Hey all! Hope all is well and everyone is excited for the end of an amazing year and the start of a new one! As I said before Generation of Five will be coming to a close but lets not worry about it right now!

So thank you to Angel of the Night Watchers, lilly, Luli Cullen, Loverofgoodstories27 for their awesome reviews!

Chapter 21

Problem Solving

"Hey, you okay?" Quinn asked as he sat across from Peyton in a small café in town. He sipped his coffee, surveying her. "You seem distracted."

Peyton sighed and set her latté down on the table a little harder than she had meant to, causing liquid to spill over the side of the cup. "I'm sorry," she said, grabbing a few napkins to clean up her mess. "I'm just worried about Rae."

It had been nearly a week since Rae had balled her eyes out onto Peyton's shoulder over Cameron and the fact that he had taken another girl home over the weekend.

"Is everything okay with her?" He asked, concern in his hazel eyes.

Peyton opened her mouth to reply but stopped herself almost immediately. Should she share such a secret about her best friend? She had promised Rae not to tell a soul; only one person knew about Rae and Cameron's unintentional relationship and it was her. If she were to tell Quinn, and he accidentally let it slip to someone else, who knows what would happen?

She dropped her face into her hands and groaned. "She has…boy drama."

Quinn gave a small chuckle and grabbed Peyton's hands, making her look up. "Do you mean Cameron drama?"

Peyton's jaw dropped open in shock. "How did you know?"

Quinn laughed, intertwining their fingers together. "Actually it was a guess, but I mean, last week at Nicky's I could practically see the jealously rolling off of her when that chick was around." He paused and looked up thoughtfully before his gaze went to her again. "Now that I think about it, Cameron was pretty jealous himself whenever Drew was near Rae."

"God," Peyton sighed and leaned back in her chair, though still keeping their hands together. "They are so stupid and stubborn that neither of them will admit their fault." She shook her head, biting her lip as she felt the words rise from her throat against her will. She was about to spill everything and break her promise…but Quinn kind of already knew. Would that count as betrayal, if he already knew? Peyton decided that it didn't.

So after one deep breath, Peyton told him everything: How the two became Rae and Cameron, and how Peyton watched them fall for each other, feelings growing fast to something extremely close to love. Then with a slight frown, she told Quinn about the break-up and the drama that led up to now. By the time she finished, Quinn was frowning too. But not for the same reason as Peyton.

"The night they broke up, that's when you came to my apartment," he recalled, his eyebrow's pulled together as if the memory brought a bad taste to his mouth. "I'm so sorry. I should have told you about Chase then."

Peyton smiled gently, remembering how she had yelled at him. "It's okay. The past is in the past."

Quinn grinned and leaned across the table, kissing Peyton's lips tenderly but still managing to take her breath away. "So," he said, "about Rae and Cameron…What are you going to do?"

Peyton blinked. "What am I going to do?"

"Yeah, you're the best friend," Quinn said with a shrug of his shoulders. "You gotta try something."

"I guess you're right." Peyton said. Sipping her latté, she glanced outside where the snow fell heavy like rain. "I'll talk to them."

The next morning, Peyton rose quietly from her bed and pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweater. She looked over her shoulder where Rae lay curled under the blankets, her lips set in a slight smile as if her dreams were completely to her liking.

Peyton's heart squeezed sympathetically at remembering Rae's puffy eyes and heartbroken sobs the night she had cried on her best friend's shoulder. She had never seen Rae so upset before.

Now, she tiptoed to the door and closed it gently behind her. Her footsteps echoed around the empty hallway as she made her way toward the stairs that led her up one floor. It was strange, she thought, that even though there was only a little over an hour until classes started, not a soul was in sight. But she wasn't going to complain. Her feet carried her to the end of the hallway before she stopped and knocked.

Peyton waited for a few minutes but no one answered. So she knocked again, this time harder.

"It's fucking 5:30 in the morning!" A muffled voice shouted from the other side of the door. "Go away!"

"It's Peyton," she replied, putting a hand on the knob of the door. "I need to talk to you."

There was a pause, then the deep voice said, "We can talk later."

Peyton huffed in frustration as she peeked up and down the hallway. When she was sure that she was going to remain alone, fire danced across her irises, bleeding her eyes black. She focused her gaze on the door knob, and with a satisfied smirk, the lock clicked.

The door swung open and Peyton walked in to see Cameron Danvers jerk upright, jaw hanging.

"Oh don't look so shocked," Peyton snapped as she closed the door behind her. "I am a powerful witch, if you forgot."

Cameron closed his mouth and stayed quiet, his gaze wary on Peyton as she sat on the end of his bed.

"Like I said before," she started. "We need to talk."

Seeming to find his voice, Cameron lifted his chin. "No, we don't. Anyways, Tristan will be back any-"

"Don't lie. I know Tristan stayed with Kelsey last night." She watched Cameron fall silent once more. "Are you going to tell me what happened?"

Cameron met her gaze with narrowed eyes, knowing exactly what she was talking about. "What's the point?"

Peyton paused, thinking. "The point is that you and Rae were crazy for each other."

"Were crazy for each other," Cameron emphasized, his dark brown eyes falling to the blanket. "Past tense."

Impatience and annoyance flared within her. "Uhh! Cameron, really? You know you still care about her and that she still cares about you. She was head over heels for you."

He looked up at her, his gaze cold. "If she cared that much she wouldn't have wanted to keep us a secret and we'd still be together."

Now, Peyton fell silent. She hated to admit it but she understood where Cameron was coming from. But remembering her own reaction when Rae had first told her about the sudden relationship, she also understood why her best friend had wanted to keep her relationship quiet for the time being. Her head was spinning with ideas to fix the problem.

"Why not give it another shot? I mean, it's worth a try isn't it?"

Cameron sighed, clearly tired of the conversation though it had just begun. "Peyton, Rae made up her mind…I mean, she practically told me to move on. I got the message loud and clear."

A snippy comeback bounced on her tongue but she held it back. Though she wanted so bad to ask about Kendal and tell him how the tears Rae had shed could have easily filled an ocean, she kept quiet.

The way Cameron's face was set, Peyton knew that the short conversation had ended. She sighed and walked to the door, mentally scolding herself for waking up early and getting no where with Cameron. She wondered if she should have meddled at all. She left without another word and when she arrived back in her room, Rae was stepping from the small attached bathroom.

"Hey," Rae smiled as she ran a brush through her blonde hair. She already had her school uniform on. "Where were you?"

Peyton slapped a smile on her face in return. "I couldn't sleep."

Rae plopped down on the bed and kicked her legs, watching Peyton pull her sweater off. "Well if you get dressed quick enough, maybe we'll have enough time to run into town and grab some coffee before class."

"Yeah, okay," she replied, then added hesitantly, "You seem chipper today."

Rae shrugged but her expression turned a little sad. "I've decided that I'm not going to sit around and mop anymore. If Cameron is moving on then so should I…" Peyton raised an eyebrow in question as she changed into her Spenser's uniform. "A few days ago Drew asked me if I'd ever like to go out. We are going out tonight."

Peyton's green eyes widened in surprise, but Rae didn't seem to notice as she stood and grabbed her jacket that hung by the door. "I'll go start the car. Hurry up!"

When the door closed behind the blonde, Peyton shook her head. After pulling her socks and shoes on she grabbed her own jacket and purse and headed for the door. So Cameron had moved on with Kendal, and now Rae was going on a date with Drew Caldwell.

"So much for trying to mend things…" she muttered to herself as she closed the door.

Rome walked down a corridor in the dorm building, his footsteps falling quickly. He had heard a rumor during school hours and he needed to find out if it were true. He stopped in front of a familiar door and knocked; the door swung open almost immediately.

"Rome," Bethany Marcus said in surprise but smiled at her boyfriend.

"Hey," He replied, peeking over her shoulder into the room behind her. "Is it true?"

Bethany opened her mouth to reply but Rome pushed past her and walked into the room where his twin sister, Rae Garwin, stood in front of her closet.

"Hey, Ro," she said simply. "What's up?"

Rome glanced at Bethany who had closed the door behind her and flopped down on a pink bean bag on the floor. It was then that he noticed Peyton on her bed, flipping through a magazine, eyebrows creased together as if something was on her mind.

"Is it true you're going out with Drew Caldwell?" He asked.

Rae rolled her eyes and turned away from her brother. "I'm not going out with him…it's just a date."

"You're going on a date with him?" Rome repeated in disbelief.

"God, Rome. Don't start the whole protectively brother thing now, please." Rae said as she grabbed a pair of black closed toe heels from the floor of her closet and pulled them on.

"Rae, you know I don't like you dating my friends…"

Rae rounded on him and Rome surprised himself by taking a few steps back. "I don't know how many times I have to say it before it gets through that thick skull of yours, but I can date whoever the hell I want to. And I don't need your stamp of approval." She took a breath to calm herself before saying, "Besides, it's only one date. It's not a big deal."

Rome was stunned speechless. His gaze went to Peyton and Bethany; his girlfriend gave him a sympathetic look, while Peyton's gaze was on Rae. When he found his voice, he spoke with careful words. "Okay. Okay, fine. You're right, you don't need my approval. Just…just be careful, alright?"

Rae nodded but didn't say anything.

"I'll see you later then," Rome said, backing toward the door. Bethany pushed herself from the floor and followed her boyfriend from the room, leaving the two girls alone.

"What the hell was that about?" Peyton asked, tossing the magazine aside.

"I snapped, okay?" Rae said. "I'm just tried of him being in my business."

"You broke up with Cameron because you didn't want to tell your brother about your relationship, because he is Rome's friend, and yet you basically just told him it didn't matter what he thought of who you dated." Peyton shook her head at her best friend. "Why in the hell couldn't you have told him that months ago when you were dating Cameron?"

Automatically, Rae felt the tears in her eyes. "It's different, Peyton. Cameron is his best friend."

Peyton laughed without humor as she stood and walked to the door. She turned around and pointed a finger at her roommate. "It's not different, Rae. You're just being a stubborn ass. Both of you are being so stubborn!"

Confused and hurt, Rae watched her best friend slam the door behind her.

"Whatever." She pushed Peyton's words to the back of her mind, angry that everyone seemed to mad at her for one reason or another. So with a less than happy attitude, Rae grabbed her purse and made her way to the bottom floor where Drew was waiting.

When she saw him, she gave a polite smile. "Hey."

"Hey," Drew replied, grinning widely. "You look great."

"Thanks. So you do."

And he did look great, with his dark denim jeans and black jacket. Actually, now that Rae got a better look at him, he was gorgeous. His dark hair hung just above his brown eyes making him look intense and mysterious but sweet and cute at the same time. She did like him, after all he was good looking and a really cool guy. But she didn't like him. There was no jolt of excitement at seeing him, no flutter in her stomach. This date was only a way to help her start moving on, like Cameron had.

Her insides twisted uncomfortable at the thought of her ex-boyfriend.

"You ready to go?" she asked, trying to rid the image of Cameron Danvers from her mind.

Drew nodded and pushed the door open, causing a drift of snow and chilly wind to race in from outside. "I have to admit I was glad when you called."

Rae's gaze flicked to him as they walked toward the parking lot, she gave a tight lipped smile.

The following day the sun was out, shining brightly on the blanket of snow covering the school grounds of Spenser Academy. It sparkled and shimmered like thousands of tiny diamonds, beckoning all to come and play.

The school day had ended hours ago and many students had taken advantage of the clear day. Some had managed to get sleds while others had started a snowball fight, their screams and laughter could be heard for miles around. Though most had made their way outdoors, a few had hauled up inside with movies, blankets and hot chocolate.

In the dorms Peyton and Quinn were cuddled on her bed watching Elf, Rae was on her own bed when Kelsey and Tristan walked in, both shaking from the cold.

"Hey you two," Rae greeted. "Get all your Christmas shopping done?"

Tristan nodded and fell into the bean bag in front of the T.V. "Sure did. We ran into a bunch of people, too. We saw Kendal, remember her? The girl Cameron brought to Nicky's the other night?"

Rae's eyebrows raised and looked at Peyton, expecting to share a knowing stare. But her best friend didn't even spare her a glance. The two hadn't spoken since their small fight the previous night though Rae had tried to start a conversation many times.

"He's not going to date her is he?" Kelsey asked with her nose wrinkled as she sat down at the end of Rae's bed. "I didn't like her. She kept letting those guys buy her drinks, even with Cameron standing right there. She was so wasted. But I guess he didn't mind because he left with her. I hope he's not back to his old ways."

She had Rae's full attention now and she couldn't help but scoff. "Great. The old Cameron. Screws them then ditches them."

Peyton sat up out of Quinn's arms and glared at her best friend. "Don't be stupid. Maybe he's only doing that because someone hurt him."

Rae met Peyton's stare, completely floored by the way her friend was acting. She bit the inside of her cheek to stop herself from saying something she would regret. A wordless conversation passed between the two and the others must have noticed the tension because Tristan cleared his throat.

"What are you talking about? He didn't sleep with her."

"Cameron left with her early that night at Nicky's," Kelsey replied. "Everyone saw them leave together."

"Kels, we left after him," Tristan said, making sure he had her attention. And he did, he had everyone's attention. Rae's blue eyes wouldn't move from Tristan as he spoke. "She was wasted, so he took her back to her place to sleep it off. So yeah, he left with her but Cameron didn't have sex with Kendal."

Cameron didn't have sex with Kendal. Rae's heart thudded rapidly in her chest as Tristan turned back around the face the T.V.

At that moment Rae felt Peyton reaching for the telepathic connection they shared, she looked up and her gaze met Peyton's once again. But Rae knew what she was going to say, so before her words could be heard, the blonde stood and strode to the door with determination. She pulled her phone from her pocket as she closed the door behind her and leaned against the cold wood.

Opening a new text message, she typed in: I need to talk to you. Now. Where are you?