This chapter has a focus on Phil and Kimi and it also contains the first appearance of Susie.

There are still no changes to the Disclaimer.

...

Chapter 8: The Folly Of Love & Hate

Saturday afternoon. Tommy and the gang, minus Chuckie and Angelica, were in the Java Lava. Susie had come to join her friends.

"Hey guys." She greeted.

"Well, I'll be a Monkey's Uncle! Susie Carmichael." Phil greeted.

The other all greeted her.

"So, where is Chuckie?" Susie asked. She was confused that Chuckie was not with them.

They all looked at each other.

"You haven't heard?" Tommy asked.

"That's not a good sign. Heard what?" Susie was concerned now.

"Well, he's in hospital." Lil told Susie.

"HOSPITAL! What's wrong with him?" Susie asked worriedly.

"He got fractured ribs. He was assaulted." Kimi told her friend.

"By who?"

"Angelica." Phil said.

"That can't be true! Angelica couldn't do such as thing...could she?"

"She did. She was subsequently shunned from High School and shunned by all of us." Tommy explained.

"That's not the whole story." Lil added.

"Oh?"

"No, Wednesday morning it was reported that Angelica skipped the first few lessons of High School to see Chuckie in hospital. From what Chuckie told us, she was practically begging for his forgiveness. Prior to that, I confronted her to find out why she attacked him, but she resisted telling me anything except that she did attack him." Tommy told Susie.

"So, let me get this straight. Angelica beat the crap out of Chuckie for unknown reasons and then she felt guilty about it and is begging for forgiveness?" Susie asked. She was confused by Angelica's motives and even more confused at the fact that she would suddenly turn around and regret what she did.

"That's the gist of it." Dil said.

"Okay, so why do I get the feeling that there is more to this than I'm being told?"

No-one said anything; they just looked at each other.

"That's probably because there is more." Kimi spoke up.

Everyone looked at Kimi. Susie wanted to hear while the others were not sure whether Kimi should say what she was about to say.

"You see, over the summer Angelica actually started to be nice to Chuckie. They begun to hang out an awful lot and Chuckie would sometimes dump us for her. Dare I say it, they became fairly close." Kimi thought about the fact that Chuckie had actually fallen for Angelica over the summer. She wondered if he still felt the same way or he had just abandoned all feelings for Angelica. No-one else apart from Kimi knew Chuckie's true feelings for Angelica before he started High School and she was determined to keep it that way.

"You mean, Angelica became nice?" Susie asked.

"Yep. It was actually very relaxing to have a nice Angelica than the horrible one we had to put up with all our lives." Phil commented.

Susie still couldn't believe what she had just heard, yet she knew it to be true. She had to find out Angelica's views on this for her final judgement.

....

Angelica took a deep breath before entering the hospital room where Chuckie was. She entered and walked over to his side and smiled at him.

"Hey. How are you feeling now?" She asked with concern in her voice.

"I thought I told you to stay away?" Chuckie asked.

"I know but this guilt feeling keeps telling me to check on you. Can't I just see you once a week?" Angelica pleaded.

"Oh alright then. If it means THAT much to you, I guess I can let you visit once a week. But remember to tell no-one that you were here. This is something that only you and I know." Chuckie warned.

Angelica nodded obediently.

"In response to your query, I'm feeling a bit better. I hope I can get out of here soon as lying in bed all day is as boring as hell. I wanna get out and do some socialising with Tommy and the others." Chuckie told her.

Angelica bit her lower lip. This was really hitting home. Everything he couldn't do for the time being was because of her. The more she heard of the things he missed doing, the guiltier she felt. With good reason to feel bad as well. She wanted the guilt feelings to end, but she knew they would only go when he forgave her for what she did and was not gonna happen soon, that she was sure of.

Angelica lowered her head and closed her eyes. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

"I know. But it doesn't change what has happened." Chuckie told her.

Angelica nodded her head slowly. "It's just that this guilt hurts...every morning in our homeroom I sit by myself, with an empty seat next to me, knowing that if I hadn't done what I did, well, someone, maybe not you, would be sat next to me. Even during lessons I'm not concentrating fully as this whole thing is constantly on my mind." She explained.

Chuckie raised an eyebrow. 'Wow, obviously she doesn't experience guilt very much. From my experiences I have rarely seen her feel guilty about doing something. Although I hate seeing someone, even her, feel unhappy, what she did was wrong and this is a punishment that is well suited.' Chuckie thought. He felt a little sorry for Angelica, but he wouldn't forgive her for quite a while no matter how much she did. When he felt ready to forgive then he would. Nevertheless, he was surprised that she seemed to care so much now, but the future would show him if she really cared or not.

Besides, it would make a good test of her character, to see if she is prepared to wait for his forgiveness or if she will just give up on him. He voted for the latter and didn't give her much more than a few months before she was fed up of waiting to be forgiven.

....

It was Sunday morning. About 6.50 in the morning and Phil was fast asleep. Yesterday, he and Kimi had got what they thought would be enough of what they needed to do their project; most of the things had been spare parts that they had got of Stu.

Phil was snoring quite loudly with a foot hanging out from under his quilt as he slept on his stomach. Suddenly, he was awakened by the doorbell ringing.

"Oh crap! Why can't Kimi wait until later in the day?" Phil asked himself as he got out of bed and grabbed his dressing gown and put it on before going downstairs to open the door.

"Hey Phil. Oops! Did I catch you in your sleep?" Kimi asked as she saw Phil in his dressing gown. She blushed a little at the sight.

'He looks kind of cute.' She thought.

Phil yawned. "I was just sleeping. You know that thing you do at night?"

Kimi ignored Phil's sarcasm. "Can I come in or do you want me to stand on your doorstep all day?"

"Sure. Let me get dressed first." Phil yawned loudly. "The stuff is in my room, so wait a few minutes okay?" Phil headed back up to his room.

Kimi wandered into the living room and started to look at the array of photos on display. Many of Phil and Lil when they were babies and some of Betty and Howard. There were a few of Phil, Lil and the others. She studied each photo carefully until Phil came down stairs.

He yawned as he entered the living room.

"Most people say hi or something." Kimi commented.

"Most people don't get up at 6.50 on a Sunday." Phil retorted.

Kimi turned and smiled. She moved closer to him and patted his cheek. "Aww, poor widdle Philly. Did the nasty Japanese girl wake you up too early?" Kimi said in a baby voice.

"Shut up. Let's just get working." Phil said angrily as he pushed Kimi's hand away and walked out of the living room.

"Someone's cranky this morning."

Phil glared at Kimi before walking up the stairs. Kimi sighed and followed.

....

They pair had been working for an hour or so before Betty stirred. She heard the sounds of tools and the like being used so she popped her head round the door.

"What's going on in here Philly? Oh, hi Kimi, what are you doing here?" Betty asked.

"We're partners on our Science Project. I promised Phil that I'd come round this morning so we could make a start on it." Kimi explained.

Phil rubbed his eyes; he was still very tired and had struggled to keep awake during the time they had worked. Actually, doing the work for the Science Project had made him even more tired than when he woke up.

"Yeah, Yawn but although I knew she would be Yawn around so early, I'm still gonna have to go to sleep when we're finished for the day." Phil said sleepily.

"You had any breakfast Kimi?" Betty asked.

"I was gonna go home for breakfast. Then come back in the evening for a few hours." Kimi explained.

"Suit yourself. Oh, be a darling and wake Lil up. I'm gonna go and get Howie to start cooking. You wanna cup of coffee Kimi?"

"Please!"

"None for me ma. I just wanna sleep." Phil said as he lay on his bed and closed his eyes.

Both Kimi and Betty looked at Phil before shaking their heads and exiting the room. Betty went downstairs to make the coffee while Kimi slowly opened Lil's door. She knew she wasn't being polite by not knocking but that didn't bother her.

"Lil?" She asked quietly.

Lil was fast asleep. Kimi walked over quietly to Lil and shook her shoulder.

"Lil?"

Lil moaned. "Not now Tommy." She mumbled.

"Whoa!" Kimi exclaimed.

Lil woke up to see a shocked Kimi looking at her.

"Ah! Kimi what are you doing here!?"

"I was with Phil. We were doing our Science Project when your mother asked me to wake you up." Kimi explained.

"Oh. I take it breakfast will be ready soon?" Lil asked.

"When Betty gets Howard up to make it."

"Right."

"Uh, Lil?"

"Yeah?"

"When I shook your shoulder, you said 'Not now Tommy'. Has something happened between you two or were you just dreaming about him and you being alone together?" Kimi asked.

Lil blushed. "Well, um, we er..."

"You confessed to him right?"

"Well...promise not to tell Phil." Lil begged her friend.

"I won't say a word to him."

"Well, we are together...kind of. We were supposed to be doing our Project but all we were doing was, erm, practically making out on his bed." Lil laughed nervously.

"Ooo! I can hear the wedding bells clanging right now." Kimi teased as she walked out of Lil's room and back into Phil's room.

She looked over to Phil's bed and saw him sleeping, with his thumb in his mouth.

"Gee, what a baby...but...he looks cute." Kimi commented to herself. She walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek, trying to startle him and annoy him at the same time.

"Mmm...Kimi, stop that." Phil mumbled. He was still sleeping.

Kimi took a step back out of shock. Did Phil know it was her or was he dreaming? Her heart started to pump wildly as she started to grind her teeth together.

'Okay, clam yourself...No good! Too scared. Just run while you can!' She thought and darted out of Phil's room and downstairs.

"Here's your coffee Kimi." Betty said.

Kimi stopped, drunk it as fast as she could, not caring that it was hot and burning her mouth before handing the cup back to Betty and rushing home.

"Wow, I've never seen someone drink coffee that fast before." Betty said to herself as she closed the front door and walked upstairs.

....

During the afternoon, Kimi sat on a bench in the park. She was fairly tired after getting up so early.

"Man, maybe I should have waited until after breakfast before me and Phil started our Project." She groaned sleepily.

The sun was shining brightly with a few clouds in the sky. Being in the sun made Kimi feel sleepy so she walked over to a tree and sat down on the grass in the shade to catch a quick nap.

"It's a wonderful afternoon." She mumbled to herself as she yawned.

She was about to close her eyes when she saw the depressed and disgraced Angelica Pickles walking through the park slowly. She was paying a lot of attention to the ground in front of her and from where Kimi was, it looked like she was mumbling to herself.

"Ah, vengeance is imminent." Kimi said to herself as she got up and started to walk to Angelica with an angered look on her face.

Angelica heard footsteps approach her and she looked up to see a pissed off Kimi Finster approaching her.

"Uh...h-hi Kimi." She greeted nervously. Angelica was a little scared off Kimi as she was so unpredictable and no doubt wanted her blood after what she had done to Chuckie.

"Save it you fucking bitch! I'm gonna make sure you never lay a finger on Chuckie ever again!" Kimi shouted as she charged at Angelica.

Angelica jumped out of the way as Kimi threw a punch. She wanted to fight back, but that would make the situation worse. If she so much as threatened Kimi, Chuckie would never forgive her.

"Hold it Kimi! I don't wanna fight you!" Angelica pleaded.

"Then stand still and let me express my anger!" Kimi shouted as she wheeled around and charged again.

Angelica again dodged, but Kimi expected this and immediately spun to kick Angelica in the stomach causing Angelica to groan in pain and fall to the ground.

"Kimi...this won't help...Chuckie. It won't achieve anything. Please stop." Angelica groaned.

Kimi smacked Angelica in the face. "Tell someone who gives a damn you piece of crap!"

"No Kimi! Don't you see? I don't wanna...hurt Chuckie anymore! Hasn't he...told you about...how guilty I am?" Tears were present in Angelica's eyes as she desperately tried to get Kimi to stop.

"I'll make sure you don't hurt him!" Kimi screamed as she stamped down on Angelica's stomach causing her to throw up. "Now, I'll finish you off nice and quickly!" Kimi shouted as she raised a fist which would knock Angelica out cold if she hit her.

"STOP!" Someone shouted. Kimi could feel two hands grasp her arm and pull her back.

"What the fuck?" Kimi shouted as she wheeled around to see Phil grabbing her arm. "Phil! What are you doing?"

"Stopping you from doing something you would regret!" Phil shouted at her.

"You can't Phil! I must get my vengeance!"

"Your vengeance? You think that assaulting Angelica will make things better!? You should be ashamed of yourself Kimi Finster!" Phil shouted at her as he released her arm.

Deep down, Kimi knew Phil was right. Doing this wouldn't make anything better.

"Have you even considered how will Chuckie feel when he finds out you nearly knocked Angelica out cold and put her in hospital? Do you want to start a vengeance spiral? Something which will devour you and cause you nothing but pain and agony? Do you really want to lose your friends?"

"No." Kimi replied in a low voice. She didn't want any of it. She looked over at Angelica how held her stomach and coughed every now and then, obviously suffering intense pain.

"Oh Kimi, what happened to you? Why did you do this?" Phil asked, his tone more friendly and caring.

Kimi started to cry and Phil held her in his arms. Angelica managed to get to her feet as Phil watched her.

"Thanks Phil...I owe you..." She said with a sigh of relief and then turned to head home still clutching her stomach.

Kimi cried for what seemed like an eternity to Phil. But, he just held her tightly and gently rubbed the back of her head with a hand. When Kimi recovered, she looked at him and sniffed.

"Thanks Phil." She said as she kissed him on the cheek.

Phil blushed. "Er. Erm. It was. Nothing." He said quickly and released his grip on her.

"How did you find me?" Kimi asked.

"Well, we visited Chuckie in hospital and we asked where you were. None of us knew and he mentioned about you harbouring ill feelings towards Angelica and I just immediately ran to your house. I just knew something was gonna happen and I didn't want you to get hurt. You weren't there so then I headed to the Java Lava, but mom said you said you were gonna go to the park for a while, so I rushed over here and the rest is history." Phil explained.

"Thanks for saving me Phil."

"From what?" Phil was confused.

"From myself." Kimi smiled at him.

To Be Continued...

....

Looks like Phil just might be Kimi's Knight in Shining Armour.

Thanks to everyone for being patient while this chapter has been in creation. I'll try to get chapter 9 up by the end of the month but I can't make any promises about when it will definitely be up.