A/N: This skips ahead quite a bit. This portion is actually intended to be chapter five or thereabouts, but I figured I would put it in for the clarity of the Blueberry Panic fans. Don't worry, I will go back and fill in the gaps and do some character development. I just happen to be very busy ATM working with three stories...like I said, pardon the construction!

October 5, 2009

It was a night like any other. Well, maybe not exactly like any other. There were a few factors that set it apart. Danielle had just gone home from her latest "kidnapping" a few days previously. I had run out of birth control pills, but thought little of it. Lucca had been getting more and more emotional lately. I thought it was because she was having her period, or perhaps it was a reflection and magnification of my own inner worries. I didn't know these feeling were about to climax in a most stunning way.

She was crying on my shoulder as I stroked her hair, just like she had so long ago. Once again she was condemning herself. This time though, she clung to me with no reservations. I was worried; the sobs wracked her body as she clutched at my shirt. Trying my best to comfort her, I said, "You may be a genius, but you have a heart much bigger than your brain."

"Oooooh, Melanie…." she moaned, then stopped crying. "Do you really mean that?"

There was no hesitation on my part. "Yes. Yes, I do."

"You're (sniffle) so sweet (sniffle). I don't deserve a friend like you."

"You got one anyway."

Finally she was silent, content for the moment to just snuggle. I curled my right arm around the back of her head and rested my chin on top. I was just falling asleep when she flinched and gave a low moan.I hugged her tighter. "What's the matter?"

She sighed. "Nothing."

I closed my eyes again but after a few seconds she continued. "It's not real enough."

"Not real enough?" Even then my sleepy brain had an inkling of what she meant, but I was complacent enough not to acknowledge it.

"I want…I want what you and Danielle have."

"Are you jealous of us?"

"I just want…more."

She was silent again, and I began to resume dozing. Then,

"Shall I seduce you?"

I snorted in response. It was a fairly routine question between me and Danielle; a little "game" we liked to play just because it was so utterly ridiculous. We would make up the dorkiest pickup lines we could , and then try to deadpan our way through them as we crawled on top of each other. We never succeeded; we would both end up laughing as one collapsed in a heap on top of the other and then quote each others pick up lines and laugh some more.

Thus I regarded her question with some flippancy. "I'd like to see you try."

Almost immediately I regretted it. There was something deadly serious in the way she climbed on top of me, no corny pickup lines, no laughter. As her body settled on top of mine little red flags went up. I was tingling all over, especially in my unmentionable areas. I flushed but some instinct held me still as she came to rest with her head on my shoulder. After a half a minute though, she gave a disappointed sigh and slid off to the left again.

I recovered myself, resumed lying on my side and reached out to snuggle her again. She complied, but almost immediately I heard her wonder, "What if I…?"

Suddenly she was leaning over me. Then I felt a warm, firm pressure against my lips. It felt…good? Yes, good! Wonderful! I leaned into it and was almost kissing back when reality hit me like a brick wall.

"WHAT AM I DOING?!!!" I reeled back, shocked and stunned. Turning over onto my back, I cringed away from what had previously been so tempting.

"I'm sorry!" Lucca was frantic. She dove off the bed, ran into her bathroom and returned with a clean washcloth. She dabbed at my lips with it, as though she could wipe away the memory of what she'd done. All the while she repeated her mantra of "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

I finally curled up on my right side, cringing away from her. "Enough! Just…go to sleep…" I muttered. Though how this was going to work neither of us knew. We were both emotionally shattered and needed someone to hold on to…but that someone repelled us like a polar magnet. All I know is that my mind gradually numbed, and as I curled up into an even smaller ball, shaking, it shut down and delivered me into the oblivion of sleep.