Obvious changes in Disclaimer (when you read them).

....

Chapter 6: Suffering, Remorse and Closeness

Tommy, Lil, Kimi and Phil watched as Angelica walked into the back. None of them knew why she did, maybe to try and sort things out with Chuckie. Who knows? Kimi did get a slight feeling of worry roll across her.

Just then, the bell rang as the door opened and Dil rolled in dressed in his Laser Tag Team outfit.

"What up players?" He asked.

"Uh, Dil? The Laser Tag Team Tournament doesn't start for months." Tommy said.

"I know, but I want to be in the best shape possible, so I'm training hard. You know I'm the best in the team." Dil responded. He wasn't being arrogant; he WAS the best Laser Tag Team player Jim Jr. Jr. High School ever had. It was something he enjoyed and Tommy was proud of him because of it.

"Whatever you say Dil." Lil said as she shook her head.

....

Angelica's fist connected sharply with Chuckie's stomach. He coughed and tried to ward off Angelica's powerful attacks, but he was too weak, the air had been knocked out of him with a single well placed punch.

"You fucking bastard! I fucking told you to keep your big fucking mouth shut!" Angelica shouted at Chuckie as she repeatedly hit him in his chest. "You're useless Finster!"

Chuckie couldn't do anything expect take the punishment Angelica was giving him. Not surprisingly, tears filled his vision and they began to roll down his cheeks. The pain was immense! He knew he couldn't take much more before his ribs would start to crack. Each punch was damaging, painful and deadly. He tried to speak but no words came out.

Angelica sighed. She stopped punching him and stood up.

"I hope you've learnt your lesson." She said as she took her phone out. "I'm gonna phone the hospital and get an ambulance out here for you as I don't want you dead, Finster." Angelica walked out of the bathroom, leaving Chuckie by himself. He weakly held his chest.

....

The door from the back swung open and Angelica appeared. She looked angry and stormed out of the Java Lava.

"Gee, what crawled up her ass and died?" Phil asked.

"I dunno and I don't wanna know either." Tommy replied.

"I wonder what's taking Chuckie so long. He should be back now." Kimi said. She was worried as she knew Angelica must have done something to him. "I'm gonna go check."

The others went back to watching Dil practise diving and rolling around the café, training himself for the Tournament.

"You know, every time I watch Dil train for Laser Tag, he never ceases to amaze me." Phil said.

"How come?" Lil asked.

"Well, it must take someone with incredible stamina and a lack of dignity to roll around the floor in public with a thumb and index finger in the form of a gun." Phil explained.

"This is Dil we're talking about here guys. He believes in aliens! Need I say more?" Tommy commented.

"Good point." Lil agreed.

....

Kimi walked into the back and looked around. No sign of Chuckie and she knew he was lying about the "thing" he had to get. Then again, everyone knew that there was no "thing". She headed for the bathroom when she noticed a note stuck to the door. She read it.

"'An ambulance is on the way. Be careful with his chest'" Kimi read. "Oh shit! CHUCKIE!" She screamed as she opened the door. There, lying on the tiled floor was the weak form of Chuckie Finster.

Kimi ran over and held his head in her arms.

"Chuckie! What happened?" She asked frantically. "BETTY! TOMMY! PHIL! LIL! DIL!" She shouted as loud as she could.

"A-angie..." Chuckie weakly said. He didn't have the energy to say anything else. The door burst open as Betty ran in.

"What is going on...Oh my God! Chuckie! What happened?" Betty asked.

"I think that it has a lot to do with Angelica!" Kimi shouted.

Tommy and the others burst in.

"God almighty! Chuckie!" Tommy shouted.

"Okay Lil, go and phone the hospital right away!" Betty ordered.

"Don't bother. One's already on the way." Kimi said as she held the note up, tears streaming down her face.

Tommy took it and the others all read it.

"It has to be Angelica! This is her hand writing. I...I can't believe she would do something like this..." Tommy said. He wanted to defend Angelica as she is family, but what's the point? She beat up Chuckie for reasons unknown. He turned and started to walk out.

"Tommy! Where are you going?" Dil asked.

"To find Angelica and get some answers!" Tommy replied without turning his head. He ran out of the Java Lava and headed for Angelica's house.

....

By the time Angelica had got home, she had calmed down. She sat on her bed and thought about what she had just done to Chuckie.

'Hmm, maybe I was a little harsh on him. Maybe I shouldn't have hit so much.' She thought. She could feel a small piece of guilt reside within her. Her conscience kept telling her that she shouldn't have done it...but she did. What's happened has happened and nothing can change that now. It didn't stop her feeling a little guilty though. She sighed heavily.

The door bell rang and Charlotte opened the door. Angelica could just make out that someone wanted to see her (Angelica that is, not Charlotte). The mumbling stopped and she could hear footsteps coming up the stairs.

"I wonder who that could be." Angelica said as she lay on her bed, placing her hands behind her head.

The door to her room swung open to reveal a rather angry Tommy Pickles. He shut her door and then locked it. Then he turned to her and marched up to her and grabbed her sweater and pulled her close to him.

"What the fuck did you do to Chuckie?!" He asked angrily.

Angelica pushed him away and sat up.

"I didn't do nothing!" She protested.

"Come ON Angelica! I'm not one year old! You beat him up and I wanna know why!" Tommy shouted.

....

Chuckie had been admitted to hospital and X-rayed. His parents had been given the results.

"You see, Mr and Mrs Finster, I'm sorry to say this but your son has three heavily fractured ribs on his left side and one minor fracture on another rib on his right side. Here." The doctor showed them the X-ray pictures and pointed the fractures out to them.

"How long will he be in here?" Chas asked.

"That depends on how quickly his fractures heal. But I'd say in about a month he will be able to return to school, but he will need his chest to be bandaged to try and prevent further damage. We will be able to let him return home in about two to three weeks." The doctor explained. "But I expect that you will want some time alone with your son now. The nurse will take you to him."

Chas and Kira went out of the X-ray room. Kimi was waiting outside.

"How badly hurt is he?" Kimi asked.

"Four fractures. Three are severe and the other is minor. He'll be in here for a while." Kira told her daughter as the nurse took them to where Chuckie was.

About half an hour later, they were with Chuckie when all of the others except for Angelica came in.

"How is he Chas?" Didi asked.

"Well, it could be worse. He has three badly fractured ribs on his left and one minor fractured rib on his right." Chas told them.

"Poor guy." Dil said.

Phil placed his hand on Kimi's shoulder.

"I feel for ya Kimi. We'll all be here for you if you need us." He whispered to her.

A small smile came to her face as she turned her head to look at Phil. She always liked it when he showed compassion. He looked so cute.

"Thanks Phil." She said. Deep down, Kimi felt angry. She was furious that Angelica would do something like this and she wanted Angelica's blood. She would avenge Chuckie, even at the cost of her own life.

'No-one does this kind of thing to my brother and gets away with it!' She thought as she clenched a hand into a fist.

"Jonathon, I'm gonna have to go now. Chuckie's in hospital with fractured ribs." Charlotte told her underling and switched her mobile off. "Does anyone know who did this?"

Betty looked at the teens as they all looked at each other and her.

"Erm, Aunt Charlotte?" Tommy asked.

"What is it Tommy?" Charlotte asked.

"I er...don't know how to say this, but...well...Angelica is responsible for this." Tommy told her. He couldn't bear to look at anyone when he said this so he had shut his eyes and lowered his head. An array of shocks filled the room.

"No! Our little princess isn't that evil!" Charlotte protested. "Drew, do something!" But deep down they all knew it was true.

"I'm sorry Uncle Drew, Aunt Charlotte. But it is. That's why I came round, to confront Angelica and force the truth out of her. I...still don't know why she did it as she refused to tell me, but she did admit to attacking him." Tommy explained.

One of the doctors came in. "I'm afraid that visiting is over now. You can come back tomorrow morning."

One by one, they said their farewell to Chuckie and left. Chas, Kira and Kimi were the last three to leave.

"Mom?"

"Yes dear?"

"Can I come back here tomorrow morning?" Kimi asked.

"Now Kimi. I know you want to be with Chuckie through this dark time, as do I and your mother, but you have school to go to. I'm afraid I can't let you skip school as much as I can't have the Java Lava shut tomorrow. I want to spend the day looking after Chuckie as much as you do, but I can't." Chas replied.

Kimi sighed. "I guess your right dad. I'll come straight to the hospital after school." She wanted to be there for Chuckie. She also wanted to get revenge...

....

Angelica sat on her usual seat in her homeroom. She was bored and tired. Let's face it, who isn't? Even Mr. Nicholls had a slight bored tone in his voice as he called the register. A knock came on the door and the school secretary came in.

"Sorry to bother you Mr. Nicholls, but Chuckie Finster won't be in for a few weeks." She said.

"Really? How come?" He asked.

"You see, he was assaulted and is in hospital with three heavily fractured ribs."

Everyone stopped mumbling amongst themselves or whatever they were doing and took note of this. Angelica could feel the guilt rise in her. She became nervous and her breathing became quick and plainly audible. Everyone in class began talking amongst themselves. Each sentence dug right into Angelica's very being, making her even more nervous. 'Who could do such a thing?' 'Three fractured ribs' 'Who ever done this should be locked up'.

"Settle down class!" Mr. Nicholls said, knocking his fist on his desk.

Everyone stopped talking. Angelica froze with a terrified look on her face.

"Are you alright Angelica?" One of Angelica's friends whispered.

"ALL RIGHT ALREADY! I DID IT! I ASSAULTED CHUCKIE FINSTER! I FRACTURED HIS RIBS! I'M THE CULPRIT!" Angelica shouted.

Everyone turned and faced her, all stunned. This was not perhaps the best course of action for Angelica to take, but she didn't care. All that mattered now was the fact that she had committed a heinous crime on one of her friends and she wished she hadn't. Angelica picked her backpack up off the floor and ran out of the homeroom and headed straight for the girl's bathroom.

When she got there, she threw her backpack on the floor and rushed straight to the mirror as tears freely flowed from her ocean blue eyes. She looked at herself. She could sense the anger and hatred that had been in her since she was born, the evil side of her which clouded her good nature. She looked at her hands.

"I'm nothing more than a monster. A creation of evil..." She trailed off. She just started to cry. She felt sorry not for herself, but for the others. Tommy, Dil, Kimi, Phil, Lil, Susie and most of all, Chuckie. She had treated them as if they were slaves over the years. She didn't know if she could ever forgive herself for assaulting Chuckie, let alone be forgiven by everyone she knew. She felt like a criminal...a criminal who now has a conscience. She took a few deep breaths, rubbed her eyes with her hands and picked up her backpack from off the floor. She ran out of the bathroom and headed for the parking lot.

....

Phil's head smacked onto his desk, causing him to wake up. He looked around and saw everyone looking at him.

"Uh...What did I do?"

Kimi, who was sitting next to him as they were in Science, leaned over to him. "You were asleep." She whispered.

"Er, sorry Mr. Beaker." Phil laughed nervously.

"As I was saying..." Mr. Beaker was going on about some useless things that would never affect anyone's life in any way what so ever.

Phil folded his arms and lay back as far back as he could. He was bored, as was the whole class. He looked over at Kimi who was resting her head on her hand. A smile grew on his face as he looked at her.

'Man, she sure looks beautiful. If only I could tell her how I felt about her.' Phil thought to himself. He was unaware that Kimi was aware that he was looking at her.

A smile grew on Kimi's face as well.

'He's such a sweet guy. That way he's looking at me makes me feel...well, like I wanna flirt with him or make a pass at him. I guess I'll get the chance to do that.' She thought. She was seriously considering reaching over and squeezing his leg. She hadn't felt this way before in her life but strangely, she was calm about the situation. Maybe because it was Phil, someone she has known for the vast majority of her life.

Meanwhile, Tommy looked out of the window. He wasn't actually looking out of the window, it was that he could see Lil's reflection and he was looking at that. In a way, he felt guilty about it. He felt guilty about having a crush on her and he didn't know why he should feel guilty. It might be because Lil is like the sister that he never had and the fact that Phil might just not approve of Tommy going out with his twin sister.

'She sure is one sexy and gorgeous girl. I can't help but feel this guilt within me. It might be best that I try to subdue them, at least for the moment. I can't let my feelings get in the way of our Science Project, if I do then both of us might end up failing and it would be all my fault. I've gotta stop looking at her like she's a flower and I'm a Bee, ready to take the nectar. If I mess up, I will have ruined not one friendship, but at least three friendships.' Tommy thought (The other friendships being that of Phil and Kimi by the way).

Lil, on the other hand, couldn't think of anything else other than Tommy.

'He's so handsome. He's the perfect guy for me. God, I'd wish that the next time we're alone he would just take me. Maybe I just gotta flirt with him and make a number of passes at him to let him know that he's the guy I want.' She thought. Unintentionally, she reached over and ran her hand along his arm.

Tommy became nervous and groaned. He had the sudden urge to kiss her passionately but he knew what he had to do. He couldn't allow his emotions to get the better of him. He had to resist! It wouldn't be easy but he had to.

When Tommy groaned, Lil realised what she was doing and immediately retracted her hand. She started to blush.

'Oh crap! I've just made a pass at him! God I am SO embarrassed!' Lil thought. She looked over at Kimi and indicated to meet her outside ASAP.

"Uh, Mr. Beaker? Can I go to the bathroom?" Lil asked

"Well, ok. Try to hurry though." Mr. Beaker said.

Lil got up and dashed out of the room.

A few minutes later, she heard Kimi's voice. "Can I be excused Mr. Beaker?"

"Alright. Hurry up though."

Kimi dashed over and opened the door. She saw Lil and they headed to the girl's bathroom.

Once there, Lil rubbed her hands over her face.

"What's wrong Lil?" Kimi asked.

"I'm so embarrassed Kimi! I made a pass at Tommy!" Lil explained.

"What did you do?"

"I ran my fingertips along his arm slowly, you know, playfully. I heard him groan. I can't believe I did that!" Lil felt her face flush bright red. She placed her hands over her face to try and hide her embarrassment.

"I said you had a crush on him. Calm down Lil. Trust me, he likes you. He won't be upset or mad that you've made a pass at him. Maybe a little shaken that you did it in class, but he won't hate it." Kimi said as she laid a hand on Lil's shoulder.

"But what if he does?" Lil asked.

"He won't."

"What if he wants to talk about it? What do I say?" Lil was becoming slightly paranoid now.

"Look, I can't do this for you. If you wanna be with him, tell him how you feel. Tell him you meant it and you would like to start dating him. That's if you feel comfortable about it. Don't forget, this IS Tommy we're talking about. He's very understanding and he won't hold it against you." Kimi explained.

After hearing this, Lil smiled and hugged her friend.

"Thanks Kimi. You know I'm glad that I can confide in you, don't you?"

"Yep, and I'm glad that I can confide in you too. It works both ways."

"You think I should explain it to him or wait until he asks me?" Lil asked.

"Well, maybe you should talk to him. If I were you, I would wait until school is over so you can get some privacy. Just try not to make another pass at him in class okay?"

"I'll try." Lil laughed as they headed back to class.

....

Angelica ran into the hospital and straight to reception.

"Where's Chuckie Finster?" She asked.

"Chuckie Finster is in Ward B. Go up the first flight of steps behind you, then take the first left and then the third hallway on the right. That will take to Ward B. You will be able to find out where he is from there." The receptionist told Angelica.

Angelica turned and ran up the steps and followed the receptionist's directions until she was in Ward B. She looked around and saw a private room which had Kira in.

'This must be where Chuckie is.' She thought as she opened the door and walked in fairly slowly. She had no idea what she was going to say or do, but she knew she needed to know if he would be alright. Anything to get rid of the guilty feeling that was now plaguing her.

Kira turned her head and saw Angelica walk in. She frowned angrily at Angelica, knowing that taking any action now was pointless.

"Er...Mrs. Finster? I'm...erm...how is he?" Angelica asked in a low tone.

"In quite a bit of pain, no thanks to you."

Angelica looked at the floor. "I'm sorry about what I did. I...I don't know what came over me." She began to explain.

"You think that we're going to forgive you now you've said your sorry?" Kira scorned.

"Calm down mum." Chuckie weakly said.

Angelica moved next to Chuckie and looked at him. He looked into her eyes and saw the remorse. The pain she was going through, knowing what she had done. Seeing her like this made him strangely happy. Maybe it's because this proves that she can never be pure evil. It shows she does have a heart and that she does feel the consequences of her actions.

"Chuckie? I am so sorry. I really am. Please give me a chance to make it up to you. I know that no-one will forgive me for a long time, but please let me know that I can be forgiven. I don't want this to happen any more. I don't want to hurt you and I don't want to hate you. I...I want to be friends at the very least. I've wronged you far too much over the years. Please let me have one last chance to prove my worth. I beg you, please." Tears flowed from Angelica's eyes as she grovelled to Chuckie. "I'll do anything for your forgiveness. Absolutely anything! You name it and I'll do it. Anything."

Kira was shocked. Angelica was grovelling for forgiveness at the cost of her dignity and self respect. She was making a fool of herself in front of her and her son, begging for a chance to prove herself worthy of Chuckie's affection, or so it seemed.

"I...I don't know Angelica. I'm not sure if I can ever trust you." Chuckie said in a low tone.

"Trust me? Do you think I'm lying to you?" Angelica's tone sounded hurt.

"Knowing you, yes." Chuckie replied coldly.

"I deserve that but do you think these tears are fake? Do you think that me skipping the first few lessons today to pour my heart out to you is fake? Do you think I'm mocking you when I say I want to right the wrongs that I have done to you?" Angelica asked as she clasped his right hand in her hands. "Do you think that I am total fake?"

Chuckie looked at her. Maybe she was telling the truth. She did look very upset that he doubted her but that can easily be fake. Her tears were real, that he didn't doubt. He knew Angelica can fake crying but she can't fake tears.

"Maybe, just maybe you are telling the truth Angelica. Some parts of what you say I don't doubt you, I believe them. But other parts I just can't, not yet at any rate. Maybe, when I'm back at school we can sort this out. Until then, just keep a low profile and don't say anything to anyone." Truth be told, this was a little test that Chuckie had given her. He was going to get Tommy and the others to try and prise this conversation out of her. If they were not successful, then there is a chance that the damage can be repaired. "Now get yourself back to school." A small smile came on Chuckie's face.

Angelica smiled back and kissed him on the forehead before leaving.

"I'm sorry for what I've done." She called as she exited the room.

To Be Continued...

....

Well, there we have it. I must say, I'm surprised that I kept this chapter going for this length. I know it's the longest chapter I've written to date and I hope you all enjoyed.

Angelica's conscience has taken it's time, but it's kicked in and now she seeks Chuckie's forgiveness but will she succeed?

I know I said that I'd have more on Tommy and Lil in this chapter and I haven't delivered as much as I could have, but next chapter I'm gonna try and focus on them more.

Lil's crush on Tommy is obvious now but this only adds to Tommy's worries while Phil just needs the guts to tell Kimi how much he cares for her.

Thinking about it, I haven't really got very far into Phil's and Kimi's relationship so I'm gonna write one chapter which will have the main focus on them.

Please R&R!