Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. None of it is mine.

A/N: Hey so this is my first Trixie Belden fic. I hope I kept everyone in character. Trixie may seem a little out of shorts. I hope I kept her in character as much as I could. Tell me if she seems to out of character. I'll see if I can fix it.

"Trixie, watch where you are going!" Dan Mangan yelled as the car carrying the two from their work to their apartment came to a jerky halt, "Really, why couldn't you decide you wanted to learn to drive while you were in Sleepyside."

Twenty-two year old Trixie Belden sniffed, "I think I'm doing perfectly fine, and so do the driving people. They did give me my learners permit."

'Yeah, I still don't know how that happened," Dan grumbled with his arms folded across his chest from the passenger seat, "I'm still going with you seduced the instructor."

Trixie turned when she stopped at a traffic light and gave him a smile, "Now, Dan, you don't actually believe I would do something like that?" She turned back to the road when the light changed, "You drove us to work, so I get to drive home. That was our deal."

Trixie flipped her long unruly blonde curls over her shoulder. It had been three years since she graduated from Sleepyside Jr. Sr. high with her neighbors, Honey Wheeler and Diana Lynch and much more than the length of her hair had changed, much, much more.

A year after she graduated she went to New York to take a two year course at the college there. She was in the final year of that course now, working part time at the police station, and living in a small apartment with her good friend, Dan Mangan. Dan had gone into the city the year before she did to start at the police academy, and when he heard Trixie was moving there he offered her the extra room in his apartment. Mr. and Mrs. Belden hadn't been completely thrilled with the idea of Trixie going to the city, but Dan's offer made them more comfortable with it, and the both knew that Trixie just felt like she had to get away from Sleepyside.

To help pay for her school Dan had come through for her again. There had been a job opening for a secretary at the police station. It wasn't Trixie's dream job, but it paid money and gave her a chance at solving a mystery or two. With Dan's good words, Trixie got the job, however she soon found out it wasn't all it was cracked up to be. For Trixie, getting a job in a man dominated world would be almost impossible. Women weren't accepted in the work place as willingly as she would have liked. It was almost impossible for a woman to go much past the job of secretary in the police station. Hot-headed Trixie was very prone to complain about the injustice of this.

"Did you see the way they laughed at me," Trixie cried halfway between anger and dismay, "they still think I'm a joke, and I have no way of proving to they that I'm not!"

"Trixie, don't you go getting any ideas," Dan said as he opened the apartment door, "I can't help remembering one very long car ride, to one very crooked hamburger joint."

'Dan, gleeps, I'm not fourteen anymore. I know better than to make silly, impulsive decisions," She said as she collapsed in a kitchen chair.

Dan passed her a coke out of the fridge and sitting down opposite with one of his own he said with a teasing smile, "I seem to remember last week, someone-"

"Most of the time I know better," Trixie amended with a laugh, and then she sighed, "It just makes my blood boil that they won't even give me a chance just because I'm a girl."

Dan smiled, "They just don't know what you can do. You've helped me many times."

"I guess," Trixie said with a smile, "Hey, what are you doing sitting around? It's your turn to cook my friend. Chop, chop I'm a hungry girl."

Dan shook his head and laughed, but he followed orders.

When Trixie had first moved in with Dan, she made it clear to him that she didn't want to be like a house wife. He was going to share the work, and one of the things they had to share was dinner. One day Trixie would cook, and the next it was Dan's turn.
At first Dan would just bring home food from a restaurant, or make sandwiches when it was his turn to do dinner. After a few weeks of this, Trixie decided it was time to take charge.

"You're going to learn to cook," She told him one day, "Come on, I'm sure it will make you popular with the girls. I bet they'd love a guy who could cook. I know I would."

It had been slow going in the beginning, but now Dan could cook as well as Trixie, maybe even better.

The two friends made small talk as Dan cooked, and as they ate. They had become very close over the time they had shared the small space, closer, even, than they had been when they were both Bob-Whites. Dan wasn't anything more than a friend – they had tried that for a short time, but both agreed they were better friends – but Dan was a really good friend. He had been there for Trixie when she really needed a friend and had no one else to go to.

Trixie laughed as she thought about how close they were now, and how far they had been when they first met.

"What's so funny?" Dan asked as he got up to clean off his plate.

"Oh nothing, really," Trixie sighed and picked up her own dish, "I was just thinking about how much we… disliked each other when you first came to Sleepyside."

Dan shook his head, "I was more than a little messed up back then."

"It didn't help that I was accusing you of everything I could," she sighed and headed towards the small living room, "It was that jacket and those boots of yours that put me off so, and messed everything up."

In a few minutes Dan joined her in the living room. It was small but cozy; that was how Trixie felt about the whole apartment. It wasn't big, there was only the kitchen, living room, two bedrooms, and the bathroom, and it wasn't fancy, but it felt like home. To Trixie, it felt more like home than Crabapple Farms had at the time.

"Speaking of all that," Dan said somewhat hesitantly, taking a seat across from Trixie, "I got a letter form my uncle this morning."

"Hmm, really," Trixie said sound genuinely interested, "How are things for him?"

"Oh, he's good… so are the horses," Dan replied, then added even more hesitantly than before, "You got a letter too."

Trixie tensed but she kept her voice casual, "From Regan?"

"Umm… well… no … not quite… it was from J-" Dan didn't get to finish saying the name.

"Did you put it with the others?" This time there was obvious stiffness in her voice.

"Yeah," Dan said, seeing as this conversation was going better than others of its kind had, he added, "Trixie, don't you think you should at least re-"

"No, Dan I don't think I should," she said briskly ended the conversation, "What else did Regan say?"

Dan, sighed, he saw that conversation had ended. He would have to come about it another way, "Umm… let's see… Honey's home for the summer… Oh and little Charlie's going to learn to ride soon."

Trixie smiled. Tom and Celia's son was an adorable ball of energy. Trixie could see that he was going to be just like his father.

"Well, he'll enjoy that… I did. Did Regan say anything else?" She asked

Dan felt bad about saying what he said next, just when she was starting to relax again, but it had been two years already, "Jim's school is coming along nicely," He saw her stiffen as he said Jim's name, "You remember he found a spot for it not that far from here. Just outside the city. He thinks he'll be ready to open it soon…"

Trixie was sitting perfectly straight and had guarded eyes as she said, "Really, that good for him. He really wanted that." He told me so the first time I met him she added in her head back before…

"I'm going to go see it this weekend… You should come too… it would mean a lot to him," Dan said slowly.

Trixie had left her seat before he finished talking.

"No, Dan, I really shouldn't," Trixie said slowly and deliberately.

"Trixie, it's been two years! What are you going to do? Ignore them from the rest of your life?" Dan asked. They had, had this conversation many times before, so he knew exactly what she was going to say next.

"Yes, if that's what I have to do, then yes," Trixie said quietly. She was looking away from him staring out the window.

Dan sighed. He had to bring it up, "What about the wedding? How are going to ignore that? They'll both be there. He's your brother you can't just not go."

Trixie closed her eyes. The wedding, she had been trying to forget about that. Sometime last month her older brother Brian Belden had proposed to Honey. Honey who had always adored Brian in everyway, of course said yes. They were going to get married at Crabapple Farms in august. Dan was right. She couldn't just ignore that.

Honey had sent her numerous letters, and even a phone call or two, trying to get her to talk to her. She wanted Trixie to be her maid of honor and Trixie wanted to, but she couldn't. She couldn't get close to Honey again. If she forgave Honey, then she would only be that much closer to forgiving him, and she couldn't do that.

Trixie let out a breath, "I don't know, Dan. I don't know what I'm going to do," she turned around then and there were tears in her blue eyes, "but I do know I can't forgive him. I just can't, Dan. Do you understand? He… he hurt me. I trusted him and he hurt me… and, and… and I forgave him… and he hurt me again. I, I can't forgive that. No… not now… probably not ever."

With that she went to her room, and did something she never use to do, but now found herself doing too much of, she sobbed. She cried for all she lost and all she couldn't have back.

How naïve we were, she thought sadly, we thought we had it figured out. Jeepers, we didn't know anything did we? We thought we could stay like that forever. Jim would have his school, Brian would be the doctor for that school and Mart would teach agriculture. She and Honey would become great detectives. Like anyone would higher a pair of women… oh maybe we could have had that, but could have been happy if we just hadn't gotten involved…

Trixie sat behind her desk in her uniform. A blouse and skirt in the police official colours. Her blonde curls were pulled into a ponytail to be kept out of her face. She wasn't quite sure what had made her grow out her hair, she had always liked it short, but when she had come to New York she felt she needed a change. So her hair became long. Sometimes, now, when she looked into the mirror she saw her mother looking back at her instead of Trixie Belden.

It had been about a week since she and Dan discussed there problems. They didn't really talk about it. That's how they did things. Dan would bring it up once a month, Trixie would freak out and then they wouldn't talk about it again till next month. So, Dan went to see Jim and his school and Trixie stayed home pretending that she didn't want to go too.

Trixie hadn't been have a particularly good day. She just wasn't in a working mood when she got up and when she went to work it only got worse. Dan left to go on some duty work, leaving Trixie alone in the boring work, doing her boring job, with boring officers who thought she was too silly to bother with detective work.

One of these silly officers came over to her desk and openly complained about a probably he was having with his case. When Trixie offered her opinion what did he say?

"Stick to what you know, darling. This is nothing to worry your pretty little head," he told her then handed her some papers, "here, sunshine, do what your good at, file these for me."

Then he walked off.

Trixie's blood was boiling as she turned to put the papers in their proper spot.

"'Stick with what you know, darling'," Trixie mimicked angrily, "Why if he knew what I had done. What I know! Gleeps, I probably know more about mysteries than he does," there was the sound of someone clearing their throat behind her, but she didn't really hear them, "'don't worry your pretty little head' I'd like to show him what this pretty little head could do."

"Umm, excuse me," A voice behind her said, "I would like to see Dan… I mean Officer Mangan."

Trixie who was still fuming slammed the file drawer shut and muttered loud enough to be heard, "Of course you want to see officer Mangan. The man, no one would want to talk to a pretty little head about real things."

Oh, gleeps, I'm so getting fired; She thought when she realized exactly what she had said. She turned around to apologize and kindly tell the person Dan was out at the moment, but the apology dies on her tongue as she stared into a pair of very familiar, startled green eyes.

In front of her stood James Winthrop Frayne. In front of her stood Jim.