Chapter One- Hell Hath No Fury Like a pissed off Pizza Girl

Pizza Girl was so excited to be done with work. It was rush week at the college and the frats and sororities were demanding an insane amount of pizza. But now work was over and she was going to see Phil. Pizza Girl's smile faded a little, though, at the thought of going over to Phil's house. She loved that man more than anything, but things between her and Eddie had been strained since she went over there after girl's night out ended in Hannah bringing the smackdown on Rooster's ass. As she drove to the house, she recalled that night.

Pizza Girl stormed into Phil's house, pigtails flying behind her head like two multi-colored kite tails. Phil was in the living room, watching some game show that he turned off as soon as he saw the state of fury his girlfriend was in. "Hey, sweetie, what goes on?" He asked concerned. It wasn't everyday that he saw her in such a pique.

Now, Phil and Pizza Girl had decided from the start not to discuss Janet in front of Eddie or Eddie in front of Janet; not that Phil ever saw Janet anymore, but still it was their agreement. Now, however, she was too steamed to give much thought to whether Eddie was in the house or not. She just started pacing, waving her arms, and the ranting begun. "You will not believe what happened tonight. There we were, enjoying some drinks, when Rooster came up and propositioned Janet! Can you believe that?" Pizza Girl was so into her diatribe that she didn't notice Phil trying to subtly get her attention. "And then Janet exploded and told him that she regretted what happened, it was a mistake, they would never be a couple, yadda yadda, and then oh man, he crossed the line!"

"Uh, sweetie, maybe you should…" Phil tried to stop her but she was on a roll.

"Do you know what that jackass did then? He called her a whore! A whore?! Can you believe that?!"

"Honey!" Phil all but yelled. Pizza Girl finally stopped and gave him an annoyed look for interrupting her. Before she could say anything, he started gesturing behind her.

She slowly turned around and was met with a very unhappy looking Eddie. "Oh, hey Eddie. What's up?" She asked in a fake cheerful voice. Eddie stood rigid, rooted to the spot. There was a long silence until Pizza Girl couldn't stand it anymore. "Look, Eddie, I'm sorry. I'm just so angry. He had no right to call her that and she's my friend. I mean, even you can't think she's a whore. Right?" She was met with nothing but Eddie clenching his fists, eyes looking downward. She turned to get a little support from Phil, but all he could do was shrug.

"Ok, wow." She turned back to Eddie. "You know, for the past month, I have walked on eggshells around you and Janet because I am the only one who sees both of you on a consistent basis. I have stayed out of this mess and you both have been great. You haven't pumped me for information, asked me to choose, or anything like that. And I appreciate it, really I do, but Eddie! C'mon! I know she cheated on you. I know she hurt you and maybe there's no forgiving that or coming back from it, but a whore? I can't believe that you would think that!"

Eddie finally looked up and said quietly, "I'm not the one that called her that."

Pizza Girl rolled her eyes. "No, but you think it, don't you?" Eddie's silence at the question was response enough. "Geez, Eddie! By definition, a whore is someone who gets pays for sex, which has never happened, or someone who sleeps with a hell of a lot of people. And Janet? Well, I'm pretty sure she's have sex with less people than Phil and he never leaves the house!"

Phil fought a smile at that last statement because he knew that Eddie did not find any of this funny. In fact, he was beginning to look pissed. "Um, Pizza Girl, maybe we should stay out of this."

"No!" She exclaimed. "I have stood by long enough and listened to people bad mouth Janet and now I'm done. Everyone has taken your side, Eddie; don't you get that?" She didn't wait for an answer; she just steamrolled on. "You're the hometown hero and even if people have never met you or even know what happened between you two, they are taking your side. So now it's like she's got a scarlet letter branded on her. And you know what? She takes it; she doesn't defend herself, doesn't make excuses, doesn't condone her behavior. She knows what she did was wrong and in her words, the biggest mistake of her life so she lets them punish her.

"So yeah, I'm gonna defend my friend. I am going to yell and scream that its no one's business but yours and Janet's what went on. And just for the record, I think what she did was stupid. She knows it was. But she's my friend and I am not going to sit around and watch people bad mouth her." Pizza Girl winded down and turned to Phil. "Look, I'm gonna go see how she's doing. I'll call you later." Phil nodded his head in understanding and then she turned back to Eddie. "You know what's funny? She doesn't really care what other people think about her. She listens to it and doesn't argue because she thinks that every mean-spirited, cold-hearted thing they say is true, but she doesn't care about any of those people. She cares what you think, Eddie. And she knows that you hate her and thinks that you probably wish all sorts bad things to happen to her, but if she knew…" She shook her head in sadness. "If she knew that you honestly had lost all respect for her and thought that she is everything they call her, she would want to curl up and die."

A flash of pain crossed Eddie's eyes, but it came and went so fast, Pizza Girl thought she was imagining it. "Well, I'm not going to tell her. If you ever talk to her again, I will let you tell her how you really feel about her. I just hope it's not anytime soon." With that said, she went over, kissed Phil on the cheek and left.

Parking in front of the house, Pizza Girl took a few deep breaths. This is what she had worried about. She had been afraid that she and Phil would be forced to choose sides because she was Janet's friend and he was Eddie's. So far, they hadn't gotten into any arguments but she was scared that it was only a matter of time. As it was, she and Eddie had a hard time being in the same room together. She only hoped that it would get a little better. She honestly didn't know if he and Janet would ever reconcile but did hope that they could eventually be civil again.

Pizza Girl walked up to the house and knocked. She had a key but always knocked when she knew they were home. The last time she had walked in without warning, she had gotten an eyeful of a naked Eddie who was trying to teach Phil a lesson. Anyway, this time she did knock and Eddie answered the door. He looked tense for a moment, but stepped aside and let her in. "Hey, I just stopped by to see Phil. I thought he might have told you."

"He did," Eddie replied. "And that's why I stayed. I was hoping we could talk. He just got in the shower so we have a few. Do you mind?" He gestured to the couch and she sat down, with him sitting beside her. A tense silence followed, but this time she let it run its course. It paid off when he started talking. "Ok first I just want to say that I'm sorry if this thing with me and Janet has caused problems with you and Phil. I've tried to keep you guys out of it but its hard. I mean, it's not like you guys can go somewhere else and talk about it." Pizza Girl smiled, but said nothing. "I don't want you to have to stop talking about your friends. This is a small town and a small house; things about Janet are bound to come to my attention. I just hadn't expected to hear you yelling like that about that."

"Hey, I am sorry. And you're not causing problems with me and Phil. You're his best friend so of course, he's gonna support you, but at the same time you have to understand that Janet's become one of my best friends and I am going to support her. But I will try to refrain from yelling at you again. Really, really sorry about that."

Eddie chuckled. "Hey it's ok. And I don't think Janet's a whore, just so you know. Yeah, I'm mad as hell, and I don't trust her, but I haven't lost all the respect I had in her. I could never think that about any woman especially her. I was just shocked. I mean, I haven't heard anything about her in a while. I don't know what she's doing, how she is… who she's with."

The last part was quieter and suddenly Pizza Girl got it. "Oh, Eddie. You thought that she and Rooster got together? No, no, never. She hated what she did and she's regretted it. She had tried to tell him repeatedly that it shouldn't have happened and would never happen again. They are never going to get together. In fact, they probably won't see much of each other again."

Eddie stared as his hands, fidgeting. He never was good at talking about his feelings, yet here he was, pouring out his heart to his best friend's girl. "I find that hard to believe. They work together. They're bound to see each other eventually."

Pizza Girl shook her head. "No, she quit. She hated that she took your bar away from you and she couldn't stand being in the same building as Rooster so she got another job. About a week ago."

Eddie's face jerked up. "What? I- I thought- I didn't know. Where's she at now? Is she ok? Did something else happen to her?" The questions flowed from Eddie's mouth before he could stop them. As much as he hated to admit it, he really wanted to know what was going on with her. He didn't want to care, but he found that he couldn't stop himself.

"I don't know if I should tell you. I mean, it's not my place." At Eddie's disappointed look, she continued. "Eddie, she left because she needed a new start. She's not over you, but she knows that you're done with her. Because of that, she had to get away. She's still in town, at her place; if you really want to talk to her, then you know where to find her. But I can't tell you where you where she works. You kicked her out of your life and now she's just trying to move on with hers. I'm sorry."

Eddie shook his head. "No, its ok. I understand. Thanks. So we good, Pizza Girl?"

Pizza Girl smiled brightly. "Of course we are. So, where's my man? I mean honestly, have you ever known another guy that takes this long in the shower?" The rest of the night passed with the three of them laughing, talking, and periodically making fun of Phil's girlish tendencies. Eddie may be going through one of the worst times in his life, but spending the night with those two made him realize how lucky he was to have friends like these. Maybe things would be ok… eventually.

TBC…