As she opened the door to the playhouse memories of Billy and her came rushing back. The stolen moments, the tender kisses, the dance flooded her mind as she entered the room. How did things get so far away from what she and Billy shared then? If only she could go back and change how things turned out. She would have taken the time to tell Kay everything happened when she was living with her mother and stepfather. Maybe then they would have enough information to protect her when her mom came to claim her. She would have been straightforward with Raul; maybe she would have spared him some pain that way. She would have stood up to Jill and told her what she could do with all her threats. She would have had more faith in Billy… Billy meant so much to her. He was the reason she made it when she was out there on her own. Whenever she got sad and discouraged she would think about his smiling face and the tender way he used to kiss her. To have him hold her in his arms once more is all that she dreamed about. Though tears would come to her if she thought about him, he was still the anchoring strength that brought her though. It broke her heart in two when she had to pawn the opal ring her gave her. It was the last thing she ever wanted to do but she needed money to eat and to return to Genoa City.

It looked as though someone had been in the playhouse recently. The place looked as if it had been cleaned and there was a radio placed in a corner of the room. She looked around searching for a blanket or something that she could wrap herself in. It had been getting colder at night and her jacket was barely keeping the cold away. During her snooping not only did she find a blanket but she also found a box filled with candles and lanterns. She chose a few candles to light in hopes that she would get a little extra heat and still not alert anyone of her presence. Though the candles and the blanket warmed her they still could not stop the thoughts racing through her mind. Thinking of the past brought new heartache to her and she needed something to distract her. She gathered the radio and placed it by the sofa where she was sitting. “Please play” she whispered aloud as she pushed the power button and music soon filled the playhouse. She quickly lowered the volume so no one would hear if by chance they passed the playhouse. There as a cd in the radio and she pushed play curious as to what was played last. Tears welled in her eyes as she heard the beginning of “Take Me Home” playing softly. Again thoughts of Billy invaded her mind as she was momentarily taken back to the prom. She could still feel the excitement of that night and how it felt as Billy held her in his arms for the first time. How he came to her door after the prom and kissed her and for once made her feel alive. Finally overtaken by exhaustion she drifted off to sleep with scenes of Billy and her at the prom dancing as king and queen playing in her mind.

~Billy~
He was so close to her he could feel it. When he went to the pawnshop where she sold her ring he could still feel her presence there. He knew it was only a matter of time before he would find her. The owner told him she mumbled something about going home, but she made him promise not to sale the ring to anyone because she was coming back to get it. He rushed to Kay’s in hopes that she had really came home. But again his hopes where dashed as Esther sadly informed him that Mackenzie had not called or returned. He was hoping to avoid running into his mother because he was in no mood to get into it with her. But as he was leaving she caught as glimpse him. “Billy,” she called out to him. He tried to walk away but something about the way she sounded stopped him. “Billy, Billy please.”
“What is it mother?” he asked with his back still to her.
“I’m happy to see you. Does that mean...”
“Look mom, I gotta go,” he says interrupting her before she had a chance to finish.
“Did you find Mackenzie?” she asks sounding as if she really cared.
He slowly turned to face his mother trying to assess if she was genuinely concerned, “No, I…I…I looked everywhere, but she doesn’t seem to…we keep running into dead ends” he sighed.
“We?” Jill asked curious to know who Billy had helping him in his search.
“Me and Raul,” he explained.
“Well, maybe it’s time you let someone else look for her. I mean if you haven’t had any success yet, maybe it would be best if you…”
“Look, I’m going to find Mac, I got to,” he said as the anger slowly began to creep back into his voice.
“But Billy, what about…”
“I knew coming here was not a good idea, but I had hoped Mackenzie had come back here. It’s obvious I was wrong…” mumbled Billy.
“Billy…I can’t let you go back out there to look for Mackenzie. It’s too dangerous”
“What about Mac, it’s just as dangerous for her and I’m wasting time standing here talking to you,” yelled Billy angered that his mother could not see how important finding Mackenzie was to him.
“I don’t understand…”
“I wish you did understand, maybe then you would know how much I love Mac and that I have to do this,” he wishfully stated.
“Billy please…let me call…”
“Is she here?” Raul asks as he comes to the door.
“No, this was a waste of time, let’s go” he says and without another glance back at Jill he leaves. “Billy, Billy please!” Jill calls after him to no avail.
“What now?” Raul asks as they head towards Billy’s car.
“Well, do you think you should risk calling your parents to let them know you are alright?” Billy asked hoping that Raul didn’t get into a lot of trouble for helping him.
“I called and left an answer on the machine. Luckily they weren’t home or I would have caught it. I called Rianna though and she said she hadn’t seen or heard anything about Mac.”
“Maybe we should go over to Crimson Lights, maybe they heard something about her,” Billy said with hope resurfacing in his voice once again.
“Couldn’t hurt”
“Raul…” Billy tentatively says.
“What?”
He lowers his voice as he says, “I’m sorry man…”
“I know,” he says quietly as he continues to look out the window of the car. During the entire time they have been searching for Mackenzie few words were spoken. Except for the conversation, rather argument they had Billy and Raul rarely spoke. They head to Crimson Lights hoping that someone might have some news about Mac. As they enter Crimson Lights they see Brittany and JT sitting together engaged in deep conversation. She and Billy exchange looks as he continues to the counter to question Cody about Mac. JT tries to keep Brittany from going to talk to Billy and Raul but she pulls away and approaches them.
“Billy…” Brittany tentatively says. He ignores her. “Billy please” she calls his name again. “Maybe this isn’t the best time Brittany” Raul says as he tries to persuade her to stop talking to Billy.
“I just wanted to apologize. I didn’t think…” she began to say but was interrupted by Billy.
“That’s right you didn’t think. And now Mackenzie is gone,” anger again filling his voice.
“You can’t put all of this on me, Billy Abbott. What I did was wrong and I’m trying to apologize to you for that.” Brittany whines trying to keep the blame off of her.
“I don’t want your apology Brittany. All I want is Mackenzie,” Billy angrily says as he walks out of CL without even talking to Cody.
“Tell him I’m sorry Raul. I didn’t think things would go this far and tell him that I hope Mackenzie comes home safely.” Brittany offers as she walks away from Raul.
“I will.” Raul assures her and goes after Billy. “Are you ok man?”
“Not really, Mac has been gone for a long time now and I’m really worried about her,” he says and for once letting his apprehension show in his voice.
“So am I, but we’ll find her…”
“Thanks man, I’m…” he says as he tries to apologize once again.
“This is about Mac, nothing else. We’ll talk about other things at another time,” Raul states interrupting Billy apology.
“Ok” he sighs, “I don’t know where else to look.” As signs of weariness begin to show on Billy’s face Raul asks “Is there any place that only you and Mac would know about that she might have gone?”
“No…the only place we ever went was…” Billy stops mid-sentence and stares off into space. “What is it?” surprised that Billy stopped suddenly.
“I think I might know where she is,” he says as he speeds off..