A/N: Thanks for the feedback. For someone who never wrote anything before, it's really sweet. I know this is a lot of story with just Jordan and Angela. I do have the other characters enter eventually, but this one scene was just on my mind for so long about just the two of them. Hope you don't get tired of reading about just them for a bit.

I still own nothing.

Chapter 3 – More than Just Words

Once again, Jordan and Angela had no idea what the other was thinking. They had always been bad at reading the other person's thoughts. And they had always been even worse at realizing their mistakes and trying to straighten them out. Would this time be like all the others? They both wondered the same thing without realizing it as they entered the loft area.

Jordan looked around the room, at the instruments arranged in a group over on one side, his guitar leaning against its stand and on the other side of the drum set, the bass guitar leaning against the amp, its cord still plugged in. There was a couch on one side and a hammock off in the other corner of the room. Jordan walked over to the couch and said to Angela, "You wanna sit down?"

Angela's mind was totally preoccupied with thoughts of the letter. It had crushed the feeling of euphoria she had just experienced when they were kissing and reminded her of why she had turned away from Jordan in the first place. Angela wasn't sure she could trust him, even though he had angrily told her once before he had never lied to her.

Up until that point in time, Jordan had been completely honest with her, and she knew it. But now she also knew he had since fooled her by making her think he had written this letter that meant everything to her, to them. To know it was all a lie threatened to take away all the joy she had just allowed herself to feel thinking she could be with Jordan again.

Why could that kind of happiness never last more than a few fleeting seconds, Angela angrily wondered? As she mulled over her disappointment, she saw Jordan pointing to the couch and realized he was asking her to come and sit with him. Angela opted to sit down on the hammock, feeling slightly rebellious against the smooth assurance she felt Jordan was showing because he thought he had fooled her into doing what he wanted.

Noticing her refusal to come and sit by him on the couch, Jordan again misread her thoughts. He knew she must be worried about getting too close to him after he nearly mauled her right in the doorway the first second he had her alone. So Jordan didn't say anything about Angela choosing to sit across the room from him, for now.

Instead, Jordan walked over to his guitar and picked it up from its stand. He slipped the strap around his neck and arranged the guitar on his leg as he sat on the couch by himself. Softly, he began strumming the chords to his tune, "Red," the melody from the guitar being the only sounds in the room for several moments.

Angela allowed herself to feel the thrill of hearing his music again. It was an intimate part of him that she felt privileged to share, to hear, to know about. But after a few moments, Angela began to think it was just a part of his strategy to get her right where he wanted her, eating out of his hands. Right where the letter had put her earlier that day. Right where she had been just a few short moments ago, Angela stupidly reminded herself.

Just as Jordan was warming up and about to begin singing the verses to the song, Angela spoke up and abruptly stopped his strumming and singing by asking, "Why did you let me think you wrote that letter?" She tried not to sound accusing, but knew she hadn't succeeded very well.

Jordan was completely thrown off by her question. He thought she was sitting over there worrying about them going too far physically. Ever since their kissing downstairs, he had totally forgotten about how quiet she had been since he found her talking to that Brain kid. Jordan's mind had a way of focusing only on the thoughts that pleased it. Making out with Angela was definitely one of those thoughts, and he hadn't given another thought to what she had been doing with that guy since then.

Now Jordan knew all at once what they must have been talking about when he walked up to them. He knew what Angela must have been thinking about all during the ride over in the car when she wouldn't even look at him. He knew why she wouldn't come and sit by him now. The one thing he didn't know about was why she had been so willing to fall into his arms when he began kissing her, knowing about the letter, but he thought that was a good sign, considering everything else. Shit, Jordan thought. What do I say to her now?

He got up and walked over to the guitar stand where he put back his guitar and then went over to the hammock where she was sitting. Jordan knelt down in front of Angela and took her hands in his and stared at their hands as he rubbed his thumb over her fingers. He felt the pressure of coming up with the right words for her this time. He knew she was waiting for an explanation that would make her feel better, and so far, he hadn't been very good at finding one.

He took a deep breath and began, "Look, Angela, I...I didn't mean to let you think I wrote it. I tried to tell you as soon as I saw you, but you kept telling me how important it was, how it made you so happy. I...I tried to tell you I didn't want to pretend like I was the one who wrote it, but you interrupted me and said you didn't want to pretend either. You were saying and doing just what I dreamed of so many times, that I just got carried away. It was like, I was like, living this dream out right in front of me."

Wow. There it was, the longest and most important speech Angela had ever heard from Jordan. She had wanted more than anything to have him tell her these things on his own and now he had. It meant so much more to her than just the words he'd said. It was how much effort it took for him to find them and to say them to her. But she was still confused by what he was telling her. Angela remembered the part about him dreaming, dreaming of her. It had thrilled her to the bone when Jordan had told her that.

Still it was Angela's turn to sit and stare without being able to say anything, without knowing what to say. She tried to think back to their conversation that morning after she read the letter. She was so full of joy that she barely remembered what they said, instead she mostly just remembered what they did. Again, what Angela did was get lost in Jordan's arms, in his kiss, in his smell once he told her about his dreams.

Angela remembered feeling so on top of the world when she saw him at school that morning. She ran after him in the hall and started telling him how much she loved the letter and how perfect the words were. What was it he was trying to say to her? She couldn't hear what he was saying, she could only focus on what she was feeling. The sheer elation of being with him again and knowing he felt the way the letter said. The letter. That's what he was trying to say to her. Angela remembered back to that morning, to Jordan saying, "Look, Angela, I'm not... I don't want to pretend like... I'm glad you liked it, but..."

Oh God, Angela thought, he was right, again. He hadn't tried to lie to her. He was trying to tell her just as soon as she thought they were his words, that they weren't. God, now she really did feel like a fool. Jordan hadn't tried to trick her. She had tricked herself. She just wanted to believe this fantasy of how Jordan could say something so profound to her, for her, because of her.

Jordan kept holding Angela's hands in his, stroking them, enfolding both of them in his own grip, as though if he let go of them, she might disappear. He didn't know how badly he had screwed up this time, but he knew he had to do whatever it took to keep her here with him this time. He couldn't go back to feeling that lonely and rejected again, he just couldn't.

"Angela, I'm sorry I hurt you again. I swear I never wanted to like, hurt you again and I can't believe I did, letting you think I wrote it. I mean, I guess I knew that might hurt you, but...all I wanted was for you to be happy again, and you finally were. You were so happy and it was such a long time since I saw you that happy." Jordan let out a big sigh. "I couldn't wreck that. Not then, not just when you were finally that happy again, with me." Jordan spoke the last two words so softly and quietly that Angela almost couldn't hear them, but she did hear them.

Their hands were still clasped together, and Jordan looked down at Angela's hands in his. He was so afraid she would pull away from him again, and he couldn't stand the thought of losing her one more time. He held onto her hands as the silence between them grew. Jordan didn't know what else to say. He had told her the truth. He knew he should have before. He should have figured out that was what was bothering her when she was so quiet after talking to that Brain guy.

But Jordan had just been so happy to have her back with him again. He wasn't thinking of anything that might wreck how happy he was. Not only did he have her back with him, but they were driving away, alone and she was agreeing to go someplace where they could be even more alone. Then she was kissing him back like crazy and he never thought of anything else after that but filling himself up on her.

It made Jordan mad at himself that he couldn't control his hunger for her any better than that. He'd come so far to get here, where she was with him right now and he might have just ruined it all by being so damned hot for her that he missed the wrecking ball that was about to demolish them once again. Jordan could only hope she believed what he told her about the letter and trust that he wasn't trying to make her look like a fool.

Just then Angela finally spoke, "I feel like such a fool."

A/N: I know, I know...two star crossed puppies, lol...gotta have some angst, tho...let me know what you think!