A/N: Sorry for the wait, I had a bit of writer's block. A few issues needed to be worked through. This chapter isn't great, mostly filler… set up for future things and such. It's quite a bit shorter than my latest chapters have been too. The next one will be better—or at least the one after that will be better. Hopefully, anyway. Ok… on to the fic!

Chapter Fourteen: Let Down

"Where's my bra?" Tawny breathed, still catching her breath.

"I don't know," Ren replied, buttoning her own shirt. "It was black and it's dark in here."

"Then how do you know it was black?"

"Because it's yours," Ren bent down and searched the floor. "Here it is." She tossed it back to the younger girl. "So… what…I mean, we said we wouldn't…"

"I know," Tawny interrupted her, though she wasn't quite sure what else she wanted to say. "I still don't want a relationship."

Ren nodded in the darkness, glad that it hid her disappointment. "So what was this?"

The door handle shook suddenly, startling both of them, before Tawny answered.

"Who's in there? I thought the other janitor's closet was the popular one…" they heard Louis' voice outside.

They heard Ruby respond, but her words weren't clear.

"I don't want to have to explain this to him," Tawny said, turning to Ren. "Not right now."

"Yeah," she nodded. "Me neither."

Tawny pulled her shirt on and ran her fingers through her hair in an effort to make it less obvious what she'd been up to.

Ren twisted the door knob.

Tawny stood on her tip-toes behind Ren, so that her lips were right by the older girl's ear. "I don't see why we need to be in a relationship to enjoy each other."

Louis pushed in on the door and was shocked to meet his big sister, the school's notorious good girl.

"Ren? Who are you in here with?" Louis grinned, glancing behind his visibly shaken sister. His jaw dropped. "Tawny?"

"Relax, Louis," Ren said, trying to do the same herself. "We were just talking."

"Sure you were," Ruby giggled.

Ren glared at her.

"We were," Tawny repeated.

"Well, I have to get to class," Ren said, pushing past Ruby and hurrying into Journalism to get her things.

Tawny did the same.

Louis and Ruby watched them skeptically, but only for a moment. He grabbed her and enthusiastically pulled her into the janitor's closet.

Tawny grabbed her bag and turned to hurry back out of the classroom.

"We need to talk later," Ren called to her from behind.

"Yeah," Tawny nodded, quickly leaving the room.

Ren sat down on a table in the middle of the empty classroom. She was completely confused. I should've controlled myself on Saturday, then I wouldn't be in this mess. She got to her feet and made her way out of the classroom. I lost control.

Tawny opted to skip 7th period, hovering outside of Brandi's class and signaling the girl to join her. The two of them found an empty stairwell and sat down on the bottom steps.

"So, did you talk with Ren?" Brandi inquired.

"Yes, and I explained that I didn't want a relationship or anything," Tawny said. "And she agreed. She did sound… maybe disappointed though."

"And?" Brandi asked, sensing there was more to the story.

"And then we had sex again."

"What?"

"I just…I want her, Brandi. I really do," Tawny explained, clearly frustrated with herself. "But I cannot handle a relationship right now."

"Right, you want Ren to just have sex with you whenever, no strings attached," Brandi clarified. "Good luck with that."

"I think I might be able to convince her," Tawny replied, though her voice betrayed her lack of confidence.

"Won't it be a relationship anyway? I mean, you'll only be sleeping with her, right? Or are you planning on simply making her part of your harem?"

"She won't be the only one," Tawny shook her head. "Then it might as well be a relationship. It can't be exclusive. She'll get attached."

"Like you already are. Ren is obviously good enough, I don't know why she wouldn't be enough for you," Brandi said.

"She would be, she is, but… if I am exclusive with her then that's a relationship—I don't want a relationship. I just want someone to…"

"Fuck?"

"Brandi!"

"What? It's true."

Tawny sighed.

Brandi put a hand on her shoulder. "You aren't making any sense, Tawny. Your whole plan is ridiculous."

"No, it's just…"

"You want to sleep with a ton of people and want Ren to just be one among them, except you like her… a lot. Which means you're going to set her apart anyway."

"Not a ton of people," Tawny corrected. "Just… a fun sample."

"But you want Ren, not anyone else! And you could probably have her! You're making this whole thing complicated for no reason!"

Tawny just shook her head. "You just don't get it."

"Oh, don't get all emo and 'no one understand me'," Brandi scoffed.

Tawny glared at her and got up. "Well, you don't."

A frazzled Ren had forced her best friend into her car so they could talk, at the risk of barging in on her and Louis in the act, and, even more stunning, at the risk of skipping 7th period: something Ren Stevens never did.

"She said she doesn't want a relationship, but then we… well, she says 'I don't se why we need to be in a relationship to enjoy each other'. What does that even mean?"

Ruby couldn't help but smile at her flustered friend. "It means she wants you, Ren. She just doesn't want a girlfriend."

"Well, how does that work?"

"It means you guys can have sex, but just be friends. I say go for it. Best thing to happen to you in awhile."

"What? How is that good?" Ren asked, truly perplexed. "How many other people does she have that arrangement with?"

"And you thought Tawny wasn't a whore," Ruby chuckled.

Ren frowned, slouching in the driver's seat. "I did. I don't know why I thought that."

"Well, I have a piece of news that might make your day a little better—though sex in the janitor's closet should've given your spirits a lift," Ruby said as she eyed a sulky-looking Charlotte leaving the school.

"What?" Ren asked.

"Yvette dumped Charlotte," the blonde replied with a grin.

"Oh," Ren muttered, she'd been hoping for something more.

"Ren, you've done single, you've done relationships, you've done one-night-stands—not enough, but you've done it—try this. Friends with benefits could be fun. At the very least, it's like being single but with an outlet for sexual frustration."

"I don't want to sleep with a bunch of people," Ren replied.

"So, don't," Ruby shrugged. "Tawny might, that doesn't mean you have to."

"If I sleep with Tawny and she's been whoring around, then I might as well be sleeping with a bunch of people."

"I'm sure Tawny will get checked regularly if you ask her too, if she doesn't already. She strikes me as the type that would though."

"Like she struck me as the type who'd be above this?" Ren asked.

"Good point," Ruby nodded. "Are you going to give it a try? You can always stop if it doesn't work for you, Ren."

"I don't know."

Ren took several deep breaths before approaching Tawny at her locker that day, after the 7th period bell rang. Slowly she made her way over to the blue-eyed girl.

"Hey," Tawny greeted her with a half-smile.

"Hey," Ren replied. "I wanted to talk with you."

Tawny nodded.

Ren hesitated, nervously fidgeting with her hands. "I don't… um… what you said before Louis and Ruby came in…earlier…in the closet…remember?"

"I remember," Tawny nodded.

"Right," Ren said, waiting for Tawny to explain. When the younger girl didn't speak, she continued on. "I just… it seemed like you were…I mean, you…enjoyed yourself…with me. Both times. And you said…you said you didn't want anything…with me…but you still…but you said we don't need to be in a relationship… why are you making me explain all of this? You already know."

"I didn't make you do anything, you just kept talking," Tawny grinned.

"Well?" Ren pressed, annoyed with Tawny.

"Well, what?" Tawny asked. "I think what I said is pretty self-explanatory. If you show up in my bedroom, I won't turn you away."

She turned to leave, but was stopped by Ren's hand suddenly gripping her elbow. "Why would you do that?"

"Why not?"

"Tawny!"

"I'm not going to have a better answer for you, Ren," she shrugged. "Because I think it's… we're… it's good. With us, I mean. We're good together. Like that. Not in a relationship, we'd tear each other apart. But we're good together physically. So, why let that go to waste?"

Ren sighed. She'd been hoping Ruby's interpretation had been wrong.

"What?" Tawny asked, a little startled by the upsetting look on Ren's face.

She shook her head. "That…that's just… it's not me. I don't do that sort of thing."

"Have you ever tried it?" Tawny asked.

"No," Ren replied. "But I don't need to. I know who I am. And that's not me."

She turned and walked away, leaving Tawny by the locker, angry and all the more interested.