AN – Thank you for the encouraging thoughts. You're all awesome and keep me here alive and well.

Chapter 11:

Okay, fine... so she doesn't trust me all that much, Orlando thought, gritting his teeth in annoyance. He still had the tabloid in his hand and was wrinkling the paper with his clenched fist. Needless to say, Orlando was still slightly pissed off at Kate's abrupt leaving... Especially since the reason for it was completely unjustified. He gave her no reason not to trust him. He'd been faithful and devoted, intensely in love and she just blithered on about pictures that were proven to be genuine...

... Genuine... That might put a mar on things...

Orlando threw aside the paper and stepped out of his trailer into the desert heat of Mexico. Two weeks and six days and he'd be going after her.

'What the hell is wrong with this man?!' Serena thought as she snuggled into her sofa, bags packed by her door. Will had yet to emerge out of the bathroom. The only things keeping her from barging in on him was his occasional mutter and the sounds of his footsteps on the tile floor of her beloved color-coordinated bathroom that matched the sheets that Will had spilt orange juice one. (Serena was still glowered a bit about that.)

Serena had already made up her mind to move base. In the middle of campus supposedly filled by the intellectual and adult, Will would have been a moving target for the stupid and immature that actually attended the university. Well, not ALL of them. Many were astoundingly genius but Serena found that the populace was made up of the extremes of intellect: You were either extremely smart or extremely stupid. No middle ground here.

There was a house her aunt and uncle owned in the Glendale Hills. It was a gated community near enough to civilization to keep her sane but far enough from teenyboppers to keep Will sane. Their son, Serena's cousin, Jason, lived in San Francisco since he went to school at Stanford and his parents would be visiting him there for the week.

... So the house was empty... and Serena had the key... and, once again, Serena's belief in that "There's a reason for everything" mantra was reestablished.

"Mood swings of a fucking woman!" Serena muttered. She jumped up and banged on her guest bathroom's door. "Will you just bloody come out? I don't even know what the hell I did wrong! You're acting like a fucking child!"

"That's what I mean... You DON'T know..." Will yelled sarcastically through the door as he sat on the toilet, contemplating on how to get out without hurting his pride.

"Are you still mad at me about that? I TOLD you! It was my fault for jumping into this ass first. I'm sorry that you got the brunt of the consequences for those actions," Serena huffed, sitting down on the floor and leaning against the door. "Will, we have to go.

"Send me home!" Will ordered.

"I can't! I wish I could but I can't!" Serena answered, defeatedly.

"Then how'd you get me here in the first place?"

"We've been through this already. It wasn't me."

The door suddenly opened and Serena fell back, her head only saving itself from a harsh crash against tile when it hit Will's toes. That didn't mean it didn't hurt.

"Oww..." she pouted putting a hand to rub a sore spot on the back of her head. Will's eyes grew wide, seeing that Serena had changed into dark jeans and a low cut black shirt. She had fallen back and made her chest spill a bit, making Will blush. He jumped back to avert his eyes and Serena's head banged on the floor. "Effing man!"

"Oh god... I'm sorry," Will apologized dropping to his knees when he heard the ominous thump of her skull against tile. He helped her sit up and cradled her head with his arms. "Are you all right?"

"Fine... But... WOW that hurt..." She felt fingers wandering in her hair and realized that Will was frowning down at her as he searched for bumps and cuts.

"Well... you don't feel too tender..."

"Weren't you just mad at me?" Serena muttered, pulling back from him. "For doing god knows what?"

"You won't send me home."

"I don't have the kind of power so shut up and deal with it, you menopausal freak! Geez! Has anyone ever told you that you have trust issues?" Serena snapped.

"Why won't you open up to me?" Will pleaded with Elizabeth. "I'm willing to tell you everything about my life, my dreams... You barely mention your favourite piece of art or food..."

"I have nothing too important to say," Elizabeth sighed, turning to the flowers she held as they sat on bench.

"YOU're important to me... That means everything about you is important to me."

"Will, why must you feel that everyone trusts you?" Elizabeth asked, annoyed.

"Because I would trust them so I'd expect the same in return. Especially from my fiancè."

"You give your trust without some sort of security installment from the other person. It sets you up for disappointment, Will."

'So I trusted her, and she disappointed me... Three weeks before that night and she had known that she would disappoint me,' Will thought.

Serena saw that familiar look on Will's face, like he was remebering unwanted memories. She wanted to reach out and smooth away the worries on his forehead but she knew he would back away again like he had that morning so she waited.

"Trust only leads to disappointment," Will concluded to his own mind. Serena frowned at this thought and just shook her head. If that's what he thought then she'd just have to contradict it. "You said we had to go somewhere?" Will interjected after Serena failed to reply.

"Yea... Umm.. My family's house..."

"Then let's go..."

Serena nodded and began to head out. She opened the door so that she could just carry out the bags and instruct Will on the beauty of locks, keys, and the simple turning, though she was pretty sure he knew that already but she halted.

Someone was right outside about to knock on her door. One hand was behind his back, the other raised and his big brown eyes, larger than Will's even, were staring at her in surprise.

"Ryan?" Serena asked shocked. She made a quick glance behind her and was glad that Will knew to hide. "What are you doing here?"

"I... uh... Well.. You weren't in class yesterday..."

"Yes?" Serena took a step back and bit her lip. This was the first time Ryan had spoken to her since their break up and such close contact was making her uncomfortable. "I realize I wasn't." Her voice was bitter. Ryan looked down when he heard her tone and shook his head regrettably.

"I deserved that," Ryan mumbled, still shifting. "I... Here..." He stuck out his hand from a pocket and held out a wrinkled piece of paper with random notes, mostly dates marking a test. "Mitchell gave us the test dates for the next month. Finals and everything..."

"Thanks... I guess..." Serena took the paper and looked at him, curoiusly.

"And here..." His other hand emerged and Serena stepped back in shock to see Ryan holding out a dozen white roses. Before she could even say a word, he leaned down to kiss her softly on the cheek and ran. Serena turned a bright red and looked down at the contents of her hand. A note written in bold letters was put on the end of the page.

"I miss you."

AN-- Read and review please!!