First Meeting and Early Days (Summer 2005)

Nash Brennan was heading into a New York City restaurant for a business lunch when he was stopped by a lovely young blonde named Tess. Though he didn't realize it at the time, Tess was actually the bad-girl, alternate personality of one of Llanview's most beloved residents, Jessica Buchanan -- a victim of Dissociative Identity Disorder, or D.I.D. Jessica's mother Viki had D.I.D. which made Jessica herself genetically predisposed to the illness. Tess, who had recently broken out of a mental institution in Llanview, was in desperate need of cash for lunch. When she spotted Nash -- extremely handsome, nicely dressed, radiating confidence and apparently the owner of a very expensive looking car -- she decided he could be her meal ticket. She quickly tried to charm him into treating her to lunch. But much to her surprise, Nash turned her down and went into the restaurant without her.

This marked the first time that Tess wasn't able to manipulate a man into doing her bidding. Eager for revenge, Tess tried to make off with Nash's convertible, which was parked nearby. (As Tess would find out later, the car actually belonged, not to Nash, but to a wealthy friend who loaned it to him for the day.) Nash caught her in the act -- he promptly took the car back and drove off. Tess, not to be deterred, followed Nash to his destination: a house party in the Hamptons. Nash was none too pleased to see Tess again, and even more annoyed when she revealed that she had slyly managed to steal his wallet. Nash got the wallet back as well, and got a bit of "revenge" of his own by pushing Tess into the nearby swimming pool.

As Nash readied himself to leave the party he realized that the host of the party, Bruce, had slipped a roofie (a date rape drug) into Tess' drink. Tess ended up passing out cold near the pool. Nash was torn -- he thought Tess to be a major "pain the ass," and yet he couldn't leave her at the party considering the state she was in. He ended up taking her back to his apartment.

When Tess awoke the next morning, she was stunned to find herself in Nash's bed and immediately assumed that Nash had taken advantage of her. Nash quickly filled her in on what had happened: that Bruce had drugged her and he (Nash) had brought her back to his place to sleep it off. Tess was also surprised when she took in the modest little apartment that Nash called home -- she had wrongly assumed that he was a rich playboy...and obviously this was not the case.

Tess ditched Nash's apartment and went off on her own -- Nash followed after her to return her sunglasses, which she'd left at his place. They bickered a bit, and she wasted no time in informing him that she could take care of herself. Nash returned to his apartment, but was surprised when later that evening Tess returned with a group of "friends" she'd met at a bar. A party was soon in full swing, much to Nash's chagrin. Nash eventually convinced Tess to kick the party'ers out. Once they were on their own, they gave into their growing attraction to one another and shared their first kiss. Though Tess stopped the kiss in its tracks, she agreed to Nash's invitation to stay the night.

Nash and Tess lived together in the apartment for the next several days -- and it quickly became clear that they were falling in love with one another. Nash confessed to Tess his dreams of making a success out of himself, and of eventually opening up a vineyard in Napa Valley. Though he questioned Tess about her past, she refused to give him any answers (she wouldn't even tell him her last name!) apart from the fact that she had a "twin sister" named Jessica who died some time ago. Nash, not wanting to chase Tess away, agreed to stop asking her about her past.

But her past quickly caught up with both of them. Jessica's uncle, Todd Manning (at the time the only other one to know about Jessica/Tess's D.I.D.) tracked Tess to New York City. Tess, seeing Todd at a restaurant, begged Nash to keep "that guy" away from her. Without asking any questions, Nash agreed, and as Tess left, Nash prevented Todd from following her by punching Todd and then proceeding to accuse him of trying to steal the purse of a lady nearby. Todd, utterly confused, was hauled away by the cops, and Nash was free to go after Tess. Nash questioned Tess about the identity of the man he had just protected her from, but Tess refused to give him a straight answer.

Falling in Love (Late Summer 2005)

Nash and Tess continued to grow closer, and eventually they made love for the first time in Nash's apartment. With their feelings intensifying day by day, Tess agreed to move in with Nash permanently, and started job hunting in New York City. Around this time, Nash heard from a businessman anxious to talk to him about possibly investing in Nash's vineyard venture. Nash quickly set the meeting up. Giddy with excitement and filled with hope about his future with Tess, Nash confessed to her, "I think I'm falling in love with you." Before she could reply, he left the apartment for his business meeting. Tess followed him to the restaurant and confessed in turn, "I think I'm falling in love with you, too." Nash and Tess agreed to meet up later after his business lunch.

After the meeting (which turned out to be a success, as the businessman agreed to finance the vineyard), Nash waited in the agreed upon spot -- the bench outside of the restaurant -- for Tess, who was nowhere to be found. Nash waited for hours, even in the rain, before finally giving up on her and returning to his apartment. He couldn't understand what had happened. Where had Tess gone? Had her confession of love been a lie?

Nash had no way of knowing that Jessica Buchanan's boyfriend, Antonio Vega (who was at the time unaware of the D.I.D. that had caused Jessica's personality to split) had tracked Jessica/Tess to New York City. Before Tess could meet with Nash, Antonio found her and, under the impression that she was "Jessica" tried to get answers out of her. Tess, pretending to be "Jessica," tried to break up with Antonio, but the stress caused the real Jessica to re-emerge for the first time in weeks. Jessica told Antonio about the D.I.D., and he quickly took her back to Llanview, where he swore that he would protect her from Tess. Jessica, unaware of what had transpired between Tess and Nash, reaffirmed her love for Antonio, and the two slept together.

Nash, meanwhile, refused to give up on Tess for good. Wanting answers, he found out the identity of the man he had punched out in the restaurant -- Todd Manning. Nash looked Todd up and discovered that Todd's shady past consisted of a rape conviction over a decade before. Learning that Todd's home was in Llanview, Nash became convinced that Todd had something to do with Tess' disappearance and decided that the only way to find her would be to go to Llanview himself.

Once in Llanview, Nash looked around town until he finally ran into Jessica. Believing her to be his Tess, he tried to find out why she had left him. Before Jessica could explain to him about the D.I.D., Tess re-emerged and reunited with (a very confused) Nash. Tess told him that her uncle Todd had forced her to return to Llanview with him but that her true wish was to start a new life together with Nash in Napa Valley. Nash, too happy to question Tess further, promptly got them tickets on a train bound for Napa.

Napa Valley (Fall 2005)

Once in Napa, Nash and Tess worked together, creating a new life for themselves while rebuilding the run-down winery that Nash bought (temporarily re-named "Brennan Winery"). One day, Nash had an unexpected visitor -- Bruce, the host of the party in the Hamptons. It was revealed that Bruce, a hot-shot lawyer, was handling a "situation" for Nash: before Nash met Tess he had been involved with a wealthy young woman named Claudia Reston. According to the Reston family, Nash used her for her money then dumped her. Nash, desperate to keep this part of his past from Tess, paid Bruce to get the Restons off his back. Bruce got the Restons to agree to a restraining order against Nash, and that would apparently be the end of it.

Tess and Nash's relationship ran into another problem when a private investigator (hired by Jessica's boyfriend Antonio) came snooping around, looking for Jessica. The private investigator's questioning of Nash led Nash to confront Tess -- was her real name Jessica Buchanan? Tess admitted to Nash that she was Jessica, but didn't tell him about the D.I.D. She led him to believe that "Jessica" was part of her old life, a life which included a vengeful ex-boyfriend back in Llanview named Antonio. Nash promised to keep her safe from Antonio and from her past in general.

Unfortunately, Tess was finding it increasingly difficult to stay in control of Jessica's body. Jessica popped out from time to time, on one occasion even managing to send Antonio an e-mail, asking him to come find her. Tess and Jessica's battle came to a head when Jessica informed Tess that "they" were pregnant. A skeptical Tess took a pregnancy test that came out positive. Jessica and Tess then fought over who the father could possibly be: Nash or Antonio?

Even though the odds were in Nash's favor, Tess did not feel confident about the prospect of motherhood. She kept the pregnancy a secret from Nash for a few days -- until he found the box her pregnancy test came in. Tess lied and said that while she thought she was pregnant, the test ended up negative. To her surprise, Nash seemed upset at the thought that she wasn't pregnant. This led to a conversation in which he admitted that when he looked into his future, he saw them married and raising a family together. Tess briefly considered revealing the pregnancy to Nash, but decided against it. As Nash met with a man who would be designing the winery's label (during their meeting Nash decided to re-name the winery "Esprit Libre" in honor of his "free spirit" Tess), Tess secretly went to a family-planning clinic to have an abortion.

As Tess was at the clinic preparing to undergo the procedure, Nash suddenly found himself dealing with a big problem of his own -- Antonio, who showed up at the winery demanding to see Jessica. Nash and Antonio had a showdown that ended when Nash had him arrested by the police for trespassing. Antonio's friend Layla bailed him out of jail, and he promptly returned to his search for Jessica. Back at the clinic, Jessica regained control and stopped the doctors from performing the abortion. Aware that Antonio had made it to Napa, she searched for him and they reunited. Without Nash's knowledge, Jessica, Antonio, and Layla flew back to Llanview.

Return to Llanview (Fall 2005)

Nash soon discovered that Tess was missing. He got a call from a doctor at the family planning clinic, who told him that Tess had left her cell phone there. Nash went to the clinic, where he quickly figured out that not only was Tess missing -- she was pregnant. Assuming that she had run away from him because of the pregnancy, he flew to Llanview and tracked her to Antonio's loft. There, he found Antonio and Jessica. Believing Jessica to be Tess, Nash confronted her about the baby, news which shocked Antonio. As he and Nash argued, a stressed-out Jessica snuck out of the loft and went down to the docks.

While on the docks, however, Jessica lost control to Tess, and shortly afterward, Jessica's mother Viki arrived. Viki was stunned to realize that Jessica had D.I.D. and that the girl standing in front of her was Jessica's alternate personality, Tess. Tess was cold to Viki, explaining that she intended to leave Llanview to start a new life with Nash. When Nash eventually showed up on the docks as well, Tess immediately asked him to leave town with her, and Nash agreed, but not before Viki pleaded with him not to take her daughter away from Llanview.

Nash and Tess then headed to a private airport and planned to board a plane back to Napa. Nash, confused over the things Viki had said on the docks, confronted Tess over the secrets she had been keeping from him. They got into a passionate argument that resulted in Nash warning Tess that they couldn't have a life together with their baby if she couldn't bring herself to be honest. Tess finally, tearfully admitted that she was an alternate personality -- the result of Jessica Buchanan's D.I.D.

Nash, though stunned by these revelations, vowed to stand beside Tess no matter what. When Antonio and a team of policemen showed up at the airport, Tess held them off with a gun she wrestled from one of the officers. Nash convinced her to put the gun down, and the policemen took her into custody. Tess was taken to the hospital, where all of Jessica's family members were waiting. There, the Buchanans learned about the D.I.D. and about Tess/Jessica's pregnancy. Tess, spitting mad and refusing to cooperate with the doctors, was sedated. As she slept, Nash got to know Jessica's father, Clint, who had recently returned to Llanview from London. Clint talked to Nash about his own experiences with Viki's D.I.D. and warned him that Tess and Jessica would have to be "integrated" into one personality. Nash accepted this but worried about what it would mean for the future he wanted with Tess.

Nash and Jessica's First "Real" Meeting (Fall 2005/Winter 2006)

When Tess/Jessica awoke, it was Jessica who was in control. She reunited with her family and "met" Nash for the "first" time. She asked him to please leave town, as his presence made her weaker and Tess stronger. Nash, though sympathetic to Jessica's plight, eventually decided to remain in Llanview indefinitely. He got to know Viki and Clint as he shared with them his experiences with Tess in New York City and Napa Valley. He also vowed to Jessica and her loved ones that he would never give up on Tess, or her baby, if it proved to be his. Antonio and Jessica were unhappy with Nash's decision to stay in town, and Nash and Antonio sparred frequently over Jessica's D.I.D. and about who the father of the baby might be. Nash also reached out to Jessica on a number of occasions, determined to prove to her that he meant her no harm.

Jessica became understandably anxious to begin the process of integration. To fully heal, she and her family realized that they needed to first find out the "secret" Tess was keeping...the traumatic event in Jessica's childhood that had caused the D.I.D. in the first place. Jessica began therapy, and bits and pieces of the mystery started to come to light. She discovered that when she was around five years old, Viki's own wild, party-girl personality, Niki Smith, had taken her to bars. It was at one of these bars that the traumatic event supposedly happened. Viki, wanting to do something to speed the process along, let Niki out so that they could ask her what had happened at the bar. But Niki wasn't interested in helping Jessica and denied knowing what it was that had happened to create Tess.

As if the return of Niki wasn't enough for the Buchanans to deal with, Jessica's hold on her own body was fleeting as well. Tess emerged from time to time, interrupting Jessica's attempt at a somewhat normal life. Nash took his moments with Tess as they came. On one of the occasions while Tess was in control, she and Nash discussed her pregnancy. Nash realized how frightened Tess was -- not only about the possibility that the baby could be Antonio's, but also about her own fears that she might not be a good mother.

One day, Nash got news that a fire had broken out at Esprit Libre winery. He raced back to Napa to take care of the situation. While there, he ran into his lawyer, Bruce, who wanted more money for taking care of the Reston situation. As Nash contemplated selling the winery, he was surprised by a visit from none other than Claudia Reston's father, George Reston, who brought tugs with him to beat Nash up as "payback" for what Nash had done to Claudia. They left Nash for dead on the floor of the winery, and though a passing neighbor saved Nash by calling 911, when he was taken to the hospital he remained in critical condition.

Back in Llanview, Jessica was celebrating Christmas with her family when she got a call from a recovering Nash, who said he just wanted Tess to know that while he was in the hospital he was fine and would return to Llanview as soon as possible. The sound of Nash's voice was enough to bring Tess back out, and Tess manipulated Jessica's grandfather Asa Buchanan into giving her his private jet for the evening. She then stole away to the hospital in Napa, where she reunited with Nash. Nash was thrilled to see Tess but chose to withhold all of the details about why Reston's thugs attacked him.

But Nash and Tess's reunion proved to be short-lived, because Antonio soon tracked them down, and his presence brought Jessica back out. Nash was then alarmed when Antonio informed him that no matter who the father of the baby was, Antonio intended to raise the baby as his own with Jessica. Nash swore that if the baby was his, he would never give up his paternal rights.

Jessica, Antonio, and Nash all returned to Llanview within a few hours of one another. Then, out of Antonio's sight for a few moments, Tess took back control, and on New Year's Eve, she and Nash reunited yet again. They got a room at the Bayberry Inn and made love for the first time in months. The next morning, they discussed the baby, and though Tess admitted that she was warming to the idea of being a mother, she still worried that Antonio might be the father. Nash tentatively questioned Tess about what caused her D.I.D., but Tess remained mum on the subject, determined not to speak of it to anyone, not even Nash.

Enter Claudia Reston (Winter 2006)

It was only a matter of time, of course, before Antonio tracked Nash and Tess to the Bayberry Inn. While Tess remained in control, she was stunned when Antonio informed her that he'd done a background check on Nash that revealed that someone had a restraining order against him. Tess questioned Nash about the restraining order, but he refused to give her any details. Tess, feeling betrayed, broke up with Nash and returned to Llanfair with Antonio.

Of course, Nash followed Tess back to Llanfair and pleaded with her to give him another chance. She again demanded to know the details of the restraining order, and he asked her to wait until he was ready to tell her. Tess was still angry with Nash, but she also agreed to go ahead with the paternity test at the hospital.After the paternity test, Tess and Nash returned to Llanfair, and Nash finally came clean to her about his past. He told her that sometime ago, he had used a young woman named Claudia Reston for her money. Though they dated for only six months, she fell in love with him. When he dumped her, she tried to commit suicide and wound up having a nervous breakdown. Nash explained that the Reston family got the restraining order against him because they were angry with him for hurting their daughter. He also told Tess that while he had never loved Claudia, he did love Tess and wanted a future with her.

While Tess forgave Nash for his past, she could not shake the feeling that things were going terribly wrong. First, she ventured to the hospital and in a fit of rage, wound up destroying the amniotic fluid sample needed for the paternity test. Then, after a warning from Antonio that the Restons were never going to stop coming after Nash, Tess bought a train ticket to see Claudia Reston at the rehab clinic where she'd been living for the past few months.

When Tess met Claudia at the clinic, Claudia became upset to hear about Tess's involvement with Nash. She swore to Tess that she had nothing to do with her father's attack on Nash, and she also cried about how heartbroken she was that Nash had used her for her money. She became further upset when she discovered that Tess was pregnant. As Claudia freaked out, Nash arrived. The stress of the situation brought Jessica back out. Nash apologized to Claudia for all that he'd done to her, and then he and Jessica left the clinic. After they left, Claudia talked to herself about how she had in fact asked her father to go after Nash. She also swore revenge on Nash for what he'd done to her.

Back in Llanview, Jessica was upset to realize that Tess had destroyed the amniotic fluid sample and their chance to find out the baby's paternity before the actual birth. And everyone was surprised when Clint offered to let Nash move into the Buchanan Mansion. Viki, especially, was angered to hear of this new development, and she was quick to warn Clint that his support of Nash meant that he was siding against their own daughter.

Tess's Insecurity (Winter 2006)

As if this drama weren't enough for Jessica, she had arrived back in Llanview in time to hear the verdict announced in her uncle Todd's murder trial -- he was found guilty of murdering the psychotic Margaret Cochran and their unborn child. Todd maintained his innocence, and Jessica and Viki were among only a handful of Llanview citizens to believe him. The trial upset Jessica so much that she allowed Nash to comfort her one morning in the kitchen of Llanfair. When Viki walked in on the two hugging, she became upset and warned Nash to stay away from her daughter.

Viki's confrontation with Nash also led to her having another argument with Clint on the subject of Jessica's D.I.D and the best way to deal with it and with Nash's presence in their lives. The argument cased Viki's own alternate personality, Niki Smith, to emerge once again. Niki tracked down Jessica at Antonio's club, Capricorn, "kidnapped" her, and tricked her into allowing Tess to emerge. Once Tess was out, Niki manipulated Tess into leaving town with her by playing on Tess's fears that Nash had begun to fall in love with Jessica.

After getting into a minor car accident, Tess and Niki sought shelter in a cabin along the side of the road. As the snow fell fast and furious, Niki reinforced Tess's belief that Nash, when given the choice, would choose Jessica over Tess. Tess, now angry, resolved never to see him again. Niki then attempted to convince Tess to tell her the secret childhood trauma that had caused Jessica's DID. While Tess was sketchy on the details of the trauma, she did agree with Niki that Viki was the one to blame for what happened to her and Jessica because the trauma that occurred happened during a time period when Viki had given up control to Niki in spite of the danger she knew that Niki posed to Viki's kids.

Back in Llanview, Nash, Antonio, and Clint discovered that Jessica and Viki had gone missing, and they set out to find the two women, well aware of the possibility that Tess and Niki had emerged and decided to leave town altogether. The men found the cabin where Tess and Niki had taken shelter, but Tess and Niki had vanished -- they had actually hitched a ride with a trucker on his way out of town. In the cabin was a letter that Tess had left for Nash, telling him goodbye. But Nash refused to give up on Tess and became more determined than ever to find her and convince her of his love for her.

Meanwhile, Tess and Niki's ride with the trucker was not going well. After realizing that Niki had asked the trucker to take them to The Hot Spot bar (the place where the trauma that triggered Tess/Jessica's DID occured) Tess, infuriated, decided to split up with Niki. Niki reluctantly agreed, and the trucker dropped Tess on the side of the road. Tess wandered around for a bit, wondering what she was going to do now. Suddenly, a car pulled up next to her -- Nash! Tess, of course, was none-too-happy to see him, and they argued about his supposed love for Jessica. After the snow forced them to find shelter in a nearby abandoned cabin, Tess opened up to Nash about her insecurities -- about her fear that Jessica was better suited for him. Nash managed to convince her that he cared nothing for Jessica. The two spent a romantic Valentine's Day together at the cabin, and Nash felt the baby kicking for the first time.

Though another brief argument flared up between Nash and Tess when he mentioned that they should return to Llanfair, eventually Tess gave in, and they went back home, where Clint was happy to see them both. He also informed them that, while on the search for Tess through the woods, Antonio had gotten his leg caught in a bear trap...the wound led to an infection which had put Antonio out of comission in the hospital. Tess tried to get some rest, and as she slept, Nash heard her mutter something about how she had destroyed the amniotic flud sample out of fear that the test would prove Antonio was the father. When Tess awoke, Nash assured her that he would love her and her child whether he was the biological father or not. This tender moment was shattered, though, when Tess felt something wrong with the baby. A trip to the hospital determined that the pain had been the result of Braxton-Hicks contractions and that the baby was fine.

While Tess and Nash were at the hospital, Clint had managed to track down Niki at The Hot Spot. He helped Viki to regain control and informed her of Niki's recent actions. They realized that this was the bar where Niki had been bringing Tess/Jessica as a child. Viki wanted to hang around to get answers, but was summoned home by a phone call from Tess, who was secretly worried that if Viki and Clint found out her secret, she would disappear forever.

After leaving the hospital, Nash and Tess went to Rodi's to get Tess something to eat. While Tess went to the restroom, Nash was shocked when Claudia arrived at the bar. She admitted that she still loved him and wanted a future with him. Nash, of course, turned her down, and she became enraged. After Tess (who was unaware of Claudia's presence in Llanview) and Nash left the bar, Claudia called her father and informed him that Nash had hurt her again.

When Tess returned to Llanfair, she argued with Viki over the truth behind her D.I.D. Nash, meanwhile, returned to the Buchanan mansion, where he was shocked to find Mr. Reston and his thugs waiting for him. Mr. Reston wanted to have Nash beaten up again, but he was forced to leave when Clint arrived. Later, when Tess discovered that both Mr. Reston and Claudia had been in Llanview without her knowledge, she blew up at Nash, and they had an intense argument. After Tess stormed out of the mansion, Nash realized it would be better for Tess if he gave her a break and left town for awhile. Against the advice of both Clint and Viki, Nash went to Napa Valley to check on the winery.

This history is complete through mid-March 2006. More will be added later.