A/N: Hey, I'm alive and I'm actually updating this story!! It's only been what? A year? I've thought about it several times and I felt really bad for leaving you guys hanging (no really—I did.) I just haven't been in the mood to write anything for awhile. I hate leaving things unfinished though so when the mood finally struck I pulled it back out. Thanks for all your reviews encouraging me to continue. If it wasn't for you guys, I probably never would've started working on it again. I haven't watched Rocket Power in forever though so I hope they're still in character.

Chapter 10: Moving on

(Sheryl Crow)

I called you last night at the hotel

Everyone knows, but they won't tell

But their half-hearted smiles tell me somethin' just ain't right

I've been waitin' on you for a long time

Fuelin' up on heartaches and cheap wine

I ain't heard from you in three damn nights

I put your picture away

I wonder where you've been

I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to him

I put your picture away

I wonder where you've been

I can't look at you while I'm lyin' next to him

Reggie awoke the following morning and found herself staring at the picture on her nightstand. It was the one showing the four of them at the beach last summer that she'd made copies of for Otto, Twister and Sam. She couldn't help but miss the way things used to be. They were all so carefree and happy in the photo. After studying Twister's image especially close, she finally began to realize that she missed him terribly. She felt so empty inside without him. Although she'd had a great time with Lars, she just didn't feel the same way about him as she did Twister. She loved Twister. In the back of her mind, she knew that she'd made a huge mistake by breaking up with him.

Sighing, Reggie got out of bed and trudged downstairs to the kitchen where she found Otto sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal. She wondered if he was going to continue ignoring her today—or worse. Being ignored was better than listening to him yell at her all day about how stupid she was for going off with Lars yesterday.

"What's up, Rocketboy?" She asked, trying to be as friendly to him as possible in hopes of avoiding another argument.

"Hey." Otto muttered, then shoved another spoonful of cereal in his mouth.

"What are you going to do today?" Reggie asked casually as she began to prepare her own breakfast.

Otto garbled something that sounded like "surfing" through a mouthful of cornflakes. He finally swallowed so she could understand him. "We're gonna hang with these people from Sunset Beach we met at Madtown yesterday—Autumn, David and Chris."

"That's cool."

"Yeah, they have some killer moves. Mine are better though, of course. That Autumn chick is totally hot too!" Otto said excitedly.

"Really? Do you like her?" She asked, becoming more interested in the conversation.

"Yeah, she's nice and all, but I think…um…never mind." Otto caught himself before he blurted out that she and Twister are into each other.

"But what?" Reggie pressed; obviously peeved he was trying to hide something from her.

"Nothing, don't worry about it." he said uneasily.

"It's about Twister, isn't it?" She demanded.

"I just forgot what I was going to say, that's all. It's not a big deal, Reg. Why are you acting so whacked?" Otto tried to play off his slip-up. He couldn't figure out why he didn't want Reggie to know about Twister and Autumn. Maybe he was still hoping that she would dump Lars and try to work things out with him. Even if he wasn't thrilled about them dating, he would rather her be with Twister than Lars any day.

"Whatever, Otto." Reggie spat angrily. Suddenly she wasn't hungry anymore so she dumped the oatmeal in the sink

"What's with you?" Otto asked as she walked out of the kitchen. She ignored him and headed back to her room.

She locked her door and shakily sat on her bed, wondering if her instincts were right about what Otto didn't want to tell her. She had a feeling that there was something going on between Twister and this Autumn girl. "How could I be so stupid!" she asked herself aloud. "Did I really think that he was going to sit around and wait for me, especially after I went out with Lars?" Feeling silly for talking to herself, Reggie took the picture off the nightstand and stared at it once more. Summoning up her courage, she picked up the phone and dialed Twisters number. She needed to make things right before it was too late.

Twister groaned and rolled over to face the person that had just brutally poked him in the ribs.

"Get up!" Lars shouted purposefully, knowing the reaction it would have on his brother.

Lars's voice shot through Twister's fiercely pounding head like a bullet. He felt like he was going to throw up. "Go away Lars…I'm sick." He mumbled and pulled the covers back over his head.

"It's called a hangover, dork. Doesn't feel so good now like it did last night, does it?" Lars taunted.

"Leave me alone!" Twister's tortured voice sounded muffled through the thick blanket. "And stop talking so loud!"

"Serves you right." Lars scoffed. "I oughtta whomp you good for doing that. Do you know how much trouble you would've been in if Mom and Dad found out…" He was interrupted by the phone ringing and put his torture session on hold to go answer it.

"Hey Lars." Reggie spoke into the phone, trying to hide the disappointment in her voice. She was hoping that Twister would answer.

"Hey babe, what's up?"

"Not much. Um…Is Twister around?"

"Yeah, but I don't think he can talk right now."

"Why?"

"He hung out with his new friends in Sunset Beach last night and came home wasted."

"WHAT?" She couldn't believe her ears. "Twister was drinking?"

"Yeah, the dork got pretty messed-up. Now he's paying for it." Lars chuckled.

"That's harsh. I would've never thought Twister would do something like that…" She paused, speechless with shock, before finally changing the subject. "So what's the deal with him and that girl, anyway? Are they going out?"

"I don't know. I haven't really talked to him much."

"Why won't anyone tell me what's going on!" Reggie suddenly raised her voice with obvious frustration, immediately regretting that she'd let her emotions leak out.

"Chill, Reg!" Lars said with surprise. "Who cares what he does. There's no need to get bent over it. Why do you wanna talk to him anyway?"

"Oh…Otto wanted me to ask him…uh…if he's still coming surfing with him today." She lied.

"Why can't Rocketdork call himself?"

"He's busy uh…waxing his board."

"I'll tell the dork to call him back if he ever gets out of bed. So, you wanna do something today?" Lars asked.

She really didn't want to hang with Lars today. She liked him, but she still cared too much for Twister to get into a new relationship right now. Not that it mattered. It was obvious that Twister was moving on. With that thought racing through her mind, she accepted his offer. "I guess we can hit Madtown."

"Awesome! I'll be over in about an hour."

"Great. See you then." Reggie said and hung up. She felt something in her hand and realized that she'd been clutching the framed picture the whole time she'd been on the phone. Walking to her closet, she gave it a final glance before shoving it on the top shelf amongst the boxes and other forgotten items. She needed to forget about Twister and move on.

Despite his suffering, Twister forced himself to get out of bed and drag to the kitchen. Lars was there, finishing off a humongous sandwich that made Twister feel nauseous again just looking at it. The older boy rose from the table, poured a cup of coffee from the pot and placed it in front of his brother.

"What's this?" Twister asked questioningly.

"What's it look like dork? It's coffee, now drink it!"

"You know I don't drink coffee Lars. It tastes like crap!"

"I know, but it'll make you feel better. Trust me. Here, eat these too." Lars said, tossing a box of saltine crackers in front of him.

Twister hesitated then finally took a small sip of the black brew, wrinkling his nose in disgust. He fumbled with opening the crackers. "How do you know so much about how to cure a hangover, Lars?"

"Let's just say that I've been there, done that, a few times."

"No way! You've been out drinking before?" Twister asked.

"Yeah, I was your age. It was when I was hanging out with that rough crowd at school. I haven't done it in a couple of years though. At one time it was getting bad, like every night, so I made myself stop before I started to depend on it. It was a really lame thing to do. I felt like shit all the time." Lars said, surprised that he was actually telling all of this to Twister.

"I can't believe I never knew!"

"You were always asleep when I came home. Mom and dad caught me once. Remember that time I was grounded for like six months? That's why I said it would be my fault if they saw you last night. I'm sure they'd think I had something do with it."

"Oh."

"I don't want to see you end up in the same situation." Lars said quietly.

"Thanks Lars for uh…caring." Twister replied, starting to feel somewhat better.

"What? No way! I don't care what you do dork!" Lars shouted, trying to cover up the fact that he'd just shown a hint of emotion toward his brother. "I'm just looking out for my own ass!"

Twister responded with a slight smile. He knew that Lars couldn't stand to let anybody see his 'good' side so he didn't push the issue.

"Look, I'm going off. Rocketdork wants you to call him. Later much." Lars said, putting on his helmet. He grabbed his skateboard and slammed the door behind him.

Twister sat there, munching on crackers and choking down the repulsive black coffee. After awhile he started to feel a lot better and realized that he might actually live, after all, so he picked up the phone and hit the speed dial for the Rocket house.

"Hey bro." Twister said when Otto answered.

"What's up?"

"Just calling you back."

"Huh? I didn't call you today." Otto sounded puzzled.

"I was in bed so Lars answered the phone and he said you wanted me to call you this morning."

"I was gonna see if we're still on for surfing with Autumn, Chris and David, but I haven't called you yet."

"Then who gave Lars the message?" Twister asked.

"Reggie, I guess. I didn't tell her to call though."

"Why would Reggie call just to tell me to call you?" Twister was confused.

The line was silent for a minute as Otto thought about it. "Dude! Don't you get it? She was probably calling to talk to you, then made up some lame-o excuse when Lars answered the phone! She was acting totally whacked this morning."

"Nah, not likely bro." Twister didn't want to let himself believe that it was possible, still he couldn't help but wonder. "Is she home now?"

"No, she went to Madtown with Lars." Otto spat the last word with obvious disgust.

"I figured." Twister said with disappointment. "Whatever's cool with me. I don't feel too hot today, but I guess I'm still up for surfing. See if Squid wants to come and I'll call Autumn and let them know where to meet us."

"Okay, later."

"Later, bro." Twister said and hung up. He didn't feel like doing anything and he had mixed feeling about hanging with Autumn again today. He liked her, but after talking to Lars—not to mention the current pounding in his head—he'd decided that he didn't really want to get mixed-up with a crowd like that. But since Reggie was obviously moving on with her life, he was going to do the same. He picked up the phone again and dialed Autumn's number.