A/N: Thanks for the reviews! And thank you a million times to those people who said they were putting me on their favourites list - I really am honoured! THANK YOU!!!!!!!! *group hug* Um, a note to Nessa's Ruby Slippers: reading chapter three of You'd Better Get Me To School On Time helps because it has a flashback of exactly how Lisa died! And Princess642: What are pixie sticks?

Note: Yep, this chapter will contain self-harm (but mostly in flashbacks) and a little bit of fairly strong language. Oh! And. . .

Sorry to disappoint but this isn't a Summer/ Freddy fic! Just thought I'd let you know. . .they're good friends, but that's as far as it goes, I'm afraid. Sorry if anyone's disappointed!

Disclaimer: They're not mine! : ( Woe is me. . . .

Only Me: chapter three

* * Previously * *

"Summer - thanks for everything. It means a lot to me."

"Anytime. If you ever want to talk - you know where I am." Freddy smiled at her then hopped over the hedge to his house. Summer watched him as he went inside, then, with a heavy sigh, closed the door.

* * * * *

Tap. Tap. Tap. Summer was sitting on a wall, swinging her legs. Every time the heel of her shoe hit the wall, it made a little tapping noise. Tap. Tap. Tap.

She shielded her eyes from the glaring sun as she studied the house in front of her. It was an usually warm day, considering it was only early spring, and within a few minutes, she was taking off her blazer and cramming it inside her bag - or trying to cram it inside her bag, but with little success.

"You'll get it creased if you keep doing that." Summer turned sharply to see Freddy standing on his front porch. He was holding his beloved skateboard under one arm, and was shielding his face from the bright sunlight using his other arm. She wondered just how long he had been watching her struggle trying to put her blazer away. But, she put it down and swivelled round on the wall so that she was facing him.

"Possibly," she replied, with a smile. "But it's too hot to wear it, and I absolutely refuse to carry it all the way to school."

"What a shock!" Freddy mock-gasped as he jumped off the porch and walked over to join her. "Summer, refusing to do something? Call an ambulance!" He cried, pretending to feel her forehead for a temperature.

"Shut up," she said, smirking, trying to push him away. The smirk was promptly wiped off her face when she noticed that Freddy had his sleeves rolled up. "You do realise everyone's going to see your scars if you walk into school like that?" She asked, unaware that her eyes were fixed on his scarred arms.

"I know," Freddy replied quietly, feeling uncomfortable under her scrutinizing gaze. "That's why I'm gonna put my jumper back on before we get there." Summer eventually looked up, and nodded to signify that she understood.

"Have you told your parents?" She asked, sliding off the wall, and dusting her skirt down.

"You kidding me? No way."

"Why not?" Freddy looked Summer right in the eye. She was shocked by how much emotion was in his own dark eyes.

"Do you know how hard it was, just telling you? And you're my friend! There's no way I can tell my parents. I just wouldn't know how," he added sadly.

"Fair enough." Freddy blinked in surprise. "What?"

"Nothing. I just thought that you'd tell me I had to tell my parents." Summer crinkled her nose, and shook her head, trying not to laugh at the look of surprise Freddy still had on his face.

"No. I mean, it's up to you whether you want to or not."

"You surprise me sometimes."

"Oh, I'm just full of surprises, Mr. Jones," Summer said, trying to sound mysterious. Freddy started laughing. "What?"

"Oh, nothing!" He glanced at his watch. "Hey, check out the time. We'd better get going." They started walking. It wasn't until a few minutes later that something occurred to Freddy. "Hey Summer," he asked suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Why were you waiting outside my house for me?" Summer shrugged.

"I just thought I'd walk with you, that's all."

"Any particular reason?"

"I think you know," Summer replied quietly. She didn't actually say what the reason was - she didn't have to. They both knew.

"Thanks Summer," Freddy said sincerely.

"Anytime." And they continued the walk to school in silence.

*~*~*~*~*

". . .So he just threw his bag out the window!" Tomika said, giggling. Zack, Marta and Alicia laughed along with her.

"I worry about your brother sometimes!" Alicia commented lightly.

"Don't we all," Tomika remarked dryly, but with a smile on her face. Marta opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by the door opening. In walked Summer, closely followed by Freddy.

"Hi Summer. Hey Freddy," Zack called. Summer said 'hi' back, dropped her bag on her desk and went over to join them. Freddy, however, just made a beeline for his chair, and sat down, putting his head on the desk.

"Are you okay?" Marta asked him. Without moving his head, he gave her a thumbs up. "Um. . .by the way - about you missing band practice last night. . ." Freddy groaned.

"Oh God, I completely forgot," he moaned. "Break it to me gently."

"Well - put it this way," Marta said uncomfortably. "Band Suspension wasn't just a threat." Freddy's head shot up so fast that his neck cricked. Rubbing it, he fixed a steely glare on Marta.

"Tell me you're joking!" He demanded. Marta shook her head, her pigtails bouncing slightly.

"Sorry." Freddy swore violently and put his head back down on the desk with a loud thud, making the others wince.

"But - I thought Dewey was joking about the Band Suspension thing. . ." Summer said, addressing Marta, but looking worriedly at Freddy. Marta shrugged.

"It's a week, isn't it?" Freddy asked, without removing his head from the desk.

"Yeah, it is," Tomika replied. When Freddy swore again, she continued hurriedly. "But, it could be worse."

"How?"

"Dewey did want to make it two weeks - we talked him out of it," Zack explained. Freddy sighed heavily.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

"Your head's going to be welded to the desk if you stay like that much longer," Marta told him. He pulled his head up, and rubbed it where he had hit it earlier. Marta frowned slightly.

"What did you do?" Freddy looked confused, until Marta walked over and gently took his arm - to his horror, he realised his sleeve had ridden up and was showing off the bandage. His eyes widened slightly, as did Summer's.

"Oh - I - uh. . ." He struggled to find an excuse as he tugged his sleeve down. Luckily, at that moment, he was saved by the arrival of Katie. He'd never been so glad to see her. "Katie!" She smiled warmly at him, dropped her bag on the floor by her desk and hurried over to him.

"Good morning!" She greeted him, kissing him lightly on the cheek. Marta let go of his arm as she wrinkled her nose.

"Please," she sighed. "Too early in the morning for that."

"Shut up Marta," Katie said, but it was accompanied by a typical Katie style smile. She turned her eyes back to Freddy, and immediately spied the bandage that Freddy was trying to hide by tugging his sleeve down. "Freddy, what did you do?"

"Um - strained a muscle?" Katie's face was a picture of confusion. "I was helping my mom carry some boxes up to the attic - one was really heavy, and I must have strained a muscle in my arm." Katie nodded.

"Poor thing." Suddenly, there was a loud crash and a squeal of 'You idiot!' from the other side of the room. The rest of the class looked in the direction that the crash had come from, to see a very embarrassed Eleni standing in the middle of a pile of books. There was something else by her feet, that looked suspiciously like. . .a bookcase shelf?

"Eleni, what on Earth did you do?" Summer called over.

"Um. . .I kinda made the top shelf of the bookcase collapse. . ." Eleni explained, going very red with embarrassment.

"How did you manage that?" Lawrence asked, looking up from his book.

"I - don't actually really know. . .can someone help me pick all these books up please?" About half the class went over, including Zack, Marta and Tomika. Katie also went over, but not before turning back to Freddy and giving him a sympathy smile, which Freddy assumed was for his 'injury'.

Summer waited before Katie had left before going over to Freddy. "That was a really bad lie," she told him.

"I know!" Freddy moaned, leaning his head in his hands. "But what was I supposed to say? I was kinda put on the spot there."

"So I take it you're not planning on telling them anytime soon then?"

"Well, not first thing in the morning, no." Summer nodded. Then, looking round to see if anyone was listening, she leaned forward, her dark hair swinging in her face. She impatiently shoved her hair behind her ears before talking.

"Freddy? Are you going to tell them?"

"Summer!" Freddy whined. "We've talked about this before! I just - I don't know. I mean - what if they don't understand? What if they think I'm a freak?" Summer reached out and took Freddy's arm - the one without the bandage.

"Freddy," she said firmly. "No, Freddy, look at me. Look at me!" Freddy didn't want to, but something in Summer's voice made him look up at her. "Freddy. You are not a freak. They're your friends! They will understand."

"I'm just nervous, you know?"

"I know. But you know, I'm always here if you want to talk."

"I know that. Thanks Summer." She smiled, let go of his arm and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Ouch."

"There's no way that could have hurt!"

"You're wearing a ring!"

"You're just being a wuss Frederick Daniel Jones."

"Aargh!" Freddy mock-screamed. "Don't ever call me that!" Summer laughed. "What are you laughing at, Summer Luciana Hathaway?"

"What's wrong with the name Luciana?"

"It's so. . .girly!" Summer punched Freddy in the shoulder again.

"You're so sexist sometimes, you really are." Freddy gave her a mock-wounded look, unaware they were being watched. . .

*~*~*~*~*

Katie inwardly cursed at Eleni as she picked up yet more books. "Eleni, I don't think I will ever know how the hell you managed to break that shelf," she muttered, adding some books to the growing pile.

"She sat on it!" Michelle giggled. Eleni went bright red as everyone laughed.

Once the laughter had subsided and everyone had gone back to picking up the unbelievable amount of books (well, it was a very large bookcase), Katie just so happened to glance over her shoulder to where Freddy was sitting - and her eyes darkened. Summer was sitting closely to Freddy, leaning forward, whispering to him, holding his arm.

"What the hell. . ?" She whispered to herself, putting down the textbook she was holding. Summer let go of Freddy's arm and punched him on the shoulder. There was an exchange of words that Katie couldn't quite make out, and then Freddy started laughing at something Summer had said. Summer punched him again, and Katie's eyes narrowed. What the hell is going on? she asked herself.

"Katie!" She looked round to see Michelle looking pointedly at her.

"What?"

"You're kneeling on one of the books."

"Oh. Sorry." She quickly stood up. Seeing Summer laughing at Freddy made her eyes just that little bit more, and she hurriedly made her way over.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" She asked sarcastically. Freddy shook his head, and pulled her towards him so that he could give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Of course not," he said once he'd let go of her.

"Did you get all the books picked up yet?" Summer asked.

"Not yet," Katie replied, more frostily than usual.

"Oh. Well, maybe I should go lend a hand then."

"Yeah, maybe you should," Katie muttered as Summer walked off.

"What was that for?" Freddy asked; evidently, he had overheard what she had just said. Katie shook her head.

"Nothing, don't worry." Freddy raised an eyebrow but didn't bother to argue. Instead, he put his head back down on the desk once again, as he was extremely tired, and he wanted to grab a cat-nap before their teacher arrived. "Freddy," Katie said suddenly.

"Hmm?"

"You - you do still like me, right?" Freddy looked up.

"What kind of question is that?" He asked.

"Well I -" He took her hand.

"Katie," he said firmly. "You know that I do. Why on Earth would you need to ask?" Katie shrugged.

"Just checking," she said quietly, tracing a mark on the desk with her finger.

"You're strange!" Freddy laughed, leaning in for a kiss. Just as their lips touched, they were interrupted by the arrival of their teacher, Mrs. Wenhem.

"Excuse me!" She raged, coughing to get their attention. "Kindly save that for after school hours please!"

"Sorry," they apologized simultaneously. Mrs. Wenhem scowled at them, and then turned to the rest of the class.

"Take your seats please! Class has begun!" There was a flurry of activity as everyone rushed to their seats (the bookcase had finally been fixed, thanks in large parts to Zack, who was actually rather good at D.I.Y.) and began taking out his or her books. Katie raised her eyebrows at Freddy, who smiled back. He was actually feeling pretty happy. He should have known that it wouldn't last. . . .

- - - - - - - - - - -

TBC

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A/N: You like? Please leave a review! Oh, and Shapeshifter: You like The Ramones as well? OMG that's so cool! Haha, I absolutely adore them - I've got the albums, the t-shirts, the jumpers, posters. . .lol, I'm totally obsessed!