Chapter 11

The pizza was consumed, and they had both had enough of studying, so they cuddled on the couch and talked, while Barry Manilow crooned in the background. Nodding toward the stereo, Steff said, "See what a tortured soul I was?" Andie grinned, nodding, "Yeah, the torture part I get. What I don't understand is, was the music part of the torture, or meant to alleviate it?" Steff chuckled. "Seeing as you're new to the intricacies of an anguish-enhanced orchestral experience, I'm gonna let that one slide."

"What kind of music do you like, Kitten? Wait, let me guess. You're looking to get a hand on a member of Duran-Duran."

Andie smiled and kissed him, "That's Mrs. Simon LeBon, to you, buddy."

Oh, I'll be calling you Mrs. one day, but your last name isn't gonna be LeBon. Steff said nothing in response to her Duran-Duran declaration, just smiled down at her and kissed her on the nose.

"It might surprise you to know I'm a card carrying member of the KISS army." Andie said primly. Steff began to laugh, and then couldn't stop. He found the idea of Andie head-banging to KISS to be adorable. "You are full of surprises, aren't you?" he said at last when his laughter subsided. She smiled, and said "Trust me, there was no end to the amount of shit Duckie would give me about what he called my abysmal taste in music."

Steff grinned, a far-away look in his eyes. "Ah yes, Duckie." He gave a small chuckle. "Dude jumped me right before school ended and went all ninja on my ass. Mr. Jenkins had to pull him off of me." Steff shook his head in remembrance, "So embarrassing." He paused, and said in mock outrage, "He hit my hair!"

Andie sat up abruptly, shock registering on her features. "So that was true?"

Steff nodded, an amused look on his face. "Oh yeah, true story. So how is the Duckman these days? Next time you see him, tell him I really liked the jacket he wore to prom. And the Bolo tie. Not everyone can pull that look off. Takes some sartorial cojones."

Andie blinked rapidly. She was still trying to wrap her mind around Steff admitting that Duckie had beat him up. "He never said why the two of you were fighting."

All lightheartedness fell from Steff's face. He inhaled deeply. "He was being principled, and defending the honor of the woman he loved." he said somberly. Oh, Christ, here we go. He glanced down. Don't let go of my hand, Kitten.

Andie stared down at their entwined hands. Clean slate, clean slate, clean slate, she thought. "What happened?" she asked quietly, not taking her eyes off their hands.

"Look at me, Kitten" Steff said tenderly, as he gently lifted her chin to meet his eyes. He began. "It was right after Blane broke your date to prom, and he heard me telling Blane that I thought you were nothing, had always been nothing, and would always be nothing, and that he was better off without you." Steff took a deep breath, his eyes never leaving hers. He was determined to face the music and own up to what a fucking asshole he had been. If Andie didn't know the truth, then whatever they had, or would have in the future, would be based on a lie – it wouldn't be real.

Andie glanced away, unshed tears stinging her eyes. She wasn't upset about him saying that to Blane; she didn't give a shit what that pussy thought about her. She was hurt about him saying it about her. She considered for a moment. "Did you really feel that way about me Steff?"

Steff reached and caressed Andie's cheek with his free hand until she met his eyes. "Oh, Andie, no, never" he said, shaking his head emphatically, his eyes full of remorse, coupled with the love he felt for her. "I was crushed with unrequited love for you, Kitten." He took a deep breath. "It doesn't change what I did. Doesn't excuse it, or make it any better. But I said those horrible things, not because I really felt that way about you, but because I was dying inside. You hated me and I couldn't figure out how to change that. The only thing I could do was make sure that if I couldn't have you, then Blane couldn't either. Seeing you choose him, when you couldn't even stand to be seen with me, killed me. So I pressured him to break up with you."

Steff was silent for a minute, letting Andie absorb all that. At least she hasn't let go of my hand. After a moment he continued, "So, Duckie overheard me, and came after me like a man possessed. Your avenging angel."

Andie nodded, closing her eyes, and breathing steadily for a moment. Clean slate, clean slate, clean slate. She opened her eyes to find Steff searching hers.

"First test, Kitten" he said softly. "Make or break."

Andie stared at him for a long moment, before squaring her shoulders and straightening her spine. She was made of stronger stuff than this, and she wasn't going to throw away a chance at something real and meaningful, because of hurt feelings over something in the past that had already been apologized for.

She gave a gentle smile and squeezed his hand; his hand that she had never once let go of.

"Make" she nodded, her eyes showing forgiveness.

Oh thank God! Steff let out the breath he hadn't known he's been holding, and smiled in relief, gathering her in his arms and holding her tight.

"And you were right" she said, smiling against his chest. "That holding hands thing really does work." She paused, "Next time, maybe you and Duckie should try it."

Steff began to laugh, and Andie joined in. Steff kissed her on the forehead. I love you so much Kitten, he thought.

Might as well get the rest of this over with. "You remember that party at your house?" Andie asked.

Steff grimaced at the memory. "Ugh, that fucking party. What a disaster." Andie nodded. "I begged Blane not to take me there, but he didn't listen." Steff rolled his eyes – typical. Andie continued. "When we showed up at your room, why did you pretend like we had never met?"

Steff drew a deep breath and rubbed his free hand over his face. "Man. You really want to get all this shit out of the way, don't you? Okay…." He paused before continuing, "I was so stunned when I saw you in my house, with him…. I felt like I had been kicked in the guts, I felt like I was gonna throw up. I couldn't let him know that I knew you, and had been striking out with you for years. Seeing you in my house, with my best friend, well, it just broke my heart. I was just really hurt, Andie. And doing a crap job of covering up."

"Coulda fooled me" Andie said, shaking her head.

"Let me ask you a question then. Why didn't you tell Blane that we already knew each other?"

Andie opened her mouth to answer, but then closed it with a snap. Why hadn't she told Blane that she and Steff already knew one another? Andie considered for a minute, her head cocked, thinking it over. "Because" she started slowly, "my feelings were really hurt that you wouldn't even admit to knowing me. I thought that must have meant that you thought I was nothing but trash, and that you were ashamed of having spoken to me." She paused before continuing, "So I wasn't going to give you the satisfaction of embarrassing me, if I said that we already knew each other; I thought you would act like I was so insignificant that you couldn't even remember speaking to me." She went on, "And it really hurt my feelings that Blane's best friend wouldn't even admit to knowing me."

"I'm sorry, Kitten."

Andie shook her head and waved her hand, dismissing it. "Clean slate", she smiled. "However, if I ever run into Benny again, don't count on me holding her hand while we hash things out."

Steff laughed, kissing her.

"If it makes you feel any better, I did have a bit of a crush on you when I first met you" Andie admitted.

Steff's eyes flew wide open. "What?"

"Yeah, I thought you were the most beautiful boy I had ever seen in my life. It was pretty much love at first sight." Andie smiled, remembering.

"I don't understand." Steff blinked rapidly. "What happened?"

Andie chuckled. "Well, then you started talking, and it was pretty much over."

Steff sat in stunned silence, absorbing that. Then he began to laugh, shaking his head. When at last his laughter began to taper off, he kissed Andie. "Thank you, sweetheart."

"For what?" she asked, kissing him in return.

He gazed tenderly into her eyes. "For being everything I ever wanted. And for giving me the chance to be worthy of you." They kissed for long moments. "You won't be sorry. I won't ever let you down again, Kitten."

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A/N: Thank you for reading! And thank you especially to everyone who has been kind enough to leave a review. I really appreciate the kind words! As always, I would love to hear what you think, so please leave a review!