SisCoKid: HERE! WE! GO! *jumps into the story*

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Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 5

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It was Friday. Not just any Friday though. Today was the day before homecoming. X High had a lasting tradition for everyone attending dances. They didn't have to attend classes the day before, or go in to school for club activities. Yes, that included Safety Patrol, which would explain why Ingrid Third was laying on the carpet floor in the living room reading books while listening to the sweet voice of Rachael Yamagata.

Ingrid wasn't like the majority of the girls going to homecoming. She didn't go out last night, she wasn't going to go out tonight, and she most definitely wasn't going to the party after homecoming. Her plans were to get ready an hour before the dance, go to the dance, act like she enjoyed herself, and go home. That was the game plan and Daniel was not going to change it.

So all in all, Ingrid was quite bored. She actually enjoyed going to school these days. It broke her boring home life of reading books. Her sister wouldn't be back in town for half a year and with no Fillmore to go places with, she lacked a social life.

The safety patrol often invited her out to hangout, but it was way to awkward with O'Farrell being himself and talking her ear off about this and that of things only he found interesting. It was gossip around the school that he still took pictures of his butt from time to time. It wasn't just because of O'Farrell, it was Anza and Tehama always holding hands and stuff. It hurt to watch two people freely display their feeling for one another. The only time she hung out with them was when Vallejo was in town from college, but even then she couldn't rest easy. He often liked to reminisce and remember the good old days, days that more than likely involved her with Fillmore on a case.

The song, "I'll Find a Way." started playing. Ingrids responded by dropping her book and searching for the remote of the c.d. player. This was her favorite song over summer break. She often listened to it multiple times, letting the words sink in and sooth her. She changed though, time past and she no longer wished to hear it. The song made her imagine two lovers separated by some circumstance or another, but no matter the challenge, they will see each other again. Ingrid and Fillmore weren't lovers, but the song used to encourage her to believe their friendship would be restored. It gave her that extra boost to walk on over to Fillmore's house on summer days only to hear from his mother that he still needed time. She knew she didn't have the power to change a heart, especially not the heart of someone who didn't want to talk to her. That being why she would simply go and ask how he was doing, hoping for a change.

'Hmm.' Ingrid lifted up and reached under herself. She found the remote and turned off the c.d. player. She was done with music for the time being. She learned last summer how useless it was to let a song get her hopes up. Nothing changed from the start to the end. The most she saw of Fillmore was when he was out walking his dog. Truth be told, unlike that song she didn't put forth her best effort to resolve things with Fillmore. She looked over herself in her cow patterned pajamas. She definitely wasn't theses day. A part of her wanted him to seek her out. Above all, she wanted him to want her. Just like in their partnership, it was always easy to follow his lead. Though they usually worked out everything together, he came up with amazing plans to catch people. She loved it when he would get super excited as he mapped out their next course of action. She hadn't seen that in him in a long time.

She sighed. 'Really have to stop thinking about him.'

She picked up her book and tried immersing herself in it. After reading a page or two, she tossed it to the side. She loved detective novels, but they weren't that easy to loss herself in anymore because they often reminded her of Fillmore. Rather frustrating.

No good. Nobody was home, she didn't care much for T.V. and at the moment even a book couldn't entertain her enough to get her mind off him.

She rolled on her back and her mind raced back to weeks past.

'Groove? I have to find my own groove.' Ingrid decided to distraught her mind with what Tehama told her concerning the safety patrol, but Ingrid knew that she meant that at a deeper level. She knew that she couldn't spend her life waiting on Fillmore. It was already October and she still hadn't decided on a school yet because she was subconsciously hoping Fillmore would come back to her then they could go to the same school. That was a hopeless way to think. She had to decide on her own future separate from him. But even without applying for any colleges, full rides were accumulating on the kitchen counter for her. Being the genius of X-High held a lot of weight.

Where would she go? What would she major in if it not criminal justice, the world that Fillmore had led her into. She loved it, but at the same time it was painful being a part of it without him. Sure she was good at other things, but this was her only burning passion.

'Just how does one find a new groove?'

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'Could of sworn the forecast said clear skies.' Fillmore glances up at the dark grey clouds as he dried his glasses for what seemed like the hundredth time. The rain wasn't that bad, just slightly annoying when you weren't expecting it. Thinking it was going to be a nice day, he decided to take Bean out for a walk. The walk went this way and that way and pretty soon he was all the way across town, about a good two hours away from his house. It was at that that time storm clouds began to move in.

'Just my luck.' Fillmore put his glasses back on. Bean was five minutes into smelling a light post. Unlike his owner, Bean was enjoying the rain very much. Fillmore deciding he wanted to impose his bad mood on his dog, yanked on the chain to tell him it was time to move on. Bean growled at him, then raised it leg and left a smell of his own.

'Delightful.' Fillmore thought as Bean trotted on ahead of him. Bean sniffed everything as if it was all so new to him, but he was happy. Fillmore wanted that simplistic happiness back. Why couldn't his life be as simple as this dog that he was walking. Why did everything have to get so complicating? He wasn't naive either, he knew the complications would only grow worse the older he got. The way he figured it, his problems now were nothing compared to what they will be when he is in his thirties. But these problems were bothering him now and they often killed what little joy he could find in other things. One of his outlets of happiness was now being dampened by the rain. He stopped to dry his glasses again. Bean also stopped to sniff another light post.

"You know it probably smells just like the last one." Bean ignored him, he seemed to have a different opinion.

Fillmore was about to yank on the chain again when he caught the sight of two children across the street. A boy and a girl were facing each other. The girl leaned forward and stole a quick kiss. The boy responded by pushing her on the ground and running away. The girl started crying and ran away in the opposite direction.

'Wait until you grow up and that sort of thing becomes complicated.' Fillmore thought bitterly to himself while blocking the thought of Ingrid's soft lips out of his mind. He missed when things were that easy. When girls had cooties and that was the end of the story. Then in middle school, sure he noticed girls, but his mind was too occupied with safety patrol. Though Ingrid was a girl, she was both his partner and best friend. It wasn't any more complicated than that and he never dug into his mind to check.

Bean was done with the light post and tugging to move on. Fillmore chuckled.

"How does it feel to taste your own medicine?" The dog put its nose to the ground and ignored him.

Fillmore remembered the first time his attraction for Ingrid began to sprout out. It was mid sophomore year, a week before Christmas break. They barely escaped from an ambush from a gang that was expecting them. They saved themselves by breaking into the trunk of a car and hoping in. After the adrenaline of narrowly escaping a beating left him, it became all too noticeable the fact that he was basically mashed against Ingrid. The smell of lavender invading his nose, he couldn't see her, but he could smell and feel her. It was more than enough to set off a switch in his head clarifying that Ingrid was indeed a girl and developing quite nicely. That was the beginning of a painful two hours. Two hours because instead of coming straight over to help them out, O'Farrell first went to buy a limited edition ethic salt shaker from Italy. Why he needed it....till this day nobody knows.

From then on nothing was simple with Ingrid. No matter how hard he tried to change things back, it was futile. Hanging out alone in her room became just about unbearable, he found himself struggling to keep his sanity. Her smell and presence were too strong there, so they started hanging out in more crowded places, where his attention could be distracted from her. That failed as well because he found his eyes were satisfied enough just looking at her face. Keeping concentrated on those green eyes was never a task for him. Walking together in the hallways at school became a no no because they would often get shoved up against each other. He disgusted himself when he started looking forward to it. From time to time she would lay her hand on his hand to give him support. If only she knew the sensations that went through him at times. Eventually it was just the thought of her that would set him off.

Fillmore stopped to dry off his glasses again. "Shut it." Fillmore commanded the protesting Bean. He hung his head and walked back to lay against its owners leg. There wasn't a light post to sniff here.

Fillmore put his glasses back on and rubbed the dogs head.

"How could things change so much in the past two years?" He asked. Bean licked his hand in response and jumped forward as they continued their walk.

Why couldn't Ingrid just remain a partner. The way he saw her in his mind was far from appropriate and way unprofessional. Nowhere close to how one friend should view another. Back then he was constantly feeling disgusting and low, but the pain of life back then was nothing compared to the pain he felt right now. Never talking to her and rarely seeing her. He never imagined that one person could leave such an impression on his life. The hole created after leaving her was monumental. Plain and simple, it was hell to function without her at his side. It seemed he was falling more and more over the edge of sanity.

He needed her.

But he didn't feel he had the right to have her. Not as a partner and definitely not as a friend. She deserved someone who respected her for the brilliant work she can do and for that interesting personality she possessed. Not the likes of him. No not somebody who dreamed dirty dreams about her constantly. He imagined some would think he was being immature about the whole matter. 'If you like her, why don't you just ask her out?' Yes, that question often popped up in his head. Sure it was that simple now, but Fillmore wasn't a simple man. Ingrid Third was his partner at that time and he would die before letting his emotions get in the way. He imagined he would have plenty of female partners in the future when he would be in the real force. He can't just go after everybody he starts liking. The job comes first.

That was the only thing keeping him going. Thoughts of the future and making that future reality. Studying about past and present cases and reading about serial killers. Watching Cops was also an amusing past time for him. His entire life after his transformation had been centered on the law. How the heck was he to prepare for hormones, his worst enemy. It took both the safety patrol and Ingrid away from him.

That could be the end of the story. A terrible story yes, it was possible for him to make it by like this until a time came when she began to fade from his mind. But why the heck did that guy have to start pursuing her?

And he would be damned if he let him have her so easily.

Fillmore patted his dog on the head as he looked across the street at a house he knew very well.

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After books ceased to entertain her, Ingrid turned to her last resort.

Yoga.

It helped in her line of work to have a very flexible body and also to be able to keep her breathing in check. It didn't matter how good your hiding place was if you were breathing like a horse. Also, it helped get her mind off things when she focused more on her breathing. Above all, it gave her more places to hide instead of getting stuck, mashed up against somebody else's body. She got stuck in a lot of tight places with Fillmore, but that was different. She trusted him. But the thought of being stuck in the same positions with someone else didn't go over to good in her head. Fillmore was professional. He held himself to a higher standard, apparently, even higher than her. She always wondered about one thing though. She could never tell if he was attracted to her or not. If so, then he never reacted the way she heard some boys would react to certain situation. Tehama told her an embarrassing story about Anza before. Though Ingrid could of gone without some of the details....Fillmore never called her cute or beautiful. He never mentioned any interest in her at all. It killed her wondering about such things.

Ingrid laid on her back with her legs pulled up over her face and her arms holding them in place. At one time this was called the hells stretch. Now it was but a walk in the park. She discovered a lot more creative things to do when she was in a pinch and needing somewhere to hide.

Ingrid counted to ten and released the hold.

Shower time.

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She came back into the living room with a pair of black sweat pants on and a long sleeve X high t shirt. Four years and she still refrained from wearing it to school. These were solely stay at home and hangout clothes. She put a hand through her drenched hair and shrugged. It was warm enough in the room, she wouldn't catch a cold. She picked her book back up, then walked to the couch and sat down to read it.

KNOCK! KNOCK!

'Huh?' Ingrid had no clue who could be at her house at 1:45pm on a school day. She specifically instructed Daniel not to bother her until the dance.

It was probably just some businessman, or Jehovah's Witness. Either one would be quickly turned away. Ingrid opened the door and her eyes opened wide with shock.

Her cool was restored within seconds.

"Fillmore."

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SisCoKid:*Jumps out of story* On to the next chapter!

Thanks for reading!