Surrounded by half a dozen girls, all giggling and smiling and winking flirtatiously, Jeffrey was, contrary to his previous experiences at parties, having the time of his life. It wasn't even the girls so much that were the source of his enjoyment. It was more what they were saying.

As a relatively good-looking lad, he wasn't foreign to being complimented. But he'd never experienced complements like these. Most of the girls he knew we musicians like himself, and so their gushing usually had to do with his "long, beautiful fingers" or his "strong lips". Other girls he had met liked to comment on his "dreamy eyes" or something of the like.

But these MIT females were a whole different animal. One girl, a tall red-head seated on his right, leaned close and smiled at him. "You know, Jeffrey, you have almost perfectly elliptical eyes. Do you know how rare it is to find perfect ellipses in nature? You're truly a remarkable phenomenon!"

He had trouble keeping a straight face at that one. It did, however, bring up the question of how Skye would complement someone. Anyone really. It didn't seem to be in her nature. She certainly wouldn't comment on his elliptical eyes. Skye's comments on him, at least those few that weren't of the complaining nature, tended to lean more towards the, "That was an awesome goal, Jeffrey!" variety.

Batty worshiped him, and Jane was a gusher. "Oh, Jeffrey, girls must tell you all the time how simply dreamy you are... You are like the dashing prince who -"

At this point Skye would usually decide to remedy this situation before it got out of hand. A glare was normally all that it took. Ah, yes. Skye... Jane had been right; he was accustomed to girls affectionate remarks, but never from the one girl who really counted.

Skye Penderwick, who regarded their relationship as necessary, interminable, and completely, utterly platonic. Skye Penderwick who, for years, had unintentionally dragged him along for the ride of his life as she unknowing rejected him, time and time again. Beautiful, stunning Skye Penderwick, who had long ago forced him to accept his fate.

He knew, deep down, that they would always be friends, good friends, and only friends. That's not to say that if, ten years in the future, he woke up with her next to him and a gaggle of kids down the hall, he would be mad. He would be thrilled! But he was resigned to the fact that the chances of that were slim to none.

Suddenly not in the mood for girls, he made his polite excuses, and got up from the couch. Skye was standing in the corner, with a tall man. She didn't seemed too pleased, but that was normal. Jane, however, was nowhere to be seen. Since Skye had apparently abandoned her duties as OAP, he made the executive decision to step into the vacant position. Jane was a pretty, romantically-inclined girl set loose in a flock of college guys. Who knew what might happen?

As he wandered through room after room, catching tidbits of conversations, he was once again thrown into a whirlwind of wonder at students of MIT. For one thing, there were the pick-up lines. At his school, pickup lines were usually along the lines of, "Hey, I've got this new duet I want to try out. Want to work on it with me?" He had thought those to be rather unusual, at least he had until today. But MIT topped all.

"Has another nebula exploded, or are your eyes just that luminescent?"

"Did you know that only one in every 125 people named Robert go by Bob? I'm Steve by the way..."

"Even a twenty-four pix lens couldn't capture the wormholes of your eyes."

These were just a few of his favorites that he overheard on his search for Jane. Finally, he was able to find her in the backyard. She was leaning against a tree, staring up into the face of a golden-haired boy, looking utterly enthralled.

That would not do. That would not do at all. How would Mr Pen react if they allowed Jane to fall for a boy on their watch? And since Skye didn't seem the least bit interested in her duties or her sister's fate, it was up to him to prevent this disaster.

Step one of divert the disaster plan: get rid of the antagonist.

With very deliberate steps, he crossed the yard until he was standing right behind the guy, facing Jane. In her dazed state, she didn't even notice him. The boy, however, sensed his presence, and turned towards him.

"Can I help you?"

He seemed nice enough, but Jeffrey wasn't taking any chances.

"Um, yes. I need to speak to Jane, if that's possible."

"Okay." He seemed glad enough to consent, but he still hadn't moved.

"Um, could you give us a little space, please?"

With a perfectly executed eye-roll that Skye would have been proud of. he turned around and stomped off. It was only then, after watching his back fade into the crowd of people, that Jane snapped back into reality. And she snapped back hard.

"What was that for, Jeffrey? Couldn't he have stayed? He was nice!"

"Exactly. That is exactly the problem."

"What do you mean, that's the problem? He was dreamy, Jeffrey, dreamy! Do you know what that means? I had a dreamy college guy interested in me! And you spoiled it!" This was, perhaps the most angry he had ever seen her.

"Jane, we're responsible for you tonight. How do you think your family would feel if we let you get involved with a college guy you barely know?"

"I don't care! It still wasn't you place!"

"It was, too my place! We're responsible for you!"

"Oh, you just don't get it! This guy was into me! For once in my life it was me, and not Skye! You don't understand what it's like to have every single guy you know be fascinated by your sister! You don't understand what it's like to have every person you might possibly be interested in not care less about you!"

He laughed, humorlessly. "Oh, believe me, Jane, I get it." Oh, boy, did he get it...

"No, you don't! Lots of girls are always interested in you!"

"Lots of girls, yes, but not the one that matters."

She sent him a quizzical look. "Who?"

He just stared at her, amazed that she even had to ask that question. "Who do you think?"

"You don't mean..." Her mouth dropped open slightly. "Skye?!"

"Shhhh." He shushed her, looking around frantically to see who had heard. "Do you want all of Boston to hear you?"

"Skye?!" She said again, quieter this time. "Since when?"

He laughed dryly. "Since about forever..."

"And you didn't tell me?!"

"Well, no. Why would I?"

She shook her head, disbelieving. "I can't believe you didn't tell me..." She blinked as another thought hit her. "Does Skye...?"

She trailed off, the question unfinished. But he knew exactly what she meant.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Then you haven't told her?"

"Of course not. And, Jane, if you so much as breath one word..."

"Honestly, Jeffrey. Would I to blabbing about your innermost secrets to my oh-so-unresponsive sister who -"

"Yes."

She groaned. "Okay, I promise..."

"You promise what?" Skye's voice drifted into their conversation from afar as she stalked up to them.

"Uh, nothing!"

"Whatever." The blonde rolled her eyes before turning her annoyance to Jeffrey. "Where the heck were you when I needed you? I've been looking all over the place!"

"What did you need me for?"

It was then that a fourth, slurred voice broke the silence. "Yeah, babe. Wha da ya need him for?"

Jeffrey and Jane watched, in complete awe as Skye froze. It seemed that, for once in her very clamorous life, Skye Penderwick didn't know what to say. And then she blinked. Whirling around, her eyes blazing with the inner fire of an angry girl, she stared resolutely up at the drunken thug behind her.

"Why wouldn't I need him? He's my boyfriend."

And that was when the roof fell in.

Hey, guys! Sorry I made you all wait so long for an update. It's really no excuse, but I finally started writing that novel I've been meaning to begin for about a year now, and so my free writing time has been going mainly to that. Thanks to each and every one of you for the reviews! You guys are amazing! I always love you're feedback, so please keep it coming!

Babybeluga747 - Well, how's that for timing... :-) Yeah, I don't think I'll be much of a party person, either.

km38ave - Sorry! I'll try to be better...

StardusTARDIS - Slowly but surely... :-)

Guest - Awww. Thank you!

Pseudonymperson - Wow. Thanks! I had a lot of fun writing it...

freckles-glasses - I'll try to get an AHP chapter up this week. Again, sorry for all the delays...

Anonymous - Gosh, thank you! That's a very fun review to get in my inbox. :-)

Hope - Thanks! Yeah, well, ideas are never my issue. It's just finding the time to make them into stories that's a struggle... :-)

Smoke and Lavendar - Thank you! I will!

PartyCat77 - Hahaha. Yes, I plan on finishing this... And thanks! You were definicely a big motivator for me to get this up... :-)

But really, thank you all. You really are the best. Stay tuned for the next chapter... :-)