Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long guys. I've been real busy, what with exams and all. This chapter kinda sucks, sorry, it gets better soon. Enjoy!

Gordie was not able to eat anything that required chewing for a few days. Although it hurt a lot, he didn't mind too much…he found it very amusing to see Vern's expression whenever he stuck his tongue out. Torturing Vern was always fun. Teddy on the other hand thought it was the coolest thing ever and kept talking about how he hoped Gordie got a scar. He said you could always tell how manly a guy was by how many war wounds he had. It was great! Gordie didn't even mind the pain because he was getting so much attention about it. Shortly after it had happened, the trio had caught up to him when he was alone and made it very clear that he and his friends were not to tell anyone what had happened. He had no clue what to say had happened…but good old Teddy had come through in the end and told everyone that he and Gordie had been bickering and he Gordie had stuck his tongue out and he had bopped his jaw and made him bite it. When someone asked what they had been fighting about, Teddy had said that he didn't remember, it had just been some stupid shit, but they were cool now. Some might have thought this was an act of kindness on his part, and it was, but not in the way it seemed. It wasn't him martyring himself and taking the blame…that wasn't how Teddy worked…it was his way of him telling Gordie to get over it, that it could just as easily have happened while joking around with a friend…plus, Teddy always like the attention to be on him.

Chris was a whole different story. Gordie didn't even talk about that day in front of Chris, much less gloat about it. Chris had been strangely distant since then…for instance, they hadn't done any serious kissing since then, Chris said it was because he didn't want to hurt Gordie's tongue, Gordie told him that it didn't hardly hurt anymore and Chris had said that it would be feel weird because of the cut. Gordie thought that was a pretty weak excuse, but he hadn't said anything else about it. It wasn't just that though…he never really hugged him anymore either, and when he did, it was always quick and formal. He was constantly quiet, and whenever he talked, it was in a quiet, distracted voice. He always had this heartbreakingly sad expression on his face.

Gordie missed his friend. He didn't understand what was wrong. Part of him wondered if he was regretting telling Gordie how he felt about him, that maybe he didn't know how to act around him now because he was nervous. This almost made since…except that he hadn't been awkward with him before the episode. Then there was the other part of him, the part that he tried his hardest not to listen to, but still came out at night when he was alone. The part that rationalized that Chris had realized that day that Gordie wasn't worth the trouble, that he wasn't what he had expected, that he had mistaken his gratitude toward Gordie as something deeper. That it wasn't worth having another reason to be teased to be with him. Whenever Gordie started thinking about this, he got nauseous and started feeling panicky. Whatever weird shit was going on right now, he couldn't lose Chris. If he just wanted to be friends, that was fine! They'd just be friends. But as the days went by and the weirdness continued, he started to wonder if maybe he didn't even want to be friends. He started feeling awkward around Chris, not knowing what to say to him…he hated this! Chris was supposed to be the one person he could truly relax around, and now he was more nervous around him than he was his dad!

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It was Friday night and Gordie was laying on his carpet, staring blankly at the ceiling while Chris, who had decided to sit on the bed across the room, looking down at Gordie's science book. Chris had been avoiding Gordie, but when Gordie had said he was desperate for help in science, Chris had agreed. Gordie sat there and thought about that for a second…Chris was seriously upset about something, but he still hadn't hesitated to help him…no matter what shit was going on in Chris' life, he was always there for Gordie, putting him first. Gordie looked over at Chris, staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Uh…Gordie?" Chris asked, looking up from the book.

"Huh?" Gordie said, snapping out of it.

"I just asked you a question" Chris stated.

Gordie, not missing that Chris hadn't put some lighthearted insult at the end like he normally would, said solemnly "Oh…sorry, I guess I didn't hear you"

"What is a valence electron?" Chris asked calmly.

"An electron on the outermost electron shell" Gordie answered easily.

"Right" Chris said, looking for another question to ask.

Gordie watched him, noticing how stiff his back was and how completely serious he was. This sucked.

"How many electrons can fit in the second electron shell?" Chris asked.

"Eight" Gordie said, bored.

"No" Chris said, looking up and watching Gordie's face.

"Yeah-huh" Gordie said in a confused voice, getting up and crossing the room, he plopped down on the bed next to Chris, grabbing for the book "Let me see that" Gordie said, knowing he was right and excited at the thought that Chris was playing around with him again, but as he grabbed the book, Chris let go of it and shot off the bed.

"What the fuck, Lachance?" Chris asked in an outraged voice.

"Wha…?" Gordie asked, looking up at Chris from his position on the bed.

"You know all this shit, Gordie!" Chris shouted, crossing is arms and scowling.

"What are you talking about?" Gordie asked, almost excited that he was finally getting some kind of emotion from him.

"I said you were wrong when you weren't to see if you would know I was lying, and you knew! You already know all this shit!" Chris accused.

"Yeah, so?" Gordie said defensively, getting off the bed and drawing himself to his full height, a good inch taller than Chris.

"So why the fuck did you lie to me?!" Chris shouted, not intimidated in the least.

"Maybe because I'm tired of you avoiding me like I'm some king of fucking mutant!" Gordie exclaimed.

"What?" Chris asked in a truly confused voice, like he honestly didn't realize he had done anything of the sort.

"Don't pull that bullshit with me! I'm not stupid! Whenever I come within twenty feet of you, you either clam up like a scared puppy, or run away like you're terrified I'm going to jump your bones! Well, I can assure you that you have nothing to worry about! I'll never feel that sorry for you!" Gordie lashed out.

Chris flinched visibly, as though Gordie had just smacked him. He nodded his head sadly, turned around slowly, walked through the door, down the hall, and out of the house.

Gordie just stood there for a minute after Chris left, his mouth hanging open at the hurtful words that had just come out of him mouth. Finally, he came to his senses, and ran after him, he ran out onto the porch, scanning the street for any sign of his friend.

"Chris!" Gordie shouted, not seeing him.

"Yeah?" Chris asked sadly, stepping from behind Gordie on the porch.

"Oh…hi" Gordie said lamely.

They stood there for a minute looking at each other, Gordie had just opened his mouth to apologize when Chris asked, "So…why did you lie to me?"

"I don't know…I guess because I missed you" Gordie said, going with the truth. "I mean, you have been acting really weird lately" Gordie said shrugging "I'm sorry".

"I know" Chris responded simply, leaving Gordie to wonder if he meant that he knew he was sorry or that he knew he had been weird.

"I didn't mean it" Gordie said, getting a little panicky.

"I know" Chris repeated

"I was just mad" Gordie said desperately.

"I know" Chris said, nodding his head, he turned around and started walking down the street.