Out With the Old, In With the New

by snarkycole

A blast from the past, well, sort of.

Rating: PG-13 due to mild cussing.

Disclaimer: Don't own Once & Again, that belongs to ABC and other people. All I own is Roxie, her family, and this plot.

Author's Notes: This is my first O&A story, and probably going to be my only O&A story. This is just a story that popped into my head one day. I hope you enjoy it. Please review if you find the time, I enjoy feedback.

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It was 3:26 in the afternoon on a Tuesday when Eli Sammler walked into the Sammler-Manning household's kitchen to pour himself a glass of orange juice when he heard the doorbell ring. Since he was the only one home, he made his way to the front door to open it. When the opened, a half-Asian girl who was maybe Eli's step-sister Grace's age, or a little order, was revealed on the doorstep.

"Hi," smiled the girl. "Does Grace Manning live here?"

"Yeah," replied Eli. "But she's not back from school yet."

"Oh," said the girl, looking disappointed. "Alright, I guess I'll come back later."

The girl turned around and was about to go down the walkway when Eli's voice stopped her.

"I'm sure she'll be back soon. You could just wait inside for her."

The girl turned around to face Eli again and gazed at him, as if to figure out his character just by how he looks.

"Okay," said the girl with slight apprehension. Sure Eli seemed harmless to the girl, but she didn't know him.

"Come in," gestured Eli. "I'm Grace's step-brother Eli by the way."

"Oh, so you're the hot musician," said the girl as she walked past him, causing Eli's eyes to widen in shock. "I'm Roxie Rosenbaum," said the girl as she turned around to face him and stuck her hand for him to shake.

"Grace told you I was a hot musician?" asked Eli in disbelief as he shook her hand.

"No, someone else did," replied Roxie simply.

"Oh, so how do you know Grace?"

"Actually, I don't really know her. I know of herand you."

This statement caused Eli to go into further shock.

"Explain"

"Well, see, I just moved here from Portland, Oregon," started Roxie. The mention of the city caused a rush of memories of a certain girl who he had tried so hard to forget. "And in Portland, Oregon I was acquaintances with a girl who used to live here."

"Carla," Eli finished for her.

"Precisely."

"So why are you here?"

"Here in Chicago, or here at your house?"

"Both."

"Well, my dad is a lawyer and a old college friend who was starting a new law firm here invited my dad to be a partner, so I had to move with him. I am here at your house because somehow I managed to become Carla's little messenger...why she couldn't have just sent the thing I have no clue. Anyway, I met Carla a few months ago when she started to date my older brother, which was a few months after she arrived in Portland."

"Did she ever go to Europe?" asked Eli, ignoring the fact that he learned that this girl was his ex's new boyfriend's sister.

"She tried, but never got enough money. She said by next summer she'll have enough to go backpacking though."

"Oh," replied Eli. "So, what did Carla make you deliver to Grace?"

"Well, it's for Grace and you. It's a video."

"Oh," said Eli again.

"You know what, why don't I just leave this with you and you can give it to Grace."

"Are you sure because I'm sure she'll be home any minute now," said Eli.

"No, it's alright," said Roxie. "Here."

She handed Eli the tape, and started to walk to the front door, when as if on cue, Zoe yelled, "We're home!" from the back door; we being Zoe, Grace, Jessie, and Lily.

Roxie continued her way to the door when she heard a voice from behind her.

"You don't have to leave on our account," Grace said to Roxie.

Roxie turned around and saw four of Eli's family members in front of her.

"She wasn't. She was just dropping something off from Carla," said Eli, putting emphasis on the name Carla.

"Wait. Carla, the girl who ditched you at the bus station who was my friend, Carla?" asked Grace in shock.

"That'd be the one."

Grace's eyes narrowed at Roxie.

"How do you know her?" Grace asked Roxie.

"Gracie," Lily said to her daughter sternly, then turned her attention to this new girl. "Hello, I'm Lily Sammler, Eli's step-mother."

Lily walked closer to Roxie and extended her hand, which Roxie took and shook.

"Hello, I'm Roxie. I just moved here from Portland."

"Nice to meet you," Lily smiled warmly. "This lovely, big-mouthed young lady is my daughter, Grace, this little one here is my other daughter Zoe, and this is Eli's sister Jessie."

"Nice to meet all you."

Roxie flipped open her messenger bag then took out a small notebook and a pen. She wrote down something on the paper then handed it to Eli.

"This is my cell phone number," she informed him. "Call me if you have any questions about the tape or whatever."

"Okay" as he tucked the piece of paper into his jeans pocket.

"Well, I better get going."

"Alright, thanks for bringing the tape."

"It was no trouble," smiled Roxie. "Oh Grace, do you still go to Sinclair High School?"

"Yeah, why?"

"No reason. Just don't be surprised if you see me tomorrowAnyway, bye."
"Bye," replied Eli, in a dazed tone.

Grace, Lily, Zoe, and Jessie all managed to say some kind of goodbye.

With that, Roxie turned and walked out of the Sammler-Manning house, leaving an astounded Eli and Grace and a curious Lily, Zoe, and Jessie. Eli and Grace's gazes switched from the front door to each other. Lily understood that they wanted to see the tape ASAP.

"Hey, Zoe, Jessie. Do you two want to go get ice cream or something?"

"Sounds great," said Jessie, wanting to get out of this awkward situation.

"No, I want to see the tape," said Zoe.

"Zoe" started Lily.

"Fine," sighed Zoe.

With that, Lily, Jessie, and Zoe walked back to the garage to drive somewhere, while Grace sat down on the couch and Eli went to the TV. He turned the TV on, popped the tape into the VCR, pushed play, and then sat down on the couch next to Grace. Within seconds Carla's face popped into the screen.

"Hi Grace and Eli. Were you surprised?" Carla asked into the camera. "Of course you were. I haven't written anything to you, Grace, since forever and even spoken to you Eli since the time I convinced you come to Portland with me."

Carla took a breath.

"Now, I know you're probably wondering why now, after all this time, I finally decided to send you something. Well, I never really planned to, but see since Roxie, whom I'm sure you just met, told me a couple weeks ago that she was moving to Chicago. I told her that I used to live there and then she asked me what it was like. That was when my life story came out and my whole situation with you two. Being the wonderful and nice person Roxie is, she listened and then asked me a simple a question; was I sorry? Am I sorry?"

Carla took another pause and looked like she was shortly pondering the question.

"Yeah, I am sorry. I know that Grace probably didn't show you my letter, but you probably eventually came across it. I lied. I did you miss you, but being the bitch I was, I wrote that I didn't miss you. I kept telling myself I wrote it because I was sure that Grace liked Eli, so she wouldn't feel bad if she made a play for you."

Eli glanced at Grace and saw her face turned red.

"But I really wrote that hoping that Eli would feel bad. I don't know why, I just did.

"So, anyway, Roxie's piece of advice was that should I send you two a letter or something, as a little explanation to you two because she knew that you two were probably effected by me leaving. Instead of a letter, I decided to make a tape because it would be easier for me to lie when I'm writing than when I'm speaking to this camera. I'm going to ask Roxie to bring it to you because if I don't, I probably won't send it.

"I have changed. And I'm not just saying that. After I met Dustin, that's Roxie's brother, and then later Roxie, they really turned my life around and made me a better person. Look, I know I have no right to ask you two for favors, especially over a stupid video tape, but I would really appreciate you doing this for me. Could you possibly make sure that Roxie gets used to Chicago? She's really worried about the fact that she doesn't know anyone in Chicago and she thinks she's not going to make any friends. She's a really great person, a lot better than I'll ever be, and a really great listener. She deserves good friends, people like you guys."

Carla took a last pause before speaking again.

"Well, I guess that's all. I am truly sorry for whatever pain I might have caused you two. If you want to contact me for whatever reason, ask Roxie, she knows where to reach me. Bye."

Eli and Grace watched Carla stand up from the seat she was sitting in and walk up to the camera. The screen turned black again signaling the end of the tape. Eli stood up, ejected the tape from the VCR, and then turned of the TV. He looked at Grace who looked back up at him.

"Well, that was" said Grace, pondering for a word.

"Interesting?" finished Eli.

"To say the least."

"Do you think she meant it?"

"You mean, do I think she was really sorry?"

"Yeah."
"I believe her. Do you?"
"Yeah, she seemed like she was telling the truth," shrugged Eli.

"Did seeing Carla on tape" started Grace, but she stopped herself from asking the question that was on her mind and shook her head. "Never-mind."

Grace adverted her eyes away from Eli.

"Bring back my feelings for her?" Eli finished for her again, causing Grace to look back at him.

"Yeah."

"No. It just gave me more closure."

"Oh," replied Grace, successfully hiding a feeling of relief and gladness.

"So, what should we do with the tape?" asked Eli, slightly changing the subject.

"I don't care, throw it away for all I care," shrugged Grace, acting as if she didn't care.

"Good idea."

Eli took the tape in his hand, went to the backdoor and walked into the garage. He broke the tape in half, and then discarded the broken tape into the garbage can in the garage before walking back into the living room to join Grace again.

"So, are you going to call her?" Grace asked Eli.

"Who?"

"Roxie."

"I dunno, maybe. She seemed nice."

"I guess."

"Are you?"

"No. I'll just talk to her if I see her at school."

"Oh."

"Well, I've got homework to do," said Grace, using it as an excuse so she can go think by herself.

"Yeah, alright," replied Eli.

With that, Grace walked went to the kitchen to grab her backpack, then hustled upstairs to her room, leaving Eli by his lonesome. He took the piece of paper out of his pocket and glanced at it. Roxie had written her name neatly with a star as the dot on her i. He read the number, and decided to call it.

'Why not?' Eli thought to himself. 'They say it's easier to tell your troubles to a total stranger and I need someone to talk to. And she does know a little about the whole situation.'

He walked into the kitchen and grabbed the cordless. He sat down on one of the kitchen chairs then dialed the number in his hand. After a couple of rings, Roxie finally answered.

"Talk to me," Eli heard Roxie say.

"Roxie?"

"Who's this?" asked Roxie, not recognizing the voice.

"This is Eli Sammler."
"Ah yes, the hot musician. What's up?"

"Nothing much. I just wanted to know if you wanted to go out for coffee or something and maybe talk."

"Sure," replied Roxie, without a moment's hesitation. "Do you want me to swing back to your house and you can show me how to get to a coffee shop?"

"Sure, that'd be great."

"Okay, then I'll be there in a few."

"Alright, bye."

"Bye."

Eli hung up the phone, then started to regret calling Roxie. He went to the bathroom to brush his teeth and make sure he looked presentable, then went back downstairs. As he hit the last stair, he heard the back door open and the voices of Lily, Jessie, and Zoe talking.

Eli poked his head into the kitchen.

"Hey Lily, I'm going out for coffee, okay?"

"Okay. Do you want a ride?"
"No, someone's picking me up."

"Who?" asked Jessie, being nosy.

"Just someone," replied Eli. "Well, I'm going to wait out front for them."

"Alright, have fun," said Lily.

"Thanks."

With that, Eli turned and walked out of the kitchen's doorway and out the front door. He sat down on the front steps and waited for Roxie. Five minutes later a convertible Volkswagen Bug pulled in front of the Sammler-Manning house and inside the car was Roxie.

Eli stood up and hustled toward the car.

"Hey, thanks for coming," said Eli as he opened the passenger side door and got in.

"My pleasure," replied Roxie.

Unbeknownst to Eli, Jessie and Zoe had been watching from the window.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Jessie and Zoe heard from behind them.

Jessie and Zoe turn around to face a curious Grace.

"We were just seeing who Eli was going out with," replied Zoe.

"Eli went out with someone?" asked Grace, trying to sound nonchalantly.

"Does that upset you?" asked Jessie staring Grace down.

"No," replied Grace somewhat unconvincingly, and a little to too fast. "Who was it?"
"That girl who was here earlier," Zoe informed her sister.

"Roxie?"
"Yep."

"Oh," said Grace, trying not to sound disappointed.

Back in the car:
"Nice car," commented Eli.

"Thanks. I got it for my 18th birthday a couple months ago."

"Oh, so you're a senior?"
"Yep."

"You had to move out during your senior year? That must suck."

"Yeah. But I'm fine with it."

"Wait, if your 18, couldn't you have technically stayed in Portland on your own since you are an adult?"

"Yeah, but I had to come for my little brother's sake."

"Okay" said Eli, getting the impression this was a subject he shouldn't touch yet.

There was a pause in conversation.

"So, where're we going?" Roxie asked Eli.

"Is Starbucks fine with you?"

"Sure. How do I get there?"

"Drive down this street 10 more blocks, take a right, then drive for 7 more blocks, take a left, and then drive one block, then we're there."

"Okay."

Roxie followed Eli's directions and maneuvered her car down the streets until she pulled into a parking spot that luckily had been near by Starbucks. Roxie and Eli got out of the car, then walked into the coffee shop. After ordering and receiving their drinks, they sat down at an empty table that was against the windows.

"So" started Roxie after she took a sip of Carmel Frappachino. "Why did you decide to call me?"
"Well, I kinda needed to talk to someone," admitted Eli.

"Well, I am a great listener."

"That's what I've been told."

"So, do you want to stay here and talk, or do you wanna go somewhere quieter?"

"Somewhere quieter would be great."

"We can go to my house, if you want."

"Sure."

Eli and Roxie grabbed their drinks and walked out of Starbucks to Roxie's car. After they settled into their seats, Roxie started her car and drove to her new home. After a ten-minute drive, the car pulled up into a driveway. Eli noticed that the house was located in one of the wealthy people's neighborhoods and that Roxie's house was big, but a lot smaller than the other mansion-esque houses in the neighborhood. They got of out the car and walked up the small stretch of walkway that led to Roxie's front door.

Roxie put her house key into the door and unlocked it. She pushed the door open and stepped through the doorway.

"We just moved in here a few days ago so almost everything is cluttered," she warned Eli as he walked past her and into the foyer.

"That's all right, you should see my room," joked Eli as Roxie closed the front door.

Roxie grinned at Eli, and then walked past him.

"So, do you want a tour of the place before we talk, or just get down to business?" asked Roxie.

"A tour would be nice," said Eli.

"Alright then. Let's start with the upstairs," suggested Roxie.

"Lead the way."

Roxie turned and walked to the nearby stairway followed by Eli.

"So, how many rooms does this place have?" asked Eli as they walked up the steps.

"Umm I believe 16, 13 if you don't count the attic or the bathrooms," Roxie said over her shoulder.

"Must be awesome to live in such a big house," commented Eli.

"Yeah, if there were more than three people living in it," replied Roxie dryly.

They had reached the top step and came to a stop. Eli looked at Roxie quizzically.

"Wait, so who lives here with you?"

"My little brother Cole, and my dad."

"Does your brother Dustin live with your mom in Portland?"
Eli noticed Roxie's eyes sadden.

"My mom died 4 years ago," Roxie said softly.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well"sighed Roxie.

There was a slight uncomfortable silence before Eli filled the void.

"My mom almost died a couple of weeks ago," murmured Eli, but immediately smacked himself in his mind. Why am I telling her this? I don't even know her.

"I'm sorry. Is she still in the hospital?"

"Yeah."

"How is she doing?"
"Well, she has trouble using her legs, but my sister Jesse says she's doing a lot better."

Roxie frowned slightly. She noticed he didn't just say his mom is doing a lot better, he said that his sister said it. Eli noticed the frown.

"What?" asked Eli, half-defensively.

"NothingIt just it sounds like you haven't visited her."

"Well I have," said Eli, sounded fully defensively.

"All right if you say so."

There's another awkward silence, which Eli decides to end, after realizing he was kind of rude.

"Sorry, didn't mean to come off as a jackass right then."

"It's alright, I totally understand. I wasn't exactly the friendliest person to be around when my mom got sick" She paused before planting a smile on her face. "Why don't we continue the tour?" suggested Roxie.

"Sure."

"Left or right?"

"Right."

"Okay, follow me."

Roxie turned to the right and within a couple seconds reached the first door. She pushed the door open and Eli peered through the doorway. The room was painted yellow, had furniture cluttered on one side of the room, and on the floor was a mattress covered by sheets and blankets.

"This is my temporary room until I finish painting my real room," explained Roxie.

Roxie closed the door and moved onto the next one that was located across the hall. When she opened the door it revealed a deep, forest green room and had furniture and decorations on the wall that seemed to belong to a teenage guy.

"This is Dustin's imported room from Portland. It basically looks exactly like his room was before he left it, except the walls are a darker green."

After Eli had a good look, she closed the door, and then moved to the last room on that side of the hall.

"Now to my favorite room. Mine," grinned Roxie.

She opened the door and stepped through it. Eli followed her into the room. The room was basically empty. All that was in it was a ladder, paint cans, and other painting supplies. There were windows on one wall. On the wall with no doors was the painting of a sunset and a large half sun.

"Did you paint that yourself?" Eli asked Roxie.

"Yep."

"It looks really great."

"Thanks."

Eli looked at the other walls and noticed that the room's color was split into two background colors. While on one half with the sunset was a light blue, the other half of the room was painted a dark, deep blue. In one of the corners where two walls met the ceiling was a full, giant silver moon with a couple of distinctive craters. The trim and doors were painted silver on the moon side and gold on the sunset side.

"You're room looks done to me," commented Eli.

"Yeah, almost. I just have a couple of final touches to make. It'll probably be done by tomorrow night."

"What else do you have to do?" asked a curious Eli.

"Well, I'm going to replace the regular light-bulbs on the ceiling with blacklight light bulbs, and then paint stars on the night side with blacklight paint."

"That's sounds really cool."

"I'm hoping it will look as cool as I hope. I'm also going to go over the sunset with a few blacklight paint colors too."

"Awesome."

"Yeah"

There was a short silence before Roxie continued talking.

"The main reason I wanted this room was because it has it's own bathroom and a nice walk in closet."

"It must be nice to have your own private bathroom."

"It is," replied Roxie with a grin on her face. She walked towards the door that they had walked in to get inside the room and walked back down the hall towards the stairs. They continued past the stairs to the other half of the hallway. Soon, they came across the first door that was had two signs on it. One was white with red writing that said, "KEEP OUT!" in bold letters. The other was yellow with black writing that said "Biohazard."

She turned the knob and pushed open the door. Eli peered into it.

"This is Cole's room. I helped him paint some of it, but he wanted to most of it himself."

Eli glanced at the walls and ceiling which looked a giant chessboard.

"He's obsessed with chess," explained Roxie.

"I figured that much."

Roxie closed the door, and they walked down the hall a couple feet.

"Through that door is the bathroom my dad and Cole share. And through that door is my dad's room," pointed out Roxie. "And I'm pretty sure it's a disaster, so why don't we skip that part of the tour."

"Alright."

"So, moving on"
Roxie and Eli walked back down the hall towards the stairs. In front of the staircase on the top floor was a door that Eli hadn't been paying attention to and Roxie pointed out.

"Through that door is the attic. It just has a bunch of crap in it, so there's nothing very interesting about it," Roxie informed him.

"Okay."

They turned to face the staircase and descended the stairs. Soon the reached the first floor again. Roxie moved out of the foyer to the closest room and continued the tour. She explained each room as she walked into it.

"This will be the living room This is the dining room, which will probably rarely get used. This, obviously is the kitchen Through that door is the bathroom. And the final room on this floor is the study/library."

In the study, Eli looked around. The room was probably the same size as his room, maybe even a little bigger. Two of the walls were made up of bookshelves that went from the floor to the ceiling, although they weren't totally filled up with books. In the study there was also a desk where a G-4 (a Macintosh computer) was placed on top.

"Ready to move on?"

"Sure."

Eli followed Roxie out of the Study and back into the dining room. There was a door in the dining room, which the stairs to the basement were located. Roxie turned the lights on, and then she and Eli walked down the stairs. The basement was dark, and Roxie felt around the wall for a light switch. She soon found it, and the bright light filled the room, revealing its contents. Most of the basement consisted of one large room, however, Eli saw two doors that he figured led to more rooms and two connected doors that probably led to outside.

The room had a comfy leather couch that was in front of a big screen TV. On a small shelf next to the TV were a DVD player, a VCR, and a couple of video game systems. In the center of the room was a pool table.

"You guys have your own pool table? That's so cool."
"Yeah. Dustin somehow managed to convince my dad to buy it for his 13th birthday. Good thing there were large stellar doors that led into here from outside, otherwise it would have been a bitch to get down here."

"So let me guess, this is like the entertainment room or something?"

"Yep."

In the corner of the room, Eli noticed a small amplifier and a guitar on a stand. Eli moved closer to the guitar to examine it.

"Awesome guitar. Whose is it?" asked Eli, holding up the Fender Strait.

"That'd be mine. I got that for my Christmas present last year."

"You know how to play anything yet?"

"I've been trying to teach myself how to play. I only know how to play three chords."

"I teach you how to play if you want," offered Eli.

"That'd be great," smiled Roxie.

Eli placed the guitar back on the stand and moved onto the stereo system that was against the wall on another shelf. On the shelf were a few CD's too. Eli browsed through them.

"Are these all the CDs you guys have?" asked Eli.

"No, mine are in boxes in my temporary room upstairs. Those are a few of my dad's."

"Ah, that explains a lot" There was a short pause. "So, what are through those doors?"

"Well, through that door is the laundry room," pointed Roxie to one door that was on one side of the basement. "And through that door is a work in progress."

"Work in progress?" repeated Eli.

"Yeah. One of the deals my dad made with me before we moved out here was that if there was room in the basement, I could get a darkroom."

"Your dad is building you a darkroom?"

"Well, my dad isn't building it, but he is funding it."

"That's cool."

"YeahSo, ready for the tour of the outside?"

"Sure."

Roxie walked towards the cellar doors and pushed them open. They walked up the small set of stairs and stepped outside. Once they got outside, Eli noticed that the backyard was pretty large, but also a little bare. The only thing that was in the backyard had was a large trampoline.

"What, no pool?" joked Eli.

"Nope, just the tramp. Since the yard is so large, Cole is trying to convince my dad to get a puppy. But what I think would be cool is if we make a small section for the puppy, leave some space for the trampoline, and then with some of the rest, we use pavement to make a half-court basketball court. But that's not likely to happen, so I'll have to settle for a hoop on the garage."

"You play basketball?"

"Yep. Helped my school's Varsity team become city-champs in Portland for 2 straight years. You play?"

"I did in high school, but I haven't really played in while."

"Well, maybe after my dad puts up the hoop we can play a little one-on-one."

"I dunno, you sure you're up for it? I was pretty good in high school," smirked Eli.

"Oh, I'm sure I can hold my own," grinned Roxie. She paused before she decided to move onto the reason why they came to the house in the first place. "So, do you want to sit on the trampoline and talk?"

"Sure," replied Eli.

They walked a couple of feet to the trampoline, and Roxie slipped her shoes off and climbed onto the tramp. Eli followed in example, and sat on the tramp in front of Roxie.

"So" started Roxie. "Ready to tell me what's up?"

"I guess"

When Eli, didn't say anything for what seemed like an eternity, Roxie decided to take the initiative.

"This has something to do with Carla and the tape right?" she asked him.

"Yeah," admitted Eli.

"Look, I've only known Carla for a few months. And from what I've learned, she has a lot of issues."

"That's an understatement," scoffed Eli.

Roxie frowned, but didn't say anything at his comment, since it was kind of true, and instead took a sip of her Frappachino she had been holding. Roxie decided to it would be best to wait for Eli continue rather than pushing him into it. Sure enough, in a matter of minutes Eli started to talk again.

"It was just weird, you know, seeing her again."

"I can only imagineDo you still have feelings for her?" asked Roxie, hoping not have touched a sensitive subject.

"No," said Eli without a moment's hesitation. "Well, I'm pretty sure I don't. I mean, for the past 9 months I've been doing everything I can to forget her."

"Like what?"

"Well, I have been consuming unhealthy substances," admitted Eli, in coded words.

"Uh-huh," replied Roxie, knowing what these "unhealthy substances" were. "Did it help make your troubles disappear?"

"No. Actually, it made things worse."

"Do you still do it?"
"You mean the consuming of substances?"

"Yeah."
"Sometimes," replied Eli.

"If it made things worse, then why still do it?"

"I don't know," shrugged Eli. "And I know I should stop, but it's just"

Eli sighed heavily.

"Are your parent's aware of your'situation?'"

"They suspect. They're more sick of the fact that I don't have a job."

"What about school? Do you go to college?"
"No, I only applied for one school, and was turned down."
"Oh"

"I did have a job, but I was fired awhile ago."
"I'm sure you're parents weren't thrilled at that."

"Not at all. My mom even threw me out a before the accident because I lied to her about it. And I was so mad at her for it. I mean, how could she just throw me out like that?" said Eli, trying hard to not start crying.

"Are you still mad at her?"
"No. After your mom almost dies from getting hit by a car going thirty miles per hour, you kind of get over it," Eli said bitterly.

Roxie doesn't say anything and instead looks into her lap. Eli realizes what he did again.

"Sorry, I just came off as a jackass again, didn't I?" asked Eli.

"No, it's fine," said Roxie, still looking in her lap.

"No, it's not," sighed Eli, falling back to lie on the trampoline, causing it to slightly bounce up and down.

Roxie looked down at Eli who had his eyes closed.

"Look Eli, everything you're feeling right now, all this crap that's weighing you down, I've felt it before. I'm sure this Carla thing came back at a really bad time and definitely isn't helping, but just know that eventually this feeling will dissipate."

"I wish I could believe that," said Eli.

Eli sighed heavily again.

"Do you know what you need?" asked Roxie, wanting to lighten the mood.

Eli opened his and looked over at Roxie.

"What?"

"An ice cream sundae."

"Really?" laughed Eli.

"Yeah, come on."

Roxie rushed up and got off the trampoline. She waited for Eli who was slowly getting up and finally getting off the trampoline himself as she slipped on her sneakers.

"Come on, hurry up," she said impatiently as Eli slowly put on his shoes.

"Jeez, someone's in a rush for her ice cream fix," teased Eli.

"Hey, it's been a couple days since I ate some, so back off."
"Fine," said Eli, putting his hands up in surrender.

"Let's go," said Roxie, grabbing Eli's arms, pulling him up the back patio steps and then through the back door that led to the kitchen. "Now, you sit at the counter, and I will get the supplies."
Roxie went to the cabinets and took out two small bowls, took two spoons and an ice cream scooper from one of the drawers, and then placed them in front of Eli. She then went to large fridge and grabbed ice cream from the freezer and things to put on top of it from in the fridge. She placed those items in front of Eli before slipping into the small pantry that was attached to the kitchen. After a couple of seconds she reappeared in the kitchen with a couple containers in her hand and then sat next to Eli at the counter.

"I can't believe you have all the things for an ice cream sundae," laughed an amused Eli.

"Well, I get to do the grocery shopping, so of course there's going to be junk food," grinned Roxie.

Eli looked over everything in front of him, which was basically anything you could possibly consider to put on a sundae.

"You have chocolate, hot fudge, and strawberry sauce for toppings?"

"Well, there's butterscotch and caramel in the fridge if you'd prefer that."

"No, hot fudge is fine."

"Well, we better get started before the ice cream melts."

"Yeah, I guess your right."

With that, Eli and Roxie scooped the ice cream out of the container and into their bowls. After putting a few toppings on it, they were both done with their creations, or so Eli thought as he was about to take a bite out of his ice cream.

"Wait, wait, wait," said Roxie.

"What?" asked Eli, pretending to be annoyed.

"We forgot the cherries, hold on."

Roxie jumped out off her seat and walked to the fridge as Eli watched in amusement. She grabbed another container and opened it up. She grabbed one of the imitation cherries and placed it on top of Eli's sundae, then grabbed another one and put it on her own.

"Okay, now you can dig in."

As Eli placed a spoon full of ice cream in his mouth, Roxie grabbed the cherry and bit it off the stem.

"What was the point of putting the cherry on the sundae if you're just going to eat it first?"

"Because it's wouldn't have been a sundae without it."

"Right," said Eli, slightly laughing.

"Are you laughing at me?" asked Roxie, pretending to be mad.

"No," grinned Eli.

"Yes you are. Well then, I'm going have to do something about that," said Roxie, grabbing the can of whip cream and spraying it on the top of his nose, leaving Eli in shock.

"You did not just do that."

"Yes, I did," grinned Roxie.

"Well, you're so going to pay," said Eli reaching over to grab the can out of her hand, causing Roxie to jump out her seat and running to other side of the counter.

Eli got up from his seat and ran around the counter to chase Roxie. After a couple of rounds around the counter, Eli eventually cornered her at one corner of the kitchen. Roxie placed the can of whip cream behind her back and Eli reached around to grab it, causing the space between them to get smaller.

"You're not getting this can."

"Yes I am."

Eli started to tickle at Roxie side, not aware she was totally ticklish, causing her to squirm, fall to the ground, and lose the can of whip cream.

"Ticklish are we?" teased Eli as he grabbed the can of whip cream of the ground.

"No. What makes you say that?" asked Roxie innocently.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe this?" said Eli as he bent down and tickled her side again.

"Okay, okay, I admit it, I'm totally ticklish. Please stop before I pee my pants."

"Alright."

Eli started to back off, but not before spraying some whip cream on her nose.

"Hey!"

"Now we're even."

Roxie sat up and brushed the whip cream off her noise, as did Eli.

"Come on, let's eat our ice cream before it melts," suggested Roxie.

"Good idea."

They got off the ground and sat back on their chairs to finish eating their ice cream.

"So, you went to Sinclair High, what should expect when I arrive tomorrow?" Roxie asked Eli as they ate.

"I'm pretty sure it's just like you average high school. You know, boring teachers, annoying classmates."

"You're probably right. How about new kid pranks, any of those?"

"Not really. We just tend to ignore them for the first week."

"Really? Wonderful," said Roxie sarcastically.

"I'm kidding. There are a few people who treat the new kids horribly, but all in all, it's not that much of a hostile environment."

"That's good to know. I've never been in this situation before."

"What situation?"

"Being 'the new girl.' I've always lived in the same house and went to school with basically the same people up into a few weeks ago."

"Well, I wish I could give you some advice, but I've never been the new guy either."

Instead of saying anything in response, Roxie turned her attention to her melting ice cream.

"Enjoying your sundae?" Eli asked her in amusement.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Are you enjoying yours?"

"Yeah, I am."

They continued to eat when they heard a voice from the front door.

"I'm home!" rang a male voice.

"It's my brother," Roxie informed Eli. "Kitchen!" she yelled to her brother.

Within seconds, a boy around 14 who didn't look like a stereotypical "chess geek" to Eli flew through the kitchen door. He had a backwards red baseball cap, a skateboard under his arm, wore converse sneakers, and had a piercing in his eyebrow.

"Man, I'm starved, what's for dinner?" the boy asked.

"My day was fine, thanks for asking," Roxie said sarcastically.

"Geez. Fine," sighed the boy. Then he planted a fake smile on his face and asked in a chipper voice, "Hi Roxie. How was your day?"

"Where have you been Cole?"

"Out. Like it's any of your business. What are you, my mom?" asked Cole.

Roxie glared at her brother, and Eli shifted in his seat uncomfortably. Cole suddenly realized Eli's presence and gave him the look over.

"Who's this, your new boyfriend?" asked Cole.

"No. Cole this is my friend, Eli. Eli, this is my obnoxious little brother, Cole."

"Hey," nodded Eli.

"Hey," returned Cole. Cole then turned his attention back to his sister. "Anyway, if you must know, I was kicking it at my new friend Brian's house."
"Cole, you have a cell phone. Next time, use it,"

"Hey, if you really wanted to know where I was, you could have called me," insisted Cole.

"Yeah, yeah, I was busy," replied Roxie. "Do you have homework?"

"Yeah, unfortunately. Apparently, new kids don't get any special "no homework" privileges."

"Then go do it."

"You're not the bo-"

"Go!" Roxie cut him off. "Don't worry brainiac, I'm sure it will be done within minutes. When you're done you can make your own sundae, well after dinner."
"I'm not five. I don't need a treat after doing something."

"Fine, if you don't want a sundae, you don't need to have one."

"I never said I didn't want one," quipped Cole.

"Well, the sooner you finish your homework, the sooner you get the sundae."

"Fine," sighed Cole.

"Good boy," grinned Roxie.

"Nice meeting you, Cole," said Eli.

"Yeah, whatever," said Cole.

"Come on, the homework won't do itself," said Roxie.

Cole scowled, turned around, and then started to walk out of the kitchen.

"Slave-driver," he muttered as he got to the kitchen door.

"I heard that!" Roxie yelled after her brother.

She turned to find Eli holding laughter in.

"What do you think is so funny?" she asked Eli.

"Nothing," replied Eli. "Just you and your brother's interaction."

"Yeah, I suppose your right."

Eli glanced over at the microwave and saw that it was 6 o'clock, which meant it was almost dinner-time at the Sammler-Manning household. If he wasn't home soon, his dad would probably have a cow.

"I didn't realize how long we've been hanging out," Eli said to Roxie.

She glanced down at her watched.

"Oh, you're right."

"I should probably get back home for dinner."

"Alright. Let me just tell Cole where I'm going, then I can give you a ride home."

"Okay."

Roxie left the room and headed for the stairs. She got to Cole's room to find the door closed. She knocked twice on the door before turning the knob and opening the door.

"Hey Cole," she started to say to her brother who was at his desk doing homework as he was told.

"Jeez, can't you read? The sign on the door clearly says, 'keep out.' " snapped Cole, a little annoyed.

"Sorry. I just came to tell I was giving Eli a ride home and I was going to pick up dinner on the way back."

"What your new boyfriend doesn't have a car of his own?"

"Cole, he's not my boyfriend," Roxie said, annoyed with her brother.

"Alright, but you two did look pretty chummy in there."

"Whatever. Anyway, do you want me to bring you something back, or do you want to come with and we can eat out somewhere."

"What about Dad?"

"We can call him on our way there."

"I guess we could go somewhere. Where were you thinking?"

"I don't know, but we have to leave now."

"Alright, I'll be down in a sec."

"Okay, we'll be in the car."

Roxie turned around and walked back out her brother's room to the stairs. When she got downstairs and went back to the kitchen, she found Eli putting the ice cream bowls into the and found that the items they used for them were no longer cluttering the counter space.

"You didn't have to do that," Roxie told Eli.

"I know, but I thought it was the least I could do, since you did supply the materials for our sundaes."

"Well, thanks."

"No problem," smiled Eli.

"So, my brother will be down in little while; after we drop you off I'm taking him to get his dinner."

"Okay."

"Why don't we wait in the car for him."

"Sure."

Roxie and Eli walked out of the house and got back into her car that was in the driveway. Roxie started the car, and they waited for Cole's arrival. A few minutes later, the front door opened and Cole stepped out of the house. He turned and locked the door before coming towards the car. Roxie opened her door and got out of the car so her brother could climb into the back. After Cole slid into the back, she pushed her seat back and sat back into the seat, closing the door after her. She pulled the emergency breaking, took the car out of park, and then drove out of the driveway, heading for Eli's house.

After a fifteen-minute drive, the trio found themselves infront of the Sammler-Manning household. Eli got out of the car and faced Roxie.

"I had a nice afternoon," said Eli.

"Me too," smiled Roxie.

"Thanks again for the ice cream and for listening to me vent."

"Any time."

"Maybe I'll call you soon and we can get together again," he suggested.

"I'd like that. Well, see you later."

"See ya."

While Eli turned and strolled up the stretch of walkway to the front door, Cole got out of the car to sit in shotgun. Eli turned and did a slight wave to Roxie who waved back. As she took her car out of park and started to drive away, she heard Cole say mockingly, "Louis, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship."

Roxie rolled her eyes.

"Shut up," she said pretending to be mad, but couldn't help but grin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TBC, probably.

Sorry to end it there, seemingly unfinished, but that's where I got stuck. So, what did ya think? Good? Bad? So horrible I should not continue this story or ever attempt to write another O&A fanfic again? Come on people, let me know where I should take this or rather if I should continue this at all.