It had been over a week since the semester had started and Chris was finally settling into Cyprus Rhodes and feeling at home. She was feeling so at home in fact that she had actually decorated her apartment in a way that she like, and had slept there four of the last five nights. She and Casey had spoken several times each time making it more and more clear that they would be life long friends, with or without Cappie in the picture.

Chris was sitting in her living room grading papers one Saturday when a sharp knock on the door forced her out of her comfortable position. "Just a sec…"

She put the pile of papers in her room and went to the door, half expecting to see Rusty panicked about some assignment for the third time. To her surprise instead she came face to face with the other Cartwright. "Casey, Hi! …are you alright?

Casey looked a little peaked, almost as if she hadn't slept in days. "How do you get him out of your head? I know there are a million girls on campus I could ask about this but you're the only one who might have the answer…"

"Woo woo woo… come in, would you like some water or something, you look a little freaked."

Casey nodded and stepped through the door. Chris ushered her over too the couch and went to get her a glass of water. "Now what in the world has gotten you so worked up?"

Casey laughed, like the answer to that question was the most obvious thing ever. "CAPPIE!"

"Of course." Chris sat down on the ottoman across from Casey, fully ready to listen to whatever was about to come her way. "What brought this on?"

Casey took a sip of the water she was holding and tried to collect herself. "I don't know what my problem is, I was completely over him. Last year I was with Evan and I hardly ever thought about him. Then last semester…"

"I heard all about last semester."

"Yea… so then this semester I get here and I don't know…he's making me crazy." Casey put the water down on the side table and looked to Chris for advice.

Chris did her best not to laugh, it wasn't like she was some poster child for relationships. Hell, her last relationship had been with a man who was completely closed off emotionally. "Well you were obviously thinking about him last semester too…"

"After our midterm project I wondered if I should have gotten back with Cappie instead of accepting Evan's letters, but at the time it just seemed like…well…Evan was so stable and Cappie was, is, unpredictable. I guess I just thought that I needed something safer, something I could depend on."

Chris nodded. Cappie did come off as being slightly unreliable, something Chris herself had even fed into it once or twice, but each time Cappie had pulled through in a way that had just left her feeling stupid. "…And when Evan turned out to be just as undependable as you thought Cappie was, suddenly everything you thought went out the window."

"Pretty much."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"What did Cappie ever do that made you think he was inconsistent in anyway? I mean, I know he's kinda rough around the edges, strange sense of humor, and way too smart for his own good, but what did he do that made you think he wouldn't always be there for you?" Chris leaned forward on her knees intent to hear how Casey would respond.

Casey didn't hesitate. "Well…he wasn't…there for me…"

Chris was taken aback. "What?"

"Cappie and I were great together, we had so much fun, and the whole time I never doubted once that he was really in it. It wasn't until the beginning of sophomore year when I was up for activation at ZBZ that we had any trouble." Casey looked down at her hands obviously still guilty over the issue. "They told me that Cappie wasn't right for me and that ZBZ's don't date Kappa Tau's… I was so mad. I wanted to quite right then…and I would have, but something was nagging at me."

"Cappie?"

"Cappie...the whole time we had been together, he never once said I love you. I was so scared I was throwing away a quintessential college experience for someone who didn't love me back…so I went to see him at the house…I was planning on just telling him what was happening, see what he thought and talk it out." Casey sighed and looked up. "I wasn't planning on breaking up with him that day…but I got there and he was just so…Cappie, flippant and sarcastic. I started telling him what they had said and he assumed I was breaking up with him, so I did, and I walked to the door and stopped for a second at the door. I wanted him to say 'wait, Casey I love you' or even just 'don't go'. But he didn't, so I left."

Suddenly everything made sense to Chris. "He didn't fight for you."

"No, he didn't. A few weeks later Franny set me up with Evan and everyone kept saying what a great couple we made and after awhile I believed them. Eventually I stopped pretending to have feelings for Evan and actually did." Casey took another sip of her water and looked at Chris intently. "I know it's my fault all these old feelings are back, I started this again last semester…then he said that thing about seeing himself with me in ten years…now with Evan gone…anyway, I kinda feel like I might need some time without someone…but Cappie is lodged inside my head and I can't get him out."

"I'm sorry to tell you this Casey, but there is no getting Cappie out of your head. Look at me; I'm his best friend, with no romantic ties what so ever and yet he is forever the voice inside my head…" Chris sighed and looked for something more helpful to say. "But I will say that there might be a better reason why you can't stop thinking about him."

Casey stood up and started pacing around the room. "You think I'm still in love with him."

"I think you think your still in love with him." Chris said watching as Casey started to get worked up again.

"I don't know what to think anymore…I tried to talk to Ashleigh about it, but she doesn't really get it. She's my best friend; don't get me wrong, but when it comes to complex relationships she isn't the best with advice."

"I'm not exactly a Rhode scholar on the matter either. My last relationship lasted a year and a half and ended when I found out exactly what it means for a man to be unreliable." Chris's smile grew weak at the thought. "But, you should know, no matter what advice anyone gives you, or how much your head tries to rationalize, it's going to be your heart that makes this decision for you."

Casey's hands went up to her face and she suppressed a scream of anxiety. Chris felt bad, knowing that she was doing the one thing Casey wanted, telling her what to do. But at least she knew now what Cappie had to do to get Casey back; he had to fight for her…how Chris was going to get him to do that was another story. After all, this was the man who started drinking at the mere thought of a lost cause.

Suddenly the sound of the phone ringing brought both girls out of their thoughts.

"It's him!" Casey gasped.

"What?" Chris said standing up and searching for her cell phone.

"Cap's got this psychic ability to know when someone's talking about him, it's him!"

"Relax, it's Beaver. Hold on a sec." Chris answered the phone. "Hey…yea, I'm good you?... that's good… sure I can…yea, I'll see you then….alright. Bye…" She hung up and turned back to Casey. "Sorry about that."

"It's alright…sorry I flipped." Casey picked up her purse awkwardly, as if she was trying to decide if it was time for her to leave.

"I wish I could be more help to you."

"No, you've been more help than you know Chris…my issues with Cappie just happen to rival those of Dawson and Joey…" Casey started to walk towards the door. "Anyway, I really need to get going, I've got some work to do for tomorrow."

"Yea, I'm meeting Beaver for dinner in an hour so I guess I should get ready too…"

"You've got a date with Beaver tonight?" Casey turned around looking a little surprised.

Chris laughed. "I'm not sure that I'd really call it a date, we're just going to hang out over dinner…that's why he called…"

"I would call that a date…Beaver's an interesting creature, but a nice guy, and you really deserve a nice guy Chris." Now was Casey's turn to be truly sincere.

"So do you Casey, so do you." With a final smile, Casey slipped through the door and Chris was left wondering what she really had with Beaver tonight was a date…which threw her into a slight tizzy.

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Cappie was sitting on his bed doing his best to finish his calculus before class tomorrow. It was a feudal attempt given the image of the blond Cartwright that kept walking through his brain. He wondered what she was doing right that moment, was she thinking about him, it was doubtful to say the least…

A knock on his door pulled him out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see a slightly green Beaver standing in his doorway. "You okay Beav?"

Beaver held himself up by the doorframe. "I think I just asked Chris out."

Cappie's face filled with surprise. "Did she say yes?"

"I think so."

Cappie laughed. "That's a good thing Beaver. When are you going out?"

"Dinner in an hour..." His face filled with panic. "What do I do now?"

"I'd shower if I were you…then put on some form of clothing…"

Beaver nodded and made his way back down the hall to the bathroom. Cappie was still laughing when his cell phone rang. "Chris!...Yea I heard…yes, I do think it's a date...no it's a good thing…well you like Beaver and he likes you…it'll be fine, you'll have fun…I promise…Okay…How am I supposed to know what color dress he would like?...Okay bye."

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Casey didn't know why she was doing this again. Her last trip to the Kappa Tau house had been awkward and uncomfortable, and ended up fueling her friendship with Chris rather than helping her figure out her relationship with Cappie. But her conversation with Chris a few hours earlier had sparked her to let her heart do the talking, and right now her heart was telling her to get her ass over to the Kappa Tau house and spend some time with Cappie. She rang the bell confidently, and didn't hesitate to ask for Cappie as soon as Wade answered the door. She was told he was up stairs and she wandered up on her own.

Cappie looked up when she knocked, and smiled. "Thank God, you're not Beaver"

"Umm yea…good for that…so what are you working on?" Casey stepped through the door and sat down on the bed.

Cappie looked a little surprised, yet intrigued by this sudden turn of events. "Calc…I kind off suck at it…"

"That can't be true…" Casey turned the book to look at it. "Umm…I know nothing about this…"

Cappie laughed. "So what's up Cas? Loose another bracelet?"

Casey smiled. "No, I just kind of wanted to hang out…and by the way…there was no bracelet…you were right…"

"I know."

Casey scooted back on the bed and leaned against the headboard. "This doesn't mean I want to get back together…we just used to be really good friends, even when we were together, and I just thought we could get back to that."

"Sounds easy enough…" Cappie closed his textbook and leaned back next to her. "So what did we do exactly when we were just hanging out before?"

"We talked a lot…we we're exactly truthful all the time…but we did talk…How about we try that truth thing now…?" Casey turned her head to face him.

"Sounds good too me." The way Cappie looked at her made her want to kiss him…probably not the best way to be 'just friends'.

"Great…first lets talk about what your doing taking Calculus…"

AN: Okay, I'm trying to make my chapters a little longer, which means that it might take a little but longer for my chapters to come out (meaning 2-3 days instead or 1 or 2). Please keep reviewing!