Okay, well, I promised that Melisa would have to face Alejandro this time. So that's what will happen. Thanks for reviewing, Mistress Mysterious (no, Spanish, I compromised by having them live in Latin America for a while but the family is originally from Spain), Gucci Mane LaFlare, Pepe's Red-Eyed Cousin (thank you – I will probably use that) and The Legendary Dragon Reaper (Just kind of obvious...I'd like to have a name that shows that they're close...not all the family teams are).

For once, Mama didn't nag me when I begged to be allowed to stay home when all of them went to meet Alejandro at the airport. Usually, I wasn't allowed to be home alone, but I could tell that Mama understood how I was feeling at that moment. She didn't even question my alibi, which was that I hadn't finished all of my

weekend homework, when I always finished it on Friday night.

"All right, Melisa." she said. "Just this once. I don't want to hear you saying you haven't finished your homework every weekend."

Of course, I had finished it and we both knew it, but I felt thankful that she was letting me get away with it this time. And even when I heard everyone come back and four voices instead of the three it had been since the end of January, I didn't leave my room. I was flipping through the Total Drama website, which had some extra post-elimination clips. But it was just of the contestants I didn't personally know.

Less than half an hour after the family returned, there was a knock on the door. "Melisa? Can I come in?"

I really, really didn't want to have to talk to Alejandro. Not yet, anyway. But I'd have to face him sometime, and I couldn't keep avoiding him. "I guess so." I muttered.

There was a slight hesitancy. I noticed it the minute Alejandro opened the door. Something about him said he was less sure of himself than he was last time I'd seen him. Or maybe I'd just gotten used to him on the show.

He sat down on my bed, next to me. "I guessed why you didn't want to come to the airport." he said finally. "I might have done the same."

I didn't look up at him. "Just tell me if there was anything I didn't see." I murmured. "Something that proves you're actually the person I remember."

"I don't know what they show." Alejandro admitted. "Post-production doesn't tell us much. But considering how irritating it was, being around everyone all the time, and considering the game moves I made, I have a pretty good idea of what they did leave in. I had very little patience for most of the other competitors, least of all my teammates."

I finally looked up at him. "Do you know how much Owen wanted to be your friend?" I asked. "He was terrified of you, because he knew you didn't like him."

There was no happiness or humour in the smile Alejandro offered when I said that. "Owen does take the title for the most irritating of everyone on the plane. Well, excepting Chris, but I'm sure I'm not alone in that regard."

I managed a little smile at that. Only a little one, but it happened. "What about...there must be a few people you got rid of that you didn't dislike."

Alejandro gave a sigh. "I didn't eliminate people out of dislike. I chose threats. Sadly, that meant Team Victory had to go first – likability seems to be a bigger threat than I thought. That was how Beth got to the last finale. And most of Team Victory was too likable to keep around. And I meant it when I said it was Chris' fault DJ had to go since he wasn't allowed on my team. He would have been a perfect ally to take to the finale."

I raised an eyebrow. "And no matter how devoted Courtney was to you, you let her go? And wasn't Tyler an ally of yours, too?"

"Tyler and Courtney were liabilities in their own ways." Alejandro said instantly. "I had to take someone out at the end of that episode – Tyler was just unlucky. And I needed Duncan's vote, which meant Courtney had to take the fall." He looked at me earnestly. "But, listen, Melisa. I didn't come here to explain every little decision I made during the game. I came here because I know you must hate me and I can't stand knowing that I've hurt you. But, that's just it. I know some of the things I did can't be justified. I know they were wrong, but it was all in the spirit of the game. And now I know it was all for nothing, because I still lost."

It was a moment before I found my voice again. "I don't hate you." I said softly. "Seeing what you were on the show made me wonder how much I really knew about you. And I'm still wondering. Is this what you're like when I'm not there most of the time? Is that the difference I don't recognize?"

"I'm not the same person in high school." Alejandro said firmly. "I'm nice to everyone. I don't try to encourage girls I'm not interested in, and I would never actually hurt someone who didn't deserve it. The last time I did anything less than moral to someone, it was because I caught her writing mean messages all over another girl's locker. So a rumour got started, but that's all blown over now, so no harm done in the end."

I smiled again. Cruelty in the name of justice was what I expected from Alejandro. "All right, so I understand that." I said, my voice stronger now. "But aren't you worried about what it'l be like when you get back to school? People would have been watching the show a lot. And they'll have a lot of the same questions I did."

"They don't matter." Alejandro stated. "I can easily pull my social status back up, anyway. And if nothing else, it is better to be remembered and hated than forgotten completely." He paused, and then asked the last question to answer. "Melisa...I know what I did let you down, and I know it's going to be hard for you to ever trust me again, but...well, do you think you'll forgive me, ever?"

How could I resist that? I met Alejandro's eyes, the lighter green locked to his darker green, and said firmly "You're forgiven. It might take a while to get back to where we were, but I still care more about you than anyone else and I still really want to try to get to that point."

Alejandro managed a small smile ."Do you still want an expensive fragrance?"

This made me giggle. "Why? I was only going to ask you for one if you had the prize money."

"You got me moisturizer when I won the bet about Total Drama Action. Jose told me you thought Heather had really worked for the million. I expected her to be my opponent, but I underestimated her. It's your turn to take your winnings."

"No thank you." I waved a hand. "I don't want you to try and buy me back. If you really want to do me a favour...well, my question is if you're going to keep in touch with anyone." I paused. "Like Heather."

"I'm still not over what she did to me." Alejandro admitted. "But I don't think there's any point in revenge unless we end up back on Total Drama. So I managed to persuade her to give me her number, and I think she gave me the right one." His eyes gleamed. "So that favour is getting to meet her?"

"If you're serious about her," I said, "I should meet her. Who knows, she might end up being my sister-in-law one day. And from everything I saw on the show, you seemed pretty serious. I may not be able to read people like you can, but I recognized the signs."

"Oh?" Alejandro raised an eyebrow. "I'm sure they didn't televise what happened after that 'elimination' ceremony in Sweden."

I raised an eyebrow back. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Total Drama is a family show." Alejandro pointed out. "They don't show anything past occasional kissing. It's not like it was anything too serious and it was all completely decent attire. It just wasn't something they'd show."

Another smile graced my face. "So you've got to second base?"

Alejandro grimaced. "Melisa, can you not call it that, please? And no, it wasn't. It was just an affectionate way to get some frustration relief, nothing more."

I gave a sigh. "Okay, leaving that subject alone. One more thing – if anyone throws a reunion party, find a loophole to let me tag along, and after that, I'll decide whether you still owe me a fragrance or not." I was teasing, and Alejandro knew it.

He gave me a sudden hug. "I hope you'll be able to get past this."

"I hope so too." I murmured as we parted ways again. Our old friendship wasn't back yet, but our easy way of telling each other everything was old habit and was going to be much easier to be revitalized.

Well, almost everything.

Don't be fooled. Melisa doesn't fully trust Alejandro again yet, but she certainly did miss him a lot. I've been having a few thoughts about playing around with the timeline, just enough that there might be a chance for Melisa to understand what Alejandro went through and see what happens when she's put in that position. But, to do that, I'd have to play "fix the season" yet again. That means another completely different order of eliminations.