Author's Note: Thanks as always for the reviews. I haven't had a chance to get a picture and bio up for her yet, but just for general info, Diane is Hayden Panietierre...she suits her I think...anyway, keep the reviews coming!

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 36: Childhood Sweethearts

Brad groaned as he and Diane made out in the cab of her parent's truck. They were in front of the house, even the half hour drive was too much for them to stand. She giggled.

"What exactly is funny?" He asked.

"Nothing," she said. "Do you want to hang out tonight?"

"We are hanging out," he said. She looked at him. "Oh you mean like, hang out, hang out."

"Yeah," she nodded.

"We just met," he said.

"OK, Brad," she sighed. "You're not going to be my first you know? Because like, there's nothing to do here but have sex."

"No, I didn't mean," he laughed, "just how will we pull that off?"

"It's my grandparents' house," she shrugged. "Remember that." He laughed. "Just give me a minute after you go in OK?"

"Um, OK," he nodded. He got out of the truck and walked to the house. He saw Claire and Logan and Diane's parents in the living room, drinking beer.

"Hey Brad," Claire said. "Where's Diane?"

"Um, in the truck," he said. "I'm going to head to bed." Logan nodded and he walked upstairs. He waited and then heard the door slam.

"Di!" He heard Beth said, "sweetie, what's wrong?"

"I-I," she sighed, "oh Mom, we ran into Jack at the tree lighting and it was so awful. I don't think I can drive home."

"That's alright," Claire said, "she can stay here right? I mean, Mom and Dad won't mind."

"Of course honey," Ray said. "Just drive home in the morning, we'll take the truck, and leave the little car for you OK?"

"OK," she whimpered. "Thanks Daddy." She walked upstairs and into the guest room.

"That was quite the performance," Brad said. She laughed and kissed him.

"I spent enough nights crying into my pillow over Jack," she whispered. "I told you it wouldn't be hard." They kissed again and she pulled his shirt over his head. "Nice abs." He laughed and pushed her over to the bed.

"Hey," he whispered. She nodded, "if we do this, is your ex going to kick my ass?"

"There's a very good chance of that," she laughed. "What about your bitchy ex?" She said. "Will she come down here and scratch my eyes out or something?"

"Nah, since she got back from rehab she's been super mellow," he laughed and kissed her.

Julie lay on her bed, her feet where her head would normally be. Steve was laying on the other side and they were staring at each other.

"Ha!" She shouted.

"What?" He said.

"You blinked," she smirked, "pay up!"

"God, this you're such a child," he groaned reaching into his pocket. "There's your dollar." She giggled. "Cat, um," he said and looked at her, "have you talked to Jimmy?"

"No," she said. "I can't believe he didn't tell me." She picked at her nails. "I can't believe you didn't tell me."

"Can you blame us?" He said. "You're pretty scary, especially when you lash out. And don't blame Jimmy, Tammy didn't even want to tell him, it was Fulton's idea."

"What?" Julie said. "What does Fulton have to do with it?"

"You and Fulton are extremely present in our relationship, Cat," he laughed. "Tay too, unfortunately."

"You should really go see her," Julie sighed. He shook his head. "She's so lonely Steve, she'd be happy to see you."

"Not without Brett there," he said. "Don't want to tempt fate."

"You would be in for a whole world of ass whooping if you fooled around with Taylor now." Julie said. He raised his eyebrows. "Let's see, well, Brett, you know, her husband? He'd kill you. Ooh, and Tammy's protectors, you've got Charlie and Guy, they're right there, so they'll easily kick the shit out of you, Tommy and Fulton would join in with them I would think. And Rick and Jimmy would make your life a living hell until the day you died." He looked at her. "I wouldn't actively participate, but I wouldn't stop anyone either."

"You made your point." He said. "Exactly why I shouldn't be alone with Taylor."

"You can be alone with me," she leaned forward.

"It's different," he said. She looked at him.

"How?" She asked.

"It just is," he sighed. "I can't explain it. I guess because Taylor and I were never friends the way you and me were." She nodded. "I love Tammy, Cat, you should know that." She nodded. "You should call Jimmy."

"God, you used to love when I wasn't talking to him," she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, that was before I was dating his step sister," he laughed.

"Sister, they don't," she started.

"Make those distinctions, I know," he rolled his eyes. They had had the radio on in the background softly. "Listen," he smiled as the song changed and turned it up.

When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me

Julie stood up and held her hand out Steve laughed and stood up taking it. He pulled her close and hugged her and they danced softly swaying to the song.

"Steve-o?" She whispered.

"Mm hm," he said, his eyes shut as her head was buried in his chest.

"I'm sorry I said you were mine," she said.

"It's OK," he laughed. "I would have been, you know, if you'd ever cared enough to claim me." She laughed. "I love you, Cat, always will."

"I love you too," she whispered. "So much." He squeezed her gently and let go.

"I gotta get home," he said. "I'll see you around." She smiled widely.

"Not if I see you first," she said.

Tammy sat distractedly in the food court of The Mall of America sloshing a French fry around in a Wendy's frosty as Kelly and Scooter giggled and kissed across from her. She'd agreed to Christmas shopping with her sister, not to this.

"I'm going to go look for something for Steve," Tammy said and stood up.

"K," Kelly giggled and kissed Scooter again. Tammy wandered happily. She loved Minnesota at Christmas time, everything felt like it was a perfect winter wonderland. She noticed a watch in a jeweler's window and smiled. Steve didn't wear a watch, maybe he'd like one. She had the money now, God knows. She sighed and kept walking. This was the first gift she was giving him, it should be really special, something he would remember forever. She kind of wished she could call Julie and ask what he'd want, but Julie had said she would keep trying to wrap her head around the whole situation, but she really didn't want to talk about it with Tammy. Which she guessed meant she was cool with discussing it with Steve, which seemed weird. She sighed again and stopped seeing Fulton approaching, a full grin on his face, his arm carelessly around a girl with long silky dark hair. She froze. It was one thing to see him just the two of them, one to conceptualize he was with someone else, but seeing Fulton start affectionately nuzzling some other girl just scared the living hell out of her.

"Tammy!" He said surprised as they got closer, "I didn't realize you were home yet."

"Um yeah," she said, "I got home this morning."

"Oh," he said. "Um this is Tanya."

"Hi," Tanya said shifting her weight awkwardly, shrugging out of Fulton's arms and looking at Tammy apologetically. She'd had to deal with Elena enough times now to know that it felt totally weird to see your ex boyfriend with someone else. "It's really nice to meet you."

"You too," Tammy said softly, swallowing, her throat was totally dry. "I was just shopping, with um, my sister, so,"

"Kelly's here?" Fulton said. "How's she doing?"

"Good," Tammy said, "she and Scooter got back together, so she's mostly useless." He nodded. "Have you seen any one else?"

"Yeah," he nodded, "all the original Ducks hung out yesterday." She frowned. "I mean, almost all, I guess, cause, you weren't there." He laughed awkwardly. "But I mean, even the Halls and Peter and Karp, bummer you missed it."

"Totally," she mumbled.

"Fult," Tanya said, seeing the look of almost pain on Tammy's face, "we should probably get moving, I told my mom I'd call her before six and it's almost seven now, she's probably freaking."

"Right," Fulton nodded. "It's really good to see you Tam, I'll call you OK?"

"OK," she whispered as he leaned down and kissed her chastely on the cheek. She wanted to burst into tears as he walked away. It was the first time that her "I'm in love and the world is good" outlook had been shaken. She slumped her shoulders and headed back towards the food court. There was no point in shopping for Steve when her head was so full of Fulton. Kelly and Scooter's previously mild affectionate displays had escalated to a full on makeout. Tammy rolled her eyes. You would have thought they were eighth graders who just discovered frenching the way they were carrying on, not two almost Ivy League graduates who'd been dating for almost five years. She plopped down.

"What's wrong Duncan?" Scooter said, noticing the pout on her face as Kelly started kissing his neck. "Kel," he said. Kelly sighed and looked at Tammy.

"Oh God," she sighed, "you saw Fulton didn't you?" Tammy nodded. "He was with Tanya? Tommy said she was up to spend Christmas with him."

"Yeah," she sighed, her eyes filling with tears. "I love Steve, so why does seeing him with someone else feel so awful?"

"Because you're human," Kelly shrugged. "Also, you can love someone else, but there's nothing quite like your first." She looked at Scooter. "I mean, when I saw him with Amber," she shuddered. "And I was really into Liam then."

"Can we not talk about Liam?" Scooter said. Kelly nodded. "It's just awkward, there's no way around it." Tammy nodded and picked at her nails. "We're not helping are we?"

"What was your first clue?" Tammy laughed. "Can we just go home?"

"Sure," Kelly said standing up. "Did you find something for Steve?"

"No," Tammy said, "I'll just draw something."

"Oh he'll like that," Kelly nodded. "He's always going on about how talented you are." Tammy smiled.

Jimmy unpacked a suitcase in his room. He'd be here for almost a month, might as well make himself comfortable. He started shoving some books onto his book shelf and stopped seeing a small wrapped rectangle. He picked it up and took the card stuck to the bottom of it.

James,

Merry Christmas! Sorry I'm not around. I miss you. Just a little something to keep you going.

Love you lots

Ellie

He smiled and opened the package and started laughing. It was a CD copy of the Top Gun soundtrack and another note, this one on a post it.

You said you lost your copy. Totally unacceptable.

He pulled out his cell phone and dialed.

"Hey loser," Ellie picked up. "Took you long enough to find it."

"What a weird place for you to leave my present," he laughed. "What's going on kid?"

"Oh you know, normal stuff," she said. "Babysitting for my boyfriend's nephew, that kind of thing." Jimmy laughed. "How's Cali?"

"Warm, sunny," he said faux casually, "totally miserable, you know." She laughed. "I miss you."

"I miss you too," she said softly. "How's Julie?"

"Dunno," he sighed, "she won't talk to me." Ellie laughed again. "What's funny about that exactly?"

"Don't keep secrets from your girlfriend is all." She shrugged. He smiled.

"Hey, are you going to forgive Angie anytime soon?" He said. She sighed. "I thought you liked having a girlfriend."

"Not as much as I like seeing Tommy happy," she said.

"Tommy is happy," Jimmy said. "Trust me, I can hear how happy the two of them are."

"God, gross!" She groaned. He laughed. "Dean thinks I should go to Yale."

"Whoa," Jimmy said. "What do you think?"

"I think he should want me to go to Northwestern," she sighed, "but I think it's my choice." He smiled. "I mean, I can't base my whole life around a boy. I'm not you."

"Wow, low blow," he said. She laughed. "Elle, I'm proud of you." She smiled. "I'll talk to you soon, OK?"

"OK," she whispered. "Love you James."

"Love you too," he said softly. "Bye."

"Bye," she hung up.

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