Thank you to everyone who read/favorited/followed this story. I really appreciate the support. You guys make me feel validated.

And a big thank you to LittleGee, TARDISbluecolour, kyshet, Phaex, ChayagraceDaya, and XxPookerxX for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Misfits, but wouldn't it be cool if I did. Any familiar dialogue/elements are taken from the show.

Photos of OCs and soundtrack are available on my profile.

OK, not sure how this turned out. Hopefully Nathan and Izzy continue to look like a realistic couple and I was able to convey their concern for Simon well enough.

Chapter 38 – Lady Killer

"What do you mean she killed you?"

Izzy shifted awkwardly in her feet, digging her toe into some of the tarmac that had begun to break up. She didn't like this. She didn't like this one bit. It felt too much like an intervention, but at this point there was nothing to intervene with. The only result of this ill-fated effort was a defeated Simon, looking around at all of them with wide, uncomprehending eyes, like a puppy who had just been kicked. And nobody, no matter how cruel or apathetic they may be, likes looking at a kicked puppy. Except maybe Nathan, who was the person doing the metaphorical kicking in this scenario.

After the lot of them were through with work, the six of them made their way to the roof, and poor Simon had no idea what was waiting for him. He had been on Cloud Nine since the cute, smiley girl talked to him, completely oblivious to the whispers and pointed stares of the rest of them. He was acting quite goofy, really, and even though it had to be done, Izzy wasn't looking forward to popping that tiny little bubble of happiness he had built up. She had told Nathan to go easy on him, but as a twat with a flair for the dramatic, he wasn't likely to succeed.

Scoffing loudly, Nathan plopped the case of beer he was carrying onto he ground. Izzy cringed inwardly at the slight sneer that covered his face. No, he wasn't going to go easy.

"I mean she smashed my head onto the sink like this," he spat grabbing onto his hair and gesturing violently, "until my brains started dribblin' out my ears!"

Simon's mouth opened and closed a few times, searching for something to say. Izzy really wanted to go over and give him a hug, but that degree of condescension probably wouldn't make his situation any better.

"No," he said finally, shaking his head pathetically. "No, she wouldn't do that."

"How do you know?!" Alisha broke in suddenly, showing more concern than Izzy had ever seen her exhibit before. "You don't know anything about her!"

Nothing like a love triangle to make things more interesting. Maybe Alisha was the one who needed a hug. Fuck it, maybe they should just have one giant, magical group hug that would solve all their problems and simultaneously bring about world peace. That sounded totally plausible. Izzy sighed heavily and stepped in line with Alisha and Nathan. Izzy could see the flicker of hurt and betrayal cross his face as she moved towards them, making her squirm internally. "Look," she said in an apologetic voice, "just consider the timing. She shows up and then Nathan's suddenly getting himself murdered?"

"Yeah, man it all adds up," Nathan barreled on. "Do the maths."

Simon wrinkled his nose at Nathan. "There is no 'maths'."

"Right!" Nathan growled determinedly, gesticulating wildly. "She was here plus noone else was around, times she caught me leerin' at her semi-naked, divided by all the weird shit that happens to us, equals guilty." He planted his hands on his hips and nodded at Simon, looking supremely pleased with himself. But Simon just stared back blankly.

"That means absolutely nothing."

"Oh my God, really?" Nathan spluttered angrily. "She's a beautiful girl and she's here, in the community center!"

"So?"

"So I seem to remember a similar scenario that resulted in me havin' sex with an eighty-two year-old woman," he mumbled, cringing at the memory.

"Jesus fucking Christ," Izzy grimaced. "I could've gone the rest of my life without being reminded that I'm Eskimo sisters with someone's gran."

"Hey, she never had any kids!" Nathan shouted back.

"Right," Izzy replied, rolling her eyes. "Because that's the take-away here."

"L—look," Simon stuttered smoothing his hair down nervously like he always did, "Jessica's not someone's gran. And she's not going to kill me."

"But you've only just met!" Alisha protested. "You don't know her, and weird shit always happens around here."

"Remember there was that shape-shifter girl," Curtis added. "She was mental."

"Yeah, look wot 'appened wiv you an' dat probation worka," Kelly piled on.

"And did you know that some of the marathon runners shit themselves?" Nathan demanded, placing his hands on his hips and looking at them as if he had delivered the final piece of damning evidence.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Izzy sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You shit yourself all the time." Izzy was about to break into one of her sarcastic rants, but Simon caught her eye. His jaw was twitching and his eyes were roving about. He almost looked like he was about to have a fit. "Simon, are y—"

"S—so you think that if a girl likes me, there must be something wrong with her?"

Izzy was about to protest, but Alisha beat her to it. If she was trying to keep her feelings to herself, she was doing a piss-poor job of it. Anybody paying the slightest bit of attention could see the spark of desperation in her eyes or hear the worry coloring her voice. Well it was a good thing then that she surrounded by a group of unobservant, self-involved young offenders. "No, that's not what we're saying!" she said in almost a pleading voice, looking at Simon poignantly.

"Isn't it?" Nathan asked stupidly.

"No!" Alisha and Izzy hissed simultaneously.

Nathan made a face and shrugged his shoulders. "I thought that was exactly what we were sayin'." Izzy didn't hesitate smack him over the head, eliciting yet another unmanly yelp, and turned back to Simon to apologize, but he was already wandering off to the door of the roof. He looked sort of numb as he walked away, moving like he was on autopilot and ignoring their protests as he moved. As the door shut behind him, the rest of the group turned to face Nathan who was rocking back and forth on his heels with his hands shoved deep in his pockets. It took him a few moments to realize everyone was staring at him, and when he finally did a jovial smirk covered his face.

"I think that went pretty well."

"Prick," Alisha muttered under her breath before spinning on her heels and stamping after Simon.

"What?" Nathan shouted after her. "It went well, right?"

Izzy shook her head and sighed, patting Nathan on the shoulder patronizingly. "You know, sometimes I wonder if you were genetically engineered in a secret underground government lab."

"What, like Spiderman?"

"Yeah, Nathan," she breathed out. "Like a giant, twattish Spiderman." And with that she pushed past him and followed Alisha through the door. While she was on her way down the stairs she heard a loud thwack and another cry from Nathan.

"Why do you girls keep hittin' me?"

In retrospect it hadn't been the best laid plan. Izzy wondered why she ever thought it would be a good idea in the first place, confronting Simon. He had to know, he had to protect himself, but Simon was a fragile guy. The first little flicker of potential happiness, and suddenly that happiness was conspiring to kill him? It was a bitter pill to swallow, and she couldn't blame Simon for wanting to spit it out. And she had to face the fact that Nathan wasn't exactly the most reliable witness—or the most convincing one. It's easy to be in denial of something when there's no concrete evidence supporting the claim.

"Alisha?" called out hesitantly, winding her way through the halls looking for the other girl. As hard as this all was for Simon, it was probably just as hard for her as well. She was put in the position of the 'jealous ex' without ever technically being in a relationship with the guy. She had to watch all that innocent, doe-eyed sincerity as Simon started mooning over another girl he didn't even know. After what was apparently an epic romance that defied the strictures of time and space, she must be facing a giant, steaming pile of disappointment as well.

Looking at it from the outside, romance just seemed so….hard. Alisha and Simon, Alisha and Curtis, there seemed to be so much drama flying about. It had been the same for her and Nathan in the beginning, all of the willful blindness, misunderstandings, and general obliviousness, but none of that really seemed to matter at this point. There wasn't any drama—it wasn't hard. The two of them just seemed to click. Maybe it was because they knew each other so damn well. All the ins and outs—the good and the bad—they knew it all. There was no pretending to be anything. Nobody would be writing poems or songs like they might for Simon and Alisha, but Izzy didn't need songs. Which was probably a good thing because Nathan singing sounded like a bag of cats that had been thrown into the drier. Permanent press. No, Izzy just wanted to be happy—content—and by some ridiculous twist of fate she had found that with a curly-haired twat who talks about trying to suck himself off.

"Alisha?"

Izzy turned the corner that led to the main entrance to find Alisha standing in the doorframe, staring at something with a slumped, defeated posture. "Alisha, wha—"

Alisha waved her hand and quietly shushed her, making Izzy furrow her eyebrows and move in closer. Peering over Alisha's shoulder, she could see Simon and the cute, psycho bitch—Jessica—over by the vending machines. Izzy leaned in as close as she could without becoming visible and strained her ears. Jesus fucking Christ, he was asking her out for a drink. And she was saying yes.

Izzy cleared her throat awkwardly and rubbed the back of her neck, acutely aware of just how much she shouldn't be there. She felt like she was intruding upon a highly personal moment. Two highly personal moments, actually—Simon's first semi-successful interaction with a girl and Alisha's personal bubble of grief. She glanced down at the girl. She couldn't see her face, but the back of her head looked particularly mournful.

Opening and closing her mouth like a dying fish, Izzy tried to find something to say. Words of comfort, words of understanding—any words at all—but they eluded her. It turned out being a socially maladjusted, emotionally stunted delinquent had its drawbacks. In the end, what she settled on probably didn't do anybody any good.

"Well in retrospect we probably should have seen that coming."

(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)

After that little encounter with Simon and the cute, psycho bitch—Jessica, her name was Jessica—the group seemed to dissolve away into the background. Alisha was out of there as soon as possible, with a look of sad determination on her face, whatever the hell that meant. Curtis bailed as well, but not before his patented 'sexy face' made an appearance, indicating he was off to slip it to some lady-friend, probably that pretty girl with the sour face and no sense of humor they had met in the warehouse. And then Kelly—well Izzy honestly had no idea what happened to Kelly. For someone who could read people's minds, she wasn't all that much of a 'sharer' herself. It was actually kind of unfair if you thought about it.

Then there was Simon. Oddly enough, he was the last of them to leave. After that whole ordeal, she would have thought he would be the first one out the door, but after buying a packet of crisps from the vending machine and heading back to the locker room to get her bag, he was still standing there in front of the mirror, smoothing down his hair. She could see him staring at his reflection, that expression of fear and self-doubt. He looked totally different from that image of the future Simon she kept in the corner of her mind, and it left her wondering what exactly was going to happen that would change him from this self-conscious mess into that pseudo-superhero. After a few moments, he caught sight of her in the mirror. His eyes locked with her for a moment before quickly grabbing his things and scurrying out of room as quickly as possible. She called out after him, but the only response she got was a slamming door.

Ugh. Why did everything have to become so fucking difficult? Even with all the other shit they had to deal with—murderous probation workers, psychotic shape-shifters, gay-making tattoo artists—it somehow managed to boil down to relationship drama. Potentially homicidal relationship drama, but relationship drama nonetheless. It was the same old formula. Boy meets girl. Girl kills other boy. Boy is emotionally desperate and goes out with girl anyway. All while other girl is watching longingly from a corner for boy to become future version of boy she's in love with. Sure the formula had a few quirks, but the basics were the same, more or less.

"Well this day has been a giant load of shit," she sighed out, collapsing in a chair next to Nathan in front of the obscenely outdated TV in one of those offices.

"I don't know what you're complainin' about," he replied, sliding her chair closer to his and draping his arm over her shoulder. "You're not the one who had to die. Again."

Izzy rolled her eyes and grabbed the remote from him, switching on the telly and flipping through the channels. "I guess this just makes you one giant fucking cautionary tale, doesn't it?" she shot back, smirking slightly. "Creep on a girl in the locker room, you've got to prepare yourself for the consequences."

"And those consequences involve someone doin' a tap dance on my skull? The punishment hardly fits the crime!" He folded his arms and pouted, which was equal parts cute and annoying as hell. "I mean, seriously! Why am I always the one gettin' killed? Pretty soon you lot will have to start callin' me Kenny or some shit like that because I have to go an' die in every fuckin' epis—"

Izzy cut him off, leaning in and pressing her lips against his, in a short, firm kiss. When she pulled back, Nathan was looking at her a bit surprised. "What?" she demanded, raising her eyebrows slyly at him. "I thought you wanted me to kiss it better?"

A slow smile crept across his face. "I guess you're gonna have to work a bit harder then, love," he shot back. "I'm still sufferin' here. I need 20 CCs of lovin'. Stat."

"How many times do I have to tell you that I am not putting on a slutty nurse's uniform? And I'm still wondering why you have one of those in the first place."

"Hey, a bloke's got to have his secrets!" he shot back. "I'm a fuckin' international man of mystery."

"Sure you are, Miss Moneypenny."

"Hey, I am not Miss Moneypenny!" he whined back. "I'm the one Miss Moneypenny has the hots for!"

"Twat," she muttered under her breath before kissing him again, with more force this time. Nathan twitched slightly in surprise, but didn't hesitate to return it with that same jumpy eagerness. Izzy smiled into the kiss. It was always the tiniest bit awkward, but in the best possible way.

After a few moments, Izzy felt Nathan's arm circling her waist and hauling her onto his lap so that she was straddling him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in closer, kissing him hard. Kissing Nathan was always a good way to forget about the problems facing the lot of them, the ones that seemed to keep piling up at their feet for no particular reason whatsoever. It was like the two of them had this bubble—a tiny, dysfunctional bubble that noone else could, or probably wanted to, understand. But one niggling thought managed to get through to her. One of Nathan's hands started to slide down from her waist in the general direction of her arse, and unfortunately for him that's when she came to a decision.

Izzy pulled back from Nathan. His lips followed hers as she sat up, craning his neck and trying to reach her with a hazy, bleary look in his eyes.

"Nope," she said, placing a hand on his chest and pushing him back, away from her. "Sorry Casanova, but we've got other things we need to take care of."

"What?" he groaned loudly. "What else do we have to take care of?"

"He's about yay high," she said, holding out her hand, "twitchy, socially awkward, and may be about to be gruesomely murdered by a cheerful charity runner. Ringing any bells, here? Not exactly the time to be making out."

"Well maybe I was wrong," he whined, gently scraping his nails against the skin of her lower back. "It was dark, I wasn't payin' all that much attention. Honestly I'm surprised any of you lot believed me in the first place. I'm not exactly all that reliable, am I?"

"Seriously?" Izzy demanded, poking him hard in the chest. "You're going to go back on all this now so you can get an extra grope in before supper?"

Nathan sighed heavily and collapsed back on the chair, running his hands down his face in frustration. He might whine about it, but she could see that he was worried as well. The relationship between him and Simon was odd, but it was the closest thing to a genuine friendship Nathan had, excepting her of course. 'A reluctant bromance,' she had decided to call it—a relationship where Nathan was the pervy older brother habitually trying to corrupt the young, naïve one.

"Okay, fine," he mumbled in a defeated-sounding tone. "What the fuck are we supposed to do?"

Izzy leaned down and gave him a quick kiss before climbing off of his lap. "I'll try and talk to him. You try and keep an eye on Jessica. I'm pretty sure she's still wandering about the community center with some more of those charity runners." Moving towards the office door, she saw a couple of the volunteers skitter by, making her shiver a bit. "Those people creep me out. They could be zombies if they weren't all vegetarians."

"So we're all agreed on savin' the little pervert," Nathan called out from behind her, "but how's about a little quickie in the bathroom before we get to it?" Izzy wheeled around and glared daggers at him, making him throw up his hands in submission. "Sorry, love! Just askin'!" Izzy rolled her eyes and pushed out of the office, but not before Nathan called out after her.

"If we do end up savin' Barry, I'm gonna expect a kindly worded apology for cock-blockin' me!"

"Yeah, and make sure he has it notarized too," she shot back.

Walking out of the community center, Izzy pulled her mobile out and scrolled through the contacts until she got Simon's number. She hit 'send' button and listened to it ringing and ringing until it went to voicemail. Great. Now the little twat was screening her calls.

"H-hello, you've reached Simon Bellamy. If you want to leave a message, please wait for the beep."

"Hey, Simon," Izzy said in a voice that probably sounded too cheerful given the circumstances. "I just wanted to say sorry for everything that happened today. We all just got a little carried away, and—just call me back so I can apologize in person. Okay, then…See you later! Bye. This is Izzy by the way."

Ending the call, Izzy pulled the phone from her ear and stared at it, swearing heavily. When it came to this kind of shit, blokes were like children. Simon was no doubt sulking in a corner, waiting to go out on his little date and prove them all wrong. Blokes had a seriously fucked up concept of pride. For the sake of it, they would behave like a child, and that kind of defeated the purpose, didn't it?

Izzy called Simon about seven more times, left four more messages, and even dropped by his place. After a severely uncomfortable chat with his parents, she left with no more information than she had to begin with. Though she did have a bit more of an insight into his character. With all of that, there was only one place left to go, though it was more than certain Simon would not be there.

With a loud clang, Izzy shut the door to that elevator and punched the button causing it to shudder and start its slow, creeping descent to the future version of Simon's flat. As expected, he was nowhere to be seen, but there was a figure standing at the far side of the room.

"Hey," she called out to Alisha, who was standing at the wall of photos, gently caressing one of them she was holding in her hands.

Alisha glanced up at her and scoffed, turning away to surreptitiously wipe away the tears that have formed in the corner of her eyes. "Of course," she said with a little venom in her voice. "Of course you know about this place too. Is there anything he didn't tell you?"

"Again, he didn't tell me anything," Izzy replied, walking towards with her hands shoved deep in her pockets. "I actually followed you here once, as creepy as that might sound. So really you've just got yourself to blame for being so transparent and suspicious."

Izzy approached Alisha and stood next to the girl, staring at the wall of photos. Some of them she recognized as shots Simon had taken with his camera. Others were completely unfamiliar. Hell, they might not have even happened yet. Izzy could spend hours pouring over those photos, trying to come up with some sort of pattern, but really it felt like one giant cosmic joke. Some practical joke Simon had left behind.

"It fucks with your head a bit, doesn't it?" she said, breaking the silence. "Looking at the photos? It's like a giant puzzle of your life, but you have no idea how to put it together. Usually, I'd say start with the corners, but….."

"There's no picture of her here," Alisha said suddenly, making Izzy turn to her. "I thought that maybe he'd leave something behind as a hint or whatever, but he didn't."

"Nah, that would be to easy," Izzy drawled out sarcastically. "Far too convenient for us. We've got to work for it, you know? Otherwise what's the point?"

"I don't know if there is one any more," she mumbled, running her fingers over the photo she was clutching. Izzy glanced down at her hands and saw that it was the one of her and Simon in Las Vegas.

"You realize it's inevitable, right?"

Alisha furrowed her eyebrows and blinked in confusion. "You and Simon. It actually has to happen. The universe would implode if it didn't."

Alisha snorted and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, because the two've us are so fuckin' important."

"No, you don't get it," Izzy said, taking the picture from Alisha. "This—" she continued, holding up the photo, "this actually has to happen. You and Simon have to get together, this picture has to be taken, otherwise it's a paradox. Paradoxes can't happen, big cosmic no-no."

"How do you know about all this stuff?" Alisha asked quietly, taking the photo back and putting it her purse.

Izzy exhaled loudly and shrugged her shoulders. "It's all wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey physics stuff. I won't bore you with the details. All I'm saying is that under these circumstances, that cheesy, over-used romance trope 'meant to be' actually applies."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Alisha asked, rounding on Izzy. "I've been such a bitch to you—to everybody. Why would you want to help me now?"

Izzy rocked back and forth on her heels. She wasn't quite sure how to answer that question. There was a time not to long ago where she wouldn't have bothered—hell, she wouldn't even have cared. And Alisha wouldn't have made her want to care. They had both changed. She could have told Alisha what she was thinking, but that would require a degree of sappiness that her personality just wasn't willing to accommodate. So she went with the universal standby.

"Because?"

Alisha gave her a withering look and was opened her mouth to retort when Izzy's phone started blaring out the 'Doctor Who' theme song. Izzy held up a finger, indicating for Alisha to wait, and held it up to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Ginger, thank fuckin' God," Nathan's voice rasped into the phone, crackling slightly. The apartment got seriously shit reception. "You know the cute, smiley popular girl who murdered me?"

"I'd say I'm familiar by this point."

"Yeah, well she's just killed some other guy! He's dead!" All of the sudden there was a faint gurgling noise followed by a loud screech. "No! No, he's alive!"

"What?" she shouted, plugging her other ear with her finger so she could hear better.

"No, no, he's dead again."

"Well, which is it?" she demanded, getting a little bit panicked.

"Dead," Nathan's staticky voice said. "Definitely dead."

"And you're sure it was her?"

"Of course I'm fuckin' sure! One minute I'm eatin' a sandwich an' I see her with some bloke who tried to feel her up. She flips out, storms off, I go after 'em, and then I find the bloke twitchin' on the ground with his throat cut!"

Izzy swore heavily and rubbed anxiously at her forehead. "Then we've got problems. Simon's meeting her for a drink at the bar of the Estate."

"See you there," Nathan said, followed by the loud click of him hanging up the phone.

Izzy swore again and shoved her phone in her pocket before turning to Alisha who was standing there, a look of worry covering her face. Izzy took a deep, calming breath and tried to assemble her thoughts.

"Fancy a drink?"

(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)

It took about fifteen minutes for them to get to the bar. Nathan was already there, hiding behind a car and sneaking around like he was suddenly a character in a spy novel. Only characters in spy novels generally didn't trip over quite so many things.

"Where's Curtis and Kelly?" he asked, wrinkling his nose slightly. "What happened to 'safety in numbers'. This bitch has already killed my once already, it's someone else's turn! The more people here, the more people I can push in front of me."

"Their phones are still switched off," Izzy explained, ignoring Alisha's snort of distaste. "I don't think we're going to be getting any backup."

"Both of their phones are still switched off?" Nathan asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. "You don't think they're…." And then he trailed off, opting instead to engage in a game of sexual charades.

"Seriously?" Izzy groaned, rolling her eyes. "Why can't you just say 'fucking'?"

"Well do you think they are?"

"No," she and Alisha barked simultaneously.

"Alright, alright, Jesus!" he exclaimed, holding his hands up in submission.

"Where are they?!" Alisha demanded, looking around anxiously.

"Oh, they're still in the bar," Nathan replied. "But I can't see her makin' a move until they leave." He shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded awkwardly, shooting Alisha a few glances. "So who'd a thunk it?" he said, punching her in the shoulder lightly. "The three of us, teamin' up on somethin' like this."

"This is about the least weird thing that's happened to me recently," Alisha retorted.

"That's fair," he said, continuing to nod. "So…what do we do now?"

Izzy bit her lip and shrugged her shoulders. "I guess we wait for something interesting to happen."

And that's what they did. They waited. And waited. And waited. That was the bit films never really tell you about. They always gloss over the boring bits—the stake-outs and that sort of stuff. It was kind of disingenuous. The three of them just stood there, staring at the door to the bar, waiting for Simon and his lady-friend to reveal themselves. Izzy sighed and checked her watch for the eighteenth time. What the fuck was taking them so long? Were either of them really interesting enough to merit such a long conversation?

"So why are you here?" Nathan asked suddenly, staring at Alisha curiously. "I mean, I get why Ginger is—geek solidarity or some shit like that—but it's not like the two've you are big pals."

"What and you are?" Alisha demanded skeptically, raising her eyebrows at him. "Why are you here?"

"Well maybe I like him more than I let on."

Alisha let out a soft snort and shifted on her feet a bit. "Yeah, well maybe I do too."

Nathan let out a small smile. "The little bastard gets under your skin, doesn't he?"

Izzy rolled her eyes in amusement, and kept her eyes trained on the door to the bar. There was movement. It slowly opened and Simon stepped out, followed by Jessica. "Ugh, I hate to break up this adorable Hallmark moment," she hissed under her breath, "but we've got company."

The three of them scurried and his behind a pillar while the two of them walked by. Jesus fucking Christ, they were holding hands. The adorability factor was nauseating. Who the hell was that clingy after only one date? If Jessica wasn't a serial killer, then the two of them were probably two dates off from merging into a single, globular, amoeba-like creature.

As Simon and Jessica moved, the three of them slid along the walls, careful to stay out of sight. Then all of the sudden, Jessica came to a sudden stop still clutching Simon's hand. He looked at her, confused.

"Come on," she said suddenly, tightening her hold on his hand.

"Where are we going?" he asked stupidly, staring at her with those wide, naïve eyes.

Jessica didn't answer. She just yanked him along after her into a dark, dirty car park.

"Holy shit," Izzy whispered. "You were right. She's actually going to kill him."

"Of course I'm right, Ginger," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her after him. "Now come on!"

They scurried into the car park like mice and hid behind some old, rusted over clunker. They slowly stood up from their crouching positions so they could peek over the cab. The pair was at the other end of the car park, all cozied up in a corner. Jessica was leaning against the dusty brick wall. Then she suddenly leaned down and planted a kiss on Simon's lips.

"She's like one of those evil bitch spiders," Nathan hissed seriously. "They lure you into their web, they shag ya, then they kill ya, and then they eat their own feces!"

"What?" Alisha demanded, looking at him like he was a fucking lunatic.

"Black widows," Izzy hissed back. "He's talking about black widows. Except for the feces part. That's just a product of his child mind."

Simon and Jessica continued to make out for a while, making Nathan whine like a petulant child. "Aw come on, this just isn't fair!" he whispered, gesturing violently at the reenactment of first half of 'Fatal Attraction'. "I've got to go without to save his arse, while he gets to snog the cute psychopath? And those are the freaky ones!"

"Yeah, it's all fun and games," Izzy muttered back. "Until one of them slits your throat. Again."

"Would the two of you shut up?!" Alisha hissed. "She's leaving!"

After an uncoordinated session of shushing and slaps upside the head, silence finally fell over the three of them. Jessica had disappeared and Simon was walking in their direction with a silly smile covering his face. It was the kind of expression you see on the face of a small child when they eat candy for the first time. And nobody wants to crush the joy of an adorable little kid. That settled it. This was a fucking terrible day.

As Simon approached, the three of them ducked behind the car. "That's right," she whispered under her breath. "Just keep walking. Just walk on by."

Simon passed up the car and continued to move forward, allowing for a small surge of victory. Soon, though, he started dragging his feet, finally coming to a complete stop. Izzy squeezed her eyes shut, choosing in that moment to believe the childlike notion that if you can't see them, they can't see you. After a few moments she cracked an eye open to see Simon staring down at them. Illusion destroyed.

"Hey, man," Nathan said, waving and smiling jovially.

"What are you doing?" Simon demanded, staring down at them with disapproval.

"Just….hangin' out," Alisha added, brushing the dirt off her skirt as they all rose to their feet.

"Yeah," Izzy said, nodding along. "Just seeing the sights, shooting the shit, maybe a little but of semi-delinquent loitering. You know, the usual."

Simon narrowed his eyes and surveyed the three of them suspiciously. "Were you…following me?"

"Hey, we could ask you the same thing," Nathan shot back. Simon raised his eyebrows in disbelief causing Nathan to falter. "Okay, yes," he admitted, throwing his hands up in frustration.

"Look, we were worried about you," Alisha said in a pleading tone.

"You don't have to be," he responded tersely.

"Well, tough shit," Izzy replied. "Friends worry about each other. That's how it works. Especially when said friend is dating the female version of Dr. Jekyll."

"Jessica's not going to hurt me," he defended staunchly. "She wouldn't do that."

"Oh, really," Nathan shot back, planting his hands on his hips. "Tell that to the dead guy at the community center. Oh, wait! You can't! Because your new girlfriend killed him!" He drew his finger and stuck his tongue out dramatically.

"Look, what's the harm in checking, hm?" Izzy added, taking a step forward.

(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)

To say that the walk back to the community center was uncomfortable would be a serious understatement. None of them spoke the entire way there—not even Nathan. As soon as they got there, Nathan led them through the excruciating labyrinth of beige. When they came to the scene of the crime they found….nothing. Absolutely nothing.

"No, no, no," Nathan mumbled semi-coherently. "He was lyin' right here! Alright? Blood was all pourin' out of throat and he was all gurglin' and shit!"

Simon came to a stop, glancing around and looking at Nathan expectantly. "So where is he now?"

There was a short pause as they looked around at each other for an explanation. "She's moved the body," Alisha interjected.

"Right," Nathan said, snapping and pointing at her in agreement. "Who leaves a dead body lyin' around to be discovered? We never do and we're not exactly the most competent killers."

Simon sighed heavily and shook his head. "And how did she do that when she was having a drink with me?"

"Maybe she had help," Izzy suggested tentatively. "An accomplice or something. Maybe she called somebody. Maybe there was someone else waiting there."

"Yeah!" Nathan shouted. "Maybe she had help. I mean why would I make this up?"

Simon narrowed his eyes and shifted so he was standing toe-to-toe with Nathan, staring him down. "Maybe you're jealous."

Nathan let out a derisive laugh. "Please," he said, pointing at his face. "Look at me. Beautiful. Look at you. Not so much. Plus I've got that tasty piece of arse waitin' for me at the end of the day. What the fuck to I have to be jealous about?"

Izzy clenched her jaw and punched Nathan in the shoulder for what felt like the hundredth time that day. "Would you stop being such a prick? It's not exactly helping the situation!"

Alisha sighed and shook her head before turning to face Simon. "So why am I here?" she asked, giving him an earnest look. "Why is Izzy here?"

Simon blinked at Alisha in confusion and shook his head. "I—I don't know." He turned back to Nathan, glaring hostilely. "You stay away from Jessica."

"You stay away from her!" Nathan spluttered back.

"No!"

"W—well I think you should!"

Simon shook his head and disbelief and simply walked away, leaving the three of them staring after him. Izzy closed her eyes and rubbed at her forehead in frustration. At least Simon would be alright, for today at least. But she didn't see him feeling any differently tomorrow. He would probably want her even more. With all of there opposition and nay-saying, they had built up the perfect little forbidden romance situation. Why was it that people always want what they can't have? Were they all masochists? Izzy groaned and slammed her head into Nathan's shoulder and he patted her hair in an awkwardly comforting way.

That was loneliness for you. There were two different kinds that Izzy knew of, the one where you had had enough of the world and the one where you desperately wanted to be a part of it. One kind—the one she used to be so familiar with—makes you want to pull away, to disappear into yourself and to hell with everyone else. That kind leaves you numb. And you don't really mind so much because it's exactly what you want.

Then there was the other kind of lonliness—the kind she knew Simon suffered from. That kind happened when you keep reaching out to people, and keep getting rejected. For people like Simon there was never any numbness, just an acute, poignant pain. It made sense that he would latch onto the first flicker of happiness that came his way. But therein lay the rub. In attaching himself to Jessica, he was missing out on the one thing she knew would make him happy—the girl standing next to her.

Straightening up and stepping away from Nathan, Izzy glanced around at her compatriots and sighed heavily.

"Well….that could have gone better."

So you've made it to chapter 38.

I don't like to beg or be pushy, but I guess I'm doing that right now. Please review, you guys! Also, there were a couple of people who used to review habitually like 15 chapter back and don't anymore. I hope I haven't lost your interest!

Any suggestions are welcome. I just really want people to enjoy this story.