"Fiones!" Imogen called out the next day as she waved her best friend over. She couldn't help the way her heart skipped when Fiona gave a little wave back.

"Should I tell her?" asked Eli.

"Mmmm. I wanna tell her." Imogen really did want to be the one to tell her. She felt like she owed it to Fiona.

"K, somebody tell me!" Fiona seemed a little bit worried.

"Well, Eli and I had a talk. The talk. And it turns out that we really needed that kick in the pants you gave us."

"We're going on a date!" Eli chimed in.

"Ta da!" Imogen finished with a flourish and as much enthusiasm as possible.

That was kind of an… abridged version of what had happened, but it wasn't exactly a lie. The night before, Eli called her up to apologize. They had started talking. Imogen had been thinking about Fiona ever since Life Skills that afternoon. She decided that maybe it would be a good idea for her to step outside of Fiona's orbit for a little bit. Give herself a little space. Just in case. Despite what she had told Fiona, it worried her how attached she was becoming to the other girl. The closer they got, the faster Fiona would eventually run and the more Fiona would inevitably hurt her. After all, Fiona was already freaked out. She had said as much in Life Skills.

So when Eli asked her out, Imogen thought it might be just the thing to subtly put some distance between them. Besides, Fiona couldn't be upset with her about it because, for some reason Imogen could not understand, Fiona had been pretty persistent in her matchmaking. And so here she was, telling the girl she had a crush on but no shot with that she was dating their best friend. She hoped it was the right thing to do.

"Wow! I am so happy for you guys." Fiona's tone was insincere and her smile didn't quite reach her eyes, which were shifting around like crazy – the classic Fiona tell.

Imogen was confused. "Isn't this what you wanted?"

"Yeah, my two best friends!" Fiona insisted as she pulled them into a hug and held Imogen for a second longer than Eli. "Yay."

"Yay!" chorused Eli and Imogen.

When they pulled out of the hug, Fiona's eyes locked with Imogen's for a moment and Imogen thought she saw pain flicker across her friend's features before Fiona pulled herself together and Eli broke them out of their spell.

"I have to go meet Adam," Eli addressed both girls before turning to Imogen, "but I'll see you tonight?"

"Can't wait!" Imogen said as Eli leaned forward to press a kiss to her lips before he headed off.

"So… wow. That was fast," Fiona said, looking a little shell-shocked.

"Kind of, I guess… I thought you'd be happy. Are you okay? You look like someone just ran over your dog. Except you don't have a dog. You know what I mean."

"I'm fine. Just… Excited."

"You don't really look excited. Are you sure you're okay? If it's too weird for you, I can tell Eli – "

"No!" Fiona interrupted. "I'm 100% sure. I just want you to be happy, Im. You deserve someone who makes you so so happy. Uh… so what are you wearing on your date tonight?" Imogen knew Fiona well enough by now to know that this was a deliberate subject change.

"I don't know yet. Help me decide?" Imogen offered, even though that meant having Fiona over to her house. The last time Imogen had willingly invited anyone over had been before Lizzy died. So much for cooling off their ever-intensifying friendship. Imogen wondered if her father would be there and what Fiona would think of him if he were.

"Of course! What are friends for?"

Xxx

"Wanna watch a movie?" Eli asked one night about a week and a half after they started dating.

"Very much," Imogen smiled, hoping she could 'fake it 'til she made it', so to speak. "But it's late and you're tired."

Eli had just woken up, so it seemed like a good enough excuse. Imogen knew she should want to be spending all her time with Eli, but something just wasn't clicking for her. It might have had to do with a certain brunette she couldn't seem to get off her mind, but thinking too much about that was introducing a whole new level of complication that Imogen would prefer to avoid if possible.

"Not after my power nap!" Eli insisted, looking thoughtful. "Why don't you sleep over?"

Eli's request caught Imogen off-guard, and she tried not to seem like she was panicking. "In your house? In your bed? All night?"

"That's what sleeping over is," Eli teased. "No pressure, though. You can go home if you want."

Eli was such a nice guy. Why couldn't Imogen just get herself to want to be in his bed more than she wanted to go to Fiona's condo and sleep in a fort?

Imogen scrambled for an excuse. "Your parents are home. Are they cool with that?"

"You've met Bullfrog and Cece. They're cool."

So much for that idea. Well… if she was going to walk the walk… "I'll call my dad. Tell him I'm at Fiona's for the night."

When they kissed, Imogen thought for a moment that maybe she could actually make this work, but when Eli's dad interrupted them, she was still a little bit grateful. After an exchange between Eli and Bullfrog that was beyond awkward to witness, Imogen left, feeling more confused than ever.

Xxx

"Hey. You weren't in class this afternoon." Imogen started hesitantly when Eli sat down across from her on the patio the next day.

After the disaster that had been her morning with Eli, it took ten solid minutes of Fiona's prodding and convincing to get her to agree to meet Eli. She didn't know what went wrong between her and Eli, but she was starting to get the impression that no amount of pretending was going to get her through this in one piece.

"Yeah, I had something to take care of. I'm sorry about freaking out over your project." Eli apologized.

"It's okay. I understand." Imogen lied.

"No, I don't want you to be okay. I don't want any special treatment. I just want to be your boyfriend." Eli was upset and Imogen didn't know how to make it up to him.

Imogen took a deep breath, starting to second guess everything she said in case it upset Eli. "Then you better get down on your knees and beg for forgiveness."

"I can do you one better." Eli took a camera box out of the bag he had been carrying and Imogen's heart sank. "Please tell me I didn't get the model wrong."

"Eli, it's perfect." Imogen started to panic in earnest.

"But?" Eli looked genuinely confused as to why she wasn't ecstatic.

"But it must have cost $500!" That was a lot of money. A lot. Imogen knew that breaking the camera was an accident. She had upset Eli with her project, and looking back, it was understandable. But it was an accident. She already knew Eli was more into her than she was into him, and she didn't need to feel guilty about him spending so much money on her on top of that. She didn't know how to explain that, though, without hurting him. It seemed easier to blame his disease than to try to explain how she felt about their relationship. "Impulsive spending can be a symptom of bi–"

"Please don't say it." Eli interrupted. Imogen kicked herself because it was clearly the wrong thing to say and she knew better. She just didn't know what the right thing to say was.

Maybe she could fix this if she just pretended everything was okay. Maybe they could go back to normal. "Okay. Thank you. I can't wait to start taking pictures again." Imogen faked her way through the words and hoped it would be enough.

Eli brightened up, so she had obviously done well. "I've got a pocket full of subway tokens. Where do you want to go first?"

"I… can't," Imogen lied again as she got up. She needed time to think. "I've got a long night of much-needed triple-H; homework, a hot bath and Harry Potter."

"Well at least let me walk you home first?" Eli offered.

Imogen searched for an excuse, but nothing came to mind. She couldn't exactly tell Eli that all she wanted to do was go to Fiona's and try to figure out how to fix the mess she'd made. "Fine!"

Eli laughed and took her hand, leading her down the street. Imogen tried to tell herself it would be okay.

Xxx

Can I come over? Imogen shot off the text to Fiona as soon as Eli dropped her off. She felt bad for lying to him, but she really just needed to talk to her best friend to try to sort out what was going on.

Of course! You know you're always welcome. Have you eaten? Fiona replied almost instantly.

Nope. You? Want me to get something? Imogen sent the message and then wrote a quick note to her dad as she waited for the response.

If I order from that Indian place you like, can you pick it up on your way? Imogen's mouth watered. That place was the best.

Sure thing. Be there in 20.

Imogen grabbed her bag and was already halfway out the door when she got Fiona's reply.

Can't wait :)

Why couldn't Imogen's boyfriend make her smile the way she was smiling at her phone right now?

Xxx

"So to what do I owe the honour of your presence?" Fiona asked when Imogen walked in the door with their take-out. "I assume this about what happened with Eli this morning?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to talk about it just yet. Can we eat first?"

"Whatever you want, Miss Moreno," Fiona smiled as she took the bag from Imogen and twirled her way into the kitchen.

"Has anyone ever told you that you can be very weird sometimes?" Imogen teased as she followed – also twirling – close behind.

"I guess someone has rubbed off on me," Fiona turned around right into Imogen, who suddenly found herself face to face with a surprised but smiling Fiona.

Time seemed to slow down. Imogen's eyes fluttered down to Fiona's lips and Imogen could feel the energy between them. It took all of her strength not to lean forward the few centimeters it would take to kiss the other girl, but she couldn't seem to bring herself to pull away completely. It was like they were frozen in place, hovering in a force-field of palpable tension.

Imogen's phone rang in her pocket and broke them out of whatever it was that had just happened.

Imogen turned around, closed her eyes and took a deep breath to calm herself. Her whole body was buzzing. What even was that?

She checked her phone. It was Eli. Again. He'd called when she was on the way over, but she had her hands too full with takeout to answer. She pressed "ignore" and turned back to the kitchen.

"So, um…" Fiona started awkwardly as she scooped food onto her plate. "You and Eli. What's up?"

"Well," Imogen began as she grabbed some paneer masala. "You know all about the art room and my camera and how he wasn't in class this afternoon and I got a text asking me to meet him at The Dot. So he was 10 minutes late and then he shows up with a new camera, which I know cost him a fortune. And I don't think he has that kind of money. Definitely not to spend on me. And I don't even want him to spend it on me! It's too much, too fast. It was an accident!"

"Maybe you're reading too much into it, Im. He probably just wanted to replace it. Just like he would if it was anyone else." At the doubting face Imogen gave her, Fiona conceded. "Okay, maybe a little more than just anyone else. But only because he really likes you."

Imogen's phone rang again.

"Do you want to get that?" Fiona asked, moving to get up. "I can give you some privacy, if you want."

"No," Imogen reached out and pulled Fiona back onto the couch. "I'll call him back later."

"Okay." Fiona said, clearly a little bit uncomfortable.

"It just feels like things are moving way too fast. Like… last year I thought I wanted this, but now… I'm not so sure and I just… he bought me a $500 camera and he wants me to sleep over and I just –"

"Wait, he wants you to sleep over?" Fiona asked with a strange quality to her voice that Imogen couldn't quite identify.

The ringing of her phone disrupted their conversation yet again.

"Sorry," Imogen apologized, turning it to silent and tossing her phone onto her bag. "Yeah. I was at his house and he asked me to stay. He didn't make me. He said I could go, but... I don't know… I was going to stay. But I don't know if I'm ready for that with him."

"Well I'm sure Eli will understand. I mean, he's a really great guy."

"I know. But I just don't know how to talk to him about any of it, so I end up deflecting with his bipolarness, which I know isn't fair. But he's been acting really different lately and now I'm starting to actually wonder if I should be concerned." Imogen admitted. "I'm just worried about him."

Fiona paused for a moment as she thought. "Im, please don't take this the wrong way because you know I love you, but… maybe you're just scared? I mean… I know Eli would never do anything to purposely hurt you and I know he feels terrible about this morning. And you've had a really tough time over the last few years… and maybe you feel like everyone you love leaves you? Maybe you're just scared of getting too close to Eli in case he hurts you again? I mean, he was sort of an ass to you last year…"

Imogen pondered Fiona's words for a minute. "Maybe."

The girls ate in silence for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. Imogen emerged from her contemplations to find Fiona looking at her with concern on her face.

"Need a hug?" Fiona offered.

"Nah, I'm okay," Imogen replied, trying to ignore the hurt that flashed across Fiona's features. She just didn't need anything else to feel guilty about.

"More naan?" Fiona tried again.

Imogen laughed for the first time since that morning. "Always."