Mrs. Catalano. Mrs. Jordan Catalano. Mr. & Mrs. J. Catalano. Mrs. Angela Catalano. Angela Catalano. Hmmm. I wonder if Jordan has a middle name…Ever since Rickie said it, I keep thinking…do people ever stay together past high school? My grandparents did, but that was like, a million ago. I know my parents met in college, but my mom was with that Tony Poole guy in high school. It sounded like she was really into him, but it didn't last. I mean, I'm glad because then I wouldn't be here. I guess, I would be here, but I wouldn't be me, exactly. Angela Poole…I don't like it. Sounds weird. I wonder why they broke up. He so doesn't seem like her type, but maybe my dad wasn't her type. Maybe Tony Poole is exactly the kind of guy she liked and whatever happened with them made her choose a guy like my dad. I'm really curious, but to find out, I'd have to like, have a personal conversation with her and I'm not about to do that.

Angela rushed home and jumped in the shower. She was waiting for her clothes to come out of the dryer when Jordan arrived. He was early, as usual.

"Hey."

"Hey, want some coffee?" Angela asked as she turned away from the door. Jordan nods and follows her into the kitchen.

"How was the show? I wish I had been there."

Jordan takes in the sight of her, standing in front of the cabinet, reaching up to grab two mugs. She's wearing just shorts and a camisole. Her hair is wet and it's obvious that she just got out of the shower.

"It was…good." He said distractedly, a tiny smile on his face. Enjoying the view, he's startled when he hears a man clearing his throat.

Busted.

"Oh, hey,"

Graham grunts in reply, setting an overnight bag down on the floor.

"Hi Dad, want some coffee?" Angela offers.

"Yeah, thanks."

As Angela reaches for a third mug, Graham places his hand on her shoulder.

"I'll get that."

He shot Jordan a look before grabbing the mug from the cabinet. By now, Angela had filled the two mugs with coffee and was about to get the milk from the fridge when Graham offered to get it for her, realizing the view Jordan would have when she reached in to get it. He shot Jordan another accusing look.

Feeling the tension, Angela tries to distract him.

"So, Mom says you guys are going out tonight?"

"Yeah, we're going to a show and then staying the night in a hotel. We'll be back tomorrow."

"What about the restaurant? I thought weekends were busy." She asked.

"I've been training our assistant chef to cover for me and we scaled back the menu a little. We've been advertising it as our 'summer menu.' The dishes are pretty simple, so I'm hoping that he can handle it."

Jordan felt out of place, as though he was eavesdropping. He was relieved when Patty entered the kitchen.

"Jordan. Hi, I didn't know you were here." Patty smiled warmly as she spoke.

Jordan smiled at her.

"What about Danielle?" Angela continued. "Please don't tell me that I'm stuck with her." She was exasperated at the thought alone.

"She went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the weekend." Patty said. "You're spending the night at Camille's."

While Patty was talking to Angela, Graham was watching Jordan.

"I don't need a babysitter." Angela said indignantly.

"It's not negotiable." Patty replied.

Angela groaned and turned to leave the room.

"Whatever. I'm going outside. Do I need supervision for that too?" She walked through the kitchen door and into the living room without waiting for a response. Jordan followed behind her, mug in hand.

They sat together on the porch swing. He could see that she was angry and embarrassed. She had her legs drawn up under her and she was pouting.

"I swear. They act like I'm Danielle's age or something." She was mortified that he had witnessed the exchange between her and Patty.

"I think that was about me, not you." He said. As if understanding her need to be reassured that he thought no less of her because she was under their authority, he reached up and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. Emboldened by his support, she continued.

"Whatever. I can stay out with you if I want. They'd never even know. I could have spent the night with you last night and told them I was with Rickie. How would they know different?"

His interest was piqued. The fact that she came up with this on the fly gave him hope that at some point she would actually enact this plan and they would indeed be spending their nights together. He put his arm around her and pulled her into his side.

"Look, the garage is closed and we don't have practice, so we can hang out all day. Don't worry about tonight."

"But what are we gonna do later? Watch movies with Camille and Andy? There's no way they're going to let me go out without Sharon and I am not having you over to their house. That's just weird."

"Then we'll take her with us. It's not a big deal."

She smiled at him, placed her hand on his face and kissed him chastely.

He shook his head as if to clear it and pulled back from her.

"You're holding your folks up, they're not gonna leave 'til I'm gone."

"Like I care." She crossed her arms and pouted some more.

He laughed at her defiance.

"If they're gone, we can hang out here." He responded suggestively, drawing tiny circles on the inside of her thigh.

"We could, couldn't we?" She said, a wicked smile spreading across her face.

He nodded.

"I'll be back in 10 minutes." She said as she dashed off to the laundry room.

xXx

Rickie locked up the apartment and made his way to the bus stop. He started his weekly pilgrimage to the local mall. Every Saturday, before going to work at the restaurant, he would spend the morning browsing the shops. He had begun work on two gift baskets for Sharon's shower, which was many months away, but he'd need the time to get it all done. Each basket was enormous on its own and he intended to fill them both. One basket was dedicated to miscellaneous baby things; cute onesies, sweet little toys, perfect storybooks, and a myriad of care items. The other basket was a "mommy basket." It had occurred to him that for a girl in Sharon's situation, becoming a mom, but not really wanting to be one, a shower, with all the baby gifts, etc. might not be as much fun as it was for other moms, so he made it his mission to create a basket just for her with things that had nothing to do with the baby. So far, he had collected more than a dozen tiny sample bottles of perfumes and moisturizers from the various cosmetics counters at Macy's, added to that were a few kitschy t-shirts, socks with playful prints, and imported chocolates and cookies. He never had an agenda on these shopping trips; he just wandered in and out of stores browsing the aisles, picking up whatever struck his fancy.

Coming out of Macy's this morning, he was distracted; having scored a sample of a perfume he'd been wanting for his basket. Not paying attention to where he was going, he walked right into someone.

"I'm so sorry, I wasn't loo…" When he was who it was he stopped short. "I was uh, distracted. Hey."

"Hey." Corey replied. "So, you're shopping."

Rickie looked around as if to say, 'what else would I be doing here?'

"Yeah, I guess you are too?"

"Art supplies." He pointed to the bag in his hand.

"Oh."

The two stand in awkward silence for a moment.

"Well, I better get to it. I have to go to work later." Rickie said in an attempt to fill the dead air and get on with his day. He turned slightly to leave. Corey turned as well and fell into step with him.

"Where do you work?" Corey asked.

"Saffron, it's a new restaurant downtown. Have you heard of it?"

"Yeah, they had a big ad in the paper last week." Corey replied. "You…cook?"

Rickie laughed, "No, I'm a host. I seat people, take reservations, that kind of thing."

"Oh, yeah, you'd be good at that." Corey looked off into the distance as they walked, hands in his pockets.

In the window of a bookstore, Rickie spotted, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."

"I need to stop in here." Rickie said to Corey, fully expecting to bid him farewell and carry on with his shopping. Much to his surprise, Corey followed him into the store.

"I had that book when I was little." Corey remarked. "You buying a present or something?"

As they walked up and down the aisles of the store, Rickie explained what he was doing, leaving out that the fact that Sharon was having a hard time coping. Corey handed Rickie baby books to look through as he listened.

"You should get this one." Corey had handed him a copy of Are You My Mother? "Don't tell anyone, but I think I still have it somewhere in my room." Rickie smiled.

"It's about a bird that hatches but doesn't find his mother around and goes off searching for her. He meets a bunch of other animals, but eventually, he finds her." Corey's summary struck a nerve, but Rickie put on a good face and thought it was a book that might help Sharon to feel better about her baby, so he put it in his basket with the others and kept walking.

"Thanks." Rickie said. "I actually think it's kinda perfect."

"It must be tough for her. It's really nice of you to do all of this."

"She's my friend."

"She's lucky to have a friend like you." Corey responded nonchalantly.

As they stood at the register, Corey's stomach grumbled loudly, causing Rickie to giggle.

"I guess I should get something to eat." A red-faced Corey remarked.

"Okay. I'll see…"

"What are you in the mood for?" Corey asked cutting Rickie off.

"Um, I dunno, whatever."

xXx

Patty and Graham sipped their wine while they waited for the lunch to arrive. It was a perfect day for being out and about. Patty took in the scenery surrounding the deck of the café where they'd decided to stop.

"I think this is the first meal I've had in 3 months that I didn't cook myself." Graham observed.

"Not true. I made you toaster waffles a few weeks ago." Patty teased.

Graham nodded and smiled. "Yes, yes, you did." He laughed. More serious now he began. "Patty, I owe you an apology."

Patty felt her heart rate increase immediately, terrified of what would come next.

"Why would you say that Graham?"

"I've been a real ass. This thing with Danielle, the time spent at work. I've just been so immersed in the restaurant; I couldn't focus on anything else." He hung his head as if there was a weight resting on it.

"Oh, Graham; I understand how it is." She reached across the table and touched his hand. "You're just starting out and it's a tremendous amount of work. I still can't believe you took off this weekend. You don't know what that means to me." There was a slight tremor in her voice.

"Things are going really well and I just thought, if I don't make the time…well, I just need to make the time. Do you know that Brian Krackow came in last night, with a girl?"

"Really." Patty's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"It just made me think. Five minutes ago, he and Angela were fighting over his Big Wheel and now he's going out to dinner with girls." Graham shook his head. "I'm missing stuff…again. And I don't want to." He hesitates a moment. "I'm going to try to be a little nicer to Jordan too. If he's going to be around, I should at least be civil, I suppose."

"He's the boy who's dating your daughter. I know that you feel protective of her and that's how you should feel. I just think that if you don't loosen up a bit, she's going do things out of spite instead of in her own time."

"So you don't think… she's…done anything yet?" He had to force out the last part of the sentence.

"I really don't." Patty shook her head. "You should sit back and watch them together sometime. It's really very sweet. He loves her Graham, he truly does. You can see it in the way he looks at her."

"I kinda got a glimpse of how he looks at her this morning. Didn't look like love to me." He snickered.

Patty laughs.

"What?"

"You sound like my dad." She says.

"I do not." Graham replies in indignation, offended by the comparison.

"You so do." She continued to chuckle. "Do you remember when we went away on spring break together?"

Graham drops his head and raises his hands in defeat.

"Point taken; he grilled me like a sausage. If I wasn't so in love with you, I'd have headed for the hills. I still don't think he's over it." Graham mused.

"Exactly, don't you think Jordan knows how much you dislike him? He puts up with it because he loves her."

"I guess. It's just hard for me to see her with anyone and he seems so…experienced." He says with eyebrows raised.

"Maybe she's good for him. Maybe she's slowing him down. That's not a bad thing, Graham."

"I'm more worried about him speeding her up."

It was Patty's turn to snicker, "In case you haven't noticed. Angela is no pushover. I really believe that she won't do anything before she's ready and I'm pretty sure this Sharon thing has put the brakes on all of that too. She was terrified at the idea of it."

"Oh God, I can't even think about it, Patty." He sighs. "I mean, they shared a playpen and now Sharon's having a baby?"

"I know. I have to say though, Camille and Andy barely know the boy and from what Camille says, he's awful. I can't see Jordan treating her that way, whatever you think of him, he's a decent kid."

"We're not going to talk about the kids all weekend. I wanted to spend time with you." He reaches his across the table taking her hand in his. "I miss you."

Patty's eyes glisten with unshed tears.

"You know, Graham, we don't have to go to a show tonight. I mean, we could go straight to the hotel, if you want." She demurely glances up at him.

"You read my mind."

xXx

Feeling stuffed after finishing brunch at a small café near the mall, Rickie decided to walk to the restaurant. Corey tagged along. On the way, they stumbled onto a street fair in progress. With an hour left to kill before his shift began, Rickie decided to browse through the various vendor stalls, hoping to find something interesting. He still had a few dollars left to spend on Sharon's basket.

"Oooh," He had spotted a vest that was just his style.

"That's nice, but something about the color is off." Corey commented.

"You think?"

"Yeah, it wouldn't work for your coloring."

"Oh, but the pattern is perfect." Rickie lamented.

"You know, I've been messing around with these fabric paints, just on like t-shirts and stuff. I bet I could copy that pattern."

"Are you saying that you could paint it to look like that?"

"Yeah, I think so. I've done stuff like that before. You've seen my sneakers, right?" Corey pointed at his feet.

Rickie nods. "I think I have a plain black one at home."

"So, give it to me and I'll paint it for you." Corey offers.

"Really?"

"It's not a big deal. Just don't get mad if it doesn't come out exactly the same." Corey sees a little girl go by with a huge mound of cotton candy. "I haven't had one of those in like two years. Wanna split one?"

"Sure."

When they reach the cotton candy booth, Rickie reaches into his pocket to pay the vendor.

"My treat." Corey handed the man a bill.

"You paid for lunch." Rickie protested.

"It was two dollars." Corey rolls his eyes. "Don't worry about it. You can get it next time, okay?"

Next time?

"Rickie?" Corey plucked off a piece of the pink, downy confection and handed the remainder to Rickie.

It was the first time Corey had said his name all day and it did weird things to his stomach. Their hands touched as Rickie took the candy from Corey and he felt his stomach flip-flop.

Don't do this to yourself again. He's just hanging out. That's all.

xXx

Brian spent the day on the couch. He'd been up all night. He had been in such a state the night before, that he didn't realize that the salad dressing had a dairy base. The night wasn't a total loss. Amy and her foot made dinner very interesting and then there was the ride home. A smile began to form on his face until he felt the familiar churning in his stomach.

Oh God, not again. I didn't even eat that much.

Despite the revolt now taking place in his intestines, Brian was in a great mood. All of his worries about getting caught by Amy were laid to rest when she came back to the table. It hadn't occurred to him that their dinner date had scored him major points until he felt her foot inching up his leg and into his lap. While the double life he'd been leading definitely had its shortcomings, it had proven beneficial elsewhere.

As he made his way back to the couch, after what seemed like his hundredth visit to the bathroom, he considered his relationship with Amy. They had fun together and she had a bit of a wild side, which he found interesting and exciting. On the way home, Amy had pulled into a parking lot and before he knew what was happening, he found himself in the backseat. Her ministrations had him scrambling for a distraction to keep him from exploding within the first five minutes of their interaction. Eventually, he settled on a mental recitation of the periodic table of elements, atomic weights and all.

There was at least one other benefit of the relationship that he'd recently discovered, Amy was a great distraction. The nightmares he'd usually have after a late dinner were radically altered by the previous evening's events and produced an entirely different kind of dream; dreams that, for once, didn't cast Angela in the starring role. He couldn't honestly say that he was over her, but when he saw Jordan and Angela sitting in the Chase's porch swing while sitting at his own window earlier that day. His usual anguish was greatly diminished.

It's definitely progress. I can't say I'm happy to see her with Catalano, but maybe being with Amy is really helping me to move on.

xXx

Jordan stood by a half-weeded flowerbed with Shane, waiting for the girls to come downstairs. As luck would have it, Sharon had practice for Nationals and they realized it would be the perfect cover for he and Angela to slip away for a few hours.

"So, this is working out for you?" Jordan asked looking at Sharon's now beautiful yard. He'd seen it in its previous state.

Shane shrugged, "It's got its perks."

Inside, Angela called out to Sharon as she climbed the stairs to the second floor.

"Sharon? Sharon, are you ready?"

"Up here." Came the muffled response.

"Sharon, what are you doing? That ladder is rickety; you're going to kill yourself." An alarmed Angela placed her hand on the attic ladder in an attempt to stabilize it. "What are you doing up there anyway?"

"I was looking for something, but I don't see it." Sharon placed a foot on the less than sure-looking rung beneath her. "I'm coming down."

"No. Stay right there. The next rung looks like it's splitting. Don't move. They guys are right outside; I'll get them.

Angela, seeing the open bedroom door just steps from where Sharon now stood in a precarious position, yelled out of the bedroom window to the boys below. She didn't want to risk leaving Sharon alone and at the same time, she doubted that she could do anything to help her if the ladder gave way.

"I told her not to move. That ladder is old and weak; I don't think it can support her weight coming back down." She told them as they ascended the stairs.

Shane and Jordan examined the ladder and the two rungs beneath where Sharon now stood. Shane shook his head. "How'd you get up there without it breaking?"

"I dunno; I just did." As she tried again to place her foot on the rung beneath her, Shane saw it give slightly. "I'm fine. I don't need any help."

"Stop!" Angela cautioned her. "Don't move; that thing is about to give."

"I'm gonna reach up, lower your foot past that step, I'll be right under you." Shane instructed.

Sharon did as he said and slid into his arms. She looked at him sheepishly and complained that they were making too much of it and that she could have come down on her own.

He showed her the damaged rungs and she thanked him for helping her.

"If you're still going, we gotta leave now." Jordan said as both boys turned to leave.

Angela nodded.

"Let me just grab my bag." Said a seemingly unaffected Sharon.

"It's a good thing I got here when I did." Angela said over her shoulder. "If you had stepped on that rung…it's just a good thing I got here when I did."

"Yeah, I guess it is. I didn't realize the ladder was so bad."

Angela rolled her eyes in response.

"Your mom's been complaining for like, forever, that she can't get to the stuff in the attic because of that ladder." Angela snickered. "That baby is turning your brain to mush."

xXx

Jordan unlocked the door to the loft and held the door so that Angela could enter.

"Ugggh! It smells like stale beer in here." Angela covers her nose as she ventures further in.

"I told those idiots to clean up." Jordan griped in annoyance.

"Did they have a party or something?"

"Yeah, after the show; I was gonna tell you about it." Jordan picks up few empties lying around and finds the source of the smell, a beer bottle lying on its side with a puddle directly beneath it. "Morons!"

"So, you were here last night?"

"Yeah, but it looks like things got crazy."

"I thought you said you were here." She asked

"I left."

Angela waited for him to explain further. Jordan opened the windows in an attempt to rid the room of the smell of stale beer.

"Why'd you leave?" Angela asks tentatively.

"Huh?" He responded, looking for something with which to clean up the spill, while cursing Shane under his breath.

"Why did you leave?" She repeated.

"Oh yeah, I was gonna tell you about that too." He stood up straight and faced her. "First of all, nothing happened."

Angela felt her stomach drop.

Nothing happened?

"So, I was here with the guys and these girls showed up. Girls from the show or whatever…"

Girls…

"There was this one girl and she just kept comin' at me. After awhile, I decided the smart thing to do was leave. So, I left."

"She 'kept comin' at' you?" Angela repeated in an attempt to get clarification.

"Yeah, you know? Tryin' to get me to notice her or whatever. I knew it would get back to you, so I left." He said over his shoulder as he walked to the bathroom to get toilet paper for the spill.

"Wait. You left because you knew it would get back to me?" She called to him from where she was standing, by the window.

"Yeah, people talk, y'know? Gossip and stuff."

Angela is unusually quiet, which Jordan doesn't immediately notice as he gathers the remaining garbage and places the bag by the stairs. When he turns around to look at her, he takes notice of her knitted eyebrows.

"Let me get this straight. You didn't leave because you have a girlfriend and cheating on her would be wrong, you left because I would find out?"

"What? No. That's not what I said." His eyebrows now matched hers.

"That's exactly what you said."

"I told her I have a girlfriend." He sat on the arm of the couch, looking at her.

"Yeah, but your whole reason for leaving was about me finding out." She reasoned.

"That's not what I meant." He shook his head as he spoke.

"That's what you said." She folded her arms across her chest.

"What are you getting mad about? I left. I walked away." He responded defensively.

"And I'm supposed to be happy because you walked away?" She looked at him incredulously.

"Well, yeah."

"Because you could've stayed?" She added.

"Right," Jordan realizes that he may not have answered the question correctly and tries to amend his response. "I mean if I like, wanted to, but I didn't."

"Hold on, so now you're telling me that if you wanted to stay and be with that girl you would have?" No longer leaning against the window sill, she now stood erect, arms crossed, head cocked to one side.

Jordan runs his hands through his hair.

"Stop talking for a minute." He takes a deep breath. "I'm saying that I left because of you. Because I didn't want to do something stupid again."

"Oh my God!" She throws her hands up. "So, if you stayed you'd have done something stupid?" She turns away from him and then back again.

"No!" He sighs. "I did the right thing, Angela. I don't get why you're mad." He replies sternly.

"It's not just about NOT doing it; it's about WHY you wouldn't do it." She tries to explain.

"I have no idea what you're saying right now. I didn't DO anything, okay?"

"Right, you left so that you wouldn't do anything because if you had stayed you would have!" She yells across the room.

Jordan closes his eyes and shakes his head.

"Look, I don't know what you want from me. I told her I had a girlfriend and I left. There's nothing to be mad about."

"Of course there is. Listen to how you said it. You left because you didn't want to do something stupid and because you didn't want me to find out? That's the same as saying you could have done it if you wanted to."

"Exactly. I could have, but I didn't because I didn't want to." Jordan was utterly confused. It sounded like she understood, but then she would turn it all around and he had no idea why what he had said was a bad thing. All he knew was that he had done nothing wrong.

"And you don't see how upsetting that is?"

"No."

Angela groans in frustration, wondering how it is that he can't see how hurtful and plain wrong he is.

"Jordan, you're telling me that the day that you feel like going out there and being with someone else you'll do just that."

"What are you talking about? I never said that and I wouldn't do that. I'd just break up with you."

"What?" Angela could only manage to get the one word out of her mouth. The rest of her energy was focused on maintaining respiration.

"I don't get it." Jordan says, gesturing as he speaks. She knows from experience that once he starts talking with his hands, he's nearing the end of his rope and will shut down, but it doesn't matter because she's determined to make him see his error. "What's the right answer? Just tell me, because I don't get it. If I wanted to be with someone else that means that I don't want to be with you, so the best thing to do is break up, right?" His question was genuine and he looked at her expectantly, waiting for the answer.

Angela stood stick straight, staring at him with her mouth open.

"I can't even…I" She walked over to the hammock and sat down, rocking back and forth for a minute. "Who was it?" She asked tentatively.

"Who was what?" Jordan responded sharply, having had enough of her questions and confusing answers for one day.

"The girl. Was it Cynthia Hargrove?"

"What? No! Cyn would never do that. She knows we're together."

"Cyn?" Angela spat out the nickname like it was a curse.

"She's not like that. What does it matter who it was anyway? I wasn't with her."

"It matters."

Jordan sits on the couch, head in his hands, trying to figure out how the evening went south so quickly. He stares at his boots and steadies his breathing, before responding.

"You know what, Angela? I didn't do anything wrong and I'm not apologizing for something you made up in your head and I'm not gonna fight about it anymore either, because I don't even know what we're fighting about. If you wanna argue, you can argue with yourself. I'm not talking about this anymore."

He lay back on the couch and closed his eyes, not knowing what else to do. The minutes ticked by and he became increasing resentful of the clock on the far wall.

"You wanna leave?" He asked after five minutes of painful silence.

She didn't answer right away.

"No." The answer came as he was about to ask her again.

"We good?" He hoped that she would just let it go, though he'd never known her to do that before.

"I don't know. I guess so." She mumbled.

He sat up and looked across the room at her. He could see that she was really bothered. Her arms were folded across her chest and her brows were knit together. Not knowing what more to say or do, he retreated to music to fill the void. It felt to him like she was a million miles away though all he had to do was reach out and touch her. He decided to work on a song that he'd been having a hard time with. Soon, he was lost in what he was doing and while he couldn't honestly say that he had completely blocked her out, he was no longer actively paying attention to her.

"What are you playing?" She moved towards him.

"Just this song I been working on for awhile."

"It's pretty. Did you write it?" She sat down next to him.

Jordan nods.

"I like it. Does it have words?"

"Some. I'm not finished with it yet."

Another blaring silence descends upon them, neither knowing how to get past the awkwardness.

"Ange, if you wanna go, I'll take you back to the gym and we can wait for Sharon there." He offered in frustration.

"Do you want me to go?" She asked.

"No, but it seems like you don't wanna be here."

Angela sighs, her emotions all over the place. "I just don't understand how you can like, think that way?"

"Angela, I told you I'm not gonna argue about it. Drop it." He never raised his voice, but his tone was firm.

"I can't just drop it. What you said…"

"What I said was that I left because she wouldn't leave me alone and I didn't want people to gossip about something that wasn't true and have it get back to you that I did something I didn't do, but none of that matters because you're mad at me anyway."

"I'm not mad, exactly." She frowned as she spoke; not really knowing how to explain what she was feeling.

"Then what?" The words came out much harsher than he intended.

Angela took a minute to think before blurting out everything that was in her head at that moment. She'd made that mistake before and she just couldn't deal with his deer-caught-in-headlights thing tonight. After reasoning it all out she started.

"Suppose I said to you that I would never sleep with Shane because you would find out?"

"What the hell?" He stood up and moved away from the couch. "Why are we talking about you sleeping with Shane? You won't even sleep with me and you're talking about sleeping with him?" Jordan felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. Just the idea of her being with anyone else that way, but especially Shane, was unbearable.

"That's not what I'm saying." She protested

"You just said it!"

"What I meant was, what if my reason for not sleeping with Shane was because you would find out." She tried to explain.

"Can you stop saying that?" He went from chewing on his thumb to folding his arms across his chest.

"I'm trying to make a point."

"Stop saying it!" He said as he turned away from her and placed his hands on the window sill, staring out at the street below. He couldn't deal with the images that flashed in his mind, now that she'd put it out there.

"Fine, pick any guy in school, I don't care, the point is I wouldn't sleep with anyone because I'm with you and I wouldn't do that to you. It's not about you finding out or not finding out. I just wouldn't do that to you."

"That's what I said, but you turned into this whole other confusing thing that makes no sense!" He spun around to face her. He was yelling now and he didn't care.

"Forget it."

"I tried to, but you won't let it go!"

"I'm letting it go." Realizing that this wasn't going at all like she had planned, she thought the wisest thing to do was to stop talking.

"No, no." He crossed his arms over his chest again as if to shield himself. "Why'd you pick Shane?"

"What do you mean?" She asked.

"To make your point or whatever."

"I don't know; it was just the first name that came to mind." She responded.

"Shane was the first person to come to mind?"

"I see him practically every day." She said defensively.

"You see Paul and Aaron almost every day too." He countered.

"Aaron is gay and Paul is…ewww. Paul is Paul. I just don't think about him, like at all."

"But you think about Shane?"

His words hit her like a fist. She had managed to open a whole different can of worms.

"Don't start that again, Jordan." She points her finger at him in warning, shaking her head as if to deny that there was anything illicit behind her example.

"I didn't start it. You're the one thinking about sleeping with my friend."

"Oh my God! That is so not the point!" She throws her hands up in the air both in offense and in frustration.

"It is to me."

"Can we just go and wait for Sharon at the gym?" She asks.

"Fine." Jordan grabs his keys and the garbage bag as he exits the loft.

A furious and frustrated Angela follows behind him.

xXx

Sharon sat in her bed, propped up on pillows, tackling the last of her homework and noting the difference between Saturday and Sunday, the latter being much quieter former. The silence wasn't necessarily comforting; it was like the calm before the storm. Mondays were chaotic and loud, filled with bus horns blowing, bustling hallways, whispers, and snickers. The quiet she was currently experiencing would only serve to make the difference more striking when she would awaken the next morning. Her attempts to focus on the task at hand were a dismal failure and she found herself relieved to hear footfalls on the stairs, outside of her room.

"Angela still here?" Shane stood at the doorway to her bedroom.

"No, she left this morning. I think she had a fight with Jordan or something. They were all grouchy and pouty last night." Sharon rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I ran into Mr. Congeniality before I got here." Shane shook his head. "So, I just saw your parents leave..." He said with an eyebrow cocked and his ever-present smirk.

"They should be gone until like, four. There's some kind of luncheon or something after service." Sharon took off her top. "I guess we'll have to work around that." She said, pointing to her bandaged ankle. She glanced up at him, noticing that he hadn't made a move toward the bed. "What are you waiting for, an invitation?"

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"I thought that was obvious." She snorted in reply.

"I mean the past few days." He folds his arms in front of him, leaning on the doorframe. "First, there was that whole thing in gym, then Angela catches you on a broke-ass ladder, and how'd you get that?" He pointed at her ankle. "Let me guess, you fell off of the pyramid in practice or something, right?" He sighed heavily. "I saw you looking down the staircase, the other day when you thought no one was watching. I know what you're trying to do, Sharon."

"Oh really, well then tell me, because I have no idea what you're talking about." She barked.

"You don't want it, but you can't get rid of it. It's a messed up situation. It's just that, if you keep doing stupid sh*t, you're really gonna f*ck yourself up." He replied.

"You have a lot of nerve, Shane Donnelly. What do you care what I do with this baby or what happens to me? You're just the guy who's f*cking me, right? Let's be real clear here, you don't get a vote, you don't tell me what to do. Cut the lawn and slip upstairs every now and then and mind your f*cking business!" She was crying by the time she finished the last sentence.

He stood in the doorway, jaw set, eyes narrowed, looking at her and turned away without speaking.

"Where are you going?" She demanded.

"Like you said, I'm just the guy who cuts the lawn and f*cks you and since I don't plan on f*cking you, I figured I better go take care of that lawn."

xXx

A/N: Bet you're surprised to see the next chapter up so quickly. I deliver when I can. Hopefully, that makes longer waits more forgivable. :-) For all of you who were worried, I hope you feel somewhat better now. I never intended for him to cheat on her in this chapter, wasn't even thinking about it. Glad I can, even unwittingly, misdirect you on occasion. I think it makes things more enjoyable, though I wish I could master the art of doing that intentionally. lol

Many thanks to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, alerted, and PM'd. Your feedback is really important to me. It's encouraging to hear about what you like and even what you didn't like. Everyone sees something different in the story and that's very interesting to me, so tell me what you think, what jumps out at you, what pisses you off. If you don't want to post a review, feel free to PM me. Great big thanks to GoodnightGirl for suffering through the reading of this a bazillion times. I'll try to be less obsessive next go round, but I think you know it's unlikely that I'll be successful in that endeavor. Until next time…