Prettyinpinkgal: Here's the next chapter! Yay! These past couple of chapter titles have been from songs. So I don't own the songs. Thanks to Adeline Courien and Lessien-Elensar for the kind reviews! And thank you to anyone else who has been reading :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Left Behind! It belongs to Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins! Get it? Got it? Gooood. XP Don't mind me. I'm just really hyper XD

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE

CHAPTER TWO: ACCIDENTALLY IN LOVE

Mark Eisman loved Vicki. When he first met her, he thought she seemed nice enough, but didn't think of her as even really a friend, just an acquaintance. But as he got to know her better, he realized how strong and determined she could be, and how she always tried to do what was best for everyone. He saw how she thought of Ryan as a little brother, and how pained she was whenever Judd shot down her ideas, especially for the schoolhouse. As he got to know her more, the more he began to think of her as a best friend.

Suddenly, things changed. Mark realized how he blushed sometimes when Vicki would smile, or if she would laugh. Even when she wasn't, he still found himself somehow attracted to her. Plus, he had to admit, she was cute.

It wasn't one of those crushes, either. Mark knew in his heart that this was the real deal. He was able to admit it to himself a week or so ago. He was in love.

However, he knew it would be up to God who got Vicki. Mark knew that Vicki liked Judd, maybe even more than liked. And he had a feeling Judd liked her too. But, for some reason, he couldn't stop loving her.

Mark really wanted to tell Vicki how he felt. But how would she react? He knew her well enough to know that she'd let him down as easy as possible, but he wished more than anything that she would love him back. But that was impossible.

He watched as Vicki took a bite of her pancakes. Mark was trying to muster up the courage to tell her how he felt, even if it was in vain. Suddenly, Vicki turned to him.

"What?" she asked, pulling strands of hair behind her ear.

"N-nothing," Mark managed to stutter. He looked at his food and ate another bite. There was no way he'd be able to tell her how he felt about her. His face was hot. Not again, he thought. He practically blushed more than he prayed!

"Okay. But if you have a problem, you can always talk about me about it," Mark heard her say.

"Yeah, okay," he said. If he kept acting this way, there was no way it would go unnoticed by Vicki.

Oh, I have a problem, all right. I'm in love with you.

Judd Thompson watched as Mark got all flustered around Vicki. Does he like her? he thought. He shook his head, as if to clear the thought from his head. No way. Not Mark. He was probably just going to tell her a problem he's been having, but was too embarrassed to say it in front of all of us.

He watched as Vicki looked at him suspiciously, then resumed eating her breakfast, her hair gracefully falling over her ears. He felt his heart skip a beat. She rejected you, remember? his conscience chided. So move on.

But Judd couldn't. His feelings for her hadn't changed since he mentioned how he felt to her that time at Darrion's old home. In fact, they'd grown. But she and him always got into fights. They just wouldn't be compatible.

Vicki and him hadn't talked since the fight yesterday. They were arguing over Charlie, Janie, and Melinda staying (again), which Judd stupidly brought up. When will I learn? he groaned in his mind.

He'd met Vicki the day when he'd woken up and found out some people in the plane he was in had vanished. He had met her at New Hope Church. She looked hardcore, and tried to make herself look older and tougher. But when she spoke, she sounded like someone younger. When he let her live at his house, her appearance changed greatly. She focused on making herself just look her age, and used his mom's old clothes, which could be classified as "preppy".

Oh, Judd had tried telling Vicki even before that time at the Stahley mansion. However, his sentences mainly came out as, "I...oh, never mind. Forget it." He never made it to the second word.

It was because of his frustration that she didn't feel the same, and that he was unable to speak of the subject again, that he argued so much with her. At Z's place, the real reason he didn't want to go to the old schoolhouse wasn't just because he felt it was taking his power away from him, or that he didn't want to break up the Young Trib Force, although they were partly the reasons. It was really because he wanted to go to Darrion's place in Wisconsin, since it seemed like the perfect hideout, but he wanted to be near Vicki.

Judd beat himself up a lot for fighting with Vicki so often. Why couldn't he just accept her ideas? It's not like there was anything wrong with them. It's not because I want to be in control, Judd thought. I just...want what's best for the group! Even though Judd constantly denied that he liked being the leader, he knew deep down that that was part of the reason for his fights with Vicki.

As everyone started cleaning up, he walked up to Vicki and said, "Hey Vick, can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Um, sure," she said, sounding surprised that he was speaking to her.

"Good." He took her by the hand and led her outside near Felicia's grave.

Prettyinpinkgal: I don't know why, but I think I like the last chapter better. I guess this ended up pretty short too, huh? Sorry about that. But at least I'm updating quickly! That almost never happens with me, lol! Please press the little button down there and type a little comment. Pretty please?