I will try and get to the next chapter tonight, but I cannot make promises. Anywho, I hope everyone had a pleasant day and is excited to read this. I was excited to write it. Reviews are like the the cherry on top of a perfect ice cream sunday-not needed to be good, but definitely wanted.

Felicity was sitting on her bed with a book when Pippa came slipping through the door, soaked head to foot. There was terror in her eyes. "Thank heavens I made it here without Nightwing seeing!" she sighed. "She would probably have given me fifty bad conduct points for blatantly disobeying doctor's commands."

Felicity looked up from her book only to snicker at her friend's damp appearance. "It is not funny!" Pippa shrieked. "How would you like a little taste of your own medicine?"

"I'd like to see you try," Felicity mocked. Pippa's violet eyes slid into slits. Without warning she bounded across the room and onto Felicity's surprised body. "What are you doing?" Felicity giggled as Pippa wiped her wet clothes all over Felicity's. "Your skin is freezing!"

"Revenge is a dish best sold cold," Pippa teased as she pulled her hair out of the proper bun. It fell down around her in perfect ringlets even when wet. With a push she nuzzled those dark rings all over Felicity's face. Felicity continued to laugh, but she couldn't move without possibly hurting Pip. Finally Pippa stopped her frenzy. Her eyes looked up from under dark lashes causing Felicity's stomach to tighten. Suddenly it became very clear just how close the two were in proximity to one another. "Consider us even," Pippa whispered.

"Even," Felicity repeated, trying to clear the clouds from her mind.

"Are you alright?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Felicity asked, but her voice caught in her throat.

"You're very pale."

"I'm always pale."

"Not like this," Pippa mused. Her small fingers reached up and brushed along the skin of Felicity's cheekbones. Her eyes closed softly at the touch. "Do you feel sick?"

"A little," Felicity answered. "My stomach has come down with a bad case of the butterflies."

"Why are you nervous?" Pippa asked, astonished that Felicity ever got nervous about anything.

"I guess it has something to do with the Spiritualist meeting tonight. I realized that I have no idea how to ensure Gemma gets on stage without earning myself quite a few bad conduct marks."

"Since when do you care about your bad conduct marks?"

"Assembly Day is coming. If my father comes, I don't want him to think I am a deviant child."

"Why do you care what he thinks?" Pippa sat up now, finally giving Felicity the space needed to breathe correctly.

"Because he is my father…And I love him."

"But what he did was..."

Felicity cut Pippa off before she could finish. "What he did was my fault. I was too beautiful. He couldn't control himself."

"It was most definitely not your fault! What he did was wrong!" Pippa's eyes were furious.

"Look, Pip," Felicity softened. "That's just how men are. I've never told you this because I didn't want to corrupt your naïve innocence. But men are constantly subject to the desires of their sex. They cannot control themselves. Why do you think prostitution still exists? Why is it the oldest profession?"

"Not all men are that way," Pippa replied. She sounded like she was convincing herself more than Felicity. "I will find one who isn't. And you will see."

"I do hope you prove me wrong," Felicity said in all honesty. She would do anything to find the perfect man for Pippa, but more and more Felicity knew it was an unrealistic dream. There was no man who could ever love Pippa that way Felicity did.

"I will." The conversation ended there. Pippa removed herself from Felicity's side and begin searching her wardrobe for an appropriate dress for the night. When Felicity saw that the conversation was definitely over, she began getting ready as well.