This story now has a new name, it is now called The Trials of Love. Credit goes to KayKayElle for emailing me and coming up with the idea for the title. Thank you.

Dedication for this chapter goes to my friend Shadow, who beta-read this story and gave me some ideas on where to go and how to finish it. Thanks girl, you know I love you!
After he had dropped his siblings off at their respective schools,

he

decided to head over to Shana's apartment...her old apartment, that is.

He still had the key, he hadn't given it back to her yet. He pulled into

the parking lot and entered the house. He took the elevator up the

stairs to the floor that she had lived on and let himself in the house.

Everything had been cleared out except for a few things that she kept

there. He didn't know what he was looking for, but he was going to

find something to at least give him the slightest indication of why she

was mad at him. Finally he found it. The long, stick like thing sitting

on the edge of the couch. He stared at it, afraid of even picking it up.

He could see the bright blue line on the end of the stick. His knees

buckled and he felt like he was going to pass out. He grabbed the edge

of the couch to steady himself, then blinked a couple of times to focus

his eyes again. 'Could this be possible?' he thought to himself. Of

course he knew all the signs. He had been through it 5 times already

with his parents. 'How can this be? We didn't do anything.' he thought

to himself, as he could feel his heart start to beat faster. He knew he

was going to have to find out soon enough whether or not it was true.

Shana had taken her phone with her, so there was no way he could

call her. He knew of one person who could help him through this.

Matt waited until he got his siblings home before even thought

about it again. He couldn't remember what had happened last night,

but he didn't remember doing anything with Shana. They hadn't even

slept in the same bed. 'So how could this have happened?' he asked

himself over for what seemed to be the thousandth time. He decided to

talk to Mary about the problem. Mary was the sibling closest in age to

him, and they had always gotten along pretty well, maybe because they

were the two oldest. He knocked on his sister's door and she looked

up from her book. Lucy was sitting on the bed doing his finger nails.

She didn't seem to notice the look her brother was giving her until he

cleared his throat. "Can I help you?" she asked. "Yes. You can leave

the room. I need to talk to Mary." he said. Mary looked suddenly

alarmed. "I didn't do anything!" she cried, knowing the only reason

Matt usually wanted to talk to her was when she was in trouble. Lucy

sighed and left the room. "You're not in trouble." he said, sitting on

Lucy's bed. Mary noticed how pale her brother looked. "Matt, what's

wrong? Are you sick? Should I call Dad?" she asked frantically. He

shook his head. "NO! Dad can't know about this, at least not yet." he

told her. Then he softened his tone a bit. "Mare, if I tell you a secret

do you promise not to tell anyone? Especially Mom and Dad." he said.

She sighed. "Yes, depending on what the secret is." she said. He

sighed and pulled the thing he had been hiding out of his pocket. Mary

gasped. "Matt, where did you get this from?" she asked. He sighed.

"It was in Shana's apartment." he said. Mary frowned. "I don't think

I quite understand. How did you get in there if she is gone?" she

asked. "I know where her spare key is. And besides, I never gave her

my key back yet. I just unlocked the door, walked right in, and there it

was." he said. She sighed. "You know what this is, don't you?" she

asked. He nodded. "Of course I do. I can tell that much." he said. She

sighed. "What happened between the two of you last night?" she

asked. "How did you know I stayed with Shana last night?" he asked

his sister. "I called John because I needed to ask you a question and

he told me you were staying at Shana's. And before you get mad, I

didn't tell Mom or Dad." she said. He sighed. "Good. Listen Mary,

nothing happened between me and Shana last night. I would remember

if it did." he said. She nodded. "Unless you got caught up in the

moment." she added. He shook his head. "Even then, I know my

limits. I know her limits, and I respect her. I would never do anything

like that." he said. Mary looked from the strip to her brother, shaking

her head sadly. "I'm sorry Matt, but the test is positive. So it must be

true. You and Shana must have done something last night, whether

intentional or not. I can only imagine that is why she keeps avoiding

you. She is too ashamed to talk about what happened last night." she

said. Matt pounded his fist against the wall. "Well, she needs to talk to

me. We need to work this out together." he cried. Mary nodded.

"Matt, give her a couple of days. Girls are sensitive when it comes to

things like this. She'll blame you for a couple of days, then be ready to

talk it all through. And when she is, you just have to be there for her.

Listen to what she has to say. Remember one thing though. You do

have experience with this. You went through it 5 times with Mom and

Dad. So you know what to expect. But Shana doesn't, she has never

been through it. Well, she has with her brother, but that's a different

story. So just be patient with her and wait until the time comes." she

told him. He smiled at his sister and hugged her. "Thanks Mary. I

knew I could talk to you about it." he said. She nodded. "As the two

oldest, we have to rely on each other for a lot of help and support.

Remember that you can talk to me about anything. Oh, and one more

thing. Even if Mom and Dad aren't there for you, you've got my

support. And I'm sure you'll have Lucy and Simon's support as well."

she said, as he left the room.