Reunion Chapter 3: *PRT. 1*, a so weird fanfic

reunion :::Berkeley, California:::

"Look. I'm on my way home right now, yep my house just came into view, so give me a call later? Okay talk to later Celine, we'll get together for lunch, bye"
Fiona Phillips clicked 'end' on her cell phone and stuffed it into her purse as she pulled her red camaro into the long driveway that led to her house. Fiona tousled her hair back and turned the car off and headed out of the car and towards her big house, she let out a sigh and stopped for a second to stare at the house that was right next door to hers, her brown eyes sparkled for a second and then she let out a sigh before walking up to the door of her house. She unlocked the door and pushed the door open lazily, she dropped her bags down on the gray marble floor, the minute she walked inside of the house.
"What a day"
Fiona slammed the door shut with her foot, once she heard the door slam shut, she walked into the kitchen, she pushed play on the answering machine and headed towards the refrigerator.

"You have one new message. 12:15 pm."

Fiona took out a can of pepsi one and popped the can open and took a little sip as she waited for the message to play, god this damn machine was slow sometimes Fiona thought to herself, with an impatient look on her face.

"Hi Fi. Um this is Annie--"

Fi walked over to the answering machine and deleted the message without thinking twice, damn how did she get the number? Probably my mom.

"Message deleted. No new messages"

Fiona grabbed an orange on her way out of the kitchen, she kicked off her shoes and strolled over to her leather couch, she plopped her tired body down onto the couch and turned the tv on, what to watch....

"Hi I'm Carson Daly with MTV News and we are here with the newest teen pop sensation singer, Annie Thelen, her newest single "Cause you're watching over me" is topping the charts, how are you doing Annie?"

Fiona stopped playing with her orange when she saw Annie walk across her tv screen, her blonde hair a little shorter then it was the last time Fiona saw Annie, it was now medium length, she had on purple tainted sunglasses, she was wearing ---- hmm it looked like Alcott's, Alcott was only the newest and the hottest fashion designer. Fiona rolled her eyes and continued to watch the interview, there was nothing else on, and watching Annie pretending to be Miss America, was just what she needed, seeing Annie acting all fake made her realize how good her life was without Annie.

"I'm doing good Carson, I'm so excited to be here. I remember before I got the record deal I was this 14 year old girl on tour with one of the best singers ever, Molly Phillips, those years on tour with Molly and her family was the best years of my life. I learned so much and gained a best friend. I kind of regret never saying goodbye to her---"

Fiona sighed loudly, grabbing the remote, she shut the tv off, deciding that she had heard enough, she didn't need Annie to replay the bittersweet goodbye that they never had on national television, she remembered that day good enough.

*Start of flashback*

Fi strolled into the big common room of the MP 2001 Tour Bus, her long brown hair was up in a french braid, she looked around the bus for a second, taking in all she could, since this was going to be the last time she saw this bus, it was official, the tour was over and a part of Fi was so glad that it was, she couldn't take one more second of awkwardness.
"Hi mom"
Molly looked up from the latest edition of "Teen" magazine and greeted her daughter with a cheerful smile, Fi glanced at the magazine and gave Molly a 'look'.
"What? I was just glancing at it"
"Sure mom----"
Fi looked around the bus, she saw Jack sitting with Clu on one of the couches, she eyed Carey by himself in the corner playing with his guitar, she saw Ned driving the bus and she remembered that Irene was taking a nap... but where was Annie?
"Where's Annie?"
Molly looked up at Fi sadly; Annie didn't tell her?
"Honey, Annie didn't tell you?"
Fi stared back at her mom with a confused look in her brown eyes.
"Tell me what mom?"
Molly put down the magazine.
"Annie got a record deal, she already left, I was sure she told you"
Fi felt her vision start to get blurry, probably from the tears that threatened to fall, how could she do this to me? Fi felt her mom try to touch her arm but Fi pulled away.
"Well then I guess we can't say our good-byes"
"What do you mean sweetie?"

Jack, Clu and Carey who were all busy doing their own things, dropped what they were doing, once they heard Fi raise her voice; Carey put his guitar down and felt his heart break, when he heard the emotion cracking in Fi's voice, but as much as he wanted to, he didn't go over to comfort her... that would just cause another fight between him and Clu. When was the last time they spoke civilly to each other anyways? Clu and Carey, they both had fallen for Fi and when neither brother backed out, they both vowed never to speak to each other again. Jack seeing the discomfort between Carey and Clu sighed, and tried his best to listen to the conversation between Fi and his mother.

"I got accepted in UCLA, I'm leaving to go there tonight, I have to go pack"
Before Molly could say another word, Fi turned on her heels and ran in her room, this was it, she had decided... she was leaving, and for good this time, no more coming back, no more taking back what she said or did, this was goodbye.

Carey watched Fi run into her room, he pushed himself up and went to go follow her, to comfort her, but he stopped when he felt Clu's hand grab him by the arm roughly.
"Don't even dare"
Carey glared back at Clu and felt like hitting him, god how he hated him, Carey pushed Clu back and sat back down.
"Fine"
Clu glared and let out a growl underneath his breath.
"Fine"

Fi picked up her two big suitcases and started throwing everything that belonged to her into the suitcases, not even taking time to remember the memories and value of the possessions, she just wanted to get off this god forsaken bus, she wanted to leave and never look back... just like what Annie did, two can play this game, she too can just go away and never look back. Fi stopped when she picked up a picture of her and Annie, she glared at the picture for a second, before throwing it across the room watching the glass of the picture break into a million little pieces. She looked around her room and when she decided she had everything, she zipped up the suitcases, grabbed them and walked out of her room.

*End of flashback*

Fiona rubbed her hands over her face, god she didn't need this, not now, not ever, not ever again, she didn't need to think of Annie Thelen, a girl who was once known as her best friend, a girl that didn't even have the courtesy to say goodbye, screw her, screw them all... look at me now! I'm a college graduate! I'm a doctor! Screw you all, I don't need any of you.

:::Berkeley, California --- Next door to Fiona's house:::

"Shirt, where is my shirt?"
Carey Bell muttered to himself as he searched all over his large bedroom, for his favorite black t-shirt, he smiled triumphantly when he found it lying underneath his bed, he picked it up, he smelled it, and deciding that it was still clean enough to wear, he slipped it over his head and walked out of his bedroom and headed towards the kitchen.
"Food"
Carey opened the refrigerator door and pulled out a cold slice of last night's Pizza Hut's pepperoni pizza w/extra cheese, he contemplated whether to heat it up or not, but decided cold was good enough for him he took a big bite of the pizza as he walked into the living room. He glanced out his window at the house next to his, which belonged to Fiona Phillips, he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. It's been five years since he spoken to the girl that had stole his heart and made it her own, they went to the same college and even ended up living right next door to each other, but they didn't speak one word to each other and that broke his heart. He would have done anything for Fiona Phillips, he would have given his life up for her and she wouldn't care less, she was the second one to leave the group, and the minute she left, she never looked back. Carey had been the third to leave and then Clu and then finally Jack. Carey walked up to the window and pressed his body against it, as he tried, to get a glimpse of Fiona Phillips, everyday he tried to just get one glimpse of her, of her beautiful face, everyday for the past 5 years. Carey watched the door open up to Fiona's house, he dropped to the ground when she walked out of the house, he lifted his head up a bit and smiled when he caught a glimpse of her.

Beauty. Brains. Courage.

That was Fiona Phillips to him, god she was all that and so much more, he had fallen desperately in love with her, the love he shared for her caused him to lose his baby brother, but that didn't matter, all he wanted was to love her, why did she deny him the one thing he wanted to do more then anything on this entire planet?

*Start of flashback*

Carey held his books as he ran to his Literature class, he looked down at his watch and sighed, damn it he was late, his second day at UCLA and he was already late for a class, and of course it had to be the class with the hardest and most strict teacher, this was just his luck. Carey fell over backwards when he felt his body plow into another body, he sighed and started picking up the books that had went flying.
"Geez, watch it will you?"
Carey stopped picking up the books, when he realized the voice to the person who he had plowed into, belonged to no other then Fiona Phillips.

"Fi?"

Carey looked up and smiled when he saw Fi, Fi eyes froze, this was the last thing she had expected. Fi picked up her last book and held it against her chest tightly, she swallowed down the lump that was located at the back of her throat, she rolled her brown eyes, getting her gut back.
"See ya"
Fi glanced at Carey before she walked off, once she was out of sight, she broke out into a run, wanting to get away as fast as she could...

Carey picked up his books and watched Fi walk away from him, he felt his heart break all over again, he hadn't seen her in 2 months and then this was their reunion, some reunion. Carey ran his hands through his hair, god she had looked so beautiful, like usual, so beautiful and always in a higher place then he was in, she was always untouchable, she would never be his, but he couldn't help but to think... maybe one day she would be his.

*End of flashback*

Carey watched silently as Fiona shut her car door, actually slamming, he watched her run back inside the house, her brown hair bouncing behind her. Carey sighed sadly, as he touched the glass of the window, he finally pushed himself up and walked into the bathroom, he slammed and locked the door; He hurled himself down on the bathroom floor, he felt the tears flow down his face, god why did he have to love her so much? Why!?

:::Boston, Massachusetts:::

"Alexandria! Where is the printer paper?"
Jack's voice boomed through his 3 bedroom house, he tapped his fingers across his desk impatiently.
"Alexandria!"

"Coming"
A tall woman with long red hair came hopping down the stairs with a stack of white printer paper, she walked over to Jack and handed him the paper.
"Geez, I am your assistant, not your maid"
"If you say so"
Alexandria rolled her shiny green eyes.
"Can I go now Mr. Phillips? I told my fiancé I would meet him for lunch"
Jack looked up and stared at his assistant, Alexandria Robbins, through the thin rimmed reading glasses that he wore lazily on his face, he contemplated for a second but then finally smiled.
"Yeah go ahead"
"Thanks"
Alexandria kissed Jack on the cheek before running out of the house, trying to get out of there before he changed his mind, it was known that Jack Phillips, was a indecisive man, he was kind but very complicated and indescive. Alexandria had known Jack for three years, he was the newest writer to hit the publishing world and Alexandria knew he was going to be something big. One day at the new mall in Boston, Alexandria had been interviewing for jobs and that was when she bumped into Jack, he saw the employment sheets in her arms and he had asked her if she was interviewing for a job, she had said yes and he had offered the job of being his assistant and she had happily agreed. Jack had already published two books, one was an autobiography which told all about his journeys while on the road with his mom and the second book had been about a fictional journey of a girl whose life was already planned out, even before she was born --- Can we say "Buffy the vampire slayer"? --- But Jack's third book was going to be his best, well it would be his best, if he had the guts to publish it. The title of the book is "Thousand Words Left Unsaid", it's about the doomed relationship him and his sister had.

Jack sighed, he took off his reading glasses, he cleaned them with the corner of his shirt, he put the glasses back on, he stared at the computer screen for a second, trying to decide if writing this god forsaken book, would help matters, so he tells the whole world that him and his sister haven't talked in 5 years... what would that change? Jack sighed once more, he pulled the chair closer to the desk, where his laptop laid, he cracked his knuckles and began to write.

'Our father had died, when she was just a little girl, she didn't even have the same memories me and my mom had of him, she hardly had any memories whatsoever and I think that was the worst part about it. See me and my mom, we had memories of my dad, but she didn't have anything, she was just a little baby, in some way, when he died. I remember holding her in my arms at the funeral, at that one moment in time we were so close, nothing else mattered except me and her... now when I look back on things, all I can say is: "What happened?" We were so close one day and then the next we weren't. We both went to different colleges and that was five years ago, it has been five years since I have talked to my baby sister. One moment we were everything to each other and now we are nothing to each other, we treat each other like crap, we avoid each other's phone calls, we avoid each other like the plague and that is what hurts the most, because I still love her more then the world, but on the other hand she doesn't love me, she doesn't even like me... she walked away...'

Jack stopped typing on his laptop when he realized he was crying, when had he started crying? Jack took off his glasses, which were smeared with hot tears, Jack put his glasses down on the desk and continued to type.

'No, she ran away, she ran away from mom, she ran away from Clu and Carey and to make it worse, she ran away from me--- she ran away from her own older brother, all I have ever wanted to do, was to protect her, to shelter her from harm and I know that she blamed me for holding her back, she blamed me for a lot of things, and I know that she was glad when she left, because she didn't have to bother with me anymore. Everyday, while I was in college, I thought of her and there were a lot of times, that I had picked up the phone to call her but at the last moment decided against it. I couldn't stand hearing the disgust in her voice, when she answered that phone, I never got the guts to actually write her, I just knew she would send it back, so I never wrote... I never called... I never did anything to make things right between us. I just let things be, I just let her walk away and never look back, and in return I did the same thing. It's funny, you don't think you need someone that much, until you lose them and then it's like, you're always wondering how you lived life without them. How did I live that one year, while Fi was gone living with our aunt and Annie was with us, without her always near me? How in the world did I survive without being able to hear her voice, to brush her hair out of her eyes, to be able just to hear her babble about the new paranormal nonsense she had found out on the net, god how I miss her voice, her cheerfulness, her... God I miss 'her' so much and I can't do anything about it.'

Jack stopped writing once more, when he heard his phone ringing, he opened his mouth to yell for Alexandria to answer the phone, but then he realized that he had let her leave early.
"God"
Jack pushed himself up from his desk, he walked over to the phone, his shoes making noises as they scraped across the hard wood floor, Jack grabbed the phone.

"Hello?"
Jack rubbed his eyes as he waited for the person on the other side of the phone, to speak.
"Jack, sweetie?"
Jack stared at the phone, immediately remembering whom the voice belonged to... his mom aka Molly Phillips.
"What do you want?"
Jack spit the words out, as if they were venom, and in this case they were.
"Just to talk to you"
Jack rolled his eyes.
"I don't feel like talking, bye"
Jack slammed the phone down and walked over to this couch and plopped himself down on it, closing his eyes.

*Start of flashback*

Jack held onto the two big bags, which were full of his belongings, he held onto the bags so hard, that his knuckles were white from the pressure.
"Honey please"
Jack turned away and saw his mother's face, Jack rolled his eyes, they already had this conversation and he didn't feel like having it once more.
"We already had this discussion. If Fi wanted to talk, she would call me before I left for Harvard"
Molly smiled sadly at Jack.
"Then you should call her"
Jack shook his head.
"Stop being so damn controlling"
Molly staggered back a bit, her eyes had shock in them.
"Jack Phillips!"
Jack rolled his eyes and walked into the airport not even saying goodbye. He didn't need this.

*End of flashback*

Jack brought his legs up to his chest, he rested his chin on his legs and closed his eyes.

:::Santa Cruz, California:::

"Morning sweetheart"
Lisa Jensen, leaned into Clu's body, she kissed him sweetly on the cheek, he ran his hand through her long black hair and smiled at her, he removed his hand out of her hair and continued to read the book, he was reading before Lisa, his fiancé, had interrupted him.
"No good morning to me?"
Clu glanced over at Lisa, when he heard her voice raise.
"Oh calm down"
"Screw you"
Lisa grabbed her coat and stomped out of the house, they both lived in. Clu rolled his eyes, he put the book down on the bed, deciding that he couldn't read the book anymore. He picked up the phone and tossed it up in the air, trying to decide to call her or not... 'Her' would be Fiona Phillips, he shouldn't be feeling this --- he was engaged to get married and he was still in love with Fiona Phillips, at first he thought it would go away, but it never did, and here he was five years later, engaged to be married to a woman he hated and he couldn't stop thinking about the girl that he never got. Clu sighed, he pushed himself up from the bed and walked into the kitchen, he opened the refrigerator door and took out the orange juice, he grabbed a cup from the cupboard, and proceeded to pour the orange juice in the cup, once he decided that he had enough to drink, he put the orange juice container back in the refrigerator and turned to his cup of OJ. Clu sighed once more and turned on the radio and stopped drinking when he heard Annie's voice.

"There's a voice that I can't see
Sometimes in dreams it calls to me
I hear a voice but no one's there
Except it sounds strong, you best beware

It's up to you
You got to choose
Are you gonna win or are you gonna lose?
You got to never give up
No, never give in
And when you fall down
You got to get back up again
You know you got to be a fighter
If you're ever gonna win
Hey! You got to never give up
No, never give in

When something tries to pull me down
I'm feeling weak, I can't go on
Something weak to something strong
I feel these words carrying me along

You got to never give up
No, never give in
And when you fall down
You got to get back up again
You know you got to be a fighter
If you're ever gonna win
Hey! You got to never give up
No, never give in"

Clu listened to the last verse of "Never Give Up", he looked at the radio for a second and then finally turned it off, yet another one of his friends making it big, while he was still the clueless loser... what a riot. Jack was some fancy writer, Annie was a sensational singer, Carey was recording his own solo album and Fi was a doctor and what was he? Oh yeah, he was working for his fiancé's father, he was a mechanic, oh yeah he was going places alright. Clu put his cup of orange juice on the table and looked at himself in the mirror, who was he anymore? What was he doing? Clu hardly noticed the person in the mirror anymore, he had let Lisa Jensen tell him what to do for three years, she told him what to wear, she told him what to eat, she told him what to read, she told how to act and he followed every order... when she said jump, he asked how high.... was this what his life was like now? He was like a puppy dog and she was the master.

*Start of flashback*

"Fi wait! Fi! Fi!"
Clu ran off the bus as he desperately tried to catch up with Fi, he had to find her before she got on that plane, he had to reach her before she left to go to UCLA.
"Clu?"
Clu whipped his body around, with all the force he had in his body, he smiled when he saw Fi standing in front of him.
"There you are"
Fi smiled and dropped her bags and looked at Clu.
"What's up? I don't have long until my plane comes"
Clu nodded and walked up to Fi and kissed her, Fi lost herself in the kiss for a second, but then immediately pushed him away.
"What was that?"'
"A kiss"
Fi smirked.
"I know that, why did you kiss me?"
"Because I love you"
Clu sighed, relieved, he finally said the 'L' word.
"No Clu. No don't do this to me. I can't do this with you... I can't do this with Carey. Both of you all of a sudden start paying attention to me, complimenting me all the time, I don't know what the hell is going on with both of you, but please leave me out of it"

"Plane to Berkeley, California is leaving... please all passengers aboard the plane now"

Fi listened to the voice over the microphone and turned back to Clu, who had a sad look on his face, Fi walked back over to him and hugged him.
"Stay the same ok Clu? Don't let anyone change you. Goodbye"
Fi finally let go and walked away.

*End of flashback*

Clu leaned against the wall and slid down to it, he let his body fall to the ground, he covered his face with his hands.....

He had broken his promise.

:::Los Angeles, California:::

"Um... that one!"
Annie pointed to a long black dress that had slits up the side, she told the costume designer that she wanted to wear that outfit today, she had to look her best, she was doing yet another concert, Annie sighed and flipped her cellphone open and dialed Molly Phillips's number.

"H-Hello?"
"Molly? Hi! It's Annie"
Annie sat on the edge of the dressing room counter, as she waited to hear Molly's voice.
"Annie? Hi sweetheart! How are you! Where are you?"
Annie smiled.
"LA. I'm doing a concert here"
"I live in LA!"
Annie laughed into the phone.
"I know Mol. So do you maybe want to get together after the concert?"
"Sure... have you spoken to Fiona lately?"
Annie blanched at the question.
"No. Oh gotta go. Concert time."
"Oh. Bye Annie. Love you."
"Right back at you."
Annie clicked 'end' on her cellphone.

The truth was that the concert hadn't started yet, she had just said that, so she could get off the phone and avoid the conversation she knew Molly was going to bring up. It was always the same old conversation and it always ended with Annie regretting her decision, regretting that she never said goodbye to her best friend in the whole wide world. She had been the first one to leave the group, she had got her record deal, and that meant that she would get to record her own album, she had been so excited but then the thought of having to say goodbye to Fi came into her mind and she freaked out. She didn't know how to say goodbye to Fi, so she just left, thinking that it was better this way, but she knew, even back then, that was the most horrible thing she could do.

*Start of flashback*

Annie gathered all her stuff, she tip-toed past a sleeping Fi and walked off the bus, she looked at the bus one more time before she hailed for a taxi, she had already said goodbye to Molly and the gang, but she just couldn't say goodbye to Fi, it was just too hard, too hard.
"Goodbye Fiona"
Annie got into the taxi.
"Where are you heading miss?"
"The airport. The airport."
The second time she repeated the sentence, was just confirming where she was going. She stared out the taxi cab window as the MP 2001 Tour Bus, left her sight.
"Sorry Fi"
Annie muttered underneath her breath.

*End of flashback*

Annie sighed and got up and headed towards the concert stage, without even changing into the fancier outfit, oh who cared anymore?

:::Berkeley, California:::

Fiona fluttered her eyes open when she heard the phone ringing, she pushed herself up and sufficed out a yawn as she reached for the phone.
"Hello?"
"Fiona?"
Fiona made a face when she realized the voice belonged to Irene.
"Irene? What is it?"
Fiona pushed her hair back.
"It's your mom. She's sick"