When Justin told Gavin that Xtina had called for him, sounding upset, he was immediately concerned. His movie schedule leaves him little time for anything else, but since the balcony scene is being shot in that big strange house up in Hollywood Hills, not far from Xtina's apartment, he decides to give her a call while he is on the way, and stops at the payphone on the corner of her street. It's a bit risky to call her so early, but she was up, meaning something has got her pretty upset. So he invites he to come have a cup of tea with him. She asks him how the movie thing is going, and before he can reply, she suddenly intones, "I would have made her a goddess." Gavin nearly drops the teacup being handed to him. "That's the scene I'm stuck on, Xtina," he says, always amazed how everything interconnects. Xtina laughs, "Gavin, you know what a Sandman fan I am, and I promise you, you don't even have to act, you are a perfect Dream just as you are," she says as she waits for the girl to brew her cup. "Why do you say that?" he asks, looking very serious. Xtina laughs, "Because you would go through hell for your girlfriend, Gavin. It's the kind of guy you are," she says with an affectionate smile. "I am going through hell," he sighs, as they sit down with their tea.

But before he'll tell her about his problems with Astrid & being able to act, he wants to know what has her so upset that she needed to talk to him. She tells him a new guy moved into her building, a gorgeous stranger from Belgium. She says he's her perfect match, but that she regrets having to lose her surfer boyfriend. Gavin wants to be sympathetic, but her story about sleeping with the new guy while the surfer was at some surfing contest makes it difficult. "You should think before you do things like that," is the best thing he can think of to say, though he feels like a hypocrite. He, too, is struggling in a mess of his own making & can only look to himself to get himself out. "I know, that's how I blew it with you. I don't know why I do the things I do," she says, sighing. And then she asks him now, to tell her what's going with him.

"Xtina, did I ever tell you about Astrid?" he asks, not suree where else to start. Astrid's name makes Xtina gulp back her tea, and look up at him with her bright eyes wide & shining with laughter. "When we were first dating, you used to call me Astrid all the time, even in bed. I hated that so much...but no, you never told me who she was, ex-girlfriend, I assumed.." she says, shaking her head & smiling. Gavin is floored: he had no idea..."I did? And you never told me?" he asks. She tells him she was too crazy about him to point it out, and that he stopped after a month. And Gavin explains about Astrid, the way she left him, the way she told the whole crew on set that she had been having an affair with Alison while she was with him.

"It's been torture to have to work like that, and I'm not having much success with the acting, either. People keep telling me I'm perfect for the part, or I have 'it', but I just don't get it," he says heavily. "Gavin, the fact that you are still upset over the girl you were with before me is what makes you so right for this part. Say the line for me," she says to him, say "'I would have made her a goddess'" she pleads. It's all Gavin has to do all day anyway. He takes a breath, and looks at Xtina, imagining her as Death, as a favorite sister in whom he likes to confide, to whom he goes for comfort. He thinks about the situation his character is in, regrets about a past lover revived, and says the line. "'Maybe she didn't want to be a goddess, Little Brother...'" Xtina continues Death's lines, so Gavin, too proceeds through the script, rehearsing just as though she were Astrid. Only much better, they flow through the scene with ease, and Gavin is finally able to just feel what Dream is feeling, without it being about himself. "'I had not wished to return to Hell. Not yet. Lucifer Morningstar is not one to forgive a slight, nor to forget an injury. But if I have committed a wrong, then I have but one course. It must be made right.,'" he finishes, beginning to feel like he finally understands this Dream character he is playing. "That was beautiful Gavin, you're a perfect Dream," Xtina tells him, her voice breathless & excited. "I can't wait to see this movie,Gavin, when is it coming out?"Gavin laughs, "I can't get past this scene, Xtina, It may never come out at this rate. And I'm going to be late if I don't leave now," he sighs, getting up from his chair.

"It was good seeing you again, Xtina. Doing that scene with you helped out. Thank you," he says as he hugs her goodbye.

As he turns to go, he feels a bubbling of affection for his former lover. It's hard to just stop loving someone...