Well it's been a little while but so far on my trips around Asia I have found time to write and edit, since my travel parters sleep early. I've had this chap ready for a couple of days and I finally found some internet decent enough to stay connected for long enough to get this up.

As always, enjoy amd get to writing a bit more for the next one.

The house was peaceful, much like the rest of the neighbourhood at such an early time of the morning. The sound of the odd car passing by the street, the birds all searching for their breakfast and the alarm of TJ Detweiler piercing the ears of its owner.

What was once a part of his morning routine, turning off the alarm, had become a serious chore. His body was aching all over from the fight he had with Lawson the other night. At least this morning he didn't have to deal with the hangover, that was what he imagined hell to be like. He didn't even possess the energy this morning to fling his arm aimlessly at the thing and purely hoping he hits the right button.

Of course, all things must come to an end. The alarm was silenced and made time for TJ to sleep away what little time he had left before he had to go to school. The thought that he had to begin organising himself had little to no effect on him whatsoever. He slept in, rushed through cleaning himself up, forced down some food and set out for his morning walk, just like someone else had.

Spinelli owns her car but she seems to be having constant trouble with it and it only makes her love it more when it does work. To summarise it for her, she seems to be stuck with the Neanderthal technique of walking.

"How're you feeling this fine morning?"

TJ expected the awkward silence to just carry on, but apparently they're friends now?

"About as good as you could expect. You?"

Spinelli seemed to eye him from top to bottom, trying to determine her next course of action. Does she want to become close to him again or will it all end the same? It was not a decision that she wanted to make quickly.

"You know what TJ? I'm actually not that bad, even if I am walking this morning."

"I could join you. If you'd like."

TJ desperately wanted to heal all past wounds and none was more important than the damage between himself and Spinelli. It seemed anything involving her had an effect on him that multiplied on its own to the point where he didn't even know you could feel that way about a person.

"Why not. Let's get going."

The weather was starting to get cold again, but not to the point where extra clothing is needed quite yet. The walk was longer than the one he used to do to third street and TJ was thankful for that, as it gave him extra time with her.

"Those bruises are really starting to show themselves."

TJ laughed. "You should see the other guy."

"I did. He doesn't look much different."

TJ gave a dramatic sigh and looked at the ground beneath him all just to exaggerate his hurt.

Spinelli continued. "I'd still say you won though."

This cheered him up. "Don't you forget it."

The small talk couldn't last forever and the inevitable silence fell on them at an instant. They both wore all the physical signs that they wanted to continue their talk but they simply lacked any idea for what topic to bring up. After so long without any real conversation they had lost their ability to talk in depth about nothing.

For a lack of any better idea, TJ continued their current direction.

"I know you like to fight and all but I don't think I'm cut out for this in the end."

"Oh, so you're not gonna join the wrestling team this year?"

"Yeah, I think I'm gonna have to pass. After all the fights in the home I suppose I thought I wouldn't have to again."

"You gotta fight for anything in life. When you finally win something that you put in the sweat and tears is when you can be the proudest of yourself."

"I know what I'm fighting for now. I just want you guys back. I want us to be like we were before I fucked up."

TJ's blue eyes bore straight into Spinelli's. They both hide how they feel as a way to safeguard their own feelings and it is only causing the wedge between them to remain as it is.

"Spin… I never meant to upset you in anyway at all and I never thought that I'd ever want what caused my problems as much as I did. If I had gone out with you and the guys that night I wouldn't have been in that situation and everything would have been fine. I threw away everything because I made a dumb choice. It was my fault."

"Look Teej, I'm not looking for your apologies because I've heard them all before. Right now, all I want is my friend back."

"I know, I know. That's what I want too."

Spinelli wasn't ready for whatever TJ was. She had only just convinced herself to talk to him without glaring a hole through his head. Maybe all she needed was the truth.

"Why did you…"

Before she could continue they had reached the school and were interrupted by a group of kids walking into them. This would have to wait.

"All students report to the assembly area before classes thank you, all students to the assembly area." The speakers across the schooled dictated to the mass of students.

Spinelli snapped back to reality. "I guess I'll see ya later."

"Yeah, for sure." TJ watched her walk away, again. "See you."

"I'm telling ya Vince, the players these days just aren't the same as they were a few years back."

"They do have some decent players up and coming and I know for a fact we have some great players on our team now."

TJ just sighed after Vince reached the same point in his argument again. It wasn't out of annoyance or frustration, he was enjoying their debate. The innocence of dwelling over the best baseball players that they could think of reminded him of simpler times.

"Ok Vince, I think we are gonna have to agree to disagree on this one. Especially before Kirby Pukkett gets brought up again."

Vince laughed at his friend. "Some things we are never going to agree on, but you know where I stand on him."

"Yes Vince, I do."

The boys were enjoying their lunch together after the assembly this morning. It was just something about talking over your future that seemed to both bore and distress students all at the same time. Long lists of 'get good grades', 'don't do anything regrettable when you go out' or 'we're here to help you'. It gets old.

"So, how was your wake up this morning Teej? Better than the morning after I'm guessing."

"It was exactly how you'd imagine it, absolute shit." TJ cringed at the feeling that was still lingering in his stomach from that morning.

"And you still have to walk to school? Man you should have called and I could have got Chad to pick you up on our way."

"It wasn't all that bad. Spinelli was with me so I got a bit of a distraction from my body nearly giving out on me."

Vince's eyes lit up immediately. "Whoa whoa whoa, hold up. You're friends again?"

"I really don't know at the moment. What I do know is she won't attack me if we spend too long together."

"Why are you guys still on edge. I mean, we are all pretty good now. It's been a while and it's not like anything crazy really happened."

"I think we just trusted each other more in a way."

Everyone knows TJ and Spinelli are close. They always have been. For years they were at the receiving end of jokes about them being together, even now they still get that but not in the same teasing way. People genuinely believe that they are together and others would too if they didn't know them as well.

"I swear you guys should just kiss and make up already."

TJ stopped as he thought about what he was being told. Was it that easy? No, of course it isn't. If everything happened before the kiss, and not after, then perhaps it wouldn't be as complicated as it was now. Maybe if he stopped it sooner.

"Hello, Earth to TJ. Are you there, man?"

"Huh, yeah I'm good."

"Why'd you space out on me this time. All I mentioned was walking to school with Spin and… oh I see."

TJ could tell Vince was on a very specific train of thought at the moment that is going to be quite uncomfortable for him. But they're best friends, which is why TJ is going to let it go on, kinda.

"See what?"

"Come on Teej, just tell me if it's true."

"It could be anything and I don't want to say anything in case it's not what you're thinking."

"So there is something."

Vince's grin was growing wider by the second, only just too small to go complete from one side of his face to the other. He knew at this moment that he had caught his friend in one of his secrets.

TJ, on the other hand, knew he could deny every accusation Vince could throw at him all day. The problem was that he wouldn't stop until he got the answer he was after.

"There might have been a little something."

TJ waited for a response he was certain was coming his way but it never came. Instead, all he was met with was Vince's face completely engrossed in what he would say next, completely expectant that TJ was going continue and tell him a story.

"Right, well it started not long after I got back when I went to go see her. I just wanted some things up that I said and I kissed her."

"Yesss!" Vince cheered for his friend and for himself by learning it all. "Umm, continue."

"That's just it. She didn't want to continue but everything she did seemed to say the opposite. It started going well and I think that's why she took it hard. I stopped it and she knew why I did."

"Did she want to stop it?

"It was my choice. She wouldn't have made it herself."

"Becky, where are my shoes?"

For an early morning it was loud, with TJ's voice booming through their house. Becky was already up preparing for work so he didn't have to sneak around on his mission for getting ready for school.

"Where did you leave them?"

TJ sighed out loud to himself. If only he had thought of such a thing before searching the entire house. He can recall all of his steps last night but not one of them included taking off his shoes. Why does something so simple have to be so forgettable?

Another few minutes into searching and he had given up yet again.

"Becky, are you sure you haven't seen them anywhere?"

This was really his last option in his mind. If she doesn't know, no one does.

"No TJ, I really have not seen them. Wear your old ones."

"But I like my new ones better. The old ones aren't the same."

"Wow. To think I thought that girls were obsessed with how they look."

TJ huffed and continued on his was to get his old shoes out of his wardrobe. They weren't too small or broken or anything. They simply weren't the new shoes. Becky was totally exaggerating thinking he cares that much about fashion, when he does. Typical.

When TJ come back down stairs he found Becky was just about ready to leave. Luckily for him he still had about an hour and a half until he would have to leave for school.

Becky looked straight to his feet and smiled.

"They aren't that bad are they?"

TJ had opted for a more skater type of shoe as of late. That is why he felt out of place wearing his red converses, which still fit since he had pretty much stopped growing by now.

"They're fine but I'm just not used to them like I used to be."

"Well they are going to have to do. The others will turn up eventually."

"Thanks for the support, sis."

Becky laughed at her brothers obvious disappointment at losing his favourite shoes. Glancing at the clock, she decided it was time to head off to work before she gets distracted anymore.

Walking out of the door she yelled her goodbyes back into the house. Upon hearing TJ reply back and seeing the Spinelli household active she couldn't resist.

She looked back and yelled out as loud as she could manage. "Oh and TJ, don't forget to clean up all your underwear out of the living room."

She didn't have to see it but she could picture the embarrassed and annoyed look that would have been sent her way.

TJ sat eating his breakfast, his last thing to do before brushing his teeth and leaving for school, when he heard a knock at his door. Seems to happen a lot lately.

"Room service." Came a female's voice.

Forcing down his last big spoonful he went to let Spinelli in. He was glad to see her, as usual, and mumbled a hello to her through his mouthful of food.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to speak while eating?"

TJ swallowed his food, after nearly spitting it out. "She did, but I'm a slow learner."

Quick to change the subject, Spinelli went to the first thing she could think of, and also finish her joke.

"Well I heard you need some underwear cleaned and thought you could use a hand."

"Sorry to disappoint but Becky was telling a few little lies this morning."

"I thought that might have been the case but I never know with you."

"So what are you up to?" The conversation moving inside the house now so TJ could clean up his breakfast.

"Meeting up with you to go to school."

She spoke like it was something that he should have already known. Something as common sense as knowing his own birthday.

He liked the thought of walking with her again so he could spend some time together. On top of that, they hadn't really had the time to finish their talk they started the other day.

"Wait a sec." Coming out of his thoughts. "What about your car?"

Her face dropped at the mention of her piece of metal and plastic.

"Don't even get me started on the stupid piece of junk. How long until you're ready to go?"

"Give me like... ten minutes."

She smirked at him in the sly way she always would. "You got five."

Like the gun at the start of a race, her voice sent him straight into action and just like that he ran off to try and beat her deadline.

It was one of the worse times for TJ right now. He had no class on but there was no one around that usually had study hall with. It left him to himself and, although his thoughts no longer bothered him as much, he still craved something to keep him busy. Out of all the places he could think of, he arrived at the library to read his English book. It was a job that never seemed to get done.

He finally found the book he was after and settled in at the back of the library as to not be seen by 'popular' kids. It wasn't such a total act of social suicide as it was in his earlier years, being seen working on school work. It was more accepted by others now and the teachers became less like the dictators they were and were now more of a friend. Either way, TJ still possessed his trait of laziness towards school.

"Hey TJ, what are you doing here?"

Searching for the owner of the voice, TJ span around and quickly found his answer.

"Mikey? Aren't you supposed to be in drama right now?"

"Well yes but the auditorium is getting a rather modernised redo and the renovation was meant to be occurring out of the way of class time. Apparently today is the day they paint our little piece of heaven and freedom in a plethora of different shades of blacks, whites and greys, with the odd splash of vibrant colours."

"Sounds like it's just what you guys want."

"While it's bothersome, it is much needed in the ancient room we get shoved into. Not literally of course."

"Whatever floats your boat, big guy. Hey umm... I was wondering…"

"Yeah?"

"What's the best way to tell someone everything that you don't think you could even say out aloud at all?"

Mikey went into thought about all the ways he could think of, ranging from blunt to utterly heartbreaking romance. Of course TJ couldn't possibly use each and every method that he could come up with.

"Describe 'everything'."

"Like things that you want to say but you can't because you think it's going to work out wrong again."

Mikey gave him a knowing look. "Girl trouble?"

As much as it spited him, TJ felt he really needed another opinion on his troubles.

"Yeah."

"Honestly young TJ, you need to tell her how you feel before things get beyond complicated and the drama becomes unbearable and all is lost. And being completely honest, since when have you had a problem of saying how you feel."

Dramatic as ever, that's Kurt Mikey. It doesn't stop his main point from coming across but it exaggerates all the things that are already troubling his mind. It would be simpler if things were… simpler.

"It's not that easy Mikey. There's a lot more to it."

"TJ, young love is not to be taken too seriously. I'm sure our Spinelli will understand."

"How do you know it's…"

"I know. Please, for all that is right, talk to her and tell her how you feel."

TJ had heaps to consider now and he couldn't do it with Mikey's company, so he said thanks and left the library. Time alone would help to clear his head.

The bell rang, like it does at the end of every day, to signal him to his freedom. Tonight he was lucky enough to have Becky home with him, so that they could spend some time together that wasn't only at meal times. He had planned to watch some ridiculously bad movies together and laugh about anything that would come to his mind. To him it was the best relief of his stress.

"Remember class that you must start your assignments as soon as possible. The list of partners are on my desk so read it before you leave."

Everyone pushed to see who their partner was going to be. TJ hadn't really been paying much attention to what it was going to be about but he knew it had to be something about photography, since that was the class he was in. Besides, he had the handout for it so he could figure it all out later.

"Move."

"Hurry up."

"Come on, let me see."

TJ slowly made his way to the teacher's desk to see that he was paired with the old swinger girl. She doesn't actually swing much anymore, but she loves her swingers parties. You know, the ones where people meet up to hook up with each other.

"Nuh uh, no way, never. I am not being paired with Lawson." Spinelli raged at seeing her partner.

Spinelli loved the arts and photography fell under that subject. TJ chose it because it was one of the easier choices he was given and he wasn't that bad at it. It was the same case with Lawson except he was miraculously still failing, again.

"I'm sorry miss Spinelli but the partnering is final. You must make do."

"Surely you could let me swap him for someone else. It won't make no difference to you."

TJ tuned in a little bit more at this. He used to sit with Spinelli every lesson but last semester she was as far away as possible from him and that had carried on into this year's class as well. This could be the thing he needs to get closer to her without having to seem desperate.

"In life you will encounter all sorts of people, trust me I'm in teaching, and some of these people will be with you in a working environment. Much like in this moment, you have found someone you must work with as a peer and I believe it is a valuable life lesson to learn how to at least act friendly. Carry on miss Spinelli."

The look on her face said it all without a single sound having to escape from her lips. She had been defeated by the man and couldn't do anything to stop it. It may have been much worse for her, but TJ felt a bit let down at the situation also.

After a quick chat to swinger girl, since the name is still relevant, he went for his locker so that he could finally head home. He put in his locker numbers, 06 01 27, and put away all of his stuff, grabbed his bad, locked it back up and made his way for the gates.

"You gonna walk by yourself now huh?"

TJ didn't even have to turn around to know who it was. "Sorry Spin, didn't mean to leave ya all alone." He said like he was talking to a baby.

"Oh ha ha. Listen Teej, you need to help me change photography partners. I need a full proof plan."

"As much as I wish I could help out, I don't think I can do much about this one. We could still help each other out though like we used to?"

TJ would like to believe that he came across like he was telling her that they were going to hang out again but deep down he knew it sounded like he was asking a question. She held the power, not him.

She grunted then started walking home. "Come on, let's just go."

When he finally caught up with her, which wasn't long, she seemed to have cooled down.

"So how are you gonna handle Lawson?" He asked.

"Better than you did the other night." Spinelli found herself hilarious and had to take a break to stop herself laughing. TJ still had the bruise on his face.

"But I don't know. I'll probably do most of the work. I could take some pictures of the park or the lake… or even Kelso's."

"You going for the childhood memory feel?"

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Thought I might aswell if you are. I thought you stopped wearing those shoes ages ago."

He didn't know why, because it was pointless, but he felt slightly embarrassed that she noticed. It was a mix between him still not being completely comfortable in them and her actually noticing small stuff about him, like his shoes.

"It's all I could find this morning. I have no clue where my normal ones are."

Spinelli laughed again. "I'm sure they'll turn up. So what are you up to tonight?"

"Becky is actually home tonight so we are gonna chill together. It's been a while and I'm looking forward to it. TV on, food out, lights off and up all night. It will be perfect."

"It's nice you two are so close again. It's like you were in kindergarten."

As much as TJ wanted to see where Spinelli was taking their conversation, he had committed to Becky and he wasn't going to give that up for anything. That is, until he got home.

"That's strange."

"What?"

As the two were coming up to their houses, TJ's first he noticed that Becky's car wasn't there like it should have been.

"Becky isn't home yet."

"Maybe it's just her car isn't here."

"Nah she would have told me. Anyway, I'll catch you later."

"Take care, man." Spinelli left with a lazy wave behind her.

TJ smiled at how much of a tomboy she still was. Not as extreme as she used to be but she definitely still had certain habits and mannerisms.

He went inside to the kitchen, expecting Becky to be sitting at the table since he didn't see her in the living room as he entered. On the bench he found a note from her saying that she came home but got called in for work and that she had to postpone their 'sibling night'.

TJ's posture slouched as he throw the note back down and lugged his bag upstairs to his room. The one thing he was looking forward to the most in the day was lost.

"Hey Teej, get down here."

Spinelli was in his house? He had to see it to believe it. There was no real reason for her to be here in his mind so he was either daydreaming again or she wanted something. He went downstairs and surely enough she had let herself in.

"What are you doing?"

"Well, I saw that Becky wasn't here so I thought I could cheer you up a bit with some movies and food."

She held up the assortment of candies, chocolate and d-grade horror movies in her hands to show him how much effort she had gone through.

"Honestly, I think I'm gonna have a quiet night tonight. I'm not really up to do much at the moment."

She scoffed at his reply. "Like I'm giving you a choice. Go get into something comfy and bring down some blankets."

After a couple hours, Spinelli had achieved what she wanted. She was still angry at TJ, maybe angry isn't the right word anymore, but he was also the same guy he's always been. She's done some bad things before and TJ had always been there for her, like the 'Butch phase' she went through. Thinking of stuff like that had helped her realise that she wanted his friendship more than the relationship they didn't have or the distance that they did.

TJ yawned. "Thanks Spin."

It was getting late and Becky would be home within the hour. TJ was going to wait up for her but Spinelli knew she should be heading off soon anyway.

"Don't mention it."

"But I want to. You're my best friend and I'm sorry I pushed you away. It was only because I didn't want to drag you down with me with all that stuff."

"Yeah well, what made you think that I didn't want to help. You know I would have stuck around."

"That's why I did it. I didn't want to make it your problem."

"TJ… you can be too selfless sometimes. If you had told me it would have been different."

"I know but after everything I thought I would have ruined it all. I didn't want to lose that completely."

"You nearly did."

He stopped to take that in. He never really comprehended how close they were to never speaking again, from anger and pure awkwardness.

"I had to take that risk. Spin… I… I love you."

She was speechless in front of him. No one's ever said that to her like he just did. He really meant it and she could tell that from a mile away, or three doors down at least.

"You know I feel about you Teej but… this time I decide where it goes between us."

TJ was anxious, hopeful, scared and excited, you name it, and he didn't know what to do next. Anything he could do or say right now could be the perfect or the worse move he could make in his life. He searched her eyes for any glimpse of a clue as to what she is expecting from him was. He found nothing.

"And what do you decide?"