A/N: This one may be a bit shorter than usual...


Ashley's phone was ringing off the hook. She had been taking a nap at the time and no one was home to answer the phone. She got herself to reach for the phone, half asleep, "Hello?" she asked.

"Ash..." was all the voice said.

"Jimmy?" She knew his voice.

"We need to talk." He said after a slight pause.

Ashley sat up in her bed and tried to wake herself up, "What time is it?"

"It's 7:30... were you asleep? I don't wanna bug you.." He sounded calm and collective.

She rubbed her eyes to get a clear view outside her window, it was still daylight, "Um. No, we can talk... why don't you just come over. Everyone's out." She said as the silence grew, "is something wrong?"

Jimmy finally responded, "Uh, I'll be there in a few minutes.." He said, "Bye." The phone went silent and she heard the click.

Ashley got up to fix herself. She had fallen asleep trying to finish her essay and write her song at the same time.

THE DOT

Marco left with Spinner to get out of the garage and get away from Craig. He was having one of his moments so they left him alone.

"Ok... so... the band is kind of taking a break?" Marco was a bit confused about the band situation.

"Eh... I don't know." Spinner acted like he was taking orders because he knew his supervisor was watching him.

Marco noticed the supervisor, "Well, just get me a milkshake... so you won't get fired."

"Um.. ok." Spinner walked off.

KERWIN RESIDENCE

Ashley opened the door to find Jimmy standing on her doorstep. She was quite nervous about him being there since she had no idea what was going on and she didn't know what was up, "Um, hey did you want to come in?"

"Uh.. I don't know." Jimmy said hesitantly, "Whatever." He entered.

"You're breaking up with me aren't you." She said reflexively.

"What?" Jimmy turned to her quickly, "Well..."

"Yeah... thought so. Whatever, spare me the details... I get it... it's Hazel isn't it." She rambled on.

Jimmy didn't know what to say, "Do you still love Craig?" He paused, "I know I keep asking you and you're probably annoyed, but I need to know."

She looked at him confused, "I love him... to the extent of being a friend." She stopped and looked around, "I thought you said it didn't matter?"

"It doesn't... but it still bugs me... there's that chance that you might still love him and the thing is, if you do, then you do..."

She crossed her arms, "Yeah, if I do then I do.. but it doesn't mean I'm going to be with him."

"I'm not going to make you make a choice... cause that's stupid." Jimmy said, "But I hope that I'm not wasting my time either..."

Shocked, Ashley's mouth dropped, "I hope you're not wasting your time either!"

"You know what I mean." Jimmy's voice remained calm, if not vulnerable, "I don't..." he was at a loss of words, "I'm not here to play games... with you, I don't want to play these games. You know, the back and forth thing? We've been there, we done that... "

Ashley took a whle to respond, "They're not games... they're my feelings."

Jimmy tried to lighten the moment as he exited, "Well... see, I'm not making you do anything... it's all up to you..." And he exited her house.


Coming up: Ashley faces Craig one last time and finally understands what Jimmy's talking about. She realizes new things about herself and her friends.