A/N:

Before this chapter, I just want to talk to you guys! Now, I write these fanfics mainly for myself, firstly because I like writing and secondly because I like The Breakfast Club and all of those other wonderful shows and movies. But I upload it to FanFiction to get feedback from other writers. It's really quite upsetting to see people who are clearly enjoying the story (favoriting, following the story and me, etc), and not telling me what you think. Please, even if it's anonymous, let me know what you think of this chapter, through PM or whatever. I love hearing what everyone has to say. And without further ado, please enjoy the newest chapter.

Lying on the riverbank, head tilted and enjoying the sunshine that continually washed over her face, for once not minding that the hot Illinois weather burned through the darkness of her clothes, Allison sighed in contentment. She hadn't even thought about the mess she'd left behind - and that didn't mean just the stain on the carpet of her bedroom. Bender watched her, unable to tear his eyes from her small frame, thoughts running through his head like galloping stallions through a wide, open field.

Usually, he would have rolled his eyes. Who wastes their day sitting in the middle of nowhere, doing nothing? No, he thought, she's not doing nothing. His eyes flitted to the drawing pad that sat in her lap, and the quick hand that sketched lazily, capturing a scene that Allison could not even imagine ever happening. A happy family.

Bender placed a hand on Allison's thigh, his thumb absentmindedly brushing against the skin covered in opaque black tights, in a clumsy attempt to comfort her. Allison cast a glance over her drawing pad and blushed. It seemed that whenever she didn't pay attention, whenever her mind dared to wonder beyond what was happening right at that second, all her hidden worries and woes spilled onto the paper in a charcoal colored mess.

And while the drawing was quite clearly a family that was smiling and pleased to be with one another - something that neither Bender nor Allison had ever quite had in their grasps, it was messily drawn and indistinct to someone without a keen eye for sad scenes. Allison sighed once again; this time, drawing in a deep, steady breath that revealed the hopelessness that dwelled beneath her very surface.

"You're not happy." Bender tells her flatly, standing and pulling her up with her. Allison trails her eyes over his face, briefly scanning for a flicker of emotion that lit up his eyes just moments previous. Whatever flame lingered there before, her drawing had silenced it, extinguished the hope that with her, he was happy. The thought stirred her stomach into anxious knots where butterflies flitted, and in their desperate attempts to stay in flight, caused Allison to feel unjust apprehensiveness.

Letting her gaze once again fall to the ground, Allison shrugs despondently. After racking her brains, and finally finding fitting words to say, her voice comes out as a small, gravelly rasp. "It's been a long time since I've been happy,"

It broke Bender's heart (though it already was in tatters) to hear the listless words that escaped from her lips. He almost kissed her once again to shut her up, struggling to hear that she felt so low. He minutely shook his head to himself, however, and knew that it would be a dirty and selfish trick. Besides, he convinced himself, he wanted to know about her. Everything he could, he wanted to know, to absorb the information. It had been a long time - or had it been ever? - that anyone or anything had made him feel this way, and the closer he felt to losing it the worse he felt.

"Let me take you home," Bender offers, determined to do the right thing even if it meant that he was sent packing with his tail behind his legs back to the poor part of town.

Allison smiles at him, and shakes her head, letting her hair fall in front of her eyes. "No," she whispers, her smile slowly slipping off of her face. "It won't be like that. It will be screaming, and fights, and tears..."

Bender pushes Allison's hair back. "Alley-Cat," he continues, more firmly. "Let me take you home."

"Will you stay with me?" Allison asks, her voice so tiny and pathetic that even Bender felt the shame that radiated off of her. "It scares me - the thought of going home."

Bender frowns, and nods his head. "I'll stay as long as you need me to."


It doesn't take a very long time to cross town to get to Allison's house, even though Allison extended the journey for as long as she could possibly manage. Her holdall was slung heavily over one shoulder, and her feet dragged on the sidewalk as they both trailed up her front path.

Biting her lip in a nervous anticipation, Allison knocked on the front door wearily, staring at the ground while doing so. Bender stood beside her in a supportive stance, ready to defend her if necessary. Allison winced as she heard footsteps and Bender resisted the urge to swear. While he thought that Allison probably did use her fair share of expletives, he imagined that her parents wouldn't be pleased to hear them come out of his mouth anymore than they were pleased to see him standing on their doorstep, making it look untidy.

When the door opened, Bender's eyebrows shot up. A prim looking woman, not a hair out of place, wearing a dress that looked like it belonged in the window of a boutique in town, appeared on the other side.

Bender glanced over to Allison, and he saw her chin wobble and eyes mist. The woman, who Bender correctly assumed was Mrs Reynolds, opened her eyes widely in shock. Two arms shot out and around Allison's back and her mother engulfed her into a hug. Bender already felt the sourness sink into his stomach. The sob story was clearly a lie, a web spun to get him to help her. She was yet another rich runaway with nothing better to do. Bender sniffed indignantly, and Allison slowly pulled away from her mother, eyes wide.

"We've been so worried, sweetheart! My goodness, never do that again. And you, young man? Am I correct in thinking that you helped her home? I'm so sorry for the trouble she must have caused. Please accept my sincere gratefulness, Allison's father and I have never been more concerned. Allison, come in, my dear."

Allison, utterly confused by her mother's sudden change of heart, let her lead her inside and slam the door. She watched Bender walk down the path and then common sense kicked in. "I'm sorry, Mom, and thanks for understanding, but I have to go after him-"

Allison was interrupted by a harsh slap when her mother's hand collided with her left cheek. "I don't know why you thought I really thought that, Allison Reynolds. You are going to your room now, and if you think you're having any drawing supplies, any arty things that you love so much, then you're mistaken. And as for bringing that tramp to our doorstep! What will the neighbors think, you stupid girl? Get to your room! Now!"

Allison took the stairs two at a time to escape her mother's glare on the back of her neck. Sinking to the floor in her room, she wondered how things could possibly get worse, when her notebook, now propped against her bedroom door, fluttered to a random page.

The face of John Bender stared back at her.

Would she ever see him again?