Summary: The last party before Christmas break and everyone's going, but all Fred can think about is how to win Lex back.
Rating: PG-13
Cimmy's Notes: The world's longest drabble, probably. Written for NaNoWriMo '05. It had a great storyline at some point but I doubt I'll ever finish it. Right now it's one long first chapter and ends before the real story begins, but it works fine as a short story if you like cliffhanger endings.
Disclaimer: The character of Lex O’Leary is used with the permission of NYgoldfish54.

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    “I hate Christmas.”

    This statement made Kate McKinley snap her head up and glare across the table at her best friend, Fred Ahlgren. In her opinion, she had put with a lot over the past two years they’d been friends. Last year’s boycott of Valentine’s Day came to mind. So did Fred’s choice to quit the football team, even though Kate had specifically begged him not to, as it would have ruined some of her status as head cheerleader. Not to mention Fred’s constant refusal to attend any school dances – Kate usually managed to convince him to join her anyway, but the refusal was still custom. And who could forget that it was Fred’s fault that she had to put up with Daniel DeRienzo, that obnoxious jerk Fred persisted in calling ‘friend’? No, Kate considered herself to be some sort of angel with an endless amount of patience for being able to be such a great and understanding friend, but this was just too much.

    “You do not hate Christmas,” she hissed, leaning closer and grabbing the juice box off his lunch tray. “He could hear you!”

    “Who? Santa?” Fred muttered, trying to take back his juice from her. “Aren’t you a bit too old to believe in that crap?”

    Kate drew a deep breath of indignation, frowning. “You’re never too old to believe, Fred!” she barked loudly, making several people at the table behind them turn around. They were both used to people listening in on their conversations. The reason for this was mainly that Kate rarely, if ever, spoke with a normal tone of voice. She shouted, she yelled, she cheered and she shrieked, but you would never hear her whisper, mumble or murmur – unless she did it loudly. Kate, who considered herself to be a well-mannered young lady even though nobody else did, would always claim that people were interested in her whereabouts because she was popular, but Fred knew that it only depended on how big of a scene she was making. Kate was outgoing and friendly, so from the moment she’d stepped into the school, she’d become one of the most popular girls there. It also helped that she was one of the peppiest cheerleaders the school had ever had, while she had rich parents living in Los Angeles with enough money to spoil her with everything she wanted. Everyone knew who Kate was, and everyone tried to be her friend. The never-ending flow of attention hadn’t done much to quell Kate’s modesty.

    This made Fred want to stand with both feet on the ground, because if he didn’t, Kate would most likely kill them both during one of her more reckless adventures. “I don’t care if I get no presents this year,” he explained tiredly. “What’s with all these holidays anyway? We had one just the other day.”

    “Halloween was almost two months ago!” Kate pointed out, handing back his juice before he decided to steal her cookie. “And you didn’t like that one either! I honestly don’t know what’s wrong with you. Everyone loves Halloween. Even Christians do! Why don’t you?”

    Fred rolled his eyes, poking with his plastic fork at the sandwich he hadn’t begun eating yet. “Holidays aren’t a big favorite of mine. You know that. I want to boycott Christmas, too,” he muttered.

    “You like Christmas, Fred,” Kate said happily, starting to bounce up and down on her chair. “All the lovely lights and presents – and the food, Fred. You love the food.”

    “I always like food. If there was a food holiday, fine, I’d celebrate that-”

    “Thanksgiving is a food holiday. Turkey, jams, mashed potatoes-”

    Fred snorted. “Thanksgiving is annoying. Not even turkey can make up for having to spend time with all your crazy relatives. This is why most people don’t celebrate Thanksgiving.”

    Kate sighed deeply. “Most people do celebrate Thanksgiving. It’s not my fault you’re not used to it. Your parents should’ve let you in on all the fun when you were a baby.”

    “For the hundredth time: there was no Thanksgiving holiday to be let in on when I was – oh, just forget it. I hate Christmas.”

    Kate made a sulky attempt to turn away from the table. When Fred was moody, which was a lot more often nowadays, she rather directed her energy elsewhere, to keep from getting sad. Of course, Kate hadn’t been truly sad since the cheerleading crisis of ’02, but preventing the sadness was sometimes enough to make her frown.

    They were sitting at their usual table in the school cafeteria. Kate liked this spot, because she had a perfect view of the entire room, and everyone in the room had a perfect view of her if they were ever wondering where she was. The room was currently decorated with sparkly tinsel and other Christmas ornaments. The windowsills were covered with fluffy, white snow and a sense of excitement was spreading among the students thanks to the upcoming break. Kate loved Christmas. It wasn’t just the presents she loved, even though they were very important too. She loved the Christmas spirit and all the pretty lights – Kate had a soft spot for blinking lights. The fact that Fred was now anti-Christmas was a lot more worrying than she had initially thought; but lately, Fred had been anti-everything, so Kate didn’t take it personally.

    Fred wasn’t usually so gloomy. Kate missed the old Fred. Fine, the old Fred was grumpy from time to time too, but not for very long and not very often. Kate had known him for two and a half years, since the end of freshman year, and Fred had never been this depressed before. Kate had never really had a friend like him before. At her old school she had mostly hung out with the other girls in her grade, so Fred was the first guy she had ever had a real friendship with. Fred was a nice and sweet guy – a little too nice and sweet sometimes, Kate thought, as he never seemed to understand which girls he could talk to and which ones he should stay away from. Fred also came from a wealthy family and belonged to the elite of the school’s popular crowd, but Kate figured he’d only gotten so popular because he hung out with her.

    Kate decided to make a last effort to strike up a Christmas related conversation with Fred, because she hated when he was sad, and she was also getting bored of staring at the Christmas decorations. “You know another thing that’s great about Christmas?” she asked in a way she hoped was sneaky.

    Fred groaned with annoyance, putting his head against the table. He was in no mood to discuss Kate’s unhealthy Christmas fetish. “The high suicide rate?” he suggested without looking at her.

    “Christmas cookies!” Kate cheered, making Fred groan louder. “Don’t be silly. Everyone loves Christmas cookies.” When Fred didn’t respond with the joyful giggle Kate had expected – granted, Fred never giggled, but Kate firmly believed that he would one day – she tilted her head to the side with a concerned look in her eyes. “What’s the matter? Fred, you liked Christmas fine last year.”

    “Last year he was still suffering from that horrible brain decease that made him twice as unbearable as he is now,” interrupted a voice from behind. Kate sighed, folding her arms with a dissatisfied gesture. Daniel DeRienzo put down his tray on the table and sat down next to her. “I actually like him better this way. Nothing brings you back to reality like a broken heart.”

    Kate gasped with dismay. “Daniel!” She lowered her voice considerably. “We’re not talking about that, remember?”

    Fred glowered at her. “I can still hear you, you know.”

    “Well… We’re still not talking about that,” Kate decided with a nod. “Fred and I were talking about Christmas cookies.”

    “Oh, so you expect him to forget about how his girlfriend dumped him by making him hungry?” Daniel asked with a grin. “Fred, how’s that working for ya?”

    Kate gasped again, while Fred grumbled something inaudible. “Daniel, don’t remind him! We’re supposed to cheer him up, not making him more depressed!”

    “Your mere presence is enough to make a guy want to throw himself off the roof,” Daniel snorted. “I don’t think Fred needs to be reminded of something he hasn’t forgotten yet.”

    “Well, even if he’s a bit sad right now doesn’t mean there was something wrong with him before,” Kate hissed. “Shut up now, or he’ll leave.”

    “There’s nothing wrong with me,” Fred muttered, finally picking up his sandwich, even though he wasn’t especially hungry – just that was a sign that something was wrong. He rather ate the damn thing than listened to Kate and Daniel fighting over his mental condition. Fred was glad that he could only do one of those things at the same time.

    “Of course there is,” Daniel said happily, smiling widely. “But at least you’re just suffering from heartache now. You’re avoiding further brain damages this way, you know.”

    “He doesn’t have brain damages,” Kate protested.

    “Of course he does,” Daniel went on. “He suffered from that thing called the Lex. It was breaking him down. Now he’s back to his usual self, but in a version with less optimism and satisfaction.”

    “He turned into you,” Kate complained with disgust.

    “That’s one way to look at it, yes,” Daniel shrugged, picking chips from Fred’s tray. “Look at him, he doesn’t even care that I’m stealing his food, and he loves food. I definitely like him much better now.”

    “You’re so mean,” Kate said, wrinkling her nose. “You’re like that guy, who’s always so mean, and then one day he doesn’t have any friends left because he used to be so mean. You’re just like him!”

    Daniel gave her a tired look. “Right. I’m sure he’s my long lost twin. Red, shut up. Fred, you know how much I like your new you, but you’re coming tonight, right?”

    Kate snapped her head back and forth in an attempt to look at them both at the same time. “What? Fred? What’s tonight? Where are you going? You can’t go anywhere! Can I come too?”

    Daniel ignored her the best he could and leaned across the table. “Fred, you promised me you would-”

    “Is it a party? Why aren’t I invited? Fred, you’re not going, are you?” Kate continued rapidly.

    “Look, I know I said I would-” Fred mumbled, then turned to Kate. “Shut up, Kate.”

    “All you have to do is show up. It’s not exactly rocket science,” Daniel said tiredly, handing Kate the rest of Fred’s chips to keep her quiet. “Everyone’s going-”

    “I’m not!” Kate exclaimed furiously, trying to chew quickly to get another word in.

    “Almost everyone’s going,” Daniel smirked. “I will blackmail you if I have to. You’re going.”

    “What about me?” Kate asked worriedly. “What are you talking about? Is it a party?”

    Daniel stared at her for a moment, during which Kate fired off several more questions about the same subject. Finally he grew sick of her. “Fine, you can come too.”

    Kate squeaked happily. “Great! Oh, so, wait… Where am I going?”

    Fred looked away from his sandwich for the first time, almost smiling. “Lila Summers is throwing a Christmas bash at her parents’ house tonight. Apparently I promised I would go, but-”

    “He’s going. It’s perfect. It’s exactly what you need to be cured from the Lex.”

    “Could you stop calling it that?” Fred muttered, directing his attention back to the sandwich.

    Kate sat up straight. “Why haven’t I heard about it? I don’t like Lila,” she added as an afterthought.

    “Of course you don’t,” Daniel grinned. “Everything is working against her. She’s hot, she’s a cheerleader, and she’s Fred’s ex.”

    “She’s cool,” Fred pointed out. “And she likes you, Kate.”

    “No, she doesn’t. She hates me. I wasn’t invited to her stupid party, so she hates me.”

    “Ah. Girl logic,” Daniel said, shaking his head. “So, do you wanna go or not?”

    “Well, now I have to go!” Kate whined. “I have to show her I’m not scared of her and if she’s gonna pretend she just forgot to invite me-”

    “Red, save it for your cheerleading practice. No one cares,” Daniel cut her off. “So, we’re going, then!”

    “I think I have plans,” Fred decided. He was a horrible liar, but he could make up for it by being stubborn and impossible.

    “Of course you do,” Daniel muttered. “You have plans to mope around and generally just be a pain in the ass. There’s nothing you’re feeling that alcohol won’t solve.”

    “Leave him alone,” Kate said determinedly, once again tilting her head to the side. “It’s not easy having a broken heart. Fred needs someone that cares about him.”

    “You mean, now when Lex doesn’t give a shit anymore?” Daniel said indifferently. Kate promptly slapped his arm. “What? I’m just stating the obvious. Fred, it’s up to you. Going to the party and drink away all those pesky memories of your ex, or staying home watching Titanic with Kate, while she comforts you and talks about Christmas cookies?”

    “Fine, I’ll go,” Fred muttered grumpily.

~*~*~

    It didn’t take more than a few minutes before Fred regretted his decision. Daniel had left as soon as Fred had promised he would go to Lila’s party, and Kate had followed him to admonish him about Fred’s feelings. Fred didn’t care much, though. Daniel was usually manipulative, and Kate was usually annoying, so he’d learnt to ignore them both if he had to. They were both his closest friends, and even though they often tried to prove him wrong, he never doubted their friendship. Daniel was a selfish jackass, and Kate was a ditzy spoilt brat, but Fred didn’t think he was any better himself. He hadn’t known Daniel as long as Kate, but it really didn’t matter. Kate and Daniel bickered as soon as they came within ten feet of each other, but Fred assumed they had to like each other at least a little considering how often they all hung out together.

    Daniel probably had a point, too. He usually did, because Fred had noticed that Daniel was rarely wrong, unless it concerned gambling odds. Fred wasn’t sure he agreed that it would make him feel better to go to Lila’s party, but he definitely wouldn’t feel good at all if he had to watch Titanic again. That was by far Kate’s favorite movie, and she enjoyed acting out the entire movie for him – listening to Kate for three hours without intermissions could drive anyone crazy.

    The party would be interesting, if not exactly pain preventing, at least now when Kate was convinced she didn’t like Lila anymore. Lila Summers and Kate were in the same cheerleading squad together, and Fred had once dated Lila for a few months when he was still new at school. He was still good friends with Lila, and he suspected that this was what Kate disliked the most about her. Fred would never understand that kind of logic.

    Daniel showed up outside his door at 8:15, at which point Fred had tried to come up with several good excuses for why he couldn’t go, but he had failed miserably. He almost thought it was a pity that he didn’t live with his family, because that way he could’ve easily blamed it on having to baby-sit one of his younger brothers. Almost was the word, though. The most important perk about going to a private school was that he wasn’t living at home anymore. Sure, it meant that Daniel and Kate could harass him at all hours of the day – and night, if they climbed in through his window – but he preferred that over having to deal with his parents.

    “Where’s Katie?” he asked, quietly wishing that Kate had decided to watch Titanic by herself instead of tagging along to the party. Kate liked parties, but loved stupid movies even more. Fred knew that she would never let him and Daniel go somewhere without her, though. That wasn’t acceptable in Kate’s mind. It would be a lot easier if she wasn’t going, that was all. She doubled as Fred’s conscience as often as she could, talking him out of doing things that could be considered stupid. Fred was partly grateful for that, but it annoyed him to no end when all he wanted was to do something that wasn’t all that thought-out to begin with. On the other hand, if Kate was the angel on his one shoulder, Daniel was definitely the devil on his other.

    “Red decided to try on another pair of shoes with her dress when I told her she looked fat,” Daniel grinned, looking very satisfied with himself. “She’ll meet us by the car. You’re driving.”

    “I thought so,” Fred said with a tired sigh.

    “What is with you?” Daniel laughed as Fred grabbed his jacket and keys. “You’re not still obsessing over that girl, are you? Wasn’t that weeks ago?”

    Fred glared at him. “I’m sorry if I don’t care much for your opinion on the subject. The most upset you’ve gotten over a breakup was when that sophomore ran over your cell phone with her car after you cheated on her.”

    “It took forever to get all those digits back, Fred,” Daniel muttered. “Now, that’s something to be upset about. You got dumped, man. Get over it.”

    “Thanks. Can I beat your head in with my hockey stick now?”

    “Just try to cheer the hell up,” Daniel suggested, pulling at his arm to get him to hurry up. “If Kate sees that you’re still moping, she’ll try to have another heart-to-heart with you.”

    Fred grimaced. “I never understand what she’s talking about when she does that,” he said with frustration as he closed the door behind him and locked it. “I usually just think about something else.”

    “Ah, and then you get that blank expression, and she thinks you’ve been smoking pot. You see, heart-to-hearts are unhealthy,” Daniel said, sounding amused. “Look, forget about all that now. We’ll cure you of the Lex, and if Kate makes a fuss, we’ll just send her home in a cab.”

    “Oh, yeah, that’ll work,” Fred muttered sarcastically.

    “Let me deal with Kate,” Daniel told him. “You just worry about forgetting stuff.”

    “Well, I’m usually pretty good with that,” Fred nodded thoughtfully.

    Fred had realized a while back that Daniel’s crudeness usually helped a lot more than Kate’s coddling when he was miserable. Fred didn’t have a sister, but he assumed that being friends with Kate was kind of like having an annoying little sister.

    Daniel was right once again, it turned out, as things were starting to feel a lot better after they’d gotten to the party and had a few drinks. Kate was at first hovering around them, admonishing them for their alcohol consumption, until she found out that Lila Summers was wearing something similar to what Kate was wearing. After that she left to tell people that Lila was copying her style, not the other way around.

    Lila Summers’ parents lived in a huge mansion in the wealthier part of town. They had a pool, several cars in the garage, and of course enough space to house the largest and wildest parties their only daughter wanted to throw at regular intervals. Fred knew his way around the mansion much better than most, thanks to having been there a lot over the summer between freshman and sophomore year when he was dating Lila. There were endless amounts of hallways and dark corners – getting lost there wasn’t too hard.

    “Told you this was a great idea,” Daniel grinned as he paved the way through the crowd in the living room. Fred followed him from a distance, making apologizing gestures to the people Daniel pushed to the side. He grabbed a shot glass from a tray that someone was passing around and downed the contents without checking what it was. When Daniel stopped abruptly, Fred walked right into him. “Take it easy, man. Where’s Red?”

    Fred shrugged and put down the empty glass on top of an antique chest. The room was already spinning around him, but he didn’t care that much. The living room was almost as large as a ballroom, with huge windows that covered the entire long side of the room. The swimming pool outside was decorated with Christmas lights. It was far too cold to be outside, and it had started to snow again, so the room was packed with more people than usual. During the summer time, at least some would venture outside if it became too crowdy. Even if Lila only invited friends from her own grade, everyone else would usually try to crash, and not even the Summers’ mansion could easily manage a crowd of more than a hundred students.

    Daniel climbed over one of the armchairs that blocked his way and fought his way over to the bar midst protests from the people he was bumping into. “I don’t get what the big deal is anyway,” Fred muttered as he stumbled up next to him. “Kate is acting like it’s a huge deal that… I mean, like I don’t have the right to… You know?”

    Daniel stared at him, frowning. “You know, it’d be easier to know what you’re talking about if you try to finish your sentences once in a while,” he pointed out and looked around for a paper cup so he could mix another drink. “But I agree with the Kate thing, ‘cause she’s always ruining our fun. She’s a real pain sometimes.”

    “And she doesn’t understand the whole… whole…”

    “The Lex?” Daniel added helpfully, handing Fred a Rum and Coke without paying too much attention to where Fred was standing, and managed to spill a lot of it on the floor.

    “Yeah, but don’t call it that,” Fred said slowly, trying to keep from getting the drink on his shirt by taking a step back. “I mean, sure, it’s nice of her to care, but… Yeah… I’d rather not think about it.”

    “That’s why you have me!” Daniel said happily. “Was I right about the party or what?”

    Fred shrugged again, taking a sip from the cup. “I guess – hey, how much rum did you put in this?” he asked with a grimace, feeling his throat burn. “It’s not like it matters, anyway, I mean-”

    “The rum?”

    “No, Lex. I was just… yeah…” Fred said, shaking his head at first and then nodding, knowing he made little to no sense. He moved backwards again when someone stepped between him and Daniel to get to the alcohol bottles on the counter. He turned around to see who he had accidentally stepped on and found himself face to face with Lila. “Oh, hey.”

    Lila was a pretty girl with long, brown hair and a bright smile that reminded Fred of the Christmas lights outside. “Hi, Fred!” she grinned, throwing her arms around his neck to give him a quick hug. “Are you having fun?”

    “It doesn’t suck,” he said with an amused nod. “Is Kate harassing you?”

    “Kate? No, why would she?” Lila chirped happily, and then wrinkled her nose when she spotted Daniel. “Oh. You’re here.”

    “Yeah, this party needs to liven up a bit and who would be better at providing entertainment than… me?” Daniel smirked, moving closer, almost stepping Fred on the toes. “Not happy to see me?”

    “That would be an understatement,” she muttered sourly, looking away from him and back to Fred.

    Daniel ignored her attempt at ignoring him. “Still mad about last time, huh?”

    Lila glared angrily at him, taking a deep breath. “You mean when you threw up all over my parents’ bed? Yeah, kinda,” she snapped icily. “I told you-”

    “Anyway,” Fred cut her off; knowing Lila’s contempt for Daniel ran much too deep for her to be able to just keep ignoring him. It also didn’t help that Daniel had successfully dated and dumped most of Lila’s closest friends. “What’s up?”

    Lila shot Daniel another death glare before turning back to Fred, now smiling brightly again. “Oh, everything’s great! You know, I was just talking to Sarah. You know her, right? You should definitely go talk to her-”

    Daniel put his hand on Fred’s shoulder, pulling him backwards so he could face Lila. “Are you trying to set him up?”

    “Mind your own business,” she snarled back, scowling. “I don’t know why he even hangs out with you when he has friends that actually care about him.”

    “Oh, yeah, fixing him up with your dimwitted cronies is the most humane thing to do here,” Daniel snorted.

    “Since when is anything you do humane?” Lila hissed, shoving at his shoulder.

    Fred decided to step between them again, before Lila would empty a bottle over Daniel – that had occurred both once and twice over the years. “I think I can take care of myself, but thanks. Sarah isn’t really my type,” he explained, hoping that sounded believable. He didn’t know what his type was, but he’d found that Lila would let it go if he claimed that the girls she wanted him to date just wasn’t his type. One day he would figure out what that meant, exactly.

    “That’s too bad,” Lila said, discouraged. “She really likes you. Wait, I’ll go get Hannah – she was talking about you just the other day!”

    Fred didn’t have time to stop her before she disappeared into the crowd. “Dammit. Why is she always trying to get me to date her friends?” Fred whined, looking around for something more to drink.

    “She’s hot,” Daniel commented randomly.

    “I didn’t ask that.”

    “I’m just saying. She’s hot,” Daniel grinned, reaching over the counter to get a bottle of vodka. “We should get out of here before she gets back, though. We need Sprite.”

    Fred shook his head, grabbing the bottle from him and taking a huge sip. “Maybe you need Sprite. I need more of this.”

    Daniel chuckled. “Right. Hey, maybe you should take it easy. Summers doesn’t like when people throw up over her things.”

    “It’s because of her that I need it, if I have to meet and be nice to all of her damn friends,” Fred complained, holding his breath to avoid the strong taste. “Kate usually chases them off. We should find her.”

    Daniel looked around the room. “Okay. She’s probably with her own dimwitted friends.”

    Fred nodded and was about to walk in the direction of the kitchen – Kate loved to go through the cupboards in search of candy – when Lila showed up, holding her hand up against his chest to keep him from moving. “I’m back.”

    “Great,” Fred muttered, exchanging a desperate look with Daniel, who in turn looked mostly amused.

    Lila shoved her friend forward. “This is Hannah. You know Hannah, right? You two have so much in common.”

    Fred opened his mouth to make up some excuse for leaving, but Hannah was as abrasive as Lila could be. “I love that shirt you’re wearing,” she smiled widely. Fred sighed and leaned back against the counter. He was far too nice to tell someone to their face that he wasn’t all that interested in them, which caused him to end up in situations like these surprisingly often. They always had to point out that they loved whatever it was he was wearing, too, and he knew that his fashion sense wasn’t that good.

    After listening to Hannah and Lila’s mindless chatter for nearly ten minutes, Fred had finally had enough. “Look, I’m sure you’re nice and all,” he said abruptly, just to get them to stop talking. Subtlety had never been one of his strongest sides. “Erm, I mean… I’m sort of…”

    “He’s not interested,” Daniel clarified loudly, obviously just as bored as Fred was. Lila glared threateningly at him again, while Hannah looked disappointed. Fred decided to try and save the situation the best he could.

    “I’m not… I mean… I just broke up with my girlfriend,” he explained. Daniel had pointed out earlier that mentioning a messy breakup was a sure way of getting a girl’s sympathy. Although, Fred was only fishing for enough sympathy to get out of the conversation.

    Hannah made a compassionate sound. “Oh, I’m so sorry. You must be a mess,” she gasped.

    Fred wasn’t too amused by this, and sent Daniel an annoyed glance when he saw that Daniel had trouble keeping from laughing. “I’m all right. Really. We just… Didn’t work out,” he said distantly, planning a way to escape.

    “Aww, that’s too bad. Did you love her?” Hannah asked curiously. Lila elbowed her in the side. “What? I’m just asking.”

    “Well, the thing with Lex is-” Fred started, but didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence.

    Daniel moaned loudly, getting up from his bar stool. He knew that whenever Fred was given the opportunity to talk about Lex, he would go on and on about her forever. “The thing with Lex is this: Fred was hopelessly in love with her and wouldn’t let it go, even though she had a boyfriend,” he ranted quickly, shoving Fred out of the way to keep him from interfering with the story. “And then when she finally paid him the slightest bit of attention, they dated for a couple of years, and then she dumped him because of his annoying traits and bad behavior. The end.”

    “That’s not what happened,” Fred objected. “She didn’t dump me because of the stuff I did, but because of who I am… Uh, wait, that sounds wrong-”

    “Whatever, it’s a boring story and nobody cares,” Daniel muttered. “And unless Hannah here is willing to have sex with you, I doubt she can do much to improve the situation,” he added to Lila. Hannah made an upset whimper and hurried off towards the bathroom.

    “You’re such a pig!” Lila exclaimed angrily, aiming a kick at Daniel before rushing after Hannah.

    “Well, I got rid of ‘em,” Daniel said with a satisfied grin. “Never underestimate the power of rudeness.”

    “I need some more to drink,” Fred sighed deeply. “And you know, Lex didn’t dump me-”

    “Fred, understand this: I don’t care,” Daniel said tiredly.

    Fred muttered incoherently under his breath, wondering what he would have to drink to block out Daniel’s voice completely. He didn’t have to worry about that for long, as Kate came skipping up to them just a few minutes later. “Hey, there! Guess what I did?”

    “Something that makes you twice as annoying and cheerful?” Daniel guessed. “Is it a new party drug? Please, can I have some?”

    “Eww, no,” she said with a frown. “No, I found out that someone wants to ask me to the Christmas party on Friday-”

    “Red, I’ve told you, I’m still not going to ask you out. Have some dignity!”

    “Shut up, I’m trying to tell my story!” Kate shouted. “And it’s never you! Eww!”

    Fred realized that he could block out voices just by concentrating on it hard enough. Kate and Daniel always argued and bickered, never letting each other finish their sentences. It got old real fast to everyone but them. Fred was just about to sneak off to find someone else to talk to when he suddenly caught a glimpse of one of Lex’s friends at the other end of the room. “Oh, no.”

    Kate turned to him. “What is it, Fred? Don’t worry, there’s a happy ending to my story-”

    “She’s here. Lex is here,” he said, anxiously looking around the room to find a way out. “I gotta go.”

    “Fred, get a grip,” Daniel protested, grabbing his arm. “Even if she is here, which is unlikely, you gotta chill.”

    “No, no, no, she is here!” Fred complained determinedly.

    Kate also looked worried. “I can go look for her,” she suggested nicely. “I mean, she and Lila clearly doesn’t belong in the same circles, so she’s probably not even invited-”

    Fred pulled free from Daniel’s grip and made his way through the room to get to the kitchen. “I don’t care why she’s here,” he muttered, seizing a few more shots from various places and downing them. Kate was almost running to keep up with him, and Daniel had to grab her arm to keep her from falling when she lost her balance.

    “Fred, do you even know where you’re going?” Daniel asked tiredly. Kate yanked her arm away from him when he didn’t let go at once. “She’s obviously not here, and if you’re going to storm around like an idiot, the risk of running into her is much bigger. Stay here and drink some beer. The drunker you get, the harder it’ll be to recognize her.”

    “That’s a terrible suggestion!” Kate howled.

    “You think everything I say is terrible,” Daniel pointed out. “Fred, don’t be a moron.”

    Fred stopped abruptly, looking thoughtful. “I know. She won’t be upstairs, right? Let’s go there!”

    Daniel sighed loudly, grabbing Fred by the shoulders and shaking him. “Fred, listen! I’m not hiding out in the attic just because you can’t stand to face your ex. People will notice I’m gone. I’m too good-looking to be away from a party for too long.”

    Fred shoved him away and moved cautiously into the kitchen towards the staircase next to the hallway. “I need to know what to do before I see her. What if she asks me something?”

    “Well, that usually means that you gotta reply with, like, an answer or something,” Daniel muttered as he followed him up the stairs. “You know, Lila is going to kill me if she catches me on the second floor. I’m not allowed to be here since that incident at the last party.”

    Kate wrinkled her nose. “I’m surprised you’re allowed to be anywhere, ever.”

    Fred started ignoring them again. At the top of the stairs he snuck around the corner and opened the first door to the right. He was definitely too drunk to remember to which room all the doors led, and was just hoping for the best. Daniel pushed past him and entered the room, glancing around with an appreciating expression. “Stylish. I wonder why Lila’s never shown me this room before,” he smirked, walking over to a bookcase that took up an entire wall. “And look, her family reads!”

    “She probably didn’t want you barfing all over the interior, that’s why,” Kate suggested perkily, skipping over to the long table in the middle of the room. “This is classy. My family don’t have a library.”

    “I’m shocked,” Daniel said dully, picking out one of the books to browse through it. “Your family is almost illiterate.”

    “My dad is a lawyer!”

    “I said almost!”

    Fred looked around nervously. “Don’t touch anything. This stuff looks expensive, and, well, I don’t wanna pay for anything. Dad already thinks I’m wasting my allowance on stupid things.”

    Daniel turned around, laughing. “What, didn’t he like to see another car payment on the bill this month? I thought that would cheer him up as hell.”

    “Ha, ha,” Fred muttered, throwing himself down on the couch next to the window. “He’s starting to get suspicious of all my car accidents.”

    “Ah, the troubled life of a poor little rich boy. I guess he didn’t like that you spent so much money on Lex, huh?”

    Fred growled quietly to himself. “He didn’t check up on what I’ve been spending my money on. He’s just pissed about all my parking tickets.”

    “You’re so spoilt,” Kate said conclusively. “Your dad, like, gives you a new car every time you break the old one. Some people in the world are starving, you know.”

    Daniel snorted. “And you’re not spoilt?”

    “I donate to the poor,” Kate pointed out with a righteous nod.

    “You give hobos on the street your change if they promise not to touch you,” Daniel laughed, slamming the book closed and shoving it back into the bookcase. “But I guess you could say that giving Lex presents is kind of like charity, so yeah.”

    “Hey, shut up! She’s not charity,” Fred objected heatedly, glaring at Daniel when he sat down opposite him in the armchair. “I gave her things because…”

    “Because?”

    “Well, because she’s… pretty,” Fred shrugged.

    “Wow, how progressive and nondiscriminatory of you,” Daniel said amusedly.

    “That’s so offensive!” Kate piped up, sitting down next to Fred. “You only buy her stuff because she’s pretty? That’s so pig-like!”

    Fred looked thoughtful for a second. “Well… I gave her things because I liked her, and I didn’t like her just because she’s pretty, so…”

    “So?” Kate prodded, shoving at his arm.

    “I don’t know. I lost my train of thought,” he said with a confused smile and then he sighed. “Lex is so pretty.”

    “I think we’ve established that now, yeah,” Daniel muttered uninterestedly. “Lex is wonderful, Lex is pretty, Lex is oh-so-perfect-”

    “She is!”

    “Just shut up about her. She obviously doesn’t want to be with you anymore-”

    “She does,” Fred sulked grumpily. “She loves me, she said so herself.”

    “Yeah, that’s true,” Daniel said, nodding. “And if you love something, you dump it and never return its calls.”

    Kate moved closer to Fred and squeezed his arm. “I for one think that Lex was very pretty and she was very nice and smart and-”

    “This isn’t helping much either,” Fred said with a depressed voice. “Lex and I need to get back together.”

    “Yes, you do, because maybe then you can stop talking about her!” Daniel exclaimed miserably. “Why can’t you just accept that she doesn’t want you? I thought you were going to get over her, not obsessing about how to get her back.”

    “Don’t be mean to Fred,” Kate said warningly, trying to kick Daniel but didn’t reach over. “It’s always easier to obsess than to let go. Fred, you know what I think you should do?”

    “If I say yes, will you still tell me?” he asked, discouraged.

    “Yes, silly. I think you should try and sort this out.”

    “Red, you just won first prize in stating the most obvious solution to the dumbest problem ever,” Daniel sighed. “Fred, Lex probably dumped you because you’re not what she’s looking for. I suggest you change everything about yourself and then try winning her back.”

    “That’s an awful idea!” Kate exclaimed, snuggling up to Fred to give him a hug. “Fred is wonderful and he shouldn’t have to change himself for some girl.”

    “Well, I was just suggesting it so we might like him better,” Daniel shrugged with a grin. “Seriously, you need to get over it. You had almost nothing in common with her anyway. She’s eye-candy, that’s it.”

    Fred glared at him. “She’s not eye-candy,” he said, insulted. “And we had tons in common. She likes hockey, I play hockey. She’s in a band, I like listening to music.”

    “Wow, the similarities are over-whelming,” Daniel snorted sarcastically. “Don’t tell me, you like the way she holds her pen, too.”

    “She was nice and smart and funny and… other nice things,” Fred sighed. “And she liked me.”

    “Fred, you can ask any girl at this party if they like you, and they would all say yes,” Daniel pointed out.

    “It’s not the same,” Fred moped. “I could talk to her about anything and she would always understand. No one ever understands me.”

    “That’s because you rarely make any sense at all,” Daniel smirked. “Don’t sound so damn emo, man.”

    “Girls like deep and emotional guys,” Kate said defensively.

    “Ah, yes. Whiny, bitchy rich brats always get the girl in the end,” Daniel said, rolling his eyes. “Kate, he’s not misunderstood. He’s just incoherent!”

    Fred, who had stopped listening to them at this point, stared into the ceiling with a thoughtful look in his eyes. “You know, people win back their exes all the time. And I almost always win.”

    “Except when you skate right into the boards and break your ribs, but whatever,” Daniel muttered slowly.

    “Whatever, that was an accident,” Fred said dismissively. “But I don’t know anything that would impress her. She’s all smart and stuff, and I’m not.”

    “She’s not that smart,” Daniel muttered. “I mean, she doesn’t exactly have the best grades.”

    “She is smart,” Fred claimed determinedly. “She knows a lot of stuff I don’t know.”

    “Kate knows a lot of stuff you don’t know,” Daniel pointed out. “Hell, our dog knows more than you do.”

    Fred decided not to argue with that, since it was probably true. “I wish I knew something that would make her impressed enough to take me back,” he mumbled. “Kate, what makes you impressed?”

    Kate chewed on her lip, considering her answer. “Well…”

    “Oh, she’s easy. Just wave your credit card over her nose and she’ll put out,” Daniel said practically.

    “Eww, no!” Kate howled crossly. “I hate you,” she added sulkily.

    “Of course you do.”

    “Anyway…” Fred continued to keep the conversation going. “Lex is rarely impressed by anything.”

    “She’s definitely not impressed by your musical knowledge,” Daniel chuckled while nudging his foot against Kate’s shoe to annoy her further. “If you don’t know exactly why she broke up with you, I’d bet money on that you ruined it with your comments about Beatles.”

    “Okay, fine, I messed that one up,” Fred concurred. “But you can’t hold that against me-”

    Kate, still pouting over Daniel’s earlier remark, looked up. “What did you say? You didn’t compare them to space monkeys, did you?”

    “No,” Fred muttered.

    “Lex asked him to name all the members in the band, and Fred went on to list all kinds of random people. It was priceless,” Daniel laughed. “What was it again, Fred? Benny? Boo? Scooby-Doo?”

    “Shut up, I didn’t say Scooby-Doo,” Fred objected loudly. “I never said I knew who they were, did I?”

    “You didn’t say that you don’t know either. That was the fun part. You should’ve seen Lex’s face when she realized Fred had no idea what he was talking about. Definitely didn’t help when he started naming dwarfs-”

    “I got nervous!” Fred protested. Kate giggled uncontrollably, burying her face into one of the couch cushions. Fred gave her a bemused look. “It’s not that funny!”

    “Lex definitely didn’t think so. I think she was about to slap you when you were at least convinced that Mick Jagger was one of the Beatles,” Daniel went on, amused by Kate’s reaction. “So we should probably not let you show her your impressive musical talent. I think that would be painful for all parties involved.”

    Kate jerked her head up. “Oh, party! We should get back to the party!”

    Fred reached out and grabbed her sleeve. “No, not until I know what to do with Lex.”

    “She might not even be here!” Daniel exclaimed. “You won’t win her back anyway. That only works in stupid movies.”

    “Some of those movies aren’t stupid!” Kate objected.

    “Kate, your favorite movie is Homeward Bound. Shut up,” Daniel said, laughing.

    “It has an important message!”

    “Yeah, if you wanna get rid of your pets, put them to sleep, or they’ll just find their way home again.”

    “Daniel!”

    Fred couldn’t help but cracking up. “Shut up, both of you.”

    “I think you should buy her flowers and lots and lots of chocolate,” Kate suggested between choked giggles. “I would like that.”

    “That obviously didn’t do much before,” Daniel pointed out. “And don’t tell him to serenade her. There’s a million different ways that could go wrong. Plus, we’d have to get him seriously drunk first, and I don’t think I have that kind of money.”

    This only made Kate laugh even harder. “Fred has a nice singing voice!”

    “Look, I know I’m gullible, but I’m not that stupid,” Fred said, shaking his head. “And I only really know the lyrics to the Rescue Rangers theme song, and I doubt that would impress anyone.”

    “Why the hell do you know that song?” Daniel questioned him. “That song eats your soul, you know.”

    “My brother likes that show and I had to sing it to him to get him to sleep,” Fred shrugged. “His soul isn’t eaten.”

    “No, but yours is,” Daniel added. “I don’t think Lex wants to be associated with the Rescue Rangers. That would probably scar her for life.”

    Kate made an attempt to keep a straight face, but collapsed into giggles again. “I-I think that’s so romantic,” she stuttered.

    “You’ve obviously had too much to drink,” Daniel laughed. “If Fred has to sing anything, it has to be something that isn’t a cartoon theme song.”

    “There are no songs about Lex,” Kate said thoughtfully. “Fred, you should impress her and write her a song. Girls really like that.”

    “Ah, the tragic ballad of the lost love between Fred and Lex – could be a real hit. Somewhere,” Daniel snickered. “Now, let’s see. What rhymes with Lex – except from the obvious, of course. I have a feeling that would only piss her off even more.”

    “Tex Mex?” Kate suggested. “You could say that she’s hot like a Tex Mex dinner!”

    “Ah, yes. Food. We’ll write her a song about food,” Daniel grinned widely. “Fred, do you mind if I rhyme your name with airhead?”

    “Ha, ha,” Fred grimaced.

    “Oh, I know!” Kate yelled, jumping up from her seat. “Fred, if you ate tacos or something on your first date, we could make that into a song.”

    “It would be even better if you got her into bed that night too. Then we could rhyme with her name even more!”

    Fred sighed loudly. “I’m not going to sing her a song anyway. And I’m not telling you guys what we did on our first date, so just forget it.”

    “Aww,” Kate complained with fake disappointment. “I can sing it, if you’re shy.”

    “If you do that, I’ll kill you,” Fred laughed, tickling her until she collapsed in his lap. “You know, I don’t think any of your plans will work.”

    “You could always hook up with Lila again,” Daniel said amusedly. “I bet she wouldn’t mind.”

    “Yeah, ‘cause that worked so well last time,” Fred snorted, shaking his head.

    “She’s the perfect trophy wife,” Daniel pointed out. “Think of all the ditzy kids you would end up having.”

    “Eww, stop!” Kate shouted. “Fred doesn’t want a trophy wife. Stop talking about Lila, and start talking about me instead.”

    “That’s just never gonna happen,” Daniel laughed. “I think we should raid her dad’s liquor cabinet before we leave. I mean, there’s nothing I could possibly do to make her hate me even more, right?”

    Kate opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted as the door flew open and Lila stormed in. “What are you doing here?” she demanded, glaring at Daniel, seemingly unaware that he wasn’t alone. “I’ve told you to stay away from the rooms on the second floor!”

    Daniel got up from the armchair and faced her. “I thought I was just banned from your parents’ bedroom?” he smirked, putting his arm around her shoulder. “What do you think I am, a common thief?”

    “I think you’re a disgusting freak,” Lila snarled, pushing him away. “How did you get in here anyway? I thought I locked the door.”

    “You didn’t, and it was Fred who took us here,” Daniel clarified, making a gesture to the couch where Fred and Kate were laughing at them.

    Lila took one look at them and softened slightly. “Right. Fred, you have to make sure people don’t trash my house!” Fred just nodded, unable to think of an answer that wouldn’t make him laugh. Lila seemed to be satisfied with his semi-promise, and grabbed Daniel’s arm, dragging him towards the door. “You still have to leave. Nobody’s supposed to be up here. Fred, you know my dad doesn’t want people in here.”

    Fred shrugged, hoping he came off as at least a little bit regretful. He actually couldn’t recall anything Lila’s dad had ever said, but he rarely remembered much at all when he was drunk. “I’m sorry. I kept an eye on them, I promise,” he smiled, getting up from the couch with Kate, following Lila and Daniel outside. Lila didn’t let go off Daniel’s arm until she’d lead him down the stairs and back to the kitchen.

    “I have enough to deal with as it is without having to chase you around the house,” Lila growled, digging her nails into Daniel’s arm before releasing her grip.

    “Take it easy with those monster nails,” Daniel muttered, rubbing his arm. “I know I’m irresistible, but if you wanna touch me that badly all you gotta do is ask.” Lila stomped off in a huff, shoving several people out of her way. Daniel grinned widely. “I think I’m starting to grow on her.”

    “She’s never going to sleep with you, Danny,” Kate snorted. “You should go back to seducing freshmen.”

    “What’s the fun in that?” he asked cheerfully. “Come on now, let’s go see if we there’s anything left in that keg.”

    Kate poked at Fred as they were walking back to the living room. “You know, we could just leave. We could take a cab and go somewhere.”

    “Somewhere where?” Fred asked. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”

    “It’s only like sixty miles to the city,” Kate said happily. “Or we could go to Trenton and… I don’t know. Mock them or something.”

    Fred laughed. “I’m too drunk to go on road trips, Katie. I can barely remember my name.”

    “It’s Fred. And I still think we should leave,” she mumbled, looking at her watch. “It’s about this time Danny usually gets into a fight with someone, and then you have to help him so he won’t be pummeled to death by some vicious placekicker. And then Lila will get so drunk that she starts making out with him, and then we’ll never be able to leave!”

    “All right, all right,” Fred smiled. “No need to use your hysteric voice.” He was about to call out for Daniel when he noticed that Daniel was standing only a few feet away, blocking the entire doorway. “Hey, what are you doing?”

    Daniel threw him a quick look over his shoulder, and then turned around, grabbing hold of Fred’s sweater. “Nothing. Look, I forgot something in the kitchen-”

    “No, you didn’t,” Kate said practically.

    “Yes, I did,” he hissed at her.

    Kate swirled around to find out why they had to leave, and then put both her hands against Fred’s shoulder to shove him backwards. “I think you’re actually right, Danny. Let’s go.”

    Fred pulled free, already knowing why they were acting so irrational. “It’s okay,” he muttered, as Kate stopped pushing him. He looked down into the floor for a second, before throwing another glance into the living room. “I’ve already seen her.”

    “I-I’m sure she’s… just here to… I don’t know,” Kate mumbled, staring uncomfortably over at Lex who was making her way through the room between the people that were on the floor dancing. “What the hell is she wearing?” she added after a moment’s consideration.

    Fred drew a deep breath, feeling his heart pound harder. He hadn’t been in the same room as Lex for weeks, not counting their now highly awkward science lessons at school. It felt a lot worse, all of a sudden, seeing her. It wasn’t the same as talking about her, or thinking about her, or even listening to her voice from one of the CDs she had recorded with her band. And Kate was obviously just trying to make him feel better, because Lex was looking just as pretty as she usually did. She was dressed in a short sleeved black dress, her curls of light brown hair partly tied up in a ponytail while the rest hung freely around her face. He swallowed hard, watching as Lex accepted a drink from someone by the bar. Lex put the paper cup to her lips, taking a sip, and then proceeded to glance around the room, which made Fred duck to keep out of sight.

    Kate also crouched down, slipping her arm around Fred’s. “I mean, seriously, did you notice that her boots totally didn’t match her hair band? And she styled her hair the same way the last time I saw her at a party-”

    “Shut up,” Fred hissed quietly, knowing Kate was only reaching for straws. “I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to talk to her, and I don’t want her to see me. I don’t know what to say, and she doesn’t like when I’ve had too much to drink.” Fred squirmed nervously, perfectly aware that Lex was disapproving of at least ¾ of his current behavior, and he was in no hurry to show her how right she was to break up with him in the first place.

    Daniel tapped him on the shoulder. “You know, I mentioned this earlier, but you’re actually attracting more attention to yourself this way.”

    Fred looked up at him but didn’t answer. Kate was still clutching his arm, mostly to keep her balance, and Fred was starting to feel sick. “I don’t care,” he whispered, not loud enough for Daniel to hear. “I don’t care.”

    Kate threw him a worried look as he put the palm of his hand against the floor to hold himself up, and he let his head fall forward. “Fred, you all right? Did you have too much to drink?”

    “No, I’m all right,” he mumbled throatily, closing his eyes to keep the room from spinning. “I just need some water.”

    Kate quickly got up from the floor, brushing her hair out of her face. “I’m on it! I’ll get you water!” she announced, making Fred twitch at the ear-piercing sound of her voice. Kate was a hopeless accomplice if you wanted to go unnoticed. Luckily, she disappeared just as fast, her heels clapping against the hardwood floor as she hurried back to the kitchen.

    Daniel leaned down and hooked his arm around Fred’s to haul him up from the floor. “This is stupid,” he muttered, trying to keep steady with Fred’s entire weight leaned on him. “You need to snap out of this.” He let go of Fred and snatched a shot glass from the girl that was standing next to them. Ignoring her irritated objections, Daniel handed it to Fred. “Here, drink this. It’ll take the edge of.”

    “Of what?” Fred asked with frustration, but downed the drink anyway.

    Daniel shrugged indifferently. “I don’t know. Everything, probably.”

    Fred shook his head, making a face from the strong alcohol taste. “I need to get outside,” he said, throwing the glass aside with a random gesture. To avoid running into Lex, he moved along the wall, dodging furniture and people to both left and right, until he reached the glass door that lead to the terrace. The cold air struck his face as soon as he stepped outside, making him feel slightly better.

    Daniel, however, was less than amused by the weather condition. “I hope you’re done soon, because I’m not staying out here,” he complained, folding his arms to get warmer. “If you fall into the pool, I won’t save you. I don’t like you that much.”

    “I just need some air,” Fred explained, drawing a deep breath. The snow was whirling around them, and Fred brushed away some snowflakes from his sweater. “You can go inside.”

    Daniel stared at him in disbelief. “Are you kidding me? You will fall into the damn pool if I leave you out here alone.”

    Fred threw a quick look at the large swimming-pool behind him that was covered with a blue mesh safety cover. “There’s no water in it,” he pointed out with a frown.

    “And that would keep you from not falling into it?” Daniel snorted. “Come on, let’s go inside. It’s freezing.”

    Fred nodded resignedly; he wasn’t feeling as dizzy anymore, and there were a lot of places inside, in the warmth, where he could hide from Lex. He had barely managed to slip back inside when Kate attacked him. “Where have you been? I looked all over for you!” she hollered, bouncing up and down from some inexplicable excitement.

    “You didn’t bother to look out the window?” Daniel asked grouchily, slamming the door closed behind him. “‘Cause that’s where you’d find us.”

    Kate turned her back against him, holding up a glass of water. “I didn’t forget, look!”

    Fred rolled his eyes, but took the glass so Kate would stop talking about it. “Thanks,” he said, trying to smile. Kate looked so anticipating that he felt the need to take a gulp, but he had only put the glass to his lips when he froze.

    They were on their way back over to the crowded dance floor, and Kate and Daniel both almost walked into him when he stopped so abruptly. Kate looked up at him. “What is it?” she asked concernedly when she noticed his facial expression. “Fred…?”

    Fred couldn’t get himself to say anything. Lex was standing only a few feet away, in the middle of the room, entangled with Jake Dexter, one of the guys Fred recognized from the football team. He was about to turn around and walk the other way to get away from them, when Jake leaned in to kiss her, and Fred felt his stomach turn when she, instead of pulling away, inched closer, placing her lips against his. Fred could feel Kate pulling at him, trying to direct his attention away from Lex, but Fred couldn’t move. He knew that Lex had any right to do whatever she wanted with whoever she wanted, but to have to watch her kiss someone that wasn’t him made him feel twice as miserable as before.

    Kate continued to yank desperately at his arm. “Fred… Fred, just forget about it,” she pleaded, throwing a worried glimpse at Daniel. “Fred, come on, let’s go.”

    Fred finally managed to gather himself together when Lex suddenly turned around, making eye-contact with him. She looked just as horrified as he was feeling, and she made a swift movement to break away from Jake. “Fred,” she spoke, her voice filled with surprise and concern. Fred quickly looked away, pushing Kate aside to leave.

    Kate stared after him, not sure whether to follow him or not, but Lex had already left to catch up with him, and Daniel advanced towards Jake, so Kate grabbed his arm instead. “What are you doing?” she asked worriedly, trying to restrain him.

    “What do you think I’m doing?” Daniel snarled, shaking her off. “You know that the football team has always pissed me off and I’m bored.”

    Kate covered her face with her hands, whimpering, when Daniel launched at Jake in blind rage. “Right. You’re bored.”

~*~*~

    Fred shoved the front door open and took two steps at a time to get down to the garden path. He fumbled with his car keys to get them out of his pocket, and hurried over to his car that was parked close to the main gates. He had just thrown himself into driver’s seat, leaning his head back to catch his breath before he did anything else, when Lex opened the door and dropped into the seat next to him. “Fred, don’t,” she begged, reaching out to grab the keys from him.

    He didn’t look at her as he tried to turn on the ignition. “Lex, get out of the car,” he muttered sternly.

    “No!” she said determinedly. “I’m not letting you drive anywhere. You’re drunk.”

    “So what?” he snapped forcefully, doing his best to get the keys back. “Let go.”

    “No, Fred, listen to me!” she hollered loudly when he finally managed to remove her hands from the keys.

    Fred didn’t move, but stared stubbornly into the dashboard. “Get out of the car,” he demanded slowly.

    “No,” she said firmly, at first watching him, before she sat back and grabbed the seatbelt to put it on. “You’re not going anywhere without me.”

    Fred swallowed hard. “Get out of the car,” he repeated just as stubbornly.

    “No.”

    “Lex…”

    “Fred, please,” she mumbled with a low voice. “Fred…”

    “What?” he growled impatiently. “You’re just gonna sit there and say my name over and over again, is that it? Get out.”

    Lex turned to him, her eyes filled with tears. “Fred, I didn’t know… I didn’t know you were there. I would never…” She turned her head down. “I didn’t know.”

    “Is that all?” he asked harshly, looking away from her and out the window. He wasn’t sure what he would do if she started to cry. He hated when she did that and had never handled it very well. They sat in silence for a few minutes, until he dropped the keys into the slot next to the cigarette lighter. “You can take off your seatbelt,” he said quietly. “I won’t go anywhere.”

    Lex moved uncomfortably in her seat. “Thank you,” she mumbled, waiting a couple of seconds before she continued. “I-I… I didn’t mean to… I didn’t know you were here tonight.”

    “Yeah, I know,” he said simply, his stomach aching from having to talk to her. “I saw you. I mean… I saw you earlier. When you got here.”

    “Oh,” she murmured, not sure what to say, now when they had both calmed down.

    Fred swallowed again, trying to get his voice under check. “You… you should go back inside. It’s cold.”

    Lex glanced quickly at him, and then went back to looking down into her lap. “Only if you promise to come with me.”

    Fred opened his mouth a few times while deciding what to answer. “I don’t really…” He laughed shortly. “Not really in a mood to go back to the party.”

    She shrugged awkwardly. “Me neither.”

    “Well, you’re not staying here,” he said shortly. “You didn’t bring a jacket.”

    “Neither did you.”

    Fred sighed deeply. “I’m not in the mood for this, Lex. Just go back.”

    Lex didn’t answer, and they both sat quietly next to each other until Fred realized that she would never give in and go back unless he came with her. She could be so incredibly stubborn sometimes, he thought to himself, and he had never been able to say no to her. He glanced at her, noticing how beautiful she was even when she was worried and stubborn and impossible. “Fine,” he muttered. “Will you get out of my car if I go back?” He knew he was sounding unnecessarily grim, but he didn’t want her to get the advantage of him.

    She nodded. “Yeah.”

    Fred waited for her to open the door, but she didn’t move. “Well, are you?”

    Lex looked up, meeting his eyes. “You’re not moving either.”

    Fred made a bemused sound. “So, you’re just gonna sit there and stare at me?”

    “No,” she said. “Are you just gonna-”

    “Stop that,” he muttered. “What… what good do you think it does, huh?”

    Lex took of her seatbelt and moved around to face him, pulling her legs up on the seat. “I thought you wanted to talk.”

    “What part of ‘get out’ is unclear to you?”

    “Not now. Earlier. You’ve called me, and I assumed you wanted to talk.”

    Fred was taken aback by her words, unsure why she had to bring that up now, and surprised about how much it hurt to hear her say it. “That was then. Right now, I just want you… not here.”

    “Why did you call me?” she went on, still looking intently at him even though he was unable to keep eye-contact with her. “Was it important? What did you want? Why-”

    “No,” he cut her off. “No, you should tell me why you didn’t want to talk to me then, when it’s all right now.”

    Lex hesitated before she answered. “Because… because I thought it would be easier to…”

    When she didn’t say anything more, Fred filled in the rest. “To forget me?”

    He could see that that was exactly what she had been about to say, but she shook her head anyway. “No. That’s not what I meant. I mean… I could never forget you.”

    “Great,” he muttered sarcastically, leaning back in his seat, grabbing the steering wheel to have something else to concentrate on. “Look, you’re free to do whatever the hell you want, so… there’s no need to sit here ‘cause it won’t get us anywhere.”

    “Are you mad?”

    “No, Lex, this is me on a good day,” he replied bitterly. It was almost true, too.

    Lex sniffled quietly, and this made Fred squirm. “I’m sorry,” she said with a choked voice. “Please… Look at me.”

    “No,” he mumbled, her pleading getting to him far more severely than he could ever let her know. “I… I don’t want to.”

    Lex leaned forward, placing her hand softly on his cheek to make him face her. He slowly turned his head to the side, at first staring down at the seat, and then finally looking into her eyes. He had always found some sort of comfort in this; Lex had the deepest, brownest eyes he had ever seen and whenever she looked at him he knew he had her full attention. But now, when she wasn’t his girlfriend anymore, it was almost excruciating to have to be so close to her. He was so aware of her that he nearly winced when she traced her fingers over his face. She didn’t look away. “I’m sorry,” she whispered sincerely, and he didn’t doubt her for a second.

    “I know,” he managed to say. “I’m sorry too.”

    “No,” she mumbled. “No, Fred, you haven’t done anything wrong. You shouldn’t have to be sorry.”

    “I’m sorry,” he said automatically. “I mean… Sorry.” It always felt like he had something to apologize for, and Lex telling him not to do it only made him want to say it even more.

    “If it makes you any happier…” she said slowly. “It felt awful.”

    “What did?” Fred asked, not sure what she was talking about.

    “The whole… kissing someone who’s not you,” she explained, her eyes filling with tears again. “I-I… I thought it would help this… whole… I don’t know, Fred. I thought it would make me feel… less…” She made an attempt to catch her breath. “And then I saw you. And you looked like… like I’d destroyed you for life… or something.”

    Fred snorted. “Wow, you really think highly of yourself.”

    Lex sniffled a little, and then gave up a short laugh. “Sorry. I forgot how easy you get over things.”

    “Yeah, I know. I totally got over you last week or something,” he nodded, pulling away from her. “Tough, huh?”

    “Yeah,” she said. “So… Wow, I really feel lousy now.” She sat back down in her seat, fiddling with the hem of her dress. “Like, not only did I hurt you even more, but I kissed Jake Dexter.” She shook her head with disbelief, looking repulsed. “God, I kissed Jake Dexter.”

    Fred made an unsympathetic gesture. “Congrats. Or, as Kate would say: Eww.”

    Lex glanced at him. “You hate me.”

    He shrugged. “Just a little.”

    She smiled weakly. “Now I feel like an even bigger idiot.”

    “I didn’t mean it. You know, it could be worse. Earlier, Daniel and Kate were trying to convince me to serenade you. And you know the only song I know the words to are the-”

    “-theme song to Chip ‘N Dale,” Lex finished, giggling quietly. “Are you just trying to cheer me up?”

    “No. I’m serious. They even made up lyrics,” Fred explained, all of a sudden noticing that they were having a more casual conversation as they were starting to feel comfortable around each other again. Fred had always thought it was so easy to talk to Lex; she had patience enough to listen to what he had to say and there had never been any awkward silences between them. They would bicker and banter playfully back and forth, and he never felt the pressure or the need to repress whatever he needed to say out of fear of saying the wrong thing. Lex would tell him if he had misunderstood something – this happened a lot – and she would never let him make a fool out of himself, just like he would always watch her back if she needed it. Talking with her, joking around, almost pretending that everything was all right between them – he had missed all this so much over the past months.

    Lex smiled shyly, her gaze flickering between him and an invisible spot on the seat. “You always did that, whenever…” She didn’t finish her sentence, but had her mouth slightly open as if she was waiting for the right moment to continue.

    Fred’s patience wasn’t nearly as good as Lex’s was. “Whenever what?” he asked curiously, leaning forward and placing his thumb gently against her chin to tilt her head up. “What did I always do? Was it one of those things that drove you crazy?”

    Lex looked sad when she met his eyes. “I’m sorry… if I’m making you confused, Fred.”

    “What?” he said, definitely confused now.

    “I think I’m… unintentionally getting your hopes up about… you know, us getting back together. We broke up.”

    Fred nodded, not sure what her point to all this was. “I know. I remember.” Some part of him was still hoping she would eventually want to be with him again. Breaking up with her had been the most difficult thing he had experienced in his life, and he hadn’t just lost his girlfriend, but also the first girl he had ever loved and who he had thought he would always be together with. She had been his friend, just as much as she had been his first love, and without her he felt twice as empty and lost as before. He knew, though, that the chance was pretty slim of her changing her mind about them. Being reminded of that over and over again was excruciating when all he wanted was to forget all about it. “Maybe you’d like to give me that speech again?” he added bitterly.

    Lex shuddered involuntarily at the tone of his voice. “No, Fred, that’s not what I meant… I don’t want to lead you on or anything. I know you have this almost compulsive need to be nice to everyone you meet-”

    “Oh, man, not this again,” Fred muttered, falling back into his seat with his head turned up facing the ceiling. “I thought you said we were over; why are you still giving me a hard time about this?”

    Lex gave him a frustrated look, grabbing his hand. “Fred, I’m not giving you a hard time, I’m just trying to tell you to not be so naïve. I would love to be able to talk to you, and be friends with you, but I can’t. It doesn’t work that way.”

    Fred snorted, yanking his hand out of her grip. “Please, tell me how it works, Lex. I’m sure you have a lot of experience about this.”

    Lex sighed, shaking her head dejectedly. “Don’t do that. Don’t say things you don’t mean just to hurt me.” She was well-aware that this was how his automatic defense mechanism worked.

    “I didn’t say anything!” he exclaimed. “Nothing I said was meant to hurt you! You’re just… you’re twisting my words!”

    Lex frowned concernedly. “Fred, calm down. I thought you… I thought you meant something else. I’m sorry.”

    Fred stared out through the window, intently following the trail of a snowflake that was melting rapidly against the glass. “I would never hurt you,” he mumbled decisively after a moment of silence.

    “I know that,” Lex murmured, tracing her fingers against his arm. “That was kind of my point, too.”

    He snapped his head around, glaring at her. “You want me to hurt you?”

    “No! Of course not! I just meant that you’re always so nice to people that… maybe you should worry more about yourself instead of… you know, someone else.”

    “Wow, you really have me figured out,” he laughed mirthlessly. “You’re gonna save me a lot of money on therapy sessions.”

    “Don’t be an asshole,” she said. “Why do you always assume it’s you that it’s wrong with?”

    “Uh, maybe because your psycho analysis is sorta giving off that vibe?” he suggested.

    “We’ve been through this before-”

    “Yeah, yeah, I know,” Fred muttered reservedly, waving her off. “It’s not me, it’s you, and it’s just not meant to be. Blah, blah, blah.”

    “You could take this seriously,” she requested, hurt by his attitude.

    Fred groaned with frustration. “I have heard you say this fifty thousand times,” he pronounced slowly. “How much serious am I supposed to take this? Should I jump off the roof to declare just how much I can’t live without you? Is that what you want? ‘Cause I could, you know.”

    Lex didn’t look very impressed. “No, Fred, I don’t want you to jump off the roof, but I would like it if you calmed the hell down! God, you keep winding yourself up, I’m surprised your ass is still attached to that seat! Stop being an unreasonable asshole and just listen to me!”

    “Well, you don’t have to scream!”

    “You’re screaming!” she shouted back. They both stared at each other in silence for a few minutes, none of them sure what they could possibly say to make things better – or worse. Lex finally broke the silence. “We sound like Kate and Daniel,” she stated sternly, without taking her eyes away from Fred.

    “Yeah, I noticed that too,” he nodded dejectedly.

    Lex turned around, reaching for the door handle. “I should get back. The others are probably looking for me.”

    “Yeah, probably.”

    Fred waited for her to step out of the car, but she didn’t move. Finally she moved to face him again. “I need to tell you something.”

    He moaned inwardly, knowing nothing good could come from this. “Okay.”

    Lex chewed on her lip, not sure how to put the wording. “Tomorrow,” she decided to start with, then paused for a second. “I’m leaving tomorrow.” She could see that Fred had no idea what to make of this, so she quickly continued before he could ask any questions she didn’t have the answers to. “I wasn’t going to tell you. I thought it would be easier to…”

    Fred started to squirm again. She was definitely using her ‘bad news’ voice now and it didn’t make him feel any less uneasy. “What is it?” His mind couldn’t even conjure up a small idea of what she was about to tell him.

    Lex drew a deep breath. “We got a gig. A couple of gigs, actually, over Christmas, and-” She sighed heavily. “I’m not sure I’ll be back.”

    Fred blinked a couple times, staring blankly at her. “Okay…” he mumbled slowly. The words didn’t make any sense to him, and he wasn’t convinced he could blame that entirely on the alcohol.

    “I’m leaving for Philadelphia tomorrow,” she went on. “It’s an opportunity, you know, to… make something of the band. Something big. If things go well, we might get booked to play on this tour… and that would mean we’re gone for a lot longer.”

    “Oh,” he said, not yet sure what reaction he was meant to have to this. “You’re leaving.”

    She nodded. “Yeah. Just thought you… I mean, you’re still my friend, and I wanted you to hear it from me.”

    “You weren’t going to tell me,” he pointed out, still confused. “That’s… thanks?”

    “Sorry. I would’ve… changed my mind about not telling you. It’s just hard, you know. Talking to you.”

    “Yeah, well, life sucks,” he muttered, more convinced about that fact than ever before. “You’re leaving, and I’ll never see you again.”

    “I’ll be back,” she said, making her voice to sound as convincing as possible. “I’ll probably get back in April or May.”

    “That’s four months.”

    Lex tilted her head to the side. “It’s not like we hang out much anymore. We barely talk-”

    “Is this supposed to make me feel better?” he asked. “You’re not doing a very good job with it.”

    Lex decided not to say anything more on the subject. She sat still, waiting for him to react to this somehow, but Fred didn’t speak either. “What do you wanna do?”

    “You’re asking me?”

    “I’m not leaving because of you,” she tried hopefully. Fred sent her a tired glance. “Well, it’s true.”

    “This was fun,” he said, opening the door on his side, and then leaning over to her, giving her a peck on the cheek. “We should this again sometime. Preferably a day when you’re not leaving forever.”

    Lex was a bit stunned by his behavior, but when he attempted to leave the car, she grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. “Fred, wait.”

    “What, did you forget to tell me something? Are you dying too?” He looked at his watch. “Gonna turn into a pumpkin soon?”

    “I’m going to miss you,” she whispered. “And I don’t want you to be mad at me, please. Please, Fred.”

    He swallowed hard. “Fine. I’m not mad.”

    “You’re upset.”

    Fred closed the door with a loud slam. “Well, what the hell do you expect? I’ve been trying to call you for weeks, and you completely blew me off whenever I tried to talk to you, and I gave you like a thousand chances to tell me this earlier, but you decide to do it now, the day before you leave? You can’t blame me for not feeling like the most important person in your life, Lex.”

    “It’s not just about you, Fred! You don’t think this is hard for me too? I hate that we had to breakup and it’s just as hard for me as it is for you, but you’re acting like a selfish jerk, Fred! I’m sad too! I miss you too! But we can’t be together, and you know that!”

    “It’s stupid,” he said throatily, fighting to hold back his tears. “I don’t care. But it’s not gonna matter anyway, so you should just go.”

    “No.”

    Fred rolled his eyes, shoving the door open again to get out of the car. “Well, then I’m going.”

    Lex closed her eyes hard as she heard him shut the door. It was impossible to reason with Fred when he was upset, and she knew that. It broke her heart whenever his frustration won out over him like this. She took a moment to gather herself, knowing it would take a lot of strength to make him understand when he obviously didn’t want to listen to her. She opened the door, almost at once hit by the cold wind. Fred had almost gotten to the stairs, so she hurried up towards the house, the snow making her stumble and slip. “Fred, wait!” She grabbed his arm firmly, mostly to keep steady and to prevent him from walking away.

    “What is it now?” he asked grouchily, turning around so abruptly that she lost her balance and fell into a pile of snow. Fred took a step forward, leaning down to wrap his arm around her waist to haul her to her feet again. “Sorry. You okay?”

    “Yeah,” she said, shivering so much that she couldn’t stand still. She brushed the snow away from her bare arms, and Fred swept his arm over her back to get rid of the snow on her dress. “God, it’s cold.”

    Fred sighed forcefully, carefully wiping away some snowflakes from her hair. “Of course you are, you just fell into a pile of snow. What’s the deal? Trying to freeze to death?” He looked at her briefly. “Let’s just get you inside,” he mumbled, taking her hand to lead her up to the porch.

    Lex couldn’t object to this, since it was mostly what she had wanted for the past hour, but the fact that Fred’s concern for her was still so given, something she could still take for granted, was slightly overwhelming, considering most of the past hour had been spent arguing. She tugged gently at his hand to make him stop. “Fred?”

    “Don’t be impossible,” he said determinedly. “We can fight more inside. Come on now.”

    She let go of his hand, grabbing his sweatshirt instead. When he moved around to face her, she entangled her fingers into the front of his shirt, pulling him into a kiss. Fred slipped on the step, but still returned the kiss, placing his hands on her hips. Lex let go of his shirt, slowly moving away from him, still with her eyes closed. She tried not to move, afraid it would cause him to remove his arms around her, but the wind and snow was biting at her arms and face so bad that she started to shiver again. She pressed her lips together. “Thank you,” she murmured.

    “I am a good kisser,” he said conclusively, making her giggle.

    “I meant, for being so nice to me.”

    “Oh. Well, that’s all right,” he smiled. “Come on now, before you catch pneumonia or something.”

    They had just reached the door when a distant noise sounded through the howling wind. Lex couldn’t place it at first, but realized quickly that it was the sound of a siren. Both she and Fred turned towards the gates, seeing flashes of blue lights reflect against the white snow. Lex clutched Fred’s hand a bit harder. “Someone called the police,” she whimpered anxiously. “Fred, what-”

    Fred didn’t have time to reply as the front door suddenly flew open and several people sprinted down the stairs to run. He decided to spin around and follow their example, dragging Lex with him. “Let’s get out of here.”

    Lex dug her fingers into his arm when he led her back to the car. “Fred, you can’t take the car! You’re drunk! If they catch you they’ll take away your license.”

    More people departed from the house, running passed them while Fred stood immobile, thinking. “Okay, fine, but we can’t stay here. Come on, I know where we can go,” he said, moving back to the house. Instead of going back to the entrance, however, he guided her along the wall, around to the back of the house. Lex was still worried, looking around to make sure no one had spotted their retreat. “It’s all right,” Fred explained while they trudged through the snow. They passed the swimming pool and moved further down the yard. “There’s a backdoor to the basement down here.”

    Fred climbed over a stone wall that divided the pool area from the garden and gestured at Lex to follow, holding out his arms to be able to catch her when she jumped down. “What do you think happened?” she asked quietly once he’d let her down on the ground. “You don’t think her neighbors heard the music?”

    Fred shook his head, looking around for the door that he knew was somewhere in the stone wall. “The houses are too far apart. Here, come on,” he whispered as he managed to find and open the door.

    Lex snuck passed him and entered the dark room. “I can’t see anything. Are you sure this isn’t just a shed or something?”

    Fred chuckled. “Does it matter?”

    “No, I guess not,” she smiled, holding out her hand to be able to feel where he was standing. “Just don’t leave me here.”

    Fred closed the door and tried feeling around for a light switch somewhere. Instead of finding one, he stumbled over something that resembled a wooden box, causing it to slam against the wall and make several other items crash into the floor. He swore loudly, in an attempt to get his balance back, he slipped over some sort of garden tool and fell. All Lex could make out was the sound of disorder and when she reached out her hand, she found the light switch. Fred got to his feet again, grabbing Lex’s arm to keep his balance.

    “You’re supposed to be sneaky,” Lex pointed out, shaking with suppressed laughter.

    “As long as I don’t throw up at the mess, Lila won’t mind,” Fred decided with a grin. “Let’s just go.”

    Lex followed him up the small staircase that she guessed lead up to the main building. “All my stuff is still up in the house,” she whispered. “What if I can’t get them back?”

    “Don’t worry, I’m sure your friends took it with them when they left,” Fred said, listening intently by the door to check if he could hear any talking or music from the other side. He dropped back a couple of steps and pushed at the door. “It’s locked.”

    “Did you try the handle?”

    Fred shot her a tired glance. “No, Lex, I was trying to open it up by staring at it.”

    Lex pushed him aside, pulling the handle a few times, while Fred looked pointedly at her. “Fine, it’s locked. Can you pick it?”

    Fred put his hand against the door. “I could probably break it down,” he suggested.

    “Destroying other people’s property is never a good idea,” Lex sighed, pushing him aside again and pulling a pin out of her hair. “Let me try it.”

    Fred watched in amazement as Lex efficiently managed to pick the lock and opened the door slightly. “I’m almost afraid to ask…”

    Lex shrugged, looking out into the hallway. “I watch a lot of crime shows. Come on, there’s no one out there.” They both hurried through the deserted rooms downstairs. They could hear that people was still moving around upstairs and out in the hall. Lex searched the living room for her bag and jacket, but couldn’t find anything other than paper cups and empty bottles. “Where is it?” she hissed worriedly, picking up a couch cushion and throwing it to the floor. “I had it when I was in here!”

    Fred took a quick look out into the passageway between the living room and kitchen. “I don’t know, but I think someone’s coming. Hurry up!”

    “You could help!”

    Fred looked between her and the kitchen, deciding it couldn’t hurt to be a bit helpful. “Fine,” he muttered, kicking at a bottle. “It’s not behind the bar. Wait, you know, Lila moves stuff into the rooms upstairs sometimes, to keep it from lying around.”

    Lex wiped her hands against another, less sticky, cushion. “Okay, let’s go,” she said, running across the room to get to the stairs.

    “Can’t we just come by and get it later?” Fred begged nervously. “I really don’t want to explain to the police what I’m doing here.”

    Lex snorted, climbing the stairs with hurry. “Oh, like they would arrest you. Brats like you get away with everything.”

    “Whatever,” Fred muttered, still tailing her. “I don’t wanna get in trouble.”

    “Don’t be a wimp,” she said. “Which room is it?”

    Fred pointed at the door at the other end of the hallway. “The guestroom.”

    Lex ran over to room, disappearing in through the door. Fred waited impatiently for her to come back out, but when she still hadn’t showed up three minutes later, he went over to get her. He could hear footsteps behind him in the stairs, and even if it was just Lila, he would rather not get caught by anyone. He snuck into the room and closed the door behind him. “What are you doing?” he complained quietly. The guestroom was just as stylishly decorated as the other rooms, with a soft green color tone on all the fabrics and accents. In the midst of all the green were several piles of clothing; jackets, coats, bags, scarves, mittens – it was all in such disorder that Fred almost didn’t spot Lex at once. She was crawling around on the floor, throwing around items as she was going through the piles.

    “There are millions of jackets here – I’ll never be able to find mine!” she shrieked with a slightly panicked voice.

    “Wait, I’ll help you,” Fred offered, worried that her shrill voice would bring too much attention to them. “It’s blue, right? With those pocket things on the sides – oh, I found your bag.”

    Lex threw herself over to the pile he was searching around in, grabbing the bag to find her cell phone. She gave it a disappointed look. “Dammit. The batteries run out.”

    Fred put his hand in his pocket, getting his own cell phone. “You can call from mine.”

    Lex smiled gratefully at him, quickly dialing a number. Fred decided to start looking for her jacket again, not wanting her to think he was listening in on her conversation. He assumed she was calling one of her friends, arranging for a ride back to school – Fred was starting to wonder where Daniel and Kate had gone to by this point. He was just inspecting the area under the bed when he put his hand on something sharp; he realized that there was a diamond pendant lying on the floor under a pair of gloves. After making a double-take, he recognized it as one of Kate’s many sparkly possessions. He quickly picked it up to put in his pocket, knowing Kate loved that pendant and would be appropriately grateful when she got it back.

    “What’s that?”

    Fred jumped at the sound of Lex’s voice. She was sitting right next to him, holding out his cell phone for him to take. “Oh, uh, it’s…”

    “Oh, it’s pretty,” she smiled, taking the pendant in her hand. “One would think you have enough money as it is, though, without having to steal jewelry to make ends meet.”

    Fred made a face. “I’m not stealing it. It’s Kate’s pendant. She probably lost it when we were in the library earlier.”

    “Too bad. I thought you were stealing me pretty diamond stuff,” she said amusedly.

    Fred looked up. “I can steal you that green lamp over there.”

    Lex laughed. “No, you better not. It’s hideous!”

    They stared at each other for a few seconds before Fred dropped his head to continue searching through the clothes. Lex did the same, and they spent the next five minutes in silence. Lex tried to think of something to break the awkward atmosphere with but she had only had time to turn towards Fred and open her mouth when they were interrupted by someone trying to open the door. They both scrambled to their feet, looking around for a place to hide.

    “Come,” Fred murmured in her ear, taking her hand and pulling her over to the closet. He slid the door to the side and pushed her inside.

    “Thanks, you’re a real gentleman,” she muttered as he moved in between her and the door. “You know, some smoothness wouldn’t kill-”

    Fred hurried to clap a hand over her mouth when he heard someone enter the room. Lila’s voice sounded through the closet door. “Would you look at this mess? I can’t believe this! Who would do such a thing – call the police? That is so childish! I hope my dad sues them or something. No one should be allowed to destroy my party! And this mess!”

    Lex gave Fred a bemused glare when he wouldn’t remove his hand, but she forgot about it just as fast when she heard Lila stumble around just a few feet away. Fred was standing so close that Lex’s nose brushed against him when she turned her head up. Fred leaned back against the wall, his hands resting on her hips. She was almost afraid to breathe, even though getting caught by Lila wasn’t that big of a deal – Lex was also too aware of Fred’s heartbeats.

    Something hit the wall just to the right of the closet, making both of them start. “They’re all animals,” Lila complained. Another bag was tossed into the closet door, followed by something soft. “I can’t find a damn thing.” A new thud was heard, this time Lex was pretty sure it was Lila herself that had hit something – most probably the floor.

    “Come on, let’s check the library. You were there earlier, right?” came an impatient voice from the door.

    Lex and Fred both looked equally surprised. “Daniel?” they whispered to each other. Lex giggled involuntarily, and Fred poked her in the side, which only caused her to giggle more.

    Lila didn’t seem to notice, though, as it was obvious she was quite drunk. “Fine,” she muttered. “Let’s go.”

    The door closed when they both disappeared. Fred didn’t move, wanting to be sure that they were gone before he stepped out. Lex was leaning against him, also making sure they were alone. “I think they’re gone,” she mumbled quietly. Fred let go of her, suddenly feeling like he was standing far too close to her. “Maybe you’re right; I could just come and get my jacket later.”

    Fred nodded uncomfortably, trying to look anywhere but at her. “Right. I could… I could ask Lila to look out for it and hand it to me… when she finds it.”

    Lex also nodded. “Okay. Still…” She drew a deep breath. “It was nice of you to help me… just help me, I guess.”

    He shrugged. “You know I… Whatever you need, Lex.” He wasn’t sure if the silence that followed after his statement was of the awkward kind, but neither of them said anything. He was about to suggest that they’d get downstairs and call a cab to get back to school when Lex leaned forward and brushed her lips against his. Fred pulled back a bit, flustered by her random displays of affection – her spending all night convincing him that they were over, followed by kissing him twice in less than an hour made everything make a little less sense than it should.

    Obviously he wasn’t dumb enough to turn down a make out session with the girl he loved, so he pushed all further confused thoughts to the back of his mind and launched at her, making both of them stumble out of the closet. Lex wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss with a quiet moan. Fred dipped her backwards and they both fell down on the soft down comforter that dressed the bed. It struck him that even if they spent the night together – or whatever that was left of it – she would still be gone tomorrow night. She was still leaving, no matter what. It made his insides lurch; he had missed her for so long that it almost felt cruel that he could get her now, even though he could never really have her back. He almost wished he’d never met her at all, as the pain of losing her had been twice as bad as never having her in the first place – however, he quickly put these thoughts at the back of his mind too.

    His hands roamed across her stomach, feeling the warm sensation of her skin against his fingertips. Lex moved further up on the bed, and he reached behind her to zip down her dress. Lex hooked her arm around his neck again, pulling him into a tight hug. “I’m leaving tomorrow,” she mumbled with a choked voice, as if she had been reading his mind. It sounded like she had just remembered this right now herself. Fred had noticed that she often managed to voice his thoughts out loud.

    “I know,” he mumbled huskily, tracing his fingers against her smooth back.

    Lex lied back down, swallowing hard. “It helps… if you don’t think about it,” she whispered. She had spent a lot of time thinking how to make it easier to leave everything behind – Fred had always been her deepest worry; no matter how she had tried to distance herself from him, his reaction had still been what had kept her awake at night. She couldn’t leave him. Not if she thought about it. So she didn’t allow herself to think about it. It was easier that way.

    And Fred knew that she was right.

~*~*~

    The distant sound of cell phone sounded through the room, waking him up from a deep sleep. Fred opened his eyes, at first not recognizing where he was until he spotted a green ceramic frog in the window. The sun was shining in through the sheer white linen curtains – they were decorated with green details. Fred suddenly remembered, and quickly turned over on his side, finding the other side of the bed empty. Lex was gone.

    He sat up, confused as to where – and why – she had left. His cell phone kept ringing, so he picked it up from the floor where he had left it. “Hello?”

    “Are you still at Lila’s?”

    Fred couldn’t place the voice at first, until he realized that it was Daniel’s hoarse voice. “Yeah, are you?” he asked curiously.

    “What? No, I’m at school!” Daniel muttered, still sounding a bit off. “Thanks for just leaving us there, pal. It’s amazing how we always can count on you to help out in an emergency.”

    Fred frowned, not sure why Daniel was yelling at him. “What the hell are you talking about? I couldn’t drive anyway!”

    “Whatever,” Daniel said sulkily. “You can drive now, so come by and pick us up so we can get some food.”

    Fred felt sick just thinking about food, but decided not to start a fight with Daniel when he was in a bad mood. He leaned over to get his clothes, but when he accidentally shoved one of the pillows to the floor he found a note under it. His name was written at the top of it and contained a message from Lex. Fred put down the cell phone to read what the note said, but couldn’t make out a lot of it, as it had been written with a very messy handwriting. Finally he decided to consult it with Daniel. “Hey, have you seen Lex today?”

    “Lex?” Daniel complained, as if he had just been treated to something really vile tasting. “Fred, don’t tell me you’re still hung up on that!”

    “She left me a note,” Fred explained, turning the paper to see if there was something written on the back.

    “What? Why would she leave you a-” Daniel said skeptically, before moaning loudly. “Fred, you didn’t have sex with her, did you?”

    Fred decided not to answer that. “She’s leaving,” he mumbled, mostly to himself. “And I don’t know where she’s going. And I can’t tell her to stay if I don’t know where she’s going. And she won’t stay if-”

    “Fred, I get it!” Daniel shouted, snapping him out of his dazed state of mind. “What’s the big deal? Half the school is going home today. It’s Christmas, remember?”

    Fred felt a jolt of pain in his stomach, his throat closing up. It hadn’t been so bad last night, when he’d been distinctively drunk, but the thought of Lex going away for four whole months seemed a lot more serious now. Why hadn’t he said anything earlier? Why had he followed her advice of not giving it another thought?

    “I need to find her,” he said anxiously, quickly getting dressed while pinning the cell phone to his shoulder with the side of his face. “I gotta go there and do something.”

    Daniel sighed with frustration. “Exactly what do you intend to say to someone who obviously wants nothing to do with you?”

    “I don’t know, but I have to do something,” Fred decided hurriedly, ignoring the last part of Daniel’s sentence. “Maybe I can convince her to-”

    “Stay? And you’re going to convince her to do that by declaring your undying love for her and holding on to her leg if she still refuses? Fred, crap like that only works in the movies.”

    “No, I know I’m right,” Fred snapped determinedly, rushing over to the door. “Lex and I belong together.”

    Daniel made a repulsed sound. “Gag me.”

    “Shut up. You know, if you stopped screwing around so much maybe you’d understand how it feels to love someone this much,” Fred muttered, hurrying down the stairs, hoping that Lila was somewhere else in the house.

    “Look, I didn’t understand much of that,” Daniel said uninterestedly. “Just get here so I can get some damn food!”

    “Get a damn car!” Fred growled, quickly hanging up on him. He threw himself at the door to get out, but found that it was locked. Lila did obviously not want any unwanted guests to leave her house. Fred was starting to consider crawling out through a window when he heard footsteps behind him. He didn’t care if he got caught anymore, though. “Hello?”

    Lila appeared around the corner. “What the hell are you doing here? I told you all to – oh, it’s you,” she added, softening at the sight of him. “Fred, why are you still here? I looked through all the rooms last night-”

    “Could you just let me out?” Fred begged anxiously.

    “Okay, okay! Hey, did you stay in the guestroom?” she asked curiously, and then she opened her eyes wide with a surprised expression on her face. “Did you stay with someone upstairs?”

    As soon as she had unlocked the door, Fred left her to ponder it through by herself. “Thanks, bye.”

    “Was it Sarah?” she called after him, stepping out on the porch. “I knew you had things in common!”

    Fred rolled his eyes, running down the stairs and through the snow, heading for his car. Hopefully he would be able to get Lila to shut up about Sarah and who he was with by playing the Daniel card; he was almost sure Lila and Daniel had slept together the night before and he knew Lila well enough to know that she would rather forget all about that.

    Finding Lex was more important at this point. Fred tried to remember if she had mentioned anything about where she was going; unfortunately, a lot of things that had happened the previous night were a bit fuzzy by now. On top of the general confusion and rising panic, he was also suffering from quite a bad headache.

    Fred backed the car out of its spot and drove back into the city. Lila’s family lived out by the country club in the East part of town, which was about four miles away from school. He still hadn’t decided where to go look for Lex first. She could’ve gone back to school, not wanting to wake him when she took off, but she was most likely not there. She could also be on her way to the bus station, in case she was going home first before leaving for… (Fred thought hard, but still couldn’t remember to where she was leaving) – this meant that she was taking the bus back to New York, since it was only an hour and a half away. Of course, the chance that she was with rest of her band members on the premises where they practiced with their band was a lot more possible. Additionally, this was the only place Fred knew exactly where it was; he’d never bothered to found out where the bus station was since he always used his own car when driving to New York. Looking around all over the school didn’t sound very fun to him either.

    He had just gotten out on Ocean Avenue when he spotted the exit sign to the freeway, and something finally fell into place. Lex wouldn’t be going to the bus station. She was on her way to the airport, because when she had told him she was leaving, she had specifically said that she was heading to Philadelphia – today. Fred slammed on the breaks to turn the car around, but in his hurry he forgot to check his side view mirrors for any intercepting traffic; the car came to a stop in the middle of the intersection, and another car made a sharp turn around him to avoid a crash. Fred let out a breath of relief, reaching out for the key to start the car again. Suddenly a loud screech drew his attention away; he snapped his head up, barely even having time to register just what exactly was going on. He was blinded by a pair of blazing headlights, giving him no time at all to react as a large SUV crashed into the passenger side of his car.

    Shattered glass scattered over the street as the two cars continued to swerve across the road from the violent collision. The piercing sound of a car horn blaring cut through the air.

    Fred’s eyelids flickered, but his attempts to keep his eyes open were in vain. The last thing he could remember before losing his conscious was a strange light flashing before his eyes; it all went quiet after that.