Chapter Name: Up All Night

Notes: Thanks to reviewers axel100, ix3SuJu, PerennialKillJoy, Carl Rahl, Snapplelinz, gamecheck, listenWITHyourHeart, Rt7, baronvonmilo, Soldier702, mrmuscle, aisforangelaaa, purpleheart10, emlick96, themarchgirl, DoctrineDark, NewMoon02, babycakestd, LaternFan, Starcalista and stolen94. And congratulations to Ramsey being the 200th reviewer \o/

Thanks to Made of Ossum for beta-reading this chapter.

The next two days passed in little more than a blur. From my perch on the fire escape, cars, people, the sky—it was like objectively observing a hive of bees, or an ant colony. I felt no connection to the world below me, and it felt no connection to me.

Every so often the massive roar of a truck horn would blare out over the city. Sometimes the screech of rubber tires. Occasionally birds would rush past on their way to a nest in some hidden nook or cranny of the huge concrete structures.

All alone, staring out, watching life go by. The blue sky that had shined over my little party had crumbed to an overcast dull grey that swept in the evening of the fight and hadn't lifted since. It seemed to match my mood. Sullen. Prone to occasional downpours. Yet the people made their way through the endless grey.

Nearly everyone was alone. Solitary. One car. One umbrella. One life.

Was that my future, down below?

If it was, it scared me. That way of life, meandering between giant office buildings and giant residential apartments. Not knowing anyone, not seeing past the the most outward expressions. Empty, transitory emotions bouncing aimlessly from person to person, messages going from desk to desk. Surely not everyone lived like that?

For the last two days the sky would transition from that deep grey to orange and then into a deep blackness.

I'd wake up at 5am, the crack of dawn. Although the words 'waking up' didn't really apply. I'd just kept tossing and turning all last night. Replaying the event in my head, over and over. Mentally scolding myself over my actions. My words.

I hurt Carly.

And here I was again. Watching the sun rise. Watching the people move. It started off slowly—a random business man, possibly on some kind of international conference call. Who knew. The trickle continued, until it was a flood of people from all walks of life.

The sun broke over the roof of the building opposite my window, flooding my room with light.

I wasn't going to be out on that fire escape today. Well, at least for most of the day. After closing the curtains to reduce the brightness, I sank back to bed to sleep for a few hours. I was awoken by the sound of my phone playing Jennifer's ringtone.

I groaned, rolled over on my side and fumbled with the phone for a second. "Yeah."

"Is that the correct way to talk to your girlfriend, Fredward?" Her voice was shrill and penetrating, blasting the sleepiness out of my head.

"Sorry, just a little tired."

"I'm on my way. I'll be there in 20 minutes. You'll be ready by then, right?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Alright, bye, sweetie."

I mumbled a response then hung up. The next 20 minutes were spent getting ready. Showering. Cleaning my teeth. Putting on clothes. Brushing my hair.

I slumped down onto the couch, remembering the intense make-out session I'd shared with Sam on it. Before Sam booted me off with, 'That's enough, dork; go put your Superman pj's on and go to bed.' I shrugged and stood up, but before I'd left, she'd spoken again.

'Not bad, Freddo. And, uh, thanks for letting me stay over.'

I said it was no problem, and her smile told me that she appreciated it. There was no evil glint in her eye, just a note of gratitude showing with the curve of the swollen lips I'd just spent a few hours getting to know.

I was broken out of my memory by a knock at the door.

"Fredward, are you there?"

I opened the door and greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. Somehow it didn't really compare to what I'd done with Sam. It didn't even compare with the few kisses Carly had given me—a nose kiss and a couple of friendly kisses on the cheek, usually after coming back from a couple of weeks away on holiday or at camp. I think it was just a lack of history; we were still building up to a more intense level in our relationship, taking it slow.

"Would you like a drink or anything?"

"No, I'm good. You ready to leave?"

"Sure."

We walked out together to the elevator and pushed the buttons at the same time. Jennifer blushed, a cute rosy tinge appearing on her cheeks. I had to admit that we did have a spark, that it wasn't just mutual boredom and loneliness that brought us together.

"Heh. Ladies first."

The elevator shuddered to a halt at the lobby, and we exited holding hands. The moment Lewbert saw us, he started screeching, "YOU DIDN'T SIGN THE GUEST BOARD! YOU NEED TO SIGN THE GUEST BOARD!"

"I've never had to sign a guest board before?"

"WELL YOU DO NOW, GIRLY!"

"Fine, fine, give me the damn board."

Lewbert pointed to the other side fo the room. "It's on the wall over there." Jennifer walked over to it. I turned to follow when I was grabbed by Lewbert. He pulled me towards him by the collar of my shirt, leaning right in. I could see each individual hair on his gruesome wart.

"They aren't worth it," he whispered. "Where do you think I got this from?" He pointed to his wart.

"Spending too much time out in the sun?"

He didn't reply; instead he started babbling about how "I'd find out" and that "You'll all find out one day!"

"Crazy." I detached myself from his weird semi-embrace and backed away slowly. I took Jennifer's hand again, and we left the lobby through the glass doors.

Only to run right into Carly. A little "hmph" sound escaped from her mouth, and she pushed right past us into the lobby.

"What was all that about? I know she doesn't like me, but does she have to act like such a bitch about it?"

"It's not you."

"Did she get jealous and start another fight with you about me?"

I opened my mouth, and it suddenly hit me. How on earth could I ever talk about this with Jennifer? I'd have to confess to cheating on her. And as much as I thought we had a pretty good relationship happening, telling her about this one-time, never going to happen again moment wouldn't help that. And I wasn't ready to end it either.

"Yeah. Something like that. Maybe it's best if we stay away from Carly and Sam when we're together for a while."

"Okay," Jennifer replied, a crooked half-smile trying to hide her joy that something had come between us.

A couple of hours later, we had been around part of the shopping mall. Part! Carly and Sam were never this bad. Unless maybe ditching me at Build-A-Bra was code for 'let's wander around aimlessly for hours.'

Jennifer didn't like Build-A-Bra. 'Too childish.' Only thing she ever wanted was top of the line designer. Luckily for her, she was Daddy's little girl, and Daddy just happened to be a big shot record exec. He was making at least seven figures. In a way, I kinda wondered what she needed from me. Celebrity perhaps? She went to the same private school as Principal Franklin's daughter; maybe that's how things worked—the money you had didn't matter as much as the image you projected?

I could believe it.

Jennifer had just come out of another shop with another bag in tow, and as I went to stand up, Jennifer waved her hand down. "I need to rest for a few minutes, Fredward."

"No problem. Want me to get you something for lunch?" It was nearly 2pm, and I was getting hungry.

"Like I'd ever be caught dead eating anything from here. Eww. I'll call my driver back, and he'll take us to lunch. I booked a table at Chambre D'argent."

"Ah, cool."

"Look at these." Jennifer opened up a shoebox, gently picking up a pair of strappy blue high heels. To be honest to myself, they looked a little slutty. Stripperish. Not that Jennifer ever really acted stripperish or removed more than her jacket around me. But whatever, it was her/her father's money, and my fashion sense was quite lacking. They'd probably look okay when she actually wore them.

"You bought shoes last week."

"A girl can never have enough shoes. Or diamonds," she replied bluntly, before she went back to admiring the shoes.

"I'm sure they'll look great."

"Oh, I know they will."

Was that some kind of hint before? That she wanted me to get her diamonds? Or some kind of jewellery?

Never understood that 'diamonds are a girl's best friend' phrase. I knew Carly and Sam would want each other more than any diamonds. Glittering or otherwise. The entire diamond market was a complete fraud designed for maximum profitability and stimulation of sales anyway.

Jennifer sat admiring the blue shoes, gazing at them with quite a look of contentment etched on her face. Once she'd had her apparent fill of shoe worship, they were gently placed back in their white box and back in the plastic bag.

My phone buzzed.

Message from Sam P: "we need 2 talk."

That I wasn't surprised with. She'd spent most of the time comforting Carly, pausing only to punch me in the gut a few times when we met in the hallway.

I replied with, "Later tonight k? Will txt you when I get home."

The phone buzzed one last time with "fine."

"Who was that, Fredward?"

"Oh, just one of the guys. We're working on a video project for a competition."

"Anything interesting?"

"Nah, just some Galaxy Wars stuff." We were intending to make a story using the Galaxy Wars MMORPG game. It was well into the planning stage, with some preliminary work done on the script and ideas.

Jennifer tutted, "You really need to start growing out of those kids' games. Such a waste of time."

"Yeah...well." I shrugged. It was a view that, well, practically everyone but Spencer held. And I had to admit I'd gotten pretty addicted to it at one stage. Once my grades started to slip, Carly found out the reason and forced me to submit to a sort of 'game timetable,' and Sam had backed it up with the threat of physical violence if I didn't.

It was funny in a way. Carly's first thought was that I'd had a secret girlfriend. The second was that I was on drugs.

Jennifer didn't bother replying to that, as her phone buzzed. Once she'd flipped the phone open, it was obviously a message, and she stood up. "That was the driver. He's on the roof of the car-park. Let's go."

"Sure. Do you want me to carry some of the bags?"

"Yes." With that, she dumped all the bags into my arms, and I struggled to sit up without collapsing in a heap. I managed to get into the elevator without falling over. After the elevator made its way to the roof, we stepped out, her driver waiting with an open door.

AN: Yeah. I know. Some personal stuff got in the way again.