Hey guys, long time no see! I've just got a filler chapter for you tonight, and be warned, there is fluff. Lots of fluff. Also, the way things are planned out, I think this is the third-last chapter. The book is nearly finished. I can't quite believe it myself.

I'm really tired, so I'll go and let you read this very fluffy chapter that took waaay too long to write.

Enjoy :)


Somethin' in your eyes, makes me wanna lose myself

Makes me wanna lose myself, in your arms

There's somethin' in your voice, makes my heart beat fast

Hope this feeling lasts, the rest of my life

If you knew how lonely my life has been

And how long I've been so alone

And if you knew how I wanted someone to come along

And change my life the way you've done

It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me

It feels like I'm all the way back where I come from

It feels like home to me, it feels like home to me

It feels like I'm all the way back where I belong

-'Feels Like Home', CHANTAL KREVIAZUK.


I woke up on Saturday morning with the remnants of a dream caught behind my eyes and a smile on my face. You know that feeling when everything seems alright with the world and all your responsibilities and general insecurities about the future have yet to hit you with full force? Yeah, me neither, or at least not very often; but if you can imagine it, that's how I was feeling.

I forgot, for the moment, that my job in relation to Quasi's general well-being and happiness wasn't finished yet. I guess young love is an easy distraction from more important things. But whatever the case, I chose to lay in bed and let my mind wander through the fog of sleepiness and bliss, unaware of the limited time I had.

I got up eventually, eyes still half-closed, and made my way through my morning routine, wandering from the bedroom to the bathroom to the kitchen, letting the sounds of family life infiltrate my brain. The girls had already been up for ages and were now rushing around the house, busy with whatever things they liked to do on the weekend, while I squinted in the fridge and tried to decide what I wanted for breakfast.

It wasn't until Angie came to me looking for envelopes that something clicked.

"You should get your invitations done now as well," she reminded me, and I frowned as I rummaged through my drawer for the envelopes. She was always on my case about planning holiday events in advance, but I was sure I had plenty of time.

"Already? I have ages!"

She looked at me like I was an idiot. "The holidays start next week."

I froze, my hands still in the drawer. "You mean this is the last week of school?"

She rolled her eyes. "Duh!"

"Frick." The envelopes forgotten, I grabbed my tablet, ran out to the living room and snatched the phone from its hook. Seconds later, a voice gave a greeting, and I took a breath to try and steady my heartbeat.

"Johanna? I have a video you may want to see..."


Waiting is one of the hardest things to do, hands down. It's right up there with carrying three plates or confessing your love for someone or trying to choose a candy bar or ice cream flavor when you're in a hurry. Maybe slightly higher. Maybe I just have weak arms and a terrible sense of indecisiveness. My point is, it's hard as hell to have to wait days to tell someone really important news, especially when you're emotionally invested in the situation.

I was impatient and jittery and irritable for the rest of that day, and also a little scared. I knew that what I had done was irreversible and that the beginning of the end had officially started the moment I finally sent Johanna that video. There was no going back now. The full force of what I had done didn't hit me like a lightening bolt as soon as I tapped that button, but it seeped into my bones and gripped my heart with nervousness, fear and relief. I was glad that I had made up my mind to actually help Quasi out of his situation, but what did that mean? Would events play out exactly as they had countless times in my mind, where I had fantasized about everything working out perfectly? Probably not. How much control did I really have in this thing? I was so confused.

Johanna, on the other hand, was having no such problems. My call to her was short and abrupt, and when I decided to call her again on Sunday after some time to think, she was nearly breathless with excitement.

"I just... I can't think," I confessed to her once I knew she was listening. "I've driven myself crazy trying to plan out every possible outcome and wondering if I've done the right thing, even though I know i have. I'm so worried that something will go wrong and Quasi will get even more hurt and everything will have been for nothing. It's just... I don't..."

"You really care about him, don't you?" Johanna's voice was soft and delicate, as if tiptoeing around a difficult subject.

"I do. I really do. He's an awesome guy and he's really special to me and I don't know what I would do if something bad happened to him." The tears were already pricking my eyes, and I scolded myself inwardly for being such a crybaby.

"I'm sure you're pretty special to him, too." Her comment made me realise that she probably didn't know about us yet.

"I am." I cleared my throat self-consciously. "I know I'm special to him because... well... you probably haven't heard, but we're kind of... together... now. It happened... two weeks ago, I think."

Her gasp was almost comical. "Really? Oh, Michigan, that's wonderful! I'm so happy for both of you!"

"You sound surprised."

"Well, to be honest I was hoping it would happen, but I didn't think it actually would. There would be a certain social stigma to be aware of in your relationship, I'm sure. And he is such a shy person that I couldn't imagine him actually picking up the nerve to ask you out. I assume you were instrumental in bringing that about."

"Well, he was actually the first one to try." I smiled and shook me head at the memory. "After some encouragement from my friends, he tried to show me a poem that he had written about me, but there was a miscommunication and he thought I rejected him. So I had to go set things straight, and one thing led to another, and the rest is history." A laugh found its way out of my throat. "As for social stigma... well, most of the school thought we were dating months before we actually were, so I think we're OK. And I don't really care what others think about us anyway. I can't help it if they don't find him as beautiful as I do."

Johanna was quiet for a while, and when she spoke again, I could tell from her voice that she was smiling. "You think he's beautiful?"

"Yes." I answered without hesitation. "I mean his face was ugly at first, but once I got to know him, his personality kind of just... made him beautiful. I don't think he's ugly anymore. He's just... him." I could've gone into long detail about how amazing his eyes were or how adorable his every mannerism was or how I wanted to cry every time he sang or how I wanted to snuggle with him for hours, but gushing made me embarrassed and it wasn't something I felt I could share with anyone, let alone my boyfriend's much older second cousin. So I just swallowed my words and closed my eyes and tried to get ahold of my mushy brain, wondering if it was always going to be like this.

"I have to admit," Johanna started slowly, "I've never quite been able to get used to him. I was never able to get to know him. I only observed from a distance, feeling sorry for him and trying to get him out of that awful place. I'm glad someone has been able to break through what everyone else sees, but it's hard to imagine."

"I guess you'll have time to get to know him in a few days." Even as I said it, my heart gave a little squeeze at the thought that everything was so close.

Johanna cleared her throat on the other end and shuffled something around. "Yes, I'll make a point of doing so. Look, I should get going. I have some paperwork to take care of and I'm expecting a few phone calls."

"Yeah, I should let you go. I've got stuff to do too."

"I'll talk to you again soon. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. And Mich?"

"Hmm?"

"I'm so glad he found you."

I smiled at that and said goodbye.


Quasi and I were walking to lunch together when I made the decision to tell him.

"Hey, Kaz," I started while we stopped at our lockers, "What would you do if you were free?"

He looked at me, his face twisting into a befuddled frown. "Free?"

"What if you could get away from everything that ever hurt you? What if you could live somewhere completely different, out of harm's way? What if you were safe?"

"I... don't know." He stared into his locker, eyes distant. "I don't remember feeling safe. I've gotten used to my life, as horrible as it may seem to you. I can't imagine anything else." He paused, as if gathering his thoughts. "Why do you ask?"

I had to take a moment to compose myself, shocked by his nonchalant words. "Oh, uh, well... I wasn't sure if I should tell you or not, but I think I should, if only to prepare you. Things might be changing soon."

"Mich..." he interrupted, eye wide, already concerned, "What did you do?"

"Do you remember the time I came over and had to hide in the cupboard?"

He nodded mutely.

"Well, I had my tablet with me, and I videoed-"

"You didn't!"

"I did." I touched his arm softly, lowering my voice. "The people who investigated your father- they lacked proof. I have that proof, and I'm going to help you. In fact, I've already helped you."

"What did you do?" he asked again, his voice tinged with panic.

"I sent it to Johanna. She's organising everything, and you'll be staying with her while they get everything settled. You're going to get out of that place." I smiled and squeezed his arm. "You're going to be free."

"B-but I- How- I don't-" He stopped and just breathed for a minute, trying to get ahold of his panic, and I realised all too late that the school hallway was probably not a good place to have such an emotional conversation. When he spoke again, his voice was small, afraid. "You... You really think it will work?"

"Definitely."

"I can't believe..." He let out a shaky breath and closed his door, raising his eyes to meet mine. "I-I can't believe you did that."

"What have I told you, Quasi? I can't just stand by and watch things happen." I quickly grabbed my lunch out of my locker and slung my arm around his shoulders (or what I could reach of his shoulders anyway). "Surely you don't think I wouldn't do anything for you by now?"

He turned his head to look at me and found that our faces were only inches apart, and I held my breath, wondering if he was going to kiss me. His eyes flickered over my lips and then up to my eyes, the tips of his ears starting to turn pink, and I smiled and began to lean forward... until he turned away and looked down. Disappointed, I sighed and squeezed his shoulder. He obviously wasn't comfortable with kissing in public, and to tell the truth I wasn't really either. I had just been caught up in the moment, and besides, we hadn't kissed since that day in the library, so it kind of felt overdue. But I could wait. Suspense was supposed to make it better anyway, right?

"Come on, lets go to lunch." I unwrapped my arm from his shoulders and entwined my fingers with his, and we made our way to the eating area.

When we got there, instead of grabbing the last empty table like I was planning to, I led Quasi to the end of a half-full table and smiled brightly. "Hi guys, mind if we sit here?"

They exchanged glances, and one of them shrugged. "Sure, go ahead."

"Thanks." As we moved to grab the seats, Quasi squeezed my hand, and I squeezed it back in a way that I hoped was reassuring. Everyone at the table watched us take our seats across from each other and pull out our lunches, and just as I was starting to wonder if this was really a good idea, a girl I recognised as Holly from the Drama club scooted her chair closer and smiled at us. "You guys are so brave."

I looked at her curiously. "Why?"

"After everything that's happened, you want to sit with us?" She gestured to the rest of the table. "After what we all did? We were so mean! I thought for sure that you'd hate us forever!"

"'Evil' is the word I'd use, but yeah. You were all pretty much on my hit-list for a while." I was only half-joking, and I was gratified to see most of the group look uncomfortable. I shrugged and pulled out a sandwich, echoing the words Quasi had used a little while ago. "But if we held grudges on everyone, it would hurt us more than you. An official apology wouldn't go amiss, though." She nodded and started to speak, but I held up a hand. "To him, not to me."

I could see how taken aback she was, no matter how much she tried to cover it up, but to her credit she did exactly what I asked. "Oh, um, well..." She turned to him, having trouble meeting his eyes. "We're sorry."

The others murmured in agreement.

"Yeah man, it was stupid."

"Yeah, sorry, dude."

Quasi ducked his head in embarrassment and peered at them from behind his bangs. "I-It's ok. I f-forgive you."

I felt my heart swell in my chest as I looked at these people who, only a few months ago, were all for bullying and humiliating my boyfriend, only to turn around and actually be sorry about it now. Maybe they would even learn to accept people like him. Maybe all wasn't lost.

"I guess it's just easy to follow the crowd, right?"

"It's easy to follow Esme." Holly looked down at her hands. "Or it was. She was the 'it' girl. She was in charge. I know a lot of us would've done anything to be in her favour. God, it sounds so stupid now, but that's the way it was."

"And now?"

She shrugged. "She was wrong. We were all wrong. It's not fair to anyone. I don't want to be a bully, and I don't want to follow someone around like a dog."

I smiled at her. "It takes a strong person to admit they were wrong. Well done."

"I'll never be as strong as you, though."

"Me?" I laughed incredulously. "How am I strong?"

Quasi looked up with the most ridiculously amazed face I had ever seen him wear, and Holly snorted, shaking her head. "How are you not? You stood up to Esme, you punched her boyfriend in the face, you stood up for him," she gestured to Quasi, who was nodding vigorously with her every word. "You did something that no-one else was willing to do, and you didn't care what anyone said. I wouldn't have been able do any of that."

"But you should've! I only did what everyone else should've done!" I protested. "I stood by for so long, just watching, until I couldn't take it anymore, and then instead of thinking things through, I was an idiot and lashed out. Maybe I'm a decent human being. Maybe I'm defiant and rebellious. But I'm not strong. You have no idea how many times I wimped out of something or waited too long because I was scared." I wasn't sure why I was so intent on shooting down their opinions of me, but I did know this- if I was strong, I wouldn't have waited so long to give Johanna the proof she needed, just because I wanted to do the dumb concert with Quasi. I wouldn't have been so afraid to tell Quasi my feelings for him. I wouldn't have made everything complicated by falling in love in the first place. I wouldn't be constantly distracting myself in hope that I wouldn't have to confront the things that would eventually break my heart. I wasn't strong.

Holly stared at me for a minute, surprised at my outburst, then shrugged and went back to her lunch. "Fine, whatever you say. What you did was still pretty cool. And Esme is mental now, so that's a plus."

One of the boys snorted. "That bitch needs a shrink. She's crazier than all my ex's combined."

I laughed. "Yeah, did you hear about the dumb pranks she pulled on me last week?"

"I saw the tampon thing." Holly giggled. "Can you imagine buying that many tampons at once? What a weirdo!"

"I know, right? She tried to slime me on Thursday. She missed."

"We should slime her." She smiled at my expression. "What? I'm serious! I'd be happy to help you get revenge on her. She slimed you, you slime her back."

I nodded, the idea sounding logical to my trigger-happy mind. I glanced at Quasi, only to find him watching me with an uneasy look in his green eyes. I cocked my head at him. "What is it?"

"I-I..." He looked down, biting his lip. "I don't want revenge. I-I don't want to make things worse. Can't we j-just leave it?"

And just like that, the idea of revenge didn't sound that great anymore. Because he was right- revenge would solve nothing. It would only add fuel to the stupid feud that we had going. I smiled proudly and reached for his hand, then faced the group. "I swear you guys, this guy keeps me on the straight and narrow. And he's absolutely right. We can live without getting revenge. We don't need to sink to her level."

Holly watched us, chin resting on one hand, her eyes flickering from our faces to our clasped hands, until the biggest grin I had ever seen spread over her face. I squeezed Quasi's hand before retracting it self-consciously, clearing my throat. "What?"

She shook her head, trying and failing to suppress her wide smile. "Nothing."

"What is it?" I insisted.

"Nothing! You just so..."

"Cute? So I've heard."

"I was going to say happy, but that works too." She paused, then continued. "I can see why, too. Life hasn't exactly been easy for you," she turned to Quasi and managed to give him a small smile before having to turn away, "but then she comes along and does all this stuff for you. Your relationship was inevitable. And I guess it's nice to have someone to take of, hey?" This was directed at me.

"Yeah," I agreed, realising she was right.

"And that's what makes it so sweet. You two have this bond and you need each other and everyone can see how happy you make each other. It's a rare thing."

"Yeah," I said again, smiling a little.

By this time, Quasi had taken refuge behind his hair, embarrassed by Holly and her enthusiasm about us. I had the greatest urge to smooth his red locks out of his face so that I could see his eyes, but I held back and instead nudged his leg with my foot. He looked up, peering through his fringe, and I held his green gaze for a lot longer than I should've, considering how many people were watching us. I just wanted to get away, now. It had been my idea to socialise, and now I was over it. Maybe if I stared into his eyes long enough, everyone else would disappear.

It must of worked to an extent, because the group eventually decided we were boring and went on with eating and gossiping. Holly tried to include us in the conversation, but as Quasi wasn't inclined to talk and I was completely disinterested in the topics of choice, she finally left us alone and rejoined the group. Quasi and I finished eating and got up together, and I waved goodbye to the group and led us away. As we only had a few minutes of lunch left, we headed towards our lockers to get our books for next period, and I decided to bring up the upcoming situation again.

"I just want you to be happy. I know its not easy to think about, but your life will be so much better after he's gone. I hope you're not angry."

He shook his head quickly, meeting my eyes. "I'm not angry. I-I'm just afraid."

"I know." I wanted to tell him that I was, too, but the reasons for my fear were different, and though they were on the tip of my tongue, I didn't want to burden him with them. I swallowed them down and brought up something else instead. "Speaking of, I think you should tell him that were aren't together anymore."

"What?"

"He doesn't like me, and seeing as everything needs to be perfect for your escape, it would be wise not to antagonise him. Let him think that he's won, that he still has control over your life, and he will never suspect a thing." I didn't know if any of this was true, but it had to be better than the current difficulty Quasi was in. "And it goes without saying that if he finds out any of this, we're screwed."

"Of course." He sounded troubled, and rightly so- this was a lot to take in, and knowing him, he would probably worry himself to death before Wednesday.

"Hey." I smiled and tried to sound encouraging, though I wasn't much more positive than he was. "It'll work out. Everything will be fine, you'll see." I knew just telling him to cheer up wouldn't do much, but it was the best I had. Hopefully it would be enough last us until Wednesday. We would just have to see.


Not much to say. Hopefully everything will come to a head in the next chapter or so, as Mich and Johanna put their plan into action. Will they succeed? Will there be a happy ending? What will happen to our pair as the decisions made affect their lives and change everything they know? Pfft, I don't even know.

Any ideas or suggestions? Should I stretch it out for another chapter before the important stuff happens? I love feedback so drop me a line or two.

Thanks for reading, and see you next time :)