A/N: I do not own ANT Farm. That belongs to Disney

Chapter 4: Damage Control

Fletcher sat on his bed deep in thought. He was mainly trying to occupy his mind so that he wouldn't focus on how badly his skin itched underneath his cast; however, he was also thinking about Olive. He knew she hadn't meant to break his arm and he felt terrible about telling her he hated her, but he was also confused as to why Olive was becoming so mean towards him. They had always teased each other, but that was just their thing. The teasing had always been light hearted, with a few minor exceptions, but in the end they always made up if things went a little too far. Fletcher couldn't understand why that dynamic between them had changed so much. He just wished he could figure Olive out, or any girl for that matter. The longer he sat there, the more frustrated he got; plus the itching under his cast was becoming worse. He then grabbed a pencil and tried sticking it under the cast to scratch his pestering itch.

"What are you doing?" Angus asked when he noticed what Fletcher was doing.

"Trying to scratch this itch!" Fletcher said.

"I still can't believe Olive broke your arm. What did you do to make her so mad?" Angus asked, but Fletcher couldn't help but notice a hint of amusement in Angus' voice.

"I didn't do anything. I just told her one of my jokes and she got mad."

"Was it the Interrupting Cow one, because if it was I don't blame her," Angus said with a laugh.

"Hey…that's a great joke!" Fletcher said defensively.

"Whatever!" Angus said with a roll of his eyes.

"I just don't understand what Olive's deal is! She's become so mean!" Fletcher complained.

"I know, it's kind of hot," Angus joked.

"Dude you really need to move on," Fletcher said in annoyance.

"Oh like you are one to talk! That's the pot calling the skillet black," Angus retorted.

"I'm pretty sure it's a kettle, not a skillet," Fletcher corrected. "And I have moved on from Chyna finally. I am happy with Kennedy."

"Yeah right! Do you really expect me to believe that?" Angus asked.

"Chyna will never see me as more than a friend. I realize that now. Besides, Kennedy is a good girlfriend," Fletcher said, but Angus wasn't sure he sounded so confident.

"You would say that, you're totally whipped by her," Angus said and then started talking in a mockingly high pitched voice. "Yes Kennedy, whatever you say Kennedy," Angus mocked.

"Shut up! I don't sound like that!" Fletcher said in annoyance.

"You're right, your voice is much higher than that," Angus replied and then had to duck as Fletcher threw a pillow at him.

"I'm not going to sit here and take this. I'm going to go find Olive, it's about time we had a talk," Fletcher said as he got up and left the room.

Fletcher headed for the roomavator and found Chyna sitting on the sofa. When he approached she waved at him with a smile and he decided to take a seat next to her.

"Have you seen Olive?" Fletcher asked.

"She's in ang…I mean she's around her somewhere," Chyna replied.

"Oh okay, well I need to talk to her," Fletcher said.

"Look Fletcher, Olive is really sorry about what happened. You know she never meant to hurt you," Chyna explained.

"I know, and I never should have told her I hate her, because that isn't true."

"She knows that Fletcher," Chyna said consolingly.

"Then why has she become so mean to me?" Fletcher asked.

"I don't know, but I know that she cares about you, a lot more than you realize."

Fletcher wasn't sure what Chyna meant by that, but at that moment Olive entered the roomavator. When she saw Fletcher sitting there she looked worried and acted like she was about to walk away, but Fletcher stopped her.

"Olive wait!" Fletcher called out.

Olive stopped and turned to face him with a look of anticipation.

"Can we please talk?" Fletcher asked.

"Yeah, I'd like that," Olive said quietly.

The two of them moved to a quiet corner of the room and sat down. There were a few moments of silence as neither of them seemed to know what to say, but it was Fletcher who finally broke that silence.

"Olive I don't hate you," he said.

"I know you don't. You were upset when you said it. Fletcher I am so sorry for what I did. Please forgive me," Olive pleaded.

"I forgive you, but I have to know something. Why have you been acting so mean towards me lately?"

"I…it's complicated," Olive said and then mentally kicked herself for such a cop out.

"I don't accept that. I want to know the truth," Fletcher said defiantly.

"Fletcher I…I've been acting really childish and I'm sorry," Olive replied.

"But why have you been acting that way?" Fletcher asked again.

Olive wanted to tell him, but the situation was complicated. They were both already in relationships and Olive wasn't sure that she just wanted to throw away what she had with Dixon.

"I wish I could tell you Fletcher, but I'm just not ready," Olive answered and secretly hated herself a little for it. Fletcher looked disappointed and annoyed, but after a moment he simply nodded his head.

"Okay, I'll accept that, for now," Fletcher said.

"Can we go back to being friends?" Olive asked timidly.

"Yeah, we can, but promise me you'll try and be a little nicer," Fletcher said with a smile.

"I promise, no more teasing," Olive said.

"I don't mind the teasing; it's kind of our thing, but just don't be so mean about it," Fletcher replied.

"Okay, I was kind of hoping you would say that," Olive said with a smile. "Hey, want to go get some smoothies?" she then asked.

"I would love to, but someone just walked in that I think you would rather spend time with," Fletcher said as he pointed over Olive's shoulder.

Olive turned to see Dixon standing beside the sofa and talking to Chyna. Olive expected her heart to soar, but she was surprised to find herself feeling a little disappointed. Part of her had actually been intent on getting a smoothie with Fletcher. She began to feel a little guilty for feeling that way, so she stood up and walked over to Dixon.

"Hey Dixon," Olive said with a weak smile.

"Hey, I saw you when I walked in, but you and Fletcher seemed to be having a pretty serious discussion. Is everything okay?" Dixon asked.

"Yeah, everything is fine," Olive said.

She didn't feel like explaining what had happened while Dixon was away. She was afraid of having to explain why she acted the way she did and she didn't want Dixon to know that she was having feelings for another boy.

"Are you sure? I've noticed things have seemed a little tense between you and Fletcher lately," Dixon said and Olive inwardly cursed how observant Dixon was.

"It's okay, we patched things up. We're good friends again," Olive said and then inwardly added, "But I wish it was more than that."

Olive began to feel guilty about having these thoughts, which caused feelings of confusion to well up inside her. She was loyal to Dixon, but at the same time she was beginning to fully realize how deep her feelings for Fletcher truly went. Then Dixon made a suggestion that only complicated matters even more.

"I just had an idea. How about we double date with Fletcher and Kennedy? It would give you guys a chance to mend that friendship. Plus I think it would be nice to do things with other couples," Dixon said with a smile.

"I don't know if Kennedy would like that idea very much," Olive said nervously.

"Nonsense, Kennedy and I get along great," Dixon replied.

"Yeah, but I always got the feeling she doesn't like me very much," Olive said.

"Well then that's all the more reason to do this. I think it would be good for the two of you to put your differences aside."

"You're not taking no for an answer on this are you?" Olive asked.

"Not at all."

"Okay, fine, but you set it up. I know Kennedy would say no if I asked her," Olive replied.

That night when Olive went back to her room she was more confused and conflicted than ever. She wasn't sure she would be able to endure the awkwardness of a double date with Fletcher and Kennedy. Chyna hadn't returned to the room yet and Olive needed someone to talk to, so she called her mom and inwardly hoped that she was in a good mood.

"Hello?" her mom said when she answered the phone.

"Hi Mom, can we talk?" Olive asked.

"Sure honey, is everything okay?"

"Well, it's better than it was yesterday. Anger Management was a nightmare, but I did talk with Fletcher and we're friends again."

"Well that's good, but why do I get the feeling that you're holding something back?" her mom asked.

"Mom…you were right. I am in love with Fletcher," Olive stated plainly.

"Oh god, I knew that you were. Sweety this will only lead to you getting hurt," her mom said out of concern.

"I'm so confused. I'm dating Dixon, but I'm in love with Fletcher and Fletcher is dating Kennedy. What do I do Mom?" Olive cried.

"You forget about all of it and move on before you get hurt!"

"Mom! I'm serious!"

"I'm serious too! I told you before that you need to be focusing on your schoolwork!" her mom said sternly.

"Mom my schoolwork is perfectly fine, just like it has always been! I've never made lower than an A in any class! You know that already! I'm trying to get advice from you about boys, but you always ignore me when I try!" Olive cried.

"You know how I feel about this!" her mom replied.

"Yes I do know how you feel! You're a bitter woman who won't let go of the fact that you never found your one true love!" Olive yelled and then waited for the onslaught.

"Don't talk to me that way! You don't know what happened!" her mom yelled in return.

"Then tell me!"

"Fine! You want to know what happened? I did find my true love! I was in a situation much like yours in fact! I was in love with a boy who was in love with someone else and it hurt me to watch him obsess over her! I let it eat me up inside for far too long!"

"What did you do about it?" Olive asked.

"Nothing! I couldn't do anything, because…he died before I ever got the chance to tell him how I felt!" her mom said and then broke into tears.

"Oh Mom, I'm so sorry," Olive said softly.

"He was killed in a car wreck our senior year. Do you know what it does to you to live with regret like that? I just stumbled through one bad relationship after another after that until I just gave up. I wasn't going to let myself get like that again. I couldn't go through it again. I couldn't let you go through something like that. I became so bitter and angry and I am so sorry. Please forgive me," her mom cried.

"I forgive you Mom, but you have to let me live my own life. I want to be able to call you when I need advice about a boy and have you actually encourage me instead of telling me how horrible love is. You may have given up on it, but I haven't!"

"I know and I'm sorry. I don't know how much advice I can give you though."

"Mom, can I ask you something? Do you love Dad or is he just someone you decided to have kids with?" Olive asked.

"Yes, I love him. I don't know if I did at first, but I know I do now. When we first got together we told each other that we would love to start a family, but both of us were fed up with the expectations of romantic love. I thought we were a perfect match. We got along great, but I don't think I've ever told him that somewhere along the line I did fall in love with him. I was too afraid to admit it," her mom said sadly.

"Then you need to tell him that. I'm sure he would like to hear it," Olive replied.

"You're right. Oh god, how did you turn out so wise when your Mom is just an old fool?"

"Don't say that Mom. You're not a fool," Olive said with a laugh.

"I am a fool. Instead of preparing you for love I tried to squash it and now I realize I was so wrong for doing that."

"It's okay Mom. I love you," Olive replied.

"I love you too and I want you to promise me something," her mom said.

"Okay, what is it?"

"Promise me that you won't wait until it's too late to tell Fletcher how you feel about him," her mom answered.

"But what about Dixon?" Olive asked.

"Honey, I can't tell you what to do, but all I know is you told me you are in love with Fletcher, but when I asked if you were in love with Dixon you said you didn't know. I think that right there tells you everything you need to know," her mom replied.

"Maybe you're right, but I have to think about it," Olive said uncertainly.

"I understand, but don't over think it honey. I think you already know the answer."