A/N: I know I said that the Gym battle would be this chapter, but as I wrote this, it just got pushed back. But it still has an epic battle in it. So, next chapter. Hopefully.

Chapter Ten: Quid Est Hic?

I stood in front of the Gym doors, still trying to decide whether or not to go in now, or go train some more and come back later. Flamo hadn't evolved, so that pretty much made Phil my strongest Pokemon on hand, and K'jin was Steel and Rock-Type, which was twice as weak to Fighting-Types.

"Actually, I think I'll go find the others," I told myself, walking off toward the beach. That was mostly likely where Bella would be, and Brendan and May as well.

The previous night's storm hadn't left much damage, only some uprooted small plants and some piles of sand here and there on the boardwalk were noticable. People were out on the fine sand having the time of their lives. I sighed. For some reason, seeing all those other people having a great, care-free time made me feel sad.

Naturally, to find the other crew members on my journey, I simply had to look for the single thing that was out of place. In this case, it was the sand castle that simply looked like a giant mound of sand. What made it stand out was the Poochyena head sticking out of it.

"Giving Sora a proper burial?" I asked as I walked up.

Bella looked up. "Hey, Sora thought it was a great idea, right?" She patted her Poochyena on the exposed head, and smiled. A second later, she dumped another handful of sand onto the pile, and patted it down.

Sora whimpered. "Please help me. This is not only embarrassing, but also very, very uncomfortable. I've got several grains of sand where no one wants sand to be."

"Sorry about this," I said to Bella, and I demolished the side of her sandcastle with my foot. Sora was able to wiggle free from there, and Bella simply pouted.

"That took me an hour to make," she whined. Bella threw the seashell that she was using as a shovel down and folded her arms. "You're mean."

I shrugged. "You were imprisoning Sora," I said in the Poochyena's defense. "And besides, it was really just a giant pile of sand. It shouldn't take a whole hour to remake it."

Sora shook his fur clean of the gritty sand, sending it cascading over Bella and I. "Cut it out, Sora," Bella ordered, and the Poochyena gave one last shake just to spite her. I was mostly unaffected by the sand because I was still decked out in my jacket and blues jeans, despite the fact that I was on the beach.

"So," I said, as Sora curled up in a ball several feet away and proceeded to snooze, "where's Brendan and May?"

"They went to try to catch another Pokémon for Brendan," Bella replied, gesturing over to Granite Cave in the distance. "They've been in there for several hours now. Hope they haven't gotten lost."

"I'm sure they're fine," I assured her, "they can find their way through a cave. There's probably a map somewhere in there or something like that to mark the trail."

"Yeah," she agreed, picking at the sand with her seashell. There was a rather awkward silence, and the only sounds were those of the people on the beach doing what they were doing.

"Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"Where are you from?"

Bella shrugged. "Goldenrod City in Johto. Why?"

"Do you ever get homesick?"

"Once in a while," she answered. "Why? Do you?"

I nodded. "Ever since that day when I woke up in Orre with no idea who I was, I've been homesick. The only problem is that I don't even know where home is."

Bella's neutral face turned to one of sympathy. "Really? You don't know where you live? Where you were born? Who your parents are?"

I shook my head. "No, it's all just a giant nothing in my head. When I try, I only give myself a headache, and come up with nothing. It's just so annoying. What makes it worse, there was this girl I used to like. She and I were going out, I think, but I can't even remember her name, or what she even looks like. It's pissing me off."

"Is it the girl from Unova?" Bella asked. "I though you said you remembered her."

"I remember Nikki," I replied. "But there's something before that. Some other girl I can't remember. Something more important that I can't remember. There's this huge hole in my memory, and I try so hard to fix it, but I can't."

"You know," Bella started, standing up and brushing the sand off of her. "A great love is a lot like a good memory. When it's there, and you know it's there, but it's just out of your reach, it can be all you think about. Then you can focus on it and try to force it, but the more you do, the more you seem to push it away. But, if you're patient and you hold still, well maybe, just maybe, it'll come to you."

Staring at her, my mouth was slightly open in shock. "Who told you that?"

"No one. I just kinda made it up on the spot."

"Someone else has said that to me before," I told her. Faint images came back to mind. A man, with spiky blue hair appeared in my mind. His facial features were blurred and unidentifiable. The memory wore off, and I remembered that I had the saying written on a scrap of paper that I found in my jacket pocket when David found me zoned out on the ground in the desolate region of Orre.

"Who?"

"I remember a person," I told Bella, "but I can't make out the face." I strained my brain, but the more I focused, the more it seemed to slip away, like a light fading into darkness.

Bella sat down on the sand next to me. "Don't try too hard. Remember what I said, and just let it come back naturally. If it doesn't, then there's probably a good reason that your mind doesn't want to remember anything. Maybe you were hurt by it, and your mind won't let you remember."

"Great," I muttered. "So, exactly how screwed up am I? I'm willing to bet that I'm borderlining on crazy and super mind fucked."

"You're not crazy," Bella told me. "You might actually be the most sane person I've ever met." She slowly rested her head on my shoulder lightly, to see if I would react. And I didn't. I was too busy just staring blankly at the ocean, my mind three-thousand miles away.

We just sat there in silence for several minutes. "You caught a new Pokemon," Bella observed, noticing the third Pokemon clipped to my belt. "What is it?"

"It's a Aron," I answered, still staring off into space. "Almost everyone has one." I returned to reality, and released all three of my team members so they could get some fresh air and sunlight.

"Hey!" Flamo almost instantly shouted, as soon as she saw Phil. "Why did he evolve? I've been fighting for you longer than he has!"

Phil simply flopped onto his back, and rested his head under his hands. "Chill out, little dude," he said. "Someday, your time will come. Until then, enjoy living the way you are. Once you evolve, you'll never be able to go back."

"Um...hi?" K'jin said, attempting to make himself know. "I'm new here."

Flamo's face almost instantly regained the lost smile. "Well, it appears that we have a rookie. I must ask him the initiation question. There is only one right answer. Are you ready?"

"Um...I guess?"

"Do you like beef?"

I rolled my eyes. Seriously, I might need to have her tested. She might be the crazy one on this journey of the damned. "Flamo, Phil, meet K'jin."

"I already know him," Phil replied lazily.

"Since when?"

"I was there when we met him in the cave."

I facepalmed. "Oh yeah. How did I forget? Thursdays are my offdays, I guess."

"Dude, it's Saturday."

Bella lifted up her head, and looked over to Sora, who was now soundly sleeping on the warm sand. "I still find it wierd that you understand Pokemon, but you don't know how it happened."

"Actually," I said, jumping to my feet. "I did remember several days back. Apparently, Mespirit somehow gave me that ability during my trip through Unova."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Well well, if it isn't our little-"

"Son of a bitch!" I shouted in annoyance the moment I recognized the voice. I turned around and glared at Butch. "What do you want now?"

The teen smiled smugly, and folded his arms over his leather jacket. As usual, there was the giant group of mindless zombies behind him, somehow finding him to be a suitable leader. "All I wanted was an easy win to follow-up my second Gym win," he said, and as if he had complete control of their minds, the group chuckled and snickered.

Bella folded her arms. "Trevor can kick your butt anytime he wants. He's not the weakling you think he is!"

Oh, great. Thank you, Bell. That was exactly what I needed. I'm being sarcastic there, just so you know.

Butch and his cronies thought that was hilarious, as made obvious by their prompt eruption into laughter. "Hiding behind your girlfriend?" Butch asked, in his usual arrogant tone. He suddenly stopped laughing, adopted a serious face, and snapped his fingers. Instantly, his followers quieted down. "Now, are we going to battle, or what?"

I sighed, once again, feeling forced into the situation. "Normally, I don't battle with arrogant bitches, but I'm feeling like straying from my usual style," I said, returning my Pokemon to their Pokeballs, much to their dismay. "I'm feeling lucky this time."

"Why don't we make this more interesting?" Bella asked, stepping forward. "Double-battle. Four on four."

Butch's smile grew wider. "Well, I don't see why not." He turned to the crowd of twenty people behind him. "Hey Jimmy! Come on!"

A kid around twelve stumbled out of the crowd. He had thick black hair that fell over his pale face. A pair of glasses covered his blue eyes. "I assume that we're to do battle against the wimp and his girlfriend?" Jimmy asked, adjusting his glasses. "So be it. We can't lose."

"Don't be too sure," Bella retorted, returning Sora to his Pokeball. "We might surprise you."

"That'll be the day," Butch muttered, taking out all three of his Pokeballs. "Let's just get this over with quickly," he said. "I need to be on my way to Maulville as soon as possible."

"Let's kick their butts," Bella whispered to me.

"That'll be the day," I muttered in reply.

Butch's groupies encircled us, staying far enough away to avoid any attacks that went stray. "Here." I tossed Bella one of my Pokemon. "That way we keep it an even two for each."

But, that cocky Butch didn't seem to see things the same way. He kept all three of his Pokemon with him, and left Jimmy with only one. That meant that we'd have to focus more on Butch, which wasn't all that great since he's beaten my twice before.

"Which one is it?" Bella asked, as she caught the Pokeball with her free hand.

"I don't know," I replied. "Just go with it and try not to fail."

"Thanks for the encouragement."

And with that, the battle began.

We each sent out our first Pokemon. Butch sent out Aby, his Abra. Jimmy sent out his sole Pokemon, which was a Turtwig, an uncommon sight in Hoenn.

"Go Sora!" Bella shouted over dramatically, throwing the ball into the air. When it hit the ground, her Poochyena burst out in a flash of red light.

I wordlessly sent out Flamo. The four of us simply stood there for a second, before Bella decided that she was going to take the first move.

"Sora, use Bite on the Abra!" she ordered, pointing to the floating yellow psychic. Sora gave a growl that came off more cute than menacing, and charged at the Abra.

"Dodge it and use Calm Mind," Butch commanded simply, not seeming to feel the slightest bit threatened. Aby teleported three feet to the left, and Sora skidded to a stop. Aby's eyes glowed with a golden glow, and raised it's special attack.

"Leaf, use Razor Leaf!" Jimmy pointed at the defenseless Sora's back, and a moment later, the Turtwig pelted the Poochyena with a wave of razor sharp leaves. Sora cried out in pain as he made a dash back to our side of the field.

"Flamo, use Ember on that Turtwig," I said, mentally hoping that she wouldn't screw it up somehow. Hey, don't say that I don't have faith in my Pokemon, it's just that they have the tendency to mess up on occasion. Every few minutes.

The Torchic jumped into the air, and unleashed a burst of embers toward the grass turtle. Jimmy tried to order Leaf to dodge, but he was too slow. The fire burnt the Turtwig, who recoiled in burning agony as it tried to ignore the pain.

"Back to square one, eh?" Bella commented since it was her turn again. "Sora, once again, Bite on the Abra. Don't let it out of your sight."

Once more, the Poochyena ran at the Abra, fangs bared and ready to clamp down on Aby's yellow arm.

Butch, of course, seemed far more prepared than either me or Bella. "Use Shadow Ball."

Aby formed a sphere of pure shadows between its hands, and slammed it down onto Sora when he was with hitting distance. The blast knocked Sora back several feet, and he collapsed in a heap in the sand at the middle of the field.

"Finish it off with Razor Leaf, Leaf!" Jimmy shouted, and his Turtwig fired off another wave of leaves into the poor Poochyena, officially knocking it out. Bella pouted as she returned him to his Pokeball.

Out of nowhere, the pout flashed into a thin neutral smile, and her eyes narrowed slightly. I'm no expert in the field, but I think that she was actually angry about something. Perhaps she's a sore loser? Please no. I don't want her to embarrass me any further.

She tossed out the Pokemon I lent her, and Phil materialized on the field. "Wassup-oh, we're battling aren't we?" he noted, seeing the other two Pokemon that looked ready to beat him up. But, on the bright side, he was the only evolved Pokemon on the field, so that gave us a slight advantage, right?

I had to think. If I were to order Flamo to Ember the Turtwig, it would be expected and easily preventable. But, if I did something that no one was expecting, then they couldn't prepare for it. Now I only had to think about what that thing was. "Flamo, use Focus Energy." It would raise her chances of scoring a critical hit, and buy sometime to think.

"Phil," Bella said, pointing at the Abra that seemed to taunt her, "use Water Gun and blast it off it's cloud of air." Phil didn't seem to understand why he was under her control, but a quick glance at me, and I nodded, and he immediately followed her orders.

But, Aby simply teleported out of the way, reappearing three feet to the left. "Psychic," Butch ordered in a bored tone. Aby focused, and then attacked Phil with a large blast of pure mental energy.

Phil let out a long string of violent profanity as he flew back, and muttered a thousand and one curses at the Abra. He jumped back up to his feet, and was ready for combat once again.

"Leaf, use Synthesis!" Jimmy ordered, and his Turtwig coated itself in a green aura, and restored some of the damaged that Flamo had inflicted. A smug smile grew on his face, as if he felt that he outsmarted me.

I still hadn't thought of anything, although, I did have an interesting theory to try out. "Flamo, use Ember on the Abra!"

Butch smirked, and snapped his fingers. Aby vanished in a flash of pink light.

"Cancel," I ordered. Flamo stopped firing the embers, and looked back up at me in confusion. "Now, shoot them three feet to the left."

Butch's eyebrows raised in surprise, but he kept quiet. Aby reappeared exactly where I had planned, and was torched by the flaming hot embers. Luck was on my side that day, due to Flamo using Focus Energy, Ember was a critical hit, and Aby fell down to the sand, attempting to endure the fire. But, Aby was unable to overcome the pain, and promptly fainted on the fine sand beneath her.

Butch let out a low whistle. "Wow. It's been a while since anyone's been able to take Aby out," he commented, and I still swear there was the ever so slightest hint of admiration in his voice. "But," it's still three to three."

He released his next Pokemon to the field, which turned out to be Glut, his Munchlax. Great, weak to Fighting-Types, which I didn't happen to have. My best bet would be K'jin, since his Steel and Rock-Types would be resistant to the normal attacks. For once, things didn't look so bleak.

"Okay," Bella said, popping her knuckles for some unknown reason. "Phil, use Water Gun on the Munchlax, pronto!" Phil simply obeyed without question, and fired the stream of H2O at the fat little glutton.

"Protect." Glut formed a green energy sphere around him, and the water hit it with absolutely not effect whatsoever. Bella growled quietly in annoyance, and folded her arms.

"Leaf, use Tackle on the Torchic!" Jimmy ordered, and his Turtwig let out a pathetic howl of rage and charged Flamo.

Okay, just a quick little tip that will help you as a trainer. If your Pokemon is ever at the Type disadvantage, never, ever, ever have it charge at the Pokemon that has the advantage. Seriously, it's not going to work out at all.

"Ember when it's close enough," I told Flamo, who responded with a simple nod. When the Turtwig was mere inches from her, she opened her beak, and let loose countless fiery sparks right into its face. Long story short, the match was now in our favor at three on two.

Jimmy dropped to his knees, and covered his head in shame. "I tried, I tried so hard," he wailed, although no one actually seemed to care.

Then I saw Brendan pushing through the crowd, with May at his side. They waved at us, apparently not recognizing Butch as the one that assaulted Brendan back on Petalburg Beach. Hey, I just remembered that I promised to talk to Brendan about his dad. Mental note to self.

"Hmph." Butch sent out his last standing Pokemon. "Go, Slasher!"

"What the hell is that?" I asked Bella as the Pokemon materialized. It was white-furred, had a giant red Z on it's chest, and two long claws on each hand.

"That's a Zangoose," she replied, also seemingly surprised. "They're very rare, and can't be found around here."

"Then how'd he get one?"

"I don't know. Focus on battling."

"Okay, then."

Bella thought for a moment, looking between the two Pokemon against her. "Um...Phil use Water Gun on the Zangoose." Once more, Phil launched the stream of high velocity water.

"Dodge it." Slasher surprised the crap out of us when he lept over ten feet into the air, completely avoiding the attack. "Now, use Slash!"

Phil gulped as he saw the Zangoose descending upon him, claws ready to slash him into tiny ribbons. "You know, this whole battle idea doesn't seem to be a good-"

Slasher lashed out with his claws, hitting Phil with the full force of the fall. Phil was sent skidding back across the field, leaving a trench of sand in his wake, and stopped several yards away. He was out before he hit the ground.

"Now were even, at two to two," Butch said, his ever present arrogant smirk on his face. "Honestly, you should just surrender and save yourself the embarrassment of losing for the third time."

"Maybe some other time," I replied, handing Bella K'jin's Pokeball. "This might be our ace in the hole. He's resistant to Normal attacks," I whispered to her. "Use his carefully."

"Oh, just give me the damn thing so we can kick his ass," she snapped, snatching the Pokeball from my outstretched hand. I think something somewhere made her made at something somewhere.

She threw K'jin's ball to the ground, somehow managing to hit the button to release him. My Aron appeared on the field, and blinked a few times before coming to his senses. "What's going on?"

"You're in battle, idiot," Flamo replied. "Now get ready to deliver the biggest ass-whooping they've ever seen."

Shrugging, K'jin took a deep breath, and stared up at the Zangoose who towered over him. "Okay, stand down," K'jin ordered, "or I'll kick your ass."

Slasher glanced over at Glut, and they both snickered.

"Target the Munchlax," I whispered to Bella. "Take out the weakest member, so we can double team on the stronger Zangoose."

"Flamo, Ember." Flamo fired off the embers into the air, which arced and fell down onto the Munchlax. Glut recoiled from the attack, but was still holding strong. Only now he had small charred spots on his chest.

"Slasher, Slash!" the Zangoose lashed out with a vicious fury, striking Flamo and sending her screaming into the air. She hit the ground, and struggled to get up.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, when she realized that she wasn't going to stay up much longer. "It's your fault," she told me. "I haven't had beef in a while." And with that, she fainted. With a sigh of regret, and I returned.

"It's all up to you, Bella," I told her. "Just have a little faith in K'jin. He's stronger than he might look."

"Hey!" K'jin shouted. "You sayin' I'm weak?"

"No, just kick ass, okay?"

"Kay. I got this."

And...that was my indication that we were going to lose. Whenever someone says "I got this" they really don't. Watch some more YouTube if you don't believe me.

Bella was trembling, and seemed on the verge of tears. "Hey," I said, putting my hand on her shoulder. "It's okay," I assured her. "Don't be afraid of failing. That's part of life."

She nodded. "K'jin, use Headbutt on the Munchlax. Put all your strength into it."

"Copy," he replied, lowering his head, and taking a deep breath. He ran at Glut, and rammed into him with his iron skull. The force was enough to knock the Munchlax onto its back, where it was struggling to get back upright. It wasn't getting anywhere.

I clenched my fists, and I saw similar reactions from May and Brendan on the other side of the field. Glut was pretty much out for the count, since it would be almost impossible for him to get up with that fat.

"Slash!" Butch ordered to his Zangoose, who eagerly obeyed. He ran with open claws at K'jin, who simply pulled himself into a ball to protect himself from the hit. The slash did minimal damage, since K'jin's types reduced the damage.

Without warning, K'jin lashed out with a Metal Claw, slamming it into the foot of the Zangoose. Slasher cried out in pain, and grabbed his foot and hopped around on the other foot, looking much like I did back in Rustburo when I kicked the streetlamp.

Then, K'jin slammed into the Zangoose with a Headbutt, knocking it onto his back much like Glut. K'jin jumped onto Slashers chest, and began slashing with Metal Claws, showing no mercy.

The crowd watched in silence as my Aron delivered the final blow, a Metal Claw to the face, knocking out the Zangoose. There was a stunned silence for several more seconds.

"Did...did we just win?" Bella asked, excitement clear in her voice.

"Nope." A Focus Blast slammed into K'jin, knocking him off of Slasher, and onto the ground. The super effective move knocked K'jin out instantly. Glut somehow managed to upright himself, and fire off the Focus Blast.

Muttering some curses that I don't want to repeat, I returned the fallen K'jin, Flamo, and Phil to their Pokeballs, and turned away, heading off the Pokemon Center.

"I knew I would beat you," Butch nagged as he returned his Pokemon. "It's inevitable. I've beaten you before, and it's only natural that I won that easily."

"Easily?" Bella echoed. "It was a close match. You were down to your last Pokemon just like we were. You can't call that easy."

"Sore loser much?" Butch remarked. His cronies laughed. Okay, I've had it. Where did he get the mind control device? They can't actually be going along with this asshole for free.

Bella turned away from him, and walked briskly away. As she passed me, I saw the tears forming in her eyes. "Damn it Butch," I said. "Do you have to be so damn mean? You made her cry, for God's sake."

He shrugged. "It's not my fault that you're traveling with a crybaby. Perhaps you should pick your girlfriends carefully. Maybe get some that don't seem upset at losing, which you said is a part of life."

"It is."

"Then you're living life pretty well," he retorted, and once again, the crowed joined in on his laughter.

"You can be a smart ass all you want, just keep in mind that there's always going to be someone better than you."

"And who might that be?"

"She's right behind you, dude."

Butch cast a glance over his shoulder, and his eyes widened in shock as he saw the same girl that had kicked his butt with a Skitty back on the Petalburg Beach. "Um..." was all he could say as she walked through the crowd.

"You remember what happened last time we met right?" Nikki asked, staring Butch in the eyes.

"How could I forget?"

Nikki turned to me. "Go get your friend. Make sure she's okay."

Nodding, I ran off after Bella. I admit that I had no idea exactly why I was going after her, she probably just needed sometime alone or something, but I wasn't going to question.

Fortunately, Bella's shoes had left plenty of prints that made her easy to track down. The trail led me into the jungle near the town, and through some mildly thick brush. Eventually, I found Bella sitting on a moss-covered rock, sobbing into her hands.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, hoping not to make her any worse than she was. "Don't let that jerk get to you. He's just an arrogant asshole that feels bad about himself, so he makes others feel bad to make himself feel better."

Bella didn't reply, and only continued to cry. Shit, I didn't know what to do. This wasn't good.

"I've ran into his kind before," Bella finally said, somehow coming out clear despite her tears. "She said that I was worthless, called me names that go beyond anything he's ever said to either of us, once she even beat me up. That's why I left Johto. I wanted to get away. I wanted away from the bullies."

I sighed, and sat down on the ground next to her. "Bells, there's going to be bullies like that no matter where you are. They just want to put you down and make your life as fucking miserable as possible. But, life goes on, and everyone gets over it. You just have to learn to ignore it."

She didn't reply, only wiping her eyes and sniffling.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Oh gee, Voi said/thought. I'm not sure that'll help, Dr. Phil.

I ignored the sarcastic voice in my head, and looked over at Bella. "Look, if you think you have it bad, then consider the fact that I have amnesia, strange visions, I got a strange phone call, no matter how hard I try, I never can find any links to my past that actually make sense. If you think that your life sucks, mine sucks even worse."

Bella chuckled. Or at least I think she did. I really couldn't tell. She might've been sniffling again. "No one's ever said to me that I was beautiful. My dad was always drunk, and my mom was always cheating around on him, so I was just there in their lives. Someone to do the dishes, wash the clothes, make their food, do everything else for them. When my teachers asked my grades were so bad, I couldn't tell them that I had no time for homework since I was a slave to my parents."

Okay. Did not see that one coming.

Oh please. Everything's always a shocker to you. Don't you ever expect anything? Voi asked, in his normally annoying voice.

"And then it got worse."

"Um...you still want to talk about it?"

She shook her head. "No, all I've ever wanted was for someone to tell me that I was perfect, that no matter where I came from, that I was beautiful, and perfect, and all that other good shit. But no. All I got was insults and beaten up by that bitch Jennifer!"

"Bella," I said, in a comforting voice, trying to calm her down, "it's okay. Just let it all out. If you need me, I'm right here."

Wow, Voi commented. It's like it's right out of some spin off Nicholas Sparks novel.

I looked her in the eyes. "It doesn't matter about what other people have said about you. All that matters is what you think of yourself."

"Do you think I'm beautiful?"

Crap. She asked the one question that I hoped she didn't ask. I can't say no, because that's just the wrong answer. But, if I said yes, then that might make her think that I was...screw it. YOLO.

Screwing my courage to the sticking place, I answered. "Of course I do." Well, it really wasn't a lie. After all, I was meaning that I found her personality beautiful, if not her looks in general.

Yeah yeah, keep lying to yourself.

Oh shut up. Get out of my thoughts.

What happened next was something I didn't see coming. And don't you dare make a comment on that, Voi. I've had enough of you.

She kissed me. Full on the lips.

This wasn't just any old peck on the lips. There was something more to this kiss than met the eye. I couldn't describe it...it was...different...to say the least.

It was almost like a taste of heaven, with extra sugar.

I didn't know how to react to the situation. Pulling away would be a sign of rejection, but staying like this...Several seconds later, we pulled apart.

Dammit! Voi shouted. I had my money that you'd get to third base!

"I shouldn't have done that, should I?" Bella asked, resting her head in her hands. "I mean, you've got a girlfriend somewhere, don't you?"

"I...um...I think...somewhere...I don't know." The whole thing had completely disorientated me. First off, I wasn't expecting it. Secondly, I wasn't expecting it. Third, Bella kissed a lot better than I thought. Fourth, It was unexpected.

You said the same thing four times, dumbass, thought Voi, who always seemed to comment in the wrong times and places.

"It was my fault," Bella apologized, wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her arm. "I just got all fed up and emotional, and...and, I don't know."

I tried to act cool with it. "Don't worry about it," I told her. "It's happened plenty of times before." That was almost a total lie, since there might have been some truth in it somewhere.

"Why don't we just forget this whole thing?"

"Agreed."

A/N: I couldn't think of a chapter title for this, so I went with Quid Est Hic?, which is a rough Latin translation of What is This? Just an FYI.