Virgos care and feel deeply to a fault. They feel very passionate about the one they choose to spend their time with.
~11~
"Camille?"
Camille started at the sudden voice. "Yeah?"
"What's wrong?" WayneWayne asked quietly. They were in the Jacksons backyard, celebrating Riley and Rhuben's birthday. Despite the two girls not wanting their birthday to be a big deal, they were surprised and happy to have the party.
Camille shifted in her wooden chair and sighed. "Nothing. I was just thinking."
"Oh." WayneWayne replied. He was silent for a moment. "Hungry?"
Camille shrugged. She was trying hard not to look over at Rhuben and Logan. She really did care for him more than she had ever really noticed before.
WayneWayne nudged her. "Come on, let's go inside and talk for a little bit," he suggested. "I know you want to."
"They're about to open their gifts," Camille protested, motioning to the table of gifts.
"Don't worry about it, you're more important right now," WayneWayne replied, getting to his feet. He held his hand out to her and Camille let out a heavy sigh, getting to her feet. She took his hand and he pulled her into the house through the back door. He made his way into the living room and dropped into the chair. "Kind of hard to believe how the Jacksons have turned out considering everything."
"Yeah, I know," Camille agreed.
"I don't think I've ever really seen them this happy. Ronan's great to them." She slowly sat down, rubbing her arms. The living room was kind of messy. There were rumpled clothes and papers all over the floor and food and books piled on the coffee table. There were a couple of DVD cases hanging haphazardly off of the top of the shelf above the large flat screen tv. "The place suits them, though."
"You ok?" WayneWayne asked, again.
"Yeah," Camille replied, running her fingers over the glass of the picture. "Yeah, I'm fine." She turned around, crossing her arms over her chest. "I always thought that one day Logan and I wouldn't be together, but I never thought about how I'd act when it happened." WayneWayne silently watched her, a curious look on his face. "I could tell things were changing, but Logan was the one person I could really rely on in this town as I wasn't getting any auditions. Or, at least, I thought he was."
"And now?" WayneWayne asked.
"I have all of you guys," Camille replied with a smile. "I even have Rhubes. I can't tell you how many times she dropped whatever it was she was doing to help me with my auditions." She let out a bitter laugh. "And yes, I'll admit, I am jealous. I'm jealous of every minute she gets to spend with him, of every concerned expression she sends his way, of every tear shed, of every glance, every touch, and every thought. I want to rip him to pieces and purge him from her mind and from her heart."
She shook her head back and forth and said quietly, "But I can't. Because she's my friend. And she's done so much to help me. The good far outweighs the bad; and this is, like, the only bad thing she's ever done to me. I can't ruin a friendship over that. I just can't."
"That's nice to hear," Rhuben said quietly, stepping into the doorway. She nervously rubbed her arm. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop."
"I'll leave you two, alone," WayneWayne said, getting to his feet.
"Figured you hated me," Rhuben said to Caimille.
"I hate what has changed, but everything happens for a reason, right?" Camille asked, digging at the ground with her toe. She brushed her hair out of her face with her shoulder. "Your friendship is more important to me than a guy. Logan was my first boyfriend, it's going to be weird for a while. But, my friendship with him and with you is more important."
She suddenly stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Rhuben in a hug. Rhuben hesitated, and then tentatively hugged her back. "I'm so sorry."
"Me too," Camille replied.
"Camille?" a voice suddenly called. "Bella? Where are you guys?" His voice got closer. "WayneWayne said you guys were in here."
"Living room," Rhuben called back as she took a step back from Camille.
"Hey," he said quietly, slowly stepping into the room, rubbing his hands together. "We were all wondering what was taking you so long. You guys ok?" Rhuben looked over at Camille.
"Yes," Camille replied with a nod. "We're going to be ok. But, us, Logan? It'll take a while to be comfortable around you and to not be so weird, but we're going to be ok, too." She took in a deep breath. "So, let's make it official, Logan; I think we should break up. It's taken me a long time to realize what I want and that's to be happy. And I wasn't happy trying to force things to work." She could feel a burning in the back of her eyes, so she blinked a few times, willing it to go away. " I really do care about you, Logan, and I know you'll truly be happy with Rhubes."
She then grabbed Rhuben's wrist, pulling her over to Logan, making them hold hands. "You really do make a cute couple. Just…please be careful. I know the media has been waiting for this for a while now. I don't want to see you two get hurt because f it." She then gave the two of them an amused look. "Happy Freaking Birthday, right?"
The three of them laughed weakly. "I'm going to go," she said quietly. She took a few steps out of the room before turning around to face them. "It was really the song, Nothing Even Matters, that made me realize how much you cared for her, Logan. It's like my grandmother always said, 'No matter how far you get with life. No matter how hard you try. No matter the length or distance. You can never ever escape love'."
"Hey, Camille," Rhuben siad, stopping her friend from leaving the room. "We've both dated Logan so...maybe we could go the mall and share some horror stories. Camille laughed when Logan let out an offended, "Heyyy."
"It's a date," Camille replied. She gave them a smile before heading back out to the party.
"Dak and I were never a big deal you know," Rhuben said, turning back to Logan, gently squeezing his hand. "I mean, sure, we kissed. But it was nothing."
"I know," Logan replied with a nod.
Rhuben stood on her tip toes, leaned in and kissed him with everything she had in her. It only took him about a millisecond to react. He wrapped his arms around her, pulled her closer, and kissed her back. When they finally pulled apart, he was cupping er face gently with his hands, the two of them were out of breath.
"What was that for, Bella?" he asked quietly.
"I kissed you because I wanted to," Rhuben replied with a small smile. She then stepped away from him and hurried to the coffee table, moving some stuff around until she found her notebook. "We haven't started talking about our next album yet, but I really want this song to be on it. Kind of like…an answer to a track on your CD."
"I don't follow," Logan replied.
"I know Nothing Even Matters is about me," Ruben replied, "I've known for a long while; back when I heard the demos. I just didn't want to admit it to myself because at the time I didn't understand how anybody could love me. I've been in denial for a long time, but I'm ready to face the truth."
She flipped open to the page and held it out to him. "It's called Falling For You," Rhuben explained, blushing, brushing her hair behind her ears. She took in a deep breath and started singing, "I've been spending all my time, just thinking about you. I don't know what to do; I think I'm fallin' for you. I've been waiting all my life and now I found you. I don't know what to do; I think I'm falling for you."
"So, what does that mean?" Logan asked, a teasing smile tugging at his lips. Rhuben wrapped her arms around his neck. Logan tossed the notebook down onto the couch, looping his arms around her waist.
"It means," she said, her voice barely above a whisper, "that I love you too and I'm not scared anymore." Logan grinned and closed the space between them. Rhuben rested her head on his chest when she pulled away. "Tell me a story?"
"What do you want to hear?" Logan asked.
"Something with a happy ending." She slipped her arms around his waist and hugged him.
"I think you'll like the one I have in mind," Logan replied with a small laugh.
THE END
A/N: So, there you have it. One scene was from Dawson's Creek. I really enjoyed writing this fic and showing more of how Logan and Rhuben have their own special things as friends, like Kendall and Riley do. This will be expanded more in my second Lella fic (also dedicated to Rage-Against-Time and all the other Lella lovers). It won't be up for a while as the next fic I'm doing is Just Listen, a Della (Dak/Rhuben) fic. But, I could also do both at the same time, I don't know yet.
I've been meaning to write one where it's where the Jacksons just got to America and they meet Dak Zevon and everything happens with them. It might even be a prequel to the Never Again series, but I'm not sure if I'll do it as the main plot line with the Jacksons really gets resolved when BTR arrive.
Thanks to everyone who read and reviewed this fic. I hope you enjoyed it. If you have any questions that I didn't answer, feel free to PM me and I'll do my best to answer them for you. For an idea of what fics we have coming up, head to our tumblr (link in profile) and check the "Upcoming Fics" section (left hand side). While you're there, also check out our "Request Policy" section.
Cheers,
-Rhubes
