A/N: I don't own Gilmore Girls or Second to Last by New Found Glory
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I hate myself for losing you
I blame myself for pulling you apart
I guess this is the only way
I hate theses eyes that noticed you
I hate my heart for breaking up that day
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Chilton's graduating class of two thousand and three!" the principle said loudly. Four hundred caps flew into the air and the court yard erupted with cheers. The former seniors jumped up, each untying the navy blue or white balloon that was connected to their chair. For a moment it was hard to see around you as they flew up.
Rory looked around, smiling as Paris ran up to her, a huge grin plastered on her face, she hugged Rory tightly. She returned the embrace from her best friend. Paris rocked from left to right, smiling. She let go, "Well, we did it," she smiled sadly, "We made it through Chilton. And now, we're going to college."
Rory sighed, "And we always thought this day would never come."
Paris sighed as well, looking away, "We're in the real world now, no more Charleston-"
"No more being forced to do homework."
"No more pointless gym."
Rory laughed, "No more Summer."
"Hell yeah!" Paris said loudly.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It didn't mean much anyway
It's you, you I figured out
It always helps to forget how to be yourself
It's you, you realize that you're understanding this
Understand that you're all alone
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rory smiled as Madeline and Louise ran up, and into either of the girls, embracing them. Rory hugged Louise, she and Paris both laughing.
"So," Louise started, "Where are you guys going?"
"Both of us are going to Yale, what about you guys?" Paris said before Rory could open her mouth.
"Princeton." Madeline told her.
"Both of you?"
"Yup."
"Well, we're gonna have to get together sometime, because there's no way we'll make it very long without seeing each other." Paris said.
Louise laughed, "My thoughts exactly." she said before getting called away by her boyfriend, "So, I'll talk to you guys tomorrow, okay? We have to spend like, a month together before we leave."
"We will." Paris said as she walked away.
Madeline sighed, "I can't believe it's all over."
Paris nodded, "I know. It's almost unreal."
"Rory, what are you so quiet?" Madeline asked.
Rory whipped her head around, "What?"
"Are you okay?"
"Oh yeah, I'm fine." she said distractedly.
Madeline turned to see Louise beckoning to her, "Well, I have to go, but I'll call you two tomorrow, all right?"
Paris nodded, hugging her again, "Bye."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Today
Is the first day of your life
The first day that you're on your own
Now you know what to call home
I know I'm right for leaving you
Now there's nothing left for me to say
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Madeline walked away and Paris turned to Rory, "Okay, spill."
"Spill what? I have nothing to spill."
Paris stuck out her right hip and put her hand on it forceful, "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Nothing, I'm fine."
"You can't lie to me."
"I'm not lying."
Paris opened her mouth to argue, but they heard someone call her name. She turned and saw Jamie standing a few yards away. Her jaw dropped in an open mouthed smile and she turned to Rory, her eyes open in surprise. Rory's eyebrows arched and she smiled, "I thought you two broke up."
"W-we did." Paris stuttered, still in shock, she turned back to make sure he was still there.
Rory smiled knowingly, "Go." she shoved Paris playfully with her shoulder. She didn't move, "Go talk to him, he's waiting."
Paris turned back to Rory, "Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Are you all right?"
"Perfectly. Now go talk and do the dirty."
"This isn't over."
"Obviously."
"After I talk to him, I'm coming back to talk to you and you're going to tell me what's wrong."
"Right."
"I'm serious."
"I know."
Paris shrieked quietly, "He came to see me."
Rory nodded, "Yes he did."
"He misses me."
"Yes he does."
"I'm going to talk to Jamie."
Rory shook her head, "Not if you stay over here until he graduates from college."
Paris nodded vigorously, "Right, right. I'm going to go over there and talk to him."
"Yes."
"Right now."
"Yes."
"And here I go." She stood still. "I am walking over there right now."
Rory shook her head and turned Paris around, pushing her towards Jamie. She walked nervously until he smiled and held his hand out to her, asking to go on a walk. She turned and smiled Rory, who nodded, smiling. But it fell after Paris turned away and she glanced at the row she'd been avoiding looking at. The D's. She turned back as soon as she saw Summer strutting over to Tristan and Austin. Two of the most popular guys of their class, and the two that she most publicly broke.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It never meant much anyway
It's you, you I figured out
It always helps to forget how to be yourself
It's you, you realize that you're understanding this
Understanding that you're all alone
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
She sat back down and looked on in silence. There were countless people hugging and crying. Some laughing and running around. She sighed, she'd hated these people at first. But after she'd started dating Tristan, they accepted her, and she'd grown to tolerate many, like some and even love a few. There were two main popular people she'd grown to love other than Tristan. Prue Grove and Matthew Doherman, but now she was leaving the comfort of Chilton for something else, something that was a mystery. And for the first time, she was nervous about leaving, she almost didn't want to.
Some one blocked the sun from her face and she looked up to see a man outlined against the clear blue sky. Tristan sat beside her, she looked at her shoes, not willing to meet his gaze, they'd barely looked at each other for four months, since the night of the party. Rory began clicking her shoes for lack of anything better to do.
"So," Tristan said finally, "What college are you going to?" he asked lamely, needing to talk to her, but not willing to open any wounds.
"Yale." she said without emotion.
"Oh. I thought so."
"Yeah." she leaned back and crossed her legs, folding her arms across her chest.
Tristan nodded, biting his lip, "What about Paris?"
"Same. We're sharing a dorm."
"Oh."
"Did she not tell you?"
"Paris hasn't spoken to me in four months."
Rory narrowed her eyes and her head cocked back in surprise, "She hasn't?"
Tristan looked at her, "You didn't know?"
"No."
He nodded, "Yeah. Not since she told me what a dumb ass I was."
Rory looked away, "Oh. I didn't know," she looked back at him, "But...I thought you two had been friends since fourth grade."
"We had. Eight years. But, she knew what an idiot I was, and I guess she just got tired of it. And after I did that to you, she saw me the way everyone else does. And she realized that even though she'd tried so hard for so long, she couldn't help me." He looked up at her, but Rory looked at her shoes, unable still to make eye contact. He looked back down, "But, she introduced me to you and we started dating after a while. I was different with you. And for a while, I was her best friend from elementary school." he looked at her to see that she was listening to him intently. "But after I cheated on you, she figured I was hopeless, and I guess she was right."
Rory closed her eyes, feeling tears rise. Tristan stood up and so did she, falling four inches shorter than him. He touched her face gently, in longing, not lustfully or in trying to kiss her, just softly, missing the feel of her skin. She looked up, tears running silently down her porcelain cheeks. "Rory, we had something, and I'm so sorry I hurt you." he whispered. She was silent. "And I never meant to-"
She cut him off, "I know."
He nodded, "Good."
She bit her lip, "Well, I have to go." she nodded towards her mom, who was beckoning. "And it looks like you do too." he looked in the direction she was and saw his older sister smiling at him.
He turned to her, "I guess so." Tristan's hand fell from her face, "I really am sorry."
"I know." she swallowed the knot in her throat.
"And..." he trailed off, shaking his head slightly, "I really do love you."
She closed her eyes, whispering, "I know."
Tristan looked away, tears filling his eyes, "So, I guess I'll see you later."
She looked up at him, "Probably not."
He nodded, looking away for a moment before looking back to her, "Bye Mary." he kissed her hand gently and walked away. Rory's hands covered her face and she fell to her knees in the almost deserted court yard.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Today
It the first day of your life
The first day that you're on your own
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
ONE MONTH LATER
Rory and Paris were in her room, going through mounds of clothes and trying to find ones to pack for college. They'd been there for almost three hours before Rory groaned and fell face forward onto her bed, "Paris, I'm an idiot, aren't I?" she asked, muffed.
Paris sat beside her, "Um, no, I don't...think so."
"Oh, I am."
"Why do you say that?"
"I never told you what happened at graduation after you left."
Paris narrowed her eyes, "What happened?"
Rory sighed and laid on her side, propping her head on her hand, "Tristan came and talked to me."
Paris's jaw dropped, "He didn't." she whispered.
"Oh, he did."
"And?"
She sighed, "He's sorry and he loves me."
"Please tell me you didn't fall for his charms."
"You mean please tell you I didn't fall harder than I already had?"
"Either one."
"Do you really want me to lie?"
"Oh God, Rory." she said sadly.
Her best friend groaned and fell back, "God, why do I let him do this to me?!"
Paris sighed, "We'll never understand the matters of the heart."
"You can say that again."
"We'll never understand-" she was cut off as a pillow flew into her face. Paris hugged it to her chest, smiling.
Rory groaned and hit her head against the mattress, "It's just, there was something there, you know? There was something about the relationship that screamed it was right, that I was different and he was the one for me, you know?"
"Well, you don't...regret not taking him back, do you?"
Rory sighed and shrugged, "I know that I'll always wonder what would have happened if I had."
"But sweetie, you can't beat yourself up over him. He cheated on you, not the other way around. He's to blame. Not you."
"But I mean, think about it. He never did anything with her after that night. And Summer constantly threw herself at him. Maybe it was just a mistake he made once and would never have done again if I'd taken him back."
"And maybe he would have messed around with her if you had. We'll never know, but isn't it safer not to know than to have risked getting hurt again?"
"Maybe safe isn't what I need." she said, sitting up and resting her head on her knees.
"Okay, let's not focus on what could have been. Let's focus on..." she looked around, trying to find a better topic, "The reasons it will be easy for you to move on."
Rory sighed heavily and nodded, "Yeah, sure."
"Okay, hm, let's see...you have closure. He cheated, so you know why it ended."
"True. But that doesn't help because one: I ended it, and two: He still loves me. Therefore, I have no closure."
"Okay, okay, so who needs closure? You sure as hell don't. So, okay, umm," she looked around before perking up, "You have nothing connecting you to him. You're from different towns, I seriously doubt he'll go to Yale. You don't really have the same friends."
"Okay. That's one."
"One and a half."
Rory smiled, "One and a half. Now I'm listening."
"Okay, okay, you umm, you never lost your virginity, so he wasn't you first, right? That's a good one, right?"
Rory made a face, "Well- it would be a good one, except, well, it's not exactly-you-you know, we actually kind of-"
Paris cut her off, "Oh my God, Rory!" she screamed, "Please tell me you didn't!!" Rory was silent. "You did! Oh my GOD!! You- you and Tristan- you-OH MY GOD!!!" Paris had momentarily lost the ability to form complete sentences.
"Paris!" she yelled, "Could you please not be so LOUD?!"
"Okay, okay, sorry." she whispered, "But you two-you, you slept with him? When?"
"Remember Prom?"
"Junior or senior year?"
"Senior."
"Yeah."
"Remember Madeline's party?"
"Yeah..."
"Remember seeing me and Tristan there?"
"Yeah...wait, no. You two didn't come and we-oh my God, that's when?"
She nodded, "Yeah."
"Did he push you?"
"No. Not at all. One other time we came really close, but he stopped because he knew I wasn't ready." she looked out the window with glazed over eyes, "He was perfect, Paris. Amazing."
"I can't believe you didn't tell me!"
"I didn't tell anyone. No one knew."
"It was only that one time?"
"Yeah."
"Do you regret it?"
She shook her head, "Never."
Paris looked at Rory's outline, "You really love him, don't you?"
Rory shook her head, "It's either that, or I completely hate him. I just can't figure out which one it is." she looked at Paris, "But it doesn't matter now, I'll never see him again."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Now you know what to call home
This could be
The second to last time
You're way too close to dive
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I hate myself for losing you
I blame myself for pulling you apart
I guess this is the only way
I hate theses eyes that noticed you
I hate my heart for breaking up that day
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Chilton's graduating class of two thousand and three!" the principle said loudly. Four hundred caps flew into the air and the court yard erupted with cheers. The former seniors jumped up, each untying the navy blue or white balloon that was connected to their chair. For a moment it was hard to see around you as they flew up.
Rory looked around, smiling as Paris ran up to her, a huge grin plastered on her face, she hugged Rory tightly. She returned the embrace from her best friend. Paris rocked from left to right, smiling. She let go, "Well, we did it," she smiled sadly, "We made it through Chilton. And now, we're going to college."
Rory sighed, "And we always thought this day would never come."
Paris sighed as well, looking away, "We're in the real world now, no more Charleston-"
"No more being forced to do homework."
"No more pointless gym."
Rory laughed, "No more Summer."
"Hell yeah!" Paris said loudly.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It didn't mean much anyway
It's you, you I figured out
It always helps to forget how to be yourself
It's you, you realize that you're understanding this
Understand that you're all alone
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rory smiled as Madeline and Louise ran up, and into either of the girls, embracing them. Rory hugged Louise, she and Paris both laughing.
"So," Louise started, "Where are you guys going?"
"Both of us are going to Yale, what about you guys?" Paris said before Rory could open her mouth.
"Princeton." Madeline told her.
"Both of you?"
"Yup."
"Well, we're gonna have to get together sometime, because there's no way we'll make it very long without seeing each other." Paris said.
Louise laughed, "My thoughts exactly." she said before getting called away by her boyfriend, "So, I'll talk to you guys tomorrow, okay? We have to spend like, a month together before we leave."
"We will." Paris said as she walked away.
Madeline sighed, "I can't believe it's all over."
Paris nodded, "I know. It's almost unreal."
"Rory, what are you so quiet?" Madeline asked.
Rory whipped her head around, "What?"
"Are you okay?"
"Oh yeah, I'm fine." she said distractedly.
Madeline turned to see Louise beckoning to her, "Well, I have to go, but I'll call you two tomorrow, all right?"
Paris nodded, hugging her again, "Bye."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Today
Is the first day of your life
The first day that you're on your own
Now you know what to call home
I know I'm right for leaving you
Now there's nothing left for me to say
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Madeline walked away and Paris turned to Rory, "Okay, spill."
"Spill what? I have nothing to spill."
Paris stuck out her right hip and put her hand on it forceful, "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Nothing, I'm fine."
"You can't lie to me."
"I'm not lying."
Paris opened her mouth to argue, but they heard someone call her name. She turned and saw Jamie standing a few yards away. Her jaw dropped in an open mouthed smile and she turned to Rory, her eyes open in surprise. Rory's eyebrows arched and she smiled, "I thought you two broke up."
"W-we did." Paris stuttered, still in shock, she turned back to make sure he was still there.
Rory smiled knowingly, "Go." she shoved Paris playfully with her shoulder. She didn't move, "Go talk to him, he's waiting."
Paris turned back to Rory, "Are you sure?"
"Positive."
"Are you all right?"
"Perfectly. Now go talk and do the dirty."
"This isn't over."
"Obviously."
"After I talk to him, I'm coming back to talk to you and you're going to tell me what's wrong."
"Right."
"I'm serious."
"I know."
Paris shrieked quietly, "He came to see me."
Rory nodded, "Yes he did."
"He misses me."
"Yes he does."
"I'm going to talk to Jamie."
Rory shook her head, "Not if you stay over here until he graduates from college."
Paris nodded vigorously, "Right, right. I'm going to go over there and talk to him."
"Yes."
"Right now."
"Yes."
"And here I go." She stood still. "I am walking over there right now."
Rory shook her head and turned Paris around, pushing her towards Jamie. She walked nervously until he smiled and held his hand out to her, asking to go on a walk. She turned and smiled Rory, who nodded, smiling. But it fell after Paris turned away and she glanced at the row she'd been avoiding looking at. The D's. She turned back as soon as she saw Summer strutting over to Tristan and Austin. Two of the most popular guys of their class, and the two that she most publicly broke.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
It never meant much anyway
It's you, you I figured out
It always helps to forget how to be yourself
It's you, you realize that you're understanding this
Understanding that you're all alone
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
She sat back down and looked on in silence. There were countless people hugging and crying. Some laughing and running around. She sighed, she'd hated these people at first. But after she'd started dating Tristan, they accepted her, and she'd grown to tolerate many, like some and even love a few. There were two main popular people she'd grown to love other than Tristan. Prue Grove and Matthew Doherman, but now she was leaving the comfort of Chilton for something else, something that was a mystery. And for the first time, she was nervous about leaving, she almost didn't want to.
Some one blocked the sun from her face and she looked up to see a man outlined against the clear blue sky. Tristan sat beside her, she looked at her shoes, not willing to meet his gaze, they'd barely looked at each other for four months, since the night of the party. Rory began clicking her shoes for lack of anything better to do.
"So," Tristan said finally, "What college are you going to?" he asked lamely, needing to talk to her, but not willing to open any wounds.
"Yale." she said without emotion.
"Oh. I thought so."
"Yeah." she leaned back and crossed her legs, folding her arms across her chest.
Tristan nodded, biting his lip, "What about Paris?"
"Same. We're sharing a dorm."
"Oh."
"Did she not tell you?"
"Paris hasn't spoken to me in four months."
Rory narrowed her eyes and her head cocked back in surprise, "She hasn't?"
Tristan looked at her, "You didn't know?"
"No."
He nodded, "Yeah. Not since she told me what a dumb ass I was."
Rory looked away, "Oh. I didn't know," she looked back at him, "But...I thought you two had been friends since fourth grade."
"We had. Eight years. But, she knew what an idiot I was, and I guess she just got tired of it. And after I did that to you, she saw me the way everyone else does. And she realized that even though she'd tried so hard for so long, she couldn't help me." He looked up at her, but Rory looked at her shoes, unable still to make eye contact. He looked back down, "But, she introduced me to you and we started dating after a while. I was different with you. And for a while, I was her best friend from elementary school." he looked at her to see that she was listening to him intently. "But after I cheated on you, she figured I was hopeless, and I guess she was right."
Rory closed her eyes, feeling tears rise. Tristan stood up and so did she, falling four inches shorter than him. He touched her face gently, in longing, not lustfully or in trying to kiss her, just softly, missing the feel of her skin. She looked up, tears running silently down her porcelain cheeks. "Rory, we had something, and I'm so sorry I hurt you." he whispered. She was silent. "And I never meant to-"
She cut him off, "I know."
He nodded, "Good."
She bit her lip, "Well, I have to go." she nodded towards her mom, who was beckoning. "And it looks like you do too." he looked in the direction she was and saw his older sister smiling at him.
He turned to her, "I guess so." Tristan's hand fell from her face, "I really am sorry."
"I know." she swallowed the knot in her throat.
"And..." he trailed off, shaking his head slightly, "I really do love you."
She closed her eyes, whispering, "I know."
Tristan looked away, tears filling his eyes, "So, I guess I'll see you later."
She looked up at him, "Probably not."
He nodded, looking away for a moment before looking back to her, "Bye Mary." he kissed her hand gently and walked away. Rory's hands covered her face and she fell to her knees in the almost deserted court yard.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Today
It the first day of your life
The first day that you're on your own
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
ONE MONTH LATER
Rory and Paris were in her room, going through mounds of clothes and trying to find ones to pack for college. They'd been there for almost three hours before Rory groaned and fell face forward onto her bed, "Paris, I'm an idiot, aren't I?" she asked, muffed.
Paris sat beside her, "Um, no, I don't...think so."
"Oh, I am."
"Why do you say that?"
"I never told you what happened at graduation after you left."
Paris narrowed her eyes, "What happened?"
Rory sighed and laid on her side, propping her head on her hand, "Tristan came and talked to me."
Paris's jaw dropped, "He didn't." she whispered.
"Oh, he did."
"And?"
She sighed, "He's sorry and he loves me."
"Please tell me you didn't fall for his charms."
"You mean please tell you I didn't fall harder than I already had?"
"Either one."
"Do you really want me to lie?"
"Oh God, Rory." she said sadly.
Her best friend groaned and fell back, "God, why do I let him do this to me?!"
Paris sighed, "We'll never understand the matters of the heart."
"You can say that again."
"We'll never understand-" she was cut off as a pillow flew into her face. Paris hugged it to her chest, smiling.
Rory groaned and hit her head against the mattress, "It's just, there was something there, you know? There was something about the relationship that screamed it was right, that I was different and he was the one for me, you know?"
"Well, you don't...regret not taking him back, do you?"
Rory sighed and shrugged, "I know that I'll always wonder what would have happened if I had."
"But sweetie, you can't beat yourself up over him. He cheated on you, not the other way around. He's to blame. Not you."
"But I mean, think about it. He never did anything with her after that night. And Summer constantly threw herself at him. Maybe it was just a mistake he made once and would never have done again if I'd taken him back."
"And maybe he would have messed around with her if you had. We'll never know, but isn't it safer not to know than to have risked getting hurt again?"
"Maybe safe isn't what I need." she said, sitting up and resting her head on her knees.
"Okay, let's not focus on what could have been. Let's focus on..." she looked around, trying to find a better topic, "The reasons it will be easy for you to move on."
Rory sighed heavily and nodded, "Yeah, sure."
"Okay, hm, let's see...you have closure. He cheated, so you know why it ended."
"True. But that doesn't help because one: I ended it, and two: He still loves me. Therefore, I have no closure."
"Okay, okay, so who needs closure? You sure as hell don't. So, okay, umm," she looked around before perking up, "You have nothing connecting you to him. You're from different towns, I seriously doubt he'll go to Yale. You don't really have the same friends."
"Okay. That's one."
"One and a half."
Rory smiled, "One and a half. Now I'm listening."
"Okay, okay, you umm, you never lost your virginity, so he wasn't you first, right? That's a good one, right?"
Rory made a face, "Well- it would be a good one, except, well, it's not exactly-you-you know, we actually kind of-"
Paris cut her off, "Oh my God, Rory!" she screamed, "Please tell me you didn't!!" Rory was silent. "You did! Oh my GOD!! You- you and Tristan- you-OH MY GOD!!!" Paris had momentarily lost the ability to form complete sentences.
"Paris!" she yelled, "Could you please not be so LOUD?!"
"Okay, okay, sorry." she whispered, "But you two-you, you slept with him? When?"
"Remember Prom?"
"Junior or senior year?"
"Senior."
"Yeah."
"Remember Madeline's party?"
"Yeah..."
"Remember seeing me and Tristan there?"
"Yeah...wait, no. You two didn't come and we-oh my God, that's when?"
She nodded, "Yeah."
"Did he push you?"
"No. Not at all. One other time we came really close, but he stopped because he knew I wasn't ready." she looked out the window with glazed over eyes, "He was perfect, Paris. Amazing."
"I can't believe you didn't tell me!"
"I didn't tell anyone. No one knew."
"It was only that one time?"
"Yeah."
"Do you regret it?"
She shook her head, "Never."
Paris looked at Rory's outline, "You really love him, don't you?"
Rory shook her head, "It's either that, or I completely hate him. I just can't figure out which one it is." she looked at Paris, "But it doesn't matter now, I'll never see him again."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Now you know what to call home
This could be
The second to last time
You're way too close to dive
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*