Peachy65: Thanks for the review! Yeah I watch Charlie's Angels online sometimes. I liked the episodes I've seen.

Vaughnloveralwaysandforev: Thanks for the review! I'm glad you liked the guy parts. I'm definitely having more of those coming up in the next few chapters!

AN: Here's the next chapter. I hope you all like it! It's named after the Fleetwood Mac song. Please review when you're done!

Chapter 35

A few days had passed since Tim had left the team. The guys were really happy to see him gone and practices were getting better again. It was a Tuesday night with nothing really to do. Most of the guys, except for Jim, didn't really have plans. Jim was going out with Elizabeth, who was leaving the next day for the National Championships this weekend. Instead of going over to pick his girlfriend, Elizabeth insisted that she pick him up at the dorms.

When the ice skater got to the dorms, she got up to Jim's floor and walked down the hall to get to his room. While walking, she saw Mallory and Katie hanging out outside of Katie's room.

"Hey guys," Elizabeth greeted the two girls, "What's up?"

"Not much," Katie answered, "What are you doing here? I thought you and Jim were going out tonight."

"We are," Elizabeth nodded, "I'm picking him up. We're having a little role reversal. He's just been really stressed and everything. I wanted to treat him to dinner tonight. I'm the guy tonight, picking him up and paying."

"That's very nice of you," Mallory chuckled, "A lot nicer than anything I've ever done for my boyfriends."

"Same here," Katie laughed in agreement.

"I'm sure that's not true!" the ice skater tried.

"Next time you come around we can tell you a million stories," Mallory laughed, "You're going to think we're like the worst people!"

The three girls chuckled, and then Katie changed the subject.

"So, the National Championship is coming up soon! Are you excited?" Katie smiled.

"Yeah they're this weekend," Elizabeth chuckled, and then blushed, "I'm mostly nervous though."

"Don't worry about it!" Mallory exclaimed, "You'll do great. What song are you performing to?"

"Tara's Theme," Elizabeth told them, "From 'Gone with the Wind'."

"I love that movie!" Katie gasped.

"That's awesome. You kind of look like Scarlet O'Hara too. I bet your costume is gorgeous. Are you going for a bold red? Or emerald green? That's so Scarlet," Mallory wondered.

"No," the teenager shook her head, "I'm using that pink material I bought at the mall that time we met up. I try not to go too bold with my costumes or routines. I play it safe."

"Why not?" Katie wondered.

"I've seen people try to be bold. They get hurt. I refuse to get hurt doing this," Elizabeth said seriously.

Mallory was taken aback by her comment. Ice skating was an art and she was trying to control it. She remembered hearing the guys talking once, over the summer before she really knew her, about Elizabeth's rankings. She was 11th in the country, a tremendous feat. The reason she wasn't higher was because they said she never tried anything new, going for classic and conventional rather than experimenting with the art. Mallory never understood why they would think that until right that moment.

"Oh," the RA was confused, "But I mean you can't control everything. Anything can happen on the ice."

"Not if I have anything to say about it," Elizabeth replied back coolly.

Katie and Mallory both sensed the tension and backed off. She was really nervous about Nationals. They didn't want to push it anymore. But even if they wanted to, there was no time. Right at that moment, Jimmy came out.

"Hey," the goalie walked over to his girlfriend.

"Ready to go?" Elizabeth smiled.

Mallory looked closely at Elizabeth. Her lips were smiling, but not her eyes. A real smile consists of both. She was faking it.

"Yeah," Jim nodded, and than looked at Mallory, "She's leaving for Nationals tomorrow. They're this weekend in Cincinnati."

"Yeah we were talking about that," Mallory replied, looking at Elizabeth instead of Jim.

She didn't really know what else to say. She was trying to figure out the ice skater. Elizabeth was trying to de-stress Jimmy. It should have been the other way around. Jim just got over the major stress of Tim and he was pretty much guaranteed a spot because he was goalie. What the hell was he stressed about? Elizabeth was fighting for her Olympic spot this weekend. She must've been dying inside.

"Bye, Mallory," Elizabeth nodded to the RA before she began walking away from her boyfriend.

"Elizabeth," Mallory shouted out, "Good luck this weekend! And if you need anything…call me."

"Thanks," the ice skater gave a small smile, and walked back with Jimmy, who seemed confused by Mallory.

Before Mallory knew it, Jimmy and Elizabeth were gone. She didn't really know why she said it. Mallory kind of helped out with their relationship when Elizabeth felt weird about the physical stuff. But this was different. The emotional stuff was the hardest, and something was definitely not all the way right with that couple.

Mallory and Katie walked away and went to Mallory's door. Mac and Mark's door was open and a few of the guys were in there, trying to make plans for the night.

"I don't want to go to the bar too early again," OC sighed.

"It's boring if we go before ten-thirty," Verchota agreed.

"Do you guys just wanna go out to eat before then?" Mark suggested.

"I want to eat at the bar. They make these massive cheeseburgers and they're awesome!" Mac exclaimed.

"Hey, boys," Katie walked up to their open door and greeted her floor mates, "What's going on?"

"We're just trying to figure out where we're going tonight," Mac told her, "Before the bar I mean."

"You guys should come with us," Katie suggested and pointing to Mallory, "We were going to the movies tonight. They're showing an old movie."

"I don't know if that's…." Mallory finally joined the conversation only to be interrupted by OC.

"What's the movie?" he asked.

"'The Apartment'," Mallory answered, "I don't think you guys would like it very much."

Mallory didn't want the guys to come with them. She liked hanging out with them, but this was one of her favorite movies. It was long and very drawn out. She didn't think the guys would like it very much. She didn't want them talking or shuffling in the theater, ruining the movie for her.

"Doesn't that have Jack Lemmon in it?" Verchota asked with an excited tone.

"Yeah," Mallory replied uneasily.

"Perfect. He's hilarious. We should go see it, guys," Phil told the group.

A few of the guys agreed. Mallory rolled her eyes and shook her head, "This really isn't that funny of a movie…"

"It won the Oscar, didn't it?" Mac asked.

The RA nodded, and then Mac said, "Well it can't be that bad then."

"When does it start?" OC asked.

"We were planning on leaving now!" Katie grinned.

"Perfect," Mac stood up first and went right towards Katie, "Let's get going."

A few of the guys got up and followed Mac and Katie who were leaving the group. Mallory let all the guys pass her. Mark was last and closed his door. Mallory shrugged and shook her head.

"Perfect," she groaned to herself.

"What was that?" Mark missed what she said.

"Nothing," Mallory replied, "Let's get going."

….

The couple arrived to the restaurant and was seated. They ordered their drinks and were given menus for their meal.

"Jeez, the last time I was here was when I went with my brother," Elizabeth shrugged, thinking of the memory. She had just told her brother that she was dropping out of school. He was so upset that he knocked the table down and stormed out.

"Then why did you pick here?" Jim was curious.

"They have good chicken parm," Elizabeth giggled.

Jim laughed and then wondered, "Have you talked to your brother since?"

"Nope," his girlfriend shook her head, "He's really big on school. Like he goes to grad school here and my parents wanted him to 'look after' me a bit when I first moved out. It didn't really work out."

Elizabeth looked down at the menu, to look for a good appetizer. Jim stayed staring at his girlfriend. She never really talked about her parents, or her family for that matter. He remembered that she said that she was one of eight and that she hadn't spoken to her parents in seven months. But she said that three months ago.

"So have you, uh, spoken to your parents lately?" Jim asked.

Elizabeth eyes slowly crept away from her menu to her boyfriend. He never asked her that.

"Uh, no," Elizabeth shook her head, hoping that short answers would get him off the subject.

"Why don't you call them?" Jim asked.

"Well they don't call me either. It isn't a one way street," Elizabeth said coolly, "Why are you asking me?"

"I don't know. I'm just curious I guess," Jim answered.

"Well let's have fun tonight," Elizabeth reached out and grabbed his hand with her own and looked into his eyes, "I'm going to miss you this weekend."

"I'll miss you too," Jim replied half-heartedly as he looked down at the menu and began reading it.

Elizabeth shrugged and released her hand from his. Then went back to look at her own menu.

….

The group sat in the movie house watching "The Apartment". Jack Lemmon sneaked in a small joke, which no one in the group but Mallory laughed at. The guys and Katie gave her weird looks and she just rolled her eyes. She really wish they weren't here. Mallory heard heavy breathing and light snoring from the aisle. She looked and Mark, who was sitting next to her, had fallen asleep.

"Jesus," Mallory shrugged.

The guys looked to what she was talking about and saw Mark had fallen asleep. The guys all chuckled. The sound made Mark spur up, which caused the group to laugh some more. Mallory was not amused.

They watched the movie a little longer. Mallory heard murmured whispers from the guys sitting across the aisle from her. Then she saw OC, Mac, Katie, and Verchota get up.

"Hey we're going to the bar now," Mac said, "Do you want to come?"

Mallory shook her head and exclaimed in a duh voice, "No!"

They looked over to Mark, who fallen asleep again. Mallory couldn't believe it. She knew they weren't going to like it. Now they were making a scene in the theater that everyone could see. And they were distracting her from the movie!

"You take Mark to the bar when the movie gets out," OC told her.

"Alright," Mallory shrugged, "I'll see you guys later."

The group left and Mallory sighed in relief. She could finally watch the movie in peace. Then she heard Mark's light snores again. She chuckled and shook her head, unsure whether she should be mad or think it was funny. Then she went back to focusing on the movie.

….

Meanwhile, Jim and Elizabeth were waiting for their food. They were just joking around and having small talk. The ice skater really needed to tell Jim about something Elaine did, but was tip toeing around it. When there was a silence at the table, Elizabeth decided to speak up.

"So I need to talk to you about something I found out about Elaine today," Elizabeth sounded annoyed saying her coach's name.

Jim knew he was in for another long story. When she said 'my Elaine' it was an affectionate story, but when she said just 'Elaine' and in that tone, that meant she was really pissed off at her coach. Jim remembered she said that Elaine was distant and uncaring. She complained about her in the past and Jim never knew the right time to talk to her about it. Elaine always seemed fine to him.

"What's your issue with Elaine?" Jim asked.

"Well today, I went to my…." Elizabeth began before the goalie cut her off.

"No I mean in general," Jim told her, "Like even before we dated you complained about her. She was always nice to me."

Elizabeth took another deep breath. What was his deal tonight? First, asking about her parents and then Elaine. This was their last night together for almost a week. She didn't want this to turn into a confessional. She held back these stories in order to help the relationship. The ice skater didn't want her boyfriend to hear about her complicated family and coach relationships. When necessary, she bitched about her coach's daily antics to let the stress out. But most of the time, she held it in. Jim really didn't know the half of it.

"She can be nice," Elizabeth tried, "She's just…complicated. She can be really distant at times."

"How is she distant?" Jim questioned.

"I think all the people I dated and went on dates with are pretty clear clues that she didn't care too much about where I was," the ice skater told him.

"Most teenage girls would love that freedom," Jim chuckled.

"Yeah," Elizabeth rolled her eyes, "Well maybe some discipline would have been good for me. I have to discipline myself, especially in my skating. Do you know how hard it was to get my shit together and act like an adult right after I moved here when I was fifteen?"

Jim shook his head. He didn't really know what to say. Before he could really think, Elizabeth went on.

"I mean it was good for me because I feel like I work harder now on my skating," she was thinking aloud, "But sometimes…I just wish I had more of a guide and someone who was there for me. I live in her house but that's it. I take care of myself. It gets lonely…"

"So is that why you dropped out of school? To work more on skating and stuff?" Jim asked.

"Well I'm not going to be able to practice my triple axel if I have to study for my Calculus test," Elizabeth told him, "In competitions I always come in fourth. This one…I won't be. I can't be."

Jim chuckled and shook his head. He knew his girlfriend's schedule pretty well. She would skate before or after the team. And that was the only time she would skate in the day. Afterwards she would go home and nap, then go and see him at the dorms. She easily could have fit school in.

"Why are you laughing?" Elizabeth gave him a confused look. She was telling him something personal about that fourth place thing. It made her really upset always missing out on being in the top three.

"You only practice once a day for two hours. You could study for Calculus on the side. You don't do anything else during your days," Jim told her, "If you were that serious than you would squeeze in another practice."

"Are you saying that I don't work hard enough?" Elizabeth looked a mix between pissed and upset, "I dropped out school in order to get to the Olympics. I'm going to Lake Placid! Don't you dare tell me I don't work hard enough!"

Jim didn't want this to be a fight, but it was turning into one. He had a lot he wanted to say to his girlfriend, but never did in order to be nice, like bringing up her work ethic and Elaine. She always told him how hard she worked, but in reality Jim didn't think it was that much. He went the extra distance by having extra practice every afternoon with Craig after his real practice.

"No, I'm just saying you don't work as hard as you say you do," Jim tried pointing out her fault without sounding too harsh. It wasn't as nice as he thought it was. The ice skater looked pissed after that.

"What the fuck do you know about it? You don't even know me!" Elizabeth exclaimed harshly.

Jim finally let it out after his girlfriend said this. He was just trying to tell her his feelings and she reacted like this. That's why he doesn't like confronting her about stuff, even when he thinks she is wrong. Jim never felt truly connected to Elizabeth, because he always believed she was holding things back from him, which is why he held things back from her.

"Exactly, Elizabeth! I don't know you! You never let me all the way in. Like with your parents and your family! Why don't you talk to them? And Elaine! You complain about her all the time! It sucks that she isn't there for you all the time, but you can't complain about every little thing she does!" Jim exclaimed.

Elizabeth shook her head. She thought he was completely off base. She couldn't believe he said he hardly knew her. Why did he tell her he loved her then? You're supposed to really know someone if you love them.

"I don't like talking about my parents or family because it upsets me. They abandoned me here! And Elaine isn't perfect. You've never lived with her; you don't know some of the shit she pulls. She did the worst thing today…"

"Elizabeth, I don't want to talk about Elaine!" Jim shrugged.

"You want me to open with you and let you in. I'm trying right now! And you don't want to talk about it. You just contradicted what you said!" Elizabeth's voice rose, "By the way, if I don't let you all the way in, than why did you tell me you loved me?"

Jim was silent. He didn't know what to say. Sometimes he loved her. She had a great smile and he loved her laugh. Other times, however, were a different story, like when she complained about Elaine.

"You don't really love me, don't you?" the ice skater was near tears. She lost her virginity to him.

"I can't fully love you if you don't let me in," Jim tried, honestly.

"And I can't let you in if you don't want me to talk about it," she hissed, "And I can't be you're girlfriend if you lied, telling me you loved me so I would sleep with you."

"Elizabeth! It's not…" Jim was cut off by the ice skater standing.

"Save it," she told him, confident with her decision, "I'm done."

Elizabeth tried getting her coat off the back of her chair and it was stuck. She pulled it so hard in anger that the chair fell over. At least it wasn't the table.

"Elizabeth, will you just stop?" Jim stood up walking over to her.

"These people think I'm a freak now!" she said angrily, "I'm leaving."

"How am I supposed to get home?" Jim tried to reason with her. She was in a bad state right now; her normal self would have driven him home, wouldn't she?

"Find your own way!" she exclaimed, "See you in Lake Placid, asshole!"

The brunette stomped away. Right then the food came. Perfect timing. Everyone in the restaurant saw the scene after Elizabeth accidently knocked over the chair. Jim avoided the patrons' stares and sat at the table. He didn't want to eat by himself. He had to pay the bill and figure out a way home.

"Check please," Jim told the waiter who delivered the food.

It had finally happened. The tensions the couple had had for weeks now exploded. Jim always wanted to say all this stuff to her but never knew how. Elizabeth always held back her feelings for the sake of the relationship. Now it was over. Jim didn't really know what to think about it.

'We can figure this out after Nationals,' he tried telling himself as he sat alone at the table, waiting for the check.

…

"Mark," the hockey player was woken up by someone shaking him.

Mark took a deep yawn breath and looked up. It was Mallory. He looked around to figure out where he was, too out of it to remember. He saw an empty movie theater and looked up to his RA. She had a pissed off look on her face. He must've fallen asleep during the movie.

"Get your shit together," Mallory shrugged, "I'll be at the car."

Mallory then stormed off. Mark yawned and stretched. He felt really bad for falling asleep during the movie. He was kind of one and off for the majority. He must've really passed out within the last half an hour. He remembered sensing the rest of the guys leave, but was still in a half sleep state. He stayed because he didn't want Mallory to be alone, but that just really blew up in his face.

Mark got up and picked up the trash by his feet. He threw them away and then went to the bathroom. Mark left the movie theater and walked through the parking lot to get to Mallory's car. Getting closer to the vehicle he saw Mallory sitting in the driver's seat, crying. He had never seen her cry before, nobody had. On some occasions, she had been close to crying according to a few guys, but instead she just had a really red face and was sad. He could see tears, this was definitely crying.

The hockey player took a deep breath and walked into the car. He opened the door and got inside. When he opened the passenger door, he startled Mallory. She looked at him as he got into the car.

"Look Mal, I'm really sorry I fell asleep and that the guys left…." Mark tried, thinking that was what she was upset about.

Mallory chuckled and shook her head. She looked away from Mark and looked straight forward at the parking lot. She didn't want eye contact.

"I'm not mad about that, Mark. I don't care that you fell asleep or that the others left. To be honest, I'm surprised you all showed up at all," Mallory told him honestly.

"Then…why are you sad?" Mark was still looking at her, even though she wasn't.

Mallory paused for a moment, sighed, and then looked at Mark, "Because I realized when I was watching the movie, that I'm Fran."

Fran was Shirley MacLaine's character in The Apartment. Mark saw bits and pieces from the movie when he wasn't zoning out. Fran was a character that was used and seen as an object to all the male characters. Jack Lemmon's character was in love with her.

"How are you Fran?" Mark was confused.

"Where have you been for the past six months?" Mallory asked, then shrugged, "You guys, and this team…jeez, I don't know what I did."

"Mallory, I really don't know what you're talking about," Mark tried.

"OC slept with me because he saw me as an object and something to get over his girlfriend. Silk slept with me because he didn't think I wanted a relationship, something not serious….you guys keep playing around with my emotions and I don't know why. What did I do to make you guys think I was easy?" Mallory began tearing up again, "I'm a relationship person. As soon as I mention it, people run towards the hills. Why? Why would they do that?"

Mark shook his head, "I…I don't know."

Mark didn't really know the full extent. He remembered on move-in day how when Verchota and Mac were talking about their hook up thing several months before, that they cast her in a not so good light. The guys on the team kind of formulated their opinions of her based on that. They liked her and thought she was a good person, but since hooking up with Mac and then others on the team after that, none of them thought she was looking for something beyond a hook up.

"I feel like no one respects me or takes me seriously. They never took Fran seriously, even after she tried to kill herself…" Mallory looked away from Mark again.

"Mallory, you can't…."

"I never said I was going to," Mallory looked back at the hockey player, "I just want to know why none of the guys respect me? Why they think they can just toss me around like I'm an object I'm not an object, I'm a human being!"

"We know that, Mal," Mark told her.

"I mean I've slept with Mac and OC and Silky and…" she was about to say Rizzo, but luckily she stopped herself. He was her biggest regret. Luckily she didn't let it slip out.

"And what?" Mark asked.

"And I feel like I'm lost," Mallory told him, "I don't know who I am or what I'm doing. I think these guys want something more from me than just sex. And when I say I want to go further with the relationship, they act surprised. And like, I used to spot those guys out, the ones that cared about me and the ones that wanted me just for sex. And now I'm going with these guys that I know won't care about me…I don't know where I lost myself along the way."

Mark really didn't know what to say. Over the past several months, he had gotten to know his RA pretty well. She wouldn't say this to anyone like Verchota or OC. She was venting to him for a reason. She was close to Mac too, but she could never fully open up to him about that because he had been one of the guys she slept with. She didn't have sex with him for a relationship though, he was the only one. She was with him to forget about her mom.

Mallory looked away from Mark after he didn't say anything for a few seconds. Now she felt embarrassed about letting out all these feelings.

"I'm sorry," she still didn't look at him, her face was turning red from embarrassment, "I just…I guess I needed to be close to someone since my mom got sick. I just have been getting involved in the wrong sort of shit."

Mark still remained silent as Mallory let her feelings out. She didn't want to look at him anymore. When he didn't say anything, Mallory assumed that he thought she was a freak. They two sat in silence for moment. Then Mark made his gesture. He put his arm around her shoulder, symbolizing to her that it was going to be okay. They didn't need to exchange words. Mark figured that Mallory needed someone to be there while she let her feelings out.

"Thanks Mark," she finally looked at him, with a small but sincere smile, "You're a really great friend."

"Any time," he nodded at her.

"We should get going. I told the guys we'd meet them at the bar," Mallory told him.

Mark took his arm off her shoulder and sat confused. She just had this really emotional moment where she hated everyone because they didn't respect her, and now she wanted to meet up with them at the bar?

"Mallory, we don't have to go to the bar if you don't want to," Mark tried.

"Mark," she said softly, "I can put on a face. I've put on a face every day since my mom got sick and especially after she died. I'll be okay…"

…..

The week had ended and the weekend had passed. At the end of the weekend, Jim wondered how Elizabeth did in the National Championships. He didn't say this to the guys though. They knew about the break up, but to save his reputation Jim said he dumped her. The goalie didn't know how his ex did because he didn't know where or how to check. It wasn't in the newspaper.

After practice got out on Tuesday, a week after the break up, the guys were all skating to get off the ice. When Jim got closer to the side, he saw a familiar face. It was Elaine.

"What the hell?" Jim was confused.

"Isn't that Elaine? Elizabeth's coach…" Mark asked his friend.

"Yeah," Jim nodded.

The goalie than skated towards Elaine. The guys filed off the ice. Jim stayed on and talked to Elaine, who was on the other side of the boards.

"Hey Jim," Elaine looked tired and annoyed. Her arms were crossed, showing she was uncomfortable with the conversation.

"Hi," Jim was confused. Why would Elaine be there? Did she have a message from Elizabeth? After all the bitching that Elizabeth did about her, she would not trust her with a message.

"Can you tell Elizabeth to come home now?" she shrugged, "I need her to, uh, babysit tonight."

Jim was really confused. He had no idea where Elizabeth was. She lived with Elaine. Besides they had broken up. Maybe Elizabeth hadn't told her yet.

"No," Jim told Elaine, "We broke up last Tuesday."

"Perfect," Elaine groaned, "Than I have no idea where she could be…"

"What are you talking about?" Jim asked, starting to grow worried.

"Last weekend at Nationals…she came in fourth," Elaine told him, "She was one-tenth of a point from third. Only the top three are going to the Olympics. She's not going."

"Jesus," Jim sighed. Jim knew she didn't want to be fourth place. It was her goal to make it to the Olympics and now it wasn't going to happen. Jim felt really bad for that fight last week now.

"Yeah," Elaine sighed, "And after the results got out she freaked out and bailed."

"What are you talking about?" Elaine's half-answers made it hard for him to follow her fully.

"Well, Jim, Elizabeth's been missing since Saturday. I thought she was with you, but I guess she's not. And now I have no idea where she is…"

So what did y'all think? Please review!