A/N : Here's chapter 7...

Chapter 7 - The Tears and The Final Attempt

"Jenny..." Ray stepped toward her but she couldn't bear to be near him right now. She moved back into the next room where Nicole spotted her.

"Jen?" Nicole tried to speak to her friend, but Jenny didn't stop. She ran straight past her blonde friend, tears streaming down her face. She ran into the bathroom and locked the door.

Nicole put her head around the door to the kitchen.

"Ray, what happened?" she asked but he didn't answer her. He slid his back down the refrigerator and landed on the floor with his head in his hands.

"Nicole, what's going on?" Chase asked as he appeared behind his girlfriend.

"I don't know Chase" she said, a little angry that her friend was upset and that Ray seemed to be the cause "Ask him!" she told Chase as she went to talk to Jenny.

"Ray? What's going on?" Chase asked his friend, walking over to him.

"One word, man - " Ray sighed, "Alicia"

"She didn't? You didn't?" Chase couldn't believe this had happened to his friend.

"She did, and I did" the guy on the floor admitted and Chase moved to sit beside him.

"I would say you were an idiot, but you're not the first"

"I am an idiot" Ray laughed humourlessly.

"Well, yeah" Chase conceded "but so was I once"

"That doesn't help me though. I had a real shot with Jenny and I blew it" his friend groaned.

"Hey, I thought I'd blown it with Nicole, but it all worked out" Chase put a reassuring hand on his friends shoulder.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean it's going to work out for me" Ray said, pessimistically.

"Well, you'll never know unless you try" Chase wasn't really that good at the whole relationship advice thing but he was giving it his best shot.

"You think she'll listen if I go talk to her?" 'Er, no!' Chase thought to himself.

"Not yet, let Nicole talk to her first. When girls start crying and are mad at you, it's best to let another girl deal with it first" he told him, trying to sound like he knew what he was talking about.

"And in the meantime, what do I do?" Ray wanted to know.

"For once in your life Ray, be a man" Chase encouraged his friend, "and get drunk!" he laughed. Ray managed a small smile too picking up the nearest alcoholic drink and swallowing as much as he could at once.

"Jenny?" Nicole called to her friend and tapped on the bathroom door.

"Nicole, go away" came the response.

"Come on, Jen, I just wanna help" Nicole persisted and the door opened to reveal the tear stained face of her friend.

"What happened?" she asked, genuinely concerned.

"I went to find Ray, he'd gone to get us a drink and when I saw him, he was..." Jenny made a face and looked like she might burst into tears again at any moment.

"He was what?" Nicole didn't understand.

"Him and Alicia..." Jenny spat the girls name.

"Alicia?" 'I should have known' Nicole thought, sitting down on the stairs and sliding over so Jenny could join her "Jenny, I know you're thinking awful things about Ray right now and I know what he did was dumb, but you know what Alicia's like. She broke up Brad and Kathy last month, then she tried to break up me and Chase, it's what she does"

"He didn't have to kiss her" the brunette complained.

"I know, but they're guys" Nicole pointed out "you have to cut them some slack. Alicia, as much as I hate her" and she really did hate her now " she knows what she's doing when it comes to manipulating guys and their hormones"

"He's to blame too" Jenny was adamant about that.

"Yes, he is" the blonde admitted, "he should have more self control, but like I said it happened to me and Chase too, and I'll bet we're not the only ones"

Jenny didn't answer but looked as if she was considering what her friend was telling her and maybe even starting to believe it.

"So are you gonna talk to him?" Nicole asked eventually.

"I don't know, well, yeah, I guess" Jenny wasn't sure what she wanted to do, she did want to talk to Ray but having to face him now was too hard "not now, not tonight, I can't. Actually, I'm gonna go home Nicole, I'm sorry, I know this party was mostly because of me, but I need to get out of here..." she rambled as she stood up. She looked like she might cry again at any moment so her friend interrupted.

"Hey, it's okay, don't worry" Nicole smiled and Jenny even managed a small smile of her own.

"We will fix this you know" her friend assured her.

"I hope so" said Jenny as she walked away.

A/N : Please review!!! I think there will be two more chapters and I'm writing as fast as I can cos I really want it finished by Christmas.