Sorry it's been so long in between chapters. Lifes been a bit hectic- then my computer crashed! All of my files were lost and I wasn't sure what direction I wanted to take this story. But now I'm back!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the So Weird characters. The only things I own are Kat, Marie, Bree, Ben & Greg. The ideas and concepts are my own, with the exception of the Dark and Light, which were heavily influenced by Susan Cooper's the Dark is Rising series.

Onto the story!


Callie groaned as she walked back into the room she and Carey shared, absently toweling her damp hair. "Why the hell are rehearsals so damn early?"

"I don't know babe… they just love torturing you." Carey smiled from the bed, changing the channel to the news.

"What are you going to do today?" Callie asked as she took out her favorite sweater and jeans.

"Annie's practice is at 12 and Molly's is right after. I figure I'll just lounge about until then." Carey grinned as his fiancé gave him a look.

"You should go get breakfast with the others." Callie stated, rolling her eyes at the dark look that crossed Carey's face. "This grudge has gone on long enough- they had your best interest at heart."

"I'll think about it." Carey replied, not in the mood to argue. A door shutting made Callie look at their own hotel door curiously.

"Who the hell would be up voluntarily at this hour?" Callie asked.

"Probably Clu. The idiot loves to run before the sun is up- something about it being the perfect time of day for thinking or something." Callie laughed at her fiancés comment, shaking her head.

"Be nice. I'm serious about letting bygones be bygones. I've got to go before Irene has a conniption- I'll call you later, maybe we'll meet up for a late breakfast?"

"I'd like that." Carey smiled at Callie, giving her a goodbye kiss. After the siren left the blonde sighed and pulled back the covers. Changing into a pair of jogging shorts and t-shirt he grabbed his key, leaving the hotel room quickly. While Clu jogged to clear his head, Carey preferred to lift weights, and after the last few days he definitely needed to clear his head- the hotel gym seemed the perfect place to do that.

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"You sure you don't want to come with me?" Clu asked for the tenth time, smiling as Jack threw a pillow at him. "Alright dude, see you later." With that the blonde placed his key and Ipod in his pocket and exited the room. He quickly made his way towards the park, the morning chill giving him goosebumps. After stretching he began to jog down the path, warming up before going into his morning run. As the blonde began to run faster he took in the scenes, smiling to himself as he passed the trees beginning to turn for the fall. As much as he loved California, the blonde had missed the seasons- especially fall. He'd been considering returning to the East coast for a few years. He knew Molly missed having the clan around, and though his girlfriend hid it well he knew she missed her mother desperately. Perhaps if he hadn't been so adamant about moving to California after Kat's departure Carey wouldn't be engaged to Callie. Clu smiled as he heard his girlfriend in his head yelling at him for his last thought but he couldn't help it. Something about the siren rubbed him the wrong way and he'd learned over the years to judge his intuition.

Clu checked his watch and smiled as he saw he had only been running for ten minutes. The sun was beginning to rise over the forest of trees he passed and he gazed at the field Kat, Ben and himself had used as their private soccer field yesterday. While he was concerned for his brother and his current girlfriend, he was more concerned for his best friend. He knew Kat's life hadn't been easy since she'd left them- Marie had told them yesterday that Kat still hadn't adjusted to life without her friends. Clu could see that the red head held Ben and Marie at an arms length, never getting more involved then she had to. He sighed as he thought of the emotional state of his brother and best friend- there had to be something he could do to make them realize their stupidity.

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Katrina swallowed the lump in her throat as she walked into the rehearsal hall. She had been there a number of times- it was where she found most of the acts for open mic night- but for some reason, the joy she'd felt when she was younger had left her when she had left her friends. Now, every time she went into a rehearsal hall she felt as though her stomach was full of lead and she couldn't wait to leave.

The opening chords to one of Annie's old songs were playing and as Katrina got closer to the room she could hear Annie's voice floating through the hall. Spotting Carey on the stage Katrina quickly made her way up the stairs, one hand holding a plate, the other holding onto the banister- Katrina didn't trust her legs right now.

Katrina made her way to the balcony, smiling as she took in the sight of her friend practicing. Annie was in her element and Katrina felt a pang in her heart as memories flooded back to her. She cringed as an off key note was played and watched in surprise as Carey's face flushed.

"Damnit Carey!" The drummer- Gavin was it- growled at him. From the drummer's expression Katrina took it that Carey had been doing this often during the rehearsal. Katrina heard footsteps behind her and sighed.

"Has he been doing this a lot lately?" She asked and heard Irene curse behind her.

"I always hated when you did that." Irene stood next to the red head, leaning her arms over the balcony. Katrina smiled, shrugging at the woman. "Only today. I don't know what's on his mind but…"

"Maybe this will cheer him up." Katrina handed Irene a plate, her green eyes full of sadness. "They're his favorite… I made too many for the shop- the people around here might be addicted to them but I doubt they'd buy four hundred."

"How have you been?" Irene asked as she accepted the plate, taking in the woman in front of her. True, the red head did not rate highly on her list of favorite people- no one broke her son's heart and got away with it. But Katrina had been like family, and after talking to Molly, Irene could see that the red head was still hurting as much as her son.

"Ok… bit of a shock at first but it's nice to see you guys again." Katrina smiled at her and opened her mouth to say something but stopped as Annie and Carey's voices floated up. The two women watched Annie walk away from the blonde, her face full of anger.

"You think now that she's back things will be normal? Where have you been the past few years Annie? Have you not noticed that without her our lives have been the most normal? Did you not notice the attack we experienced in HER coffee house? I know you and Clu are optimists but Christ Annie! You can't just blindly believe what some cracked out roadie tells you! And you most certainly can't trust the woman who walked out on us! She probably sent those people after us to make you think we need her!" Carey exclaimed and Annie turned around. She calmly walked back to the blonde and slapped him across the face.

Irene turned to look at the woman next to her and felt her heart break- Katrina's face was pale and her green eyes were full of sadness.

"I should go."

"Kat…"

"I think I've done enough Irene… It was nice to see you again." Katrina hastily made her way down the stairs and the blonde cringed as the door slammed shut. She sighed and made her way down the stairs in time to see Annie rush past her.

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Annie stared at her friend as he played the introduction to her song for the fifth time. She had never seen the blonde so shaken and so upset before. Normally, she'd allow him his slip ups, but she was beginning to get annoyed. The festival was in a week and a half and this was the first time she and her band had gotten to practice since she'd returned from Europe. The rest of the band looked ready to kill Carey and Annie was close to joining them.

"Let's take a break." Irene called from the balcony and Annie smiled gratefully at the blonde. The band exited the stage, glaring at the guitarist as they left. Annie hung back, watching Carey sit down heavily on a stool, playing the chords over and over again. The blonde angrily threw his pick across the stage as he fowled the introduction and Annie took it as her cue to approach him.

"Hey." Annie handed him the guitar pick back, her blue eyes locking with his own. "You ok?"

"Peachy." Carey grunted, placing his guitar down on the stage.

"Liar."

"Excuse me?"

"You're lying. Carey in the seven years that I've known you you've never messed up a song. Until now. So spill." Annie stated glaring at her friend. Carey shot her a death look and Annie knew that anyone else would have backed down.

"You guys apparently know me so well you should know what's bothering me Annie."

"Grow up Carey." Annie snapped, her blue eyes blazing. "It's been two days. You're 28 years old. I think you're old enough to get over this. We weren't trying to get the two of you back together."

"I didn't think you guys would try to get us back together Annie and that's not my problem with you two. It's the fact that you guys knew she was here, knew where she worked and still brought me there without telling me. I'm over her- I have been for the last three years. I'm happy with Callie and I honestly don't care if the rest of you are happy with that or not. But I would hope you'd respect me and Callie enough to not sneak attack me with my ex!"

"You can keep telling yourself your happy Carey but your not. And if that makes me, Clu and the others horrible people then so be it. There was a lot of bad blood between the two of you and I thought that not addressing it would affect your performance at this festival." Carey glared at the red head for her comment but Annie ignored it. "I love you like a brother, but Kat has always been my best friend- always will be. And I won't choose one of you over the other. If we're going to be here for another week and a half I'm going to invite her to things, she's going to be at the hotel and at the festival. The sooner you accept she's back in our lives the sooner we can all go back to being normal." With that Annie turned her back on the blonde and walked towards the stairs.

"You think now that she's back things will be normal? Where have you been the past few years Annie? Have you not noticed that without her our lives have been the most normal? Did you not notice the attack we experienced in HER coffee house? I know you and Clu are optimists but Christ Annie! You can't just blindly believe what some cracked out roadie tells you! And you most certainly can't trust the woman who walked out on us! She probably sent those people after us to make you think we need her!" Carey exclaimed and Annie turned around. She calmly walked back to the blonde and slapped him across the face.

"I'm not a moron Carey. And until you're the one whose life is in danger, you don't get the luxury to decide who we will or will not trust. Get over your stupid grudge and grow up." With that Annie left the stage and then the rehearsal hall. Carey growled in frustration, kicking his guitar.

"You know the others are right." Irene stated from the balcony, scaring her son. "Your emotions are affecting your playing Carey."

"What the hell is with all of you? Why can't you just leave me alone?" Carey shouted. Irene raised her eyebrow at her son, but as only a parent could do, ignored his outburst.

"Kat sent this over- a peace offering I suppose." Irene held up a tray of brownies - Carey's favorite kind, full of peanut butter and toffee chips. "She had to go back to the café."

"She was here?" Carey stared at the plate in surprise.

"Just left." Irene stated and Carey swallowed. Molly might have been the best at getting information out of the group, but Irene was the pro when it came to guilt trips.

"Shit."

"Shit is right honey… why don't you enjoy these while I go calm Annie down?" Irene glared at her son and Carey sat down heavily on the stage.