Disclaimer: ... you know, already, you know!

Author's Note: Just to warn you, there's spoilers for 'A Walk to Remember' in this chapter. If you haven't read/seen it and don't want to know how it ends, don't read this chapter, okay? Another thing, this chapter's kind of like a songfic. Okay, it IS a songfic. The song's 'A Thousand Miles' by Vanessa Carlton, if you didn't know, although I bet you did. It's also the song on the radio, again, if you didn't know; though a bet you did. The lyrics re surrounded by two asterisks like this: **

~*~

Chapter 12

'The supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved.'-- Victor Hugo

The next day, things went back to normal. They went back to normal for a long time. Nora went on with life as it usually had, she read almost all the time, did all her homework, and occasionally did stupid things, like seeing how much cheese she could eat before she got sick. It was on one of these days that she, upon returning from the washroom, remembered that she had some library books that were due.

She groaned and fell backwards onto her bed. Closing her eyes, she felt around with one hand and turned on the radio, while making a mental note to never EVER eat that much cheese again. For some reason (probably her cheese overdose), the classical music on the radio didn't do its usual job of relaxing her, so she flipped over onto her stomach and set about finding a new station. When she found a station she liked, she got onto her back again and sighed happily, slowly forgetting about her upset stomach. A new song was just about to start when she remembered the almost-due books, shoved them into a bag, ran downstairs, and grabbed a sandwich from the fridge, which she hadn't finished a few days ago. Without stopping even for breath, she jogged outside wishing she had stayed to listen to the radio. She liked that song.

Nora locked the door and started running.

**Making my way downtown

Walking fast

Faces passed

And I'm home bound**

~*~

Ricky would have sighed, had not he been struggling for air. He had actually been looking forward to coming home, but no, his mom just HAD to give him the world's longest hug the moment she saw him. Now he had been back for two long hours, and his mother still had refused to break the embrace, talking about how much he had grown and how she had missed him.

"Mom," he finally gasped. His mother loosened her grip on him.

"Yes?"

"I have to go now--"

"You just got home!" she cried, placing her hands on her hips. "What could be so important?"

He thought for a moment, hoping to come up with an excuse. No such luck. "I have to, er, see my girlfriend." He said very reluctantly. Why was it that when you didn't need them, good excuses just popped up in your head, but when you were actually in a situation you had to get out of, your mind went blank?

His mother stared at him, tears slowly filling her eyes. "My little Ricky is growing up," she said, wrapping him in another tight hug.

"Yeah, Mom, I've got to go," he panted, once again with a shortage of oxygen.

"Alright," she said, smiling. "But come home soon, got that?"

He forced himself not to roll his eyes. "Yes, mother..."

As he headed for the door, he thought he heard music playing. He shook his head, trying to determine where it was coming from. For some reason, that seemed familiar, like déjà vu. Ricky shrugged and heard a few lines just before he closed the door.

He headed for the library. Where else would she be?

Well, she could be at home, the washroom, a bookstore, even a different city. What if she had moved?

Somehow, that didn't seem right. Nora was the sort of person who hated change, and if she had moved, she probably would have sent him a letter ranting about this and that, how she never wanted to move again, and, oh, here's her new address. She had sent a few during the first two months of his sentence, but she had stopped after that. Ricky guessed she didn't have the time while going to school. Knowing Nora, she had probably overworked herself. But even if that were true, she would still have found the time to write him a letter saying she'd moved.

So, pushing any doubt aside, he carried out his one and only plan, which was, needless to say, go to the library and if she wasn't there, walk around aimlessly.

**Staring blankly ahead

Just making my way

Making my way

Through the crowd** ~*~

After Nora had returned the books, she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her stomach. How could she be hungry now? Well, she HAD emptied her stomach a few minutes ago. She reached into her bag and pulled out the sandwich, walking outside so she wouldn't get in trouble for eating in the library. Also, it was a nice day and why waste it?

She unwrapped the sandwich and then remembered why she hadn't finished it before. It looked and smelled disgusting. Shuddering, she threw the sandwich out and got out the ever present 'Pride and Prejudice'. She skipped the beginning and went straight to chapter 34, reading the parts she had underlined. Then her eyes fell on a few sentences that had been circled, underlined three times, and highlighted.

"I miss you, Ricky," she muttered to the book, which would have looked at her strangely had it been a person and not a novel. Nora sighed and smiled sadly. "I'm talking to inanimate objects. Not a good sign."

She sighed again and put the book back in her had as she remembered her hunger, but it only occupied half of her mind. The other half was being depressed and wishing Ricky would just pop up out of thin air so she could see him again and tell him the whole 'I like your eyes' thing. She had never written it to him, because she thought it would sound better if she said it in person, but that plan, unfortunately, gave her a lot of regret and guilt to deal with.

And to think, she thought, this is all because Anne has to go and give me the details on his eyes! I would be a lot better off if I never listened to her in the first place. Oh well, maybe if I hadn't listened to her, someone would have died a terrible death.

"You never know," she muttered, her thoughts drifting back to Ricky.

**And I need you

And I miss you

And now I wonder

If I could fall

Into the sky

Do you think time

Would pass me by

'Cause you know I'd walk

A thousand miles

If I could

Just see you

Tonight**

~*~

When he entered the library, Ricky was sure that everything became quiet. Not that it wasn't quiet before, but now the silence seemed to be ringing in his ears. He craned his neck around bookshelves to check if she was there, but it appeared that she was somewhere else. Ricky couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. If Nora wasn't at the library, it seemed that she must have disappeared off the face of the Earth, unless she was at some other book-related place. Still, she should have been there. She just should have. Now he'd have to walk around aimlessly and that wasn't fun.

Maybe she's moved and never told me, he thought miserable, kicking a rock across the ground after he left the library. Maybe she hates my guts and never wants to see me again. She probably never gives me a second thought. If anyone ever mentions Ricky, she just says 'Oh yeah, wasn't he that nerd I used to help in math because he was so stupid?'

The thought that Nora would probably be eaten alive by Anne if she ever called someone a nerd as an insult never occurred to him.

**It's always times like these

When I think of you

And I wonder

If you ever

Think of me

'Cause everything's so wrong

And I don't belong

Living in your

Precious memories**

~*~

Because deciding whether to go home or get fast food with the money she had in her pocket isn't the most exciting thing in the world, Nora started fantasizing about how she could get to that camp he was at, Camp Green Lake. She would save him from one of those yellow-spotted lizards she had read about, or maybe some criminal mastermind had captured him and she had to save him from an untimely death. When she finally noticed someone giving her sound effects (which mainly consisted of 'Boom!' and 'Zap!') strange looks, Nora quickly got out of her daydream and settled on fast food.

As she swung the bag over her shoulder, she was struck with an awful thought. What if that had really happened? What if he was dying from a yellow-spotted lizard bite and she never got to see him again?

Nora stopped herself from thinking up anymore ways for him to die and told herself that imagination was a good thing, but not if it was overdone.

**'Cause I need you

And I miss you

And now I wonder....

If I could fall

Into the sky

Do you think time

Would pass me by

'Cause you know I'd walk

A thousand miles

If I could

Just see you

Tonight**

~*~

Ricky was sure he saw someone far off in the distance who looked just like Nora, but she was too tall. He sighed and walked away from the library, but stopped when he saw half a sandwich in the garbage can. Why would someone throw out a perfectly good sandwich? Well, it was actually half a sandwich, but that didn't matter. It was a perfectly good half of a sandwich.

He looked back again at the person who looked like Nora, only taller, then realised Nora could have grown. Or maybe she wasn't as short as he thought she was. Or maybe it was because she was so far off that she simply looked taller.

For a moment he considered running after her, but she was too far away. She could be anyone, and he would look pretty stupid if he ran after a total stranger because she kind of looked like Nora.

While this thought was running through his head, he saw someone reading 'Pride and Prejudice'. Ricky leaned against the wall and watched them as they walked into the library without looking up from their book. It was the sort of thing Nora would do. He grinned as he remembered how stupid he must have looked when he said Mr What's-his-name's speech. Maybe running after a total stranger wouldn't be so bad compared to that.

He smiled. That book was probably the main reason she ever talked to him. Maybe, because he was so anti-social, Nora had seen a similarity between him and that Mr Darcy guy. He had never quite understood why Nora liked him, if she always described Mr Darcy as a 'rich, snobby, arrogant man' in her school projects and book reports. Of course, maybe he should have listened to the rest of what she said, because that might have answered.

**And I, I

Don't want to let you know

I, I

Drown in your memory

I, I

Don't want to let this go

I, I

Don't...**

~*~

Nora sat down in the McDonalds. Nothing like fries and a Coke to make you forget about... well, everything, actually. You usually concentrated on the food and how much fat it contained. The keyword there was 'usually'. 'Pride and Prejudice' was held open with one hand and the other was putting fries into her mouth.

She remembered the book she had been reading in that exact spot when Anne decided to go bounce over to Ricky and say hi. 'A Walk to Remember'. The book still brought tears to her eyes, and the movie had been one of the few based on books that she liked, even though it was actually quite different from the book.

Well, at least I know he's not dying of leukemia, right? She thought, then immediately went back to worrying.

**Making my way downtown

Walking fast

Faces passed

And I'm home bound**

~*~

Ricky returned to kicking a rock around. When he looked up to see where the pebble had led him, he realized he was standing in front of a McDonalds. Without so much as a second thought, he walked inside. Food was the answer to any problem.

Can't sleep? Eat food.

Bored out of your mind? Eat food.

Feeling like no one appreciates you and considering jumping off a bridge? Eat food.

As long as you like the food, that is. And Ricky was making sure he got a cheeseburger exactly the way he wanted it: little or no ketchup and pickles and extra tomatoes. With that in mind, he momentarily forgot about Nora, but only momentarily.

When he got his cheeseburger, he lifted the top bun and began complaining loudly. Now he forgot about her a bit longer than momentarily.

** Staring blankly ahead

Just making my way

Making my way

Through the crowd**

~*~

Nora laughed so hard that her Coke came out her nose, almost spraying her book. Despite the fact that it wasn't a pleasant experience, she laughed again. Her nose was hurting badly, but she wasn't really paying attention to that. She rolled her eyes, still giggling a bit. Some guy was complaining about the amount of ketchup, pickles, and tomatoes on his cheeseburger.

She stopped in mid-laugh. That guy sounded familiar. It couldn't be... No way. What were the chances of that? Nora fought the urge to look behind her. It was just her imagination, and from today's experience, she knew that her imagination could do quite a lot.

But still... It could be him, she thought. Nora bit her lip and looked over her shoulder and back down at her fries so fast she might have gotten whiplash. Her heartbeat quickened and she sunk a bit in her chair, not knowing if she should be happy, sad, or mortified.

**And I still need you

And I still miss you

And now I wonder

If I could fall

Into the sky

Do you think time

Would pass us by

'Cause you know I'd walk

A thousand miles

If I could

Just see you... **

Someone tapped her on the shoulder. Nora let out a shriek that was somehow quiet. The only time she had ever done that before was when she had tripped that time in the library. Ricky had been there, in fact, he had been the reason she tripped. Whoever had done it before tapped on her shoulder again.

Nora smiled and looked up. "Hi, Dick,"

"Hi, Eleanora," grinned Ricky.

"That's me." She had decided to give up on the name war. Ricky seemed a bit disappointed, but bent down and kissed her.

"That was... awkward."

"Maybe it wouldn't be if you were facing me and not stretching your neck over backwards," he pointed out.

"Ah, that would do it." She got off of her chair and looked up at him. He was right. It wasn't as awkward that way. Of course, that had been pretty obvious. Had her skin tone been lighter, she would have turned bright red. Nora looked down at her shoes. "So..." She looked up again. "Still ardently love and admire me?"

**If I could fall

Into the sky

Do you think time

Would pass me by

'Cause you know I'd walk

A thousand miles

If I could

Just see you

If I could

Just hold you...**

"Well," he seemed to be considering this. "I DID just walk around for almost an entire hour looking for you. I should think that I do."

"Yep," Nora agreed. "That's a sure sign."

Time seemed to slow down as Ricky bent down and she tilted her face slightly. When they kissed, 'Pride and Prejudice', which Nora had been holding tightly in one hand, fell to the floor.

**Tonight**

~*~

Author's Note: Epilogue coming up soon. And now, to the shout outs.

Bertiebottsgeorge- Thanks for your review! I give you sploosh! Yay for
sploosh!

Ghosts-girl23- Yeah, that's strange. I mean about the song. That happens a lot. Maybe it's a conspiracy. Maybe I should type longer sentences. Well, anyway, have... um... Well, everyone seems to be obsessed with Squid's toothpick, so want one? He's got quite a lot, you know. Thank for reviewing! MWAH!

Celestra- I do that a lot. You know, reading and not reviewing. Anne sounds like you? Neato. She's a lot of fun to write about, because she gets to tell everybody random and slightly useless Canadian trivia and that sort of stuff. Well, here's some onions, you can give them to Mary Lou. You like her, right? Meh, I've gotta give up on giving out Holes stuff and stick to chai.

Softish- Yay! Thanks for your review! You're the twenty-second reviewer! Be proud! Yeah, Max Kasch (the guy who played Zig in the movie) was a pretty good Zigzag. I'm not sure about hot, but I'm only attracted to fictional people. I am strange, I know. Want some sanity? I've grown it back, but I've heard it's entertaining to burn, but I'm pyrophobic. Have fun with it!