Nash Brennan Character History
[last updated: September 6, 2005]

Nash Brennan (played by actor Forbes March) came on the "One Life to Live" canvas on July 7th, 2005 -- in a very interesting way.

Nash 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.) 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, Brad, 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 Brad 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 (frustrating Nash), 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 the kind of life she had led before they met.

But this life 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. 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 remained elusive about any answers to her mysterious past.

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, swearing 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 Todd, her uncle, 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, California. Nash, too happy to question Tess further, promptly got them tickets on a train bound for Napa.

Currently, Nash and Tess are trying to make a new life for themselves rebuilding a run-down winery (renamed "Brennan Winery") in Napa Valley. Unfortunately, Tess remains plagued by the demons in her and Jessica's past. To make matters worse, Antonio is determined to track Tess/Jessica down. These factors, along with Tess' continued refusal to tell Nash about the D.I.D, threaten to destroy Nash and Tess' relationship day in and day out.

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