone already hates you. They're going to accuse you of sleeping with everyone, from me, to the janitor on set, to Richard West himself. It's not the truth. As long as you know what it is, everything else is background noise. Prove to everyone that you're meant to be here."

"And not to sound arrogant or anything, but Richard doesn't hire bad actors." Beck quipped. "If you were picked, it's because you deserve it. Remember that, okay?"

"Okay. I'm sorry for calling you this late."

"Well what are fake boyfriends for?" Beck quipped.

"Thank you."

"Calm your nerves, Spencer, we haven't even gotten to the fun part yet."

"What's that?"

"We do our table read and start filming next week. You get to meet everyone and I'll take you on a tour of the entire lot."

Jade felt herself buzz with excitement over hearing that. "I can't wait."

"Buckle up, because things will be moving pretty fast for the next month or so. Things can get hectic."

"I happen to thrive under pressure." Jade said confidently. There was nothing more she loved than a bit of a challenge.

"That's the spirit!"

Jade yawned. "Okay, I should let you go back to bed. Good night."

"Sweet dreams, Spencer."

"Don't throw up, don't throw up, don't throw up, don't throw." Jade chanted to herself as she stood in the middle of the studio lot.

Richard had his own section of the huge lot, where all of his shows were shot. People were moving around Jade, she doubted that they even noticed her standing there.

The week had flown by. Now it was Jade's first day on set. And to say she was nervous was an understatement.

Where was Beck? He was supposed to meeting her before she met everyone else. She glanced down at her wrist to check the time on her watch. 8:33 am. Three minutes late.

"Jade! There you are." Jade's head whipped around and she saw Beck sprinting towards her. "Hey!"

"Thank God you're here, I was beginning to think you forgot about me."

"No, I stopped at craft services to get coffee." Beck explained. He draped his arm around Jade's shoulder and pulled her in close. "Follow me."

He led her around the busy lot until they made it to a building with 'L.A. Med' in big, bold letters. Walking through the door, she was met by a blast of cold air. The second thing she noticed was the sets. The classroom where all of the main characters met in the first episode, the lab where Nadia caused an explosion in the first season finale, the fake hospital, all of it. She was really here.

"Wow." Jade gasped, looking around.

"Pretty cool, huh?"

"Cool is an understatement."

"Let's meet the rest of your new cast mates."

They walked to another area on set, a bedroom where everyone was, chatting and mulling over scripts.

"Morning everyone." Beck greeted brightly, taking his sunglasses off. "I have someone I want you to meet."

"Beck, it's not take your girlfriend to work day."

Jade scanned the room and quickly located the source. It was Bella Andrews, the lead actress on the show. Jade loved her work.

"Bella hi, I'm such a big fan of yours." Jade gushed. "It's an honor to meet you."

"I'm sure it is."

Jade was taken aback by the harshness in the other woman's tone. Yikes.

"Moving on...Jade, this is Bella, Robbie, Cat, and André. Guys, meet Jade."

"You're so pretty!" Cat gushed, her bright red hair getting in her face as she talked.

"I'm Cat. Or Caterina."

"I'm Jade. Just Jade."

"Jade, it's a closed set." Bella said. "So while it was nice to see you, Beck, you should get her out of here. You know how Richard feels about stragglers and hang arounds on set."

"Excuse me?" Now Jade was getting annoyed. "I'm not a straggler."

"Morning everyone!" A big voice boomed through the set. "It's the start of a lovely work week."

Jade turned around and saw Richard West making his way towards them, a petite woman trailing behind him, holding a cup of coffee and a stack of papers.

The man was a lot taller in person. He was dressed casually in jeans and a "UCLA Dad" t-shirt, but despite that, his presence was powerful and commanding.

"Morning." Everyone grumbled back.

"Energy, people! I want energy! You guys know I don't tolerate subpar attitudes on my-"

Richard stopped talking mid-sentence as his eyes landed on Jade. He had to stop himself from gasping out loud as he looked at her. She was a beauty, just like her mother, and her resemblance to the older woman nearly knocked the wind out of him.

"Jade." Richard whispered, locking eyes with her. "Wow."

He didn't know what to say to her. He wanted to say so many things yet no words were coming out of his mouth, and at this point, he knew he looked like a stammering fool.

Thankfully, Jade was the one to break the ice. "Richard West, it is a pleasure to meet you." She said, extending her hand.

"Pleasure is all mine. Believe me." Richard took a step forward and wrapped his arms around Jade, pulling her in for a tight hug. Shocked, she hugged him back.

Everyone else stood around, a bit shocked. Richard wasn't a hugger, by any means. Why was Jade so special?

Richard didn't seem to mind the other people in the room. All he knew was that he had a daughter, and she was in his arms after not knowing about her for over twenty years. He'd hug her for the rest of his life if he could.

Resisting the urge to smell her hair or do anything else ridiculous and creepy, Richard reluctantly pulled out of the hug and regained his composure.

"You two know each other?" Bella asked.

"Jade the newest character in the show." Richard explained. "Meet our Margot Philips."

"Why didn't you tell us Jade would be playing her?" Robbie asked.

"I wanted it to be a surprise." Richard said.

"She may only have a few lines in this week's episode, but she'll be sticking around for at least a month, so I wanted her to be here today."

Cat smiled. "Yay, it'll be so much fun having another girl on set." She reached forward and grabbed Jade's hand. Come follow me, we'll sit together in the conference room.

"Okay."

The two ladies walked off, leaving everyone else.

"Alright guys, lets get to work." Richard said, clapping his hands together. "Go ahead, I'll meet you in there."

Everyone else started walking off. Bella fell into step with Beck and bumped his shoulder. "So Richard totally has a hard on for your new girlfriend."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh come on. Don't act like you didn't see the way Richard looked at her. And the way he hugged her? He's never hugged anyone on this set."

"Bella, you're crazy."

"No, I don't have my head in the clouds. You could cut that tension with a knife."

Beck rolled his eyes. "Okay, if you say so."

Bella frowned. She wasn't a fan of being brushed off and made to be delusional. She knew what she saw. Something was up.

"Fine, don't believe me. Suit yourself."

Once everyone else was gone and Richard was all alone, he let out a heavy sigh. His entire body felt tense. Being in such a close vicinity to Jade was stressful. He thought he would be able to do it, but he didn't know how long he'd manage. It was times like this that made him wish he could drink.

"Mister West, everyone is waiting for you."

Richard turned around and saw his assistant Toni staring at him, expectantly.

"Okay, I'm coming."

Karen needed to tell the truth. And fast.