AN: First things first. It has been over a year since I wrote anything on this fic. I can't really say why, I don't really know. I think of it often though. It was one of those weird things. My first fic. I knew some of it was bad, and a lot of it is cheesy beyond belief. Here's to hoping that it only gets better from here. Maybe a few of you still have me on author alert, maybe not. I just re read the entire fic, and I honestly fell in love with it again. On a side note, I now have some wonderful ideas for what's coming (I knew what was coming all along, but now I have some more song lyrics I can add to it, just as an enhancement), and I'm hoping a few people will review and tell me they like this.

Chapter 25: The argument

Cayte sat on the Hogwarts Express anxious to get back to the place she now considered home. She missed Sirius profoundly, and was curious as to why he had not written many more letters after that first one. She worried that it might be because of Cassie. Had something happened? Did something horrible go wrong? There's only an hour left of this train ride to find out, she thought to herself as she listened to her Oasis CD. "Well I've been standing at the station, in need of education in the rain," the band played. The hair on the back of Cayte's neck pricked up, something about that seemed eerily familiar, and she couldn't tell what. She closed her eyes, and the next thing she knew the train was stopping.

She had finally arrived. She grabbed her stuff and looked out of the window, sure enough it was pouring down rain. As she walked down the steps she located Sirius standing in the crowd, looking extremely unhappy, she noted. She smiled a big smile as she walked toward him, one that had to be about as big as the one she gave Jack, Sirius noted. When she reached him she dropped her stuff, and wrapped her arms around him tightly. "I missed you so much Siri Babe. Words just don't describe!" she smiled, and noticed that he didn't move to hug her back. Instead, he stood with his arms by his side, when she backed away Sirius picked up her stuff and walked towards her trunk, grabbing that as well. I may be pissed as hell at her, Sirius thought, but that's no reason not to be polite.

When they reached a carriage, they climbed inside and sat opposite of each other. "Sirius, what's wrong?" Cayte asked concerned, "You stopped sending me letters three days into break and now you haven't said a word to me. What's wrong?"

Sirius looked at her, a small amount of disgust filled his eyes. "You honestly don't know? After everything I Have done for you, you don't know how much you have hurt me? I don't believe this," Sirius said, fuming at the fact that his 'girlfriend' didn't know what was going on. Cayte just stared at him, a blank expression on her face.

"No, Sirius, I don't know what's going on. Will you please explain to me, so that maybe I can remedy this situation. I can honestly say that I never meant to hurt you, and I'm not quite sure how I did hurt you. Please understand that, and just explain to me what's wrong?" Sirius turned his face towards the window, signaling the end of the conversation for time being. He was too mad to really try and explain this to her, and he was thinking that maybe, just maybe, he had made the wrong decision regarding her cheating on him. If she had, wouldn't she just immediately show signs of guilt?

Cayte was frustrated. She had grown a lot since she first moved here, she now realized as she thought about what she would have done only a few months ago. She would have broken down in tears. Ignoring the fact that she actually wanted to cry, she sorted through the things that had happened on her break. Her mom had taken her to America, where she had gone to a Guster concert, then the next night gone to see Les Miserables with Jack. She had sent Sirius a letter everyday, sometimes including pictures, others just telling him how much fun she was having seeing her old friends again. One thought occurred to her. "Sirius? Are you upset with me because I had fun in America without you? Or is it something else?"

Sirius just grimaced, and being a stubborn male, closed his eyes and turned further towards the window. Cayte realized she probably struck a nerve, so it was obviously something about America.

When she arrived at Hogwarts, she distributed hugs to all of her friends before she asked Lily to join her as she put away her things. "Has Sirius been acting like this since I left?" she asked as soon as they were behind closed doors. Lily smiled slightly, "Not since you left, I guess about the second or third day in. Sometime after he got a letter from you, he started acting moody. James said something about a picture, but that's all I know. He might have mentioned someone named Jack. Mainly, we've all been staying away, he's quick to yell when something is bothering him, and none of us wanted to be the ones that he took it out on."

Cayte sat down on her bed feeling rather dejected. She remembered picking out the picture of herself and Jack that she sent because it showed her so happy, and she knew- or thought she knew- that Sirius would want to see her at her happiest. She now knew why he was upset, that it was something to do with Jack, but she didn't know anything else. She had to talk to him badly now, and decided it was time he learned about the secret room they had. Cayte ran down the stairs towards the commons room and found Sirius brooding in a corner. Picking up his hand, she tried to pull him out of the chair saying, "come on, I really need to talk to you." Sirius shook his head and sat still. She asked him again, explaining that she really did need to talk to him and yet he still didn't budge. She knew that he could hear the urgency in her voice; she stared at his eyes, and could see his concern shine through the disgust that had been there since they met at the station. Cayte knew that there was only one way to get him to come with her, and it wasn't something she really wanted to do. Sure, she was crying inside, but it had been so long since she just broke down, and even though this wouldn't quite be a true break down, it would be in a way, and she would be lying to Sirius.

It finally became too much after she tried a few more times, even telling him that I was important and about their relationship. He really was hurting her a lot, and she knew it would take her one step back from conquering her fears if it just continued. Cayte really did want to cry outwardly now, and she could feel the tears gathering closer to her eyes. "Seeing as you obviously don't care anymore," she said looking at Sirius, "I guess it's better just to leave you alone." A single tear fell down her cheek as she turned and walked to the portrait hole and walked away.

It was strange how that one tear affected Sirius so. He was still positive that something was going on that he needed to be aware of, and he most definitely did not like this Jack person. But it struck him to the core that she thought he didn't care about her anymore. Just being in the same room as her seemed to validate his existence, even when he was mad at her. He knew that he should get up and go after her, in fact he was fighting the urge to get up and run. The only thing that held him back was the fact that, well he wasn't sure why, but he thought she might need a little time to herself. He waited about five minutes before getting up and asking Lily where he might find her. As it turns out, Lily really was worried about her now. Cayte and Lily had grown closer over the past few months and Lily knew that she was making a very big effort to not cry, especially in public. Sure, shit happens, and people will cry, but Cayte cried a lot her first semester and she wanted to refrain from doing so this time around.

Of course Lily knew where Cayte would go to if she wasn't in her dorm (and she wasn't, no one saw her come in). She led Sirius to the portrait right away, and after a few battles with the portrait about letting Sirius in, Lily left him to the growing hole in the canvas.

AN: Ok. So how did you like it? After my yearlong sabbatical/hiatus, I think it's a little rough, but that's life. I always think my writings not good enough. Cellobug can tell you. I took a small poll that consisted of the following question: i can A- post a six page story with a really awesome cliffie in hopes that people review or B- keep typing and make a really long chapter due to my year break

It was ultimately decided that I should make it a cliffhanger (see above ending) and continue writing, then post the rest of it later. It seemed like a good plan to me, and I really want to feel out for how the story is hitting the masses again. If you are new, and you made it through the hullabaloo that was the first twenty-four chapters, congratulations. I just did that today myself. I award you balloons. If you are an old time reader, back to see what's happening, I double congratulate you for hanging on! You all get helium balloons. I went looking today to see what I could find on my PC of the LATM (Life according to me) chapters on my computer, and it appears that I deleted them all. Sad stuff really. Anyway, be on the look out for the next chapter! Leave reviews, really it will get me to update this faster and faster....