Disclaimer: I don't own House of Anubis.

Thank you for all your reviews, they meant the world.

PLEASE READ THIS NOTE: This is the second to last chapter, not including the epilogue. These last couple chapters are mainly to tie up all the loose ends, which means this story is coming to a close. I will not be doing a sequel, because frankly, there's nothing left plot wise and I don't want to do something cliche. So basically, it's this chapter, then Chapter 35, then an epilogue. Hope you loved this story as much as I loved writing it.

Patricia bid him a goodbye and walked to her door carefully, digging keys out of her purse, heels still in hand. She had walked home barefoot, and it was possibly one of the best experiences. She and Eddie had joked, laughed- maybe they should be talking about where this evening left them but it was an awfully serious conversation that neither had felt like having at the time.

"Patricia!" Piper cried, enveloping her sister in a hug, looking near tears. "We were so worried- we called the school- they said you weren't at the dance!"

"Because I wasn't," Patricia gave her a look, trying to push down the smile. What had started as the worst day had ended as the best. "Just tell mum I'm fine, yeah?"

"Maybe you should go and tell her," Piper fretted. "She's in the-"

Patricia sighed and grabbed her sister's shoulders. Piper never had been one to understand that sometimes, people needed time to themselves. "Please," she said urgently. "I have something I really need to do." Piper eyed her carefully but nodded, and Patricia ran off before she could say more. The questions about how awful her hair and dress looked were bound to come soon.

Once she got upstairs, she instantly peeked out the window to see if Eddie was in his room. But no, he was probably getting lectured by his mother at the moment. Patricia sighed, about to go change into something more comfortable when it hit her.

What were they?

Did that kiss make them boyfriend and girlfriend?

Or were they still friends?

Neither had brought it up and it was only then that Patricia even thought about it. What if Eddie didn't think the kiss meant anything and soon enough, it would be even more awkward between them? She wasn't sure he thought like that, especially after he had specifically told her he liked her, but she was allowed to have her doubts.

Patricia's eyes darted towards her note pad and the pen next to it.

Eddie had made many of the first moves in their ever so confusing relationship; maybe it was her turn to make one. Besides, didn't she owe him that?

So she picked up the pen and twisted it in her fingers, wondering how exactly to phrase the question. Almost glad Eddie wasn't there, she hastily jotted down what she was thinking before taping it to the wall. There. Now there was no awkward conversations, just notes from bedroom windows. He could reply when he got up to his room- which didn't seem like it was going to be happening anytime soon considering it had to have been ten minutes already. Patricia let out a long breath and tried to distract herself by straightening her dress, feeling crusty ketchup underneath her fingers and grimacing.

Now would be the time to change.

Eddie's mother was standing right in the hallway when he came in, with crossed arms and a tapped foot. She glared at him slightly and he backed up in fear, "Where were you?"

"I swear I wasn't doing anything wrong," Eddie assured her. "I was perfectly safe, I was down at that diner with Patricia." Something about his mother's glare made him feel the need to spill everything. He would eventually anyway, and he figured he might as well get it over with.

His mother's gaze softened slightly, "Diner? Patricia?"

"Yeah," Eddie couldn't help but laugh, remembering everything that had just happened. "I know you wanted me to go to the dance, but-"

"Wait," Ms. Miller cut him off, suddenly realizing he had mustard all over him and was soaked. "What exactly happened at this diner?"

"Oh," Eddie looked down, having forgotten his appearance might've come off as weird. "Um…we had a food fight?"

"So you went to a diner with Patricia…to have a food fight?" His mother cocked an eyebrow, looking suspicious and suspecting.

Eddie shrugged almost shyly, "We might've kissed." He held his breath and waited for his mother's reaction. She had never been all too pleased with his previous girlfriends- she had never been particularly rude to them or anything, but anyone could tell she found some of them downright annoying. Amber had come over for dinner once a year ago, and Ms. Miller had fallen asleep with a headache.

"Kissed?" His mother echoed. "So this means you're dating?"

Eddie frowned- were they dating? He figured they were, figured she was his girlfriend, but Patricia wasn't one to rush into things, so he wasn't sure. "Uh…maybe? I'm not sure." He eyed her carefully, "How do you…feel about this?"

"I actually do quite like Patricia," Ms. Miller nodded thoughtfully. "She's a bit quiet, isn't she? But, no, she seems…good for you." Eddie wanted to ask what she meant, but his mother's face turned hard once more. "But that doesn't change that you got me worried. You should've called me, Eddie. Grounded. One week." She pointed upstairs and walked off before he could argue. Eddie stuffed his hands in his jeans before going up to his room, spotting the paper on Patricia's window before anything else.

What are we now?

He frowned in concentration. He wanted to be her boyfriend, obviously, and scratched that down on his whiteboard.

Want to be my girlfriend?

It was a casual way of asking but it seemed as if Patricia wanted a straight answer, not some giant extravaganza. So he set it up the whiteboard so it wouldn't fall and changed his clothes, taking one more glance out his window before falling asleep.

It had probably been one of the best days he'd had in a while, even if it hadn't started off as that. And maybe he was breaking several personal rules by thinking that, but it was true. He had gotten off with an easy grounding, had skipped the dance, and been kissed and sprayed with mustard by a girl he had come to like much more than he would've originally thought.

Life was pretty good.

Patricia bit her lip, pen poised on paper. She did want to be his girlfriend- that was such a weird word to think of herself as- but she had no experience being one. What was a good girlfriend supposed to act like? Would a romantic relationship change anything between them?

"I'd say yes."

Patricia whipped her head around to see Piper standing a few feet behind her. Her eyes widened and Piper grinned at her, "So, was this what you had to take care of last night?" Patricia nodded slowly, waiting for Piper to blow up about it all. But to her surprise, her twin didn't even look that shocked. "Say yes," she advised. "You like him, right?"

Another nod.

"Then don't overcomplicate things. Try it out, be his girlfriend," Piper shrugged as if it were no big deal and Patricia wanted to say something. How could her sister talk about it so casually, as if Patricia had just mentioned the weather?

"But what if we break up or something and we lose our friendship?" Patricia asked quietly- she had seen that in countless movies and read that in too many books and she didn't want to ever be put in that kind of position.

Piper paused, smiling lightly, "That's a risk you'll have to take, Trix."

And so Patricia sighed, pressing her pen to the paper.

Maybe she was making a mistake by saying yes.

But she would never know unless she tried.

Eddie almost laughed at the look on Patricia's face Monday morning when she found him waiting for her. She quickly wiped her surprise away and muttered a 'hi.' He frowned- he didn't want things to be like this, girlfriends and boyfriends were supposed to be comfortable with each other.

"Hey," he greeted as the two set off towards school.

"So…you're my boyfriend now?" Patricia blurted out, and Eddie chuckled. He reached over to her hand and took it in his own.

"If you're okay with it," he smiled, but Patricia was still focused on their clasped hands. He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand and she looked up.

"Sorry," she shook her head, realizing how weird she must be acting. "It's just…you're my first…real boyfriend and I don't…really…" She trailed off helplessly, looking down at their hands again. Eddie squeezed hers again and looked almost understanding.

"It's fine," he shrugged, swinging their hands a bit. "I'll teach you everything you need to know." Patricia still looked dumbfounded, and Eddie grinned. Some part of him loved that she was so clueless about how to properly act at the moment. "Okay," he started, deciding to change the topic to something both could relate to. "How long were you grounded?"

"Two weeks," Patricia rolled her eyes, quickly slipping back into the attitude that had attracted him in the first place. "Mum's brutal."

"One week," he stuck out his tongue teasingly and she scowled, trying hard to not smile. "But I think it's because of you. Mom thinks we'd be good together so I think I got let off easy."

"You already told your mom?" Patricia asked, looking stunned. Eddie raised an eyebrow at her reaction.

"Uh, yeah…didn't you?"

"No way," she shook her head adamantly. "My whole family is so nosy, they'd want to know everything." Eddie nodded, watching Patricia open the door first to get inside the school building. He was about to walk through too when he realized she had absolutely no intention of holding it open, causing him to collide with glass. He gave her a playful glare before shoving it open himself, and Patricia snickered.

"Thanks for nothing," Eddie scoffed in a teasing manner.

"Anytime," she laughed, breaking apart from him and heading down the hall to her own locker, happy to say that nothing had really changed between them at all.